Social Capital and Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme: Understanding Informal Sector Participation

Pursuing Universal Health Care in a developing economy like Ghana is a bold, laudable idea. Given the immutable benefits of Social Health Insurance in this pursuit, the long-term performance of Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Schemes in developing countries remains a conundrum when viewed from the predominant economic and health system frameworks. In the context of a weak state with a large informal sector however, this study demonstrates that the inclusion of a social context in the foundational framework yields valuable insights that must inform the conceptualization, design and implementation of CBHI-founded Social Health Insurance initiatives across the developing world

PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON HAND WASHING PRACTICES IN SELECTED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN MAMPONG MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

The study sought to investigate the perception of students on hand washing in order to prevent diseases in Senior High Schools in the Mampong Municipal Assembly. The study employed the use of descriptive research design to find out the attitudes of students on hand washing practices. The instrument for the data collection was a questionnaire which has been administered to the students. The results indicated that, there were insufficient resources for hand washing such as soap, towel, sanitizers, hand antiseptics, portable/tap water, detergent, warm water and alcohol-base rub. Also, there was lack of hand washing practices among students such as after/before visiting toilet, eating, touching raw material, touching rubbish and playing games. Again, there was lack of education and advise on hand washing. It was therefore recommended that school management and government agencies in charge of health and education should increase the education on hand washing in senior high boarding schools.   Article visualizations

Understanding People’s Motives for visiting Public Green Spaces in Accra to aid the Development of Urban Greenery in Ghana

In the recent past, the empirical evidence of the potential benefits urbanites derive from the use of urban green space has received increased attention.  However, not much research has been done on the use of urban green areas, especially in developing African countries like Ghana.  This paper determines the motives of the public for visiting urban green spaces and the factors that influence their perception of the quality of urban natural areas in Ghana, using Accra, the capital city of Ghana, as the case study.  The questionnaire method was used for the collection of quantitative data from the public.  The findings revealed “socialising”, “mental wellbeing or restitution” and “spirituality” as the significant motives of residents for the usage of green spaces in Accra.  The results further show that the key factors that influence the public’s perception of the quality and utilisation of green spaces in Accra are the spaces’ physical features, conditions of facilities, sanitation and security concerns.  The outcome of the research revealed a thought-provoking perspective for future research on “spirituality” as significant users’ motivation for visiting urban green spaces since the “spirituality” factor is deficient in literature. The findings from this study are critical for policy-makers, urban designers and landscape architects to understand the vital motives of users and the factors that influence the use of green spaces, to improve the development and management of urban green areas in Ghana and other developing countries. Keywords: Urban Green Space, motives, greenery, Accra, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-8-08 Publication date:August 31st 202

Assessment of Helminth Infections in Goats Slaughtered in an Abattoir in a suburb of Accra, Ghana

A cross-sectional study to evaluate parasitic infections in small ruminants was conducted in an abattoir in a suburb of Accra from January to March 2015. Samples from various sections of the gut of 35 goats, either reared in Ghana or imported from Burkina Faso, were analyzed using the Kato-Katz technique. The overall prevalence was 100%. The proportions of goats infected with each parasite type were 100%, 94.4%, 88.6%,80.5%, 68.6 62.8% and 44.4% respectively for Strongyloides sp., tapeworms, Ascaris sp., Fasciola hepatica, Trichuris sp., Haemonchus contortus and Schistosoma haematobium. The proportion of animals infected with Haemonchus contortus was significantly higher in imported goats than those reared locally (p<0.05). The mean intensity of infection was low for all the parasites. However, high diversity of parasites with 80% of goats having at least four parasite types was observed. The data show high multiple infections in the goats brought to the slaughter house and suggest the need to institute appropriate measures to curb the problem

Impact of Mobile Commerce on Patronage in Ghanaian Indigenous Startups

Undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, May 2022In this present age, m-Commerce is an important technology that many countries adopt because of its vast advantages such as improved profitability, increased number of customers, and increased patronage. Therefore, seeing that the technology is a game changer in different parts of the world, Ghanaian businesses must not be left out in partaking in a resource that is likely to move them to the next level. This paper examines the research questions: What is the impact of m-commerce on sales revenue among Ghanaian indigenous startups? and What are the decision processes that founders can consider before investing in m-Commerce? In answering these questions, the businesses that are likely to adopt the m-Commerce technology are informed on the extent to which m-Commerce positively impacts the sales process to decide whether it is better to replace, maintain, or adopt a hybrid channel. The study employed the use of a mixed research methodology. The quantitative research method measured and quantified the impact of m-Commerce on the startups. In contrast, the qualitative helped derive a naturalistic interpretation of the impact of m-Commerce on startups. This study also used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the thematic analysis for the qualitative, which assesses how users come to accept and use technology. The study and its analysis show that m-Commerce positively impacts patronage. The study also recommends that policymakers adopt m-Commerce technologies in conjunction with their existing business models because it is advantageous to patronage.Ashesi Universit

A FRET map of membrane anchors suggests distinct microdomains of heterotrimeric G proteins

The standard model of heterotrimeric G protein signaling postulates a dissociation of G alpha and G beta gamma subunits after activation. We hypothesized that the different combination of lipid-modifications on G alpha and G alpha beta gamma subunits directs them into different microdomains. By characterizing rapidly and at high sensitivity 38 fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) pairs of heterotrimeric-G-protein constructs, we defined their microdomains in relation to each other, free from the constraints of the raft/non-raft dualism. We estimated that in a cell similar to 30% of these membrane-anchored proteins are mostly clustered in 340016,200 copies of 30-nm microdomains. We found that the membrane anchors of G alpha and G alpha beta gamma subunits of both the G(i/o) and G(q) family co-cluster differently with microdomain markers. Moreover, anchors of the G alpha(i/o) and G alpha(q) subunits co-clustered only weakly, whereas constructs that contained the anchors of the corresponding heterotrimers co-clustered considerably, suggesting the existence of at least three types of microdomain. Finally, FRET experiments with full-length heterotrimeric G proteins confirmed that the inactive, heterotrimerized G alpha subunit is in microdomains shared by heterotrimers from different subclasses, from where it displaces upon activation into a membrane-anchor- and subclass-specific microdomain

Rapalogs can promote cancer cell stemness in vitro in a Galectin-1 and H-ras-dependent manner

Currently several combination treatments of mTor- and Ras-pathway inhibitors are being tested in cancer therapy. While multiple feedback loops render these central signaling pathways robust, they complicate drug targeting. Here, we describe a novel H-ras specific feedback, which leads to an inadvertent rapalog induced activation of tumorigenicity in Ras transformed cells. We find that rapalogs specifically increase nanoscale clustering (nanoclustering) of oncogenic H-ras but not K-ras on the plasma membrane. This increases H-ras signaling output, promotes mammosphere numbers in a H-ras-dependent manner and tumor growth in ovo. Surprisingly, also other FKBP12 binders, but not mTor- inhibitors, robustly decrease FKBP12 levels after prolonged (> 2 days) exposure. This leads to an upregulation of the nanocluster scaffold galectin-1 (Gal-1), which is responsible for the rapamycin-induced increase in H-ras nanoclustering and signaling output. We provide evidence that Gal-1 promotes stemness features in tumorigenic cells. Therefore, it may be necessary to block inadvertent induction of stemness traits in H-ras transformed cells by specific Gal-1 inhibitors that abrogate its effect on H-ras nanocluster. On a more general level, our findings may add an important mechanistic explanation to the pleiotropic physiological effects that are observed with rapalogs.Peer reviewe

A covalent calmodulin inhibitor as a tool to study cellular mechanisms of K-Ras-driven stemness

This article is part of the Research Topic Ras and other GTPases in Cancer: From Basic to Applied Research https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88974-081-9Recently, the highly mutated oncoprotein K-Ras4B (hereafter K-Ras) was shown to drive cancer cell stemness in conjunction with calmodulin (CaM). We previously showed that the covalent CaM inhibitor ophiobolin A (OphA) can potently inhibit K-Ras stemness activity. However, OphA, a fungus-derived natural product, exhibits an unspecific, broad toxicity across all phyla. Here we identified a less toxic, functional analog of OphA that can efficiently inactivate CaM by covalent inhibition. We analyzed a small series of benzazulenones, which bear some structural similarity to OphA and can be synthesized in only six steps. We identified the formyl aminobenzazulenone 1, here named Calmirasone1, as a novel and potent covalent CaM inhibitor. Calmirasone1 has a 4-fold increased affinity for CaM as compared to OphA and was active against K-Ras in cells within minutes, as compared to hours required by OphA. Calmirasone1 displayed a 2.5-4.5-fold higher selectivity for KRAS over BRAF mutant 3D spheroid growth than OphA, suggesting improved relative on-target activity. Importantly, Calmirasone1 has a 40-260-fold lower unspecific toxic effect on HRAS mutant cells, while it reaches almost 50% of the activity of novel K-RasG12C specific inhibitors in 3D spheroid assays. Our results suggest that Calmirasone1 can serve as a new tool compound to further investigate the cancer cell biology of the K-Ras and CaM associated stemness activities.Peer reviewe