Assessing South African Construction Worker’s Knowledge of Modern Technologies for Effective Material Management

Material management is a matter of concern for construction stakeholders in South Africa.  ICT is the way forward for all sectors upon which the economy thrives both in the national and international level. Incorporating modern technologies will lead to effective material management. However, the level of awareness of modern technologies among South African construction stakeholders needs to be assessed. The study adopted a quantitative approach where questionnaires were administered to professionals in the South African construction industry. Descriptive statistics tools were used to analyse the gathered data. Findings showed that construction stakeholders in South Africa are aware of modern technologies for effective management. The tools according to the level of awareness are Microsoft programs, barcoding, RFID, construction materials planning systems and materials handling equipment selection advisor. Also, the level of importance of these tools according to Stakeholders in South African Construction industry are Microsoft programmes, Barcoding, RFID, materials handling equipment selection advisor, construction materials exchange and construction materials planning system. Therefore, it is evident that there is still unyielding to recent technological move in the construction industry, which may be preventing the progressive growth. It is imperative to indulge modern technologies to counter this problem which in turn help effective material management

Incidence, clinical characteristics, and risk factors of peripartum cardiomyopathy in Nigeria : results from the PEACE Registry

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence, clinical characteristics and risk factors of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) in Nigeria. Methods and Results: The study was conducted in 22 hospitals in Nigeria, and PPCM patients were consecutively recruited between June 2017 and March 2018. To determine factors associated with PPCM, the patients were compared with apparently healthy women who recently delivered, as controls. Four hundred six patients were compared with 99 controls. The incidence and disease burden (based on the rate of consecutive recruitment of subjects) varied widely between the six geographical zones of Nigeria. From the North-West zone, 72.3% of the patients was recruited, where an incidence as high as 1 per 96 live births was obtained in a centre, while the disease was uncommon (7.6% of all recruited patients) in the South. Majority of the patients (76.6%) and controls (74.8%) (p = 0.694) were of Hausa-Fulani ethnic group. Atrial fibrillation, intracardiac thrombus, stroke, and right ventricular systolic dysfunction were found in 1.7%, 6.4%, 2.2%, and 54.9% of the patients, respectively. Lack of formal education (odds ratio [OR] 3.08, 95% confidence interval [1.71, 5.53]; P < 0.001), unemployment (OR: 3.28 [2.05, 5.24]; P < 0.001), underweight (OR: 13.43 [4.17, 43.21]; P < 0.001) and history of pre-eclampsia (OR: 9.01 [2.18, 37.75]; P = 0.002) emerged as independent PPCM risk factors using regression models. Customary hot baths (OR: 1.24 [0.80, 1.93]; P = 0.344), pap enriched with dried lake salt (OR: 1.20 [0.74, 1.94]; P = 0.451), and Hausa-Fulani ethnicity (OR: 1.11 [0.67, 1.84]; P = 0.698) did not achieve significance as PPCM risk factors. Conclusions: In Nigeria, the burden of PPCM was greatest in the North-West zone, which has the highest known incidence. PPCM was predicted by sociodemographic factors and pre-eclampsia, which should be considered in its control at population level. Postpartum customary birth practices and Hausa-Fulani ethnicity were not associated with PPCM in Nigeria

Assessment, endoscopy, and treatment in patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (PROTECT-ASUC): a multicentre, observational, case-control study

BackgroundThere is a paucity of evidence to support safe and effective management of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to identify alterations to established conventional evidence-based management of acute severe ulcerative colitis during the early COVID-19 pandemic, the effect on outcomes, and any associations with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and severe COVID-19 outcomes. MethodsThe PROTECT-ASUC study was a multicentre, observational, case-control study in 60 acute secondary care hospitals throughout the UK. We included adults (≥18 years) with either ulcerative colitis or inflammatory bowel disease unclassified, who presented with acute severe ulcerative colitis and fulfilled the Truelove and Witts criteria. Cases and controls were identified as either admitted or managed in emergency ambulatory care settings between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic period cohort), or between Jan 1, 2019, and June 30, 2019 (historical control cohort), respectively. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis receiving rescue therapy (including primary induction) or colectomy. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04411784. FindingsWe included 782 patients (398 in the pandemic period cohort and 384 in the historical control cohort) who met the Truelove and Witts criteria for acute severe ulcerative colitis. The proportion of patients receiving rescue therapy (including primary induction) or surgery was higher during the pandemic period than in the historical period (217 [55%] of 393 patients vs 159 [42%] of 380 patients; p=0·00024) and the time to rescue therapy was shorter in the pandemic cohort than in the historical cohort (p=0·0026). This difference was driven by a greater use of rescue and primary induction therapies with biologicals, ciclosporin, or tofacitinib in the COVID-19 pandemic period cohort than in the historical control period cohort (177 [46%] of 387 patients in the COVID-19 cohort vs 134 [36%] of 373 patients in the historical cohort; p=0·0064). During the pandemic, more patients received ambulatory (outpatient) intravenous steroids (51 [13%] of 385 patients vs 19 [5%] of 360 patients; p=0·00023). Fewer patients received thiopurines (29 [7%] of 398 patients vs 46 [12%] of 384; p=0·029) and 5-aminosalicylic acids (67 [17%] of 398 patients vs 98 [26%] of 384; p=0·0037) during the pandemic than in the historical control period. Colectomy rates were similar between the pandemic and historical control groups (64 [16%] of 389 vs 50 [13%] of 375; p=0·26); however, laparoscopic surgery was less frequently performed during the pandemic period (34 [53%] of 64] vs 38 [76%] of 50; p=0·018). Five (2%) of 253 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during hospital treatment. Two (2%) of 103 patients re-tested for SARS-CoV-2 during the 3-month follow-up were positive 5 days and 12 days, respectively, after discharge from index admission. Both recovered without serious outcomes. InterpretationThe COVID-19 pandemic altered practice patterns of gastroenterologists and colorectal surgeons in the management of acute severe ulcerative colitis but was associated with similar outcomes to a historical cohort. Despite continued use of high-dose corticosteroids and biologicals, the incidence of COVID-19 within 3 months was low and not associated with adverse COVID-19 outcomes