ABSTRACT Intraspecific variation in Achatina achatina achatina Linne (one of the numerous giant African snails) in Ghana was studied using chronological features, body characters and reproductive potential. Snails were collected from June to August, 2006, from four ecological regions namely Ashanti (Amansie East district), Central (Assin South district), Eastern (Suhum- Kraboa- Coaltar district) and Western (Wassa West district). In this study, the four snail populations showed a broad range ...
ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study was to ascertain the differences existing between the use of Computer Based Instruction (CB1) and the traditional method of teaching mathematics. The study was conducted in two basic schools in Kasoa. The schools were St. Martha’s Basic school and Emmanuel Presby basic school all in Kasoa. The survey was conducted by using questionnaire and achievement test items. Items in the Questionnaire and the text items were of relevance to the purpose of the su...
ABSTRACT Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of liver inflammation accounting for 887,000 deaths annually. The introduction of HBV vaccines has significantly reduced new cases of the infection, but there are still 65 million people living with the virus in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 10 genotypes (A-J) of HBV have been classified. Several studies have shown that the different HBV genotypes differently influence clinical presentation, progression of liver diseases and respons...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is the leading form of meningitis in HIV/AIDS patients and causes significant morbidity and mortality, even in the advent of accessibility of antiretroviral therapy. Globally, the burden of CM is estimated to be at 9.6 million cases and results in about 6.2 million deaths within three months of infection. General aim: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Cryptococcal meningitis in hospitalized HIV-infected patients at the ...
ABSTRACT Variation in groundwater chemistry and isotopic composition has been observed in the northern part o f the Volta Region. The geology o f the study area consists o f quartz schist, quartzitic sandstone, shales, mudstones and siitstone. The extent to which the water chemistry and isotopic composition has been affected by geology is however not known. This study therefore seeks to determine the general chemical character of the groundwater in relation to the different lithologies and de...
ABSTRACT Risk research has found significant differences in perceptions among groups of individuals divided by gender, age, religion, etc. Successful research in risk perception improves risk communication, as it helps policy makers and stakeholders direct education efforts appropriately. In this study, we evaluate the effect of religious belief on health risk perception in order to justify reasons for further research. A total of 343 public sector workers from the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa distr...
ABSTRACT The possession, use, cultivation, sale and trafficking of any form of cannabis in Ghana without lawful authority is illegal. Incidentally the substance remains one of the most abused in the country. The aim of this research was to measure the content of three major cannabinoids - THC, CBN and CBD in cannabis samples cultivated and abused in Ghana. The research was encouraged to fill this gap of information against the backdrop of the current social outcry on the legalization of the s...
ABSTRACT Predicting mortality trend and hedging of longevity risk in recent times has gained attention at a period when life expectancies are increasing unexpectedly. Life insurance companies may make more profit owing to the advancements in technology, hygiene, and medical procedures which leads to decreasing liabilities emanating from payment of reducing death benefit payments. However, longevity improvements may result in losses for annuity insurance schemes such as pensions. The study in...
ABSTRACT Pest and disease have been the major causes of low cocoa production worldwide and the use of chemicals in the form of pesticides is one of the main ways of mitigating their undesirable outcome. However, inappropriate application of pesticides does not only affect the quality of cocoa bean products and the wellbeing of consumers of such products but can also damage the natural flora and fauna in the environment. Hence the reason why evaluating the concentrations of pesticide residues...
ABSTRACT Ability of mosquitoes to ingest microfilariae (mf), promote their maturation to the infective stage, and their survival rate to parasite maturation for transmission to humans seems to differ according to geographic mosquito strains. The proportion of ingested m f that develops successfully into L3 may decrease (limitation) or increase (facilitation) with higher mf uptake. Transmission intensity depends on a number of factors such as the level of infection in the human population, vec...
ABSTRACT An anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin 10 (IL-10) suppresses T-helper 1 cells (Th1) route and enhances the Th2 route in mice by boosting the antibody response. The present work studied the effect of exogenous IL-10 in the system of BALB/C mice during the development severe anaemia. BALB/C mice developed severe anaemia within 2-3 weeks after inoculation with 106 parasitised RBCs (pRBCs) intraperitoneally. BALB/C mice treated with recombinant IL-10 developed patent parasitaemia o...
ABSTRACT Melon seeds namely Agushie variety 1 and variety 2 (Cucumeropsi.s edulis) and Neri (Citrullus lanatus) were studied. These were distinguished from each other by the colour of their seedcoat and1 their size. Neri was found to have the lowest protein content (19.62%) compared to approximately 28% for the agushie. All three melonseeds contained approximately 4-7'/. oil. There was very little carbohydrate in all the varieties and starch was absent. The oils extracted from the three va...
ABSTRACT Invasive Non-Typhoidal Salmonella infections have become widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Predominant hyper-virulent clone S. Typhimurium ST313 is found to be associated with bloodstream invasion and multidrug resistance. Despite its importance, limited information is available on the circulating genotypes causing invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis in Ghana. A total of fifty-one NTS isolates from pediatric blood samples was used for this study. The resistance profiles of isolates...
ABSTRACT The behavioural responses of the schistosome host snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi to 40 naturally occurring (crude and semi - processed) plant products were studied using diffusion olfactometers. Out of the 40 plant products, 21 were tested in the raw (unprocessed) states, 3 were boiled, 4 were dried and 12 were fermented. Seven (7) out of the 21 raw plant product (33.33%) acted as significant attractants/ arrestant for the adult snails while 6 emerged statistically significant attract...
ABSTRACT Fermentation and nixtamalization have been used to enhance the quality and nutritional value of cereals. “Kudeme” a product of microbial and biochemical disintegration of cassava was inoculated into nixtamalized maize dough and fermented, to study the influence of the addition of kudeme on the characteristics of nixtamalized maize dough. The functional and physico-chemical indices were monitored. A 4 x 5 factorial design of kudeme level by fermentation time was used in pre-testi...