The Public Procurement Act 663 (2003) Of Ghana: Compliance level in Selected Education District Offices

The Procurement of Act 663 (2003) of Ghana was promulgated to sanitize the procurement management process with the ultimate aim of ensuring value for money. Since its introduction in 2003, various evaluation reports have come up with a number of strategies to ensure full compliance in public organizations. The aim of the study was to establish the extent to which district education offices adhere to Act 663; to identify the weakness associated with the practice and to propose recommendations for high level of compliance. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research approaches in data collection involving five selected districts in Ashanti region namely Ashanti Akim Central, Asante Akim South, Bosome-Freho, Ejisu-Juaben and Sekyere East. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze data collected. The study revealed low compliance level of 42.42 percent implying a huge compliance deficit of 57.58 percent. The study further identified contract management, lack of procurement units, lack of proper procurements plans, inadequate use of standard tender documents and high propensity to use sole sourcing method without recourse to Section 40 of Act 663 were identified as weaknesses areas. These weaknesses have negative implications in procurement management practices. It is therefore recommended that procurement units should be established in all the district education offices in Ghana, more importantly, these units should be provided someone with technical expertise in procurement. Similarly, under the auspices the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), refresher courses in procurement management should be organized for district education officers involved in procurement duties. The on-going review of the Act 663 should conspicuously spell out the composition of the Tender Committee at the district education offices. It is anticipated that if these suggestions are enforced, the current level of compliance of the Act 663(2003) would be improved in the district education offices

Identifying the factors that influence innovation championing behaviour in construction support services organisations: a review of the role of middle management

W065 Organisation and Management of Construction Postgraduate Research: Paper ID: 542Innovation has been considered an important means by which organisations seek to achieve advantage over competition and for improving performance in today's highly competitive business environment. A number of factors have been identified as influencing innovation in project-based construction organisations. These include internal factors such as organisational culture, climate, leadership style and exogenous influences such as clients. Although research recognises how important it is for senior management to create an environment conducive to innovation, there is little understanding of how these internal and external factors interact to impact on innovativeness. This paper reviews relevant literature on innovation, organisational culture, organisational climate and leadership style while examining how they combine with external factors to promote innovation in construction support services organisations. The study particularly focuses on the role of key organisational actors with responsibility for developing a climate to facilitate innovation at the divisional or business unit level. The review reveals that efforts to develop a climate that promotes innovation championing behaviour among project managers will be influenced by the organizational culture, leadership style and the extent of external influence on project delivery. The study further reveals the importance of middle managers in promoting innovation. A methodology is presented for examining the role of this key managerial constituency and the ways in which they can enable or impede the innovation process.postprintThe 2010 World Congress of CIB on Building a Better World, University of Salford, Salford, U.K., 10-14 May 2010. In Proceedings: TG65 and W065 - Special Track. 18th CIB World Building Congress, 2010, p. 434-44

Quantification de la perfusion hépatique dans les images échographiques de contraste

Cet article présente une nouvelle technique de quantification automatique de la perfusion hépatique dans les images échographiques de contraste. Elle exploite les caractéristiques des séquences pour construire une nouvelle méthode de diffusion anisotrope robuste permettant de s'affranchir des problèmes de seuillage et d'obtenir un traitement qui s'adapte en tout point à l'information contenue dans l'image. Cette approche est ensuite couplée avec une classification floue non exclusive pour segmenter les lésions

Rabies in Endangered Ethiopian Wolves

With rabies emerging as a particular threat to wild canids, we report on a rabies outbreak in a subpopulation of endangered Ethiopian wolves in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, in 2003 and 2004. Parenteral vaccination of wolves was used to manage the outbreak

The Study of Rule-Governed Behavior and Derived Stimulus Relations: Bridging the Gap

The concept of rule-governed behavior or instructional control has been widely recognized for many decades within the behavior-analytic literature. It has also been argued that the human capacity to formulate and follow increasingly complex rules may undermine sensitivity to direct contingencies of reinforcement, and that excessive reliance upon rules may be an important variable in human psychological suffering. Although the concept of rules would appear to have been relatively useful within behavior analysis, it seems wise from time to time to reflect upon the utility of even well-established concepts within a scientific discipline. Doing so may be particularly important if it begins to emerge that the existing concept does not readily orient researchers toward potentially important variables associated with that very concept. The primary purpose of this article is to engage in this reflection. In particular, we will focus on the link that has been made between rule-governed behavior and derived relational responding, and consider the extent to which it might be useful to supplement talk of rules or instructions with terms that refer to the dynamics of derived relational responding

In Vitro and In Vivo Isolation and Characterization of Duvenhage Virus

A fatal human case of Duvenhage virus (DUVV) infection in a Dutch traveller who had returned from Kenya was reported in 2007. She exhibited classical symptoms of rabies encephalitis with distinct pathological findings. In the present study we describe the isolation and characterization of DUVV in vitro and its passage in BALB/c mice. The virus proved to be neuroinvasive in both juvenile and adult mice, resulting in about 50% lethality upon peripheral infection. Clinical signs in infected mice were those of classical rabies. However, the distribution of viral antigen expression in the brain differed from that of classical rabies virus infection and neither inclusion bodies nor neuronal necrosis were observed. This is the first study to describe the in vitro and in vivo isolation and characterization of DUVV

Evolutionary History of Rabies in Ghana

Rabies virus (RABV) is enzootic throughout Africa, with the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) being the principal vector. Dog rabies is estimated to cause 24,000 human deaths per year in Africa, however, this estimate is still considered to be conservative. Two sub-Saharan African RABV lineages have been detected in West Africa. Lineage 2 is present throughout West Africa, whereas Africa 1a dominates in northern and eastern Africa, but has been detected in Nigeria and Gabon, and Africa 1b was previously absent from West Africa. We confirmed the presence of RABV in a cohort of 76 brain samples obtained from rabid animals in Ghana collected over an eighteen-month period (2007–2009). Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained confirmed all viruses to be RABV, belonging to lineages previously detected in sub-Saharan Africa. However, unlike earlier reported studies that suggested a single lineage (Africa 2) circulates in West Africa, we identified viruses belonging to the Africa 2 lineage and both Africa 1 (a and b) sub-lineages. Phylogeographic Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis of a 405 bp fragment of the RABV nucleoprotein gene from the 76 new sequences derived from Ghanaian animals suggest that within the Africa 2 lineage three clades co-circulate with their origins in other West African countries. Africa 1a is probably a western extension of a clade circulating in central Africa and the Africa 1b virus a probable recent introduction from eastern Africa. We also developed and tested a novel reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the detection of RABV in African laboratories. This RT-LAMP was shown to detect both Africa 1 and 2 viruses, including its adaptation to a lateral flow device format for product visualization. These data suggest that RABV epidemiology is more complex than previously thought in West Africa and that there have been repeated introductions of RABV into Ghana. This analysis highlights the potential problems of individual developing nations implementing rabies control programmes in the absence of a regional programme

Determination of the melting temperature, heat of fusion, and purity analysis of different samples of zidovudine (AZT) using DSC

The determination of chemical purity, melting range, and variation of enthalpy in the process of characterizing medicines is one of the principal requirements evaluated in quality control of the pharmaceutical industry. In this study, the method of purity determination using DSC was outlined, as well as the application of this technique for the evaluation of commercial samples of zidovudine (AZT) (raw material) supplied by different laboratories. To this end, samples from six different laboratories (A, B, C, D, E, and F) and the standard reference (R) from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) were analyzed. The DSC curves were obtained in the temperature range of 25 to 200 ºC under the dynamic atmosphere of N2 (50 mL min-1), heating rate of β=2 ºC min-1, using an Al capsule containing approximately 2 mg of sample material. The results demonstrated that the standard reference presented a proportion of 99.83% whereas the AZT samples presented a variation ranging from 97.59 to 99.54%. In addition, the standard reference was found to present a temperature of onset of melting point of 122.80 °C. Regarding the samples of active agents provided by the different laboratories, a variation ranging from 118.70 to 122.87 °C was measured. In terms of ΔHm, the samples presented an average value of 31.12 kJ mol-1._________________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMO: A determinação da pureza química, a faixa de fusão e a variação de entalpia envolvida no processo de caracterização de fármacos é um dos principais requisitos avaliados no controle de qualidade em indústrias farmacêuticas. Neste trabalho é feita uma breve abordagem sobre o método de determinação de pureza utilizando DSC, assim como a aplicação desta técnica para avaliação de amostras comerciais de zidovudina (AZT) (matéria-prima) fornecida por diferentes laboratórios. Para tal, foram analisadas amostras de seis diferentes laboratórios (A,B,C,D,E e F) e a substância química de referência (R) da United States Pharmacopeia (USP). As curvas DSC foram obtidas na faixa de temperatura entre 25 a 200 ºC, sob atmosfera dinâmica de N2 (50 mL min-1), β=2 ºC min-1, utilizando cápsula de Al contendo aproximadamente 2 mg de amostra. De acordo com os resultados, pode-se observar que a substância química de referência apresentou teor igual a 99,83% e que as amostras de AZT apresentaram uma faixa de variação entre 97,59 e 99,54%. Pode-se verificar, ainda, que a substância química de referência apresentou uma temperatura onset de fusão igual a 122,80 °C. Para as amostras dos princípios ativos fornecidos pelos diferentes laboratórios, pode-se verificar uma faixa de variação entre 118,70 e 122,87 °C. No que se refere ao ΔHm, as amostras apresentaram valor médio de 31,12 kJ.mol-1