ANALYSIS OF THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION, PATTERNS AND FORECAST OF ROAD TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN GHANA

Road traffic fatalities (RTFs) in Ghana have adverse effect on the dependency ratio and economic growth in the formal sector of the economy. To analyse the pattern of road traffic deaths in Ghana, fatalities of road traffic accidents by age group from 2001 – 2010 were obtained. Using published road traffic accident statistics from the National Road Safety Commission of Ghana, the pattern of RTF in the ten (10) geographical regions in Ghana was obtained, using moving average analysis. The pattern of the road traffic fatality data displays 10 distinct yearly cycles over a 10- year period, with the underlying trend showing a steady marginal increase overall, as well as in each particular region. Based entirely on the moving average trend of the past data, the values of the number of RTFs are projected for each of the 10 geographical regions. The number of road traffic fatalities in Ghana are predicted to rise from 1 986 in the year 2010 to 3 526 in the year 2030, an increase of about 77.5%. This finding is consistent with one of the key findings on global trends and projections presented in the World report on road traffic injury prevention, which revealed that road traffic deaths are predicted to increase by 83% in low-income and middle-income countries

A Moving Average Analysis of the Age Distribution and the Pattern of Road Traffic Fatalities in Ghana, From 2001 - 2010

Road traffic fatalities (RTF) in Ghana have adverse effect on the dependency ratio and economic growth in theformal sector of the economy. To analyse the pattern of road traffic deaths in Ghana, fatalities for road trafficaccidents by age groups from 2001 – 2010 were obtained. Using published road traffic accident statistics fromthe National Road Safety Commission, the pattern of RTF with respect to age was obtained, using movingaverage analysis. The pattern of the series data displays 8 distinct yearly cycles over a 10-year period, with theunderlying trend showing a steady increase overall, as well as in each particular age group.Based entirely on the trend of the past data, the values of the number of RTFs are projected for each of the 8 agegroups. The number of road traffic fatalities in Ghana is predicted to rise from 1 987 in the year 2010 to 3 677 inthe year 2030, an increase of about 85%.Key Words: Age, Fatality, Trend and Forecas

Individualism-communalism and employment equity: The effects of value priming on hiring decisions.

The present study examined the effect of priming with individualistic or communalistic values on the decision to hire a Black or White job candidate. The experimental design was a 3 (value priming group) x 2 (applicant qualifications) x 2 (gender of participant) factorial. Introductory psychology students read and responded to an individualistic, a communalistic, or a neutral values survey. Half the participants then read profiles of two equally qualified job candidates, one Black and one White. Unequal qualifications condition participants read profiles of a Black and a relatively better qualified White candidate. Participants then indicated whom they would hire and responded to a survey of symbolic racism. The significant interaction between priming group and candidate qualifications indicated that, contrary to the hypotheses, participants primed with individualistic values were not more likely than participants primed with communalistic values to hire the White candidate in the equal or unequal qualifications conditions. Instead, participants primed with neutral values demonstrated the most extreme preferences, with those in the equal qualifications condition significantly more likely to hire the Black candidate than those in the unequal qualification condition. Chi-square analysis indicated that participants in the equal qualifications condition were equally likely to hire the Black or White candidate; participants in the equal qualifications condition had a strong preference for the White candidate. Implications of these findings for the implementation of employment equity policies are discussed.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1995 .O34. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 34-06, page: 2498. Adviser: Shelagh M. J. Towson. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1995

Design of an Integrated Anti-Hardening System for Carbon-In-Leach Tanks

Slurry density monitoring is of paramount importance in the industrial world. Most industries, especially cement and mineral processing industries, employ this method to obtain good quality products. However, most Carbon-In-Leach (CIL) tanks of gold processing industries do not use slurry density monitoring systems. As a result, many a time, agitation difficulties occur when the slurry begins to harden. This paper, therefore, seeks to design an integrated anti-hardening system for CIL tanks, with the aid of a microcontroller, to monitor the density of the slurry in order to prevent it from hardening. Slurry density measurement was achieved with the help of a strain gauge pressure sensor and a couple of level sensors. Atmega 328p  microcontroller board was programmed to continuously compute the density of the slurry from values of pressure and level of slurry in the tank indicated by the pressure and level sensors, respectively. The microcontroller responds to slurry hardening by activating a light emitting diode and triggering the piezo buzzer when a set point is reached. The designed circuit was successfully simulated using Proteus 8.2 design suite software to ascertain its functionality. Based on the results obtained, the light emitting diode and piezo buzzer activated when the set point was reached. It was concluded that the anti-hardening system is effective for constantly monitoring the density of the slurry to prevent it from hardening. It was also recommended that the mining industries could employ the designed system to monitor the density in order to prevent hardening of slurry in CIL tanks. Keywords: Carbon-In-Leach Tanks, Slurry Densisty, Strain Guage Pressure Sensor, Microcontrolle

The expression of SLAMF7 levels in malignant B cells: a novel therapeutic pathway for patients with CLL

Signalling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) F7 is found on the surface of some immune cells including B-lymphocytes. Its activation leads to the proliferation or differentiation of immune cells. The objectives of the study were to measure SLAMF7 expression levels on B-CLL cells, and to upregulate the expression of SLAMF7 with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and Bryostatin. The levels of expression of SLAMF7 receptors of B-CLL cells from patients were measured; using immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The effects of treatments with PMA and Bryostatin were determined from different patients. Different levels of SLAMF7 expression were found to be associated with B-CLL cells from different patients. PMA treatment of B-CLL cells showed more positive SLAMF7 staining with the majority of the extracted B-CLL cell cases, while less positive results were associated with Bryostatin treatment. The study has shown that both PMA and Bryostatin could upregulate SLAMF7. Successful modulation of SLAMF7 expression may provide a novel target for the treatment of patients with CLL.Keywords: SLAMF7, RT PCR, Elotuzumab, Bryostatin, PM

A Bayesian Model for Predicting Road Traffic Fatalities in Ghana

Bayesian model for predicting the annual regional distribution of the number of road traffic fatalities in Ghana is derived, using road traffic accident statistics data from the National Road Safety Commission, Ghana Statistical Service and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority. The data span 1991 to 2009. Since the parameters are assumed to vary across the various regions, they are considered to be random variables with probability distributions. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques were used to draw samples from each of the posterior distribution, thereby determining the values of the unknown parameters for each region based on a given data. The study has shown that population and number of registered vehicles are predominant factors affecting road traffic fatalities in Ghana. The effect of other additional factors on road traffic fatality such as human error (due to the driver, passenger and/or pedestrian), vehicle (its condition and maintenance), environmental/weather and nature of the road cannot be ruled out.

Diagnostic performance of endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue acquisition of splenic lesions: systematic review with pooled analysis

Background: Focal splenic lesions are usually incidentally discovered on radiological assessments. Although percutaneous tissue acquisition (TA) under trans-abdominal ultrasound guidance is a well-established technique for obtaining cyto-histological diagnosis of focal splenic lesions, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided TA has been described in several studies, reporting different safety and outcomes. The aim was to assess the pooled safety, adequacy, and accuracy of EUS-TA of splenic lesions. Methods: A comprehensive review of available evidence was conducted at the end of November 2021. All studies including more than five patients and reporting about the safety, adequacy, and accuracy of EUS-TA of the spleen were included. Results: Six studies (62 patients) were identified; all studies have been conducted using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) needles. Pooled specimen adequacy and accuracy of EUS-TA for spleen characterization were 92.8% [95% confidence interval (CI), 86.3%-99.3%] and 88.2% (95% CI, 79.3%-97.1%), respectively. The pooled incidence of adverse events (six studies, 62 patients) was 4.7% (95% CI, 0.4%-9.7%). Conclusion: EUS-FNA of the spleen is a safe technique with high diagnostic adequacy and accuracy. The EUS-guided approach could be considered a valid alternative to the percutaneous approach for spleen TA

The significance of the amorphous potential energy landscape for dictating glassy dynamics and driving solid-state crystallisation

Contains fulltext : 180674.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Endoscopic Ultrasound Guided Biliary Drainage in Malignant Distal Biliary Obstruction

Malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) is a challenging medical problem that often negatively impacts the patient’s quality of life (QoL), postoperative complications, and survival rates. Endoscopic approaches to biliary drainage are generally performed by ERCP or, in selected cases, with a percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD). Recent advances in therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) allow drainage where previous methods have failed. EUS has evolved from a purely diagnostic technique to one that allows a therapeutic approach in the event of ERCP failure in distal MBO. Moreover, the introduction of dedicated accessories and prostheses for EUS-guided transmural biliary drainage (EUS-BD) made these procedures more successful with regard to technical success, clinical outcomes and reduction of adverse events (AEs). Finally, lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMS) have improved the therapeutic role of the EUS. Subsequently, the electrocautery enhanced tip of the LAMS (EC-LAMS) allows a direct access of the delivery system to the target lumen, thereby simplifying and reducing the EUS-BD procedure time. EUS-BD using LAMS and EC-LAMS has proven effective and safe with a low rate of AEs. This review aims to evaluate biliary drainage techniques in malignant obstruction, focusing on the role of EUS biliary drainage by LAMS