UDSspace

The Northern region of Ghana hosts the largest number of livestock producers compared to the other regions, but output is still low despite the introduction of improved technologies which have the potential to increase livestock yields when adopted and provide better livelihoods to participating households. Consequently, adoption of improved technologies has been low, slow and uncertain. This study set out to examine factors that influence the adoption of livestock production techno...

The study assesses the effect of dividend payout on the share price of companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2015. The sample size consists of five companies listed on the GSE from the Finance/Insurance industry. They include; Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Standard Chartered Bank, Societe Generale Bank (Ghana) Limited, Enterprise Insurance, and H. F. C. Bank. The study used mainly secondary data. The study described the trend of share prices and dividend payment of com...

The study analyzes the effects of the determinants of farmer’s adoption of and investment in agrochemicals by collecting primary data from 156 sampled cocoa farmers in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality of Ghana. Descriptive statistical technique was employed to analyze demographic and farm-specific characteristics as well as the adoption rate and expenditure on agrochemicals. The findings highlighted the fact that, though a large proportion of farmers in the study area use agrochemicals...

Aim: To provide insights into nurses lived experiences in caring for children with cancer. Background: Little is known about the paediatric oncology nurses shared practices of caring for children with cancer in Ghana. Design: A hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study. Methods: A semi-structured interview with 14 purposely sampled Ghanaian paedi atric oncology nurses. Findings were analysed using Diekelman, Allen and Tanner's approach. Results: The theme "Striving to reduce su...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Block Farm Credit Programme (BFCP) participation on crop output in four districts in the Northern region of Ghana.Design/methodology/approach – Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 240 beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers of BFCP. The treatment effect model that accounts for selectivity bias was employed to examine the socioeconomic determinants of farmers’ dec...

In typical developing countries, a one-size-fits-all policies often tend to hurt the poor and vulnerable. Specifically, in food demand studies different social groupings have characteristically heterogeneous demand functions which may require unique attention in terms of food policies. In this paper, we examine the food demand characteristics of three categories of consumers in Ghana based on fourteen selected food commodity groups. We use the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standard Survey...

In semi-arid areas, increasing CO2 emissions are threatening agricultural sustainability. It is unclear whether different tillage practices without residue returned could help alleviate these issues while increasing crop productivity. This study aimed to quantify soil respiration under conventional tillage (CT); rotary tillage (RT); subsoiling (SS) and no-till (NT), all without residue returned in the Western Loess Plateau. The results showed that SS and NT significantly decreased soil respir...

Background and Objective: Soil tillage and crop rotation are used to increase crop production and resource use efficiency worldwide. This study aimed to quantify soil respiration (Rs), Water Use Efficiency (WUE) and grain yield in spring wheat-field pea rotation in a rain-fed semi-arid environment. Methodology: The tillage practices included; conventional tillage with straw removed (T), no-till with straw removed (NT), no-till with straw retention on the soil surface (NTS) and conventional ti...

The adoption of improved cultivation practices in field crops may mitigate increasing water shortages in many rainfed semi-arid areas. It is not clear whether improved conservation tillage practices can alleviate this issue while increasing crop productivity. Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown using four long-term tillage (CT) systems: conventional tillage with straw removed (T), no-till with straw removed (NT), no-till with straw retention (NTS) and conventional tillage with st...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains a major health challenge due in part to unsafe and limited treatment options, hence there is the need for alternatives. CXCL8/interleukin 8 (IL-8) is elevated in inflammation, and binds preferentially to G protein-couple receptors (GPCRs) CXCR1/2 of the CXC chemokine family to initiate cascades of downstream inflammatory signals. A mutant CXCL8 protein, CXCL8(3-72)K11R/G31P (G31P), competitively and selectively binds to CXCR1/2, making CXCL8 redund...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is reported to be the third and fourth, most diagnosed and cause of cancer associated deaths respectively. In 2012 for instance, about 1.4 million new cases were reported, and approximately 700,000 deaths recorded. Survival from CRC is dependent on the stage at which it is diagnosed coupled with appropriate surgical and medical intervention. Cisatracurium is widely used for skeletal muscle relaxation during abdominal surgeries, including bowel and colon surgeries....

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by joints inflammation. One of the aggressive characteristics of RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) is the tendency for migration in the local environment, which plays a central role in the RA pathogenesis. Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-like cytokine 1A (TL1A) is a member of TNF superfamily, which has a role in autoimmunity and influences the RA-FLS behavior through TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2).We investigated the effect o...

Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG) is well documented strain with wide clinical applications. We investigated herein the possible protection role of LGG in against early preneoplastic colon carcinogenesis Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rat model. Sprague Dawley rats were pre-treated with or without LGG via oral gavage, followed by ACF induction with Dimethylhydrazine (DMH). LGG treated groups showed significant decrease in total number of ACF’s, and increased Bax, P53, and Caspase-3 proteins exp...

The prevalence of gout is relatively high worldwide, and many gout patients suffer from uric acid nephropathy (UAN) concomitantly. ELR-CXC chemokines such as CXCL8 and CXCL1 have a elevated expression in UAN. In this research, a mouse UAN model was established for a 12 week duration, and uric acid-related crystals were observed. CXCL8(3–72)K11R/G31P (G31P) is a mutant protein of CXCL8/interleukin 8 (IL-8), which has been reported to have therapeutic efficacy in both inflammatory diseases ...

● AIM: To investigate the effect of interleukin-8 (IL-8) on neural retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and whether it can be alleviated by G31P. ● METHODS: RGC-5 cells were exposed to IL-8 with or without its specific receptor antagonist G31P for 24h, and the cell viability was assessed by Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK-8). Apoptosis was measured by examining nuclear morphology and quantifying with flow cytometry. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) a...

Background: Pediatric cancer is a global problem, and some studies have emphasized that nurses caring for these children experience work-related challenges. This has caused many children diagnosed with cancer to have a prolonged hospital stay and suffer unnecessary pain. However, there is insufficient documentary evidence on this issue. This study aims to explore and understand the challenges faced by pediatric oncology nurses in caring for children in Ghana. Methods: An exploratory qual...

We examine how goat farmers’ perceptions of weather variability and climate change condition their coping and adaptation behaviour. Through a survey, we obtain a household level data from goat producers in designated climate-smart and non-climate-smart villages of the Lawra and Jirapa districts in Upper West region of Ghana. Data are analysed using a multivariate probit model to assess how perceptions and other factors influence coping and adaptation strategy choices. Seven main coping/ ...

Purpose: This study sought to explore the knowledge level, practice and perception of the usefulness of reflective practice among pediatric nursing students in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was used in carrying out the study. The study was conducted among pediatric nursing level 300 and 400 students of the University for Development Studies, Tamale, with an age range between 17 and 38. A structured questionnaire in ...

Experiment was conducted in the 2012 raining season under rainfed conditions in the Guinea Savanna zone of Northern Ghana to investigate the influence of phosphorus at different source, rates and rhizobium inoculants on performance and yield of soybean (Glycine max). The experiment was a factorial laid in a randomized complete block design with eight treatments and three replications. Parameters measured were plant height, leave area, number and weight of nodules, shoot weight and total grain...