ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Case for equity between Paris Climate agreement's Co-benefits and adaptation

There are heightened debates on limited opportunity of the global adaptation policy goals of the Paris Climate Agreement (PaCA) to match efforts at mitigation and adaptation. This has been attributed partially to the overstatement in Article 7 Paragraph 4 of the PaCA that “greater levels of mitigation” reduces the cost of additional adaptation through mitigation Co-benefits. Therefore, the paper explores how Article 7 of the PaCA partially faults the natural synergy between mitigation and adaptation to equally reduce aggregate emission, although mitigation could help reduce adaptation to physical exposure. Co-benefits are non-climate ancillary benefits from emission reduction that is human-centered. Article 7 of the PaCA overtly favors efforts at mitigation compared to adaptation, yet how much mitigation benefits match adaptation cost including human dimension issues remain speculative and also constrained emission leakages. Thus, the sole attribution of avoiding additional adaptation cost to increased mitigation efforts is far from the reality as adaptation could offset its own additional cost through benefits that reduce emissions, and synonymous to mitigation Co-benefits. For example, the adaptation intentions of ecosystem-based adaptation (Eba), urban NEXUS, integrated water resources management (IWRM) and climate smart agriculture (CSA) in aspects of biodiversity conservation, energy redistribution from human activity, water purification and nutrient recycling are also major sources of emission sink. Therefore, the Article 7 of the PaCA could be enhanced by broadening the definition of Co-benefits to reflect the two-way equity-bound efforts at mitigation and adaptation towards reduced emission leakages and additional adaptation cost.

Source: UG
The case for paternity leave in Ghana: Imperatives and implications for gender parity

The aim of this paper is to make a persuasive case for the provision of paid paternity leave for fathers in Ghana by describing several benefits of paternity leave to the family and the business as a whole. The paper examines the arguments for paternity leave through series of literature review, the position of law on paid paternity leave in Ghana and its implications for gender parity. The paper also presents examples of countries that have ratified the ILO conventions on paternity leave provisions and enshrined them in their country-specific legal regulatory frameworks. Given the diverse benefits of paid paternity leave around the world, the need for paternity leave has become a necessity if not obligatory. The paper makes a strong case for expedite action on the amendment of Ghana’s labour law to incorporate at least five days paid leave for fathers in relation to childbirth in Ghana. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019.

Source: UG
A case for using ICT in distance learning to empower non-traditional students in a third world nation

National development is a primary objective of all developing nations. For the development process to occur, the nation in question has to ensure that certain needs are met, and education ranks among the top priorities as it underpins all needs. In many third world nations, education at the tertiary level usually takes place in universities in selected urban centers and mostly for traditional students. This is viewed as inadequate and efforts are being made to extend university education to other centers with the hope of involving more people in the non-traditional sector in the education process. University of Ghana has adopted this and has extended their service to mature and non-traditional students. By employing information and communication technology (ICT), these students will be able to participate in the education process from their homes. This paper describes how Ghanaians view this technology and may use it to empower non-traditional students in their effort to improve the level of education in the country which will lead to the advantage of sustained development in the country. © 2011 IEEE.

Source: UG
A Case for using open and distance learning (ODL) to widen access to tertiary education for women

Education has become prominent among the various strategies for promoting women’s empowerment. Education is so critical that access should be created for women by all means. By its nature of overcoming time and space and meeting the learning styles of women who play triple roles in society, open and distance learning is a sure way of making education accessible to women no matter their location, status and situation. Theories of distance education also confirm that open and distance learning is no doubt promising for creating access to education for women and meeting their learning style. Statistics of distance learning institutions indicate a higher percentage of female enrollments compared to men. This is a unique mark of open and distance learning that will be very challenging to attain in on-campus programmes. It is in view of this peculiarity of open and distance learning programmes that this paper advocates it for promotion of education for women at the tertiary level.

Source: UG
A case of Amelia: what are the implications&quot;?

A case of Amelia (A skeletal dysplasia with failure of formation of all four limbs) is presented. The patient. aged 36, has had a previous normal baby. The index pregnancy was supervised al a polyclinic. An ultrasound examination was done to confirm the pregnancy at 11i weeks. She was referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital at 42 weeks of gestation. She had a successful induction or labour and delivered a live 1.95kg male infant with no limbs. The neonatologist detected no other abnormalities. The Social Welfare department adopted him as the very depressed parents rejected him. We advocate routine obstetric scan al 18-20 weeks gestation to detect anomalies. Apart from effective counseling. both medical and social support services should be improved for adequate and appropriate management or congenital malformations.

Source: UG
A case of double standards? Audience attitudes to professional norms on local and English language radio news programmes in Ghana

The proliferation of radio stations across Africa has engendered an increase in local language radio stations and fuelled culturally-rooted practices of news delivery considered by many media professionals as sub-standard. This article explores the reception practices of multi-lingual audiences in Ghana, focusing on their views on the different norms and approaches of local language and English language radio newscasts. Using data from a convenience sample of 1000 radio listeners in five Ghanaian cosmopolitan cities the study finds that audiences prefer more performative modes of news delivery on their local language stations. It was also evident that radio audiences are discerning and make distinctions between what is acceptable on local language versus English language radio. These results call for a reconsideration of western-influenced standards of news delivery and the develop ment of professional standards more accommodating of the inflections of culture.

Source: UG
A case of double standards? Audience attitudes to professional norms on local and English language radio news programmes in Ghana

The proliferation of radio stations across Africa has engendered an increase in local language radio stations and fuelled culturally-rooted practices of news delivery considered by many media professionals as sub-standard. This article explores the reception practices of multi-lingual audiences in Ghana, focusing on their views on the different norms and approaches of local language and English language radio newscasts. Using data from a convenience sample of 1000 radio listeners in five Ghanaian cosmopolitan cities the study finds that audiences prefer more performative modes of news delivery on their local language stations. It was also evident that radio audiences are discerning and make distinctions between what is acceptable on local language versus English language radio. These results call for a reconsideration of western-influenced standards of news delivery and the development of professional standards more accommodating of the inflections of culture

Source: UG
A case of occupational lung disease (welder lung) in a mechanical worker.

A case of welder's lung is reported in a male hard smoker who had worked as welder-carpenter for almost 30 years. In order to establish an etiologic diagnosis, given the informed consent from the worker, open lung biopsy was performed that allowed to obtain sufficiently large specimens of affected lung to make histological, immunohistochemical and mineralogical examination. In such a way the pathologic features were accurately defined and a multidisciplinary approach was applied to differential diagnosis. The worker is recommended to undergo a strict health surveillance because of the reported association of welder's lung with lung cancer, especially in smokers.

Source: UG
Case series of six patients diagnosed and managed for idiopathic intracranial hypertension at a tertiary institution eye centre

Background: Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) occurs secondary to raised intracranial pressure (ICP) of unknown etiology and is diagnosed when all other causes of raised ICP have been excluded. It can leave devastating sequelae such as permanent visual loss, hence the need for timely diagnosis and treatment. Anecdotally, one or two cases of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) previously presented at the Eye Centre, KBTH yearly. However, six cases were seen within a 6-month period, prompting the need to study the clinical features of IIH in this population. Objective: We aim to evaluate the clinical features of patients presenting with IIH at KBTH. Methodology: This is a retrospective case series with contemporaneous collection of data of six patients who presented to the Eye Centre (KBTH) between October 2016 and March 2017 with clinical features suggestive of IIH. The patients were evaluated and diagnosed based on clinical judgement as well as using the modified Dandy criteria. Results: All six patients were female and all except one were obese. The age range was 8 to 40 years with median 22.5 years. Symptoms in the 8-year-old were preceded by oral doxycycline for acne treatment. One patient had a history of using oral contraceptive pills prescribed for irregular menses. Clinical features of blurred vision, headache, and papilloedema were relieved with oral acetazolamide. Conclusion: The upsurge of IIH may be due to the increased incidence of obesity in Ghana. Timely diagnosis and treatment is needed to avoid irreversible blindness

Source: UG
Case study application of blended learning for an engineering simulation course.

Quality Approaches in Higher Education Vol. 4(1), May 2013 article by Theodore T. Allen, Sharnnia Artis, Anthony Afful-Dadzie, and Yosef Allam. The research was conducted at The Ohio State University. This case study documents the transition of an undergraduate software laboratory from face-to-face only instruction to a blended-learning model motivated, in part, by instructor cost savings. To assure quality in learning outcomes was preserved, we implemented the transition using a randomized experiment. Participating students were randomly assigned to blended (treatment) and traditional (control) groups. Performance was measured by pre- and post-knowledge assessment and quizzes. Attitude was measured by the results of a survey administered at the end of the course. The results show that students’ performance in a purely face-to-face instructional class was not significantly different from that based on a blend of online and face-to-face instruction. In addition, the blended type had significantly more consistently favorable ratings than the purely face-to-face instruction. We conclude that blended learning and our experimental approach could be usefully replicated for other face-to-face software laboratory courses and propose four topics for future research.

Source: UG
Case study From project aid to sustainable HIV services: a case study from Zambia

Introduction: Sustainable service delivery is a major challenge in the HIV response that is often not adequately addressed in project implementation. Sustainable strategies must be built into project design and implementation to enable HIV efforts to continue long after donor-supported projects are completed. Case description: This paper presents the experiences in operational sustainability of Family Health International's Zambia Prevention, Care and Treatment Partnership in Zambia, which is supported by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through United States Agency for International Development (October 2004 to September 2009). The partnership worked with Zambia's Ministry of Health to scale up HIV clinical services in five of the country's nine provinces, reaching 35 districts and 219 facilities. It provided technical and financial support from within the ministry's systems and structures. By completion of the project, 10 of the 35 districts had graduated beyond receiving ongoing technical support. Discussion and evaluation: By working within the ministry's policies, structures and systems, the partnership was able to increase the ministry's capacity to add a comprehensive HIV service delivery component to its health services. Ministry structures were improved through renovations of health facilities, training of healthcare workers, procurement of essential equipment, and establishment of a quality assurance plan to ensure continued quality of care. The quality assurance tools were implemented by both the ministry and project staff as the foundation for technical graduation. Facilities that met all the quality criteria for more than six months were graduated from project technical support, as were districts where most supported facilities met the criteria. The district health offices then provided ongoing supervision of services. This predetermined "graduation" exit strategy, with buy in of the provincial and district health offices, set the stage for continued delivery of high-quality HIV services. Conclusions: Achieving operational sustainability in a resource-limited setting is feasible. Developing and institutionalizing a quality assurance/quality improvement system is the basis on which facilities and districts can move beyond project support and, therefore, sustain services. Quality assurance/quality improvement tools should be based on national standards, and project implementation should use and improve existing health system structures.

Source: UG
A Case Study on Parasitic Infectious Diseases in Pregnant Women in Four Hospitals in Ghana.

The prevalence o f parasitic infectious diseases among pregnant women in some communities within rural and urban settlements in Ghana was investigated. The study was conducted in Adabraka and Mamobi Polyclinics in the Greater Accra Region, Nsawam and St. Martin’s Hospital in the Eastern Region. The aim o f this study was to compare incidence o f parasitic diseases in pregnant women, and to find out how these infections are related to the age o f expectant mothers from these hospitals, also whether there had been an increase or decrease in the incidence o f these parasitic diseases over the past few years. Parasitological examinations "were carried out on blood urine and stool samples from pregnant women within ages 11-45 years. These samples were collected from 98, 515, 280 and 400 women from Adabraka, Mamobi Polyclinics, St. Martin’s and Nsawam Hospitals respectively. Results show that many pregnant women within ages 1 6 - 2 5 years were positive for parasitic infections. Intestinal flagellates infestation was high at Adabraka (90%), Mamobi (77%), and Ascaris infestation (87%) at Nsawam Hospital. Candidiasis and Trichomonas vaginalis infections were also high (80% and 20% respectively). Malaria infection was significantly higher at Mamobi Polyclinic (64%), followed by St. Martins Hospital (55%), and Adabraka Polyclinic (27%). Incidence of parasitic diseases also decreased slightly over the years whilst T. vaginalis and Candidiasis infections increased for ages 16-25. This evidence shows that parasitic diseases may be a public health problem and effective control measures must be employed to control it. Improvements in water supply, sewerage disposal and general environmental hygiene through human behavioural changes and health education may be used.

Source: UG
Cash Transfers and Multidimensional Child Poverty in Ghana

LEAP is a flagship program of Ghana government that seeks to leap poor households out from poverty. Since the inception of this program, limited studies have explored the effect of the program on child poverty in Ghana. This study sought to quantify the impact of LEAP program on multidimensional child poverty using Global MPI. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study used secondary data obtained from Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER). The children were grouped into two, namely pre-school (0-4 yrs) and school-aged (5-17yrs) children. Five dimensions (nutrition, health, information, housing, sanitation) and 15 indicators were used to compute MPI for pre-school children. MPI of school aged children were also computed using five dimensions (education, health, information, housing, sanitation) and 15 indicators. The study found that the proportion of pre-school children deprived in wasting, underweight, stunting, water, toilet and cooking fuel rose in 2012 whiles that of hospital, health status, insurance, internet, mobile and computer decreased in 2012. In the case of school aged children, the study found that, with the exception of cooking fuel and toilet, the deprivation rate of all other indicators decreased in 2012. The study found that pre-school children from treatment group had their MPI significantly reduce more than children in control group. However, in the case of school-aged children, the study found that children in treatment group had their MPI significantly increased than children in control group. The study concluded that whiles LEAP program had significant positive impact on pre-school children, it had no impact on school-aged children. The study recommend that LEAP program should be supplemented with food nutrients since the proportion of children deprived in nutrition increased in 2012.

Source: UG
Cash Transfers, Early Marriage, and Fertility in Malawi and Zambia

There is increasing interest in the ability of cash transfers to facilitate safe transitions to adulthood in low‐income settings; however, evidence from scaled‐up government programming demonstrating this potential is scarce. Using two experimental evaluations of unconditional cash transfers targeted to ultra‐poor and labor‐constrained households over approximately three years in Malawi and Zambia, we examine whether cash transfers delayed early marriage and pregnancy among youth aged 14 to 21 years at baseline. Although we find strong impacts on poverty and schooling, two main pathways hypothesized in the literature, we find limited impacts on safe transition outcomes for both males and females. In addition, despite hypotheses that social norms may constrain potential impacts of cash transfer programs, we show suggestive evidence that pre‐program variation in social norms across communities does not significantly affect program impact. We conclude with policy implications and suggestions for future research.

Source: UG
Cashing in on shame: How the popular &quot;tradition vs. modernity&quot; dualism contributes to the &quot;HIV/AIDS crisis&quot; in Africa

Orthodox descriptions and treatment of Africa's HIV/AIDS crisis are subject to robust controversy among research experts and clinicians who raise questions about the tests used to define the crisis, the statistics used to document the crisis, and the drugs marketed to curtail it. Despite this critical scientific corpus, fanciful misconceptions about chronic illness and mortality in Africa are sustained by ahistorical and apolitical analyses misrepresenting Africans' mporary morality, social reality, and public health care needs. © 2006 Union for Radical Political Economics.

Source: UG
Cataloguing and classification practices in Ghanaian Libraries

This is a survey of the cataloguing practices of ten major libraries in Ghana. It concentrates among others, on the cataloguing and classification schemes used in the libraries, local adaptations, description of catalogue entries, the maintenance of card catalogues, and staffing. Various problems encountered in the Technical Services Departments are examined, and suggestions are made towards the improvement of cataloguing practices in the country's library system

Source: UG
Cataloguing of Ghanaian names: problems and possible solutions

There are not less than 50 indigenous languages and dialects in Ghana. Languages follow tribal divisions and although English is the national language, there are other important languages such Twi, Dagbani, Ewe and Ga. These follow the major tribes of Akan, MoIe-Dagbani, Ewe and Ga respectively. Fortunately, the diversity of tribes and language has been kept under control, largely, as a result of imaginative governmental policies over many decades, and it is possible to speak of a single national consciousness embracing, all the diverse elements with their varied traditions and cultures. Even so, a distinction can be made between the southern people on the one hand, who have come most directly and longest under the influence of modem European life and the Christian religion, and the northern people on the other hand, whose traditional modes of life and religion have under gone relatively little change. Even among the southern people, there are significant disparities, the Akan group dominating all the rest in size and extent. it will be interesting to note that despite the fact that majority of the tribes and languages are found in the northern part of the country, the problems with names are more predominant in the southern part than the northern part

Source: UG
Catalytic abatement of CO species from incomplete combustion of solid fuels used in domestic cooking

This study reveals a first time approach to catalytic based interventions primarily on indoor air pollution emanating from commercial and household solid fuel burning in a region in Nigeria. An intensive survey of the temperatures at different locations in the common stoves used for cooking was conducted so as to ascertain temperatures suitable for catalyst efficiency and stability. Furthermore, cobalt and iron based catalysts were prepared using ultra stable Y type zeolite as supports. The synthesized catalysts were characterized for its physico-chemical properties. The catalytic efficiency of the supported catalysts was tested using simulated exhaust gases in a fix bed reactor. The study further explored real time testing of the catalyzed ceramic monolith using two different wood species. First, the best catalyst in terms of simulated exhaust testing was selected. Consequently, a small layer of zeolite Y was deposited at 3% of the monolith weight to enhance the subsequent adhesion of the best catalyst powder to the structured monolith. Then to catalyze the zeolite Y wash-coated monolith with the cobalt precursor, the dip coating technique was used. From the results, the average values of temperatures observed from the surveyed cook stoves using wood and plant residue as fuel were confirmed to be in the range of 203–425 °C which is considered suitable for catalysts activity. The Co/ZY catalyst showed approximately 100% CO conversion (T 100 ) at 250 °C for initial CO concentration of 1000 ppm, making it the most effective, while T 100 was increased to 275 °C and 325 °C for Fe/ZY and Co-Fe/ZY catalyst respectively at an exhaust residence time of 20000 h −1 . The catalytic converter in real time testing for CO abatement performed well for both wood species. Only minor differences have been noticed. © 2018 The Authors

Source: UG