BackgroundIntegrity in academic work is a critical benchmark of every profession. For this reason, special attention should be devoted to addressing academic dishonesty (AD) in higher education to prevent the potential transfer of these practices to the workplace. In order to effectively address AD in Africa, further information about correlates of, and barriers to, the effectiveness of existing AD-controlling measures is needed. In Ghana, little is known about AD from the perspective of students. Here, we present a first report of Ghanaian undergraduate students’ self-reported understanding of, and support for, institutional AD regulations, their involvement in specific dishonest behaviours, as well as their motivation factors.ResultsApproximately 92 % of respondents said they were aware of institutional regulations on AD. However, only 31 % rated their understanding as high. Respondents believed that their lecturers had better understanding of, and support for, these regulations than the students (p < 0.001 and p < 0.0001 respectively). Approximately 40 % of respondents had witnessed their colleagues engage in AD before, but the majority (94 %) had never reported these acts. The pursuit of good grades, high academic load and pressure to please family and guardians were the leading causes of AD. Cheating during examinations and inappropriately sharing answers in the preparation of assignments were some of the highly-occurring forms of AD. Respondents believed that copying colleagues’ work without their permission was a serious offense but doing so with their permission was not.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the sampled students consent to cheating—they believed that they committed no misconduct once the parties involved had agreed on the act. Considering these misconceptions, institutions should do more to help their students better understand the different forms of AD and how to avoid them.

No abstract

Medicinal plants represent an important class of traditional medicines. This research was conducted to assess the levels of selected heavy metals in some medicinal plants from Obuasi, a mining area in Ghana. Twenty different medicinal crops were sampled for this study. The levels of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) after wet digestion. The concentrations (mg/kg) of As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mn, Ni, and Pb were 1.092 − 0.206, 1.341 − 0.253, 6.603 − 2.005, 0.045 − 0.001, 282.798 − 20.583, 4.967 − 1.676, and 26.410 − 0.629, respectively. Some concentrations of Cr, Cd, As, Mn, and Pb analyzed in all 20 medicinal plant samples exceeded WHO permissible limits for medicinal food while concentrations of Ni, As, and Hg for all the samples were below the WHO permissible limit. The estimated dietary intake (EDI) was compared to the tolerable daily intake recommended by WHO/FAO. Results obtained from hazard indices such as the hazard quotient and carcinogenic risk show that the medicinal plants are not likely to cause cancer if they are consumed over a prolonged period of time.

No abstract

The study was to analyze and determine the toxic metal contamination level of locally produced tobacco sold in the Tamale Metropolis of Northern region. The study was carried out at the Tamale Metropolis of Northern region of Ghana within a period of 12 months. The study focused on the analyses of five (5) toxic metal contaminants in twelve (12) variant locally produced tobacco sold in various spots within the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana. Toxic metals including As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Cr were analyzed using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The mean recorded concentrations of As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Cr were respectively in the ranges of 0.184 ± 0.011 to 0.515 ± 0.015 µg/kg, 0.0420 ± 0.010 to 3.100 ± 0.000 µg/kg, 0.176 ± 0.016 to 0.291 ± 0.009 µg/kg, 1.169 ± 0.019 to 3.195 ± 0.019 µg/kg and 1.600 ± 0.116 to 3.880 ± 0.369 µg/kg. The mean concentrations of As and Pb measured in all samples tested were below their respective WHO permissible limits of 4.00 ppm and 10.00 ppm. In the case of Cd, mean concentrations measured for all locally produced tobacco tested were above the WHO permissible limits of 0.30 ppm. For the metal Hg, levels measured in 75% of tested locally produced tobacco were slightly above the WHO permissible limit of 0.20 µg/kg. Cr levels measured in 30% of tested locally produced tobacco were below the WHO permissible limits of 2.00 µg/kg. The very presence of these metals typically raises health concerns on consumption in the instances where their levels exceeded permissible guideline limits. The study revealed that Cd, Hg and Cr levels in the locally produced tobacco studied were found to exceed the WHO permissible limits for human consumption by plant uptake with As and Pb levels well below their permissible thresholds. The analyzed locally produced tobacco essentially poses a threat of heavy metal toxicity to consumers via bioaccumulation and bio-concentration in human tissues.