Effectiveness of combined and conventional exercise trainings on the biochemical responses of stroke patients

Isaac Kwaku Acheampong,Monday Omoniyi Moses,Biggie Baffour-Awuah,Ebenezer Essaw,Winifred Mensah,Daniel Afrifa,Lemuel Owusu 한국운동재활학회 2018 JER Vol.14 No.3

Removal of Cu(II) by biosorption onto coconut shell in fixed-bed column systems

Mike A. Acheampong,Kannan Pakshirajan,Ajit P. Annachhatre,Piet N.L. Lens 한국공업화학회 2013 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.19 No.3

Biosorption of Cu(II) onto coconut shell, an agricultural biomaterial, was studied in a fixed-bed column. The Cu(II) biosorption column had the best performance at 10 mg Lˉ1 inlet Cu(II) concentration, 10 mL minˉ1 flow rate and 20 cm bed depth. The equilibrium uptake of Cu(II) amounted to 7.25 mg gˉ1. The simulation of the breakthrough curve was successful with the BDST and Yoon–Nelson models, but the entire breakthrough curve was best predicted by the Clark model. The design of a fixed bed column for Cu(II)removal from wastewater by biosorption onto coconut shell can be done based on these models.

Modelling Data Flow in Smart Claim Processing Using Time Invariant Petri Net with Fixed Input Data

Amponsah, Anokye Acheampong,Adekoya, Adebayo Felix,Weyori, Benjamin Asubam International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2022 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.22 No.2

The NHIS provides free or highly subsidized healthcare to all people by providing financial fortification. However, the financial sustainability of the scheme is threatened by numerous factors. Therefore, this work sought to provide a solution to process claims intelligently. The provided Petri net model demonstrated successful data flow among the various participant. For efficiency, scalability, and performance two main subsystems were modelled and integrated - data input and claims processing subsystems. We provided smart claims processing algorithm that has a simple and efficient error detection method. The complexity of the main algorithm is good but that of the error detection is excellent when compared to literature. Performance indicates that the model output is reachable from input and the token delivery rate is promising.

The Effect of Women Empowerment through Self-Help Groups on Poverty Reduction in Rural Ghana: A Case Study of Elmina in Ghana

아마 아피아 아체암퐁(Ama Appiah-Acheampong),이희욱(Yi Huiuk) 영남대학교 박정희새마을연구원 2017 새마을학연구 Vol.2 No.2

여성 역량강화(empowerment)는 최근 개발도상국에서 가장 많이 논의되고 있는 주제 중 하나이다. 가나는 51%의 여성 인구를 보유한 개발도상국이다. 식민지로부터 독립 이후 빈곤이 지속되고 있다. 많은 나라의 정부, 민간사회조직, 개발 종사자들은 지난 30여년 간 개발도상국과 지구촌의 빈곤을 극복하기 위한 노력을 계속하고 있다. 이러한 노력은 인간 중심의 정책의 출현을 가져왔다. 이러한 정책 중 핵심적인 정책은 빈곤과 빈곤의 결과로부터 상대적으로 더 많은 고통을 받는 여성들에 대한 역량강화이다. 이것이 21세기의 세계의 지도자들이 여덟 개의 MDGs 중 두 개의 영역에서 남성과 여성 간의 차이를 좁히고 여성들의 건강을 증진하는데 목표를 맞추게 한다. 이러한 노력은 오직 여성들의 역량강화를 통해서만 성취될 수 있다. 이 연구는 자조그룹(SHGs)의 47%가 경제적인 측면에서, 33%가 종교적인 측면에서, 그리고 20%가 사회적인 측면의 특성을 가지고 잇다는 것을 보여준다. 기술 훈련, 교육, 저이자 금융제도 등은 자조그룹을 통한 여성 역량강화를 위한 중요한 전략이 될 수 있다. 자조그룹을 통한 여성 역량강화는 지역 공동체의 빈곤 극복에 영향력을 발휘한다. 그러나 부족한 자본, 높은 수준의 문맹률, 높은 이자율 등은 여성의 역량강화에 장애가 되고 있다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 볼 때, 자조그룹을 통한 여성의 역량강화를 위해서는 정부로부터의 보조금 지급, 교육의 제공, 저이자와 용이한 대출, 여성정책 등이 우선적으로 시행되어야 한다. Women empowerment is one of the most discussed issues in the present world, especially in developing countries. Ghana is one of the developing countries with the majority 51percent of its population being women. Since achieving independence, poverty has been dominating here. Governments, civil society organizations, development practitioners and bilateral as well as multilateral development organizations have over the past three or so decades worked and continue to do so towards reducing national and global poverty. This drive led to an emergence of different policy interventions, which are human centered. Key among these policy interventions is the empowerment of women who are identified as the most vulnerable, suffering disproportionately from poverty and its consequences. This explains why world leaders, with the turn of this millennium, dedicated two of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to work towards bridging the gap between men and women and improving maternal health. These can only be achieved through the empowerment of women. The study revealed a number of findings which include: diverse nature of SHGs with about 47 percent being formed along economic, 33 percent along religious and 20 percent along social lines respectively; skill training, education and low interest credit facilities are some of the strategies adopted in empowering women through SHGs. The extent of women’s empowerment through the SHGs have impact on poverty reduction in the municipality and is commendable. But not withstanding this fact, a number of hindrances are encountered by these women and this impedes the smooth operations of their groups in empowering women, for example, lack of capital,low literacy levels of the members, high interest rates amongst others. In view of these findings, a number of proposals were made to enhance the empowerment of women through SHG’s. These include the following: Government subsidies on operational cost,education, low interest and accessible loans, women policies amongst others.

Learning Power of Chinese Students: Why Perceived Achievement Goal Motivation, Teacher-Student Closeness and Parent Involvement Matter

( Wenjie He ),( Phinihas Acheampong ),( Qiong Li ) 경북대학교 중등교육연구소 2021 Asia Pacific Journal of Educational Research Vol.4 No.2

It is evident that helping students learn “how to learn” develop learning power. This makes young learners confident and prepared to face the challenges of life. However, this appears hard-to-accomplish in isolation without the active involvement of parents and teachers. This paper aims to investigate how teacher-student closeness, parents involvement and learning power fix together and the extent to which achievement goal orientation explains the association between the context and students’ learning. A sample of 1882 Chinese high school students in Beijing were recruited to participate in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects of student perceived achievement goal motivation, teacher-student closeness and parent involvement in predicting students’ learning power. The results demonstrate that teacher-student closeness and parent involvement were highly associated with learning power and predicted a high mastery-oriented goal motivation. The mastery-oriented goal motivation as a mediating role partially explained the association between context and students’ learning power. The findings highlight the importance of students’ learning motivation and contexts of teacher and parent involvement in developing students’ learning qualities and power.

Foreign aid—Economic Growth Nexus in Africa: Does Financial Development Matter?

Appiah-Otoo Isaac,Acheampong Alex O.,Song Na,Obeng Camara Kwasi,Appiah Isaac K. 한국국제경제학회 2022 International Economic Journal Vol.36 No.3

This study explored the role of financial development in foreign aid (measured by agriculture, humanitarian, health, economic infrastructure and services, and education aid) and economic growth relationship for 37 African countries spanning the 2002–2018 period. Using the instrumental variable generalized method of moments model, our findings indicated that while foreign aid impedes Africa’s growth, financial development spurs economic growth. The conditional effect analysis showed that financial development conditions foreign aid to spur economic growth. The country-specific analysis further showed that foreign aid has a higher growth elasticity in countries with relatively better financial systems, such as Mauritius, South Africa, Gabon, Tunisia, and Botswana, whilst the growth elasticity of aid is smaller in countries with a relatively weak financial system such as Malawi, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study recommended the need for policymakers in Africa to implement innovative ways to improve domestic revenue mobilization. The study also recommended that policymakers in Africa should create an enabling environment that will enhance the development of Africa’s financial system to mitigate the adverse effect of aid on economic growth.

Distribution of two European elaterids, Agriotes obscurus and A. lineatus in British Columbia: New records, and potential implications of their dispersal

van Herk Willem G.,Vernon Robert S.,Acheampong Susanna,Otani Jennifer K.,Uloth Keith 한국응용곤충학회 2021 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.24 No.3

Two European click beetle species, Agriotes obscurus L. (AO) and A. lineatus L. (AL) have become serious pests of agriculture in the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island areas of British Columbia (BC), but prior to the start of this survey (2017) it was unknown if they had established elsewhere in the Province. Pitfall traps baited with sex pheromone of AO and AL were placed throughout BC in 2017–2019 and collected a total of 4,988 AO and 20,103 AL beetles in 150 trap pairs. Both species were found to be distributed throughout southern BC, including high numbers in Creston, Kelowna, Pemberton, and Salmon Arm. Traps placed in northern BC, northern Alberta, northern Idaho, or the Willamette valley in western Oregon did not collect AO or AL. Traps were also deployed for A. sputator L., a related European species that has become a serious pest of potato in eastern Canada, but this species was not collected. AO and AL traps placed in the Pemberton valley of BC also collected 474 A. ferrugineipennis (LeConte), and traps placed in the northern Okanagan valley collected 75 A. oregonensis Becker. Both are native Agriotes species not closely related to AO or AL; this is the first time A. oregonensis was collected in Canada. We discuss the potential implications of the spread of AO and AL to other agricultural areas in BC and beyond.

Physiological, anthropometric parameters, and balance skill response of healthy bankers to fitness training

Abigail Oforiwaa Doku,Monday Omoniyi Moses,Isaac Kwaku Acheampong,Isaac Gyamfi,Charles Agbavor,Lady Gwendoline Akwa,Francis Osei,Eric Junior Appiah,Isaac Azo Tiguridaane,Prince De-Gaulle Deku 한국운동재활학회 2019 JER Vol.15 No.2

Drivers of integration of green into supplier selections: a systematic literature review

Tonny Ograh,Joshua Ayarkwa,Dickson Osei-Asibey,Alex Acheampong,Peter Amoah 경희대학교 글로벌 통상·금융연구원 2021 International Trade, Politics and Development Vol.5 No.2

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of extant literature on supplier selection by identifying drivers of integration of Environmental Sustainability (ES) into supplier selection, with the aim of classifying them under broad categories for the development of a framework showing the interrelationships among them.A search was ran for selected keyword themes using three powerful and rigorous search engines: Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct, to identify relevant articles from 12 peer-reviewed journals. These were desk reviewed through manual filtering to select drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection.Thirty-one drivers identified from 41 relevant articles as propelling integration of ES into supplier selection were then classified into five categories: strong policy direction, high level of commitment, desire for high reputation, robust technology and availability of green products. This yielded a framework showing the interconnectedness among the drivers.The study contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a classification of drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection. The interconnectedness brought to the fore a more subtle appreciation of the drivers of green integration, which could help expand current knowledge outside the narrow scope of isolated drivers. This study provides detailed analyses of drivers of green integration into supplier selection.This paper provides a comprehensive review of drivers of integrating green into supplier selection, which is lacking in the body of knowledge on ES.

Association of MYH9-rs3752462 polymorphisms with chronic kidney disease among clinically diagnosed hypertensive patients: a case-control study in a Ghanaian population

Owiredu William K. B. A.,Appiah Michael,Obirikorang Christian,Adu Evans Asamoah,Boima Vincent,Amos-Abanyie Ernestine Kubi,Akyaw Priscilla Abena,Owiredu Eddie-Williams,Acheampong Emmanuel 대한고혈압학회 2020 Clinical Hypertension Vol.26 No.4

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant comorbidity among hypertensive patients. Polymorphisms in the non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene (MYH9) have been demonstrated to be significantly associated with CKD, among African- and European-derived populations. We investigated the spectrum of MYH9- associated CKD among Ghanaian hypertensive patients. Methods: The study constituted a total of 264 hypertensive patients. Hypertensive patients with glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m2 (CKD-EPI formula) or clinically diagnosed were defined as case subjects (n = 132) while those with eGFR ≥60 ml/min/1.73m2 were classified as control subjects (n = 132). Demographic data were obtained with a questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were taken. Five (5) millilitres (ml) of venous blood was drawn from study subjects into gel and EDTA vacutainer tubes. Two (2) mL of EDTA anticoagulated blood was used for genomic DNA extraction while three (3) mL of blood was processed to obtain serum for biochemical measurements. Genotyping of MYH9 polymorphisms (rs3752462) was done employing Tetra primer Amplification Refractory Mutation System (T-ARMS) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Spot urine samples were also collected for urinalysis. Hardy-Weinberg population was assessed. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms and CKD. Results: The cases and control participants differed in terms of age, sex, family history, and duration of CKD (pvalue < 0.001). The minor allele frequencies of rs3752462 SNP were 0.820 and 0.567 respectively among the control and case subjects. Patients with the heterozygote genotype of rs3752462 (CT) were more likely to develop CKD [aOR = 7.82 (3.81–16.04)] whereas those with homozygote recessive variant (TT) were protective [aOR = 0.12 (0.06– 0.25)]. Single nucleotide polymorphism of rs3752462 (CT genotype) was associated with increased proteinuria, albuminuria, and reduced eGFR. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that MYH9 polymorphisms exist among Ghanaian hypertensive patients and rs3752462 polymorphism of MYH9 is associated with CKD. This baseline indicates that further longitudinal and multi-institutional studies in larger cohorts in Ghana are warranted to evaluate MYH9 SNP as an independent predictor of CKD among hypertensive patients in Ghana.