An Empirical Analysis of Balance of Payment in Ghana using the Monetary Approach

A major challenge to the Ghanaian economy is the persistence disequilibrium in the balance of payments. This is a general economic phenomenon in most developing countries. Using an annual data set from 1980-2010. This study analyzes the balance of payments for Ghana using a monetary approach with the aid of econometric models. The study shows that the balance of payment disequilibrium in Ghana is not influence only by monetary variables. Out of the four monetary independent variables three were found to be significant. The results also show that domestic credit, GDP growth, and interest rate are found to be significant. Domestic credit and interest rate are negatively related to net foreign assets while GDP growth is positively related. Inflation however is insignificantly related to net foreign assets. However, government expenditure and public debt may influence the balance of payment in Ghana. The implication for policy is that to correct the disequilibrium in balance of payment, government should give equal attention to other policy levels instead of relying solely on monetary tools to attain stability in the country’s balance of payments account. Key words: balance of payment, interest rate, inflation, domestic credit, Ghan

The metabolism of parts of seeds during early germination

There have been few studies of the metabolism of germinating seeds during the first minutes and hours of imbibition. This is partly because most biochemical techniques are unsuitable for studying these biological systems. One technique that has been developed for studying such systems involves using tritiated water as a tracer. In this technique the biological material is placed in tritiated water for a known time and then extracted. The extracts are chromatographed on paper and the tritium labelled compounds are detected by scintillation radioautography. The technique has already been successfully applied to the study of intact seeds of two species of dicotyledons. In this present work the technique was used to study the metabolic development during the first six hours of imbibition of the different parts of seeds from four species: a monocotyledon (barley), two dicotyledons (Phaseolus vulgaris and castor oil), and a gymnosperm (Pinus radiata). The seeds of these species are representative of the majority of seeds in the plant world. The results show that performing experiments on excised parts of seeds provides additional information to that obtained from using intact seeds. The most important conclusion of this work is that the axes and embryos of all seeds develop the same basic metabolic pathways during the first hours of imbibition and that these pathways develop in a similar order. Amino acid metabolism begins during the first few minutes of imbibition, followed by the metabolism of Krebs cycle acids and, after two hours, sucrose metabolism. Ten different labelled compounds were identified and labelled groups of compounds described as lipids and sugar phosphates were also present. Detailed conclusions are made about the metabolism based on the tritium labelled compounds formed, together with any other relevant information available. A number of additional experiments, including ¹⁴C tracer experiments, were performed on parts of two of the seeds. These experiments enabled more definite conclusions to be made about the metabolism of sucrose and 4-aminobutyrate, two of the compounds labelled in the tritiated water experiments. Most and in some cases all the labelled compounds formed in the axes and embryos were also found in the storage organs. However, the rate of metabolic development of the storage organs was slower than that of their corresponding axes or embryos, and a comparison of water absorption to metabolism indicated that initially this may have been due to their slower water absorption. The metabolic development was not as uniform among the storage organs as it was among the embryos and axes. In particular, the barley endosperm appeared to have a much simpler metabolism than the castor oil endosperm and it was shown that its metabolism occurred entirely in the aleurone layer of cells on its surface. It is concluded that the metabolic development of seed storage organs depends more on their morphology and function than on their embryological origin

Subtle memory and attentional deficits revealed in an Irish stroke patient sample using domain-specific cognitive tasks

Stroke disrupts motor, sensory, and cognitive systems in survivors. Unlike in physical impairments, assessment of cognitive function is often inadequate, as no standardized procedure to monitor cognitive recovery post stroke exists. We evaluated a number of novel task-orientated tools designed to assess subtle cognitive deficits (including memory, attention, and executive functioning) in a sample of stroke patients. Although unimpaired on MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination)-based indices of cognition, memory, and intelligence, stroke survivors were significantly impaired on tasks testing visual attention, spatial/relational processing, and associative memory. We recommend a standardized multidomain cognitive assessment and propose that cognitive deficits post stroke require in-depth assessment to inform patient-orientated rehabilitation

Lack of correlation between the levels of soluble cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and the CT-60 genotypes

BACKGROUND: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) plays a critical role in downregulation of antigen-activated immune response and polymorphisms at the CTLA-4 gene have been shown to be associated with several autoimmune diseases including type-1 diabetes (T1D). The etiological mutation was mapped to the CT60-A/G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that is believed to control the processing and production of soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4). METHODS: We therefore determined sCTLA-4 protein levels in the sera from 82 T1D patients and 19 autoantibody positive (AbP) subjects and 117 autoantibody negative (AbN) controls using ELISA. The CT-60 SNP was genotyped for these samples by using PCR and restriction enzyme digestion of a 268 bp DNA segment containing the SNP. Genotyping of CT-60 SNP was confirmed by dye terminating sequencing reaction. RESULTS: Higher levels of sCTLA-4 were observed in T1D (2.24 ng/ml) and AbP (mean = 2.17 ng/ml) subjects compared to AbN controls (mean = 1.69 ng/ml) with the differences between these subjects becoming significant with age (p = 0.02). However, we found no correlation between sCTLA-4 levels and the CTLA-4 CT-60 SNP genotypes. CONCLUSION: Consistent with the higher serum sCTLA-4 levels observed in other autoimmune diseases, our results suggest that sCTLA-4 may be a risk factor for T1D. However, our results do not support the conclusion that the CT-60 SNP controls the expression of sCTLA-4

Retrospective review of a Prothrombin Complex Concentrate (Beriplex P/N) for the management of perioperative bleeding unrelated to oral anticoagulation

A multicenter, retrospective, observational study of 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) and/or fresh frozen plasma (FFP) use within routine clinical care unrelated to vitamin K antagonists was conducted. The PCC was administered preprocedure for correction of coagulopathy (prophylactic cohort) and treatment of bleeding postsurgery (treatment cohort). Of the 445 patients included, 40 were in the prophylactic cohort (PCC alone [n ¼ 16], PCC and FFP [n ¼ 5], FFP alone [n ¼ 19]) and 405 were in the treatment cohort (PCC alone [n ¼ 228], PCC and FFP [n ¼ 123], FFP alone [n ¼ 54]). Cardiovascular surgery was the most common setting. PCC doses ranged between 500 and 5000 IU. Effectiveness (assessed retrospectively) was reported as effective in 93.0% in the PCC-only group (95% confidence interval, 89.1% to 95.9%), 78.9% (70.8% to 85.6%) with PCC and FFP, and 86.3% (76.2% to 93.2%) with FFP alone. In the treatment cohort, international normalized ratio was significantly reduced in all 3 groups. In patients who received PCC, the rate of thromboembolic events (1.9%) was below rates in the literature for similar procedures. PCCs offer a potential alternative to FFP in the management of perioperative bleeding unrelated to oral anticoagulant therapy

Socio-demographic characteristics and psychosocial consequences of sickle cell disease: the case of patients in a public hospital in Ghana

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is of major public health concern globally, with majority of patients living in Africa. Despite its relevance, there is a dearth of research to determine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial impact of SCD in Ghana. The objective of this study was to examine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial consequences of SCD among patients in Ghana and to assess their quality of life and coping mechanisms. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used that involved the completion of questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life, coping mechanisms, anxiety and depression. Participants were 387 male and female patients attending a sickle cell clinic in a public hospital. Results: Results showed that majority of the patients were single, female, less than 39 years old and had attained secondary school level of education or less. Also, patients were more satisfied by the presence of love, friends and relatives as well as home, community and neighbourhood environment. While pains of varied nature and severity were the major reasons for attending hospital in SCD condition, going to the hospital as well as having faith in God was the most frequently reported mechanisms for coping with an unbearable SCD attacks. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that some socio-demographic and quality of life indicators had strong associations with anxiety and/or depression. Conclusions: It is recommended that a holistic intervention strategy incorporating psychosocial dimensions should be considered in the treatment and management of SCD

Mycobacteria in Nail Salon Whirlpool Footbaths, California

In 2000, an outbreak of Mycobacterium fortuitum furunculosis affected customers using whirlpool footbaths at a nail salon. We swabbed 30 footbaths in 18 nail salons from 5 California counties and found mycobacteria in 29 (97%); M. fortuitum was the most common. Mycobacteria may pose an infectious risk for pedicure customers

Using Support Vector Machines with Multiple Indices of Diffusion for Automated Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Few studies have looked at the potential of using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in conjunction with machine learning algorithms in order to automate the classification of healthy older subjects and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Here we apply DTI to 40 healthy older subjects and 33 MCI subjects in order to derive values for multiple indices of diffusion within the white matter voxels of each subject. DTI measures were then used together with support vector machines (SVMs) to classify control and MCI subjects. Greater than 90% sensitivity and specificity was achieved using this method, demonstrating the potential of a joint DTI and SVM pipeline for fast, objective classification of healthy older and MCI subjects. Such tools may be useful for large scale drug trials in Alzheimer's disease where the early identification of subjects with MCI is critical

Application of Probiotic Bacteria to Functional Foods

End of Project ReportProbiotic cultures are described as live microbial feed supplements that improve intestinal microbial balance and are intended for maintenance of health or prevention, rather than the curing of disease. The demand for probiotic foods is increasing in Europe, Japan and the U.S. reflecting the heightened awareness among the public of the relationship between diet and health. Traditionally, the most popular food delivery systems for these cultures have been freshly fermented dairy foods, such as yogurts and fermented milks, as well as unfermented milks with cultures added. However, in the development of functional foods, the technological suitability of probiotic strains poses a serious challenge since their survival and viability may be adversely affected by processing conditions as well as by the product environment and storage conditions. This is a particular concern, given that high levels (at least 107 per gram or ml) of live micro-organisms are recommended for probiotic products. In previous studies (see DPRC No. 29) the successful manufacture of probiotic Cheddar cheese harbouring high levels (>108 cfu/g) of the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei NFBC 338 strain was reported. Hence, the overall objective of these studies was to continue the development and evaluation of Functional Foods containing high levels of viable probiotic bacteria, with particular emphasis on overcoming the technological barriers and the identification of strains suited to particular applications, such as incorporation into Cheddar cheese and spray-dried powders.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Tuberculosis in cattle: the results of the four-area project

<p/> <p>The four-area project was undertaken to further assess the impact of badger removal on the control of tuberculosis in cattle herds in Ireland. It was conducted between 1997 and 2002 in matched removal and reference areas in four counties, namely Cork, Donegal, Kilkenny and Monaghan, representing a wide range of Irish farming environments. In the removal areas, a proactive programme of badger removal was conducted, on two or three occasions each year, whereas in the reference areas, badger removal was entirely reactive following severe outbreaks of tuberculosis amongst cattle. A detailed statistical analysis of this study has already been presented by Griffin <it>et al. </it><abbrgrp><abbr bid="B13">13</abbr></abbrgrp>; this paper presents further, mainly descriptive, findings from the study. In total, 2,360 badgers were captured in the removal areas of which 450 (19.5%) were considered positive for tuberculosis and 258 badgers were captured in the reference areas, with 57 (26.1%) positive for tuberculosis. The annual incidence of confirmed herd restrictions was lower in the removal area compared to the reference area in every year of the study period in each of the four counties. These empirical findings were consistent with the hazard ratios found by Griffin <it>et al. </it><abbrgrp><abbr bid="B13">13</abbr></abbrgrp>. Further, the effect of proactive badger removal on cattle tuberculosis in the four-area project and in the earlier east-Offaly project, as measured using the number of reactors per 1,000 cattle tested, were very similar, providing compelling evidence of the role of badgers in the epidemiology of tuberculosis in Irish cattle herds. The validity of the four-area project was discussed in detail. Efforts to minimise badger-to-cattle transmission in Ireland must be undertaken in association with the current comprehensive control programme, which has effectively minimised opportunities for cattle-to-cattle transmission.</p