Urbanization and international trade and investment policies as determinants of noncommunicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa

There are three dominant globalization pathways affecting noncommunicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): urbanization, trade liberalization, and investment liberalization. Urbanization carries potential health benefits due to improved access to an increased variety of food imports, although for the growing number of urban poor, this has often meant increased reliance on cheap, highly processed food commodities. Reduced barriers to trade have eased the importation of such commodities, while investment liberalization has increased corporate consolidation over global and domestic food chains. Higher profit margins on processed foods have promoted the creation of ‘obesogenic’ environments, which through progressively integrated global food systems have been increasingly ‘exported’ to developing nations. This article explores globalization processes, the food environment, and dietary health outcomes in SSA through the use of trend analyses and structural equation modelling. The findings are considered in the context of global barriers and facilitators for healthy public policy.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Finite element simulation of nonlinear convective heat and mass transfer in a micropolar fluid-filled enclosure with Rayleigh number effects

A mathematical model is presented to study the double-diffusive convective heat and mass transfer of a micropolar biofluid in a rectangular enclosure, as a model of transport phenomena in a bioreactor. The vertical walls of the enclosure are maintained at constant but different temperatures and concentrations. The conservation equations for linear momentum, angular momentum, energy and species concentration are formulated subject to appropriate boundary conditions and solved using both finite element and finite difference numerical techniques. Results are shown to be in excellent agreement between these methods. Several special cases of the flow regime are discussed. The distributions for streamline, isotemperature, isoconcentration and (isomicrorotation) are presented graphically for different Lewis number, buoyancy parameter, micropolar vortex viscosity parameter, gyration viscosity parameter, Rayleigh number, Prandtl number and micro-inertia parameter. Micropolar material parameters are shown to considerably influence the flow regime. The flow model has important applications in hybrid aerobic bioreactor systems exploiting rheological suspensions e.g. fermentation

Short-term Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Primary Suture With Primary Glued Mesh Augmentation to Prevent Incisional Hernia

Background: Incisional hernia is one of the most frequent postoperative complications after abdominal surgery. Patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm and patients with a body mass index of 27 or higher have an increased risk to develop incisional hernia. Primary mesh augmentation is a method in which the abdominal wall is strengthened to reduce incisional hernia incidence. This study focused on the short-term results of the PRImary Mesh Closure of Abdominal Midline Wounds trial, a multicenter double blind randomized controlled trial. Methods: Between 2009 and 2012 patients were included if they were operated via midline laparotomy, and had an abdominal aortic aneurysm or a body mass index of 27 or higher. Patients were randomly assigned to either receive primary suture, onlay mesh augmentation (OMA), or sublay mesh augmentation. Results: Outcomes represent results after 1-month follow-up. A total of 480 patients were randomized. During analysis, significantly (P = 0.002) more seromas were detected after OMA (n = 34, 18.1%) compared with primary suture (n = 5, 4.7%) and sublay mesh augmentation (n = 13, 7%). No differences were discovered in any of the other outcomes such as surgical site infection, hematoma, reintervention, or readmission. Multivariable analysis revealed an increase in seroma formation after OMA with an odds ratio of 4.3 (P = 0.004) compared with primary suture and an odds ratio of 2.9 (P = 0.003) compared with sublay mesh augmentation. Conclusions: On the basis of these short-term results, primary mesh augmentation can be considered a safe procedure with only an increase in seroma formation after OMA, but without an increased risk of surgical site infection