Glycaemic index of selected staple carbohydrate-rich foods commonly consumed in Botswana

Objectives: Data on the glycaemic index (GI) of foods commonly consumed in Botswana are lacking. The present study aimed to evaluate the GI of some of the staple carbohydrate-rich foods eaten in Botswana.Design, setting and subjects: Fifty university student volunteers were divided into five groups. Members of each group consumed different test foods based on wheat, maize, sorghum, millet and morama beans to supply 50 g of available carbohydrate after 10-12 hours of overnight fasting. GI was determined using a standard method with white bread.Outcome measures: The GI values were calculated after measuring blood glucose levels before and after ingestion at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes.Results: The results showed a clear variation in the GI values for the same food when consumed by different individuals. In addition, variations were observed in the GI values of test foods based on the same material. On average, wheat-based foods exhibited the highest GI values (103.1), followed by millet-based foods (95.3), sorghum-based foods (92.5), maize-based foods (9.1) and morama-based foods (86.4). Of the tested food, mapakiwa (wheat-based) had the highest GI (110.6) whereas roasted morama had the lowest GI (82.8).Conclusion: These results could form the basis of dietary advice to consumers, and particularly patients with diabetes. Further studies are needed on more of the commonly consumed foods in Botswana.Keywords: glycaemic index, carbohydrate-rich foods, Botswan

A Synthesis of Effective Practices of Managing Succession Planning in Accounting Firms in Botswana

Succession planning continues to be one of the major issues facing the future of many accounting firms. Although it is inevitable for the current senior managers to leave their current posts due to resignations, retirement, ill-health, death or some other reason, organizations find themselves without a succession plan in place to take-over from the departed senior managers. Many firms have closed soon after the departure of a senior manager. In most cases, firms shut down due to the lack of qualified successors. Many firms have not developed prospective successors who are fit to form part of top management in future. They face operational challenges during the transition period to an extent of closing down their businesses. Many firms lag behind in terms of having smooth successions. They lack the knowledge and skills in succession procedures and have no clue on how to mitigate the problems they face during transition periods. Many studies on succession planning are based on family owned businesses. Researchers like van der Merwe (2011), Sardeshmukh and Corbet (2011), Stewart and Hitt (2012) and DeRue and Ashford (2010) have focused on family succession planning. Little is known about how accounting firms develop their successors. The main purpose of this study is to explore how accounting firms build up a succession plan that does not disrupt the operations of the firm. By exploring the best practices which can be adapted, accounting firms can manage succession from one generation of managers to the next without disruptions during the transition period. Through a qualitative analysis of practices of two accounting firms in Botswana, it can be concluded that accounting firms maintain smooth successions by having scheduled recruitment procedures and a skills matrix which help them identify the qualities and experiences required at the top management level to support strategic plans. Accounting firms are fully aware of how operations can be affected by transition problems, and how to mitigate such problems. They offer on-the-job training to successors with the view of making them quickly get accustomed to managing an accounting firm. Both internally and externally recruited top management personnel are selected on the basis of their experience levels, so settling down is not a problem to them since they have broad insights of what do in an accounting firm. For a business to ensure its continuity there is need to train the prospective future managers and acclimatize them to the running of the business before the departure of current managers. This study recommends that accounting firms should have well thought out succession plans, which can be easily implemented, can fit well into their strategic plans and is able to carry the business into the future

Impediments for the Uptake of the Botswana Government's Male Circumcision Initiative for HIV Prevention

Botswana remains one of the countries with high prevalence of HIV infection with a population prevalence rate of 17.6 in 2008. In 2009, the Ministry of Health launched male circumcision as an additional strategy to the already existing HIV preventive efforts. The purpose of this paper is to share what the participants of a survey to evaluate a short-term male circumcision communication strategy in seven health districts of Botswana reported as impediments for the program's uptake. Qualitative data were obtained from 32 key informants and 36 focus group discussions in 2011. Content analysis method was used to analyze data and to derive themes and subthemes. Although male circumcision was generally acceptable to communities in Botswana, the uptake of the program was slow, and participants attributed that to a number of challenges or impediments that were frustrating the initiative. The impediments were organized into sociocultural factors, knowledge/informational factors, and infrastructural and system factors

The social, mental, and physical health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with HIV: protocol of an observational International Multisite Study

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, immunocompromised individuals such as people with HIV (PWH) may have faced a disproportionate impact on their health and HIV outcomes, both from COVID-19 and from the strategies enacted to contain it. Based on the SPIRIT guidelines, we describe the protocol for an international multisite observational study being conducted by The International Nursing Network for HIV Research, with the Coordinating Center based at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing. Site Principal Investigators implement a standardized protocol to recruit PWH to complete the study online or in-person. Questions address demographics; HIV continuum of care indicators; mental and social health; COVID-19 and vaccination knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and fears; and overall outcomes.Results of this study will contribute to knowledge that can inform responses to future public health crises to minimize their impacts on vulnerable populations such as PWH

Some aspects of the reproductive biology of Strychnos cocculoides Baker (Loganiaceae)

Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1998.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Benchmarking Performance Measurement Systems in Botswana’s Construction Sector

The performance of Botswana’s construction industry has been steadily declining in recent years. Furthermore, the industry has been docked with many projects that are not delivered on time, go over budget, sub-standard quality or are just abandoned. The frequency of occurrence of such projects has been alarming and has raised the question of whether there is a comprehensive system in place to monitor and control these projects. Some of the adverse effects of these delays and misappropriations are; costs escalating above budgeted values and quality of the deliverables shifting from the standard and agreed specification. Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) can be used to determine progress towards achieving certain goals and milestones in the life cycle of a project. These PMS are not new to the construction industry as they have been adopted in the industry for some time now. Therefore, the advantages of employing or implementing such systems are well documented but a lot of troubles apparently solvable by PMS are still encountered within Botswana’s construction industry. A research survey was conducted on construction companies in Botswana with the purpose of finding out the extent of adoption of performance/progress measurement systems in Botswana’s construction industry and the barriers to their implementation in the industry. From the research it was found that most companies have not adopted PMS due to lack of understanding on the methods

The role of nursing education in preventing medication errors in Botswana

Medication errors frequently feature in research world-wide. Although medication errors are also a concern in medicine and anesthesia, they have become a regular topic in nursing. In Botswana, a country challenged by shortage of both medications and professionals qualified to process and administer medications, as well as low levels of health literacy, the risk of medications errors should be even higher. In Botswana nurses are deployed in both acute and primary care settings taking an active part in prescription, transcription, dispensing and administration of medications. Pre-service nursing education must therefore ensure that students are equipped with knowledge and skills on medication management and prevention of medication errors to prepare them for safe practice. In this paper, the authors take stock of the extent to which nursing curricula address the prevention of medication errors, highlighting strengths and pinpointing weaknesses yet to be addressed. The exercise involved review of curricula at various levels of nursing education as well as nursing regulatory documents. Findings from the review were corroborated with published work on the subject. Recommendations for strengthening basic nursing curricula at both diploma and undergraduate levels’ coverage of medications errors are proposed. Also recommended are measures to improve the system in the practice arena as well as research to establish the magnitude of medication errors and their related risk factors in Botswana. The exercise is envisaged to improve patients’ safety and reduce the risk of litigation for nurses

Research integrity and misconduct: a clarification of the concepts

The commercialization of research and the ever changing scientific environment has led scholars to shift the focus from promoting research integrity to regulating misconduct. As a result, most literature explains research integrity in terms of avoidance of misconduct. The purpose of the paper is to stimulate reflection and discussion on research integrity and research misconduct. This article explores the meaning of research integrity and research misconduct, and how research integrity can be promoted to ensure safer research and scholarship. We believe that the discussion can help clarify some hazy areas in the research and publication processes, and appreciate some crucial aspects that they may have seen taken for granted. The purpose of this article is to share with the readers some clarification or analysis of the two concepts namely: research integrity and misconduct. The objectives are: (1) To explore and analyse the concepts of research integrity and research misconduct from the educational or developmental perspective and not the legal perspective as others in literature have done. (2) To stimulate the reflection and discussion on strategies to promote research integrity and thus prevent research misconduct Literature review and concept analysis was undertaken to clarify the two concepts. We argue that the two concepts can be viewed along a continuum, i.e. where research integrity ends, research misconduct starts. We also argue that it is the responsibility of the research community at large to always ensure that the scientific ethics balance is maintained throughout the research process to ensure research integrity and avoid research misconduct. We also argue that research integrity is interlinked with morality while misconduct is interlinked with immorality

Male Circumcision Initiative for HIV Prevention

Botswana remains one of the countries with high prevalence of HIV infection with a population prevalence rate of 17.6 in 2008. In 2009, the Ministry of Health launched male circumcision as an additional strategy to the already existing HIV preventive efforts. The purpose of this paper is to share what the participants of a survey to evaluate a short-term male circumcision communication strategy in seven health districts of Botswana reported as impediments for the program's uptake. Qualitative data were obtained from 32 key informants and 36 focus group discussions in 2011. Content analysis method was used to analyze data and to derive themes and subthemes. Although male circumcision was generally acceptable to communities in Botswana, the uptake of the program was slow, and participants attributed that to a number of challenges or impediments that were frustrating the initiative. The impediments were organized into sociocultural factors, knowledge/informational factors, and infrastructural and system factors