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Item 2016 Flow rate readings for the Tayside High Lift pumps(2016-05-30) Phillip, NeilItem Data Set : Prevalence, characterization and response to chronic kidney disease in an urban and rural setting in South Africa(2016-11-18) Naicker, Saraladevi; Fabian, June; Jaya A George; Harriet R Etheredge; Manuel van Deventer; Robert Kalyesubula; Alisha N Wade; Laurie A Tomlinson; Stephen TollmanGlobally, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an emerging public health challenge but accurate data on its true prevalence are scarce, particularly in poorly resourced regions such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Limited funding for population-based studies, poor laboratory infrastructure and the absence of a validated estimating equation for kidney function in Africans are contributing factors. Consequently, most available studies used to estimate population prevalence are hospital-based, with small samples of participants who are at high risk for kidney disease. While serum creatinine is most commonly used to estimate glomerular filtration, there is considerable potential bias in the measurement of creatinine that might lead to inaccurate estimates of kidney disease at individual and population level. To address this, the Laboratory Working Group of the National Kidney Disease Education Program published recommendations in 2006 to standardize the laboratory measurement of creatinine. The primary objective of this review was to appraise implementation of these recommendations in studies conducted in SSA after 2006. Secondary objectives were to assess bias relating to choice of estimating equations for assessing glomerular function in Africans and to evaluate use of recommended diagnostic criteria for CKD. This study was registered with Prospero (CRD42017068151), and using PubMed, African Journals Online and Web of Science, 5845 abstracts were reviewed and 252 full-text articles included for narrative analysis. Overall, two-thirds of studies did not report laboratory methods for creatinine measurement and just over 80% did not report whether their creatinine measurement was isotope dilution mass spectroscopy (IDMS) traceable. For those reporting a method, Jaffe was the most common (93%). The four-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (4-v MDRD) equation was most frequently used (42%), followed by the CKD Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation for creatinine (26%). For the 4-v MDRD equation and CKD-EPI equations, respectively, one-third to one half of studies clarified use of the coefficient for African-American (AA) ethnicity. When reporting CKD prevalence, <15% of studies fulfilled Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria and even fewer used a population-based sample. Six studies compared performance of estimating equations to measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) demonstrating that coefficients for AA ethnicity used in the 4-v MDRD and the CKD-EPI equations overestimated GFR in Africans. To improve on reporting in future studies, we propose an 'easy to use' checklist that will standardize reporting of kidney function and improve the quality of studies in the region. This research contributes some understanding of the factors requiring attention to ensure accurate assessment of the burden of kidney disease in SSA. Many of these factors are difficult to address and extend beyond individual researchers to health systems and governmental policy, but understanding the burden of kidney disease is a critical first step to informing an integrated public health response that would provide appropriate screening, prevention and management of kidney disease in countries from SSA. This is particularly relevant as CKD is a common pathway in both infectious and non-communicable diseases, and multimorbidity is now commonplace, and even more so when those living with severe kidney disease have limited or no access to renal replacement therapy.Item WDGMC Paediatric Liver Transplant Research Database(REDcap, 2019-12-09) Fabian, June; Botha, Jean; Van der Schyff, Francisca.; Terblanche, Alberta JBiliary atresia (BA) is a progressive fibrosing cholangiopathy of infancy, the most common cause of cholestatic jaundice in infants and the top indication for liver transplantation in children. Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE) when successful may delay the requirement for liver transplantation, which in the majority offers the only cure. Good outcomes demand early surgical intervention, appropriate management of liver cirrhosis, and in most cases, liver transplantation. These parameters were audited of children with BA treated at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in Pretoria, South Africa.Item Dataset from Ark Consortium - Understanding kidney disease in rural central Uganda - Findings from a qualitative study.(2016-11-09) Saraladevi, Naicker; June, Fabian; Working group ARK Consortium,; Seeley, Janet; Kabunga, Elizabeth; Laurie, Tomlinson; Liam, Smeeth; Moffat, Nyirenda; Robert, Newton; Robert, Kalyesubula; Dominic, Bukenya; Joseph SsembatyaItem Exploring a South African Indian Woman Poet and her Poetry from an Indigenous Perspective: Interviews with Francine Simon and Readings of Selected Poems from Thungachi.(University of the Witwatersrand, 2019-07-30) Govender, ArushaniThis dissertation executes a critical reading of Francine Simon’s poetry in relation to contemporary perspectives of indigenous knowledge (IK), and against the political background and socio-cultural context of the poet’s lived experiences. Simon is an emerging South African Indian (SAI) woman poet in the contemporary poetry scene, and has recently published a debut poetry collection titled Thungachi. I unpack instances of IK from selected poems in Thungachi, through use of an indigenous language of critique. Linda Tuhiwai Smith conceptualises indigenous language of critique as a form of theory that indigenous research scholars should engage with, by combining questions of indigeneity with attributes of decolonisation (24). Framed by decolonial theory, this study serves the interests of decolonising research praxis, and thereby the nature of the knowledge produced. I have executed in-depth interviews with the poet to determine how she came to acquire IK and how such knowledge is conveyed and dealt with in her poetry. The interviews are presented as an experiential montage, countering the “objective” nature of academic research that distances the knower from the known. The dissertation is thus composed of theoretical analysis and creative reflections, which together offer a textured exploration of the selected poems and an experience of the poetry. Using the interview data as a supplementary device, I conduct the poetry analysis with the following questions, which pertain to examining the data from an indigenous perspective: What indigenous worldviews are prevalent in Simon’s poetry? To what culture/s may those worldviews be attributed? How is IK affected by diaspora, gender and cultural hybridity? This study finds that it is necessary to critique Simon’s poetry from an indigenous perspective in order to uncover its cultural complexities, ontological insights and social commentary. Additionally, Simon’s poetry demonstrates artistry, experimentation with language and form, and innovates a genre of decolonised feminist poetics that creates room for the heterogeneity of South African Indian women.Item The use of chronic dialysis in a resource-poor environment: demographic features and transplant readiness at Helen Joseph Hospital renal unit(2019) Parbhoo, DinenBackground Chronic kidney disease (CKD) places a considerable economic strain on health care systems. In South Africa resource limitations in the public sector mandate that patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) are only offered dialysis if they qualify for renal transplant. Thus, chronic dialysis serves as a bridge to transplantation. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to describe the patients on the chronic dialysis program with regards to demographic features, aetiology of renal failure, associated chronic comorbidities and transplant readiness. Secondary objectives included the determination of the type and duration of dialysis used and the documentation of any possible differences between the haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) groups and the HIV positive and negative patients. Methods A cross-sectional record review was conducted of all patients receiving chronic dialysis at the Helen Joseph Hospital’s Renal Unit as at September 2016. Information regarding demographic features, disease profile, year of initiation of dialysis, year of presentation, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status and transplant readiness was collected. All data was analysed at a 95% confidence interval and a p value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results There were 92 patients on chronic dialysis, 46 each on PD and HD. The mean (SD) age of patients in this study was 43.8 years (10.8). There was a slight female predominance (51.1%). The predominant ethnic group was African (64.1%). The leading causes of ESRD were hypertension (35.9%) followed by diabetes mellitus (10.9%). The most frequent comorbidity was hypertension (98.9%) followed by HIV infection (36.1%). The median time that patients spent on dialysis before presentation for transplant listing was 2 years (range 0-9 years). At the time of analysis, 27 patients (29.4%) were eligible for transplant and 38 patients (41.3%) were in the process of transplant eligibility evaluation. Twenty-seven patients (29.4%) were ineligible for transplant. Of those eligible for transplant, 21 were listed for transplant and 6 were awaiting presentation for listing. There were no differences between the HD and PD groups or the HIV positive and negative groups with regards to qualification for transplant. Conclusion The demographic features and underlying aetiologies of our cohort are similar to national figures with only the racial composition being different. The proportion of patients listed for transplantation (22.8%) and median time for work-up (2 years) are both sub-optimal. Improved efficiency in the evaluation of transplant eligibility is required in order to optimize the appropriate allocation of dialysis in a resource-limited setting.Item Using mixed-method approaches to provide new insights into media coverage of femicide(2019) Brodie, Nechama R.South Africa has a femicide rate that is six times the world average. Over 2,500 women aged 14 years or older are murdered every year, the majority of these women killed by an intimate partner. Despite the prevalence of femicide, less than 20% of these murders are ever reported in South African news media. Studies on news-media coverage of femicide reveal a subjective and obscure process of media selection and exclusion, which contribute to an archive of crime reporting that is not reflective of actual crime rates and which actively distort the nature and frequency of certain types of crime. This influences public perceptions and fear of violent crime, including notions of who is a suspect and who is most at risk. This study uses mixed-method approaches to document and analyse the content and extent of commercial news media coverage of femicides that took place in South Africa during the 2012/2013 crime reporting year, through an original media database listing 408 femicide victims associated with 5,778 press articles. Victim and incident information is compared with epidemiological and statistical data, including mortuary-based studies and police crime statistics. Media data is explored through various media effects models, including a mixedmethods framing analysis, and is also examined by title, and by language. These analyses reveal how media constructs and depicts particular notions of gender, violence, race, and crime in South Africa.Item 'Credible' child perpetrators: A critical discourse analysis of South African juvenile murderers(2019) Masuku, KwaneleConstructions of violence constrain women and children to victims and men to perpetrators, and imply that children are, at all times pure, innocent and, vulnerable. As such, child perpetrated crimes contradict these normative constructions, thus rendering child perpetrators inconceivable. The aim of this research was thus to identify resistance discourse that oppose these normative constructions of violence. This was achieved by interviewing incarcerated juvenile-offenders from juvenile correctional centres in South Africa. After the interviews were transcribed, the transcripts were subjected to Parker’s (1992, 2004) critical discourse analysis. The findings illustrate how normative constructions of childhood and violence render child perpetrators inconceivable. Additionally, the analysis surfaced resistance discourse which challenge normative constructions of childhood and violence, and provide counter-knowledge on violence and crime within South Africa.Item The motive of a South African male muti murder offender: a case study(2018) Thenga, KhalirendweTraditional healers in South Africa are easily accessible to individuals who require their services. Traditionally, traditional healers would help their clients either by giving them advice or by giving them muti made from plants and/ or animal body parts. However, some traditional healers have adopted the practice of using human body parts in muti. Traditional healers who practice muti murder believe that different human body parts have different “powers”. The traditional healer who practices muti murder will often appoint someone to carry out the murder thus they are not directly involved in the murder. There are various motives for committing murder and the current study utilised a single case study design to investigate the motives of Black South African males who commit muti murder. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, the researcher was able to recruit one participant. The participant was interviewed by the researcher in Northern Sotho. The researcher recorded and transcribed the interview. The researcher utilised thematic analysis to analyse the data. The current study identified two motives for committing muti murder, “cultural beliefs” and “financial gain”. Future studies should recruit more participants and delve into the motive, financial gain.