http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/93 2026-04-06T10:18:59Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4637 Insects observed on cowpea flowers in three Districts in the Central Region of Ghana. Hordzi, W. Globally, it has been estimated that more than 100,000 species of wild plants depend on insects for pollination and reproduction. In Africa, and for that matter Ghana, not much is known about crop pollinators, especially legumes such as cowpea. In Ghana, little is known about even insects that visit the cowpea flowers. However, if the insects that visit the cowpea flowers are known it would serve as a platform to investigate insects that can possibly cause pollination in cowpea. Hence, this study was undertaken to verify the types of insects that visit cowpea flowers in three districts in the Central Region of Ghana. As a result, insects that visited cowpea flowers on surveyed, and the researcher’s own established farms were observed on the petals, tip of the stigma and inside the flowers. Samples of insects collected were identified. Also, percentage frequency of occurrence of the insects on the various parts of the flowers was determined. Differences between total frequencies were determined using chi square (÷²) analysis. The main insects observed on the cowpea flowers were bees such as Apis mellifera, Ceratina sp, Megachile sp, Xylocopa calens, Xylocopa imitator, Braussepis sp., .Lipotriches sp., Melecta sp and Amegilla sp. and other insects, such as thrips, flies, butterflies / moths, beetles, and Dysdercus sp. Thrips were the insects most often observed on the cowpea flowers in the surveyed farms, followed by flies or dipterans, Lasioglossium sp and butterflies/moths. From the researcher’s own established farm, during the minor rainy season, the most active insect observed on the tip of stigmas of the flowers was Megachile sp whilst thrips, butterflies / moths, Lasioglossum sp. and flies were active on the petals of the flowers. The differences between the total frequencies were highly significant (÷² = 154.61; P = 0.001). Indications are that Ceratina is most likely to be cowpea flower pest rather than a pollinator. However, further research into the role of Ceratina on cowpea flowers is recommended. 2011-05-01T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/349 The association between core job components, physical activity, and mental health in African academics in a post-COVID-19 context Asiamah N.; Muhonja F.; Omisore A.; Opuni F.F.; Mensah H.K.; Danquah E.; Agyemang S.M.; Agyemang I.; Hatsu S.; Baffoe R.S.; Eku E.; Manu C.A. This study examined the association between core job components (i.e. teaching, research, and student assessment), physical activity (PA), and mental health in a post-COVID-19 context. An online questionnaire administered via Google Forms was used to gather data from 1064 African academics in four countries. A sensitivity analysis was applied to adjust for covariates. Data were analyzed with the hierarchical linear regression analysis. The average age of participants was 44�years. The study found that PA was positively associated with research but negatively associated with student assessment. Mental health was positively associated with onsite teaching but negatively associated with online teaching and research. PA did not predict mental health and mediate the relationship between the job components and mental health. It is concluded that PA may not increase mental health in African academics in a post-COVID-19 situation that required the resumption of work while observing social distancing protocols. � 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Asiamah, N., School of Health and Care Professions, University of Portsmouth, Winston Churchill Ave, Portsmouth, PO1 2UP, United Kingdom, Africa Centre for Epidemiology, P. O. Box AN, Accra, 16284, Ghana; Muhonja, F., School of Public Health, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya; Omisore, A., Department of Community Medicine, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria; Opuni, F.F., Department of Marketing, Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana; Mensah, H.K., Human Resources and Organizational Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Danquah, E., Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Koforidua Technical University, Koforidua, Ghana; Agyemang, S.M., Department of Physical Education and Health, Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education, Abetifi, Ghana; Agyemang, I., West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, Accra, Ghana; Hatsu, S., Department of Computer Science, Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana; Baffoe, R.S., School of Business, Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana; Eku, E., Institute for Distance Education and E-learning, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana; Manu, C.A., School of Business, Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z