ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Scalable Sparse Testing Genomic Selection Strategy for Early Yield Testing Stage

To enable a scalable sparse testing genomic selection (GS) strategy at preliminary yield trials in the CIMMYT maize breeding program, optimal approaches to incorporate genotype by environment interaction (GEI) in genomic prediction models are explored. Two cross-validation schemes were evaluated: CV1, predicting the genetic merit of new bi-parental populations that have been evaluated in some environments and not others, and CV2, predicting the genetic merit of half of a bi-parental population that has been phenotyped in some environments and not others using the coefficient of determination (CDmean) to determine optimized subsets of a full-sib family to be evaluated in each environment. We report similar prediction accuracies in CV1 and CV2, however, CV2 has an intuitive appeal in that all bi-parental populations have representation across environments, allowing efficient use of information across environments. It is also ideal for building robust historical data because all individuals of a full-sib family have phenotypic data, albeit in different environments. Results show that grouping of environments according to similar growing/management conditions improved prediction accuracy and reduced computational requirements, providing a scalable, parsimonious approach to multi-environmental trials and GS in early testing stages. We further demonstrate that complementing the full-sib calibration set with optimized historical data results in improved prediction accuracy for the cross-validation schemes.

Source: UG
Scalable Sparse Testing Genomic Selection Strategy for Early Yield Testing Stage

To enable a scalable sparse testing genomic selection (GS) strategy at preliminary yield trials in the CIMMYT maize breeding program, optimal approaches to incorporate genotype by environment interaction (GEI) in genomic prediction models are explored. Two cross-validation schemes were evaluated: CV1, predicting the genetic merit of new bi-parental populations that have been evaluated in some environments and not others, and CV2, predicting the genetic merit of half of a bi-parental population that has been phenotyped in some environments and not others using the coefficient of determination (CDmean) to determine optimized subsets of a full-sib family to be evaluated in each environment. We report similar prediction accuracies in CV1 and CV2, however, CV2 has an intuitive appeal in that all bi-parental populations have representation across environments, allowing efficient use of information across environments. It is also ideal for building robust historical data because all individuals of a full-sib family have phenotypic data, albeit in different environments. Results show that grouping of environments according to similar growing/management conditions improved prediction accuracy and reduced computational requirements, providing a scalable, parsimonious approach to multi-environmental trials and GS in early testing stages. We further demonstrate that complementing the full-sib calibration set with optimized historical data results in improved prediction accuracy for the cross-validation schemes

Source: UG
Scale, local content and the challenges of Ghanaians employment in the oil and gas industry

Local content laws are essential for promoting positive synergies between extractive industries and broader economies. This paper is a critical evaluation of the employment effects of Ghana's local content law. It draws on the relational geography concept of scale – a constructed arena of activities that are highly interrelated – to examine the dynamic roles and relations between actors and how that shapes employment opportunities and outcomes for Ghanaians in the oil and gas industry. The paper shows that Ghanaians dominate onshore administrative positions and low echelon (ratings)/low skill positions offshore. There is a significant salary disparity between Ghanaians and expatriates due to poor regulation by the petroleum commission, corruption and undercutting by local recruitment agencies. It is imperative that the petroleum commission stringently enforce the regulation on skill transfer, introduce guidelines on salary and conditions of service as well as effectively monitor and regulate the activities of local recruitment agencies to limit their ability to undercut Ghanaian workers.

Source: UG
Scales of ideational policy influence: A multi-level, actor centric, and institutionalist perspective on the role of ideas in African social policy

Although there is a growing literature on transnational ideational processes in sub-Saharan Africa, the linkages between local, national, and transnational actors and ideas in African social policy would gain from more systematic mapping. In this paper, we explore what we call the “scales of ideational policy influence” by sketching a multi-level, actor-centric, and institutionalist perspective on ideational policy influence at the local, national, and transnational scales. This discussion leads to analysis of how these scales interact in terms of specific ideas and how both governmental and non-governmental actors seek to impact social policy decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. To illustrate the three scales of ideational influence and their interaction, the paper turns to the making of poverty reduction policies in Ghana. We show how policy ideas move from the global level to a national and subnational level using ideational mechanisms aided by the institutional position of actors and material factors

Source: UG
Scaling up and sustaining gender inclusion through the MDGS in Ghana

Despite improvement in the welfare of women during implementation of the MDGs in Ghana, women still lag behind men in welfare ranking in key areas. The data of three series of national surveys were jointly employed to analyse the trend of indicators of improvement in the welfare of women, from 1999 to 2010. Using both linear and probit regressions, factors such as acquisition of formal education and delay in marriages were found to correlate positively with the MDGs. The paper therefore recommends a pragmatic policy to deepen the current efforts of making education more accessible and attractive to women

Source: UG
Schistosoma Egg Antigen Induces Oncogenic Alterations in Human Prostate Cells

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that aﬀects 200 million people and accounts for 100,000 deaths annually. In endemic geographical areas, schistosomiasis has been implicated as an etiological agent in the pathogenesis of bladder, colorectal, and renal carcinoma largely due to Schistosoma eggs in tissues that comes with chronic infection. Several studies have also reported cases of association between Schistosoma infection and prostate cancer. The possible causal association is however poorly understood. We hypothesized in this study that infection of the prostate cells with Schistosoma spp promotes cancer. Urine samples from individuals living in Galilea, a schistosomiasis endemic community in the Ga South District of Ghana, were collected and screened for Schistosoma infection via microscopy and multiplex PCR. Soluble egg antigens (SEA) were prepared from Schistosoma egg- positive urine samples and assessed for the ability to induce cancer-like phenotypes including excessive proliferation, oxidative stress (reduced glutathione (GSH) depletion), and diminished apoptosis in cultured human prostate (PNT2) cells. Molecular analysis revealed infecting schistosome species to be S.haematobium and S. mansoni. Prostate cell proliferation was signiﬁcantly induced by 12.5 μg/ml SEA (p=0029). Also, SEA dose-dependently depleted cellular GSH. Flow cytometric analysis and ﬂuorescence staining revealed that SEA dose-dependently diminished apoptosis, signiﬁcantly, in prostate cells. Findings of this study suggest that schistosome infection may play a role in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. In vivo studies are however needed to conﬁrm this association.

Source: UG
Schistosoma haematobium, Plasmodium falciparum infection and anaemia in children in Accra, Ghana

Background: Urinary Schistosomiasis and malaria are endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are public health concerns and implications of these parasites. This study sought to assess the prevalence of malaria, urinary schistosomiasis, and anaemia in children of school going age in two municipalities in Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to investigate the prevalence of S. haematobium, P. falciparum infection and the haemoglobin concentration of respondents. A total of 404 (231 males and 173 females) school children between ages 9 - 14 years (mean age 11.8 ± 1.4 years) were recruited for the survey. Urine and blood samples were collected using standard operating procedures for urinary schistosomiasis and malaria diagnosis. Haemoglobin concentration was measured using a Hemocue® Hb 201 m. Results: The prevalence of mono-infection was 4.7 and 12.9% for S. haematobium and P. falciparum respectively with a small proportion (0.9%) of the respondents infected with both parasites. The prevalence of anaemia in the study population was 59.9%. The risk of developing anaemia was not associated with being infected with any of the parasites. All co-infected children had anaemia. Conclusion: High prevalence of anaemia was observed within the study population. Prevalence of malaria was higher compared to schistosomiasis. Interventions to address the high levels of anaemia is required within the community.

Source: UG
Schistosome eggs have a direct role in the induction of basophils capable of a high level of IL-4 production: Comparative study of single- and bisexual infection of Schistosoma mansoni in vivo

Immunobiological roles of schistosome eggs during murine experimental infection were investigated with special reference to the induction of basophilic leukocytes. After single- or bisexual infection with Schistosoma mansoni in BALB⁄c mice, splenomegaly and liver granulomas were observed only in bisexual infection in parallel with deposition of mature parasite eggs. Comparison of the kinetics of basophil response revealed a marked increase in number in the bone marrow of mice with bisexual infection at the 7th week post infection as opposed to a marginal increase in single- sex infections. In the spleen, bimodal response was observed in the basophil responses; a small but repeatable peak at the 4th week after infection, increasing again at the 8th week, which corresponded to the initiation and maturation of parasite eggs in the affected organs of infected mice. The same time course was observed for IL-4 production by the splenocytes from mice of bisexual infection. To obtain more concrete evidence of the role of eggs in the induction of basophils, we tested using the intravenous egg injection model. Injection of eggs induced basophilia, and it was accompanied by the up-regulation of IL-4 production in splenocytes from the 8th day. Basophils induced in this model showed a high level of IL-4 production confirmed by flow cytometry, while faint levels of IL-4 production were observed for CD4+ T cells at this time point. In addition, we demonstrate that egg deposition is the trigger of basophil induction and activation in the murine experimental model of S. mansoni infection, which might play an essential role in the initiation of Th1⁄2 conversion during the course of S. mansoni infection in vivo.

Source: UG
Schistosome infection is negatively associated with mite atopy, but not wheeze and asthma in Ghanaian Schoolchildren

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Schistosomiasis control in Ghana: Case management and means for diagnosis and treatment within the health system

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Schistosomiasis Infection and Nutritional Status of Children in Weija, Sourthern Ghana

Schistosomiasis is widespread in the developing world and is one of the most important helminth infection that has attracted public health intervention. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between the blood flukes that causes urinary Schistosomiasis (Schistosoma haematobium) and the nutritional status of children. Height and weight measurements were taken, and the body mass indices computed. Also urine samples were collected from each of the subjects and analyzed in the laboratory for the presence or otherwise of Schistosoma hematobium eggs. Our results show that more girls than boys were infected with the blood fluke; probably because contact with water per person per day is greater in girls than in boys. We observed a statistically significant relationship between having red blood cells in urine (a principal symptom of schistosomiasis infection) and lower BMI treated as a dichotomized variable. The knowledge-base of the pupils with respect to the disease did not seem to have a bearing on the incidence of schistosomiasis in school children in the study area. It is therefore advisable to put in place active measures to help curb the disease by ensuring that the people living in the area do not urinate or defecate near/into any water body.

Source: UG
Schizont transcriptome variation among clinical isolates and laboratory-adapted clones of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Background Malaria parasites are genetically polymorphic and phenotypically plastic. In studying transcriptome variation among parasites from different infections, it is challenging to overcome potentially confounding technical and biological variation between samples. We investigate variation in the major human parasite Plasmodium falciparum, generating RNA-seq data on multiple independent replicate sample preparations of merozoite-containing intra-erythrocytic schizonts from a panel of clinical isolates and from long-term laboratory-adapted clones, with a goal of robustly identifying differentially expressed genes. Results Analysis of biological sample replicates shows that increased numbers improve the true discovery rate of differentially expressed genes, and that six independent replicates of each parasite line allowed identification of most differences that could be detected with larger numbers. For highly expressed genes, focusing on the top quartile at schizont stages, there was more power to detect differences. Comparing cultured clinical isolates and laboratory-adapted clones, genes more highly expressed in the laboratory-adapted clones include those encoding an AP2 transcription factor (PF3D7_0420300), a ubiquitin-binding protein and two putative methyl transferases. In contrast, higher expression in clinical isolates was seen for the merozoite surface protein gene dblmsp2, proposed to be a marker of schizonts forming merozoites committed to sexual differentiation. Variable expression was extremely strongly, but not exclusively, associated with genes known to be targeted by Heterochromatin Protein 1. Clinical isolates show variable expression of several known merozoite invasion ligands, as well as other genes for which new RT-qPCR assays validate the quantitation and allow characterisation in samples with more limited material. Expression levels of these genes vary among schizont preparations of different clinical isolates in the first ex vivo cycle in patient erythrocytes, but mean levels are similar to those in continuously cultured clinical isolates. Conclusions Analysis of multiple biological sample replicates greatly improves identification of genes variably expressed between different cultured parasite lines. Clinical isolates recently established in culture show differences from long-term adapted clones in transcript levels of particular genes, and are suitable for analyses requiring biological replicates to understand parasite phenotypes and variable expression likely to be relevant in nature.

Source: UG
Scholarly Communication via Institutional Repositories: A Ghanaian Perspective

Institutional repositories have emerged as a reliable platform for showcasing intellectual outputs of academic institutions due to their inherent benefits. Despite the embrace of this concept, issues of their sustainability have come up as a result of the attrition of some repositories, especially in developing countries giving rise to the call to ascertain the significant issues regarding how repositories are set up and managed in the Ghanaian context. This study, using the comparative case study design, guided by the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, assesses how institutional repositories are created and sustainably managed for use by the academic communities of two private and two public universities in Ghana. It gathers data 37 respondents whose activities cover the operations of these repositories through semi-structured interview of respondents as well as observation of repository policy documents and the websites hosting the repositories. The thematically-analyzed data reveals that even though some academic institutions in Ghana have seen the worth of online digital institutional repositories in advancing scholarly communication; and have therefore developed same for this purpose, the needed involvement of key personalities on campus to create a wider acceptance of the concept by the general university community is missing. There are instances of repository development without sound policy frameworks. These lead to low material submission and low content access rate. The study thus recommends active and continuous engagement of the various interest groups within academic institutions in the management of the repositories to bring about an appreciable level of buy-in as well as the institution or strengthening of repository policies to address peculiar issues of the academic environment. Again, education on copyright issues should be offered to lecturers and other content producers in order to allow for material submission without infringing on any copyright laws. This should be done alongside juicy motivational packages to encourage more submissions. Above all, the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH), which has been championing the many digital initiatives of libraries in the country, should think of instituting a national research repository.

Source: UG
A School Meals Program Implemented at Scale in Ghana Increases Height-for-Age during Midchildhood in Girls and in Children from Poor Households: A Cluster Randomized Trial

The overall goal of the department is to conduct research and provide solutions to nutritional problems in Ghana. In pursuance of this goal, the Nutrition Department since its inception has focused its research in the areas of maternal, infant and young child nutrition, food consumption and food security and micronutrient deficiency and interventions. These are priority food and nutrition problems in Ghana.

Source: UG
School Self-Evaluation and the Nature of Support System for Basic Schools in Ghana

Studies have suggested that the effective use of school self-evaluation is one of the best ways of improving schools. Several countries use school self-evaluation as an accountability measure and quality assurance framework to improve schools’ and students’ academic performance. This article examines teachers’ understanding of school self-evaluation, the usage of school self-evaluation, and the nature of support systems that may be available to basic schools in Ghana. Interview data were gathered from teachers and headteachers to ascertain their perspectives on the application of school self-evaluation and any support systems that may be available in schools. The results show that schools have their own ways of evaluating performance, and school self-evaluation is not used as a tool to evaluate the school’s performance. It became evident that teachers do not have in-depth knowledge about school self-evaluation. The teachers agreed that authorities must organize training workshops for them to enhance their understanding and usage of school self-evaluation to improve performance in their schools.

Source: UG
School-based participatory health education for malaria control in Ghana: engaging children as health messengers

Background: School children have been increasingly recognized as health messengers for malaria control. However, little evidence is available. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of school-based malaria education intervention on school children and community adults. Methods: This study was conducted in the Dangme-East district of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana, between 2007 and 2008. Trained schoolteachers designed participatory health education activities and led school children to disseminate messages related to malaria control to their communities. Three schools and their respective communities were chosen for the study and assigned to an intervention group (one school) and a control group (two schools). Questionnaire-based interviews and parasitological surveys were conducted before and after the intervention, with the intervention group (105 children, 250 community adults) and the control group (81 children, 133 community adults). Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests were used to analyse differences in knowledge, practices, and parasite prevalence between pre- and post-intervention. Methods: This study was conducted in the Dangme-East district of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana, between 2007 and 2008. Trained schoolteachers designed participatory health education activities and led school children to disseminate messages related to malaria control to their communities. Three schools and their respective communities were chosen for the study and assigned to an intervention group (one school) and a control group (two schools). Questionnaire-based interviews and parasitological surveys were conducted before and after the intervention, with the intervention group (105 children, 250 community adults) and the control group (81 children, 133 community adults). Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests were used to analyse differences in knowledge, practices, and parasite prevalence between pre- and post-intervention. Results: After the intervention, the misperception that malaria has multiple causes was significantly improved, both among children and community adults. Moreover, the community adults who treated a bed net with insecticide in the past six months, increased from 21.5% to 50.0% (p < 0.001). Parasite prevalence in school children decreased from 30.9% to 10.3% (p = 0.003). These positive changes were observed only in the intervention group. Conclusions: This study suggests that the participatory health education intervention contributed to the decreased malaria prevalence among children. It had a positive impact not only on school children, but also on community adults, through the improvement of knowledge and practices. This strategy can be applied as a complementary approach to existing malaria control strategies in West African countries where school health management systems have been strengthened.

Source: UG