Geostatistical methods and applications in global health

Sub-saharan Africa shares a high portion of the global disease burden and has attracted the attention of several intervention programmes. Intervention programmes need an in-depth understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of diseases and the underlying risk factors in order to plan effective control strategies. Geostatistical methods provide a means to map disease outcomes whilst explaining measured and unmeasured underlying risk factors. This thesis, made up of three papers, focuses of developing and applying geostatistical methods to understand the spatial (and temporal) distributions and risk factors of childhood undernutrition, malaria and Loa loa in sub-Saharan African countries. The relationship between the rate of infectious mosquito bites and the prevalence of malaria parasite in human hosts can highlight aspects of malaria epidemiology that are pertinent to malaria control. However, this relationship is poorly understood. In our first paper, we develop geostatistical models to study the spatio-temporal distributions of Plasmodium falciparum parasite prevalence and the rate of infectious mosquito bites. We then highlight key aspects of the malaria epidemiology relevant for intervention policies by using mechanistic and empirical statistical models to explore the relationship between infectious bites and parasite prevalence in a rural community in Malawi. The question of whether or not malaria is associated with growth in children has been studied for years, with different studies reporting contradictory results. However, none of these studies used spatial statistical methods. In the second paper, we develop a geostatistical model to investigate this association using 20 Demographic and Health Survey datasets from 13 sub-Saharan African countries. We then propose novel extensions of the modelling strategy to growth and malaria data collected as a spatial longitudinal study. Disease prevalence data are often obtained using different diagnostics, but in the absence of spatial statistical methods to jointly analyse such data, most studies report the results of separate analyses on the data from each diagnostic. A joint analysis can explain possible correlations between different diagnostics, which can then be exploited to make more precise and more reliable predictions. In the third paper, we developed a geostatistical framework for combining prevalence data from different diagnostics and apply the novel methodology to map malaria in the highlands of Western Kenya and Loa loa in sub-Saharan Africa

Developing Mobile Financial Services to Meet the Needs of Tertiary Students in Ghana

Mobile financial Services thrive on consumers who are comfortable with technology and in an environment where people make transactions using mobile phone. This paper presents mobile financial service opportunities that would be of benefit to Mobile Money Services Providers and tertiary students which can also be extended to other groups of people. Questionnaire administered with elements of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Users Gratification Model to some students of tertiary institutions in Ghana and analysed reveals that, areas which readily presents potential for the usage of Mobile financial Service includes, payments of school fees, hostel fees, buying of books, accessing of students' loan, payments for photocopies and other personal financial services. Factors of concern for students in using mobile financial series include, easiness of use, security of transactions, and mobile money accounts monitoring. The chi-square analysis test shows that there exist a strong relationship among mobile financial service products  and also a strong significant relationship for the factors of concern of students. The monetary authorities and the Mobile financial service providers should consider the security of transactions to be paramount and assure users and potential users about the integrity of their system if mobile financial services are to thrive among students. Mobile financial service providers should envisage the existence of economies of scope in their product development and marketing strategy to harness the fullest benefit of their infrastructural platform. Key words: Mobile Money, Students, Ghana, Products, Security, Mobile Banking, Mobile Financial Services

Internet Addiction and Correlates Among Tertiary Students in a Sub-Saharan African Country – Case of KNUST, Ghana: A Follow Up Study

Background:  A major drawback of the revolutionary technology of the internet is the tendency for addiction. Internet addiction (IA) is a modern menace affecting mostly the youth. Preventive counseling (PC) is needed to deal with this growing public health concern, however empirical data as a basis in terms of prevalence and corelates are non – existent in Ghana. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of IA and its psychological corelates among Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) students. Methods: Online cross-sectional method was used to survey one thousand, one hundred and sixty-five (1,165) students. Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Beck’s Depressive Inventory (BDI), Index of Self-Esteem (ISE), Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (RULS) and Satisfaction with Life (SWL) measures were used for data collection. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: 36.2% of the study participants (SPs) were normal internet users and 39%, 19.0% and 1.1% were mildly, moderately and severely addicted to the internet respectively. Also, with higher scores indicating greater magnitude of problem, there were significant positive correlations between IAT and their Self-esteem (r = 0.288, N= 1165, p = 0.000), loneliness (r = 0.228, N= 1165, p = 0.000) and depression (r = 0.270, N= 1165, p = 0.000) scores. Moreover, there was a significant inverse relationship with their IAT and SWL (r = - 0.209, p = 0.000) scores. Conclusion: Approximately 1% of KNUST students sampled need addictive psychotherapeutic intervention. Also 58% (i.e. 39% mild plus 19.0% moderate prevalence of addiction) need preemptive counselling since they stand the chance of continuing to the severe end of IA continuum. Implications for policy, promotion of preventive health behaviors and clinical intervention at the institutional and national levels have been discussed

Strengthening the Academic Department Through Empowerment of Faculty and Staff

Empowerment of employees has been a primary concern of business for many decades, under the premise that involvement of employees in decision making leads to superior performance and results. Acceptance of the practical value of empowerment by colleges and universities is more recent and more rare, despite the centrality of ideas such as faculty governance and recognition of the faculty’s essential role in the academic enterprise. Empowerment in academe is defined as the process whereby stakeholders are encouraged and supported in utilizing their knowledge, skills, and creativity to embrace ownership and accountability for the well being of their department and institution. The process requires stakeholders to collaborate in order to establish clear goals and expectations focused on the institution’s vision and mission but within agreed-upon boundaries. This alignment of departmental and institutional goals is a key ingredient of empowerment, one that Black (1987) calls ”enacting the vision” in organizations

Topological measures of connectomics for low grades Glioma

Recent advancements in neuroimaging have allowed the use of network analysis to study the brain in a system-based approach. In fact, several neurological disorders have been investigated from a network perspective. These include Alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorder, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. So far, few studies have been conducted on glioma by using connectome techniques. A connectomebased approach might be useful in quantifying the status of patients, in supporting surgical procedures, and ultimately shedding light on the underlying mechanisms and the recovery process. In this manuscript, by using graph theoretical methods of segregation and integration, topological structural connectivity is studied comparing patients with low grade glioma to healthy control. These measures suggest that it is possible to quantify the status of patients pre- and post-surgical intervention to evaluate the condition

A Geostatistical Framework for Combining Spatially Referenced Disease Prevalence Data from Multiple Diagnostics

Multiple diagnostic tests are often used due to limited resources or because they provide complementary information on the epidemiology of a disease under investigation. Existing statistical methods to combine prevalence data from multiple diagnostics ignore the potential overdispersion induced by the spatial correlations in the data. To address this issue, we develop a geostatistical framework that allows for joint modelling of data from multiple diagnostics by considering two main classes of inferential problems: (a) to predict prevalence for a gold-standard diagnostic using low-cost and potentially biased alternative tests; (b) to carry out joint prediction of prevalence from multiple tests. We apply the proposed framework to two case studies: mapping Loa loa prevalence in Central and West Africa, using miscroscopy, and a questionnaire-based test called RAPLOA; mapping Plasmodium falciparum malaria prevalence in the highlands of Western Kenya using polymerase chain reaction and a rapid diagnostic test. We also develop a Monte Carlo procedure based on the variogram in order to identify parsimonious geostatistical models that are compatible with the data. Our study highlights (a) the importance of accounting for diagnostic-specific residual spatial variation and (b) the benefits accrued from joint geostatistical modelling so as to deliver more reliable and precise inferences on disease prevalence

Niko Kuret, Maske slovenskih pokrajin, Cankarjeva založba in ZRC SAZU, Institut za slovensko narodopisje, Ljubljana 1984, 544 str.

Additional file 1. Computational details

Extracellular Vesicles as Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Cancers

Extracellular vesicles refer to exosomes, apoptotic bodies, microvesicles and large oncosomes, which are membrane bound structures secreted by cells including cancer cells. The pathological role and translational potential of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cancers are receiving research attention recently. The cargoes of cancer-derived EVs retain the molecular properties of their sources and cancer cells actively release EVs into body fluids that are easy to access. EVs released from cancer cells not only promote cancer progression through the delivery of cancer-associated molecules but also reflect alterations in the state of cancers during therapy. They are considered promising biomarkers for therapeutic response evaluation, especially resistance to therapy and diagnostics. This chapter discusses the various roles of extracellular vesicles in cancers and their potential as therapeutic targets

Application of Action Research Methodology in Improving the Processing Quality of Local Rice in the Dadin-Kowa Community of Gombe State Nigeria

Dadin Kowa community of Gombe State is noted for rice production due to the presence of dams that ensure all year rice production. However, low patronage and high price of local rice in local markets are putting many farmers and women processors out of business. The paper shares results of an action research process that led to the determination of rice consumer preferences and strengthening of women processors group to improve processing quality of local rice. Forty-seven respondents were sampled using purposive and snow balling sampling techniques to provide views on consumers’ preference for rice. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse and describe the results of the study. The study concluded that paddy rice contains 0.21% stones and sand which could be eliminated using a destoner. Furthermore, a locally manufactured wooden winnower reduces winnowing time by 25 minutes and improves purity by 20% when compared to traditional winnowing process. The processed rice from the action methodology process received 30 and 16 point difference for appearance and acceptability by consumers respectively when compared to the traditional method. Finally, an extra income of N2400 was realised per 100kg bag of improved rice. Both the study methodology and conclusions have implications for agricultural training and extension delivery, which together help forge functional linkages among the major sub-systems of the agricultural knowledge systems. Resultantly, clientele’s experience is integrated into total learning process, thereby entraining the planned change