ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Tamale

The world knows what Roman architecture is, but African architecture is classified among primitive forms, but is it? Is there no beauty in the way our fathers lived? It seems we do not have a place in world class architecture or so it has been made to seem. The times are changing and the world by means of mass technology will turn into a small global village. Modernity will overtake us as we loose our own culture. If that is fate, so be it. Let us however be mindful of the past, that the only way to a great future for Africans is by looking back at what our forefathers did before, improving on them as we go along into the future using them as a guide. This museum is an ark that preserves and exhibits the culture of the northern region of Ghana. It is to be built in a traditional style with little foreign influence in choice of form. It is my dream and vision, that whole cities in the future should depict traditional indigenous styles of the Africans. This is the genesis of that dream. SCOPE OF THESIS This thesis covers the range of topics numerated below. 1. Research on museums 2. West African History 3. Culture 4. Conservation principles 5. Climate 6. Structure and materials 7. Philosophy and religion 8. Services 9. African tribal art

Source: KNUST
Museums in Asante

The searchlight of this research is thrown on historical and artistic museums in the Asante kingdom which has in their collection a legacy of rich cultural history and unique arts that have received much recognition all over the world. The arts are kept in various museums in Asante and other museums in and outside Ghana. The documentation of artefacts in the history and art museums in Asante needs to be stepped up in order to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the people since it would provide a platform for tourists, anthropologists and educational institutions to gather information from the works and appreciate them. The museums are faced with a number of problems which range from curatorial to maintenance functions. There is evidently less publicity and the documentation of the artefacts and relics are improperly done especially with respect to bringing them under one roof to possess a common force to expose the culture to the public. These problems therefore create a fertile ground for the documentation of museums to meet modern trends, which to the present researcher if well done, would serve as an educational pool of knowledge for Asante culture. Since the research involved a couple of visits to the various museums in Asante, well structured interviews were carried out with the various officials of the museums. Also in-depth observation of the various artefacts was made. This resulted in the use of the descriptive and qualitative methods of research for the thesis. Data collected from the various officials served as the researcher’s primary data and the library research serves as secondary source of the data. The research contains its finding as a documentation of artefacts of the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, Manhyia Palace Museum and the Armed Forces Museum. It is highly recommended that curators of the various historical and art museums should make things easy for researchers interested in museum study. This suggestion is being made by the present researcher because of the thick and thin he went through before gaining a bit of rapport with the various curators of the museums. If a simple laid down procedure is made and followed, it would lessen the burden of research in these areas and researchers would be able to write to educate on museums and their relevance in one’s ethnic culture. In conclusion, deductions from data confirm that documentation of the various museums under one umbrella could not only go long way not only to project Asante culture but also raise the image of the museums in Asante as a way of attracting tourists and other scholars to the Ashanti Region.

Source: KNUST
Mushroom Production Centre

A major advance in agriculture today is the development of cultivation techniques for edible tropical mushrooms which, since earliest times, have been valued as a special delicacy in soups and stews. This development has been necessitated by the seasonal appearance of this crop as well as the fast increasing demand for meat substitute here and abroad. Successful cultivation of crops, such as mushroom is the kind of crop which requires knowledge of basic sciences. But one remarkable characteristic of these mushrooms is that they only require many kinds of agricultural, industrial or other waste as substrates for the production the substrates must have quite a reasonable degree of warmth and humidity and the nutrient content must be higher to support the growth of a particular mushroom. If these basic requirements could be met by these organisms the mushrooms could convert this waste material into human food. Notwithstanding the simplicity of its growth process, mushroom cultivation is a complicated business, It involves a number of different operations including the selection of an acceptable fruiting culture of the mushroom, preparation of spawn and compost, inoculation of the compost, crop care, harvesting, preservation of the mushroom and marketing. Each of these operations consists of many other sequential steps to be pursued which are equally necessary for a successful operation of the mushroom business. While there is available, a solid background of scientific information for these various operations with a number of cultivated species. In much aspects mushroom cultivation is an art and a science. Consequently, in order to maintain a reasonably high and stable yield of mushrooms both fundamental knowledge of mushroom science and the accumulative information of practical experience in mushroom cultivation are required. The cultivation of mushroom deals with living organisms, not only the mushroom itself but also other microorganisms including both harmful and beneficial ones. Therefore the methods employed in mushroom cultivation require some modification from one region to another, as different environmental conditions and different species of micro organisms may be encountered. Mushroom farming provides one of the most economical way to make use of agricultural by-products which otherwise would have been left to rot in the field. These include e.g. 1. Rice Straw 2.Maize Storer, cobs and chuff. In summary, science and practice in mushroom cultivation have led to some useful general concepts about various stages in the process but the biological complexity involved in the interaction of various micro organisms, different natural substrates and a diversity of environmental conditions requires a multitude of methods for cultivating mushrooms.

Source: KNUST
MXene: fundamentals to applications in electrochemical energy storage

A new, sizable family of 2D transition metal carbonitrides, carbides, and nitrides known as MXenes has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. This is because MXenes exhibit a variety of intriguing physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrochemical characteristics that are closely linked to the wide variety of their surface terminations and elemental compositions. Particularly, MXenes are readily converted into composites with materials including oxides, polymers, and CNTs, which makes it possible to modify their characteristics for a variety of uses. MXenes and MXene-based composites have demonstrated tremendous promise in environmental applications due to their excellent reducibility, conductivity, and biocompatibility, in addition to their well-known rise to prominence as electrode materials in the energy storage sector. The remarkable characteristics of 2D MXene, including high conductivity, high specific surface area, and enhanced hydrophilicity, account for the increasing prominence of its use in storage devices. In this review, we highlight the most recent developments in the use of MXenes and MXene-based composites for electrochemical energy storage while summarizing their synthesis and characteristics. Key attention is paid to applications in supercapacitors, batteries, and their flexible components. Future research challenges and perspectives are also described.

Source: KNUST
MUSIGA Headquarters, Accra

My interest in music dates back to my days in nursery school where I would compose tunes to tease and make fun of even the saddest situations. My choice of this thesis topic however came out of different circumstances. Musicians in Ghana fall into the low income group whereas their counterparts in the rest of the world even next door in Ivory Coast, enjoy a very high standard of living and are respected for who they are. This grim picture and the fact that the government of this country does not make money from such a rich resource base caused me to make my small contribution towards the realization of higher standards in the economic aspects of the mini industry.

Source: KNUST
Mycobacterium ulcerans disease

Mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer) is an important health problem in several west African countries. It is prevalent in scattered foci around the world, predominantly in riverine areas with a humid, hot climate. We review the epidemiology, bacteriology, transmission, immunology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment of infections. M. ulcerans is an ubiquitous micro-organism and is harboured by fish, snails, and water insects. The mode of transmission is unknown. Lesions are most common on exposed parts of the body, particularly on the limbs. Spontaneous healing may occur. Many patients in endemic areas present late with advanced, severe lesions. BCG vaccination yields a limited, relatively short-lived, immune protection. Recommended treatment consists of surgical debridement, followed by skin grafting if necessary. Many patients have functional limitations after healing. Better understanding of disease transmission and pathogenesis is needed for improved control and prevention of Buruli ulcer.

Source: KNUST
Mycobacterium ulcerans DNA Not Detected in Faecal Samples from Buruli Ulcer Patients: Results of a Pilot Study

It has recently been shown that in a Buruli ulcer (BU) endemic region of southeastern Australia, significant numbers of possums (native tree-dwelling marsupials) have clinical BU disease. Furthermore, based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis, animals with BU lesions (and some without) shed M. ulcerans DNA in their faeces, indicative of bacterial loads of up to 108 organisms/gram. These findings led us to propose that humans might also harbour M. ulcerans in their gastrointestinal tract and shed the bacterium in their faeces. We conducted a pilot study and collected faecal swabs from 26 patients with confirmed BU and 31 healthy household controls. Faecal samples were also collected from 10 healthy controls from nonendemic regions in Ghana. All 67 specimens were negative when tested by IS2404 PCR. The detection sensitivity of this method was $104 bacteria per gram (wet-weight) of human faecal material. We conclude that the human gastrointestinal tract is unlikely to be a significant reservoir of M. ulcerans.

Source: KNUST
N2-fixation and N contribution by grain legumes under different soil fertility status and cropping systems in the Guinea savanna of northern Ghana

Continuous cereal-based cropping has led to a rapid decline in soil fertility in the Guinea savanna agro-ecological zone of northern Ghana with corresponding low crop yields. We evaluated the effects of cropping system and soil fertility status on grain yields and N2-fixation by grain legumes and net N contribution to soil fertility im provement in contrasting sites in this agro-ecological zone. Maize was intercropped with cowpea, soybean and groundnut within a row, with a maize stand alternated with two equally spaced cowpea or groundnut stands and in the maize-soybean system, four equally spaced soybean stands. These intercrops were compared with sole crops of maize, cowpea, soybean and groundnut in fertile and poorly fertile fields at sites in the southern (SGS) and the northern (NGS) Guinea savanna. The proportion of N derived from N2-fixation (%Ndfa) was comparable between intercrops and sole crops. However, the amount of N2-fixed was significantly larger in sole crops due to a greater biomass accumulation. Legumes in poorly fertile fields had significantly smaller shoot δ15N enrichment (−2.8 to +0.7‰) and a larger %Ndfa (55–94%) than those in fertile fields (−0.8 to +2.2‰; 23–85%). The N2- fixed however was larger in fertile fields (16–145 kg N ha−1) than in poorly fertile fields (15–123 kg N ha−1) due to greater shoot dry matter and N yields. The legumes grown in the NGS obtained more of their N re quirements from atmospheric N2-fixation (73–88%) than legumes grown in the SGS (41–69%). The partial soil N balance (in kg ha−1) was comparable between intercrops (−14 to 21) and sole legumes (−8 to 23) but smaller than that of sole maize receiving N fertiliser (+7 to +34). With other N inputs (aerial deposition) and outputs (leaching and gaseous losses) unaccounted for, there is uncertainty surrounding the actual amount of soil N balances of the cropping systems, indicating that partial N balances are not reliable indicators of the sustain ability of cropping systems. Nevertheless, the systems with legumes seem more attractive due to several non-N benefits. Our results suggest that soybean could be targeted in the SGS and cowpea in the NGS for greater productivity while groundnut is suited to both environments. Grain legumes grown in poorly fertile fields contributed more net N to the soil but growing legumes in fertile fields seems more lucrative due to greater grain and stover yields and non-N benefits.

Source: KNUST
Mycolactone Diffuses into the Peripheral Blood of Buruli Ulcer Patients - Implications for Diagnosis and Disease Monitoring

Background: Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer (BU), is unique among human pathogens in its capacity to produce a polyketide-derived macrolide called mycolactone, making this molecule an attractive candidate target for diagnosis and disease monitoring. Whether mycolactone diffuses from ulcerated lesions in clinically accessible samples and is modulated by antibiotic therapy remained to be established. Methodology/Principal Finding: Peripheral blood and ulcer exudates were sampled from patients at various stages of antibiotic therapy in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Total lipids were extracted from serum, white cell pellets and ulcer exudates with organic solvents. The presence of mycolactone in these extracts was then analyzed by a recently published, fieldfriendly method using thin layer chromatography and fluorescence detection. This approach did not allow us to detect mycolactone accurately, because of a high background due to co-extracted human lipids. We thus used a previously established approach based on high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. By this means, we could identify structurally intact mycolactone in ulcer exudates and serum of patients, and evaluate the impact of antibiotic treatment on the concentration of mycolactone. Conclusions/Significance: Our study provides the proof of concept that assays based on mycolactone detection in serum and ulcer exudates can form the basis of BU diagnostic tests. However, the identification of mycolactone required a technology that is not compatible with field conditions and point-of-care assays for mycolactone detection remain to be worked out. Notably, we found mycolactone in ulcer exudates harvested at the end of antibiotic therapy, suggesting that the toxin is eliminated by BU patients at a slow rate. Our results also indicated that mycolactone titres in the serum may reflect a positive response to antibiotics, a possibility that it will be interesting to examine further through longitudinal studies.

Source: KNUST
National Art Gallery, Accra

This resort constitutes an essential complement to the design thesis providing the essential verbal support for the thesis development from concept to design solution. The first chapter introduced the subject of designing an art gallery, establishing the need and social role-of such a facility and the service it renders to the community. The scope of the design thesis was established here. The second and third chapters of the report dealt with the state of Ghanaian art today, an assessment of existing gallery facilities and the existing structures for the administration, finance and promulgation of the arts in Ghana. The fourth chapter discussed systems of financing artistic activity and the practical element of financing a national art gallery, its brief, what its functions, and activities will be etc. Matters of site selection and chosen site properties are presented in the fifth chapter. In chapter six, the approach for evolving an organising principle by which some conscious form can be arrived at for the art gallery is presented. This involved a detailed study of art expression in African sculpture and how this might be suitably harnessed for the purpose. Three examples of art galleries were treated as case studies in chapter seven these being preceded by a historical assessment of arg art galleries. The rest of the report was then devoted to presenting all aspects of the design solutions proposed for the national art gallery.

Source: KNUST
Napier grass varieties as basal diet: effects of supplementation with paper mulberry leaves (Broussonetia Papyrifera) on growth performance and blood parameters of West African Dwarf Sheep (Djallonké)

An experiment was undertaken to assess the effect of dried Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) leaves as a supplement to West African Dwarf sheep fed a basal diet of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) varieties on the growth performance and blood indices. A total of twenty-four West African Dwarf sheep (rams) weighing averagely 17.5 kg were used in a completely randomized design in a 2×3 factorial arrangement of six treatments with four replicates. The main factors were the two varieties of Napier grass; the local variety and the improved variety, supplemented at three levels, thus 0 g/ day (control), 150 g/ day and 300 g/ day with Paper mulberry leaves. Parameters measured included nutrient compositions of the diets, average daily intake, live weight gain, haematological and biochemical indices. The chemical composition of the dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and cellulose contents for the local variety was 69.05%, 52.97%, 13.21%, 83.00%, 39.00% and 10.41% respectively, and that of the improved variety were 70.02%, 60.53%, 13.87%, 83.50%, 40.00% and 11.79% respectively. The chemical composition of the supplement showed a DM of 89.00 %, CP of 24.06 %, ADF of 21.00 %, NDF of 44.00 %, CF of 12.50 %, EE of 6.50 % and ash content of 14.00 %. Supplementation with Paper mulberry leaves on Napier grass basal diet of sheep resulted in a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the average daily gain of sheep in all the treatments. Total intake improved as the level of supplement increased from 0 g/day to 300 g/day. The amount of feed consumed expressed in terms of kilogram body weight showed a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the basal intake per kilogram body weight as the level of supplement increased. Likewise, there was also a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the basal feed intake per kilogram metabolic size due to supplementation in all the treatments Effects of the treatments on haematological parameters for Hb, and HCT were found to be within the normal physiological range reported for healthy sheep by other authors. Results for RBC, WBC, MCV, MCH and MCHC were, however, varied; some were above the normal range reported for health sheep while others were below the normal range. Biochemical indices observed were all found to be within the normal physiological range reported for healthy sheep. It was concluded that Paper mulberry can serve as a supplement to Napier grass when fed up to 300 g/day without any adverse effect on the growth performance and blood parameters of the West African Dwarf sheep.

Source: KNUST
National Centre for Children Accra

The child’s world is a continuous one of which he is the centre. The development of children takes place primarily in a situation in which the leading role is played by learning activities. Much of his learning goes on in situations which parents and teachers do not usually regard as educative ones. His development is the product of heredity and environment. The complex interaction between man and environment is nicely captured by the observation of the Architect Lars Lerup. ‘We design things and things design us’ (Lars Lerup, 1977) The Architect is in a capacity to influence broad regions of environmental development. His understanding and appreciation of and sensitivity to and handling and treatment of facilities, for children will definitely determine to a large measure society’s response to them. This design thesis scheme includes the proposal of new facilities as well as the upgrading of existing facilities at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, Accra, to make it more suitable as a National Children’s Facility. The proposed facility must serve as 1. A recreational informal educational facility for children 2. A business venture for the client - The Ghana National Commission on Children (G. N .C. C.) It is my aim to achieve a design proposal, which would 1. Stimulate the children 2. Stimulate the growth of the park 3. Act as a focal point and anchor to give the whole park a sense of identity’. The purpose of a nation depends primarily upon the way its children are brought up in a generation earlier. The way to improve the nation for tomorrow is to enlighten and strengthen the lives of our children today.’

Source: KNUST
National Forestry Planning Office, Kumasi

This thesis is a descriptive report on a design thesis of the National Forestry Planning Office; submitted in partial fulfilment for the post-graduate diploma in Architecture award. It is an attempt to consider the feasibility of the project by means of studies, interviews and site visits; make planning and design proposals; give description of the designed project; including cost analysis. The project also evaluate the inception of the national forestry planning office, its activities; current problems its objectives and evaluate the factors that has contributed to the poor development of the planning office over the years.

Source: KNUST