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The emergence of resistant microorganisms and its association with antimicrobial use is widely recognised as a global concern. Therefore, rational and regulated antimicrobial use is essential in both the public and private healthcare sectors in South Africa. A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients who were prescribed antibiotics over a two-month period. Prescriptions were assessed for adherence to the guidelines, either local or international, and/or to drug registration information, as a measure of rational prescribing practice. Accuracy of dose, and the frequency and duration of administration were evaluated, as were microbiologically informed treatment and de-escalation. 28.8% of patients (n = 226) received antibiotics during their intensive care unit (ICU) admission. A clear indication for antibiotic therapy was noted in 58.5% (n = 131) of the patients, of whom 70.2% were prescribed treatment consistent with the guidelines or drug registration information. Doses were deemed to be correct for 91.1% of the sample, microbiological investigations were evident for 61.2% of patients and de-escalation was noted in only 13.1% of the 70.8% of cases where de-escalation was indicated. Antibiotic prescription rates were relatively lower than those described in the international literature on antibiotic use in the ICU. Antibiotic prescription in the absence of indication in 41.1% of patients, the lack of microbiological verification in 38.8% of patients, inaccurate drug choice in 29.8% of the subset for whom antibiotics were indicated and incorrect dosing in 8.9% of the subset necessitates microbiologically informed therapy and compliance with the treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study isocompactness in Loc defined, exactly as in Top, by requiring that every countably compact closed sublocale be compact. This is a genuine extension of the same-named topological concept since every Boolean (or, even more emphatically, every paracompact) locale is isocompact. A slightly stronger variant is defined by decreeing that the closure of every complemented countably compact sublocale be compact. Dropping the adjective 'complemented' yields a formally even stronger property, which we show to be preserved by finite products. Metrizable locales (or, more generally, perfectly normal locales) do not distinguish between the three variants of isocompactness. Each of the stronger variants of isocompactness travels across a proper map of locales, and in the opposite direction if the map is a surjection in Loc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We define Čech-complete frames by means of a filter condition which does not require that such frames be completely regular. We then, among regular frames, give a characterization in terms of ideals from which one sees more easily that a Tychonoff space is Čech-complete iff its frame of open sets is Čech-complete. Extending this notion of Čech-completeness to nearness frames in a natural way (meaning that covers are replaced with uniform covers, and convergent filters – the ones that meet every cover – are replaced with Cauchy filters – the ones that meet every uniform cover), we define controlled nearness frames along the lines that Bentley and Hunsaker define controlled nearness spaces. We show that the subcategory they form is closed under countable coproducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce and study the concept of a uniformly locally connected uniform σ-frame. The uniformly locally connected reflection of a locally connected uniform σ-frame is constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that complete strong nearness σ-frames are exactly the cozero parts of complete separable strong Lindelöf nearness frames. We also relate nearness σ-frames and metric σ-frames and show that every metric σ-frame admits an admissible nearness such that it is complete as a metric σ-frame if and only if it is complete in this admissible nearness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce and study the concepts of connectedness and local connectedness in σ-frames. We also consider the local connectedness of the Stone-Čech compactification of a regular σ-frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that for uniform frames, with the underlying frame being Boolean, uniform paracompactness and strong Cauchy completeness are equivalent conditions. Certain aspects of uniform paracompactness are also considered. We then introduce the pointfree notion of preparacompactness and show that the completion of a preparacompact uniform frame is strongly Cauchy complete. We also formulate pointfree filter characterizations of Lindelöfness for regular frames in analogy to their classical topological counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In South Africa, persistence of the HIV epidemic and associated gender and racial disparities is a major concern after more than 20 years of democratic dispensation and efforts to create a more healthy and equal society. This paper profiles HIV prevalence and related factors among Black African men and women compared to other race groups in South Africa using the 2012 population-based national household HIV survey. Methods: This secondary data analysis was based on the 2012 population-based nationally representative multi-stage stratified cluster random household sample. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to assess the relationship between HIV prevalence and associated factors by gender and racial profile. Results: Overall HIV prevalence was significantly higher (p < 0.001) among both Black African males (16.6%; 95% CI: 15.0–18.4) and females (24.1%; 95% CI: 22.4–26.0) compared to their counterparts from other races. Among Black African males, increased risk of HIV was significantly associated with age group 25–49 years and those 50 years and older compared with young males 15–25 years. Among all males, reported condom use at last sex was significantly associated with increased risk of HIV. High socio-economic status (SES) and perceived risk of HIV were associated with a decreased risk of HIV. Among female condom use at last sex and ever testing for HIV was associated with increased prevalence of HIV only among Black African females. Lower prevalence of HIV was associated with marriage, tertiary education, high SES, having a partner five years younger, perceived risk of HIV, and awareness of HIV status among Black African females. Conclusion: Gender and racial disparities rooted in structural and contextual inequalities remain important factors for the maintenance of the generalized HIV epidemic in the country. HIV prevention interventions need to cut across all strata of society but also target risk factors salient for specific groups. Alleviating vulnerability to HIV along gender and racial lines should also be viewed as part of a broader public health strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]