Actions of Novel Hybrid Peptides on Hyperglycaemia and Immunomodulation in Experimental Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents one of the major disease challenges worldwide, with epidemic proportions of more than 400 million affected across the globe. Therapeutic agents for disease management are often met by challenges such as the inability to restore long-term glucose homeostasis; highlighting the need for novel agents with increased potency or better therapeutic efficacy. The discovery of exendin-4, a compound isolated from venom of the Gila monster lizard (Heloderma suspectum) and developed into a potent anti-diabetic drug, further motivated interests in the search animal sources for novel therapeutic agents. Over the last decade, much attention has been drawn towards amphibian skin peptides, which have uncovered their previously unexplored anti-diabetic actions. Among many other peptides, tigerinin-1R (isolated from Hoplobatracus rugulosus) and magainin-AM2 (isolated from Xenopus amieti) have been extensively characterised for their anti-diabetic actions both in vitro and in vivo, showing promise for further investigations. In the context of T2D, a recently explored approach yielding pre-clinical success is based on the creation of hybrid peptides with established anti-diabetic components into a single molecular entity. The rationale for this concept is the generation of hybrids presenting features of their individual components, while introducing additional beneficial effects. This study characterised the in vitro potential of novel hybrid peptides, designed by combining established anti-diabetic agents, exendin-4 and d-Ala2-GIP, with the amphibian peptides tigerinin-1R and magainin-AM2. After assessing their insulinotropic actions in the clonal pancreatic cells, BRIN-BD11, and in isolated primary islets, specific modulators of insulin secretion were employed to elucidate the mechanism of action of the peptides. This screening revealed that combining magainin-AM2 with exendin-4 produced the best augmented and non-toxic actions on insulin secretion from BRIN-BD11 cells and isolated islets through the activation of the ATP-dependent pathway of insulin secretion. Metabolomic analysis under hyperglycaemic conditions, using 1H-NMR and GC-MS, along with gene expression studies further highlighted the anti-diabetic actions of these peptides. A reduction in lipid abundance as well as an increase in glucose metabolism were observed. Gene expression studies revealed increase in the genes encoding for insulin and beta-cell proliferation, further expanding on the anti-diabetic potential of these compounds. Finally, by considering the inflammatory component associated with T2D, characterisation of the peptides’ actions on bone-marrow derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs) revealed, for the first time in this model, reduction of perpetuating inflammatory signals, in favour of an anti-inflammatory environment. Taken together, these studies revealed that combining the selected amphibian skin peptides with exendin-4 significantly enhanced the therapeutic promise of these peptides and encourage further analysis of their in vivo actions as well as further development into a clinically available therapy for type 2 diabetes

On tone and segmental processes in Akan phrasal words: A prosodic account

Based on where and how phonological rules apply, studies in Lexical Phonology (Mohanan 1986; Kiparsky 1985; Pulleyblank 1986; etc.) distinguish between two levels in the phonology; namely, lexical and post-lexical. At the post-lexical level, the various phonological rules normally require particular domains, without which they fail to apply. The question that follows is where and how we define these domains. Considering Akan Noun-Noun and Noun-Adjective phrasal word (compound) constructions in prosodic phonology (Selkirk 1986, Nespor and Vogel 1986 and Hayes 1989; etc.), this paper touches on some aspects of the prosody-syntax interface on the idea that the domain of a post-lexical rule is drawn from the prosodic component, an intermediate phase of interface analysis. The rules that come to bear are tonal (i.e. H-Deletion, H-Insertion and Boundary assimilation) and segmental (i.e. Prefix deletion and Diphthong simplification) ones that apply on the dictates of particular prosodic domain attainment. Thus, this paper argues that the syntactic structure influences these phonological rules, but indirectly through the prosodic structure (Inkelas 1989). Finally, the paper claims that with the prosodic domains occurrences are better defined and accounted for

A profile of children attending child-welfare clinics in Accra 1971

Aspects of family welfare and plannin

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES OF FAMILY BUSINESSES: A STUDY OF GHANAIAN OWNED SHOPS IN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

Purpose: This study explores and investigates factors, motives and their interactions that influence strategic financial decisions of Ghanaian family shops in London relative to their business growth aspirations. The focus is to understand the ‘why’ of their strategic financial choices as migrant family firms which had been given little attention. The study, therefore attempts to identify how family and culture, entrepreneurial behaviours and the host country environment interact to influence the financial decision maker.   Approach: Using a qualitative methodological approach, including a 56 semi structured in-depth interviews, observations and analysis of other internal and external factors, this study found evidence to suggest that there was a need for micro and macro level analysis of financial decisions made if the Ghanaian shop owners in London were to be holistically understood.   Result: The study found evidence of ‘economic’ factors, family values, socio -cultural factors, host country policies and networks as the critical drivers of financial decisions. The findings indicate that the Ghanaian business owners had their definition of ‘economic’ factors which interplayed with some cultural memories in their decision-making process. Principally, two main cognitions were identified (family view versus professional view) in the final analysis. Implication: The core conclusion for policy makers from these limited research findings suggest that the suppliers of finance (banks or other institutions) should understand the meaning of ‘economic’ factors in consultation with the target group and not assume. Additionally, inculcating family opinions in the design of policies were found to be necessary. Policy makers could better engage the community, to manage their potential expectations by channelling much needed support for them through formal and informal networks. Lastly, the Ghanaian government could take advantage of the importation aspect of the shop operations inferring from the significant potential economic benefits that could be accrued. Limitation: The invisibility of the Ghanaian community in the UK is a key limitation on these research findings. Furthermore, the restricted sample, limited to London, UK may adversely affect the generalization of the study. However, it can be the basis for future repeated qualitative studies and for a large quantitative study.  Keywords:  Migrant entrepreneurial behaviour, financial decisions and strategies, Family business, Ghanaian entrepreneur, Culture, Networks, socioeconomic environment, UK

THE IMPACT OF ROLE STRESS ON JOB PERFORMANCE IN THE BANKING SECTOR IN GHANA: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED BANKS IN THE SUNYANI MUNICIPALITY

In today's world, stress has become a global phenomenon, manifested in different forms in every workplace worldwide. For this study, role stress and its influence on job performance in selected banks in the Sunyani Municipality was assessed. A descriptive survey was conducted to identify the factors responsible for role stress in banks, effects of role-related stress on job performance, and stress coping strategies employed by bank employees in Sunyani municipality. Both secondary and primary data was used to gather information for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 140 workers of five selected banks. The study revealed that workload, long working hours, reporting early to work, and lack of regular stress management practices were identified as the major factors contributing to role stress to the bank workers as affirmed by majority of the respondents. Again, the study found that there is a negative impact of role stress on job performance. Those workers who had high level of job stress exhibited low job performance. The study observed that management of the bank did not have established measures of managing stress among workers as affirmed by majority (85%) of the respondents. The study recommends that since the role-related stress from long working hours and workload were high among workers; the management of banks should pay attention to solving the issues of inadequate resources and equipment’s in order to prevent stress among staff and also improve upon performance.&nbsp

The Feminist Voice in Contemporary Ghanaian Female Fiction: A Textual Analysis of Amma Darko’s Faceless and Not Without Flowers

This paper attempts a critical analysis of two of Amma Darko’s novels, Faceless (2003) and Not Without Flowers (2005). It identifies how Darko uses prose fiction as a vehicle to cross-examine the complexities of the Ghanaian woman’s life in relation to culture and gender. Through in-depth study, critical appreciation, and critical textual analysis of the novels, the paper explores feminist insights into Darko’s philosophical reflections on the plight of women and girls in contemporary Ghana. It plays on the theoretical assumption that literature is a mirror of society and, in its effectiveness, tenders different perspectives of existential problems and their solutions. It thus interrogates some of the themes in the novels from the Womanist Literary and African Feminists perspectives. The contention is that Darko’s novels reflect the nature, causes of, and possible solutions to the numerous feminist issues confronting the contemporary Ghanaian female. Finally, I conclude that the novels provide important lenses through which we can better understand some of the core cultural contexts of feminist issues in contemporary Africa as a whole. Keywords: Feminism, Culture, Gender, Polygam

Mother Tongue Usage in Ghanaian Pre-Schools: Perceptions of Parents and Teachers

The present study investigated the perceptions of parents and teachers on the use of the mother tongue and their preferred medium of communication and instruction for preschool children at home and in school. The sample was made up of a cross-section of parents and teachers (N=120, Female=80% for teachers and 55% for parents) of children (between ages 2 and 5) in a suburb of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. A structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents to elicit information on their perceptions on the use of mother tongue in communicating with the children. The results indicated that both parents and teachers appreciate the importance of the mother tongue, with reasons including the promoting of cultural identity, the easy understanding of concepts and for effective communication. An appreciable number of teachers and parents also support the use of mother tongue as the language of instruction in school alongside English language. The two main arguments against the use of the mother tongue in schools are (1) the importance of English language for future learning and status growth and (2) the paucity of teaching and learning materials in the local languages. Parents support the use of mother tongue at home because it enhances children’s connection to their family, relatives, culture, history and identity. Recommendations made, include the provision of instructional materials and trained teachers in local language usage. Keywords: Mother tongue education, Medium of instruction, Ghana

THE MORPHOPHONOLOGY OF THE AKAN REDUPLICATED VERB-FORM

This paper discusses the interaction between constituent formation and alteration of sounds (i.e., morphophonology) in Akan reduplicated verb-forms. Specifically, we strive to look into two issues; the morphology of reduplicated verb stems and how the morphological manifestation(s) affect certain target sounds. With its morphology, we observe that reduplication of the Akan verb-stem is generally total and, through the Morphological Doubling Theory (Inkelas 2005; Inkelas and Zoll 2005), reduplication of Akan verb-stems is viewed as the double (or multiple) occurrence of a morphological constituent meeting a particular morpho-semantic description. That is to say, while there could be differences in structure between the reduplicant and the base, they are subject to a common phonology that determines a resulting shape of an output. With morphophonology, we observe that three issues are relevant in the discussion of the phonology of the reduplicated verbs in Akan. These are the application of vowel harmony, vowel shift in terms of height, and the realization of tonal semblance. Through thorough discussions, the paper finally explains that reduplication of verb-stems in Akan is morphophonologically driven