Mapping Evidence on Community-Based Clinical Education Models for Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Community-based clinical training has been advocated as an excellent approach to transformation in clinical education. Clinical education for undergraduate physiotherapy students is a hands-on practical experience that aims to provide a student with the skills necessary to enable them to be fit to practice independently. However, in many countries, including South Africa, this training has been conducted only in large urban academic hospitals.

Comparative study of clinical methods versus ultrasound methods for accurate gestational age determination in different trimesters of pregnancy, Ndop District Hospital, North West region, Cameroon.

Introduction: gestational age is the estimated age of gestation from a fetus during its development and this is very important for the mother who wants to know when to expect the birth of her baby and for the health care provider so they can chose the time at which to perform various assessment. However, from the information outlined in this research, it can be seen that last menstrual period (LMP) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are used to assess gestational age. While GSD, CRL, BPD, HC, AC and FL are biometric parameters that can be measured on a fetus in order to estimate gestational age.

Implementing combined WHO mhGAP and adapted group interpersonal psychotherapy to address depression and mental health needs of pregnant adolescents in Kenyan primary health care settings (INSPIRE): a study protocol for pilot feasibility trial of the integrated intervention in LMIC settings.

Background: Addressing adolescent pregnancies associated health burden demands new ways of organizing maternal and child mental health services to meet multiple needs of this group. There is a need to strengthen integration of sustainable evidence-based mental health interventions in primary health care settings for pregnant adolescents. The proposed study is guided by implementation science frameworks with key objective of implementing a pilot trial testing a full IPT-G version along with IPT-G mini version under the mhGAP/IPT-G service framework and to study feasibility of the integrated mhGAP/IPT-G adolescent peripartum depression care delivery model and estimate if a low cost and compressed version of IPT-G intervention would result in similar size of effect on mental health and family functioning as the Full IPT-G.

Prevalence and aetiology of moderate and severe thrombocytopenia in a tertiary and quaternary centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

Background: Thrombocytopenia is a common haematological disorder, characterised by platelet counts below 150 × 10/L. The aetiology of thrombocytopenia is multifactorial; notably, in a misdiagnosis this condition may be due to pre-analytical laboratory artefacts. Knowledge about the common aetiology of thrombocytopenia will assist clinicians in decision-making and interpretation of laboratory tests and this may lead to prompt, adequate patient management and cost-saving measures.

The association between resilience and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The exploration of resilience in schizophrenia is recent and poorly understood. Literature suggests that exploration of the construct will help with the understanding of not only risk but also protective factors in individuals living with psychosis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis with the primary aim of synthesizing the evidence of an existing relationship between resilience and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD).

Maternal deaths due to eclampsia in teenagers: Lessons from assessment of maternal deaths in South Africa.

Background: Eclampsia remains a major cause of maternal mortality, particularly in teenage pregnancies. Healthcare professionals providing antenatal must regard teenagers as a high risk group for the pre-eclampsia-eclampsia syndrome.

Setting: Data extracted from the South African Saving Mothers Report: 2014-2016.

Consequences of male partner engagement policies on HIV care-seeking in three African countries: Findings from the SHAPE UTT study.

We explored how strategies to promote male partner engagement influenced HIV care-seeking among men and women living with HIV. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 health workers, 66 female service users and 10 male partners in Ifakara (Tanzania), Karonga (Malawi) and uMkhanyakude (South Africa) to elicit experiences of offering, providing or receiving HIV care in the context of antenatal care. Data were coded inductively and analysed thematically.

Preliminary Results with the Shape Memory Nail: A Self-contained Distal Locking Mechanism for Diaphyseal Femur Fractures.

Unlabelled: Distal interlocking of intramedullary nails can be challenging if not done regularly and can be associated with a prolonged operating time and excessive radiation exposure. Multiple techniques have been developed to overcome these problems but all still rely on conventional distal locking methods. Between December 2011 and March 2013, 18 patients with diaphyseal femur fractures were treated with the shape memory nail (Orthofix, Verona, Italy).

Predictors of health workers' knowledge about artesunate-based severe malaria treatment recommendations in government and faith-based hospitals in Kenya.

Background: Health workers' knowledge deficiencies about artesunate-based severe malaria treatment recommendations have been reported. However, predictors of the treatment knowledge have not been examined. In this paper, predictors of artesunate-based treatment knowledge among inpatient health workers in two hospital sectors in Kenya are reported.

Testing the regulatory framework in South Africa - a single-blind randomized pilot trial of commercial probiotic supplementation to standard therapy in women with bacterial vaginosis.

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) increases HIV risk and adverse reproductive outcomes. Standard-of-care (SOC) for BV are antibiotics; however, cure rates are low. Probiotics for vaginal health may be useful in improving cure and recurrence although the regulatory framework governing probiotics and the conduct of randomized clinical trials to evaluate these has not been established in South Africa.

Risk factors for alcohol and drug misuse amongst young women in informal settlements in Durban, South Africa.

Alcohol and drug misuse (ADM) pose a significant disease burden globally. Yet, there remains a gap in understanding risk factors associated with women's ADM, particularly those in marginalised settings. We investigated risk factors associated with ADM amongst young women in urban informal settlements in South Africa.

The Role of Neutrophils and Their Extracellular Traps in the Synergy of Pre-eclampsia and HIV Infection.

Purpose Of The Review: In our innate immune system, neutrophils are the first cells to sense signals of infection and to proceed to kill the invading pathogen. This is mediated by their production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETS) to entrap pathogenic micro-organisms, preventing their amplification and dissemination. Pre-eclampsia (PE) is the leading cause of global maternal mortality, yet to date, there is no cure nor a gold-standard diagnostic strategy.

Use of vital signs in predicting surgical intervention in a South African population: A cross-sectional study.

Background: While vital signs are widely obtained for trauma patients around the world, the association of these signs with surgical intervention has yet to be defined. Early detection of trauma patients requiring surgery is essential to timely intervention and reduction of morbidity and mortality.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the association of vital signs with surgical intervention in a South African patient population.

Bat coronavirus phylogeography in the Western Indian Ocean.

Bats provide key ecosystem services such as crop pest regulation, pollination, seed dispersal, and soil fertilization. Bats are also major hosts for biological agents responsible for zoonoses, such as coronaviruses (CoVs). The islands of the Western Indian Ocean are identified as a major biodiversity hotspot, with more than 50 bat species.

A case report on the effect of micrografting in the healing of chronic and complex burn wounds.

Different approaches can be used to repair extensive burn injury and chronic wounds, including full and split thickness skin grafts, temporising matrices and scaffolds, and composite cultured skin products. The use of non-cultured or autologous skin cells suspension in chronic burn is well established, but despite this no significant literature has been realized. The Rigenera micrografting technology is an innovative technique allowing to obtain a suspension of autologous micrografts that can be applied over the wounds in a combined methodology specifically developed and based on the both injections of the wound edges and spraying over the wound bed of this suspension.

Cardiac Doppler in poorly controlled gestational diabetics and its link to markers of intra-uterine hypoxia and adverse outcome.

The aim of the study was to investigate foetal cardiac function using the modified myocardial performance index (Mod-MPI) in poorly controlled gestational diabetics and its link with intrauterine markers for hypoxia and to an adverse outcome. In a prospective, cross sectional study, 44 consecutive women with severe or poorly controlled gestational diabetic pregnancies in their third trimester on insulin therapy were recruited and matched with 44 women with normal pregnancies which served as the control group. Using Doppler echocardiography the foetal Mod-MPI was calculated.

An overview of pneumonia for the African generalist practitioner.

Introduction: Pneumocystis jirovecii is the causative organism of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in humans, which is more common among immunocompromised patients. Classically patients present with fever, non-productive cough, and dyspnoea. In the HIV-infected individuals the symptoms may be subtle at first, but gradually progress over several weeks.

Survey on worldwide trauma team activation requirement.

Purpose: Trauma team activation (TTA) is thought to be essential for advanced and specialized care of very severely injured patients. However, non-specific TTA criteria may result in overtriage that consumes valuable resources or endanger patients in need of TTA secondary to undertriage. Consequently, criterion standard definitions to calculate the accuracy of the various TTA protocols are required for research and quality assurance purposes.

The search for a simple injury score to reliably discriminate the risk of in-hospital mortality in South Africa.

Background: The Injury Severity Score and Trauma and Injury Severity Score are used commonly to quantify the severity of injury, but they require comprehensive data collection that is impractical in many low- and middle-income countries . We sought to develop an injury score that is more feasible to implement in low- and middle-income countries with discrimination similar to the Injury Severity Score and the Trauma and Injury Severity Score.

Methods: Clinical data from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were used to compare the discrimination of the Injury Severity Score and the Trauma and Injury Severity Score with that of the 5, simple injury scores that rely primarily on physiologic data: Revised Trauma Score for Triage, "Mechanism, Glasgow Coma Scale, Age, Pressure" Score, Kampala Trauma Score, modified Kampala Trauma Score, and "Reversed Shock Index Multiplied by Glasgow Coma Scale" Score.

PCSK9 Inhibitors: From Nature's Lessons to Clinical Utility.

Background: Proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors are a novel class of non-statin lipid lowering therapy that reduce LDL-cholesterol by 50 - 60%. PCSK9 inhibitors decrease LDL-cholesterol by preventing intracellular degradation of LDL receptors; subsequently, a greater number of LDL-receptors are available on the cell surface to extract circulating LDL.

Objective: To describe the origins of PCSK9 inhibitors and their current use in clinical practice.

Sterically Stabilised Polymeric Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Improve Doxorubicin Efficiency: Tailored Cancer Therapy.

The fruition, commercialisation and clinical application combining nano-engineering, nanomedicine and material science for utilisation in drug delivery is becoming a reality. The successful integration of nanomaterial in nanotherapeutics requires their critical development to ensure physiological and biological compatibility. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are attractive nanocarriers due to their biodegradable, biocompatible, and relative malleable porous frameworks that can be functionalized for enhanced targeting and delivery in a variety of disease models.