December 2019

In the South African economy, SMEs have been identified as productive drivers of inclusive economic growth and development around the world. SMEs makeup 91 per cent of formalised businesses, provide employment to about 60 per cent of the labour force and total economic output accounts for roughly 34 per cent of Gross Domestic Product of the country. Given the critical socio-economic role played by SMEs, it is vital that they grow and succeed. While several studies have acknowledged access to finance as a key success factor, similar studies carried out around the world also highlighted the role of social responsibility on the success of business. This means that a business which voluntarily participates in local community activities, such as providing the community with donations, assisting them with projects and sharing some of its profit with the community, is more likely to become competitive in the long run. Therefore, the study aimed at exploring SR to sustainable growth of SMEs in KwaZulu Natal province. Results were attained through assessing SMEs perception of SR towards sustainable growth of the business; assessing impact of SR on the SME business; assessing SR as a sustainable growth strategy for SME businesses. A Qualitative approach was adopted where data was obtained through face to face interviews. Results showed that majority of the respondents had an adverse view of SR towards sustainable growth of SME business. SME business does not acknowledge the impact of SR on SME business. SMEs undermine the practice of SR as a strategy for sustainable growth of their businesses. The study contributed to new knowledge through a model framework driven by the Stakeholder Theory entitled, “SR, compass to SME business sustainable growth”. The model was proposed to motivate SME businesses to positively embrace SR. The study recommended chamber of commerce, local municipalities and business leaders to proactively support SMEs to adopt SR as a sustainable growth strategy through training leading to SME business alignment with SR strategy.

Background: in nursing homes there are 50-80% of partial or total edentulous need prostheses. Loss of these dentures is frequent, so it is important to put an identification mark. This would also serve the purpose of forensic identification. The aim of this work is to collect different solutions to prevent the loss of dentures of elderly people in residences, and propose a new one. Materials and methods: a literature review of scientific papers on the loss of dentures of the elderly in residences has been made. Results: according to the bibliography consulted, a) the marking of the prosthesis can be on its surface (engraved, painted, barcode), b) it also be included in it (identification marks, lenticular card, barcode, microchip, photographs, code of data matrix, microlabels, memory card), or c) it can be marked outside the prosthesis (boxes with the name). Conclusion: a simple method is proposed to prevent the loss of dentures. A dental floss is attached to the prosthesis that is in the mouth and on the other hand it is attached to a safety pin that is fixed on the patient's clothes.

Torture, as a process. is a serious violation of fundamental human rights, especially in cases where torture is committed by civil servants, such as police and other segments of state institutions. The act of torture can be considered as a serious threat to the social and democratic principles of a society. The perpetration of torture by civil servants and institutions suggests that there is a serious omission in the democracy of a given system. It should be noted that no society is immune from cases of torture committed by various persons, especially by police officers who, often, exceed the official powers and apply disproportionate force to individuals of concern. Regarding the legal framework, almost every country that is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has adopted an appropriate legal framework for the prevention and punishment of torture, and the same applies to member countries of the European Union who have signed and ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, with special emphasis on Article 3 of this Convention.

Introduction: The STOP-Bang questionnaire has been useful to identify patients with high risk of oxygen desaturation, among others postoperative complications. Objective: Determine the association of oxygen desaturation with the high STOP-Bang questionnaire applied in preanaesthetic consultation. Materials and methods: Observational, prospective, longitudinaldesign. It was performed in the Navy Medical Center. The study included patients over 18 years old divided into two groups under general anesthesia: the STOP-Bang score < 3 and ≥3. The patients were assessed with the STOP-Bang questionnaire, sensitivity for moderate 93%. Analyzed through descriptive statistic-study and Xi2, significance p<0.05. And statistic package SPSSv24.0. Results: A sample of 121 patients were programmed for surgery under general anesthesia, The STOP-Bang scores high 85 and low 36. Patients over 50 years old in 49 (58%) high STOP-Bang score; atrial fibrillation 17 (17.6%) high STOP-Bang and 0% low STOP-Bang scores. Hypertensive patients of 52 (61%) high STOP-Bang and 5 (14%) low scores, p<0.000. Oxygen desaturation in 18 (21%) STOP-Bang high and, 1 (3%) low scores, p<0.012 OR 9.4 (IC 95% 1.2-73.3). Conclusions: Higher scores of STOP-Bang were associated to oxygen desaturation and cardiovascular disease risk.

Introduction: Sickle cell anemia is characterized by chronic red cell hemolysis which leads to chronic anemia. Patients with sickle cell may be asymptomatic (steady-state) even with anemia. One easy and minimally invasive method of assessing anemia is by using the packed cell volume. Objective: The study aimed at determining the steady-state packed cell volume among sickle cell patients and to ascertain if Doppler ultrasound can be used to predict the degree of anemia in sickle cell disease. Methods: Fifty males and 50 females aged 0-30years with homozygous sickle cell genotype were recruited in this cross-sectional study. Their packed cell volume and Doppler ultrasound parameters (peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, pulsatility index, resistivity index and systolic-diastolic ratio) were measured and correlated using SPSS version 22. Results: The steady-state mean packed cell volume were 23.54% and 24.92% for the females and males respectively. There was no correlation between packed cell volume and Doppler parameters. Conclusion: The steady-state packed cell volume was lower in patients with sickle cell anemia than the expected values for the general population. Doppler ultrasound could not be used to predict the degree of anemia in sickle cell patients.

This study investigated voter’s perception of the role of e-voting in ensuring credible elections in Nigeria. The study is delimited to registered voters in Calabar metropolis. The research design adopted for this study was the survey design. The researcher adopted the purposive sampling technique in selecting sample from the population of study. A sample size of two hundred and fifty respondents were selected for study. The researcher utilized the questionnaire in gathering quantitative data for the study. The research questions were analyzed using simple percentage and chi-square test statistic. The results of the study highlighted that there existed significant challenges in the areas of malfunctioning smart card readers, poor network connectivity to enable the prospect of electronic transmission of results as well as poor technical skills of INEC adhoc staff amongst others. However the study was able to establish that e-voting had several benefits such as enabling credible and transparent elections. Further analysis using chi square test statistic established a positive significant relationship between e-voting and credible elections in Nigeria. The study recommended immediate legislation to enable full implementation of e-voting in future polls as well as comprehensive ICT education for voters and technical adhoc staff of INEC.

In Lesotho, the alpine wetlands and sponges are the sources of drinking water for humans and livestock and environmentally critical for sustainable perennial flow of our streams. However, these environments are some of the most threatened ecosystems in Lesotho. Both ground and surface water are exposed to increasing and unprecedented threats from anthropogenic stressors that degrade water quality, reduce water quantity and availability. The net effects are compounded by the climate change impacts creating extreme precipitation conditions of drought and floods, both of which collude to destroy habitat and harm aquatic life. Climate change is the compounding factor, the effects of which are exacerbated by anthropogenic activities which cause land degradation. Since the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the people to a large extend influence how they manage the environment, the purpose of the study was to assess the land users’ perceptions on their water quality, availability and distribution. A structured open-ended questionnaire was used to illicit information from focus group discussions with community groups and interviews with key informants. The questions were based on LADA framework of Driving Forces, Pressures, State, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR), which sought to assess the state (S) of the water resources, the driving forces and pressure factors (DP) bearing on water resources, the impacts (I) impacts of the anthropogenic factors on the ecosystem as well as to the households and then the response (R) surface of the community and policy makers. The status of the water resources were found to have decreased due to lack of proper management of the resources, high population caused water shortage and infrastructures decrease water sources as result, the water becomes low both in quality and quantity and their crop production decreased. In respone, the community had started making dams and covering their wells. However, no policies were made regarding water resources management.

Background: The oral- motor dysfunction in cerebral palsy(CP) has a wide base of importance as oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) which is a major risk factor for morbidity in this population. It leads to the inability to consume sufficient food and fluids safely and is associated with prolonged mealtimes, poor growth and nutrition and respiratory consequences from oropharyngeal aspiration. Aim: to determine relation between oral motor dysfunction and Gross motor development in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Design: Correlational study Setting: Outpatient clinic, National Institute of Neuromotor System, Giza, Egypt. Materials and Methods: One hundred children with different types of spastic CP participated in the study and their ages ranged from 1 year– 4 years. The oral motor functions and gross motor abilities were evaluated using Schedule for Oral motor assessment (SOMA) and gross motor functional measure scale (GMFM) respectively. Results: It was found a strong positive significant correlation between total score of SOMA and total score GMFM (r=0.51, p=0.0001).There were positive significant correlation between SOMA categories and GMFM, as between GMFM scale and puree there was (r=0.48; P<0.05), GMFM scale and semi-solids (r=0.44; P<0.05), GMFM scale and solid (r=0.40; P<0.05), GMFM scale and cracker (r=0.37; P<0.05), and GMFM scale and cup (r=0.21; P<0.05). While, no significant correlation between GMFM scale and bottle (r=0.11; P>0.05), GMFM scale and trainer-cup (r=0.15; P>0.05). Conclusion: There was a strong correlation between oral motor functions and gross motor abilities in children with spastic CP

Objectives: A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the knee joint alignment in overweight and obese children, compare their findings with normal weight children and to determine the relationship between body mass index and deformities of the knee joint in the 3 groups. Methods: 220 children from both sexes with age ranged from 8 to 12 years were participated in this study. They were classified according to body mass index into normal, overweight and obese children. The tibiofemoral and knee hyperextension angles were measured by using a computer aided design (Auto CAD) program and the intermalleolar and intercondylar distances were assessed for all children. Results: Statistically significant differences in tibiofemoral angle, intermalleolar distance and knee hyperextension angle were found among the 3 groups with greater values in obese children. There were significant correlations between body mass index and intermalleolar distance as well as knee hyperextension angle in overweight and obese children. Significant differences were also observed between boys and girls in tibiofemoral angle in the 3 groups. Conclusion: It was concluded that increased body mass index in children may lead to adverse effects on the knee joint in the form of genu valgus and recurvatum which may progress to sever deformities later in life if body mass indexis not controlled.