Mosquito Control Strategies and Insecticide Resistance of the Malaria Vector in Urbanized Land Use Types in Suame Municipality, Ghana.

Modified landscapes could create breeding habitats for mosquitoes and affect their community structure and susceptibility with implications for their management. Hence, in this study, household mosquito control methods in two urbanized landscapes; industrial and residential human settlements, in Ghana and insecticide susceptibility of the inhabiting Anopheles populations were assessed. Household knowledge and usage pattern of mosquito control methods in the modified landscapes were obtained using a questionnaire. Female adult Anopheles mosquitoes were also subjected to susceptibility tests using mosquito coils (0.08% meperfluthrin, 0.03% dimefluthrin, and 0.3% transfluthrin) and World Health Organization (WHO) insecticide test papers (0.05% deltamethrin, 4% DDT, 0.1% bendiocarb, 0.25% pirimiphos-methyl, and 5% malathion). Although insecticide-treated nets and aerosols were used for mosquito control, mosquito coils were the most common and widely preferred household method. The Anopheles mosquitoes were resistant to all the insecticides (mosquito coils and WHO test papers) except pirimiphos-methyl. Land use type did not affect insecticide resistance, but the insecticide type did. The findings indicate the effect of household insecticide usage practices on local mosquito populations and their implications for effective vector management and disease control in modified landscapes.

Assessing measurement invariance of the SEGUE framework among Chinese and Ghanaian patients: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: Measurement invariance assesses the psychometric equivalence of a construct across groups or across time. This study aimed to find out whether the newly modified 5-point Likert scale SEGUE Framework for evaluating doctor's communication skills demonstrates measurement invariance among Chinese and Ghanaian patients. Methods: Measurement invariance tests were conducted using two samples collected from the two cultures respectively (China: N = 598 and Ghana: N = 591). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to test for the factor structure. Multiple-group CFA was used to test the measurement invariance of the SEGUE between the two samples. Results: The same five-factor model showed acceptable model fit in both Chinese and Ghanaian samples. Cross-cultural measurement invariance tests revealed that scalar invariance was observed across the two samples. Conclusion: Cross-cultural adaptations of instruments should exhibit measurement invariance to ensure that measures are interpreted and used consistently. Findings of our study suggest that the SEGUE Framework is invariant across the two cultures, which increases confidence in data collection and comparison. Innovation: This is the first study to establish measurement invariance among Chinese and Ghanaians using the SEGUE Framework which assesses doctors' communication from patients' perspectives.

Selective and clear-cut logging have varied imprints on tree community structure in a moist semi-deciduous forest in Ghana.

Logging-induced disturbance can be an important agent of change in tropical forests. Understanding the relative impacts of specific logging regimes on tree community structure is essential for forest management and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we assessed the response of tree community structure to selective and clear-cut logging in a moist semi-deciduous forest in Ghana. We quantified the diversity, composition, density and basal area of trees (diameter at breast height ≥5 cm) in 30 20 × 20 m plots in each of three forest management systems (selectively logged, clear-cut logged, old-growth). Our results showed that the two logged forests harboured significantly lower tree species diversity than the old-growth forest. Nevertheless, the selectively logged forest supported significantly higher tree species diversity than the clear-cut logged forest. Similarly, both logging regimes caused shifts in tree species composition, but the shift was higher in the clear-cut forest than the selectively logged forest, indicating a better recovery in the selective logging stands. Selective and clear-cut logged forests supported similar stem density of trees, but they were lower than that of the old-growth forest. Finally, the old-growth forest exhibited significantly higher basal area than the selectively logged forest, which in turn, had significantly higher basal area than the clear-cut logged forest. Overall, selective logging imprints on tree community structure were lower than clear-cut logging due to faster recovery by the former. Our findings suggest that logged tropical forests may require a long period to fully recover.