Objective: Among HIV infected individuals we examined whether having a co-occurring psychiatric d... more Objective: Among HIV infected individuals we examined whether having a co-occurring psychiatric disorder is associated with differential rates of discontinuation of HAART or clinical care relative to those without a psychiatric disorder. Methods: This is a study of medical record data of 5,946 patients in HIV care at 5 U.S. HIV sites with on-site mental health services (FY:2001-2006). Discrete time survival analysis was used to evaluate time from initiating HAART to discontinuation of HAART or clinical care. The predictor variable was presence or absence of a psychiatric diagnosis (Serious mental illness (SMI) vs. depression/anxiety vs. none). The analysis adjusted for demographic factors, injection drug use history and nadir CD4 count. Results: The majority of the sample was black or Hispanic (73.7%) and male (71.5%). Eight percent had a diagnosis of SMI and 25.1% had a diagnosis of depression/anxiety. Relative to those with no psychiatric disorders, the Hazard Probability for disc...
Continuous adherence to antipsychotic treatment is critical for individuals with schizophrenia to... more Continuous adherence to antipsychotic treatment is critical for individuals with schizophrenia to benefit optimally, yet studies have shown rates of antipsychotic discontinuation to be high with few differences across medications. We investigated discontinuation of selected first- and second-generation antipsychotics among individuals with schizophrenia receiving usual care in a VA healthcare network in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. We identified 2138 VA patients with schizophrenia who initiated antipsychotic treatment with one of five non-clozapine second-generation antipsychotics or either of the two most commonly prescribed first-generation agents between 1/2004 and 9/2006. The dependent variable was duration of continuous antipsychotic possession from the index prescription until the first gap of more than 45 days between prescriptions. We used the Cox proportional hazards model to compare the hazard of discontinuation among the seven antipsychotics controlling for patient demographic and clinical characteristics. The reference group was olanzapine. The majority of patients (84%) discontinued their index antipsychotic during the follow-up period (up to 33 months). In multivariable analysis, only risperidone had a significantly greater hazard of discontinuation compared to olanzapine (Adjusted hazard ratio=1.15, 95% CI: 1.02-1.30, p=.025). Younger age, non-white race, homelessness, substance use disorder, recent inpatient mental health hospitalization, and prescription of another antipsychotic were also associated with earlier discontinuation. Examination of a usual care sample of individuals with schizophrenia revealed short durations of antipsychotic use, with only risperidone having a shorter time to discontinuation than olanzapine. These findings demonstrate that current antipsychotic agents have limited overall acceptability by patients in usual care.
A genetic analysis of age of onset of alcoholism was performed on the Collaborative Study on the ... more A genetic analysis of age of onset of alcoholism was performed on the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism data released for Genetic Analysis Workshop 14. Our study illustrates an application of the log-normal age of onset model in our software Genetic Epidemiology Models (GEMs). The phenotype ALDX1 of alcoholism was studied. The analysis strategy was to first find the markers of the Affymetrix SNP dataset with significant association with age of onset, and then to perform linkage analysis on them. ALDX1 revealed strong evidence of linkage for marker tsc0041591 on chromosome 2 and suggestive linkage for marker tsc0894042 on chromosome 3. The largest separation in mean ages of onset of ALDX1 was 19.76 and 24.41 between male smokers who are carriers of the risk allele of tsc0041591 and the non-carriers, respectively. Hence, male smokers who are carriers of marker tsc0041591 on chromosome 2 have an average onset of ALDX1 almost 5 years earlier than non-carriers.
... Thank you for coming. By the way, is everybody here now? B: Ahm, Reverend, Emmanuel Owusu is ... more ... Thank you for coming. By the way, is everybody here now? B: Ahm, Reverend, Emmanuel Owusu is not here. ... As I also found out in the data collection process, different course mates address 'Rebecca Ama Ainoo', as either Ama, Rebecca, or Becky, and never Ainoo. ...
Recent discourse analytical studies have highlighted the importance of rhetorical moves in studen... more Recent discourse analytical studies have highlighted the importance of rhetorical moves in student writing. In this paper, I explore the rhetoric of introductions of examination essays written by second-year English students in a Ghanaian university. Drawing on a modified version of Swales' move analysis, I consider the generic structure and linguistic features of introductions. Analysis of the textual data pointed to three key findings. Firstly, the English Studies students do, in fact, introduce their essays, using a three-move rhetorical structure consisting of contextualizing, engaging closely with the examination prompt, and previewing the essay. Secondly, a two-sequence move pattern is preferred and Move 2 (engaging closely with prompt) occupies the greatest space for most students. The third finding relates to the use of personal pronouns, discourse verbs, and purpose expressions in the last move (previewing) of the introduction. These findings have important implications...
Studies have revealed differences and similarities in the generic structure and the linguistic en... more Studies have revealed differences and similarities in the generic structure and the linguistic encoding of gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements (DAs) in different socio-cultural settings. Whereas some studies have highlighted the role of disciplinarity, not all disciplines have been given equal attention. This study explores disciplinarity in the rhetoric of the acknowledgement section of Master's degree dissertations in three sub-disciplines of Education, namely, Guidance and Counselling, Educational Administration and Management, and Science and Mathematics Education. The study adapts Hyland's (2004) model of rhetorical analysis to examine 20 DAs form each of the three sub-disciplines. The findings show a linear three-move-structure, consisting of an initial optional reflecting move, an obligatory thanking move, and an optional concluding move, across the three sub-disciplines. Second, there are some differences in the frequency of occurrence of moves and steps acros...
In the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest among scholars in the issue of ide... more In the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest among scholars in the issue of identity in social domains such as academia, politics, religion, home, and workplace. Located in an academic setting, this study examines how university students express their ...
... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Depa... more ... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of ... Agyekum, K. (2003) Honorifics and status indexing in Akan communication ...
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2006
... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Depa... more ... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of ... Agyekum, K. (2003) Honorifics and status indexing in Akan communication ...
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2010
... Examples of such institutionalised names are Richmond Somuah, Kojo Kwaku Nyarku, Francisca At... more ... Examples of such institutionalised names are Richmond Somuah, Kojo Kwaku Nyarku, Francisca Atsupey Kudjordjie and Brenda Anita Alofah. ... Ebusuapanyin (head of family clan), Nana (grandparent, deferential title, or title for an Akan chief), (queen mother), Owura (Lord) and ...
Objective: Among HIV infected individuals we examined whether having a co-occurring psychiatric d... more Objective: Among HIV infected individuals we examined whether having a co-occurring psychiatric disorder is associated with differential rates of discontinuation of HAART or clinical care relative to those without a psychiatric disorder. Methods: This is a study of medical record data of 5,946 patients in HIV care at 5 U.S. HIV sites with on-site mental health services (FY:2001-2006). Discrete time survival analysis was used to evaluate time from initiating HAART to discontinuation of HAART or clinical care. The predictor variable was presence or absence of a psychiatric diagnosis (Serious mental illness (SMI) vs. depression/anxiety vs. none). The analysis adjusted for demographic factors, injection drug use history and nadir CD4 count. Results: The majority of the sample was black or Hispanic (73.7%) and male (71.5%). Eight percent had a diagnosis of SMI and 25.1% had a diagnosis of depression/anxiety. Relative to those with no psychiatric disorders, the Hazard Probability for disc...
Continuous adherence to antipsychotic treatment is critical for individuals with schizophrenia to... more Continuous adherence to antipsychotic treatment is critical for individuals with schizophrenia to benefit optimally, yet studies have shown rates of antipsychotic discontinuation to be high with few differences across medications. We investigated discontinuation of selected first- and second-generation antipsychotics among individuals with schizophrenia receiving usual care in a VA healthcare network in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. We identified 2138 VA patients with schizophrenia who initiated antipsychotic treatment with one of five non-clozapine second-generation antipsychotics or either of the two most commonly prescribed first-generation agents between 1/2004 and 9/2006. The dependent variable was duration of continuous antipsychotic possession from the index prescription until the first gap of more than 45 days between prescriptions. We used the Cox proportional hazards model to compare the hazard of discontinuation among the seven antipsychotics controlling for patient demographic and clinical characteristics. The reference group was olanzapine. The majority of patients (84%) discontinued their index antipsychotic during the follow-up period (up to 33 months). In multivariable analysis, only risperidone had a significantly greater hazard of discontinuation compared to olanzapine (Adjusted hazard ratio=1.15, 95% CI: 1.02-1.30, p=.025). Younger age, non-white race, homelessness, substance use disorder, recent inpatient mental health hospitalization, and prescription of another antipsychotic were also associated with earlier discontinuation. Examination of a usual care sample of individuals with schizophrenia revealed short durations of antipsychotic use, with only risperidone having a shorter time to discontinuation than olanzapine. These findings demonstrate that current antipsychotic agents have limited overall acceptability by patients in usual care.
A genetic analysis of age of onset of alcoholism was performed on the Collaborative Study on the ... more A genetic analysis of age of onset of alcoholism was performed on the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism data released for Genetic Analysis Workshop 14. Our study illustrates an application of the log-normal age of onset model in our software Genetic Epidemiology Models (GEMs). The phenotype ALDX1 of alcoholism was studied. The analysis strategy was to first find the markers of the Affymetrix SNP dataset with significant association with age of onset, and then to perform linkage analysis on them. ALDX1 revealed strong evidence of linkage for marker tsc0041591 on chromosome 2 and suggestive linkage for marker tsc0894042 on chromosome 3. The largest separation in mean ages of onset of ALDX1 was 19.76 and 24.41 between male smokers who are carriers of the risk allele of tsc0041591 and the non-carriers, respectively. Hence, male smokers who are carriers of marker tsc0041591 on chromosome 2 have an average onset of ALDX1 almost 5 years earlier than non-carriers.
... Thank you for coming. By the way, is everybody here now? B: Ahm, Reverend, Emmanuel Owusu is ... more ... Thank you for coming. By the way, is everybody here now? B: Ahm, Reverend, Emmanuel Owusu is not here. ... As I also found out in the data collection process, different course mates address 'Rebecca Ama Ainoo', as either Ama, Rebecca, or Becky, and never Ainoo. ...
Recent discourse analytical studies have highlighted the importance of rhetorical moves in studen... more Recent discourse analytical studies have highlighted the importance of rhetorical moves in student writing. In this paper, I explore the rhetoric of introductions of examination essays written by second-year English students in a Ghanaian university. Drawing on a modified version of Swales' move analysis, I consider the generic structure and linguistic features of introductions. Analysis of the textual data pointed to three key findings. Firstly, the English Studies students do, in fact, introduce their essays, using a three-move rhetorical structure consisting of contextualizing, engaging closely with the examination prompt, and previewing the essay. Secondly, a two-sequence move pattern is preferred and Move 2 (engaging closely with prompt) occupies the greatest space for most students. The third finding relates to the use of personal pronouns, discourse verbs, and purpose expressions in the last move (previewing) of the introduction. These findings have important implications...
Studies have revealed differences and similarities in the generic structure and the linguistic en... more Studies have revealed differences and similarities in the generic structure and the linguistic encoding of gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements (DAs) in different socio-cultural settings. Whereas some studies have highlighted the role of disciplinarity, not all disciplines have been given equal attention. This study explores disciplinarity in the rhetoric of the acknowledgement section of Master's degree dissertations in three sub-disciplines of Education, namely, Guidance and Counselling, Educational Administration and Management, and Science and Mathematics Education. The study adapts Hyland's (2004) model of rhetorical analysis to examine 20 DAs form each of the three sub-disciplines. The findings show a linear three-move-structure, consisting of an initial optional reflecting move, an obligatory thanking move, and an optional concluding move, across the three sub-disciplines. Second, there are some differences in the frequency of occurrence of moves and steps acros...
In the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest among scholars in the issue of ide... more In the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest among scholars in the issue of identity in social domains such as academia, politics, religion, home, and workplace. Located in an academic setting, this study examines how university students express their ...
... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Depa... more ... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of ... Agyekum, K. (2003) Honorifics and status indexing in Akan communication ...
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2006
... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Depa... more ... Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Joseph Benjamin Archibald Afful, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of ... Agyekum, K. (2003) Honorifics and status indexing in Akan communication ...
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2010
... Examples of such institutionalised names are Richmond Somuah, Kojo Kwaku Nyarku, Francisca At... more ... Examples of such institutionalised names are Richmond Somuah, Kojo Kwaku Nyarku, Francisca Atsupey Kudjordjie and Brenda Anita Alofah. ... Ebusuapanyin (head of family clan), Nana (grandparent, deferential title, or title for an Akan chief), (queen mother), Owura (Lord) and ...
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