ABSTRACT Background Onchocerca volvulus is a filarial parasite that causes onchocerciasis or ‘river blindness’. Two strains of the parasite exist in West Africa namely, savannah and forest strains. They differ significantly in epidemiology, disease severity and are specific to different vectors. The savannah strain found in West Africa is associated with blindness while the forest strain, on the other hand, causes less severe ocular diseases even in individuals with high parasite load. In...
ABSTRACT Effective adaptation to climate change provides the means through which agricultural households reduce the vulnerability of their livelihood to the impacts of climatic hazards. Effective strategies reduce the adverse impacts of fluctuations and changes in climatic variables on households’ livelihood leading to the achievement of their livelihood targets whiles maintaining the quality of the environment. Agricultural households in Sissala area have devised their own mechanisms for e...
ABSTRACT Cocoa beans are the main ingredient for making chocolate and in Ghana, it is a major contributor to the economy as it generates an annual foreign exchange of about US $2 billion. The ability to produce high quality cocoa beans free from moulds and mycotoxin contamination has therefore become critical due to the impact mycotoxins have on health of consumers and global trade. This study investigated changes in fungal growth, mycotoxin concentrations, physico-chemical properties and coc...
ABSTRACT Multiple linear regression analysis may be used to describe the relation of a variable (response variable) based on the score of several other variables (independent variables). The least squares estimate of the regression coefficients are unsteady in that replicate samples can give widely differing values of the regression coefficients if the predictor variables are highly correlated. Ridge and Lasso regression analysis are regularization techniques for eliminating the effect of hig...
ABSTRACT The effectiveness of the water shield above the core and in the pool for shielding gamma rays and neutrons was investigated by measurements and calculations for a tank-in-pool type reactor, Ghana Research Reactor-1, GHARR-1. Experimental determination of y - dose rates were made using Radiation Alert Monitor-4 and halogen counter type J613 y probe with readout on y -radiation monitoring system of the control console and the microcomputer control system. The PC version of the one-dime...
ABSTRACT Cocoa has been the most important cash crop in Ghana, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and providing a significant source of income for a lot of households. The government, in trying to support the cocoa sector, has implemented several measures to help farmers achieve maximum cocoa output. However, there are still challenges in the sector. This study looked at the management practices adopted by farmers and its impact on cocoa yield in the Asutifi North District of G...
ABSTRACT Land use/land cover dynamics in wetland catchments is poorly understood; even though it is an important indicator of wetland ecological health. The study was aimed at detecting and quantifying Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes at the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar site in Ghana. The objective was to produce LULC maps for the area, assess the LULC dynamics during a ten year period, and establish statistical relationship between the major LULC changes and biophysical factors that influence human...
ABSTRACT C ytological in vestigation s were made on some African Coreiods in the South-Eastern cocoa growing areas of Ghaia. Data is presented on karyotypes of the group. The now known karyotypes of the Coreoidea has been increased from 113 to 140 species by this study. E ffo rt has been ne.de to correlate information from this study with what exists in the litera tu re on morphological and cytotaxonomic studies rela tin g to the higher systematics cf the Coreoidea. Coreidae, Alydidae and Rho...
ABSTRACT The poor are not evenly distributed within the country and they do not share the same socio-economic and demographic characteristics. It is against this background that analysis of the characteristics that differentiate the poor from the non-poor in Ghana cannot be underestimated. Poverty indicators make it possible to analyze the likely determinants and are, therefore, essential for formulating policy interventions that may contribute directly or indirectly to its alleviation. This ...
ABSTRACT Background: The Aedes mosquito is an important vector of arboviruses, which include the Yellow fever virus (YFV), Dengue virus (DENV), and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Spatial distribution by their shared vectors is grounded on environmental and demographic factors. Currently, vector control is still the main instrument to reduce or eradicate incidence of arboviruses since there are no effective vaccines for a number of public health important arboviruses. With an upsurge in insecticid...
ABSTRACT This study investigates into the second cancer risks to the bladder and rectum during Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy Treatment (3D-CRT) of prostate cancer compared to the baseline cancer risks in literature. The risk of induced-radiation cancer related with radiation treatment for patients with prostate cancer is of great importance in clinical radiation oncology. Therefore, the dose response relationship to predict radiation-induced secondary cancers was modeled for locali...
ABSTRACT Ten phages were isolated randomly from sewage sources and disposal points on the University of Ghana,Legon campus, purified and characterised as delivery systems for the resistance marker genes, Strr and Benr. The phages were found to have proteins of relative molecular weights ranging from 9,000 - 100,000. Eight phages were found to be morphologically related to the tailed phages. The other two were tailless phages. All the coliphages isolated were morphologically related to the T-e...
ABSTRACT The face is the most widely used part of the human body for recognition. Automated face recognition is all about transferring an inherent trait in humans into machines by supplying the machine with enough information. Face recognition has gained much attention over the past few decades and it is used in numerous application areas which includes but not limited to information privacy, law enforcement and assess management. The study presents an assessment of the Discrete Wavelet Trans...
ABSTRACT The primary aim of this work was to propose local diagnostic reference levels for fluoroscopic examinations in some selected radiological imaging facilities in Ghana. The work also aimed at investigating the distribution levels of patient radiation dose received during fluoroscopic examinations for subsequent improvement of optimization. Prior to the starting of this research a series of quality control tests were performed using the Piranha kit to assess the machine output. The pati...
ABSTRACT Nutritional quality of market samples of some fruit drinks were assessed through laboratory analysis. The assessment covered the determination of quality parameters of six brands of fruits drinks which include California brands of orange and pineapple drinks, orange and pineapple fruta drinks and 5 – alive orange and pineapple drinks. The assessment indices included the determination of proximate compositions, mineral composition and vitamin composition of the drinks. From the re...