Biochemical Characterisation of 18 Accessions of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam.) using Total Leaf and Tuberous Root Protein by SDS-PAGE

DNA-based markers,undeniably, provide potent tools for studying genetic relationships in plants; however, potential of protein-based markers using SDS-PAGE is quite promising, particularly in developing countries. Plant storage proteins serve as molecular reserves imperative for plant growth and maintenance and thus have proven to be essential for the survival of plant species. Storage proteins are also indispensable in plant defense mechanisms as insecticidal and anti-microbial proteins. They have also been widely employed as biochemical markers for genetic diversity studies. Eighteen sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam) accessions with local or exotic origin were evaluated for genetic diversity using leaf and tuberous root protein via sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Marked variations observed in the electrophoregrams of total leaf and tuberous root proteins gave an indication of intense variability among the accessions. Molecular size of proteins ranged from 20.23 to 28.89 kDa and 22.44 to 97.19 kDa, in the total leaf and tuberous root proteins, respectively. Two pairs of accessions SA/BNARI and UE 007 as well as HMA 1 and US 029 were identified as duplicates based on their banding patterns. Keywords: Biochemical, characterisation, SDS-PAGE, sweet potato, leaf& tuberous root protei

Study of the Reproductive Characteristics of Nine Cassava Accessions

Reproductive behaviour of two cultivars (AF and AN) and seven breeding lines (BA, AS, LA, BS-1, HO-008, ME and SE) of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) was studied to obtain information pertaining to flowering habits and other reproductive characteristics of these potential parents required for future hybridization programmes. The accessions were grown on the Research Farm of the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute in the coastal savanna agro-ecological zone of Ghana between April 2008 and December 2009. For each accession, 40 stem cuttings, each bearing five to eight nodes, were prepared from the mid-section of healthy cassava stems and planted at a spacing of 1.5 m x 1.0 m while accessions were separated by a distance of 2 m. Ten plants were tagged per accession for the collection of data on key reproductive characteristics. All accessions flowered, suggesting that flower production may not be a limiting factor under the prevailing climatic conditions. Light microscopy revealed that one accession (BA) produced dysfunctional male flowers which were devoid of pollen. Mean days to flowering and fruiting varied significantly (P < 0.05) among the accessions, indicating the need to use different planting dates for different accessions to ensure synchronization of flowering. The accessions also differed significantly (P < 0.05) with respect to plant height at various levels of branching, as well as number of inflorescences, staminate and pistillate flowers, and fruit produced per branching level. There was also variation in percent seed set, embryo formation and fruit drop. The extensive variability observed among the accessions provides breeders with immense opportunities for carrying out cross combinations to generate new genotypes to meet specific objectives

Locally responsive intervention to improve municipal solid waste collection coverage in Accra, Ghana

The paper reports on a process that engaged stakeholders to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the city of Accra’s approach to raising solid waste collection coverage. Stakeholders, working with researchers, have made the evaluation using a combination of benchmark indicators, analysis of franchise agreements, process flow diagramming of collection trends, and statistical analysis of user answers to a survey. Informal services are growing while formal services are shrinking. A logistic regression model suggests that regular collection and affordable user charges significantly increases the levels of user satisfaction. The use of a participatory approach has led to an unusual alliance: formal service providers have agreed to work with informal providers as subcontractors and support them to formalize and increase collection coverage. The positive experience of participation leads the authors to advocate institutionalizing the use of a participatory approach through stakeholder platforms to evaluate interventions and develop plans for service improvement

Gene effect and heritability of yield and its components in eggplant

Eggplant ( Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most important fruit vegetables in the world, with several nutritional and medicinal benefits. However, little is known about the genetic divergence of yield and its related traits. The objective of this study was to explore gene action and heritability of traits to help direct and strengthen breeding programmes, geared towards improving yield of the crop. Six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2) derived from two crosses (SM001-07 x ST004-03 and SM001 x San005-01) of eggplant accessions, were grown in pots in an open field, using Randomised Complete block Design (RCBD). Estimated data indicated that, the additive-dominance model was adequate to demonstrate the genetic variation and its significance in the inheritance of fruit weight, days to flowering and fruit yield traits. Although non-allelic interactions were found in plant height and number of seeds, additive effect was more pronounced in the genetic control of days to flowering and fruit weight; while dominance effect was more important in the control of plant branching and fruit length. Plant height and fruit yield were influenced by complementary gene action. Furthermore, the study revealed low magnitudes of dominance and environmental variances for most traits showing higher heritability values. In view of the diverse gene actions, with additive, dominant and epistasis, playing significant roles in the control of different traits, backcross, recurrent selection or bi parental could be appropriate for advancing the segregating populations to meet the need of yield improvement in both crosses.L\u2019aubergine ( Solanum melongena L.) est l\u2019un des legumes fruits les plus importants au monde, avec les plusieurs bienfaits nutritionnels et m\ue9dicinaux. Cependant, on sait peu de choses sur la divergence g\ue9n\ue9tique du rendement et ses traits li\ue9s. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019explorer l\u2019action des g\ue8nes et l\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 des traits pour aider \ue0 diriger et \ue0 renforcer les programmes de s\ue9lection visant \ue0 am\ue9liorer le rendement de la culture. Six g\ue9n\ue9rations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 et BC2) d\ue9riv\ue9es de deux croisements (SM001-07 x ST004-03 et SM001 x San005-01) d\u2019accessions d\u2019aubergines ont \ue9t\ue9 cultiv\ue9es en pots dans un champ. Les donn\ue9es estim\ue9es indiquent que le mod\ue8le de dominance additive \ue9tait ad\ue9quat pour d\ue9montrer la variation g\ue9n\ue9tique et son importance dans l\u2019h\ue9r\ue9dit\ue9 du poids du fruit, des jours de floraison et des traits de rendement des fruits. Bien que des interactions non all\ue9liques aient \ue9t\ue9 trouv\ue9es dans la hauteur des plantes et le nombre de graines, l\u2019effet additif \ue9tait plus prononc\ue9 dans le contr\uf4le g\ue9n\ue9tique des jours de floraison et du poids des fruits; tandis que l\u2019effet de dominance \ue9tait plus important dans le contr\uf4le de la ramification des plantes et de la longueur des fruits. La hauteur des plantes et le rendement des fruits ont \ue9t\ue9 influenc\ue9s par l\u2019action compl\ue9mentaire des g\ue8nes. De plus, l\u2019\ue9tude a r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 de faibles variation de dominance et des variances environnementales pour la plupart des traits pr\ue9sentant des valeurs d\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 plus \ue9lev\ue9es. Compte tenu des diverses actions des g\ue8nes, avec additif, dominant et \ue9pistase, jouant un r\uf4le important dans le contr\uf4le des diff\ue9rents traits, le r\ue9trocroisement, la s\ue9lection r\ue9currente ou biparentale pourrait \ueatre appropri\ue9 pour faire progresser les populations en s\ue9gr\ue9gation afin de r\ue9pondre au besoin d\u2019am\ue9liorer le rendement dans les deux croisements

Nursing students and nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding children's pain: A comparative cross-sectional study

IntroductionNurses encounter children who report of pain of diverse and unknown causes in their professional work. The current study therefore assessed and compared nursing students and nurses’ knowledge and attitudes pertaining to children’s pain in the Ghanaian context. The goal of this was to have a baseline information to guide the development and implementation of the content for a sustainable educational programme (short-course) for nursing students and nurses in Ghana.MethodsBetween October and December 2018, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 554 final year nursing students and 65 nurses in Ghana. The Pediatric Nurses Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (PNKAS) was used to collect data from participants who were affiliated to four educational institutions and eight hospitals. Data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed using chi-square test of independence, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).ResultsOur findings revealed that nursing students and nurses generally had unsatisfactory knowledge and attitudes towards pain management in children. Nursing students however, had significantly higher scores than nurses in the total PNKAS score and in 10 out of the 13 identified item-areas. Greater scores were obtained by nursing students in areas which were related to pain physiology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology of analgesics and pain perceptions (p ConclusionFinal year nursing students and nurses have unsatisfactory knowledge and attitudes regarding children’s pain; which reiterates the need for urgent and effective educational efforts in this area. Regular in-service training should be offered to post-registration nurses to enhance their pediatric pain knowledge and attitudes for improved pain care in children.</div

Comparative studies on the structure of an upland African stream ecosystem

Upland stream systems have been extensively investigated in Europe, North America and Australasia and many of the central ideas concerning their function are based on these systems. One central paradigm, the river continuum concept is ultimately derived from those North American streams whose catchments remain forested with native vegetation. Streams of the tropics may or may not fit the model. They have been little studied. The Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara Mountains of north-eastern Tanzania offers an opportunity to bring these naturally forested systems to the attention of the ecological community. This article describes a comparison made between two lengths of the River Dodwe in this area. The work was carried out by a group of postgraduate students from eighteen European and African countries with advice from five staff members, as part of a course organised by the Tropical Biology Association. Rigorous efforts were made to standardise techniques, in a situation where equipment and laboratory facilities were very basic, through a management structure and deliberate allocation of work to specialists in each area.The article offers a summary of invertebrate communities found in the stream and its biomass. Crabs seem to be the key organism in both sections of the streams

Breeding un-sweetpotato for West Africa: Progress on population development and improvement in Ghana and Peru.

Sweetness of sweetpotato is considered to be a significant constraint to demand for this crop in West Africa where starchy staple root crops with low flavor impact are important. Un-sweetpotato populations and varieties which may have use both for fresh consumption and in processed forms are therefore under development at the Sweetpotato Support Platform for West Africa, and drawing on a global genetic resource base at CIP headquarters in Lima, Peru. In Ghana base populations were assembled from locally adapted regional germplasm, including released varieties, farmers' varieties, breeding lines from IITA reported to be un-sweet, and from exotic germplasm reported to be unsweet. Seed populations were also introduced for assessment from Sweetpotato Support Platforms in Uganda and Mozambique, and from Japan and the USA. Introduced germplasm was evaluated in field trials in production zones/agroecologies where sweetpotato is important in Ghana, and farmers participated in selection based on field performance and taste. Sugars of raw samples were measured using near-infrared reflectance spectrometry, and cooked samples were tasted to assess sweetness. In Peru, a large breeding population was screened for un-sweet taste (low flavor impact) and these materials, presumed to be Beta-amylase nulls, were crossed with a population of breeding lines developed at IITA and presumed to have good adaptation to West African conditions. Seed from the Peruvian crossing block has been sent to Ghana for evaluation and selection. Together, West African and exotic populations are expected to provide a solid foundation for developing un-sweetpotato and for expanding the range of options available to sweetpotato producers and consumers in West Africa and elsewhere

Geologising urban political ecology (UPE): the urbanisation of sand in Accra, Ghana

This paper makes a call for an urban political ecology (UPE) which engages more extensively with Earth’s geological formations. As a material at the centre of global urbanisation process, sand is offered as a geological entry point. The paper presents an analysis of the urbanisation of sand, or the ways in which sand is brought into the urban realm, grounding this reading in Accra—a growing city on Ghana’s Atlantic coast. Drawing from 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork, the paper charts the socio-natural politics through which sand is first unearthed from the edges of the city—an extractive processes otherwise known as “sand winning” in Ghana. By examining the forms of power which govern uneven revenue flows to communities, the displacement of farming groups, the widespread loss of farmland and a contested regime of governance, the analysis exposes the socio-natural politics through which the city’s geological baseline is first unearthed