Tourism: the untapped goldmine in the Gold Coast

Purpose – This study examines the economic impact of international tourism and currency valuation in the West African country of Ghana. Previously known as the Gold Coast due to its vast gold reserves, Ghana is a developing economy with a sharply devalued currency and a heavy reliance on imports. Design – The paper shows that Ghana’s weak currency can be leveraged to boost international tourism and with that, economic growth. This view of tourism-led growth is in part supported by evidence in which tourism receipts are a major source of foreign exchange earnings for a number of developing economies. Methodology – The relationship between economic growth, tourism receipts, and currency valuation is examined using a vector error correction model. This approach offers an opportunity to not only confirm the existence of a dynamic relationship among the time series but also, the existence of causality both in the short- and long-run. Findings – Cointegration tests confirm the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables. Both tourism and exchange rate are found to positively impact economic growth. Also, there is a long-run causality from exchange rate to tourism receipts. Originality – This is the first empirical study that demonstrates the existence of causality between currency valuation and tourism using data from Sub-Saharan Africa, a region with abundant natural resources but one that remains significantly underdeveloped

The Cure: Making a game of gene selection for breast cancer survival prediction

Motivation: Molecular signatures for predicting breast cancer prognosis could greatly improve care through personalization of treatment. Computational analyses of genome-wide expression datasets have identified such signatures, but these signatures leave much to be desired in terms of accuracy, reproducibility and biological interpretability. Methods that take advantage of structured prior knowledge (e.g. protein interaction networks) show promise in helping to define better signatures but most knowledge remains unstructured. Crowdsourcing via scientific discovery games is an emerging methodology that has the potential to tap into human intelligence at scales and in modes previously unheard of. Here, we developed and evaluated a game called The Cure on the task of gene selection for breast cancer survival prediction. Our central hypothesis was that knowledge linking expression patterns of specific genes to breast cancer outcomes could be captured from game players. We envisioned capturing knowledge both from the players prior experience and from their ability to interpret text related to candidate genes presented to them in the context of the game. Results: Between its launch in Sept. 2012 and Sept. 2013, The Cure attracted more than 1,000 registered players who collectively played nearly 10,000 games. Gene sets assembled through aggregation of the collected data clearly demonstrated the accumulation of relevant expert knowledge. In terms of predictive accuracy, these gene sets provided comparable performance to gene sets generated using other methods including those used in commercial tests. The Cure is available at http://genegames.org/cure

Activity profiles of fourteen selected medicinal plants from Rural Venda communities in South Africa against fifteen clinical bacterial species

Fourteen plants used in traditional medicine in the Venda region of South Africa were screened for activity against fifteen bacterial species. Methanol, acetone and hexane extracts and in some cases essential oils were tested using the disc diffusion and the microdilution methods. Most of the extractswere active against at least one bacterial species. Methanol and acetone extracts were the most active while Gram positive bacteria were the most sensitive as compared to Gram negative bacteria. This study has revealed the strong in vitro activity of Syzigium cordatum, Peltophorum africanum,Rhoicissus tridentata, Bridelia micrantha and Ximenia caffra against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Essential oils of Lippia javanica was also effective against most of the bacterial species studied. However, Pouzolzia mixta and Mucuna coriaceae showed less activity. Some plants were more active than commercial antibiotics. This study is the first to test the activity of the selected plants from the Venda region against such number of bacterial isolates and justifies their use by local traditional healers. The identification of the active components of the plants and the determination of the effect of these plants on the immune system will give more information on their activity. Finally, these results may be of importance in identifying candidate plants and essential oils for eventual drug design and other therapeutic purposes, respectively

Overpressure/ Depositional Analysis of Parts of Onshore (X-Field) Niger Delta Basin Nigeria, Based on Well Logs Data

Overpressure in the world’s sedimentary basins are known to be allied with permeability barriers, tectonics, shale digenesis, basin structure and undercompaction factors. The Niger Delta basin has many overpressured zones with different depositional enviroments. This study was done using six drilled wells log suits in an x- field (Gama ray log, deep induction log, Density log, and sonic log). The data was acquired from Cheveron Nigeria Ltd in ascii softcopy format, which was analysed using both manual method and computer processed interactive petrophysics (IP) version 3.6 software. The logs were loaded and printed to hardcopies and digitization done at 5m interval to extract the data across the log suits. Characteristic curve patterns along the gamma log were delineated for shape patterns such as bell shape, funnel shape, and blocky to reveal paleoenviroments of the study area. The results indicate twenty one (21) overpressure zones within the wells, three (3) subsurface overpressure zones are correlated across the wells at depth interval between 3000m – 3200m for wells A,B,C,D,E and 2900m – 3000m for wells E and C , and 3600m – 3700m for wells C and F respectively,these overpressured zones occurred within a dominantly fluvial channel with minor detlaic distribution and barrier bar complexes. The areas identified as overpressured zones should be critically  examined during drilling to avoid rig blow outs

A survey of indigenous herbal diarrhoeal remedies of O.R. Tambo district, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Indigenous health system and the use of herbal plants have been recognized as pivotal in primary health care and a system to reckon with in achieving one of the targets of the millennial goals on health.An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to identify indigenous herbal remedies for diarrhoea and associated stomach ailments in rural areas of the O.R. Tambo district municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The main objective of the study was to gather ethnomedical data onpotentially valuable indigenous medicinal plants for the eventual development of new pharmaceuticals and also emphasize the role of ethnomedicine in primary health care. The use of herbal remedies in thetreatment of diarrhoea and dysentery was investigated using interviews. The survey was conducted among traditional healers and knowledgeable local elders who use medicinal plants to treat common illnesses. Data from the survey indicated the names of plants commonly used in the treatment of diarrhoea and associated ailments, the methods of preparation, parts used and administration. A total of 32 plant species belonging to 26 families were reportedly used as diarrhoea remedy in the study area. The most predominant families of medicinal plants employed and most frequently recommended were Fabaceae (16.67%), followed by Hyacinthaceae and Hydnoraceae (8.33% each). The most commonly utilized portions of plants for medicinal purposes included roots and leaves. Other parts were corms, bulbs, tubers, fruits and bark. The methods of preparation often employed were decoctions and infusions whilst medication was frequently administered orally or as enema. Some of the plants were used singly or mixed with other plant(s) while some edible ones are consumed as food. The survey documented a diversity of plants employed as remedy for diarrhoea. Integration of this form of health care system into western medicine is warranted. The propagation of such medicinal plants is vital for sustainable use of these medicinal plants

Climate Change Adaptive Livelihood Diversification Strategies and Food Security of Crop Farming Households in Rural Oyo State, Nigeria

Climate change has reduced farm output, food availability and food security (FS) among crop farming households (CFHHs) in Nigeria. Diversifying livelihood activities to cope with climate change may improve FS, although, literature is limited on the relationship between climate change adaptive livelihoods (CCAL) and food security. Hence, CCAL of crop farming households in rural Oyo state, Nigeria and its effects on their FS were assessed. Primary data was collected through a multi-stage sampling technique, using semi-structured questionnaire, from 260 CFHHs. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, Herfindahl–Simpson diversification index, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke FS measure, Tobit and logit regression models were used for data analysis. Results show that most CFHH heads were male (83%) and married (75.4%). Mean age was 58 years, while household size was five members. Majority (57.7%) of CFHH heads had a high perception of climate change, but did not diversify their livelihoods (58.1%), while the mean diversification index was 0.42. Most common CCAL was soil testing (16.5%), followed by agro-marketing (7.7%).  Formal education, primary occupation as trading and artisan, and access to credit significantly influenced the extent of CCAL undertaken by the CFHHs. Food security line was ₦1186.153 and 50.4% of the CFHHs were food insecure. Diversifying into CCAL, being a male-headed household, having formal education, being married, trading as a secondary occupation and change-in-income after diversification improved food security. Hence, climate change adaptive livelihoods should be encouraged among crop farming households to improve food security