ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Some epidemiological characteristics of perpetrators and victims of incest in contemporary Ghana: Analysis of media reports.

In Ghana, incest is considered sinful, taboo, and illegal. However, recent media reports show that incest has become a daily reality in Ghana. This study is a situational analysis of the pattern of incest in Ghana as reported in the media from January 2008 through July 2015. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on 48 incest news reports in Ghana. The findings showed that father-daughter incest was most frequent across the study period. Forty-seven females aged 3 to 25 years and a male aged 3 years were identified as victims. Generally, the incest lasted between 1 day and 13 years before disclosure. Perpetrators employed psychological and/or physical methods to coerce their victims. Marital difficulties, diabolical control, and seduction by victim featured prominently as alleged motives behind the abuse. The study observes that the recent increase in father-daughter incest warrants an immediate shift of research attention onto men's mental health in Ghana.

Source: UG
Some genetic characteristics of sabin-like poliovirus isolated from acute flaccid paralysis cases in Nigeria

Most research activities involve the use of molecular methods such as regular PCR (PCR), quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), genomic sequence and analysis using different software, genetic engineering, probe hybridization techniques, biological and molecular cloning, evaluation of immune markers for laboratory diagnosis of infections, serological assays involving the use of rapid tests, ELISA-based evaluations and immunofluorescent assay techniques.

Source: UG
Some Historical Account O F Guinea, its Situation, Produce, and the Genera) Disposition of Its Inhabitants. With An Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Slave Trade, Its Nature, and Lamentable Effects

The Author of the following Account of Guinea having been one of the earliest and most distinguished advocates for the unfortunate Africans, a short account of him may not be unacceptable. Anthony Benezet was of a respectable family. And was born at St. Quitin in Picardy, in 1713. His father was one of the many Psotestant who, in consequence of the persecution’s which followed the revocation of the edict of Nantz, fought an asylum in foreign countries After a short stay in Holland, he settled with his wife and several children In London, in 1715 Our Author having received a liberal education, Served an apprenticeship in an eminent mercantile house in London. In 1731, the whole family removed to Philadelphia. His three brothers followed trade successfully but he, whose pursuits were directed to worthier objects than the attainment of wealth, and whose highest gratification confined in promoting the welfare of mankind, chose the humble, but useful, occupation of instructing young people in the paths of knowledge and virtue.

Source: UG
Some important observations on the populations of hooded vultures necrosyrtes monachus in urban Ghana

Despite major declines in the population of vultures around the world, noticeable increases were reported in the populations of Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus over the past decade in Accra - an important vulture habitat in Ghana. In recent times, however, there is a growing concern that the vulture numbers are decreasing even though scientific data to support this is nonexisting. As a vital zoogeographical and conservation tool, it is important to keep an up-to-date knowledge about urban bird populations amidst rapid urbanization and associated changes. Using a combination of field data, literature review, and stakeholder consultations, it was indicative that severe decline might have indeed occurred in the populations of Hooded Vultures in Accra. Evidence suggests the killing of vultures for consumption, traditional medicine, and black magic in an undercover trade with possible transboundary connections as important underlying factor. Additional factors suspected to underlie the declines include changes in management of urban facilities and destruction of roosting and nesting trees. The implications of interspecific competition with Pied Crows Corvus albus on Hooded Vultures however remain unclear. There is an urgent need for conservation campaign and education to save the Hooded Vulture in Ghana. © 2016 Francis Gbogbo et al.

Source: UG
Some New and Accurate Observations Geographical, Natural and Historical. Containing a True and Impartial Account of the Situation, Product, and Natural History of the Coast Of Guinea

Having the Honour to be employed in this Honourable Company's Service in the Station of Physician to their Settlements on (he Coast of Africa, and Chief Surgeon at Cape Coast Castle; and having had the satisfaction (if there is any such thing in this Country) of visiting all your Settlements on the coast.

Source: UG
Some patients are more equal than others: Patient-centred care differential in two-tier inpatient ward hospitals in Ghana

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in patient-centred care among private and public inpatients in public hospitals and whether satisfaction with patient-centred care differ between the patient groups. METHOD: Cross-sectional data collected from inpatients in private wards (n=300) and public wards (n=520) in Ghana, using a structured questionnaire modelled on four dimensions of patient-centred care: respect and dignity, emotional support, interpersonal relations and information sharing. RESULTS: Patient-centred care differed significantly among private and public patients (p<0.001), with an effect size ranging from medium to large. Private patients rated patient-centred care higher than public patients in all the items of the four dimensions. Satisfaction with patient-centred care discriminated between the patient groups. Satisfaction was significantly high for private patients who are aged 50+ (p<0.001), had high education (p<0.05) and high income (p<0.001) compared to the same category of public patients. CONCLUSION: Physicians behaviour is stereotyping and less favourable to public patients, suggesting inequitable access to patient-centred care for inpatients from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Hospitals with private and public wards should be compelled to properly coordinate and regulate the activities of physicians to avoid fragmented care for inpatients.

Source: UG
Some perspectives of hosts and guests on coastal tourism development in two destinations in Ghana

The coastal zone of Ghana has played a crucial role in attracting both local and international tourists over the years. The presence of a wide array of attractions, both natural and manmade and the over concentration of national infrastructural stock within the zone have greatly enhanced its attractiveness to tourists. On the flipside, however, a number of physical/environmental economic and socio-cultural concerns have emerged requiring proactive measures for overcoming any hiccups to the sustainable development of the industry. Based on insights drawn from interviewing hosts and guests and physical tests conducted on major environmental attributes within two coastal tourism destinations of Ada and Elmina some policy measures have been recommended to help ameliorate some of these emerging challenges. Specific recommendations include a greater role by national government in managing this sensitive coastal environment and more community involvement in the planning and management of coastal tourism.

Source: UG
Some Perspectives on the Migration of Skilled Professionals from Ghana

In the last four decades or so, transnational movements of both skilled and unskilled labour from developing countries to the advanced industrial economies have witnessed an unprecedented growth. Fuelled largely by deteriorating livelihood conditions in the developing world and increasing demand for wealthy and highly skilled professionals in the developed economies, these movements have attracted a lot of research attention and public policy discourses on the ‘pros and cons’ of such movements. Like others, Ghana has had a long history of movement of her nationals to various parts of the world for various reasons. However there appears to be a policy void on ways for enhancing these benefits for Ghana and this paper contributes to filling this gap. The paper discusses the merits and demerits associated with the transnational movements of Ghanaian Health and Educational professionals and proposes ways for enhancing the benefits associated with these movements for Ghana. It also suggests pathways for aiding future migration policy formulation in Ghana.

Source: UG
Some Problems Facing Chieftaincy Today

Much has been said and written during recent times to give those who have no clear idea of the role of the institution of Chieftaincy an idea of what chiefs were created in our society to stand for and the role the institution was meant to play. 2. I feel however that many persons are apt to forget easily that institution has been with the people of this country for many many generations and during the period some aspects of ' Chieftaincy had to "evolve in response to the impact on it of the economic trends generally and particularly as regards the view of life and the universe held by the various ethnic groups in our society.

Source: UG
Some Verbal Alternations in Ewe

Verbs which imply causative / inchoative alternation can occur as either one-place or two-place predicates. Such verbs are usually of change-of-state verbs. However, this paper identifies certain change-of-state verbs that do not take part in this alternation; importantly, it identifies alternations in which the object is not expressed. The unexpressed object alternations are of two types: the understood object and the unspecified object. Only a few verbs show the understood object alternation; they include mu „be drunk‟ and kpã „end, stop‟. Verbs that undergo the unspecified object alternation include verbs of “inherent directed motion”, verbs of “involuntary bodily processes” and verbs of “cries and movement”.

Source: UG
Sonication, osmosonication and vacuum-assisted osmosonication pretreatment of Ghanaian garlic slices: Effect on physicochemical properties and quality characteristics

This work aimed to assess the impact of sonication (US), osmosonication (US + OD) and vacuum-assisted osmosonication (V + US + OD) pretreatments on the quality of Ghanaian garlic prior to relative humidity convective drying. Hence, slices of fresh garlic subjected to US, US + OD and V + US + OD pretreatments were dried and the following assessed: antioxidant activities, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme inactivation, rehydration ratio (RR), drying kinetics, energy consumption, chromatographic fingerprinting, allicin content and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. V + US + OD pretreatment gave the best results for antioxidant activities, TPC, TFC, RR and PPO enzyme inactivation. It also recorded the shortest drying time and was more energy efficient. Finally V + US + OD pretreatment maintained the chemical integrity of the finished product and recorded the highest content of allicin. A general trend was however observed for all quality parameters assessed for the various pretreatment methods as: V + US + OD > US + OD > US.

Source: UG
Sonochemical action and reaction of edible insect protein: Influence on enzymolysis reaction‐kinetics, free‐Gibbs, structure, and antioxidant capacity

We investigated the impact of sonochemical action and the reaction of Hermetia illucens larvae meal protein (HILMP) as regards enzymolysis under varied enzyme concentration and temperature to explain the mechanism and effect of sonication on molecular conformation, limits of kinetics, free‐Gibbs energy, and antioxidative capacity. Control treatment was used for comparison. The results showed sonochemical treatment enhanced HILMP‐enzymolysis efficiency at various enzyme volume, and temperature. Enzymolysis‐kinetics revealed sonochemical treatment increased the rate constant (p < .05) by 17.21%, 25.06%, 26.91%, and 41.38% at 323, 313, 303, and 293 K, respectively. On free‐Gibbs, sonochemical treatment reduced the reactantsreactivity energy, enthalpy, and entropy by 30.53%, 35.05%, and 10.71%, respectively (p < .05). Changes in spectra of UV and fluorescence, and micrographic imaging indicated alterations of HILMP by sonochemical treatment. Antioxidative activity of sonochemically‐treated HILMP increased, compared to control. Thus, sonochemical treatment may be beneficial in the production of edible insect proteins with smaller molecular weights for different food and/or pharmaceutical applications.

Source: UG
Sorption and degradation of neonicotinoid insecticides in tropical soils

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Broussonetia papyrifera (paper mulberry) invasion and land use on the floristic composition of a dry semi-deciduous forest in Ghana. Forty-five plots (25 m × 25 m each), distributed among three land uses—selectively logged (SL); abandoned farmlands (AF); and an undisturbed reference (RF)—were surveyed. Results showed lower tree species richness (S), diversity (H′), evenness (S) and basal area (BA) in the SL (46, 0.78, 0.32 and 269.12 m2 ha−1, respectively) and AF (40, 0.53, 0.45, and 131.16 m2 ha−1) sites compared to the RF site (79, 2.66, 0.87, 963.72 m2 ha−1). Similar patterns were found at the shrub layer, but no differences were observed at the herb layer. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination revealed distinct species composition among the land uses. The two disturbed habitats, SL and AF, were associated with increased B. papyrifera invasion particularly in the overstory, with importance value index and mean relative density of 45 and 65.03%, and 42 and 53.29%, correspondingly. However, the species was only sparsely represented in the RF site. Tree density of B. papyrifera correlated negatively with H′, S, E, BA, and native tree density and richness. These findings highlight the strong link between human land use (i.e., logging and slash-and-burn farming), invasion, and vegetation characteristics, and suggest the need to limit these disturbances to conserve biodiversity within tropical forest ecosystems. © 2018 Northeast Forestry University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Source: UG
The Souls of Black Folk Essays and Sketches

Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line. I pray you, then, receive my little book in all charity, studying my words with me, forgiving mistake and foible for sake of the faith and passion that is in me, and seeking the grain of truth hidden there. I have sought here to sketch, in vague, uncertain outline, the spiritual world in which ten thousand thousand Americans live and strive. First, in two chapters I have tried to show what Emancipation meant to them, and what was its aftermath. In a third chapter I have pointed out the slow rise of personal leadership, and criticised candidly the leader who bears the chief burden of his race to-day. Then, in two other chapters I have sketched in swift outline the two worlds within and without the Veil, and thus have come to the central problem of training men for life. Venturing now into deeper detail.

Source: UG
Sounds good on paper but problematic in practice: PPP in Ghana’s transport sector

The study sought to examine the complexities involved in the implementation of public-private partnerships in the transport sector using the experience of Intercity STC Coaches Limited and private partners in Ghana. The study seeks to contribute to the literature on public-private partnership by examining the implementation challenges associated with the partnership between public and private transport entities. An exploratory qualitative design through semi-structured interviews and document reviews is adopted for the study. The paper uses the complexity of joint action as the theoretical framework. The study contends that the presence of a challenge, the threat of a challenge or the quest to realize an untapped opportunity offers the basis for a PPP to kick-start. Despite the ideals, there are challenges which impede the effective operationalization of partnerships. These are discussed with clear policy suggestions to address them.

Source: UG
Source apportionment of potentially toxic elements in soils from an urbanising region: Insights from multivariate analysis in Singida, Tanzania

This study evaluates the spatial distribution and geochemical characteristics of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil samples across the Singida area, Central Tanzania, highlighting the environmental impli cations of rapid urbanisation and contributing to a deeper understanding of soil pollution in urbanis ing landscapes. A total of 1884 soil samples were analysed with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). The results of the study show that the background concentrations of the PTEs exceeded their corresponding Upper Continental Crustal (UCC) values in this order; Pb (86.25 %) > Ba (65.23 %) > As (45.65 %) > Cr (15.92 %) > Zn (15.18 %) > V (8.60 %) > Co (7.86 %) > Cu (5.68 %). However, only Cu (17 samples), Pb (2 samples), and Zn (1 sample) reached contaminant thresholds of 200 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, respectively in some samples. Agricultural practices and soil conditions are possible explanations for the high Cu values, which may be combined with other factors. This study also found that the Co, Cr, Ba and V concentrations vary greatly and even in some samples exceed the recom mended levels. The principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, self-organising maps and positive matrix factorisation analysis revealed two main clusters: Ba, Zn and Pb (Factor 1) and Co, Cu, As, Cr and V (Factor 2). Cluster 1 is more prominent across most of the area, particularly the south. Cluster 2 is shown to be more prominent in the Northern part of the area such as Sekenke, Shelui, Lambi, Mtinko and New Kiomboi. Due to the growing rate of urbanisation, these areas have become relatively populous and have a high level of anthropogenic activities, such as gold mining, sunflower oil milling and agri cultural activities which have been shown in the study to influence the spatial patterns of PTEs in the area. The level of anthropogenic influence on the PTEs calls for remediation and educative measures to be implemented.

Source: UG
Source of Drinking Water and the Prevalence of Dirrhoea among Children aged Under-five years in Ghana-Recent Evidence.

Diarrhoeal diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children in low-and middle-income countries. Although the government of Ghana has implemented some interventions with reasonable successes over the years, diarrhoea morbidity still remains a public health concern. For instance, it was reported in the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) that one out of every five (20%) children below five years of age had diarrhoea in the two weeks preceding the survey while the 2014 GDHS revealed an incidence of 12%. This paper examines the association between source of drinking water and the prevalence of diarrhoea among children aged under-five years using propensity score matching. The study found that drinking from improved water sources rather increases the odds of diarrhoea by about 1.3 times and this effect persists in both the unmatched and matched samples. We proffer potential explanations for this rather puzzling finding. The paper concludes that the Ghana Standards Authority should regularly monitor sachet water and other 'improved water sources' for its microbial quality to ensure that Ghanaians are offered clean and safe drinking water in order to curb the incidence of diarrhoea among children.

Source: UG
Source of Finance and Small Enterprise Productivity Growth in Ghana

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of nature and a range of institutional sources of start-up finance on Micro and Small enterprises’ (MSEs) productivity growth in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach - Using a unique non-farm household enterprise survey data from Ghana, we estimated TFP or Solow residual as a proxy for MSEs’ productivity growth as well as other for robustness checks. Findings - After controlling for firm-level characteristics such as size, age, ownership type etc, the study finds that debt finance was positively associated with productivity growth, while financing from donation or charity did not. Second, we found significant positive associations between a more formal financing source such as commercial bank loans and NBFIs financing sources and MSE’s productivity growth. This finding was robustly confirmed by manager’s growth perception. Further, compared to internal finance, external financing sources was found to be positively associated with productivity growth - indicating complementarities among all external financing sources. Research limitations/implications - Further research will be needed to validate these results, particularly using enterprise on-going finance or working capital rather than start-up capital. Practical implications - The study sorts to imply that too much of free money or grant finance has the tendency to undermine the motivation and incentive for MSEs to be innovative in bringing about a higher productivity growth. Improving access to external finance at a reasonable cost, will afford microentrepreneurs to make the needed investment in innovations. Originality/value – The study contributes to the finance literature by studying the impact of nature and institutional financing sources on MSEs’ productivity growth in Africa context.

Source: UG
Source of finance and small enterprise’s productivity growth in Ghana

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of nature and a range of institutional sources of start-up finance on micro and small enterprises’ (MSEs) productivity growth in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – Using a unique non-farm household enterprise survey data from Ghana, this paper estimated TFP or Solow residual as a proxy for MSEs’ productivity growth as well as other for robustness checks. Findings – After controlling for firm-level characteristics such as size, age, ownership type, etc. the study finds that debt finance was positively associated with productivity growth, while financing from donation or charity did not. Second, this paper found significant positive associations between a more formal financing source such as formal and semi-formal financing sources and MSE’s productivity growth. This finding was robustly confirmed by manager’s growth perception. Further, compared to internal finance, external financing sources were found to be positively associated with productivity growth – indicating complementarities among all external financing sources. Research limitations/implications – Further research will be needed to validate these results, particularly using enterprise ongoing finance or working capital rather than start-up capital. Originality/value – The study contributes to the finance literature by studying the impact of nature and institutional financing sources on MSEs’ productivity growth in the African context.

Source: UG