More people living with HIV/AIDS reside in South Africa than any other country in the world, and the nation faces colossal challenges in broadening its response to the now-mature and widespread HIV epidemic (WHO, 2005:1). According to South Africa's Medical Research Council, HIV/AIDS has now become the single largest cause of death in South Africa (Dorrington et a/., 2001:6) and has triggered a prominent transferal in the pattern of mortality from the elderly to the young, particularly among young women (Dorrington, 2001:4). The routine treatment of HIV/AIDS with antiretroviral drugs has transformed HIV-infection from an unvaryingly rapidly terminal illness to a somewhat expensive treatable, chronic disease. Triple therapy or highly active antiretroviral therapy (three-drug combinations of ARVs or HAART) in particular have had paramount impacts on HIV-related morbidity and mortality in settings where these drugs are generally accessible. Objectives of ARV treatment are "maximum, durable suppression of viral load, restoration and/or preservation of immune function, improvement of quality of life and reduction of HIV related morbidity and mortality" (Martinson et a/., 2003:236; Martinez et a/., 2007:251; Hellinger, 2006:1; Kumarasamy, 2004:3). The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that a total of 111 827 South Africans were accessing free antiretroviral treatment in the 200 public health sector facilities across 53 districts and a further 60 000 via the private sector by late December 2005 (UNAIDS, 2005:1). The objective of this study was to review, analyse and interpret the usage and prescribing patterns of antiretroviral drugs in a section of the South African private health care sector for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2006 by utilising a medicine claims database of a pharmacy benefit management company, and to investigate the costs associated with these drugs by performing a quantitative, retrospective drug utilisation review. It was found that the prevalence as well as the total medicine cost of ARV medicine items had increased during the study period but the average number of ARV medicine items per prescription as well as both the average cost per ARV medicine item and the average cost per ARV prescription decreased during the study period. Original innovator ARV medicine items and original ARV medicine items with no generic were found to be relatively expensive in comparison with ARV medicine items in general. Conversely, generic ARV medicine items were ascertained to be relatively inexpensive with reference to ARV medicine items in general. It was perceived that the average cost of ARV medicine items and prescriptions for both genders decreased from 2005 to 2006, while there was an increase in the prevalence of medicine items and prescriptions claimed for both female and male patients. The prevalence and cost of all types of ARV medicine items were found to be higher for female patients in general. It was also established that the prevalence of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in the private health care sector peaks at the age of >30 to 244 years, in comparison with the lower age of >25 to 239 years in the public health care sector. ARV medicine items claimed for patients in the age group >35 to 239 years represented the highest percentage of the total medicine cost incurred during both study years for all ARV medicine types. The majority of ARV medicine items were prescribed by general medical practitioners, and most ARV medicine items were dispensed by community or private institutional pharmacies. It was determined that combinations of 2NRTI + NNRTI were prescribed with the highest frequency, which is compliant with traditional HAART or 'triple therapy' regimens. Lastly, it was found that none of the top 20 prescriptions for one, two and six ARV medicine items were compliant with the National Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Guidelines. The majority of the top 20 prescriptions for three ARV medicine items (92.67 per cent during 2005 and 89.94 per cent during 2006) were compliant with the National ART Guidelines. Finally, less than half of the top 20 prescriptions for four ARV medicine items (49.60 per cent during 2005 and 36.11 per cent during 2006) were compliant with the National ART Guidelines. Only 5.56 per cent and 3.92 per cent of the top 16 prescriptions for five ARV medicine items were compliant with the National ART Guidelines during the two study years respectively / Thesis (M. Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The mining industry is acknowledge to be a very stressful and demanding profession, driven by performance and intense working environments, hazardous working conditions and socially undesirable working hours. These factors could impact on the interaction between work and nonwork roles of employees. The objectives of this research were to investigate the prevalence of the different work-nonwork conflict scales and to determine the demographic differences of work-nonwork conflict in a sample of mining employees. A random sample of 245 mining employees was taken from a platinum mine in the Rustenburg area. A newly developed Work-nonwork Interference Scale of Koekemoer (2009), measuring the interference between work and other nonwork roles, was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Paired-sample t-tests, Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVAS) were used to analyse the data. Work-nonwork conflict was more prevalent than nonwork-work conflict. The results also indicated that work-family conflict is more prevalent than work-domestic conflict and work-religion conflict. However, work-domestic conflict was more prevalent than work-religion conflict. Statistically significant differences exist between demographic groups based on marital status and language regarding work-nonwork conflict. The results obtained indicated that African-speaking participants experienced higher levels of private-work conflict compared to Afrikaans and English-speaking participants. The results also revealed that participants who are not married experienced higher levels of private-work conflict than those who are married. Some recommendations made in this study included that the mining industry should focus on providing support in terms of available resources and effectively managed work-nonwork role conflicts. Recommendations for future research include larger sample sizes, administration of questionnaires to various occupational groups, investigation of positive interaction between work and other life roles as well as longitudinal and research designs. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

More people living with HIV/AIDS reside in South Africa than any other country in the world, and the nation faces colossal challenges in broadening its response to the now-mature and widespread HIV epidemic (WHO, 2005:1). According to South Africa's Medical Research Council, HIV/AIDS has now become the single largest cause of death in South Africa (Dorrington et a/., 2001:6) and has triggered a prominent transferal in the pattern of mortality from the elderly to the young, particularly among young women (Dorrington, 2001:4). The routine treatment of HIV/AIDS with antiretroviral drugs has transformed HIV-infection from an unvaryingly rapidly terminal illness to a somewhat expensive treatable, chronic disease. Triple therapy or highly active antiretroviral therapy (three-drug combinations of ARVs or HAART) in particular have had paramount impacts on HIV-related morbidity and mortality in settings where these drugs are generally accessible. Objectives of ARV treatment are "maximum, durable suppression of viral load, restoration and/or preservation of immune function, improvement of quality of life and reduction of HIV related morbidity and mortality" (Martinson et a/., 2003:236; Martinez et a/., 2007:251; Hellinger, 2006:1; Kumarasamy, 2004:3). The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that a total of 111 827 South Africans were accessing free antiretroviral treatment in the 200 public health sector facilities across 53 districts and a further 60 000 via the private sector by late December 2005 (UNAIDS, 2005:1). The objective of this study was to review, analyse and interpret the usage and prescribing patterns of antiretroviral drugs in a section of the South African private health care sector for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2006 by utilising a medicine claims database of a pharmacy benefit management company, and to investigate the costs associated with these drugs by performing a quantitative, retrospective drug utilisation review. It was found that the prevalence as well as the total medicine cost of ARV medicine items had increased during the study period but the average number of ARV medicine items per prescription as well as both the average cost per ARV medicine item and the average cost per ARV prescription decreased during the study period. Original innovator ARV medicine items and original ARV medicine items with no generic were found to be relatively expensive in comparison with ARV medicine items in general. Conversely, generic ARV medicine items were ascertained to be relatively inexpensive with reference to ARV medicine items in general. It was perceived that the average cost of ARV medicine items and prescriptions for both genders decreased from 2005 to 2006, while there was an increase in the prevalence of medicine items and prescriptions claimed for both female and male patients. The prevalence and cost of all types of ARV medicine items were found to be higher for female patients in general. It was also established that the prevalence of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in the private health care sector peaks at the age of >30 to 244 years, in comparison with the lower age of >25 to 239 years in the public health care sector. ARV medicine items claimed for patients in the age group >35 to 239 years represented the highest percentage of the total medicine cost incurred during both study years for all ARV medicine types. The majority of ARV medicine items were prescribed by general medical practitioners, and most ARV medicine items were dispensed by community or private institutional pharmacies. It was determined that combinations of 2NRTI + NNRTI were prescribed with the highest frequency, which is compliant with traditional HAART or 'triple therapy' regimens. Lastly, it was found that none of the top 20 prescriptions for one, two and six ARV medicine items were compliant with the National Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Guidelines. The majority of the top 20 prescriptions for three ARV medicine items (92.67 per cent during 2005 and 89.94 per cent during 2006) were compliant with the National ART Guidelines. Finally, less than half of the top 20 prescriptions for four ARV medicine items (49.60 per cent during 2005 and 36.11 per cent during 2006) were compliant with the National ART Guidelines. Only 5.56 per cent and 3.92 per cent of the top 16 prescriptions for five ARV medicine items were compliant with the National ART Guidelines during the two study years respectively / Thesis (M. Pharm. (Pharmacy Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The mining industry is acknowledge to be a very stressful and demanding profession, driven by performance and intense working environments, hazardous working conditions and socially undesirable working hours. These factors could impact on the interaction between work and nonwork roles of employees. The objectives of this research were to investigate the prevalence of the different work-nonwork conflict scales and to determine the demographic differences of work-nonwork conflict in a sample of mining employees. A random sample of 245 mining employees was taken from a platinum mine in the Rustenburg area. A newly developed Work-nonwork Interference Scale of Koekemoer (2009), measuring the interference between work and other nonwork roles, was used as measuring instrument. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Paired-sample t-tests, Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVAS) were used to analyse the data. Work-nonwork conflict was more prevalent than nonwork-work conflict. The results also indicated that work-family conflict is more prevalent than work-domestic conflict and work-religion conflict. However, work-domestic conflict was more prevalent than work-religion conflict. Statistically significant differences exist between demographic groups based on marital status and language regarding work-nonwork conflict. The results obtained indicated that African-speaking participants experienced higher levels of private-work conflict compared to Afrikaans and English-speaking participants. The results also revealed that participants who are not married experienced higher levels of private-work conflict than those who are married. Some recommendations made in this study included that the mining industry should focus on providing support in terms of available resources and effectively managed work-nonwork role conflicts. Recommendations for future research include larger sample sizes, administration of questionnaires to various occupational groups, investigation of positive interaction between work and other life roles as well as longitudinal and research designs. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Previous studies have established that for some people a typical day at work starts with immense feelings of distress, anxiety and irritability caused by workplace bullying. Not only does bullying behaviour in the workplace have a negative impact on a person’s professional life, but it is also detrimental to the effectiveness of the organisation. A survey focussing on the perceived exposure to bullying and victimisation in the workplace was administered to a sample of 159 employees employed by a mine in Mpumalanga. The results uncovered that more than a quarter of the participants reported that they had experienced workplace bullying. The study also discovered that line managers experienced more negative acts than senior managers. While those who only experience a brief spell of bullying behaviour at work survive their experience relatively unscathed, previous studies have also indicated that others are affected in a significant physical and psychological way. In conclusion this study determined that workplace bullying is an actual occurrence, not only internationally but also in South Africa. Employees and employers can therefore only benefit from understanding this unique workplace phenomenon. This article provides the opportunity for employed people to recognise the nature and prevalence of workplace bullying in order to prevent it from becoming a silent epidemic. Researchers generally accept that bullying is behaviour that is aggressive or negative and carried out repeatedly. Previous research established that bullying can occur in any context where people interact. This article open by synthesising a conceptual framework of negative acts as an interactive form of organisational behaviour from the available literature. Empirical research was done in order to investigate the prevalence of negative acts. The study found that more than a quarter of the participants had experienced bullying at some stage during their career with managers and supervisors predominantly reported as the perpetrators. The study also found that behaviour that tends to isolate individuals was generally reported as the most frequently experienced form of negative acts. By understanding workplace bullying both employers will be able to implement influence strategies aimed at dealing with this workplace phenomenon at levels of protection, intervention and dispute resolution. In conclusion it has been established that workplace bullying is not only a real problem in international workplaces, but also in South Africa. This means that employers not only have to cope with the consequences of employees performing badly but also behaving badly. This article presents an opportunity to understand negative behaviour in the workplace. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Darbo tikslas: Nustatyti padidėjusio arterinio kraujospūdžio paplitimą tarp 14-15 metų amžiaus vaikų ir įvertinti veiksnių įtaką jo rizikai. Uždaviniai: .Nustatyti padidėjusio arterinio kraujospūdžio paplitimą tarp 14- 15 metų amžiaus vaikų;Nustatyti kai kurių aplinkos veiksnių įtaką arterinio kraujospūdžio rizikai; Įvertinti sąsajas tarp padidėjusio arterinio kraujo spaudimo ir analizuotų rizikos veiksnių. Tyrimo metodika. Gavus Kauno regioninio biomedicininių tyrimų etikos komiteto leidimą, 2010 m. lapkričio mėnesį buvo pradėtas tyrimas, kuriame dalyvavo 56- ių Kauno miesto mokyklų 12-15 metų amžiaus moksleiviai. Arterinis kraujo spaudimas buvo išmatuotas 2692 moksleiviams, 1468 mergaitėms ir 1224 berniukams. Atlikus matavimus vaikams buvo pateiktos anketos, kuriose buvo 80 klausimų. Klausimynas suskirstytas į grupes: bendroji dalis, mityba, emocijos, aktyvumas, miegas ir elgsena. Gautų rezultatų analizė buvo atlikta, naudojant SPSS 17.0 for Windows, Exel 2007 programas. Rezultatai. Analizuojant Kauno miesto moksleivių AKS rodmenis buvo nustatyta, kad 57,4 proc. 14-15 metų amžiaus moksleivių neturi problemų su kraujospūdžio padidėjimu. 26,4 proc. moksleivių buvo nustatytas aukštas normalus AKS (atitinkantis prehipertenzijos lygį), o 16,2 proc. nustatytas padidėjęs AKS (atitinkantis I ir II laipsnio hipertenziją (AH)). Gauti rezultatai parodė didesnę AKS riziką berniukams. Gimnazijose padidėjęs AKS sudarė 42,4 proc. , vidurinėse mokyklose 43,3 proc. o pagrindinėse 39,7 proc... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of the research. To identify diffusion of raised arterial blood pressure among 14-15 year olds and to evaluate the factors of the risk. Objectives of the research: to identify prevalence of raised arterial blood pressure among 14-15 year olds; to set some environmental factors on the risk of arterial blood pressure; to evaluate the correlation between the increased arterial blood pressure and analyzed risk factors. Methodology of the research: In November 2010, upon thepermit of Kaunas region Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee the research was started in which 12-15 year old pupils from 56 schools in Kaunas took part. The arterial blood pressure was measured for 2692 pupils – 1468 girls and 1224 boys.After accomplishing the measurements pupils weregiven a questionnaire, consisting of 80 questions. The questionnaire was divided into parts: common part, nutrition, emotions, activities, rest and behavior. The analysis of the results was carried out by using SPSS 17.0 for Windows and Exel 2007 programs. Results of the research. During the analysis of the data received it was identified that 57,4 % of 14-15 year olds do not meet the problem of increased blood pressure. 26,4 % have high normal ABP (corresponding to the level of prehypertensia), and increased ABP was identyfied to 16,2 %. (corresponding to I and II degree hypertensia (AH)). The obtained results indicated ABP risk to boys. Gymnasiums had 42.4 %. of whom had increased ABP as well as in secondary... [to full text]

Šio tyrimo tikslas buvo įvertinti Malassezia pachydermatis paplitimą sveikų ir kliniškai dermatitu sergančių šunų tarpe. Tyrimo metodika. Tyrimas atliktas su 118 šunimis. 33 šunys buvo kliniškai sveiki, o 85 – turėjo dermatitus įvairiose kūno vietose. Šunims buvo atliekamas odos citologinis tyrimas. Mėginys tyrimui buvo imamas objektinį stiklelį priglaudus prie odos ir gautą mėginį nudažius Diff-Quik® (Dade AG, Dudingen, Switzerland) dažais. Tyrimo metu buvo ieškoma M. pachydermatis mielių. Mėginiai kliniškai sveikiems šunims buvo imami nuo kaklo, alkūnių, kirkšnių, tarpupirščių ir iš ausų. Sergantiems dermatitu mėginiai buvo paimti iš ausų, alkūnių, kaklo, kirkšnių, kojų, krūtinės, nugaros, pilvo, snukio. Tyrimo rezultatai ir išvados. Nustatėme, kad kliniškai dermatitu sergančiųjų tarpe M. pachydermatis paplitimas buvo didesnis 59% (p<0,05), negu kliniškai sveikų šunų tarpe. M. pachydermatis mielės sergančių šunų grupėje daugiausia buvo paplitusios ausyse (p<0,05). Tokie veiksniai kaip šunų lytis, veislė, amžiaus grupė, plauko ilgis, ausų kaušelio tipas M. pachydermatis paplitimo neįtakojo (p<0,05). Lauke laikomų šunų tarpe M. pachydermatis paplitimas buvo 21 % didesnis (p<0,05), negu tarp patalpose laikomų šunų. O tarp dažnai maudomų šunų M. pachydermatis pasireiškia 2,5 karto dažniau, nei tarp retai maudomų (p<0,05). Išsiaiškinome, kad konkurentinės ligos ir gydymas gliukokortikoidais įtakoja M. pachydermatis mielių sukeltą dermatitą. Šunys, sergantys konkurentinėmis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of Malassezia pachydermatis in clinically healthy and ill dogs that were suffering from dermatitis Research methodology. The test was performed with 118 dogs. 33 dogs were clinically healthy but 85 had dermatitis in various body areas. The dogs were examined by performing skin cytological examination. The sample for examination was taken by touching glass slide on the skin and staining the resulting sample with Diff-Quik® (Dade AG, Dudingen, Switzerland) paint. During the investigation was sought to find M. pachydermatis yeast. The samples of clinically healthy dogs were taken from the neck, elbows, groin, toes and ears. Dogs that were suffering from dermatitis, samples were taken from the ears, elbows, neck, groin, legs, chest, back, abdomen and foot. The research results and conclusions. We determined that among patients that were clinically ill with dermatitis M. pachydermatis prevalence was higher by 59 % (p<0.05) than among clinically healthy dogs. The group of dogs with M. pachydermatis was mostly prevalent in the ears (p<0.05). Factors such as gender, breed, length of hair, earlobes and age group type of dogs did not affect the incidence of M. pachydermatis (p<0.05). Among dogs that were held outdoor the prevalence of M. pachydermatis was 21 % higher (p<0.05) than for dogs in the premises. For dogs that were often bathed M. pachydermatis occurs 2.5 times more often than rarely bathed (p<0.05). We found out that... [to full text]

Baigiamasis darbas išdėstytas 42 puslapiuose. Literatūros sąrašą sudaro 43 literatūros šaltiniai.Tyrimas atliktas 2011–2013 metais trijų rajonų – Kauno, Marijampolės ir Telšių skirtingo ūkininkavimo tipo, įvairaus dydžio, pienininkyste besiverčiančiuose ūkiuose.Ištyrėme 37 karves, kurių 30 sirgo nagų ligomis, o 7 karvių nagos buvo patikrintos profilaktiškai. Nustatėme, jog tiriamuoju laikotarpiu karvės dažniausiai sirgo neužkrečiamos kilmės nagų ligomis: aseptiniu pododermatitu, pado opa, laminitu. Dažniausia šių ligų lokalizacija – galinių kojų nagos. / Work size is 42 pages.The list of references includes 43 sources.The study was conducted in 2011–2013 in the three districts - Kaunas, Marijampolė and Telšiai, different sized dairy farms using a different type of farming system.: We have examined 37 cows, 30 of which had claw diseases and 7 cows was tested prophylactically against claw diseases. We found that during the entire period the cows mostly had claw disorders of non-infectious origin: aseptic pododermatitis, sole ulcers, laminitis. The most common location of the diseases were hindlimb claws.

Relevance assessing is an important part of information retrieval (IR) evaluation in addition to being something that all users of IR systems must do as part of their search for relevant documents. In this thesis, we present a user study conducted to understand the relevance judging behaviour of assessors when the prevalence of relevant documents in a set of documents to be judged is varied. In our user study, we collected judgements of participants on document sets of three different prevalence levels. The prevalence levels that we used were low (0.1), balanced (0.5) and high (0.9). We found that participants who judged documents at the 0.9 level made the most mistakes, and participants who judged documents at the 0.5 level made the least mistakes. We did not find a statistically significant difference in judging quality between 0.1 and 0.5 prevalence levels.

International prevalence of ever asthma and current wheeze in adults were examined in 55 countries participating in the World Health Survey. The prevalence of ever asthma ranged from 1.1-7.9% in Asia, 2.4-7.6% in Africa, 3.4-7.9% in Middle East, 2.4-12.1% in America, 3.9-6.8% in Eastern Europe, 4.2-17.1% in Western Europe, and 18.5% in Australia. Anxiety and ever depression were strong and consistent risk factors for ever asthma (Odds ratios (ORs) ranged from 0.64-4.08 and 1.42-18.49, respectively) and current wheeze (ORs ranged from 1.57-3.56 and from 1.72-16.23, respectively). Female and older age appeared to be risk factors, while higher education appeared to be a protective factor for both outcomes. In conclusion, large variations in ever asthma and current wheeze prevalence were observed both within and among geographic regions, with the highest prevalence generally found in Western Europe, Brazil, and Australia, and the lowest prevalence found in Asia and Africa. / Epidemiology