Training and Development Programmes versus Lecturers’ Performance in Teaching: The Perception of Lecturers in the Sunyani Polytechnic, Ghana

This paper investigates the contributions of human resources development programmes to the quality of teaching and learning with emphasis on the Sunyani Polytechnic in Ghana. The paper reviews relevant literature on the importance of continuous training programmes for lecturers in the Polytechnic. The paper juxtaposes relevant literature with what pertains in the Sunyani Polytechnic in Ghana, with regards to the urgent need for continuous and regular training for polytechnic lecturers. The study reveals evidence that lecturers need continuous improvement programmes to upgrade their skills to meet the ever changing needs of polytechnic education and stakeholders, especially students. The study again reveals that the rapid changes in the curriculum of polytechnic education institutions call for continuous improvement in the skillsets of lecturers. The paper recommends that training methodologies organised for staff of the Polytechnic should be practical, interactive and participatory and offered on regular intervals to bring lecturers up to date on current trends in teaching and learning in polytechnic education. This would be very useful to prevent career Plateauing and skill obsolescence among the lecturers of the Polytechnic. Keywords: Ghana, teaching, learning, training, human resources, Sunyani Polytechnic

Risk Factors for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus among Ghanaian Women at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

Several risk factors have been identified as contributing to the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).  Knowing and ranking these risk factors for GDM will provide useful information for health care providers in educating women on the need to reduce the risk of developing GDM. This study aimed at establishing and ranking the maternal risk factors for GDM in the Ghanaian community. The study strongly linked women with history of still birth (OR=10.42, p=0.0004), relatives having diabetes (OR=8.08, p=0.004), history of more than two miscarriages (OR=3.15, p=0.0001), previous caesarean operations (OR=3.06, p=0.0004) and more than two parities (OR=3.03, p=0.0027) to the development of GDM. There was however no significant difference between the body mass index (BMI) of the GDMs and the controls (p>0.05). Key words: Gestational diabetes, caesarian section, maternal risk factors, parit

Urinary Lysosomal Enzyme Activities and Albuminuria in Ghanaian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Renal tubular lysosomal enzyme activities like alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) have been shown to increase in patients developing diabetic nephropathy and nephrosclerosis. This study aimed to determine the activities of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase and alanine aminopeptidase and albumin concentration in urine samples of patients with type 2 diabetes. One hundred and thirty (65 type 2 diabetic and 65 nondiabetic) subjects participated in this study. Blood samples were drawn for measurements of fasting blood glucose, albumin (Alb), lipids, and creatinine (Cr). Early morning spot urine samples were also collected for activities of alanine aminopeptidase (AAP), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and concentration of albumin (U-Alb) and creatinine (U-Cr). Both NAG/Cr and AAP/Cr were significantly increased in diabetic subjects compared to controls (p < 0.001). There was positive correlation between NAG/Cr and Alb/Cr (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) and between NAG/Cr and serum creatinine (r = 0.441, p < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between NAG/Cr and eGFR (r = -0.432, p < 0.05). 9.3% and 12% of diabetics with normoalbuminuria had elevated levels of AAP/Cr and NAG/Cr, respectively. We conclude that measuring the urinary enzymes activities (NAG/Cr and AAP/Cr) could be useful as a biomarker of early renal involvement in diabetic complications

NTCP gene polymorphisms and hepatitis B virus infection status in a Ghanaian population

© 2020 The Author(s). Background: SLC10A1 gene codes NTCP, a receptor through which the hepatitis B virus (HBV) gets access into hepatocytes- A stage of the viral cycle necessary for replication. Polymorphism variants of SLC10A1 play roles in HBV infection, viral clearance, treatment outcome, and complications, in diverse ethnic groups and countries. However, no such study has been conducted in the Ghanaian population, a country with HBV endemicity. Therefore, an exploratory study was conducted to investigate the presence of three (3) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SLC10A1 gene (rs2296651, rs61745930, and rs4646287) and assessed the risk of HBV infection among the Ghanaian population. Method: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to determine the presence of the SNPs among 292 participants comprising 146 HBV infected persons as case-subjects and 146 HBV non-infected persons as control-subjects. Results: The minor allele frequency (T) of rs2296651 was present in a significantly high proportion of cases compared with the control group (11.6% vs. 3.1%, p \u3c 0.0001). The homozygote recessive variant of rs61745930 was present in 2.7% of the control group and 5.5% of the case group. Moreover, the minor allele frequencies of rs4646287 were 9.3 and 8.2% among the control and the case group, respectively (p = 0.767). Under the dominant (CC) genetic model of inheritance, rs2296651 was found to be protective of HBV infection [OR = 0.18 (0.07-0.44)], whereas under the co-dominant and additive model, rs2296651 was a potential risk factor for HBV infection [OR = 5.2 (95%CI: 2.1-12.8); 3.5 (95%CI: 1.6-7.6], respectively. Variants of rs61745930 and rs4646287 were not associated with HBV infection (p \u3e 0.05). Polymorphisms in SLC10A1, however, did not show any significant association with HBV infectivity (p \u3e 0.05). Conclusion: The study highlights some polymorphism proof that variants rs2296651, rs61745930, and rs4646287 exist in HBV-infected individuals in Ghana. Although variant rs2296651 was found to be associated with HBV infection, this association warrants more studies. Polymorphisms in SLC10A1 were not associated with HBV infectivity among the Ghanaian population. Further investigation is warranted to assess the offensive role of the relationship between rs2296651 and HBV infectivity

Altered immunoglobulins (A and G) in Ghanaian patients with type 2 diabetes.

Elevated immunoglobulin levels have been strongly linked to the development and progression of inflammatory disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. This study aimed to evaluate circulating immunoglobulin levels and to identify other metabolic factors that influence humoral immune response among Ghanaian subjects with type 2 diabetes. A comparative cross-sectional study conducted at the National Diabetes Management and Research Center, Accra. Eighty persons with type 2 diabetes were age-matched with 78 controls. Immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M; interleukin 6; fasting blood glucose; glycated hemoglobin; and lipid parameter concentrations were measured. Blood pressure, anthropometry and body composition indices were also assessed. Median immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin G (g/L) levels were higher in the case group compared with controls (0.89 vs 0.74, p = 0.043; 7.58 vs 7.29, p < 0.001). Immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin A and interleukin 6 levels in the case cohort, respectively, associated weakly with fasting blood glucose (r = 0.252, p = 0.001; r = 0.170, p = 0.031; r = 0.296, p = 0.001). There were positive correlations within the control group for immunoglobulin A versus interleukin 6 (r = 0.366, p = 0.001) and within the case group for glycated hemoglobin versus interleukin 6 (r = 0.190, p = 0.020). Our data suggest that humoral immune response is altered in subjects with type 2 diabetes and that serum immunoglobulin levels could serve as useful biomarkers in the investigation and management of diabetes mellitus

Impact of exercise intensity on oxidative stress and selected metabolic markers in young adults in Ghana

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different levels of exercise on markers of oxidative stress and selected metabolic parameters in Ghanaian young adults. Results Significant increases in a marker of oxidative stress malondialdehyde and antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and uric acid were observed in the exercisers compared with the inactive group (p < 0.05). Total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein levels were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Positive associations between exercise intensity, antioxidant concentration and malondialdehyde were observed within the exercise group for vigorous exercise with regards to uric acid, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde (r = 0.512, p = 0.004; r = 0.810, p = 0.001; r = 0.715, p = 0.001) respectively and moderate exercise vs malondialdehyde (r = 0.841, p = 0.001) compared to the inactive group. Exercise participants performed more vigorous exercise (p < 0.001), moderate exercise (p < 0.001) and more walking (p < 0.001) compared with the inactive group while the inactive group exhibited more sitting (p < 0.001). The study provides a first report on the risk associated with increase in oxidative stress and the importance of walking as a health promotion intervention among young Ghanaian adults

Smoking‐induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men

Male fertility rates have shown a progressive decrease in both developing and industrialised countries in the past 50 years. Clinical and epidemiological studies have demonstrated controversial results about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on seminal parameters. Some studies could not establish a negative effect by tobacco smoking on sperm quality and function, whereas others have found a significant reduction in sperm quality and function. This study reviews the components in cigarette smoke and discusses the effects of smoking on male fertility by focusing extensively on smoking‐induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men. Chromosomal aneuploidies, sperm DNA fragmentation and gene mutations are discussed in the first section, while changes in DNA methylation, chromatin remodelling and noncoding RNAs are discussed in the second section as part of epigenetic alterations

The autocrine role of insulin in islet and (461)-cell function

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Insulin receptor activation inhibits insulin secretion from human islets of Langerhans

AbstractThere is no consensus on the role of insulin secreted from pancreatic β-cells in regulating its own secretion, either in rodent islets or in human islets. We have now investigated whether there is an autocrine signalling role for insulin in human islets by determining insulin receptor expression and assessing the effects of insulin receptor activation using a non-peptidyl insulin mimetic termed L-783,281. Human insulin receptor mRNA was detected by PCR amplification of human islet cDNA, and translation of the message in human islets was confirmed by Western blotting. Perifusion experiments revealed that both glucose-stimulated and basal insulin secretion were significantly inhibited following human islet insulin receptor activation with L-783,281, and that signalling through phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) was responsible, at least in part, for this inhibitory effect. These studies indicate that human islets express insulin receptors and that they are functionally coupled to a PI 3-kinase-dependent inhibition of insulin secretion

Dyslipidaemia is common among patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study at Tema Port Clinic

Abstract Objective This study aimed to evaluate dyslipidemia in Ghanaian subjects with type 2 diabetes. Results Hundred individuals with type 2 diabetes and 61 apparently healthy controls participated. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia among persons with type 2 diabetes was 53%. Blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels were higher in persons with type 2 diabetes compared with the control group (p < 0.01). Positive correlations were found within persons with type 2 diabetes for triglyceride vs FBG; ALT vs age and aspartate transaminase (AST) vs TG (p < 0.05 respectively). This study demonstrated hyperlipidemia and poor liver health in persons with type 2 diabetes