ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness analysis of Telemedicine for primary healthcare in Amansie-West District, Ghana

Access to healthcare remains a major issue facing people living in remote parts of Ghana; hence making interventions to improve healthcare provision necessary. However, the limited supply of resources calls for the need to ensure efficiency in the allocation of resources towards healthcare interventions. With its introduction in the Amansie-West District, telemedicine has improved provision of healthcare. There is, nonetheless, no evidence of economic evaluation of this project. The study sought to investigate the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine for primary health care in the Amansie-West District. A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) was conducted using a study population of four primary healthcare sites; namely Keniago, Tontotkrom, Manso Ankam and Manso Abore. Costing was done from the perspective of the healthcare provider and capital assets were annuitized at a 3% discount rate. Data on the costs of telemedicine and the conventional primary healthcare were quantified manually. The annuitization of capital outlays and Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) and Marginal Cost Effectiveness Ratio (MCER) were computed manually.. Sensitivity analysis was conducted with Microsoft Excel 2007 to assess robustness of the ICER. Annualized total cost of $305,042.93 and $227,007.9 were associated with the conventional Prmary Healthcare (CPHc) and Telemedicine (TM) respectively. The ICER for TM was -$453.7 and MCER with an assumption of 50% utilization of TM services was $255.65.. ; indicating a 80.63% reduction in cost per effectiveness.

Source: KNUST
Cottonseed meal as a feeding stuff for chickens

Three experiments were conducted to assess the nutritive value of cottonseed meal as a feeding stuff in the diets of broiler chickens, growing pullets and laying chickens. Cottonseed meal was included largely at the expense of fishmeal. In Experiment 1, a total of 360 Ross broiler chicks obtained at one day old were randomly allotted in equal numbers to six experimental diets incorporating 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 12.5% cottonseed meal. In Experiment 2, 300 Shaver Starcross 579 pullets of eight weeks of age were randomly assigned to five grower diets containing 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% CSM. In Experiment 3, a total of 288 Shaver Starcross 579 pullets of 30 weeks of age were used in a layer study. The birds were randomly allotted to six dietary treatment groups of 48 birds each. Graded levels of CSM, 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 12.5%, were included in their diets. All the diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. In Experiment 1, dietary treatments had significant effects on total weight gains, feed conversion ratio and feed cost per kilogram liveweight gain. Diet 6, with 12.5% cottonseed meal, supported the highest weight gain of 1.89 kg and also gave the best feed conversion ratio of 2.40 as well as the lowest feed cost per kilogram liveweight of ¢1429.61 (US$0.55). With the growing pullets (Expt. 2), average weight gain, age at which first egg was laid, feed conversion efficiency and feed cost per kilogram bodyweight gain were significantly (P< 0.05) affected by cottonseed meal inclusion. Feed intake, age at 50% egg production and first egg weight did not significantly (P< 0.05) vary from values obtained from the control diet. Based on the data obtained, inclusion of up to 12.5% and 10% CSM in the diets would seem to be optimum for broiler chickens and growing pullets respectively. There was a significant increase in egg production as the level of CSM increased in the diet up to 10%. The diet containing 2.5% CSM was as good as the 10% on egg production. The inclusion of CSM in the diet also reduced the feed cost (per kilogram of feed). Cottonseed meal inclusion in the diet, significantly reduced weight gains of laying chickens. Its inclusion had no significant effects on daily feed intake, feed-to-egg ratio, egg weight and egg quality. No yolk or albumen discolouration were found in stored eggs, even after 3 weeks of storage. Mean eggshell thickness and mortality were significantly (P< 0.05) increased by dietary treatments. Mortality was however very low and did not follow any particular pattern. The cause of death in most cases was associated with reproductive disorders, especially impacted oviduct. It was more economical to use diets incorporating CSM due largely to the progressive reductions in the use of fishmeal and the attendant savings in costs.

Source: KNUST
Court Complex Design, Tema

A courthouse according to the Heinemann Students dictionary is a place where judges, magistrates and other officials hear and judge legal matters. Courthouses generally are attended by all members of the public. Its design should be such that all these members of the public feel accommodated whenever they visit them. The main aim of this study was to identify design guidelines for Court buildings and to recommend design considerations for future courts in Ghana. The main objectives of the study is to study broadly the general operations and services of the Ghana Judicial Service and to identify problems in some selected court which may slow down Justice delivery. The study included visits to Courthouses to conduct surveys on the provisions made in their designs that will aid the public when it comes to the adjudication of cases The Recommendations made included: A. Meet projected spatial requirements for the future. This is because from the case studies conducted and studies conducted on the Tema court it was noticed that most of our court rooms are small therefore causing overcrowding with some attendants standing outside. B. New court complexes must also meet new trends in design. This could be in terms of incorporation of new technologies and spaces such as public information rooms, electronic reference rooms and audio visual rooms to mention but a few. These will help in efficient and prompt justice delivery. C. Legislation should be passed in Parliament to make it an offence to design Civic buildings without provisions for disabled access.

Source: KNUST
Coverage Assessment for Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition In Rural and Urban Ghana: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Ghana for years has implemented the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) to reduce malnutrition in children. However, the prevalence of malnutrition remains high. This study aimed to determine CMAM coverage levels in the Ahafo Ano South (AAS), a rural district and Kumasi Subin sub-metropolis (KSSM), an urban district. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional comparative study with a mixed-methods approach. In all, 497 mothers/caregivers and children under-five were surveyed using a quantitative approach while qualitative methods were used to study 25 service providers and 40 mothers/ caregivers who did not participate in the quantitative survey. Four types of coverage indicators were assessed: point coverage (defined as the number of Severe Acute Malnutrition cases [SAM] in treatment divided by total number of Severe Acute Malnutrition cases in the study district), geographical coverage (defined as total number of health facilities delivering treatment for SAM divided by total number of healthcare facilities in the study district), treatment coverage (defined as children with SAM receiving therapeutic care divided by total number of SAM children in the study district) and programme coverage (defined as number of SAM cases in the CMAM programme ÷ Number of SAM cases that should be in the programme). The qualitative approach was used to support the assessment of the coverage indicators. Data were analyzed using STATA version 14, and Atlas.ti, version 7.5 for the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Results: Geographically, only 6% of the facilities in the urban communities were participating in the CMAM programme as against 29% of rural district facilities. The districts had point coverage of 41% and 10% for the urban and rural districts respectively. The urban setting recorded a SAM prevalence of 52% as against 36% in the rural setting. The proportion of SAM children enrolled in CMAM was higher in KSSM as compared to AAS; 41% and 33% respectively. In both districts, the most likely factors to attract mothers/caregivers to utilize the CMAM services were: ‘free services’ and ‘a cured child.’ The qualitative approach showed that coverage improvement in both districts is hampered by distance, transportation cost, lack of trained personnel in the communities for community mobilization home visits and insufficient feeds. Conclusion: To improve CMAM coverage, there is the need to train health workers to embark on aggressive health education strategies to encourage mothers/caregivers of malnourished children to utilize CMAM while ensuring that services reach those who need them.

Source: KNUST
COVID-19 Misinformation and the Role of the Information Professional

One group whose work involves information management is librarians. The study thus sought to understand their information management and sharing behavior during the current pandemic. An online survey was activated and shared among respondents. The questionnaires created with Google Forms were sent through the WhatsApp messaging system and email addresses of the members of the national library association (The Ghana Library Association). The questionnaire elicited information on COVID-19 information sharing and management of librarians in Ghana. Librarians in the country were asked how they receive, share and check the credibility of information regarding the pandemic. Results indicated that different people treated pandemic-related information differently. The respondents were involved in information sharing and considered information management as very important in the fight against the disease. It came out that the surest way to contain the disease would be through a well-coordinated channel such as educating the masses in information literacy and news literacy skills.

Source: KNUST
COVID-19 Misinformation and the Role of the Information Professional

One group whose work involves information management is librarians. The study thus sought to understand their information management and sharing behavior during the current pandemic. An online survey was activated and shared among respondents. The questionnaires created with Google Forms were sent through the WhatsApp messaging system and email addresses of the members of the national library association (The Ghana Library Association). The questionnaire elicited information on COVID-19 information sharing and management of librarians in Ghana. Librarians in the country were asked how they receive, share and check the credibility of information regarding the pandemic. Results indicated that different people treated pandemic-related information differently. The respondents were involved in information sharing and considered information management as very important in the fight against the disease. It came out that the surest way to contain the disease would be through a well-coordinated channel such as educating the masses in information literacy and news literacy skills

Source: KNUST
Crack Detection in Shaft Using Vibration Measurements and Analysis

Cracks in shafts have been identified as a significant factor limiting the safe and reliable operation of machines. Cracked shafts still pose a significant and real threat to machines in spite of the great advances made in the areas of metallurgy, design and manufacturing. The ability to detect cracks at an early stage of progression is imperative to avert the aforementioned consequences which include failure of equipment resulting in costly process upsets and repairs among others. In this work, torsional and transverse vibration experiments are carried out to investigate transverse crack signatures for a shaft. The effect of the depth and position of an open transverse crack on the shaft’s torsional rigidity, fundamental peak acceleration, and natural frequency was investigated. A Matlab program was also developed to aid in the computation of the natural frequency for any given crack depth and position. The program also makes it possible to calculate the deflection of the shaft mass and the masses (rotor) it carries for any given crack depth. Numerical studies were also carried out by modelling the crack using Solidworks (ver.2014) to compute the frequency. From the work, it was evident that the presence of a crack affects its modal properties and cracks at the centre posed a higher risk as compared to those at the ends. Comparing the results from the three approaches, it was observed that the analytical results were closer to that of the experimental though the numerical also gave very good results.

Source: KNUST
Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Risk Perception in Ghana: Insights from A Study on Tertiary-Level Students and Surrounding Residents in Kumasi

The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa has been met with mixed feelings. In Ghana, several concerns were raised about the potency and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. We investigated the acceptance and risk perception of students on the KNUST campus and the residents of the surrounding communities to assess the risk factors that will influence heir willingness or unwillingness to be vaccinated in the government’s quest to get its citizens vaccinated. A well-structured questionnaire was administered online and through face-toface interviews to survey 3332 respondents between the periods of March 15 and May 28, 2021. Chi-square analysis was used to show the association between the sociodemographic characteristics and, the acceptance and risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccine. Logistic regression analysis was used to explain the relationship between the acceptance and risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccine and the various socio-demographic characteristics. Out of 3323 respondents, 1,703 (45.23%) were hesitant whiles 64.39% of 3311 indicated they would accept being vaccinated. In a multivariate analysis, the age range of 31 to 40 years, being male, having secondary level education, and having a previous vaccination post-childhood immunization increased the likelihood of vaccine acceptance. More than half of the students of KNUST and inhabitants around the campus are likely to acceptant the COVID-19 vaccine. However, adequate and timely information is needed to educate prospective vaccine recipients with tertiary level education to better the level of acceptance and address misinformation about vaccines and promote individual and population-level benefits of vaccination

Source: KNUST
Creating and sustaining competitive advantage through the delivery of excellent service in the banking Industry: a case-study of the Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited

This study attempts to design and recommend for use an exclusive five force competitive model for the banks in Ghana, which in fact is an entire replication of Michael Porter’s model for industry profitability analysis. The work dwells on basic generic strategies for offsetting the impacts of the five forces. The study furthermore, briefly, examines the impact of quality service on profitability and suggests practical quality services standards that are high and beneficial to the banks. Once standards have been set, criteria for evaluating these standards are also discussed. This research also attempts an exposition on the background of the banking industry that dates back to 1886, with the emergence of the Standard Bank; which later became Standard Chartered Bank. An attempt is made to give simple but vivid definitions to some key services and products that are being offered by the banks in Ghana. The influence of the five forces on banks profitability is the major focus of my findings and duly confirms the impact of these forces on profitability. Lastly, I attempt to suggest and make recommendations that would be beneficial to the banking industry, as a whole, and Standard Chartered Bank, in particular.

Source: KNUST
Creative accounting practices and its effects on financial reporting.

The study sought to describe the relationship between creative accounting practices and financial reporting based on the views of accounting professional in Kumasi. The study specifically aimed to investigate how tax management techniques influence financial reporting, the influence of change in accounting policy and financial reporting, the use of revenue recognition and financial reporting and the application of cost estimates in the financial reports. The study was designed as a descriptive research. Data was collected from selected accounting professionals in the Kumasi Metropolis. In all, eighty (88) accounting professionals participated in the research. The respondents were selected using convenient sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the eighty (88) respondents. The study was analyzed with the use of SPSS tools to derive frequencies, percentage, means and standard deviations for the interpretation of the data collected. The findings of the research,even though showed positive relationship between the study variables; creative accounting (tax management, change in accounting policy, revenue recognition, cost recognition) and the preparation of financial report, change in accounting policy recorded the least of all the variables. As majority of the respondents agreed to the influence of tax management, revenue recognition, and cost revenue on financial reporting, few respondents agreed to the importance of change in accounting policy and financial reporting. Based on the major findings, the study recommends that even though creative accounting is not illegal, regulatory bodies should continue to encourage companies and accounting professionals to be consistence with the International Accounting Standards in order to present financial report to increase the confidence of investors and tax agencies. Also, honest and good ethical conduct of accounting professional is required to reduce the incidence of creative accounting practices in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Creation of an enabling environment for private sector participation in the development of tourism in Ghana

In April 1983, the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government embarked on a programme of economic austerity and structural adjustment. A major policy measure was to diversify the economy from its dominant reliance on primary products in foreign exchange earnings, open other avenues as well as reduce state participation in active economic production and promote the private sector. Over the past decade, tourism has gained increasing recognition as an important sector with enormous potentials for generating economic growth and employment. To harness these potentials required the active participation of the private sector, which is often described as the engine of economic growth. The study aimed at examining the enabling environment conducive for private investment in tourism development. To this effect, the study focused on the macroeconomic situation (interest rate and access to credit), infrastructure provision and human capacity development among others. The study revealed that high interest rates, access to credit, deplorable and inadequate infrastructure provision, particularly road network linking the tourist destinations, inadequate manpower and inadequate and poorly packaged marketing and promotional literature constitute the major constraints deterring private investment in tourism development. This notwithstanding the sector registered positive growth rates trend in foreign exchange earnings and tourist arrivals since 1990. To ameliorate these constraints, it was recommended that adequate funding be made available for private sector investment, priority be given to human resource development; improve infrastructure facilities particularly the road network linking the tourist attractions and the need to elicit the cooperation and support of the local community at the respective destinations. it is the view of the author that the adoption of the recommendation made in this report can considerably attract the private sector investment in tourism development.

Source: KNUST
Creative abilities of the residents of Kumasi Cheshire Home

The research sought to find out whether the residents of Kumasi Cheshire Home who are mentally discharged patients can create artifacts in clay. It was carried out at the home. This thesis is therefore an attempt to find out how creative the residents are and to assess forms and designs made by them. The research has been possible through interviews with residents, nurses and staff of the home literary material, personal observation and experiment. Results were analysed and documented. The scope of the research was limited to the residents of Kumasi Cheshire Home. The report is presented in six chapters. It includes photographs of some selected works of residents. The main finding of the research indicates that the residents can create art forms in clay and that the intensity of their illness has nothing to do with the creativity. While the research findings should be of much relevance to rehabilitation officers to realise the potentials of clay as a medium with plastic characteristics that can be easily manipulated and which can be utilized in the creative activities of the handicapped, it also throws light on the creative abilities of the residents. The recommendations should be of particular interest to the administrative staff of the home and other rehabilitation officers involved in the rehabilitation of mentally discharged.

Source: KNUST
Creating art forms with horns

This project has been undertaken to assess how best horns of animals that are normally discarded can be recycled for artistic products. It has been specifically designed to provide and expose all art teachers and students as well as the general public to basic guidelines on how to use horns in the teaching, learning and production of art works. Specific projects and methodology in the use of horns for the various forms have been provided as a guide. These exercises have been made possible through literary materials, personal observations, interviews and experiments. It is hoped that this project report would be of invaluable assistance to all, both students and teachers and the general public.

Source: KNUST