ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Natural Killer Cells and Innate Immunity in HIV-2 Infection

In contrast to the extensive efforts made to learn more about HIV-1 in the fields of epidemiology, geographical distribution, and viral pathogenesis, very little work has been carried out to understand the interactions between the HIV-2 and the host immune system. Although both cellular and humoral immune responses to HIV-1 have been shown to play a part during acute infection, these activities are impaired during chronic infection, leading to disease progression and eventually death (Zhang et al. 2003). Studies of HIV-2-infected individuals have shown that the majority experiences a slower and more prolonged disease course than seen in HIV-1 infection: therefore, a better understanding of the interactions between HIV-2 and the host immune response may be useful in providing insights for therapeutic and vaccine strategies. One way viruses are attacked early in infection is through the action of natural killer (NK) cells, which are one of the key components of the innate immune response to infections (Biron and Brossay 2001). These cells are naturally activated in response to infection without the requirement for prior sensitization and may play an important role in the outcome of viral infections. NK cells provide the first line of defense in the early stage of many infections, including HIV, and continue to render a critical service in nonspecific host defense mechanisms. However, little is known about NK cell function in HIV-2 infection.

Source: UCC
Natural Products for Drug Discovery in the 21st Century: Innovations for Novel Drug Discovery

The therapeutic properties of plants have been recognised since time immemorial. Many pathological conditions have been treated using plant-derived medicines. These medicines are used as concoctions or concentrated plant extracts without isolation of active compounds. Modern medicine however, requires the isolation and purification of one or two active compounds. There are however a lot of global health challenges with diseases such as cancer, degenerative diseases, HIV/AIDS and diabetes, of which modern medicine is struggling to provide cures. Many times the isolation of “active compound” has made the compound ineffective. Drug discovery is a multidimensional problem requiring several parameters of both natural and synthetic compounds such as safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy to be evaluated during drug candidate selection. The advent of latest technologies that enhance drug design hypotheses such as Artificial Intelligence, the use of ‘organ-on chip’ and microfluidics technologies, means that automation has become part of drug discovery. This has resulted in increased speed in drug discovery and evaluation of the safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of candidate compounds whilst allowing novel ways of drug design and synthesis based on natural compounds. Recent advances in analytical and computational techniques have opened new avenues to process complex natural products and to use their structures to derive new and innovative drugs. Indeed, we are in the era of computational molecular design, as applied to natural products. Predictive computational softwares have contributed to the discovery of molecular targets of natural products and their derivatives. In future the use of quantum computing, computational softwares and databases in modelling molecular interactions and predicting features and parameters needed for drug development, such as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics, will result in few false positive leads in drug development. This review discusses plant-based natural product drug discovery and how innovative technologies play a role in next-generation drug discovery.

Source: UCC
Natural selection for rare and mimetic colour pattern combinations in wild populations of the diadem butterfly, Hypolimnas misippus L.

Mark recapture and morph frequency data, gathered during a population irruption of Hypolimnas misippus in southern Ghana, provide evidence for apostatic and mimetic selection. During a period of low adult survival, both the recapture rate and the frequency of the commonest morph (misippus) were significantly reduced. Selection against this form increased phenotypic diversity and generated significant disequilibrium in the combinations of unlinked fore- and hindwing phenotypes. There was also evidence for selection against those forms (weak akippoides) which most closely resemble misippus. Other morphs, including both good mimics of Danaus chrysippus and rare non-mimics, showed no reductions in recapture rate during the period of low survival, but only the good mimics increased significantly in frequency. The results provide a predictive ecological model for densitydependent selection by predators which is consistent with field data from previous studies of H. misippus in Ghana and Tanzania. Their evolutionary implications are discussed, and it is suggested. that anomalies in the mimicry of this species may be partly due to lack of predation when it is scarce.

Source: UCC
The Nature and Complications of Acute Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in a University Hospital in Nigeria

Background: Traumatic cervical spinal cord injury is one of the most devastating types of injuries. It results in varying degrees of disabilities that adversely affect patients’ quality of life. This study aims to evaluate the nature and complications of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria (BSUTH). Methods: A retrospective study of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury patients who presented to BSUTH from June 2012 to May 2017. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted from hospital records and analyzed with SPSS version 21.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). Results: A total of 47 patients with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury were studied. There were 42 males (89.4%) and 5 females (10.6%). Their ages ranged from 17 to 77 years with a mean of 35±16. The common causes were road traffic accidents (n=29, 61.7%), falls from height (n=8, 17.0%) and falling objects (n=5, 10.6%). Most patients were transported to the hospital in saloon cars (n=34, 72.3%). Of these patients, 3 (6.7%) had atlanto-axial (C1–C2) injuries while 44 (93.3%) had subaxial (C3–C7) injuries. Associated injuries were identified in 48.9% of patients with head injury being the most predominant. Four cases had established pressure sores on presentation. Twelve patients (19.7%) had skull traction while the rest had orthosis. Majority of the patients had ASIA class A (n=31, 66.0%) at the time of discharge. One patient (2.1%) had no neurological deficits (ASIA class E). Complications were observed in 63.8% of the patients, with skin pressure ulcers being the most frequent (36.6% of all complications). Other complications included urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, depression, neurogenic pain, spasms and contractures. Conclusion: Traumatic cervical spinal cord injury predominantly affected young male patients and caused by road traffic accidents. It mostly involved the subaxial spine. Majority of patients had American Spinal Injury Association Class A injury. Pressure ulcers and urinary tract infections were the most common complications encountered

Source: UCC
Nature and Practice of Commercial Sex Work in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the nature and practice of commercial sex work in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. The approach was nested concurrent mixed methods. The study consisted of two sets of respondents: 356 commercial sex workers and eight persons in key positions in key stakeholder institutions, all sampled from the Cape Coast Metropolis. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used for each category of participants: purposive sampling, simple random sampling, and convenience sampling for the commercial sex workers and simple random sampling and purposive sampling for the key informants. Questionnaire and an interview guide were used to collect data. Age and level of education had significant influence on the level of participation in commercial sex work. However, marital status and religion did not have any significant influence on the level of participation in commercial sex work. Level of participation was a negative predictor of self-esteem. Also, the sex workers were predominantly streetwalkers and nearly all the commercial sex workers have been practicing commercial sex for more than two years in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The level of self-esteem of the participants was found to be low. Also, they felt harassed, abused, discriminated against, and stigmatized by their patrons, personnel of law enforcement agencies. Family background, peer pressure, parental influences, and socio-economic difficulties were among the major factors responsible for entry into commercial sex work. The study recommends regular voluntary psycho-social services to the commercial sex workers to assist them explore alternative job avenues to resolve their socio-economic challenges.

Source: UCC
The Nature of Capital Structure among Insurance Companies in Ghana

The objective of the study was to ascertain the nature of the capital structure of insurance companies in Ghana. Panel data was derived from annual reports and financial statements of 15 insurance companies registered with the National Insurance Commission from 2002 to 2011 and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to identify the differences in the nature of the capital structure among insurance companies based on their age and size. The results suggest that there is debt in the capital structure in the insurance sector of Ghana and out of these debts component, short term debt takes a higher proportion. The study also found that the proportion of equity capital is lesser than debt capital and again it established a significant difference in the proportion of equity capital practice and no difference in the debt capital practice among the different categories of insurance companies. Finally, our study allowed for yet another important comparison of capital structure between firms which are aged more than two decades and those which are aged less than two decades

Source: UCC
The nature of Historical Facts: History teachers’ conception of it

The study focused on how History teachers conceived historical facts. With this, data illumination was done qualitatively. In all, a sample of 4 History teachers was used in the study. Thematic analysis was used for the analysis of the data. There were varying views on the developmental nature of historical facts. With this, the responses were related to two schools of thought, namely, the unique pattern of historical facts which undermines the developmental nature of History and the other aspect which talks about the element of development in History. On integration, it is astonishing that some teachers were ignorant of the integrated character of History while others acknowledged that the nature of History is such that it integrates with other social science subjects, notably, Geography, Economics, and Sociology. Regarding the element of subjectivity, responses were situated in the Positivist and Relativist philosophies. Those who identified themselves with the Positivists acknowledged Historical objectivity and yielded to no such thing as History being unobjective. The Relativists, on the other hand, intimated that History is subjective, no less no more. Finally, teachers in the study noted that there are no underlining theories or laws in History. Indeed, they all shared a view of the traditional Historians who do not accept and submit to theories and laws in historical explanations.

Source: UCC
Nature of inheritance and genetic components of some agronomic traits in sorghum

Fact01ial mating design was used to generate twenty-five hybrids from five male stelile (A- lines) and five male fertile (R-lines) parents. Ten parents and twenty five hybrids were eva11Y1ted in a Randomised Complete Block Design replicated 3 fimes. Analysis of varimce showed significant differences beWeen crosses (male x female interacfion) for plant height, 1000 seed weight and grain yield. High heterotic value of 692.03 0 0 for grain }ield was recorded. Hyblids that exhibited high heterotic value for grain yield, likewise has high value for yield components; panicle length, panicle weight, 1000 seed weight and number of seed per panicle. Nanow sense heritability was low for seedling vigour, åys to 50% bloom plant height, panicle weight, number of seed/panicle and grain }ield. Moderate hefitability was obtained for panicle length and 1000 seed weight, thus preponderance of non-adcmre gene action for all traits studied The best all round hybrids identified from this study MAI OAR 71143, OxNR71146, MAI OxNR71167 and

Source: UCC
Nature of teaching: what teachers need to know and do

Improving the quality of what happens in schools and preparing pupils/students for life in the 21st Century requires the highest quality of teaching. This article therefore focuses on professional classroom competences that every professional teacher should possess. It explores various scholarly definitions of teaching and time-tested principles of teaching and the classroom strategies available to teachers which when used judiciously will best assist pupil/student learning. The article will be useful for practicing teachers, student teachers, college and university lecturers, school-based in-service coordinators, advisory teachers and school mentors and head teachers. Though the prime aim of this article is to provoke discussion on the nature of teaching, its additional aim is to help the afore-mentioned stakeholders in the teaching enterprise reflect on their current practice and encourage them to ask questions about everyday classroom events

Source: UCC
The Nature of the Shift Schooling System in Ghana: Implications on Pedagogy

This study examines the nature of the shift schooling system in Ghana and the myriad implications on pedagogy. The instrument used to collect data was the questionnaire and the sample constituted 159 pupils and 24 teachers from two schools. The data collected was analyzed using percentages and graphs. The outcome of the study showed that the pupils showed signs of tiredness and lack of concentration in class during the afternoon shift system. Contact hours reduced during the afternoon session due to the swapping over effect. . Information obtained proved that, pupils and teachers get exhausted and feel reluctant to attend the afternoon school sessions, hence a low enrollment in the afternoon school sessions. It was recommended that there should be enough supervision by the District Teacher Support Team (D.T.S.T.), especially those schools operating the shift system, if the government wants to continue with this educational system. Head teachers and teachers must schedule their time and make adjustment for swapping over of sessions in order to avoid wasting precious time that affects contact hours and teaching and learning interaction.

Source: UCC
Nature, effects and coping strategies of stress among students of takoradi

The study examined the nature, effects and coping strategies of stress among Takoradi Polytechnic students. A sample of 370 students was used. The Statistical Product and Services Solutions Computer Programme was used to analyse responses from questionnaire administered to respondents (students). Tables and charts (percentages) were used as illustrations where necessary. The study revealed that students indeed were stressed. The nature of stress among students of Takoradi Polytechnic was mainly related to exigencies of the Polytechnic’s physical and social environment. Other stressors were finances, time challenges, and personal idiosyncrasies. It was also revealed that students have their own means of coping with stress without the support of the Institution and these have consequent adverse effect on their academic activities. It is therefore recommended that, to relieve students of stress there must be institutional interventions like the provision of adequate lecture halls and halls of residence. The Polytechnic should also ensure that adequate academic resources are provided for students. The Guidance and Counselling Centre should also be well resourced and the professionals should make their presence felt on campus.

Source: UCC
Near vision spectacle coverage and barriers to near vision correction among adults in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana.

Purpose: To determine the near vision spectacle coverage and barriers to obtaining near vision correction among adults aged 35 years and older in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study design was adopted and 500 out of 576 participants aged 35 years and older were examined from 12 randomly selected clusters in Cape Coast, Ghana. All participants underwent a comprehensive eye ex- amination which included: distance and near visual acuities measurements and external and internal ocular health assessments. Distance and near refractions were performed using subjective refraction technique. Information on participants’ demographics, near vision correction status, near visual needs and barriers to acquiring near vision correction were obtained through a ques- tionnaire administered as part of the study. Results: The mean age of participants was 52.3±10.3 years of whom 280 (56%) were females and 220 (44%) were males. The near vision spectacle coverage was 25%, 33% “met need” for near vision correction in the presbyopic population, and 64% unmet need in the entire study population. After controlling for other variables, age (5th and 6th decades) and educational level were associated with “met need” for near vision correction (OR=2.7 (1.55-4.68), p =0.00, and OR=2.36 (1.18-4.72), p=0.02 respectively). Among those who needed but did not have near vision correction, 64 (26%) did not feel the need for correction, 55 (22%) stated that they were unaware of available interventions, and 53 (21%) found the cost of near vision correction pro- hibitive. Conclusion: There was a low near vision spectacle coverage in this population which suggests the need for strategies on health education and promotion to address the lack of awareness of spectacle need and cost of services.

Source: UCC
Necator Americanus and Plasmodium Falciparum Co-Infection and Albendazole Treatment Outcome among Individuals in Rural Ghana

The overlapping geographical distribution of malaria and helminth infections has led to several studies in- vestigating the effect of co-infections by these parasites on the host. We investigated the impact of Necator americanus and Plasmodium falciparum co-infection on haemoglobin level and albendazole treatment outcome among infected individuals in Ghana. Hookworm-P. falciparum co-infection was associated with significantly reduced blood hae- moglobin level (p=0.0057) and an increased odd (OR=6.44, 95%CI=1.31-53.97, p=0.042) of individuals remaining hookworm infected two weeks post-albendazole treatment. P. falciparum co-infection with hookworm may increase albendazole treatment failure. The possible implications on control programs and mechanisms underlying this phe- nomenon warrant further studies.

Source: UCC
Necator Americanus and Plasmodium Falciparum Co-Infection and Albendazole Treatment Outcome among Individuals in Rural Ghana

The overlapping geographical distribution of malaria and helminth infections has led to several studies investigating the effect of co-infections by these parasites on the host. We investigated the impact of Necator americanus and Plasmodium falciparum co-infection on haemoglobin level and albendazole treatment outcome among infected individuals in Ghana. Hookworm-P. falciparum co-infection was associated with significantly reduced blood haemoglobin level (p=0.0057) and an increased odd (OR=6.44, 95%CI=1.31-53.97, p=0.042) of individuals remaining hookworm infected two weeks post-albendazole treatment. P. falciparum co-infection with hookworm may increase albendazole treatment failure. The possible implications on control programs and mechanisms underlying this phenomenon warrant further studies.

Source: UCC
The Need for Guidance and Counselling Training for Teachers

Teachers have multiple roles to perform nowadays. To fulfil their roles professionally, teachers need to be competent in their responsibilities towards their students inside and outside the classroom. One important teacher role inside and outside the classroom is to provide guidance and counselling to students. This paper has two aims. First, it discusses the importance of guidance and counselling training for teachers. The second aim of this paper is to investigate guidance and counselling training needs for teachers through students taking an innovative guidance and counselling component in a pre-service undergraduate teacher preparation program. This course component has been tried out with four cohorts of English Language Studies and English Language Teaching double-honours degree students. Using qualitative analysis of students’ responses in a personal reflection activity in the latest cohort, the present study found that students have various training needs, and perceived strengths and impeding issues in relation to carrying out the guidance and counselling role at school. The paper ends with discussions on directions for future teacher training and research.

Source: UCC
A needs analysis of undergraduate students of communicative skills: The case of tertiary institutions in Ghana

For over three decades now, research on undergraduate student pedagogy has shifted focus from an error analysis tradition to an emphasis on learner needs. As part of this shift, we examined the needs of students who offered Communicative Skills in an English-medium university in Ghana, and whether their needs were discipline-specific. Data were collected from two hundred and forty students and twenty lecturers, using a two-pronged sampling method. Major results showed a great need for grammar and writing skills among students, though they held that note taking and note making skills, outlining and skimming be expunged from the programme. The study also indicated that although teachers of Communicative Skills preferred a variationist approach, the reverse was the case among their students. Surprisingly, while students desired to be exposed to modern skills such as CV and Proposal writing, their instructors, on the other hand, were of the view that paragraph and essay development were not so useful. The study, thus, resonates with proclivities for further interventionist methods, specialist instructor (re)training and future research in undergraduate student writing

Source: UCC