University of Zimbabwe

About: University of Zimbabwe is a education organization based out in Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 4378 authors who have published 6800 publications receiving 160720 citations. The organization is also known as: UZ & University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Genetic polymorphism of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 in east- and southern African populations including psychiatric patients.

Abstract: Objectives: The study was carried out to investigate the distribution of cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) and CYP2C19 genotype frequencies in three African populations and to compare these frequencies between healthy individuals and psychiatric patients. Methods: Three hundred and eighty-four subjects from South Africa (Venda), Tanzania, and Zimbabwe who consented to the study were genotyped for CYP2D6 (CYP2D6*1, *2, *3, *4, *5, and *17) and CYP2C19 (CYP2C19*1, *2, and *3) by PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism) techniques. Results: The genotypes for CYP2D6 predicted a poor metaboliser frequency of 2.3% (2/88) in Tanzanian psychiatric patients, 1.9% (2/106) in Tanzanian healthy controls and 2.6% (2/76) in the South African Venda. The low-activity CYP2D6*17 allele frequency was higher in psychiatric patients (30%, 53/176) than in healthy individuals (20%, 43/212) in Tanzanians. The frequencies for CYP2C19*2 genotypes were predictive of a low prevalence of poor metabolisers (PMs). The CYP2C19*3 allele was absent in the three populations studied. There was no difference in CYP2D6 or CYP2C19 PM genotype frequencies between psychiatric patients and healthy subjects. Conclusion: The genotype results predict a low prevalence of people with deficient CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 activity among linguistically (Bantu) related populations of East and Southern Africa. The high frequency of the low-activity CYP2D6*17 allele predicts that the Bantu people have a reduced capacity to metabolise drugs that are CYP2D6 substrates.

Mugabe, Mbeki & the politics of anti-imperialism

Abstract: There can be little doubt that one of the most significant aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially the events of the past two or three years, has been its international character. At the heart of President Robert Mugabe's offensive against the array of forces opposed to his rule are repeated attempts to place the Zimbabwe problem at the centre of a larger anti-imperialist and Pan-African position. These tactics have been crucial to the process of legitimising the recent actions of ZANU-PF, in power since independence in 1980. The land question in particular has been located within a discourse of legitimate redress for colonial injustice, language which has resonated on the African continent, and within the Third World more generally. Knowing that his authoritarian rule would be confronted with a widespread national and international critique centred on property rights, human rights and the rule of law, Mugabe and his advisors constructed alternative discourses around the need for renewed lib...

Process, Perception and Power: Notes from ‘Participatory’ Research in a Zimbabwean Resettlement Area

Abstract: The increased popularity of ‘participatory’ methods in research, development projects, and rural extension in developing countries, has not consistently been accompanied by a critical evaluation of the quality and reliability of knowledge created and extracted in the process. In this article, the author employs her own research using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in a Zimbabwean Resettlement Area, to examine how knowledge is created through this type of research act, and how later research may be used to turn back and ‘make sense’ of PRA data. The article explores how power relations among participants are both revealed and concealed in PRA, focusing specifically on the implications for gendered perspectives. The paper also highlights the dynamic, contested and often contradictory nature of ‘local knowledge’ itself. Apparently transparent chunks of ‘local reality’ gleaned through PRA can turn out to be part of complex webs of multiple ideologies and practices. The author argues that while participatory methodologies may offer effective ways of beginning a research project, adoption of short PRA workshops in academic or project related research could lead to dangerously faulty representations of complex social worlds.

Mineral N dynamics, leaching and nitrous oxide losses under maize following two-year improved fallows on a sandy loam soil in Zimbabwe

Abstract: The fate of the added N on a sandy loam soil was determined in an improved fallow - maize sequence field experiment in Zimbabwe. Pre-season mineral N was determined in 20 cm sections to 120 cm depth by soil auguring in seven land use systems. Thereafter, sequential soil auguring was done at two-week intervals in plots that previously had 2-year fallows of Acacia angustissima, Sesbania sesban and unfertilized maize to determine mineral N dynamics. Using the static chamber technique, N2O fluxes were also determined in the same plots. Pre-season NH4-N concentrations were > 12 kg N ha-1 in the 0-20 cm layer for treatments that had a pronounced litter layer. NO 3-N concentrations below 60 cm depth were 10 kg N ha-1 layer-1 in the control plots where maize had been cultivated each year. There was a flush of NO 3-N in the Sesbania and Acacia plots with the first rains. Topsoil NO3-N had increased to > 29 kg N ha-1 by the time of establishing the maize crop. This increase in NO3-N in the topsoil was not sustained as concentrations decreased rapidly within three weeks of maize planting, to amounts of 8.6 kg N ha-1 and 11.2 kg N ha -1 for the Sesbania and Acacia plots, respectively. Total NO 3-N leaching losses from the 0-40 cm layer ranged from 29-40 kg ha-1 for Sesbania and Acacia plots within two weeks when 104 mm rainfall was received to an already fully recharged soil profile. Nitrate then accumulated below the 40 cm depth during early season when the maize had not developed a sufficient root length density to effectively capture nutrients. At one week after planting maize, N2O fluxes of 12.3 g N2O-N ha-1 day-1 from Sesbania plots were about twice as high as those from Acacia, and about seven times the 1.6 g N2O-N ha -1 day-1 from maize monoculture. This was at the time when mineral N was at its peak in the topsoil. The unfertilized maize showed consistently low N2O emissions, which never exceeded 2 g N 2O-N ha-1 day-1 for all the eight sampling dates. The decrease of mineral N concentration in the topsoil resulted in reduced N2O fluxes, despite very high soil moisture conditions. Total N2O-N emissions were greatest for Sesbania plots with 0.3 kg ha -1 lost in 56 days. We conclude that, under high rainfall conditions, there is an inherent problem in managing mineral N originating from mineralization of organic materials as it accumulates at the onset of rains, and is susceptible to leaching before the crop root system develops. We did not quantify nitric oxide and N2 gas emissions, but it is unlikely that total gaseous N losses would be significant and contribute to poor N recovery that has been widely reported.

Pattern of arterial aneurysms in acquired immunodeficiency disease

Abstract: The ever-spreading incidence of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has introduced a spectrum of unusual, subtle, and often life-threatening lesions that can affect almost every organ and tissue in the body. With the introduction of laboratory serologic evidence of HIV infection, the spectrum of indicator diseases has extended beyond the classic opportunistic infections and Kaposi sarcoma. An analysis of 28 patients in Zimbabwe with focal areas of vascular disease treated during a 4-year period (1989–1993) defined 16 patients ranging in age from 12 to 46 years appropriate for special scrutiny as they evinced none of the usual causes of vascular disease. Twelve of the patients were HIV-positive; in two patients the serologic status was unknown; and two patients were HIV-negative at the time of their presentation. There were special clinical features in this group of patients selected for study: (1) They were young with a mean age of 31 years; (2) they were all indigenous Africans with no evidence of atherosclerosis; and there was (3) rapid development of focal necrotizing vasculitis with aneurysm formation and rupture or (4) slow, progressive development of granulomatous vasculitis. The sites of cardiovascular involvement included the left ventricle; aortic arch; thoracic, thoracoabdominal, and abdominal aorta; and iliac, femoral, gluteal, popliteal, and subclavian arteries. It is inferred that the association between HIV-positive status and arterial aneurysms or fibroproliferative aortic occlusion are causally related and that the principles of vascular surgery can be successfully applied to their treatment.