Strategies to Optimize Global Cleft Care

Orofacial clefts represent the most common congenital craniofacial anomaly worldwide. This condition is best managed by an interdisciplinary team of specialists, often with gratifying results for both the patient and the care providers. Despite recent advances in the management, it remains a challenge today to provide cleft care in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) due to the lack of basic health care infrastructure and long-term follow-up. International cleft mission trips have traditionally been successful in providing reconstructive plastic surgery to communities with limited resources. More recently, there has been a global effort in the cleft care community to facilitate development of sustainable local cleft care centers that are capable of providing longitudinal, comprehensive care to the indigenous population. This chapter focuses on the elements that are necessary for running a successful international cleft mission and a local cleft care facility, which include the essential personnel, operational protocols, equipment, logistics, patient selection, and follow-up. The challenges and future directions of providing cleft care in LMIC are also discussed

Challenges Associated with Records Management in Sunyani Technical University

The paper investigate the challenges of record management in Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS), One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the central tendency (Mean). The findings of the study show that record management in the institution is challenged by improper records management; inadequate proper security for records; inadequate professionally trained records managers; there are inadequate resources to facilitate proper records management practices in the institution; insufficient space for records management; misplacement of vital records in the institution; loss of vital records in the institution; inadequate computer terminals; lack of record keeping policy; lack of record retention; lack of disposition schedule in the institution; ineffective means of retrieving record; improper records management in the institution. The managements of the institution should consider the findings of the study and address these challenges for proper record management and the benefits associated with such benefits

Challenges Associated with Records Management in Sunyani Technical University

The paper investigate the challenges of record management in Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS), One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the central tendency (Mean). The findings of the study show that record management in the institution is challenged by improper records management; inadequate proper security for records; inadequate professionally trained records managers; there are inadequate resources to facilitate proper records management practices in the institution; insufficient space for records management; misplacement of vital records in the institution; loss of vital records in the institution; inadequate computer terminals; lack of record keeping policy; lack of record retention; lack of disposition schedule in the institution; ineffective means of retrieving record; improper records management in the institution. The managements of the institution should consider the findings of the study and address these challenges for proper record management and the benefits associated with such benefits

An Empirical study of the Role of Demographics in Job Satisfaction of Sunyani Technical University staff

The paper analyses the effects of demographic variables on overall job satisfaction and satisfaction elements for Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). The estimates of the regression analysis indicate that demographic variables have insignificant positive and negative effect on overall job satisfaction. However, the estimates show significant positive and negative effect of demographic variables on some elements of job satisfaction. Managements of academic institutions should take into account the findings of the study to ensure that workers are well satisfied with their job so that productivity will not be affected. Future study should replicate the current study in a comparative study of private and public academic institutions

What is the effect of wages and supervision on productivity? The perspective of Sunyani Technical University staff

The study examines the influence of wages and supervision on employee’s productivity for Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). The findings of the study indicate that wages and supervision have influence on productivity; however, supervision is ranked higher to influence productivity than wages. The management of higher institutions should consider the findings of the study to ensure that workers are appropriately supervised, and well paid to improve productivity and performance. Further studies should replicate the current study in a comparative study using private and public institutions in a causal study using structural modelling method

What is the effect of wages and supervision on productivity? The perspective of Sunyani Technical University staff

The study examines the influence of wages and supervision on employee’s productivity for Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). The findings of the study indicate that wages and supervision have influence on productivity; however, supervision is ranked higher to influence productivity than wages. The management of higher institutions should consider the findings of the study to ensure that workers are appropriately supervised, and well paid to improve productivity and performance. Further studies should replicate the current study in a comparative study using private and public institutions in a causal study using structural modelling method

An empirical study of Job satisfaction of university staff

The paper examined university staff overall job satisfaction in Sunyani Technical University in a survey of 100 respondents in a cross-sectional study and a quantitative design. Using standard ordinary least square (OLS) method the findings of the study show that employees are satisfied with overall job satisfaction, and satisfied with the elements of satisfaction identified in the survey, with salary and workload been the most satisfied elements. The findings of the research in addition, indicate that elements of job satisfaction influence overall job satisfaction. Management of higher institutions should take into account the findings of the current study in motivating employees for enhance performance resulting from better service and quality service, since university workers are the first members of the community in dealing with students who are junior members of the community

Optimising brain age estimation through transfer learning:A suite of pre-trained foundation models for improved performance and generalisability in a clinical setting

Estimated age from brain MRI data has emerged as a promising biomarker of neurological health. However, the absence of large, diverse, and clinically representative training datasets, along with the complexity of managing heterogeneous MRI data, presents significant barriers to the development of accurate and generalisable models appropriate for clinical use. Here, we present a deep learning framework trained on routine clinical data (N up to 18,890, age range 18–96 years). We trained five separate models for accurate brain age prediction (all with mean absolute error ≤4.0 years, R2 ≥.86) across five different MRI sequences (T2-weighted, T2-FLAIR, T1-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and gradient-recalled echo T2*-weighted). Our trained models offer dual functionality. First, they have the potential to be directly employed on clinical data. Second, they can be used as foundation models for further refinement to accommodate a range of other MRI sequences (and therefore a range of clinical scenarios which employ such sequences). This adaptation process, enabled by transfer learning, proved effective in our study across a range of MRI sequences and scan orientations, including those which differed considerably from the original training datasets. Crucially, our findings suggest that this approach remains viable even with limited data availability (as low as N = 25 for fine-tuning), thus broadening the application of brain age estimation to more diverse clinical contexts and patient populations. By making these models publicly available, we aim to provide the scientific community with a versatile toolkit, promoting further research in brain age prediction and related areas.</p

A database of microRNA expression patterns in Xenopus laevis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs around 22 nucleotides long. They inhibit gene expression either by translational repression or by causing the degradation of the mRNAs they bind to. Many are highly conserved amongst diverse organisms and have restricted spatio-temporal expression patterns during embryonic development where they are thought to be involved in generating accuracy of developmental timing and in supporting cell fate decisions and tissue identity. We determined the expression patterns of 180 miRNAs in Xenopus laevis embryos using LNA oligonucleotides. In addition we carried out small RNA-seq on different stages of early Xenopus development, identified 44 miRNAs belonging to 29 new families and characterized the expression of 5 of these. Our analyses identified miRNA expression in many organs of the developing embryo. In particular a large number were expressed in neural tissue and in the somites. Surprisingly none of the miRNAs we have looked at show expression in the heart. Our results have been made freely available as a resource in both XenMARK and Xenbase