ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ORGANISATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY OF FINANCIAL SECTOR IN CAMEROON

As organizations have found themselves continuously redefining their markets, restructuring their operations, and modifying their business models and learning the skills to think and act entrepreneurially, entrepreneurial leadership has become a source of competitive advantage. Microfinance Institutions in Cameroon are not exceptions for this struggle as they develop competitive strategies to secure a bigger market share within the finance sector. Mitanyen Cooperative Credit Union Limited being a microfinance institution affiliated to the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League has experienced different levels of growth under different leaders, probably applying different leadership styles since its creation. This growth has not been steady under the various leaders; meanwhile this union is facing so many aggressive competitors who may push her out of business in the days ahead. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial leadership styles on the productivity of the financial sector in Cameroon. This study adopts a mix method approach to data collection. The primary data was collected by interviewing the last 3 presidents of the society through a face to face approach, while 40 employees of the organisation were surveyed through the use of semi-structured questionnaires. Secondary information was sourced via newspaper and magazine reports, journal and conferences papers and internet sources. The interview data was transcribed and analysed through content analysis and constant comparative method. The semi-structured questionnaire data were analysed with the use of Microsoft Excel and SPSS Version 17 software for data analysis. This study concludes that organisational leaders are endowed with different leadership styles but one must be dominant and the others recessive. However, no leadership style is good for all situations, organisational leaders adopt styles depending on prevailing circumstances in the organisatio

HOW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AIDS BUSINESS PERFORMANCE.

This paper examined how organizational structure aids business performance. Existing studies have shown that it is nearly impossible for an organization to exist without a defined organizational structure. Studies also revealed that the main purpose of organizational structure is the division of work among members of the organization, and the co-ordination of their activities so they are directed towards the goals and objectives of the organization. The sources of data used for this research are from secondary sources. The secondary sources are from journals and conference articles, the internet, newspapers, magazines and textbooks. This research found that organizational structure has a significant impact on the performance of business organizations. Hence, the researchers recommend that business organizations should endeavor to develop a properly defined structure for the organization so as to achieve set objectives

Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Family Businesses in Cameroon: An Empirical Study in Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon.

Most of the businesses in Cameroon are family-owned and managed. These businesses fall within the Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) which contribute greatly to the GP of Cameroon and also provide jobs to many Cameroonians. These businesses face a lot of challenges ranging from their initiations, management and their lifespan, leading to the collapse of most of them leaving many people jobless. This study was carried out in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon to identify those factors that influence the sustainability of this type of businesses so as to propose measures to both the State and Family Business owners that can be put in place to remedy the situation. Given that this was an exploratory research, a survey-based approach was used through the purposive sampling technique, where some thirty family businesses were studied using questionnaires and interviews. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used and the data were analyzed with the aid of SPSS 17 and Stata 14 software programs. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the sampled opinions of the respondents. The results show that most of the family business initiators do not consider the sustainability of the businesses after they die and hence do not prepare for succession. Results from this study will enlighten stakeholders concerned with family businesses on the extent of sustainability and its configuration across business size as well as its determinants

Diaphragmatic Injuries: A Frequent Missed Diagnosis in a Low Income Country

Objectives: To evaluate the current reported incidence of diaphragmatic injuries (DI) and to determine criteria that could help make the diagnosis of DI and improve its recognition in traumatised patients in Cameroon.Design: A retrospective study.Subjects: The cases of all diaphragmatic injuries repaired and diagnosed in two major hospitals in Cameroon.Setting: The General Hospital of Douala and the University Hospital centre of Younde, Cameroon.Results: During a ten-year period we have repaired eight diaphragmatic injuries. Five of them were consecutive to penetrating trauma and three after blunt trauma. All the patients were males. The mean age was 34. 5 years. Seven injuries occurred on the right side. The average Injury Severity Score was 37. 5 and all the patients had associated injuries to other organs. DI represents only 0.05% of all trauma cases. DI is underestimated in Cameroon and under diagnosed because physicians are not trained to think or to recognise it and autopsy is rarely performed after a traumatic death. Although there are no specific signs or symptoms, we have found some criteria which can raise suspicion of DI.Conclusion: Diaphragmatic injury is a very difficult diagnosis, and it is under diagnosed in Cameroon. We suspect that many patients severely injured may have associated DI which is not recognised and may contribute to increased mortality rate after major traum

Altered Velocity Processing in Schizophrenia during Pursuit Eye Tracking

Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) are needed to keep the retinal image of slowly moving objects within the fovea. Depending on the task, about 50%–80% of patients with schizophrenia have difficulties in maintaining SPEM. We designed a study that comprised different target velocities as well as testing for internal (extraretinal) guidance of SPEM in the absence of a visual target. We applied event-related fMRI by presenting four velocities (5, 10, 15, 20°/s) both with and without intervals of target blanking. 17 patients and 16 healthy participants were included. Eye movements were registered during scanning sessions. Statistical analysis included mixed ANOVAs and regression analyses of the target velocity on the Blood Oxygen Level Dependency (BOLD) signal. The main effect group and the interaction of velocity×group revealed reduced activation in V5 and putamen but increased activation of cerebellar regions in patients. Regression analysis showed that activation in supplementary eye field, putamen, and cerebellum was not correlated to target velocity in patients in contrast to controls. Furthermore, activation in V5 and in intraparietal sulcus (putative LIP) bilaterally was less strongly correlated to target velocity in patients than controls. Altered correlation of target velocity and neural activation in the cortical network supporting SPEM (V5, SEF, LIP, putamen) implies impaired transformation of the visual motion signal into an adequate motor command in patients. Cerebellar regions seem to be involved in compensatory mechanisms although cerebellar activity in patients was not related to target velocity

Selective phenotypes in schizophrenia

La schizophrénie, pathologie sévère et fréquente, regroupe des entités différentes au sein desquelles la schizophrénie déficitaire a été identifiée. C’est une entité clinique homogène caractérisée par des symptômes négatifs primaires et durables. Une des principales difficultés de la recherche dans la schizophrénie est la mauvaise corrélation entre le phénotype clinique et le génotype. Les nouvelles approches cherchent à identifier des endophénotypes pertinents permettant de déterminer un sous groupe homogène de la schizophrénie. L’objectif de cette thèse était de déterminer les marqueurs de vulnérabilité les plus pertinents pour la schizophrénie : (1) caractériser les anomalies électrophysiologiques dans la schizophrénie, (2) rechercher les perturbations spécifiques des mouvements oculaires dans la schizophrénie déficitaire, (3) mesurer les performances attentionnelles et exécutives, puis identifier des associations entre ces dernières et 6 polymorphismes des gènes COMT et DRD2. Les patients répondant aux critères DSM-IV de la schizophrénie ont été sélectionnés. Ils sont cliniquement stables depuis au moins 28 jours et ne prennent aucun traitement pouvant altérer les mouvements oculaires. Les patients ont été évalués à l’aide de la traduction française de l’échelle de déficit de Kirkpatrick, la PANSS, l’ESRS et le WCST. Les apparentés sains ont passé la version française de la SADS-LA. Les volontaires sains, recrutés dans la population générale, ont passé la Diagnostic Interview Schedule et le WCST. Les mouvements oculaires de l’ensemble des sujets ont été détectés par réflectométrie infrarouge et analysés sur un ordinateur par le logiciel SAMO. Les paradigmes utilisés sont : la poursuite oculaire sinusoïdale, la poursuite oculaire non prédictive, les saccades et les antisaccades. L’onde P50 des potentiels évoqués auditifs a également été étudiée. Nous avons trouvé chez les schizophrènes et dans une moindre mesure chez leurs apparentés une diminution du gain lors de la poursuite oculaire : la dégradation de la prédiction est à l’origine de l’altération des performances de la poursuite oculaire dans la schizophrénie. Chez les patients comparativement aux volontaires sains, une diminution du nombre d’antisaccades réussies et une augmentation de leur latence ont été mises en évidence. Cette dernière est plus importante chez les apparentés sains par rapport aux volontaires sains. L’augmentation de la latence des antisaccades réussies est plus importante chez les schizophrènes déficitaires par rapport aux non déficitaires et elle y est corrélée au nombre d’erreurs persévératives du WCST. Le ratio T/C de l’onde P50 est significativement plus élevé chez les patients comparativement aux volontaires sains. Pour tous les sujets, l’attention a été évaluée à l’aide du test de Stroop Color-Word et du test des réseaux attentionnels ANT. Le fonctionnement exécutif a été étudié avec le test du Wisconsin. Les patients porteurs du génotype de vulnérabilité TT de rs6275 en DRD2 et ceux porteurs du génotype de vulnérabilité CC de rs2242592 en DRD2, ont des performances significativement plus faibles au Stroop-WC par rapport aux non porteurs. Les patients de génotype Val/Val (COMT) font plus d’erreurs persévératives que les patients porteurs de l’allèle Met. Pour rs165599 (COMT), les patients porteurs de l’allèle de vulnérabilité G font plus d’erreurs persévératives que les patients porteurs du génotype AA. La pathologie schizophrénique et des facteurs génétiques interagissent sur le contrôle exécutif de l’attention, principalement sur le Stroop Color-Word et légèrement sur l’ANT. Les polymorphismes du DRD2, rs6275 et rs2242592, augmentent le conflit, tandis que ceux de la COMT n’auraient pas d’action. Concernant le fonctionnement exécutif, l’allèle G de la COMT et la pathologie schizophrénique interagissent ensemble. (...)Schizophrenia is a complex disorder where the deficit syndrome has been identified as the presence of primary, enduring negative symptoms such as restricted affect, diminished emotional range, poverty of speech, curbing of interest, diminished sense of purpose, diminished social drive. The deficit syndrome is associated with specific neurological and neuropsychological impairments, biochemical characteristics, attentional impairments, structural and functional brain abnormalities. The identification of intermediate phenotypes associated with schizophrenia may improve understanding of the neurobiology of the disease and contribute to the genetic dissection of this disease. Endophenotypes would also be useful for establishing a biological underpinning for diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia. The aim of this work was to determine the most relevant vulnerability markers of schizophrenia: (1) describe electrophysiological abnormalities in schizophrenia, (2) specify eye movements impairments in deficit schizophrenia, (3) assess attentional, executive function and analyze their association with four SNPs in the DRD2/ANKK1 locus (rs6275, rs6277, rs2242592 and rs1800497) and two SNPs in the COMT gene (rs4680 and rs165599). Patients meeting DSM IV criteria for schizophrenia were recruited. They were clinically stabilized for a minimum of 28 days with no change in neuroleptic dose at the time of their participation in the study. None of them was treated with drugs known to affect eye movements. The patients were subtyped into deficit and nondeficit subgroups, using the french translation of the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome. Patients were also assessed using PANSS, ESRS and WCST. Healthy parents of patients were interviewed using the french translation of the SADS-LA. The unrelated healthy controls (no personal or family history of neurological or psychiatric disease, free of any psychotropic treatment) were recruited from the hospital staff and screened by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and the WCST. Horizontal eye movements were recorded by an infrared photoelectric limbus eye tracking device. Subjects were tested in five tasks: smooth pursuit, unpredictable pursuit, P50 eventrelated potential, reflexive saccades and antisaccades. Schizophrenia patients and parents had a high prevalence of eye tracking dysfunction: the impaired predictive mechanisms were involved. Both groups showed a high rate of inhibitory deficits measured by the P50 event-related potential and antisaccade paradigms. The latency of successful antisaccades was significantly increased in deficit patients as compared with non-deficit patients and healthy controls. In deficit patients only, we found a significant correlation between the latency of successful antisaccades and the WCST perseverative errors. Patients and healthy controls have performed the Stroop Color-Word Test, the Attention Network Test, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test to assess attention and executive functions. Patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than controls in all cognitive performance. The TT genotype of rs6275 and CC genotype of rs22422592 were associated with a marked deterioration of selective attention (Stroop Color-Word) and this effect is more important in participants with schizophrenia. We showed an interaction between schizophrenia and the genetic effect of rs6275 and rs22422592 on Stroop-PI, but the effect of the disease appears to be more prominent. The COMT Val/Val genotype and schizophrenia were associated with increased number of perseverative errors. Schizophrenia and genetics interact on the executive control of attention, mostly on Stroop-PI and slightly on ANT. Rs6275 and rs2242592 of the DRD2 increased the conflict while COMT SNPs do not. Regarding executive cognition, the COMT and schizophrenia also interact. (...

Prédiction du pronostic des patients atteints de muscoviscidose

Cystic Fibrosis is unfortunately an incurable inherited disorder. Despite real progress in research, it is essential to always have a better understanding of the disease in order to provide suitable treatments to patients. Current treatments mostly aim to reduce the disease symptoms without curing it. Lung transplantation is proposed to cystic fibrosis patients with terminal respiratory failure with the aim of improving life expectancy and quality of life. However, criteria for referring patients for lung transplantation still vary widely among transplant centers. It is necessary to guide clinicians in identifying in a good way patients requiring an evaluation for lung transplantation. It is thus important to clearly identify prognostic factors related to lung transplantation and to predict in a good way the occurrence of this event in patients with cystic fibrosis. The aim of this work was to develop prognostic tools to assist clinicians in the evaluation of different therapeutic options related to lung transplantation. First, we reevaluated prognostic factors of lung transplantation or death in adult with cystic fibrosis. indeed, therapeutic progress in patients with cystic fibrosis has resulted in improved prognosis over the past decades. We identified prognostic factors related to the current state of research in the cystic fibrosis field. We further developed a joint model with latent classes which provided dynamic predictions for lung transplantation or death. This model identified three profile of the evolution of the disease and was able to update the risk of lung transplantation or death taking into account the evolution of the longitudinal marker FEV1 which describes the lung function. These prognostic models were developed using the French cystic fibrosis registry and provided good predictive accuracies in terms of discrimination and calibration.La mucoviscidose est à ce jour une maladie malheureusement incurable. Malgré les nombreux progrès réalisés dans la recherche à ce sujet, il reste indispensable d’avoir davantage une meilleure connaissance de la maladie afin de proposer des traitements encore plus adaptés aux patients. La majorité des traitements actuels visent principalement à réduire les symptômes de la maladie sans toutefois la guérir. A ce jour, la transplantation pulmonaire reste le moyen le plus adéquat pour améliorer la qualité de vie et prolonger la vie des patients dont l’état respiratoire s’est considérablement dégradé. Cependant les critères d’identification des patients éligibles à la transplantation pulmonaire sont assez variés. Il est donc nécessaire de fournir aux cliniciens des outils d’aide à la décision pour mieux identifier les patients nécessitant une transplantation pulmonaire. Pour ce faire, il est indispensable de connaitre d’une part, les facteurs pronostics de transplantation pulmonaire et d’autre part, de savoir convenablement pronostiquer la survenue de cet événement chez les sujets atteints de mucoviscidose. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse est de développer des outils pronostiques utiles à l’évaluation des choix thérapeutiques liés à la transplantation pulmonaire. Dans la première partie de ce travail, nous avons réévalué les facteurs pronostiques de la transplantation pulmonaire ou du décès chez les adultes atteints de mucoviscidose. Suite aux progrès thérapeutiques qui ont conduit à l’amélioration du pronostic au cours des dernières années, ce travail a permis d’identifier des facteurs pronostiques en adéquation avec l’état actuel de la recherche. Un deuxième travail a consisté à développer un modèle conjoint à classes latentes fournissant des prédictions dynamiques pour la transplantation pulmonaire ou le décès. Ce modèle a permis d’identifier trois profils d’évolution de la maladie et également d’actualiser le risque de survenue de la transplantation pulmonaire ou du décès à partir des données longitudinales du marqueur VEMS. Ces modèles pronostiques ont été développés à partir des données du registre français de la mucoviscidose et ont fourni de bonnes capacités prédictives en termes de discrimination et de calibration

Prognosis prediction of cystic fibrosis patients

La mucoviscidose est à ce jour une maladie malheureusement incurable. Malgré les nombreux progrès réalisés dans la recherche à ce sujet, il reste indispensable d’avoir davantage une meilleure connaissance de la maladie afin de proposer des traitements encore plus adaptés aux patients. La majorité des traitements actuels visent principalement à réduire les symptômes de la maladie sans toutefois la guérir. A ce jour, la transplantation pulmonaire reste le moyen le plus adéquat pour améliorer la qualité de vie et prolonger la vie des patients dont l’état respiratoire s’est considérablement dégradé. Cependant les critères d’identification des patients éligibles à la transplantation pulmonaire sont assez variés. Il est donc nécessaire de fournir aux cliniciens des outils d’aide à la décision pour mieux identifier les patients nécessitant une transplantation pulmonaire. Pour ce faire, il est indispensable de connaitre d’une part, les facteurs pronostics de transplantation pulmonaire et d’autre part, de savoir convenablement pronostiquer la survenue de cet événement chez les sujets atteints de mucoviscidose. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse est de développer des outils pronostiques utiles à l’évaluation des choix thérapeutiques liés à la transplantation pulmonaire. Dans la première partie de ce travail, nous avons réévalué les facteurs pronostiques de la transplantation pulmonaire ou du décès chez les adultes atteints de mucoviscidose. Suite aux progrès thérapeutiques qui ont conduit à l’amélioration du pronostic au cours des dernières années, ce travail a permis d’identifier des facteurs pronostiques en adéquation avec l’état actuel de la recherche. Un deuxième travail a consisté à développer un modèle conjoint à classes latentes fournissant des prédictions dynamiques pour la transplantation pulmonaire ou le décès. Ce modèle a permis d’identifier trois profils d’évolution de la maladie et également d’actualiser le risque de survenue de la transplantation pulmonaire ou du décès à partir des données longitudinales du marqueur VEMS. Ces modèles pronostiques ont été développés à partir des données du registre français de la mucoviscidose et ont fourni de bonnes capacités prédictives en termes de discrimination et de calibration.Cystic Fibrosis is unfortunately an incurable inherited disorder. Despite real progress in research, it is essential to always have a better understanding of the disease in order to provide suitable treatments to patients. Current treatments mostly aim to reduce the disease symptoms without curing it. Lung transplantation is proposed to cystic fibrosis patients with terminal respiratory failure with the aim of improving life expectancy and quality of life. However, criteria for referring patients for lung transplantation still vary widely among transplant centers. It is necessary to guide clinicians in identifying in a good way patients requiring an evaluation for lung transplantation. It is thus important to clearly identify prognostic factors related to lung transplantation and to predict in a good way the occurrence of this event in patients with cystic fibrosis. The aim of this work was to develop prognostic tools to assist clinicians in the evaluation of different therapeutic options related to lung transplantation. First, we reevaluated prognostic factors of lung transplantation or death in adult with cystic fibrosis. indeed, therapeutic progress in patients with cystic fibrosis has resulted in improved prognosis over the past decades. We identified prognostic factors related to the current state of research in the cystic fibrosis field. We further developed a joint model with latent classes which provided dynamic predictions for lung transplantation or death. This model identified three profile of the evolution of the disease and was able to update the risk of lung transplantation or death taking into account the evolution of the longitudinal marker FEV1 which describes the lung function. These prognostic models were developed using the French cystic fibrosis registry and provided good predictive accuracies in terms of discrimination and calibration