ABSTRACT Background Rotavirus is associated with severe infantile diarrhoea requiring hospitalization. In order to control severe disease caused by rotavirus infection, vaccination is considered an essential strategy. Currently, two rotavirus vaccines (Rotarix™ and RotaTeq™) have been included in the Expanded Program on Immunization of most African countries to help reduce the high disease indections. Ghana has over the past 20 years been involved in the surveillance of rotavirus diseases...
ABSTRACT Wagashie is a traditional West African cottage cheese produced by the Fulani who are seminomadic. It is a good protein source and can replace fish or meat in the diet of low income families in Africa. However, it is a product with high moisture content (60%) which is favourable for the growth of microorganisms and thus has a short shelf life of 3 days; it also has a bland taste with limited patronage. This research was therefore carried out to reengineer wagashie for a larger market ...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to assess the levels of heavy metal contaminations within the Weija dam area of the Weija Lake. Sediments, water and fish samples were taken from ten different sites within the Weija dam in March, 2014 (dry season) and August, 2014 (wet season). The sediment, water and fish samples were analysed for Hg, Se, Fe, Cd, Mn and Pb using Atomic Absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Mercury was determined using a cold vapour technique with the AAS equipped with hydride gene...
ABSTRACT People’s response to illness symptoms whenever they are perceived is dependent on them and influenced by a plethora of factors which makes them behave differently towards treatment seeking. With this, the study examined the health seeking behaviour in the Akuapem-North Municipality. Drawing on Kroeger’s (1983) health service utilisation model, it specifically examined individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics and other factors that influence the choice and use of particula...
ABSTRACT Buruli ulcer is caused by mycolactone, a toxin produced by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Drug development for the treatment of the disease and early diagnosis is greatly hampered by the lipid nature of the mycolactone and bacterial resistance to currently used antimycobacterials. Kombucha tea is a health drink consumed worldwide. Research has shown that Kombucha exerts medicinal properties including enhanced wound healing and antimicrobial activity. This study was aimed at characterizing t...
ABSTRACT This research tries to determine the “hidden” factors which ultimately influence the choice of mobile phone network in Cape Coast Polytechnic (study area). Principal Component method of Factor analysis is used to achieve the set objectives. There are six mobile phone network providers (MTN, Vodafone, Tigo, Airtel, Globacom and Expresso) in Ghana. All these operators try to improve their marketing strategies in order to attract more customers or subscribers to increase their marke...
ABSTRACT The Quaternary aquifer in the Keta basin is a source of fresh water to the over 130,000 inhabitants living along the Keta Strip. Groundwater quality is deteriorating due to pollution from mainly agriculture, sewage, septic tanks and solid waste disposal in the area. This research was undertaken to assess the intrinsic vulnerability to pollution of the aquifer. The DRASTIC methodology was applied to delineate zones vulnerable to pollution. Data was gathered on the seven DRASTIC parame...
Abstract Five novel semiconducting organic small molecules have been synthesised, fully characterised, and their photovoltaic performance tested in fabricated organic solar cells. Three (molecules 5, 7 and 9) were acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) small molecules bearing an electron-rich (3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene) EDOT central core with different terminal groups. The additional two (molecules 20 and 21) were truxene derivatives which have been differentiated by the alkyl chain length on the ...
ABSTRACT The use of poor quality antimalarials causes low bioavailability of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the drug targets resulting in treatment ineffectiveness or failure and parasite resistance over a short period of drug usage. Resistance has rendered the hitherto cheap and effective drugs like chloroquine and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine ineffective, resulting in their replacement with the more expensive artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for malaria treatment. ...
fflpaODDCTICW Cocoa Xllce many other plants of economic Importance, has a host of its own attendant pests among which lepidopterous caterpillars feature fairly prominently. Early reports on entomological pests in Wsst Africa (lamborn, 191U—1915j Patterson lyllti Peacock, 1913) almost invariably included one or other lepidopterous pest attacking some part of the cocoa tree or seedling. Recent reports* too, abound in information an the problem of Lepidoptera on cocoa e.g. Entwiatle (1960, 1...
ABSTRACT Dye pollutants contaminate water bodies when they are improperly disposed into the ecosystem. Effects caused by the disposal of these dye pollutants include aesthetic pollution, eutrophication and perturbations in aquatic life. This work aims to mitigate these water contamination problems by studying possible degradation of these pollutant compounds. Semiconductor photocatalytic process using nanocrystalline TiO2 as the semiconductor catalyst was adopted in this work to photodegrade ...
ABSTRACT Majority of life-threatening fungal infections in clinics are caused by Candida albicans. The emergence of azole resistance in fungi complicates patient management. In response to chemical stress, C. albicans make transient changes in the gene expression for survival. Notable among these is the upregulation of efflux pump which is known to be the main mechanism of antifungal resistance. Potent therapeutic agents targeting this resistance mechanism are urgently needed. Chemo-sensitiza...
ABSTRACT Aspects of seasonal dynamics, population dynamics, and successional dynamics were investigated in three kinds of woody vegetation which occur on the Accra Plains: dry tropical forest, large thickets, and isolated clumps of thicket. Flowering, fruiting, foliage behaviour, and girth changes show a strong seasonal pattern in the study area; moisture deficits limit phenological activity within the community, although patterns vary among species. Synchrony was high within species in repro...
A parasitological examination of 2,500 faecal samples of cattle was carried out in Plateau State, Nigeria, to determine prevalence, seasonal distribution and sources of various species of Eimeria in both sexes, age groups, breeds and husbandry systems. Effects of temperatures on sporulation of Eimeria oocysts and chemical analysis of the Eimeria oocysts were also determined. Out of 2500 samples examined, 1567 i.e 62.68% were positive for twelve species of Eimeria. E. alabamensis occurre...
Valerohydroxamic and Isovalerohydroxamic acids were synthesised and recrystallised from ethylacetate. They were characterised by melting point, pka and spectral (IR NMR) studies. Their melting points are 77.78°C and 76.77°C for valerohydroxamic acid and isovalerohydroxamic acid respectively and their pka values at 0.1mol dm-3 at 28°C are 9.50+0.01 and 9.51+0.01 for valerohydroxamic acid and isovalerohydroxamic acid respectively. The IR and NMR (1H and 13C) for both valerohydroxamic...