ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Special prosecutor: Panacea or facade to institutionalized corruption in Ghana?

: Motivated by the systematic nature of corruption and effect on the nation’s potential, this study sought to assess how the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) aids in its fight. Further, it comparatively analyses this agency vis-à-vis other agencies with a similar mandate to determine whether the role of the special prosecutor makes any impact in fighting this cancer. Data was collected through interviews from professionals in the law fraternity and analysed using content analysis. Findings are that the OSP is indeed an independent prosecutor who could be regarded as free from the influence of the executive with no conflict of interest in carrying out its mandate. Further, the study found that there was dissatisfaction with the performance of the OSP due to its inability to prosecute enough high-profile cases. However, due to the commitment and track record of the OSP, many expressed confidence in his person to help wrestle corruption. Many, however, were of the view that there were overlapping and con flicting functions between the OSP and other state anti-corruption agencies. Unfortunately, the office is saddled with many challenges inhibiting the performance of its mandate, thereby questioning whether it is a panacea or facade to institutionalized corruption in Ghana

Source: UG
Speciation of As(III) and As(V) in some Ghanaian gold tailings by a simple distillation method

As(III) and As(V) in goldtailings and river-bed sediments from Obuasi were determined by distillation of arsenic as AsCl3. Results yielded 3750±426 mg kg-1 (45.2%) for As(V) and 3050±66 mg kg-1 (36.7%) for As(III) in the tailings. In the river-bed sediments, one spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg-1 (0%) and As(V) 1447±51 mg kg-1 (100%), whilst a second spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg-1 (0%) and As(V) 2976±51 mg kg-1 (100%). Using arsenic oxide standards, the recovery of As(III) and As(V) in the trioxide were 94.8 and 0.6% respectively. In a mixture of the two oxides, the recovery of As(III) was 87.6% with practically no interference from As(V). Total As content of the tailings was determined by neutron activation analysis (NAA) to be 8305±75 mg kg-1.As(III) and As(V) in gold tailings and river-bed sediments from Obuasi were determined by distillation of arsenic as AsCl3. Results yielded 3750±426 mg kg-1 (45.2%) for As(V) and 3050±66 mg kg-1 (36.7%) for As(III) in the tailings. In the river-bed sediments, one spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg-1 (0%) and As(V) 1447±51 mg kg-1 (100%), whilst a second spot yielded: As(III) 0 mg kg-1 (0%) and As(V) 2976±51 mg kg-1 (100%). Using arsenic oxide standards, the recovery of As(III) and As(V) in the trioxide were 94.8 and 0.6% respectively. In a mixture of the two oxides, the recovery of As(III) was 87.6% with practically no interference from As(V). Total As content of the tailings was determined by neutron activation analysis (NAA) to be 8305±75 mg kg-1.A simple distillation method based on the volatility of AsCl3 was used to examine the speciation of trivalent and pentavalent arsenic in mine tailings and river sediments at Obuasi, Ghana. Results showed that the sum of As(III) and As(V) concentrations in the tailings differed by 1495 mg/kg from the total As concentration of 8305 mg/kg. No As(III) was found in river-bed sediments because all As(III) had been converted to As(V).

Source: UG
Speciation of mercury in mine waste: Case study of abandoned and active gold mine sites at the Bibiani-Anwiaso-Bekwai area of South Western Ghana

Speciation determines toxicity, transport pathways and residence time of a metal in different compartments of the environment. This study investigated the speciation of mercury in soils, derived from sites known for dumping of mine wastes in the Bibiani-Anwiaso-Bekwai district, a gold mining community of the Western Region of Ghana. Soil samples were taken from the surface; depths of 20, 40 and 60 cm from mine waste at both abandoned and active mine sites. Each sample was analysed for total mercury, organic mercury and elemental mercury. After sample treatment, digestion and reduction with stannous chloride (SnCl2), total mercury content was determined using the Inductively Coupled Plasma- Optical Emissions Spectrometer (ICP-OES). Organic mercury content was determined employing a differential technique after disposing of elemental mercury by heating. Total mercury content in samples ranged from 0.067 to 0.876 mg/kg for surface soils. The same soil of depths 20, 40 and 60 cm had total mercury from 0.102 to 1.066, 0.037 to 4.037 and 0.191 to 4.998 mg/ kg, respectively. For organic mercury, concentrations range from 0.012 to 0.260 mg/kg for surface soil. Soil depths of 20, 40 and 60 cm had organic mercury concentrations from 0.016 to 0.653, 0.041 to 1.093 and 0.101 to 2.546 mg/kg respectively. Elemental mercury concentrations in surface soils, soils at depths of 20, 40 and 60 cm ranged from 0.043 to 0.780; 0.017 to 0.749; 0.014 to 2.944 and 0.009 to 2.452 mg/kg respectively. Among the sites studied, only galamsey tailings (GM) showed a trend of increasing total mercury level with increasing depth. For the other sites, trends were not defined. There has been no defined trend for elemental mercury with depth at any of the sampling sites. Just as with total mercury, it was only GM that showed an increasing trend of organic mercury concentration with depth. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.

Source: UG
Species abundance and insecticide resistance of Anopheles gambiae in selected areas of Ghana and Burkina Faso

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
Species Composition and Diversity of Insects of the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve in Ghana

Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, the only one in Ghana, was established to promote scientific research,particularly on how nature revitalizes itself after major disasters, and also to check the southward drift of the savannah grassland. This study presents the first comprehensive inventory of species composition and diversity of insects of the Reserve. Insects were surveyed between September 2011 and June 2012 to capture the end of the rainy season, the dry season and the peak of the wet season. Samples were taken from two sites within the Reserve, Dagomba and Oku using various sampling techniques including pitfall traps, malaise traps and sweep nets. Insect communities were characterized in terms of, 1) species richness estimators, 2) species richness, 3) Shannon-Weiner Index of Diversity, 4) Pielou’s evenness and 5) Bray-Curtis similarity. A total of 8147 individuals representing 135 families from 21 orders were recorded. This included 107 species of butterflies from 9 families and 20 species of dragonflies from 3 families. Oku recorded the highest species numbers (S = 63) and richness (d = 12.16) with a high evenness of species (J =0.9377) during the peak of the wet season; and the lowest species numbers (S = 58) and Margalef’s index of (d = 10.14) in January. The highest Shannon diversity index of (H = 3.927) was recorded at Dagomba in January.

Source: UG
Species composition and host range of fruit-infesting flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in northern Ghana

An important aspect of fruit fly management is accurate information on the species and their host spectrum. Studies were conducted between October 2011 and September 2013 to determine the host range and species diversity of pest fruit flies in the northern savannah ecology of Ghana. Fruit samples from 80 potential host plants (wild and cultivated) were collected and incubated for fly emergence; 65 (81.5%) of the plant species were positive to fruit flies. From records in Africa, 11 plant species were reported to be new hosts to the African invader fly, Bactrocera invadens (Drew, Tsuruta and White, 2005). This study documented the first records of Dacus ciliatus (Loew) and Trirhithrum nigerrimum (Bezzi) in northern Ghana although both species have been previously reported in other parts of the country. Infestation by B. invadens was higher in the cultivated fruits; Ceratitis cosyra dominated in most wild fruits. Cucurbitaceae were mainly infested by three species of Dacus and Bactrocera cucurbitae, a specialized cucurbit feeder. Among the commercial fruit species, the highest infestations were observed in mango, tomato, sweet pepper and watermelon, whereas marula plum, soursop, tropical almond, sycamore fig, African peach, shea nut, persimmon, icacina and albarillo dominated the wild host flora. The widespread availability of host plants and the incidence of diverse fly species in the ecology call for particular attention to their impact on commercial fruits and the development of sustainable management strategies against these economically important pests in Ghana. © 2015 ICIPE.

Source: UG
Species composition and inversion polymorphism of the anopheles gambiae complex in some sites of Ghana, West Africa.

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
Species composition and risk of transmission of some Aedes-borne arboviruses in some sites in Northern Ghana

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
Species composition of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the Citrus Museum at the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), Kade, Ghana

To determine species composition of fruit flies on six cultivated varieties of citrus (Late Valencia orange, Pineapple orange, Ovaleto, Mediterranean sweet lemon, Satsuma tangerine and Ortanique orange), a study was conducted at the Agricultural Research Centre, Kade, Ghana. Improvised Lynfield baited traps (methyl eugenol (ME) and citrus juice (CJ)) and McPhail baited traps (trimedlure (TML)) were used. Ripe infested fruits from the selected varieties were also collected and incubated. Tephritid fruit fly species from trapping were identified as Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillet), Ceratitis ditissima Munro, C. anonae Graham, C. capitata (Wiedemann), C. bremii Guerin-Meneville, Dacus bivittatus (Bigot), D. punctatifrons Karsch and Trirhithrum Bezzi. A total of 35,247 fruit flies were collected from the traps, with densities of 10.38, 1.00 and 0.27 flies/trap/day for ME, CJ and TML traps, respectively. All incubated fruit varieties showed co-habitation of three different species (C. ditissima, C. anonae and B. invadens) in each of them. In addition, one Dacus vertebratus was obtained from dropped Late Valencia fruits. Moreover, three individual Fopius caudatus (Szépligeti) parasitoids were recorded from the infested incubated fruits. Ranking of the different fruit fly species from infested incubated host fruits was as follows: C. ditissima (476), C. anonae (74), B. invadens (71), and D. vertebratus (1). Competitive ability among the invasive flies in their process to infest the six citrus varieties was observed. These findings could serve as a useful starting point for the development of a reliable catalogue of host diversity, fruit fly species diversity and associated natural enemy records in Ghana.

Source: UG
Species distribution of kobs (Kobus kob) in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve: an exploratory analysis

The well-being of a species fundamentally rests on understanding its biology, home range, and distribution. The highly seasonal distribution of kobs poses conservation and management difficulties, particularly because of the capricious nature of the ever-changing ecological and vegetation dynamics of the ecosystem. Assessing the distribution of kobs and their associated vegetation provides insight into the vulnerability and conservation status of the species. Species distribution and habitat suitability maps were developed and created respectively for the management of kobs in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve. Kob presence data collected was analyzed using the spatial analyst and Hawth’s tool in the ArcGIS software where the gradients of kob distribution within the protected area landscape were plotted and mapped. Seven environmental variables including location, land cover/use, slope/elevation, nearness to dams and rivers, temperature, and rainfall were considered to have effect on kob distribution pattern and as such used in the development of species distribution and habitat suitability maps. The results indicated that kobs in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve (SHRR) assume a clumped or contagious distribution pattern where individual kobs are aggregated in patches. Rainfall, temperature, nearness to dams and rivers, slope/elevation, and land cover/use had influence in kob distribution. Of all the cataloged habitats, 86, 13, and 1% were moderately suitable, suitable, and unsuitable, respectively. Long-term survival of species depends on adequately large areas of suitable habitats and opportunities for home range activities between such areas. As such, it is recommended that suitable habitats for kobs be dedicated and designated as conservation areas, especially areas along the western boundary.

Source: UG
The species Mycobacterium africanum in the light of new molecular markers

The findings of recent studies addressing the molecular characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates have initiated a discussion on the classification of M. africanum, especially of those isolates originating from East Africa (cluster F, subtype II) and displaying phenotypic and biochemical characteristics more similar to those of M. tuberculosis. To further address this question, we analyzed a representative collection of 63 M. tuberculosis complex strains comprising 30 M. africanum subtype I strains, 20 M. africanum subtype II strains, 10 randomly chosen M. tuberculosis isolates, and type strains of M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, and M. africanum for the following biochemical and molecular characteristics: single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in gyrB and narGHJI and the presence or absence of RD1, RD9, and RD12. For all molecular markers analyzed, subtype II strains were identical to the M. tuberculosis strains tested. In contrast, the subtype I strains as well as the M. africanum type strain showed unique combinations of SNPs in gyrB and genomic deletions (the absence of RD9 and the presence of RD12), which proves their independence from M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Accordingly, all subtype I strains displayed main biochemical characteristics included in the original species description M. africanum. We conclude that the isolates from West Africa were proved to be M. africanum with respect to the phenotypic and genetic markers analyzed, while the isolates from East Africa must be regarded as phenotypic variants of M. tuberculosis (genotype Uganda). We propose the addition of the molecular characteristics defined here to the species description of M. africanum, which will allow clearer species differentiation in the future.

Source: UG
Species range of fruit flies associated with mango from three agro-ecological zones in Ghana

A trapping exercise to assess the range of fruit fly species from mango orchards in three agroecological zones in Ghana (Coastal Savanna (CS), the Transitional (TT) and Guinea Savanna (GS) zones) where mango is commercially grown was undertaken for two successive fruiting seasons in 2009 and 2010. Methodology and results: Using traps baited with three different attractants (Methyl eugenol (ME), Terpinyl acetate (TA) and Trimedlure (TML), a total of 39,011 fruit flies were collected, with 9,398 (24.1%) and 29,613 (75.9%) flies collected during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, respectively. Five fly species (in two genera), Bactrocera invadens, B. cucurbitae, Ceratitis cosyra, C. ditissima and C. capitata were identified. The highest relative fly densities (number of flies per trap per day, F/T/D) ranged from 1.86-31.40 and 16.25-121.39 in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, respectively. The most abundant flies in all six localities of the three zones were B. invadens, followed by C. cosyra and C. capitata. Even though all three zones had three species in common, the proportions varied. These variations are important with respect to formulating management strategies to mitigate the fruit fly situation.

Source: UG
Species range of fruit flies associated with mango from three agro-ecological zones in Ghana

A trapping exercise to assess the range of fruit fly species from mango orchards in three agroecological zones in Ghana (Coastal Savanna (CS), the Transitional (TT) and Guinea Savanna (GS) zones) where mango is commercially grown was undertaken for two successive fruiting seasons in 2009 and 2010. Methodology and results: Using traps baited with three different attractants (Methyl eugenol (ME), Terpinyl acetate (TA) and Trimedlure (TML), a total of 39,011 fruit flies were collected, with 9,398 (24.1%) and 29,613 (75.9%) flies collected during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, respectively. Five fly species (in two genera), Bactrocera invadens, B. cucurbitae, Ceratitis cosyra, C. ditissima and C. capitata were identified. The highest relative fly densities (number of flies per trap per day, F/T/D) ranged from 1.86-31.40 and 16.25-121.39 in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, respectively. Conclusion and application: The most abundant flies in all six localities of the three zones were B.invadens, followed by C. cosyra and C. capitata. Even though all three zones had three species in common, the proportions varied. These variations are important with respect to formulating management strategies to mitigate the fruit fly situation.

Source: UG
Specific features of medicines safety and pharmacovigilance in Africa

The thalidomide tragedy in the late 1950s and early 1960s served as a wakeup call and raised questions about the safety of medicinal products. The developed countries rose to the challenge putting in place systems to ensure the safety of medicines. However, this was not the case for low-resource settings because of prevailing factors inherent in them. This paper reviews some of these features and the current status of pharmacovigilance in Africa. The health systems in most of the 54 countries of Africa are essentially weak, lacking in basic infrastructure, personnel, equipment and facilities. The recent mass deployment of medicines to address diseases of public health significance in Africa poses additional challenges to the health system with notable safety concerns. Other safety issues of note include substandard and counterfeit medicines, medication errors and quality of medicinal products. The first national pharmacovigilance centres established in Africa with membership of the World Health Organization (WHO) international drug monitoring programme were in Morocco and South Africa in 1992. Of the 104 full member countries in the programme, there are now 24 African countries with a further nine countries as associate members. The pharmacovigilance systems operational in African countries are based essentially on spontaneous reporting facilitated by the introduction of the new tool Vigiflow. The individual case safety reports committed to the WHO global database (Vigibase) attest to the growth of pharmacovigilance in Africa with the number of reports rising from 2695 in 2000 to over 25,000 in 2010. There is need to engage the various identified challenges of the weak pharmacovigilance systems in the African setting and to focus efforts on how to provide resources, infrastructure and expertise. Raising the level of awareness among healthcare providers, developing training curricula for healthcare professionals, provisions for paediatric and geriatric pharmacovigilance, engaging the pharmaceutical industries as well as those for herbal remedies are of primary concern. © 2011, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Specific T-cell recognition of the merozoite proteins rhoptry-associated protein 1 and erythrocyte-binding antigen 1 of plasmodium falciparum.

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
Specific transfer factor with activity against epstein-barr virus reduces late relapse in endemic Burkitt's lymphoma

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