ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Aligning bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies? A comparative analysis of overfishing and coastal governance in Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Thailand

As coastal communities across the Global South confront the multiple challenges of climate change, overfishing, Due to poverty and other socio-environmental pressures, there is an increasing need to understand diverse coastal governance responses and livelihood trajectories from a comparative perspective. This paper presents a holistic investigation of the pressures coastal communities face in four countries and examines possible meeting points between bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies. We compare the experiences of eight fishing areas in Ghana, Tanzania, Thailand and the Philippines, and ask how small-scale fishing communities perceive overfishing and other socio-environmental pressures; what factors determine the success and failure of coastal governance? initiatives, and how different initiatives can be made congruent to improve coastal and rural development outcomes. Results from an extensive survey of 835 fisherfolk and semi-structured interviews with 196 key informants show that overfishing remains a significant driver of livelihood trajectories in the communities, and that fishermen respond through informal mechanisms of collective action. Drawing from these diverse experiences, we propose viewing coastal livelihood trajectories through the integrated dimensions of socio-environmental relationships and coastal governance options and discuss implications that address institutional scalar flexibility, illegal fishing, and persistent marginalisation.

Source: UG
Aligning Policy For Success In Developing Countries: Evidence From The Poultry Sector Of Ghana.

This paper examines policy coherence in Ghana’s poultry sector by assessing potential interactions between policy objectives. Using panel simultaneous equation models and the data-driven synthetic control method, we analyze the efects of policy inter‑ ventions on domestic poultry production during 1999–2019. Our fndings underscore the impact of policies enacted during this period on the growth of domestic poultry production. However, growth in production remains notably lower than the escalating imports of frozen poultry meat. Our coherence analysis identifes lowering produc‑ tion costs and enhancing productivity as crucial policy objectives that could positively afect food security and rural development. Nonetheless, we caution against prioritiz‑ ing one objective over others, as this may adversely afect overall policy coherence and outcomes. Specifcally, our study emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between fostering domestic production and ensuring food security.

Source: UG
Alimental food consumption among urban households: An empirical study of Ghana

In developing countries, problems such as malnutrition and food insecurity are shifting from rural to urban areas because of rapid urbanization. However, regional variations in alimental food consumption within urban settings have often been ignored. Using survey data, our study examines regional patterns of expenditure on fresh vegetables, fruits, and peanut products in urban households of Ghana. After accounting for socioeconomic and demographic factors, food expenditure on fresh vegetables and peanut products and income elasticity vary significantly across major cities. Food distributors may adjust their marketing strategies, while policy makers should pay attention to possible disparities in urban areas. © The Author(s) 2018.

Source: UG
Alkaloidal Extracts from Avicennia africana P. Beauv. (Avicenniaceae) Leaf: An Antiplasmodial, Antioxidant, and Erythrocyte Viable

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Alkaloids of Desmodiurn Adscendens.

Five alkaloids: three β-phenethylamine. one tetrahydroisoquinoline and one indole-3-alkylamine have been isolated from the stem-leaves of Desmodium adscedens, a plant used in Ghana for the management of asthma. Spectral (Ultraviolet. infrared. mass spectral) evidence and comparison with reference materials established their identities as tyramine. N,N-dime thyltyramine, 3.4-dimethoxy-β-phenethylamine, Salsoline and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, In addition, several unidentified indole and other minor basic components were detected by thin layer chromatography.

Source: UG
'All that glitters is not gold&quot; An exploratory study of 'trapped migrants' in Ghana

Globalization has led to increased migration, resulting in migrants trapped in places which are not their home countries. These migrants termed 'trapped migrants ' (a category of migrants who have travelled outside their place of origin to their place of destination in hopes of returning home after accomplishing the purpose of travel but have been rendered victims to scams, hence cannot return to their place of origin) have been unexplored in the migration literature as the focus has been on migrants who move either voluntarily or involuntarily. The research paper examines the phenomena of 'trapped migrants' in search of gold in Ghana. It identifies their characteristics, explores ways in which they are trapped by gold scams, the role that Social Networks and Information Communications Technologies (ICT) played and also highlights some Institutional responses and Policy Implications of 'trapped migrants' in Ghana. Qualitative research approach using primary and secondary data were used. Findings reveal that 'trapped migrants' in Ghana were trapped by gold scams, fake documentation and the legal system. Characteristics from the study indicate there were more males than females, majority were middle aged from diverse nationalities, and highly educated. Social networks and I.C.T. played major roles in the lives of' trapped migrants' at multiple levels. This paper concludes by encouraging researchers to undertake studies on 'trapped migrants ' for proper conceptualization and also to bridge the knowledge gap.

Source: UG
Allelic diversity of S-RNase alleles in diploid potato species

Key message: The S-ribonuclease sequences of 16 S-alleles derived from diploid types of Solanum are presented. A phylogenetic analysis and partial phenotypic analysis support the conclusion that these are functional S-alleles. Abstract: S-Ribonucleases (S-RNases) control the pistil specificity of the self-incompatibility (SI) response in the genus Solanum and several other members of the Solanaceae. The nucleotide sequences of S-RNases corresponding to a large number of S-alleles or S-haplotypes have been characterised. However, surprisingly, few S-RNase sequences are available for potato species. The identification of new S-alleles in diploid potato species is desirable as these stocks are important sources of traits such as biotic and abiotic resistance. S-RNase sequences are reported here from three distinct diploid types of potato: cultivated Solanum tuberosum Group Phureja, S. tuberosum Group Stenotomum, and the wild species Solanum okadae. Partial S-RNase sequences were obtained from pistil RNA by RT-PCR or 3′RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends) using a degenerate primer. Full-length sequences were obtained for two alleles by 5′RACE. Database searches with these sequences identified 16 S-RNases in total, all of which are novel. The sequence analysis revealed all the expected features of functional S-RNases. Phylogenetic analysis with selected published S-RNase and S-like-RNase sequences from the Solanaceae revealed extensive trans-generic evolution of the S-RNases and a clear distinction from S-like-RNases. Pollination tests were used to confirm the self-incompatibility status and cross-compatibility relationships of the S. okadae accessions. All the S. okadae accessions were found to be self-incompatible as expected with crosses amongst them exhibiting both cross-compatibility and semi-compatibility consistent with the S-genotypes determined from the S-RNase sequence data. The progeny analysis of four semi-compatible crosses examined by allele-specific PCR provided further confirmation that these are functional S-RNases. © 2016, The Author(s).

Source: UG
Allelic forms of pg195, a major blood-stage antigen of plasmodium falciparum, are expressed in liver stages

Mature exoerythrocytic (EE) forms of two cloned lines (3D7 and HB3) of Plasmodium falciparum were obtained in the livers of splenectomized chimpanzees. Sectioned preparations were examined by immunofluorescence (IFA) using mAbs that distinguished allelic variants of the blood-form antigen gp195 and mAbs that recognized multiple conserved epitopes of gp195. EE forms and blood schizonts exhibited identical IFA reactions for each respective clone, showing that the antigen was expressed identically in liver and blood-stage parasites. A third chimpanzee was infected with sporozoites derived from a mixture of 3D7 and HB3 gametocytes that had undergone cross-fertilization in the mosquitoes. IFAs on the EE forms in this animal showed that segregation of each gp195 allele had occurred earlier in the life cycle, providing evidence that the parasite is haploid for the whole of its mammalian development.

Source: UG
Allelic polymorphisms in the repeat and promoter regions of the interleukin-4 gene and malaria severity in Ghanaian children

The Department of Immunology conducts research in the field of immunology of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The Department has the overall goal of contributing knowledge to better diagnosis, management, control and prevention of infectious and non-infectious diseases in Ghana and worldwide. This is consistent with the overall strategy of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and in line with the strategy of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana.

Source: UG
Allergic characteristics of urban schoolchildren with atopic eczema in Ghana

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Alleviating poverty in Ghana: The case of Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP)

In 2008, the government of Ghana implemented Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty, a plan to empower the extremely poor financially, increase basic school enrollment among children of poor households, reduce the infant mortality rate, improve child nutrition, and grow local economies. However, after four years, only a minority had witnessed an improvement in their living conditions. The rural poor, particularly in the three northern regions, continue to suffer. A multidimensional approach, focusing on free health insurance, provision of primary and secondary education to teach productive skills, the pursuit of good governance to block the diversion of funds for social services, and prioritizing women and girls will roll poverty into oblivion.

Source: UG
Allopurinol provides long-term protection for experimentally induced testicular torsion in a rabbit model

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of five antioxidants on exocrine function of rabbit testes retained in situ for 24 h and 3 months after experimental torsion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The left testes of peripubertal rabbits were clamped for 60 min, after which the clamps were removed and the testes allowed to reperfuse. The right testes served as interna controls. There were eight rabbits in each of the following experimental groups: (a) sham; (b) 60-min ischaemia followed by reperfusion; (c) 60-min ischaemia followed by left orchidectomy. In five further groups, rabbits were exposed to 60-min ischaemia followed by reperfusion, but received one of the following antioxidants before reperfusion: acetyl salicylic acid, ascorbic acid, allopurinol, quercetin or superoxide dismutase. Both testes were excised at 24 h or 3 months. The degree of lipid peroxidation.a measure of free radical damage, was assessed in testicular tissue homogenates by measuring the tissue evels of malondialdehyde (MDA). The Johnsen score was used to assess the morphologica damage at 24 h and 3 months for each group. RESULTS: At 3 months twisted viable testes allowed to reperfuse had higher MDA levels than controls; the left testes of rabbits treated with allopurinol had significantly lower MDA levels than untreated rabbitsand rabbitsgiven other antioxidants. Rabbits given quercetin, ascorbic acid or superoxide dismutase had lower (but not significantly) left testicular MDA levels than untreated rabbits, while rabbits given acetyl salicylic acid had even higher levels. Allopurinol-treated rabbits had a Johnsen score of > 7.6 and those given other antioxidants had scores of <7.6 at 3 months. CONCLUSION: The twisted viable testis treated by orchidopexy contains high free radical levels at 3 months. Of the antioxidants studied, only allopurinol had a beneficial long-term effect, by significantly reducing testicular MDA levels at 3 months.

Source: UG
Alpha-lipoic acid treatment improves adverse cardiac remodelling in the diabetic heart – The role of cardiac hydrogen sulfide-synthesizing enzymes

Introduction: Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a licensed drug for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. We recently reported that it also improves diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this study, we present evidence supporting our hypothesis that the cardioprotective effect of ALA is via upregulation of cardiac hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-synthesizing enzymes. Methods: Following 12 h of overnight fasting, T2DM was induced in 23 out of 30 male Sprague-Dawley rats by intraperitoneal administration of nicotinamide (110 mg/kg) followed by streptozotocin (55 mg/kg) while the rest served as healthy control (HC). T2DM rats then received either oral administration of ALA (60 mg/kg/day; n = 7) or 40 mg/kg/day DL-propargylglycine (PAG, an endogenous H2S inhibitor; n = 7) intraperitoneally for 6 weeks after which all rats were sacrificed and samples collected for analysis. Untreated T2DM rats served as diabetic control (DCM; n = 9). Results: T2DM resulted in weight loss, islet destruction, reduced pancreatic β-cell function and hyperglycemia. Histologically, DCM rats showed significant myocardial damage evidenced by myocardial degeneration, car diomyocyte vacuolation and apoptosis, cardiac fibrosis and inflammation, which positively correlated with elevated levels of cardiac damage markers compared to HC rats (p < 0.001). These pathological alterations worsened significantly in PAG-treated rats (p < 0.05). However, ALA treatment restored normoinsulemia, nor moglycemia, prevented DCM, and improved lipid and antioxidant status. Mechanistically, ALA significantly upregulated the expression of cardiac H2S-synthesizing enzymes and increased plasma H2S concentration compared to DCM rats (p < 0.001). Conclusion: ALA preserves myocardial integrity in T2DM likely by maintaining the expression of cardiac H2S synthezing enzymes and increasing plasma H2S level.

Source: UG
Altered Kiswahili Proverbs: The Role of Literary Writers and Blog Users

Proverb is one of the important folklore genres in many parts of the world. In many societies proverbs are associated with certain characteristics: they are regarded as succinct fixed artistic forms, that are authoritative, encapsulating some general truth, wisdom and experience of the society and their creators are elders or anonymous. However, these characteristics are increasingly challenged today as the proverbs themselves get altered for various reasons. This paper, therefore, examines how Tanzania’s Kiswahili literary writers and blog users participate in the alteration and spread of Kiswahili proverbs. Data for this study were collected from literary works and websites. It is found that literary writers and blog users play significant role in the alteration and spread of altered proverbs. The paper reveals that the need to cope with today’s environment, change of worldview, political, economic and social phenomena are important factors in the alteration of proverbs. Other factors include the transition from socialism to a free economy, a shift from a single party to multi-party system, technological and scientific advancement, increasing neo-colonialism, globalization, and actions of political leaders, etc. It is also noted that altered proverbs are an important aspect of everyday conversation and are used in various media such as means of transport and mobile phones.

Source: UG
Alternative approaches to technical efficiency estimation in the stochastic frontier model

Estimating the stochastic frontier model and calculating technical efficiency of decision making units are of great importance in applied production economic works. This paper estimates technical efficiency from the stochastic frontier model using Jondrow, and Battese and Coelli approaches. Simulated data is employed to compare the alternative methods. Empirical results show a strong correlation between the alternative methods regardless of the differences in the actual values of the efficiency estimates. Mean technical efficiency is sensitive to the choice of estimation method. Analysis of variance and Tukey's test suggest difference in means between the efficiency scores from different methods. Battese and Coelli's approach produces more homogenous estimates of technical efficiency when compared with the Jondrow's mean or mode approach. Our results suggest that differences in conclusion are possible when the alternative methods of measuring technical efficiency are applied.

Source: UG
Alternative Models for the Conditional Heteroscedasticity and the Predictive Accuracy of Variance Models–Empirical Evidence from East and North Africa Stock Markets

Using empirical evidence from East and North Africa Stock Markets, this paper examines and compares alternative distribution density forecast methods of three generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models. We employed the symmetric GARCH, Glosten Jagannathan and Runkle version of GARCH (GJR-GARCH) and Exponential GARCH methods to investigate the effect of stock return volatility using Gaussian, Student-t and Generalised Error distribution densities. The results show that the use of GJR and EGARCH with non-normal distribution densities appear justified to model the asymmetric characteristics of both indices. The evidence so far shows that in both markets, negative shocks would generally have a greater impact on future volatility than positive shocks, confirming the existence of leverage effect. The presence of leverage effect suggests that investors in these markets should be rewarded for taking up additional leverage risk as a fall in equity value (resulting from volatility) would mean a rise of debt to equity ratio and therefore, increase in financial distress risk. With respect to forecasting evaluation, the results indicate that clearly, symmetric GARCH model completely dominates the others in Kenya, while both GARCH and EGARCH best capture the Tunisian market.

Source: UG
Ambiguities of Colonial Law: The Case of Muhammadu Aminu, Former Political Agent and Chief Alkali of Kano

Colonial law in Africa involved European moral and legal codes representing some rules of western law, as well as elements of African customary law. In Muslim polities such as Kano in northern Nigeria, customary conventions included Islamic law. The colonial situation embodying political and economic domination, however, negated the ideal practice of the rule of law. Enforcing colonial law was neither clearcut and straightforward in British Africa, as reflected in the career of Chief Alkali Aminu, formerly a political agent in the British colonial administration of northern Nigeria. In 1920 Chief Alkali Aminu adjudicated a ransom for a “slave” girl, based on pre-existing Hausa custom and Islamic law, as well as British legislation. Aminu’s decision, however, provoked deliberations by senior colonial officials and acknowledgement of ambiguities in colonial law. Details of the deliberations, included in the paper, provide sources on African history including insights on policy making in British colonial administration.

Source: UG
Ambiguities of Forest Management Decentralization in Ghana

This article examines the outcomes of forest management decentralization in Ghana. It has been demonstrated that despite claims that Ghana has adopted forest management decentralization policy, actual forest management powers and rights over forest resources are still retained by the central government. The government is only interested in using the decentralization policy to reduce expenditure and extend its control over forest resources. Nevertheless, it has employed policy ambiguities to hide its true intentions from international donors. In order to contain international donor demands for equity in the distribution of natural resource revenue, a small stream of forest revenue is paid to a few unelected traditional rulers and district assembly officials, who are actually within the executive’s patronage networks. In the absence of any meaningful reward system and secure rights over forest resources, community forestry committees are not functioning properly

Source: UG
The ambiguities of social inclusion in mental health: learning from lived experience of serious mental illness in Ghana and the occupied Palestinian territory

Purpose Social inclusion of people living with serious mental illness is widely promoted. However, only limited consideration has been given to the meanings of social inclusion within different settings and the ways in which it is envisioned, negotiated, and practised. In this paper, we explore meanings and practises of social inclusion from the perspectives of people living with serious mental illness and their families in Ghana and Palestine and how this is shaped by differing political and socio-cultural contexts. Methods This paper draws on comparative ethnographic research including participant observation and interviews with people living with mental illness and family members in Ghana and the occupied Palestinian territory. Data were triangulated and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Participants described experiences of social inclusion and participation within communities, home and family life, friendships and social life, and work and livelihoods. This revealed how such experiences were variously shaped by differing political contexts and socio-cultural norms and expectations within the two settings. These in turn intersected with aspects such as gender roles, age, and socio-economic status. Aspirations for inclusion included greater awareness and understanding within society, accompanied by opportunities and support for meaningful inclusion at the political as well as community level. Conclusion Findings point to the value of a contextual understanding of social inclusion, taking account of the impact of the wider socio-cultural, political, and economic environment. They also point to the need for an intersectoral approach, beyond communities and mental health services, to provide meaningful opportunities and support for social inclusion.

Source: UG