Activity

articipation may be enhanced through ensuring clear understanding of what biospecimen donation entails and by directly addressing common semantic misunderstandings and associations.Background The expression level and clinical significance of integrin subunit beta 4 (ITGB4) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain unclear. Materials and Methods Expression of ITGB4 in HNSCC tissues were evaluated by calculating standard mean differences (SMDs) based on gene chips, RNA-seq, and immunohistochemistry data (n = 2330) from multiple sources. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to detect the ability of ITGB4 to distinguish HNSCC from non-HNSCC samples. The relationship between the expression level of ITGB4 and clinical parameters was evaluated by calculating SMDs. Results Identical results of mRNA and protein levels indicated remarkable up-expression of ITGB4 in HNSCC tissues. Further ROC curves showed that ITGB4 could distinguish HNSCC from non-HNSCC samples. Genetic alteration analysis of ITGB4 in HNSCC indicated that overexpression of ITGB4 in HNSCC was likely not owing to genetic alteration of ITGB4. Moreover, ITGB4 overexpression level may be correlated with clinical T stage. Conclusion ITGB4 likely plays an essential role in HNSCC occurrence based on our study and its potential diagnostic value is worthy of further exploration in the future.No abstract available.The series, ‘Mastering your Fellowship’, provides examples of the question format encountered in the written and clinical examinations, Part A of the Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians, South Africa (FCFP [SA]) examination. The series is aimed at helping family medicine registrars prepare for this examination. Model answers are available online.With the growing evidence regarding the benefit of a primary healthcare (PHC) approach to both individual patients and for a healthier community, a number of policy initiatives in South Africa are aimed at strengthening services at subdistrict level. Historically, the role of the doctor in many PHC clinics in South Africa had been limited to a clinical role. However, in the context of wanting to have a greater impact on social determinants of health, the role of the doctor at the PHC clinic needs to be revisited. A wider role of the doctor, in the context of an expanded multidisciplinary team is being explored.Practice-based research networks have been an important strategy in many parts of the world to enable primary care research and involve clinicians. The Stellenbosch University Family Physician Research Network (SUFPREN) was established in 2017 to enable family physicians in clinical practice to engage with practical research that addressed key challenges and enhanced clinical governance. It is a collaboration between academic family physicians at the university and clinical family physicians in the district health services. In this article, the establishment of SUFPREN is described – membership of the network, selection of research questions, roles in the research process, communication and coordination, involvement of the Department of Health, types of questions and methods, data management, dissemination of findings and funding. The initial work of SUFPREN is described and a vision for future family physician research networks in South Africa is defined.The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a defining point in human history, having far-reaching effects on all aspects of human life. In the race to find a vaccine, governments need to work collectively to ensure that any life-saving interventions are accessible and affordable to populations across the globe. This pandemic has created an opportunity for international cooperation in working on transparency issues both in terms of sharing manufacturing details to make devices for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 and in terms of clinical trials for therapies that could prove to be effective against the disease.

The quality of service delivery in primary care (PC) is an important determinant of clinical outcomes. The patients’ perspective is one significant predictor of this quality. Little is known of the quality of such service delivery in the private sector in Kenya. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of service delivery in private sector, PC clinics in Nairobi, Kenya.

The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional survey by using the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire in 378 randomly selected patients from 13 PC clinics. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

Overall, 76% were below 45 years, 74% employed and 73% without chronic diseases. Majority (97%) were happy to see the general practitioner (GP) again, 99% were satisfied with their consultation and 83% likely to recommend the GP to others. Participants (97%) found in receptionist helpful and the majority were happy with the opening hours (73%) and waiting times (85%). Although 84% thought appointmenls.

Despite the provision of the policy for Ward-based Primary Healthcare Outreach Teams, which requires home-based care workers to be supported by different categories of health professionals, home-based care workers continue to experience challenges during service provision in the communities. Home-based care workers form an integral part of the Ward-based Primary Healthcare Outreach Teams that form part of the streams of primary healthcare re-engineering. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of home-based care workers (HBCWs) when rendering services in the communities of Northern Tshwane district in Gauteng province and Madibeng district in the North West province.

The study design was qualitative, exploratory and descriptive. Purposive sampling was used from the population of HBCWs in Gauteng and North West. Focus group interviews were conducted. Tesch’s data analysis method was used. Themes and subthemes were identified by the researcher and co-coder, and these were summarised into subjects that were interrelated.

Diverse experiences of participants emerged. These experiences included lack of human and material resources, poor funding, lack of knowledge, lack of support and respect and the need for psychological support.

There is a need for a collaborative approach amongst the National Department of Health, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and HBCWs in patient care. Policies and support structures should be strengthened or reformed to promote comprehensive and integrated care to sustain HBCWs.

There is a need for a collaborative approach amongst the National Department of Health, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and HBCWs in patient care. Policies and support structures should be strengthened or reformed to promote comprehensive and integrated care to sustain HBCWs.

A strategy implemented by the South African Department of Health to manage the high burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been to task-shift services to primary health care clinics. Outcomes of paediatric patients with HIV are poorer than those of adults, particularly in rural areas. Viral suppression in paediatric patients at the feeder clinics of a rural South African hospital was anecdotally far below the aim of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) of 90%.

A quality improvement approach was used to conduct a baseline assessment of HIV viral suppression in paediatric patients and other process measures, implement a clinical mentorship intervention and evaluate its effectiveness.

An initial audit of 235 clinical folders of paediatric patients with HIV revealed a viral suppression of 55.3%. Other poor measures included prescription accuracy, viral loads performed within schedule and response to successive high viral loads. A clinical mentorship intervention using dedicated doctor outreach was implemented and the audit repeated after 12 months (263 folders). Viral suppression improved to 67.4%, as did most other process measures.

The quality improvement approach regarding the aim to significantly improve viral suppression in paediatric patients through the implementation of clinical mentorship was successful.

The quality improvement approach regarding the aim to significantly improve viral suppression in paediatric patients through the implementation of clinical mentorship was successful.Trichinella zimbabwensis naturally infects a variety of reptilian and wild mammalian hosts in South Africa. Attempts have been made to experimentally infect piranha fish with T. zimbabwensis and T. papuae without success. Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) and African sharp tooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) are accomplished predators cohabiting with Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) and Nile monitor lizards (Varanus niloticus) in southern Africa and are natural hosts of T. zimbabwensis. To assess the infectivity of T. zimbabwensis to these two hosts, 24 African sharp tooth catfish (mean live weight 581.75 ± 249.71 g) randomly divided into 5 groups were experimentally infected with 1.0 ± 0.34 T. zimbabwensis larvae per gram (lpg) of fish. Forty-one tigerfish (mean live weight 298.6 ± 99.3 g) were randomly divided for three separate trials. CM-4307 An additional 7 tigerfish were assessed for the presence of natural infection as controls. Results showed no adult worms or larvae of T. zimbabwensis in the gastrointestinal tract and body cavities of catfish sacrificed at day 1, 2 and 7 post-infection (p.i.). Two tigerfish from one experimental group yielded 0.1 lpg and 0.02 lpg of muscle tissue at day 26 p.i. and 28 p.i., respectively. No adult worms or larvae were detected in the fish from the remaining groups sacrificed at day 7, 21, 28, 33 and 35 p.i. and from the control group. Results from this study suggest that tigerfish could sustain T. zimbabwensis under specific yet unknown circumstances.In this study, positive blood and organ samples were obtained from different mixed herds of sheep and cattle against ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) infection. Target-positive DNA was sequenced and compared with worldwide distributed OvHV-2 sequences. Tegument gene (422 base pairs) and glycoprotein B (gB) gene (2800 base pairs) amplicons of OvHV-2 genome were used for understanding of epidemiology of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) infection in Turkey. The results of nucleotide sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products indicated presence of sheep-associated form for MCF infection in Turkey. Although the obtained sequences were genetically different from each other, it was found that genetic variations were limited.

Substance abuse by adolescents may be a problem that contributes to their mental illness. Substance abuse does affect not only the individual who is abusing it but also friends, family and the whole community. The adolescent abusing substances may be mentally unstable and have unpredictable behaviour. There is no research on the experiences of parents with adolescents abusing substances in Giyani, South Africa.

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of parents with adolescents abusing substances admitted to a mental health institution in Giyani.

A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. Data were collected by means of conducting individual, in-depth, phenomenological interviews, observations and field notes. The following central question was asked to the participants ‘How is it for you to have an adolescent who is abusing substances’. Data were analysed by using a thematic method of coding. An independent coder analysed data together with the researcher, and consensus was reached.