ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The Full Impact of Rotavirus Vaccines in Africa Has Yet to Be Realized

The main research focus of the Electron Microscopy and Histopathology Department in the past 20 years has been in the areas of enteric diarrhoeas with special emphasis on rotavirus. Through its diarrhoea surveillance studies, the Department has helped to firmly establish rotaviruses as a major cause of diarrhoea in children, and document the circulation of unusual rotavirus genotypes in Ghana. The Department has also recently expanded its diagnostic repertoire to include the identification and characterization of noroviruses, astroviruses, and other enteric viruses.

Source: UG
Functional Characterization of Plasmodium falciparum Surface Related Antigen (PfSRA) as a Potential Blood-Stage Vaccine Target

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte invasion is a multistep process that involves a spectrum of interactions that are not well characterized. We have characterized a 113-kDa immunogenic protein, PF3D7_1431400 (PF14_0293), that possesses coiled-coil structures. The protein is localized on the surfaces of both merozoites and gametocytes, hence the name Plasmodium falciparum surface-related antigen (PfSRA). The processed 32-kDa fragment of PfSRA binds normal human erythrocytes with different sensitivities to enzyme treatments. Temporal imaging from initial attachment to internalization of viable merozoites revealed that a fragment of PfSRA, along with PfMSP119, is internalized after invasion. Moreover, parasite growth inhibition assays showed that PfSRA P1 antibodies potently inhibited erythrocyte invasion of both sialic acid–dependent and –independent parasite strains. Also, immunoepidemiological studies show that malaria-infected populations have naturally acquired antibodies against PfSRA. Overall, the results demonstrate that PfSRA has the structural and functional characteristics of a very promising target for vaccine development.

Source: UG
Functional relationship between crop raiding by the savannah elephant and habitat variables of the Red Volta Valley in northeastern Ghana

We investigated the degree to which crop raiding by elephants in the Red Volta Valley is a function of: the density and diversity of their natural browse, extent of degradation of their habitat, and proximity of crop enclaves to the nearest forest boundary. We assessed 50 m × 5 m quadrats for browse and for agents of degradation (m2 of quadrat area clear-felled, burned, and surface mined), and we adopted records of cropraiding rates in 2000–2002 for correlation with habitat variables. We estimated the distance of affected enclaves from the forest, river and village using GIS; the total size of crop fields in a locale provided an estimate of the extent of cultivation. Using correlation and regression analysis, we examined for each locale the association between rate of crop-raiding incidents and the density and diversity of browse, size of crop fields, and distance of affected enclaves from the forest, river and village. We used a stepwise regression model to establish a functional relationship between crop raiding and the enumerated habitat variables. Second-order jackknife and Michaelis-Menten asymptotic estimators showed that the density and diversity of browse was near optimum. About 99% of the vegetation area sampled was burned, and 0.35 ha of vegetation was clearfelled for firewood. No evidence of mining was recorded. There was a significant inverse association between crop raiding and distance of affected enclaves from the forest, while the association between crop raiding and density and diversity of browse and the extent of degradation were not significant. A stepwise regression model gave a functional relationship between the observed rate of crop-raiding incidents and proximity of crop enclaves to the forest as Y = 25.105 + 3.2 – 9.73X (Y = rate of crop-raiding incidents and X the distance from enclave to the forest boundary). Contrary to speculation, crop raiding in the study area is not influenced by the status of browse, extent of degradation or size of cultivated fields. Thus, mitigation measures should include relocating farms away from forest reserves, while measures aimed at reducing the density of farms or replanting of the forest should be de-emphasized as they will not necessarily reduce crop raiding. © 2012, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
The Functional Utility of Nuclear Weapons: A Case Study of the Iranian Nuclear Crisis

In an international system lacking an overarching authority to regulate the relations between states, nations rely on their own means to survive. In this anarchic system, the resort to the threat or actual use of military force has been part of international relations for centuries as states compete for power and survival. The introduction of nuclear weapons as an enhancer of the military capability of states and a strategic weapon brought a new dimension to how states crafted their national security strategies. States wanting to compete in this system without the risk of intimidation from nuclear armed states saw the acquisition of the nuclear weapon as the most efficient way of securing their nations from military aggression. This dissertation uses the Realist theory to examine the functional utility of nuclear weapons, the reasons behind the Iranian nuclear programme and the implications of a possible Iranian bomb. The paper contends that states facing threats from nuclear rivals and without strategic nuclear partners may be forced to proliferate to ensure their national security. The study concludes that unless there are significant modifications in US foreign policy towards Iran, the Iranians may not give up their uranium enrichment programme and their quest for a nuclear weapon. This situation may have grave consequences on the non-proliferation regime and global security. The study therefore recommends a more pragmatic US policy in the Middle East that will lead to a balance of power with the security of all regional players guaranteed.

Source: UG
Funding memory institutions in Ghana: The case of Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD)

Information is the beacon of organizations globally. The need to properly manage information to serve as evidence of every activity to ensure accountability, transparency and probity is an essential but often ignored practice in most memory institutions worldwide and especially in Africa. Studies have shown that more focus is directed towards media, civil society, human rights and parliamentary democracy to the neglect of memory institutions when it comes to governance issues. Charged with the responsibility to ‘preserve Ghana’s collective memory by facilitating and overseeing the efficient management of records of all MDAs, PRAAD’s mandate has been limited as a result of the department been starved financially. Support to PRAAD over the years has basically come from donor agencies like IRMT, DFID, and IDA of the World Bank, Danish government, National Archives of Netherlands among others. Consequently, this paper explores ways through which PRAAD is funded and attempts to identify ways in which PRAAD can strengthen its funding capacity through nationwide advocacy, publicity and other grant seeking activities. The study was guided by the qualitative paradigm. The Director of PRAAD, together with the heads of all the three departments (records centre, preservation service branch (PSB) and the archives unit) were interviewed. A major finding was that lack of funding and logistics had undermined the role of PRAAD. The paper further emphasized on the need for government to intensify support for PRAAD to enable the department to effectively and competently perform its mandate for the development of Ghana through safeguarding the nation’s collective memory for informed decision making

Source: UG
Funding orphanages on donations and gifts: Implications for orphans in Ghana

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a growth in the number of children who need formal alternative care. One of the principal factors contributing to this is orphanhood. While most orphans live with their extended families, many end up in privately-run orphanages that operate outside of the government’s regulation and funding. Without government assistance and being the most costly care option, the orphanages have to come up with mechanisms to get the finances that they need. However, relatively little evidence exists on the funding streams of orphanages in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on the literature from Ghana and other low-income countries, the study explores the funding of orphanages and its implications for orphans in Ghana. The evidence from the literature shows that the funding for most orphanages comes from donations by private organisations and in dividuals, mostly from the developed world. This funding system is generally unsustainable and carries negative ramifications for the social-emotional progress and rights of orphans residing in orphanages, such as abuse, unnecessary institutionalisation, and stigma. Policy and practice recommendations include increasing govern ment’s subsidy to the orphanages, regulating donations to and volunteering in orphanages, and helping unli censed orphanages to transition to the provision of family-strengthening services.

Source: UG
Funding structure and technical efficiency: A data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach for banks in Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of funding structure on technical efficiency of banks in Ghana, between 2011 and 2016. Design/methodology/approach Employing the random-effect and the truncated panel data of 25 banks, the results present new evidence. Findings The findings reveal that Ghanaian banks are less technically efficient, as the average efficiency scores generated is below the threshold of 1. Furthermore, the results show that banks in Ghana finance their operations mainly with deposit source of funding. The results reveal a significantly positive relationship between funding structure and technical efficiency. However, internally generated source of funds was negatively linked with technical efficiency. This is not surprising because banks that rely on external funds attract higher costs than internally generated funds, and this puts pressure on managers to perform. The results are relevant to emerging economies when the authors use additional macroeconomic factors. Research limitations/implications Thus, a proportionally larger deposit base funding would typically lead to an overall increase in technical efficiency of banks in Ghana. Shareholders should put pressure on managers to plough back earnings in order to increase the use of internally generated funds, thus, increasing technical efficiency. Banks that are inefficient should make some adjustments to their weights of inputs and/or outputs combinations by following their benchmark banks (efficient banks) to improve their efficiency. Practical implications The results of this study have important implications for regulators, investors and policy makers, particularly an emerging economy. The implication of the study to investors is that investors should be able to identify an appropriate source of funds that can be used efficiently to maximize their wealth in emerging markets. It is important for regulators and managers of banks to improve technical efficiency by considering the role that macroeconomic and monetary environment play when identifying and using various sources of funds as a strategy to improve bank efficiency. Social implications Consequently, future research should investigate the impact of funding structure on technical efficiency for other regions and considering their interactions with institutional quality, macroeconomic factors and financial stability. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first to fulfill an urgent need to explore a robust approach of measuring technical efficiency and funding structure within the context of banks over six-year period, prompting insightful avenues to the survival, growth and performance of financiers in emerging economy.

Source: UG
Fundraising through poverty porn: Ethical concerns

This study aimed to assess the ethical dilemma in using poverty porn as a means of fundraising by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Ghana. The paper focuses on the ethical concerns from NGOs' perspective as they engage in charitable work to help reduce poverty in society. The study sought to answer the research questions using a qualitative approach by studying some selected NGOs in Ghana, West Africa. In-depth interviews were used to solicit responses from management members in charge of fundraising in 22 NGOs. The data were analyzed using thematic textual analysis (TTA). From the findings, it became evident that NGOs in their use of poverty porn believed the practice is a better alternative to raise more donations. They feel that the good side of the practice, which is supporting the needy, is more important and outweighs any counterarguments. They believed the end justifies the means. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this is one of few studies that attempt to focus on the ethical concerns of poverty porn by NGOs.

Source: UG
Fundus Image Classification: A Wavelet Feature Descriptor Approach

Lately, many diabetic patients are experiencing diabetic retinopathy resulting in a loss of their sight. Even though the urgency and threat posed by this condition, there is insufficient data source to engage appropriate computational intelligence tools. The few that exist happen to be imbalanced. Leveraging on this imbalanced dataset, several activities have been carried out to propose improved detection and classification descriptors. Although some works have been done in this domain, the issue of accuracy still persists in the administration of an effective diagnosis. This paper harnessed the benefits of Gabor filters and the multi-resolution property of Discrete Wavelet Transforms (DWTs) to construct appropriate fundus feature descriptors. These discriminant features are fed into some selected but predominant classical machine learning classifiers. Numerical evaluation of the study gave a perfect (100%) average score for the fundus image classification using Gradient Boosting and Logistic Regression classifiers over Accuracy, F1-score, Precision and Recall evaluation metric. The tie in performance is further broken using their computation time, suggesting that Logistic Regression is more appropriate with 9min 32sec over Gradient Boosting or 1hr 10min 32sec.

Source: UG
Funeral practices in Ghana and the United States: A cultural comparison

Across the life course, culture is never more evident than at the end of life. Due to the great variability of end-of-life practices and observed customs across the world, it is important to understand cultural differences from a variety of perspectives. This study provides a comparative analysis of death and funeral practices in three cultures: (1) Akan culture in Ghana, West Africa; (2) African-Americans born in the U.S.; and (3) European Americans in the United States. Two frameworks are used: (1) the biopsychosocial, spiritual, cultural framework; and (2) a framework of independent/interdependent cultural values, to compare the three cultural groups in a qualitative exploratory study with 20 participants from each group. The purpose is to explore whether African-American end-of-life traditions are more similar to the majority culture’s (European American) customs in the United States or to customs still practiced in Ghana today. This study also considers how the findings might be used to enhance culturally sensitive services in the provision of end-of-life care. Findings suggest that, although African-Americans have lived in the United States for over a century, their culture retains aspects reflective of African culture and traditions related to end-of-life activities. This study offers unique findings that address issues of cultural humility, sensitivity, and competency. An understanding of these issues is crucial for anyone working in human services and for practitioners supporting dying and bereaved families.

Source: UG
Fungal profile, levels of aflatoxin M1, exposure, and the risk characterization of local cheese ‘wagashi’ consumed in the Ho Municipality, Volta Region, Ghana

Wagashi is a West African type cottage cheese locally prepared from cow milk. Wagashi like other milk products, is prone to microbial contamination, particularly by fungi. Many of these fungal species produce mycotoxins which are of serious public health concern. This work aimed to update the mycoflora profile and determine the concentrations of aflatoxin M1 and its health risk characterization due to the consumption of wagashi. Culturing the wagashi on mycological media (Oxytetracycline Glucose Yeast Extract OGYE, Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol DRBC) caused a de-novo growth of the quiescent spores at 28–30 ◦C for 5–7 days. The analysis of AFM1 levels in the samples was done using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography connected to a Fluo rescence detector (HPLC-FLD). The exposure and risk assessment to the AFMI levels were determined using deterministic models prescribed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The fungal counts ranged be tween 2.36–4.30 log10 CFU/g. In total, thirteen (13) fungal species from eight (8) genera were isolated from all wagashi samples. They are; Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium verticillioides, Peni cillium digitatum, Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus terreus, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Rhizopus stolonifer, Asper gillus fumigatus, Yeast sp., Mucor racemosus and Fusarium oligosporum belonging to the genera Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Rhodotorula, Rhizopus, Yeast, and Mucor. The AFM1 observed in the wagashi samples’ analysis was low, ranging from 0.00 (Not Detected) ± 0.00 − 0.06 ± 0.002 µg/Kg. Risk assessments of AFM1 using deterministic models produced outcomes that ranged between 5.92 × 10− 3 - 0.14 ng/kg bw/day, 1.42 –44.35, 0–0.0323 ng aflatoxins/kg bw/day, and 1.51 × 10− 3 − 9.69 × 10− 4 cases/100,000 person/yr for esti mated daily intake (EDI), margin of exposure (MOE), average potency, and cancer risks, respectively, for the age categories investigated. Fungal counts were interpreted as medium to high. It was also established that the consumption of wagashi may pose adverse health effects on all age categories in the selected zones of the study since all calculated MOE values were less than 100,000.

Source: UG
Further Correspondence regarding the Affairs of the Gold Coast.

I have the honour to transmit herewith, for your Lordship's information, copies of two letters received from the District Commissioner at Cape Coast. In both, he refers to the falling off of trade from the interior to the coast, and mentions in the second the opinions expressed to him upon the subject by four of the principal merchants of Cape Coast, who stated that owing to obstacles placed by the tribes through whose countries traders had to pass on their way to coast, the interior trade was driven to Grand Bassam, a French Settlement and free port, and to other countries where traders can undisturbed trade direct with the Bristol ships.

Source: UG
Further Correspondence relating to Affairs in Ashanti.

In order to avoid any possible misrepresentations on the subject which might have been telegraphed to England, as was the case with regard to the mission to Ashanti and Gaman under the charge of Assistant Inspector Lethbridge, I added to my telegram of the 7th instant* to your Lordship the following words: - " Expedition " will leave at once for Prah for the purpose of interning Dadiassies."

Source: UG
Further Correspondence relating to the Abolition of Slavery on the Gold Coast.

I have the honour to forward to your Lordship copy of a document which I have received purporting to be a petition of certain Kings and Chiefs of the Protectorate. 2. The names which appear upon it, besides those of twelve Cape Coast Chiefs, are those of the Kings of Mankessim, Abrah, Eccomfie, Inkosokoom, and Gomoah, two Chiefs of Salt Pond, and twenty-three other Chiefs, mostly of small dependencies of Mankessim and Abrah. I may remark that the districts represented by the Kings are in immediate contiguity with each other, and comprise a part of that limited area of territory bearing the specific name of Fanti country which, as your Lordship is aware, constitutes only a very small portion of the Protectorate. The assertion of representative character as being for all Kings and Chiefs of the Protectorate" is an assumption which simply has no warrant or foundation whatever.

Source: UG
Further Proposals for the Development of Education in the Gold Coast

Sessional Paper No. V of 1944 outlined certain schemes for the immediate expansion of staff required to develop the educational system of the Gold Coast. In addition to a major scheme for the award of scholarships for higher education and professional training, proposals for the increase in the output of teachers were formulated. These proposals provided for the establishment of a Government Teacher-Training College at Tamale, for the duplication of classes in the Tamale Government Senior School and for assistance to certain Mission training colleges and other institutions. Expenditure amounting to £122,125 was contemplated under these proposals and a grant to meet this expenditure was made under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act.

Source: UG
Further studies on the pharmacokinetics of perhexiline maleate in humans

1. We have performed single-dose pharmacokinetic studies on perhexiline in eight young volunteers, each given 300 mg of Pexid orally, using an h.p.l.c. method for the separation and quantification of the drug and its monohydroxy metabolites in plasma and urine. 2. The plasma concentration of the cis-monohydroxyperhexiline (peak of 473 ± 43 ng/ml at 7.5 ± 2.0 h) was always higher than for unchanged perhexiline (peak of 112 ± 20 ng/ml at 6.5 ± 2.0 h) whereas the concentration of the transmetabolite was either low or undetectable in plasma. These findings indicate the occurrence of stereospecific pre-systemic metabolism of perhexiline which reduces the bioavailability of the parent drug. The plasma elimination half-life of perhexiline was 12.4 ± 6.1 h (range 7-23 h) while that for cis-monohydroxyperhexiline was 19.9 ± 7.7 h (range 10-29 h). 3. Not more than 0.3% of unchanged perhexiline was excreted in the urine over five days in eight subjects. Between 3 and 23% of the orally administered drug was excreted as the cis- or trans-monohydroxy metabolites, the ratio of trans to cis metabolites being 0.52 ± 0.20.

Source: UG