Mak IR Repository (Makerere University)
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Evaluation of library services at Bugema University, Uganda
No full textA research dissertation submitted to the College of Computing and Information Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Degree of Master of Science in Information Science of Makerere UniversityThis study evaluated library services at Bugema University, Luweero District, Uganda. The objectives of the study were: finding out the existing library services provided at Bugema University for enhanced user satisfaction, evaluate the level of users’ satisfaction of library services at Bugema University, examine the challenges faced in provision of library services by Bugema University library and propose strategies to improve services provided at Bugema University library.The study used mixed method research approach and adopted explanatory sequential design because it helped in identifying and explaining the kinds of factors responsible for the variables under investigation. The target population was 3630 student library users and sample size of 346 was drawn using Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table. Respondents were picked using convenient sampling method where by questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. for qualitative data, interview guide for key informants and observation guide were used. The study key findings revealed that majority of respondents were female and Bachelor’s students. Findings showed book lending services, reference services, internet services, reprographics services, e- resources, current awareness, research assistance and reading facility services as services provided by the library. Results further revealed library facilities, library support effectiveness and reliability with high user’s satisfaction. Challenges faced by library were outdated resources, lack of qualified staff, poor internet services, lack of library management system, few computers and limited space. Suggested strategies were; having book reserves at school departments, increasing bandwidth for internet to speed and WIFI hot spots on campus, prioritize library needs, train library users, recruit more qualified staff and weed-out all out-dated textbooks. In conclusion, though findings revealed high user satisfaction in library effectiveness and reliability, there are some persistent challenges of poor internet services, limited equipment and space together with lack of poor library management system therefore, the university Administration should give priority in all its requirement as it’s the main source of knowledge in education service provision
Socioeconomic Status, Parenting Styles and Alcohol Use among Adolescents in Bishop Cyprian Secondary School in Nakawa Division, Kampala
No full textA Research Dissertation Submitted to the School of Psychology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Master of Clinical Psychology Degree of Makerere UniversityThe study examined the relationship between Social Economic Status, Parenting Styles and alcohol Use among school going adolescents. A correlational study design with quantitative data collection methods were used to assess adolescents (N-382) aged 12 to 18 years at Bishop Cypriano Secondary schools. Data were collected through self-report questionnaire and analyzed using Pearson-correlation analysis using SPSS. The results revealed that there was no significant relationship between socio-economic status, parenting styles and alcohol use (P > .05) among school going adolescents. Over all, the study findings do not refute the fact that there is an alcohol use predicament with in urban school going adolescents. These results rather reveal that SES and parenting styles do not meaningfully impact adolescent alcohol consumption, emphasizing the need to explore other contributing factors, such as peer influence and community norms. A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported data, which may have introduced bias among the participants; thus, future research ought to consider using mixed methods to enhance the data accuracy
Effect of indirect taxes on trade in Sub-Saharan Africa
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Degree of Master of Arts in Economics of Makerere UniversityThe study explores the effect of indirect taxes on trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. The motivation of this study results from the adoption of Tax Reforms through the IMF and World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which involved the restructuring of taxes from international trade taxes towards domestic revenue mobilization to finance economic growth of Sub- Saharan Africa. The System GMM estimator was utilized with a sample of 40 Sub-Saharan countries over the period of 1990 to 2022. Data was sourced from the World Development Indicators and UN-Wider Government Revenue Dataset. The results reveal that total indirect taxes reduce trade of Sub-Saharan African countries. Specifically, results also show that import duty reduces their trade. However, Value Added Tax is associated with an increase in trade of Sub-Saharan Africa. This is because VAT is a destination-based tax charged on essential goods and services, an extra increase in VAT may not necessarily reduce the demand of this good but rather the rate at which the good is demanded and given the import-based nature of Sub-Saharan African economies, consumers’ demand of a good due to increase in VAT may not decrease the consumption of that commodity because it is scarce hence producers will continue to import such commodities. The study recommends that Sub-Saharan African governments carefully ascertain the types of taxes imposed on goods and services in order not to affect their trade negatively.
Keywords: Indirect taxes, Tax Reforms, Trade, Sub-Saharan Africa
A methodology for retracing parcel boundaries established using fit for purpose land Administration techniques in Uganda.
No full textA final year project report submitted to the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Science in Geo-information Science and Technology of Makerere University.The Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration (FFP LA) concept offers a cost-effective, rapid, and adaptable alternative to traditional land administration, enabling developing countries to adjudicate, map, and register land rights comprehensively. However, retracing parcel boundaries, a crucial aspect of Land Administration, has not received adequate attention, leaving FFP LA vulnerable to unresolved land disputes and impeding its benefits. This research aims to develop a methodology for retracing boundaries established using three FFP LA techniques in Uganda: handheld Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite imagery embedded into a tablet, and an ortho-photo embedded into a tablet.
The methodology involved direct field measurements of 15 randomly selected parcels using three Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration (FFP LA) techniques in Kisoro, Mityana, and Kabale districts. Consistency was assessed through repeated measurements on each parcel using the same technique as during initial registration, with discrepancies in location, area, and shape identified through GIS overlay. To evaluate the feasibility of using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) for retracing boundaries, parcel boundary data was collected, and geodetic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was utilized.
Results for the first objective showed average positional variations of 3.29m, 3.26m, and 2.68m for satellite imagery, handheld GPS, and ortho-photo methods, respectively, with parcel areas ranging from 0.01 to 0.04 acres for handheld GPS and ortho-photo, and 0.01 to 0.03 acres for satellite imagery. For the second objective, positional variations of 5.72m, 8.29m, and 9.44m were recorded for parcels retraced using handheld GPS, satellite imagery, and ortho-photo. The third objective demonstrated that using original data for retracing preserved parcel areas and shapes while point position deviations ranged from 0.55m to 6.88m.
In conclusion, the study found that conventional surveying methods were not feasible for retracing boundaries due to significant positional deviations. It recommends using the same FFP LA techniques for retracing, alongside participatory community mapping, to ensure accurate boundary re-establishment. Further research on CADASTA, which integrates satellite imagery and a single-frequency receiver, is also advised
Time to discharge and associated predictors among preterm neonates admitted in Kiwoko hospital, Nakaseke district, Uganda
No full textA dissertation submitted to the directorate of graduate research training in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a Degree of Master of Statistics of Makerere UniversityBackground; Every year an estimated 13.4 million babies are born preterm. Due to their complications, they contribute to about 35% of neonatal deaths globally. Assessing the time to discharge and the associated predictors among preterm neonates hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can enhance health care course and plan effective interventions to maximize early preterm neonatal discharges while alive and as well contribute to achieving SDG 3.2 target. Methods; A prospective cohort study based on secondary data was carried out from Kiwoko hospital with a sample of 847 preterm neonates analyzed. Cumulative incidence function was used to estimate the probability of preterm neonates completing the 28 days of follow-up in the NICU while a sub distribution hazard regression model of competing risk events was used to assess the associated predictors of time to discharge. Results; Of the 847 preterm admissions, 594 were discharged within 28 days, 165 were not and 88 of them died during follow-up. The probability of completing the 28 days was 68% and overall, 70.1% of the preterm neonates were discharged alive within the period. The 14th day from admission was the median discharge time. With the sub distribution hazard analysis, factors including place of delivery (SHR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.73), very preterm (SHR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.22), moderate preterm (SHR:0.59; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.76), extreme preterm (SHR: 0.05; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.93), triplets (SHR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.68), 2-4 ANC visits (SHR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.87), ≤1 ANC visits (SHR:0.64; 95% CI:0.49, 0.85), positive preterm respiratory distress syndrome status (SHR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.74), and preterm trauma status (SHR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.60, 4.9) were associated with time to discharge. Conclusion and recommendations; There was reduced likelihood of early discharge among preterm neonates diagnosed with RDS, those whose mothers had ≤1 ANC visits, those from other hospitals and places of residence. It was hence recommended that mothers attend at least 5 ANC visits to help identify probable complications of both the mother and baby for safe delivery and the government to establish NICU departments in several other health centers
Prediction of photosynthetically active radiation in Kampala, Uganda using artificial neural networks.
No full textA Research Dissertation submitted to the School of Physical Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Physics of Makerere University.In this research, we formulated seven models to forecast photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) in Uganda based on artificial neural networks. Our models incorporated sunshine hours, global solar radiation, and clearness index as input parameters. The
dataset utilized for model training and validation spanned five years, from 2010 to 2017, excluding 2013 and 2014 due to insufficient data. The study was conducted at Makerere University’s Department of Physics in Kampala, situated at coordinates 0.35 ◦ N and 32.58 ◦ E. The global solar radiation data was obtained using the CMP6 Pyranometer, the sunshine hours data was obtained using the CSD3 sensor while the PAR data was obtained using the NILU UV radiometer all of which are already installed at the physics Department. We employed Feed Forward-Back Propagation networks and trained them using the Steepest-Descent, Levenberg-Marquardt, and Adam training algorithms. A configuration with twenty(20) neurons proved suitable for training the model when all three parameters were used as inputs. We tested activation functions like Tan-sigmoid,rectified linear unit, and log-sigmoid in the hidden layer, while the output layer employed the linear transfer function. Tan-sigmoid exhibited superior performance across all models. Subsequently, we compared predicted and measured values of photosynthetically
active radiation during the training and testing phases. The testing results revealed high positive correlation coefficients of 0.985, 0.970, 0.934, and 0.982 for clearness index, sunshine hours, and global solar radiation, respectively. Mean bias errors were determined as 0.003 MJm −2 day −1 , 0.004 MJm −2 day −1 , 0.031 MJm −2 day −1 , and 0.066 MJm −2 day −1 .Corresponding root mean square errors were 0.044 MJm −2 day −1 , 0.060 MJm −2 day −1 ,0.088 MJm −2 day −1 , and 0.046 MJm −2 day −1 . To underscore the effectiveness of our developed ANN prediction model, we compared it with an empirical model proposed by
Jacovides et al.2003 for predicting photosynthetically active radiation at the same study site. The empirical model demonstrated correlation coefficients of 0.982 between photosynthetically active radiation and global solar radiation, with mean bias errors and root mean square errors of 1.062 MJm −2 day −1 and 0.955 MJm −2 day −1 , respectively. This comparison highlights the superior performance of our ANN prediction model over the empirical one
Does public investment matter for energy supply? evidence from Uganda
No full textA research report submitted to the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Economic Policy and Planning of Makerere UniversityThis study examines the effect of public investment in energy supply in Uganda, using quarterly time series data spanning 2009Q1 to 2021Q2. The study findings identify a positive and significant relationship between public investment and energy supply, revealing that a 1% increase in public investment leads to a 0.191% increase in energy supply. Furthermore, inflation exhibited a negative impact on the energy supply, with a 1% increase in inflation correlating to a 4.6% reduction in the energy supply. In addition, the implementation of monetary policy and the Public Investment Management System (PIMS) reforms were found to significantly increase energy supply, contributing to an 18.6% increase and a 15.0% increase for every 1% increase in its utilization, respectively. In addition, the urban population growth rate positively influenced the energy supply, with a 1% increase corresponding to a 0.429 % increase in energy supply. The study recommends that policymakers enhance transparency and efficiency in budget allocations in the energy sector, develop inflation management strategies to stabilize the energy sector and prioritize the continued adoption and integration of PIMS for improved governance and sustainable energy supply
Factors influencing antibiotic prescribing behavior among clinicians in selected public and private-not-for-profit hospitals in the Central Region of Uganda
No full textA research dissertation submitted to the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DRGT) in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the award of the Degree of Master of Public Health of Makerere University KampalaThe emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to public health. Current efforts are geared towards optimal use of antibiotics. However, very few are directed towards addressing the prescribing behavior of clinicians. This study aimed to identify the factors that influence antibiotic prescribing behavior among clinicians in public and private-not-for profit facilities in the central region of Uganda. To describe the factors influencing antibiotic prescribing behavior among clinicians in public and private-not-for profit facilities in the central region of Uganda. Inpatient and outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in two public and two private-not-for-profit facilities at general and regional referral hospital levels were reviewed to describe antibiotic prescribing behavior. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to clinicians to ascertain their level of awareness of AMR. A chi-square test for independence and other non-parametric tests were used to identify differences in awareness and behavior between the facilities, and groups by level of care and ownership. In-depth interviews were conducted among the clinicians to identify the factors that influence the intention to prescribe antibiotics and the choice of antibiotics. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to identify the emerging themes. Five hundred ninety-four (594) antibiotic prescriptions were reviewed in all four hospitals. There was a significant difference in the adherence to the 2016 UCG among the individual facilities (p=0.002). Adherence to these guidelines was higher in public facilities than the PNFPs (p=0.012) and higher for the regional referral hospitals than the general hospitals (p=0.004). Twenty-eight clinicians participated in the survey; the mean awareness score was highest for the regional referrals and lowest for general hospitals. There was, no significant difference among the individual facilities (p=0.0816) or by level of care (p=1.039) and by ownership (0.9617). The factors influencing antibiotic prescribing included aspects of the individual clinician such as access to information during pre-service and in-service training, approval by their colleagues and seniors, perceived risks to the patient and their perceived ability to address irrational antibiotic use
and their attitude towards change given the environment in which they work. The factors fostered by the facility and the health system at large included: availability of diagnostic services, availability platforms for continuous medical education, availability of enough staff to manage the patient load. Overall, this study shows that despite being aware of AMR, the prescribing behavior of clinicians in the central region is largely irrational and there are no evident differences in prescribing behavior among facilities by level of care or by ownership. The main factors influencing prescribing behavior are associated with the individual’s ability to diagnose and treat a patient based on their training, influence from peers, and the availability of diagnostic services and essential medicine
Quantitative reservoir characterization using rock physics, seismic and geological constraints – examples from Semliki Basin in Albertine Graben, Western Uganda
No full textA Thesis submitted to the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Makerere University.The Albertine Graben located in the Western arm of the East African Rift System holds Uganda’s oil and gas discoveries. The Semliki basin has not yet yielded the government of Uganda with commercial quantities of oil and gas. In this basin, there is lack of a clear understanding of the lateral distribution of the reservoir properties (porosity, saturation and lithology). This study utilized rock physics modeling together with rock physics templates and inverse rock physics modeling to delineate reservoir properties. The two rock physics models namely; the patchy constant cemented model and the constant cement model described the Upper
Pliocene Formation and Upper Miocene Formation respectively. The analysis revealed high sandstone bulk modulus values attributed to the presence of feldspars, micas, and calcareous clays in the reservoir units. The rock physics templates of Vp/Vs ratio versus acoustic impedance indicate 5% gas for the Upper Miocene Formation and 50% gas for the Upper Pliocene
Formation. In both Formations, three lithological zones interpreted as gas sand, brine sand, and shaly sand were observed. Also, the Upper Miocene Formation data were compared with selected regions of Turaco 2 and Turaco 3 that indicated a perfect match within the plots of Vp data with Vp modelled Kanywataba well data. This indicates that, the three wells are in the same or related environment and a compaction regime. The Upper Miocene Formation indicates the presence of a chemical compaction regime which implies, that it has undergone diagenesis. The evidence from logs indicates higher velocities, lower porosity, and some amount of cementation associated with this Formation. The Inverse rock physics modelling constrained by seismic inversion data takes into account non-uniqueness and data error propagation issues. The procedures are designed to obtain the most likely estimate mean, weighted mean and posterior mean of the reservoir properties and there is a good match between measured and modelled porosity data. Fluid saturation data were less successfully predicted, but this was most probably a result of lack of real saturation logs for use in the calibration of the rock physics model. A misfit between observed and predicted lithology is attributed to the uncertainties in defining the mineral properties. The integrated approach reveals that a high fraction of porosities correlated with the low fraction clay volumes and this indicates two distinct reservoir units interpreted as Oluka and Kakara Formations
Determinants of under-five mortality in Uganda
No full textA dissertation submitted to the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Degree of Master of Arts in Economics of Makerere UniversityReducing under-five mortality is a key target of public health policies in many developing countries and is also viewed as an indicator of the economic development. Globally, under-five mortality rates have declined over the past decade due to various efforts and strides to improve the mortality rates for the purpose of attain SDG goal 3.2 of at least 25 per 1000 live births. Despite the various efforts to lower the mortality rate in Uganda, the under-five mortality rate is still unacceptably high compared to the SDG 3.2 target. The under-five mortality rate fell from 90 per 1000 live births in 2011 to 64 in 2016 and 52 per 1000 live births in 2022. One can argue that Uganda has registered an improvement in reducing under-five mortality but it has remained unclear in existing literature why the under-five mortality rate has remained high above the SDG target. Thus, this study aimed to determine the factors that affect under-five mortality in Uganda.
Using a Logistic regression and Cox regression on 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) dataset, the study demonstrates that the education of the mother, age of the mother, more than 4 ANC visits, female-born child and desire for more children had a negative relationship with under-five mortality. Borehole as a source of drinking water, higher birth order and never breastfed had a positive relationship with under-five mortality.
The study findings imply that to reduce under-five mortality, health workers should sensitise pregnant women about the importance of having more than four ANC visits, encourage them to exclusively breastfeed their babies, and use more effective family planning methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies and have few children. Teenage pregnancies and marriages should be avoided as they contribute to under-five mortality. The government should also lay strategies to increase the enrolment and retention of female children at the primary and secondary school levels and extend cleaner and safer piped water services to households and the general public.
Key Words: Under-five mortality, Antenatal Care, survival analysis, Cox regression, logistic regression