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Prevalence of ear pathologies and associated risk factors in children aged 0-7 years attending Voortrekker Hospital in Mokopane, South Africa
Get PDFThesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Background: Ear pathologies such as middle ear infections are most common in children (Einhorn, 2017) and if remain untreated they can result in hearing loss which is the most common sensory deficit in the human population (Dawood, Klop, Oliver, Elliott, & Pillay, 2017). Globally, an estimated 34 million children have hearing loss and 60% percent of these childhood hearing loss cases can be prevented or cured, however, the inability to put intervention measures in place can result in apparently more than 900 million people living with hearing loss by the year 2050 (WHO, 2020). There is paucity of literature on factors contributing to ear pathologies in rural areas and therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors for ear pathologies amongst children in a rural area of Limpopo Province.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted which followed a quantitative approach. This study used secondary data from patient clinical records from a hospital in Limpopo Province. Patients’ records of children 7 years and below that were seen in the audiology department and were registered in the year 2018 January and December 2019 were reviewed. STATA statistical software version 12 for windows was used to analyse. Comparison between groups for continuous and categorical variables was performed using student ttest, and chi-square test, respectively. P-value less than 0.05 at 95% confidence level was regarded as significant.
Findings: There was no statistical significant difference between gender (p=0.978) and majority of patients files were in the age group 4 – 7 years at 54.4% followed by those in age group 1 – 3 years and less than 1 year at 37.9% and 7.6% respectively. Majority of the patients were diagnosed with impacted wax 40.6% and males were mostly diagnosed with impacted wax at 43.9% as compared to females at 37.3%. The prevalence of outer ear pathologies was 48.3% followed by prevalence of middle ear at 28.5% while inner ear had only 0.9% and the combined had 4.6%. The
prevalence of outer ear pathologies was high in females at 51.2% while the highest prevalence in males was in middle ear pathologies at 32.3%. In overall, for this study, more females than males presented with ear pathologies. Outer ear pathologies were found to be significantly associated with older children, lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and those having Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and retroviral diseases (RVD). Middle ear pathologies were found to be significantly associated with older children, parotitis, MAM/SAM, LRTI and RVD. Inner ear pathologies were found to be significantly associated with congenital disorders.
Conclusion: More males presented with ear pathologies as compared to females and the prevalence of ear pathologies was high in the current study with outer ear pathologies leading followed by middle era pathologies. The risk factors for ear pathologies were LRTI, URTI, MAM/SAM, RVD, parotitis and congenital disorders. Impacted wax was the most typical diagnosis in both genders while Otitis Media was the least and this could be due to a lack of accessibility and availability of resources for early identification of inner ear disorders
The vital cog of e-tutorship in Open, Distance and e-Learning facilitation : a phenomenological study
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning (APORTAL Vol. 7 (3) (2023)Electronic tutorials (e-tutorials) are an integral part of student support in Open Distance and e-Learning and influence students’ learning experience, motivation, and retention. Continual developments in online education and challenges encountered by education participants in resource constrained environments raise a need to conduct more research to better understand the phenomenon of e-tutoring (electronic tutoring) and its improvement. This study used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to understand the lived experiences of electronic tutors (e-tutors) in a large Open Distance and e-Learning institution in South Africa. Data collection occurred through six semi-structured focus group interviews. The data was then subjected to a thematic analysis and presented through the lens of the Community of Inquiry model. The findings indicate that although e-tutors provide facilitation of learning, technical support, managerial activities, and social integration to foster teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence, not all students were able to participate. Furthermore, the conditions necessary to foster cognitive presence were non-optimal. Recommendations are the broadening of e-tutorials to include all students as well as conducting more research on how to
enhance cognitive presence in online courses offered by institutions in developing nations
Orphaned by the diaspora? :school experiences of learners with parents in the diaspora in the Zimbabwean District of Mwenezi
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning (APORTAL) Vol 7 (2) (2023)The study sought to explore the school experiences of primary school learners from the Mwenezi district of Zimbabwe whose parents were in the diaspora at the time the research was conducted. An interpretive paradigm that incorporated a qualitative research approach and case study design was adopted to gather data through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and through focus group discussions. The study had a total of 27 participants, comprising 2 heads, 13 teachers, 6 learners, and 6 guardians who were drawn from the two schools studied. Data were analysed using the thematic content technique and the generated narrative data were presented using verbatim transcriptions. It emerged that learners left behind got orphaned both materially and socially although their parents were alive because they got inadequate financial and moral guidance respectively due to the disruption of family systematic structures emigration caused. They were thus labelled by teachers as undisciplined and violent. Biological parents' emigration was reported to negatively influence motivation for school hence the learners left behind had negative attitudes towards education and their performance was largely poor. The left behind learners had difficulties coping with both home chores and school requirements and hence felt like dropping out of school to follow their parents. To minimize the negative educational effects on children orphaned by the diaspora, it is recommended that there should be a reorientation of communities and schools on a new type of orphaned child due to parental emigration into the diaspor
Effect of seriphium plumusom meal inclusion in diets on productivity, carcass characteristics, methane production and emission by Nguni Steers
Get PDFThesis (Ph. D. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Rangeland contribute about 70% of the feed that sustain livestock throughout the year. However, due its degradation arising from among others woody plant encroachment, a shift of savanna and grassland biomes to closed woodlands reduces herbaceous productivity and economic benefits of rangelands to livestock. Woody plant encroachment (also called bush encroachment, bush thickening, shrub invasion) is a natural phenomenon characterised by the increase in woody plant density at the expense of the herbaceous layer. Bush thickening predominantly occurs in grasslands, savannas and woodlands and can cause biome shifts from open grasslands and savannas to closed woodlands. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Seriphium plumosm meal inclusion levels in diets on feed intake, growth performance and digestibility, methane emission and meat quality of Nguni steers. The trial was conducted at the Agricultural Research Council – Animal production, feedlot for 111 days (i.e. 21 days of acclimitazation followed by 90 days of actual data collection). Twenty-eight Nguni steers, aged 22-months, with a body weight of 300kg ± 10 kg, were assigned to four treatment diets containing 0, 10, 20 or 30% of S. plumosum meal, replicated four times with seven steers per replicate in a complete randomized design. The diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous and formulated to meet nutritional requirements of growing steers. Animal performance (average daily intake, feed conversion rate, growth performance) were measured, while digestibility trial was conducted following the total faecal collection method. Methane emission was measured using a laser methane detector technique and the bacterial population was investigated by DNA profiling using 16S rRNA gene with Illumina MiSeq. The mineral concentration (calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium) in rumen fluid were determined by Perkin Elmer Model Optima 7000 DV spectrometer. Carcass (dressing percentage, eye muscle area and back fat thickness) and meat quality traits (meat colour, sarcomere length, myofibril fragmentations lengths, collagen solubility, drip loss, water holding capacity, lipid and protein oxidation) were sampled and analysed following the commercial abattoir practices at the ARC – AP abattoir. A trained panel evaluated the sensory attributes (taste, aroma, flavour and texture properties) while tenderness was determined by using Warner Braztler blade. Data was analysed using General Linear Model (GLM) of SAS version 9.4. Seriphium plumosm meal inclusion levels in the diet did not (P>0.05) affect dry matter intake, body weight gains and feed conversion ratio. However, S. plumosum meal inclusion in the diet improved (P0.05) by the diets. It was concluded that S. plumosum meal inclusion levels used in the study reduced methane emission by Nguni steers, and did not cause any adverse effects on animal perfomance. However, further long-term studies are recommended to ascertain these findings
Integrating indigenous knowledge in a life science class : affordances and hindrances to grade 11 learners' understanding of fermentation
Get PDFThesis (M.Ed. (Life Sciences)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023This study explored the affordances and hindrances of grade 11 Life Sciences learners‟ understanding of fermentation when learning through the integration of indigenous knowledge. Situated Learning theory (SLT) was used as a theoretical framework of the study. The study employed the qualitative case study design treating a single case, which was presented by 42 grade 11 Life Sciences learners in a secondary school in Dimamo Circuit, Limpopo Province. Data was gathered through observations, unstructured interviews and document analysis. Categorical aggregation was employed to analyse data. The findings of this study revealed that the integration of indigenous knowledge afforded learners‟ understanding of fermentation. This was evident when the use of traditional beer, mageu and bread making were involved in the study to learn the topic of fermentation. The other factor that displayed an affordance was the use of terms used at home regarding fermentation. Lastly, the influence of caregivers acted as an agent to bring about an affordance to the understanding of fermentation. The following were identified as factors that reflected the hindered version towards the understanding of fermentation. These include reactions such as withdrawal and passiveness of learners during activities; learners not relating to the indigenous knowledge that was intended to be integrated; and lastly, religious beliefs hindered learners‟ understanding. This implies that there are affordances as much as there are hindrances to grade 11 Life Sciences learners‟ understanding of fermentation when learning through the integration of indigenous knowledge. It is recommended for future research that more studies of this nature should be done so that learning should be effective
A critical analysis of the enforcement of the right to access to adequate housing in South Africa
Get PDFThesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The South African constitution 1996 provides for the fundamental human rights that must be enjoyed by all within its borders. This includes section 26 of the Constitution, which gives everyone the right to adequate housing regardless of economic status. Thus, more emphasis is placed on previously marginalised population groups. However, due to corruption, high inequality gap between the poor and rich, and limited financial resources, many people do not have adequate housing. This study examined how well the South African government is upholding this right. It will go into more detail about the potential outcomes of the constitutional framework, the judicial system, and other relevant institutions. This study further analyses the effectiveness of the South African government in promoting, implementation and fulfilling the right to adequate housing. Different laws, policies, legislation, and initiatives by the government to fulfil and protect people’s right of access to adequate housing are reviewed and assessed. Also, the fulfilment of the adequate housing right is interrelated to other rights like water, electricity, food, education, and healthcare. The study examined the effectiveness of the execution of the need for affordable housing in South Africa
The effectiveness of a school-based support team in implementing integrated schools' health policy in a secondary school setting in Mankweng District, Limpopo Province
Get PDFThesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2023This qualitative case study investigated the effectiveness of a school-based support
team in implementing integrated schools’ health policy in a secondary school setting
in Mankweng District, Limpopo Province. The three objectives of this study were to
develop an in-depth understanding of the nature and role of school-based care and
support teams in the basic education sector in Mankweng District, Limpopo
Province, and to explore the experiences of schools-based care and support teams
in sharing and transferring knowledge in implementing the Integrated Schools Health
Policy. Furthermore, to assess how the insights revealed may inform the
development of best practice strategies for use by schools-based care and support
teams in implementing the Integrated Schools Health Policy in the rural basic
education sector in the Mankweng district.
A non-probability sample of 15 purposively selected participants was used including
five educators, five members of the school-based support teams and five provincial
education department officials to gather primary research data. The research data
was gathered through the use of face-to-face semi-structured interview. The
interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Using Tesch’s eight descriptive
data analysis technique, the gathered data was analysed. The key findings from the
study indicated that school-based support teams in the Mankweng District have not
been effective in implementing the integrated schools’ health policy to support
learners with reported and disclosed support needs. The recommendations for
improving the efficacy of the school-based support teams in the Mankweng District
have been provided
Prediction of South African crime rate using supervised machine learning techniques
Get PDFThesis (M.Sc. (E-Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Kaggle crime statistics for South Africa were used to create machine learning categorization models. Although the techniques used in the experiments that came before this one differed, the dataset that was used was. The accuracy of other previous studies conducted on different datasets from this one and compared during the experiment stage were utilized to identify the three classification algorithms employed in this study. The study chose to use the random forest, K-nearest neighbor, and Naive Bayes classifier models. The Python-based algorithms were trained on a pre-processed crime dataset. Data preparation and processing, missing value analysis, exploratory analysis, and finally model construction and evaluation made up the analytical process. The best model should be chosen in accordance with the results. In both approaches, RF is outperforming the other models. According to the study's evaluation of both metrics and logloss, RF appears to be doing better.The National e-Science Postgraduate Teaching and Training Platform (NEPTTP
Perceptions of social workers in Ekurhuleni regarding reunification and de-institutionalisation services rendered by Hope and Homes for Children South Africa
Get PDFThesis (M. A. (Social Work)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023The negative effects of institutionalization on children’s wellbeing and psychological
adjustment have been extensively explored throughout the world, particularly in
developing countries. Many children in residential childcare institutions, also known as
orphanages, experience various challenges. Institutionalisation affects the children’s
psychological adjustment. Hope and Homes for Children South Africa is the leading
catalyst in ensuring that children are not harmed in institutions but that they grow up
in families. Thus, the goal of this research was to explore the perceptions of social
workers in Ekurhuleni regarding reunification and de-institutionalisation services
rendered by Hope and Homes for Children South Africa. It is against this background
that the present study was conducted.
A qualitative research approach, and an exploratory research design was employed
as the method of collecting data throughout the study. Fifteen social workers within
Ekurhuleni were interviewed. The findings reported positive experiences and
perceptions regarding the reunification and de-institutionalisation services rendered
by Hope and Homes for Children South Africa. The researcher concluded that the
support and services rendered by Hope and Homes for Children South Africa is both
sufficient and effective and recommended that the organisation continue offering their
services to the various partner
Statistical modelling of injury mortality in Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces of South Africa
Get PDFThesis (M.Sc. (Statistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023Injury is a truly global health issue with massive societal and economic consequences.
In this study, Negative-Binomial integer-valued generalised autoregressive
conditional heteroscedasticity (NB-INGARCH) and autoregressive integrated
moving average (ARIMA) techniques have been compared and used to
build models for both Mpumalanga and Gauteng monthly injury mortality data.
The best model was chosen using the root mean square error (RMSE). The best
model is the one with the lowest RMSE value. The ARIMA(1, 1, 1) × (1, 1, 1)12
model had the lowest RMSE, making it the most suitable model for both MP
and GP monthly injury mortality data. The results identified ARIMA(1, 1, 1) ×
(1, 1, 1)12 as an appropriate model for predicting Mpumalanga and Gauteng
monthly injury mortality with the lowest root mean square error. ARIMA(1, 1, 1)×
(1, 1, 1)12 model is applied to forecast the injury mortality for the next two years.
Furthermore, the forecasted results of ARIMA(1, 1, 1) × (1, 1, 1)12 model show
a decrease of injury mortality in 2020 as compared to 2019. A multifaceted
approach to reduce injury mortality is needed. Regulating alcohol sales and
raising alcohol prices prevent all forms of violence, while improving drinking
environments prevent youth violence. A Graduated Driver Licensing system
could benefit the youth driver population to reduce transport accidents