Showing papers by "University of Zimbabwe published in 1989"
TL;DR: The study demonstrates that HIV-1 infection in Zimbabwe occurs through heterosexual intercourse and is associated with other STDs, and shows that male to female transmission of HIV- 1 is facilitated by the presence of genital ulcers in infected men.
Abstract: As part of a prospective cohort study of Zimbabweans seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection the factors associated with HIV transmission from husband to wife were analyzed in 75 couples. The mean age of the infected men was 32.1 years; all had been married for at least 1 year and 53 had at least 1 child. None of the men acknowledged a history of homosexual practices or intravenous drug use. All 75 had received injections but only at reputable health care facilities and none had been blood transfusion recipients. 4 men (5%) were asymptomatic 40 (53%) had persistent generalized lymphadenopathy 24 (32%) had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related complex (ARC) and 7 (9%) had full-blown AIDS. Of the 75 wives tested 45 (60%) were seropositive for HIV-1 infection. Seropositivity was significantly more common among women married to men with ARC (71% infection rate) and AIDS (86% infection rate). Comparison of concordant (both seropositive) and discordant (husband only seropositive) couples indicated no significant differences in terms of age duration of marriage number of children oral contraceptive use by the wife husbands contact with prostitutes or sexual activity on the part of the husband with multiple partners in the preceding 3 years. In addition there was no significant difference between groups in terms of history of sexually transmitted diseases. However men who reported a history of genital ulcer disease were significantly more likely to have a wife who was seropositive (relative risk 1.94; 95% confidence interval 1.62-15.13). This difference persisted even when the males stage of disease was controlled. Thus it appears that HIV-1 infected men with genital ulcers are likely to transmit the infection through vaginal intercourse.
148 citations
TL;DR: Attention is drawn to the need to make field observations at an appropriate spatial scale and also to the implications for the effectiveness of focal snail control as a means of reducing transmission.
Abstract: Populations of Bulinus globosus and Biomphalaria pfeifferi were studied in a river habitat in Zimbabwe over a period of 12 months. Data were obtained on the prevalences of infections of Schistosoma haematobium (also S. mattheei) and S. mansoni respectively. Population parameters showed the following patterns for both snail species. (1) A patchy distribution correlated with the distributions of aquatic plants. (2) Life-expectancies of only a few weeks. (3) Recruitment rates correlated with water temperature and showing a distinct seasonal peak. (4) Spatial variation in recruitment. (5) A redistribution of snails during the rainy season. Epidemiological parameters showed the following patterns. (1) Large seasonal variations in the prevalence of patent infections. (2) Evidence from size-prevalence curves that suggests a variable force-of-infection from man to snail, correlated with water temperature. (3) Prevalences of infection that were higher in the vicinity of (+/- 60 m from) major water contact sites. Local prevalences of infection for B. globosus sometimes exceeded 50% and may have approached 100% if pre-patent infections are included. Snail numbers may limit transmission at these locations. Attention is drawn to the need to make field observations at an appropriate spatial scale and also to the implications for the effectiveness of focal snail control as a means of reducing transmission.
146 citations
TL;DR: It was concluded that mothers of children with atopic eczema have an abnormal breast-milk fatty acid composition, which supports previous evidence of a defect of conversion of linoleic acid into its long-chain polyunsaturated metabolites in the condition.
Abstract: The total lipid fatty acid composition of mature breastmilk has been analyzed in a group of 25 mothers of children with atopic eczema and compared with breastmilk from 22 controls. Total lipids were extracted into chloroform-methanol (2:1 v/v) and the methyl esters prepared by alkali-catalyzed transesterification were separated by gas liquid chromatography and identified by comparison with standard fatty acid methyl esters. Results show that mothers of children with atopic eczema have a significantly greater proportion of linoleic acid and a smaller proportion of dihomo-gamma-linoleic acid in their total breastmilk lipid than the controls. Proportions of total derived fatty acids similar between groups and there were no differences in the principal saturated and monounsaturated fats. It was concluded that mothers of children with atopic eczema have abnormal breastmilk fatty acid composition. This supports previous evidence of a defect of conversion of linoleic acid into its longchain polyunsaturated metabolites in the condition. (authors)
76 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that in Central Africa pulmonary complications in AIDS patients are similar to those in Europe and North America but the incidence of different pathogens depends on the prevalence of pathogens in the community.
Abstract: During the 11 month period up to 30 September 1987, 37 patients (26 male, 11 female, mean age 27 years) with respiratory symptoms who were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive, were studied prospectively on 40 occasions to determine the cause of any pulmonary complications. HIV was heterosexually transmitted. Predominant symptoms were cough (89%), fever (89%), weight loss (83%), and dyspnoea (60%). Transnasal fibre-optic bronchoscopy (with bronchoalveolar lavage, bronchial brushings and transbronchial lung biopsies) was performed on 35 patients, twice on 3 patients. ‘Tru-cut’ lung biopsies were obtained from 2 patients who died before bronchoscopy. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the commonest disease, being found in one-third of the patients (12 of 37). Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from 4; the remainder of the plates were contaminated. Pneumocystis carinii was present in 8 patients: as the sole pathogen in 3, with Streptococcus pneumoniae in 4, Staphylococcus aureus in 2, and one also had tuberculous lymphadenitis. Endobronchial Kaposi's sarcoma was seen in 6 of 7 patients with skin nodules. Bacterial pathogens isolated included Staph. aureus (5), S. pneumoniae (5), Klebsiella pneumoniae (2), Haemophilus influenzae (2), H. parainfluenzae (1) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1). Invading Aspergillus fumigatus was diagnosed by lung biopsy in one. No diagnosis was reached for 8 patients. It is concluded that in Central Africa pulmonary complications in AIDS patients are similar to those in Europe and North America but the incidence of different pathogens depends on the prevalence of pathogens in the community. M. tuberculosis is probably the commonest pathogen. This study has confirmed that P. carinii pneumonia does occur, but occurs less frequently.
75 citations
TL;DR: Ethnographic analysis demonstrated a lack of organisation among sex workers and a need to develop cohesive groups for successful health interventions and the feasibility of using bar/disco security and the bar personnel as health educators.
Abstract: One-hundred sex workers and 100 clients were interviewed at a bar/disco complex in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1989. Sociodemographic characteristics of sex workers and clients were examined. Almost a third of sex workers and nearly 90% of clients had engaged in commercial sex over 5 or more years. Sex workers reported that they worked an average of 4.6 nights a week, averaged 2.2 clients a night and charged a mean of Z$8.7 per session and Z$19.8 per night. Clients reported that they averaged 7.4 visits a month to a sex worker and paid a mean of Z$6.2 per session and Z$17.2 per night. Over half the sex workers said their last client was drunk and nearly two-thirds said he was a repeat client. Sex workers and clients were asked about the sex behaviours completed in their last paid sex act. Vaginal intercourse was reported by 98% of sex workers and clients alike. Manual stimulation of the sex worker's and client's genitalia was reported by roughly 80% of sex workers and clients. Oral and anal sex were rarely reported. Fifty-four percent of sex workers and 44% of clients reported using a condom in their last paid sex act. Client reports thus suggest that sex worker reports of sex acts and condom use with the last client possess considerable validity. Ethnographic approaches were used to study the social and work environment of sex workers. Ethnographic analysis demonstrated a lack of organisation among sex workers and a need to develop cohesive groups for successful health interventions. The study also highlighted the need to include clients in health interventions, the possible role of alcohol as an impediment to health interventions and the feasibility of using bar/disco security and the bar personnel as health educators.
74 citations
69 citations
TL;DR: Giving continuous oral propranolol treatment is effective in preventing recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis.
Abstract: Fifty patients with non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis who were admitted to hospital because of upper gastrointestinal bleeding were randomly assigned to treatment with either oral propranolol given in doses that reduced the resting pulse rate by 25% (25 patients) or with a placebo (25 patients). One year after the start of the study 20 patients in the propranolol group and five patients in the placebo group were free from recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding (p less than 0.0001). Giving continuous oral propranolol treatment is therefore effective in preventing recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis.
63 citations
01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual model, CAFS (Communal area farming system), is described for agropastoral peasant agriculture in Zimbabwe, where three interlinked subsystems are depicted; the household, the grazing land, and the arable lands.
Abstract: A conceptual model, CAFS (Communal Area Farming System), is described for agropastoral peasant agriculture in Zimbabwe. Three interlinked subsystems are depicted; the household, the grazing land, and the arable lands. Estimates are made of some of the major fluxes of N within the system. The grazing subsystem is savanna woodland on inherently infertile, granite derived sandy soils. Quantitatively the most significant transfer is of manure-N from cattle grazing in the savanna which is used as fertiliser in the arable fields. Crop residues are given as supplementary feed in the dry season when both the availability and the quality of fodder in the savanna is low. Additional nutrient transfers from savanna to crops are commonly made in the form of leaf litter and soil from termitaria. On the basis of simple nitrogen budgets it is suggested that under current conditions of cultivation at least 14 ha of savanna are required to support 2 t ha -1 of maize production in each hectare of arable land. Current ratios are below this and the sustainability of the systems therefore depends not only on increased access to fertiliser but also on improvements in nutrient use efficiency. This is typically very low in the arable crop fields. Manipulation of the organic inputs to synchronise nutrient release with plant demand is suggested as one approach to improved management. The sustainability of maize cultivation in the arable subsystem is dependent on a N-subsidy from the grazing subsystem. The maintenance of stable, conservative internal nutrient cycles in the savanna area is thus essential to the viability of the system as a whole. The intensity of grazing may influence these, but the role of trees as nutrient conserving agencies in savanna ecosystems is identified as a crucial area for future investigation. Whilst nutrient cycling research can play an important part in developing self-sustainable systems for this type of agriculture, it is recognized that socio-economic constraints may be the ultimate determining factors.
51 citations
TL;DR: This is the first time that frequency-based mate-choice by female anurans has been associated with chorus size, and hence with the sonic complexity of the acoustic environment.
Abstract: In two-choice discrimination experiments, females of Hyperolius marmoratus preferred the calls of lower frequency of the pair of stimuli. This preference was not shown in mating patterns observed in natural choruses, but is when females are phonotactically orienting in small choruses in an experimental enclosure. With an increase in chorus size, the mating pattern shifts from size-based, non-random (with some evidence of size-assortative) mating to random mating. This is the first time that frequency-based mate-choice by female anurans has been associated with chorus size, and hence with the sonic complexity of the acoustic environment.
45 citations
TL;DR: Pupils from homes in urban areas were better informed about AIDS and self-reported sexual behaviour and over 40% of subjects believed that most people with AIDS in Africa are homosexual.
45 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents some of the reasons why dual consultations exist with both modern and traditional health services in Zimbabwean communities and some strategies for developing patient or client centred health programmes that meet the real and felt needs of people in various communities.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of the Karoo basins of Central Africa shows that they are formed as a result of rifting of continental mobile belt terranes surrounding cratonic masses, and two fundamental intersecting planes of weakness, controlling basin development, are recognized trending NE-SW and E-W.
Abstract: The previously reported UPb perovskite method of dating kimberlite has been substantially improved by obtaining high-purity perovskite concentrates using a combination of chemical, magnetic and hand-picking techniques. Reliable results are obtained from subhedral to euhedral perovskite, but not from anhedral perovskite commonly displaying atoll-like grain shapes. The latter may be weathered or may have been partially digested in the chemical treatment used in the initial concentration step. An age of 89 Ma was obtained from the Wesselton kimberlite and one of two De Beers Mine samples, while a second De Beers sample gave a younger age of ∼ 83 Ma. These ages are in agreement with previous age determinations by various other methods. The ThPb age for perovskite from De Beers Mines is 81 Ma. An age of ∼ 105 Ma for a Somerset Island kimberlite is in agreement with a RbSr errorchron age of ∼ 100 Ma for micas from a second Somerset Island occurrence, but a perovskite age of 40 Ma for a third locality is not realistic. Fresh kimberlitic perovskite has U and Pb concentrations of ∼ 150 and 15 ppm, respectively. Th concentrations fresh perovskite are of the order of 1000 ppm, though this is based on only one sample from the De Beers Mine. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios and presumably 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios are easily obtained from groundmass perovskites, and reflect the initial Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of kimberlite at the time of emplacement.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The clinical features of an acute arthritis in 20 Zimbabwean patients, 17 of whom fulfilled criteria for the diagnosis of complete or incomplete Reiter's syndrome, are described and the relationship between HIV infection, immunogenetic factors and the arthropathy remains to be elucidated.
Abstract: The clinical features of an acute arthritis in 20 Zimbabwean patients, 17 of whom fulfilled criteria for the diagnosis of complete or incomplete Reiter's syndrome, are described. Fourteen of 19 patients tested were positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies and most had features of the AIDS related complex. None of 14 patients tested possessed the HLA-B27 tissue antigen commonly associated with Reiter's syndrome. The relationship between HIV infection, immunogenetic factors and the arthropathy we have observed remains to be elucidated.
TL;DR: Nesting ecology of the Nile crocodile was studied in a seasonal river in southeastern Zimbabwe from July 1983 to October 1985, with ovulation during the latter half of August and eggs due to hatch during December, but no nests survived.
Abstract: UMMARY
Nesting ecology of the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) was studied in a seasonal river in southeastern Zimbabwe from July 1983 to October 1985 (28 months). Ovarian follicle growth and vitellogenesis occurred from April to mid-August. Courtship and mating occurred from late June to mid-August, which was in the dry season when crocodiles were confined to pools, with ovulation during the latter half of August. Female crocodiles nested on the higher sand ridges in the dry river bed from early September to early October. Eggs were due to hatch during December, but because of monitor lizard predation and flooding no nests survived. Some females tended their nests, some visited their nests irregularly and some abandoned their nests. Nests that were more than 20 m from water were most likely to be abandoned, and abandoned nests were destroyed by monitor lizards. Some adult females did not nest in consecutive years.
Resume
On a etudie ecologie de la nidification du crocodile du Nil (Crocodylus niloticus) dans une riviere saisonniere du sud-est du Zimbabwe de juillet 1983 a octobre 1985 (28 mois). La croissance ovarienne du follicule et la vitellogenese se produisent ?avril a la mi-aout, et la parade et accouplement, de la fin juin a la mi-aout, c-a-d. en saison seche, quand les crocos sont confines dans les mares. ovulation se passe durant la seconde moitie du mois ?aout. Les femelles font leur nid sur des buttes de sable plus elevees dans le lit de la riviere assechee, de debut septembre a debut octobre. Les oeufs devaient eclore en decembre, mais a cause des vacanes du Nil et de ľimmersion, aucun oeuf ne survecut. Quelques femelles s'occupaient de leur nid, ?autres le visitaient irregulierement et certaines abandonnaient le leur. Les nids situes a plus de 20 m de ľeau etaient les plus susceptibles ?etre abandones et les nids abandones etaient la proie des vacanes. Certaines femelles adultes n'ont pas fait de nis, plusieurs annees de suite.
TL;DR: The Tru-cut needle was useful and safe for pleural biopsy in this series and appeared to be particularly useful when the pleura was thickened.
Abstract: In a prospective study pleural biopsy specimens obtained with a Tru-cut needle were compared with those obtained with an Abrams pleural biopsy punch from 36 patients in Zimbabwe judged to have an effusion of at least 1.5 litres; one patient had two biopsies. Both instruments were used on each patient, the Abrams punch being followed by the Tru-cut needle. There were no serious complications. The diagnoses determined by biopsy were: tuberculosis (11); carcinoma (12); chronic inflammation (9); and pleural fibrosis (4); one biopsy showed nothing abnormal. In 23 (62%) patients both biopsy needles produced adequate diagnostic material; in eight the Tru-cut needle alone produced diagnostic material and in six the Abrams punch alone. Thus diagnostic material was obtained in 31 patients from the Tru-cut needle and in 29 from the Abrams punch. The Tru-cut needle was useful and safe for pleural biopsy in this series and appeared to be particularly useful when the pleura was thickened.
TL;DR: An early to mid-Proterozoic age for the Magondi orogeny is confirmed by Rb-Sr ages of 1890 ± 260 Ma from enderbitic granulites at the Rukomeshe River causeway, east of Makuti, and of 1780 ± 280 Ma from garnet-bearing and granitic granulite from the Nyaodza region just east of lake Kariba, which can be correlated with deformation in the Kheis Belt occupying a similar position on the western margin of the Kaapvaal craton RE
TL;DR: In the Avondale stream basin, which includes part of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe the way in which the channel network has evolved from the extensive dambo system in the period 1891 to 1984 is reconstructed showing that drainage density which was initially between 0.35 and 0.80 km km−2 has increased to 3.15 km km −2 including stormwater drains as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Although channel change has been documented downstream of urban areas there have been few previous studies which have focused upon the spatial variation of erosion and upon examples of such channel change in tropical areas. In the Avondale stream basin, which includes part of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe the way in which the channel network has evolved from the extensive dambo system in the period 1891 to 1984 is reconstructed showing that drainage density which was initially between 0.35 and 0.80 km km−2 has increased to 3.15 km km−2 including stormwater drains. Characteristics of erosion of the modified urban channels are described and the downstream reaches indicate an average channel widening of 1.7 times involving average rates of bank erosion of 0.33 m per year. Peak discharge is estimated from channel characteristics to be increased to two times former values and it is concluded that channel type and the relationship of channel change to the accommodation of peak discharges requires further research.
TL;DR: From root bark of Xeromphis obovata, three coumarins have been isolated: scopoletin, its 7-β-d -glucopyranoside (scopolin), and the new β- d -apiosyl-(1.6′)-β- d −glocopyrano-naphoside (xeroboside) as mentioned in this paper, and two iridoids, deacetylasperulosidic acid methyl ester and gardenoside, have been identified as the corresponding acetyl derivatives
TL;DR: Using this scheme it is shown that condition score is significantly correlated with a parametric measure of condition (r=0.5, P<0.01) in adult females and that changes in condition score are significantly correlated to percentage changes in body weight (rs=0,5−p<0,01) for all ages.
Abstract: A body condition scoring for Small East African type goats in Zimbabwe is described. This measure is less affected by confounding variables than is body weight as an estimate of animal's condition and nutritional state. Furthermore, it requires no special equipment. Using this scheme it is shown that condition score is significantly correlated with a parametric measure of condition (r=0.5, P<0.01) in adult females and that changes in condition score are significantly correlated to percentage changes in body weight (rs=0.5, P<0.01) for all ages. A change of condition score of 1 represents on average a 12% change in body weight.
TL;DR: It is suggested that rather stable, small strongyle populations, mainly consisting of long-living adult worms, occur in Zimbabwean donkeys.
TL;DR: Etude des correlations entre les traits de personnalite et la solitude chez 151 adolescents noirs et blancs du Zimbabwe and âges de 14 a 18 ans.
Abstract: Etude des correlations entre les traits de personnalite et la solitude chez 151 adolescents noirs et blancs du Zimbabwe et âges de 14 a 18 ans. Les instruments utilises sont les suivants: Revised UCLA loneliness Scale, High School Personality Questionnaire et Eisenck Personality Questionaire. Les resultats montrent des similarites tres nettes entre blancs et noirs ainsi qu'avec ceux obtenus sur des etudiants nord-americains
TL;DR: A case of malignant mesothelioma in a 5 1/2-year-old St Bernard dog is described and distant metastases were found in the bronchial lymph node and bone marrow.
TL;DR: The advantage enjoyed by large males in the amplexus displacement process may have been the ultimate determinant of their mating success, especially since female choice was not size-selective.
Abstract: Males employed two reproductive tactics: amplexus displacement and vocal advertisement. Outcomes of amplexus displacement attempts could be predicted from body sizes of competing males alone. Mating was non-random and size-selective, but not sizeassortative. There was no evidence of female choice based on male body size. Male mating success and body size were positively correlated, although the relationship between success and multiple size measures was complex. There was no trend, over a sequence of chorus nights, in the total number of males calling, but larger males generally entered the breeding assemblages earlier and participated in more choruses. After entering their first chorus, males tended to call for an unbroken sequence of nights. Males entering the most choruses achieved the most matings. There was a weak negative correlation between time spent calling and mating success, and the mean duration of calling events was less for those that led to mating than for those that did not; these results may well have been due to the large proportion of matings achieved through amplexus displacement rather than vocal advertisement. The major proximate mechanisms contributing to the mating system relate to chorus participation; larger males arrived at the breeding site first, participated in more choruses, and achieved the greatest number of matings. The advantage enjoyed by large males in the amplexus displacement process may have been the ultimate determinant of their mating success, especially since female choice was not size-selective.
TL;DR: During a period of 13 months, 507 heads of sheep, obtained from an abattoir near Harare, were examined for infection with Oestrus ovis larvae, with the prevalence of infection varied from 6 to 52%, the highest being in November and the lowest in April.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the adaptation to marginal land among the peasant farmers of Zimbabwe. But their focus is on the marginal land in the context of conservation in Southern Africa, and not the marginal farmers themselves.
Abstract: (1989). Adaptation to marginal land amongst the peasant farmers of Zimbabwe. Journal of Southern African Studies: Vol. 15, Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa, pp. 384-389.
TL;DR: Rabbits, naturally infected with ear mange mite, were injected subcutaneously with a single dose of ivermectin and the animals in both groups became negative for mites 6 days after treatment and remained so until the end of trial.
TL;DR: The serological profiles of 104 Zimbabwean patients with clinically diagnosed connective tissue diseases were determined and the specificity and sensitivity of antinuclear antibodies, notably to DNA and Sm, correlated well with clinical diagnoses.
Abstract: The serological profiles of 104 Zimbabwean patients with clinically diagnosed connective tissue diseases were determined. The prevalence of rheumatoid factor was less than would have been expected in other geographical groups, but the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies was similar. Despite considerable racial, socioeconomic, and genetic differences in our patient group compared with other previously published studies the specificity and sensitivity of antinuclear antibodies, notably to DNA and Sm, correlated well with clinical diagnoses. This study validates the use of these serological tests in the investigation of this group of patients.