ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Morphological characteristics of indigenous goats in the coastal savannah and forest eco-zones of Ghana

A survey was carried out in two agro-ecological zones (coastal savannah and forest) of Ghana to describe the morphological characteristics of indigenous goat populations in those areas. Two districts each in the two zones were randomly selected and 15 villages with high concentrations of indigenous goats purposely selected from each of the districts. Information was collected on the visual appraisal of the indigenous goat types and their morphological description. The animals observed in the various households were put into homogenous classes according to their age based on dentition using the FAO breed descriptor guide which spelt out six age categories. The goats were also grouped according to their morphological characteristics. The distributions of the various traits were expressed in percentages and categorized according to sex and location. Apart from the qualitative traits, five (5) other morpho-biometrical characteristics or linear body measurements namely: body length, height at withers, horn length, tail length and ear length were taken on each animal in the morning before they were released for grazing. A total of 600 goats comprising 179 males and 421 females were observed during the survey. The result obtained from the study indicated that the highest percentage (28.3%) of indigenous goats sampled were less than 1 year old with those within the age range of 4-5 years being the least (9.7%). It was also observed that majority of the indigenous goats sampled were multi-coloured (35.0%) with colours ranging from white, brown, black and grey. The predominant hair type observed among the goats was the smooth type (64.5%) with the least hair type observed being curly (9.4%). It was observed that majority (75.5%) of the indigenous goats sampled were polled while 24.5% were horned. Again, it was realized that majority (72.6%) of the goat sampled had no wattles while 27.4% of them were wattled. The study also revealed that 17.4% of the indigenous goat populations were bearded while about 82.6% had no beard. There was a significant (P<0.05) age effects on linear body measurements. There was also a significant (P<0.05) sex and location effects with regard to body length and height at withers with the male goats being superior to the females

Source: UCC
Morphological characterization and population dynamics of Cyperus rotundus L. in vegetable fields of southern Ghana

Vegetable production in southern Ghana suffers grave setbacks from purple nutsedge infestation. Several attempts to identify effective and environmentally friendly management methods using the traditional weed research methods have so far not been successful. Hence, this study aimed at designing efficient and environmentally sound management methods by developing an ecological model of the population dynamics of purple nutsedge in vegetable fields. The study comprised three major phases: survey of the agronomic practices and prevalence of the weed in the four agro-ecological zones in the study area, morphological characterization of the weed and the development of an ecological model which was used in determining an appropriate management method. Purple nutsedge was reportedly present on the fields of more than 50 per cent of farmers interviewed and was said to be a problem all year round, especially in the wet season. The weed showed some level of morphological adaptation to agro-ecological conditions in the study area. The major factors which determined differences in purple nutsedge were photosynthetic structures (involucral bracts and leaves), plant height and leaf characteristics. On the whole, differences observed in the morphology of the weed were independent of the agro-ecological zones, despite the adaptations observed. The ecological model reflected purple nutsedge population dynamics at weekly intervals and the yield loss in cabbage (as a test crop) and hence was used to investigate various management options for the weed. It was clear that only an integrated weed management approach could effectively manage purple nutsedge. This approach should include an effective means of reducing the initial viable tuber density of the purple nutsedge.

Source: UCC
Morphological Characterization and Population Dynamics of Cyperus Rotundus L. In Vegetable Fields of Southern Ghana

ABSTRACT Vegetable production in southern Ghana suffers grave setbacks from purple nutsedge infestation. Several attempts to identify effective and environmentally friendly management methods using the traditional weed research methods have so far not been successful. Hence, this study aimed at designing efficient and environmentally sound management methods by developing an ecological model of the population dynamics of purple nutsedge in vegetable fields. The study comprised three major phases: survey of the agronomic practices and prevalence of the weed in the four agro-ecological zones in the study area, morphological characterization of the weed and the development of an ecological model which was used in determining an appropriate management method. Purple nutsedge was reportedly present on the fields of more than 50 per cent of farmers interviewed and was said to be a problem all year round, especially in the wet season. The weed showed some level of morphological adaptation to agro-ecological conditions in the study area. The major factors which determined differences in purple nutsedge were photosynthetic structures (involucral bracts and leaves), plant height and leaf characteristics. On the whole, differences observed in the morphology of the weed were independent of the agro-ecological zones, despite the adaptations observed. The ecological model reflected purple nutsedge population dynamics at weekly intervals and the yield loss in cabbage (as a test crop) and hence was used to investigate various management options for the weed. It was clear that only an integrated weed management approach could effectively manage purple nutsedge. This approach should include an effective means of reducing the initial viable tuber density of the purple nutsedge.

Source: UCC
Morphological characterization of Ugandan isolates of Sphaceloma sp. causing cowpea scab disease

Scab is an important fungal disease of cowpea, affecting both young and old tissues including stems, leaves and pods of susceptible cowpea genotypes, leading to significant yield losses of up to 100% under severe infections. Colony characteristics on agar media, symptomatology, phylogenetic affinity of hosts and host range have been used to justify taxonomic distinctions. The correct identification and description of a pathogen is paramount in understanding its control or developing genotypes resistant to it. This study involved the isolation and culture of the scab fungus (Sphaceloma sp.) from infected plant parts (leaves and pods) collected from farmers’ fields across major cowpea growing districts and agro-ecological zones in Uganda. The fungus was characterized using growth habit on potato dextrose agar (PDA) media, conidia feature, variability in radial growth rate (mm/day) among the isolates and pathogenicity and virulence of some isolates on 20 selected cowpea genotypes with different levels of resistance. A total of 495 Sphaceloma sp. isolates comprising of 419 from infected leaves and 76 from infected pods were obtained following isolation and culture. There was a wide variation in the isolates based on the amount, nature, color, depth and rate of mycelia growth, features of conidia and number of septations. Based on the mean incidence, severity, AUDPC and pathogenicity on the 20 genotypes, the isolates were put into three pathogenicity groups. Isolates were mostly slow growing (> 14 days to cover entire 90 mm petri dish). Genotypes NE 31 and NE 70 showed broad spectrum of resistance to the isolates and could therefore be recommended as parental lines in the cowpea breeding programme to develop cultivars with wide horizontal resistance to the scab disease

Source: UCC
Morphological features of the White Volta River: an evaluation of thematic accuracy

Rivers are natural forces that continue to shape the surface of the earth and also play an important role in supporting life. They serve as part of the earth’s interconnected circulatory system. This system acts on the rivers to alter topography and shape of river basins and nearby landmasses which influence river currents. Earth observation tools have developed over the years with enhanced and advanced technological input to also observe such changes. The White Volta has been affected by various factors both natural and anthropogenic activities causing some changes within its basin. But methods to extract such features for observation are now numerous. In order to know the effective method in semi-automatic riverine feature extraction, the study compared the pixel based, object based and the decision tree image classification methods conducted on remotely sensed data of the White Volta. The Landsat 8 OLI image data was used for the classification in ENVI software. The Maximum Likelihood Classification (M LC) had a kappa coefficient of 0.9492, the Decision Tree Classification (DTC) had a kappa of 0.9491 and the Object Based Classification (OBC) had a kappa index of agreement of 0.9505. the total accuracies were what differentiated them all vastly with the MLC, DTC and the OBC attaining 98.48%, 99.9% and 97.37% respectfully. The study however found the OBC to be a preferred choice because it was able to overcome the deficiencies of the other two methods and still attain a competitive accuracy level. The study therefore recommended the OBC for the choicest in the event that there was the need for a choice but also acknowledged the efficiency of the remaining two methods.

Source: UCC
Morphological traits and correlation between body weight and body size traits in Isa Brown and Illorin ecotype chickens

Data collected in 2012 on 400 chickens were subjected to two-way analyses of variance to estimate body weight, morphometric traits as well as the correlation between body weight and morphometric traits in Isa Brown and Ilorin ecotype chickens. The studied morphometric traits were comb length, beak length, head length, neck length, body length, wing length, shank length, thigh length, toe length, breast length, and breast breadth. The results showed that genotype, sex and genotype × sex interaction significantly (P<0.05) affect body weight and morphometric trait measurements. Isa Brown chicken had a significantly higher (P<0.05) matured body weight than Ilorin ecotype birds. Isa Brown birds had higher (P<0.05) morphometric traits than Ilorin ecotype birds except for toe length. Male birds had higher body weight (P<0.05) and were also higher in most of the morphometric trait measurements than female birds. Interactions between genotype and sex were significant (P<0.05) for body weight and morphometric traits, except for breast length and breast breadth. Morphometric traits measured in young birds were significantly (P<0.05) correlated with body weight (0.68-0.95) except for wing length in Isa Brown and breast length in Ilorin ecotype chicken. Correlations between body weight and morphometric traits in adult Isa Brown birds were higher (0.27-0.95) than correlations between body weight and morphometric traits in Ilorin ecotype chicken (0.02-0.91). A significant negative correlation was obtained between body weight and beak length (-0.72) in Isa Brown and between body weight and wing length (-0.35) in Ilorin ecotype chicken. Morphometric traits measured on male birds were more highly correlated with body weight (0.68-0.95) than in female chickens, except for breast breadth. The present study showed that the two genotypes could be adequately characterised using morphometric indices. The study further revealed that morphometric indices like body length and comb length can be adequately used to predict body weight of birds in the two genotypes. However, the negative correlation obtained between body weight and wing length in Ilorin ecotype chicken requires further investigation to determine its basis for chicken adaptation

Source: UCC
Morphology and Microstructure of Otoliths of Juvenile Fish Species from the Coastal Waters of Ghana

This study was conducted on the morphology and microstructure of otoliths of juvenile fish species from Kakum River Estuary, Benya Lagoon and the coastal marine waters near Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana, to ascertain their practical use in age and growth studies. Otoliths of twenty–nine (29) species from fourteen (14) families were examined. A linear relationship determined for otolith length – total length, which was described by the equation OL= a + bTL, gave a range of r = 0.22 to 0.96 for commonest species from the three sites, thus suggesting that otolith growth is dependent on somatic growth. Also, otolith morphology was observed to vary among species as the morphological characteristics were species – specific. The otolith microstructure of most of the species showed clear primary growth increments but many lacked a hatch check, hence the embryonic stage of the fish could not be identified in the otolith. Observed patterns of increment deposition for some otoliths appeared to follow a likely weekly pattern whereas others had no clearly-defined patterns of deposition. The mullet species (Mugilidae) however, did not show clear increment deposition as the otoliths had large portions which were obscured hence increment deposition could not be defined for these species. In effect, the results show that the microstructure of otoliths of some species could be used for age and growth studies if increment formation rate can be validated. Also, otolith morphology could provide a base-line information for species identification and differentiation.

Source: UCC
Morphology of plant names in Anlo

The thesis is the study of the morphology of plant names in A`l4. E3e names in general are formed as root names or derived names (Atakpa, 1997). Agbedor and Johnson (2005) also say that E3e names carry semantic loads therefore one can only understand E3e names when one dissects the names. This presupposes that understanding of plant names hinges on a critical look at the internal structure of the names, hence this study aims at establishing the internal morphological structures of plant names and to identify word formation strategies employed in formulating A`l4 plant names. The method used to collect information for this study was elicitation. Pictures of plants were subjected to scrutiny by the indigenous A`l4 speakers for correct pronunciation of the plant names in order to construe the meaning of the names. Alongside the elicitation, the researcher used some selected books on plant names as a secondary data. Over one hundred and forty plant names were collected and analysed using Hockett’s (1954) Item and Arrangement and Item and Process Models. This research has revealed various morphological strategies that include compounding, reduplication and borrowing. Aside from the nominalization strategies, the various morphological structures were discussed. Finally, the study established the internal structures of plant names and identified word formation strategies of plant names in A`l4.

Source: UCC
Morphology of the Kakum River: A study on a small forested River in the Central Region, Ghana

The Kakum River, a small-forested but major river in Cape Coast is the main source of water for about five major towns and all communities within its watershed. However, in recent times, it is faced with a lot of challenges including its Brimsu dam producing below designed capacity, relying on water from the Pra river basin, flooding in some parts of the basin and a lot of macrophytes especially in its middle section. This study set out to outline the linkages and influences of headwater and downstream processes and its effects on the Kakum river based on the Holistic approach proposed by Gregory (2006) to understand the consequences of both natural and human activities on such systems. Theories employed include the Geomorphic systems theory and chaos theory. The main data used included Toposheets, DEM, Digital Orthophotos and some field samples (soil, river sediment and water). Analysis employed in the study includes morphometric analysis, morphologic analysis, Laboratory analysis, land-use/land-cover analysis and river bankline analysis. From this study, it was found that Land-use/Land-cover, mainly built-up and rangeland have had profound influence on the river‘s form, water and sediment. It greatly reduced the surface area of the water land-use from 0.52% to 0.32% from 1991 to 2016. The river has responded to these effects through the processes of erosion and accretion. It has therefore been recommended for a major board to be set in order to overlook the various riparian activities that go on within the basin since this basin-wide holistic approach has indicated that past management lacked the integrated approach.

Source: UCC
Morphometric changes in the heights and anteroposterior diameters of the lumbar intervertebral discs with age

The mechanical properties of the intervertebral discs largely determine the mode and amount of transmission of forces from one vertebra to another (Park, 1980; Shah, 1980). The integrity of the structure and the functional efficiency of the disc in turn depend on the biochemical and histological (fibrillar) composition of both the annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus (Chapchal, Fries, Baumann & Muller, 1966; Humzah & Soames, 1988). Impairment of the mechanical properties of the disc is known to predispose to low back pain.

Source: UCC
A Morphophonemic Analysis of Akan Honorific and Title Names for God

This study investigates the morphophonemics of Akan honorific and title names for God (AHTN-G). The scope of the study is motivated by the observation that earlier works have looked at Akan personal names either from non-linguistic perspectives or overlooked the morphological and phonological dimensions of AHTN-G in spite of their intra-language pervasiveness and the analytical interest that their structure excites across languages. It, therefore, highlights morphological processes such as affixation, compounding, reduplication and borrowing that underlie the names. It also explores some phonological processes such as elision, homorganic nasal assimilation, voiced-to-nasal assimilation and vowel harmony that the names undergo. Prior to the morphophonemic analysis, the etymology of some of the names are briefly examined to get insights into the Akan’s belief and worldview about God. To formalize the analysis, the study adopts Lexical Phonology (LP) as its theoretical framework. Further, the study is purely qualitative; it draws on ethnographic research design and the data analysed were ascertained from both primary and secondary sources. The study reveals that Akan honorific and title names ascribed to God are complex nominals and may even be sentential. In the study, Appah’s (2003) claim that the relative marker is overt in the surface form, is found to be seemingly unsatisfactory. Again, vowel harmony is less productive regarding this study, because, one of the violators, the suffix -foᴐ, features in most of the names. It is recommended that future researchers explore other grammatical aspects of Akan personal names to bridge the gap created in the existing literature.

Source: UCC
Morphotaxonomic and phylogenetic analysis of Saprolegnia ferax from India

Saprolegnia ferax is isolated from polluted water sample collected from Mula River, Pune, Maharashtra, India. The isolated taxon is illustrated and compared with the morphotaxonomy based first record of Indian S. ferax isolated by Wani et al. (2017). The present study deals with the redescription of the isolated taxon S. ferax based on detail morphological features, sequence analysis and phylogeny of ITS and LSU regions of rDNA

Source: UCC
Mortality in small ruminants and implications for livelihoods of their keepers in the Savelugu-Nanton district of the Northern region of Ghana

Despite the many roles small ruminants play in the livelihoods of rural small holder farmers, high mortality in small ruminants has been identified as the major constraint impeding productivity, and hence the livelihoods of small ruminant keepers. In the Savelugu-Nanton district estimated losses in livestock output due to mortality of small ruminants are in the tune of 35%. The present study focuses on the implications of these losses due to mortality in small ruminants in the district and suggests ways of reducing the losses. A multi-stage sampling procedure involving randomization, stratification and purposive sampling was employed. Data collection, processing and analyses were done from October 2004 to January 2005. The results of the study revealed that certain socio-economic and cultural information of the respondents have an effect on mortality of small ruminants. Included in this list were the main occupation of the farmer and the level of education. Small ruminant keepers (n=179) were mostly crop farmers (98%) and therefore had little time for their animals. About 56% had no formal education, making technology transfer in animal health an uphill task. About 90% of respondents had no access to animal health services (technical officers and a veterinary clinic) and supporting institutions such as drug centers and markets. The production systems practiced were predominantly the extensive (62%) and the semi-intensive (38%) systems. Mortality in both production systems depended on the type of management, with the extensive system registering 25.5% of mortality in sheep and 24.3% in goats. The mortalities for the semi- intensive system were 30.3% and 24.1 % for sheep and goats respectively. These differences could be attributed to poor sanitary conditions of the pens and the uncontrollable nature of breeding practiced. The major causes of death were found to be diarrhoea diseases (24.7%), respiratory syndromes (20.8%) and starvation (20.25%). The mortality rate for lambs and kids born in the dry season peaked at 60%, while those born in the rainy season recorded nearly 40%, due to stunted growth, heavy worm burden and tick infestation. Based on the findings, small ruminant keeping in the district needs careful education in order for farmers to realize the potential in these animals. To the rural smallholder small ruminant keeper, cash at hand from the sale of his animals, is worthier than getting meat for consumption. The cash is used to satisfy various ends such as customary rites and festivals, purchasing agricultural inputs, building houses and purchasing sufficient grain for the lean season. Unless farmers start viewing livestock keeping as a business, livestock development efforts would stagnate for a long time to come. Livestock specialists have a vital role to play by encouraging the use of simple but cost effective mortality reducing strategies in a systemic way.

Source: UCC