Psychological changes in Africans with kidney disease in Ghana: a comparison of haemodialysis patients and patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis

Background: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is high in sub-Saharan Africa and affects the productive workforce. CKD has been associated with psychological problems such as anxiety and depression; however, there is little published information on the burden of psychological problems among the CKD population in African countries. Our study assessed psychological changes in two groups of patients, one group with end-stage renal disease receiving chronic haemodialysis, and a second with CKD not on dialysis.Methods: A cross-sectional study involving patients on chronic haemodialysis and patients with CKD stages 3–5 (the “CKD” patients) was conducted at the Renal Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. One hundred and sixty-eight participants (82 CKD and 86 haemodialysis patients) were recruited. Demographic, clinical and laboratory information was captured, the Revised Quick Cognitive Screening Test (RQCST) was used to assess cognitive function and the Brief Symptoms Inventory-18 (BSI-18) was used to screen for anxiety, somatization and depression.Results: CKD patients were older than those on haemodialysis, with mean ages of 53.3 and 46.6 years, respectively. Two-thirds (113/167) were male. The median glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of the CKD patients was 21 mL/min/1.73 m2 (interquartile range 9–34). Most of the haemodialysis patients (78.6%) were receiving two sessions of haemodialysis per week and their mean kT/V was 1.16 ± 0.23. The RQCST global scores in the two groups of patients were similar, with almost 90% of haemodialysis patients and 85% of CKD patients obtaining scores above 50. Haemodialysis patients had better scores for immediate recall memory. The haemodialysis patients also had higher BSI-18 global scores than the CKD patients (mean of 0.83 vs 0.70, p = 0.033). Mean anxiety and somatization scores were also higher in the haemodialysis patients.Conclusions: Haemodialysis patients demonstrated higher anxiety and somatization scores than the CKD patients. Clinical psychological support should therefore be included in the treatment of our patients, and especially for those on chronic haemodialysis

E-commerce for canteen services

Applied project submitted to the Department of Computer Science, Ashesi University College, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems, April 2017This project is about creating an online ordering system for the canteens in Ashesi University College. In Ashesi, there are two canteens which serve a population of about 826 people. This puts pressure on the canteens causing the customers to wait for a long time when ordering food. The proposed system is an online ordering system which would allow the students and staff of Ashesi University College to order their food online. This paper also talks about the back end features the canteens would use to process the orders. The system would also help the canteens improve their services by providing the managers of the canteens with reports and reviews. The system would be a web application so it would need internet to work.Ashesi University Colleg

Design and fabrication of a solar powered Stirling engine as a water pumping machine

Capstone Project submitted to the Department of Engineering, Ashesi University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, May 2020As the world keeps evolving, the demand for electricity increases. The growing energy consumption leads to higher cost that many people, especially in Ghanaian rural areas, cannot afford. Thus, considering this, this paper focuses on designing a Stirling engine to pump water in homes. In order to contribute to the use of renewable energy with a low carbon footprint, concentrated solar energy will be used to power this system once it is implemented. As such this, source of power was considered in the design of the Stirling engine. The Stirling engine was designed in Solidworks. Simulations were also done in Solidworks and MATLAB to test the performance of the designed engine. Using the Schmidt formula, the work and power output of the engine was calculated.Ashesi Universit

Valuation of human capital in the sports industry: A study of the Ghanaian football sector

Thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University College, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, April 2014The main purpose of this study is to understand the factors that are taken into account when quoting transfer fees for players as an element of human capital valuation. The study adopted an exploratory research approach by interviewing local football clubs in Ghana in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the subject. From the research, it is revealed that human capital valuation is very prominent in the football sector through the proposal of transfer fees. The goal of football clubs is to achieve significant capital gain on resale of players. It is also found that local football clubs consider a lot of factors in proposing player transfer fees. However, the main factor that affects all the others is the performance of the players. Responses gathered also indicate that clubs do not have a specific valuation model to use after considering all the factors to propose transfer fees. Transfer fees inevitably have a speculative dimension. Recommendations made for the study was based on a derived model which considered all the factors that clubs taken into account when proposing transfer fees.Ashesi University Colleg

Factors influencing mobile service satisfaction and loyalty in Ghana: A rural urban comparison

Thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administrations, April 2018Since the introduction of mobile number portability in Ghana, mobile network operators (MNOs) have been challenged to retain customers as defection rates continue to rise. Currently, MNOs use competitive price strategies which constrain industry profitability and brand sustainability. To determine how MNOs can reduce dependency on competitive price strategies, the study examined: (1) the factors that drive satisfaction, (2) the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, and (3) the effect of subscribers’ profiles on satisfaction and loyalty. With the concurrent mixed method, data were collected from 178 mobile subscribers in a rural and urban area. Data were analyzed using Spearman’s rank-order correlation, multiple linear regression, and binary logistics regression. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction and loyalty; such that satisfied subscribers were 4.8 times more likely to be loyal than dissatisfied subscribers. Service quality, price, brand image, and customer care drove the satisfaction of urban (quality-conscious) subscribers while price and service quality drove the satisfaction of rural (price-sensitive) subscribers. Also, quality-conscious subscribers were more likely to be loyal than price-sensitive subscribers. The study concluded that MNOs in Ghana could reduce their dependency on competitive price strategies by (1) investing in customer satisfaction, (2) prioritizing penetrating specific localities, (3) matching price-based products with service quality, (4) retaining and acquiring split loyalists, and (5) using value-added services to create positive switching barriers.Ashesi Universit

Outcome of pregnancy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosis at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital

Objective: To study maternal and fetal outcomes in Ghanaian women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods: Retrospective study of pregnancies in women with SLE in a single centre in Ghana.Results: The mean age was 30.1 years and all were nulliparous. Two out of the seven pregnancies were in disease remission at the time of booking. Nephritis without renal impairment was present in 7 pregnancies (6 women). One woman developed intrapartum eclampsia. Two women had secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Two suffered early fetal losses and one late fetal loss at 32 weeks. All three who lost their fetus had uncontrolled hypertension. Six had mild flares mainly joint pains during pregnancy. There was no maternal mortality. The median gestational age at delivery was 38 weeks (range, 16 to 40 weeks) and the mean birth weight was 3017 g; the median Apgar scores were 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes of life, respectively. There were no cases of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). There were no cases of congenital heart block or neonatal lupus.Conclusion: Good pregnancy outcomes are possible in women with SLE even in resource poor settings. . All pregnancies should still be considered high risk and be managed jointly between the obstetricians, the perinatologists and the rheumatologists, in particular, those with renal involvement and hypertension. Long term follow up of a larger cohort is needed.Funding: None declaredKeywords: Systemic lupus erythematosus, pregnancy, foetal outcomes, maternal outcome

The Ghana Renal Registry – a first annual report

There are few data on the treatment of kidney disease in sub-Saharan Africa and no formal reports of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) in Ghana. We report data from the newly established Ghana Renal Registry on the prevalence, causes, and modality of treatment of kidney disease in Ghana. Using the web-based data capture system of the African Renal Registry, data were obtained for patients who had KRT in Ghana between January and December 2017. A total of 201 patients started KRT, giving an incidence rate of 6.9 per million population (pmp). There were 687 patients on KRT, a prevalence rate of 23.6 pmp. The median age of prevalent patients was 45.5 years and 63.6% were male. Hypertensive kidney disease was the most common primary kidney disease, reported in 39.9%. The overwhelming majority of patients (96.2%) were treated with haemodialysis, 3.5% had a kidney transplant, and only two were on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. The incidence and prevalence of KRTtreated kidney failure in Ghana is low, and the patients are younger than those on KRT in high- and upper-middleincome countries. The major cause of kidney failure is hypertensive kidney disease and the vast majority of the patients are treated with haemodialysis

Generacijska perspektiva digitalne pismenosti u Gani u 21. stoljeću: već zaostali?

This paper investigates the nexus between generations and digital literacy. For the study, simple random sampling was undertaken in selecting 361 respondents, while ten participants were selected through purposive sampling. The authors made use of mixed methods, including the intervju survey method. The data were subjected to bivariate, correlation and thematic analysis. Concerning theresults, younger people turn out to be comparatively more digitally active and more digitally skilled than older people, which is indicative of the fact that there is a generational gap between the two distinct generations in terms of being in a technologically savvy position. This was influenced significantly by the era in which they were born, as each generation comes with its own technological innovations, the phenomena of socialization and social interaction with self-organization as the focus. It is concluded that digital literacy, expositions and exploits are significant in relation to how they shape generational interactions, including the adaptation to digital device utilization in later life.Rad istražuje vezu između različitih generacija i digitalne pismenosti. Za potrebe istraživanja jednostavnim slučajnim uzorkovanjem odabran je 361 ispitanik, dok je 10 ispitanika odabrano namjernim uzorkovanjem. Autori su koristili mješovite metode, uključujući i metodu ankete. Podaci su podvrgnuti bivarijatnim, korelacijskim i tematskim analizama. Rezultati pokazuju da su mlađe osobe digitalno aktivnije i digitalno vještije u usporedbi sa starijima, što ukazuje na postojanje digitalnog jaza između dvije distinktivne generacije kada je riječ o tehnološkim sposobnostima. Na to značajno utječe razdoblje kada su ispitanici rođeni, s obzirom na to da se svaka generacija susreće sa specifičnim tehnološkim inovacijama, socijalizacijskim obrascima i obrascima samoorganizirajuće socijalne interakcije. Zaključuje se da su digitalno opismenjavanje i prakticiranje digitalne pismenosti značajni za oblikovanje generacijskih interakcija, uključujući i prilagodbu na korištenje digitalnih uređaja u starijoj dobi