ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
HER-2 Protein Overexpression in Patients with Gastric and Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma at a Tertiary Care Facility in Ghana

The prognosis of gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma remains generally poor. However, mounting evidence suggests a positive role of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) expression in the prognosis of patients with these cancers. In this work, the patterns of HER-2 protein expression were determined in patients with gastric or oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Retrospectively, we reviewed records of gastric and oesophageal biopsies received from 2008 to 2012 and their corresponding archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks selected for immunohistochemical analysis. The prevalence of gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinomas and their association with HER-2 protein overexpression were evaluated. Gastric adenocarcinoma made up 18.79% of the gastric biopsies reviewed, and majority of these cancers occurred in males. Regarding the tumour type, HER-2 overexpression was common in the intestinal subtype compared to the diffuse type. Although squamous cell carcinoma was observed to be the commonest (31%) tumour type in the oesophagus compared to adenocarcinoma (8.79%), HER-2 was overexpressed in 42.9% of oesophageal adenocarcinomas, like gastric adenocarcinoma (41.4%). There is a high prevalence of gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma, with significant overexpression of HER-2 in these tumours, a window of hope for the management of patients with these cancers.

Source: UG
Herbal medicines for child healthcare from Ghana

Child healthcare is a very important issue around the world as more than 10 million children in developing countries die before their fifth birthday every year. Most cultures in the world use herbal medicines for child healthcare but this use is poorly documented in the literature. The objective of this study was to investigate herbal medicines used in child healthcare among the Ga people living in southern Ghana. The study was conducted through interviews with 11 key informants, household surveys with 68 (ca. 80% women) people, and ethnobotanical voucher specimens were collected. A total of 42 herbal medicines prepared from 44 plant taxa were reported used for the management of 20 child health conditions belonging to seven disease categories. The herbal medicines were used largely for the management of diseases of the digestive system (14.3%), skin and sub-cutaneous tissues (30.9%) as well as infectious and parasitic diseases (38.1%). Both multiple and single plant prescriptions were reported used and they were mostly (75%) administered internally. In conclusion, herbal medicines could play a very important role in child healthcare in Ghana, but research on the scientific authentication of the traditional claims is needed.

Source: UG
Herder-Farmer Conflicts Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in West-Africa

n West Africa, transhumance has been a major system of cattle production in which herders trav el with their herds in search of adequate pasture and water. Unfortunately, the perennial conflicts between the transhumant herders and crop farmers have had negative effects on agricultural pro duction. The objective of this review was to document among others such negative impacts and how COVID-19 has influenced transhumance activities in West Africa. The review was carried out using published articles on the subject from journals, books, online sources and semi-formal inter action from key stakeholders. Climate change, diversification of land use, land tenure systems, perceptions about pastoralists, porous entry points, absence of grazing corridors and failure to ad here to the conditions of the ECOWAS protocol on transhumance were some of the major causes of herder-farmer conflicts. Destruction of crops and animals, loss of human life, rural-urban mi gration, poor living conditions and destruction of homes are some of the major impacts of the herder-farmer conflicts in West Africa. Public education on transhumance, government interven tion and the ability to monitor and adhere to the ECOWAS protocols on transhumance by all countries in the region would help minimize these conflicts. Furthermore, all stakeholders should play their roles and help find innovative and sustainable ways of feeding transhumant cattle in West Africa.

Source: UG
Here Comes Another Questionnaire! The Questionnaire Allergy among Business Executives in Ghana.

The paper seeks to find out reasons for completion or non-completion of research questionnaires, and to sample general views regarding questionnaire administration and reaction by respondents. It makes recommendations as to how questionnaires should be designed in order to increase response rates. The convenient sample and purposive sampling designs were used in obtaining information from 95 students reading for the Executive Masters in Business Administration at the University of Ghana Business School, through the use of questionnaires. Previous studies have pointed out that through poor response rates, the validity of questionnaires is compromised. The paper confirms the previous findings and adds that ambiguity of questions, too lengthy questionnaires and many open-ended questions militate against completion of questionnaires. Further research in this area has been suggested, and recommendations as to how questionnaires should be constructed in order to elicit better response rates have been provided.

Source: UG
Hereditary elliptocytosis associated with severe haemolytic anaemia and malaria.

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Hereditary spastic paraparesis with distal muscle wasting, microcephaly, mental retardation, arachnodactyly and tremors: New entity?

We present a consanguineous Pakistani family in which four patients (two males and two females) had a new Troyer-like phenotype. All four patients showed some marfanoid features (span more than height, arachnodactyly, high arched palate), and generalized hyper-reflexia. The two affected males and the younger female also had microcephaly and mental retardation. Features only present in the affected males included short stature, dysarthria, amyotrophy of the distal muscles, fasciculations and tremor. The distal muscle wasting in the two affected brothers reflected the presence of axonal neuropathy demonstrated both electrophysiologically and by nerve biopsy. Although neither of the sisters had any degree of distal muscle wasting, both had reduced M-wave amplitude of the tibial and peroneal nerves, bilaterally. The described phenotype does not fit any of the recognized forms of hereditary spastic paraparesis with distal muscle wasting. The specific axonal neuropathy differentiates it from familial motor neuron disease with mental retardation. The reported phenotype represents a possible new Troyer-like syndrome similar to that described by Neuhauser (1976), but differs from it by the lack of major dysmorphic features.

Source: UG
Heritability and Genetic Advance Estimates of Key Shea Fruit Traits

Genetic erosion of shea trees, which has been on-going at an alarming rate, has necessitated urgent conservation attentions. Owing to the vast geographical distribution of the species across Ghana, in situ germplasms conservation was established by tagging and monitoring selected trees annually. Technologies have been developed that enable shea germplasms to be grafted, allowing for the development of germplasm banks at the research station of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, Bole. However, before these materials could be used in crop improvement programs, there is a need to evaluate them for key fruit traits relevant to the global shea business. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the tagged in situ shea trees for fruit and nut traits. Freshly harvested shea fruits were evaluated for their brix, pulp yield and kernel size properties to see if there was the needed diversity for crop improvement gains. Eight key traits were studied, with all showing significant difference, with high broad sense heritability and genetic advance for all the traits, indicating the potential for genetic gains in breeding programs. Qualitative analysis classified the fruits into five shapes, ellipsoid fruit shape was the most frequent observation (69.5%), while oblong was the least represented (1%). Fruit surface pubescence indicated that the surfaces without hairs (smooth) were slightly higher in number (52.6%) than the surface with hairs (rough), which were 47.4%. Pearson correlation studies showed a positive significant relationship between kernel weight and fruit weight (0.68), fruit length (0.48), fruit width (0.51), pulp weight (0.5) and shell weight (0.77). Key components responsible for total variations observed were decomposed from the first two principal components (PC), which cumulatively explained 78.4% of the total observed variation within the materials. PC1 alone contributed 46.4%, while PC2 contributed 32%. Fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, pulp weight, nut weight, shell weight and kernel weight were contributing traits to variations observed in PC1, while brix and percent pulp contributed to the variations observed in PC2. Percent kernel to nut ratio contributed to the variations observed in PC3. Clustering of the germplasms showed no regular pattern based on location or any particular trait, indicating a high level of diversity at 58% of the Pearson dissimilarity index.

Source: UG
Heritability of antibody isotype and subclass responses to Plasmodium falciparum antigens

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Heritability of drought resistance in Solanum aethiopicum Shum group and combining ability of genotypes for drought tolerance and recovery

Drought tolerance is a complex trait whose inheritance had not been investigated in Solanum aethiopicum L. Shum group. This is partly because of perceived cross incompatibilities in the crop. This study relied on 24 successful crosses from an incomplete 9 × 4 North Carolina II mating design, evaluated under five watering conditions based on plant growth stage and watering level in order to determine the heritability of drought resistance and combining ability. Subsequent data analyses were based on restricted maximum likelihood. Overall, specific combining ability (SCA) effects were significant across and within watering environments for all study traits. The most highly heritable traits (in the narrow-sense) were identified as leaves per plant, chlorophyll content (CHL), leaf fresh yield and leaf dry yield while leaf area (LA), leaf relative water content (LRWC) and leaf mass area (LMA) were least heritable. However, the broad sense heritability (H2) was over 0.80 for seven of the traits, indicating that dominance gene action surpass additive gene effects for drought resistance in S. aethiopicum Shum. Further analysis showed that LA is suited for selection of best combiners under well-watered and drought-stress (DS) treatments. The LRWC served best in separating the SCA effects of crosses under DS. The CHL produced clear separations of SCA effects under both DS and drought recovery while LMA served best under the latter. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Source: UG
The hermeneutics of recovery: Facilitating dialogue between African and Western mental health frameworks

The widespread use of faith-based and traditional healing for mental disorders within African contexts is well known. However, normative responses tend to fall within two camps: on one hand, those oriented towards the biomedical model of psychiatry stress the abuses and superstition of such healing, whilst critics adopting a more ‘local’ perspective have fundamentally challenged the universalist claims of biomedical diagnostic categories and psychiatric treatments. What seemingly emerges is a dichotomy between those who endorse more ‘universalist’ or ‘relativist’ approaches as an analytical lens to the challenges of the diverse healing strands within African contexts. In this article, we draw upon the resources of philosophy and existing empirical work to challenge the notion that constructive dialogue cannot be had between seemingly incommensurable healing practices in global mental health. First, we suggest the need for much needed conceptual clarity to explore the hermeneutics of meaning, practice, and understanding, in order to forge constructive normative pathways of dialogue between seemingly incommensurable values and conceptual schemas around mental disorder and healing. Second, we contextualise the complex motives to emphasise difference amongst health practitioners within a competitive healing economy. Finally, we appeal to the notion of recovery as discovery as a fruitful conceptual framework which incorporates dialogue, comparative evaluation, and cross-cultural enrichment across divergent conceptualisations of mental health.

Source: UG
&quot;Heroes and Homelands; the Heritage Quest in Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon&quot;

This presentation explores the vital relationship between the iconic protagonists of two canonical literary texts, one Spanish and the other African American, and a notion of "heritage" as a transformative motivation for the novels' characters. While more than four hundred years and very distinct cultural contexts separate Miguel de Cervantes' classic, Don Quixote de to Mancha from African-American novelist, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, both texts share in common the age-old leitmotif of the quest as the guiding force for each novel's respective heroes, Don Quixote and Macon Dead Ill (also known as Milkman). This presentation argues and intends to illustrate that the growth, development, and ultimate fate of both Don Quixote and Milkman come either as a result or at the expense of an awakened 'self' discovered in the Spanish and African "roots" of each respective questing hero. The Spanish cultural backdrop of Don Quixote and the African American cultural milieu that situates Song of Solomon are illustrated by each novelist to underscore the relevance of cultural space and landscape to the heritage quest.

Source: UG
Herpetofauna community diversity and composition of a changing coastal wetland in Ghana

Despite concern about the negative effects of tropical wetland loss and degradation on biodiversity, data on impacts on amphibians and reptiles, remain scarce. Here, we assessed the herpetofauna at the Muni-Pomadze ramsar site for the first time in 14 years and report on the changes in diversity and composition at the coastal wetland. The methodology involved pitfall trapping, refuge examination and acoustic searches in the forest and grassland/ thickets habitats, as well as interviews of a cross-section of local inhabitants. Overall, 39 herpetofauna species were recorded at the study area. These comprised 19 amphibian species belonging to six families (Bufonidae, Ranidae, Hemisotidae, Hyperoliidae, Arthroleptidae and Petropedetidae), and 20 reptile species of nine families. The reptiles consisted of four lizard families (Agamidae, Scincidae, Gekkonidae and Varanidae), four snake families (Boidae, Colubridae, Elapidae and Viperidae) and one chelonian family (Pelome dusidae). Three families, Hemisotidae, Arthroleptidae and Viperidae are first records for the study area. Survey at the site in 1998 recorded 28 species, comprising 15 species of reptiles and 13 species of amphibians. Two families (Microhylidae and Testudinidae) recorded in 1998 were not recorded in the present survey. Although we recorded higher species richness in the present study, there was no significant change in the proportion of savanna and generalist species in the forest because of compensatory dynamics. Given that habitat loss at the patch and landscape levels is the main threat to herpetofauna at the ramsar site, conservation managers should focus on preventing further deforestation, particularly at Yenku Block A Forest Reserve to preserve the herpetofana at the Muni-Pomadze ramsar site.

Source: UG
Herpetofaunal communities at Muni lagoon in Ghana

A herpetofaunal survey of Muni-Pomadze Lagoon, during the main rainy season (May-June), recorded a total of 32 species (13 amphibians and 19 reptiles). Three species are the first records for coastal habitats in Ghana: Kinixys homeana, Calabaria reinhardti, and Bothrophthalmus lineatus. None of the surveyed species are restricted to Ghana. The most diverse herpetofaunal community occurs in grassland thicket, with 26 species (81% of the sampled herpetofauna). Freshwater ponds include 12 species, while only three species (all amphibians) occur in brackish lagoons. Herpetofaunal conservation efforts at these sites should focus on protecting and monitoring grassland coastal thicket and freshwater ponds. Currently, freshwater pond habitats appear to be stable, but coastal thicket is being lost to provide new agricultural land at Muni. Hyperolius reedfrogs, pythons (Python regius) and monitor lizards (Varanus exanthematicus and V. niloticus) appear to offer the greatest potential for undertaking long-term monitoring of the coastal lagoon herpetofauna, because they can be more readily surveyed, and are likely to be sensitive to a broad range of environmental stressors.

Source: UG
Heterogeneous market participation channels and household welfare

This paper uses panel data and qualitative interviews from southwestern Ghana to analyse farmers’ heterogeneous oil palm marketing decisions and the effect on household welfare. We show that, despite the supposed benefits that smallholders could derive from participation in global agricultural value chains via formal contracts, such arrangements are rare although two of Ghana’s ‘big four’ industrial oil palm companies are located in the study area. In the absence of formal contracts, farmers self-select into four main oil palm marketing channels (OPMCs). These OPMCs are associated with varying levels of welfare, with processing households and those connected to industrial companies by verbal contracts, being better off. Furthermore, own-processing of palm fruits has been shown to reduce gender gaps in household welfare. We also unearth community and household level factors that hamper or facilitate participation in remunerative OPMCs. These results have implications for development policy and practice related to inclusive agricultural commercialization.

Source: UG
Heterologous expression and ATPase activity of mutant versus wild type PfMDR1 protein

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
Heterosis and combining ability for yield and resistance to grain mold in tannin-free photoperiod-insensitive sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] in Senegal

Increasing sorghum production per unit area in the farmer’s field by developing high yielding tannin-free and grain mold tolerant varieties in Senegal is the goal of the present study. Line × tester mating design was used to cross eleven tannin-free non-photoperiodic male fertile sorghum varieties with two male-sterile A-lines to produce 22 F1 hybrids. These hybrids along with the thirteen parents and one grain mold resistant hybrid check were evaluated under natural grain mold infestation in two contrasted sites using a 6 × 6 lattice design with three replications. Results on combining ability suggested that additive gene actions were important in the control of grain mold resistance while non-additive gene actions were preponderant in the inheritance of grain yield. The parental lines F2-20, Macia, Faourou, and Dorado were the best general combiner for grain mold resistance. Of these, Dorado was identified as the best combiner for yield and yield components. Additionally, the hybrid CE310-31A × Sureño was identified as the best hybrids combination for yield, yield components and grain mold resistance. Furthermore, the hybrid crosses CE310-31A × F2-20, CE310-31A × Sureño and AVG-1 × Dorado showed the best mid-parent heterosis for grain yield and resistance to grain mold. Moreover, based on their combining ability and heterosis, seven hybrids were identified for their resistance to grain mold and high yielding. These hybrids could be tested in multi-location trials for a subsequent release.

Source: UG
Heterotic relationship between INERA, CIMMYT and IITA maize inbred lines under drought and well-watered conditions

The Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research of Burkina Faso has extracted a large number of inbred lines from Open Pollinated Varieties, which are environmentally adapted and adopted by farmers. However, there is a gap in knowledge on heterotic grouping of these lines and their heterotic relationship with exotic lines. Twenty-four CIMMYT and INERA white lines were crossed to two CIMMYT testers and; twenty six IITA and INERA yellow inbred lines were crossed to two IITA testers. Two trials composed of 48 white testcrosses and 52 yellow test-crosses plus three checks were evaluated in well-watered and drought stress conditions in the dry season over two years. Signifcant general combining ability (GCA) effects due to lines and, testers for many traits including grain yield were observed. However, specific combining ability (SCA) effects for most traits except for plant and ear heights were not significant. Of the 24 CIMMYT and INERA white lines, 15 lines could be classified into het-erotic groups based on the SCA effects and testcross mean grain yield in well-watered environment and, 10 lines were classified under drought stress condition. Eighty five percent of the IITA and INERA yellow lines were clas-sified into heterotic groups in both drought and non-drought conditions. Thirteen yellow lines and five white lines maintained their heterotic groups in both well-watered and water-stressed conditions. © 2014 Consiglio per la Ricercame la sperimentazione in Agrcoltura. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Hierarchical Linear Modeling of the relationship between Attitudinal and Instructional Variables and Mathematics Achievement

Students’ achievement in mathematics is often considered necessary for the success of the future of a country. Therefore, the training and preparation of students to do well in mathematics has become fundamental goal of educat ion for most countries and more specifically in Ghana. Applying Hierarchical Linear Modeling on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 data, the relationship between attitudinal and instructional variables and mathematics achievement among Ghana’s grade eight students was examined. Prior to the analyses, exploratory factor analyses were conducted for clusters of similar items to reduce the number of predictor variables. The results indicate that student’s gender, educational aspirations, self-confidence in mathematics, value for mathematics, and frequent use of some instructional variables were significant positive predictors at Level 1. Whiles amount of homework, years of teaching, major area of study were significant positive predictors, teaching license or certificate was a significant negative predictor at Level 2

Source: UG