Training and Development Programmes versus Lecturers’ Performance in Teaching: The Perception of Lecturers in the Sunyani Polytechnic, Ghana

This paper investigates the contributions of human resources development programmes to the quality of teaching and learning with emphasis on the Sunyani Polytechnic in Ghana. The paper reviews relevant literature on the importance of continuous training programmes for lecturers in the Polytechnic. The paper juxtaposes relevant literature with what pertains in the Sunyani Polytechnic in Ghana, with regards to the urgent need for continuous and regular training for polytechnic lecturers. The study reveals evidence that lecturers need continuous improvement programmes to upgrade their skills to meet the ever changing needs of polytechnic education and stakeholders, especially students. The study again reveals that the rapid changes in the curriculum of polytechnic education institutions call for continuous improvement in the skillsets of lecturers. The paper recommends that training methodologies organised for staff of the Polytechnic should be practical, interactive and participatory and offered on regular intervals to bring lecturers up to date on current trends in teaching and learning in polytechnic education. This would be very useful to prevent career Plateauing and skill obsolescence among the lecturers of the Polytechnic. Keywords: Ghana, teaching, learning, training, human resources, Sunyani Polytechnic

Competencies Driving Waste Minimization during the Construction Phase of Buildings

It is thought that there is a low level of awareness of key competencies that drive material waste reduction at the construction stage of a project which has led to the low impact of waste minimization in the construction industry. This study, therefore, explores the key competencies for driving waste minimization at the construction stage of projects. Twenty-four (24) key factors that drive CW minimization at the construction stage of projects were derived from a thorough review of existing literature. The research adopted the quantitative approach whereby a questionnaire survey involving 53 construction professionals was conducted. Factor analysis was the statistical tool employed for the analysis of the data gathered. The findings of the study revealed four major competencies that drive CW minimization: Awareness Competency (AC), Managerial Competency (MC), Personnel Ability Competency (PAC), and Communication Competency (CC). The implementation of the key competencies from the findings of the study is highly recommended for the achievement of low waste in building projects. In view of this, it is recommended that government should enact legislative and fiscal measures to instill waste management habits in the construction industry. Several studies have investigated strategies or measures for CW minimization. However, this study focused on the knowledge and skills of construction stakeholders as the main component of waste minimization competencies

Dietary adherence among persons with type 2 diabetes:A concurrent mixed methods study

BackgroundPoor adherence to dietary recommendations among persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) can lead to long-term complications with concomitant increases in healthcare costs and mortality rates. This study aimed to identify factors associated with dietary adherence and explore the barriers and facilitators to dietary adherence among persons with T2D.MethodsA concurrent mixed methods study was conducted in two hospitals in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. One hundred and forty-two (142) persons with T2D were consecutively sampled for the survey. Dietary adherence and diabetes-related nutritional knowledge (DRNK) were assessed using the Perceived Dietary Adherence Questionnaire (PDAQ) and an adapted form of the General Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ-R) respectively. A purposive sample of fourteen participants was selected for interviews to explore the factors that influence dietary adherence. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo version 20 software and presented as themes. Furthermore, binary logistic regression was performed using IBM SPSS version 29.0 to identify the factors associated with dietary adherence.ResultsNearly fifty-one percent (50.7%) of the participants in this study had good dietary adherence. In multivariable logistics regression, it was found that increase in DRNK (AOR= 1.099, 95% CI: 1.001-1.206, p=0.041) score and living in an urban area (AOR= 3.041, 95% CI: 1.007-9.179, p=0.047) were significantly associated with good dietary adherence. Inductive thematic analysis revealed four facilitators of dietary adherence (access to information on diet, individual food preferences and eating habits, perceived benefits of dietary adherence, and presence of social support) and four barriers (inability to afford recommended diets, barriers related to foods available in the environment, conflict between dietary recommendations and individual eating habits, and barriers related to the social environment).ConclusionThe findings support the need for interventions including continuous dietary education tailored to individual preferences and dietary habits, expansion of poverty reduction social interventions and formulation of policies that will improve access to healthy foods in communities. <br/

Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae in the anterior chambers of the eye and ocular adverse events after a single dose of 8 mg moxidectin or 150 µg/kg ivermectin: results of a randomized double-blind Phase 3 trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Liberia

Abstract Background After ivermectin became available, diethylcarbamazine (DEC) use was discontinued because of severe adverse reactions, including ocular reactions, in individuals with high Onchocerca volvulus microfilaridermia (microfilariae/mg skin, SmfD). Assuming long-term ivermectin use led to  40) mfAC and three pre-treatment ( 0–5, > 5) SmfD categories. A linear mixed model evaluated factors and covariates impacting mfAC levels. Ocular AEs were summarized by type and start post-treatment. Logistic models evaluated factors and covariates impacting the risk for ocular AEs. Results Moxidectin and ivermectin had the same effect on mfAC levels. These increased from pre-treatment to Day 4 and Month 1 in 20% and 16% of participants, respectively. Six and 12 months post-treatment, mfAC were detected in ≈5% and ≈3% of participants, respectively. Ocular Mazzotti reactions occurred in 12.4% of moxidectin- and 10.2% of ivermectin-treated participants without difference in type or severity. The risk for ≥ 1 ocular Mazzotti reaction increased for women (OR 1.537, 95% CI 1.096–2.157) and with mfAC levels pre- and 4 days post-treatment (OR 0: > 10 mfAC 2.704, 95% CI 1.27–5.749 and 1.619, 95% CI 0.80–3.280, respectively). Conclusions The impact of SmfD and mfAC levels before and early after treatment on ocular AEs needs to be better understood before making decisions on the risk-benefit of strategies including DEC. Such decisions should take into account interindividual variability in SmfD, mfAC levels and treatment response and risks to even a small percentage of individuals. Graphical Abstrac

Additional file 1 of Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae in the anterior chambers of the eye and ocular adverse events after a single dose of 8 mg moxidectin or 150 µg/kg ivermectin: results of a randomized double-blind Phase 3 trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Liberia

Additional file 1: Fig S1. mfAC pre-treatment, 4 days, 1, 6, 12 and 18 months post-treatment among participants with  20mf/mg skin)

Supplementary Material from Can mass drug administration of moxidectin accelerate onchocerciasis elimination in Africa?

Epidemiological and modelling studies suggest that elimination of Onchocerca volvulus transmission (EoT) throughout Africa may not be achievable with annual mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin alone, particularly in areas of high endemicity and vector density. Single-dose Phase II and III clinical trials demonstrated moxidectin's superiority over ivermectin for prolonged clearance of O. volvulus microfilariae. We used the stochastic, individual-based EPIONCHO-IBM model to compare the probabilities of reaching EoT between ivermectin and moxidectin MDA for a range of endemicity levels (30% to 70% baseline microfilarial prevalence), treatment frequencies (annual and biannual) and therapeutic coverage/adherence values (65% and 80% of total population, with, respectively, 5% and 1% of systematic non-adherence). EPIONCHO-IBM's projections indicate that biannual (six-monthly) moxidectin MDA can reduce by half the number of years necessary to achieve EoT in mesoendemic areas and might be the only strategy that can achieve EoT in hyperendemic areas. Data needed to improve modelling projections include (i) the effect of repeated annual and biannual moxidectin treatment; (ii) inter- and intra-individual variation in response to successive treatments with moxidectin or ivermectin; (iii) the effect of moxidectin and ivermectin treatment on L3 development into adult worms and (iv) patterns of adherence to moxidectin and ivermectin MDA.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Challenges in the Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases’