ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Monoaminergic and L-arginine-no-cGMP pathways mediate the antidepressant–like action of alkaloids from the stem bark of Trichilia monadelpha

Background: The role of L-arginine-nitric oxide-cGMP and monoamine pathways in the pathophysiology of depression and as target for antidepressant drugs is well documented. Previously, we reported that Trichilia monadelpha possesses antidepressant activity. In that study, total alkaloids (ALK) from T. monadelpha showed greatest activity when compared with other phytochemicals. The mechanism of action for ALK in this previous study was, however, not elucidated. Objective: The current study investigated the involvement of the monoaminergic and L- arginine-NO-cGMP pathways in the antidepressant action of ALK. Materials and methods: The modiﬁed forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice were used as models to investigate the involvement of the monoaminer- gic and L-arginine-NO-cGMP pathways in the antidepressant action of ALK. ALK doses of 30-300 mg/kg, p.o. were administered to mice. Experimental process involved pre-treating mice with para-chlorophenylalanine [pCPA] (200 mg/kg, i.p.); cyproheptadine (80 mg/kg, i.p.); reserpine (1 mg/kg, s.c.); methyldopa (200 mg/kg, i.p.); and reserpine (1 mg/kg, s.c.) concomitantly administered with methyldopa (200 mg/kg, i.p.), prazosin (3 mg/kg, p.o.) and yohimbine (3 mg/kg, p.o.). NO pathway was assessed by pre-treating mice with L-arginine (750 mg/kg, i.p.), NG -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester [L-NAME] (30 mg/kg, i.p.), methylene blue (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and sildenaﬁl (5 mg/kg, i.p.). Results: The antidepressant-like action of ALK was reversed by pCPA, methyldopa and/or reserpine. Similarly, cyproheptadine was found to decrease the antidepressant-like action of ALK, while a synergistic effect was observed with yohimbine, but not prazosin. The antidepressant-like action of ALK was also decreased by L-arginine and sildenaﬁl. In con- trast, a synergistic effect was observed with pre-treatment of L-NAME and methylene blue. Conclusion: The monoaminergic systems and L-arginine-NO-cGMP pathways were found to mediate the antidepressant-like action of ALK.

Source: UCC
A Monte Carlo comparison of minimum description length model selection criteria for asymmetric price transmission models

The Minimum Description Length (MDL) provides an attractive basis for statistical inference and model selection. However, little is known about the relative performance of its different formulations in Asymmetric Price Transmission (APT) modelling framework. To explore these issues, the study investigates different formulations of the MDL against commonly used alternatives (AIC and BIC) in terms of their ability to recover the true asymmetric data generating process (DGP) under various models, error sizes, asymmetric adjustment parameters and sample size conditions. Monte Carlo simulations results indicate that the performance of model selection method depend on sample size, level of asymmetry, noise levels and model complexity. The results further indicate that the different formulation of MDL, AIC and BIC all points to the true data generating process and clearly identifies the true model. In larger samples, rMDL is comparable to BIC and outperforms gMDL, nMDL, eMDL and AIC. At higher noise levels, AIC is comparable to eMDL and outperforms gMDL, nMDL, rMDL and BIC. AIC is comparable to nMDL and outperforms rMDL, gMDL, eMDL and BIC at strong levels of asymmetry. Empirically, application of a more complex model or increase in the number of asymmetric adjustment parameters improves the recovery of the true data generating process by the model selection methods. These results suggest that MDLs are very reliable and useful criteria in Asymmetric Price Transmission modelling. To achieve optimal APT linear models, one should always aim at stronger levels of asymmetry, lower noise and moderate to large samples

Source: UCC
Moral challenges of the youth in the Awutu Efutu community: Social and religious significance

In this contemporary and complex world youth face all kinds of problems and challenges, especially with moral issues. The youth of Awutu Efutu Community are no exception. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to draw attention to the moral challenges that youth in the Awutu Efutu Community face. The researcher therefore identified the causes of indiscipline among the youth of the Awutu-Efutu traditional community. Evaluation of the role of traditional moral values was made and traditional and religious practices that could be harnessed and adapted to solving moral problems among youth of Awutu-Efutu was done. To achieve these objectives a pilot study was done in the Winneba area. The qualitative method for research was used. This methodology was chosen for the fact that the study was basically and essentially societal: issues concerning an identified population and community. Support for the methodology chosen is obtained from Bryman (2001, p.506) who says, “...qualitative research usually emphasizes words rather than qualifications in the collection and analysis of data” I found out that their misdemeanours stemmed mostly from poor home training, peer group pressure, ineffective guidance and counselling, ineffective moral training in school, indulgent home and school environment, and faulty social and religious practices. My conclusion was that much attention and effort ought to be given to the training of the adult of tomorrow who is the youth of today, and it must start at home, with the use of the formal and non-formal methods of moral education.

Source: UCC
Moral decadence in second cycle public schools in Asante Akyem North district

The study investigated two main issues; the types, causes and effects of immorality among students in the Second Cycle Institutions and the solutions to the problems of immorality among students in the various Second Cycle Institutions in the Asante Akyem North District. The research design used for the study is a descriptive survey. The decision to use the descriptive survey is based on the fact that this research is non-experimental as it deals with describing the existing conditions rather than manipulation of variables. The study revealed that the causes of immorality among students are both hereditary and the environment. The environmental causes include peer pressure, mass media and internet, the economic conditions in the country among others. The work also revealed that immorality among students has both immediate and future repercussions on the student and the society as a whole. The effects of immorality includes; physical, social, health repercussions. The study identify various ways to solve the problem such as inviting role models and prominent people in the community into the schools to give talks and share their personal experiences and the way to success with the students. The role models included the old students, chiefs, queen mothers, revenered ministers and others. Equally, the schools should reward well behaved students to encourage others to emulate.

Source: UCC
Moral Education and the Curriculum: the Ghanaian Experience

Moral Education is provided by major institutions within the civil society. The social institutions include the family, religious bodies, the mass media and the school. This paper examined the nature of Moral Education that has been provided in the Ghanaian basic schools during the pre-colonial period (1820 up to 1850), the colonial period (1851-1956) and the post-colonial period (1957-2017). A theoretical framework was provided for the study based on three approaches to moral education, namely: Indoctrinative approach, Romanticist approach and Cognitive-Structural approach. A content analysis of educational policy documents and interviews were used for the collection of data. The findings of the research revealed that one of the colonial policies that promoted Moral Education in Ghana was the teaching of morality in public schools based on Christianity, using the Indoctrinative approach. However, this religious approach to morality changed to secular approach during the post-colonial period in Ghana, due to the pluralistic nature of the Ghanaian society. This led to the introduction of “Moral Teaching”, “Civics” and later “Citizenship Education”. The study welcomed the current policy of separating Religious Education from Moral Education by introducing the teaching of “Civic and Moral Education” and “Religious Studies” at the Colleges of Education, as proposed by the National Council for Tertiary Education. It finally recommended that the Department of Arts Education of the University of Cape Coast began to train teachers who will teach these two courses at the Colleges of Education level. This will equip the teacher trainees with the pedagogical knowledge and skills required for the effective implementation of this new Moral Education programme in Ghanaian basic schools.

Source: UCC
Moral Justification for War; An Appraisal of the Just War Theory

This dissertation seeks to critically examine the moral justification for war in order to have a deeper understanding of justice and morality of war. Unlike natural disasters, war is traditionally viewed as an extreme activity in human social failure. The prodigious majority of theorists addressing questions of the morality of war do so from within the moral framework provided by Just War Theory; a normative account of war that dates back over 1500 years in the Western Philosophical Tradition. Recent events in the conduct of wars around the world have, however, called into question the relevance and appropriateness of the just war theory for contemporary wars. For example, during recent wars, morality and virtue have no place in society. This work shall explore some of the major theorists in the history of Western Just War Theory (St Thomas Aquinas and Augustine) showing that the ancestors of Just War Theory did consider in particular the moral virtues and ethical principles to be of central importance to the morality of war. In this work I shall critically examine the notion of a just war with a discussion of various formulations of the realist's and pacifist's positions and argue that though the just war tradition provides a reasonable alternative to either of these extremes, its glaring deficiencies (inability of the theory to address the rise of non-state actors such as al- Qaeda, increasing availability of weapons of mass destruction, etc) ought not to be overlooked. Finally, I shall hold that the theory of the just war is today outmoded, unpractical, unrealistic and flawed especially if one wishes to preserve a moral constraint on war.

Source: UCC
A more complete definition for promiscuous soybean

Following a series of research on promiscuous nodulation, it came out that it is incomplete to define ‘promiscuous soybean’ as soybean cultivars with the sole ability to form nodules freely with indigenous Bradyrhizobium strains without requiring the specific type, Bradyrhizobium japonicum. This paper proposes a more complete definition which caters for both nodulation and biological nitrogen fixation ability

Source: UCC
Moringa oleifera Leaf Extracts Modulate Biochemical Alteration Associated with Cisplatin-induced Acute Hepatic Injury in Wistar Rats

Background and Objective: Interest in Moringa oleifera continues to increases rapidly because of the widely acclaimed effectiveness of this plant against diverse disease conditions in folk medicine. The present study investigated the therapeutic potential of aqueous and methanol leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera (AEMO and MEMO) against hepatotoxicity induced by cisplatin in rats. Materials and Methods: Different groups of cisplatin (7.5 mg kgG1, i.p.) intoxicated rats were treated separately with physiological saline (10 mL kgG1), AEMO (50 mg kgG1), AEMO (100 mg kgG1), MEMO (50 mg kgG1) or MEMO (100 mg kgG1). Separate groups of normal rats also received physiological saline (10 mL kgG1), AEMO (100 mg kgG1) or MEMO (100 mg kgG1). Treatments were administered orally for five consecutive days. Animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation 24 h after last treatment (i.e. on the 6th day). Blood sample was collected by cardiac puncture and plasma separated for assessment of hepatic function. Liver was excised, homogenized and also used for other biochemical analysis. Data was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) for inter-group comparisons. Results: Cisplatin significantly elevated markers of liver function [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG)] and increased liver weight. This hepatic injury was associated with elevation in malondialdehyde together with diminished activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione-s-transferase and superoxide dismutase) and glutathione (GSH) concentration. TC, TG, catalase activity and liver weight improved significantly in the cisplatin intoxicated rats following treatment with AEMO. Although, MEMO (100 mg kgG1) increased AST activity and TC of normal rats, the extract (50 and 100 mg kgG1) significantly improved the lipid profile of cisplatin-treated rats. Similarly, glutathione-s-transferase, catalase, TC and liver weight of cisplatin intoxicated rats significantly improved after treatment with MEMO (50 and 100 mg kgG1). Conclusion: Overall, data show that AEMO and MEMO ameliorated some aspects of cisplatin-mediated hepatotoxicity suggesting potential therapeutic benefit against liver injury when employed in appropriate doses.

Source: UCC
Morpho-physiological evaluation of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) genotypes in acidic soil

An experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Department of Crop Botany and Tea Production Technology, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh during July-December, 2013 to evaluate the morphological attributes and yield performances of nine genotypes of sweet potato in acidic soil. Among the genotypes, seven were Japanese viz. JSP-1, JSP-2, JSP-3, JSP-4, JSP-5, JSP-6, JSP-7 and two were Bangladeshi like BARI SP-7 and BARI SP-9. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The results revealed that the genotypes varied considerably in the morphological characters at all growth stages and yield attributing characters. Among all the genotypes, the highest number (6.53), length (10.80 cm), diameter (3.35 cm) and yield (22.83 t haG1) of storage root was recorded in BARI SP-7 followed by JSP-3 which was 5.35, 9.67 cm, 3.28 cm and 20.96 t haG1, respectively. On the other hand, BARI SP-9 showed the longest vine length, highest vine number plant1 which were 298.7 cm and 6.60, respectively but yield was third highest amounting 19.37 t haG1. All the Japanese varieties except JSP-3 were not suitable for the acidic soil condition of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Therefore, the genotypes BARI SP-7 and JSP-3 were found suitable for their better growth and yield performance in acidic soils

Source: UCC
A morpho-semantic analysis of Mfantse neologisms in some radio stations in the Central Region

This thesis sought to investigate the semantics and morphology of Mfantse neologisms, to highlight the most common word formation process used in their formation, the neologism type common in Mfantse and the meanings that are attributed to these neologisms since neologisms form a highly relevant linguistic category for such reasons as follows: they are the elements that make a language living and dynamic rather than dead, they are indicative of language change and they help to show productive morphology of a language. A thematic analysis of eighty Mfantse neologisms collected from four radio stations in the Central Region by the processes of psychology, lexicography and interview methods of neologism identification was done to Digitized by Sam Jonah Library © University of Cape Coastiv show the characteristics of such neologisms. Stekauer’s (2002) onomasiological theory of word formation formed the theoretical basis for the study. The study showed that compounds are the most common in Mfantse neologisms. The most common word class that neologisms belong to is the class of noun. Morphological neologisms are the neologism types common in Mfantse. It was also revealed that native speakers face comprehension problems. However, the context of usage of neologisms aids their comprehension. Given the important role neologisms play in language development, it is recommended that a further study on the acceptability of these neologisms be conducted to assist lexicographers to in updating their dictionaries.

Source: UCC
Morphological and genetic diversity of persea americana mill. (avocado) using microsatellites in the Ashanti and Central regions of Ghana

Avocado (Persia americana Mill) is a nutritious economic tree crop with cultivations scattered all over the country. A study was conducted to assess its distribution, uses and the morphological and genetic diversity of the crop in the Ashanti and Central Regions of Ghana. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in 14 districts, while morphological and genetic diversities were determined among the accessions in eight districts. Microsatellites markers were used for genetic diversity studies. Growth of the plant was better in the Ashanti Region than in the Central Region and it thrived best in old cocoa farms. The crop was mainly cultivated on a small scale. Parts of the plant were used for various medicinal and economic purposes. Morphologically, they were mainly of Western Indian origin. However, accessions from the Ashanti Region more diverse in the plant and fruit characters compared to the Central Region. Microsatellites analyses revealed 115 different amplification fragments, ranging from 5 to 22 alleles per locus, with an average of 11.5 alleles per locus. All the microsatellites were highly informative, with both genetic diversity and polymorphic informative content (PIC) higher than 0.5. Using the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA), the genotypes were clustered into seven major groups. The wide genetic diversity among the accessions indicates that there is a wide genetic base for improvement of the crop through breeding and selection in Ghana.

Source: UCC
Morphological and molecular based diversity studies of some cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) germplasm in Ghana

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food crop in many tropical countries in Africa, South America and Asia. However, yields are below the productivity of the crop. This requires breeding and selection for improved varieties. The current study therefore investigated genetic diversity among some Ghanaian preferred accessions which could be used for breeding purposes. Genetic diversity of 43 cassava accessions was determined using 14 morphological descriptors and 20 SSR primer pairs. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the first three principal components accounted for 72.7% of the total variation with PCA1, PCA2 and PCA contributing 46.6, 14.7 and 11.4%, respectively. The size of amplified alleles ranged from 75 to 350 bp, most of which were closed to the published values. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.07 for SSRY181 to 0.75 for SSRY175, with an average of 0.52. Gene diversity was high and the average observed heterozygosity was 0.77. Both morphological descriptors and SSR markers were able to group the accessions into distinct clusters independent of locality of collection. However, where the morphological descriptors indicated some accessions were the same, SSRs markers were able to distinguish them into distinct genotypes with some located in different clusters. The wider genetic diversity observed using SSR markers would be valuable for efficient management of germplasm and for effective utilization of materials in breeding programmes to produce hybrids of desirable characteristics. Therefore, the application of morphological descriptors in management of germplasm should be backed by the use of molecular markers

Source: UCC
Morphological Awareness And Vocabulary Knowledge Of Preservice Teachers Of The English Language At The University Of Cape Coast

This study examined the morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge of preservice teachers of the English language at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). The embedded mixed methods design underpinned by pragmatism was utilised for the study. Diagnostic and proficiency tests were administered using the census approach to elicit quantitative data from 152 B. Ed Arts (English) students from the Department of Arts Education, UCC. The datasets were analysed using descriptive (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson Product Moment Correlation, t-statistic, ANOVA and Chi-square) statistics. Overall, findings from the Morphological Awareness Test, Vocabulary Size Test and TOEFL Writing Test revealed that the preservice teachers: (1) possessed medium morphological awareness levels, with lower morphological structure awareness, (2) had low receptive vocabulary repertoire and (3) possessed inadequate productive vocabulary knowledge levels. Again, the study confirmed a linear relationship between morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. As part of the study, qualitative data was gathered from the English language curriculum implemented to train preservice teachers of the English language at UCC. For triangulation purposes, the secondary data was to ascertain the comprehensiveness (or otherwise) of provisions made in the existing curriculum to foster English language learning. The outcome of the curriculum evaluation revealed a bias that validated the quantitative findings and provided a more holistic understanding of the observed trends. The input evaluation results showed an imbalance in the pedagogical content knowledge provisions in the existing B. Ed Arts (English) curriculum. The study, thus, recommended that the curriculum be revised to ensure an equal prioritisation of the morpho-phonetics, morpho-syntax and morpho-semantics interface. Again, it suggested the adoption of Ed-tech morphological awareness implementations and vocabulary adjustment pedagogies to scaffold the literacy development and career preparedness of preservice ESL teachers with morphologically related vocabulary deficiencies.

Source: UCC