ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Recreation, transportation or labour saving? Examining the association between household asset ownership and body mass index among Ghanaian women

Background: In most of the developing world, ownership of modern household assets such as television sets, refrigerators, microwave ovens and washing machines is becoming common. Ownership of these household assets, however, promotes sedentary behaviour which has implications for obesity and non-communicable disease conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke and other cardiovascular conditions. Additionally, increased household asset ownership is an indicator of socio-economic status and is also associated with obesity promoting dietary behaviours especially in urban areas. Very few studies have examined the relationship between household asset ownership and obesity in sub-Saharan Africa where asset ownership is becoming a norm. This paper examined the relationship between ownership of different types of household assets and Body Mass Index (BMI) among a nationally representative sample of Ghanaian women. Methods: The study analysed secondary data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) involving a total of 4916 women aged 15-49 years. The analytical sample consist of 4010 (weighted sample) non-pregnant females who had valid data on all the variables used in the analyses. The BMI of the women was used as the dependent variable with three categories of normal weight, overweight and obese based on the standard World Health Organization (WHO) classifications. Multinomial logistic regression models were specified to examine the relationship between ownership of household assets and BMI. Results: Obesity was more common among women whose household owned a television-15.60 %, DVD/VCD- 18.58 %, computer-20.70 %, refrigerator-17.16 % and washing machine-27.43 %, but less common among women whose household owned a motorcycle/scooter-7.74 % and a bicycle-7.92 %. Household ownership of DVD was significantly associated with increased odds of obesity (OR = 1.59, P < 0.01) while ownership of a motor cycle/ scooter (OR = 2.05, P <0.001), a refrigerator (OR = 1.33, P < 0.05), and a television set (OR = 1.27, P < 0.10) were associated with higher odds of overweight. Ownership of each additional household asset was also associated with 15 % and 25 % higher odds of overweight and obesity respectively. Conclusion: The findings indicate that at least one asset among the various domains of household assets examined is associated with either overweight or obesity among Ghanaian women. Also, increased household asset ownership is associated with increased odds of overweight and obesity. Interventions that aim at reducing sedentary and unhealthy dietary behaviours in the phase of increasing asset ownership maybe helpful in addressing the rising prevalence of obesity among Ghanaian women. © 2015 Dake and Fuseini.

Source: UG
Recruitment and Selection Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises: Perspectives from Ghana

This paper presents the results of an empirical study on strategic planning in three public universities in Ghana. It assesses strategy development, the implementation process, the main challenges to strategic planning in public universities, and what their success factors are. Findings indicate that the nature, form, and sophistication of information and communication technology use influenced successful implementation of strategic plans for two public universities. Other results suggested that members of staff perceived strategic planning to be the responsibility of top management; thus, there is little ownership and commitment by academic and other stakeholders.

Source: UG
Recurrence marking in Akan

The linguistic phenomenon of recurrence is identified in two aspects; either as a repetition of an action or a restoration to a former state. This paper examines two lexical items, an auxiliary verb san and an adverb (e)bio, which encode this phenomenon in Akan. The recurrence marker san is claimed to be the output of a grammaticalization process which has as its historical input a phonologically identical lexical verb with a restorative meaning. Even though the recurrence marker san is diachronically associated with restoration, its use gives rise to either a restorative or a repetitive assumption, in the form of an implicated premise. This assumption forms part of the context within which the utterance containing san is interpreted. Thus its function coincides with that of (e)bio, except for one particular use of the latter, associated with its occurrence at utterance-initial position. The almost identical functions of these two markers reveal the close conceptual relationship between recurrence of the repetitive and of the restorative type.

Source: UG
Recurrent Generalized Urticaria at Insulin Injections Sites

In July 1998 a six year old boy with insulin dependent diabetes presented one year after diagnosis with an urticarial rash involving all insulin injection sites. The pruritic rash started 10 minutes after injection of human Mixtard 30 (Novo Nordisk) in the arm. He was otherwise well. The rash occurred at injection sites on the arms, thighs, and buttocks (not used for two months), which disappeared spontaneously within 12 hours. Subsequently in September 1998 (figure), December 1998, and February 1999 he had milder episodes soon after insulin injection. When the insulin was changed to Humulin M3 (Lilly) he had three urticarial reactions in the first two weeks and further reactions in September 1999 and April 2000. The mean insulin dose was 0.61 units/kg/day. There was no history of atopy.

Source: UG
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis: The korle-bu experience.

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is a benign disease of the aero digestive tract which is caused by the human papilloma virus type 6 and 11 and mainly affects children. The aim of this study is to describe the pattern of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis at the E.N.T Unit Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. This is a retrospective study of theatre records of patients managed for respiratory papillomata from January 1995 to December 2004 at the E.N.T Unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra which is a tertiary facility. These records were studied and we obtained information on gender, age, number of surgeries and the presence of tracheotomy. Sixty-nine patients were identified over the period. Thirty-three males and 36 females with a M:F ratio 1:1.1, and ages ranging from 2 to 54 years. The mean age was 12.3 years and a median age of 8.5 years.Children less than 10 years accounted for 69% and 46.4% had repeated surgery with overall tracheotomy rate of 14.5%. Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis is primarily a paediatric disease. Locally, its distribution is comparable to others in the sub region and worldwide and surgery is the mainstay of treatment.

Source: UG
Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: Assessing The Relationship Between Feminine/Vaginal Washes And Other Factors Among Ghanaian Women

ntroduction Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC) is a public health problem, with approximately 30–50% of women affected at least once during their lifetime. Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (RVVC) is diagnosed following three or four repeated episodes of VVC in a calendar year. This condition poses health concerns with significant impacts on the quality of life for women. This cross-sectional study estimated the prevalence of RVVC and assessed the relationship between feminine and vaginal washes and other factors on RVVC among Ghanaian women in the Sekondi and Takoradi Metropolis. Methodology A cross-sectional study was employed to gather data from 304 women. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate analyses, including chi-square, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression, were performed using Jamovi (R Core Team 2021) software. Proportions were calculated, and odds ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed with the level of significance set at 0.05. Results The prevalence of RVVC was estimated at 48.4% (95% CI, 42.6%, 54.1%). Feminine Vaginal wash use (aOR=3.86; 95% CI=2.18, 6.84); age 36–45 years (aOR=0.36; 95% CI=0.17, 0.76) marital status (aOR = 2.37; 95% CI=1.17, 4.79) and sexual activity (aOR:0.43: 95%CI=0.21, 0.88) were significantly associated with RVVC with p<0.005. Conclusion: RVVC is prevalent among women in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana. Feminine/Vaginal washes could be cautiously linked to the development of RVVC.

Source: UG
Recycling of agricultural and municipal solid wastes in Ghana: Challenges, threats and opportunities

Developing countries are saddled with widespread pollution from poorly managed organic waste due to several factors including technical, budgetary and infrastructural deficit to manage these wastes. Yet, the waste burden in these countries is anticipated to double by the next decade, if nothing appreciable is done. The implication for public health and the environment is enormous as poor waste management practices may cause an outbreak of communicable diseases, pollute surface and ground waters, and cause flooding and other environmental problems. The organic fraction of the waste stream in Ghana is huge and this offers the greatest opportunity to recycle to products such as compost and biochar that can be used for horticultural and landscaping purposes to generate some revenue to manage these facilities. This chapter reviewed the dynamics of solid wastes generation, and its management in Ghana, and analyzed the opportunities, challenges and threats of managing organic wastes and other fractions, from policy, technological and institutional perspectives. The lessons drawn are of importance to other developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Red cell PMVs, plasma membrane-derived vesicles calling out for standards.

Plasma membrane-derived vesicles (PMVs) or microparticles are vesicles (0.1-1mum in diameter) released from the plasma membrane of all blood cell types under a variety of biochemical and pathological conditions. PMVs contain cytoskeletal elements and some surface markers from the parent cell but lack a nucleus and are unable to synthesise macromolecules. They are also defined on the basis that in most cases PMVs express varying amounts of the cytosolic leaflet lipid phosphatidylserine, which is externalised during activation on their surface. This marks the PMV as a biologically distinct entity from that of its parent cell, despite containing surface markers from the original cell, and also explains its role in events such as phagocytosis and thrombosis. There is currently a large amount of variation between investigators with regard to the pre-analytical steps employed in isolating red cell PMVs or RPMVs (which are slightly smaller than most PMVs), with key differences being centrifugation and sample storage conditions, which often leads to result variability. Unfortunately, standardization of preparation and detection methods has not yet been achieved. This review highlights and critically discusses the variables contributing to differences in results obtained by investigators, bringing to light numerous studies of which RPMVs have been analysed but have not yet been the subject of a review.

Source: UG
Redeemed from the earth? Environmental change and salvation theology in African Christianity

The growth and development within African Christianity have attracted the attention of Christian theological researchers in recent decades. However, this has obviously not witnessed a corresponding growth in environmental theology. This paper argues that this is due to the human-centred and otherworldly nature of the thinking about salvation – a way of thinking which African Christians have not only inherited from missionary Christianity but also radicalised. The paper argues that for African Christians to better configure salvation theology to creation faith there is the need for configuring Jesus Christ through an ecological lens and consequently correlating the implications of the theological claims to salvation wrought through Him to the salvation of creation. Consequently, in this paper, I do a theological ecological anatomy of salvation theology in African Christianity, as it is currently, and explore a constructive configuration of salvation theology from the perspective of creation faith.

Source: UG
Redefining the Concept of Big Data: A Ghanaian Perspective

The world is on the verge of a data tsunami. Voluminous amounts of unstructured data are being generated using different technologies. To manage the huge amounts of data being generated, a new concept of ‘Big Data’ has evolved. The emergence of ‘Big Data’ is leading to real transformation in the business world. Governments and commercial enterprises on the African continent are beginning to take an interest in the use of technologies associated with Big Data for the analysis of enormous amount of data they currently generate and they wish to do so in real time. The advances being made in big data technologies have fuelled this uptake. Until recently companies in Ghana did not realize the utility of big data analytics due mainly to lack of knowledge and the limited penetration of these technologies. Increasingly, however, these companies now realize the difference in value that data analytics could make to their decision making process and to develop strategies that will give them competitive advantage. It has become clear to many of these corporate organizations that they are in possession of large volumes of data which, if properly analysed, can provide them with a wealth of knowledge to run their businesses more efficiently and productively. The analytic necessary to the understanding of these wealth of data are provided by big data technologies. This paper seeks to redefine the concept of big data and reviews its development, the potential impact that big that can have on a developing economy, the sectors of the economy of Ghana that stand to gain most from adoption of big data technologies and how these can be achieved. We propose that big data concept be defined more objectively by the use of a function. The paper shows how big data can be leveraged for rapid economic advancement. The paper additionally examines the investment prospects of adopting big data technologies for the economic environment of Ghana and some of the issues that organizations must resolve to successfully implement the technologies in Ghana.

Source: UG
Redistributive politics: the case of fiscal transfers in Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of political influences on fiscal transfers from the central government to district assemblies in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach It adopted a redistributive politics model and estimated the two-step system generalized method of moment using electoral outcomes, and transfers data for 167 districts which were classified into swing and aligned, from 1994 to 2014. Findings The findings reveal that Gh₵6.28m on average was transferred to each district annually, which tend to increase by 8.4 percent in election years. Further, the swing districts received 5.2 percent more than the aligned districts. Practical implications The sharing mechanism is significantly influenced by political considerations as there exists a political budget cycle and a general dominance of swing effects. Social implications The fiscal transfer system disregards the social principles of fairness and efficiency. Therefore, a wider consultative process in reviewing the formula is proposed; and this should be done in intervals of five years to minimize the indiscriminate adjustments of the sharing formula. Originality/value The paper empirically examines the political economy dynamics of intergovernmental fiscal transfers in a decentralized unitary system.

Source: UG
Redox System and Oxidative Stress-Targeted Therapeutic Approaches in Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer (BCa) is the most common genitourinary malignancy, with a high global incidence and recurrence rate that is paired with an increasing caregiver burden and higher financial cost, in addition to increasing morbidity and mortality worldwide. Histologically, BCa is categorized into non-muscle invasive, muscle invasive, and metastatic BCa, on the basis of which the therapeutic strategy is determined. Despite all innovations and recent advances in BCa research, conventional therapies such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery fall short in the complete management of this important malignancy. Besides this worrying trend, the molecular basis of BCa development also remains poorly understood. Burgeoning evidence from experimental and clinical studies suggests that oxidative stress resulting from an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and the body’s antioxidant production plays an integral role in BCa development and progression. Hence, ROS-induced oxidative stress-related pathways are currently under inves tigation as potential therapeutic targets of BCa. This review focuses on our current understanding regarding ROS-associated pathways in BCa pathogenesis and progression, as well as on antioxidants as potential adjuvants to conventional BCa therapy

Source: UG
Reduced Bacterial Counts from a Sewage Treatment Plant but Increased Counts and Antibiotic Resistance in the Recipient Stream in Accra, Ghana—A Cross-Sectional Study

Wastewater treatment plants receive sewage containing high concentrations of bacte ria and antibiotics. We assessed bacterial counts and their antibiotic resistance patterns in water from (a) influents and effluents of the Legon sewage treatment plant (STP) in Accra, Ghana and (b) upstream, outfall, and downstream in the recipient Onyasia stream. We conducted a cross sectional study of quality-controlled water testing (January–June 2018). In STP effluents, mean bacterial counts (colony-forming units/100 mL) had reduced E. coli (99.9% reduction; 102,266,667 to 710), A. hydrophila (98.8%; 376,333 to 9603), and P. aeruginosa (99.5%; 5,666,667 to 1550). Antibiotic resistance was significantly reduced for tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime, and ceftazidime and increased for gentamicin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and imipenem. The highest levels were for amoxicillin/clavulanate (50–97%) and aztreonam (33%). Bacterial counts increased by 98.8% downstream compared to the sewage outfall and were predominated by E. coli, implying intense fecal contamination from other sources. There was a progressive increase in antibiotic resistance from upstream, to outfall, to downstream. The highest resistance was for amoxicillin/clavulanate (80–83%), cefuroxime (47–73%), aztreonam (53%), and ciprofloxacin (40%). The STP is efficient in reducing bacterial counts and thus reducing environmental contamination. The recipient stream is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria listed as critically important for human use, which needs addressing.

Source: UG
Reduced tannin content of laccase-treated cocoa (Theobroma cacao) pod husk

The high levels of anti-nutritional substances such as tannin and lignin in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) pod husk hinder its proper utilization by animals. The purpose of the present study was to isolate laccase from the residual substrate of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) in order to investigate its potential as a tool for the degradation of lignin and tannin in cocoa pod husk. Laccase (specific activity of 7.4 mU mg-1) was extracted from spent sawdust and purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The isolated enzyme oxidized 2,6-dimethoxyphenol optimally at pH 5.0 and showed maximum activity at 50°C. Treatment of cocoa pod husk with laccase for 40 min resulted in a 66% reduction in tannin content. Pretreatment of cocoa pod husk with laccase resulted in a higher rate of cellulose degradation in vitro. The enzyme was, however, unable to promote lignin depolymerization under the experimental paradigm employed. These findings provide an important opportunity for the isolation of laccase from the residual substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus on a commercial scale in Ghana. Treatment of cocoa pod husk with isolated extracellular laccase would reduce tannin levels considerably and thus, improve the nutritive value of cocoa pod husk-based animal feeds.

Source: UG
Reduced transmission of Mycobacterium africanum compared to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in urban West Africa

The Bacteriology Department aims to improve the quality of life first for Ghanaians and the world at large by conducting research into bacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana and globally. In addition to working on enteric pathogens and sexually transmitted diseases, the department’s current main focus is on the two most important mycobacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana, namely Buruli ulcer (BU) and tuberculosis (TB).

Source: UG
Reducing Ammonia Volatilization and Improving Nitrogen use Efficiency of Rice at Different Depths of Urea Supergranule Application

An experiment was conducted to determine the depth of urea supergranule (USG) application that reduces ammonia (NH3) volatilization and improves nitrogen use efficiency of rice. Canne, Voudou, Akuse, and Bumbi series were used. Treatments involved surface application of prilled urea (PU), USG applied at 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 cm depths and a control. Rice variety IR-841 was grown up to maturity. Closed chamber device was used to trap NH3. Results indicated that the highest mean NH3 loss occurred in Bumbi series (13.67%) while the lowest was Canne series (8.16%). USG applied at 0 cm resulted in the highest NH3 loss (37.2%). NH3 volatilization decreased with increasing depth of USG application. The highest grain yields were obtained when USG was applied at 4 and 8 cm. In Canne series, the highest agronomic use efficiency (AE) of N (57 g g−1) was obtained with USG applied either at 8 or 12 cm while the highest recovery efficiency (RE) (84%) occurred at 8 cm. In Akuse series, the highest AE (55 g g−1) and RE (78%) were obtained when USG was placed at 8 cm. In Voudou and Bumbi series, the highest AE (45 and 48 g g−1 respectively) and RE (64%) were obtained with USG deep placed at 4 cm. The results therefore suggested different specific depths of USG application to reduce ammonia loss and improve nitrogen use efficiency.

Source: UG
Reducing avoidable medication-related harm: What will it take?

Consumption of quality-assured medicines is expected to maintain or improve population health. Yet in a number of situations, what is realized is lower health benefits or magnified safety risks. Recognizing the public health implications of safety risks or medication-related harm, and that some types of harm are avoidable, the World Health Organization has initiated the third Global Patient Safety challenge on Medication Safety. Under the term “Medication Without Harm”, this Challenge aims to assess the scope and nature of avoidable medication-related harm, create a framework for intervention and develop national guidance and tools to support safer medication use. The global target under the Challenge is to reduce the level of severe avoidable medication-related harm by 50% over a five-year period or within the next five years. Given a higher morbidity and mortality due to medication-related harm in low-income countries, this paper evaluates what needs to be done in low-income countries in order to achieve the global target. The ideal solution advocated requires that health planners in each low-income country determine what fraction of safety risks or harm can be prevented; and the relationship between number or frequency of avoidable harm or safety risks and the resource costs of treatment or prevention. In the absence of such information, this paper discusses a number of prevention strategies that might help; arguing that the period over which avoidable medication-related harm can be reduced by 50% will depend on whether significant continuous investments in health-system strengthening are made prior to and within that period.

Source: UG