Use of electronic resources by postgraduate students in University of Cape Coast

The study investigates the use of electronic resources by postgraduate students in University of Cape Coast (UCC). It specifically targets first year postgraduate students of UCC. Awareness, usage, training, and access were explored. A survey method was employed and a structured questionnaire was utilized to solicit data. The findings revealed that, though students are aware of electronic resources, they do not fully utilize them to support their academic pursuit due to poor level of information literacy skills. However, few students had not participated in all information literacy skills training organized by the library. Results from the study showed that, significant number of postgraduate students do access electronic resources when on campus and mostly use electronic devices such as laptops, ipad, desktop computers, and mobile phones. The findings indicated that students use the electronic resources to complete assignments, write project work, to update lessons note, for research, and update themselves on new information in their fields of study. It was recommended that a structured curriculum should therefore be established as part of postgraduate students’ normal lecture periods where time is allocated on their time table for electronic resource training, and if possible, credited to their academic performance ratings or grading

Book Review: How to Lead

Many consider leadership a path to improve their personal, social, and professional lives. People believe that leaders add unique skills to their lives and improve the world in the long run. Accordingly, authors have provided leadership books to help individuals understand leadership and leaders. The author of this book, David M. Rubenstein, is one of them. This book offers perspectives on different leadership experiences. These are categorized into visionaries, builders, transformers, commanders, decision-makers, and masters. The vision of this book is to inspire readers to develop and enhance their leadership skills. Altogether, this book proves that there is no perfect way to lead; any person from any background can become a leader who can make positive changes

Book Review: The Courage to Lead Through Values: How Management by Values Supports Transformational Leadership, Culture, and Success

The Courage to Lead through Values: How Management by Values Supports Transformational Leadership, Culture, and Success is about being fearless and implementing the values in changing or sustaining the organization and its people. Transformational leadership is shown as an influential factor in the individual’s ability to deal with different circumstances and where leaders courageously provide support to maintain the employee confidence level. This book is also about the type of leader an individual can become, who may not have answers or solutions to every problem, but genuinely keep working on and acknowledge their inner sense of courage and values by putting their principles and values into practice. By using the methodology Management by Values (MBV), the book is wired into the leadership values and its effectiveness which brings the positive results impacted by the effective leadership and ethics in the organizations

Dismantling The System: Unpacking Racism\u27s Impact On Inequities In Behavioral Health, Healthcare Utilization, And Access To Care

Identifying how the many elements of structural racism affect racial and ethnic health inequities remains an ongoing challenge. Although a growing body of work primarily focuses on structural racism\u27s impact on population health outcomes, this dissertation examines structural racism\u27s role in shaping inequities in behavioral health outcomes, behavioral healthcare use, and behavioral healthcare access. I argue that the complex features of structural racism work together to produce health inequities. First, I explore the relationship between self-reported racial and ethnic classification – which I conceptualize as placement in the racial hierarchy relative to whiteness – and inequities in behavioral health outcomes by analyzing a national survey of mental illness and substance misuse. Following the tenets of critical theories of race, I view each racially and ethnically classified group\u27s place in the racial hierarchy as a measure of how vulnerable they are to racism. Next, I consider how placement in the racial hierarchy shapes inequities in behavioral healthcare use by examining a national survey of tobacco and health. Finally, I build on the findings from these two lines of inquiry by using political, healthcare, and economic data sources to investigate whether the level of racial and gender equity in U.S. counties is associated with access to mental healthcare. This dissertation demonstrates that structural racism\u27s components, including inequities in healthcare treatment, the threat of harm from the criminal justice system, and histories of discrimination, can affect behavioral health outcomes. In addition, the dissertation shows that anti-Black racism, codified into health and drug policies, shapes inequities in behavioral healthcare use and geographical access to mental healthcare. Overall, this dissertation highlights that by unpacking the features of structural racism, research in this area can contribute to dismantling this system

Consumer education can lead to behaviour change

Changes not only at macro level but also at micro level are required to create more sustainable and efficient essential services in Africa. From this perspective, how can we promote change in consumer behaviour when we know that it is difficult to transform habits and beliefs that are rooted in everyday life? A set of four articles has been chosen to describe in detail consumer education strategies put in place to create awareness and changes in consumer and citizen behavior. A comparative and analytical approach helps understand how: i) the diffusion of off-grid solar energy in rural areas is facilitated by a few key principles of consumer education strategy; ii) social network have become a civic mobilization channel for cleaning up garbage in public spaces; iii) the future of drinking water is transformed by journeys of citizen mobilization

A Hybrid Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average-phGMDH Model to Forecast Crude Oil Price

Crude oil price fluctuations affect almost every individual and activity on the planet. Forecasting the crude oil price is therefore an important concern especially in economic policy and financial circles as it enables stakeholders estimate crude oil price at a point in time. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average has been an effective tool that has been used widely to model time series. Its limitation is the fact that it cannot model nonlinear systems sufficiently. This paper assesses the ability to build a robust forecasting model for the world crude oil price, Brent on the international market using a hybrid of two methods Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average and Polynomial Harmonic Group Method of Data Handling. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average methodology is used to model the time series component with constant variance whilst the Polynomial Harmonic Group Method of Data Handling is used to model the harmonic Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model residuals. Keywords: Autocorrelation, Harmonics, Residuals JEL Classifications: C18, C45, C51, C63, C87, O13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.798

Outcomes of obstructed abdominal wall hernia: results from the UK national small bowel obstruction audit

Background: Abdominal wall hernia is a common surgical condition. Patients may present in an emergency with bowel obstruction, incarceration or strangulation. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a serious surgical condition associated with significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to describe current management and outcomes of patients with obstructed hernia in the UK as identified in the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO). Methods: NASBO collated data on adults treated for SBO at 131 UK hospitals between January and March 2017. Those with obstruction due to abdominal wall hernia were included in this study. Demographics, co-morbidity, imaging, operative treatment, and in-hospital outcomes were recorded. Modelling for factors associated with mortality and complications was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards and multivariable regression modelling. Results: NASBO included 2341 patients, of whom 415 (17·7 per cent) had SBO due to hernia. Surgery was performed in 312 (75·2 per cent) of the 415 patients; small bowel resection was required in 198 (63·5 per cent) of these operations. Non-operative management was reported in 35 (54 per cent) of 65 patients with a parastomal hernia and in 34 (32·1 per cent) of 106 patients with an incisional hernia. The in-hospital mortality rate was 9·4 per cent (39 of 415), and was highest in patients with a groin hernia (11·1 per cent, 17 of 153). Complications were common, including lower respiratory tract infection in 16·3 per cent of patients with a groin hernia. Increased age was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·01 to 1·10; P = 0·009) and complications (odds ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·02 to 1·09; P = 0·001). Conclusion: NASBO has highlighted poor outcomes for patients with SBO due to hernia, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in this group

National prospective cohort study of the burden of acute small bowel obstruction

Background Small bowel obstruction is a common surgical emergency, and is associated with high levels of morbidity and mortality across the world. The literature provides little information on the conservatively managed group. The aim of this study was to describe the burden of small bowel obstruction in the UK. Methods This prospective cohort study was conducted in 131 acute hospitals in the UK between January and April 2017, delivered by trainee research collaboratives. Adult patients with a diagnosis of mechanical small bowel obstruction were included. The primary outcome was in‐hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included complications, unplanned intensive care admission and readmission within 30 days of discharge. Practice measures, including use of radiological investigations, water soluble contrast, operative and nutritional interventions, were collected. Results Of 2341 patients identified, 693 (29·6 per cent) underwent immediate surgery (within 24 h of admission), 500 (21·4 per cent) had delayed surgery after initial conservative management, and 1148 (49·0 per cent) were managed non‐operatively. The mortality rate was 6·6 per cent (6·4 per cent for non‐operative management, 6·8 per cent for immediate surgery, 6·8 per cent for delayed surgery; P = 0·911). The major complication rate was 14·4 per cent overall, affecting 19·0 per cent in the immediate surgery, 23·6 per cent in the delayed surgery and 7·7 per cent in the non‐operative management groups (P < 0·001). Cox regression found hernia or malignant aetiology and malnutrition to be associated with higher rates of death. Malignant aetiology, operative intervention, acute kidney injury and malnutrition were associated with increased risk of major complication. Conclusion Small bowel obstruction represents a significant healthcare burden. Patient‐level factors such as timing of surgery, acute kidney injury and nutritional status are factors that might be modified to improve outcomes

Outcomes following small bowel obstruction due to malignancy in the national audit of small bowel obstruction

Introduction Patients with cancer who develop small bowel obstruction are at high risk of malnutrition and morbidity following compromise of gastrointestinal tract continuity. This study aimed to characterise current management and outcomes following malignant small bowel obstruction. Methods A prospective, multicentre cohort study of patients with small bowel obstruction who presented to UK hospitals between 16th January and 13th March 2017. Patients who presented with small bowel obstruction due to primary tumours of the intestine (excluding left-sided colonic tumours) or disseminated intra-abdominal malignancy were included. Outcomes included 30-day mortality and in-hospital complications. Cox-proportional hazards models were used to generate adjusted effects estimates, which are presented as hazard ratios (HR) alongside the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The threshold for statistical significance was set at the level of P ≤ 0.05 a-priori. Results 205 patients with malignant small bowel obstruction presented to emergency surgery services during the study period. Of these patients, 50 had obstruction due to right sided colon cancer, 143 due to disseminated intraabdominal malignancy, 10 had primary tumours of the small bowel and 2 patients had gastrointestinal stromal tumours. In total 100 out of 205 patients underwent a surgical intervention for obstruction. 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 11.3% for those with primary tumours and 19.6% for those with disseminated malignancy. Severe risk of malnutrition was an independent predictor for poor mortality in this cohort (adjusted HR 16.18, 95% CI 1.86 to 140.84, p = 0.012). Patients with right-sided colon cancer had high rates of morbidity. Conclusions Mortality rates were high in patients with disseminated malignancy and in those with right sided colon cancer. Further research should identify optimal management strategy to reduce morbidity for these patient groups

Outcomes of obstructed abdominal wall hernia: results from the UK national small bowel obstruction audit

Background Abdominal wall hernia is a common surgical condition. Patients may present in an emergency with bowel obstruction, incarceration or strangulation. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a serious surgical condition associated with significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to describe current management and outcomes of patients with obstructed hernia in the UK as identified in the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO). Methods NASBO collated data on adults treated for SBO at 131 UK hospitals between January and March 2017. Those with obstruction due to abdominal wall hernia were included in this study. Demographics, co‐morbidity, imaging, operative treatment, and in‐hospital outcomes were recorded. Modelling for factors associated with mortality and complications was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards and multivariable regression modelling. Results NASBO included 2341 patients, of whom 415 (17·7 per cent) had SBO due to hernia. Surgery was performed in 312 (75·2 per cent) of the 415 patients; small bowel resection was required in 198 (63·5 per cent) of these operations. Non‐operative management was reported in 35 (54 per cent) of 65 patients with a parastomal hernia and in 34 (32·1 per cent) of 106 patients with an incisional hernia. The in‐hospital mortality rate was 9·4 per cent (39 of 415), and was highest in patients with a groin hernia (11·1 per cent, 17 of 153). Complications were common, including lower respiratory tract infection in 16·3 per cent of patients with a groin hernia. Increased age was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·01 to 1·10; P = 0·009) and complications (odds ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·02 to 1·09; P = 0·001). Conclusion NASBO has highlighted poor outcomes for patients with SBO due to hernia, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in this group