ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Discovery of a hidden BIF deposit in Anhui province, China by integrated geological and geophysical investigations

In China, banded iron formation (BIF) ore deposits of Precambrian age are found at different burial depths. Current exploration programs are focused on deep-seated concealed iron ore deposits. As a consequence, integrated geological and geophysical data are crucial in increasing the success-rate for exploration success. We propose a strategy by which the underlying geological model for the study area is first investigated. The corresponding electromagnetic response can then be modeled, simulating a geophysical type of survey with appropriate uncertainties in the analysis. Based on such an integrated approach, the required precision of detecting deeply-buried deposits can be investigated. In addition, by employing supplementary geophysical data acquired over known BIF deposits, further insight is gained into real geological models. The viability of this approach is demonstrated herein through a case study, where a hidden BIF deposit located in Anhui Province was successfully detected. The actual field measurements were carried out employing the grounded-wire Short-Offset TEM (SOTEM) technique. The analysis of the survey data revealed two new anomalies, one of which was subsequently drilled. Drilling results later confirmed that this anomaly was associated with an ore body that is 60. m thick at a burial depth of 750. m. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Source: UG
Discovery of a Single Monooxygenase that Catalyzes Carbamate Formation and Ring Contraction in the Biosynthesis of the Legonmycins.

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a group of natural products with important biological activities. The discovery and characterization of the multifunctional FAD‐dependent enzyme LgnC is now described. The enzyme is shown to convert indolizidine intermediates into pyrrolizidines through an unusual ring expansion/contraction mechanism, and catalyze the biosynthesis of new bacterial PAs, the so‐called legonmycins. By genome‐driven analysis, heterologous expression, and gene inactivation, the legonmycins were also shown to originate from non‐ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). The biosynthetic origin of bacterial PAs has thus been disclosed for the first time.

Source: UG
Discovery of periodic methanol masers associated with G323.46−0.08

The 6.7 GHz methanol masers associated with G323.46−0.08 have undergone significant change since their discovery in 1992. After 2009 April, new features with a peak flux density of ∼500 Jy in the velocity channel v = −68.35 km s−1, in the velocity range from −71 to −68.5 kms−1 were detected. It is suggestive that it experienced an accretion event similar to that reported in S255-NIRS3 and NGC 6334I. Evidence of periodicity is found in all of the associated methanol masers with a period of ∼93.5 d. It is not possible to determine if this source was periodic before 2017. However, all the 6.7 GHz methanol masers are probably amplifying a common background periodic radio source.

Source: UG
Discovery of Point Mutations in the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel from African Aedes aegypti Populations: Potential Phylogenetic Reasons for Gene Introgression

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
Discovery of, and studies on, Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) in southern Nigeria

The moth Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata Rego Barros, whose host plant is the invasive alien plant Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson, was recently discovered in Uson (6° 14′ 30.77″ N, 6° 04′ 41.37″ E), Evbuabogun (6° 15′ 39.33″ N, 5° 38′ 58.29″ E) and Ekae (6° 15′ 34.90″ N, 5° 37′ 19.75″ E) villages in southern Nigeria after its first release as a biological control agent in that country in 1972. The moth seemed to become more abundant as the rainy season progressed. Studies on some aspects of its biology and behaviour were conducted both in the laboratory and in the field. Females laid eggs on the undersides of C. odorata leaves and on the walls of rearing cages. Female pupae were significantly (PA <A 0.001) larger than the male ones. Also, adult female wingspan was significantly (PA <A 0.001) longer compared with that of the males. Adults lived for an average of 4.8A A±A 0.01 days and they were active at night, when there was good light intensity. Observations on the behaviour and some aspects of the biology and behaviour are discussed. © Copyright ICIPE 2011.

Source: UG
The discovery, distribution, and evolution of viruses associated with drosophila melanogaster

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
Discrimination against People with Disability is a Violation of the Inherent Dignity and worth of the Human Person: A Call to Intensify Investment in Quality Mental Health Care.

The general well-being of the human person is the totality of the effective operation of the human brain especially, and the physical health of the person. Without the brain functioning properly, the entire body may be deemed collapsed as nothing meaningful may proceed from such individuals. Dr Brock Chisholm, the first Director -General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who was a psychiatrist and Shepherded the notion that mental and physical health were intimately linked. He also stated that “without mental health there can be no true physical health”.1 It is for this purpose that all individuals, departments, agencies and government must pay intense attention to and seek to fulfill their duties to ensuring that the right to quality health care of which mental health care is not exempted is realized. As indivisible as the right to quality mental health care is, mental health has historically been neglected in Africa’s health and development policy agenda. Faced with equally challenging matters, including maternal and child morbidity, malaria, intractable poverty, leaders in Ghana and international development agencies frequently overlook the importance of mental health. It is as a result of this conscious shift of attention from mental health to other matters that we have mental patients of various degrees of mental health challenges on the streets of Accra, Ghana. This paper seeks to unfolds: 1. the injustice done people with mental health diseases; 2. the insubstantial investment and contributions from the government of Ghana over the years in the mental health sector; 3. the inability of international bodies and communities’ and the government of Ghana’s inability to adequately factor, promote and guarantee the rights of persons with mental health diseases in the various acts and conventions; and 4. the evasive nature of advocacy in matters regarding mental health in Ghana. To effectively achieve the purpose of this paper, relevant institutions like the Mental Health Authority, reports and statistics from the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Pantang Hospital, the World Health Organization on Mental Health and Mental Health Care will be examined. Some published cases, summaries of various interviews from international and national institutions and individuals will be considered. Legislations like the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846), International and Regional Instruments will be reviewed for this purpose. This paper concludes with the unfolding of the weaknesses in the mental health sector and how the rights of persons with disabilities (mental health challenge) are considered among the least in our society and treated with little or no dignity. The statistics will prove that international instruments and norms regulating mental disabilities rights are somewhat ineffective in our part of the world.

Source: UG
“The Discussion (and/or Closing) section of empirical research articles: What needs to be said and how, to get published in English-medium international journals”

Researchers all over the world are nowadays subject to the pressure to publish-or-perish more than ever before. Multilingual researchers often consider themselves at a disadvantage in comparison to scholars who have English as their first language, particularly as journals in languages other than English do not accrue the high impact of English language journals. Of all the genres that are published in a scientific journal, the most relevant for multilingual researchers is the empirical research article (ERA). The sections that social scientists, in particular, find most difficult to write in English are the ERA discussion and conclusion. In this presentation I report findings of a comparison of the generic structure of discussion (and/or conclusion) sections between international-English-medium journals and Spanish-medium journals. The comparison yields interesting crosscultural differences across the two contexts and across the social sciences and other sciences. Awareness of them might help multilingual scholars in the social sciences to write this section more efficiently when targeting international scientific journals. The presentation then focusses on the social sciences and reveals the most salient language resources employed in English to realize the communicative functions that are most characteristic of ERAs in an international context. It is hoped that this kind of study might inspire similar comparisons across English and other languages.

Source: UG
Diseases of ageing in Ghana

The objective of the paper was to outline the chronic non-communicable disease burden of older adults and predict the odds of living with a chronic non-communicable disease in Ghana. The paper utilized descriptive and analytical statistical methods to assess the level of chronic noncommunicable diseases among older adults. Data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in 2005 in Ghana were used. It comprises 507 individuals aged 50 years and over across the country. The result shows that 45% had oral health problems, 33% were hypertensive, 14% reported having arthritis; 7% had been diagnosed with diabetes, 6% had a cardiovascular condition (Angina) and 4.9% were receiving treatment for stroke or had been diagnosed with stroke. The odds ratio of having a chronic non-communicable condition for those who lived in a rural area was twice as likely as those who reside in an urban area. Chronic non-communicable disease will have significant health and economic implications for the individual, family and the country. The paper posits that the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases among the elderly in the country will increase.

Source: UG
Disentangling “Fetishism”: Rethinking Keywords and Terminologies in Modern Anthropology

How have miseducation and Eurocentric anthropological scholarship actively deluded Africans into perceiving their religion and arts as “inferior” and “barbarous”? Tracing its etymology to the Portuguese word “fetiço”, “fetish” (a.k.a the “F-word” of anthropology) has been used to denigrate significant aspects of African religions and sacred artworks. Such misperceptions and stigmatized terms can be gleaned from Rosenthal’s (1999) descriptions of Legba (and Vodu sculptures of stately importance) which employ derogatory phrases like “fetish object”, “super fetish proportions”, “Dionysian monster god”, “aggressive imago” etc. Similarly, other inexact terms like “primitive”, “demonic”, “sorcery”, “tribal”, “pagan”, and “satanic” are yet to be fully expunged from Vodu and modern anthropological scholarship. The “intellectual” history of “fetishism” has been entangled in some heated academic debates among Western and African scholars alike. De Brosses’ (1757) “discourse” on “fetishism” was first rejected by the French Acadamie scholars due to historical fallacies and methodological flaws. Pietz’ (1982) revisionist anthropology provides a closer textual analysis of the anthropological problem surrounding the discourse of “fetishism” and its misleading relationship with Vodu spirituality. Further interrogating the “problem of fetish” in anthropology, Pietz (1985) reconsiders Rattray’s (1927) position of maintaining African term as a justified methodology for reclaiming racist colonial-era text by translating terms like “fetish” back into African languages. Meyer (2002) also advocates fresh perspectives, anthropological paradigm shifts, practical approaches and methodologies for trans-disciplinary research on religion with special emphasis on socio-linguistics and materiality as an entry point to revisionist Vodu scholarship. Drawing from years of autoethnographic fieldwork and practice-based investigation into the sacred art of the Anlo-Ewe Vodu religion, this paper redefines some misleading theories of ‘fetishism’ – particularly how such perceptions have obscured a genuine appreciation of Vodu art.

Source: UG
Disgrace, displacement and reparation in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace.

In this paper I argue that the past apartheid South Africa that is represented in Disgrace is a metaphorical borderland where there is no clear cut distinction between self and other. I explore the concept of boundary blurring as a route to re-reading the issue of reparation in the novel, focusing mainly on the boundary of the Eastern Cape as a landscape with a fraught history and a space in which identities are formed and transformed across the boundenes of age, gender and rice.

Source: UG
Disordered eating habits among adolescents

Disordered eating habits among adolescents remains a major global problem that can affect their physical, mental and behavioral development. In spite of the advances that have been made in feeding practices, adolescents in many environments consume diets that are nutritionally inadequate, in that they do not provide adequate amounts of essential nutrients. Adolescence is a period which is critical and characterized by various growth spurts. Some of these growth spurts are psychological and emotional. Good dietary habits have also been found to be crucial in the development and growth of the adolescent during these periods. These psychological and emotional changes can lead to eating disorders if not well attended to. The three main types of disordered eating habits that can affect adolescents are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. In this review the use of a multidisciplinary approach in ensuring optimum adolescent growth was addressed. This approach included the use of parents/care-takers, teachers, dieticians, clinical psychologists and counsellors to ensure healthy eating habits of some adolescents. The results indicated the invaluable contribution of all the stakeholders in achieving good nutrition among adolescents. © 2014 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Dispatch from Governor Sir W. Brandford Griffith, K.C.M.G Forwarding a Memorial from merchants, Agents and Traders of the Gold Coast Colony.

I have the honour to transmit for your Lordship's consideration a communication, dated the 31st October 1892, addressed to your Lordship by" merchants, agents, and traders of the Gold Coast Colony," in which they profess "to bring before your Lord" ship's notice facts in connexion with this Colony, and particularly with reference to Ordinance No. 25 'of 1R89, imposing an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent. upon nearly all the imports into the Colony.

Source: UG
Dispensing practices for anti‑malarials in the La Nkwantanang‑Madina municipality, Greater Accra, Ghana: a cross‑sectional study

Background: Despite recent strides made towards reducing the emergence of artemisinin resistance, inappropriate dispensing practices for anti-malarials in both private and public sectors affect treatment outcomes negatively. In Ghana, private retail pharmacies are the most accessible health facilities for managing diseases of common occurrence. However, there is growing concern about the number of patients harmed by dispensing errors in the management of malaria in retail pharmacies. Although considerable work has been done in this area, several questions regarding dispensing practices remain unanswered. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the predictors of appropriate dispensing practices for anti-malarials in community pharmacies in the La Nkwantanang-Madina municipality of Greater Accra, Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in sixty-one randomly selected community pharmacies in the La Nkwantanang-Madina. Data from 230 clients and 106 dispensers were analysed. It was checked for internal consistency and completeness then entered and analysed using STATA I/C version 14.0. Frequencies, Chi square tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted, accounting for clustering. Results and discussion: Of the 106 dispensers interviewed, 71.4% were medicine counter assistants. The mean age of dispensers was 30.4 years (SD 8.8). Over 88.0% of clients were advised to complete the full course of their antimalarials. However, the 8-h loading dose principle for artemether-lumefantrine was not explained to 88.3% of the clients. More than half of the clients (52.2%) were given appropriate dispensing information on anti-malarial use. Most clients (66.1%), were dispensed anti-malarials without malaria tests. Dispensers with more than a 10-years experience were less likely to dispense artemisinin-based combinations appropriately relative to dispensers with less than 2 years experience (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.002–0.802 p-value = 0.036) while pharmacy interns were about 19 times more likely (AOR = 18.5, 95% CI 1.40–245.6 p-value = 0.03) to dispense artemisinin-based combinations appropriately compared to pharmacists. Conclusion: Dispensing practices for anti-malarials is unsatisfactory. There is a need to enforce existing legislation with educational programmes directed towards dispensers especially those with more than 10 years experience. Specific adherence to the World Health Organization Test, Treat and Track initiative should be encouraged to ensure effective use of anti-malarials.

Source: UG
Dispersants as an oil spill clean-up technique in the marine environment: A review

Oil is a major source of energy in the industrial world. Exploitation of oil and rigging activities, transportation via sea, and many other mechanical failures lead to oil spills into the marine environment. In view of these, the suitability and effectiveness of oil spill response methods have always been a topical discussion worldwide. It has become necessary, now than ever, for existing spill response methods used to remove oil from the environment to be improved upon and more importantly, develop new response materials that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. There exist surfactants in nature that are non-toxic and biodegradable, which can be explored to produce potential dispersants to help remove oil safely from the surface of marine water. This review comprises of the works and resourceful materials produced by various researchers and agencies in the field of oil spill response, placing emphasis on the use of dispersants in the marine environment.

Source: UG
Dispersion and functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTS) for nanocomposite applications

We present an easy and reliable method of functionalizing and dispersing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for nanocomposite production. This was achieved via a mixture of the concentrated acids HNO3/H2SO4, followed by sonication in appropriate solvents (Ethanol, Acetone and/or Dimethylformamide). SWCNTs were functionalized to attach carboxylic moieties on the walls of the nanotubes, which aided in the production of SWCNTs suspensions in acetone, ethanol and dimethylformamide in which nanotubes remained dispersed for a period of two (2) weeks. Energy dispersion analysis (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the functionalized SWCNTs. © EDP Sciences, 2017

Source: UG
Displaced women in Northern Ghana: Indigenous knowledge about ethnic conflict

This article presents the findings of field research in Ghana in 2002 about internal displacement stemming from multiethnic violence in northern Ghana in 1994, known as the "Guinea Fowl War." Indigenous, gender-specific knowledge from displaced Ghanaian women is presented in the context of feminist perspectives on the consequences of regional wars on non-combatants. The research generated indigenous material for social work education about interethnic peace building and conflict resolution. The discussion includes first-person responses about warning signs, origins of conflict, immediate and long-term responses, social consequences, and an integration of findings with feminist perspectives on conflict resolution and policies that are designed to aid internally displaced women. © 2008 Sage Publications.

Source: UG
Dissipation of endosulfan in field-grown tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and cropped soil at Akumadan, Ghana

The dissipation and persistence of endosulfan (6,7,8,9,10,10-hexachloro-1, 5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepin 3-oxide) applied to field-grown tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) were studied at a vegetable-growing location in Ghana. Plant tissue samples and cropped soil collected at 2 h-14 days and 8 h-112 days, respectively, after application, were analyzed by gas chromatography-electron capture detection (63Ni) to determine the content and dissipation rate of endosulfan isomers (α- and β-endosulfan) and the major metabolite, endosulfan sulfate. After two foliar applications of commercial endosulfan at 500 g of active ingredient/hectare, the first-order reaction kinetic was confirmed to describe the dissipation of endosulfan residues in tomato foliage and cropped soil. However, functions that best fit the experimental data were the biphasic process for foliage and the monophasic process for cropped soil. Calculated DT 50 and DT90 values for endosulfan residues in cropped soil were not significantly (p &lt; 0.05) different for each of the two isomers. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

Source: UG