A framework for place based health planning

Place based health planning is an effective approach to health planning with enormous benefits including the use of local characteristics, organisations and partnerships to effectively and efficiently identify and prioritise needs, and develop and deliver programs and services. Despite its inherent advantages, place based health planning has not been extensively used by health professionals, neither has it been given adequate attention in the literature. This article provides a framework to guide and encourage health professionals to use place based health planning. The framework has three main parts, namely needs assessment, program planning and implementation, and covers most aspects of the identification of needs, and the development and delivery of programs and services to address those needs. The article also includes a proposed index of prioritisation to enable health professionals to prioritise needs and improve program and service provision

What are the impacts and cost-effectiveness of strategies to improve performance of untrained and under-trained teachers in the classroom in developing countries?

What are the impacts and cost effectiveness of strategies to improve performance of untrained and under-trained teachers in the classroom in developing countries

The Effect of Competition on Real Earnings Management – A Re-examination

This study examines the effect of competition in the product and labour markets on real earnings management (REM). REM is accomplished by firms changing investing or operating decisions primarily to increase current period earnings and can affect future cash flows negatively. Using data from Standard and Poor’s 1500 index firms from 1992 to 2015, I find strong support for the prediction that managers in more competitive labour markets are more inclined to use REM activities. However, I find little evidence that firms in more competitive product markets will reduce their engagement in REM activities. The results from the interaction of these two markets show that managers are more inclined to use REM activities whenever they face high labour market competition. This suggests that managers’ primary concern as they make REM decisions is the impact on their career

Natural Resources and the Economic Growth of West Africa Economies

In this study, we employed the pooled mean group (PMG) regression to examine the effect of natural resources economic rent (coal rent, gas rent, oil rent, forest rent, minerals rent) and foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in West Africa for the period 1996 to 2017. We found strong evidence of a positive relationship between FDI, total natural resources (TNR), total natural gas (TNG), and economic growth in the long-run. However, the study recorded a negative relationship between mineral resources rent, oil rent and gas rent, and economic growth in the long run. The rent from coal also exhibited neutrality on economic growth. While all the short-run coefficients are not statistically significant, the error correction term (ECT) is significant and a negative value of -0.889, signifying cointegration at a 1% significance level. This also implies that the short-run estimates converge towards the long-run estimates to achieve equilibrium at the speed of 89% per annum. Our findings highlight the significance of FDI and total rent from natural resources in stimulating West African economies' growth in the industrialization drive and general welfare. In contrast, this study also highlights the need for policy direction to redesign and realign ownership in the oil and gas sector from multinational co-operations (MNCs) to the locals and the domestic economy to benefit directly from the prevailing environment

Assessment of Suitability of Plastic Waste in Bituminous Pavement Construction

The use of plastic products is on the increase daily. The disposal of plastic wastes is a problem in many developing countries like Ghana. These are non-biodegradable products that pose environmental pollution problems to mankind. If these materials can be suitably utilized in road construction, the pollution and disposal problems may be partly reduced.  In recent years, applications of plastic wastes have been considered in road construction with great interest in many developing countries. These plastic wastes are compatible with bitumen at specified conditions. This research aims at determining the suitability of using waste plastic materials as modifiers in bituminous road pavement construction. The waste polymer-bitumen blend was prepared in various proportions and the rheological properties determined in the laboratory. The results indicate that the properties of polymer-modified AC-10 viscosity graded bitumen were enhanced with better binding properties, and can be used in asphalt concrete pavement construction with improved quality and savings. Keywords: Non-Biodegradable, Plastic Waste, Polymer-modified, viscosity graded

Associations of body composition measures and C2, a marker for small artery elasticity: The MESA.

ObjectiveLower C2, a continuous blood pressure waveform characteristic asserted to represent small artery elasticity, predicts future cardiovascular disease events. It is hypothesized that the paradoxical positive association between body mass index (BMI) and C2 may reflect muscle instead of excess fat.MethodsIn a multi-ethnic, community-living cohort of 1,960 participants, computed tomography scans of the abdomen were used to measure visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and total abdominal muscle tissue (TAMT), and applanation tonometry of the radial arteries was used to assess C2. The period cross-sectional associations between BMI, TAMT, and VAT with C2 were ascertained.ResultsThe mean age was 62 ± 9 years and 51% were male. After adjustments for age, gender, ethnicity, pack years smoking cigarettes, diabetes, hypertension, and total and HDL cholesterol, higher BMI (standardized beta = 0.09, P-value < 0.01) and more TAMT (standardized beta = 0.12, P-value < 0.01) were significantly associated with higher C2. In contrast, more VAT (standardized beta = -0.09, P-value < 0.01) was associated with lower C2.ConclusionsIn multivariable analysis, VAT, in contrast to TAMT and BMI, was associated with less compliant small arteries. Visceral fat may be a better marker for detrimental excess body fat than BMI

Retrospectivestudy on Mist Diodia as an Antihypertensive

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of Health problems in Ghana.It may lead to many other health conditions;such as Stroke, Heart attack (Myocardial infarction), Heart failure, Diabetes,  just to mention a few. In view of this, there is a need to review other alternative treatment options. Mist Diodia is an herbal-based therapy used at Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), Mampong- Akuapem for more than two decades, for the management of Hypertension. It is composed of aqueous leaf extract of Diodia scandens.  This paper reports on the retrospective study of Mist Diodia, forhypertensive patients reporting at CPMR clinic.Data of two hundred and sixty-five (265) patients who were diagnosed of hypertension from January 2015 to December 2015 was retrieved. The results after the retrospective study indicated a decline in both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, with a mean systolic pressure of 163.9 mmHg from a baseline of 174 mmHgand a mean diastolic pressure of 96.1 mmHg from a baseline of 99.5 mmHg. It was concluded that Mist Diodia could be effective in the management of hypertension. Keywords: Retrospective clinical study,Diodia scandens, Herbal medicine, Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure

Estimating future first cycle school enrolments for Ghana

Education has been one of the priority areas in Ghana's development program, and efforts have been made to provide educational facilities for as many children of school age as possible with regard to the country's human and financial resources. This has resulted in rapid increases in school enrolments, especially in the period 1960-61 to 1978-79, when primary school enrolments increased by 194%. Despite these high increases, 30% of the children of school age were not in school during the period 1970-75. Ghana's educational system is also characterised by sex and areal differentials in enrolment and inefficiency as is evident from the high dropout and unemployment rates among 1st Cycle (primary and middle) school graduates. Ghana's rapid population growth, inherent in the existing high fertility and falling mortality, has tended to produce more children of school age than the educational system can absorb. Ghana's population will increase by at least 5.3 million by 1990 and at least 2.4 million children will require primary education at this time. There will be, at least, 1.9 million and 1.1 million children in primary and middle school respectively by 1990. Even so, at least 0.4 million children will not have access to primary education in 1990. The projections also indicate that Ghana will require at least 66,658 and 35,323 teachers for the primary and middle schools respectively in 1990. Again at least 14,249 and 8,859 primary and middle school respectively will be required by 1990, while capital and recurrent expenditure on primary and middle schools will increase at least from US$9,285,000 and US$4,749,000 in 1970 to $88,037,000 and$88,911,000 for the two levels respectively by 1990