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Assessment of neural tube deffects in two Northern Namibia hospitals: Incidence, seasonal variation, risk factors and prevention strategies for folate sensitive defects
No full textA Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Philosophy (Medicine-Surgery)Neural tube defects (NTDs) represent severe congenital abnormalities of the nervous
system and are among significant abnormalities associated with a high mortality and morbidity rates. Studies reported that the incidence of NTDs varies worldwide, with the highest found in low-income countries. Most high-income countries have
managed to document and the reduce incidence of NTDs through primary prevention strategies. However, inadequate documentation on NTDs is frequent in low and upper-middle income countries including Namibia. This study focused on assessing the incidence, seasonal variation, risk factors, and comparing the postpartum red blood cell folate in cases and controls in Onandjokwe and Oshakati hospitals in the Northern regions of Namibia over 12 months. The aims of the study were to identify evidence that NTDs constitute both a clinical and a societal problem. And, to propose locally adapted prevention strategies for folate –sensitive NTDs. The study objectives were to assess the incidence of NTDs, determine an association between the conception of NTD babies and seasonal variation (rainfall), identify related risk factors, and to compare postpartum maternal red blood cell folate in NTD cases and controls. The study utilised a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design to assess the incidence of NTDs and descriptive-statistical analysis to evaluate associated risk factors. A case-control design was used to compare postpartum maternal red blood cell folate between mothers of cases and controls. The study population was mothers who gave birth in the two hospitals during the period of 12 months. Non-random consecutive sampling was used to select participants - mothers with and without NTD babies - to minimise bias when studying rare conditions. Participants were informed, counselled and requested to sign consent forms. Questionnaires were administered face to face to participants and blood samples were drawn to determine postpartum red blood cell folate. Data was analysed using Epi-info software. The findings of the study were: a) the combined hospital neural tube defects incidence was 11 per 10000 births; b) there was a seasonal variation in the birth and conception of babies with NTDs, which could be associated with the seasonal rainfall pattern; c) the risk factors possibly related to NTDs were unemployment, low level of education, diet lacking fruits and vegetables, and low maternal red blood cell folate. Other risk factors, such as age, diabetes, HIV, obesity, smoking, alcohol, drugs, exposure to radiation, hyperthermia, family history, marriage, consanguinity, were not shown to play a significant role in NTD incidence. The study found hydranencephaly to be more common than spina bifida. The study proposed recommendations, future research areas and preventive interventional strategies for NTDs in the Northern regions. The study further underscored health education about NTDs, consumption of fruits and vegetables, folate supplementations + Vit B12 and food fortification for all childbearing women in a sustainable way
Knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses regarding early detection, caring and support of men with prostate cancer at health facilities in Windhoek, Namibia: A mixed method study
No full textA theses submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in Nursing ScienceThe aim of the study was to determine, explore and assess the knowledge, attitude and practices
of nurses regarding early detection, caring and support of men with prostate cancer at health
facilities in Windhoek, Namibia. Prostate cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis
in men and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Nurses have been reported in the
literature to offer minimum support for prostate cancer patients. The same trend seems to be
evident in Windhoek and it's not clear what could be the reason for this discrepancy hence the
researcher was interested in knowing the knowledge, practice and attitude of nurses towards
prostate cancer care services.
The study adopted a mixed research, convergent parallel design to understand the research
problem. For objective 1 and 2, a quantitative approach and descriptive design were used to
determine knowledge and practice using self-administered structured questionnaires. A sample
of 105 respondents was selected randomly and data was analysed using SPSS. For objective 3,
a qualitative descriptive design was used to explore attitude from 10 purposively selected
participants using semi-stmctured interviews.
The findings of the study revealed that respondents had a low level of knowledge 86 (81.9% ),
but they had good practices 54 (51.4%). Participants expressed positive attitudes towards early
detection, negative attitudes towards caring and negative attitudes towards support. The
findings further reported health facility (P-value=0.003) and health status (P-value= 0.039) to
be a significant predictor of practice. Moreover, the study revealed that the level of knowledge
was not significantly associated with practice P-value= 0.696.
The researcher recommended ongoing in-service training with well-stipulated outcomes on
prostate cancer services to improve nurses' knowledge. Additionally, the researcher
recommended the development of a model to facilitate the effective provision of prostate
cancer care services in Namibi
An investigation of employee relations management and its effects on employee performance at the Namibian Correctional Service
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Management Strategy)This research investigates the effects of Employee Relations Management (ERM) on
employees' performance at the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS). The study was
conducted at the Correctional Facility for the district of Windhoek, known as Windhoek
Correctional Facility (WCF). The main ERM components observed in this study include
Human Resources Practices, Communication, Trust, Shared Goals and Values. In terms
of these practices, the study examined the importance of these ERM components at the
Namibian Correctional Service, its challenges and the influence of employee
empowerment through ERM organisational performance at the Namibian Correctional
Service. A quantitative exploratory, descriptive research allowed the researcher to
determine facts, do statistical analysis and present findings on employee relationship
management. The data collection instrument used was a questionnaire and 187 of the
instruments were distributed to the employees (males, females) at the Windhoek
Correctional Facility. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical distribution of the
questionnaires was disapproved by the NCS to avoid the risks of contracting and
spreading of the virus amongst the employees. As a result, the questionnaires were
administered online to reach the selected respondents. Based on the outcomes from the
questionnaire, it was found that eighty-eight (88) questionnaires were valid for analysis.
The results of the study show that ERM components have a positive effect on
employees' performance, even though the ERM components were regarded as not very
important by the NCS. Thus, with regards to the ERM, there is still a need within NCS
to build and enhance relationships as well as reinforce the commitment to improve
employees' performance. In terms of importance, the study discovered from the survey
that communication was regarded as less important followed by Trust and then HR
practices. This was also detected as the order of the challenges impacting the
implementation of ERM at the NCS. Thus, the study recommends that the NCS should
provide open and transparent communication which will lead to motivated employees
and good performance. The organisation should improve communication with the
employees through exchanging ideas, feelings and opinions with management. Further
studies should link ERM to employee motivatio
Exploring the role of board diversity in reducing the agency problem and strengthening firm value: A case study of Namport
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration Management Strategy degreeCorporate governance plays a significant role in every organisation. One notes that, corporate
governance is a way in which an organisation is governed, the manner in which management is
controlled, the way in which organisational goals are set so as to ultimately attain the set objectives.
Corporate governance is perpetuated through the interaction between various participants who aid
in the effective crafting of the organisation's performance. This interaction is only successful if
there is good communication between shareholders and managers, so that effective communication
pertaining the success of the organisation and governance of the organisation's various resources
can be effectively safeguarded.
Henceforth, this study determined the effectiveness of board diversity in reducing the agency
problem and strengthening firm value at NamPort. A mixed methods approach was used in the
study. The respondents were sampled from a population of the board members, the management
and government officials. The study analysed the data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) and the key findings from this study reveal that it is apparent that board diversity plays a
pivotal role in the crafting and execution of corporate governance of any organisation as it entails
the enrichment of the make-up and composition of a board which in turn enables effective
execution of roles and responsibilities of the organisation as a whole. The outcome of this study
shows that, board diversity does not play a major role in reducing the agency problem and
strengthening firm value at NamPort. Furthermore, the study established that there is a desperate
need to implement diversity in the board in order to reduce the agency problem and strengthen
firm value. In addition, the study concluded that the main challenges to principally implement
corporate governance are mainly transparency and fairness, as was indicated by the participants of
this study. Board transparency helps in alleviating the agency problem in general. A board that
exercises transparency in its duties gains trust from the shareholders and employees at large. The
study recommended training and development should become a priority, it emerged from the study
that there is a lack of knowledge and skills to effectively manage and execute corporate governance
in the organisation. Drawing lessons from other successful countries that have championed
diversification of their board structures thereby strengthening firm value and effective corporate
governanc
The relationship between preferred learning styles and performance in mathematics of grade five learners in Windhoek, Namibia
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Educational Psychology (Guidance and Counselling)This study examined the relationship between different learning styles and the
performance in Mathematics of Grade 5 learners in Windhoek, Namibia. Moreover, the
study investigated gender diffe rences regarding both learning styles and performance in
Mathematics. An ex-post facto comparative, as well as a corre lationa l research design,
were utilised. Two learning style instruments, a learning style questionna ire and a sensory
wiring exerc ise, were employed to determine the preferred visua l, auditory and/or
kinaesthetic (V AK) learning styl e of the learners. The relationship between the learning
style research instruments was investigated to determine whether the instruments
measured the same preferred learning style. Descriptive and inferentia l statistics,
particularly independent sample t-tests, Pearson's corre lation coeffi c ient and a chi-sq uare
test for independent samples were employed to ana lyse the data. Since there was a
statistica ll y significant difference in some areas on the learning style questionna ire, the
alternative hypothesis with regards to diffe rences in performance in Mathematics among
learning styles as measured by the learning style questionnaire can be partia lly accepted.
The results of the sensory wiring exercise, on the other hand, indicate that there was no
diffe rence in performance in Mathematics and preferred learning styles of Grade 5 learners
in Windhoek. For the sensory wiring exercise, the null hypothesis can be accepted.
Furthermore, results indi cated no statistically significant difference in either gender or
Mathematics and learn ing styles of the sampled group. Results also indi cate no correlation
between the two learning style instruments. Research de igns other than tho e employ d
in this study may offer different results in future research studies regarding preferred
learning styles and perfo rmance in Mathematic
A hierarchical non-parametric Bayesian testlet model for dual local dependence
No full textA dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Science (Statistics)The use of psychometric tests to measure the level of individuals on unobservable traits
is common in many fields and item response theory (IRT) models are usually used for
proficiency measurement. Standard IRT models assume local person and item independence and normality assumption for the true ability distribution. However, respondents
are often clustered and test items are often grouped according to sub-content measuring
the same stimuli or sub-component of the trait. This study presents a non-parametric
polytomous multilevel testlet model for simultaneously modelling person and item clustering effects. The grouping variable is assumed unknown and determined from the
data using the Dirichlet Process. The model was compared with a parametric dual
model with groups assumed to be known, the testlet model, the Generalised Partial
Credit Model and the multilevel model accounting for person dependence effects only
in terms of systematic, random and total errors in person and item parameter estimation and test information and reliability, for simulated and real life data. The
effects of ignoring dual dependence effects were evaluated for variant group, sample,
testlet size, number of response options and mixed items tests. Groups of size 5, 20
and 40 were compared for 400, 1000 and 2000 respondents. The effects of ignoring
dependence effects were compared for 6 testlets of 3, 6 and 10 items each for 3, 4
and 5 response categories were compared. Consequences of mis-specifying the slope
and proficiency distributional parameters were evaluated where the competing models
estimated item and person parameters for skewed, bimodal, normal and uniformly distributed traits and constant and stochastic slopes. Three dependency conditions (0,
xi
none; 0.5, medium; 1, large), were considered for both local item dependency (LID)
and local person dependency (LPD). For each simulation study, a fully-crossed factorial
design was employed and the general linear model was employed for comparing estimation errors. Significant different means were detected by use of Cohen’s effect size,
f. In general, ignoring LPD effects resulted in increased bias and total errors in the
estimation of ability parameters while ignorance of LID negatively impacted on item
parameter estimation increasing with sample size, testlet size and number of options.
Failure to account for LID resulted in underestimation of proficiency standard errors,
thus resulting in overestimation of test information and reliability. When dual dependence effects were ignored, both item and ability parameter estimation accuracy was
reduced. The non-parameter model detected the number of groups and group membership well especially for smaller groups, increasingly with sample size, testlet size
and number of categories. However, the non-parametric models requires high computational performance Considering the consequences of ignoring random effects and the
computation efficiency required by the non-parametric model, it is recommended that
the model be used to detect dependence effects and groups, and standard IRT models
be applied for independent person
A critical examination of the literary representation of marriage in Neshani Andreas' The purpule violet of Oshaantu and Valerie Tagwira's The Uncertainty of hope
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of master of Arts in English StudiesThis study analysed the representations of the marriage institution in Neshani Andreas’ The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (2001) and Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainly of Hope (2006) through the explications of Masculinity Theories and Nego-Feminism. Marriage is a topical and contentious issue in both social and legal spheres of life. Marriage is a sacred institution that must be well prepared for as failure to plan before entering the union is planning to fail after entering the union. Every marital relationship is bound either to succeed or fail depending on the attitudes and inputs of the spouses involved. The study examined how the literary texts portray the complex and intricate qualities of marriage. The study’s use of Masculinity Theories and Nego-Feminism to analyse the texts necessitated the incorporation and analysis of numerous issues such as marriage failure, marital in/stability, violence and abuse (specifically from male partners) and quality, functional marriages, and causes of marital dissatisfaction and marital breakdown in the texts. The study used a desk-top qualitative research and employed content analysis in the interpretation and analysis of the selected novels. The study observed that by analysing The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (2001) and The Uncertainty of Hope (2006) as compeers, served as living testimonies to some rich narratives, as the novels provide a coherent and common understanding of the growing complexity of marriage and family. The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (2001) and The Uncertainty of Hope manifest marital relationship issues in relation to society. The study findings revealed that the common understanding of marriage is a ubiquitous institution as it encompasses all cultures, races, ethnic group or religious formation. Moreover, the study further found that the common causes of marital dissatisfaction and marital breakdown were extra-marital affairs, abusive husbands, alcohol abuse, and in-laws’ interference among others. Extra-marital affairs were more prevalent amongst married men than married women. The study noted that from the evidence from a number of existing literary perspectives on marriage, it seems that for some, marriage turns out to be a loveless entrapment while for others, marriage is a one miserable long-life experience. The study also observed that there are sometimes satisfaction, stability and functional marriages. The study recommends that for the future, studies be carried out on the possibility of female abusive partners within marital relationships
Becoming reflective practitioners: Mathematics student teachers' experiences
No full textThe level of quality reflective practice remains low among student teachers majoring in Mathematics education. This paper aims to identify the levels of reflective practice possessed by Mathematics education student teachers in a teacher training program at higher learning institutions in Namibia. The professional status requires that teachers become reflective practitioners to develop their effectiveness- a skill they
can acquire during their training. A reflection framework was used to identify levels of reflective practices among Mathematics student teachers. This study is qualitative and employed a narrative inquiry approach to assess the effectiveness of reflective practice as experienced by student teachers. A total of ten third-year undergraduate students majoring in Mathematics Education participated in the study by generating reflective journals. The results show that student teachers have insufficient reflective skills which are limited to the first two levels of the reflection framework: technical reflection and reflection-in-andon-action. This could be due to little guidance offered on developing reflective skills and its use by student teachers. This study's findings will be used to improve the rationality, social and educational practices among the student teachers.
Keywords: Reflective practice, student teachers, Mathematics, teacher training progra
Methicillin-resistant staphylococci among school children in Mariental, Namibia
No full textMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics, while some strains are multi-drug resistant and may produce disease-causing toxins. Drug resistant strains are often responsible for chronic, persistent and recurrent infections, which pose a challenge for healthcare practitioners. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of nasal MRSA and methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MR- CoNS) among school children in the Mariental community, southern Namibia. This was a cross-sectional study in the Mariental District. Nasal specimens (swabs) were collected from 272 randomly selected learners aged 6–14 years attending school in the area during the months of March, September and October 2016. Isolation and identification of staphy- lococci were performed using standard microbiological methods. Methicillin-resistant iso- lates were identified by their resistance towards cefoxitin (30 μg) using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay. Enterotoxin production among multi-drug resistant MRSA isolates was detected with a SET-RPLA toxin detection kit. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was isolated from 48 (17.6%) learners and MRCoNS from only seven (2.6%). Methicillin-resistant S. au- reus colonization was significantly higher ( P = 0.003) in the age group 11–14 years than in the group 6–10 years. Among the 433 staphylococcal isolates screened for cefoxitin resis- tance, 51 (11.8%) were MRSA and seven (1.6%) were MRCoNS. From the 51 MRSA isolates, 22 (43.1%) were multi-drug resistant of which six were enterotoxigenic. This is the first report on MRSA and MRCoNS among school children in Namibia. The presence of multi- drug resistant and potentially virulent staphylococci among school children in Mariental, Namibia, is of concern. Self-infection by these bacteria poses various health risks for the children. It is recommended that school health programmes improve current hygiene prac- tices. Frequent handwashing can prevent staphylococcal disease and spread of resistant strains among learners and the wider community.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Next Einstein Initiative.
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (2468-2276/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Next Einstein Initiative. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Effects of different substrates as medium for mushrooms cultivation
No full textDifferent Mushrooms species prefer different substrates as growth medium. For example, medicinal mushrooms such as Shiitake, pearl and yellow oysters grow better on straws and gourmet. Reishi and Maitake grow better on sawdust and logs, whereas Agaricus mushrooms are grown on manure with the likes of button mushrooms, portobella mushrooms. As a result, mushrooms have gained interest around the world, not only because mushroom are easily cultivated using locally available agricultural waste, but also because mushrooms contribute to employment and reduce food scarcity, while meeting nutritional and health demands. In Namibia, mushroom cultivation is not well exploited due to various factors such as unfavourable climatic conditions and suitable mushroom strains. Different encroacher bushes and other related crop residues can be studied to establish the variation of mushroom nutrition and therapeutic properties as a result of mushrooms growing on different substrates. Therefore, the utilization of encroacher bushes locally could also contribute towards rangeland restoration and creating economic opportunities. This review aims at investigating the importance of mushrooms production at local levels using alternative materials as substrates in comparison to other countries as case studies