ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Vegetative propagation of indigenous albizia species

Two experiments were conducted at the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (IRNR) Research Farm to determine the vegetative parts of Albizia adianthfolia, A. ferruginea and A. zygia suitable for propagation. Expenment one dealt with nursery studies where sprouting and rooting potentials of soft wood, semi-hard wood, hard wood and root cuttings of the Albizia species were investigated, and how these plant parts are affected by application of rooting hormone ( 0.25% w/w Naphthalyacetic acid (NAA) and 2.25% captan). The second experiment consisted of transplanting of sprouted root cuttings to the field to assess their growth performance for 12 weeks. Species showed significant difference with respect to sprouting over time with Albizia adianthfolia showing the highest sprouting potential as against A. ferruginea and A. zygia. Sprouting of stem cuttings started at 2 weeks after planting and at 6-8 weeks for root cuttings. Rooting hormone significantly increased sprouting of semi-hard wood cuttings but reduced sprouting of root cuttings. Sprouting mortality was observed in all the species, plant parts and their interactions with rooting hormone. High sprouting mortality (started at 4wap) was recorded for soft wood and hard wood cuttings of A. ferruginea with hormone treatment, hard wood cutting of A. ferruginea without hormone treatment and semi-hard wood cutting of A. adianthfolia without hormone treatment at 10wap. Sprouts from stem cuttings of the three Albjzja species and their interactions with rooting hormone, showed a decrease in height, stem diameter, leaf petioles production and dry matter accumulation from 6wap to 12wap, probably because they did not develop roots to absorb water and nutrients to sustain their growth. Sprouts from root cuttings of the three species on the other hand, showed a steady increase in height, stem diameter, leaf petioles and dry matter production. The highest number of roots developed per cutting (11.6) was recorded for root cuttings of A.ferruginea without hormone treatment at l2wap. Transplanted root cuttings showed appreciable increase in height, stem diameter, leaf petioles production and dry matter accumulation with A. ferruginea performing better than A. adianthfolia and A. zygia. Species showed significant difference (p<0.05) in growth. However, interaction between root cuttings and rooting hormone had no significant effect on height, stem diameter, leaf petioles production, root development, nodules production and dry matter accumulation at 12 weeks after transplanting. It could be inferred that, root cuttings of Albizia species have the potential of being propagated vegetatively without rooting hormone treatment.

Source: KNUST
Veterans Village, Amasaman

In recent times, there has been concern over the increasing number of destitute and mentally ill people roaming our urban streets. There was a call for something to be done about it but the situation remains the same. This is partly due to the inability of the institutions responsible to control the situation and partly because of neglect of individual responsible for these people. The old soldiers among them are the responsibility of the veterans Association of Ghana, it is therefore fitting that they propose a scheme to rehabilitate them. The rehabilitation facilities existing in the form of Veterans Association Villages (Legion Villages) have not stopped some of them from begging for arms. With the processed removal of the Veterans Association Village on liberation road in Accra to make way for commercial development, the opportunity has arise for the creation of a new village with a new conceptor rehabilitation which would serve the needs of these helpless people and those on the way to destitution. The first part of this thesis analyses the existing situation in the country, mentioning development trance in this context on the international scene and documents statistics on the veterans of the Accra village. Based on these statistics, the social, physical and economic analysis and synthesis of documented data, a brief was evolved designed to meet the requirement of the users of the development. The second part is the design proposal showing the new concept and the employment of technologies to enhance the quality of activities at the proposed village

Source: KNUST
Venture capital financing of small and medium scale enterprises in Ghana

The centrality of finance for enhancing development and growth even in developing countries is well established. In the United States of America, venture capital industry has been in existence since the end of World War II. It has helped to create many of today's global enterprises and a recent report confirms that companies supported by venture capital in their formative years outperformed those that were not on many parameters. Venture capital has emerged as an important intermediary in financial markets, providing capital to young promising firms that might have otherwise gone unfunded. Venture capital focuses on enterprises that can generate high-growth and become at least regional, if not global, players providing employment to a large number of workers. « There is therefore the need to assess the contributions of venture capital trust fund (VCTF) to the economy of Ghana and thereby acknowledge its importance and how best to harness its benefits to the country's economic development. The main objective of the study is to examine the role of venture capital financing in promoting and maintaining small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The study is intended to provide information to assist venture capital financing companies and small and medium scale operators to identify their unique roles and perform them better. Using the conventional questionnaire administration and interviews, analysis of data collected from the VCTF and SMEs assisted by venture capitalists (VCs) revealed that venture capital contributes immensely in the area of fresh capital inflow and also is accompanied by the process of value-adding which provides the company with monitoring, skills, expertise, help and basically reputation for further finance. The findings also show that SMEs that have access to venture capital financing program gained an increase in employment, revenue, and business expansion compared to those which did not participate. Lack of information on venture capital activities was identified as a major hindrance to SMEs. The study recommended that extensive services in collaboration with VCTF should develop an educational and information program on venture capital support in order to disseminate needed information to as many people as « possible. Again it was recommended that the government should reduce her involvement in managing venture capital financing and rather increase private sector participation as this will curtail unreasonable expectations from government officials.

Source: KNUST
Veterinary Drug Residues In Wild And Farmed Tilapia

Due to the great investment returns and high demand for tilapia, aquaculture production has become the fastest growing agricultural sector in Ghana with an annual production of 444,000 tonnes. However, the increasing use of veterinary drugs by these farmers and the lack of regulatory oversight to monitor the residual levels of these drugs is a major food safety issue, resulting potentially in the development of antimicrobial resistance in the general population. The objective of this study was to investigate selected veterinary drug residues in tilapia from aquaculture farms in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. A sample of 60 fresh tilapia from 60 wild and aquaculture farms in Asikuma, Agyabui, Dodi, Dzemeni and Kpong were used. The results reveal that residues from all 10 veterinary drugs tested (chlortetracycline hydrochloride, doxycycline hyclate, amoxicillin trihydrate, diminazene aceturate, sulphamethizole, oxadiargyl, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, metronidazole and chloramphenicol) were generally present at levels greater than the EU MRL standards. However, in order to alleviate the residuals of the veterinary drugs being detected in tilapia from our water bodies and aquaculture farms, there should be education, monitoring and evaluation programs and mechanisms set by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture together with other stake holders to monitor and evaluate the dealings and practices of fish farmers in the country.

Source: KNUST
Veterinary drug residues in chicken parts from five selected poultry farms in the Kumasi Metropolitan, Offinso-South Municipality and Kwabre-East District of Ashanti Region- Ghana

Samples of liver, kidney and muscles of chicken from three different Districts in Ashanti-region of Ghana were analyzed for veterinary drug residues (including albendazole, piperazine, tiamulin, chloramphenicol, levamisole, sulphathiazine, sulphamethoxazole and oxy-tetracycline) with HPLC equipped with photodiode array (PDA) detector. Homogenized samples were extracted using acetonitrile and cleanup on C-18 solid phase column.The average recoveries of the drug residues in veterinary drugs in chicken parts were in the range of 76.0-98.8%. The limit of detection was 0.01 μg/kg and the limit of quantification was 0.03 μg/kg for all the compounds. Offinso-South Municipality recorded the highest mean concentration of 1542.0±62.73 μg/kg drug residues and was closely followed by residues in liver samples from Kentinkrono (1424.0±49.82 μg/kg). Samples from Kwabre District showed the least level of accumulation (1328.0±16.68 μg/kg) residues in the liver and this was very close to the kidney residue accumulation in the same District. Kwabre District however recorded the highest concentrations of residues (1247.0±42.39 μg/kg) in the kidney followed by Offinso municipality. Kentinkrono had the least accumulation of veterinary drug residue in the kidney. The concentrations of residue in the muscles from all the five farms visited were insignificantly different (p ˂ 0.05). Offinso recorded the highest accumulation of 390.0±40.97 μg/kg closely followed by Kwabre, 374.8±47.11 μg/kg. Kentinkrono registered the lowest concentration of 343.7±35.85 μg/kg. Residues of all veterinary drugs were higher in liver and/or kidney tissue as compared tomuscle tissue. Liver parts registered the highest mean concentration (1455.0±85.7 μg/kg) followed by kidney parts which registered 887.5±45.8 μg/kg mean concentration. Muscle parts registered the lowest concentration (371.2±33.6) in all the farms. Levamisole present in the meat may pose risk to the consumers as their mean concentrations mostly exceeded the recommended JECFA MRLs. Chloramphenicol recorded highest global estimated chronic dietary exposure of 1.018 μg/kg body weight per day whiles albendazole and sulphathiazine registered 0.306 μg/kg body weight per day and 0.313 μg/kg body weight per day respectively. Chloramphenicol and levamisole were detected in all the samples. These chemicals that exceeded the recommended limits may pose health risk to the consuming public. Keywords: Poultry, veterinary drugs, residues, albendazole, piperazine, tiamulin, chloramphenicol, levamisole, sulphathiazine, sulphamethoxazole and oxy-tetracycline.

Source: KNUST
Viability of management procurement system in the construction industry of Ghana

Management procurement system designed to solve construction procurement of complex and time bound project is virtually unknown in Ghanaian construction industry. The purpose of this research is to educate and bring into the attention of consultants and clients the need to employ management procurement method. The mixed methodology design employs non-probability sampling technique to survey 103 construction professionals in the Greater Accra Region in an attempt to investigate the viability of management procurement system in the construction industry. The study revealed that the construction firms in the region predominantly depend on the traditional procurement system. The major factors influencing the construction firms dependency on this system of procurement were found to include minimization of construction time, project completion at estimated cost, quality assurance minimization of design time, consultancy service offered, availability of information at project inception, and technical complexity of construction in that order of their rank. The study also revealed several effects of management procurement system on the success of building project including reduction in project cost, reduction in conflict of interest, risk reduction, design flexibility, quicker delivery, and the achievement of full control of the construction process. However, the study revealed several challenges to the practice of the management procurement system including increased level of risk for the client, lack of a firm price when construction commences, more administration for client, need for meticulous and comprehensive administration, construction project manager must be an expert and control process well and others. Based on these findings, the study recommended the need for appropriate procurement management system adoption, advice clients on available procurement systems; need to employ a qualified and experienced in procurement manager, and training of project team on procurement management systems.

Source: KNUST
Vibration of High-Rise Buildings (A Case Study of Unity Hall, KNUST)

Very often, building contractors and civil engineers design and build high-rise buildings oblivious of the maximum possible displacement that each floor can displace due to vibrations. Apparently, building contractors and engineers lay much emphasis on the foundation to the neglect of slabs of each floor of the high-rise building. If the maximum displacement of a high-rise building is known before hand, building experts can run simulations on the building to know the safest amount of load to use on each' slab construction that can minimize cost, and yet provide the needed resistance it is designed for. The structural and sectional drawings of Unity Hall, my case study, were analyzed and the volume of each floor slab computed. The result was multiplied by the density of reinforced concrete to obtain the mass of each slab of the building. The column constants were also computed for use in our problem solving process. The results were then formulated as a symmetric positive generalized eigenvalue problem in terms of mass and stiffness matrices under free vibration and a tridiagonal system under forced vibration. The problem was solved to obtain the maximum possible displacement of each floor of the building. A second solution is obtained by including live load to each floor of the building. The Numerical stability theorem was used to confirm the stability or otherwise of the algorithms employed in this project. Under free vibration and live load absent, all displacement values fall below 0.5m which shows that the model maintains its linearity under free vibration. However, when live load is present, all displacement values fall below 1.6m, showing that the presence of live load reduces linearity of the model under free vibration. This goes to suggest that the linearity of the model is compromised when live load is included under free vibration. Under forced vibration, our model maintains its linearity up to an earthquake of magnitude 1.0 when live load is absent and 1.25 when live load is present This also confirms that, the presence of students has some effect on the linearity of the model under forced vibration. Above the stipulated magnitudes of 1.0 and 1.25 when live load is absent and present respectively, displacements exceeds 0.5m and 1.6rt) meaning the linearity assumption becomes no longer tenable and failure of the building becomes eminent. In spite of the stated magnitude thresholds, it must be noted that if the frequency of the incoming wave coincides with one of the natural frequencies of the building, the amplitude of displacement becomes large, signaling the occurrence of resonance. Where as displacements below 0.5m when live load absent, and 1.6m when live load present, will cause the building to crack, the resonance scenario will cause the buildings to fail woefully, even to the extent of collapse.

Source: KNUST
Video documentation of broadloom weaving processes for effective teaching and learning of fabric weaving in Senior High Schools in Kwahu East and East Akim Districts.

Over the years, there has been a gap between school-based weaving and community-based weaving technologies. This gap so created is as a result of some textiles teachers who lack the basic skills to handle practical weaving on the broadloom in Senior High Schools pursuing textiles. This study, addressing the gap so created, has identified and described broadloom equipment, materials and systematic processes involved in broadloom weaving. A video documentary on broadloom equipment, materials and systematic processes involved in broadloom weaving has been developed and field tested to reveal its strength as a teaching tool to facilitate the teaching and learning of textiles in public and private Senior High Schools. Three phases make up the entire project. Phase One deals with interviews conducted and observations made at public and private Senior High Schools and local broadloom weaving centres. Phase Two contains the Video filming processes and its content. Phase Three, the final phase involves using the video as a tool for teaching in the classroom. Time spun used by the researcher for field-testing of the documentary was short so more extensive testing and use of the video is needed to refine and improve its effectiveness as a teaching tool. The reality of this project, however, depends solely on the heads of Senior High Schools whose duty is to furnish their schools with the needed weaving equipment, accessories and materials for practical weaving.

Source: KNUST
Video Production in Ghana: A Study of Postproduction

The thesis seeks to discover ways of improving video production in Ghana by assessing the standard of locally made television and film genres. The study adopted the qualitative research approach with questionnaire administration, interview, focus group discussion and participant observation to analyse the content and quality of three locally produced movies as a means of identifying the factors that make it difficult for local films to meet international standards. Based on a population of 42 filmmakers (editors and directors) and 142 literate, semi-literate and illiterate members of the viewing public, in Accra and Kumasi, and three selected movies – ¬“Fire for Fire” , “Kyeiwaa” and “Love Brewed in the African Pot” , the study revealed that most nonlinear editors in Ghana lack the requisite expertise for post-production. It also showed that most directors do not plan adequately ahead of production and also do not show much creativity in the productions. Because of high production costs, some local filmmakers cut down on the cost of postproduction and end up with substandard films. Content analysis of the three films showed that “Fire for Fire” and “Love Brewed in the African Pot” were well edited than “Kyeiwaa” which has more than 10 series. Furthermore, it was evident that “Love Brewed in the African Pot” was shot with a well-constructed script which was also apparent in “Fire for Fire” . Most of the editing principles were also predominant in the two movies which make them good productions. Kyeiwaa lacks most of these qualities making it an unprofessional production. What the industry needs to grow are talents, equipment or logistics, money and legislation. The study recommends among other things that, the industry should be strengthened through in-service training, the acquisition of better equipment and the appropriate software. This will foster creativity and skills on the part of editors to output high-quality productions. What’s more, a lot of groundwork must be done during the script stage including story boarding. This will guide the selection of shots during the actual production and help during postproduction. Finally, the implementation of the Cinematography Act to regulate the video editing and filmmaking industry on the whole will be beneficial to industry. Alternatively, financial assistance from the government to assist these regulatory bodies will go a long way to make it more effective. The researcher is glad to suggest interesting ideas that can be used to better video production in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Veterinary Drug Residues in Chicken Eggs from Some Selected Poultry Farms in the Kumasi Metropolis, Kwabre East and Offinso Districts of the Ashanti Region

Multiresidue analyses of veterinary drugs were determined in commercial eggs from the Offinso, Kumasi Metropolis and the Kwabre East District in the Ashanti Region. A total of 200 table egg samples were collected for albendazole, chloramphenicol, levamisole, oxytetracycline, piperazine, sulphamethoxazole, sulphathiazole and tiamulin residuesfrom 5 poultry farms. Whole eggs were homogenized in acetonitrile, extracts evaporated and residues dissolved in mobile phase. The fats were removed using hexane. Extracts were analyzed by solid phase reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector. Results showed that Albendazole was the most frequently detected in all the 200 samples taken from the five farms in the three districts which occurred at an average concentration of 116.1± 2.30 µg/kg. Chloramphenicol was also detected at an average concentration of 26.6 ± 0.39µg/kg. Levamisole was recorded at an average concentration of 14.7 ± 0.26 µg/kg. Oxytetracycline residues registered an average concentration of 19.8 ± 0.47µg/kg.Piperazine was detected at an average concentration of 40.00 ± 0.80 µg/kg. The two sulphonamides,sulphamethoxazole and sulphathiazole had detectable concentrations of 17.05 ± 0.34µg/kg and32.50 ± 0.42 µg/kg respectively. The least detectable residue in all the five farms was tiamulin which had a detectable concentration of 0.95± 0.04 µg/kg. Detectable levels of all the drug residues were below their maximum residual limit given by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).However the residues may accumulate to higher levels in human beings making them dangerous to human health.

Source: KNUST