ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Impact Attenuation System using a Passive Damper

The goal of this work is to mitigate the degree of damage to passengers caused by automobile collisions. Crash phenomena involving road vehicles were investigated for the purpose of developing an impact attenuation design that can withstand speeds higher than the current specified range of up to 4 km/h (for a bumper). Different impact attenuation systems in the vehicle were studied with emphasis on the bumper modeling, analysis and design. A mathematical model for a bumper was developed. Simulation of impact of the bumper against a fixed barrier was performed. A passive friction element was introduced into the bumper system to improve on the attenuation of the impact and kinetic energy absorption capacity. A mathematical model of the bumper-damper system was formulated and used to simulate impact phenomena for a 1900 kg mass moving at a speed of 70 km/h (19.4 m/s), 17.5 times the speed of a typical design specification. The simulation revealed that the energy absorption capacity of the bumper was improved with the addition of a friction element. Design parameters for the friction damper were extracted from the results of the simulation. The extracted design parameters include stiffness, k, and coefficient of the damping, c, of the bumper. The use of the results from the simulation in the design of the bumper was pursued with success. Friction damper designs were proposed. Two of these designs were built and used in experiments to verify their effectiveness and to validate the simulation results. The experiments revealed that higher energy absorption could be achieved with the addition of a friction element to traditional bumpers. From simulation, it was observed that a combination of material stiffness and damping factors could influence energy absorption ability of the damper. It was observed that the addition of a friction element to an ordinary bumper-damper system with the new design parameters can improve its energy absorption capacity by 103.6 kJ, that is about 146 %. Additionally, it was also observed that the addition of the friction element to a traditional vehicle could increase the critical design speed from 4 km/h (1.11 m/s) to 14.9 km/h (4.1 m/s). It was concluded that a passive friction damper system could be used to attenuate road vehicle impact energy in collisions (of vehicles of mass similar to that of a typical sedan car) at speeds 3 times higher than the speed for which current conventional bumpers are designed to attenuate (i.e. 4 km/h).

Source: KNUST
Impact Attenuation System Using a Passive Damper

The goal of this work is to mitigate the degree of damage to passengers caused by automobile collisions. Crash phenomena involving road vehicles were investigated for the purpose of developing an impact attenuation design that can withstand speeds higher than the current specified range of up to 4 km/h (for a bumper). Different impact attenuation systems in the vehicle were studied with emphasis on the bumper modeling, analysis and design. A mathematical model for a bumper was developed. Simulation of impact of the bumper against a fixed barrier was performed. A passive friction element was introduced into the bumper system to improve on the attenuation of the impact and kinetic energy absorption capacity. A mathematical model of the bumper-damper system was formulated and used to simulate impact phenomena for a 1900 kg mass moving at a speed of 70 km/h (19.4 m/s), 17.5 times the speed of a typical design specification. The simulation revealed that the energy absorption capacity of the bumper was improved with the addition of a friction element. Design parameters for the friction damper were extracted from the results of the simulation. The extracted design parameters include stiffness, k, and coefficient of the damping, c, of the bumper. The use of the results from the simulation in the design of the bumper was pursued with success. Friction damper designs were proposed. Two of these designs were built and used in experiments to verify their effectiveness and to validate the simulation results. The experiments revealed that iv higher energy absorption could be achieved with the addition of a friction element to traditional bumpers. From simulation, it was observed that a combination of material stiffness and damping factors could influence energy absorption ability of the damper. It was observed that the addition of a friction element to an ordinary bumper-damper system with the new design parameters can improve its energy absorption capacity by 103.6 kJ, that is about 146 %. Additionally, it was also observed that the addition of the friction element to a traditional vehicle could increase the critical design speed from 4 km/h (1.11 m/s) to 14.9 km/h (4.1 m/s). It was concluded that a passive friction damper system could be used to attenuate road vehicle impact energy in collisions (of vehicles of mass similar to that of a typical sedan car) at speeds 3 times higher than the speed for which current conventional bumpers are designed to attenuate (i.e. 4 km/h).

Source: KNUST
Impact Attenuation System Using a Passive Damper

The goal of this work is to mitigate the degree of damage to passengers caused by automobile collisions. Crash phenomena involving road vehicles were investigated for the purpose of developing an impact attenuation design that can withstand speeds higherthan the current specified range of up to 4 km/h (for a bumper). Different impact attenuation systems in the vehicle were studied with emphasis on the bumper modeling, analysis and design. A mathematical model for a bumper was developed. Simulation of impact of the bumper against a fixed barrier was performed. A passive friction element was introduced into the bumper system to improve on the attenuation of the impact and kinetic energy absorption capacity. A mathematical model of the bumper-damper system was formulated and used to simulate impact phenomena for a 1900 kg mass moving at a speed of 70 km/h (19.4 m/s), 17.5 times the speed of a typical design specification. The simulation revealed that the energy absorption capacity of the bumper was improved with the addition of a frictionelement. Design parameters for the friction damper were extracted from the results of the simulation. The extracted design parameters includestiffness, k, and coefficient of the damping, c, of the bumper. The use of the results from ii the simulation in the design of the bumper was pursued with success. Friction damper designs were proposed. Two of thesedesigns were built and used in experiments to verify their effectiveness and to validate the simulation results. The experiments revealed that higher energy absorption could be achieved with the addition of afriction element to traditional bumpers. From simulation, it was observed that a combinationof material stiffness and damping factors could influence energy absorption ability of the damper. It was observed that the addition of a friction element to an ordinary bumper-damper system with the new design parameters can improve its energy absorption capacity by 103.6 kJ,that is about 146 %. Additionally, it was also observed that the addition of the friction element to a traditional vehicle could increase the critical design speed from 4 km/h (1.11 m/s) to 14.9 km/h (4.1 m/s). It was concluded that a passive friction damper system could be used to attenuate road vehicle impact energy in collisions (of vehicles of mass similar to that of a typical sedan car) at speeds 3times higher than the speed for which current conventional bumpers are designed to attenuate (i.e. 4 km/h).

Source: KNUST
Impact of Aboriginal Belief Systems on Natural Resources Management: Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP)

Limited research exist on the effect of beliefs systems on management of the natural resources especially in Africa. Past decades has experienced efforts made by NGOs, IGOs, Aboriginal people and government to facilitate an effective mechanism to collaboratively manage the forest resources. Nonetheless, a biodiversity hotspot is still being threatened and the collaborative management is ‘pretentious’ in MCNP. This research argues that, unless the complexities and dynamics of the belief and indigenous knowledge are understood and the incorporated into management of natural resources management, collaborative and sustainable management is impractical on MCNP. Sample selection was done using EpiInfo 6.04d (CDC, 2001). We use survey of 238 household randomly selected from 14 of the 41 villages in MCNP (487 questionnaires), focused group discussions, key informant interviews and participant observations were used to collect data. Secondary data was obtained from the Ministry of forestry and Wildlife and also from park management. We find significant evidence (67%) that native beliefs which affect resource management exist in all the four clusters in MCNP. The rural area of Bomboko cluster are more prominent in practicing beliefs 78.3% followed by the Buea cluster with 62.5%. Only 18.5% confirmed that management observed beliefs. A majority of the people (89.5%) perceived that degradation of natural resources is as a result of disregard of native beliefs. Traditional forest conservation was practiced in areas that have traditional beliefs associated with forest resources P<0.001. Spearman’s Rho showed significant relationship between perceived traditional importance of forest and perceived importance of collaborative forest management. Focused group discussions disclosed dissatisfaction in management especially from the hunters and also exposed a momentous decline in the use of the bakweri language which has caused the erosion of culture and indigenous knowledge. We recommend empowerment of local people and integration of cultural beliefs and indigenous knowledge as well as active involvement of the aboriginal people in management and decision making of natural resources in MCNP.

Source: KNUST
Impact of advertisement expenditure on firm’s performance: as evidenced from selected service firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

The ever-growing competition in today’s business environment creates dynamic challenges to firms. Today, advertisements are going international at a much faster speed leading to a universal response to advertisement, the forms of advertisement are changing to include electronic advertisement and mobile advertisement to the overall advertisement portfolio of firms. This leads to changes in the costing patterns of advertisement which could lead to a fall in firms’ performance. This thesis examines empirically the effect of advertisement expenditure on the banking firms’ performance in Ghana. Taking data from five commercial banks listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2013, sampled out of a possible nine commercial banks listed on the Ghana stock exchange due to the availability of data for the given period, it is shown after data analysis from the five sampled banks that the impact of advertisement expenditure on sales is positive and significant while it has adverse significant effect on return on equity. The study posits that, advertisement intensity has negative and significant effect on profitability. Hence, the study reasons that advertisement expenditure does not cause return on equity to increase as a measure of performance. There is therefore no value added to the shareholders wealth as managers spend on advertisement to promote the banks. It is therefore recommended that firms with low margins might need dissimilar planned marketing mixes than high-margin firms.

Source: KNUST
Impact of advertisement on organizational performance in the pharmaceutical industry, the mediating role of customer care.

The Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry is facing increasing challenges brought about by the effect of globalization and market liberalization in Ghana. The local pharmaceuticals producers and distributors are confronted with crucial obstacles concerning serious competition from counterfeits to imported pharmaceuticals products from china and Asia. The market share of local pharmaceuticals companies has therefore dropped to 30% and still threatened with the influx of many foreign companies. The study therefore focused on investigating the impact of advertisement in the organizational performance in the pharmaceuticals industry, the mediating role of customer care. The quantitative study was therefore conducted on a total respondent of 120 using questionnaires. The study employed two –stages sampling procedures to select the respondent from total population of the study. Stage 1 involved stratification whereas stage 2 involved simple random sampling by balloting. The study revealed that there is positive effect of the advertising practices of Tobinco Pharmaceutical Limited (TPL) on both operational and financial performance. The study also revealed that advertisement partially mediated the relationship between the customer care practices of TPL and operational performance. Similarly, advertisement partially mediated the relationship between the customer care practices of TPL and financial performance. However, this mediation effect was found to be not significant. Therefore, the mediation role of advertisement in the relationship between customer care and performance depends on the type of performance dimension. Based on these results the study suggests improvement in the customer care practices of the company and higher level of advertising practices.

Source: KNUST
The impact of advertising on sales- a case study of selected companies in Kumasi

Advertising is a vital marketing tool as well as powerful communication medium. The basic objective of any advertisement is to stimulate sales, directly or indirectly by trying to make lofty claims about product performance. Companies continue to spend large sums of money on advertising, which is one of the most important and visible marketing tool. Advertising has become so integral part of life and society that one cannot imagine any event, newspaper, magazine, or television serial without advertising. The question is, has any company attempted to assess the impact of its advertisement on sales? The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of advertising on sales using selected companies from the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The study was explorative in nature and in addition tried to make a quantitative assessment of advertising on sales of specific companies. The main research instrument used in this study was questionnaire. The respondent companies for the study were mostly small and medium size companies and enterprises. At the end of the study, it was realized that although most of the companies attested to the fact that advertising is effective in boosting sales most of the companies did not have a year by year figures of advertising cost and sales expenditure for a quantitative assessment of the actual increase in sales per corresponding increase in advertising expenditure.

Source: KNUST
The impact of advertising on sales: a case of Fan Milk Ltd

The essence of this study was to find out the impact of adverting on sales in a fast moving consumer goods industry using Fan Milk Limited as a case study quota instruments employed in this study were questionnaire and unstructured interviews to solicit response from respondents who consisted of consumers of Fan Milk Ltd’s products on what prompted their first and subsequent purchases of such products. Employees of the company were also asked among others on what drives the sale of their products. Secondary data consisting of the advertising budget as well as pricing strategies of Fan Milk staff felt is was advertising that drove the sale of their products: consumers were of the opinion that their first taste of Fan Milk products was motivated by family members and friends. However, respondents further claimed that their subsequent purchases were driven by frequent advertising of the products. Again, it was found from the secondary data that the consumption of Fan Milk products really thrived on affordable prices and with the little increase in prices of these products no amount of increase in advertising budget could bring back lost sales. It was therefore recommended that Fan Milk should continue to advertise its products to be able to keep its consumers and also source for local raw materials to help keep prices at affordable levels for longer periods than no depend solely on imported raw materials whose prices are dollar related and fluctuates by the day.

Source: KNUST
The impact of amalgamation of tax agencies on revenue mobilisation in Ghana: a case of Ghana Revenue Authority in Kumasi Metropolitan Area

This study examines the impact of the amalgamation of the tax agencies on revenue mobilisation in Ghana using GRA within the Kumasi Metropolis as a case study. Convenience sampling was used in selecting the respondents for the study. Data has been gathered through the use of questionnaires and an interview guide. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in analysing the data. The findings revealed that the amalgamation of the revenue agencies has helped in ensuring that revenue mobilization procedures are effective. The findings from the study indicated that the amalgamation of the revenue agencies has helped in ensuring that budgeted tax revenue is always achieved. The findings from the study further indicated that tax payers are able to pay their taxes easily after the amalgamation. The results from the study also revealed that there has been an increment in the number of tax payers after the amalgamation of the revenue agencies compared to previous years before the amalgamation. The analysis indicated that one of the impacts of the amalgamation of the revenue agencies on tax compliance is that it has helped ensure proper bookkeeping by tax payers. The analysis shows some of the challenges facing GRA includes lacks regional office heads to coordinates the activities of the STOs and MTOs in the various regions, lack of certainty on the part of tax payers regarding the specific offices where their files have been transferred, and lack of the necessary logistics and personnel in order to operate effectively among others. The analysis also revealed that in order to ensure effective and efficient operation of GRA, certain measures should be put in place including continuous organization of workshops by GRA for its staffs in order to equip them with the necessary skills and expertise needed to carry out their activities. There is also the need for rigorous and intensive tax education for tax payers in order to let them know the benefits they will enjoy by paying their taxes regularly. In addition, proper training should be organised for GRA staffs in order to improve upon their knowledge.

Source: KNUST
The impact of acquisition on employees satisfaction (Case study of Ecobank Ghana Limited)

Merger and acquisition in a competitive banking environment can be a vital success factor for competitive advantage. The study examines the impact of acquisition on employee satisfaction within the Ghanaian banking industry with specific focus on the acquisition of The Trust Bank (TTB) by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI). The study used descriptive research design. The research population comprised management and staff of the new Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) who were present before the acquisition within the year 2016 and was 505 according to new ETI human resource archive (2016) out of which a sample size of 150 was chosen. The sources of data included primary and secondary data. The researcher adopted purposive sampling techniques in soliciting information for the study. Statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) and Microsoft excel was used in analyzing the data. The study established that, nature of acquisition had a significant positive impact on the employee satisfaction and that the nature of acquisition had a 59.8 % chance of explaining the satisfaction of employees. Thus if the acquisition process is not well managed, staff and management might leave the company and also at extreme cases might decrease their rate of work output (performance) no matter how hard the bank try to retain them. The study finally and mainly recommended that, during post acquisition period, management of new ETI must align organizational culture and management vision so as to enable employee behaviour results in the achievement of organizational goals. Again, given that organizational culture to a large extent determines the performance and satisfaction of the employees. Therefore, it is in the interest of the new ETI to eliminate negative factors that slow down employee performance and satisfaction during post acquisition period in order to foster a positive workplace environment.

Source: KNUST
Impact of anthropogenic activities on changes in forest cover, diversity and structure in the Bobri and Oboyow Forest Reserves in Ghana

Forests are essential for human survival and well-being. During the past millennium, humans have taken an increasingly large role in the modification of the global environment. Globally, land cover today is altered primarily by direct human use. The study therefore used GIS based technique, to determine the land cover change for the two forest reserves. Satellite images spanning 1990-2010 on a ten year interval were acquired using Landsat Enhance Transverse Mecator (ETM) and data analyzed using Erdas Imagine and ArcGIS software, after performing supervised classification to validate these images. The study showed that Closed Canopy areas for Bobri and Oboyow Forest Reserves had reduced from 3292.2 ha and 3345.9 ha in 1990 to 1588.6 ha and 1370.2 ha in 2010 respectively. Correspondingly, Open Canopy areas for Bobri and Oboyow increased from 1556.3 ha and 3333.4 ha in 1990 to 2741.3 ha and 3091.1 ha in 2010 respectively. The shrub layer increased considerable by 13 % over the period for Oboyow F/R, an indication of loss of forest cover. Field inventory conducted showed mean basal area for Bobri and Oboyow as 32.93a and 13.75b respectively with P < 0.001. Bobri was significantly higher than Oboyow. Using Shannon Wiener diversity index, closed canopy for Bobri was 2.124a, open canopy was 1.247b; Oboyow recorded closed canopy 1.634c and open canopy 1.073d with P < 0.001. Closed canopies for the two reserves were significantly higher. Overexploitation of timber, improper logging practices, constant revision of the harvesting schedule etc. accounted for the loss of forest cover. Results indicates that the Forestry Commission (FC) should stop the constant revision of the harvesting schedule and put in place mechanisms to induce political will from governments whilst mainstreaming community participation in forest management.

Source: KNUST