ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The moderating role of Covid-19-related support on urban livelihood capitals: Evidence from suburban Accra

In the Global South, the COVID-19 crisis has compelled varied efforts to quickly address the pandemic’s impact on urban livelihoods. Families, friends as well as public, private, and civil society organizations have mobilized various resources to avert the pandemic’s onslaught on the survival of the urban vulnerable. Indeed, there is a burgeoning ‘pandemic urban scholarship’ that shed insights on COVID-19 risks, local responses, and impacts on everyday urban life. Yet, it is unclear how many of these responses are affecting urban livelihoods. This paper thus investigates the impact of COVID-19 on urban livelihood capitals (financial, human, social, and physical) and analyses the moderating role of COVID-19-related support (from families, friends, government agencies, faith-based and non-governmental organizations) to address the pandemic’s impact on these capitals. Drawing on a quantitative study in Adenta Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana, the study finds a negative association between COVID-19 impacts and all urban livelihood capitals. Crucially, COVID-19-related support only reduced the negative impact of the pandemic on financial capital, and not on the other forms of capital. The study suggests that building post-pandemic community resilience warrants the need to transition from the usual reactive, fragmented support to integrated, holistic, and contextually embedded long-term strategies that consider the multi-dimensionality of everyday urban life.

Source: UG
The moderating role of demographic variables on customer expectations in airport retail patronage intentions of travellers

The international airport retail business is expanding annually, yet most research into traveller’s experience with the aviation industry have centred on aeronautical features. The study gathered information that would guide the understanding of airport customer retail expectations. Specifically, the study examines the effects of productrelevant factors, market-relevant factors, and perceived service quality on retail patronage intentions, taking into account the moderating role of demographic variables. The purposive sample of three hundred and thirty (330) travellers that were selected at the Kotoka International Airport Terminal 1 and 2 (KIA T1&2) in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The findings show that product-relevant factors, market-relevant factors and overall service quality significantly influence airport retail patronage intention. The effect demographic variables was noticeable among older and high-income consumers. Building on previous studies, we find that product-relevant factors, market-relevant factors, and perceived service quality function as viable signals that drives customer expectations.

Source: UG
The Moderating Role of Psychological Flexibility in the Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Workaholism, Job Security, and Corporate Entrepreneurship Among Information Technology Workers in Accra, Ghana

The present study was conducted to investigate the moderating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between organizational commitment, workaholism, job security, and corporate entrepreneurship among information technology workers in Accra, Ghana. A total of 248 information technology workers purposively selected completed the Organizational Commitment Scale, the Dutch Work Addiction Scale, Job Insecurity Scale, the Work-Related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, and the Entrepreneurial Behavior Scale. The results showed that job security, workaholism, and organizational commitment significantly predicted corporate entrepreneurship. Psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between organizational commitment, workaholism, and corporate entrepreneurship but not the relationship between job security and corporate entrepreneurship. The findings underscore the need for the development of interventions that would increase psychological flexibility in organizational settings.

Source: UG
The Moderating Role of State Regulation on Stakeholder Market Orientation and Sustainability Performance at Tourism Destinations

Using a survey method, the study used responses from 313 Ghanaian tourism businesses in selected regions and the PLS-SEM in analysing the data. The study established that ecological regulation significantly moderates the StMO-SP relationship while political regulation negatively moderates the StMO-SP nexus. State regulations significantly influence Stakeholder market orientation and sustainability performance at tourism destinations. The study recommends that tourism managers and planners be cognisant with state regulation requirements in fashioning and implementing their StMO-SP strategies. Tourism destination managers and planners who are involved in using StMO in improving sustainability management practices to take into account the role of key stakeholders in fashioning and implementing their sustainability strategies. Future research directions have been discussed.

Source: UG
Modern bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residues in Cameroon: Potential, challenges and the way forward

Environmentally benign modern bioenergy is widely acknowledged as a potential substitute for fossil fuels to offset the human dependence on fossil fuels for energy. We have profiled Cameroon, a country where modern bioenergy remains largely untapped due to a lack of availability of biomass data and gaps in existing policies. This study assessed the biomass resource potential in Cameroon from sustainably extracted agricultural and forest residues. We estimated that environmentally benign residues amount to 1.11 million bone dry tons per year. This has the potential to yield 0.12-0.32 billion liters of ethanol annually to displace 18-48% of the national consumption of gasoline. Alternatively, the residues could provide 0.08-0.22 billion liters of biomass to Fischer Tropsch diesel annually to offset 17-45% of diesel fuel use. For the generation of bioelectricity, the residues could supply 0.76-2.02. TW. h, which is the equivalent of 15-38% of Cameroon's current electricity consumption. This could help spread electricity throughout the country, especially in farming communities where the residues are plentiful. The residues could, however, offset only 3% of the national consumption of traditional biomass (woodfuel and charcoal). Policy recommendations that promote the wider uptake of modern bioenergy applications from residues are provided. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Source: UG
Modern contraceptive use among reproductive-aged women in Ghana: prevalence, predictors, and policy implications

Background Modern contraceptive use remains an important public health intervention and a cost-effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality, avert unintended pregnancies and to control population explosion, especially in developing countries. Despite these benefits, there are reports of low usage among reproductive-aged women in most developing countries. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of use of modern contraceptive among reproductive-aged women in an urban center with a high density population in Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey was conducted with 217 randomly selected reproductive-aged women. Data was analyzed with STATA. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors influencing modern contraceptive use. Results Although we found high levels of knowledge and awareness (98%; n = 213) of modern contraception use, only 21% of participants were using modern contraceptives. Marital status, partner consent and support, and religious beliefs strongly predicted usage. Conclusion Usage of modern contraceptives among reproductive-aged women in the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipality is lower than the national target. A multilevel family planning intervention program that primarily focuses on promoting inclusive participation of husbands, targets the unmarried and non-literates reproductive-aged women, and dispels misconceptions, misinformation and religious myths about modern contraceptives has been discussed.

Source: UG
Modern contraceptive use among women in the Asuogyaman district of Ghana: is reliability more important than health concerns?

This study examines the socio-demographic determinants of modern contraceptive use among women in the Asuogyaman district of Ghana. The results reveal that although 97% of the survey respondents knew of at least one modern method of contraception, only 16% of them were using modern contraceptives. Statistical tests show that level of education, place of residence, and work status significantly influence modern contraceptive use among women in the study area. Fear of side effects, desire for more children, and partner's disapproval were the main barriers to modern contraceptive use in the study area. The use of traditional methods of contraception was very high because of the perception that they are safer. Based on these findings, it has been suggested that in addition to making family planning services available and accessible, health workers must address attitudinal factors such as fear of side effects and high fertility preferences.

Source: UG
Modern contraceptive use among women of reproductive age in Ghana: analysis of the 2003–2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys

Background Contraceptives are used in family planning to space or limit pregnancies and are categorized into modern and traditional methods. The modern methods have been proven to be more scientifically effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies than the traditional methods. With data from three (3)-different Demographic and Health Surveys, the aim of this study is to assess the trends and identify factors that consistently influence modern contraceptives’ use among women of the reproductive age group in Ghana. Methods The study used secondary data from the 2003, 2008, and 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Surveys (GDHS). The trends of determinants of modern contraceptives use among women of reproductive age in Ghana were determined. A bivariate approach was used to select significant predictors. The Cox proportional hazards model analysis was employed via a multilevel modelling approach. Results Out of the total respondents of 2229, 2356, and 4469, 18.75%, 15.75% and 21.53% were modern contraceptives users for 2003, 2008 and 2014 respectively. The multiple cox proportional hazards model analysis identified place of residence and the educational level of a woman as strong predictors of modern contraceptives use in Ghana. Modern contraceptive use is increasing among rural residence. Women who are in formal occupations (professional, clerical, services) are more likely to use modern contraceptives than their colleagues in less formal occupations (manual, agricultural, sales). Conclusion This study highlights the trends of determinants on modern contraceptive use in Ghana from 2003 to 2014. The most persistent determinants of modern contraceptive use in Ghana during this time period are place of residence and a woman’s educational level. Women working in Agriculture and Sales are the least users of modern contraceptives in Ghana over the period.

Source: UG
“The Modern Scientific Tradition and its Contribution to Economic Regression in Africa.”

A false ‘ideology of incapacity’ dominates current mainstream socio-economic literature about Africa carried over from August Comte’s 18th century formula for social progress. To presume there is movement along a universal vector of increasing civilisation leaves unchallenged the most egregious inaccuracies about African societies that dominate global discourse about economic development and health crises in Africa. This paper corrects the record of where contributions to scientific progress actually originate, and to whom the legacy of scientific benefits and social goods actually belongs.

Source: UG
The modernity/coloniality of love: Individualist lifeways and charismatic christianity in Ghanaian worlds

A manifestation of coloniality in psychological science concerns the modern individualist lifeways that inform mainstream research. We report results of a multi-method research project that investigated implications of these ways of being for the experience of love in Ghanaian settings. In particular, we investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCCs)—an important carrier of individualist lifeways in many West African settings—would be associated with a growth orientation to love as a means for mutual self-expansion and fulfillment. In Study 1 (n = 61), growth themes and a conception of love as feeling were more evident, but sustainability themes and a conception of love as less evident in interview responses of participants who reported engagement with PCCs versus Traditional Western Mission Churches (TWMCs). In Study 2 (n = 1120), family obligation, relationship harmony, and (among participants who reported daily church attendance) perception of a social norm to prioritize mother over spouse were weaker for members of PCCs than TWMCs. Results help to reveal the colonial dark side of the modern individualist lifeways that mainstream research tends to regard as a just-natural standard.

Source: UG
A modifed distance‑based energy‑aware (mDBEA) routing protocol in wireless sensor networks (WSNs)

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are used to collect data and detect phenomena in a real-time environment. There is considerable interest in the deployment of WSNs in remote, inaccessible and inhospitable locations; such use of WSNs throws up many challenges. WSNs come with numerous advantages, yet a notable limitation is that the battery life dictates the lifetime of the sensor node. Two critical factors that determine battery lifetime are the frequency of sensor readings and the transmission range of the sensor nodes. Some energy-efficient routing protocols have been proposed and adopted for use to extend the lifetime of sensor nodes. These protocols aim at optimizing the routes in the network. Given that multi-hop routes are energy ineficient, improving the lifetime of WSNs in a multi-hop routing environment will require the use of route optimization techniques. A modified distance-based energy-aware (mDBEA) routing protocol is proposed which is efficient and capable of minimizing the energy consumption of the sensor nodes and hence, maximizing network lifetime. Our approach addresses the problem by calculating the Euclidian distance between successive nodes to determine the short est distance that minimizes the energy required for transmission. The simulation results indicate that the mDBEA routing protocol reduced the amount of energy consumed in the network by choosing the minimum transmission distance between the source and its neighbour nodes that significantly prolonged the network's lifetime. Our greedy approach yielded about 95% Packet delivery ratio (PDR). Our next-hop and the direct-to-sink algorithms yielded about 82% PDR.

Source: UG
Modified halloysite nanoclay as a vehicle for sustained drug delivery

This paper presents the effect of modified halloysite nanotubes on the sustained drug release mechanisms of sodium salicylate. Acid treatment and composite polymer-halloysite modification techniques were adopted in this study. After each modification, sodium salicylate drug was loaded, and in vitro release properties were evaluated and compared with the raw unmodified halloysite nanotubes. The results obtained from SEM, TEM and FTIR analyses indicate that both acid treatment and composite formation have no effect on the tubular structure and morphology of halloysite. However, modification of the halloysite nanotubes did influence the drug release rate. In the acid treatment modification, there was an improved loading of sodium salicylate drug which resulted in the sustain release of large amount of the sodium salicylate. In the polymer/halloysite composite formation, a consistent layer of polymer was formed around the halloysite during the composite formation and thus delayed release providing sustained release of sodium salicylate drug over a longer period of time as compared to the acid treated and unmodified halloysite. The results from the invitro release were best fitted with the Higuchi and the Koresymer-Peppas models.

Source: UG
Modified zero-inflated negative binomial model with application to clinical trial in epileptic patients

Marginalized models are in great demand by many researchers in the life sciences, particularly in clinical trials studies, epidemiology, health-economics, surveys and many others, since they allow generalization of inference to the entire population under study. For count data, standard procedures such as the Poisson regression and negative binomial model provide population average inference for model parameters. However, occurrence of excess zero counts and lack of independence in empirical data have necessitated their extension to accommodate these phenomena. These extensions, though useful, complicate interpretations of fixed effects. For example, the zero-inflated Poisson model accounts for the presence of excess zeros, but the parameter estimates do not have a direct marginal inferential ability as the base model, the Poisson model. Marginalizations due to the presence of excess zeros are underdeveloped though demand for them is interestingly high. The aim of this talk, therefore, is to present a developed marginalized model for zero-inflated univariate count outcome in the presence of overdispersion. Emphasis is placed on methodological development, efficient estimation of model parameters, and application to a clinical trial dataset. Results of simulation study performed to assess the performance of the model are also discussed.

Source: UG
Modifying maternal sleep position in the third trimester of pregnancy with positional therapy: a randomised pilot trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the percentage of time spent supine during sleep in the third trimester of pregnancy could be reduced using a positional therapy device (PrenaBelt) compared with a sham device. DESIGN: A double-blind, randomised, sham-controlled, cross-over pilot trial. SETTING: Conducted between March 2016 and January 2017, at a single, tertiary-level centre in Canada. PARTICIPANTS: 23 participants entered the study. 20 participants completed the study. Participants were low-risk, singleton, third-trimester pregnant women aged 18 years and older with body mass index <35 kg/m2 at the first antenatal appointment for the index pregnancy and without known fetal abnormalities, pregnancy complications or medical conditions complicating sleep. INTERVENTIONS: A two-night, polysomnography study in a sleep laboratory. Participants were randomised by computer-generated, one-to-one, simple randomisation to receive either a PrenaBelt or a sham-PrenaBelt on the first night and were crossed over to the alternate device on the second night. Allocation concealment was by unmarked, security-tinted, sealed envelopes. Participants, the recruiter and personnel involved in setting up, conducting, scoring and interpreting the polysomnogram were blinded to allocation. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the percentage of time spent supine during sleep. Secondary outcomes included maternal sleep architecture, respiration, self-reported sleep position and feedback. RESULTS: The median percentage of sleep time supine was reduced from 16.4% on the sham night to 3.5% on the PrenaBelt night (pseudomedian=5.8, p=0.03). We were unable to demonstrate differences in sleep architecture or respiration. Participants underestimated the time they spent sleeping supine by 7.0%, and six (30%) participants indicated they would make changes to the PrenaBelt. There were no harms in this study. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the percentage of sleep time supine during late pregnancy can be significantly reduced via positional therapy.

Source: UG
Modulating Ferroptosis in Aging: The Therapeutic Potential of Natural Products

The Clinical Pathology Department conducts research that contributes to intervention strategies and safeguards of public health in Ghana. In view of this the Department carries out research into plant medicine development, drug interactions and regulation, bio-monitoring and prevention of poisoning from environmental toxicants (e.g. mycotoxins specifically aflatoxins and toxic heavy metals). The Department also provides specialized laboratory services in support of public health programmes.

Source: UG
Modulation of plasmid DNA vaccine antigen clearance by caspase 12 RNA interference potentiates vaccination.

The magnitude of the immune responses elicited by plasmid DNA vaccines might be limited, in part, by the duration of vaccine antigen expression in vivo. To explore strategies for improving plasmid DNA vaccine efficacy, we studied the apoptotic process in myocytes of mice vaccinated intramuscularly. We found that after vaccination, the proapoptotic protein caspase 12 (Casp12) was upregulated in myocytes coincident with the loss of vaccine antigen expression. To harness this observation to improve plasmid DNA vaccine efficacy, we used RNA interference technology, coadministering plasmid DNA expressing a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) of Casp12 with plasmid DNA vaccine constructs. This treatment with shRNA Casp12, administered twice within the first 10 days following vaccine administration, increased antigen expression 7-fold, the antigen-specific CD8+ T cell immune response 6-fold, and antigen-specific antibody production 5-fold. This study demonstrates the critical role for Casp12 in plasmid DNA vaccine-induced immune responses and shows that increased antigen expression mediated by down-modulation of Casp12 can be used to potentiate vaccine efficacy

Source: UG
The Modulatory Effect of Lead Drug Candidates on Inflammatory Gene Expression in Sepsis: A Mini-Review

Sepsis is a debilitating clinical syndrome of systemic inflammation in response to microorganisms especially Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. A minority of sepsis cases could be due to non-pathogenic insult such as trauma. Much of the tissue and organ injury observed among septic patients is a consequence of the inflammatory response. The search for effective treatments of sepsis has led to several studies by different research groups across the globe. Although many targets and molecules have been identified, there is still no effective treatment for sepsis. The aim of this report is to review the literature on drugs and drug candidates against sepsis and how they modulate the expression of inflammatory genes. Many compounds have been identified to regulate inflammatory gene expression by interacting with targets such as topoisomerase 1 and nuclear factor kappa B, which regulate the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Even though these compounds appear promising as potential drugs against sepsis, no effective therapies have been discovered to date and thus the fight against sepsis continues.

Source: UG
Molecular Analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolated in the North Central Zone of Nigeria

The Bacteriology Department aims to improve the quality of life first for Ghanaians and the world at large by conducting research into bacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana and globally. In addition to working on enteric pathogens and sexually transmitted diseases, the department’s current main focus is on the two most important mycobacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana, namely Buruli ulcer (BU) and tuberculosis (TB).

Source: UG