Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Group with ancestors from Africa'

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2014-11-18T11:43:31Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Geisa J G Marques Fortunato - 2014.pdf: 2426441 bytes, checksum: a563d440b32f37b238efdcb68f589fcc (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-11-18T13:26:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Geisa J G Marques Fortunato - 2014.pdf: 2426441 bytes, checksum: a563d440b32f37b238efdcb68f589fcc (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2014-11-18T13:26:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Geisa J G Marques Fortunato - 2014.pdf: 2426441 bytes, checksum: a563d440b32f37b238efdcb68f589fcc (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-31<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES<br>The maroon organization was a resource for physical and cultural survival of former slaves and served as an instrument for preserving the dignity of descendants of Africans trafficked to Brazil, who fought to regain the right to freedom. The study aimed to evaluate the National School Feeding Programme in some remaining quilombo communities of Goiás. This is an exploratory descriptive transversal study in schools located in communities remaining Quilombo certified by the Palmares Cultural Foundation, from March to August 2012. Characteristics of the menus and the diversity of food, food insert in Maroon and food culture nutritional composition; attribute information from the National School Feeding Programme Quilombo as financial resources and family farms were collected. Descriptive analyzes and multivariate analysis with application of the technique of Principal Component Analysis was performed to assess the adequacy of menus. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Goiás maroons study involved 31 schools in seven municipalities of Goiás, of these 26 (83.8%) were enrolled in the School Census 2012. The per capita value for students Maroons schools was unknown to 75.0% of the representatives of the School Nutrition Council. Seventeen (54.8%) schools buy groceries Family Agriculture, and in 11 schools the supplier were maroon family farmer. There is a large variability in food supply with 35.60% of fruits, vegetables and 26.7% of the food group of fat, sugar and salt. In menus analyzed the frequency of food in maroon food crop was manioc (0.5%), manioc flour (1.5%), maize (2.7%) and derived from corn (1.1%) as the preparation offered on the menu. Only one menu was nutritionally adequate according to the recommended. There are inefficiencies in the implementation of the Programme in terms of financial resource, purchase of family farming and appropriateness of the menu. We suggest a reinterpretation of the existing legal basis for the Program with an eye to improving the quality of life of this population based on the promotion of healthy eating habits, food culture and respect for overcoming social vulnerability and food and nutrition insecurity.<br>A organização quilombola foi um recurso para a sobrevivência física e cultural dos antigos escravos e serviu como instrumento de preservação da dignidade de descendentes dos africanos traficados para o Brasil, que lutaram para reconquistar o direito à liberdade. O estudo teve o objetivo de avaliar o Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar em algumas comunidades remanescentes de quilombos de Goiás. Trata-se de um estudo transversal descritivo exploratório realizado em escolas localizadas em comunidades remanescentes de quilombos certificadas pela Fundação Cultural Palmares, no período de março a agosto de 2012. Foram coletadas informações sobre atributos do Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar Quilombola quanto a recurso financeiro e agricultura familiar; características dos cardápios quanto à diversidade de alimentos, inserção de alimentos da cultura alimentar quilombola e composição nutricional. Foram realizadas análises descritivas e análise multivariada com aplicação da técnica de Análise dos Componentes Principais para avaliar a adequação dos cardápios. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Goiás. Participaram do estudo 31 escolas quilombolas localizadas em sete municípios de Goiás, destas 26 (83,87%) eram cadastradas no Censo Escolar 2012. O valor per capita para estudantes de escolas quilombolas era desconhecido por 75,0% dos representantes do Conselho de Alimentação Escolar. Dezessete (54,8%) escolas compravam gêneros alimentícios da Agricultura Familiar, sendo que em 11 escolas o fornecedor era agricultor familiar quilombola. Há uma grande variabilidade de alimentos com oferta de 35,6% de frutas, legumes e verduras e 26,7% de alimentos do grupo de gordura, açúcar e sal. Nos cardápios analisados a frequência de alimentos da cultura alimentar quilombola foi de mandioca (0,5%), farinha de mandioca (1,5%), milho (2,7%) e derivado de milho (1,1%) conforme a preparação oferecida no cardápio. Apenas um cardápio estava nutricionalmente adequado de acordo com o recomendado. Há ineficiência na execução do Programa quanto ao recurso financeiro, compra da agricultura familiar e adequação do cardápio. Sugere-se uma releitura da base legal vigente do Programa com um olhar para a melhoria da qualidade de vida desta população com base na promoção de hábitos alimentares saudáveis, respeito à cultura alimentar e superação da vulnerabilidade social e insegurança alimentar e nutricional.

Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-30T21:39:09Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana de Moraes Cordeiro - 2013.pdf: 2143609 bytes, checksum: 946e8355d111cbdc3f6463281a64c83a (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-09-30T21:41:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana de Moraes Cordeiro - 2013.pdf: 2143609 bytes, checksum: 946e8355d111cbdc3f6463281a64c83a (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-30T21:41:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana de Moraes Cordeiro - 2013.pdf: 2143609 bytes, checksum: 946e8355d111cbdc3f6463281a64c83a (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-26<br>Introduction: despite the few studies on the profile of health and nutritional status of young quilombolas, one realizes that the urban environment can influence the eating habits of this population, with consequent occurrence of overweight. This situation of nutritional status and dietary pattern in quilombolas communities seems to be a nonsense when it shows the concomitant presence of food insecurity in their homes. Objective: to characterize the nutritional status of students quilombolas and food security in their homes. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 226 students from six to 19 years who attended local schools visited in the period March-August 2012. Information was collected on age, sex, nutritional status, location of the school who were enrolled and applying the Brazilian Scale for Measuring Food Insecurity conducted with the families of the students interviewed. Tests were conducted chi-square association considered significant when p-value presented <0.05. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal de Goiás Results and discussion: food insecurity was present in 75.2% of families quilombolas. There was a higher frequency of overweight (17.2%) compared to the low weight (1.3%) among students. Overweight was more common among students enrolled in urban schools (28.2%) (p <0,05). Conclusions: The presence of overweight concomitant to food and nutrition insecurity allows questioning about new lifestyles and consumption, and even on the poverty profile now present in Brazil. The urbanization of these communities may be an influencing factor in this correlation, which is the reason we suggest new studies to further this discussion.<br>Introdução: apesar dos poucos estudos sobre o perfil de saúde e estado nutricional dos jovens quilombolas, percebe-se que o meio urbano pode influenciar no hábito alimentar dessa população, com consequente ocorrência de excesso de peso. Essa situação do estado nutricional e padrão alimentar nas comunidades quilombolas parece ser um contrassenso quando se evidencia a concomitante presença de insegurança alimentar em seus domicílios. Objetivo: caracterizar o estado nutricional de estudantes quilombolas e a segurança alimentar nos seus domicílios. Métodos: estudo transversal com 226 estudantes, de seis a 19 anos que frequentavam escolas dos municípios visitados, no período de março a agosto de 2012. Foram coletadas informações sobre idade, sexo, estado nutricional, localização da escola que estavam matriculados e aplicação da Escala Brasileira de Medida de Insegurança Alimentar realizada com as famílias dos alunos entrevistados. Foram realizados testes de associação qui-quadrado considerados significativos sempre que apresentassem p-valor<0,05. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Goiás. Resultados e discussão: a insegurança alimentar esteve presente em 75,2% das famílias quilombolas. Observou-se maior frequência de excesso de peso (17,2%) em comparação ao baixo peso (1,3%) entre os estudantes. O excesso de peso foi mais frequente entre os alunos matriculados nas escolas da zona urbana (28,2%) (p<0,05). Conclusão: a presença de excesso de peso concomitante à insegurança alimentar e nutricional permite questionar sobre novos hábitos de vida e consumo, e mesmo sobre o perfil da pobreza hoje presente no Brasil. A urbanização destas comunidades pode ser um fator de influência nesta correlação, razão pela qual, sugerem-se novos estudos para aprofundar esta discussão.

The research took place while the author worked as a volunteer theatre practitioner with the Arts and Culture Group in Wesbank township near Kuils River, Cape Town, South Africa. This organisation was founded in 2002 and was the result of one woman's efforts to keep the children of Wesbank off the streets, by keeping them busy through dance, song and drama. This study investigated the impact of basic theatre training, working towards performance and the performative act itself on the psyche of the drama group participants. More specifically, the study investigated in what ways being involved in a performance can help children and young people in an underprivileged community of Wesbank to develop confidence, a sense of competence, self-reliance, creative thinking, responsibility and the ability to work as an ensemble. The research was to a great extent focused on cross-cultural communication. How could the &quot<br>Cape Coloured&quot<br>and Xhosa members of the group overcome cultural barriers and express their cultural uniqueness equally through taking part in multicultural theatre performance.

Energy shortages and sporadic, controlled blackouts have been a defining feature of South Africa’s aging national energy grid for more than a decade. To investigate local energy sources from shale gas, two boreholes were drilled in the southern Main Karoo Basin into the Permian-aged Ecca Group by the Karoo Research Initiative. Borehole KZF-1 (Western Cape) intersected thick shale successions of the lower Ecca Group and revealed the stratigraphic duplication of the Whitehill (shale gas target) and Prince Albert Formations. This structural deformation was most likely as a result of the organic-rich formations, acting as a decollement for thrust faults related to the north-south directed compression of the Cape Orogeny. Reservoir compartmentalisation and gas escape along porous fault zones hinder hydrocarbon exploration in the area. Borehole KWV-1 (Eastern Cape) revealed thick successions of turbiditic sandstones and a moderately elevated geothermal gradient. The clastic rocks have low permeabilities and high thermal conductivities. Analysis of the petro- and thermophysical data from the Ripon Formation sandstones, from both the core and nearby Ecca Pass outcrop location, show the potential of the formation as an Enhanced Geothermal Reservoir, with temperatures exceeding 100°C being suitable for energy production from a binary geothermal power plant. The comparison of combined gamma-ray logs, geothermal potential of samples (specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal conductivity) and lithological logs show a correlation between lithological composition and geothermal reservoir potential that can be identified in gamma-ray log patterns. These correlations can be extrapolated for purposes of geothermal exploration in non-cored nearby boreholes. The numerous pre-existing faults, decreasing from the basin’s southern margin towards the basin interior, elevate the risk of inducing seismic events from the use of reservoir stimulation techniques associated with energy exploration, as well as wastewater management associated with future extraction activities.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006.<br>The HIV/AIDS pandemic poses one of the greatest challenges to business development in South Africa. The hotel industry is growing rapidly and will be . significantly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) regarding HIV/AIDS of staff from nine Protea group hotels in Cape Town. A sample of 200 hotel staff was randomly selected to participate. A structured self-administered anonymous questionnaire was the instrument used to collect the data. The response rate was 81%. There were more females than males, and the majority of the respondents were between the ages of 21-30 years. More than half of the respondents were single, hotel managers and with matriculation as the highest qualification. The respondents demonstrated a reasonably good knowledge on the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Almost half of the respondents believed that HIV/AIDS would not affect the hotel industry. The survey revealed conflicting results on whether HIV-infected staff should be involved in food preparation, and whether staff should serve food to HIV positive hotel guests. There were also concerns of the risk of infection when handling dirty linen used by HIV-infected hotel guests. More males than females were currently sexually active and reported having more than one partner in the past three years. The majority of the respondents believed that condoms were effective, but only one third reported the use of a condom every time they had a sexual encounter. There was a significant relationship between knowledge and attitudes (p-value<0.05, but none between knowledge and practice and attitude and practice. It is recommended that the hotel industry develop effective workplace policies and supportive environments, and that on-going HIV/AIDS education and prevention programmes be implemented to change high risk sexual behaviour and practices.

The use of group lending for poverty alleviation is a widespread feature of modern microfinance. The structure of joint-liability credit - if one member defaults the others are held financially responsible - produces a natural tension between a borrower's social and economic interests. This study integrates theory from economics, sociology, and behavioural experiments to address the question, "How do social and economic mechanisms interact to shape a microcredit group's financial behaviour?" The empirical analysis involves an original dataset from a microfinance institution in Sierra Leone. The total dataset includes 7,025 joint-liability borrowers involved in 47,931 repayment transactions from 2005 to 2011. The empirical methods used are diverse: ethnographic fieldwork, GPS spatial analysis, social affiliation survey design, and multilevel statistical analysis of loan performance data. The original work is structured as three distinct papers. In the first paper, I examine social collateral, the formal use of a borrower's relationships as security against loan default. How does a group's spatial structure affect the efficacy of social collateral? Spatial concentration improves a group's economic performance up to a certain level after which the effect reverses and performance declines. The relationship is driven by a social trade-off between ability and willingness to enforce the loan. Further, groups that consist of multiple spatial fragments produce worse performance. Spatially fragmented groups are prone to splitting into social factions. In the second paper, I question what drives the self-selection process of microcredit group formation. The results show that group leaders prefer members with pre-existing social ties, who are spatially proximate, and have matching business types. The preference for socio-spatial factors is likely motivated by reducing the risk of strategic default by group members. In the third paper, I explore how economic cooperation in small groups evolves over years of repeated interaction. Despite the selective retention of better performing groups, average cooperation rates consistently decline, in terms of contribution and effort. Further, variance across groups continues to increase over 30 months of repeated interaction, suggesting that convergence to a stable cooperation rate has not occurred. Given that group lending exhibits many of the factors found to promote cooperation in laboratory experiments, it is surprising to find such a marked decline in this field setting. Overall, this thesis contributes to economic sociology by dissecting the difficult trade-offs between social and economic motives in group lending and offers policy implications for microfinance institutions regarding group formation heuristics, contract design, and loan management.

The Lower Devonian Voorstehoek Formation is a fossil-rich, siliciclastic unit (Ceres Subgroup, Bokkeveld Group, Cape Supergroup) in South Africa. This Emsian unit contains a highly endemic benthic fossil biota characteristic of the cool to cold water Malvinokaffric Realm of southwestern Gondwana. The palaeontological and sedimentological investigations of the Voorstehoek Formation suggest that deposition took place in a shallow marine environment within the storm influenced, proximal part of an offshore transition zone. A relatively diverse, ophiuroid–stylophoran assemblage, well-preserved in the Karbonaatjies obrution bed, was excavated at the study site in the Hex River Pass, Western Cape. In this study the taphonomy, taxonomy and the palaeoautecology of Palaeozoic ophiuroids and stylophorans was investigated using micro CT scans. Over 60 samples were scanned, manually segmented and stitched together to create a virtual 3D model of a portion of the Karbonaatjies obrution bed. This method allowed for the determination of the degree of fossil articulation, fossil orientation and faunal counts, without damaging the delicate echinoderm fossils. Furthermore, the ability to digitally analyse the fossil-rich bed has revealed an echinoderm assemblage composed of over 700 articulated ophiuroids dominated by a proposed new genus and species Gamiroaster tempestatis, over 145 articulated mitrate stylophorans Paranacystis cf. petrii Caster, 1954 and eight Placocystella africana (Reed, 1925). Taphonomic analysis of this ophiuroid–stylophoran assemblage indicates this obrution deposit formed due to rapid burial that smothered a potentially gregarious community during a single storm event. Additionally, the admixture of skeletal debris and intact echinoderms present in the Karbonaatjies obrution bed reflects a complex history with significant time-averaging. This unique assemblage provides a taphonomic window into the marine ecosystems of the Early Devonian, including the structure of an unusual, echinoderm-dominated benthic community that forms part of a much wider fossil biota from the Falkland Islands and Precordillera of Argentina, which formed part of SW Gondwana.

<p>The impact of sport participation among youth is a widely discussed phenomenon. Researchers argue that sport participation can contribute to both positive and negative impact. The aim of this study is to find out how youth in a disadvantaged community in South Africa experience the social impact of sport. The data were collected through four group interviews with 24 youth (aged 16-20) who participated in three different teams; soccer, basketball and mountainbike. The result indicates that the respondents experienced an overall positive social impact from their sport participation. Six categories were identified as prominent in the result; <em>acquire life skills, building friendship, emotional development, the importance of positive leadership, avoiding drugs</em> <em>and crime</em> and <em>support from the community. </em></p><p><em> </em></p>

This study examines the production of masculinity in the advertisements of South Africa’s two most popular men’s lifestyle magazines, FHM and Men’s Health. I specifically focus on advertisements, as I argue that they play a crucial role in the re‐production of prominent discursive formations. Informed by a poststructuralist framework this study adopts Foucault’s notions of discourse, power and the constitution of the subject. Gender is conceived of within power relations, with a hierarchical relationship between masculinities and femininities. The gendered subject is also viewed as being constantly in process and being constructed performatively through material forms of practice. Focusing on group representations to establish gender hierarchies, I argue that these representations of people are performative acts, hailing the subjects who view them and producing reality through discourse. Hegemonic masculinity, which is argued to be prominent in advertising, is located at the highest point in the gender hierarchy. However, there is not one universal hegemonic masculinity, for it can vary across three discrete political contexts: the local, which is constructed in the immediate face‐to‐face interactions of families, organisations and social structures; the regional, which is constructed at the level of culture or the nation state; and the global, which is constructed in supra‐national locations. In the advertisements of FHM and Men’s Health there is interplay between the latter two as global and regional brands both advertise in these magazines. To investigate the portrayal of masculinities in these publications, this study first undertakes a content analysis to survey the “general landscape” of representation in the advertisements and then performs a critical discourse analysis to uncover “thick description” of the production of masculinity. The content analysis, finds that the advertisements in the sample validate both white and heterosexual forms of masculinity. The sample is comprised mostly of white males, white females and black males, generally proposing forms of hegemonic masculinity, emphasised femininity and complicit masculinity respectively. The representation of white males and black males is different both in terms of the frequency of representations and in the types of representations. I argued that a certain tension inhabits the resulting representations, which try to be inclusive of a multi‐racial South Africa, yet do so within a clearly hierarchical structure. An in‐depth analysis of eight texts, informed by Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis and Kress & van Leeuwen’s framework for visual analysis, finds similar results to the content analysis while providing insight into how various discourses produced the representations, particularly within non‐narrative advertisements.

Magister Scientiae - MSc (Earth Science)<br>The complexity of the Platreef stratigraphy and the generic position of the Ni-Cu-PGE mineralisation is a challenge to prospecting and mining companies in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, partially, as a result of various floor rock interactions with the reef. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of contact metasomatic fluids on the nature and style of PGE mineralisation as the main event leading to the complexity of the Platreef stratigraphy from the contact zone near the floor rock. Fifty samples from boreholes MO009 and MO019 drilled at Moordkopje 813 LR farm for Akanani Project by Lonmin Plc were used for this study. The mineralogy and geochemistry of the Platreef samples were studied and associated with their mineralisation occurrences. Major, minor and trace element contents were analysed by XRF analysis using fused beads, and PGE contents (Pt, Pd) in 11 samples were determined by Fire Assay.

BACKGROUND: Initiation of breast feeding and duration of any breast feeding are known to differ by ethnic group, but there are limited data on differences in exclusive breast feeding. This study aimed to determine if there are ethnic differences in the initiation and duration of any and exclusive breast feeding. METHODS: Breast-feeding data were obtained from a subsample of 1365 women recruited to a multi-ethnic cohort study (Born in Bradford) between August 2008 and March 2009. Poisson regression was used to investigate the impact of socio-economic, life style and birth factors on ethnic differences in the prevalence of breast feeding. RESULTS: Compared with white British mothers, initiation of breast feeding was significantly higher in all ethnic groups and this persisted after adjustment for socio-economic, life style and birth factors [Pakistani: prevalence rate ratio (PRR) = 1.19 (95% confidence interval 1.10, 1.29); Other South Asian: PRR = 1.29 (1.18, 1.42); Other ethnicities: PRR = 1.33 (1.21, 1.46)]. There were no differences in exclusive breast feeding at 4 months [Pakistani: PRR = 0.77 (0.54, 1.09); Other South Asian: PRR = 1.55 (0.99, 2.43); Other ethnicities: PRR = 1.50 (0.88, 2.56)]. Any breast feeding at 4 months was significantly higher in mothers of all non-white British ethnicities [Pakistani: PRR = 1.27 (1.02, 1.58); Other South Asian: PRR = 1.99 (1.52, 2.62); Other ethnicities: 2.45 (1.86, 3.21)]. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst women of ethnic minority groups were significantly more likely to initiate breast feeding and continue any breast feeding for 4 months compared with white British women, the rates of exclusive breast feeding at 4 months were not significantly different once socio-economic, life style and birth factors were accounted for.

This longitudinal study on the transition from school to work of a group of Indian school-leavers from two co-educational schools in Durban is an attempt to analyse the processes underlying the construction of educational and career routes. It deals with the lived experiences of boys and girls from different social-class backgrounds within the school, the family, and the work situation. This passage from school to work, which also includes the experiences of unemployment, is examined against the background of social interactions in micro settings, as well as the influences of social, structural and cultural forces. In particular, the career pathways are studied within the context of the cultural background of Indians, and their socio-historical location in the South African society as a minority and an intermediate status group in a racially-divided society. As the students proceeded through the last three years at school and into the first few months of work various qualitative, field research methods were used to get some insight into the changing and complex nature of the transitional process. These methods included participant observation, focus sed and unfocussed interviews, and discussions. Such qualitative research methods were valuable for an understanding' of the meanings and values on which the students' actions were based. The structural and interpretive analysis of the family, the school, the labour market, and a patriarchal, capitalist, apartheid society points to the significance of ideological values, hegemony, class relations, racial, gender, and political and economic influences on the construction of educational and career identities. The analysis also indicates the close relationship which exists on the one hand between the cultural interpretations and practices of various social actors; and on the other hand, the structural conditions in which these are located. The findings provide some account of how social-class relations are continued and sustained via related and different inequalities such as race and gender. Race, class and gender exist side by side in this reproduction process. By focussing on the close relationship which exists between the actions and decisions of the students, and the structures of society, this study attempts to bridge the gap between structural and interpretive explanations. The students' interpretations of their educational and career choices are brought into a closer relationship with the structures of society.<br>Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1988.

According to the 1 991 Annual Report of the Department of Health and Social Services of former Bophuthatswana, there were 364 reported malignant conditions found in women with cancer of the breast and cervix being the most prevalent. What causes great concern is t.he fact that patients present for the first time at health facilities during advanced stages of these diseases thus making the prognosis poor. Black patients in this study were found to present with cancer of the breast at an earlier age than their white counterparts. In addition to the above named problems, no facility exists for the treatment of cancer in the area of study and patients have to be referred to other areas. It was on the strength of the above observations that the researcher embarked upon this study to establish the effects of the diagnosis cancer and mastectomy on the victims. The aims of the study therefore were: to explore and describe the psycho-social effects of the diagnosis and treatment on Black women; develop guidelines for oncology nurses and doctors to assist with the adaptation of these patients to the diagnosis and treatment; and provide information that could lead to better training of oncology personnel as well as develop a proper support system to facilitate adjustment of the mastectomised patient to the disease and its treatment. Data were collected using the qualitative and quantitative approaches with individual in-depth interviews forming the main strategy. The findings revealed that the diagnosis cancer of the breast was equated with death among all respondents. The mastectomy added more stress for the patient, which was further compounded by chemo- and radiotherapy. The latter was described as causing more pain than the tumour itself. Problems experienced by the patients were reported to include: financial difficulties; general weakness; fear of recurrence and metastasis; concern for dependent children and fear of unemployment. All respondents in this study expressed the need for the formation of a voluntary care group, which could assist them with adaptation to the disease and its treatment.<br>Advanced Nursing Sciences<br>D. Lit. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal infections and deaths in human. It can also cause infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant adults. Penicillin and ampicillin are antibiotics of choice for the treatment of GBS infections. Erythromycin and clindamycin are used as alternative therapy in penicillin allergic patients, however resistance to these agents has been increasingly observed. This present study was undertaken to determine the colonization rate of GBS, susceptibility profile and the mechanism of antibiotic resistance in pregnant women and their babies at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria. METHODS: Rectal and vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women; ear and umbilical swabs from newborns over an 11 month period. Samples were cultured on selective media (CNA agar and Todd-Hewitt broth) and GBS positively identified using morphological and biochemical tests including Gram staining, hemolytic activity, catalase test, bile esculin, CAMP test and Latex agglutination test. The susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby-Bauer and E-test methods. The D-test method was used to determine the inducible clindamycin resistance. Multiplex PCR with were used to detect different genes coding for resistance. RESULTS: Out of the 413 patients evaluated, 128 (30.9%) were positive with GBS. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin and ampicillin. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was 21.1% and 17.2% respectively; of which 69% harbouring constitutive MLBB, 17.4% inducible MLSB. The alteration of ribosomal target encoded by ermB genes was the commonest mechanism of resistance observed in 55% of isolates, 38% of isolates had both ermB and linB genes and efflux pump mediated by mefA genes was detected in one of isolates. Conclusion: This study reaffirms the appropriateness of penicillin as the antibiotic of choice for treating GBS infection. However it raises the challenges of resistance to the macrolides and lincosamides. More GBS treatment options for penicillin allergic patients need to be researched.<br>Health Studies<br>M.Sc. (Life Sciences (Microbiology))