ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Injuries and their related household costs in a tertiary hospital in Ghana

Introduction Injuries remain a leading cause of death in many developing countries, accounting for more deaths than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. This study set out to determine the associated patient costs of reported injury cases at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana. Method A cross-sectional retrospective Cost-of-Illness study of 301 sampled patients was undertaken, following a review of injured patients' records from January–December 2016. Direct cost, (consisting of consultation, surgery, medicines, transportation, property damage, food and consumables) was estimated. Indirect cost was calculated using the Human capital approach. Intangible cost was assessed using Likert scale analysis. The overall household cost, average cost of various injuries and intangible costs were determined. Results The total annual household cost of injuries to patients who attended KBTH was US$11,327,461.96, of which 82% was the direct cost. The average household cost of injuries was US$ 1276.15. All injuries recorded some level of high intangible cost but was exceptional for burns.

Source: UG
Injury Profiles Associated with Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Tarkwa, Ghana

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is inherently risky, but little is known about mining-associated hazards and injuries despite the tremendous growth worldwide of ASGM and the benefits it offers. The current study aimed to characterize the physical injuries associated with ASGM in Ghana to guide policy formulation. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the Tarkwa mining district of the Western Region of Ghana in 2014. A total of 404 small-scale miners were recruited and interviewed regarding their occupational injury experiences over the preceding 10 years using a paper-based structured questionnaire. Nearly one-quarter (23.5%) of the miners interviewed reported getting injured over the previous 10 years, and the overall injury rate was calculated to be 5.39 per 100 person years. The rate was significantly higher for women (11.93 per 100 person years) and those with little mining experience (e.g., 25.31 per 100 person years for those with less than one year of work experience). The most injury-prone mining activities were excavation (58.7%) and crushing (23.1%), and over 70% of the injuries were reported to be due to miners being hit by an object. The majority of the injuries (57%) were lacerations, and nearly 70% of the injuries were to the upper or lower limbs. Approximately one-third (34.7%) of the injuries resulted in miners missing more than two weeks of work. One-quarter of the injured workers believed that abnormal work pressure played a role in their injuries, and nearly two-fifths believed that their injuries could have been prevented, with many citing personal protective equipment as a solution. About one-quarter of the employees reported that their employers never seemed to be interested in the welfare or safety of their employees. These findings greatly advance our understanding of occupational hazards and injuries amongst ASGM workers and help identify several intervention points.

Source: UG
Injury-related mortality among adolescents: findings from a teaching hospital's post mortem data

Abstract Background Injuries are noted to be an important cause of death among adolescents. There is however limited data on the injury related deaths among adolescents in Ghana. Findings Using data from post-mortem records derived from the Department of Pathology of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra Ghana from 2001 to 2003, the causes of injury related deaths among adolescents 10 to 19 years were analyzed by gender and age groups 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 years. There were 151 injury-related deaths constituting 17% of the autopsies performed among adolescents in the study period. The male-to-female ratio was 2.1:1. Drowning was the most common cause of death (37%) in the study population. This was followed by road traffic accidents (RTA) (33%). Over 70% of the RTA victims were pedestrians knocked downed by a vehicle. Deaths from electrocution, poisoning, burns, stab/gunshot, hanging and other miscellaneous causes (example blast injury, traumatic injury from falling debris, fall from height) made up the remaining 30% of the injury related mortality. Among males and in both age categories, drowning was the leading cause of death. In females, the highest mortality was from road traffic accidents accounting for almost half (49%) of the deaths; significantly more than that occurring in males (25%, p = .004). Conclusions Findings from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital post-mortem data on adolescents show that drowning and road traffic accidents are the leading causes of injury-related mortality. Appropriate injury reducing interventions are needed to facilitate a decrease in these preventable deaths.

Source: UG
Inkjet-printed graphene electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

We present a stable inkjet printable graphene ink, formulated in isopropyl alcohol via liquid phase exfoliation of chemically pristine graphite with a polymer stabilizer. The rheology and low deposition temperature of the ink allow uniform printing. We use the graphene ink to fabricate counter electrodes (CE) for natural and ruthenium-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The repeatability of the printing process for the CEs is demonstrated through an array of inkjet-printed graphene electrodes, with ~5% standard deviation in the sheet resistance. As photosensitizers, we investigate natural tropical dye extracts from Pennisetum glaucum, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Among the three natural dyes, we find extracts from C. pulcherrima exhibit the best performance, with ~0.9% conversion efficiency using a printed graphene CE and a comparable ~1.1% efficiency using a platinum (Pt) CE. When used with N719 dye, the inkjet-printed graphene CE shows a ~3.0% conversion efficiency, compared to ~4.4% obtained using Pt CEs. Our results show that inkjet printable graphene inks, without any chemical functionalization, offers a flexible and scalable fabrication route, with a material cost of only ~2.7% of the equivalent solution processed Pt-based electrodes.

Source: UG
Innovation and competitive advantage creation: The role of organisational leadership in service firms from emerging markets

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how emerging market firms create competitive advantage through innovation. The study through the upper echelon theory and the power distance cultural perspective examines the mediating role of organisational leadership in the innovation and competitive advantage relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from the service sectors of two emerging economies, i.e. India and Ghana. Robust standard error regressions were run at two levels. First, at the specific country level and later on the aggregated level for robustness check. Findings: The results show that in both India and Ghana, innovation largely relates positively with competitive advantage. In specific terms, market innovation was found to be the most significant determinant of competitive advantage in both contexts. Additionally, organisational leadership was also found to be mediating between innovation and competitive advantage in both contexts independently and collectively to confirm the effect of power distance and leadership role in such cultures. Research limitations/implications: The current study looks at only two emerging markets with high power distance cultures. The implication is that the impact of leadership may differ in emerging economies with low power distance. Originality/value: The current study looks beyond the mundane relationship between financial performance measures and innovation to assess innovation and competitive advantage in emerging markets context, which has not received the needed attention. It further explains how emerging markets firms can ride on the back of power distance to create a competitive advantage with their innovation development and implementation through organisational innovation leadership. The study offers that the maximum exploitation of the beneficial effect of innovation – competitive advantage – in service firms can only be achieved when leaders spearhead the innovation process and see it through implementation. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Source: UG
Innovation and employment in manufacturing and service firms in Ghana

While the importance of innovation as a primary source of economic growth has never been in dispute, its impact on employment has remained indeterminate. On one hand, the pessimists indicate that firm innovation destroys jobs because of the immediate indirect labour-saving nature of the effect of innovation, while the optimists argue that there are several compensation mechanisms that are known to counterbalance the initial effect of innovation and render the final effect indeterminate. Using data on a panel of 421 firms in Ghana, the paper investigates the relationship between innovation introduced at the firm level and employment. Relying on the panel fixed effects and Hausman-Taylor estimation techniques, this study finds a robust statistically significant positive impact of product innovation on employment but not for process innovation. In terms of policy relevance, this finding reemphasizes the need for policy makers in Ghana to intensity efforts in promoting technology diffusion particularly through FDI. This study thus contributes to the literature on innovation in Africa by providing evidence on why technological innovation in the form of product innovation can be a panacea to alleviating employment challenges in Ghana.

Source: UG
An innovation systems approach to institutional change: Smallholder development in West Africa

Sustainable intensification of smallholder farming is a serious option for satisfying 2050 global cereal requirements and alleviating persistent poverty. That option seems far off for Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) where technology-driven productivity growth has largely failed. The article revisits this issue from a number of angles: current approaches to enlisting SSA smallholders in agricultural development; the history of the phenomenal productivity growth in the USA, The Netherlands and Green Revolution Asia; and the current framework conditions for SSA productivity growth. This analysis shows that (1) the development of an enabling institutional context was a necessary condition that preceded the phenomenal productivity growth in industrial and Green Revolution countries; and that (2) such a context is also present for successful SSA export crop production, but that (3) the context is pervasively biased against SSA's smallholder food production. The article traces the origins of technology supply push (TSP) as a dominant paradigm that hinders recognition of the role of enabling institutions. The article then reviews the literature on institutional change and zooms in on Innovation Platforms (IPs) as a promising innovation system approach to such change. We describe the concrete experience with IP in the Sub-Sahara Challenge Program (SSA-CP) and in the Convergence of Sciences: Strengthening Innovation Systems (CoS-SIS) Program. The former has demonstrated proof of concept. The latter is designed to trace causal mechanisms. We describe its institutional experimentation and research methodology, including causal process tracing. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Source: UG
Innovations and modifcations of current extraction methods and techniques of citrus essential oils: a review

The genus Citrus of the Rutaceae family remains one of the benefcial fruit crops that produce high quantities of essential oils that have pharmaceutical, biological, and food preservative applications. Despite the numerous benefts of citrus essential oils (CEOs), there is a major challenge in choosing the most efcient extraction method(s) for large-scale pro duction of quality CEOs to meet industrial, research, and domestic demands. This review provides a general overview of the listed citrus species, the chemical composition of their essential oils, medicinal uses, and the major methods of extraction of citrus essential oils from 10 selected citrus species. A meticulous, in-depth review of the various methods of CEOs extraction has been provided, along with their advantages, limitations, and novel modifcations. This compre hensive literature review expounded on the current extraction methods for citrus essential oils and the various modi fcations developed to reduce the extraction time, excessive energy consumption, CO2 production, and quality, as well as to improve the extraction yield.

Source: UG
Innovations And Modifcations Of Current Extraction Methods And Techniques Of Citrus Essential Oils: A Review.

The genus Citrus of the Rutaceae family remains one of the beneficial fruit crops that produce high quantities of essential oils that have pharmaceutical, biological, and food preservative applications. Despite the numerous benefits of citrus essential oils (CEOs), there is a major challenge in choosing the most efficient extraction method(s) for large-scale pro duction of quality CEOs to meet industrial, research, and domestic demands. This review provides a general overview of the listed citrus species, the chemical composition of their essential oils, medicinal uses, and the major methods of extraction of citrus essential oils from 10 selected citrus species. A meticulous, in-depth review of the various methods of CEOs extraction has been provided, along with their advantages, limitations, and novel modifications. This compre hensive literature review expounded on the current extraction methods for citrus essential oils and the various modifications developed to reduce the extraction time, excessive energy consumption, CO2 production, and quality, as well as to improve the extraction yield.

Source: UG
Innovations in Electoral Politics in Ghana’s Fourth Republic: An Analysis

The quest for a fifth successful election in the preparation towards the December 2008 elections was of great interest to every Ghanaian. Though, the transitional presidential election of November 1992 was highly disputed by the opposition parties and which subsequently led to their boycott of the parliamentary poll that December; the acrimony no doubt had arisen from the fact that the military regime that had metamorphosed into a political party rigged that elections. This shaky foundation gave birth to Ghana’s current dispensation, which has witnessed a more peaceful and generally free and fair elections for three consecutive periods (1996, 2000 and 2004). Even, in 2000, there was a peaceful alternation of power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) which made Ghana a paragon of good governance and peaceful coexistence in West Africa. Despite this, the sub-region itself has over the last decade and half been better known for a spiral of violent conflict. This paper seeks to explain the apparent paradox, a flawed transition setting the stage for a democratic progress, in the light of the many varying innovations in Ghana’s electoral politics in the period under review

Source: UG
Innovative design of grid connected solar/diesel hybrid system using RETScreen software

Abstract. Accessibility to dependable energy resource is vital to the emerging economy to function appropriately in this contemporary world for both residential and commercial purposes. Technological advancement has opened avenues for more sophisticated technologies to combine multiple energy sources to generate affordable electricity for residential and industrial purposes. The study, therefore aims at analyzing the fiscal benefits of hybrid Solar PV and Diesel Generator (DG) (PV-DG) grid-connected system using RETSceen software. The study focused on a specific location, J. A. Plant Pool Ghana Limited, warehouse Department. The study recommended and proposed an effective design of a hybrid PV-DG grid connected electricity supply for the warehouse Department. The economic viability of the project and the payback period obtained through computation were very attractive. Also, the total revenue of electricity exported to the grid annually and GHG emission reduction were within the standard benchmark. The study finally concurred that renewable energy sources such as solar when hybridized with any other energy systems, lead to a noticeable electrical cost reduction. Therefore, this system design provides multiple benefits, including; improved reliability, reduced emission and significant cost reduction.

Source: UG
Innovative Spectral Characterisation Of Beached Pelagic Sargassum Towards Remote Estimation Of Biochemical And Phenotypic Properties

In recent years, pelagic sargassum (S. fluitans and S. natans, henceforth sargassum) macroalgal Blooms have become more frequent and larger with higher biomass in the Tropical Atlantic region. They have environmental and socio-economic impacts, particularly on coastal ecosystems, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture industries, and on public health. Despite these challenges, sargassum biomass has the potential to offer commercial opportunities in the blue economy, although it is reliant on key chemical and physical characteristics of the sargassum for specific use. In this study,we aim to utilise remotely sensed spectral profiles to determine species and morphotypes at different decomposition stages and their biochemical composition to support monitoring and valorisation of sargassum. For this, we undertook dedicated field campaigns in Barbados and Ghana to collect the first time, in situ spectral measurements between 350 and 2500 nm using a Spectra Vista Corp (SVC) HR-1024i field spectrometer of pelagic sargassum-stranded biomass. The spectral measurements were complemented by uncrewed aerial system surveys using a DJI Phantom 4 drone and a DJI P4 multispectral instrument. Using the ground and airborne datasets, this research developed an operational framework for remote detection of beached sargassum and created spectral profiles of species and morphotypes and decomposition maps to infer biochemical composition. We were able to identify some key spectral regions, including a consistent absorption feature (920 – 1080 nm) found in all of the sargassum morphotype spectral profiles; we also observed distinction between fresh and recently beached sargassum, particularly around 900–1000 nm. This work can support pelagic sargassum management and contribute to effective utilisation of the sargassum biomass to ultimately alleviate some of the socio-economic impacts associated with this emerging environmental challenge.

Source: UG
Innovative ways of making aid effective in Ghana: Tied aid versus direct budgetary support

In 2003, the government of Ghana and its development partners agreed on an aid package dubbed the multi-donor budgetary support (MDBS), which would ensure continuous flow of aid to finance the government's poverty related expenditures. This paper examines the MDBS, specifically focusing on how it overcomes the problems of tied aid and other project support. It concludes that the MDBS is innovative and could work in Ghana, but it would need trust and a well-designed, coordinated effort on the part of the government of Ghana and its development partners. Second, its effectiveness would depend crucially on measures to help reduce the debt burden, so that the government would not be compelled to use aid inflows to service its debt. Finally, the MDBS could be more effective if it did not have to operate alongside other project support. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Source: UG
Innovative ways of studying the effect of migration on obesity and diabetes beyond the common designs: lessons from the RODAM study.

ype 2 diabetes and obesity are major global public health problems, with migrant populations in high-income countries being particularly affected. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are also major threats in low- and middle-income countries, from which most migrant populations originate. Transitioning of societies and the resulting changes in lifestyles are thought to be major driving forces, but the key specific factors within this broad category still need to be determined. Migrant studies provide a unique opportunity to understand the potential underlying causes of these conditions, but current research is mainly geared toward analyzing the differences between migrants and the host populations in the countries of settlement. For better understanding, there is a need to extend migrant health research across national boundaries. This review discusses innovative ways of studying the effect of migration on type 2 diabetes and obesity beyond the common designs and the relevance of extending migrant health studies across national boundaries in the current era of increasing global migration. Specifically, we describe the burden and different methods for conducting migrant studies. We use the Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study as a case study, discussing the methods, some results, and lessons learned, including challenges and an essential recipe for success that may guide future migrant health research.

Source: UG
Inorganic arsenic and trace elements in Ghanaian grain staples

A total of 549 samples of rice, maize, wheat, sorghum and millet were obtained from markets in Ghana, the EU, US and Asia. Analysis of the samples, originating from 21 countries in 5 continents, helped to establish global mean trace element concentrations in grains; thus placing the Ghanaian data within a global context. Ghanaian rice was generally low in potentially toxic elements, but high in essential nutrient elements. Arsenic concentrations in rice from US (0.22 mg/kg) and Thailand (0.15 mg/kg) were higher than in Ghanaian rice (0.11 mg/kg). Percentage inorganic arsenic content of the latter (83%) was, however, higher than for US (42%) and Thai rice (67%). Total arsenic concentration in Ghanaian maize, sorghum and millet samples (0.01 mg/kg) was an order of magnitude lower than in Ghanaian rice, indicating that a shift from rice-centric to multigrain diets could help reduce health risks posed by dietary exposure to inorganic As.

Source: UG
Inorganic arsenic levels in baby rice are of concern

Inorganic arsenic is a chronic exposure carcinogen. Analysis of UK baby rice revealed a median inorganic arsenic content (n = 17) of 0.11 mg/kg. By plotting inorganic arsenic against total arsenic, it was found that inorganic As concentrations increased linearly up to 0.25 mg/ kg total arsenic, then plateaued at 0.16 mg/kg at higher total arsenic concentrations. Inorganic arsenic intake by babies (4-12 months) was considered with respect to current dietary ingestion regulations. It was found that 35% of the baby rice samples analysed would be illegal for sale in China which has regulatory limit of 0.15 mg/kg inorganic arsenic. EU and US food regulations on arsenic are non-existent. When baby inorganic arsenic intake from rice was considered, median consumption (expressed as mg/kg/d) was higher than drinking water maximum exposures predicted for adults in these regions when water intake was expressed on a bodyweight basis.

Source: UG