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Incidence And Risk Factors For Surgical Site Infection Following Laparotomy At A South African Quaternary Hospital
Get PDFPublished ArticleBackground: A published report of surgical site infection (SSI) incidence and risk factors following laparotomy in a South African (SA) setting is lacking. This information would have important implications for SSI clinical prediction rules in SA patients undergoing this common surgical procedure. This study sought to determine the incidence and associated risk factors for SSI following laparotomy in a SA setting.
Methods: This was a retrospective chart review study of 439 patients who underwent laparotomy at a SA quaternary hospital over a 5-year period. Demographic information, comorbidities, medication use, and surgery-related variables were collected for each patient. The Centers for Disease Control definition of SSI was used in this study. The incidence of SSI was determined using conventional epidemiological methods. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for SSI.
Results: The incidence of SSI was 16.6% (CI: 13.4-20.4%). Risk factors for SSI included infectious indication for surgery (Odds Ratio, OR: 3.32, CI: 1.16-9.47; p=0.003), preoperative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory use (OR: 2.82, CI: 1.33-5.95; p=0.007), preoperative hypoalbuminemia (OR: 2.47, CI: 1.12-5.42; p=0.025), Bogota bag use (OR: 2.23, CI: 1.05-4.74; p=0.036), and perioperative blood transfusion (OR: 2.51, CI: 1.33-4.75; p=0.004).
Conclusion: The incidence of SSI in SA patients undergoing laparotomy is higher than that reported for mixed surgical populations. Several risk factors for SSI were identified. The prognostic relevance of these risk factors, and the reduction in SSI risk when these factors are addressed requires further investigation
Caring for the Elderly – A Care Ethics Approach
Get PDFPublished ArticleThis paper is a contribution intended to introduce the debate on the
church’s role and responsibility in contributing to the healthcare of
the elderly in view of the reality of a growing elderly community. This
paper will focus on the contribution that the church can make towards
the healthcare of elderly people. The argument is presented that this
contribution can be made through care ethics. Care ethics is defined as
the ethics of everyday care. Its focus is on addressing ethical matters in
practice.
This study outlines the reality of an increasing community of the elderly
and the impact that this will have on society, and in particular, on
healthcare. From research it is evident that elderly people want to be
guided through this last stage of their lives. Even if there is no desire to
be assisted in the ending of life, this is not a topic that should be ignored.
An argument has been presented that the church has a role to play in
the healthcare of the elderly, even though, as confirmed by South African
e-publication data bases, this role has not been the focus of research.
The constructive role that religion, faith, spirituality and theology can play
in healthcare is further highlighted. The contributions by Geybels and
Van Stichel, as well as Schotsmans and Burggraeve, are used to inform
the church’s role in healthcare. The outcome of the research defines
four pointers: (a) The core of healthcare is caring for vulnerable people. (b) Elderly people are defined by their circumstances. (c) Relationship
building between the elderly and the care-givers is through care. (d) Care
is more than merely attending to the physical needs of the other
Development of Semantics-Based Distributed Middleware for Heterogeneous Data Integration and its Application for Drought
Get PDFThesisDrought is a complex environmental phenomenon that affects millions of people and communities all over the globe and is too elusive to be accurately predicted. This is mostly due to the scalability and variability of the web of environmental parameters that directly/indirectly causes the onset of different categories of drought. Since the dawn of man, efforts have been made to uniquely understand the natural indicators that provide signs of likely environmental events. These indicators/signs in the form of indigenous knowledge system have been used for generations. Also, since the dawn of modern science, different drought prediction and forecasting models/indices have been developed which usually incorporate data from sparsely located weather stations in their computation, producing less accurate results – due to lack of the desired scalability in the input datasets.
The intricate complexity of drought has, however, always been a major stumbling block for accurate drought prediction and forecasting systems. Recently, scientists in the field of ethnoecology, agriculture and environmental monitoring have been discussing the integration of indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge for a more accurate environmental forecasting system in order to incorporate diverse environmental information for a reliable drought forecast. Hence, in this research, the core objective is the development of a semantics-based data integration middleware that encompasses and integrates heterogeneous data models of local indigenous knowledge and sensor data towards an accurate drought forecasting system for the study areas of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and Mbeere District of Kenya.
For the study areas, the local indigenous knowledge on drought gathered from the domain experts and local elderly farmers, is transformed into rules to be used for performing deductive inference in conjunction with sensors data for determining the onset of drought through an automated inference generation module of the middleware. The semantic middleware incorporates, inter alia, a distributed architecture that consists of a streaming data processing engine based on Apache Kafka for real-time stream processing; a rule-based reasoning module; an ontology module for semantic representation of the knowledge bases. The plethora of sub-systems in the semantic middleware produce a service(s) as a combined output – in the form of drought forecast advisory information (DFAI). The DFAI as an output of the semantic middleware is disseminated across multiple channels for utilisation by policy-makers to develop mitigation strategies to combat the effect of drought and their drought-related decision-making processes
Reliability and Equity of Subject Delivery Competencies: Perspectives of Pre-Service Teachers
Get PDFPublished ArticleThis study examined the reliability and equity of assessors of subject delivery competences as perceived by pre-service
teachers The participants were 310 final year student teachers from a college in Zimbabwe They responded to a survey on
their perceptions of assessor reliability and fairness of appraisal across the school curriculum The assessors were college
lecturers, classroom mentors, teachers-in-charge, and school heads (principals) Data were analysed using descriptive
statistics, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the Wald-Wolfowitz Runs Results indicated a bias by assessors towards math and
language lessons compared to the social and environmental science subjects Therefore, reliability and equity were nested
within assessor categories Specifically, college lecturers were more likely to assess for subject delivery competencies in
subjects for examination by the national examination council compared to school personnel/assessors
Disrespecting People With Working Conditions In South Africa
Get PDFPublished ArticleThe working conditions of people mostly play second fiddle to productivity and profitability in construction. Anecdotal
and empirical construction reports, mostly in developing countries such as South Africa, suggest inappropriate social
interactions on project sites. The awkward social interactions manifest through lack of respect for workers, who are
regarded as people with limited rational abilities. Using three case studies from South Africa as an illustration for the
discourse, this paper argues that on-site working conditions are critical to the well-being of people at the front line of
construction work. For example, poor working conditions are indicative of a disrespectful attitude towards the people
on a site. Further, both poor working conditions and lack of respect for people (RFP) constitute a significantly negative
influence on the general well-being of workers and their managers. This paper thus argues that it is time to translate
the notion of RFP into actual practice in the interest of employees and employers in the industry
Investigating of the Effect of Scan Vector Length on Residual Stresses in Selective Laser Melting of Maraging Steel 300
Get PDFPublished ArticleSelective laser melting scanning strategies influence the quality characteristics of parts, such as form accuracy and residual stresses. Previous research on the effect of laser scanning strategy parameters (such as scan vector length) demonstrates that residual stresses decrease with scan vector length reduction. However, most of these studies overlook the associated porosity and how this can contribute to stress relief. In this work, three scan vector lengths were compared to evaluate their impact on residual stresses, achievable part density, and scanning time. Reducing the scan vector length generally lowers residual stresses magnitudes, but introduces porosity as a result of localised overheating
Occurrence of Rhinoceros in the Free State, South Africa: A Reassessment
Get PDFPublished ArticleThe last rhinoceros in the Orange Free State is believed to have been shot at Renosterkop near Kroonstad
in 1842. This is one of nine farms in the present-day Free State Province with rhenoster (rhinoceros in
Afrikaans) as a prefix in their names. These place names, and the petroglyph of a rhinoceros made by
indigenous people on boulders near Rhenosterkop, indicate the occurrence of rhinos in the area in late
historical times. We examined historical photographs, maps and literature to gain a retrospective view of the
ecology. We conclude that the habitat could have supported small numbers of white rhinos (Ceratotherium
simum), but that there was probably insufficient browsing vegetation for the survival of black rhinoceros
(Diceros bicornis) at these sites. Previous evidence of fossilized black rhino skulls from the province was
discounted when these were found to be those of a hippopotamus and a predator. The reintroduction of
rhinos to the Province began in 1962 when a white rhino was relocated from Natal Province to the Willem
Pretorius Game Reserve. Since then, rhino numbers have increased significantly, and there are currently 669
white rhinos and 11 black rhinos on state and private land in Free State Province
A Critique of the Interface Between Tourism, Sustainable Development and Sustainable Tourism in Community-Based Tourism Theory
Get PDFPublished ArticleGiven the fact that tourism is becoming the largest single sector of world trade, which has potential to
substantially contribute to sustainable development from local to global scale. The need to develop
tourism sustainably also becomes a primary concern. Human communities represent both a primary
resource upon which tourism depends, and their existence in a particular place at a particular time may
be used to justify the development of tourism itself. Tourism is supposed to be developmental in nature
benefiting the local community by improving the Quality-of-Life and the standard of living for locals and
local commerce. Community-based tourism has emerged as means to ensure that the host community
benefit from the tourism industry. It is therefore imperative to understand that the community around
tourism development is important and has to be involved in the development from the initial planning of
the development as the sole beneficiaries of the development. Sustaining the community/particular
communities has therefore become an essential element of sustainable tourism. The rationale of
sustainable tourism development usually rests on the assurance of renewable economic, social and
cultural benefits to the community and its environment. The concepts discussed in this paper show that
they have principles that are similar to each other and are intended to deliver the same goals to benefit
all stakeholders involved. If implemented well they should be able to preserve the environment, ensure
that the sociocultural framework of the community is maintained, and also improves the living standards
of the host communities. All these concepts have to fulfil the criteria that make it economically sensible
as well as socially, culturally and ecologically compatible with the communities in which the
development takes place
Workplace Spirituality and the Ethical Behaviour of Project Managers
Get PDFPublished ArticleOrientation: Despite increased interest in the topic of ethical behaviour, the unethical
behaviour of individuals in various professions is increasing. In order to support professional
bodies in their quest to promote ethical behaviour of professionals, one needs to consider what
organisations can do to promote ethical conduct.
Research purpose: The purpose of this research study was to investigate whether organisations
that have spiritual values, that is, workplace spirituality, have a significant impact on the
ethical behaviour of project managers.
Motivation for the study: Project management as a profession has always been concerned
about quality and ethics, but ethical behaviour seems to be on the increase rather than on the
decrease. Therefore, it is necessary to consider factors within the organisational context that
can promote ethical behaviour.
Research approach/design and method: The study was quantitative in nature, and data were
collected from individuals studying towards a project management qualification. A descriptive
case study design was used and data were collected once-off by means of a survey.
Main findings: The findings of the study indicated that workplace spirituality influenced
ethical behaviour to some extent, as it promotes responsibility and fairness, which are key
values of the Project Management Institute.
Practical/managerial implications: If organisations adopt spiritual values and promote a
spirituality-based culture, ethical behaviour could be encouraged. However, workplace
spirituality should not be seen as a quick fix to reduce unethical behaviour, and unless there is
honest commitment by organisational leaders to transform organisations into humanised and
spirituality-based workplaces, not much will be achieved in terms of promoting ethical behaviour.
Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to the literature regarding ethical behaviour
and workplace spirituality
Awareness of Porcine Helminthiasis and the Prevalent Farm Management Operations Among Smallholder Pig Farmers in the Free State
Get PDFPublished ArticlePorcine helminthiasis and its zoonotic tendencies can lead to considerable loss of productivity and food security, especially in subsistence farming systems. Using open- and closed-ended questionnaires, this study was designed to ascertain the level of awareness of smallholder pig farmers in the selected districts of the Free State Province of South Africa to porcine helminthiasis and to gather information on the various pre- and post-slaughter practices prevalent in these areas. Results show that intestinal helminths emerged as the most common herd health problem (65.2%). There was a high rate of ignorance towards anthelmintic resistance and zoonoses among farmers. Similarly, 53.3% of respondents described the cost of anthelmintics as “expensive”. A high positive correlation (P<0.01) between some farming practices exist. Furthermore, 73.9% of respondents do not slaughter their pigs in an abattoir due to the high cost of slaughter and transportation, long distances to the abattoir, and small scale of production. Moreover, 50.0% of the farmers reported that their pig production enterprise was not profitable or viable. The information from this study may be used as baseline knowledge to help formulate the development of extension programmes for sustainable pig rearing and pork production, especially among smallholder farmers