ABSTRACT
Several coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) were built in South Africa, mainly in the central Mpumalanga Province, due to an increase in the demand for Eskom, the national power utility, to keep up with socio-economic growth. The CFPPs, of which 90% are owned by Eskom, generate a significant share of the country's electricity but contribute to the air pollution experienced in the country. The paper discusses sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter of size less than 10 micrometre (µm) in diameter (PM10), using data from 2014 to 2018. The statistics revealed higher PM10 concentrations during winter than in summer and spring at the Kriel and Komati sites; associated with the higher contribution of domestic burning. The study's results could influence legislation and policies and help to understand the source of poor ambient air quality by assessing the three pollutants within the area of the selected power plants.
ABSTRACT
Many persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are young adults who, prior to their TBI, were in paid employment. Psychosocial outcome after TBI, for many, remains poor. This includes low rates of return to pre-injury work or education, among others. This qualitative study explored the experience of return to work (RTW) rehabilitation with 10 individuals who sustained TBI. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Some of the main findings from this study included the following: Individuals find the RTW experience difficult and painful. They experience a distinct grief reaction in the process of exploring re-engagement in occupation following TBI. In view of these and other findings, changes to RTW rehabilitation should be considered to facilitate the optimal support for patients with TBI engaging in the RTW rehabilitation process.
Subject(s)
Brain Injuries/rehabilitation , Employment/psychology , Rehabilitation, Vocational/psychology , Return to Work/psychology , Adult , Brain Injuries/psychology , Educational Status , Female , Grief , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Survivors/psychologyABSTRACT
Thirteen individuals with traumatic brain injury, 13 individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 10 normal controls were compared on neuropsychological measures of executive function. Individuals with a traumatic brain injury performed significantly poorer than the other two groups on a test measuring visuo-spatial strategy. Although the traumatic brain injury group made more errors on a test of maze learning and the OCD group less than the control group, this did not reach statistical significance. No support for an overlap in executive dysfunction in traumatic brain injury and OCD was found. It may be that the 'error prevention system' in the brain was influenced in a contrasting way by executive dysfunction in these disorders. This difference may reveal itself clinically in impulsivity/perseveration and slowness, respectively. Further studies were needed to test this hypothesis.
Subject(s)
Brain Injuries/complications , Cognition Disorders/diagnosis , Cognition Disorders/etiology , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/complications , Adolescent , Adult , Brain Injuries/epidemiology , Cognition Disorders/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neuropsychological Tests , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
Women with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), trichotillomania (TTM) and normal controls completed a neuropsychological battery which was designed to test executive and visuospatial dysfunctions. Differences between the combined patient group and normal controls on the Rey-Osterreith Copy Test were consistent with previous work demonstrating similar neuropsychological dysfunctions in OCD and TTM.
Subject(s)
Neuropsychological Tests/statistics & numerical data , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/diagnosis , Trichotillomania/diagnosis , Adult , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/psychology , Orientation , Psychomotor Performance , Trichotillomania/psychologyABSTRACT
Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was undertaken in women with obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 13), trichotillomania (n = 17), and healthy controls (n = 12). Caudate volume and ventricular-brain ratio (VBR) (variables that have previously been highlighted as abnormal in studies of OCD) were compared in the three subject groups and were correlated with neuropsychological and neurological soft sign findings. No significant differences were found between women with OCD, trichotillomania and normal controls on caudate volume or VBR. Decreased left caudate volume was significantly correlated with impairment on neuropsychological testing and with increased neurological soft signs. The negative findings here may indicate that in women with OCD and related disorders structural brain abnormalities are less obvious or less common than in men with these conditions, or they may reflect inadequate sensitivity of the brain measures employed.
