ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Religion and Science: An Overview. Keynote Address delivered at conference organized by the Faculty of Science and the Department of Religious Studies of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on 17-19 June 2008 on the theme “Relationship between Religion and Science in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond

This paper presents an overview of the relationship between religion and science. It points out that historically religion preceded science, as the limitations of human intelligence in a bizarre world led man very early to postulate a being considered ultimate, supreme and worthy of human obeisance and worship. Like religion and philosophy, science began in wonder: to explore the wonders of nature—of the physical world. Religion and science are related in that both of them have perspectives on cosmic reality, even though there are several differences in their interpretations of reality. It is the different interpretations as well as their methods of arriving at their truths and conclusions that eventuated in conflicts, conflicts that actually came to the fore with the emergence of experimental science in and after the seventeenth century of our era and led to the condemnation by the Catholic Church of Galileo, the acknowledged founder of modern science. Scientific theories such as the evolution theory, quantum physics and some theories of neuroscience presented challenges to religious doctrines of creation, cosmic order and intelligibility, divine sovereignty, and human nature. However, there are areas of integration such as natural theology and design, order and regularity of nature that provide evidence of the existence of God—evidence that is supported by most scientists. The paper concludes that religion and science are different languages that ultimately express the same reality or at least present complementary accounts of reality, and that, given the wonders and mysteries of the created universe and the limitations of human intelligence, religion and science will continue to be bedfellows in the twenty first century and beyond.

Source: UG
Relationship between serum prostate specific antigen and the pattern of inflammation in both benign and malignant prostatic disease in Middle Eastern men

To determine the effect of prostatitis on serum prostate specific antigen in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in Middle Eastern men, H&E-stained sections of all consecutive prostate specimens were reviewed for diagnosis (malignant or benign) and pattern of inflammation. Inflammation was categorized into acute, active chronic and chronic inactive and graded semi-quantitatively according to previously published criteria. Results were correlated with serum PSA obtained from patients' records. Of 513 prostate specimens reviewed; 435 (84.8%) were benign and 78 (15.2%) were malignant. Chronic inactive prostatitis was present in 259 (204 benign, 55 malignant) and active chronic prostatitis in 221 (204 benign, 17 malignant). Acute prostatitis alone was not observed and prostatitis was absent in 33 (27 benign, 6 malignant). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of inactive chronic prostatitis between benign and malignant specimens (p < 0.071), but active chronic prostatitis was more prevalent in benign specimens (p < 0.001). Increasing serum PSA was observed for increasing grades of both inactive and active chronic prostatitis in both benign and malignant disease. Prostate cancer showed higher serum PSA levels than benign, at different cut-off points (4 ng/ml = p < 0.0001; 8 ng/ml = p < 0.0001; 12 ng/ml = p < 0.0001). However, significant numbers of patients with benign prostate biopsies presented with PSA above 12 ng/ml (82/260 = 32%). We conclude that active chronic prostatitis is common in Middle Eastern men with benign prostatic disease and a significant number of these present with very high PSA levels, some over 300 ng/ml.

Source: UG
The relationship between teachers’ rating of parental school involvement and the academic achievement of high school students

This study was conducted to find out the link between teacher rating of parental school involvement and the academic achievement of high school students. In all 239 students and 10 teachers were sampled for the study. The students came from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, and were between the ages of 15 and 20. As expected, the results showed a positive and significant relationship between teachers’ rating of parental school involvement (both mothers and fathers) and the academic achievement of the students (actual school grades), even after controlling for socio-economic variables such as parental marital status and gender. However, with regards to the relationship between their rating of parental involvement and the perceived academic competence of the students, only the relationship with the mothers’ involvement was significant. The implications of the results are discussed.

Source: UG
Relationship between the expression of various markers and prognostic factors in breast cancer

The immunohistochemical detection of six markers of breast cancer has been compared in the present study with known prognostic factors of the disease to establish locally a standard panel of markers for the management of breast cancer. Sections of tissue of 114 consecutive breast cancer cases were studied immunohistochemically, using antibodies against oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), androgen receptor, c-erbB2, cathepsin D, and cyclin D. Marker labelling was graded as recommended in the literature. Using the χ 2-test, relationships were determined between marker labelling and histological type of cancer, tumour grade, tumour size, axillary lymph node status and age of patient. A p value below 0.05 was considered significant. A positive relationship was found between ER and PR and lower grades of cancer, and a negative relationship was found with medullary and atypical medullary carcinoma. The four other markers showed no relationship with grade or type of cancer. All markers showed no significant relationship with size of tumour, presence of axillary node metastasis or age of patient. There was positive correlation between c-erbB2 and cathepsin D. Our study confirms the association between ER and PR and histological type and grade of breast cancer, both known parameters of good prognosis. We found no consistent relationship between the other four markers and prognostic factors studied, other than the suggestion that c-erbB2 and cathepsin D may be useful markers for poor prognosis and can be usefully applied locally, especially in the light of the current availability of trastuzumab (Herceptin) for management of c-erbB2-positive cases. We found no relationship between the markers and tumour size, axillary lymph node status or age.

Source: UG
The Relationship between the Use of the Partograph and Birth Outcomes at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the use of the partograph and maternal interventions as well as maternal and neonatal outcomes. A retrospective chart review of 1,845 primiparous and multiparous deliveries which met the inclusion criteria was conducted. Using pre-established criteria only 472 (25.6%) charts were adequately completed and on inspection some of these appeared to be completed retrospectively. Whether or not timely action was taken if the “action line” was crossed on the partograph was also assessed. Chi-square analysis showed that when the partograph was adequately used, there were more interventions to augment labour. There were differences in maternal outcomes with women being less likely to lose more than 500 millilitres of blood if partographs were adequately used. Although there were 13 intra partum deaths only one chart could be retrieved. While there appeared to be less pyrexia with the group whose partograph was inadequate, it is possible that this group also had their temperature monitored less frequently. Decreases in newborn outcomes including Apgar scores, birth injuries, NICU admissions and mortality were not found. Recommendations were made to facilitate accurate documentation and completion of the partograph to help in taking prompt decisions or interventions. Periodic in-service training for record officers in health facilities is recommended to improve filing system to ensure easy retrieval of patients charts. Recommendations to shorten the length of time that action is taken when the action line was crossed.

Source: UG
The Relationship Between Trust, Belief and Adherence Among Patients who Complain of Hypertension In Ghana

Aim: We determined the relationship between trust, belief and adherence among patients who complain of hypertension in Ghana. Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Method: We sampled 447 Ghanaians with hypertension receiving care at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. Data analyses were conducted with the aid of Stata 15.0. Results: There is low belief and trust in the biomedical treatment for hypertension. Only 36.9% of the respondents said they adhered to treatment with females expressing higher level of adherence. Trust and belief in allopathic care were associated with adherence to treatment. It is recommended that health workers identify effective ways of improving patients' trust in the allopathic care for hypertension through teaching and re-enforcement models to enhance treatment adherence and reduce the complications of hypertension. Patient or Public Contribution

Source: UG
Relationship Between Workplace Bullying, and Employees' Subjective Well-Being: Does Resilience U Make a Difference?

The present study examines the potential protective role of resilience in workplace bullying. Specifically, the study investigates the association between workplace bullying and subjective well-being and whether high levels of resilience buffer the relationship. The study draws on data from a cross-sectional survey of 631 individuals employed in diverse organizations in Accra, Ghana. Results of moderated regression analysis showed that workplace bullying was associated with lower levels of subjective well-being. Although resilience moderated the relationship between workplace bullying and subjective well-being, it strengthened rather than weakened the relationship. The study's findings suggest that relying on individuals' resources in dealing with workplace bullying may be counterproductive. The findings underscore the need for organizations to institute measures to offer better protection of employees from exposure to bullying in the workplace.

Source: UG
Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty in Ghana’s Informal Economy: Does Customer Perceived Value Matter?

In this study, we seek to understand the role of relationship marketing in achieving customer loyalty in Ghana’s informal economy. The study further investigated the role of customer perceived value as a pass-through mechanism for the relationship between relationship marketing and customer loyalty. We collected primary data from 229 customers of informal economy operators in Accra. The data was then analyzed using structural equation modeling using the STATA 15 Package. Our findings indicate that commitment is the only fundamental relationship marketing factor investigated that has a direct influence on customer loyalty in the informal business context. Trust and conflict handling, on the other hand, benefit significantly from the presence of customer-perceived value whereas communication seems to have negligible effects. Consequently, scholars and marketing practitioners seeking to deploy the relationship marketing concept in the informal economy need to be aware of these contextual interplays and how they shape further discussions of the relationship marketing theory.

Source: UG
Relationship marketing and customer loyalty: Evidence from the Ghanaian luxury hotel industry

The study reports the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty in the luxury and first-class hotel industry. A questionnaire derived from the literature review was completed by 300 customers of luxury and first-class hotels in Ghana. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple regression were used to test the impact of six key relationship marketing practices, namely competence, commitment, conflict handling, trust, communication, and relational bonds on customer loyalty. The findings suggest that all six relationship-marketing practices have a significant and positive effect on customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Ghana. Apart from extending knowledge on relationship marketing practices into a domain without much empirical work, the study also provides hotel managers with practical ways of implementing relationship-marketing strategies for achieving customer loyalty in Ghana.

Source: UG
Relationship marketing strategy: Policy formulation and curricula development to enhance quality of care in the health sector of Ghana

policy makers/educationists who would have added to the knowledge that this study contributes. There were still some areas that this study could not cover, including the lack of an exploration of the perceptions of health providers and patients. Practical implications: Evidence from the current research provides the basis for scaling up of a similar study to the whole country to address the perennial RM or quality of care/patient satisfaction issues persisting in health facilities in the country. The outcome of this large-scale study would help to confirm the findings of the current study on the adoption and incorporation of RM into both policy framework and curricula of health training institutions in Ghana. The findings would culminate in the preparation and utilisation of guidelines on RM for client-centred service delivery in the health sector of the country. Social implications: This paper argues that RM orientation could enable health professionals to improve upon their healthcare service performance and quality of care so as to enhance patient satisfaction. Originality/value: The study recommends that RM should be adopted by health policy makers and designers of curricula for health training institutions. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Source: UG
Relationship of hepcidin with parasitemia and anemia among patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria 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
Relationship, governance, and upgrading opportunities in the Shea value Chain: a descriptive analysis from Northern Ghana

This study explores the relationships between value chain actors in the shea sector in Northern Ghana, the governance mechanism that pre vails, and the upgrading opportunities for upstream actors. The value chain analysis (VCA) framework was the main analytical tool employed for this assessment. Participating actors in the shea global value chain were shea kernel producers, shea butter processors, aggregators, and industrial processors and exporters of shea products. The results showed that, although women shea upstream actors (especially shea kernel producers) interface directly with aggregators, the relationship is weak and restricted to spot buying, and arms-length market govern ance relationship. Although the upstream actors are enthusiastic to upgrade their products, they are constrained by inadequate access to requisite assets, resources, capabilities, and skills. The shea upstream actors were confined to low value-adding segments and activities of the shea-GVC. Industrial processors and exporters appear reluctant to directly support upstream women processors to upgrade through offering credits, technology transfer and skills enhancement. Lowering barriers to upgrading opportunities in the value chain calls for intervention of the government, and support from international development organizations (NGOs), and midstream and downstream actors. Government must create an enabling policy environment that incentivize downstream actors to build capacities of upstream actors.

Source: UG
Relationships among body image, eating behaviour, and psychological health of University of Ghana students

The study examines the relationship among body image, eating behavior, and psychological health among undergraduate students of University of Ghana. A total of 140 students comprising males (n=70) and females (n=70) from collectivistic cultures (n=117) and individualistic cultures (n=23) were conveniently sampled as respondents for the study. Questionnaires containing Body Image Scale (BIS), Eating Attitudes Test-16 (EAT-16), and the General Wellbeing Schedule (GWB) were administered to the respondents. The analyses of data revealed a significant positive relationship between body image and eating behavior, but a negative relationship between body image and psychological health. There was no significant relationship between age and body image and no significant sex differences in body image, eating behavior and psychological health.. Culture had a significant influence on body image and psychological health. Students from individualistic cultures had a more positive body image, but a poorer psychological health than those from collectivistic cultures. These findings are discussed with references to the literature.

Source: UG
Relationships among obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance in african americans and west africans

Several research studies in different populations indicate that inflammation may be the link between obesity and insulin resistance (IR). However, this relationship has not been adequately explored among African Americans, an ethnic group with disproportionately high rates of obesity and IR. In this study, we conducted a comparative study of the relationship among adiposity, inflammation, and IR in African Americans and West Africans, the ancestral source population for African Americans. The associations between obesity markers (BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)), inflammatory markers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), haptoglobin, interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α), and IR (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA IR)) were evaluated in 247 West Africans and 315 African Americans. In average, African Americans were heavier than the West Africans (by an average of 1.6 BMI units for women and 3 BMI units for men). Plasma hsCRP, haptoglobin, and IL-6 (but not TNF-α level) were higher in African Americans than in West Africans. In both populations, BMI was associated with markers of inflammation and with HOMA IR, and these associations remained significant after adjusting for sex and age. However, the pattern of associations between measured inflammatory markers and IR was different between the two groups. In West Africans, hsCRP was the only inflammatory marker associated with IR. In contrast, hsCRP, haptoglobin, and IL-6 were all associated with IR in African Americans. Interestingly, none of the associations between markers of inflammation and IR remained significant after adjusting for BMI. This finding suggests that in African Americans, the relationship between inflammatory markers and IR is mediated by adiposity.

Source: UG
Relationships and Spatial Structure of Soil Physical Properties in a Ten-Year Corn-Cotton Rotation Field.

This study quantified the relationships between soil, textural, and hydraulic properties at the field-scale for a conventional tilled Memphis silt loam that had undergone a 10-year corn and cotton rotation and described their spatial variability. Composite soil samples collected from the plow layer at 272 nodes on 15 x 15 m grids were analyzed for texture and bulk density. These values were used as pedotransfer functions to predict unsaturated (Ko) and saturated hydraulic (Ks) conductivities as well as the van Genuchten curve shape parameters α and n. Regression analyses quantified relationships between the measured and model predicted soil properties. While correlations between textural and model predicted soil properties including bulk density were significant (p<0.05), those between sand and clay, clay and n, clay and α were not. Sand and silt appeared to be better predictors of soil hydraulic conductivity and the van Genuchten curve shape parameters for the soil investigated. Spatial dependence was strong for sand, silt, bulk density, Ko, α and n, and moderate for clay and Ks.

Source: UG
Relationships with intimate partner violence: Exploring the dynamics and associated personal characteristics in an urban sample in Ghana

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a universal problem that significantly affects individual's mental and physical well-being. Researchers have identified different risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. Research on IPV however, have focused largely on either men or women with little attempt to compare the sexes on issues that are associated with IPV and the dynamics involved in relationships in which IPV occurs. Using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (Strauss, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996), we embarked on a preliminary study exploring the different types of violence perpetrated on partners among Ghanaians living in Accra. We also explored individual and group characteristics such as age, education, and relationship status as predictors of IPV. We administered the CTS2 to 150 people selected from Accra. Our findings showed gender and education associations with victimization and perpetration of IPV. We also found limited but significant associations with types of IPV. We discuss the appropriateness of the CTS2 in Ghana and discuss our findings in the light of the Ghanaian socio-cultural context.

Source: UG