ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Socioeconomic-related inequalities in child malnutrition: evidence from the Ghana multiple indicator cluster survey

Background Malnutrition is a prevalent public health concern in Ghana. While studies have identified factors that influence child malnutrition and related inequalities in Ghana, very little efforts have been made to decompose these inequalities across various household characteristics. This study examined the influence of socioeconomic factors on inequality in child malnutrition using a decomposition approach. Go to: Methods The study employed cross section data from the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). Analysis was done at three levels: First, concentration curves were constructed to explore the nature of inequality in child malnutrition. Secondly, concentration indices were computed to quantify the magnitude of inequality. Thirdly, decomposition analysis was conducted to determine the role of mother’s education and health insurance coverage in inequality of child malnutrition. Go to: Results The concentration curves showed that there exists a pro-poor inequality in child malnutrition measured by stunting and wasting. The concentration indices of these measures indicated that the magnitude of inequality was higher and significant at 1 % for weight-for-age (WAZ) (−0.1641), relative to height-for-age (HAZ) (−0.1613). The decomposition analyses show that whilst mother’s education contributed about 13 and 11 % to inequality in HAZ, it contributed about 18.9 and 11.8 % to inequality in WAZ for primary and secondary or above education attainments, respectively. Finally, health insurance contributed about 1.91 and 1.03 % to inequality in HAZ and WAZ, respectively. Go to: Conclusion The results suggest that there is the need to encourage critical policies directed towards improving female literacy in the country. The existence of a functional health insurance system and increasing universal coverage are recommended to mitigate child malnutrition.

Source: UG
A Sociolinguistic Study of Ewe “Drinking” Names

This paper examines a category of Ewe personal names that are called ahanokwo or ‘praise appellations’. This is a category of names taken by the individual later in adulthood. The name is a whole discourse comprising a prompt, which is the clipped form of the discourse, and a response, which is the appellation that goes with the name, and is part of the discourse. These names perform various functions – they praise, they exhort, they insinuate, they warn against bad behavior, they entertain and they comment on life in general. They represent the philosophical and religious aspirations of the Ewe people. The paper discusses these functions and also the literary devices that these names employ, such as metaphor, symbolism and personification.

Source: UG
The Sociolinguistics of Thanking in Akan

The Akans cherish people who are grateful. The paper addresses the language of thanking in Akan under expressive speech acts and linguistic routines. The paper gives ethnographic situations and communicative events for thanking including, (1) thanking after child birth; (2) thanking in joyful occasions: marriage and wedding; survival from accidents, achievements, promotions, bequeathing of properties, (3) funeral activities, (4) thanking after arbitration, (5) ironical thanking (indirect thanking), and (6) thanking at the shrine. We will consider socio-cultural functions and the current state of thanking in Akan society.

Source: UG
Sociopragmatics of conversational codeswitching in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to deepen insight into the socio-pragmatics of conversational codeswitching in Ghana. It presents detailed textual analyses of the codeswitching that Ewe-English and Akan-English bilinguals employ in various social contexts, including informal interactions at home, semi-formal discussions in study group meetings at school, and interactions on talk-radio. We find that codeswitching appears to be predominantly unmarked (i.e. that it appears to fulfil little or no pragmatic and discursive functions in interactions beyond indexing speakers’ solidarity). But upon closer look we realize that many codeswitching instances that could pass as unmarked are in fact illustrations of marked codeswitching, which bilinguals employ stylistically to convey specifiable social and discourse intentions. The paper situates the discussion within an ongoing debate about the future of indigenous Ghanaian languages in intensive codeswitching contact with English. It specifically takes on the speculation that most of the local languages in this kind of contact will sooner rather than later transform into mixed codes. On the basis of the data analysed, the paper predicts instead that Ghanaians will manage to slow down any ongoing development of their languages into mixed codes if they continue to use marked codeswitching they way they do now. The prediction stems from the fact that bilinguals like them who use marked codeswitching alongside unmarked codeswitching normally have the mental capacity to keep their languages apart as codes with separate identities.

Source: UG
Socrates, the Moral Expert in the Crito Philotheos

This article argues against the common interpretation according to which Plato’s dialogue Crito affirms the philosophic belief that there are no moral experts. It shows that Socrates’ response to the character Crito’s moral argument to escape from lawful prison on grounds of an unjust conviction articulates the structure of a moral decision far superior in rationality to Crito’s, which exemplifies the anatomy of conventional moral decision-making.

Source: UG
Soft Power and Hard Power: An Assessment of Obama’s War on Terrorism

The attacks of September 11 2001 on the United States triggered that country’s enormous efforts to counterterrorism in order to prevent the re-occurrence of that event on the soil of the United States. President George Bush Jr. responded to the attacks by excessive application of hard power with the objective of bringing the perpetrators to justice. President Obama coming into office in 2009 promised a departure from the United States excessive reliance on hard power application in dealing with perceived enemies. The study proves that, President Obama has adopted the combination of soft power and hard power when it comes to the fight against terrorism even though he appeared pro soft power prior to coming into office. Findings from this study shows that, the application of both hard power and soft power by the Obama Administration has been relatively successful resulting in the killing of Osama Bin Laden but at the same time terrorist groups have emerged in various parts of the world bringing to question the success of the combination approach proposed by Nye as it failed to provide a framework of how much hard power and soft power should be applied in a given situation. Recommendations include an all-round national strategy and global involvement of other partners that suggests significant roles of diplomacy and development alongside military defence and application of hard power.

Source: UG
Software for sustainability assessment: A case study in quang triprovince, vietnam.

Sustainable development is a widespread concept. Indicator selection and sustainability assessment are basic methods to analyse the sustainable development process. This study aims to develop a software application to select indicators and to allocate weightings to the indicators and the sub-indexes, so that they can be listed in a sustainability assessment. The Visual Basic software is used to develop a software package based on Delphi, analytic hierarchy, normalization and combination processes. Software for sustainability assessment was developed. Thirty-five indicators are selected as a first step of which eight health indicators and eight environmental ones and their sub-indexes are given weightings. The indicators are normalized. Sub-indexes are combined into a composite sustainable development index. The model is validated showing the ‘main features’ of the sustainability situation on health and environmental aspects in the Quang Tri province during the period 2000–2005. The results support the decision-making process of the competent authorities.

Source: UG
Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield Modelling in the Pra River Basin of Ghana using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)

There has been an upsurge of uncontrolled land use activities in the Pra River Basin in Ghana which are likely to promote surface soil erosion into the fluvial sediment transport system of the basin. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) was integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) to model the spatial patterns in soil erosion and sediment yield in 2008 within the catchment. Parameters of the model were formatted as raster layers and multiplied using the raster calculator module in ArcGIS to produce a soil erosion map. The concept of sediment delivery ratio (SDR) was used to determine the annual sediment yield of the catchment by integrating a raster SDR layer with that of the soil erosion map. Predicted soil loss and sediment yield were found to be low due to good soil protective cover by vegetation and tree crops as well as a low relief of the physical landscape. Though, the elements and processes prevailing in the basin in 2008 result in low surface soil erosion and sediment yield, this condition could degenerate into very severe surface soil erosion if the current state of land degradation, particularly small scale mining (galamsey) activities are allowed to continue.

Source: UG
Soil fertility status and potential organic inputs for improving small holder crop production in the interior savanna zone of Ghana

Soil fertility decline is a major problem facing small-scale farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. To optimize the productivity of fertilizer usage, it is imperative that the fertility status of the soil is known. This study was conducted to evaluate the fertility status and potential organic inputs that can be used alone or in combination with mineral fertilizers for increased crop production in the interior savanna zone of Ghana. A survey of the availability of potential organic inputs in the region identified cow dung, refuse compost, and some plant residues with potential for enhancing soil productivity. Soil, household refuse, cow dung, and plant samples were collected from 40 farming communities and analyzed using standard protocols. The decomposition and nutrient release patterns of the organic materials were further investigated in laboratory incubation studies and in litter bags for 12 weeks. Results of the physico-chemical analysis revealed that soils in the interior savanna zone are coarse textured with low exchange capacity. The majority of the soils have low organic matter contents (1.0 ±0.4%) and low levels of the major plant nutrients. Available P in particular was very low with most of the soils having values less than 5.0 ppm. Elemental analysis of the materials revealed that they contained appreciable quantities of macro and micronutrients. The N contents of all the plant materials were higher than the critical level of 20.0-25.0 mg g-1 below which net N immobilization from the soil would be expected. The P contents of all the materials were above the critical level of 2.5 mg g-1 for P mineralization. The C/N ratios of all the materials were below 25, which indicate rapid mineral N release during decomposition. The decomposition of the materials indicated the high potential of the materials to supply NPK to crop plants within the experimental period. This suggests that the application of these materials to soil alone or in combination with mineral fertilizer ould improve nutrient availability to crop plants. Since results obtained may differ under field condition where mineralization tends to be complicated by environmental factors, field studies using a test crop such as maize are recommended to establish the relationship between nutrient release from the materials and crop demand. © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Soil health and synergy of ecological determinants of green cocoa productivity in different soil ecotypes in Ghana

Introduction: Soil health is critical for the e cient management of soil fertility and crop yield in “green” cocoa (GC) (Theobroma cacao L.) agroforestry systems. However, knowledge about agroecosystem factors that aect healthy soil productivity in “green” cocoa agroforestry systems is patchy in West Africa. Based on organic cocoa (OC) and conventional cocoa (CC) agroforestry systems in Ghana, this study examined the soil health and synergy of ecological factors that determine the yield of GC. Methods: Using multi-stage random sampling, 11 CC and 11 OC farms were sampled from three soil types (ferralsols, lixisols, and leptosols) within selected agroecological zones. Socioeconomic and farm data, including bulked soil samples, were collected at 0–30 cm depth for analysis of soil chemical and physical properties. Results: The results showed intricate relationships between the ecological factors and the yield of GC (1.07 t ha−1 ), which comprised dry beans of OC (1.24 t ha−1 ) and CC (0.89 t ha−1 ). The green cocoa yield increased for fields owned by female farmers and for native farmers who inherited or outrightly owned farmlands. The cocoa yield was also positively related to physicochemical factors such as soil organic carbon (0.21%), pH (5.8), and carbon–nitrogen ratio (40.8%). The carbon–nitrogen ratio and pH together exerted the highest positive influence (0.62%) on the yield. Biological factors such as plant density (>7 cocoa trees per 23.4 m2 ) and black pod rots reduced the cocoa yield. Discussion: This study provides comprehensive empirical determinants of green cocoa productivity and oers a more reliable estimate of cocoa plant density. The findings suggest that Ghana’s cocoa can be much greener if stakeholders promote healthy farm soil productivity and empower women who engage in soil organic carbon-conserving agroforest

Source: UG
Soil Medium Electromagnetic Scattering Model for the Study of Wireless Underground Sensor Networks

In recent years, there has been keen interest in the area of Internet of Things connected underground, and with this is the need to fully understand and characterize their operating environment. In this paper, a model, based on the Peplinski principle, for the propagation of waves in soils that takes into account losses attributable to the presence of local inhomogeneity is proposed. In the work, it is assumed that the inhomogeneities are obstacles such as stones or pebbles, of moderate size, all identical and randomly distributed in space. A new wave number is obtained through a combination of the multiple scattering theory and the Peplinski principle. Since the latter principle considers the propagation in a homogeneous medium (without obstacles), the wave number it provides is inserted into the one resulting from the former, the multiple scattering theory. The effective wave number thus obtained is compared numerically with that of Peplinski alone on the one hand and with that of multiple scattering alone on the other hand. The phase velocity and the loss tangent are analyzed against the particle concentration at the low-frequency Rayleigh limit condition (ka ≲ 0:1) and against the frequency at two particle concentrations (c = 0:2 and c = 0:4), two particle radii (a = 0:55 cm and a = 1:10 cm), and 5% and 50% volumetric water content of the soil. Path losses are also compared to each other to examine the effects on transmission of soil containing obstacles. The results obtained suggest that the proposed model has better accuracy in estimating the wave number than previously used schemes.

Source: UG
Soil Pollution and Its Interrelation with Interfacial Chemistry

This review offers an in-depth analysis of soil contamination, discussing the origins, impacts, and remediation strategies, as well as the complex connections with inter facial chemistry. Interfacial chemistry plays a critical role in addressing soil contamination by governing the interactions between pollutants, soil particles, water, and remediation agents at phase boundaries (solid–liquid, solid–gas). Some key aspects include adsorp tion/desorption that controls pollutants binding to soil surfaces; chemical transformation which facilitates redox, hydrolysis, or catalytic reactions at interfaces to degrade contami nants; colloidal transport that affects the movement of nanoparticle-bound contaminants through soil pores; and techniques like soil washing, phytoremediation and permeable reactive barriers that can neutralize soil pollutants. The combination of interfacial chemistry and soil remediation techniques offers rich opportunities for improving predictive models of contaminant fate. Such approaches represent a paradigm shift from equilibrium-based remediation to dynamic process management. The review demonstrates how heteroge neous interfaces and molecular-scale dynamics dictate contaminant behavior. Furthermore, in addition to consolidating existing knowledge, the review also pioneers new directions by revealing how interfacial processes can optimize soil decontamination, offering actionable insights for researchers and policy makers. By understanding and manipulating interfacial chemical processes, scientists can develop more precise and sustainable cleanup methods.

Source: UG
Soil Pollution and Its Interrelation with Interfacial Chemistry

This review offers an in-depth analysis of soil contamination, discussing the origins, impacts, and remediation strategies, as well as the complex connections with inter facial chemistry. Interfacial chemistry plays a critical role in addressing soil contamination by governing the interactions between pollutants, soil particles, water, and remediation agents at phase boundaries (solid–liquid, solid–gas). Some key aspects include adsorp tion/desorption that controls pollutants binding to soil surfaces; chemical transformation which facilitates redox, hydrolysis, or catalytic reactions at interfaces to degrade contami nants; colloidal transport that affects the movement of nanoparticle-bound contaminants through soil pores; and techniques like soil washing, phytoremediation and permeable reactive barriers that can neutralize soil pollutants. The combination of interfacial chemistry and soil remediation techniques offers rich opportunities for improving predictive models of contaminant fate. Such approaches represent a paradigm shift from equilibrium-based remediation to dynamic process management. The review demonstrates how heterogeneous interfaces and molecular-scale dynamics dictate contaminant behavior. Furthermore, in addition to consolidating existing knowledge, the review also pioneers new directions by revealing how interfacial processes can optimize soil decontamination, offering actionable insights for researchers and policy makers. By understanding and manipulating interfacial chemical processes, scientists can develop more precise and sustainable cleanup methods.

Source: UG
Soil radon concentration along fault systems in parts of south eastern Ghana

Radon gas emission from soils in parts of southeastern Ghana (Accra) have been measured to find a possible correlation of the gas emanation with faults and seismic activity in the area. LR-115 alpha track sensitive plastics were used for the detection of the gas at 47 sampling points within a 500 m × 500 m spaced grid. The obtained radon data was analyzed and superimposed on the geological and structural map to highlight the correlation between the gas emission and seismicity. In the highly faulted area, radon activity up to 115.00 kBq m-3 was measured; on the contrary in non-faulted areas radon activity was less than 20.00 kBq m-3. In the highly faulted area radon activity above 50.00 kBq m-3 have been considered anomalous. The background level increased to 115.00 kBq m-3 before a magnitude 1.5 earthquake struck the area. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
The Sojourner’s Return: Narratives on the Re-entry Experience

This chapter reflects on the re-entry experience with emphasis on the cognitive, psychological, and behavioral aspects of the experience for individuals from sub-Saharan African nations. These issues will be discussed against the backdrop of Szkudlarek’s (2010) Expectations model; Gullahorn and Gullahorn’s W-curve hypothesis; and Martin and Harrell’s (2004), Intercultural Model of re-entry. The internationalization of higher education has become a priority among many institutions of higher education. Sojourning abroad comes with related issues such as culture shock. This notwithstanding, sojourners who choose to return often report many benefits of the stay abroad experience. Likewise, returning home after being away for several years also presents other challenges as students re-adjust to their home countries.

Source: UG
The Sojourner’s Return: Risks and Challenges of the Study Abroad Experience on Re-Entry

Thousands of students are participating in study abroad programs, which is a major decision that could alter the life of a student and shape his/her future. It is important, therefore, to carefully weigh the options that come with being an international student. This chapter explores the history of study abroad, students’ study abroad experiences, and the benefits of these programs. Study abroad benefits include personal growth, intercultural development, and career attainment. Educators consistently assert that a significant part of the studying abroad experience is training future global leaders to be more effective and efficient, respecting the diversities of people and cultures, including political and economic systems, and the willingness to take a stand for the world’s welfare. Following this, the re-entry experiences of students who return to their home countries at the end of their studies are examined with respect to the physical, social, and psychological risks that student returnees are faced with.

Source: UG
The Sojourner's return: Risks and challenges of the study abroad experience on re-entry

Thousands of students are participating in study abroad programs, which is a major decision that could alter the life of a student and shape his/her future. It is important, therefore, to carefully weigh the options that come with being an international student. This chapter explores the history of study abroad, students' study abroad experiences, and the benefits of these programs. Study abroad benefits include personal growth, intercultural development, and career attainment. Educators consistently assert that a significant part of the studying abroad experience is training future global leaders to be more effective and efficient, respecting the diversities of people and cultures, including political and economic systems, and the willingness to take a stand for the world's welfare. Following this, the re-entry experiences of students who return to their home countries at the end of their studies are examined with respect to the physical, social, and psychological risks that student returnees are faced with.

Source: UG