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The study explores the impact of Covid-19 on pets and their owners using a structured questionnaire. One hundred fifty-seven (157) respondents were recruited from six veterinary clinics at strategic points within Accra. Only a third of owners gave their pet(s) special attention out of fear of contracting Covid-19 from their pet(s). 68.2 % of the respondents were interested in learning healthy pet-keeping tips from the electronic media and evident in their willingness (75.2 %) to embrace tele-veterinary services; a potential drift from traditional in-person way of providing veterinary services in Ghana. The decrease in household income (46.5 %), loss of employment for at least one person in the household (17.2 %) and associated spike in prices of pet related commodities affected the feeding of pets in about 44 % of respondents and ability to afford veterinary pet products (17.2 %). This is reflected in a 12.7 % reduction in the ability of pet owners to afford veterinary services. The observations made could be used as a basis for future research exploring the pet culture in Ghana and its evolution as a direct consequence of the pandemic.

Query fever, also known as Q fever, is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii. It is a cause of abortion in livestock and presents as a febrile illness in humans. A correlation between the incidence of the disease in humans and abortion in goats and sheep farms has been reported in countries such as the Netherlands and Australia. In Ghana, the occurrence of Q fever in both livestock and humans has not been fully explored. This study sought to determine the seroprevalence of Q fever in livestock in Nkawkaw, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Sera obtained from 92 sheep from 12 farms were tested using the indirect multi-species ELISA for the detection of anti-Coxiella burnetii antibodies. Animal demographics, farms’ proximity to human settlement and history of abortion in relation to the Q fever status were assessed.The overall prevalence of Q fever was 13.0 % [95 % CI 6.9–21.6] (12/92). Both sexes were equally affected, with a sex-specific prevalence of 13.0 % each. The farm-specific prevalence was 50 %. Abortions were reported on eight (8) of the 12 farms, and all farms were located less than 200 m from human habitation. Only proximity of farm to human settlement showed statistical significance. Q fever is prevalent in Nkawkaw and requires the attention of both animal and health authorities, using the One- Health approach to nip any future epidemics in its bud.

Diarrhoea, which is a clinical manifestation of various illnesses, is frequently observed in dogs. Regrettably, many dog owners find it difficult to provide comprehensive case histories, primarily because of limited interaction with their canine companions. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of faecal biochemical analytes in detecting and characterizing acute diarrhoea in dogs. Sixty-two domestic dogs were selected using the proportionate stratified sample technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic and clinical data. Faecal stool specimens from the dogs were obtained using the colon flush technique. The specimens were taken through biochemical analysis to determine urea, creatinine, total bilirubin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, gamma-glutamyl transferase and uric acid levels. Results showed a significant association between the diarrhoea status of the participants and their age, weight, breed, body size, source of last diet, period of inappetence, and other gastrointestinal signs (p < 0.050, respectively). Dogs that had not eaten in at least three days were five times more likely (p < 0.05) to have diarrhoea. Furthermore, miniature breeds were about six times more likely to develop diarrhoea (p < 0.05). Of the seven selected biochemical parameters, total faecal cholesterol was the most predictive index in diagnosing acute diarrhoea in dogs, with a likelihood ratio of 6.5, and it was the most accurate in predicting defecation stooling frequency and texture. In summary, in situations of inadequate case histories, measuring total faecal cholesterol could assist veterinarians in detecting diarrhoea and predicting its faecal stooling texture and frequency in dogs.

There is a paucity of information on the prevalence, risk factors, and clinical correlates of people living with HIV (PLWH) who are co-infected with Cryptosporidium spp. in the post-combined antiretroviral therapy era in Ghana. To provide such data, in this observational study, stool samples of 640 HIV-positive and 83 HIV-negative individuals in Ghana were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. Additionally, sociodemographic parameters, clinical symptoms, medication intake, and immunological parameters were assessed. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. was 11.8% (n = 73) in HIV-positive and 1.2% (n = 1) in HIV-negative participants (p < 0.001). Within the group of HIV-positive participants, the prevalence reached 26.0% in patients with CD4+ T cell counts below 200 cells/µL and 46.2% in the subgroup with CD4+ T cell counts below 50 cells/µL. The frequencies of the clinical manifestation of weight loss and gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher in patients with Cryptosporidium spp. compared to those without co-infection (45.8% vs. 21.4%, p < 0.001 and 22.2% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.031, respectively). In the modern post-cART era, the acquisition of Cryptosporidium spp. among PLWH in Ghana is driven largely by the degree of immunosuppression. Access to cART and screening for Cryptosporidium spp. as part of routine care might help control and reduce the burden of the infection.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which occurred between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, displaced Africans and people of African descent into the New World. The trade affected and influenced several aspects of the world economy, boosting the economies of participating countries and creating what would become the African diaspora. While several elements of the trade have gained recognition in scholarship, ships, as the single most important medium of transportation for African slaves, have received little attention. We contribute to the discourse by placing ships at the center of discussion by highlighting the relevance and importance of this human and cargo carriage as a vehicle of slavery. We also paid attention to air transportation in the era of voluntary repatriation of people of African descent back to Africa for tourism, business and to pay homage to the motherland. We achieved these objectives through the use of written sources. These included books, journal articles and relevant sites and databases relating to the history of science, technology and slavery among others. The research highlights, among others, the following: the invention of ships has changed the course of world history. It has been the single most tremendous medium of transportation responsible for transporting millions of Africans into Europe and the New World creating the African Diaspora. The era of sailing and the cruise period have offered man the opportunity to navigate oceans and seas that were hitherto uncharted. It also ensured that trade relations between and among countries were solidified. Beginning in the XIV century when ships used rudders that ran on shallow waters, trade was organized on as small scale between countries. The fifteenth century became a significant date in the history of ship building as there was an improvement in sea faring and oceanic navigation. The double-ended ship gave way for full-rigged ships. An even greater milestone was achieved in the eighteenth century when the steam was invented. This period produced fast sailing ships which were less costly and it greatly influenced the triangular trade which had begun some two centuries earlier.

Herein, we report on a fluorine-doped single-walled carbon nanotube (FSWCNT) phenomenon, that yields tunable high-frequency self-sustained acoustoelectric direct current (ADC) oscillations. A tractable analytical method was used in the hypersound domain, to base the calculations on carriers in the lowest miniband. Hypothetically, the energy of interaction between the carriers and the acoustic phonons is less than the energy of the typical carriers. High-order harmonics of the acoustic phonons’ effective field could be disregarded under this supposition. The ADC was observed to exhibit a nonlinearity, that resulted from the carrier distribution function’s distortion as a result of interaction with the acoustic phonons, which had strong nonlinear effects. Theoretically, we demonstrated that the dynamics of space charge instabilities, due to Bragg reflection of Bloch oscillating carriers in the FSWCNT’s miniband, were the only factors which contributed to the creation of radiation in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. The study also investigated the influence of various FSWCNT parameters such as the overlapping integrals (Δs and Δz), ac-field E1, and carrier concentration noon the behaviour of the ADC. The results showed that the intensity of the ADC oscillation Jzzae/Joae could be tuned by adjusting Δs, Δz, E1, and no.This tunability suggests that FSWCNTs could be used as an active device operating at very high frequencies, potentially reaching the submillimeter wavelength range. The study also suggests the possibility of domain suppression and acoustic Bloch gain through dynamic ADC stabilisation.

Background. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the frequent chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disorders with an estimated global prevalence of 1%. RA leads to joint destruction and disability if left untreated. Ghana has seen very few studies on RA, and little is known about the disease’s severity and related variables. This study sought to characterize the clinical presentation and determine disease severity and associated risk factors with disease severity among RA patients in a tertiary hospital in Ghana. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2020 and August 2021. This study included 56 consecutively consenting RA patients from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital orthopaedic unit. Diagnosis of RA was based on the updated American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) 2022 rheumatoid arthritis classification criteria by a rheumatologist. A study questionnaire was used to gather participant demographics and clinical features, and results from the laboratory were taken from the patients’ charts and medical records. The patients’ disease severity was evaluated based on the rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score, which is based on a 28-joint count (DAS28), and their functioning was evaluated using the modified health assessment questionnaire. Results. The participants’ mean age was 51.25±13.22 years. Out of the total participants, 46 were females, and 10 were males (female-to-male ratio 4.6 : 1). Moreover, 37.50% had arthritis of the hand; 5.30% had severe disease, and 94.60% were not severe. A majority (76.80%) were on methotrexate medication. The most frequently involved joints were the knee (42.90%), wrist (32.10%), and elbow (12.50%). There was no statistically significant association with disease severity and a functional status score of >0.5 (cOR: 10.60, 95% CI (0.52-217.30); p=0.124). In addition, marital status (p=0.04), disease duration (p=0.04), family complaints (p=0.02), and ESR (p=0.03) were significantly associated with disease severity. Conclusion. RA is predominant among elder populations and females. Disease duration, family complaints, and ESR are associated with disease severity. The findings of this study call for interventions towards ensuring early diagnosis of RA among high-risk populations to enhance good management practices.

Inland aquaculture is essential for the food and livelihoods of millions of small-scale producers across the global South. Very diverse actions from national governments, civil sector and international organizations have been seeking to enhance the performance of small-scale aquaculture systems. However, many of these efforts are constrained by the general lack of information about the status and characteristics of the sector. In many cases, data are unavailable, highly aggregated or outdated, thus failing to provide a clear picture of the situation on the ground to inform relevant efforts. Bangladesh is one such country, where, on the one hand, the aquaculture sector is extremely important for national economic growth, rural development and food and nutrition security, but on the other hand suffers from a general lack of quality data to inform relevant actions. In this study, we report the findings generated though eight workshops that engaged 215 stakeholders involved in the Bangladesh small-scale carp aquaculture sector. By leveraging the expertise of the participants, we obtain an overarching picture of the characteristics of small-scale carp production models around the country. The findings suggest a large variability of production models and levels of intensification, which are mainly based on polyculture involving species such as rohu, catla, and mrigal. These systems have been roughly categorized in four types characterized by different levels of intensification and dominant species, which are present across the country with varied socio-economic, infrastructure and environmental conditions. The study also identified an unfolding shift in the last years, from subsistence-based to commercially oriented production. In terms of market preference, quite different carp attributes are valued among small-scale producers across the country, with large size of carp, its rapid growth and the availability of improved strains being the most valued. As aquaculture, and particularly carp aquaculture, is important for rural development in Bangladesh by sustaining households’ income and livelihoods in different ways, we argue for the need to undertake more detailed studies to understand the characteristics and performance of these types of small-scale aquaculture systems. This will be indispensable for informing policies and actions that aim to target more effectively the different types of producers, and to improve the overall performance and sustainability of the sector.

The production of commodity crops such as oil palm, sugarcane, cotton or cocoa has important ramifications for sustainability at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Food security is among the most heavily debated impacts of commodity crop production, especially in developing regions characterized by high rates of malnutrition and food insecurity such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Studies have identified diverse pathways through which commodity crop production can have positive or negative impacts on the different pillars of food security. This Methodology paper outlines how different participatory approaches can be mobilized to introduce transdisciplinarity research elements when exploring the adoption and impacts of commodity crop production, especially in developing regions such as SSA. It draws from the lessons learned during the design and implementation of five research projects that explored the food security outcomes of commodity crop production in different countries of SSA. Collectively these research projects mobilized very diverse participatory approaches such as expert interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), participatory mapping, mediated modeling, and participatory scenario analysis. Beyond being instrumental for data collection, these participatory approaches served multiple other research functions. In particular they helped (a) identify research priorities, knowledge gaps, and underlying phenomena, (b) formalize impact mechanisms and develop methodology, and (c) interpret data and validate findings. Furthermore, they contributed to the credibility and relevance of the research, and to a lesser extent to the legitimacy and effectiveness, all of which are considered important principles of transdisciplinary research. Through these diverse contributions they were instrumental in integrating valuable insights from stakeholders holding very complementary expertise in commodity crop value chains at different scales. In this sense they can act as valuable entry points to introduce transdisciplinary research elements in projects exploring the interface of food security and commodity crop value chains (or food systems more broadly), especially in contexts that truly transdisciplinary research is not feasible or desirable.

Abstract We perform self-consistent analysis of the Boltzmann transport equation for momentum and energy in the hypersound regime i.e., $$ql \gg 1$$ q l ≫ 1 ( $$q$$ q is the acoustic wavenumber and l is the mean free path). We investigate the Landau damping of acoustic phonons ( $$LDOAP$$ LDOAP ) in graphene nanoribbons, which leads to acoustoelectric current generation. Under a non-quantized field with drift velocity, we observed an acoustic phonon energy quantization that depends on the energy gap, the width, and the sub-index of the material. An effect similar to Cerenkov emission was observed, where the electron absorbed the confined acoustic phonon energy, causing the generation of acoustoelectric current in the graphene nanoribbon. A qualitative analysis of the dependence of the absorption coefficient and the acoustoelectric current on the phonon frequency is in agreement with experimental reports. We observed a shift in the peaks when the energy gap and the drift velocity were varied. Most importantly, a transparency window appears when the absorption coefficient is zero, making graphene nanoribbons a potential candidate for use as an acoustic wave filter with applications in tunable gate-controlled quantum information devices and phonon spectrometers.

From economic, through politics to domestic support, women have been the major engineers of valuable roles towards the development of every culture. Historically, their impacts in medicine and healthcare in general have been evident across time and space. Prior to European influx and the modernization of healthcare in Ghana, women delivered such roles that simulate that of modern midwives, nurses, herbalists and priestesses. Although, denied access to formal education in the colonial days, because of cultural reasons, women have risen to occupy central stages in biomedical services. Regardless of their numerical strength and contributions towards the provision of healthcare, they have been neglected and marginalized both within the society and by scholars. Significantly, the place of Obuasi, in particular, within the literature on women’s contribution to healthcare delivery has received little attention. Dwelling on a qualitative research approach grounded in both primary and secondary data, the current study attempted a prime discourse on the contribution of women in the biomedical spheres using the Obuasi community as a case study. The current study has revealed that women as nurses and midwives work toward reducing child mortality and improvement of maternal health. Also, we have analyzed the challenges women face within the biomedical sphere as nurses and midwives.

Unregulated harvest of tree bark for medicinal purposes has led to overexploitation and extinction of some valuable tree species. The study assessed bark recovery rates of four medicinal tree species and determined their regenerative abilities, stress shoot production and susceptibility to wood borers. A total of 192 trees of Bombax buonopozense, Mangifera indica, Azadirachta indica and Blighia sapida were randomly selected outside protected forests in the Moist Semi-deciduous (MSD) and Guinea Savannah (GS) ecological zones of Ghana. The trees were harvested using three harvesting intensities, 25%, 50%, and 75% bark removal. Edge and sheet re-growth, stress shoot production and wood borer attack were recorded for each tree in twelfth months. Our results show that the bark of B. buonopozense (29.4% at MSD and 21.4% at GS), M. indica (22.3% at MSD and 16.1% at GS) and A. indica (13.5% at MSD and 12.8% at GS) showed higher regeneration percentage compared to B. sapida (3.8% at MSD and 3.7% at GS), while stress shoot growth percentage was limited to only B. buonopozense (4.7% at MSD and 25% at GS). Though no tree died during the study period, borer attack was recorded for all the species except A. indica. We recommend that forest managers should allow minimum harvesting of B. sapida as they showed slow recovery, while rotation period for repeated harvest can also be prescribed for B. buonopozense and M. indica. Moreover, the coppicing ability of B. buonopozense needs to be examined since it produced a higher number of stress shoots.

Cocoa and oil palm production are major agricultural activities in Ghana, contributing substantially to the national economy and rural livelihoods. Even though smallholders produce practically all cocoa and a large fraction of oil palm in Ghana, their production is currently characterized by low yields and negative environmental and socioeconomic outcomes. Different certification standards have been promoted to enhance oil palm and cocoa sustainability in Ghana. This paper assesses the impact of certification standards on farm yields and the wellbeing of oil palm and cocoa smallholders. We focus on two sites of Ghana using a combination of monetary and non-monetary wellbeing indicators and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). Through certification, oil palm and cocoa smallholders adopt sustainable production practices (albeit to different extents), with certification having a mostly significant positive effect on farm yields, income and multidimensional poverty for both types of crop smallholders. However, certified cocoa smallholders have a relatively lower income diversification, which increases their vulnerability to price and yield fluctuations. It is important to build farmer capacity with income diversification strategies, possibly through the certification training received and the re-investment of the economic gains obtained through premiums and yield gains.