CT scan chest findings in symptomatic COVID-19 patients: a reliable alternative for diagnosis

Computed Tomography (CT) scan of the chest plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 pneumoniashows typical CT Scan features which can aid diagnoses and therefore help in the early detection and isolation of infected patients. CT scanners are readily available in many parts of Ghana. It is able to show findings typical for COVID-19 infection of the chest, even in instances where Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) misses the diagnosis. Little is known about the diagnostic potential of chest CT scan and COVID-19 among physicians even though CT scan offers a high diagnostic accuracy

Relationship between Work-Life Balance and Organizational Commitment: (A Case Study of Student-Workers of the Evening School Programme at Secretaryship and Management Department, Accra Polytechnic)

The quest for work-life balance practices is being championed by many organizations in Ghana. It has also received a lot of attention in the field of research. This has come about as a result of awakenings for equilibrium between employees’ work-life, career ambition and lifestyle. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between work-life balance and organizational commitment among student-workers in the department of Secretaryship and Management Studies of Accra Polytechnic. To achieve this aim, the researchers used a survey design which included research design (questionnaire) and sampling method (random). twenty respondents were selected from first year. Questionnaire and interviews were some of the data collection methods used by the researchers. Tables and charts were used to analyze the data collected. The result of the study showed that there is some significant relationship between work-life balance and organizational commitment among student-workers at the Department of Secretaryship and Management Studies, Accra Polytechnic. Student-workers are employees from different organizations who have taken advantage of Accra Polytechnic’s evening programmes to further their education. Hence, they are combining work, education and family life.The research was concluded with recommendations to help improve the balance further by introducing strategies like telecommuting, a compressed workweek, job sharing and encourage student- workers to take their vacations, more institutional support by way of retreat and seminars to enlighten staff on how to reduce stress in their work- life, making the job content less stressful, student-workers must practice proper time management in order to maximize the work hours at their disposal and to opt for studying on  distance, residential or online courses to reduce the stress they go through on a regular or evening school programme, this the researchers believe would ensure a high organizational commitment of the student-workers to their organization. Keywords: Work-life balance, Organizational commitment, Student-workers, Educatio

Collaborative Reference: McQuade Library’s Research Center

Although reference has gone high-tech, students seeking high-touch reference assistance still travel to a destination -- whether it’s a reference desk, a librarian’s office, a reference room, or a center. Thus, libraries are challenged to design reference spaces in which librarians are visible to students and are well-positioned to partner with students to engage in active research, from quick “show and go” questions to more in-depth reference consultations. This poster discusses how and why McQuade Library at Merrimack College embraced a Research Center model that creates a positive reference user experience for students and places collaboration --both among librarians and with students-- at its core. McQuade\u27s Research Center facilitates a team of librarians successfully serving a variety of student learners in an appealing and comfortable environment. This poster describes how the Research Center is staffed, the types of research consultations happening within the center, and visually depicts the layout of the center. It also includes reference and usage statistics and student feedback proving that if you build it, students will come

Education and Employment Outcomes in Ghana through the Lens of the Capability Approach

Existing literature on education and employment confirms that in Ghana educational qualification largely influences the type of work. Through the lens of the Capability Approach, which sees human development in terms of the expansion of freedoms and opportunities, this paper identifies, for a cross-section of Ghanaians, the array of employment opportunities between and within education endowments. “Between endowments” refers to differentials in opportunities for individuals with different levels of educational qualifications, while “within endowments” considers the differentials for individuals with the same level of education. The source of data is the 2005/06 Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS5). Results show that education is not enough to erase inequalities. Multinomial regression analysis demonstrates that functionings differ according to the individual’s context, household and personal conversion factors. This is explained by inequalities in the requirements for a particular job (between educational endowments) and by job accessibility due to personal characteristics (within educational endowments)

minoHealth.ai: A Clinical Evaluation Of Deep Learning Systems For the Diagnosis of Pleural Effusion and Cardiomegaly In Ghana, Vietnam and the United States of America

A rapid and accurate diagnosis of cardiomegaly and pleural effusion is of the utmost importance to reduce mortality and medical costs. Artificial Intelligence has shown promise in diagnosing medical conditions. With this study, we seek to evaluate how well Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, developed my minoHealth AI Labs, will perform at diagnosing cardiomegaly and pleural effusion, using chest x-rays from Ghana, Vietnam and the USA, and how well AI systems will perform when compared with radiologists working in Ghana. The evaluation dataset used in this study contained 100 images randomly selected from three datasets. The Deep Learning models were further tested on a larger Ghanaian dataset containing five hundred and sixty one (561) samples. Two AI systems were then evaluated on the evaluation dataset, whilst we also gave the same chest x-ray images within the evaluation dataset to 4 radiologists, with 5 - 20 years experience, to diagnose independently. For cardiomegaly, minoHealth-ai systems scored Area under the Receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.9 and 0.97 while the AUC-ROC of individual radiologists ranged from 0.77 to 0.87. For pleural effusion, the minoHealth-ai systems scored 0.97 and 0.91 whereas individual radiologists scored between 0.75 and 0.86. On both conditions, the best performing AI model outperforms the best performing radiologist by about 10%. We also evaluate the specificity, sensitivity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) between the minoHealth-ai systems and radiologists

Agronomic Evaluation of Eight Genotypes of Hot Pepper (Capsicum Spp L.) in a Coastal Savanna Zone of Ghana

Local landrace varieties of pepper (Capsicum sp) often fail to meet the expectations of farmers with respect to fruit yield, while exotic breeds are unadapted to local conditions, with detrimental effects on local pepper production. The aim of the study was to assess the agronomic performance of eight (8) pepper genotypes, comprising 6 exotic and 2 local genotypes, under rain-fed conditions to identify those suitable for cultivation locally. The experiment was conducted between April and October 2011 at the research farm of the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. The Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), with three replicates was used. Weed control was carried out manually with the aid of a hoe and a cutlass at 4 and 10 weeks after planting (WAP).  One application of 15-15-15 NPK fertilizer was made at 2 WAP, using a rate of 200 kg ha-1. No pesticides or fungicides were applied. Parameters measured include number of days to 50% flowering, height at first branching, total plant height at maturity, canopy spread at maturity and total yield. Results indicate that exotic hybrid varieties matured earlier than the local genotypes. They also performed better in terms of fruit weight, fruit length and fruit yield. However, the two local landrace varieties, Anloga and Legon 18, produced the highest number of undamaged fruits. Keywords: Capsicum sp, genotypes, exotic pepper, landrace, yield, plant height, fruit weigh

Controlled transmission of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) by Bemisia tabaci from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) to seedlings of physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.)

Jatropha curcas, a plant with great biodiesel potential is also used to reduce the population of whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci on cassava fields when planted as a hedge. We therefore, investigated the transmission of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) by the whitefly vector from cassava to seedlings of 10 accessions of J. curcas as part of a wider investigation on the possible role of J. curcas as an alternative host of ACMV. Transmission tests were conducted in insect-proof cages using adult B. tabaci collected from ACMV-infected cassava in the field, at a rate of three adult whiteflies per J. curcas seedling and a transmission feeding period of four days. Twenty one (21) days after the infestation, leaf samples from individual plants of the 10 J. curcas accessions were tested for the presence of ACMV by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA), using the monoclonal antibodies SCRI 33. DAS-ELISA detected ACMV in five out of the ten J. curcas accessions while PCR detected it in eight of the 10 accessions. Furthermore, 18 out of the 35 Nicotiana benthamiana indicator plants mechanically inoculated with sap from symptomatic J. curcas seedlings produced symptoms typical of ACMV infection. This indicates that J. curcas is a likely host of ACMV and it may in turn, be able to infect cassava, and presumably other ACMV-susceptible hosts, in the presence of the vector.Keywords: Jatropha curcas accessions, controlled transmission, mechanical inoculation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV)-susceptible hosts.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4465-447

Knowledge, Awareness and Practice with Antimicrobial Stewardship Programmes among Healthcare Providers in a Ghanaian Tertiary Hospital

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant problem in global health today, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where antimicrobial stewardship programmes are yet to be successfully implemented. We established a partnership between AMR pharmacists from a UK NHS hospital and in Ho Teaching Hospital with the aim of enhancing antimicrobial stewardship knowledge and practice among healthcare providers through an educational intervention. We employed a mixed-method approach that included an initial survey on knowledge and awareness before and after training, followed by qualitative interviews with healthcare providers conducted six months after delivery of training. This study was carried out in two phases in Ho Teaching Hospital with healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, medical doctors, nurses and medical laboratory scientists. Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection. In the first phase, we surveyed 50 healthcare providers, including nurses (33%), pharmacists (29%) and biomedical scientists (23%). Of these, 58% of participants had engaged in continuous professional development on AMR/AMS, and above 95% demonstrated good knowledge on the general use of antibiotics. A total of 18 participants, which included four medical doctors, five pharmacists, four nurses, two midwives and three biomedical scientists, were interviewed in the second phase and demonstrated greater awareness of AMS practices, particularly the role of education for patients, as well as healthcare professionals. We found that knowledge and practice with AMS was markedly improved six months after the training session. There is limited practice of AMS in LMICs; however, through AMR-focused training, we demonstrated improved AMS skills and practice among healthcare providers in Ho Teaching Hospital. There is a need for continuous AMR training sessions for healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings

Development of a local antibiogram for a teaching hospital in Ghana

Background: Antimicrobial resistance threatens adequate healthcare provision against infectious diseases. Antibiograms, combined with patient clinical history, enable clinicians and pharmacists to select the best empirical treatments prior to culture results. Objectives: To develop a local antibiogram for the Ho Teaching Hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study, using data collected on bacterial isolates from January-December 2021. Samples from urine, stool, sputum, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were considered as well as, aspirates and swabs from wound, ears and vagina of patients. Bacteria were cultured on both enrichment and selective media including blood agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood and MacConkey agar, and identified by both the VITEK 2 system and routine biochemical tests. Data on routine culture and sensitivity tests performed on bacterial isolates from patient samples were retrieved from the hospital's health information system. Data were then entered into and analysed using WHONET. Results: In all, 891 pathogenic microorganisms were isolated from 835 patients who had positive culture tests. Gram-negative isolates accounted for about 77% of the total bacterial species. Escherichia coli (246), Pseudomonas spp. (180), Klebsiella spp. (168), Citrobacter spp. (101) and Staphylococcus spp. (78) were the five most isolated pathogens. Most of the bacterial isolates showed high resistance (>70%) to ampicillin, piperacillin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, penicillin G, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Conclusions: The isolates from the various samples were not susceptible to most of the antibiotics used in the study. The study reveals the resistance patterns of E. coli and Klebsiella spp.To some antibiotics on the WHO 'Watch' and 'Reserve' lists. Using antibiograms as part of antimicrobial stewardship programmes would optimize antibiotic use and preserve their efficacy

Antimicrobial Prescription Pattern in Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana: Seasonal Determination Using a Point Prevalence Survey.

A standardised Global Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) tool was used to determine the antimicrobial prescription pattern in the Ho Teaching Hospital on two separate occasions in a total of 14 wards in the hospital, including dedicated wards for paediatrics and neonates. Manually collected and anonymised data were entered, validated, analysed and reported using a web-based global PPS application. With 147 and 153 patients considered in the July 2019 and January 2020 surveys, respectively, 98 patients (66.7%) and 84 patients (54.9%) had received one or more antimicrobials. The prevalence of antimicrobial use in the adult wards was 64.3% (72/112) and 53.4% (63/118) in the first and second surveys, respectively. The prevalence in the paediatric wards was 60.0% (12/20) and 62.5% (10/16), respectively, in the two surveys, while that in the neonatal wards was 93.3% (14/15) and 57.9% (11/19), respectively. β-lactams were the most used antibiotics in both periods. Malaria was the most common diagnosis requiring the use of antimicrobials in July 2019, accounting for 19.4% of the diagnoses, whereas in January 2020, it was skin and soft-tissue conditions (28.1%). This reflects a seasonal association between malaria and rainfall patterns. Out of the antimicrobials prescribed during each of the survey periods, 95% were used for empirical treatment, and this could be attributed to a number of reasons, including logistical challenges, among others, that require further exploration in the context of local, national and international policy recommendations