1,720,977 research outputs found
The shift from traditional to an improved fish smoking oven in Ghana : implications for food safety and public health
No full textSmoked fish is a major animal protein source in Ghana. However, traditional processing methods result in contamination of the products with elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs). Unsatisfactory handling and storage practices also predispose the products to other food safety hazards. An improved oven, called the FAO-Thiaroye Processing Technique (FTT), has been introduced as an intervention. This study investigated the efficacy of the FTT through comparative fish smoking experiments with traditional ovens. Smoked fish from the test ovens were analyzed for PAHs [benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, chrysene], biogenic amines [β-phenylethylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine and tyramine], Escherichia coli (hygiene indicator), Pseudomonas sp. (biogenic amine producer) and Salmonella sp. (microbial pathogen). PAHs were identified as the most relevant hazards in the products, with a 100% prevalence and a 100% exceedance of EU regulatory limits. Histamine levels (maximum 49 mg/kg) were below the regulatory limit (200 mg/kg), and Salmonella sp. was not detected in any of the samples. Whereas PAH levels in FTT products (max. 1.8 μg/kg for BaP and max. 8 μg/kg for PAH4) were below EU limits (2 μg/kg for BaP and 12 μg/kg for PAH4), in products of the traditional ovens, the levels exceeded the regulatory limits by up to 33 times. A risk assessment showed that the FTT significantly reduced consumer exposure to the hazard. A sensory evaluation suggested consumer acceptance of FTT products. A multicriteria decision analysis considering food safety, consumer acceptance, occupational health, economic and environmental factors showed that the FTT is a viable intervention for reducing exposure to PAHs in smoked fish in Ghana, although its adoption would require significant financial inputs. The findings highlight the public health risks associated with the use of the traditional ovens, and the potency of the FTT to reduce such risks
BIOACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS IN AFRICAN RED SNAPPER (Lutjanus agennes) AND CASSAVA FISH (Pseudotolithus senegalensis) CAUGHT OFF THE COAST OF ACCRA, GHANA
Get PDFThe level of Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in African red snapper (Lutjanus agennes) and cassava fish (Pseudotolithus senegalensis) caught off the coast of Accra, Ghana, were monitored from November 2011 to March 2012 using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Over the five months period, variations occurred in the level of each of the heavy metals in each of the fish species. The heavy metals accumulated in the gills and bones more than in the muscle tissues of type of fish. The order of accumulation of the heavy metals in African red snapper in terms of magnitude were Zn>Pb>Fe>Mn>Cu in the bones, Fe>Zn>Pb>Mn>Cu in the gills and Fe>Pb>Zn>Mn>Cu in the muscle tissue. For cassava fish the order was Fe>Zn>Pb>Mn>Cu in the bones, Fe>Pb>Zn>Mn>Cu in the muscle, and Fe>Pb>Zn>Mn>Cu in the gills. In the muscle tissue, the part of fish which is normally consumed, the mean value for the various heavy metals over the five months period in the African red snapper were Cu, 0.73 mg/kg; Fe,; 8.18 mg/kg Mn, 0.66 mg/kg; Pb, 7.04 mg/kg; and Zn, 5.16 mg/kg. In cassava fish, the mean values in the muscle tissues were Cu, 0.53 mg/kg; Fe, 9.38; Mn, 0.67 mg/kg; Pb, 5.90 mg/kg; Zn, 6.18 mg/kg. The concentrations of the heavy metals found in both fish species were mostly above the safe limits recommended by WHO. Key words: Fish, Heavy metals, accumulation, bioaccumulation, red snapper, cassava fis
The Effectiveness of Water, Salt and Vinegar in Reducing the Bacteria Population in Fresh Green Cabbage.
Get PDFGreen cabbage has great nutritional and therapeutical values and is usually used as the main ingredient for preparing fresh vegetable salad for consumption. The aim of this work was to identify the bacteria population in different sections of green cabbage heads obtained from some selected markets in Accra and also to determine the most appropriate method for washing to reduce the bacteria population prior to consumption. In the investigation, samples were obtained from five open markets in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Fresh leaves taken from the outer, middle and inner sections of the samples were analyzed for aerobic mesophilic organisms, coliforms and Escherichia coli. They were then washed with tap water, 5% salt solution or 50% vinegar solution for five minutes, and the effectiveness of the treatments in reducing the bacteria population determined. Results from the analysis showed that the outer sections of fresh green cabbage heads had high microbial load followed by the middle sections whilst the inner sections were almost sterile. The aerobic mesophilic counts ranged from 106–108 CFU/g for the untreated outer section of the samples, 104–106 CFU/g for the untreated middle sections, and 101–102 CFU/g for the untreated inner sections. Coliforms ranged from 104–106 CFU/g for the untreated outer section of the samples, 102–104 CFU/g for the untreated middle sections and 101 CFU/g for the untreated inner sections. E.coli ranged from 102–103 CFU/g for the untreated outer section of the samples and 101 CFU/g for the untreated middle sections. E. coli was however not detected in the untreated inner sections of the cabbage heads analyzed. The pathogens Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were also identified on the samples from the five markets. The treatment with 50% vinegar solution was most effective in reducing the bacteria population on the samples analyzed followed by 5% salt solution and tap water the least effective. The outcome of this work serves as a basis for creating awareness against the use of ordinary tap water by caterers and promote the use of vinegar or salt solutions as a means of reducing bacteria population in freshly served cabbages. Keywords: Cabbage, Aerobic mesophiles, Coliforms, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereu
Broadening monitoring and evaluation within reforming national agricultural research systems
Get PDFThe Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Ghana, together with the Natural Resources Institute of the United Kingdom and with input from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration convened a one-day Policy Dialogue Forum on “Broadening Monitoring and Evaluation within Reforming National Agricultural Research Systems”. The meeting provided a platform for discussing current experiences with monitoring and evaluation by CSIR and for introducing alternative practices (frameworks, methods and tools) that would enable research bodies to
manage and demonstrate their performance and contribution to national development targets in a consistent and coherent form. While the pilot project was conducted at institutional level, involving two CSIR institutes (CRI and
FRI), the forum was conducted at the corporate level, and including other corporate organisations from the public and private sectors.
The objectives of the forum were
1. To disseminate experiences from the first phase of a performance measurement action research project within NARS in Ghana and Uganda
2. To raise awareness among Ghana’s research management community and allied stakeholders of the importance of measuring institutional performance as an element of demonstrating developmental impact
3. To explore with key stakeholders opportunities for strengthening institutional performance measurement and management in the context of ongoing institutional reform in CSIR and other public sector organisations.
Participants were made up of Senior Management Personnel from public organisations and training institutions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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