Navigating information, facilitating knowledge: the library, the academy, and student learning

Understanding the nature and complementarity of the phenomena of information and knowledge lend not only epistemological clarity to their relationship, but also reaffirms the place of the library in the academic mission of knowledge transfer, acquisition, interpretation, and creation. These in turn reassert the legitimacy of the academic library as necessary participant in the teaching enterprise of colleges and universities. Such legitimacy induces an obligation to teach, and that obligation needs to be explored and implemented with adequate vigor and reach. Librarians and the academy must, however, concede that the scope of the task calls for a solution that goes beyond shared responsibilities. Academic libraries should assume a full teaching function even as they continue their exploration and design of activities and programs aimed at reinforcing information literacy in the various disciplines on campus. All must concede that need for collaboration cannot provide grounds for questioning the desirability of autonomous teaching status for the academic library in information literacy educatio

Corporate Social Responsibility of Mining Companies in Ghana: The case of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Ahafo

It is perceived by many that communities in Ghana that host large scale mining activities are affluent and outpace several other communities in terms of socio-economic development. This seems not to be the case. This notwithstanding, mining companies have an obligation to fulfil towards the communities they operate within as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This necessitated an assessment of the Corporate Social Responsibility of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Ahafo in Ghana. This paper considered relevant literature pertaining to the subject matter, the views of community members within the mining enclave of Ahafo as well as that of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. A sample of 180 respondents was chosen through a purposive sampling technique. Key personalities including an Assemblyman, a Youth Leader, and three resettled persons were interviewed. There was also a focused group discussion among community members. The study found out Newmont has not deviated from its CSR in the region

Mitochondrial Regulation of Cell Cycle Progression during Development as Revealed by the tenured Mutation in Drosophila

SummaryThe precise control of the cell cycle requires regulation by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Whether the metabolic status of the cell exerts a direct control over cell cycle checkpoints is not well understood. We isolated a mutation, tenured (tend), in a gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit Va. This mutation causes a drop in intracellular ATP to levels sufficient to maintain cell survival, growth, and differentiation, but not to enable progression through the cell cycle. Analysis of this gene in vivo and in cell lines shows that a specific pathway involving AMPK and p53 is activated that causes elimination of Cyclin E, resulting in cell cycle arrest. We demonstrate that in multiple tissues the mitochondrion has a direct and specific role in enforcing a G1-S cell cycle checkpoint during periods of energy deprivation

Psychometric Properties of a Safety Culture Index among Mental Health Workers in Ghana

Safety culture among mental health workers is essential, especially in developing countries where workplace safety seems neglected. However, few studies have provided detailed psychometric analyses of convenient safety instruments with practical relevance for the healthcare industry in the Sub-Saharan African context. We sampled 574 (54.4 % females, 45.6 % males) mental health workers from three Specialist Psychiatric Teaching Hospitals in Ghana. Initially, we collected data using adapted items from Edkins and Coakes’ 25-item Airline Safety Culture Index (ASCI). Consequently, we conducted a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using the Diagonally Weighted Least Squares estimator. We also used the item reduction analysis (Gradual Response Model) to reduce the adapted 25-item scale to 11 items (Modified Safety Culture Index, MSCI- 11). Finally, we conducted reliability analyses (alpha and omega) for the MSCI-11. We observed that the data in the CFA showed adequate fit indices [χ2 (df = 44, N = 574) = 223.752, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.975; TLI = 0.968; RM- SEA = 0.084 (CI 90 % 0.074- 0.096); SRMR = 0.063]. The MSCI- 11 is parsimonious and has good reliability estimates [α = 0.853 (95 % CI 0.835 – 0.870) and ω = 0.853 (95 % CI 0.837- 0.087)]. Future studies should use additional cross-validation in other high-risk jobs to generalise the new scale

History’s Role in Policy Making: Proffering Solutions and Questions for Humanity and the Ghanaian Context

Concerning history, several people across the globe perceive or think that it is mostly about past events and also about dead people. Some trained historians, whether in ancient histories or contemporary histories, have sometimes vehemently concluded that the historian or the writer of history cannot draw conclusions but he can only make inferences or better still ask questions. Such carefulness of the historian does not only add to his tactfulness but also makes the ordinary reader aiming at policy to rush for quick-fix information, ‘non-history’. To a large extent when the works of historians have been used by policy makers, they are not cited. They are used in a way that the ordinary reader or beneficiary might not have a clue that history had a part to play in the birthing of such policy. This history and policy essay gleans information from essential academic sources to push forward an argument for history’s role in policy making. It does look at some relevant questions for Ghana where the authors lecture in history and political studies

Regulation of Mitochondrial Complex I Biogenesis in Drosophila Flight Muscles

The flight muscles of Drosophila are highly enriched with mitochondria, but the mechanism by which mitochondrial complex I (CI) is assembled in this tissue has not been described. We report the mechanism of CI biogenesis in Drosophila flight muscles and show that it proceeds via the formation of ∼315, ∼550, and ∼815 kDa CI assembly intermediates. Additionally, we define specific roles for several CI subunits in the assembly process. In particular, we show that dNDUFS5 is required for converting an ∼700 kDa transient CI assembly intermediate into the ∼815 kDa assembly intermediate. Importantly, incorporation of dNDUFS5 into CI is necessary to stabilize or promote incorporation of dNDUFA10 into the complex. Our findings highlight the potential of studies of CI biogenesis in Drosophila to uncover the mechanism of CI assembly in vivo and establish Drosophila as a suitable model organism and resource for addressing questions relevant to CI biogenesis in humans

Impact of a bottom-up community engagement intervention on maternal and child health services utilization in Ghana: a cluster randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Ghana is among African countries not likely to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) three (3) target of reducing maternal mortality to 70 per 100,000 live births by the year 2030 if maternal and child health services utilization are not improved. Community engagement in health is therefore advocated to help address this challenge. This study evaluated the impact of a community engagement intervention on maternal and child health services utilization in Ghana. METHODS: This study was a cluster randomised trial among primary healthcare facilities (n = 64) in the Greater Accra and Western regions in Ghana. Multivariate multiple regression analysis and paired-ttest were used to determine impact of the community engagement intervention on maternal and child health indicators at baseline and follow-up. RESULTS: Intervention health facilities recorded significant improvements over control facilities in terms of average spontaneous vaginal deliveries per month per health facility (baseline mean = 15, follow-up mean = 30, p = 0.0013); child immunizations (baseline mean = 270, follow-up mean = 455, p = 0.0642) and female condoms distribution (baseline mean = 0, follow-up mean = 2, p = 0.0628). Other improved indicators in intervention facilities were average number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) tests for non-pregnant women (baseline mean = 55, follow-up 104, p = 0.0213); HIV tests for pregnant women (baseline mean = 40, follow-up mean = 119, p = 0.0067) and malaria tests (baseline mean = 43, follow-up mean = 380, p = 0.0174). Control facilities however performed better than intervention facilities in terms of general laboratory tests, voluntary counselling and testing, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, male child circumcisions and other minor surgical procedures. CONCLUSION: Community engagement in health has the potential of improving utilization of maternal and child health services. There is the need for multi-stakeholder dialogues on complementing existing quality improvement interventions with community engagement strategies

Trends and correlates of maternal, newborn and child health services utilization in primary healthcare facilities: an explorative ecological study using DHIMSII data from one district in the Volta region of Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims at reducing global neonatal mortality to at least 12 per 1000 livebirths, under-five mortality to at least 25 per 1000 livebirths and maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 livebirths by 2030. Considering the achievement so far, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana are not likely to achieve these targets. Low utilization of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services partly account for this predicament. This study explored the trend and correlates of MNCH services utilization in one administrative district in the Volta Region of Ghana. METHODS: This is an explorative ecological study employing trend analysis of 2015-2017 data from Ghana Health Service District Health Information Management System II. Univariate Poisson regression models were used to determine the factors associated with MNCH services utilization at 95% confidence level. RESULTS: Cumulative record of 17,052 antenatal care (ANC) attendance and 2162 facility-based spontaneous vaginal deliveries (SVDs) was discovered. Compelling evidence of potential unskilled deliveries was observed in 23% of the 26 facilities reported in the DHIMSII data. High cumulative number of midwives in health facilities associated positively with high records of ANC visits (IRR = 1.30, [95% CI:1.29, 1.32]; p = 0.0001), facility-based SVDs (IRR = 1.30 [95% CI:1.25, 1.35]; p = 0.0001) and BCG immunizations (IRR = 1.32 [95% CI:1.29, 1.34]; p = 0.0001). Likewise, high records of ANC visits correlated positively with high facility-based SVDs and child immunizations records (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Targeted health system and community level interventions alongside progressive frontline health staff motivation and retention strategies could further enhance enrollment and retention of mothers in pre-natal and postnatal care services throughout the continuum of care to guarantee better MNCH health outcomes. Investments in universal coverage for quality ANC services has the potential to enhance utilization of supervised deliveries and post-natal care services such as immunizations

Mitochondria in epithelial ovarian carcinoma exhibit abnormal phenotypes and blunted associations with biobehavioral factors

Malignant tumor cells exhibit mitochondrial alterations and are also influenced by biobehavioral processes, but the intersection of biobehavioral factors and mitochondria in malignant tumors remains unexplored. Here we examined multiple biochemical and molecular markers of mitochondrial content and function in benign tissue and in high-grade epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) in parallel with exploratory analyses of biobehavioral factors. First, analysis of a publicly-available database (n = 1435) showed that gene expression of specific mitochondrial proteins in EOC is associated with survival. Quantifying multiple biochemical and molecular markers of mitochondrial content and function in tissue from 51 patients with benign ovarian masses and 128 patients with high-grade EOC revealed that compared to benign tissue, EOCs exhibit 3.3–8.4-fold higher mitochondrial content and respiratory chain enzymatic activities (P < 0.001) but similar mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) levels (− 3.1%), documenting abnormal mitochondrial phenotypes in EOC. Mitochondrial respiratory chain activity was also associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in ascites. In benign tissue, negative biobehavioral factors were inversely correlated with mitochondrial content and respiratory chain activities, whereas positive biobehavioral factors tended to be positively correlated with mitochondrial measures, although effect sizes were small to medium (r = − 0.43 to 0.47). In contrast, serous EOCs showed less pronounced biobehavioral-mitochondrial correlations. These results document abnormal mitochondrial functional phenotypes in EOC and warrant further research on the link between biobehavioral factors and mitochondria in cancer