74 research outputs found
Assessment of the effectiveness of the advanced programmatic risk analysis and management model (apram) as a decision support tool for construction projects
Construction projects are complicated and fraught with so many risks that many
projects are unable to meet pre-defined project objectives. Managers of construction
projects require decision support tools that can be used to identify, analyze and
implement measures that can mitigate the effects of project risks. Several risk analysis
techniques have been developed over the years to enable construction project managers
to make useful decisions that can improve the chances of project success. These risk
analysis techniques however fail to simultaneously address risks relating to cost,
schedule and quality. Also, construction projects may have scarce resources and
construction managers still bear the responsibility of ensuring that project goals are met.
Certain projects require trade-offs between technical and managerial risks and managers
need tools that can help them do this.
This thesis evaluates the usefulness of the Advanced Programmatic Risk
Analysis and Management Model (APRAM) as a decision support tool for managing
construction projects. The development of a visitor center in Midland, Texas was used as
a case study for this research. The case study involved the implementation of APRAM during the concept phase of project development to determine the best construction
system that can minimize the expected cost of failure. A risk analysis performed using a
more standard approach yielded an expected cost of failure that is almost eight times the
expected cost of failure yielded by APRAM.
This study concludes that APRAM is a risk analysis technique that can minimize
the expected costs of failure by integrating project risks of time, budget and quality
through the allocation of resources. APRAM can also be useful for making construction
management decisions. All identified component or material configurations for each
alternative system however, should be analyzed instead of analyzing only the lowest cost
alternative for each system as proposed by the original APRAM model. In addition, it is
not possible to use decision trees to determine the optimal allocation of management
reserves that would mitigate managerial problems during construction projects.
Furthermore, APRAM does not address the issue of safety during construction and
assumes all identifiable risks can be handled with money
Tourist safety and security in the Central Region of Ghana -overview and case study
As a result of the sharp rise in the interest for tourism activities, safety and security matters have also become one of the forces causing vicissitudes in the tourism industry in the world. Since tourism sector is contributing greatly to environmental sustainability, tourist safety is also now critical to tourism growth. In the travel and tour experiences, the satisfaction of a tourist is discussed as part of a tourist’s post-procured and consumed assessment of the destination. Review of the three most prominent tourism plans in Ghana was conducted in this study. It was discovered that there was no tourist safety policy and establishment of tourism office in most of the MMDAs. This situation has bred weak governmental administrative linkages and neglect of tourist safety and security at the MMDAs. Three tourist facilities in the Central Region of Ghana were chosen for the review-study. Responses of 550 tourists were reviewed in the study. Chi-square test was used to test whether the feeling of safety at the destination was influenced by their purpose of visit. The lingering thought-provoking question about these visits is, how safe and secured are the tourists and visitors in these facilities? It is recommended that GTA should lead the campaign exercise in these three facilities to produce a digital tourist safety and security documentary about each facility and this can assist and boost the confidence of potential tourists to appraise the safety and security of the destination before traveling
A biztonság és védelem, mint a turisztikai célterület kezelésének része egy ghánai turisztikai térségben
Tourists’ safety and security have now become essential condition for the travel and tourism industry in the world. Ghana as a peaceful tourist destination in the sub-Saharan Africa relies and rakes in huge foreign exchange from tourism promotion. The tourism hub in the Central Region of Ghana was chosen as the case study area: Cape Coast destination area. The purpose of the study was to examine tourists’ perception of safety and ascertain if tourists would recommend the destination to other potential tourists. Purposive sampling technique and questionnaires were used. Most of the respondents rated their overall perception of tourists’ safety at the destination as safe. However, it was observed that safety installations in these facilities were either not working or non-existent and there was no supervision, evaluation or repairs of these installations. It is recommended that a team of tourism experts should be formed as a supervisory body to help monitoring the tourists’ safety and security in tourist facilities and destinations in the region.A turisták biztonsága Ă©s biztonságĂ©rzete alapvetĹ‘ feltĂ©tele lett a világ utazási Ă©s idegenforgalmi iparágának. Ghána, mint a SzaharátĂłl dĂ©lre esĹ‘ bĂ©kĂ©s afrikai turisztikai cĂ©lpont, az idegenforgalombĂłl származĂł hatalmas devizabevĂ©telre támaszkodik. Az esettanulmányi terĂĽletkĂ©nt Ghána központi rĂ©giĂłjának turisztikai centruma lett kiválasztva, nevezetesen Cape Coast vidĂ©ke. A tanulmány cĂ©lja annak megvizsgálása, hogy a turisták hogyan Ă©rzĂ©kelik a biztonságot, de cĂ©lunk volt megbizonyosodni arrĂłl is, hogy a turisták más potenciális turistáknak ajánlják-e ezt a turisztikai cĂ©lterĂĽletet. A kutatáshoz cĂ©lzott mintavĂ©teli technika Ă©s kĂ©rdĹ‘Ăvek kerĂĽltek felhasználásra. A válaszadĂłk többsĂ©ge általánosságban biztonságosnak ĂtĂ©lte a cĂ©lterĂĽletet. MegfigyeltĂ©k azonban, hogy a lĂ©tesĂtmĂ©nyekben a biztonsági berendezĂ©sek vagy nem működtek, vagy nem lĂ©teztek, esetleg hiányzott a felĂĽgyelete, ellenĹ‘rzĂ©se vagy javĂtása ezeknek az eszközöknek. Az eredmĂ©nyek alapján ajánlott egy turisztikai szakĂ©rtĹ‘i csoport felállĂtása felĂĽgyeleti szervkĂ©nt, amely segĂtsĂ©get nyĂşjt a turisták biztonságának Ă©s biztonságĂ©rzetĂ©nek javĂtásában, figyelemmel kĂsĂ©rve azt a rĂ©giĂł turisztikai lĂ©tesĂtmĂ©nyeiben Ă©s más turisztikai cĂ©lterĂĽleteken
Clinicopathologic characteristics of early-onset breast cancer: a comparative analysis of cases from across Ghana
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the commonest cancer diagnosed globally and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women younger than 40 years. This study comparatively reviewed the demographic, pathologic and molecular features of Early-Onset Breast Cancer (EOBC) reported in Ghana in relation to Late Onset Breast Cancer (LOBC).
METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used, with purposive sampling of retrospective histopathology data from 2019 to 2021. Reports of core or incision biopsy, Wide Local Excision or Mastectomy with or without axillary lymph node dissection specimen and matched immunohistochemistry reports were merged into a single file and analysed with SPSS v. 20.0. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used to describe categorical variables. Cross-tabulation and chi-square test was done at a 95% confidence interval with significance established at p \u3c 0.05.
RESULTS: A total of 2418 cases were included in the study with 20.2% (488 cases) being EOBCs and 79.8% (1930 cases) being LOBCs. The median age at diagnosis was 34.66 (IQR: 5.55) in the EOBC group (\u3c 40 years) and 54.29 (IQR: 16.86) in the LOBC group (≥ 40 years). Invasive carcinoma-No Special Type was the commonest tumour type with grade III tumours being the commonest in both categories of patients. Perineural invasion was the only statistically significant pathologic parameter with age. EOBC was associated with higher DCIS component (24.8% vs 21.6%), lower hormone-receptor-positive status (52.30% vs 55.70%), higher proliferation index (Ki-67 \u3e 20: 82.40% vs 80.30%) and a higher number of involved lymph nodes (13.80% vs 9.00%). Triple-Negative Breast cancer (26.40% vs 24.30%) was the most predominant molecular subtype of EOBC.
CONCLUSION: EOBCs in our setting are generally more aggressive with poorer prognostic histopathological and molecular features when compared with LOBCs. A larger study is recommended to identify the association between relevant pathological features and early onset breast cancer in Ghana. Again, further molecular and genetic studies to understand the molecular genetic drivers of the general poorer pathological features of EOBCs and its relation to patient outcome in our setting is needed
Managing mental illness in Ghana: the state of commonly prescribed psychotropic medicines
Disappearance and appearance of an indigestible marker in feces from growing pigs as affected by previous- and current-diet composition
Abstract Background Indigestible markers are commonly utilized in digestion studies, but the complete disappearance or maximum appearance of a marker in feces can be affected by diet composition, feed intake, or an animal’s BW. The objectives of this study were to determine the impact of previous (Phase 1, P1) and current- (Phase 2, P2) diet composition on marker disappearance (Cr) and appearance (Ti) in pigs fed 3 diets differing in NDF content. Results When pigs were maintained on the 25.1, 72.5, and 125.0 g/kg NDF diets, it took 5.1, 4.1, and 2.5 d, respectively, for Cr levels to decrease below the limit of quantitation; or 4.6, 3.7, or 2.8 d, respectively, for Ti to be maximized. These effects were not, however, independent of the previous diet as indicated by the interaction between P1 and P2 diets on fecal marker concentrations (P < 0.01). When dietary NDF increased from P1 to P2, it took less time for fecal Cr to decrease or fecal Ti to be maximized (an average of 2.5 d), than if NDF decreased from P1 to P2 where it took longer for fecal Cr to decrease or fecal Ti to be maximized (an average of 3.4 d). Conclusions Because of the wide range in excretion times reported in the literature and improved laboratory methods for elemental detection, the data suggests that caution must be taken in considering dietary fiber concentrations of the past and currently fed diets so that no previous dietary marker addition remains in the digestive tract or feces such that a small amount of maker is present to confound subsequent experimental results, and that marker concentration have stabilized when these samples are collected
Comparative ileal amino acid digestibility and growth performance in growing pigs fed different level of canola meal
Aqueous alteration processes in Jezero crater, Mars—implications for organic geochemistry
The Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, Mars, in February 2021. We used the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument to perform deep-ultraviolet Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy of three rocks within the crater. We identify evidence for two distinct ancient aqueous environments at different times. Reactions with liquid water formed carbonates in an olivine-rich igneous rock. A sulfate-perchlorate mixture is present in the rocks, which probably formed by later modifications of the rocks by brine. Fluorescence signatures consistent with aromatic organic compounds occur throughout these rocks and are preserved in minerals related to both aqueous environments
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