The effect of funding strategy on the lending patterns of banks in Ghana

This article examines the effect of funding strategy on the lending patterns of banks in Ghana. We employ a panel dataset of banks from 2005 to 2011, to analyse the impact of funding sources on three sets of lending patterns employed by banks: Primary, secondary and tertiary economic sectors. The result shows that banks in Ghana use internally generated funds to finance loans to the primary and secondary sectors of the economy. In addition, our findings suggest that bank lending to the tertiary sector of the economy is significantly more sensitive to wholesale funding than to deposit and internally generated funds. The overall implication of this finding is that the bank funding structure needs to be considered in addition to the traditional bank-specific indicators when assessing banks’ ability to finance economic activities.Keywords: Africa, developing country, funding sources, Ghana, lending pattern

Sexual dysfunction among married couples living in Kumasi metropolis, Ghana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sexuality and its manifestation constitute some of the most complex of human behaviour and its disorders are encountered in community. Sexual dysfunction is more prevalent in women than in men. While studies examining sexual dysfunction among males and females in Ghana exist, there are no studies relating sexual problems in males and females as dyadic units. This study therefore investigated the prevalence and type of sexual disorders among married couples.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study participants consisted of married couples between the ages of 19 and 66 living in the province of Kumasi, Ghana. Socio-demographic information and Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) questionnaires were administered to 200 couples who consented to take part in the study. All 28 questions of the GRISS are answered on a five-point (Likert type) scale from "always", through "usually', "sometimes", and "hardly ever", to "never". Responses are summed up to give a total raw score ranging from 28-140. The total score and subscale scores are transformed using a standard nine point scale, with high scores indicating greater problems. Scores of five or more are considered to indicate SD. The study was conducted between July and September 2010.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of a total of 200 married couples, 179 completed their questionnaires resulting in a response rate of 89.5%. The mean age of the participating couples as well as the mean duration of marriage was 34.8 ± 8.6 years and 7.8 ± 7.6 years respectively. The husbands (37.1 ± 8.6) were significantly older (p < 0.0001) than their corresponding wives (32.5 ± 7.9). After adjusting for age, 13-18 years of marriage life poses about 10 times significant risk of developing SD compared to 1-6 years of married life among the wives (OR: 10.8; CI: 1.1 - 49.1; p = 0.04). The total scores (6.0) as well as the percentage above the cut-off (59.2) obtained by the husbands compared to the total score (6.2) and the percentage above cut-off (61.5) obtained by the wives, indicates the likely presence of sexual dysfunction. The prevalence of impotence and premature ejaculation were 60.9% and 65.4% respectively from this study and the prevalence of vaginismus and anorgasmia were 69.3% and 74.9% respectively. The highest prevalence of SD subscales among the men was dissatisfaction with sexual act followed by infrequency, whereas the highest among the women was infrequency followed by anorgasmia. Dissatisfaction with sexual intercourse among men correlated positively with anorgasmia and wife's non-sensuality and infrequency of sex.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in married couples is comparable to prevalence rates in the general male and female population and is further worsened by duration of marriage. This could impact significantly on a couple's self-esteem and overall quality of life.</p

Perspectives of Portuguese People with Physical Disabilities Regarding Their Sexual Health: A Focus Group Study

The World Health Organization has considered sexual health as a major dimension of global health and a sexual right. However, the sexual health of people with physical disabilities is still poorly addressed by health and social care professionals, and it is very stigmatized by society. This study aimed to assess the perspectives of Portuguese people living with physical disabilities regarding issues affecting their sexual health. Nine women and 17 men with different physical disabilities participated in the study. Participants were recruited from a professional rehabilitation facility located in the North of Portugal and were assigned to four groups in one-hour sessions. Three main categories emerged from the content analysis: (1) meanings and beliefs regarding sexuality; (2) experiences of sexuality; (3) necessary changes. Despite the positive social changes towards sexuality, participants expressed that their sexual rights are still unfulfilled, as they live in a context that perpetuates their dependency. They pointed out low self-esteem, prejudice and social isolation, poor architectural accessibility and scarcity of financial support as some of the barriers to their lives and their sexual health. Finally, participants identified the main needs regarding their sexual health, such as: access to specialized information; training for health professionals. This study gives voice to people with physical disabilities and sheds light into both individual and contextual factors affecting their sexual health. Of utmost importance, this study draws attention to the need for reinforcing sexuality of people with disabilities in the social agenda and brings implications for future research and practice.This study was supported by a Grant attributed to the first author by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/112168/2015)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Configuration and Assessment of the GISS ModelE2 Contributions to the CMIP5 Archive

We present a description of the ModelE2 version of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) General Circulation Model (GCM) and the configurations used in the simulations performed for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). We use six variations related to the treatment of the atmospheric composition, the calculation of aerosol indirect effects, and ocean model component. Specifically, we test the difference between atmospheric models that have noninteractive composition, where radiatively important aerosols and ozone are prescribed from precomputed decadal averages, and interactive versions where atmospheric chemistry and aerosols are calculated given decadally varying emissions. The impact of the first aerosol indirect effect on clouds is either specified using a simple tuning, or parameterized using a cloud microphysics scheme. We also use two dynamic ocean components: the Russell and HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) which differ significantly in their basic formulations and grid. Results are presented for the climatological means over the satellite era (1980-2004) taken from transient simulations starting from the preindustrial (1850) driven by estimates of appropriate forcings over the 20th Century. Differences in base climate and variability related to the choice of ocean model are large, indicating an important structural uncertainty. The impact of interactive atmospheric composition on the climatology is relatively small except in regions such as the lower stratosphere, where ozone plays an important role, and the tropics, where aerosol changes affect the hydrological cycle and cloud cover. While key improvements over previous versions of the model are evident, these are not uniform across all metrics

Prevalence and burden of HBV co-infection among people living with HIV:A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Globally, in 2017 35 million people were living with HIV (PLHIV) and 257 million had chronic HBV infection (HBsAg positive). The extent of HIV-HBsAg co-infection is unknown. We undertook a systematic review to estimate the global burden of HBsAg co-infection in PLHIV. We searched MEDLINE, Embase and other databases for published studies (2002-2018) measuring prevalence of HBsAg among PLHIV. The review was registered with PROSPERO (#CRD42019123388). Populations were categorized by HIV-exposure category. The global burden of co-infection was estimated by applying regional co-infection prevalence estimates to UNAIDS estimates of PLHIV. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the odds of HBsAg among PLHIV compared to HIV-negative individuals. We identified 506 estimates (475 studies) of HIV-HBsAg co-infection prevalence from 80/195 (41.0%) countries. Globally, the prevalence of HIV-HBsAg co-infection is 7.6% (IQR 5.6%-12.1%) in PLHIV, or 2.7 million HIV-HBsAg co-infections (IQR 2.0-4.2). The greatest burden (69% of cases; 1.9 million) is in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, there was little difference in prevalence of HIV-HBsAg co-infection by population group (approximately 6%-7%), but it was slightly higher among people who inject drugs (11.8% IQR 6.0%-16.9%). Odds of HBsAg infection were 1.4 times higher among PLHIV compared to HIV-negative individuals. There is therefore, a high global burden of HIV-HBsAg co-infection, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Key prevention strategies include infant HBV vaccination, including a timely birth-dose. Findings also highlight the importance of targeting PLHIV, especially high-risk groups for testing, catch-up HBV vaccination and other preventative interventions. The global scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for PLHIV using a tenofovir-based ART regimen provides an opportunity to simultaneously treat those with HBV co-infection, and in pregnant women to also reduce mother-to-child transmission of HBV alongside HIV

What role do Indian banks play in monetary transmission?

In developed economies, changes in the stance of monetary policy are followed by significant changes in the aggregate volume of bank lending. What we seek to examine is whether, in an emerging economy, there are cross sectional differences in the way that banks respond to policy shocks. Our analysis suggests that banks play a significant role in the transmission of monetary policy in India. Moreover, our results suggest that banks with varying characteristics react differently to policy shocks. While larger Indian banks are less affected by monetary policy changes, banks with a higher level of impaired loans and less capital are more affected. Our findings have implications for the distributional effects of monetary policy and the relationship between regulatory policy and stability of the economy