ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The Interplay Between Microbial Air Quality and Vernix Caseosa on the Health of Neonates During the First Seven Days After Birth

Healthcare-Associated Infections are gradually becoming a new public health challenge in healthcare settings, particularly in maternity wards. To explore the interplay of microbial air quality and vernix caseosa on the health of neonates during the first seven days after birth, a cross-sectional study was conducted using 845 samples obtained from the maternity ward of the University of Cape Coast hospital in Cape Coast from October to December 2023. These included air samples, swabbing of 17 items, nurses' palms and 59 neonates who were born in the maternity block within a five week- period of the study. Indoor air was sampled at the various rooms with agar plates placed at different height, 1.5 m above the ground level for the delivery room, and at 84 cm above the ground level in the lying-in rooms. Categorical analysis of samples from the palms of nurses, mothers and the bodies of the neonates indicated 22.0%, 67.8% and 79.7% bacterial growth respectively. Staphylococcus epidermis had the highest infection rate among the organisms isolated from the neonates, nurses, and mothers, with 29 neonates, 6 nurses, and 14 mothers affected. A multivariate analysis was conducted on the categorical data from swabs taken from the neonates, nurses' palms, and mothers' palms to assess the likelihood that the neonates were infected by organisms originating from either the nurses' palms, the air, or the mothers. It was found that the organisms from the palm of nurses were significantly associated with the infection of the neonates (p-values of 0.040). Three to seven days after discharge, the number of neonates that were susceptible were 11 (18.6%) of those infected and out of this, Staphylococcus epidermis still recorded the highest number out of the organisms isolated (54.5%). A cross-tabulation and Pearson’s chi- square analysis was performed to study the relationship between the categorical variable of organisms isolated right after birth and those isolated three to seven days after birth. it was found that, all the babies that had no infection right after birth still had no infection after 3 to 7 days of infection. The relationship showed a p-value of 0.063. This study highlights that despite the delivery ward being regarded as a critical area where high levels of cleanliness and sterility are essential, it is still prone to microbial contamination. Significant microorganism was detected in the air, signifying that the maternity ward environment can be a potential reservoir for bacteria and other microorganisms. This highlights the need for stringent infection control measures, including the regular maintenance of ventilation systems, the use of appropriate personal protective equipment, and adherence to aseptic techniques.

Source: UCC
Interplay of cell–cell contacts and RhoA/MRTF-A signaling regulates cardiomyocyte identity

Cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions guide organ development and homeostasis by controlling lineage specification and maintenance, but the underlying molecular principles are largely unknown. Here, we show that in human developing cardiomyocytes cell–cell contacts at the intercalated disk connect to remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton by regulating the RhoA-ROCK signaling to maintain an active MRTF/SRF transcriptional program essential for cardiomyocyte identity. Genetic perturbation of this mechanosensory pathway activates an ectopic fat gene program during cardiomyocyte differentiation, which ultimately primes the cells to switch to the brown/beige adipocyte lineage in response to adipogenesis inducing signals. We also demonstrate by in vivo fate mapping and clonal analysis of cardiac progenitors that cardiac fat and a subset of cardiac muscle arise from a common precursor expressing Isl1 and Wt1 during heart development, suggesting related mechanisms of determination between the two lineages

Source: UCC
The Interplay of Corporate Communication Activities on the Image and Reputation of Collegiate Universities in Ghana

The thesis examined how corporate communication activities influence the image and reputation of collegiate universities in Ghana, focusing on the role strategic communication practices play in shaping stakeholder perceptions and institutional credibility. Corporate communication in higher education has transcended its traditional public relations origins, assuming broader and more strategic responsibilities. The reputation of a university is intricately linked to its corporate image, encompassing perceptions of quality, reliability, and institutional value. In Ghana, where tertiary education faces challenges related to quality assurance and accessibility, corporate communication emerges as a vital tool for reputation management. Despite its importance, the interplay between corporate communication and university reputation in Ghana remains underexplored. To fill the gap, this present qualitative study examined the interplay of corporate communication activities on the image and reputation of three collegiate universities in Ghana. The total sample size was 15 participants from the three (3) collegiate universities in Ghana. The study used the purposive sampling approach to select the different groups of participants who differ in the variable of interest but share common characteristics such as educational background and status in the universities. Drawing on corporate communication roles theory and the hourglass conceptual model, participants noted that although corporate communication shares overlaps with public relations and organizational communication, each maintains distinct elements. It was also found that public relations offices, often under the registrar's oversight, handle centralized communication, although individual colleges may operate semi-autonomously. The study also revealed that colleges manage some communication independently, creating a blend of centralized and decentralized approaches to corporate messaging. Participants identified reputation management as crucial for institutional success and stakeholder trust, emphasizing that effective management requires consistent communication and proactive public engagement. It is therefore recommended that collegiate university managements should clearly delineate responsibilities for corporate communication roles, ensuring that the public relations office has a well-defined mandate. Furthermore, it is recommended that Collegiate University Managements should implement strategic campaigns that promote the university’s strengths and achievements to enhance its image.

Source: UCC
Interplay of Formal and Informal Plans in Managing Slums: A Case Study of Old Tulaku, Ghana

This study investigated the interplay of formal and informal planning strategies in managing the slums at Old Tulaku. The rationale behind this investigation stems from the recognition that traditional urban planning often overlooks the realities of informal settlements, where residents employ adaptive strategies to navigate socio-economic constraints. The study applied the pragmatism philosophy and the concurrent mixed-method design approach. Using questionnaire, interview guide, and observation checklist, one hundred and seventy-one (171) household heads and eight (8) key informants were selected. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (v.26) and NVivo, focusing on descriptive, inferential, and thematic analysis. The study found that formal planning instruments such as land use zoning, zoning ordinances, demolition, developmental controls, relocation building codes, and urban renewal programs were used to plan Old Tulaku. Informal planning strategies found in the area included recycling domestic waste, running small businesses on occupied land, and creating an improvised drainage system. The governance framework and policies in Old Tulaku are geared towards public participation in development, dispute resolution, ensuring land tenure securities, and providing equitable access to social amenities. However, concerns exist regarding policy implementations such as forced evictions and a lack of understanding of government priorities among residents. Therefore, the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) should collaborate with community members to integrate informal planning strategies, such as recycling and local construction materials; into formal urban development plans.

Source: UCC
Interplay of personal characteristics antecedents and organisational antecedents in driving employee commitment

The paper investigates how personal characteristics antecedents and organisational antecedents integrate to determine employee commitment (EC) in the Electricity Company of Ghana. By so doing, we depart from the predominant approaches to the study of EC which focus on a single set of antecedents, and to establish the need for combining the two. A survey study, we used questionnaire to collect primary data from 120 directors, managers and employees of the company. Data were presented in tabular format using frequencies and percentages, and cross-analysed the two sets of antecedents to ascertain their extent of integration in driving EC. We found that integrating both sets of antecedents reveals the critical role of employees’ personal characteristics in influencing the organisational antecedents to cause commitment, and a table is constructed to demonstrate this. We recommend application of both sets of antecedents, simultaneously, to better explain how and why employees are committed to organisations

Source: UCC
Interrogating Constructivist Approach to Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Ghana: The Case of a JHS One Teacher

The purpose of this study was to investigate what happens when a basic school mathematics teacher attempts to interpret and implement his own understanding of constructivist teaching and learning in a Junior High School (JHS) classroom. A total of 25 JHS one mathematics teachers were initially selected using purposive sampling. This number was finally reduced to one research participant using the Mathematics Belief Scale (MBS) and a series of actual class observations. In studying this single "constructivist" teacher, the researcher used ethnographic research methods to collect and analyse data. The results of this study showed that the teacher had a constructivist view of mathematics teaching and learning. The plans the teacher made prior to his teaching sometimes varied from how he actually taught depending on his classroom situations. A connection was also found to exist between the teachers' ideas about constructivist teaching, instructional decisions and his classroom practice. The study also showed that a teacher's experience positively influences his ideas about constructivist teaching and learning, and when constructivist teaching and learning were employed in a JHS classroom, students benefited from sharing knowledge with their friends and became happy and excited about mathematics teaching and learning. It was recommended among others that training institutions paid particular attention to the views pre-service teacher's hold about mathematics before they leave to practice since the view they hold about the subject affects the way they teach.

Source: UCC
An Interrogation of the Design and Development of a Relevant Curriculum for Ghana’s Polytechnic Find Programmes: Key Stakeholder’s Perspectives

Bridging the gap between academic knowledge and the transformational needs of the society is the core concern of the tertiary TVET (Kelly, 2009, Maclean, 2007). As a first measure to assure relevance, the collaboration of key stakeholder was recommended for the design and development of the curriculum for HND level programmes in Ghana’s polytechnics (URC, 1991). Yet, the relevance of the sector’s curriculum has remained a major concern, because of its volatility and contextualization in the needs it seeks to address (Varghese, 2009). This study therefore sought to explore the design and development of? relevant curriculum for Ghana’s HND programmes; using the HND Electrical and Mechanical Engineering programmes as cases in point. Through the hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, interview and documentary analysis data were gathered from a variety of stakeholders. In all, a total of 17 participants and four focus groups were sampled for the study. The major finding from the study was that the type of collaboration employed to design and develop the HND curriculum eludes convergence; a critical element in the attainment of relevance. Some major consequences of this situation have, thus, been non-consensus in the need(s), content of knowledge and pedagogic strategies the HND level employs, and the disassociation of some stakeholders from the HND curriculum. It is therefore recommended that the convergence of representatives of stakeholders at the stages of need(s) definition and generation of strategies to adopt should be considered in all the key stages of the curriculum process, if relevance of the curriculum is sought for.

Source: UCC
Intertextuality and the representation of insults in Pro-NPP and Pro-NDC newspapers in Ghana: A critical discourse analysis

Intertextuality is the idea that “text cannot be viewed or studied in isolation since texts are not produced or consumed in isolation: all texts exist, and therefore must be understood, in relation to other texts” (Richardson, 2007, p. 100). In this study, I examine the kinds of Intertextuality used in the representation of insults in pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) newspapers in Ghana. I relate Intertextuality to van Dijk’s ideological square to show how newspapers re-echo and legitimize the voice of the in-group by assigning them with authoritative qualities and titles, credentials that make whatever they say very reliable and at times taken as the truth without submitting them to any critical evaluation. However, in instances where the voices of the out-group members are reported, as Rojo (1995, p. 54) puts it, it is a means to “criticize them or discredit them.” The application of Intertextuality, in this study, reveals what both pro-NPP and pro-NDC papers consider newsworthy, that is, whose insult or voice is reported and whose is not. It shows how the in-group’s insults are represented in relation to the out-group. It further identifies the underlying ideologies in the representation of insults in Ghanaian political discourse

Source: UCC
An intervention to address deteriorating water quality: Anapplication of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior

This study investigates the factors which influence illegal miners’intention to choose an alternative ob using the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Three hundred and thirty-eight respondents from illegal mining communities in the Pra Basin completed a questionnaire on behavioral, social and demographic factors which might motivate an illegal miner to choose an alternative job. The attitude was found to e the only dominant significant antecedent of the ehavioral intention. The findings from the study reveal that Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) which has een the focus of the ob intervention in the basin is not a redictor of their intention

Source: UCC
Interviewing Ghanaian Educational Elites: Strategies for Access, Commitment, and Engagement

A review of the research methodology literature suggests that owing to the difficulty of gaining access to and obtaining commitments from elites, social scientists less frequently use them as research respondents, opting instead to investigate those over whom power is exercised. This article provides insights into some intricacies of elite interviewing. It recounts the experience of a novice researcher in his quest to gain access to and interview elite individuals within the Ghanaian educational system for his PhD thesis. In the process, the article sheds light on strategies and techniques (related to interviewee identification, scheduling, and researcher preparation for the interview, as well as rapport establishment with potential interviewees) that are helpful as toolkits in ensuring that elite interview processes are not unduly derailed. The article argues that the strategies discussed are useful for circumventing formalised and “public relations” responses, which elites tend to communicate with the press and public.

Source: UCC
Intestinal helminth infection and anaemia during pregnancy: A community based study in Ghana

Intestinal helminths are among the most common and widespread of human infections, contributing to poor nutritional status, anaemia and impaired growth. Anaemia and iron deficiency in pregnancy is a major public health problem in developing countries, but their causes are not always known. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity of anaemia and iron deficiency and their association with helminths, among pregnant women in the Ashanti region of Ghana. A cohort study was carried out in the Sekyere east district of the Ashanti region of Ghana. 108 pregnant women were followed until 5-10 weeks postpartum, during the period of December 2005 - November 2006. Haemoglobin and total serum iron concentrations were evaluated in venous blood samples and helminths infections were evaluated in stool samples in each trimester using standard methods. Of the 108 pregnant women, 54.9% were found to be anaemic. The highest prevalence of anaemia and low iron stores (57.4 and 32.4%, respectively) were found in the second trimester. Only 17.6% had evidence of helminths infection, with Necator americanus (hookworm) being the commonest (13.9%). There was a significant association between hookworm infection and low iron stores. The study concluded that hookworm infection is a strong predictor of iron status. These findings reinforce the need to provide anthelminthic therapy to infected women before conception as public health strategy in reducing the prevalence of hookworm infection in addition to providing nutritional and iron supplements to effectively control anaemia in pregnancy.

Source: UCC
Intestinal Parasitic Infections Among Primary School Pupils in Elmina, A Fishing Community in Ghana

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are common in the developing world, particularly among communities with low socioeconomic status. Many of these infections are very often neglected making them a major public health problem. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections among primary school pupils in Elmina, a fishing community in the Central Region of Ghana. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, stool samples were obtained from two hundred (200) healthy school pupils selected randomly from four different schools in the community. Structured questionnaires were administered to participants to obtain data relating to socio-demographic characteristics and known risk factors. Stool specimens were also examined for parasites using direct smear and formol-ether concentration techniques. Results: The overall prevalence of parasitic infection was found to be 12.5%. They included 2 protozoans and 5 helminths: hookworm (4.5%), Giardia lamblia (2.5%), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.0%), Trichuris trichiura (0.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides (3.0%), Entamoeba histolytica (0.5%) and Schistosoma mansoni (0.5%). Intestinal parasitic infection was also significantly higher in pupils who utilise tap water as source of drinking (p=0.019) as well as those who do not wash their hands after visiting the toilet (P=0.004). Sex, age and parent educational status of pupils showed no significant association with infection. Conclusion: The present study showed that intestinal parasitic infection is still a problem among primary school pupils in Elmina with poor personal hygiene habits and lack of access to safe drinking water being the main contributory factors.

Source: UCC
Intestinal Parasitic Infections Among Primary School Pupils in Elmina, A Fishing Community in Ghana

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are common in the developing world, particularly among communities with low socio- economic status. Many of these infections are very often neglected making them a major public health problem. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections among primary school pupils in Elmina, a fishing community in the Central Region of Ghana. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, stool samples were obtained from two hundred (200) healthy school pupils selected randomly from four different schools in the community. Structured questionnaires were administered to participants to obtain data relating to socio-demographic characteristics and known risk factors. Stool specimens were also examined for parasites using direct smear and formol-ether concentration techniques. Results: The overall prevalence of parasitic infection was found to be 12.5%. They included 2 protozoans and 5 helminths: hookworm (4.5%), Giardia lamblia (2.5%), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.0%), Trichuris trichiura (0.5%), Ascaris lumbricoides (3.0%), Entamoeba histolytica (0.5%) and Schistosoma mansoni (0.5%). Intestinal parasitic infection was also significantly higher in pupils who utilise tap water as source of drinking (p=0.019) as well as those who do not wash their hands after visiting the toilet (P=0.004). Sex, age and parent educational status of pupils showed no significant association with infection. Conclusion: The present study showed that intestinal parasitic infection is still a problem among primary school pupils in Elmina with poor personal hygiene habits and lack of access to safe drinking water being the main contributory factors.

Source: UCC
Intestinal Parasitosis among Primary School Pupils in Coastal Areas of the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana

Background: Intestinal parasitosis remains a major public health burden in developing countries such as Ghana. The burden of disease is heaviest among vulnerable populations and yet epidemiologic data from these populations are limited. Objectives: The present study aimed at assessing the prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasitosis among primary school pupils in coastal communities of the Cape Coast metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of primary schools in coastal areas of the Cape Coast metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana was undertaken. Stool samples were collected and examined using wet mount and formol-ether concentration techniques. Data on socio-demography, environmental and hygiene behaviour was obtained through the administration of a structured questionnaire. Results: Out of the 230 samples examined, 44 (19.1%) were positive for a least one intestinal parasite. The most predominant parasite in this study was Giardia lamblia (6.5%). Hookworm was the most common (3.9%) intestinal helminth seen in this study. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Schistosoma mansoni and Strongyloides stercoralis were 3.0%, 2.2%, 1.7% and 1.7% respectively. Pit latrine toilet facility emerged as a risk factor for infection in this study. Conclusion: Intestinal parasitosis is high in basic schools in coastal communities in Cape Coast. The provision of better and hygienic toilet facilities may be a significant boost to control measures.

Source: UCC