Bovine cysticercosis epidemiology and the economic impact of the triceps brachii incision in a South African export abattoir.

Taenia saginata is a zoonotic tapeworm of humans with bovines as its intermediate host (bovine cysticercosis). Traditional meat inspection is the main measure to identify the larval stage in carcasses and prevent human infection, but has a notoriously low sensitivity, especially in low prevalence settings. The legislation in multiple African countries mandates an incision in both triceps brachii muscles to detect the parasite as part of the normal post-mortem inspection, but this has an economic cost and is not universally mandated in other countries.

"On the trail of the mercy bullet": Pain, scientific showmanship, and the early history of animal tranquilizing, c. 1912-1932.

In June 1928, Captain Barnett W. Harris, an amateur naturalist from Indiana, arrived in Zululand to experiment on wild animals with his invention - the mercy bullet. This "bullet"consisted of a hypodermic needle filled with anesthetic drugs that could render an animal unconscious - an early model of what is now known as the tranquilizer gun.

Maximising Societal Benefit From the Control of Neglected Zoonoses: Identifying Synergies and Trade-Offs in the Control of .

Interventions to control or eradicate neglected zoonoses are generally paid for through the public purse and when these interventions focus on the animal hosts, they are often expected to be performed and financed through the state veterinary service. The benefits of control, however, accrue across the human, animal, and environmental spaces and enhance both public and private interests. Additionally, disease control interventions do not take place in a vacuum and the indirect impacts of our actions should also be considered if the societal benefit of interventions is to be maximised.

Improving Healthcare Worker Resilience and Well-Being During COVID-19 Using a Self-Directed E-Learning Intervention.

High rates of burnout, depression, anxiety, and insomnia in healthcare workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported globally. Responding to the crisis, the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) developed an e-learning course to support healthcare worker well-being and resilience. A self-paced, asynchronous learning model was used as the training intervention.

Can a brief training intervention help improve mental health service delivery in South Africa?

Background: South Africa faces a number of significant challenges apropos mental health service delivery, including a large treatment gap, a high rate of readmission, over-burdened specialist tertiary facilities, and slow integration of mental health into general health services. The South African National Mental Health Education Programme implemented between February 2019 and December 2019, aimed to upskill health workers to diagnose and manage mental disorders at primary and secondary levels of care.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the evolution of training participants' self-reported competency in mental health care and the number of referrals made to higher levels of care as well as to reflect on the possible broader effects of the training.

Hippocampal monoamine changes in the Flinders sensitive line rat: A case for the possible use of selective α-AR-antagonists in stress and anxiety disorders in companion animals.

Non-selective α-adrenoreceptor (AR) stimulation delivers favourable sedative, analgesic, muscle relaxant and anxiolytic actions in companion animals, but is associated with cardiovascular and respiratory side effects. Anxiety conditions underscore monoamine disturbances amenable to α-AR modulation. We investigated sub-chronic (14 day s.

Work-related Transitions Following Hand Injury: Occupational Therapy Scoping Review.

Background.: Occupational therapists who facilitate work-related transitions after hand injury require robust evidence to inform practice.

Purpose.

Factors associated with team sport participation in South African children.

The study purpose was to determine if sex, anthropometry, age or birth period are associated with team sport participation in children aged 9-11 years. Data from the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment were used (n=550, 59% girls). Anthropometric measurements included height, body mass, waist circumference, mid-upper arm circumference and body fat percentage.

Strategies occupational therapists employ to facilitate work-related transitions for persons with hand injuries: a study protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Hands make it possible to be employable and productive, to communicate non-verbally and to perform fine motor tasks required in day-to-day activities. Sustaining a hand injury can be detrimental to function including the ability to work. As the literature on work-related transitions is scattered across a range of journals, it is difficult to get a sense of how much literature there is, what is known and where the gaps lie.

Determinants of late antenatal care presentation in rural and peri-urban communities in South Africa: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate and compare determinates for delayed first presentation to antenatal care (ANC) services.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst pregnant women attending their first ANC visit in rural Capricorn District and peri-urban Tlokwe sub-district communities in South Africa. Data collection included questionnaires and medical record abstraction.

Estimating the magnitude of pulmonary tuberculosis patients missed by primary health care clinics in South Africa.

Setting: The present study was conducted at 20 randomly selected primary health clinics across Buffalo City Metropolitan Health District, a high TB burden district in South Africa.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of TB patients missed by primary health clinics.

Design: We enrolled 1255 TB-symptomatic individuals exiting primary health clinics between March and December 2015.

Therapeutic Potential of Selectively Targeting the α-Adrenoceptor in Cognition, Depression, and Schizophrenia-New Developments and Future Perspective.

α- and α-adrenoceptors (ARs) are the primary α-AR subtypes involved in central nervous system (CNS) function. These receptors are implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric illness, particularly those associated with affective, psychotic, and cognitive symptoms. Indeed, non-selective α-AR blockade is proposed to contribute toward antidepressant (e.

Results From South Africa's 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.

Background: We present results of the 2016 Healthy Active Kids South Africa (HAKSA) Report Card on the current status of physical activity (PA) and nutrition in South African youth. The context in which we interpret the findings is that participation in PA is a fundamental human right, along with the right to "attainment of the highest standard of health."

Methods: The HAKSA 2016 Writing Group was comprised of 33 authorities in physical education, exercise science, nutrition, public health, and journalism.

The α2C-adrenoceptor antagonist, ORM-10921, exerts antidepressant-like effects in the Flinders Sensitive Line rat.

Depression involves deficits in monoaminergic neurotransmission. Differential roles for α2A, B and C subtypes of the α2-adrenoceptor (AR) are evident, with selective α2C-AR antagonists purported to have antidepressant and procognitive properties. However, this has not been demonstrated in a genetic animal model of depression.

Risk factors for tuberculosis smear non-conversion in Eden district, Western Cape, South Africa, 2007-2013: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major global health problem. While progress has been made to improve TB cure rates, South Africa's 76 % smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) case cure rate remains below the WHO target of 85 %. We report on the trends of TB smear non-conversion and their predictors at the end of an intensive phase of treatment, and how this impacted on treatment outcomes of smear-positive PTB cases in Eden District, Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Adherence to Concurrent Tuberculosis Treatment and Antiretroviral Treatment among Co-Infected Persons in South Africa, 2008-2010.

Background: Adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment and antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces morbidity and mortality among persons co-infected with TB/HIV. We measured adherence and determined factors associated with non-adherence to concurrent TB treatment and ART among co-infected persons in two provinces in South Africa.

Methods: A convenience sample of 35 clinics providing integrated TB/HIV care was included due to financial and logistic considerations.

The α2C-adrenoceptor antagonist, ORM-10921, has antipsychotic-like effects in social isolation reared rats and bolsters the response to haloperidol.

Early studies suggest that selective α2C-adrenoceptor (AR)-antagonism has anti-psychotic-like and pro-cognitive properties. However, this has not been demonstrated in an animal model of schizophrenia with a neurodevelopmental construct. The beneficial effects of clozapine in refractory schizophrenia and associated cognitive deficits have, among others, been associated with its α2C-AR modulating activity.

Perceived and objective neighborhood support for outside of school physical activity in South African children.

Background: The neighborhood environment has the potential to influence children's participation in physical activity. However, children's outdoor play is controlled by parents to a great extent. This study aimed to investigate whether parents' perceptions of the neighborhood environment and the objectively measured neighborhood environment were associated with children's moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) outside of school hours; and to determine if these perceptions and objective measures of the neighborhood environment differ between high and low socio-economic status (SES) groups.

Impact of a South African School-based Intervention, HealthKick, on Fitness Correlates.

Objectives: To assess the impact of a whole-of-school health promotion program targeting healthy eating and physical activity on physical fitness levels, and physical activity-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior of primary school children.

Methods: Sixteen primary schools were randomly assigned as intervention (N = 8) and control (N = 8) schools. A selection of tests from the Eurofit testing battery was used to assess changes in fitness levels over the 3 years of the intervention.

Factors Influencing Break-Time Physical Activity of South African Primary School Learners From Low-Income Communities.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess factors that influence physical activity (PA) levels during break-times in South African primary school children.

Methods: The System for Observing Play and Leisure Activities in Youth (SOPLAY) was used to observe PA levels during break-times at low-income schools (4 intervention, 4 control). The intervention was based on action-planning including: school environment, curriculum, and family involvement.

The influence of non-linear frequency compression on the perception of music by adults with a moderate to sever hearing loss: subjective impressions.

Objective: To date, the main direction in frequency-lowering hearing aid studies has been in relation to speech perception abilities. With improvements in hearing aid technology, interest in musical perception as a dimension that could improve hearing aid users' quality of life has grown. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of non-linear frequency compression (NFC) on hearing aid users' subjective impressions of listening to music.

Completeness and concordance of TB and HIV surveillance systems for TB-HIV co-infected patients in South Africa.

Setting: South Africa currently maintains separate surveillance systems for tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There are future plans for integration of these systems; however, the consistency of information across the existing systems has not previously been assessed.

Objective: To determine the completeness and concordance of data in the TB and HIV surveillance systems for TB-HIV co-infected patients.

Development of a music perception test for adult hearing-aid users.

The purpose of this research was twofold: firstly, to develop a music perception test (MPT) for hearing-aid users, and secondly, to evaluate the influence of non-linear frequency compression (NFC) on music perception with the use of the self-compiled test. This article focuses on the description of the development and validation of the MPT. To date, the main direction in frequency-lowering hearing-aid studies has been in relation to speech perception abilities.