MSc (Med), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2010

Introduction The study aimed at determining health workers’ prescription patterns using selected WHO/INRUD core drug-use indicators and investigated determinants of appropriate antibiotic prescribing in public Zambian primary health care facilities. Methods The study was a secondary data analysis of a cross sectional survey of health facility data collected in four districts of Zambia. This study extracted patients’ diagnoses and treatments and linked them to the health worker demographics and health facility characteristics in order to determine prescription patterns and factors influencing appropriate antibiotic prescribing. Results A total of 2206 prescriptions were analysed. An average of 2.5 drugs per encounter was prescribed. Injections were prescribed in 4% of the encounters. While over 95% of drugs were from the essential drug list fewer drugs were prescribed by their generic names. Only 1.5% of encounters did not result in a prescription. Antimalarial drugs and antipyretics were prescribed in at least 70% of encounters while antibiotics were prescribed in close to 40% of encounters. Of all encounters in which a systemic antibiotic was prescribed, just above a quarter were of appropriate indication and dosage. Determinants of appropriate antibiotic prescribing included patient’s age, presence of clinical wall charts and treatment guidelines; and the health worker cadre. Under-5s were more likely to receive antibiotics when indicated, though at wrong dosages. Health workers with access to guidelines were more likely to prescribe antibiotics only when indicated. Health worker cadre iv without pre-service clinical training were more likely to prescribe antibiotics when not indicated and at wrong dosages. Discussion This study showed that health workers’ performance for most of the WHO drug-use core indicators was similar to findings in other developing countries. The study also revealed overuse of antibiotics for diseases that do not require antibiotics as treatment. Increasing access to guidelines and other clinical job aids, continuous medical education for all health workers and targeted training of health worker cadres without prior medical training will contribute to better prescribing of antibiotics.

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A Langmuir film is a molecularly thin fluid layer on the surface of a subfluid. When dipole dipole forces are negligible, bounded films relax to energy minimizing circular domains. We investigate numerically the case where dipole dipole interactions are strong enough to deform the domain into highly distorted labyrinth type patterns. Our numerical method is designed to achieve higher accuracy and better stability than previous work and exploits an analytic formulation that removes a singularity in the dipole dipole forces without resorting to a small cutoff parameter. We calculate the relaxation rates for a linearly perturbed circular domain, and we verify them numerically. We are also able to numerically reproduce experimentally observed circle to dogbone transitions with minimal area loss.

There are several ways to describe juggling patterns mathematically using combinatorics and algebra. In my thesis I use these ideas to build a new system using braid groups. A new kind of graph arises that helps describe all braids that can be juggled.

Thesis (Msc.(Med.)(Pharmacy))--University of Limpopo, 2009. / Background: The study was conducted in primary healthcare facilities in Vhembe district in Limpopo province, South Africa. Seeing that the National Drug policy was implemented in 1996 and followed by the Standard Treatment Guidelines, it was necessary to investigate if PHC facilities are prescribing according to the guidelines. Although the data collected was from five clinics, iinformation on antimicrobial prescribing patterns is necessary for a constructive approach to the challenges that arise from the vast number of antibiotics that are available in the market and the occurrence of resistance. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate whether prescribers at Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in Vhembe district adhered to the Standard Treatment Guidelines/Essential Drug List (STG/EDL) when prescribing antimicrobials. Method: Five hundred antimicrobial prescribing patterns and patient demographics were recorded from five PHC facilities (100 prescriptions in each) in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province over a two weeks period. In all PHC facilities, data collection of prescriptions focused on the period from 01 August 2007 until the required number of 100 prescriptions was reached. x Results: Conditions where prescriptions complied to STG/EDL were skin infections and wound 91.67% (22/24), upper respiratory tract infection 86.49% (32/37), bronchitis 80% (4/5), ear/eye infections 75% (3/4), otitis media 57.14% (4/7), sore throat/tonsillitis 56.57% (56/99), urinary tract infection 37.5% (3/8), sexual transmitted infections 37.25% (19/51), bites 33.33% (1/3), and abscesses 25% (1/4). All other remaining 18 conditions that were listed as diagnosis did not comply at all. On overall only 29.2% (146/500) of prescriptions that were evaluated complied. Conclusion: Antimicrobial prescribing patterns adhering to the EDL/STD were low. Attention needs to be given to the prescribing of antimicrobials.

This study linked the management activity of planning with Alexander et al.’s (1977) concept of pattern languages developed within architecture. Since the 1990s the concept has been expanded in the information systems discipline to document software development practices. Moreover, uses of the patterning concept have focussed on software from a technical aspect; however, authors such as Coplien and Harrison (2004) have moved beyond the purely technical aspects and have used the concept of patterns to discuss issues of organisational structure. Similarly, within the discipline of management, process management tools are used to manage, track or simplify core processes by recognising patterns that can be replicated to produce more effective and efficient structural systems. Whether practitioners seek continuous improvement through control of business structures, inputs or processes, planning of desired outcomes is critical. Practical implementation difficulties continue despite a plethora of independent planning tools/applications available to managers. Consequently, a focus of this study was to explore human processes of planning in organisations, using Manns et al.’s (2001) definition of patterns to determine whether identifiable underlying patterns existed. There is a dearth of literature and practical resources related to the concept of management patterns. However, identifying flexible patterns in planning would provide a direct link between the theory of management planning, its practical implementation or both. / Qualitative research was conducted by means of within case and cross-case analysis of interviews of senior planning personnel in public and private organisations. At a general (macro) level, planning performances in all participating organisations indicated a strong relationship to Alexander’s concept of patterns; i.e. an underlying pattern that represented actual planning practices has been identified. Participating public sector organisations demonstrated some common themes in their planning, usually due to government accountability demands. In participating private sector each organisation undertook very different processes, largely because there was no internal or external accountability. The major conclusion in this study was that the reported practice of planning in participating organisations exhibited underlying patterns that matched Alexander-type patterns at the general (macro) level. Other original outcomes generated in this study included identifying, at the specific (micro) level, evidence of common indicators and categories of planning, development of individual case maps displaying pattern indicators, design of a planning component model using information that emerged from the interview data and within case analysis, amendment to that model after cross-case analysis and linking of the findings to the literature. Overall, the findings led to a revision of the conceptual model devised from available literature on planning and the concept of patterns.

Since the coining of the term "Design Patterns" in the software engineering context, and specifically as related to object-oriented applications, there has been an increasing emphasis placed on the relevance of patterns in successfully designing object-oriented software, by the provision of generic, recurring designs. Various authors have produced design pattern catalogues as a record of applied design pattern experiences [Buschmann+96] [Gamma+95] [Coad92]. These catalogues are invaluable to experienced practitioners. However, the examples are frequently given in the context of a complex application with partially coded examples. Also, there is no standard with regard to the name used to designate a particular design pattern and, in some cases, different designers have designated relatively similar patterns with quite different names. This limits their accessibility to less experienced designers who require fully coded examples applied in a familiar landscape. Thus, while patterns have dramatically shaped the manner in which object-oriented solutions are developed, the full realisation of their use and reuse potential by inexperienced practitioners is limited by lack of completely coded examples. In this thesis we consider the implementation (in Java), using fully coded examples, of a number of design patterns applied to business oriented applications. These will be applied in an application specific environment, with the resultant framework being capable of use across a family of similar applications. The source code examples are compact enough so that the pattern structure can be readily appreciated, while at the same time being large enough to demonstrate the pattern in a practical, viable sense. These are applied in a familiar application domain, business-oriented applications, resulting in an application framework, that is, a partially completed system that provide the core architecture functionality, suitable for reuse across a family of systems. In this way, the link between design patterns and their implementation via these coded frameworks will be easier to comprehend. It is anticipated that the end result will be a better appreciation of design patterns and a clearer understanding of how to apply these patterns, with the availability of a set of useful, reusable software components, with appropriate interface connection, to be used as central building blocks, in developing object-oriented solutions for business applications.

This study determined the key characteristics of temporal patterns of root growth during the crop development period, as well as the vertical patterns of root distribution in the soil profile for important oilseed and pulse crops grown on the semiarid Canadian Prairie. Rooting characteristics greatly influence the nutrient acquisition and water-use patterns for any plants. However, crop root systems have not been studied intensively due to time, labor and costs constraints. In the literature, root studies mostly focus on cereal crops and very limited information is available for oilseeds and pulses even though these broadleaf crops are critical in the diversification of cropping systems. Thus the objectives of this study were to 1) examine the root morphological characteristics, root distribution patterns in the soil profile, and the fine root distributions of oilseeds and pulses in comparison with wheat; 2) to determine the rhizospheric properties of pulse crops. In 2006 and 2007, canola (<i>Brassica napus</i> L.), flax (<i>Linum usitatissimum</i> L.), mustard (<i>Brassica juncea</i> L.), chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum </i> L.), field pea (<i>Pisum sativum</i>L., lentil (<i>Lens culinaris</i>), and spring wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) were grown under low- (natural rainfall) and high-water (rainfall+irrigation) conditions in southwest Saskatchewan. Roots were sampled at the seedling, early-flower, late-flower, late-pod, and physiological maturity growth stages, and root parameters determined using image analysis. The growth of roots progressed markedly from seedling to late-flowering and then declined to maturity. Root growth of pulse crops was not significantly affected by water conditions, but canola had 70% greater root length, 67% more root surface area, and 79% more root tips under high-water than under low-water conditions. At the late-flower stage, over 70% of the roots in oilseeds and pulses were distributed within the 0-60 cm soil profile and the largest proportion (around 50%) were found in the top 20-cm of the soil depth. About 85% of the roots in oilseeds and pulses were classified as extra fine (diameter <0.4mm). The rhizosphere fungi were significantly different among tested pulses and also pulse rhizosphere fungi were significantly affected by soil depth but not by water conditions. Inoculation of <i>Penicillium bilaiae</i> (product -JumpStart®) to the pulse crops increased the amount of the fungi in their rhizospheres by as much as 42% compared to the pulses not inoculated. Results from this study are novel and provide the baseline for model-related studies on water use and nutrient uptake by root systems of oilseed and pulse crops in semiarid environments.