Learning style preferences among clinical year physiotherapy students in Ghana

Background. Learning style is the manner by which one learns. Every student has a different and unique learning style. However, the educational implication of learning style preferences has been a source of controversy among researchers and educators. Objectives. To determine the learning style preferences of clinical year physiotherapy students. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 82 undergraduate physiotherapy students from two universities in Ghana. A data-capturing form was used to obtain participants’ sociodemographic information, while the Kolb learning style questionnaire was used to determine the learning style preferences of the students. The χ2 statistic was used to determine the association between gender and learning style preferences, as well as between level of study and learning style preferences. Results. The participants comprised 43 (52.4%) male students and 39 (47.6%) female students. Eight (9.8%) students preferred the accommodating learning style, 46 (56.0%) preferred the diverging learning style, 15 (18.3%) preferred the assimilating learning style and 13 (15.9%) preferred the converging learning style. There was a significant association between gender and preferred learning style (p=0.027), but no significant association between level of study and preferred learning style (p=0.179). Conclusion. This study revealed that the diverging learning style was the most preferred style, followed by the assimilating learning style. However, there was no association between gender and learning style preferences, as well as level of study and learning style preferences. Further research should be conducted to find the association between the learning environments and the learning style preferences

Perceptions of undergraduate allied health students of the clinical learning environment and clinical educators’ attributes at the University of Ghana

Background. Clinical education is a vital aspect of the education of health sciences students and consists of two components, i.e. the clinical learning environment and supervision. Objectives. To determine the undergraduate allied health sciences students’ perceptions regarding clinical educators’ attributes and the clinical learning environment. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 169 undergraduate students, randomly recruited from various allied health professions programmes of the University of Ghana. The McGill clinical teacher evaluation tool and the clinical learning environment inventory were used to determine students’ perceptions of clinical educators’ attributes and the clinical learning environment, respectively. The Kruskal-Wallis test and independent t-tests were used to test for relationships between students’ level and programme of study and their perceptions. The level of significance was set at 95%. Results. Of the 169 participants, there were 99 (58.6%) male students, 79 (46.7%) third-year students and 82 (48.5%) medical laboratory science students. Only 16 (9.5%) participants indicated visits by lecturers during clinical rotations. The third-year students had a statistically significant perception of their clinical learning environment (p=0.000), while the differences between perceptions of clinical learning environment among the various programmes were also statistically significant (p=0.028), but not for clinical educators’ attributes (p=0.261). Conclusion. Allied health sciences students have positive perceptions of their clinical learning environment and clinical educators’ attributes. More frequent visits by lecturers to students during clinical rotations may ensure that student innovation is achieved in accordance with their classroom tuition

Secondary bacterial infections of buruli ulcer lesions before and after chemotherapy with streptomycin and rifampicin

Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is a chronic necrotizing skin disease. It usually starts with a subcutaneous nodule or plaque containing large clusters of extracellular acid-fast bacilli. Surrounding tissue is destroyed by the cytotoxic macrolide toxin mycolactone produced by microcolonies of M. ulcerans. Skin covering the destroyed subcutaneous fat and soft tissue may eventually break down leading to the formation of large ulcers that progress, if untreated, over months and years. Here we have analyzed the bacterial flora of BU lesions of three different groups of patients before, during and after daily treatment with streptomycin and rifampicin for eight weeks (SR8) and determined drug resistance of the bacteria isolated from the lesions. Before SR8 treatment, more than 60% of the examined BU lesions were infected with other bacteria, with Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the most prominent ones. During treatment, 65% of all lesions were still infected, mainly with P. aeruginosa. After completion of SR8 treatment, still more than 75% of lesions clinically suspected to be infected were microbiologically confirmed as infected, mainly with P. aeruginosa or Proteus miriabilis. Drug susceptibility tests revealed especially for S. aureus a high frequency of resistance to the first line drugs used in Ghana. Our results show that secondary infection of BU lesions is common. This could lead to delayed healing and should therefore be further investigated

Characterisation and In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Biosynthetic Silver-loaded Bacterial Cellulose Hydrogels

Wounds that remain in the inflammatory phase for a prolonged period of time are likely to be colonised and infected by a range of commensal and pathogenic microorganisms. Treatment associated with these types of wounds mainly focuses on controlling infection and providing an optimum environment capable of facilitating re-epithelialisation, thus promoting wound healing. Hydrogels have attracted vast interest as moist wound-responsive dressing materials. In the current study, biosynthetic bacterial cellulose hydrogels synthesised by Gluconacetobacter xylinus and subsequently loaded with silver were characterised and investigated for their antimicrobial activity against two representative wound infecting pathogens, namely S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Silver nitrate and silver zeolite provided the source of silver and loading parameters were optimised based on experimental findings. The results indicate that both AgNO3 and AgZ loaded biosynthetic hydrogels possess antimicrobial activity (p < .05) against both S. aureus and P. aeruginosa and may therefore be suitable for wound management applications

Successful Treatment of Disseminated Acanthamoeba sp. Infection with Miltefosine

We report on an HIV-negative but immunocompromised patient with disseminated acanthamoebiasis, granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, and underlying miliary tuberculosis and tuberculous meningitis. The patient responded favorably to treatment with miltefosine, an alkylphosphocholine. The patient remained well with no signs of infection 2 years after treatment cessation

Further evaluation of the tropane analogs of haloperidol

Previous work from our labs has indicated that a tropane analog of haloperidol with potent D2 binding but designed to avoid the formation of MPP+-like metabolites, such as 4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-(4-fluorophenyl)-4-oxobutyl)pyridin-1-ium (BCPP+) still produced catalepsy, suggesting a strong role for the D2 receptor in the production of catalepsy in rats, and hence EPS in humans. This study tested the hypothesis that further modifications of the tropane analog to produce compounds with less potent binding to the D2 receptor than haloperidol, would produce less catalepsy. These tests have now revealed that while haloperidol produced maximum catalepsy, these compounds produced moderate to low levels of catalepsy. Compound 9, with the least binding affinity to the D2R, produced the least catalepsy and highest Minimum Adverse Effective Dose (MAED) of the analogs tested regardless of their affinities at other receptors including the 5-HT1AR. These observations support the hypothesis that moderation of the D2 binding of the tropane analogs could reduce catalepsy potential in rats and consequently EPS in man

Visuo-tactile integration in autism: atypical temporal binding may underlie greater reliance on proprioceptive information

BackgroundEvidence indicates that social functioning deficits and sensory sensitivities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are related to atypical sensory integration. The exact mechanisms underlying these integration difficulties are unknown; however, two leading accounts are (1) an over-reliance on proprioception and (2) atypical visuo-tactile temporal binding. We directly tested these theories by selectively manipulating proprioceptive alignment and visuo-tactile synchrony to assess the extent that these impact upon body ownership.MethodsChildren with ASD and typically developing controls placed their hand into a multisensory illusion apparatus, which presented two, identical live video images of their own hand in the same plane as their actual hand. One virtual hand was aligned proprioceptively with the actual hand (the veridical hand), and the other was displaced to the left or right. While a brushstroke was applied to the participants’ actual (hidden) hand, they observed the two virtual images of their hand also being stroked and were asked to identify their real hand. During brushing, one of three different temporal delays was applied to either the displaced hand or the veridical hand. Thus, only one virtual hand had synchronous visuo-tactile inputs.ResultsResults showed that visuo-tactile synchrony overrides incongruent proprioceptive inputs in typically developing children but not in autistic children. Evidence for both temporally extended visuo-tactile binding and a greater reliance on proprioception are discussed.ConclusionsThis is the first study to provide definitive evidence for temporally extended visuo-tactile binding in ASD. This may result in reduced processing of amodal inputs (i.e. temporal synchrony) over modal-specific information (i.e. proprioception). This would likely lead to failures in appropriately binding information from related events, which would impact upon sensitivity to sensory stimuli, body representation and social processes such as empathy and imitation

Health Services for Buruli Ulcer Control: Lessons from a Field Study in Ghana

Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, is a debilitating disease of the skin and underlying tissue which starts as a painless nodule, oedema or plaque and could develop into painful and massive ulcers if left untreated. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the study assessed the effectiveness of the BUPaT programme to improve early detection and management of BU in an endemic area in Ghana. The results of the study showed extensive collaboration across all levels, (national, municipality and community), which contributed to strengthening the programme. Health staff were trained to manage all BU cases. School teachers, municipal environmental staff and community surveillance volunteers were trained to give the right health messages, screen for detection of early cases and refer for medical treatment. WHO-recommended antibiotics improved treatment and cure, particularly for early lesions, and prevented recurrences. Improving access to antibiotic treatment is critical for early case management. Health education is required to emphasise the effectiveness of treatment with antibiotics to reduce deformities and the importance of seeking medical treatment for all skin lesions. Further research is needed to explain the role of environmental factors in BU contagion

Knowledge Sharing Idiosyncrasies of University Students in Ghana

Part 6: Decision Making and Knowledge ManagementInternational audienceThis study explored the factors affecting knowledge sharing behaviour of students in a higher institution of learning. Using a model derived from the Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reason Action, six hypotheses were tested from a cross-sectional data collected from 371 undergraduate students on a 4-year degree programme in the University of Ghana. Five out of the six hypotheses were supported. The results showed that the knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) of the students was significantly related to five of the human and environmental factors (F=639.9, df=5, 290, p<0.05) with a co-efficient of variation of R2=0.917 (91.7%). The knowledge sharing behavior of the students was, however, not significantly dependent on their personal characteristics. The study makes a case for increased attention in understanding the human and environmental factors of knowledge sharing since knowledge sharing is largely a people activity shaped by culture