ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Modelling the Occurrence and Incidence of Seropositive HIV Cases Model: A Case Study at Korle - Bu Teaching Hospital (2008 – 2010)

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS) was identified in the early 1980s in the United States and since then a number of people have been affected by the pandemic. Though a lot of education has been made on the repercussions of AIDS on the socio economic development in our dear nation and a lot of research has been carried out in the fight against the menace, the disease continues to be endemic. This study seeks to model the occurrence and incidence of Human Immune Virus (HIV) seropositive cases at Korle – Bu Teaching Hospital from January 2008 to August 2010. The data for this research is obtained from the chest clinic of the Korle – Bu Teaching Hospital. The data had a total of 220 observations and five variables under study. In the data consisting of gender, age and month of testing in a given year, the number of positive HIV cases was modeled using the Poisson regression. The Poisson regression was fitted to the data using the SAS statistical software (version 9.1). The negative binomial regression model was used to validate the Poisson regression model in the case of over dispersion. From the results, where the best model that fitted the data had an intercept estimate of -0.6424 which was the log of the expected number of occurrence of HIV positive cases when all other variables in the model are evaluated at zero, the number of occurrence of HIV positive cases for females was more than that of males. Also Adolescents between the ages of 35 -39 years have a higher incidence rate of HIV positive cases.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the queue in a call centre: (a case of IT Helpdesk, Vodafone Ghana)

The motivation for carrying out this research was to add to the extensive study that has gone into call centre operations. Our focus was on minimizing staffing and waiting costs, by optimizing agent utilization, at a reasonable operational performance level. We model three kinds of queues that occur in a call centre. We examined the situation where callers do not wait in a queue but are either immediately served or blocked from entering service; then the situation where callers wait in a queue and none of the callers abandon the queue before being served; and lastly the situation where provision is made for callers in the queue who abandon their calls before they are served. The question we want to answer is, how many agents (servers) are required in order to minimize staffing and waiting costs. In answering this question, we proceeded with data collection at our case study call centre, IThelpdesk, through interviewing of the agents, observation and from performance reports. From the data gathered we developed a forecast of the rate at which calls arrived at the call centre and the average handling time. We then developed a simulation method for determining the minimum number of agents required. Using the forecasts developed as input we simulated the arrival and the service rendered to the callers by varying the number of agents attending to the calls from two to five. For the different numbers we run hundred simulations each taking note of average waiting time of callers, maximum waiting, and number of callers each agent served. From the simulation results and we conclude that four (4) agents could attend to the calls instead of the six agents being used. Based on this result we recommend the use of simulation approach to compliment other tools used to determine the required number of agents to serve at a call centre in order to minimizing staffing and waiting costs.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the risk factors of neonatal mortality in Ghana using logistic regression

The purpose of this study was to use logistic regression to assess and analyse the risk factors of neonatal deaths in Ghana and to suggest some interventions that can be used in order to improve survival of newborns in the country. Binary logistic regression was use for the presentation and analysis of data from the 2008 GDHS by the Ghana Statistical Service. Three models were developed each for mother level factors, child level factors and environmental level factors. The results show that, for the mother level factors it was found that the age of the mother and the wealth index were risk factors as causing neonatal mortality in Ghana. For the child level factors which included size of child, sex of child and whether the child was a twin or not, none of these factors seen significant as causing neonatal mortality. For the environmental level factors it was found that only the region (site of delivery) of the respondent was significant.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the transmission behavior of measles disease considering contaminated environment through a fractal-fractional Mittag-Leffler kernel

This work utilises a fractal-fractional operator to examine the dynamics of transmission of measles disease. The existence and uniqueness of the measles model have been thoroughly examined in the context of the fixed point theorem, specifically utilising the Atangana-Baleanu fractal and fractional operators. The model has been demonstrated to possess both Hyers-Ulam stability and Hyers-Ulam Rassias stability. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis of the model was performed, including examination of key parameters such as the fundamental reproduction number, the measles-free and measles-present equilibria, and assessment of global stability. This research has shown that the transmission of measles disease is affected by natural phenomena, as changes in the fractal-fractional order lead to changes in the disease dynamics. Furthermore, environmental contamination has been shown to play a significant role in the transmission of the measles disease.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the Transmission Dynamics of Malaria in Ghana: A Case Study of the Greater Accra Region

Malaria is hyper-endemic in Ghana, especially in the Greater Accra Region. It remains a major public health problem and requires prompt and effective case management. The Bulletin of Health Information: October 2004, 1 (1), reports that outpatient attendance over the last 19 years illustrates the increasing burden of malaria in the region. While there is an overall consistent decrease of other infectious and parasitic diseases (from 31.8% in 1985 to 19.5% in 2003), there has been an increase in malaria cases (from 37.1% in 1985 to 44.7% in 2003). Patterns of malaria morbidity and mortality in the region seem consistent with those observed in areas with high transmission in Ghana, emphasizing that the challenge of reducing malaria burden is still unmet. The significance of the malaria burden in the region necessitated a formulation of a mathematical model to assess the impact of control strategies on malaria. Our model uses ordinary differential equations to simulate the spread of malaria. We performed stability analysis and numerical simulations on the model and the results show that the model has two equilibria: the disease-free equilibrium which is locally asymptotically stable when and the endemic equilibrium that is locally asymptotically stable when .

Source: KNUST
Modelling the shortest path problem by using linear programming approach. a case of Nkawie fire station

There has been a number of fire outbreak cases recorded in the Atwima Nwabiagya District that has brought about loss of lives of inhabitants and loss of properties. Some routes within the district can be reconstructed into bitumen roads so that fire attackers can traverse through the district in order to prevent fire incidents. The main objective in this study is finding the minimum travel distances and shortest paths from the Nkawie Fire Station to all other towns in the district of Atwima Nwabiagya district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Shortest path algorithms of various variants have been discussed with examples in this study as well as review of abstracts of other related books and articles. The linear programming approach was the method used. The primal and dual models have been explained and dual model in which we maximize the source node minus the destination node subject to an inequality constraints, was the appropriate model used to write the constraints of the problem. It was found out that as a destination is used in the objective function, the dual algorithm proceeds to obtaining minimum distances to every other destination. The Lindo 6.1 software was used to solve the maximization problem and the results are found in the appendices of this study. There was an optimal distances from Nkawie (NK) to all the towns in the district. The distance from Nkawie (NK) to Mfensi (MF) was found to be 14.3km, that of Akropong(AK) was 21.1km etc.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the Transmission Dynamics of Meningitis among High and Low-Risk People in Ghana with Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, which covers the brain and spinal cord. Every year, most individuals within sub- Saharan Africa suffer from meningococcal meningitis. Moreover, tens of thousands of these cases result in death, especially during major epidemics. The transmission dynamics of the disease keep changing, according to health practitioners. The goal of this study is to exploit robust mechanisms to manage and prevent the disease at a minimal cost due to its public health implications. A significant concern found to aid in the transmission of meningitis disease is the movement and interaction of individuals from low-risk to high-risk zones during the outbreak season. Thus, this article develops a mathematical model that ascertains the dynamics involved in meningitis transmissions by partitioning individuals into low- and high-risk susceptible groups. After computing the basic reproduction number, the model is shown to exhibit a unique local asymptotically stability at the meningitisfree equilibrium E†, when the effective reproduction number R0 < 1, and the existence of two endemic equilibria for which R†0 < R0 < 1 and exhibits the phenomenon of backward bifurcation, which shows the difficulty of relying only on the reproduction number to control the disease. The effective reproductive number estimated in real time using the exponential growth method affirmed that the number of secondary meningitis infections will continue to increase without any intervention or policies. To find the best strategy for minimizing the number of carriers and infected individuals, we reformulated the model into an optimal control model using Pontryagin’s maximum principles with intervention measures such as vaccination, treatment, and personal protection. Although Ghana’s most preferred meningitis intervention method is via treatment, the model’s simulations demonstrated that the best strategy to control meningitis is to combine vaccination with treatment. But the cost-effectiveness analysis results show that vaccination and treatment are among the most expensive measures to implement. For that reason, personal protection which is the most cost-effective measure needs to be encouraged, especially among individuals migrating from low- to high-risk meningitis belts.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the Pension Funds in Ghana Using Generalized Linear Model: A Case Study of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

In recent times some doubts have been expressed on the ability of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) scheme to pay pensions in the future because its investments have yielded low returns. This calls for the reason to model the size of the pension fund in terms of the Investment Income, In ation rate, Contribution and Contributors. Generalised linear models, Gamma and Gaussian distributions were used to model the size of the pension fund using data from 1967 to 2013. The empirical results based on the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), graphical analysis of QQ-Plots and plots of Residuals versus Fitted reveals that the Gamma regression is the best model as compared to the Gaussian regression model.

Source: KNUST
Modelling The Transshipment Problem Of Bottled Water Processing Company Based In Accra, Ghana

Enhancement of production and customer satisfaction depends on efficient and reliable supply chain system. Useful application of Network models of supply chain system is the management and efficient use of scarce resources to increase productivity. These applications include operational problems such as the distributions of goods, production scheduling, transportation network design just to mention a few. Problem of redundancy at destination centers and high cost of transporting products from manufacturing centers to consumers has impose a huge challenge on most industries as the supply chain system becomes large. The transportation problem as a Linear Programming Problem seeks the determination of a shipping plan for a single commodity from a number of sources to a number of destinations whilst satisfying the demand at all destinations. The objective of this study is to model the transportation and the distribution network of a bottled-water processing company as a transshipment problem and also minimize the cost of shipping commodities from their sources through the warehouses to the final destinations. The study considered a numerical example of a transshipment problem. A primary data was collected from the bottledwater processing company. We formulated the Transshipment problem as a Transportation problem and we solved it by using QM for windows (Software for Quantitative Methods, operations Research and Management Science) with the Initial Basic Feasible Solution obtained by Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM). The study revealed that a significant savings of GH¢843502.25 could be made if Bottled-water processing company adapt this method.

Source: KNUST
Modelling transportation problems in the timber industry: a case of Asuo Boosadu Timber Sawmill Limited (ABTS), Berekum

The transportation problem is a special class of the linear programming problem. It deals with the situation in which a commodity is transported from source to destinations. The proposed transportation model of manufacturing good to customers (key distributors) is considered in this research. The data gathered were modelled as a linear programming model of transportation type and represent the transport problem as a tableau and solve it with computer software solves to generate an optional solution. The main objective is to model the product of ABTS transportation as a transportation problem and minimize the cost of transportation of plywood in the ABTS Company. The quantitative method (QM) software will be used to analyze the data.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the volatility of the Ghana stock market: A comparative study

The Ghana stock market is considered attractive to both local and international investors, as it is a developing market with potential for growth. The volatility of stock returns is one of the crucial features of Ghana's stock market that should be carefully taken into account by any investor or policymaker. As a result, the GARCH, TGARCH, and EGARCH models were used in this study to analyze the volatility of the Ghanaian stock market. The models were assessed using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), RMSE and MAPE. The TGARCH (1,1) with generalized error distribution was the model that suited the data the best based on the AIC, RMSE, and MAPE values.

Source: KNUST
Modelling the West African Examination Council’s question paper depot inspection as a travelling salesman problem

The travelling salesman problem is considered to be a classic example of what is known as a tour problem. Essentially, any type of tour problem involves making a series of stops along a designated route and making a return journey without ever making a second visit to any previous stop. Generally, a tour problem is present when there is concern on making the most of available resources such as time and mode of travel to accomplish the most in results. Finding a solution to a tour problem is sometimes referred to as discovering the least-cost path, implying that the strategic planning of the route will ensure maximum benefit with minimum expenditure incurred. The concept of the travelling salesman problem can be translated into a number of different disciplines. As a form of optimization that is useful in both mathematical and computer science disciplines, combinatorial optimization seeks to team relevant factors and apply them in a manner that will yield the best results with repeated usage. This study formulated a real-life problem of WAEC as a TSP, modelled as network problem and applies dynamic programming approach in solving the problem. It was observed that the route that gave minimum achievable inspection plan was 1 – 3 – 6 –9 – 10 at the minimum distance of 183 km, by visiting as many as five centres on the route.

Source: KNUST
The moderation effect of strategic planning and innovative capabilities on the performance in selected insurance companies

The purpose of this study was to assess the moderation effect of Strategic Planning and Innovative Capabilities on Performance in selected Insurance Companies. Secondary data for the research was collected by reviewing textbooks, journals, articles, magazines, publications, industry reports, etc. to gather historical perspectives of the research data from renowned authors and researchers. Primary data was gathered with the aid of questionnaires. One hundred (100) questionnaires were sent to employees of the Greater-Accra region of selected insurance companies. Sixty Five (65) responses were obtained representing a response rate of 65%. The results of the administered questionnaires showed a fairly low level of agreement for the features of the various dimensions of strategic planning and innovative capabilities in the insurance companies. However, this study showed the middle level and low level staff of the companies has little knowledge about strategic planning and innovative capabilities of the compa nies. The top management does all the strategic planning and innovations in the company but it is not communicated to the staff. This study also showed that middle and low level employees were ignorant about most major decision of the companies. The researcher recommends that management must ensure that all the department of the organisation is committed to the strategic planning process and implementation. In events where there is breakdown of processes in the organisation, it renders such all efforts ineffective and therefore detrimental to the success of the organisation

Source: KNUST
A modern outlook to symbology in visual arts among the Ewe of Ghana

The aim of this thesis is to study symbolism in the ‘Fiaga’s’ regalia with the view to recreating selected symbols in the modern context for visual communication purposes. A breakdown of the main problem reveals the link between the lifestyles of the Ho-Ewes and their art which is represented by the ‘Fiaga’s’ regalia. The first part discusses the significance of symbol among Ewe of Ho. The sacred stool serves as a medium of religion as well as anthropological evidence. One visual proof of symbolic objects which preserves the historical past of the people of Ho is the three warrior’s staff of office. The ‘Hliha’ stone staff of office and one of several symbolic objects which are maintained through the use of the ‘Fiaga’s’ staffs of office. Another aspect of the problem revealed that the symbolic objects are composites of basic elements of art. Some of these elements were indented in selected objects such as the sacred stool, the pineapple staff of office, the double-blade state sword and the ‘Fiaga’s’ ceremonial sandals with a bird in Flight. The analysis of these selected symbolic objects showed that the elements of art were so organized as to expose balance, rhythm, contrast, symmetry, unity and harmony. The last part of the research asserts that it is possible to redesign the symbols and symbolic objects for visual communication. It has been found that the pineapple staff of office can be redesigned to be used in book illustrations. A logo was produces out of the ‘Fiaga’s’ chameleon state sword and used for a complimentary card. The ceremonial stool was redesigned in the modern content while an identification symbol was derived from the Hen and Chicken staff of office of the queen mother. Similarly, other symbolic objects –Ewe and non-Ewe alike – can be redesigned for visual communication purposes. Research for this thesis is a combination of library studies and field work. Photographs of the original symbolic objects and hand drawn representations have been used to illustrate the main theme.

Source: KNUST
Modern Trends in Tropical Pharmaceutical Industry Design

Modern trends are being shaped by Science and Technology today and the pharmaceutical industry is not excluded in this technological age as manufacturers and other stakeholders seek more advanced methods, as in any other sector, to run their businesses. In Ghana, though at a slower pace, the industry is gradually embracing the idea of advanced trends in technology systems in the daily running of their industries. Among the advantages is an improvement in quality of products, a larger customer base and an increase in sales, which are priorities for any business – minded person. Technology has become an integral part of the industry, beginning at the conceptual stage of the design of the facility. Aside function, intelligence and aesthetics have become integral in modern trends in technology and is being applied in the kind of machinery and equipment being manufactured, security systems, construction materials and finishes, control of parameters such as lighting, temperature, humidity, ventilation, maintenance schedules among others. The extents of evolving trends, especially in terms of technology in the industry, like any other sector, cannot be foretold. This study therefore identifies key areas of the industry and the evolving trends there. Set in a tropical background too, the study also explores how modern trends can become adaptable in a generic tropical zone. Also as the industry is health related, trends regarding regulations, procedures and requirements are continually being changed and upgraded and these are also explored. For a better appreciation, all these, culminate in a design proposal highlighting possibilities to modern trends in a tropical setting and the possibilities to the way forward.

Source: KNUST
Modernism in Chinua Achebe’s Novels: a structuralist study of the macrotext of the recit of Chinua Achebe’s novels

The 20th century literary scene was dominated by two types of artists — the modern and the modernist writers. While the former group had the classical notion of art and used literature as a means of improving society, the latter saw art as mainly for entertainment, and drained their works of any moral content. Indeed, the more modernist works completely rejected the notion of event and concentrated on structures and the discourse. The literary debate between the two groups has been fierce. What I have tried to do in this book is to show through the works of Chinua Achebe that the internecine feud between the two groups is unnecessary. Using Genette’s theoretical framework on the macrotext of the recit, I have demonstrated that Achebe progressively increases his use of modernist principles from his first novel to his latest. Through the study, I have demonstrated two important things: the first is that modern and modernist writings need not be mutually exclusive. Secondly, the modernist novel which has been described as subjective can also be objective. Indeed, Achebe shows that through a progressive elimination of the omniscient point of view and the use of polymodality, objectivity can be achieved in a modernist novel. The burden of this work has therefore been to situate Achebe’s (and by implication, Africa’s) prose art within the contemporary stream of world literature. By so doing, I hope I have demonstrated the lessons literary artists from elsewhere (especially the West) can learn from Africa.

Source: KNUST