scholarly journals Validation of the Canadian norms for the Alberta In fant Motor Scale for infants in a South African region aged four to twelve months; a Pilot Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A.E. Manuel ◽  
M. Burger ◽  
Q.A. Louw
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
African Region ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Healthy Infants ◽  
Random Samples ◽  
Valid Assessment ◽  
Percentile Ranking ◽  
African Infant

The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is a norm referenced,performance based, observational tool that assesses motor developmentin infants from birth up to the age of eighteen months. The AIMS has beenwidely used by researchers and clinicians around the world, but only afew attempts were made to validate the Canadian norms for infants residingoutside Canada.The purpose of the study was to validate the Canadian norms of the AIMSfor infants within the Cape Metropolitan region, South Africa.A longitudinal study was conducted using the AIMS to assess the gross motordevelopment of 67 healthy full term infants at 4, 8 and 12 months respectively.At 4 months the mean percentile ranking was significantly higher than the Canadian norm (p=0.01), while no statisticalsignificant differences were found at 8 and 12 months of age.The AIMS is a valid assessment tool for healthy infants aged 8 and 12 months within the Cape Metropole, SouthAfrica. The infants at four months of age scored higher than the Canadian norm. Further validation which incorporatelarger, random samples are required to enable generalisation of the findings for the South African infant population.

Renal Injury in Sick Newborn Infants: A Prospective Evaluation Using Urinary β2-Microglobulin Concentrations

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-440
Author(s):  
Eric D. Tack ◽  
Jeffrey M. Perlman ◽  
Alan M. Robson ◽  
Cathy Hausel ◽  
Charles C. T. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Renal Injury ◽  
Confidence Limit ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Tubular Injury ◽  
Creatinine Concentration ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Urinary Creatinine ◽  
Β2 Microglobulin ◽  
Sick Newborn ◽  
Healthy Infants

Urinary concentrations of β2-microglobulin and creatinine were measured serially in 140 sick infants, of whom 109 were asphyxiated, and in 35 healthy preterm and term infants. First voided urines and samples from days 3 and 7 postpartum were studied. Urinary β2-microglobulin concentrations in healthy infants averaged 1.34 ± 1.34 mg/L (mean ± SD) in first voided specimens and 1.32 ± 0.98 mg/L in day 3 samples; the calculated upper limit of normal (95% confidence limit) was 4.00 mg/L. Elevated values (those exceeding the 95% confidence limit) occurred most often in the sick asphyxiated patients (56%); the first voided sample value in these patients was 10.0 ± 10.4 mg/L. The equivalent value in the sick nonasphyxiated infants was 8.32 ± 7.27 mg/L. Values were significantly and persistently elevated in the sick infants on days 3 and 7. Factoring β2-microglobulin levels by urinary creatinine concentration did not affect the significance of the findings. The increased urinary β2-microglobulin levels were not (1) related to gestational age; low β2-microglobulin values occurred at all gestational ages for both healthy and sick infants; (2) a consequence of urine flow rate; urinary β2-microglobulin did not correlate with urinary creatinine concentration or with urine to plasma creatinine ratio; and (3) a consequence of increased production of β2-microglobulin; urinary and serum β2-microglobulin values did not correlate (r = .03). Thus, we propose that the elevated levels of urinary β2-microglobulin in the sick infants were the consequence of tubular injury. This was associated with hematuria but not with a high incidence of azotemia or oliguria. In the most premature infants (<32 weeks), elevated urinary β2-microglobulin concentrations were associated with significantly increased urinary concentrations of sodium and potassium. These data suggest a higher prevalence of acute tubular injury in sick newborn infants than has been reported in previous studies in which more traditional indices of renal injury were used.

Boer War

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
African Region ◽  
Boer War ◽  
War Memory ◽  
South African War ◽  
White Settler ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
And Control

The Boer War of 1899–1902, also termed the Anglo-Boer War or South African War, was waged by Britain to establish its imperial supremacy in South Africa and by Boers/Afrikaners to defend their independent republican order and control of the destiny of the white settler states they had secured in the interior. Large, long, controversial and costly, the Boer War was a colonial conflict which finally completed the British imperial conquest of the Southern African region. As is to be expected of a war that has a widely recognized significance not only in the history of European imperialism in Southern Africa but in world history more generally, literature on the 1899–1902 conflict is, simply, enormous. Scholarship is available not merely in English and in Afrikaans, but also in Dutch, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and even in Japanese. As it happens, more recent decades have seen the publication of sizeable bibliographies covering a century of writings on the Boer War in German and in Dutch. Although it could obviously not be claimed that every aspect of the 1899–1902 period—military, political, economic, social, or cultural—has been treated, evenly or otherwise, by so vast a body of literature, the sheer quantity of work available has to influence the scope and selectivity of any Boer War bibliography of this kind. While this bibliographic article includes some seminal early pieces, it is weighted toward more recently works and, in particular, includes scholarship which contains detailed bibliographies covering aspects of warfare (battles, sieges) that are not a specific focus of the approach taken here. Secondly, other classifiable areas of historiography which fall beyond the limits of this article, such as war memory and commemoration, and postwar economic reconstruction and political state-making, are treated—in some instances, quite substantially—in single-author general overviews and in multi-author edited treatments. In other respects, this article goes beyond more conventional historical terrain in including the war’s literary and cultural influences.

scholarly journals Are South African Speech-Language Therapists adequately equipped to assess English Additional Language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thandeka Mdladlo ◽  
Penelope Flack ◽  
Robin Joubert
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Diverse Populations ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Valid Assessment ◽  
Use Of Assessment

This article presents the results of a survey conducted on Speech-Language Therapists (SLTs) regarding current practices in the assessment of English Additional Language (EAL) speakers in South Africa. It forms part of the rationale for a broader (PhD) study that critiques the use of assessment instruments on EAL speakers from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background. This article discusses an aspect of the broader research and presents the background, method, findings, discussion and implications of the survey. The results of this survey highlight the challenges of human and material resources to, and the dominance of English in, the profession in South Africa. The findings contribute to understanding critical factors for acquiring reliable and valid assessment results with diverse populations, particularly the implications from a cultural and linguistic perspective.[PDF to follow]

scholarly journals A Randomized Double Blind Controlled Safety Trial Evaluating D-Lactic Acid Production in Healthy Infants Fed a Lactobacillus reuteri-containing Formula

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. NMI.S14113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Papagaroufalis ◽  
Aikaterini Fotiou ◽  
Delphine Egli ◽  
Liên-Anh Tran ◽  
Philippe Steenhout
Keyword(s):  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Treatment Effect ◽  
Lactobacillus Reuteri ◽  
Lactic Acid Production ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Healthy Infants ◽  
Colony Forming Units

Background D-Lactic acidosis in infants fed lactic acid bacteria-containing products is a concern. Methods The primary objective of this non-inferiority trial was to compare urinary D-lactic acid concentrations during the first 28 days of life in infants fed formula containing Lactobacillus reuteri (1.2 x 106 colony forming units (CFU)/ml) with those fed a control formula. The non-inferiority margin was set at a two-fold increase in D-lactic acid (0.7 mmol/mol creatinine, log-transformed). Healthy term infants in Greece were enrolled between birth and 72 hours of age, and block randomized to a probiotic ( N = 44) or control ( N = 44) group. They were exclusively fed their formulae until 28 days of age and followed up at 7, 14, 28, 112, and 168 ± 3 days. Anthropometric measurements were taken at each visit and tolerance recorded until 112 days. Urine was collected before study formula intake and at all visits up to 112 days and blood at 14 days. Results D-Lactic acid concentration in the probiotic group was below the non-inferiority margin at 28 days: treatment effect -0.03 (95% confidence interval [CI]: [-0.48 to 0.41]) mmol/mol creatinine but was above the non-inferiority margin at 7 and 14 days–-treatment effect 0.50 (95% CI: [0.05-0.96]) mmol/mol creatinine and 0.45 (95% CI: [0.00-0.90]) mmol/mol creatinine, respectively. Blood acid excess and pH, anthropometry, tolerance, and adverse events (AEs) were not significantly different between groups. Conclusion Intake of L. reuteri-containing formula was safe and did not cause an increase in D-lactic acid beyond two weeks. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01119170.

scholarly journals Foundations for Literacy: Emergent Literacy Competencies of Grade R Learners on the Cape Flats

2007 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Willenberg
Keyword(s):  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
South African ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Emergent Literacy Skills ◽  
Children's Literacy

International research has demonstrated that a considerable amount of children’s literacy development occurs prior to formal schooling and that emergent literacy skills at school entry are strong predictors of later literacy and general academic achievement. These findings have prompted vigorous early intervention programmes aimed at promoting emergent literacy development to optimise the development of conventional literacy. While there is considerable research conducted in developed countries, there is limited research on the emergent literacy skills of children in South African contexts. In the light of increasing evidence of poor literacy performance of South African children in the foundation phase of schooling it is imperative that appropriate and timely intervention be undertaken. However it is important that intervention be informed by baseline assessments of the children’s literacy competencies in the full spectrum of socio-cultural contexts in this diverse country. This study documents the emergent literacy competencies of 101 grade R (the year prior to grade 1, equivalent to kindergarten in the United States) learners attending schools in historically disadvantaged coloured communities on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape. An Emergent Literacy and Language Assessment protocol was developed for use with this population. The children’s performance on the assessment tool indicated that in general they possessed a reasonable repertoire of emergent literacy skills. Although they displayed adequate skills to support acquisition of print decoding skills necessary for fluent reading, weaknesses in the decontextualised language skills that have been found to support later reading comprehension, were evident.

Apnea Recordings of Healthy Infants at 40, 44, and 52 Weeks Postconception

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 724-730
Author(s):  
Israel M. Stein ◽  
Ann White ◽  
Joseph L. Kennedy ◽  
Roberta L. Merisalo ◽  
Harvey Chernoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Home Environment ◽  
Respiratory Activity ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Impedance Method ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Healthy Infants ◽  
Marked Variability ◽  
Highly Correlated

A total of 129 recordings of the respiratory activity of 46 normal full-term infants were obtained continuously for 24 hours in the hospital nursery at 3 days of life and in the home environment at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after birth. The pediatric pneumogram (PPG) technique, an impedance method, was used. Pneumogram data over longer than 16 hours was obtained on 77% of infants monitored. No infants experienced apnea longer than 15 seconds in duration at 40 and 44 weeks postconception. or greater than 11 seconds at 52 weeks postconception. Twenty-four hour plots of hourly apnea frequency revealed a marked variability, with evidence of clustering of apneic episodes during periods of reported sleep. Longest apnea time and hourly frequency of apneic episodes were highly correlated.

Relative and Cumulative Effects of Hypertension Self-Care Behaviors on Blood Pressure

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-164
Author(s):  
Jan Warren-Findlow ◽  
Lisa M. Krinner ◽  
Erin Vinoski Thomas ◽  
Maren J. Coffman ◽  
Benjamin Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Partial Correlations ◽  
Valid Assessment ◽  
Individual Self

New recommendations for hypertension (HTN) diagnosis and treatment highlight the role of self-care activities in managing blood pressure (BP). This cross-sectional study investigated the predictive validity of the Hypertension Self-Care Activity Level Effects (H-SCALE) measure and examined the relative and cumulative effects of HTN self-care adherence on BP. We pooled baseline data from three studies ( N = 79), resulting in a gender and racially balanced sample. Partial correlations determined the relative effects of individual self-care behaviors on BP. We modeled the relationship between adherence to self-care behaviors and BP control using logistic regression. Physical activity had the greatest correlation with systolic BP. Adherence to each additional self-care behavior increased the odds of systolic BP control by 88% (95% confidence interval (CI) = [1.20, 2.96]) and diastolic BP control by 74% (95% CI = [1.10, 2.75]). Results provide further evidence that the H-SCALE is a valid assessment tool and should be adopted by clinicians to aid in improving BP management.

Influence of Early Lactation Assistance on Inpatient Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates

2020 ◽  
pp. 089033442095796
Author(s):  
Keyaria D. Gray ◽  
Emily A. Hannon ◽  
Elizabeth Erickson ◽  
Ariana B. Stewart ◽  
Charles T. Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Milk ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Feeding Preference ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Lactation Consultant ◽  
Childhood Illnesses ◽  
Healthy Infants ◽  
Birth Hospitalization ◽  
Milk Feeding

Background Human milk feeding reduces the incidence and costs of several maternal and childhood illnesses. Initiation and success of human milk feeding are influenced by race, socioeconomic status, and family support. The influence of early in-hospital lactation assistance in breastfeeding success has been not well described. Research aims We aimed to determine how suspected known factors influencing breastfeeding success influence in-hospital human milk feeding rates. Second, we aimed to examine how timing of lactation assistance is related to success of human milk feeding during the newborn hospitalization for healthy infants. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of term infants born between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2016 at a large tertiary academic hospital. We considered “success” to be 100% human milk feeding during the birth hospitalization, and compared differences in success by demographics, payor, race, and initial feeding preference. Influences of lactation assistance on success were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results Mean success with exclusive human milk feeding among 7,370 infants was 48.9%, ( n = 3,601). Successful participants were more likely to be 39–40 weeks’ gestation (64.9%, n = 2,340), non-Hispanic/non-Latino (80.0%, n = 2,882), and using private insurance (69.2%, n = 2,491). Participants who had early feeding assisted by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) before being fed any formula were more likely to be successful than participants who had a feeding assisted by a non-IBCLC nurse (80% vs. 40% respectively). Conclusions Success for exclusive human milk feeding during newborn hospitalization is strongly associated with several factors. Early intervention with IBCLCs can greatly improve breastfeeding success.

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