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1 – 9 of 9Felix Bongomin, Andrew P. Kyazze, Sandra Ninsiima, Ronald Olum, Gloria Nattabi, Winnie Nabakka, Rebecca Kukunda, Charles Batte, Phillip Ssekamatte, Joseph Baruch Baluku, Davis Kibirige, Stephen Cose and Irene Andia-Biraro
Background: Hyperglycemia in pregnancy (HIP) is a common medical complication during pregnancy and is associated with several short and long-term maternal-fetal consequences. We…
Abstract
Background: Hyperglycemia in pregnancy (HIP) is a common medical complication during pregnancy and is associated with several short and long-term maternal-fetal consequences. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with HIP among Ugandan women.
Methods: We consecutively enrolled eligible pregnant women attending antenatal care at Kawempe National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda in September 2020. Mothers known to be living with diabetes mellitus or haemoglobinopathies and those with anemia (hemoglobin <11g/dl) were excluded. Random blood sugar (RBS) and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured on peripheral venous blood samples. HIP was defined as an HbA1c ≥5.7% with its subsets of diabetes in pregnancy (DIP) and prediabetes defined as HbA1c1c of ≥6.5% and 5.7–6.4% respectively. ROC curve analysis was performed to determine the optimum cutoff of RBS to screen for HIP.
Results: A total of 224 mothers with a mean (±SD) age 26±5 years were enrolled, most of whom were in the 2nd or 3rd trimester (94.6%, n=212) with a mean gestation age of 26.6±7.3 weeks. Prevalence of HIP was 11.2% (n=25) (95% CI: 7.7–16.0). Among the mothers with HIP, 2.2% (n=5) had DIP and 8.9% (n=20) prediabetes. Patients with HIP were older (28 years vs. 26 years, p=0.027), had previous tuberculosis (TB) contact (24% vs. 6.5%, p=0.003) and had a bigger hip circumference (107.8 (±10.4) vs. 103.3 (±9.7) cm, p=0.032). However only previous TB contact was predictive of HIP (odds ratio: 4.4, 95% CI: 1.2–14.0; p=0.022). Using HbA1c as a reference variable, we derived an optimum RBS cutoff of 4.75 mmol/L as predictive of HIP with a sensitivity and specificity of 90.7% and 56.4% (area under the curve=0.75 (95% CI: 0.70–0.80, p<0.001)), respectively.
Conclusions: HIP is common among young Ugandan women, the majority of whom are without identifiable risk factors.
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Harry M. Kibirige and Lisa DePalo
Digital libraries have been a feature of the information arena for some time. They have re‐defined the concept of “bibliographic instruction” in which the connotation “library” is…
Abstract
Digital libraries have been a feature of the information arena for some time. They have re‐defined the concept of “bibliographic instruction” in which the connotation “library” is implicit, but has become inadequate in a digital library context. This article relates the results of pilot studies of Internet use in academic libraries in the New York metropolitan area to the education of users in a digital library environment. It attempts to crystallize vital concepts and issues generated by interviewing users and information professionals, which could not be quantified in an earlier publication. The studies revealed an urgent need to develop user‐education programs that emphasize: the nature and various types of digital collections; interfaces; hardware and software requirements; telecommunications access modes; and making such programs part of continuing education.
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In the spring of 1982, I published an article in Reference Services Review on marketing libraries and information services. The article covered available literature on that topic…
Abstract
In the spring of 1982, I published an article in Reference Services Review on marketing libraries and information services. The article covered available literature on that topic from 1970 through part of 1981, the time period immediately following Kotler and Levy's significant and frequently cited article in the January 1969 issue of the Journal of Marketing, which was first to suggest the idea of marketing nonprofit organizations. The article published here is intended to update the earlier work in RSR and will cover the literature of marketing public, academic, special, and school libraries from 1982 to the present.
Jo Moriarty and Jill Manthorpe
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether handyperson services are able to meet the needs of diverse groups of older people, specifically in the UK policy context, to meet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether handyperson services are able to meet the needs of diverse groups of older people, specifically in the UK policy context, to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010).
Design/methodology/approach
The scoping review of the literature was conducted in 2012 using a wide range of literature from the UK.
Findings
In an under-researched field it is difficult for policy makers to determine whether handyperson schemes and their associated services are accessible to and being used by all sections of the older population. Schemes do not generally collect and report data about their users.
Research limitations/implications
The scoping review concentrates on UK literature. There are a variety of handyperson schemes and they operate in different ways with different criteria and priorities. Some of the accounts of handyperson schemes provide little data about user characteristics.
Practical implications
The paper suggests how handyperson schemes may be able to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) by outlining what data are needed and approaches to gathering it sensitively and proportionally.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to consider the implications of the Equality Act for handyperson schemes, which may be relevant to other housing and care services.
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Jing Li, Paige K. Evans, Cheryl J. Craig, Donna W. Stokes, Rakesh Verma and Gang Zhu
Scant attention has been paid to the influence of professors on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' learning and lives at the tertiary level. To…
Abstract
Scant attention has been paid to the influence of professors on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students' learning and lives at the tertiary level. To fill this void, this chapter examines the influence of professors on students' entering and remaining in the STEM disciplines and pursuing STEM careers within the context of six funded STEM grants in the southern United States. We examine professor–student interactions using the students' storied experiences as the fodder for our narrative inquiry. We present narrative exemplars from which the following themes emerged: (1) agency as a student and agency as a human being, (2) development of students' multilayered identities, and (3) professors' engagement of themselves in their interactions with students. A discussion of learner-centeredness and professors' professional development in higher education concludes this study of professors' influence on students' learning and intended careers.
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Aboozar Ramezani, Seyed Javad Ghazimirsaeed, Fereydoon Azadeh, Mohammad Esmaeilpour Bandboni and Mohammad Hossein YektaKooshali
The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality of Iranian university libraries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality of Iranian university libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
This first systematic review and meta-analysis were based on the PRISMA guidelines by searching in national and international databases from 2003 to January 2017 with standard Persian and English keywords. Data searching, extracting and quality appraising were completed by two researchers, independently. Any unexpected documents were assessed by a third expert researcher. Data were extracted in accordance with the “Strength of the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology” checklist after the final selection of appraised documents. Random effects size based on Cochrane test and I2 were used for combining the obtained results from different studies together by considering the heterogeneity of studies.
Findings
Based on the meta-analysis conducted in 25 (6.42 percent) included studies, the total sample size was estimated. According to three dimensions of LibQUAL, findings of current information control, affect of service and the library as a place were estimated as 5.37 [CI95%: 5.02, 5.73], 6.91 [CI95%: 5.56, 6.26], and 5.46 percent [CI95%: 5.2, 5.73], respectively. Also, mean of service adequacy and superiority gap are equal to 0.07 [CI95%: −0.22, 0.36] and −2.06 [CI95%: −2.89, −1.23], respectively. There was a significant correlation between three dimensions of service quality and service superiority gap of LibQUAL and geographical regions of Iran (p<0.01). Also, a significant correlation was found between the gaps of services and three aspects of LibQUAL model and published years through a meta-regression test (p<0.01).
Practical implications
The results obtained from the present study showed that users are relatively satisfied with the quality of services provided by Iranian university libraries. An improvement in the quality of library services can promote the scientific level of universities.
Originality/value
The results of the present systematic review and meta-analysis study demonstrate a vital connection between primary research studies and decision-making for policymakers in Iranian university libraries to increase quality services.
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Ibrahim Nandom Yakubu, Ayhan Kapusuzoglu and Nildag Basak Ceylan
This study seeks to empirically examine the influence of corporate governance on corporate performance in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to empirically examine the influence of corporate governance on corporate performance in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs data from 30 listed firms spanning from 2008 to 2018 and applies the generalized method of moments technique. The authors use economic value added, shareholder value added (SVA) and economic margin (EM) as measures of corporate performance.
Findings
The findings reveal that the presence of both inside directors and outside (nonexecutive) directors significantly improves corporate performance, lending credence to both the stewardship theory and the agency theory. The inclusion of women on the corporate boards and frequent meetings of the board reduce the economic profits of firms. The authors find that CEO duality impedes corporate performance, supporting the presumption of the agency theory. The study further reveals that audit committee size and ownership concentration positively drive the performance of quoted firms in Ghana.
Originality/value
Prior studies on corporate governance and firm performance nexus have chiefly adopted traditional accounting-based performance measures such as return on assets and return on equity to evaluate firm performance. However, these indicators are critiqued for being historic and fail to consider firms' cost of equity. In light of the shortcomings of the accounting-based proxies, this study takes a unique direction by using value-based metrics, which are considered superior measures of performance. Besides, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study provides a first attempt to investigate the link between corporate governance and firm performance using SVA and EM as performance indicators.
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Twaha Kigongo Kaawaase, Juma Bananuka, Thomson Peter Kwizina and Jennifer Nabaweesi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effects of professionalism in the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and performance of small and medium audit…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effects of professionalism in the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and performance of small and medium audit practices (SMPs) within the context of a developing economy, Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 77 SMPs registered with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda through their managing partners. The authors utilized multiple regression analysis to test hypotheses using centered variables and an interaction term between IC and professionalism.
Findings
IC is a significant determinant of performance of SMPs in Uganda; while professionalism when acting alone is not significant, however, results have shown that professionalism interacts with IC to enhance performance of SMPs.
Research limitations/implications
This study, owing to the absence of publically available published financial statements of SMPs, utilizes a questionnaire to collect data on performance of SMPs which could be less objective. Further, as the study is limited to SMPs in Uganda, it is possible that the results are only applicable to Uganda’s accountancy field. In addition, the use of multiple regression is prone to problems associated with sampling error. However, the likelihood of these problems is mitigated by the interface with data and regression analysis diagnostics that were carried out.
Originality/value
This study provides initial empirical evidence on the relationship between IC, professionalism and performance of SMPs in developing economies. The study further indicates that while IC acts independently to influence firm performance, its interaction with professionalism enhances this performance.
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