Faculty of Health Sciences
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Item Synthesis and characterization of Y3+-doped TiO2 nanocomposites for photocatalytic applications(IOP Publishing Ltd, 2009) Macheli, Lebohang; Narayan, Himanshu; Alemu, Hailemichael; Gundu Rao, T. K.; Thakurdesai, MadhaviThe TiO2·[Y2O3]x (x = 0.1–0.4) nanocomposites (NCs) with an average particle size of 74 nm were prepared by the method of chemical co-precipitation followed by hydrolysis (CPH). Their visible light photocatalytic activity was investigated for the degradation of congo red (CR) dye. All NCs showed improved degradation as compared to the polycrystalline samples of similar compositions prepared by the solid-state reaction (SSR) route (average particle size of a few micrometers), as well as to the pure TiO2. The better photocatalytic activity of the NCs was attributed to their smaller particle size. Another comparison of the results with those obtained with Zn2+/Fe3+ ions co-doped TiO2 NCs, under similar experimental conditions, revealed that in the Y3+-doped NCs, particle size might not be the only factor responsible for the improved photocatalytic properties. It was concluded that the Y3+ ion-mediated suppression of the unwanted e−/h+ recombination could be the possible factor leading to additional enhancement.Item The Extent of Drug Abuse in Lesotho: The Case of Mapoteng Community(Lesotho Medical Association Journal, 2012-05-01) Ranotsi; Makatjane; Aiyuk; Ramathebana; Maja; YahayaItem Setting up a Lesotho Herbal Medicines Repository and Database(�3�s Company Conference of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of South Africa, 2013) Mugomeri, E.; Chatanga, P.; Hlapisi, S. et. al.Item Environmental Health- the latent cradle driving Public health(2013) Aiyuk, S. E.Item Writing a Self-Evaluation Report(2013) Seotsanyana, M.; Aiyuk, S. E.Item Disposal procedures of expired and unserviceable pharmaceuticals in Lesotho(2013) Ramathebane, M.Item An integrated financial project decision model for characterizing and supplying irrigation water(Lesotho Journal of Agricultural Science, 2013) Aiyuk, S. E.; Nkoebe, T. S.; Verstraete, W.Item Seismic Monitoring in the Namaqualand/Bushmanland Region(2013) Malephane, H.The Namaqualand-Bushmanland region has numerous features that make it attractive for the storage of radioactive waste. In the late 1970s a programme to find a suitable site for low- and intermediate-level waste was launched and Vaalputs was identified. Such site has been in operation at Vaalputs, ca. 100 km S of Springbok since 1986, and seismicity is one of several key factors that are monitored as part of the on-going disposal operations. We evaluate the region's seismic history with the aim of assessing its long-term stability and geodynamic setting. The two station network of short-period seismometers that was installed in 1989 was replaced with a three-station network in 2012, which comprises one broadband and two short period seismometers. Data from these networks, the South African National Seismological Network, and the International Seismological Centre has been used to compile a catalogue of the general seismicity of the region. A previously known cluster of earthquake foci, with MMax = 5.8, termed the 'Grootvloer cluster', is found to consist of three distinct seismic source zones, namely: (1) the Springbok area source, which is attributed to mining activities that ended around 2000; (2) the Great Escarpment area source, which could be attributed to continental margin instability, and (3) the Bushmanland Plateau area source, which is not easily understood. However, we believe that such sub-cluster reflects the strain in the upper and middle crust in response to the transpressional force of a robust, horizontally-oriented ?1, a vector known in the literature as the Wegener Stress Anomaly. The overall cumulative trend of the number of events displays a significant increase in the rate, from 13 events/year for the period 1989 to 1995 to 25 events/year for the period 2005 to 2009. These changes seem to coincide with periods of increased global seismic moment release.Item Dire global water crisis in a cultural theory grid(Swaziland Journal of Sustainable development., 2013) Aiyuk, S. E.; Ramathebane, M.; Ranotsi, A. et.al.Item Characteristics of patients admitted with diabetes in Maseru, Lesotho(African Journal of Diabetes, 2013) Thinyane, K. H.; Theketsa, C. E.Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. In 2009, diabetes was the leading non-infectious cause of admissions to public hospitals in Lesotho. Our aim was to investigate the reasons for hospitalisation among diabetic patients in Maseru, Lesotho. We studied the clinical characteristics and medical history of 80 adult patients admitted to Queen Elizabeth II Referral Hospital for the management of uncontrolled diabetes and evaluated the quality of diabetes care prior to admission. The median age was 49 years; 89% of the patients had type 2 diabetes and 74% of patients had been on antidiabetic treatment for more than 1 year. The majority (85%) of patients presented with hyperglycaemia. The most common chronic complication and co-morbidities were diabetic retinopathy (35%) and hypertension (56%) respectively. Most (89%) patients had received diabetes education, but less than half were adherent to recommended lifestyle changes and only 14% performed self-monitoring of blood glucose. The medicAtion non-adherence rate was 20%, and 31% of patients had defaulted from therapy in the previous 6 months. Blood glucose was measured routinely at check-up. In the previous 12 months, 75% of the patients had had eye examinations, but lipid screening, urinalysis, and foot examinations had each been performed on less than one-third of the patients. There were 42% of the patients who had a history of diabetes-related hospitalisations. We concluded that the most common admission cause was hyperglycaemia. In general, there was poor glycaemic control, a high prevalence of complications and high rates of rehospitalisation among the study population. The quality of diabetes care prior to hospitalisation was suboptimal, characterised by low levels of self-management practices and inadequate screening for diabetes complications.Item The Environmental health curriculum(2013) Aiyuk, S. E.Item Antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties of four plant species used in traditional medicine in Lesotho(International Journal of Medicinal Plant Research, 2013) Magama, S.; Lieta, M. I.; Asita, A. O.Among the top ten causes of death in Lesotho are degenerative diseases such as heart failure, anaemia, diabetes mellitus and stroke, which are generally linked to oxidative stress. The therapeutic benefit of medicinal plants in the treatment of degenerative diseases is attributed to their antioxidant properties. In the present study, crude extracts of four plant species used in ethnomedicine in Lesotho were evaluated for their antioxidant activities using 1, 1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, reducing power, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and total phenolics. The species were Leucosidea sericea (leaves), Berkheya setifera (corm), Trifolium burchellianum (leaves, stems and roots) and Polygala virgata (leaves and stems). Camellia sinensis (green tea) was included as a standard as it is known to have antioxidant activity. Results showed that these plants scavenged DPPH radicals and hydrogen peroxide, reduced Fe3+ to Fe2+ and contained phenolics. A fair correlation between total phenolics and antioxidant activity was observed. L. sericea and B. setifera with the highest content of phenolics (149.63 and 66.0 mg GAE/g dry extract respectively) were also more potent in all the antioxidant assays. The results suggested that phenolics in these plants could be partly responsible for their beneficial therapeutic effects.Item Socio-economic and hygenic aspects of street food vending in maseru city, Lesotho(UNISWA Research journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology, 2013) Gadaga, T. H.; Ntsike, M. M.; Ntuli, V.Item Clinical profile of HIV-infected, HAART- Na�ve patients admitted to a tertiary level hospital in Maseru, Lesotho(The internet journal of infectious diseases, 2013) Thinyane, K. H.; Cooper, V.Introduction: Southern Africa has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates globally. The HIV epidemic in the region is characterised by high rates of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to document the clinical profiles of patients hospitalised for the treatment of HIV-related disorders in Maseru, Lesotho. Methods: A prospective observational study of 105 HIV-infected, HAART-na�ve patients admitted at Queen Elizabeth II Referral Hospital in Maseru.Results: The median age was 34 years and 50.5% were female. 74 patients (70.5%) had tested positive for HIV before admission. 85.9% of all patients had presented with Stage III or IV events at diagnosis of HIV infection. 69.5% of the patients were treated for opportunistic infections of which tuberculosis was the commonest (n = 43, 41.0%) followed by oral candidiasis (n = 19, 18.1%) and pneumonia (n = 11,10.5%). 35 patients (33.3%) had severe anaemia (Hb < 8g/dl). The median CD4 count was 73.5 cells/?l; 62 patients (59.0%) were in Stage III and 43 (41.0%) were in Stage IV of HIV infection. The median duration of hospitalisation was 9 days; prolonged hospitalisation was associated with extrapulmonary tuberculosis and cryptococcal meningitis. The in-hospital mortality was 30.5%; the mortality rate was higher among patients with advanced AIDS (Stage IV).Conclusions: The majority of the patients presented with HIV-related opportunistic infections. The main factors contributing to morbidity and mortality in this study were late presentation for diagnosis of HIV infection and treatment of HIV-related disorders.Item Disposal procedures of expired and unserviceable pharmaceuticals in Lesotho(Lesotho Medical Association Journal, 2013) Ramathebane, M. V.; Maja, L.Item Social Protection and Climate Change Adaptation in Lesotho: Opportunities and Constraints(Fountain Publishers, Kampala, 2013) Gwimbi, P.Item Importance of Interventional Intense supervision and regular mentoring of pharmacy assistants on inventory management, good dispensing practice and proper reporting of antiretroviral drugs in the rural Health Centers in Lesotho(Lesotho Medical Association Journal, 2013) Maja, L.; Ramathebane, M. V.Item Social Protection and Climate Change Adaptation in Lesotho: Opportunities and Constraints(Fountain Publishers, Kampala, Uganda, 2013) Gwimbi,PItem Phytochemical characterisation of selected herbal products in Lesotho(Lesotho Medical Association Journal, 2013) Mugomeri, E.; Chatanga, P.; Hlapisi, S. et. al.Information on herbal products in Lesotho is lacking. The study characterised some herbal products found in Lesotho and compared herbalists' prescriptions with literature. FTIR spectroscopic scan of the herbal products was also done. Phytochemical screening of five powdered herbal products from the Lesotho Herbal Medicines Repository (LHMR) was done using qualitative and FTIR-spectroscopic standard methods. Phytochemical extraction of Euc/ea coriacea, Hypoxis hemerocalfidea, Xysmalobium undulatum, Senecio asperulus and Pelargonium sidoides was done using water, methanol and acetone as solvents. Euc/ea coriacea was found to contain diterpenes and phytosterols while Hypoxis hemerocallidea had diterpenes, flavonoids and phytosterols. Phytosterols, flavonoids, glycosides were detected in Senecio asperulus. Pelargonium sidoides and Xysmalobium undulatum contained glycosides and phytosterols respectively. Although all the herbal plants analysed were found to have medicinal properties, local herbalists' prescriptions of Euclea coriacea and Xysmalobium undulatum did not concur with literature. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy of herbal plants indicated specific spectra which can be used to identify herbal plant components