ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Public spending on climate change in Africa. Experiences from Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.

Public spending on climate change in Africa describes the extent to which public expenditure responds to national climate change policy and the institutional demands required to implement such policy. The four countries of the study – Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda – provide insights into the early mobilisation of climate change finance, as each country attempts to address the new challenges that climate change is bringing about. The report is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the concept of climate change finance and outlines the effectiveness framework used in each of the country studies. The methodological challenges associated with public expenditure reviews as applied to national climate change actions are also described. The second part provides in-depth country accounts for Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, on the level and nature of climate change-relevant public spending, set in the context of each country’s macroeconomic and public finance management systems. The final section concludes by drawing lessons for climate change policy development, institutional strengthening, local delivery of climate change finance and the monitoring of public finance, based on the insights gained from the country studies.

Source: UG
Public spending on climate change in Africa: experiences from Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda

Public spending on climate change in Africa describes the extent to which public expenditure responds to national climate change policy and the institutional demands required to implement such policy. The four countries of the study – Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda – provide insights into the early mobilisation of climate change finance, as each country attempts to address the new challenges that climate change is bringing about. The report is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the concept of climate change finance and outlines the effectiveness framework used in each of the country studies. The methodological challenges associated with public expenditure reviews as applied to national climate change actions are also described. The second part provides in-depth country accounts for Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, on the level and nature of climate change-relevant public spending, set in the context of each country’s macroeconomic and public finance management systems. The final section concludes by drawing lessons for climate change policy development, institutional strengthening, local delivery of climate change finance and the monitoring of public finance, based on the insights gained from the country studies.

Source: UG
: Public Wi-Fi Set-Up to Complement Existing Campus Internet Access Provided by the University of Ghana

Public Wi-Fi can be found in public places such as airports, coffee shops, University campuses, etc. The ease with which people can access the internet using public Wi-Fi is comparatively the preferred internet access technology and provides comfort to many of its users. The major issues that characterize the public Wi-Fi networks at the University of Ghana especially the School of Engineering Sciences are slow internet speeds, low bandwidth, and weak Wi-Fi signals. Wi-Fi accessibility during peak hours for serious academic work has always been a problem. There is therefore the need to provide improved wireless communication technology with improved internet speeds, higher bandwidths, and stronger signals to complement the Wi-Fi services provided by the University of Ghana. To achieve this, a Wi-Fi network was implemented to provide an alternative to the existing campus Wi-Fi. This was done using fiber optics backhaul, two Altai super Wi-Fi access points (antennas), and a Mikrotik 8 port router. The results showed a significant improvement in performance as compared to the Wi-Fi services provided by the University in terms of strength, signal bandwidth, upload, and download speeds respectively. This will help students and lecturers at the University to conduct their research work smoothly without any disruptions. © 2023 Newswood Limited. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Public–private partnerships for improved service delivery: the case of Intercity STC Coaches in Ghana

This article assesses how the public–private partnership involving Intercity STC Coaches in Ghana has impacted on service delivery. An exploratory qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. The key findings indicate that the PPP has helped Intercity STC Coaches to increase the number of fleets, although these are still considered inadequate. Additionally, Intercity STC Coaches’ clients are satisfied with the services rendered to them. The article, therefore, recommends that Intercity STC Coaches should look for more investors to procure additional buses so as to meet the growing demand from their clients.

Source: UG
Publication output of professional librarians in public university libraries in Ghana

The study examines publication output among professional librarians in four public universities in Ghana. The major objectives of the study were to determine publication output of the professional librarians and investigate the challenges confronting publication efforts of the professional librarians, among others. The mixed methods approach was employed for the study. The questionnaire was used to collect data from 47 professional librarians and four university librarians were also interviewed. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the quantitative data collected through the questionnaire, while content analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data that was gathered from the interviews. The analysis used was descriptive statistics, comprising frequencies, percentages and means, among others. The major findings revealed that publication output was low among the respondents and journal articles were the most popular publication format. Another finding also indicated that the higher ranked professional librarians were more prolific than lower ranked ones, while the professional librarians from two of the public universities were most prolific. Generally, the results could not establish correlation between working experience and publication output of the professional librarians. The results revealed that challenges that hampered publication efforts of the professional librarians were lack of time and heavy workload, inflexible work schedule, and absence of formal mentoring programme. It is recommended that the professional librarians should be provided with work time for research and publication, training, workshops and seminars, formal mentoring programmes, and collaboration, among others, to facilitate their research and scholarly publication efforts.

Source: UG
Publish and Perish: Exploring Issues of Predatory Outlets among African Researchers

The dependence of academic evaluation on one’s publications has resulted in the popularity of the expression “Publish or Perish” in academic institutions, over the decades. The expression is, in some sense, intended to serve as an impetus for young researchers to publish the findings of their research, and thus increase the research outputs of their respective institutions. In addition, the policy of most major universities in Africa and world is to increase their publications for a number of reasons, including the possibility of gaining favourable world university rankings. However, in most researchers’ quest to increase their publications, especially after their doctoral studies, they look for journals and other outlets with quicker and easier review processes than the traditional publishers. This has caused the emergence of predatory publishers. The number of “Predatory Publishers” increased from just five (5) in 2009 to over nine hundred in 2016. Their activities possess a great danger to young researchers and the research systems of African universities. In this presentation, I will report on my recent study which highlighted the extent of predatory publishing among Ghanaian researchers. Out of a total number of 600 publications by 30 Ghanaian researchers, over 60 articles were published in predatory journals. Also, of the 30 researchers only 7 had no publications from a predatory publisher in their list of articles and other research outputs. The outcome of this study provides the basis for informing researchers that, in spite of the need to publish to avoid perishing, one can actually publish and still perish if care is not taken to ensure that the processes and consequent outputs are credible. Thus the presentation will create awareness on the emergency of predatory publishers, how they can be identified and why their activities possess a great danger to the overall research system in African universities.

Source: UG
Publish and still perish? Learning to make the ‘right’ publishing choices in the Ghanaian academy

Publication in ‘reputable’, peer-reviewed and indexed journals has become a key requirement for promotion and career advancement in African universities. There is little research into how bibliometric measures of journal reputation are shaping the publishing strategies and practices of Africa-based researchers. This study, drawing on 43 in-depth interviews, explored the publishing choices, tactics and discourses of early-career academics at two different public universities in Ghana. Most participants felt under constant pressure to publish, and more than half invoked the ‘publish or perish’ aphorism unprompted in conversation. They were also very aware that one could ‘publish and perish’ by choosing the ‘wrong’ journals, such as those not on university-approved lists or in the main global citation indexes. Some regretted the journal choices they had made at the start of their careers, and had since learnt to make every publication ‘count’. Many invoked a moral and spatial dichotomy of low-quality ‘local’ journals versus reputable ‘international’ journals. Most participants felt that more training, supervision and mentorship would help them make the ‘right’ publishing choices. In a global research economy that sustains geographical inequalities and reputational hierarchies, journals published from Africa are increasingly viewed as the ‘wrong’ choice.

Source: UG
Publisher Correction: Plasmodium falciparum sexual differentiation in malaria patients is associated with host factors and GDV1-dependent genes

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
Pulmonary tuberculosis: virulence of Mycobacterium africanum and relevance in HIV co-infection

Although Mycobacterium africanum is being isolated in a significant proportion of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in West Africa, its pathogenic potential remains a matter of discussion. Recent reports leave the question of whether M. africanum causes more severe pathology than M. tuberculosis or resembles opportunistic pathogens and might gain importance in the course of the HIV pandemic. Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis associated with M. africanum(nZ556) and M. tuberculosis (nZ1350) were studied in Ghana, West Africa, and compared regarding self-reported signs and symptoms, chest radiography, HIV status, mycobacterial drug resistance and mycobacterial clustering as determined by spoligotyping and IS6110 fingerprints. The rate of M. africanum infections was similar in HIV-positive (27%) and HIV-negative (30%) patients. M. africanum clustered less than M. tuberculosis (21% vs 79%; OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.3e0.5; p < 0.001) corresponding to its lower prevalence (29% vs 70%). Clinically and radiographically, no significant differences were found except that M. africanum caused lower-lobe disease less frequently than M. tuberculosis (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.2e0.7; pcZ0.01), whereby this association applied to HIV-negative patients only. No difference in virulence, as assessed by the severity of radiological presentation, was found when the two M. africanum subtypes West African 1 andWest African 2 were compared. In the population studied, M. africanum closely resembled M. tuberculosis in pathology and cannot be considered an opportunistic pathogen.

Source: UG
Punish my husband but not so hard: Religion, Customary Values and Conventional Approaches to Human Rights in Ghana

Incorporating international human rights provisions into domestic legislation and implementing them have always been a challenge for several African countries. This is especially so where religious and customary values are involved. The limitations of conventional approaches employing legislation, litigation and protests alone often become radically exposed in such contexts. This was illustrated by a long public debate that preceded the passage of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Act (Act 723), 2007. A national debate, facilitated by the proliferation of FM radio stations that employ both English and the leading mother-tongues, enabled citizens at the grassroots to also participate in the discussions. Using the debate mentioned above as a case-study, this article discusses constraints imposed on the growth of human rights culture in situations where religious and customary values are widely held. Since such values inspire behaviours and attitudes rooted in religious belief and custom, they remain largely resistant to purely secular methods. At the end the article proposes an integrative approach that combines conventional methods with religious and cultural resources in an effort to gain wide acceptance of international human rights norms in such societies.

Source: UG
Purchaser-provider split: Does theory match evidence in Tasmania?

I examine the purchaser-provider split in the contexts of two local government areas (Hobart and Sorell) in Tasmania, Australia. I assess whether that split has delivered on the promised effects. I also examine the influence that context has on response outcomes to the purchaser - provider arrangement. Specifically, I pay attention to the impact of purchaser-provider reform on service spending, aggregate municipal spending, and total employment. The evidence shows that the use of the purchaser-provider split is viable only for large programme expenditures. The purchaser - provider split is not related to total municipal spending even though it may be negatively related to the programmes that are subject to it. Savings from purchaser-provider reform result in increased spending and therefore employment elsewhere in the local authority. Greater efficiency gains in some jurisdictions are attributable more to particular local favourable contextual conditions than to the purchaser-provider split per se. © 2010 Pion Ltd and its Licensors.

Source: UG
Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH)

The present note is devoted to find out the possibility of propagation of bye waves in a heterogeneous layer of finite depth lying on a homogeneous semi-infinite elastic medium, the rigidity and density in the upper layer varying as (1 - sin e; z), where 0( is a constant and z is the vertical distance from the interface. The numerical results for the phase velocity for some special Earth models are given.

Source: UG
Purification of solar grade silicon using electromagnetic field

Non-metallic particles and the metallic impurity elements in the solar cell silicon have a strong detrimental effect on the conversion efficiency of the solar cell. Removing these impurities is one of the important tasks for silicon refining. The current paper proposed a new approach to purify silicon - electromagnetic (EM) separation. Since the non-metallic particles and the metallic impurity elements are non- or less-conductive while the molten silicon is well conductive, under EM field, the Lorenz force will push the particles to the boundary layer, thus separate these inclusions. In the current study, a high frequency EM field was imposed on the silicon melt in laboratory scale experiments with a frequency of 60 kHz and 15.0 A current, the non-conductive SiC particles were successfully pushed to the boundary layer close to the crucible wall.

Source: UG
Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of cyberbullying on the academic lives of Ghanaian university students. It also establishes whether cyberbullying victims, perpetrators, victim-perpetrators and bystanders differed in their thoughts on the effects of cyberbullying on students’ academic lives. Design/methodology/approach This study is anchored on Bandura’s theory of triadic reciprocal determinism and Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs. This study uses a cross-sectional survey design and quantitative approach to collect the data from 1,374 students from three public universities. The authors use descriptive statistics and ANOVA techniques to analyse the data. Findings The results show that the effects of cyberbullying on academic life are difficulty concentrating on studies, difficulty studying in groups and difficulty assessing important academic information online. There is also a statistically significant difference among cyberbullying victims, perpetrators, victim-perpetrators and bystanders in their thoughts on the effects of cyberbullying on students’ academic lives.

In the research delineate herein, an innovative sequence of new series of multi-functional target molecules (9a-i) having indole-N-phenyltriazole bi-heterocyclic hybrids unified with N-arylated butanamides was synthesized as alkaline phosphatase inhibitor. The structural validation of all the formulated compounds was accomplished through IR, EI-MS, 1 H NMR, 13C NMR and CHN analysis data. The in vitro enzyme inhibitory investigation revealed the efficacy of these bi-heterocyclic derivatives, 9a–i, as potent inhibitors of alkaline phosphatase relative to the standard used. The compound 9h was found to be the most active compound (IC50 = 0.062 ± 0.017 μM), and its inhibitory activity is about 10 times higher than potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) (IC50 = 5.251 ± 0.468 μM). The kinetics mechanism was attributed by evaluating the Lineweaver–Burk plots, which revealed that compound 9h inhibited the alkaline phosphatase non-competitively to form an enzyme –inhibitor complex. The inhibition constant Ki determined from Dixon plots for this compound was 0.045 μM. The computational study was in full agreement with the experimental records and these ligands exhibited good interactions and binding energy values. These molecules also demonstrated mild cytotoxicity toward red blood cell membranes when analyzed through hemolysis. So, based on the presented results, these molecules, being the promising inhibitors of alkaline phosphatase, might be deliberated as suitable medicinal scaffolds to render normal calcification of bones and teeth.

Source: UG
Pursuing nation building within multi-partisan fragmentation: the case of Ghana

Ghana has earned many accolades for multi-partisan democracy in sub Saharan Africa. This political system has also produced many social and economic benefits for the citizenry. However, political parties are also a vehicle for the promotion of ethnic fragmentation that perils nation building. This article explores how partisan politics in Ghana is undermining nation building. I propose a three-pronged approach to working towards nation building amidst the fragmentation of adversarial multi-partysm.

Source: UG
Pyranoisoflavones from Rinorea welwitschii

Reversed-phase HPLC analysis of a dichloromethane extract of the stem- barks of Rinorea welwitschii has afforded two pyranoisoflavones, alpinumisoflavone (1) and di-O-methylalpinumisoflavone (2). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Source: UG
Pyrazinamide Susceptibility Is Driven by Activation of the SigE-Dependent Cell Envelope Stress Response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Pyrazinamide (PZA) plays a crucial role in first-line tuberculosis drug therapy. Unlike other antimicrobial agents, PZA is active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis only at low pH. The basis for this conditional drug susceptibility remains undefined. In this study, we utilized a genome-wide approach to interrogate potentiation of PZA action. We found that mutations in numerous genes involved in central metabolism as well as cell envelope maintenance and stress response are associated with PZA resistance. Further, we demonstrate that constitutive activation of the cell envelope stress response can drive PZA susceptibility independent of environmental pH. Consequently, exposure to peptidoglycan synthesis inhibitors, such as beta-lactams and d-cycloserine, potentiate PZA action through triggering this response. These findings illuminate a regulatory mechanism for conditional PZA susceptibility and reveal new avenues for enhancing potency of this important drug through targeting activation of the cell envelope stress response.

Source: UG
Pyrethroid Resistance in Anopheles gambiae, in Bomi County, Liberia, Compromises Malaria Vector Control

Background: Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) have both proven to be effective malaria vector control strategies in Africa and the new technology of insecticide treated durable wall lining (DL) is being evaluated. Sustaining these interventions at high coverage levels is logistically challenging and, furthermore, the increase in insecticide resistance in African malaria vectors may reduce the efficacy of these chemical based interventions. Monitoring of vector populations and evaluation of the efficacy of insecticide based control approaches should be integral components of malaria control programmes. This study reports on entomological survey conducted in 2011 in Bomi County, Liberia. Methods: Anopheles gambiae larvae were collected from four sites in Bomi, Liberia, and reared in a field insectary. Two to five days old female adult An gambiae s.l. were tested using WHO tube (n = 2027) and cone (n = 580) bioassays in houses treated with DL or IRS. A sample of mosquitoes (n = 169) were identified to species/molecular form and screened for the presence of knock down resistance (kdr) alleles associated with pyrethroid resistance. Results: Anopheles gambiae s.l tested were resistant to deltamethrin but fully susceptible to bendiocarb and fenithrothion. The corrected mortality of local mosquitoes exposed to houses treated with deltamethrin either via IRS or DL was 12% and 59% respectively, suggesting that resistance may affect the efficacy of these interventions. The presence of pyrethroid resistance was associated with a high frequency of the 1014F kdr allele (90.5%) although this mutation alone cannot explain the resistance levels observed. Conclusion: High prevalence of resistance to deltamethrin in Bomi County may reduce the efficacy of malaria strategies relying on this class of insecticide. The findings highlight the urgent need to expand and sustain monitoring of insecticide resistance in Liberian malaria vectors, evaluate the effectiveness of existing interventions and develop appropriate resistance management strategies.

Source: UG