The current covid-19 economic crisis continues to weaken economic growth in South Africa. This study was designed to show how a declining economic state affects the mental health conditions, ...metabolic risk factors, communicable conditions, and non-communicable conditions of adolescent (18-year cohorts) and adult (25-year cohorts) population groups comparatively.
This was a panel analysis using secondary data issued by Statistic South Africa.
The author used a Two-stage Least Squared Model (2SLS) to quantify the impact of the declining economy on mental health conditions (depression and traumatic stress), non-communicable conditions (cancer and diabetes), metabolic risk factors (alcohol abuse and hypertension), and communicable conditions (influenza, diarrhea, dry cough) of both adolescent and young adult population groups. Each group comprised a treatment and a control group.
The declining economic state of 2008–2014 worsens the mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions of adolescent and young adult populations. However, the declining economy reduced cases of communicable conditions. The impact of the declining economy worsens mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions more in urban settings than in rural regions. Men abuse alcohol more than women during economic decline, triggering worsening mental health conditions, hypertension, and non-communicable conditions, especially in the adult population residing in urban settings.
Economic decline worsen mental health conditions, metabolic risk factors, and non-communicable conditions. The South African government may want to prioritize these conditions as covid-19 economic shocks continue to backslide economic growth.
•Macroeconomics performance is a determinant for health.•The impact of the declining economy is worse in the male population compared to the female population.•Economic decline worsen mental health conditions and non-communicable diseases.
SUMMARY
To improve our understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying complex traits in plants, a comprehensive analysis of gene variants is required. Eucalyptus is an important forest plantation ...genus that is highly outbred. Trait dissection and molecular breeding in eucalypts currently relies on biallelic single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. These markers fail to capture the large amount of haplotype diversity in these species, and thus multi‐allelic markers are required. We aimed to develop a gene‐based haplotype mining panel for Eucalyptus species. We generated 17 999 oligonucleotide probe sets for targeted sequencing of selected regions of 6293 genes implicated in growth and wood properties, pest and disease resistance, and abiotic stress responses. We identified and phased 195 834 SNPs using a read‐based phasing approach to reveal SNP‐based haplotypes. A total of 8915 target regions (at 4637 gene loci) passed tests for Mendelian inheritance. We evaluated the haplotype panel in four Eucalyptus species (E. grandis, E. urophylla, E. dunnii and E. nitens) to determine its ability to capture diversity across eucalypt species. This revealed an average of 3.13–4.52 haplotypes per target region in each species, and 33.36% of the identified haplotypes were shared by at least two species. This haplotype mining panel will enable the analysis of haplotype diversity within and between species, and provide multi‐allelic markers that can be used for genome‐wide association studies and gene‐based breeding approaches.
Significance Statement
We developed a haplotype sequencing panel for Eucalyptus targeting 8915 regions at 4637 gene loci associated with growth and wood properties, pest and disease resistance, and abiotic stress response providing a genome‐wide, multi‐allelic, gene‐centric genotyping resource for eucalypts. We tested the panel in four Eucalyptus species (E. grandis, E. dunnii, E. nitens and E. urophylla), and found an average of 3.65 haplotypes per target region per species, and 9.98 across all four species.
Summary
From its origins in Australia, Eucalyptus grandis has spread to every continent, except Antarctica, as a wood crop. It has been cultivated and bred for over 100 yr in places such as South ...Africa. Unlike most annual crops and fruit trees, domestication of E. grandis is still in its infancy, representing a unique opportunity to interrogate the genomic consequences of artificial selection early in the domestication process.
To determine how a century of artificial selection has changed the genome of E. grandis, we generated single nucleotide polymorphism genotypes for 1080 individuals from three advanced South African breeding programmes using the EUChip60K chip, and investigated population structure and genome‐wide differentiation patterns relative to wild progenitors.
Breeding and wild populations appeared genetically distinct. We found genomic evidence of evolutionary processes known to have occurred in other plant domesticates, including interspecific introgression and intraspecific infusion from wild material. Furthermore, we found genomic regions with increased linkage disequilibrium and genetic differentiation, putatively representing early soft sweeps of selection.
This is, to our knowledge, the first study of genomic signatures of domestication in a timber species looking beyond the first few generations of cultivation. Our findings highlight the importance of intra‐ and interspecific hybridization during early domestication.
Data supporting theoretical models linking autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to motor disturbance are inconclusive. In the present study, children and adolescents with ASD (n = 44) were compared with a ...matched group of typically developing individuals (n = 49) on both instrumental and observational assessments of motor abnormalities. No group differences were found in the instrumental data. However, more bradykinetic motor behavior was found using an observational scale in the ASD groups. More rigid motor behavior was found in the adolescents with ASD but not in the children. Individuals with ASD show significantly more hypokinetic behavior, which may not be strictly dopaminergic in origin, but may reflect a weak central coherency in neuronal networks related to the motor system in which developmental changes are present.
Background. Colonization by Candida species is the most important predictor of the development of invasive fungal disease in preterm neonates, and the enteric reservoir is a major site of ...colonization. We evaluated the effectiveness of an orally supplemented probiotic (Lactobacillus casei subspecies rhamnosus; Dicoflor Dicofarm spa; 6 × 109 cfu/day) in the prevention of gastrointestinal colonization by Candida species in preterm, very low birth weight (i.e., <1500-g) neonates during their stay in a neonatal intensive care unit. Methods. Over a 12-month period, a prospective, randomized, blind, clinical trial that involved 80 preterm neonates with a very low birth weight was conducted in a large tertiary neonatal intensive care unit. During the first 3 days of life, the neonates were randomly assigned to receive either an oral probiotic added to human (maternal or pooled donors') milk (group A) or human milk alone (group B) for 6 weeks or until discharge from the NICU, if the neonate was discharged before 6 weeks. On a weekly basis, specimens obtained from various sites (i.e., oropharyngeal, stool, gastric aspirate, and rectal specimens) were collected from all patients for surveillance culture, to assess the occurrence and intensity of fungal colonization in the gastrointestinal tract. Results. The incidence of fungal enteric colonization (with colonization defined as at least 1 positive culture result for specimens obtained from at least 1 site) was significantly lower in group A than in group B (23.1% vs. 48.8%; relative risk, 0.315 95% confidence interval, 0.120–0.826; P = .01). The numbers of fungal isolates obtained from each neonate (P = .005) and from each colonized patient (P = .005) were also lower in group A than in group B. L. casei subspecies rhamnosus was more effective in the subgroup of neonates with a birth weight of 1001–1500 g. There were no changes in the relative proportions of the different Candida strains. No adverse effects potentially associated with the probiotic were recorded. Conclusions. Orally administered L. casei subspecies rhamnosus significantly reduces the incidence and the intensity of enteric colonization by Candida species among very low birth weight neonates.
Invasive fungal infections in preterm neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit are predominantly caused by Candida spp, and have a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Effective prophylactic ...strategies have recently become available, but the identification of the best possible strategies to manage high-risk infants is still a priority. Choice and use of appropriate antifungal drugs needs careful assessment of neonatal characteristics, the epidemiology and drug pharmacokinetics. Ideally, antifungal drugs for preterm neonates should target fungal bio-films, prevent or effectively treat end-organ localisations, be active against fluconazole-resistant Candida species, and have reliable safety and tolerability profiles. The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in the area of neonatal fungal infections, and addresses some open questions related to the best possible prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to be implemented in such unique patients.
Mining companies sponsor a range of non-core, corporate social responsibility projects to adhere to social and labour plans and environmental management prerequisites that form part of a mining ...licence application. Some companies go above and beyond such projects, sponsoring initiatives that generate renewable energy through solar power, wind energy, natural gas, etc. The challenge for these companies is to choose between a variety of projects to ensure maximum value, especially in times when the economic climate might be less favourable for such projects. The focus of this research was to analyse the concept of sustainability as it exists today, and to apply that to the triple bottom line accounting method in an attempt to quantity the sustainability of a project. The research suggests that monetary value alone is not enough to base a sustainable decision on, and qualitative measures are suggested for use in conjunction with quantitative methods. It will also provide increased justification for such renewable energy projects, even in periods of harsh or uncertain economic climates.
To foster responsible data sharing in health research, ethical governance complementary to the EU General Data Protection Regulation is necessary. A governance framework for Big Data-driven research ...platforms will at least need to consider the conditions as specified a priori for individual datasets. We aim to identify and analyze these conditions for the Innovative Medicines Initiative's (IMI) BigData@Heart platform.
We performed a unique descriptive case study into the conditions for data sharing as specified for datasets participating in BigData@Heart. Principle investigators of 56 participating databases were contacted via e-mail with the request to send any kind of documentation that possibly specified the conditions for data sharing. Documents were qualitatively reviewed for conditions pertaining to data sharing and data access.
Qualitative content analysis of 55 relevant documents revealed overlap on the conditions: (1) only to share health data for scientific research, (2) in anonymized/coded form, (3) after approval from a designated review committee, and while (4) observing all appropriate measures for data security and in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.
Despite considerable overlap, prespecified conditions give rise to challenges for data sharing. At the same time, these challenges inform our thinking about the design of an ethical governance framework for data sharing platforms. We urge current data sharing initiatives to concentrate on: (1) the scope of the research questions that may be addressed, (2) how to deal with varying levels of de-identification, (3) determining when and how review committees should come into play, (4) align what policies and regulations mean by "data sharing" and (5) how to deal with datasets that have no system in place for data sharing.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•The 2008 pension reform in South Africa improved access to healthcare.•The 2008 pension reform improved mental health and 60-year-old deaths.•The impact of the 2008 pension reform in averting ...60-year-old deaths is higher in urban regions than rural regions.
In South Africa, men were traditionally eligible to receive government pensions at 65 years. However, that eligibility criterion was changed in 2008 to allow men to receive a pension payout at 60 years. This study is designed to quantify the impact of the 2008 pension reform on mental health outcomes (depression and traumatic stress) and deaths among 60-year-old men from disadvantaged households without advanced education. This analysis used secondary data issued by Statistic South Africa- General Household Survey. Men who reported earning a pension at 60 years from 2008 to 2014 were exposed to the 2008 pension reform and thus were classified as the treatment group. The 60-year-old men during 2002–2007 were ineligible to earn the pension, therefore considered the control group. We then used a Two-stage Least Squared Model (2SLS) to quantify the impact of the 2008 pension reform on healthcare utilization, depression cases, traumatic stress cases, and deaths among 60-year-old men. The model shows that the 2008 pension reform improved healthcare utilization by 3 % in the cohorts of men who benefitted from the 2008 reform. The 2008 pension reform averted depression cases, traumatic stress cases, and deaths among 60-year-old men by 3 %, 4 %, and 5 %, respectively. The impact of the 2008 pension reform in averting deaths among 60-year-old men was higher in urban regions than rural regions. We concluded that the 2008 pension reform successfully bought improved mental health outcomes and prevented depression, traumatic stress, and deaths among 60-year-old men.
•SFP fosters better education and health outcomes.•SFP also has positive spillover effects on health spending
This paper applies two-stage least square (2SLS) model to quantify the impact of school ...feeding programme (SFP) on the education and health outcomes of South African children. The paper also estimates the spillover effects of SFP on parents' health spending. The results shows that the SFP has a significant effect, improving illness, school attendance, and academic achievement. The impact of SFP is higher in rural regions than in urban settings and larger in boys than in girls. Notably, the positive effects of SFP are also confirmed by the presence of positive spillover effects. Parents whose children benefited from SFP recorded lower health spending than parents who did not benefit from SFP. In light of these positive findings, the paper concludes that SFP supports the South African population beyond the targeted children education and health outcomes.
PDF
