Search

Investigations on learners' writing have multiplied over the recent decades, but writings created by students of institutions of education are still mostly unstudied. This research looks into how noun phrases (NPs) were used in writings created by students at Ghanaian colleges of education (CoEs). Lu's (2010) three metrics for measuring overall NP complexity for text—a length-based metric of NP complexity, mean length of clause (MLC), and two specific NP complexity metrics—number of complex nominals per clause (CN/C) and number of complex nominals per T-Unit (CN/T)—were chosen and applied to a total of 318 texts written by Levels 100, 200, and 300 students from three colleges of education in Ghana. The results from the one-way ANOVA and its post hoc analysis showed a significant difference between Levels 100 and 300 students as well as between Levels 200 and 300 students in their use of complex noun phrases. Overall, Level 300 students significantly used more complex NPs than students in the other levels. It is recommended that in further studies, lexico-grammatical features such as relative clauses, prepositional phrases, and nominal clauses, should be analysed to assess complexity since academic language is a multifaceted entity which may be researched in various fields like SLA, applied linguistics, and language testing.

Objective: Throughout the pandemic, physicians working at the frontlines have embarked on various quests to protect themselves, and many physicians preferred using hydroxychloroquine (HQN) as a prophylactic agent. This study aimed to investigate the reasons leading physicians to use HQN and its effects on them. Materials and Methods: This study is cross-sectional with a target population of physicians working in pandemic hospitals in İstanbul, Turkey. We invited participants from seven hospitals via email between May 14 and June 13, 2020. An online questionnaire, including 57 questions, was sent to physicians. Results: A total of 148 (26%) physicians out of 564 participants had used hydroxychloroquine for prevention. Older physicians and those with a history of exposure to COVID-19 patients without protection used prophylactic HQN more frequently. The use of HQN did not differ statistically in terms of being infected among the exposed physicians (p=0.52). Nineteen (13%) physicians using HQN developed side effects related to the drug. Diarrhea and nausea were the most common. Conclusion: Prophylactic HQN use was more common among physicians older than 40 years and with higher exposure rates to a COVID-19 patient without protection. The physicians working on the front line had the highest rate of infection. HQN was not effective in the prophylaxis of COVID-19 among the exposed physicians. Keywords: COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine, prophylaxis, physicians

In this study, the potential of two adsorbents prepared from Port Jackson (PJ) plant for the removal of Janus Green (JG) and Victoria Blue (VB) dyes from wastewater was investigated. One of the adsorbents was prepared from Port Jackson by employing the plant’s leaves in their natural form after washing while the second one was obtained by treating the leaves with concentrated sulphuric acid. The adsorbents were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Batch adsorption experiments were conducted with different initial concentrations of dyes, adsorbents doses, temperatures and contact times to determine their effects on the process efficiency. Equilibrium isotherm, kinetics and thermodynamics of the processes were also evaluated. The percentage removal of the dyes by the two adsorbents increased with increasing contact time and adsorbent dosage but decreased with increasing temperature. The kinetics parameters obtained were found to follow pseudo-second order model, suggesting that the rate limiting step may be chemisorption. Thermodynamic studies reveal that the adsorption processes were spontaneous and exothermic in nature as evident from the negative values of Gibbs free energy (G0) and enthalpy (H0) obtained. The processes were accompanied with decreased randomness as shown in the negative change in entropy (S0). It can be concluded that the two adsorbents have good potentials for remediating JG and VB dye-contaminated wastewater.

PurposeResources as well as the capacity to employ them judiciously may well be the key to the attainment of the SDGs and other related health goals through primary health care (PHC). Within this PHC framework, however, the source of resources for PHC as well as the systems for managing these associated resources remain unclear, complex and lack substantive integration systems of implementing ministries, departments and agencies (both local and international) in Ghana. These issues are addressed by this study.Design/methodology/approachThe framework approach to thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data collected from key PHC managers in Ghana selected purposively from the national, regional and district levels. Data were collected through in-depth interviews specially designed in line with the study objectives. The study was also governed by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research which provided ethical clearance for the study.FindingsAs per Alma Ata's recommendation, PHC in its purest form is a resource dense activity with far-reaching implications on individuals and communities. Without adequate resources, PHC implementation remained merely on paper. Findings show that the key capacities required for PHC implementation were finance, human resource, technology and logistics. While significant cases of shortages and inadequacies were evident, management and maintenance of these capacities appeared to be another significant determinant of PHC implementation. Additionally, the poor allocation, distribution and sustainability of these capacities had a negative effect on PHC outcomes with more resources being concentrated in capital towns than in rural areas.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has significant implications on the way PHC is seen, implemented and assessed not in Ghana but in other developing countries. In addition to examining the nature and extent of capacities required for PHC implementation, it gives significant pathways on how limited resources, when properly managed, may catalyse the attainment of the PHC goals. Subsequently, PHC implementation will profit from stakeholder attention and further research into practical ways of ensuring efficiency in the allocation, distribution and management of resources especially considering the limited resources available and the budding constraints associated with the dependency on external stakeholders for PHC implementation.Originality/valueThis study is part of a series on PHC implementation in Ghana. Quite apart from putting core implementation issues into perspective, it presents first-hand information on Ghana's PHC implementation journey and is thus relevant for researchers, students, practitioners and the wider public.