Managing Access to Electronic Health Records in a Cloud Computing Environment

Access control methods are relevant in securing EHR from unauthorised users and access. It is therefore important that proper access control mechanisms are put in place in order to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of health records. This paper provides a review of the benefits and limitations of individual access control mechanisms. It also indicate the challenges and advantages associated with the use of the individual access control methods vis-a-vis combined access control methods for accessing electronic health records (EHR) in a cloud computing environment. This review concludes that the use of one access control is not sufficient to fully secure EHR in a cloud computing environment. A combined access control methods has the potential to offer strong security to EHR in the cloud setting. Maximising the benefits of the various access controls is essential for enhancing the security of EHR in a cloud computing environment

The merging cluster of galaxies Abell 3376: an optical view

Abell 3376 is a merging cluster of galaxies at redshift z=0.046, famous mostly for its giant radio arcs, and shows an elongated and highly substructured X-ray emission, but has not been analysed in detail at optical wavelengths. We have obtained wide field images of Abell 3376 in the B band and derive the GLF applying a statistical subtraction of the background in three regions: a circle of 0.29 deg radius (1.5 Mpc) encompassing the whole cluster, and two circles centered on each of the two brightest galaxies (BCG2, northeast, coinciding with the peak of X-ray emission, and BCG1, southwest) of radii 0.15 deg (0.775 Mpc). We also compute the GLF in the zone around BCG1, which is covered by the WINGS survey in the B and V bands, by selecting cluster members in the red sequence in a (B-V) versus V diagram. Finally, we discuss the dynamical characteristics of the cluster implied by a Serna & Gerbal analysis. The GLFs are not well fit by a single Schechter function, but satisfactory fits are obtained by summing a Gaussian and a Schechter function. The GLF computed by selecting galaxies in the red sequence in the region surrounding BCG1 can also be fit by a Gaussian plus a Schechter function. An excess of galaxies in the brightest bins is detected in the BCG1 and BCG2 regions. The dynamical analysis based on the Serna & Gerbal method shows the existence of a main structure of 82 galaxies which can be subdivided into two main substructures of 25 and 6 galaxies. A smaller structure of 6 galaxies is also detected. The B band GLFs of Abell 3376 are clearly perturbed, as already found in other merging clusters. The dynamical properties are consistent with the existence of several substructures, in agreement with a previously published X-ray analysis.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Forecasting Monthly Maternal Mortality in the Bawku Municipality, Ghana Using SARIMA

Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. Maternal mortality which accounts for 14% of all female deaths is still the second largest cause of female deaths in Ghana. Maternal mortality is very high in the northern regions of Ghana hence the need to model and forecast maternal mortality data to give insight to public health workers so as to combat any expected high maternal mortality. This study therefore models and also forecast future maternal mortality trends in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana using Box-Jenkins Approach. Analyses were based on monthly data available at the Biostatistics department of the municipal hospital. Results show that SARIMA (3, 0, 0) × (1, 1, 2)12 adequately models the maternal mortality data. The forecasted values also revealed that, maternal mortality cases increased during the months of May to July and from September to December, which is an insight for public health workers. Keywords: Bawku-Ghana, Maternal Mortality, SARIMA, Box-Jenkins Approac

The Ills of Domestic Violence in a Nigerian Family

The study investigated the effects of domestic violence on family development and growth in the Nigerian society States in the Niger Delta Region were selected for the study Domestic violence ranging among others had been plaguing the fabric of the Nigerian society of late Researchers in their findings have come up with different results which are mostly the negative effect domestic violence created on the family growth development family income and the position of the relevant legal system The objectives of the study are to examine the effect of domestic violence on family growth to probe the impact of domestic violence on the development of domestic family how the family income is affected by domestic violence and the role of the legal system in curbing frequent occurrences The research adopted a survey method A questionnaire was distributed to gather data for analysis The population size of 360 was got from the nine states in the Niger Delta Region Data were collected and analysed using Chi-Square Statistical Method The result showed that domestic violence has a significant relationship on family development and growth and the legal system in the study are

Does employee happiness have an impact on productivity?

This article provides quasi-experimental evidence on the relationship between employee happiness and productivity in the field. We study the universe of call center sales workers at British Telecom (BT), one of the United Kingdom's largest private employers. We measure their happiness over a 6 month period using a novel weekly survey instrument, and link these reports with highly detailed administrative data on workplace behaviors and various measures of employee performance. Exploiting exogenous variation in employee happiness arising from weather shocks local to each of the 11 call centers, we document a strong causal effect of worker happiness on sales. This is driven by employees working more effectively on the intensive margin by making more calls per hour, adhering more closely to their workflow schedule, and converting more calls into sales when they are happier. In our restrictive setting, we find no effects on the extensive margin of happiness on various measures of high-frequency labor supply such as attendance and break-takin

Adolescents and parents\u27 perceptions of best time for sex and sexual communications from two communities in the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana: Implications for HIV and AIDS education

Background Adolescents and parents’ differ in their perceptions regarding engaging in sexual activity and protecting themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The views of adolescents and parents from two south-eastern communities in Ghana regarding best time for sex and sexual communications were examined. Methods Focus Group interviews were conducted with parents and adolescents (both In-school and Out-of school) from two communities (Somanya and Adidome) in the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana with epidemiological differentials in HIV infection. Results Findings showed parents and adolescents agree that the best timing for sexual activity amongst adolescents is determined by socioeconomic viability. In practice however, there were tensions between adolescents and parents crystallized by spoilt generation and physiological drive ideologies. Whilst one community relied on a more communal approach in controlling their children; the other relied on a confrontational approach. Sex-talk is examined as a measure to reduce these tensions, and children in both communities were ambivalent over sexual communication between their parents and themselves. Parents from the two communities however differed in their perceptions. Whilst parents in one community attributed reduced teenage pregnancies to sex education, those in the other community indicated a generalized adolescents’ sexual activeness manifested in the perceived widespread delinquency in the community. Conclusion Parents in both communities reported significant barriers to parents-adolescents sexual communication. Parents in both communities should be educated to discuss the broader issues on sexuality that affects adolescents and their reproductive health needs

Identification of Entomological Drivers for Persisting High Malaria Transmission in Ruangwa District Lindi Region Tanzania

High malaria prevalence remains a major problem, despite high coverage rates of malaria control interventions. The study was carried out to investigate entomological factors responsible for malaria high malaria transmission in Ruangwa district. Three villages were selected from three wards of Ruangwa district; Mnacho and Chienjere.  Likangara represented low, Nandagara moderate and Chienjere high malaria prevalence’s. In each village six houses with open eaves were selected for mosquito collection both indoors and outdoors using Human Landing Catches. A total of 2532 female mosquitoes were collected. Malaria vectors constituted 26.66 % (An.gambiae s.l 680(26.35); An.funestus 8 (0.31) and An.coustani s.l 3 (0.11%).while non –malaria vectors accounted for 73.26 (Culex sp. 1854 (73.2%) Aedes sp. 1 (0.03%). Most mosquito abundance was dominant in Chienjere 932 (37%), followed by Likangara 820 (31%) and the least was Nandagara composed of 780 (31%). Out of 688 anophelines subjected for PCR speciation, An.gambiae s.s was relatively higher 297 (43%) compared to An.arabiensis 278 (40%), An.funestus s.s 6 (0.87%) and unamplified 107 (16%). The high abundance of Anopheles mosquitoes was observed in rainy season 553 (95.18%) as compared to dry season 28 (4.82%). An.gambiae s.s and An.arabiensis species are responsible for maintaining high prevalence of malaria even in the absence of other vectors. An. coustani has an epidemiological concern since it is important vector in neighboring country of Kenya and Zambia. The findings provide useful information that would enable to plan and innovative and effective malaria control strategies in the district