ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Geometry + simulation modules: Implementing isogeometric analysis

Isogeometric analysis (IGA) is a recently developed simulation method that allows integration of fnite element analysis (FEA) with conventional computer-aided design (CAD) software [1,3]. This goal requires new software design strategies, in order to enable the use of CAD data in the analysis pipeline. To this end, we have initiated G+SMO (Geometry+Simulation Modules), an open-source, C++ library for IGA. G+SMO is an object-oriented, template library, that implements a generic concept for\ IGA, based on abstract classes for discretization basis, geometry map, assembler, solver and so on. It makes use of object\ polymorphism and inheritance techniques to provide a common framework for IGA, for a variety of different basis-types which are available. A highlight of our design is the dimension independent code, realized by means of template meta-programming. Some of the features already available include computing with B-spline, Bernstein, NURBS bases, as well as hierarchical and truncated hierarchical bases of arbitrary polynomial order. These basis functions are used in continuous and discontinuous Galerkin approximation of PDEs over (non-)conforming multi-patch computational (physical) domains

Source: UCC
Geospatial assessment of ecosystem health of coastal urban wetlands in Ghana

This study employed geospatial techniques to assess the ecosystem health of some coastal urban wetlands in Ghana over 32-year period and predicted changes that will occur in the next 15 years. Landsat satellite images of 1985, 2002 and 2017 were obtained for this study. The study was carried out in three coastal urban wetlands; Muni-Pomadze, Densu Delta and Sakumo II Ramsar Sites. The ecosystem health of the wetlands was assessed using structure, function and resilience indicators. The results indicated that between 1985 and 2002 about 21 percent of the total area of the wetlands were subjected to land use land cover (LULC) changes and almost half of the total area (48%) experienced changes in 2002-2017 period. The annual change rate in 1985-2002 was relatively slow whereas the annual change rate in 2002-2017 was relatively fast due to increasing anthropogenic activities. The natural LULC classes progressively became more fragmented over the study period due to the expansion of built-up areas. It was estimated that about 30 percent of the total area of the wetlands in 2017 will be subjected to LULC changes as result of built-up expansion in 2032. In 2002, ecosystem health of Densu Delta experienced the least decline (12%) from the 1985 state among all the three wetlands and Sakumo II recorded the highest deterioration (38%). Contrary to 2002, in 2017 the health of Densu Delta experienced the worse deterioration (46.3%) whereas Sakumo II recorded the least decline (26.2%). Ecosystem health of Muni Pomadze Ramsar Site deteriorated at a similar magnitude, 27 percent and 29.1 percent for 2002 and 2017 respectively. An urgent pragmatic intervention is needed to protect the coastal urban wetlands in Ghana to save them from being wiped out completely.

Source: UCC
Geraniin attenuates naloxoneprecipitated morphine withdrawal and morphine-induced tolerance in mice

analgesics have fueled the drive for the search for more analgesics with better side effect profiles. Geraniin, the most dominant secondary metabolite in the aqueous extract of the aerial parts of Phyllanthus muellerianus, has been shown to possess antinociceptive properties mediated partly by opioidergic mechanisms. The purpose of this study is to determine whether geraniin exhibits tolerance and if it is able to ameliorate withdrawal signs in naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal. Materials and Methods: After chronic treatment of mice with geraniin orally, the formalin test was used to ascertain whether tolerance will develop to its antinociceptive effects and if there is morphine-induced tolerance cross-generalization with geraniin. The effect of geraniin on naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal signs in morphine-dependent mice was also investigated. Results: Geraniin (3-30 mg/kg) did not produce any tolerant effects after chronic administration and there was also no cross-generalization with the tolerant effects of morphine. Geraniin did not induce withdrawal signs but significantly reduced the number of jumps in morphine-dependent mice. Conclusion: Geraniin does not produce any tolerant effects like morphine and also reduced the signs associated with naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal in mice.

Source: UCC
German rule in colonial Ewedome (Ghana), 1890-1914

Ewedome has a unique history; it experienced colonialism under two diametrically opposed colonial powers – Britain and Germany. Yet the colonial experiences of this region remained largely unexplored by historians. This article uses evidence from primary and secondary sources to argue that German colonial rule, though relatively short, shaped the historical trajectory of the Ewedome region in many profound ways. The German policy of direct rule, based on village units, entrenched divisive tendencies and led to the multiplicity of chiefdoms. But it also inadvertently led to the elevation of Awatime, Ho and Kpando above other towns in Ewedome. The collaboration between the Bremen Mission and German colonial officials led to the ‘standardisation’ of the Ewe language and set in motion a process towards fostering a wider Ewe identity. The article adds to the on-going debate on how colonialism reshaped African pre-colonial political organisation and created new identities and new nations

Source: UCC
Getting a foot on the sanitation ladder: Users’ satisfaction and willingness to pay for improved public toilets in Accra, Ghana

Rapid urban growth in most developing countries has led to an increase in unplanned, high-density settlements dependent on contributed to the changing role of public toilets for sanitation from being mostly meant for the transient population into a permanent sanitation options for many urban residents, especially those living in low-income areas, yet we know relatively little about users’ perceptions and concerns about such facilities. This paper therefore seeks to explore users’ satisfaction and willingness to pay for improved sanitation services in Accra. Using a questionnaire, data were gathered from 245 users of public toilets living in two low-income communities of Accra. 80.8% of users expressed overall dissatisfaction with the public toilets, the main areas of concern being: long queues and waiting times, unpleasant smells, and dirtiness, , concerns about security and lack of running water and soap. Meanwhile, the majority of the respondents said that they would be willing to pay higher fees for improved services. We therefore implore operators should take note of this and to explore the potential market for building and maintaining high- quality public toilet facilities as a means to ending open defecation and getting to the first step on the sanitation ladder

Source: UCC
Getting Ready for Accreditation: Internal Quality Assurance in Teacher Education Institutions in Ghana

The importance of tertiary education cannot be over emphasized. Tertiary institutions provide a nation with varied human capital essential for building and growing the economy of a nation. Human development through the provision of teachers is a valuable role that teacher education tertiary institutions play. The teacher training colleges in Ghana are in the early days of being tertiary institutions. In tertiary institutions where accreditation is required for operation, better education management with emphasis on assuring quality is sine qua non. Quality assurance is pivoted to the continuing operations and success of a tertiary institution. This paper examined the implications of the transition to tertiary status and the urgency and importance of internal evaluation practices in the colleges of education. The paper also addressed internal quality assurance from total quality management and systems thinking perspectives and identified four pillars as anchoring internal quality assurance: creating quality institutional climate, promoting quality assurance at the departmental level, shifting focus from quality assurance for accountability to quality assurance for improvement and engaging in reflective practice and peer review as major tools to facilitate quality assurance.

Source: UCC
Ghana as a preferred African-American tourist destination

With reference to the literature on positioning and images, this paper identifies the shortfalls with attempts by the government of Ghana and other stakeholders to position Ghana on the African American market. The growth in the population and purchasing power of African Americans, Ghana’s enormous heritage attractions connected with the Transatlantic Slave Trade and relative stable political atmosphere are seen as good prospects for positioning the country on the African American Market. However, such efforts are constrained by the general perception of Ghana as an expensive destination, a misunderstanding of the characteristics and motivations of the African American market, hostilities between African Americans and Ghanaians as well as the negative images associated with Africa. It is therefore suggested that a uniform image centered on the ‘Slave Roots’ should be projected by various stakeholders

Source: UCC
Ghana private road transport union (GPRTU): a pioneer trade union of the trade union congress of Ghana 1941-1987

From 1900 the Gold Coast colonial government invested enormously in railway infrastructure and established the government railways. As the colonial government focused on the railways, motor transportation developed quickly through the effort of private individuals, and the colonial government belatedly, from 1925, begun passing ordinances to regulate motor transportation. To better operate within the limits of these ordinances, commercial motor drivers formed trade unions in the Gold Coast from the 1930s. The thesis offers the argument that, in forming trade unions, drivers were not only interested in negotiating colonial motor transport policies that affected their trade but were also concerned about the ruinous competition amongst themselves for both passengers and goods. As such, through unionization the GPRTU streamlined the operations of its members by defining routes and setting standardized fares throughout the country. The thesis gives an account of the development of trade unionism in the Gold Coast. Interrogating the period from 1941 to 1987, it focuses on the evolution and work of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), a pioneer trade union, representing commercial drivers and commercial vehicle owners in Ghana. It explains why the GPRTU, made up of both employers and employees, has not received serious scholarly attention within the historiography of Ghana, unlike the Railway Workers’ Union and the Mine Workers’ Union of Ghana, on which extensive studies has been undertaken. The thesis challenges, implicitly, the view that trade unionism was a phenomenon that was solely associated with wage labour. Using the Gold Coast example, the thesis contributes to the understanding that trade unions in African societies have developed their own character, as a result of unique conditions in Africa during the colonial and post-colonial periods. To this extent, the thesis projects the significance of trade union mobilization in the informal sector.

Source: UCC
Ghana Right to Information Law (Rti Act 2019, (Act 989)) Implementation: The Role of Monitoring and Evaluation, A Case Study of Right to Information Commission in Accra Metropolis

The study examines the role of monitoring and evaluation in the implementation of Ghana’s Right to Information Policy by the Right to Information Commission in Accra Metropolis. The study adopted the descriptive research design with a quantitative approach. It used a closed-ended questionnaire with a sample size of 125 participants. The study revealed that 79.2 percent of the respondents in Accra metropolis are aware of the RTI act. A further 67.2 percent of the respondents in Accra metropolis have never read the RTI provision in Act 989. Also 83.2 of the respondents indicated the RTI Act 989 provides for the right to access public information. The study further shows that M&E in management decision making, M&E accountability towards right to information, M&E resources are economically utilized, M&E activities are carried out within schedule, Application of M&E tools in RTI implementation enhance effective implementation of monitoring and evaluation mechanism applied by the commission to implement the Right to Information Commission in Accra Metropolis. The study revealed that there is lack of clear understanding of the procedures and process involved in requesting information from state institution or agencies, lack of qualified staff to enforce the act on the various agencies and departments of the state, inappropriate behavior on the part of institutional heads in terms of compliance to the RTI Act 989, slow release of funds from central government to the commission for effective implementation of the RTI Act, and lack of in-service training that will enhance the knowledge of the staff who are implementing the RTI Act. The Right to Information Commission should organize annual workshops to train its staff on the procedures and process involved in requesting information from public institutions.

Source: UCC
Ghana ‘s oil discovery: prospects and challenges for national development and diplomatic relations

Oil‘s importance in the global economy cannot be overlooked. Gas, diesel and petrol, which are by-products of oil, fuel transportation and industrialisation globally. Due to these and many other advantages associated with oil, its discovery in many parts of the world has come with a lot of hope and expectations. However, other countries that discovered oil especially, African countries, have plunged themselves into economic doldrums and diverse diplomatic rows. This state of mixed blessings suggest that oil and gas discovery has implications on Ghana‘s economic development and diplomatic relations. This study therefore assessed the impacts of Ghana‘s oil and gas industry on Ghana‘s national economic development and diplomatic relations. The study is based on interviews with oil and gas institutions, senior oil company staff, government officials, staff of international companies as well as secondary sources. Qualitative methods were employed to collect the data while case study research design was used. The study also adopted Purposive and Snowball Sampling methods to select the participants while content analysis was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that the future of oil and gas in Ghana is extremely hard to forecast. On the one hand the government tries to show good will in implementing useful measures to control the oil industry. On the other hand, there is much insecurity, since there seems to be an atmosphere of secrecy surrounding contracts and contract processes as well fiscal indiscipline. The study therefore recommends that the government should ensure a broad-based political commitment to fiscal discipline by strengthening the institutions that regulate the activities of the oil and gas industry

Source: UCC
Ghana's education reform 2007: A realistic proposition or a crisis of vision?

Ghana's recent "Education Reform 2007" envisions a system that strives to achieve both domestic and internationally-oriented goals emanating (1) from the Education for All (EFA) initiative, (2) from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and (3) from global trends in education. Emboldened by the implementation of foreign-donor-funded programmes such as EFA, the restructur- ing of the Ghana Education Sector Project (EdSeP) and the Science Resource Centres (SRC) project, both the education reform of 2007 and recent educational policy debates have reiterated the need to emphasise the teaching of science and information and communication technology to make Ghana's students/graduates more competitive in the global labour market. However, the bulk of Ghana's eco- nomic activity actually remains domestic or unglobalised. And given a weak economy and declining social spending due to strict adherence to the prescribed structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), there is concern that a focus on international competitiveness may be a crisis of vision. On the basis of the Ghanaian government's failure to meet the stated goals of previous reforms such as that of 1974, and the education system's continuing dependence on foreign donor support, this paper argues that the goals of the new reform may be unachievable on a sustainable basis. It also argues that rather than subjugate national domestic priorities to a mirage of international credibility/ competitiveness, Ghana should concentrate on capacitating her students/graduates to make maximum impact at domestic and local community

Source: UCC
A Ghanaian case study of strategies of ensuring accountability by nongovernmental organisations

Over the years, Non-Governmental Organisations have evolved and won public confidence as key actors in development. Accordingly, donors are increasingly channeling development assistant funds through NGOs to facilitate development in deprived communities. Interestingly, this is being accompanied with a corresponding demand on NGOs for accountability on their activities and use of resources. With limited empirical information on NGO accountability in Ghana, the study sought to provide an understanding on how NGOs can perceive accountability and the measures they can adopt to ensure accountability. A qualitative case study approach based on two NGOs was used for the study. This provided an in-depth understanding of the complex phenomenon of accountability based on views from twenty key-informants and documentary evidences. The study shows that NGOs can perceive accountability as a complex organizational activity with an aim, guiding principles and specific actions. NGOs can account to diverse stakeholders including their donors, the state, beneficiaries, their staff and other organisations they work closely with. The study highlighted periodic reporting, regular meetings and training, durbars and two-way communication systems as important means of ensuring accountability. Rendering account on ideology, staff competence for ensuring accountability, meeting beneficiaries demand for accountability, and collecting and reporting qualitative data could be a major challenge to NGO accountability in Ghana. Based on the findings, training (in-service and out-service) of NGOs on accountability, especially collecting and reporting qualitative information, can be a major tool for improving NGO accountability in Ghana

Source: UCC
THE GHANAIAN CURRENCY NOTES AND COINS: A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE FOR PATHOGENIC MICROBES

The microbial load of the “old” and “new” Ghanaian Cedi notes and coins obtained from vari-ous sources in Cape Coast, Ghana was studied using the dilution plate technique between Sep-tember 2005 - March 2006 and September 2008 - March 2009. Isolations were made on Mac-Conkey agar for coliforms and other enteric bacteria, Plate Count agar for total viable bacteria and Sabouraud agar for fungi. Generally, the notes carried significantly higher microbial loads than the Cedi coins (p < 0.001). Yeasts were the dominant microorganisms on both banknotes and coins, followed by moulds and coliform bacteria were the least. The enteric bacteria isolated were of the lactose-fermenting (coliforms) and non lactose-fermenting types. The presence of coliforms on the banknotes and coins indicated faecal contamination and thus implicated poor hygienic practices involved in the handling of Ghanaian currency notes and coins. The sources of collection of the banknotes and coins seemed to determine the types and population of micro-organisms on the notes and the coins. There was however no significant difference (p>0.05) be-tween bacterial loads isolated from the “old” notes and coins on one hand and “new” Cedi notes and coins on the other hand suggesting that the Ghanaian currency notes and coins were being mishandled by majority of the populace. The presence of various types of bacteria and fungi on the “Cedi” notes and coins suggests that they may act as vehicles for pathogens of some commu-nicable diseases.

Source: UCC
Ghanaian energyeconomy:Inter-productionfactorsand energy substitution

Industries in Ghana depend highly on petroleum to fuel their operations, which has brought immense environmental threat from greenhouse emission gas (GHG). This study tried to investigate potential substitutability of factor inputs and fuel inputs among capital, labor, petroleum, and electricity in Ghana by adopting the translog production and cost function approach. We used Ridge regression techniques to estimate the parameters after our data show possibility of multicollinearity. Our results show that, all inputs are substitutes with their relative technological progress also showing evidence of convergence. This suggests that, redirecting resources into the improvement of technology towards cleaner energy production like electricity will be a success over time, and this will mean that the fueling of the economy will be done in a cleaner environment and mitigating CO2 emissions as well. The improvement of electricity production and the promotion of its use require government policies that will enable industries to adjust to the switch from one input to the other through capital subsidies and tax rebates. Also, energy-labor and capital-energy being substitutes in our findings suggest that removal of all energy subsidies will reduce the use of energy and increase capital and labor intensiveness. Input switch by industries will promote merger of smaller firms with bigger firms that have cost advantages during the switch period and requires a clear government merger control policies. In a nutshell, our findings provide an insight into policies to promote the use of renewable energy, energy intensity, and merger policies.

Source: UCC
Ghanaian English: spelling pronunciation in focus

This paper examines the phenomenon of spelling pronunciation in Ghanaian English and shows that it has become one of the features of pronunciation that have diverged from „RP‟ (Received Pronunciation), the standard norm of English language proficiency that is taught to Ghanaians. The empirical investigation of spelling pronunciation was a selection of 50 words of English based on observation of their use by different groups of educated Ghanaians over the past four years. The selected words were further put to test as readings of the words in sentences by 60 graduate students of the University of Cape Coast were recorded, observed and phonetically transcribed. The investigation principally shows that the phenomenon of spelling pronunciation has become an unmarked feature in the way educated Ghanaians pronounce words of English. The study further suggests that two important factors account for the vastness of spelling pronunciation in Ghanaian English: the gap between spelling and pronunciation in standard British English, and the influence of L1 languages in Ghana.The paper concludes that spelling pronunciation has become an innovative feature in Ghanaian English not only because of its widespread nature but also because it satisfies two criteria any New English variety ought to meet – maintains international intelligibility and retains local identities. The study has implications for the description of non-native varieties of English, and the norms to be used in the teaching of English as a second language in Ghana and elsewhere

Source: UCC