Background: The Including Disability in Education in Africa (IDEA) Research Unit at the University of Cape Town in South Africa was established in 2020 and focused on carrying out research studies in the field of disability and education in Africa and beyond.
Objectives: The objective of this article was to introduce the research unit and highlight its vision, mission and objectives.
Method: A general review of the research unit.
In this study, we present a correlation between δO values of carbonate in tooth enamel samples from the modern Brazilian population and the available δO data for the meteoric water from the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP). Tooth enamel from 119 Brazilian individuals from five different regions of the country were analyzed. The δO isoscape obtained is in good agreement with the isoscape based on regional meteoric and drinking water.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLoss-of-function mutations in the DNA demethylase TET2 are associated with the dysregulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and arise in approximately 10% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). mutations coexist with other mutations in AML, including mutations, which can indicate a particularly poor prognosis. Ascorbate can function as an epigenetic therapeutic in pathological contexts involving heterozygous mutations by restoring activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the South African context, children with severe to profound intellectual disabilities are not accommodated in the compulsory education system, although steps are being taken in this direction in acknowledgement of their right to education. Critical to this development is the training of educators and caregivers. There is a paucity of studies from South Africa addressing the training of educators and caregivers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Parents play a critical role in the formal education of their children. However, a limited body of scientific knowledge exists on fathers' involvement in the formal education of their children with disabilities, particularly in Global South settings. This study sought to understand how father involvement is constructed in the formal education of learners with intellectual disabilities in an African context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfr J Disabil
December 2020
Background: South Africa has undertaken the implementation of inclusive education as a vehicle for achieving enhanced educational outcomes and equity. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an instructional design framework that takes into account the wide range of variations in skills and abilities that exist across all learners, and provides a research-based set of principles and guidelines for inclusive curriculum development and delivery.
Objectives: To locate UDL within the specific inclusive education policy context of South Africa and consider how this approach can support policy implementation.
Background: Families struggle to support family members with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), especially in low resourced settings where formal services may not be available.
Method: The adapted Family Community Participation survey, measuring perceptions of community participation, was administered to 67 primary caregivers of children with PIMD in Cape Town by community-based rehabilitation workers.
Results: Families were most satisfied going to religious activities and getting together with family and friends.
The PD-1-targeting IgG antibody pembrolizumab has significant anti-tumor activity in a proportion of stage IV melanoma patients. A subset of patients develop anti-drug antibodies (ADA) which can form immune complexes (IC) with pembrolizumab. Although IC can induce powerful, Fc-mediated, immune-regulatory effects, their functional impact during pembrolizumab treatment is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdalimumab is a TNF specific monoclonal widely used therapeutically. Monitoring adalimumab levels is important for guiding treatment strategies and is predominantly performed using an ELISA. The homogeneous mobility shift assay (HMSA) has many advantages over an ELISA for adalimumab monitoring but current HMSA methodologies do not discriminate between adalimumab and other TNF specific monoclonals such as infliximab.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAround the world, institutions of higher education are recognising their responsibilities to achieve the full inclusion of individuals with differing needs and/or disabilities. The frameworks of universal design (UD) and universal design for learning (UDL) offer unique ways to build inclusiveness in our systems. The role of UD and UDL to strengthen successful inclusion of persons with differing needs in higher education programmes is presented from literature, inclusive of national and international policies and resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScope: Blueberry polyphenols are thought to confer cardiovascular health benefits, but have limited bioavailability. They undergo extensive metabolism and their phenolic acid metabolites are likely to be the mediators of bioactivity. The effect of blueberry-derived phenolic acids on one aspect of inflammation, monocyte adhesion to vascular endothelial cells, is investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Khor Al-Adaid sabkha in Qatar is among the rare extreme environments on Earth where it is possible to study the formation of dolomite-a carbonate mineral whose origin remains unclear and has been hypothetically linked to microbial activity. By combining geochemical measurements with microbiological analysis, we have investigated the microbial mats colonizing the intertidal areas of sabhka. The main aim of this study was to identify communities and conditions that are favorable for dolomite formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The measurement of anti-drug antibody (ADA) levels in adalimumab (ADAL)-treated and infliximab (IFX)-treated patients is critical for guiding therapeutic strategies. The homogeneous mobility shift assay (HMSA) and affinity capture elution (ACE) assay provide effective, drug-tolerant formats for measuring total ADA levels. However, their ability to discriminate between ADA from samples with or without neutralizing capacity is unclear and therefore was analyzed in this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The impact of changes in novel agent (NA) usage on the survival of multiple myeloma (MM) patients in real-world hospital settings is unclear. In New Zealand (NZ) in 2011, frontline bortezomib became available and thalidomide availability was expanded.
Aim: This retrospective study analyses the impact these change had on the survival of MM patients treated at a NZ hospital.
Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is the most prevalent disability in the world. People with intellectual disability (PWID) frequently experience extreme violations of numerous human rights. Despite greater prevalence in South Africa than in high-income countries, most ID research currently comes from the Global North.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough most people with intellectual disability remain under the lifelong care and support of their families, there is a hiatus in research that explores the sexuality of people with intellectual disability within the family setting. Little is known about how the responses of family caregivers align with a human rights approach to the sexuality of people with intellectual disability, particularly in the South African context. This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore how 25 South African family caregivers responded to the sexuality of their young adults with intellectual disability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability took the South African Government to court in 2010 on its failure to implement the right to education for Children with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability. Subsequently, multidisciplinary teams were appointed by the Western Cape Education Department to deliver services to the Special Care Centres (SCCs). Initially, minimal information was available on this population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe modulation of T cell responses by Helicobacter pylori is thought to potentiate both H. pylori persistence and development of gastric pathologies including cancer. Release of outer membrane vesicles (OMV) by H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is associated with T cell dysfunction. Activated CLL cells are found within the lymphoid tumor micro-environment and overcoming immuno-suppression induced by these cells may improve anti-CLL immune responses. However, the mechanisms by which activated CLL cells inhibit T cell responses, and reagents targeting such mechanisms have not been identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep disorders and occupational hazards, injuries, and illnesses impact an individual's overall health. In the United States, substantial racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities exist in sleep and occupational health. Primary care physicians working in underserved communities should be aware of this disparity and target these higher-risk populations for focused evaluation and intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A subset of presenting cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (CSCC) is high risk with respect to their high rates of recurrence, metastasis and patient death. The identification of such high risk CSCC is problematic. Neutrophil and granulocytic myeloid derived suppressor cell (G-MDSC) numbers are elevated in a number of cancers, but their association with current markers of high risk tumors in the setting of CSCC is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Appl Res Intellect Disabil
November 2016
Background: Internationally adults with intellectual disability are largely cared for by their families, especially in low- to middle-income countries (LAMIC). Compared to high-income countries, little is known about their experiences in LAMIC such as South Africa.
Methods: Focus group discussions were carried out with 37 family caregivers (FCGs) in the Cape Town metropole.