ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Development Of A Reverse-Phase Hplc Method for the Quantification of Cryptolepine in the Dry Roots of Cryptolepis Sanguinolenta .

Cryptolepis sanguinolenta is a slender, thin-stemmed climbing shrub with orange-coloured juice in the cut stem which is distributed throughout the west coast of Africa. The aqueous root extract is a popular antimalarial in West African ethnomedicine. It is commonly known in Ghana as Ghana quinine or “Nibima” (Twi language). The dry roots of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta were obtained from Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), Akropong-Mampong. Roots were authenticated by comparing with herbarium sample at the Department of Pharmacognosy, KNUST. The major alkaloid in the roots of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, cryptolepine, was isolated by means of gravity column chromatography of the total alkaloidal extract followed by preparative TLC (Mobile phase: ethylacetate:methanol:ammonia (35%) 80:15:5) using a reference cryptolepine(CLP-R) sample. The authenticity of the isolated cryptolepine was confirmed by determining the UV, Infrared, 13C and 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometric data and the assignments were in agreement with those reported by by Grellier et al., (1996) and Dwuma-Badu, et al., (1978). As a step towards efforts to standardize and to ensure quality in herbal preparations containing extracts of the roots of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, a simple reverse-phase HPLC method with UV detection was developed and validated to quantify the levels of cryptolepine in the roots of the Cryptolepis plant. An isocratic elution of extractable cryptolepine in methanolic extract of dry roots of Cryptolepis was performed using methanol: water (90:9) modified with trifluoroacetic acid(TFA,98%) to a pH of 2.4 as mobile phase set at flow rate of 1ml/min on a Hichrom Zorbax C8 Column (5micron 15cm×4.6mm id) and cryptolepine monitored at 366nm. The average retention time of cryptolepine was found to be 2.723±0.069 min(n=8). The method developed was found to be precise since the intra-day and inter-day precision were <2% RSD in the concentration range of 1.02μg/ml-10.2μg/ml. Since the coefficient of correlation(r2) of 0.9976 for the regression line of peak area(y) against % concentration of cryptolepine(x) was greater than 0.995, the method was said to be linear in the concentration range. The method was also found to be robust since deliberate alteration of pH, flow rate and wavelength of detection in the range of 2.4±0.2units , 1±0.3ml/min and 366±2nm respectively did not affect the precision of the method. Hence, it could also be inferred that the method was accurate. The Limit of detection(LOD) and Limit of Quantitation(LOQ) of the method were found to be 0.574μg/ml and 1.740μg/ml respectively. The developed method was used to determine the percentage content of extractable cryptolepine in the roots of the Cryptolepis plant and it was found to be 2.763±0.185% w/w (n=9). This quantity of cryptolepine is the highest reported so far in the roots of the Cryptolepis plant.

Source: KNUST
Development of a technique to monitor investment performance: case study of Our Lady of Grace projects in Manponteng, Ashanti

A case study research was conducted to develop a technique to monitor investment performance in the construction industry, due to the short fall of the existing techniques to detect high price, high budget, and cost inflated projects. The study follows a pragmatic research philosophy approach to allow the positivist and interpretivism mixed method strategy for quantitative and qualitative analysis for deduction and induction development of a technique to monitor investment performance to ensure value for money. The primary and secondary data was in need where a questionnaire was used to collect primary data and our lady of grace senior high school physical infrastructural projects was used as a secondary data. The first objective was to search for techniques available in the literature to avoid duplication of theories; the respondent accepted thirtyseven theories as techniques. The second objective was to identify the components of value for money on the pricing of physical infrastructure projects and minor components was identified under the three major components, economic, efficiency and effectiveness. Third objective was to identify what goes into market value and earned value when monitoring the cost performance and eleven variables identified. Finally, a technique for monitoring investment performance (FT-MIP) was developed and tested, based on the policy documents of Our Lady of Grace Senior High School infrastructural projects. The technique (FT-MIP) is used to one; determine value for money in physical infrastructural projects. Two, identify high price, high budget, cost inflated projects. Finally, it is used to determine performance of a physical infrastructural investment. In conclusion, FT-MIP follows three steps; the FIT-MIP framework, testing, and validation. The researcher recommend: first, the investors in the construction industry are encouraged to use the technique to monitor their investment, to guarantee total value for money on all their investments. Second, call for further studies to identify the strength and weakness in the application of frank technique for monitoring investment performance (FT-MIP).

Source: KNUST
Development of a vegetable rotation technology as a sustainable farming system in selected growing locations in the forest zones of the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions.

An experiment was conducted on-station at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST),Kumasi to study the development of a vegetable rotation technology as a sustainable farming practice in selected vegetable growing locations in the forest zones of Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions. The objective of the study was aimed at designing an effective rotation system for vegetable crop producers in the selected locations using the advantages of crop rotation as sustainable farming system for maintenance of soil fertility, weed control and reduction in diseases and pests. Four crop combinations were set up in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated four times with controlled fields using the same crops without rotating them till the end of the study. Cropping system influenced soil nutrients as rotation of crops within each crop combination improved soil nutrient contents. Nematode population was significantly lower in the rotated plots than the non-rotated plots. The total yields in all the four plantings were significantly higher for rotated plots than the non-rotated. The rotational cropping system reduced the incidence of insect pest damage in all crop combinations but damage was higher in the non-rotated plots. With regard to weed suppression, the rotation cropping system suppressed broad leaved weeds better than the fields cropped continuously with the same vegetable crop. In terms of economics of production, the rotational cropping system gave the highest income compared with the continuous cropping system. The differences are ascribed to the increased yields obtained from the rotational cropping system. It is concluded from the study that rotational cropping system is better in all the crop combinations studied.

Source: KNUST
Development of Alumino-Silicate Refractories from locally available materials for kiln furniture

Clay until it is fired and made durable, is a material of little or no practical value. Experience shows that when wares are not fired, the potter’s morale is reduced to the lowest ebb. Also art students get frustrated, after graduating, when they cannot get employment or set up their own small scale industries. Where they succeed in setting up one, getting the regular supply of necessary materials and equipment to work with when the old ones are exhausted or get broken down becomes a problem. It is also. a known fact that the cost of these materials, where available, is often prohibitive. The major problem lies with the unavailability of conventional materials and equipment locally. The other problem is lack of qualified personnel for the teaching and learning of ceramics at the Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School levels of education. It is this concern that has prompted the investigation into the Development of Alumino-Silicate refractories from locally available raw materials for kiln furniture. The objective of the project is to identify, assemble, experiment and evaluate the physical properties of Saltpond, Bokaso, Kibi, Okwan, Awaso, Cape Coast, Amfoega, Mfensi and Anyinase clays with the aim of composing refractory bodies for the manufacture of batts, props and insulating bricks for kiln furniture. Selected clays were dried, crushed, sieved and calcined at 1160° celsius and tested for characteristics needed in a refractory product. The tested clays were used to manufacture batts, props and insulating bricks. They were fired to 1450o celsius. Series of tests including Shrinkage, Porosity Density, Thermal Spalling and Compressive Strength were conducted and coordinated by personnel from Building and Road Research Institute and Ceramics Section of the College of Art, U.S.T., Kumasi, The research ends up with general conclusions giving a summary of the analysis of the results of the experiments. It also offers recommendations and suggestions. It is followed by the bibliography.

Source: KNUST
Development of an energy efficient stand-alone solar photovoltaic dc refrigerator for off-grid communities

A reliable and energy efficient approach to providing refrigeration needs (both grid connected and off-grid areas) is a major challenge in Ghana and most developing countries due to low energy access and unreliable power supply. Research and development of appropriate and sustainable stand-alone refrigeration technologies are therefore relevant and essential. In the current study, the methodology of converting an AC refrigerator to serve as a DC refrigerator has been explored. A 92 L stand-alone solar powered DC refrigerator operating with a Variable Speed Direct Current (VSDC) compressor has been developed. The design replaces the single speed alternating current (AC) compressor with a VSDC compressor. VSDC compressors are strong candidates to be employed in energy-efficient refrigeration systems, especially for renewable energy technologies, as these compressors do not require power inverters that an alternating current compressor would require. Secondly, these compressors present the option of matching the cooling requirements with refrigerator power consumption thereby reducing wastage of energy. In this study, the DC refrigerator is powered by an installed 170 Watt peak (Wp) solar PV panel, 20 A charge controller and a 100 AH battery bank without an inverter. By using the coefficient of performance and the pull down time as indicating factors, the developed refrigerator has been experimentally optimised with the correct amount of refrigerant charge using ISO test standard. The performance (in terms of evaporator temperature profile and energy consumption) of the DC refrigerator has been evaluated at various speeds of the VSDC compressor. Similarly, the performance of the solar powered DC refrigerator has been experimentally compared with an identical AC refrigerator operating on the national grid. vi The experimental results revealed that the 92 L DC refrigerator performed optimally when charged with 30 g of refrigerant 134a. This yielded an average coefficient of performance of 1.6 W/W and attained a pull down temperature of -12 o C in 20 minutes. Secondly, operating the refrigerator at lower speeds (2000RPM, 2500RPM and 3000RPM) of the VSDC compressor during high (positive) temperature settings presented the potential of saving 19 % to 44 % of the refrigerator’s energy consumption. It has also been observed that the AC refrigerator is associated with relatively high power consumption and power surges as compared to the developed DC refrigerator. Finally, an economic assessment conducted between the AC (with inverter) and the developed DC refrigerator (without an inverter) all powered by solar PV system indicates that converting an AC refrigerator to DC has the potential of reducing the overall system cost (refrigerator, battery, charge controller and solar panel) by 20 %.

Source: KNUST
Development of an HPLC Method for the Chemical Quality and Cleaning Validation of Cephalosporin Products

A new cost effective HPLC method of analysis has been developed to assay separately and simultaneously these compounds; cefuroxime (injection), ceftriaxone (injection) and cefepime (injection). 80% Phosphate buffer and 20% methanol as mobile phase with C18 reverse phase column; Zorbax ODS (C18) - 4.6mm x 25cm was used. The detector used was UV-Vis with a wavelength of 260nm. The flow rate and the injector volume were 1.5ml/min and 20μl respectively. Diluents was methanol ( 80% phosphate buffer in the ratio 1:4). The results were analyzed statistically using ANOVA, T-test and F-Test. At 95% confidence level, the method is robust. The average retention time for Cefepime, Ceftriaxone and Cefepime were 4.78min ± 0.016, 5.87 ± 0.039 and 15.39 ± 0.026 respectively. The percentage recovery for respective cephalosporin injections in the assay performed at the three different concentration levels were greater than 98% and their relative standard deviation were less than 2% and within acceptable limits of accuracy. The linear regression analysis results showed a correlation coefficient of about 0.99 for each calibration plot. This gave an indication of good linear relationship between instrument response and analytes concentration in the range 30μg/ml to 120μg/ml for each cephalosporin analytes. The limit of Quantification (LOQ) and limit of Detection (LOD) based on instrument response were as follows Cefepime: LOQ – 0.003933mg/ml and LOD – 0.001180mg/ml; Ceftriaxone: LOQ - 0.001595mg/ml and LOD - 0.0004786mg/ml. and Cefuroxime: LOQ – 0.0007239mg/ml and LOD – 0.0002172mg/ml. The HPLC method of analysis can effectively assay separately and simultaneously cefuroxime, ceftriaxone and cefepime products and hence had performance of the developed method as a validation procedure for cleaning of equipments after manufacturing the cephalosporin products assured at confidence level of 95%.

Source: KNUST
Development of Asphalt Pavement Temperature Prediction Models for the Climatic Conditions of Ghana

Asphalt pavement temperature finds application in several areas of pavement engineering including pavement structural evaluation and design, asphalt mixture design, asphalt material aging characterisation, and asphalt binder grade selection. Predictive models may be used in the estimation of asphalt pavement temperature when necessary, however, such models tend to have limited transferability and applicability to other regions where the environmental conditions are significantly different from those under which the models were developed. To avoid the risk of using foreign-developed models in estimating the temperature of asphalt pavements in Ghana using local data, this research set out to develop asphalt pavement temperature prediction models applicable to the climatic conditions of the country. Two locations in the country, one within the Savannah climatic zone and the other within the Forest climatic zone, were used for the study. Mid-depth and surface asphalt pavement temperatures, along with climatic data, were collected over a 12-month period (May 2022 to April 2023) at the two study locations. The dataset was then used to develop separate asphalt pavement temperature prediction models applicable to each climatic zones. Additional pavement temperature and climatic data were also collected on separate roads within the corresponding climatic zones for model validation. When tested against some high-rated foreign-developed models, using local environmental data inputs, the locally-developed models predicted asphalt pavement temperatures that were much superior in accuracy (R2 ≥ 0.919, RMSE < 2.8 ºC) to those predicted using the best-performing foreign-based model (R2 ≤ 0.905, RMSE ≥ 3.2 ºC). The local models are, therefore, recommended for predicting mid-depth asphalt pavement temperatures in the Forest and Savannah zones of Ghana for pavement engineering purposes.

Source: KNUST
Development of an urban road maintainance management system for Tamale

An urban road maintenance management system has been developed in this study. The seeks, among others, to address the non motorized transport peculiar need of the road network in Tamale, A road condition survey was undertaken in 2004/2005 on the Tamale road network to collect primary data for the development of the system. Road definition, inventory, defect and NMT lane data were collected. The data was used to develop an MS Access 2003 desktop database and also update a digitized Tamale road network map in GIS environment. Visual basic.net programming language was used for the decision support tool development. Cost of treatment of different road defects were studied from the maintenance unit of the Department of Urban Roads and the Department of Feeder Roads and questionnaires on agency » and road user perception of the destructive nature, cost of repair and effect on riding comfort of various defects were also administered to engineers in these agencies and road users. Coupled with work from literature, a customized pavement rating form was developed to calculate the pavement condition index (PCI) of road links. The system recommends appropriate treatments in relation to the PCI of every link and ascertains its condition assessment. Based on the PCI category, the functional classification, economic factor and the traffic level of the road, the urgency of the treatment of one link over another was generated. Customized thematic ArcGIS maps were developed capable of displaying the different road classes, pavement types and the number of the different functional classes of roads within the Tamale network was established as 64, 149, 430 and 495 respectively for A, B, C and D roads. Maps on location of drains, culverts, traffic lights and other road inventories could be shown. Reports could also be saved, emailed and exported MS excel, PDF, CSV document, text document, graphic document, etc. for further analysis

Source: KNUST
Development of Biomechanical Model and FEA Modal Analysis of the Gravid Human Uterus Exposed To Ramp-Induced Vibration

Natural frequencies, frequencies at which bodies resonate and consequently fail, are very crucial in studying the dynamics of mechanical and biomechanical components. A number of researchers have carried out several studies on vehicle occupants with regard to various sitting postures, seat types and road roughness levels in which resonant frequencies of certain body parts have been established. In the area of vibration analysis for pregnant occupant, there is practically no significant research to pinpoint the frequencies at which the tummy of the pregnant woman could critically resonate. Therefore, this work is focused on developing a plausible biomechanical model and to determine the natural frequencies of the gravid human uterus. The Kelvin-Voigt’s and Maxwell’s spring-damper models were used to represent the amniotic fluid and ligaments of the uterus respectively. Finite element modal analysis was performed in ANSYS workbench (version 15.0) and the 3-dimensional model realized 300 modes at frequencies below 7.30 Hz. It is found that the gravid human uterus has a first principal resonance of 1.03 Hz and the second and third principal resonance occurred at 2.68 Hz and 3.99 Hz respectively. Interestingly, the foetus has a singleton principal resonance frequency of 1.03 Hz whilst the uterus wall has two principal frequencies of 3.05 Hz and 4.62 Hz. It is recommended that assessment of stresses and deformation on the gravid human uterus under ramp-induced vibration is crucial for future female reproductive health studies.

Source: KNUST
Development of Cheese Product from Coconut Milk

The project was aimed at the preparation of cheese products by partial substitution of cow’s milk with coconut milk and investigating the proximate quality, textural characteristic, keeping quality and sensory attributes of the developed product. The yield of cheese was 305.4 g, 151.8 g and 270.0 g per 1000 g respectively of 100% cow’s milk cheese product, 100% coconut milk product and a 50%:50% blend of both. Laboratory analysis was carried out to ascertain the extent of variation in moisture, protein, fat and ash content. Moisture, ash and fibre contents increased with increasing coconut milk content while the opposite was recorded for protein content, which peaked at 17.26% for 100% cow’s milk cheese. Salting samples in 10% NaCl solution retarded the rate of change of all parameters. The keeping quality was determined to be three (3) days for all product treatments (raw, boiling in water and boiling in 10% NaCl) which was extended to seven (7) days by repeated boiling (on days 2 and 4) and to twenty (20) days by repeated boiling on days 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 in 10% NaCl. The flavour characteristic was scored the highest in respect of sensory appeal while colour recorded the lowest average scores. The strongest correlation was between taste and curd firmness (0.226), however at P<0.05 level the correlation between curd firmness and colour was the most significant. The 70% cow’s milk: 30% coconut milk cheese product was the most preferred and recommended for market exploration.

Source: KNUST
Development of carrot based drink from Tokita and Kuroda varieties of carrot

The study was designed to develop an acceptable carrot based drink from Tokita and Kuroda varieties of carrot grown in the Ashanti Mampong Municipal area. Survey and laboratory work was carried out during the study. Standard procedures were used in the study. Analysis of the data collected from respondents revealed that 78% of carrot producers and 70% of carrot sellers were willing to try the new product (i.e. the carrot drink) whilst 80% of the general carrot consuming populace also expressed interest in the carrot drink. Analysis of the Kuroda and Tokita carrot roots revealed that protein and fat were higher in Tokita, i.e. 40.78% and 3.17% respectively than Kuroda which recorded 36.55% and 2.00% respectively. The findings also indicated that Vitamin C was higher in Tokita root than in Kuroda root that is 7.49mg/100g and 6.78mg/100g respectively. In terms of minerals, Potassium and Phosphorus were higher in Kuroda root that is 6.13% and 3.22% respectively than in Tokita which recorded 5.08% and 3.11%, respectively. The final consumer acceptable drinks were subjected to proximate, vitamins and mineral analyses in the laboratory. pH, Titratable Acidity and vitamin C were also monitored under two (2) storage conditions, i.e. room (ambient) temperature at 26°C and refrigeration temperature of 5°C for seven (7) days to determine the shelf life. The acidity of both the kuroda and tokita drinks increased slightly from 5.22 to 4.19 and 5.19 to 4.67 respectively after being stored for seven (7) days in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, under room temperature of 26°C storage, the pH of Kuroda increased from 5.22 to 4.11 and that of Tokita from 5.19 to 4.06. Vitamin C was better preserved under refrigerator storage of drinks of both varieties than under room temperature storage. It is recommended that further studies be carried out on shelf life beyond the seven (7) days to ascertain the keeping quality of the drinks.

Source: KNUST