Volume 6

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    Improving health care delivery in rural communities through the use of mobile phones: A case study in Windhoek
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Coleman, Alfred; Iyawa, Gloria E.
    Poor healthcare delivery in rural health centres is a major problem facing the health sector in Namibia. This paper investigated how mobile phones can be used to improve healthcare delivery services in Windhoek rural health centres. Data was collected using structured interviews. A qualitative design was used together with a case study approach. Three health centres, purposefully selected from Windhoek rural communities (Katutura, Khomasdal and Okuryangava) were used as case studies. Activity Theory (AT) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) were used to analyse the findings. The findings revealed that mobile phones are widely accepted by doctors, nurses and patients of Windhoek rural health centres; hence can be used to improve slow work processes and healthcare delivery services provided to patients at Out Patient Departments (OPDs) in Windhoek rural health centres. A mobile health service framework (MHSF) was proposed based on the work processes and healthcare delivery needs of patients who visit Windhoek rural health centres. The MHSF was further presented for expert reviews which consisted of a panel of one doctor, one nurse and two IT specialists. The expert review panel approved the MHSF and found it useful in improving healthcare delivery services in Windhoek rural health centres.
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    Physicochemical and functional characteristics of starch extracted from Marama bean tuber (Tylosema esculentum Burchell A. Schreiber)
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Nepolo, Emmanuel; Llyod, J.R.; Chimwamurombe, Percy M.
    Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum Burchell A. Schreiber) is a highly nutritious plant and is currently regarded as a prospective crop for the future in arid zone agri-ecologies of the world. Starch is a major storage component in higher plants and it is used in both food and non-food industries. The marama bean plant is a creeper with stems that lie prostrate on the ground in several directions up to six metres long in length which spread from a tuberous root below the ground. The tuber has a reddish brown bark and it can weigh about 1 kg and up to more than 10 kg. The plant produce attractive bright yellow flowers along the stems, each with erect petals and stamens, and are followed by marama fruits or bean. Mature marama bean cotyledons are white to cream in colour, encapsulated in hard, woody seed coats, reddish to brownish black in colour. Until recently, the basic knowledge of the physicochemical and functional properties of marama tuber starch is has not been yet reported. The present study reports for the first time the physicochemical and functional properties of marama tuber starch and makes a possible provision for a new starch source. Native marama starch content was 87.38 mg starch/gram fresh weight and the total amylose content was 35%. Phosphate at the C-6 position determined as Glucose-6-Phosphate was 0.788 nmol G6P/mg. The starch granules were round to elliptical with smooth surfaces and their sizes ranged from 8 -20 μm. The pasting properties of pasting temperature, host paste, peak, final viscosity, breakdown and set back showed higher values for marama starch in contrast to commercial potato starch. This study has clearly contributed to starch biology by making known for the first time the physicochemical and functional properties of marama tuber starch. It is hoped that by further exploring the potential of marama starch as a raw material, it can be applied in various applications in both industry and food processing that will produce high valued products.
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    A review of secondary metabolites isolated from Plocamium species worldwide
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Knott, Michael G.
    A review of halogenated monoterpenes isolated from various Plocamium species worldwide is presented here for the first time. It is anticipated that this review will be of great valuable to the natural product chemist working in the field of drug discovery with reference to the characterisation of halogenated monoterpene secondary metabolites from various Plocamium species. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic bioactivity of these compounds is also reviewed.
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    Two reference beam method for recording transmission or reflection holograms of two different objects with single exposure using three similar transmission gratings
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Singh, Shyam
    A new technique of recording holograms of two objects at the same time with single exposure has been proposed. Two similar gratings have been utilized for both transmission and reflection holograms. This technique will increase the storage capacity of holograms by a factor of two. Another feature of this technique is in its simplicity.
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    The construction of an asymmetric biplot for multivariate data sets
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Oyedele, Opeoluwa; Gardner-Lubbe, Sugnet
    A scatterplot is a useful statistical tool for representing samples as points and variables by means of coordinate axes. A form of scatterplot that can be used for multivariate data is the biplot. In this paper, the fundamental idea behind the biplot is discussed, before its construction. An illustration using an 11-dimensional multivariate data set concerning the relationships between chemical measurements and sensory descriptors is presented.
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    Comparative study of Antioxidant properties, Polyphenols and Flavonoid contents of the tuber and seed extracts of Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum)
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Kuvare, Angelina; Kandawa-Schulz, Martha; Kapewangolo, Petrina T.
    Tylosema esculentum, also known as the marama bean, is an underutilized legume from Southern Africa. Marama seeds and tubers are used as food and traditional medicine. The antiviral properties of the tuber and seeds have already been explored and the present work provides a first time report on the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of marama tuber. Marama tuber extract, rich in phenolic compounds, exhibited the highest antioxidant activity compared to the seeds extract. IC50 values obtained for DPPH free radical scavenging were 95.62 ± 7.08 μg/ml and >1000 μg/ml for marama tuber and seed extracts, respectively. There was a positive correlation between the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity in the marama tuber and seed samples. In conclusion, the overall findings of this study suggest that the marama tuber could be a potential source of natural antioxidants.
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    Leaving no one behind
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Kazembe, Lawrence N.; Archibong, Edet F.
    The African continent continues to be faced with myriad of challenges, particularly in the public health sector. A few figures exemplify the magnitude of the problem. Infant and maternal mortality remains stubbornly high, compared to other regions of the world. According to the Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation [1-2], the risk of a child dying before completing the first year of age was highest in the WHO African Region (55 per 1000 live births), over five times higher than that in the WHO European Region (10 per 1000 live births). Similarly, every day about 800 women die due to complications of pregnancy and child birth. Of the 800 daily maternal deaths, 500 occur in sub-Saharan Africa and 190 in Southern Asia, compared to 6 in developed countries. The risk of a woman in a developing country dying from a maternal-related cause during her lifetime is about 23 times higher compared to a woman living in a developed country
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    Assessment of the prerequisites for the establishment of an Animal facility at the School of Medicine, University of Namibia: Comparison of the current situation with international standards and requirements, and with discussion of alternative options
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Kahler, Barbara
    The School of Medicine (SoM) of the University of Namibia (UNAM) intends to establish an animal house for teaching and experimental research within its facilities. A number of rooms are dedicated for this purpose and partially equipped. This review investigates the feasibility of the project in the light of international standards for animal experimental settings, the prerequisites for the physical establishment, the technical installations, compliance to globally valid regulations of animal welfare, and the probability of getting reliable research outcomes from the given background. The identified current situation within the SoM is subsequently compared to the internationally accepted benchmarks for such institutions, and the principal features of the commonly followed guidelines are briefly listed. A selection of alternative methods to animal experiments is succinctly described and set in the context of the departments of SoM. However, the examination of the physical housing, technical equipment, required human resources and available infrastructure led to the conclusion that the intended use cannot be recommended since the relevant criteria are not met. Instead it would be advisable to construct a separate animal house based on recognized internationally valid standards. In the meantime, less costly non-animal state of the art methods could be introduced.