ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Aesthetic Outcome and the Need for Revision of Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

Background: The Millard method of unilateral cleft lip repair has been associated with a short lip and a flattened nose on the cleft side. The aim of this study was to determine the need for revision surgery following repair of unilateral cleft lip repair at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Method: Satisfaction with facial appearance (upper lip, nose and general facial appearance) was assessed quantitatively by means of a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), where 0cm indicates totally unsatisfied or “highly unattractive” and 10cm indicates totally satisfied or “highly attractive”. Three assessors - parents, surgeon and layperson - were purposively selected to score their level of satisfaction with repair of complete and incomplete unilateral cleft lip. The assessors also indicated the need for any revision. Results: The total sample size was 120, of which 40.0% were male and 60.0% were female. There were 79 cases of repaired complete unilateral cleft lip and 41 incomplete unilateral cleft lip. Average scores of satisfaction of parents were 6.6, 6.8 and 7.2 for nose, lip and general facial appearance (GFA) respectively. Satisfaction scores for surgeon were 6.1(nose), 6.0(lip) and 6.5(GFA), while those of the lay-assessor were 5.2(nose), 5.4 (lip) and 6.0(GFA). Concerning the need for revision, parents indicated 30.2% as needing revision, surgeon 33%; and lay-assessor 40%. Of the cases that needed revision, 33.3% were complete cleft lip and 0.1% were incomplete cleft lip. Conclusion: Parents were more satisfied with unilateral cleft lip repair using the Millard procedure than either the surgeon or lay assessor. Those who needed revision were mostly children who presented with complete unilateral cleft lip.

Source: UG
Aetiology of acute lower respiratory infections among children under five years in Accra, Ghana

The study aimed to investigate the aetiological agents and clinical presentations associated with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) among children under five years old at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. This was a cross-sectional study carried from February to December 2001. Nasopharyngeal aspirates and venous blood specimens obtained from 108 children with features suggestive of ALRI, were cultured and the isolated bacterial organisms were identified biochemically. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were also tested for Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV) antigen using a commercial kit (Becton Dickinson Directigen RSV test kit). A multiplex reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was also used to detect and characterize RSV using extracted RNA. Socio-demographic and clinical data were also obtained from the study subjects. Bronchopneumonia (55.5%), bronchiolitis (25%), lobar pneumonia (10.2), non-specific ALRI (4.6%), TB, bronchitis and respiratory distress (0.67%) were diagnosed. The prevalence of septicaemia was 10% and bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and enteric bacteria, including Salmonella spp., Enterobacter spp and Klebsiella spp, were isolated. Out of the 108 cases, 18% tested positive for RSV, with two cases having RSV as the only aetiological pathogen detected. The subtyping analysis of RSV strains by a multiplex RT-PCR showed that subgroups A and B circulated in the season of analysis. © 2015 by the authors

Source: UG
Aetiology of heart failure as seen from a National Cardiac Referral Centre in Africa

572 consecutive patients with heart failure referred to the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Accra, Ghana, over a 4-year period were evaluated for the aetiology of heart failure using two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography with colour flow. The mean age of the subjects with heart failure was 42.3 ± 0.9 years. The male to female ratio was 1.2:1.0. Combined heart failure was seen in 50.5% of subjects. Peak incidence of heart failure occurred in the 5th decade. The main causes of heart failure were hypertension (21.3%; n = 122), rheumatic heart disease (20.1%; n = 115) and cardiomyopathy (16.8%; n = 96). Congenital heart disease and coronary artery disease accounted for 9.8 and 10% of cases, respectively. The commonest rheumatic valvular lesion was mitral regurgitation (78%). Dilated cardiomyopathy was the commonest form of idiopathic cardiomyopathy (67.7%; n = 65). Endomyocardial fibrosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy accounted for 22.9% (n = 22) and 9.4% (n = 9), respectively, of cardiomyopathies.

Source: UG
Aetiology of viral hepatitis among jaundiced patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Ghana

Most research activities involve the use of molecular methods such as regular PCR (PCR), quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), genomic sequence and analysis using different software, genetic engineering, probe hybridization techniques, biological and molecular cloning, evaluation of immune markers for laboratory diagnosis of infections, serological assays involving the use of rapid tests, ELISA-based evaluations and immunofluorescent assay techniques.

Source: UG
Affectivity and Metaphors in Kiswahili

This paper revisits the syntax of inalienable possessions in Swahili. It further interrogates the internal relationships between the constituents of affective (intimate possession) constructions in Swahili. The privileged treatment of constructions of inalienable possession is a relatively cross linguistic phenomenon. In Swahili, several construction types in which inalienability is grammatically represented have been identified. In a particular construction type which involves “a person affected (patient) and a part of the body or other thing intimately connected with them (property), featuring as two independent arguments of the verb rather than components of a single noun phrase” (Dzahene-Quarshie 2010) such as Akili imemruka ‘He is out of his mind’ the intimate possession often occurs as the subject of a typically intransitive verb and its owner as a direct object of the verb marked in the verb by an object prefix. Often the intimate possession and the verb constitute collocations. That is there is a concomitant co-occurrence of certain intimate possessions with certain verbs. Contextually, these constructions often occur in the narrative continuum and express abstract phenomena such as emotions and various states of mind. Using data drawn from various sources and a descriptive approach, the paper aims to establish that some affective constructions are metaphoric in that, often there is no direct correlation between the intimate possession and the corresponding verb in terms of semantic mapping. This demonstrates that beyond the established characteristics of affective constructions in the literature, they are also often metaphoric in terms of meaning.

Source: UG
Affordable housing options for all in a context of developing capitalism: can housing transformations play a role in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana?ansformations play a role in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana?

Sixty-one percent of households in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana (GAR), with an average size of 3.8 persons, occupy single bedrooms. Addressing their housing needs would require strategies of unleashing room supply through new housing and from existing housing through housing transformations (HT). Extant literature on HT in Ghana has generally focused on immediate empirical questions such as who are the housing transformers and their socio-economic identities and characteristics, and how to predict the occurrence of HT. Consumer sovereignty and utility maximization – the autonomous preferences of transformers – within the market context, as the determinant of the production and consumption of rooms, are implicit in these discussions, which are reminiscent of the ‘self-help’ housing thesis. This study’s alternative model employs primary data to identify the transformers and non-transformers as social classes with specific housing market capacities, and HT as enmeshed in broader processes of production and consumption of housing within the developing capitalist mode of production and its petty commodity production sector in GAR. The findings leave little optimism about a potential role of HT in making a significant dent in the staggering housing deficit.

Source: UG
The affordable medicines facility-malaria - A success in peril

The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) has put into place a bold financing plan for artemisinin-combination therapy in a pilot phase in seven countries covering half the population at risk of malaria in Africa. A report of the AMFm independent evaluation, conducted by ICF International and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, describes the success of the programme in the pilot sites: Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania (mainland and Zanzibar) and Uganda, comparing availability and affordability of high-quality artemisinin-combination therapies before and after AMFm launched. Proof of concept was achieved: AMFm increased availability and kept prices low, meeting its initial, ambitious benchmarks in most settings. Despite this overwhelming success, opposition to the programme and dwindling resources for malaria control conspire to cripple or kill AMFm.

Source: UG
Affordances and constraints processes of smart service systems: Insights from the case of seaport security in Ghana

Although smart service systems have received increasing attention in information systems research, their affordances and constraints processes are less studied. In this study, we draw on interpretive case study meth odology and technology affordances and constraints theory to investigate a smart service system use for seaport security in Ghana. With insights from the case of Ghana, we introduce an affordance constraints process as a framework to complement the existing affordance actualisation process framework in information systems. Thus, this study contributes to affordance theory with a new constraints process. The study’s findings show that smart service systems for seaport security afford autonomous access control, real-time security monitoring, and autonomous data capturing for analytics and reporting. However, such affordances can be constrained by power and internet outages, limited storage capacity, and device breakdowns. From these findings, we discuss impli cations for theory, research, and practice as well as limitations and directions for future r

Source: UG
Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.): Predisposing factors and management interventions

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops in world agricultural trade. It is considered an important crop by virtue of its contribution to satisfying the protein needs of many households who cannot afford animal protein. Production and consumption of groundnuts are hampered among others, by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus infection which subsequently contaminate groundnuts with aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are associated with acute and chronic toxicities in humans and animals causing induction of tumor, liver damage, liver cirrhosis, and carcinogenic, estrogenic, teratogenic, and immunosuppressive effects. Contaminated food crops expose millions of people to high risk of chronic aflatoxin exposure. Aflatoxin contamination can occur in the field before harvest, and after harvest during curing, storage and transportation. The major factors influencing A. flavus and A. parasiticus infection in groundnuts before harvest are insect damage to the developing seed/pod, drought and high soil temperatures. After harvest, environmental conditions such as high humidity and high temperatures promote fungal infection and aflatoxin accumulation. Agronomic practices such as crop rotation, use of resistant varieties, insect control, timely planting and harvesting, weed control, adequate fertilization and late season irrigation can reduce pre-harvest aflatoxin production. Additionally, atoxigenic fungi can be applied in the field to competitively displace toxigenic fungi to reduce the population of toxigenic fungi in the soil. Post-harvest aflatoxin contamination of groundnuts can be minimized by rapid and proper drying following harvesting, proper transportation and packaging, sorting and post-harvest insect control. Sourcing information from different research and review articles, and book chapters, this paper provides extensive review on the predisposing factors and management of groundnut aflatoxin contamination before and after harvest.

Source: UG
Aflatoxin–albumin adducts and correlation with decreased serum levels of vitamins A and E in an adult ghanaian population

A study of aflatoxin (AF) exposure and the levels of vitamins A and E was carried out with a group of 507 Ghanaian participants. AFB1–albumin adducts (AFB-AA) were measured by radioimmunoassay and vitamins A and E were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The average level of serum AFB-AA was 0.94 ± 0.64 (range = 0.1–4.44) pmol mg−1 albumin. Mean levels of vitamins A and E were 1.32 ± 0.48 (range = 0.41–4.85) µmol l−1 and 15.68 ± 4.12 (range = 6.35–30.40) µmol l−1, respectively. A significantly negative correlation was found between serum AFB-AA and vitamin A levels (r = −0.110, p = 0.013). An even stronger, significant negative, correlation was found between serum AFB-AA and vitamin E levels (r = −0.149, p &lt; 0.001). Serum AFB-AA levels were statistically higher (median = 0.985 pmol mg−1 albumin) in subjects who had low levels of both vitamins A and E as compared with the levels (median = 0.741 pmol mg−1 albumin) subjects who had high vitamins A and E levels (p trend = 0.001). To verify these findings, blood samples were again collected from 165 of the 507 people 3 months after the initial collection. Significantly negative correlations were confirmed between levels of serum AFB-AA and both vitamins A (r = −0.232, p = 0.003) and E (r = −0.178, p = 0.023). Again, high serum AFB-AA concentrations (median = 1.578 pmol mg−1 albumin) were found in subjects with low levels of vitamins A and E compared with the concentrations (median = 1.381 pmol mg−1 albumin) in subjects with high levels of vitamins A and E (p trend = 0.002). These data show that AF exposure was associated with decreased levels of serum vitamins A and E in high-risk human populations, which may significantly influence the incidence of AF-related adverse health effects. © 2009 Taylor &amp; Francis Group, LLC.

Source: UG
Aflatoxins and fumonisins contamination of home-made food (weanimix) from cereal-legume blends for children

The Clinical Pathology Department conducts research that contributes to intervention strategies and safeguards of public health in Ghana. In view of this the Department carries out research into plant medicine development, drug interactions and regulation, bio-monitoring and prevention of poisoning from environmental toxicants (e.g. mycotoxins specifically aflatoxins and toxic heavy metals). The Department also provides specialized laboratory services in support of public health programmes.

Source: UG
Africa after gender?

Review books or articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It also the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field.

Source: UG
Africa and the Green Climate Fund: current challenges and future opportunities

Although the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is widely commendable in several ways, access to the Fund has been very challenging for many African countries. Using GCF published statistics, we identify possible challenges likely to be responsible for this. First, we present an assessment of the GCF’s Readiness Support Programme with respect to how the programme’s performance may have affected achievement of African countries’ readiness outcomes. Second, a critical evaluation of the status of African GCF portfolio (pipeline and approved projects) provides a means by which to assess how well Africa’s current portfolio aligns with GCF strategic impact areas, results areas and investment priorities. We then discuss GCF access modalities and the implications of relying on International Accredited Entities (IAEs) to indirectly access the Fund. The readiness support assessment indicates that the distribution of support requests and funding approvals is nearly equal across the regions of Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean. However, when the regions are considered individually, Africa demonstrates lower approvals with respect to requests and securing funding. Results from the GCF portfolio evaluation reveal that little or no attention has been devoted to GCF critical result areas such as forests and land use or transport, where great potentials for low-carbon development transitions exist. With respect to access modalities, the IAE financing mechanism currently provides access to the Fund for the majority of projects in both the global and African GCF portfolios. The implications of these findings are extensively discussed.Key policy insightsFor Africa, limited readiness support and a reliance on International Accredited Entities constrains capacity building, thereby reinforcing a lack of both readiness and direct access to the GCF.There are opportunities for Africa to diversify its GCF portfolios, adhere to international commitments, and address its adaptation and development needs by identifying and capitalizing on linkages between GCF funding priorities, mitigation, and adaptation.There are leverage points within existing climate finance and governance systems that could catalyse a shift in Africa’s engagement with the GCF and generate positive, cascading effects on institutional strengthening, direct access accreditation and securing funding. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Source: UG
Africa and the prospects of deliberative democracy

Preoccupation with multiparty aggregative democracy in Africa has produced superficial forms of political/electoral choice-making by subjects that deepen pre-existing ethnic and primordial cleavages. This is because the principles of the multiparty system presuppose that decision-making through voting should be the result of a mere aggregation of pre-existing, fixed preferences. To this kind of decision-making, I propose deliberative democracy as a supplementary approach. My reason is that deliberation, beyond mere voting, should be central to decision-making and that, for a decision to be legitimate, it must be preceded by deliberation, not merely the aggregation of pre-existing fixed preferences. I agree with arguments that when adequate justifications are made for claims/demands/conclusions, deliberation has the potential to have a salutary effect on people's opinions, transform/evolve preferences, better inform judgments/voting, lead to increasingly 'common good' decisions, have moral educative power, place more burden of account-giving on public officers, and furnish subjects/losers/outvoted with justifications for collectively binding decisions. I argue that a deliberative turn in politics in Africa will have a mitigating effect on tribal and money politics. Copyright © South African Journal of Philosophy.

Source: UG
AFRICA BUILD portal: Developing a social network of African health researchers and educators

The AFRICA BUILD project aims to develop and support health care, education and research centres in Africa through Information and Communication Technologies. One of the main outputs of the project is a collaborative platform which integrates a myriad of research and learning resources. This article presents the first prototype of this platform: the AFRICA BUILD Portal (ABP 1.0). The ABP is a Web 2.0 platform which facilitates the access, in a collaborative manner, to these resources. Through a usable web interface, the ABP has been designed to avoid, as much as possible, the connectivity problems of African institutions. In this paper, we suggest that the access to complex systems does not imply slow response rates, and that their development model guides the project to a natural technological transfer, adaptation and user acceptance. Finally, this platform aims to motivate research attitudes during the learning process and stimulate user's collaborations. © 2013 The Authors.

Source: UG
The Africa Food Environment Research Network (FERN): from concept to practice

Background: Africa is contending with unhealthy food environments that are, in part, driving increasing rates of overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases, alongside persistent undernutrition. This current paradigm requires expanded efforts – both in the volume and nature of empirical research, as well as the tools and capacity of those who conduct it. High quality and context-relevant research supports the development and implementation of policies that create healthy food environments. Aim and approach: This paper sets out the concept of the Africa Food Environment Research Network (FERN) initiative recently established by the Measurement, Evaluation, Accountability, and Leadership Support for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (MEALS4NCDs) prevention project. Central to the Africa FERN initiative are: 1) building research capacity for innovative food environment research in Africa; 2) improving South–South, South–North partnerships to stimulate robust food environment research and monitoring in Africa and 3) sustaining dialogue and focusing priorities around current and future needs for enhanced food environment research and monitoring in Africa. Conclusion: The FERN initiative presents an opportune platform for researchers in Africa and the global North to weave the threads of experience and expertise for research capacity building, collaboration and advocacy, to advance food environment research.

Source: UG
Africa Its Peoples and Their Culture History

This book does not present a distillation of long and intimate familiarity with the African continent. The author has had field experience only among indigenous peoples in North America and Oceania, and his first hand. Knowledge of Africa has been limited to three brief visits- a week in Egypt in 1921, four days in Cape Town in 1945, and a fortnight in Kenya and Tanganyika in 1957. His interest in the area stems primarily from the accident of having undertaken, about eight years ago, to offer a graduate course in African ethnology. Exposure to the descriptive literature raised problems of unusual challenge and engendered a mounting enthusiasm. In contrast to regions which man has occupied for only a few thousand years, Africa offers the fascination of a continent inhabited, in all probability, from the very dawn of culture history history, a continent in which diverse races have interacted in complex ways for millennia and in which survivals of extremely archaic cultural adjustments still emerge here and there only slightly masked by subsequent developments.

Source: UG
Africa Speaks

Poetry has a rich and fertile soil in Africa because Africans have no inhibitions about their emotions. They laugh and weep without restraint and leave no one in any doubt of their amusement or displeasure. Africans have unsophisticated innocence. It could almost be said that from the cradle to the grave they regale themselves with songs of joy or soothe their pain with their mellifluous chants of distress. The stuff of which poetry is born is there without measure.

Source: UG