17 research outputs found
Diagnosis of tuberculosis in Ghana: The role of laboratory training
Objectives: The laboratory is considered the cornerstone of tuberculosis (TB) control programme. International review of Ghana’s programme in the late nineties identified the laboratory services as the weakestcomponent. Sputum smear microscopy (SSM) being the main method of diagnosing pulmonary TB in Ghana, the training objectives were to: (i) strengthen the knowledge and skills of laboratory personnel on SSM(ii) impart necessary techniques in biosafety and (iii) introduce a Quality Assurance (QA) system in order to strengthen SSM services.Methods: Personnel were selected for training during a nationwide situation analysis of SSM centres in 2000/2001. Four training sessions on SSM/QA were held between 2001/2004.Results: A total of 80 personnel were trained: 10 regional TB coordinators and 70 laboratory personnel. The participants upon return to their respective regions also organized training within their districts. This approach resulted in another 100 district TB coordinators and 200 laboratory personnel being trained. Improvement in smear preparation, staining and reading ability of the participants were observed during the post-test and subsequent visit to their respective laboratories. The training has led to strengthening of TB laboratory services in the country and has contributed to increase in case detection from 10,745 in 2000 to 11,827 in2004 and 14,022 in 2008. It was observed during the post-training follow-up and quarterly supervision visits that morale of the personnel was high.Conclusion: Continuous training and re-training of laboratory personnel on SSM and QA at regular intervals do play an important role for effective and efficient TB control programme
Bacteriological Quality Of Sachet Water Produced And Sold In Teshie-Nungua Suburbs Of Accra, Ghana
Access to good quality drinking water is a challenge in most towns and
cities in Ghana and households have for years depended on other sources
of water to supplement their activities. The introduction of sachet
water to consumers was to provide safe, hygienic and affordable instant
drinking water to the public. Although this is a laudable idea, current
trends seem to suggest that sachet drinking water could be a route of
transmission of diseases. The objective of this study was to determine
the bacteriological quality of sachet water popularly known as "pure
water" produced and sold in the Teshie-Nungua suburbs of Accra, Ghana,
one of the areas with perennial water shortage forcing inhabitants to
depend on sachet water as a source of drinking water. Using simple
random sampling procedures, 30 samples from 10 brands of sachet water
were collected from hawkers/vendors in Teshie-Nungua (3 samples per
brand). One sachet water sample was taken from each site every
fortnight for six weeks in May-June 2007. The samples were analyzed
using multiple tube method and biochemical assays. Results were
recorded as Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform per 100ml of water.
The bacteriological quality of the samples was assessed based on the
World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for drinking
water. Five (16.7 %) of the samples were Excellent, 5 (16.7%) were
Satisfactory, 9 (30%) were Suspicious and 11 (36.7%) were
Unsatisfactory using the MPN values recorded. Six samples were
contaminated with faecal coliform and two of these, (P1 and P2) were
from the same brand. Escherichia coli was also detected in the two
samples (P1 and P2) out of three samples from the same brand. The level
of contamination could be due to inadequate treatment of water samples
by the producers, improper use of filters or post-production
contamination. The findings suggest the need to enforce the laws that
govern the operation of such production outfits as well as educating
consumers on the need to purchase sachet water from manufacturers that
have been licensed to produce water and whose product bears the stamp
of the Food and Drugs Board of Ghana
Bacteriological quality of sachet water produced and sold in Teshie-Nungua suburbs of Accra, Ghana
Access to good quality drinking water is a challenge in most towns and cities in Ghana and households have for years depended on other sources of water to supplement their activities. The introduction of sachet water to consumers was to provide safe, hygienic and affordable instant drinking water to the public. Although this is a laudable idea, current trends seem to suggest that sachet drinking water could be a route of transmission of diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the bacteriological quality of sachet water popularly known as “pure water” produced and sold in the Teshie-Nungua suburbs of Accra, Ghana, one of the areas withperennial water shortage forcing inhabitants to depend on sachet water as a source of drinking water. Using simple random sampling procedures, 30 samples from 10 brands of sachet water were collected from hawkers/vendors in Teshie-Nungua (3 samples per brand). One sachet water sample was taken from each site every fortnight for six weeks in May-June 2007. The samples were analyzed using multiple tubemethod and biochemical assays. Results were recorded as Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform per 100ml of water. The bacteriological quality of the samples was assessed based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for drinking water. Five (16.7 %) of the samples were Excellent, 5 (16.7%) were Satisfactory, 9 (30%) were Suspicious and 11 (36.7%) were Unsatisfactory using the MPN values recorded. Six samples were contaminated with faecal coliform and two of these, (P1 and P2) were from the same brand. Escherichia coli was also detected in the two samples (P1 and P2) out of three samples from the same brand. The level ofcontamination could be due to inadequate treatment of water samples by the producers, improper use of filters or post-production contamination. The findings suggest the need to enforce the laws that govern the operation of such production outfits as well as educating consumers on the need to purchase sachet water from manufacturers that have been licensed to produce water and whose product bears the stamp of the Food and Drugs Board of Ghana
Bacteriological Quality Of Bottled Water Sold On The Ghanaian Market
Consumption of bottled water is increasing rapidly in developing
countries especially among the middle and high income earners as it is
generally perceived to be pure, clean and of good quality. This has led
to the sale of different brands of bottled water on the Ghanaian
market. Although disease outbreaks due to contaminated bottled water
are rare, any contamination may pose a unique hazard because of the
widespread distribution.Bacteriological contamination of bottled water
can occur through the bottling process or as a result of storage for
long periods at room temperatures or higher. Since bottled water may be
consumed by a wide range of people including the elderly, children and
pregnant women, its safety must always be assured. The bacteriological
quality of the current 7 brands of bottled water on the Ghanaian market
was tested over a period of 10 weeks. Ten different batches of each
brand was randomly selected and purchased from the market making a
total of 70 samples. Sampling was done weekly in July-September 2007
and bacteriological examination conducted by multiple tube fermentation
method to detect the presence of total coliforms, faecal coliforms and
Escherichia coli . Results obtained were analyzed according to the
World Health Organization (WHO) standards and guidelines for drinking
water. Using the Most Probable Number (MPN) Index for various
combination of positive and negative results, an MPN value of less than
two (<2) total and faecal coliform were recorded for all the 70
samples of bottled water. The results showed that the bacteriological
quality of the seven brands of bottled water samples analyzed was
within the acceptable limits set by WHO guidelines and therefore safe
for human consumption. However, more extensive surveillance of the
bottled water industries and stringent regulations should be developed
and enforced to ensure that the standards recorded in this study are
maintained
The effect of feed moisture and temperature on tannin content, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of extruded chestnuts
Measurement of contractile forces generated by individual fibroblasts on self-standing fiber scaffolds
# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Contractility of cells in wound site is important to understand pathological wound healing and develop therapeutic strategies. In particular, contractile force generated by cells is a basic element for designing artificial three-dimensional cell culture scaffolds. Direct assessment of deformation of three-dimensional structured materials has been used to calculate contractile forces by averaging total forces with respect to the cell population number. However, macroscopic methods have offered only lower bounds of contractility due to experimental assumptions and the large variance of the spatial and temporal cell response. In the present study, cell contractility was examined microscopically in order to measure contractile forces generated by individual cells on self-standing fiber scaffolds that were fabricated via femtosecond laser-induced two-photon polymerization. Experimental assumptions and calculation errors that arose in previous studies of macroscopic and microscopic contractile force measurements could be reduced by adopting a columnar buckling model on individual, standing fiber scaffolds. Via quantifying eccentric critical loads for the buckling of fibers with various diameters, contractile forces of single cells were calculated in the range between 30–116 nN. In the present study, a force magnitude of approximately 200 nN is suggested as upper bound of the contractile force exerted by single cells. In addition, contractile forces by multiple cells on a single fiber were calculated in the range between 241–709 nN