ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Immunological factors in female infertility: Antithyroid and Antiphospholipid antibodies

Mixed findings regarding the association between the presence of autoantibodies (TPO-abs, TG-abs and APL-abs) and female infertility besides spontaneous abortion have been reported in most studies in developed countries. To screen for these autoantibodies still remains divisive. Additionally, very little is known about their relationship with menstrual abnormalities, body mass index (BMI) and haematological parameters in infertile women in developing countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between a panel of autoantibodies (TPO-abs, TG-abs and APL-abs) and infertility, spontaneous abortion, menstrual abnormalities, body mass index and haematological parameters. A case-control study comprising 52 infertile cases and 38 fertile controls in three major hospitals in the Ashanti region of Ghana was undertaken. A standard questionnaire was administered, blood pressure (BP) measured and BMI computed from the weight and height. Blood specimen was collected for haematological (NLR, PLR, #NEUT and #Lymphocyte) and biochemical analysis (TPO-abs, TG-abs and APL-abs). TPO-abs (IgG) >100IU/mL and TG-abs (IgG) >100IU/mL were regarded as positives for the thyroid autoantibodies while APL-abs (IgG/IgM) ≥10U/mL was also regarded as positive for the antiphospholipid antibodies. Infertility was found to be significantly associated with the presence of thyroperoxidase antibody (TPO-abs: χ2 (1) = 7.047, p=0.011) and antiphospholipid antibody positivity (APL-abs: χ2 (1) = 5.55, p=0.02) but not thyroglobulin antibody positivity (χ2 (1) = 0.907, p=0.357). Neither of the three autoantibodies (TPO-abs, TG-abs and APL-abs) was found to be associated with a history of spontaneous abortion (p>0.05). The odds of APL and both (TPO+TG-abs) positivity were found to be 1.71 and 1.45 times greater respectively among infertile women with menstrual abnormalities compared to those without menstrual abnormalities [APL-abs: (OR=1.71, (95% CI): 0.18-15.95; p=0.636) ; TPO + TG-abs: (OR =1.45, (95% CI): 0.27-7.82; p=0.667)], however both associations were not significant. BMI was comparable between infertile cases and fertile controls and did not correlate significantly with any of the autoantibodies. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), Platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), absolute neutrophils (#NEUT) and absolute lymphocyte count (#Lymphocyte) were significantly lower in infertile women compared to fertile controls (p<0.05). These haematological parameters however did not correlate significantly with any of the autoantibodies in either infertile cases or controls. Infertility among Ghanaian women is associated with TPO-abs and APL-abs positivity therefore these antibodies may be screened as part of routine checks for appropriate intervention. However, these autoantibodies may not be directly associated with a history of spontaneous abortion. BMI, NLR, PLR, #NEUT, and #Lymphocyte do not correlate with the presence of autoantibodies in Ghanaian infertile women.

Source: KNUST
Immunological Profile of HIV- Infected Patients Undergoing Herbal Treatment

In a study to evaluate the efficacy of some herbal products as HIV/AIDS therapeutic, three herbal products were assessed in six HIV-infected patients by studying the virological and immunological parameters to see how it may be altered in these patients. CD4+ T – cell numbers, plasma viral load levels, concentrations of IFN –γ and IL – 10 were measured at the point of initiation and then monthly for a period of six months. Patients from Centre one (C001) had a substantial increase in their CD4+ T – cell counts and a significant reductionin their plasma viral load levels by the end of the study indicating the possible efficacy of the herbal product they had taken. Virologically and immunologically patients from Centre two (C002) and Centre three (C003) showed non- response to treatment.

Source: KNUST
Impact Assessment of Call Centers on Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study of the Ghana Water Company Limited in Kumasi and Accra Metropolis

Majority of companies’ call centers have become a tool for achieving increased customer satisfaction and the Ghana Water Company is no exception. This research sought to find out the type of customers who patronize Ghana Water Company Limited call centres and their level of satisfaction about how their calls are handled and assess the functions/services that are most important to these customers. It also sought to unravel the influence that factors like employee training, tone of voice, attitude, operational speed and employee level of expertise has on customer satisfaction and finally to identify the extent of customer satisfaction with Ghana Water Company services. Ghana Water Company Limited was used as a case study. The target population for the research comprised all call centre workers of Ghana Water Company Limited stationed in the Accra and Kumasi metropolis. The study was conducted with a quantitative method, executed through questionnaires. Responses were analyzed in frequency counts and percentages employing statistical tools like SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Findings of the study revealed that most call center customers were males between the ages of 18 - 35 who were mostly civil servants or self-employed; most customers appreciated the alacrity with which center attendants took customers calls, and their general attitude on the phone but bemoaned that more often than not, their complains or request are not handled adequately or to their satisfaction and therefore contributed to their general dissatisfaction with Ghana Water Company Limited’s call center service. Based on the above findings, the study therefore recommended that call attendants receive further training in effective call handling. Furthermore, Management of call centers should consider further research on other aspects of customer satisfaction to find out how the needs of the customer could be met in full.

Source: KNUST
The impact assessment of microfinance in Kumasi Metropolis (a case study of Garden City Savings & Loans Limited)

The number one goal of MDG is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015. Extreme poverty is defined as “living on less than US$1.00 per day” (Annette, 2005). In his submission, Annette argued that “We need poverty measuring tools so that any agency can measure clients’ poverty level before they enter into microfinance and then monitor their progress toward leaving extreme poverty” (2005). The researcher has accepted this challenge by taking the initiative to measure the positive impact microfinance has made on the businesses of sole-proprietors and their personal lives using GCASLL as a case within Kumasi Metropolis. Dubboi (2006), defined microfinance as “The provision of a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfers and insurance to poor and low- income households and their businesses”. Throughout the research, it was revealed that microfinance has provided significant financial assistance to sole-proprietorship through special “susu” and “golden susu” deposits. The Minimum daily “susu” contribution for Special “Susu” operators is ten Ghana cedis, while that of Golden “Susu” operators is not set at any specific amount, however, contributors set it at twenty Ghana cedis. Three times the amount contributed for six months without default is given as a loan to client at a rate higher than commercial bank prevailing rate. Sole-proprietors have been able to raise loans to increase their stocks within the range of GH¢ 10,000. 00 and GH¢48, 000.00 I was really amazed when I discovered that clients, apart from their daily “susu” contribution, also have savings accounts and their daily savings ranged between GH¢ 10.00 and GH¢40.00. With these contributions and savings habits, clients were able to run successful businesses without any basic financial difficulties. Sole-proprietors have plans to expand their businesses and do more investments. They could now afford to send their children to Private Schools at the Primary level and had not much difficulty in financing those in tertiary institutions. The social lives in respect of acquiring personal belongings and funeral attendance in required dresses has also improved significantly. The only negative development access to finance through microfinance has brought to their lives s attention to religious matters. Attendance to church gathering, morning and evening meetings have reduced significantly. This is a good sign in the business domain since running a business entity requires more time, and failure to adhere to this simple principle is doomed to fail. Nonetheless, access to microfinance has brought a fortune to religious domain in the form of increase in donations or contributions made by the beneficiaries towards religious matters. Based upon these assessments and many other findings detailed in the chapters of this paper, it can be concluded that microfinance has brought some amount of joy and relieve in the businesses and personal lives of its clients.

Source: KNUST
Impact Assessment of Small Scale and Illegal Mining Activities – A Case Study of Birim River in Kyebi, East Akim Municipality

Birim River is a prominent river in the Kyebi municipality in the eastern region of Ghana. It runs through several communities in the municipality including the area under study and serves as the main source of drinking water and for other domestic purposes. An assessment of the quality of water for drinking and other domestic purposes as well as the level of pollution was conducted by determining the levels of some physicochemical parameters (pH, colour, total hardness, sodium, calcium, potassium, fluoride, phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, turbidity, conductivity, temperature, etc), and trace metals (iron, mercury, zinc, nickel, lead, copper, arsenic and manganese) in both water and sediment samples from the river. Samples were taken from the point of main activity at Kyebi as well as upstream at Apapam and downstream at Bunso. The physicochemical parameters were generally within the WHO guidelines and EPA-Ghana permissible limits for drinking water except turbidity at downstream (171NTU), colour at both mid and downstream (58.5-85.8colour unit) respectively, pH (7.70) at upstream, total dissolved solids up and midstream (64.90-72.13mg/l), chloride also at all the sampling points (5.8667-6.267mg/l). With respect to the trace metals, iron (0.494-4.640mg/l) at all the sites exceeded the WHO permissible limits for drinking water. Water from both midstream and downstream was unsuitable for drinking and other domestic purpose.

Source: KNUST
An impact assessment of the agricultural extension services to farmers; a case study of Dangme West District, Ghana

Agriculture is the backbone of Ghana and about half of the country’s population is classified as farming population. It is therefore necessary to put a lot of effort in developing this sector to the optimum so as to benefit the farming population and the country as a whole. Efforts have been wade to provide credit to farmers, marketing facilities and any other assistance that has been deemed appropriate. It should however be noted that without adequate know how of combining and managing the various factors of production (land, labour, capital) there will not be much improvement in agricultural production. This necessitates educating the farming population on better farming methods so as to achieve the best out to the available resources. Research institutions and extension services are charged with this task. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the Agricultural extension service in the district. Data was collected from both secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources included mainly library research and primary sources involved administering questionnaires to farmers and extension workers in the district. Guided interviews were conducted with key persons at the District Agricultural office and the Department of extension services. The Questionnaires and Interviews were aimed at finding out the activities of the Agricultural extension services, the problems being faced and effectiveness as viewed by both farmers and extension personnel. the major finding was that although effort has been made by the extension personnel to do a good job, majority of the farmers are not receiving extension services- Inadequate transport facilities and absence of conducive socio--economic framework for extension workers were identified as major causes of inefficiency of the Agricultural extension services. Other findings are also given in the report. - Based on these findings, recommendations are offered for improving these services in the district and in the country as a whole. The major recommendations are based on improvement of supervision, mobility and morale of extension workers. In order to sensitise farmers and make them more receptive to innovations, community development activities and formation of local organisations have been recommended

Source: KNUST
An impact assessment of GCnet on the operations of Ghana Revenue Authority (Customs Division) In Tema Port

GCNet is Ghana’s single window platform that ensures that all stakeholders involved in international trade lodge documents with a single entry point to fulfil all trade related regulatory requirements. It was established to remove constraints to legitimate trade facilitation and ensure that collection of trade-related revenue was not compromised. This came as a result of persistent challenges faced by stakeholders on the slow and cumbersome freight clearance processes. This research was carried out to assess the impacts of the GCNet on eradicating operational and administrative bottlenecks in trade facilitation at the Tema port. Convenience sampling technique was used to sample clearing agents, shippers and freight forwarders, importers and exporters. Whiles purposive sampling method was used to sample GPHA, GCNet, GRA (Customs Division), Ecobank and Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Ghana Shippers Authority and Ghana Commercial Bank for data collection using a self-administered questionnaire. Analysis of the data revealed that the GCNet has helped to expedite the procedures involved in freight documentation and subsequently on reducing freight clearance from an average of six days to an average of three days and ship turnaround times at the port from an average of seven days to an average of three days. The respondents indicated a requirement of fewer documents and signatures for trade transactions at the Tema port resulting from the replacement of the manual processes with the GCNet platform. This permitted easy submission of manifests and also ensured easy flow of information to the required regulatory agencies. The research showed that customs revenue has increased along with increases in freight traffic through the Tema port from the period of 2000 to 2013. Although this could not be attributed solely to the GCNet, the highest percentage increase in customs revenue over the period occurred in 2003 when the GCNet was introduced as it assisted in controlling transit consignments by preventing their diversion onto the domestic market without the payment of relevant duties and taxes. However, the study shows that system breakdowns and slow or no internet connectivity are noticeable challenges in using the GCNet. From the research, it is evident that the GCNet has positive prospects of improving customs procedures and enhancing port efficiency as it has enhanced documentation, helped in revenue mobilization thereby increased revenue, among others. The research recommends periodic capacity building for all stakeholders. Capacity building, as the key to information and ability, should, as a matter of policy, be made available to all users of GCNet within the mainstream services subject to the suitable training of instructors or change agents on new trends and features of the GCNet to meet the specific needs of the various stakeholder groups.

Source: KNUST
Impact assessment of the national rooftop solar programme (NRSP) on residential homes-A case study of beneficiaries in Accra-Ghana

Worldwide attention has been drawn towards renewable energy especially in the sphere of solar energy in a bid to tackle global energy deficit and environmental crises such as global warming, air and water pollution. Solar energy offers an encouraging solution to this search as it is a less polluting renewable energy resource and can be easily converted into electricity through the use of Photovoltaic (PV) systems. Solar PV systems provide electric energy by absorbing and converting sunlight into electricity. It achieves this by an arrangement of several components known as the Balance of System (BoS) and solar panels. PV systems range from small, rooftop mounted or building integrated systems with capacities from a few to several tens of kilowatts (kW), to large utility scale power stations of hundreds of megawatts. In 2007, Ghana was faced with drastic energy crisis and this lasted till the year 2016, though it is not permanently solved in the country. There were persistent, regular and unpredictable electric power outages. This satirically birthed the term “Dumsor” literally meaning “off-on” to represent the worsening power crisis the country was plagued with. In a bid for the government to solve this challenge, the Government of Ghana (GoG), under the auspices of the Energy Commission of Ghana (EC) began an implementation of a Capital Subsidy Scheme where free rooftop solar panels up to a maximum capacity of 500 Watts peak to residential beneficiaries. This study therefore sought to assess the impact of the rooftop PV solar systems on beneficiaries in Accra since its implementation and to forecast its expected benefits or otherwise in the long term for Ghana. Results showed from the study revealed that, there was very low patronage of the programme by the citizenry. Only about 0.10% (2,449/2,270,000) of the total population of the people in Accra applied to benefit from the project. There was a further reduced number of beneficiaries (727) who actually got the solariii systems to be installed in their homes. The mean expenditure on power and consumption levels of beneficiaries before and after installation of the rooftop solar PV systems was significantly reduced. Results showed that every reduction in consumption level was accompanied by almost two times reduction in cost of electricity. However, the major challenge beneficiaries had faced with the rooftop solar PV systems were the batteries. In effect, the project was a good programme and should be continued.

Source: KNUST
Impact assessment of Women's World Banking Ghana (WWBG) on some of its targeted clients: a case study of the Kumasi Branch

Microfinance is an indispensable tool for the alleviation of poverty all over the world. Statistics show that women are the most poor. This feminization of poverty cannot be overemphasized, with the number of women living in poverty having increased disproportionately to that of men in the past decade. According to the National Commission on Women and Development (NCWD 2000), cultural norms and values . constitute a power barrier to the economic progress of women. These norms and values have restricted women's access to other resources like education and finance. Women's World Banking Ghana (WWBG), a savings and loans company, is one of the many Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) helping to reduce poverty among women by granting them microloans. WWBG has operated in the country for almost two decades now and this study has sought to investigate the impact it has made on some of its clients with regards to their primary goal of enhancing the advancement and empowerment of women in micro andv small scale enterprises. For this assessment, an innovative Check-list Tool which employed a combination of some indicators of CASHPOR Housing Index and Participatory Wealth Rating was used. The study showed that the majority of its clients were petty traders having some form of formal education, with primary or senior secondary education level being the highest attained. The services of the WWBG as per type of loan, loan amount, requirements for accessing loans and support services were perceived by the clients as very good but its repayment plan by weekly installments is not the best for most clients. Though the study showed improvement in the lifestyles of clients as per number of square meals per day, the numbers of children attending school, respect from family and peers as well as acquisition of business capital, these improvements were insignificant. The study revealed that clients of WWBG need repeated loans with good repayment installment package among others, to enable them rise from poverty, become empowered economically and socially, and then secure a political voice. To achieve this, WWBG need be a little more accommodating and understanding, while pursuing the intended agenda aggressively.

Source: KNUST
Impact assessment of training on employee performance: a case study of SG-SSB Limited

This research sought to assess the impact of training on employee performance using SSG-SSB LIMITED as case study. The target population comprised all employees of SG-SSB LIMITED. The study was conducted with a quantitative method, executed through questionnaires, which were handed out to eighty (N-80) respondents. Data collected was analyzed, summarized, and interpreted accordingly with the aid of descriptive statistical techniques such as total score and simple percentage. Chi-square was used to measure the relationship between Frequency of conducting Training Programs and Employee Performance. Findings showed that indeed training has a significant positive impact on employee productivity but the type and schedule of training should be subjected through careful planning, execution and measurement bearing in mind the company’s goals and objectives. The study therefore recommended that identification of training needs be done more professionally in conjunction with line managers and the individuals involved themselves, not neglecting the HR personnel. Training objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely and unambiguous, and should develop individual as well as meet the needs of the bank. Lastly, performance appraisal information system which is used yearly at SG-SSB to assess employees’ performance should provide specific information to employees about their performance problems and ways they can improve their performance

Source: KNUST