ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
External Debts and Economic Freedom in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Political Institutions

Over the years, economic freedom in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has gone through different phases. The overall level of economic freedom in the area has been very bad, even though there have been some improvements. This study explores the interplay between external debt, political institutions, and economic freedom in SSA by employing a quantitative approach and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to analyze data from 38 out of 48 SSA countries. The research aims to uncover how external debt affects economic freedom, the role of political institutions in this dynamic, and how political institutions moderate the relationship between external debt and economic freedom. The results indicate that high levels of external debt have a significantly negative effect on economic institutions in the region. Conversely, robust political institutions are positively associated with enhanced economic freedom, highlighting their crucial role in economic development. Furthermore, the study finds that political institutions can mitigate the adverse effects of external debt, thereby amplifying its positive impact on economic freedom. This is evidenced by the interaction term between external debt and political institutions, which suggests that well-functioning political frameworks help alleviate the detrimental effects of debt. Based on these findings, it is recommended that SSA countries prioritize strengthening their political institutions by fostering transparency, accountability, and good governance. Enhancing political rights, such as promoting freedom of expression and participatory governance, can further improve institutional quality and economic outcomes.

Source: UCC
External electric field effect on electrons transport in carbon canotubes

We consider a simple model of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) subject to external electric field E(t). Using a tight-binding approximation for the description of energy bands of CNTs, together with the standard Boltzmann transport equation and constant relaxation time, we predict the effect of self-induced transparency and absolute negative conductivity. The predicted effects may be useful in diagnostics of carbon nanotubes as well as in the amplification and efficiency conversion of electromagnetic signals

Source: UCC
External Environment and Performance of Assemblies of God Hospital, Saboba

The main purpose of the study was to analyse the relationship between external environment and performance of organisation. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, six specific objectives were stated. The study was centered on institutional theory. The study adopted the causal design since the study sought to analyse the causal relationship between the variables underpinning the study. Also, since the research objectives of this study sought to test hypotheses, which are predictive-based, and the investigator seeking to collect large data that can be measured numerically, the quantitative research approach was adopted for this study. A total sample size of 159 respondents were considered. The data collection instrument for the study was questionnaire. Due to the nature of the study‟s objectives, the structural equation model was employed in analysing the objectives of the study. The study found that, there was a positive and significant relationship between political environment and organisational performance. Economic environment also found a positive and significant effect on organisational performance. Natural environment and technology environment had insignificant effect on organisational performance of Assemblies of God Hospital, Saboba. The study recommended that management must foster a culture of innovation within the organization.

Source: UCC
Extra gonadal sclerosing stromal tumour in the transverse mesocolon

Sclerosing stromal tumour (SST) is a rare benign sex cord stromal tumour of the ovary. We report a case of sclerosing stromal tumour of the mesentery in a 32-year-old Para one who presented with intra abdominal mass, menstrual irregularity and secondary infertility. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the completely excised tumour was consistent with sclerosing stromal tumour, immunoreactive only to vimentin. No ovarian tissue was found in the sectioned tumour. Her menses became regular and she conceived 3 months after complete excision and delivered after 9 months. Hormonal assay was not done because SST was least suspected. From literature this is the first case of SST in the transverse mesocolon reported in the West African subregion, and may probably be one of the rare cases of hormonally active SST

Source: UCC
Extra gonadal sclerosing stromal tumour in the transverse mesocolon

Sclerosing stromal tumour (SST) is a rare benign sex cord stromal tumour of the ovary. We report a case of sclerosing stromal tumour of the mesentery in a 32-year-old Para one who presented with intra abdominal mass, menstrual irregularity and secondary infertility. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the completely excised tumour was consistent with sclerosing stromal tumour, immunoreactive only to vimentin. No ovarian tissue was found in the sectioned tumour. Her menses became regular and she conceived 3 months after complete excision and delivered after 9 months. Hormonal assay was not done because SST was least suspected. From literature this is the first case of SST in the transverse mesocolon reported in the West African subregion, and may probably be one of the rare cases of hormonally active SST.

Source: UCC
Extraction and characterisation of african star pple (chrysophyllum albidum) seed oil and he adsorptive properties of the fruit shell in Ghana

This research work was undertaken to determine the physicochemical parameters of oil from the seeds of African Star Apple (Chrysophyllum albidum) and further evaluate the adsorptive properties of the fruit shell. The oil was extracted using hexane with the soxhlet apparatus at a temperature of 65∘ C for 4 hours. The results showed an average oil yield obtained of 11.6%, specific gravity of 0.92kg/m3 , the refractive index of 1.464 at 30∘ C, an acid value of 7.72 mg KOH/g, a free fatty acid value of 3.16 g/100g, saponification value of 200.56 mg KOH/g, and an iodine value of 70.64 g/100g. A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) study on the oil identified some triglycerides, carbonyl, alkane, and alkene compounds. Adsorptive studies of the fruit shell for the removal of dye were also performed after chemical activation with CaCl2, MgCl2, and ZnCl2. The kinetics of the adsorption favoured a pseudo-first-order reaction pathway for CaCl2 with R2 of 0.941 while ZnCl2 and MgCl2 favoured a pseudo-second-order reaction pathway with R2 of 0.914 and 0.973, respectively.

Source: UCC
Extraction of alkaloids from the stem of the plant cryptolepis sanguinolenta (LINDL.) schltr

The roots of Cryptofepis sanguinofenta have been investigated for their chemical compounds since 1931. But so far, not much has been reported on the stem although they are used in traditional medicine in Ghana. Cryptofepis sanguinofenta (Lindl.) Schlechter (family Periplocaceae) is a medicinal plant used in some African countries against infectious and parasitic diseases. Phytochemical screening of the extracts from the stem (bark and wood) of Cryptofepis sanguinofenta revealed the presence of mainly alkaloids, which were detected and confirmed by the Mayer's, Dragendorffs and Wagner reagents. Chromatographic separation methods (Column, Preparative TLC, and TLC) of the methanol (Alkaloid extract) yielded two isolates, whose structures were elucidated using spectroscopic methods. The purity of these alkaloids was ascertained by means of thin layer chromatography. The final structures of these compounds were then deduced by comparison of the experimental data with those proposed in literature. They are both indoloquinolines. The first one [1.11] (CH2) was identified as cryptolepine. The second isolate [1.12], (CH4), has been named as quindoline (indolo[3,2-b]quinoline). The two compounds are among the most common of the indoloquinoline alkaloids extracted from the plant.

Source: UCC
Extraction, isolation and characterization of some limonoids and some constituents of the root bark of Turraea Heterophylla - Smith (Meliaceae)

The root bark of the plant Turraea heterophylla belonging to the family Meliaceae was investigated for its chemical constituents. Phytochemical screening of both the methanolic and methylene chloride extracts indicated the presence of tannins, saponnins, terpenes, steroids and about eight different limonoids. Exhaustive extraction, chromatography and spectral analyses led to isolation of three compounds. The spectrometric analyses and the resulting data - including IR, NMR(H-H COSY and 1HNMR) and the LC - ESI - MS spectra and their interpretation helped to propose the structures of the three compounds. Among the isolates, 2 compounds (1&2) are limonoids (tetranortriterpenoids) and the third compound (3) is a diterpenoid. All the compounds are known. The limonoids were elucidated and identified as rohituka-7(1) ( ring A,B-seco), and obacunone (2) (A,D-seco). These tetranortriterpenoids are classified as two different carbon-frame types: (I) Prieurianin limonoid with ring A, B-seco (1), and (II) Obacunol limonoid with rings A, D-seco. The H-NMR shifts of the furan protons were in the range of δHs (7.95 to 6.0 ) and is typical of limonoids.The plant extract had antimicrobial activity against the following bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomanas aeruginosa. The fungus Candida albican also experienced some growth inhibition.

Source: UCC
Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A Review of 19 Cases.

Background: Although soft tissue sarcoma is a rare tumour, it accounts for a significant proportion of malignancies seen in many orthopaedic practices. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the pattern of presentation of extremity soft tissue sarcoma and the treatment outcome in our patients. Method: This is a 3year prospective study in patients presenting with extremity soft tissue sarcoma at the oncology unit of the National Orthopedic Hospital Lagos. Data, such as age, sex, presenting complaints, anatomic location of lesions, histologic type of tumour, and treatment outcome were retrieved from prepared proforma. The average follow up period was 22.8 months. Results: Nineteen patients were studied. The age range of the patients was 3 to 69 years, male to female ratio of 1.7: 1. Most tumours were located in the thigh and the leg, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma was the most common histologic diagnosis. Whilst all the patients presented with stages II and III diseases, limb salvage was only possible in 52.6% of these patients. Surgery was always combined with adjuvant radiotherapy. A survival rate of 69% and a recurrence rate of 16% were recorded over the period of the study. Conclusion: Delayed presentation limited the scope of limb salvage surgery in centers such as ours, but appropriate tumour excision and adjuvant radiotherapy remains the mainstay of the management.

Source: UCC
Eye Care Seeking Behaviour: A Study of the People of Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

In developing countries, majority of the people do not receive optimal eye care due to barriers which limit their access to appropriate eye care services. The population in need of eye care therefore resort to alternative and accessible eye care services across and within in their communities. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the eye care seeking behavior among people in the Cape Coast metropolis. Methods: A population-based survey was conducted in the Cape Coast metropolis of Ghana, between February and May 2013 and the data were analyzed in July 2013. Responses of pretested semistructured questionnaire covering aspects of attitudes and practices toward eye care was obtained from 700 participants who were 18 years and older in the Cape Coast metropolis. Households were systematically and randomly selected. Results: Among the study participants of 700, 54.1% have never had their eyes examined at any health facilities despite reported episodes of eye disease. Their main reason being the perception that their ocular symptom were of minor diseases (185, 45.2%) and cost of seeking eye care (126, 30.8%). Majority of the respondents (60.6%) who had not enrolled onto the National Health Insurance Scheme had never had their eyes checked as compared to those who were on health insurance (39.5%). Conclusion: The people of the metropolis have poor eye health seeking behavior with preference for alternative eye care services.

Source: UCC
Étude comparative de la motivation dans l’enseignement/apprentissage des langues : Le cas du François langue étrangère et de l’anglais langue étrangère à Ghana institute of languages de Kumasi

The research aims at finding the differences in the levels of motivation between Anglophone learners of French as a foreign language and their counterpart Francophone learners of English as foreign language. The study also reports on the perceptions of these learners with regards to the importance of the French and English languages they are studying at Ghana Institute of Language (GIL), Kumasi. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 44 learners at the intermediate level, of which 22 are Francophones and 22 Anglophones. A total of eight (8) Tutors who teach French and English at that level were also interviewed. The findings revealed some factors that form the basis of demotivation as far as teaching and learning of these two foreign languages at the GIL are concerned. The study reveals that most Anglophone learners had the opportunity to study French at the basic level but lost interest in it at the advanced level. Francophone learners on the other hand begin the study of English language at the second cycle level and are highly motivated to continue it to a higher level. The learners identified lack of certain basic infrastructure which needs to be put in place in order to enhance effective teaching and learning of both French and English languages at GIL. In addition, most Anglophone learners were of the view that, native speakers should rather teach the French language in Ghana. It is therefore suggested that, the teaching and learning of French language should be made compulsory and also attractive at both the basic and second cycle levels in Ghana. This will encourage learners to develop interest in the learning of the French language not only at GIL, but in Ghana as a whole.

Source: UCC
Étude comparative des présentatifs voici et voila dans le discours oral des guides touristiques et le discours écrit des scripteurs-guides

Cet article examine les manifestations des présentatifs voici et voilà caractérisant le discours oral des guides touristiques et le discours des scripteurs-guides. Quelles fonctions discursives voici et voilà remplissent-ils dans le discours des guides touristiques et celui des scripteurs guides et en quoi l’emploi de voici et voilà se distingue-t-il et/ou se rapproche-t-il dans le discours des locuteurs ? Lequel de ces deux présentatifs est privilégié par les locuteurs dans leur discours et pourquoi ? Telles sont les questions abordées dans cette étude. L’analyse s’appuie sur un corpus oral enregistré chez les guides touristiques au Togo et un corpus écrit portant sur deux guides de voyage (Petit Futé Ghana, 2009 et Petit Futé Togo, 2008-2009). Les résultats révèlent, entre autres, que voici s’emploie comme un proximal et un cataphore aussi bien à l’oral qu’à l’écrit. À l’oral comme à l’écrit, voilà joue le rôle d’un proximal et d’une anaphore résomptif. À la différence du discours des scripteurs-guides, voilà s’utilise chez les guides touristiques comme un distal, un énumératif et un emphatique. Voilà est plus privilégié que voici dans le corpus oral alors que dans le discours écrit, il s’agit du contraire

Source: UCC
Étude de la cohérence discursive dans le discours oral: le cas de la transition chez les apprenants de fle au niveau 400 du département de Français de L’université de Cape Coast

This research analysed the oral discourse of final year students of the Department of French of the University of Cape Coast. The students used for the study were those who studied French as a single major course for the first degree. These students were seventeen in all out of the total number of final year French students. The analysis is intended to study how coherence is achieved in the oral discourse of the students by the use of transitional markers. To undertake this research, the data collection tools used were questionnaire and interview. The questionnaires were designed to collect data on the sex, age and the number of languages spoken by the students and also the number of years used to study the French language in general. The interviews, which took the form of an oral presentation were used to collect the data for the analysis of the research. The students randomly chose from a number of selected topics for discussion and had five minutes to organize their thoughts before the presentation. The study revealed that unlike the written discourse, the use of transitional markers in the oral discourse is quite minimal. More so, we find out that even with the transitional markers used in the oral discourse, we noticed a constant use of the same transition marker. Connectives also play a major role in achieving coherence in the micro construction of the discourse. However, in some oral discourses we noticed the wrong use of certain connectives which affect the coherence of the discourse. More so, the topic or the reference is identified as a way of maintaining the flow of the discourse and maintaining the coherence as well.

Source: UCC
Étude De La Compétence Linguistique en Fle Des Apprenants Du Niveau 400 De L’université De Cape Coast À Travers Des Commentaires Des Images Sur Facebook.

This study is informed by a pilot study with final year students learning French as foreign language at University of Cape Coast. The pilot study revealed that majority of these students participate in Facebook conversations in English, more than in French. Thus, the aim of this work is to encourage these students to comment on Facebook in French and identify the pedagogical implications of these comments for the teaching/learning of French. Hence, the study seeks to identify the characteristics of learners' comments on Facebook images in French; then, to show the language proficiency of these learners during a Facebook image commenting task. Data was collected from 18 participants through a task, experiment and guided interview. The data was analysed using a qualitative approach. The data collected is presented in tabular form and interpreted in a qualitative manner. The analyses showed that learners used acronyms, emoticons and mixed language (English / French/ Ghanaian language) in their comments on the images on Facebook. Results also indicated these learners deployed lexical, semantic, grammatical and spelling skills competency in their comment. With respect to grammatical competence, participants had difficulty distinguishing between some articles in French. Semantic incompetence also made some sentences incomprehensible and ambiguous. The analyses also showed that respondents were happy and comfortable to comment on Facebook in French; therefore, the study recommends the official integration of social media like Facebook as medium of learning and teaching of French as this medium has the potential of affect positively the writing skills in French of the students.

Source: UCC
étude de la description dans une vie de guy de maupassant et les soleils des indépendances d’ahmadou kourouma

Entitled "L՚étude de la description dans Une vie de Maupassant et Les soleils des indépendances d՚Ahmadou Kourouma", the work looks at how description is realised through different procedures and its importance in the two novels. The study is based on the interpretative approach and data collected is analysed using the theoretical framework proposed by Genette (2001) and Hammon (1989). The study discovers that descriptions in the two texts are realised by similar procedures and perform similar functions. According to the study, description holds a tripartite relationship between the thing described or created by the writer, the writer and the reader (the person to whom the created thing is presented. The study further establishes that description performs symbolic, aesthetic, and informative functions in the two novels. It also notes that description plays symbolic function when the object, the place or the person described becomes a sign or symbol of another thing or entity. In addition, the description assumes the aesthetic function when it makes “beautiful or ugly” and becomes an affective index in the story. Finally, the informative function talks about the knowledge, the findings a writer discovers in the course of his researches and displayed in texts. This informative function mainly informs the reader on the customs of a group of persons, their traditional and religious practices, their origins. The study concludes that description contributes immensely to the development of themes in Une vie of de Maupassant and Les soleils des indépendances of Kourouma, and it also enhances the understanding of the stories. It is a process of transposing imagination into realty thereby ensuring the participation of the reader in the development of the plot of the two novels.

Source: UCC
Étude De La Variation Sociolinguistique Dans L’emploi De ‘On’ Et L’omission Du ‘Ne’ Dans Le Parler Des Apprenants De Licence Au Département De Français De L’université De Cape Coast

This study examines the effect of linguistic and extralinguistic factorson the variable deletion of the French pre-verbal particle ‘ne’ and the variable use of ‘on’ as a first person plural pronoun in the oral discourse offinal year students of French. The instruments for data collection used were questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaires were used to collect demographic information about the respondents while the interviews, which bothered on daily issues, were designed to elicit the use of the variables under study. Thirty final year students of the Department of French, comprising immersion students and students who were not part of the immersion programme were interviewed and recorded and the transcribed data was analysed using the variationist probabilistic approach. The analysis revealed that while the type of grammatical subject and the syntactic structure of the verb following the pre-verbal particle ‘ne’ have strong influences on the omission of ‘ne’ for the two groups of students, the phonological segment of the verb has a marginal influence on the deletion of the particle. With respect to the variable use of the pronoun ‘on’, the analysis showed that an unspecific and unrestricted group of referents favoured the use of the pronoun among the French Immersion students. Sex and age of the students, as extralinguistic variables, were found to be major determinants of variant choice. Also, the first language of the student had a significant influence on their use of the variants under study. It was recommended, among other things, that apart from promoting immersion programmes, the teaching of the French language should adopt an explicit approach on linguistic variation.

Source: UCC