Some significant South African contributions to engineering

Significance:To mark the centenary of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), we review several major engineering achievements made over the last century by South African citizens, or individuals educated in South Africa – several of these contributions were made by Wits graduates and academic staff members. Equally significant are some outstanding contributions to engineering education. There is no sense in which this review is exhaustive but is more a reflection of the authors’ personal interests and expertise

Loneliness, Depression, and Anxiety Experienced by the Israeli Population During the First COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-sectional Survey

INTRODUCTION The presence of loneliness, depression, and anxiety is known to be associated with increased overall morbidity.1,2 These conditions may occur as individual syndromes or in combination. There is a clear need to recognize these conditions when they occur and to provide patients with appropriate care and support. From a public health perspective, it is important to evaluate both the prevalence and the epidemiological risk factors associated with these syndromes. For example, approximately 50% of mental health disorders have been shown to begin during the mid-teenage years.3 As such, mental health screening should specifically target the younger population since, while these disorders frequently manifest early on in adolescence, intervention and treatment are not usually initiated until years later.4 At times of stress and crisis, mental health disorders in younger individuals are often more pronounced. This may reflect an exacerbation of pre-existing depression or anxiety, may manifest the transformation of a preclinical mental disorder into a symptomatic one, or may represent a risk factor for the development of a mental health condition de novo

Linking the global positioning system (GPS) to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to support tuberculosis control in South Africa: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading clinical manifestation of HIV infection and caseloads continue to increase in high HIV prevalence settings. TB treatment is prolonged and treatment interruption has serious individual and public health consequences. We assessed the feasibility of using a handheld computing device programmed with customised software and linked to a GPS receiver, to assist TB control programmes to trace patients who interrupt treatment in areas without useful street maps. In this proof of concept study, we compared the time taken to re-find a home comparing given residential addresses with a customised personalised digital assistant linked to a global positioning system (PDA/GPS) device. Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of using aerial photographs to locate homes. RESULTS: The study took place in two communities in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa: Wheillers Farm, a relatively sparsely populated informal settlement, and a portion of Alexandra, an urban township with densely populated informal settlements. Ten participants in each community were asked to locate their homes on aerial photographs. Nine from Wheillers Farm and six from Alexandra were able to identify their homes. The total time taken by a research assistant, unfamiliar with the area, to locate 10 homes in each community using the given addresses was compared with the total time taken by a community volunteer with half an hour of training to locate the same homes using the device. Time taken to locate the ten households was reduced by 20% and 50% in each community respectively using the PDA/GPS device. CONCLUSION: In this pilot study we show that it is feasible to use a simple PDA/GPS device to locate the homes of patients. We found that in densely populated informal settlements, GPS technology is more accurate than aerial photos in identifying homes and more efficient than addresses provided by participants. Research assessing issues of, confidentiality and cost effectiveness would have to be undertaken before implementing PDA/GPS – based technology for this application. However, this PDA/GPS device could be used to reduce part of the burden on TB control programs

Integration of Information Technologies in Clinical Studies in Nicaragua

The authors report their experience of integrating information technologies in clinical and epidemiological studies of dengue infection in Nicaragua

Using geospatial technology to strengthen data systems in developing countries: the case of agricultural statistics in India

Despite significant progress in the development of quantitative geography techniques and methods and a general recognition of the need to improve the quality of geographic data, few studies have exploited the potential of geospatial tools to augment the quality of available data methods in developing countries. This paper uses data from an extensive deployment of geospatial technology in India to compare crop areas estimated using geospatial technology to crop areas estimated by conventional methods and assess the differences between the methods. The results presented here show that crop area estimates based on geospatial technology generally exceed the estimates obtained using conventional methods. This suggests that conventional methods are unable to respond quickly to changes in cropping patterns and therefore do not accurately record the area under high-value cash crops. This finding has wider implications for commercializing agriculture and the delivery of farm credit and insurance services in developing countries. Significant data errors found in the conventional methods could affect critical policy interventions such as planning for food security. Some research and policy implications are discussed

The “Other” Neglected Diseases in Global Public Health: Surgical Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Doruk Ozgediz and Robert Riviello discuss the burden of premature death and disability and the economic burden of surgical conditions in Africa

Validity of a novel computerized cognitive battery for mild cognitive impairment

BACKGROUND: The NeuroTrax Mindstreams computerized cognitive assessment system was designed for widespread clinical and research use in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the capability of Mindstreams tests to discriminate elderly with MCI from those who are cognitively healthy has yet to be evaluated. Moreover, the comparability between these tests and traditional neuropsychological tests in detecting MCI has not been examined. METHODS: A 2-center study was designed to assess discriminant validity of tests in the Mindstreams Mild Impairment Battery. Participants were 30 individuals diagnosed with MCI, 29 with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 39 healthy elderly. Testing was with the Mindstreams battery and traditional neuropsychological tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to examine the ability of Mindstreams and traditional measures to discriminate those with MCI from cognitively healthy elderly. Between-group comparisons were made (Mann-Whitney U test) between MCI and healthy elderly and between MCI and mild AD groups. RESULTS: Mindstreams outcome parameters across multiple cognitive domains significantly discriminated among MCI and healthy elderly with considerable effect sizes (p < 0.05). Measures of memory, executive function, visual spatial skills, and verbal fluency discriminated best, and discriminability was at least comparable to that of traditional neuropsychological tests in these domains. CONCLUSIONS: Mindstreams tests are effective in detecting MCI, providing a comprehensive profile of cognitive function. Further, the enhanced precision and ease of use of these computerized tests make the NeuroTrax system a valuable clinical tool in the identification of elderly at high risk for dementia