ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
An evaluation of accounting information systems and performance of small scale businesses in Ghana.

Over the years, the business environments are increasingly becoming highly integrated and more complex due to a sudden rise to the numerous business functions and operations at the various work places. At the same time, the management function is undoubtedly faced with the challenge of keeping track of all the diverse organizational resources, numerous business activities, together with monitoring the entire business processes and the huge order-turnover processes. In light of the foregoing, this study explored the relationship between Accounting Information Systems adoption and performance of Small Scale Businesses in the Wa Municipality. Employing descriptive cross-sectional research design, purposive sample of 96 were recruited for the study. The findings revealed that services undertaken by the Small Scale Business men and women were super market operation, table top trading, market trading, and boutique services. Some challenges faced in seeking credit included their inability to meet all requirements for financial assistance, untimely delivery of credit by financial institutions and their inability to understand the terms and conditions of loans. Consequently, it is recommended that financial institutions must reduce the requirements needed to qualify someone for financial assistance as well as the need for business men and women to employ qualified staff to manage their accounting information systems. Also, financial institutions must be timely in offering financial assistance to the business men and women.

Source: UCC
Evaluation Of Accounting Information Systems And Performance Of The Ghana Oil Company

The aim of this study was to evaluate accounting information systems on performance at the Ghana oil company, Head office in Adabraka, Kumasi and Sunyani. There were three main objectives, among them were to identify the various accounting information systems adopted at the Ghana oil company in their operations; determine problems faced in accessing and utilizing accounting information systems at the Ghana oil company and to recommend appropriate measures to boost accounting information systems and performance at the Ghana oil company. The study sought to draw evidence from 120 staff from Adabraka, Sunyani and Kumasi centers of the Ghana Oil Company. The researcher adopted a quantitative study with self-administered questionnaire as the main research instrument. The results from the survey were analysed with the help of the SPSS v26.0 for analysis. The collected research data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that, there are diverse landscape of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) at GOIL reflects the company’s strategic approach in meeting specific accounting needs such as AIS such as Tally, QuickBooks, and Pastel. The findings from the study provide clear and actionable insights for Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) to enhance the effectiveness of its Accounting Information Systems (AIS). Based on the findings, it is recommended that GOIL should focus on implementing comprehensive solutions to address the challenges posed by its diverse landscape of Accounting Information Systems (AIS).

Source: UCC
Evaluation of an Integrated Approach Involving Chemical and Biological Processes for the Detoxification of Gold Tailings Effluent in Ghana

Chemical and bio-remediation measures for the detoxification of pollutants such as cyanide and heavy metals in mine tailing’s effluent have been developed over the years. The study sought to evaluate the decrease in the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, Cd, As and Pb through the integration of the processes involving photo-oxidation, activated carbon, hydrogen peroxide and bacterial degradation to decontaminate wastewater from the gold ore treatment plant until release into the environment in Ghana. The levels of trace metals Cu (0.345 mg l-1), Zn (0.07 mg l-1) and Fe (0.146 mg l-1) in treated effluent released into natural water bodies after bacterial degradation was generally within international and local standards for effluent discharges. Except for As, the levels of Cd and Pb which are hazardous heavy metals that may pose adverse health and environmental effects were within acceptable limits. The toxicity of these metals was in the increasing order Pb < Cd < As. The anthropogenic source of as in the chemically processed arseno-pyritic rock ores of the study area and the marginal 14–49% efficiency of as of the different detoxification processes could have contributed to the high levels of As in the effluent. If optimal conditions are attained for the decontamination processes used, the multi-remediation approach could be an effective solution for the decontamination of mine tailing’s effluent

Source: UCC
Evaluation of Analytical Errors in a Clinical Chemistry Laboratory: A 3 Year Experience

Background: Proficient laboratory service is the cornerstone of modern healthcare systems and has an impact on over 70% of medical decisions on admission, discharge, and medications. In recent years, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of errors in laboratory practice and their possible negative impact on patient outcomes. Aim: We retrospectively analyzed data spanning a period of 3 years on analytical errors observed in our laboratory. The data covered errors over the whole testing cycle including pre‑, intra‑, and post‑analytical phases and discussed strategies pertinent to our settings to minimize their occurrence. Materials and Methods: We described the occurrence of pre‑analytical, analytical and post‑analytical errors observed at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital clinical biochemistry laboratory during a 3‑year period from January, 2010 to December, 2012. Data were analyzed with Graph Pad Prism 5(GraphPad Software Inc. CA USA). Results: A total of 589,510 tests was performed on 188,503 outpatients and hospitalized patients. The overall error rate for the 3 years was 4.7% (27,520/58,950). Pre‑analytical, analytical and post‑analytical errors contributed 3.7% (2210/58,950), 0.1% (108/58,950), and 0.9% (512/58,950), respectively. The number of tests reduced significantly over the 3-year period, but this did not correspond with a reduction in the overall error rate (P = 0.90) along with the years. Conclusion: Analytical errors are embedded within our total process setup especially pre‑analytical and post‑analytical phases. Strategic measures including quality assessment programs for staff involved in pre‑analytical processes should be intensified.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of Antimalarial, Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Activities of Leaves Extracts of Haematostaphis Barteri

Haematostaphis barteri, known as blood plum found in Upper West region of Ghana. It is used locally for treating malaria, hepatitis, and swollen body parts. The curative property of dicloromethane:methanol (D/M) and aqueous (AQ) extracts were investigated by inoculating mice with 1x106P. berghei. On the fourth day, the mice were treated orally with AQ (30-300 mg/kg), D/M (30-300 mg/kg), saline and Artemether-Lumifantrine (1.14:6.9 mg/kg) for 5 days. In the prophylactic assay, AQ, D/M and 1.2 mg/kg sulfadoxine/pyremethamine (SP) were orally administered to the mice for three consecutive days before inoculating them with P. berghei. Parasite density was measured after 72 h. The anti-inflammatory activity of AQ was determined by inducing inflammation in hind paws of rats by intra plantar injection of 100 μl of 1% of carrageenan, histamine and serotonin before oral treatments with AQ (30-300 mg/kg), saline and 10 mg/kg diclofenac. The effects of the treatments on inflammation were measured with digital calipers. Pyrexia was also induced in rats with 0.135 g/kg, i.p. yeast. The rats were treated orally with AQ and 25 mg/kg paracetamol 18 h later. Rectal temperature was taken for three hours. AQ and D/M produced significant (P<0.05) curative antimalarial activity. In the prophylactic test however, only AQ significantly reduced the parasite density. AQ significantly (p<0.05) inhibited carrageenan, histamine and serotonin-induced inflammation as well as pyrexia induced with yeast. H.barteri possesses antimalarial, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties. The anti-inflammatory properties involved the inhibition of inflammatory the mediators: histamine and serotonin.

Source: UCC
Evaluation Of Antimalarial, Anti-Inflammatory And Antipyretic Activities Of Leaves Extracts Of Haematostaphis Barteri

Haematostaphis barteri, known as blood plum found in Upper West region of Ghana. It is used locally for treating malaria, hepatitis, and swollen body parts. The curative property of dicloromethane:methanol (D/M) and aqueous (AQ) extracts were investigated by inoculating mice with 1x106P. berghei. On the fourth day, the mice were treated orally with AQ (30-300 mg/kg), D/M (30-300 mg/kg), saline and Artemether-Lumifantrine (1.14:6.9 mg/kg) for 5 days. In the prophylactic assay, AQ, D/M and 1.2 mg/kg sulfadoxine/pyremethamine (SP) were orally administered to the mice for three consecutive days before inoculating them with P. berghei. Parasite density was measured after 72 h. The anti-inflammatory activity of AQ was determined by inducing inflammation in hind paws of rats by intra plantar injection of 100 µl of 1% of carrageenan, histamine and serotonin before oral treatments with AQ (30-300 mg/kg), saline and 10 mg/kg diclofenac. The effects of the treatments on inflammation were measured with digital calipers. Pyrexia was also induced in rats with 0.135 g/kg, i.p. yeast. The rats were treated orally with AQ and 25 mg/kg paracetamol 18 h later. Rectal temperature was taken for three hours. AQ and D/M produced significant (P<0.05) curative antimalarial activity. In the prophylactic test however, only AQ significantly reduced the parasite density. AQ significantly (p<0.05) inhibited carrageenan, histamine and serotonin-induced inflammation as well as pyrexia induced with yeast. H.barteri possesses antimalarial, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties. The anti- inflammatory properties involved the inhibition of inflammatory the mediators: histamine and serotonin.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of Blood Transfusion in Anemic Children in Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana

Blood transfusion is a common practice in sub-Saharan Africa as a way of correcting anemia in mildly and severely sick children. There are specific guidelines for the decision to transfuse a child, but often this decision is made solely by the caregiver or the physician. It is important that these practices are evaluated to ensure a safe and acceptable standard. A retrospective study was carried out over the 3-year period from January 2010 to December 2012. Medical records of children who were successfully treated and discharged from the hospital were collected. Information on age, sex, symptoms, laboratory diagnosis of malaria and hemoglobin concentration level were collected. Data were analyzed using EPI Info version 7. Results showed that transfusion was more common in boys (89 [63.12%]) than in girls (52 [36.88%]). The highest number of blood transfusions were performed on children younger than 1 year (66 [46.81%]). The majority of the transfusions were performed on children with hemoglobin concentration levels of 8 g/dL or lower. Children with malaria parasitemia (83 [58.88%]) had more transfusions than children without malaria parasitemia (58 [41.13%]). Fever alone (43 [30.5%]) and fever with gastrointestinal symptoms (33 [23.4%]) were the predominant symptoms among children who had blood transfusions. In conclusion, this study showed that younger children receive more transfusions than older children. Also, boys receive more blood transfusions than girls. In this study, it was observed that malaria was a major contributory factor for the requirement for blood transfusion in children.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of clinical training of student nurses at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital

Clinical learning is a vital component in the curricula of nursing education, providing an opportunity to student nurses to combine cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skills. Evaluation is a basic part of clinical education. There are a number of problems and challenges associated with evaluation of clinical training of student nurses. Some of these concerns are subjectivity and variability in the use of effective clinical evaluation tools to evaluate the psychomotor, affective and cognitive learning domains. These invariably safeguards patients from unsafe practice. The purpose of the study is to explore the views and experiences of preceptors and clinical instructors regarding evaluation of student nurses’ clinical training. The study utilized a descriptive case study methodology and was conducted at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. Ten preceptors and five clinical instructors participated in the study. The data was collected, using face-to-face interviews of fifteen participants each. The data was analyzed using thematic content analysis approach. Several themes emerged from the data analysis. Examples of these include problems with the evaluation process, subjectivity of evaluation tool, increased number of students, training needs and inappropriate clinical placement. It is recommended that preceptors and clinical instructors need to be professionally trained to fit for their demanding role. Again, the training should be ongoing to support and improve the quality of students’ evaluation.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of composite tea made from roselle (Hibiscus sabdarffa), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turkey berry (Solanum torvum)

Tea is gaining increasing consumer attention due to a growing awareness of the health benefits derived from its consumption. Even though several underutilized plants exist with potentials for processing into tea, research in formulating tea using underutilized crop in Ghana is limited. In this study, roselle, ginger and turkey berry were used to formulate composite tea and their physicochemical, elemental and sensory properties were evaluated. The results from the physicochemical analysis revealed that 50% roselle + 25% ginger + 25% turkey berry had the optimum protein content of 4.14% while, elemental analyses showed that the same formulation had the optimum amount of Ca (1.80%), Fe (0.96 µg/g) and Cu (1.18 µg/g). However, the combination of 25% roselle + 50% ginger + 25% turkey berry had the best Na (6402.44 µg/g) and Zn (0.42 µg/g). The results from the sensory analyses revealed that tea made from the combination of 50% roselle + 25% ginger + 25% turkey berry was the most preferred one in terms of color, aroma, flavor, aftertaste and overall acceptability. Therefore, to obtain an optimum composite tea from roselle, ginger and turkey berry, the result suggests that, the composite should be prepared in a ratio of 50%, 25% and 25% respectively

Source: UCC
Evaluation of corporate social responsibilities of mining companies in the Wassa – West district

This study seeks to evaluate the mining companies in Wassa West District’s social responsibilities from the community members and other stakeholders’ perspective. The specific objectives included the identification of the approaches the mining companies are using to respond to the call for Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR), the mining companies’ contribution to host communities’ health care system, educational development, employment and how stakeholders view the sustainability of host communities in the event of mine closure. The research was based on voluntary contribution aspect of CSR. A case study design was adopted for the study. Interviews were conducted on the mining companies whilst the community members and other stakeholders were surveyed using five point likert scale questionnaires to obtain data responses regarding mining companies’ social performances. Frequencies and percentages were calculated using SPSS software and transcription from interviews responses to describe the data collected and to answer the research questions. It was found from the stakeholders’ perspective that mining companies are not using social contribution approach to CSR. Community members are not satisfied with the contribution of mining companies towards their health care, educational development and employment except scholarship awards and alternative livelihood projects for host communities. Communities cannot stand the test of sustainability during mine closure. It has been recommended that mining companies should do more in terms of health care delivery, educational development and employment creation for their host community members.

Source: UCC
An Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction and Power Theft in The Electricity Market of Ghana: A Servqual Approach

Electricity theft has gained a lot of attention in recent years due to its severe impact on the energy sector, especially in developing countries. Although electricity theft methods such as meter by-passing and meter tampering and their effect of huge distribution losses are well-known in Ghana, the government continues to search for an effective system to nip the problem in the bud. Among the drivers of electricity theft identified in various studies are high tariffs, corruption and poor law enforcement. Part of the solution to the canker is in improving service quality as studies in other countries have established a relationship between customer satisfaction and electricity theft. Through an online research questionnaire and using the SERVQUAL Approach, this study set out to ascertain the level of customer satisfaction in the electricity market of Ghana, identify the reasons for power theft and determine the relationship between customer satisfaction and power theft. Overall, respondents were not satisfied with the service quality in the electricity market of Ghana. All five service quality dimensions of empathy, assurance, tangibles, responsiveness and reliability were rated low. Thus, the probable reasons for power theft such as high tariffs and poor customer service were confirmed. Further, there was a negatively significant relationship between service quality and power theft among electricity consumers. As a way forward, electricity companies in Ghana should enhance the experience of their customers by improving the quality of service they provide. This improvement in service quality complemented with other strategies such as investment in theft prevention and detection technologies would go a long way to addressing electricity theft in Ghana.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of Data Management and Information Systems in the Education Sector of the Greater Accra Region

ABSTRACT The research investigated the managerial expertise and credentials of EMIS managers, as well as the ways in which stakeholders make use of EMIS for the purposes of planning, policy creation, and strategic development. A descriptive research design was used to carry out the investigation in this study. A strategy known as intentional sampling was utilized in order to choose members of the sample population. Participants in the study were regional, metropolitan, and municipal directors of education, in addition to their 4 frontline deputy directors. A total of 56 people were included in the sample group. According to the findings of the study, EMIS offices are present in the Regional and District Education Offices of the Greater Accra Region, EMIS' fundamental objectives are being realized, and the Ministry of Education views the Yearly School Census as the most crucial source of information on the situation of each school. Another issue found out was that EMIS does not have its own official webpage. In addition, EMIS users are often individuals who are familiar with it; as a result, familiarity with EMIS influences its application. Users who are part of a family are underrepresented in EMIS. According to the findings of the study, EMIS should have a website that is dedicated to it and has a good reputation where users, patrons, scholars, and stakeholders may go to find educational content.

Source: UCC
Evaluation of diagnostic methods and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women in Ashanti Region, Ghana

Background and objective: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) poses a serious health problem to pregnant women and fetuses. However, in most developing countries, routine screening for ASB and antimicrobial sensitivity test are rarely performed. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the best diagnostic method for routine screening of ASB and antmicrobial susceptibility pattern among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methods: Urine samples from 412 pregnant women between the ages of 16 and 45 years-old attending antenatal clinic at Anglo gold Ashanti Health Foundation Hospital and Ellolab Diagnostic Centre were screened for ASB by microscopy, dipstick urinalysis and bacteria culture. Susceptibility of the positive isolates was assessed against commonly used antmicrobial agents, adopting the disc diffusion test method. Results: Of the 412 pregnant women screened, 72 tested positive for ASB by the urine culture method, which translates into an overall prevalence of 17.5%. There was no association between age, marital status, occupation, parity, educational background or duration of pregnancy with ASB (p > 0.05). Additionally, dipstick urinalysis was found to be a better diagnostic method than microscopy. The most isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli (62.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (30.6%), and nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid were the most effective antimicrobial agents. Conclusions: Routine urine culture and antimicrobial susceptibility test should be carried out on all pregnant women attending antenatal clinic to detect possible ASB and prescribe appropriate drugs, such as nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid, to prevent any related complications. However, in health centers that lack bacterial culturfacilities, dipstick urinalysis should be the preferred screening option

Source: UCC
Evaluation of Diagnostic Methods and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Among Pregnant Women in Ashanti Region, Ghana

Background and objective: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) poses a serious health problem to pregnant women and fetuses. However, in most developing countries, routine screening for ASB and antimicrobial sensitivity test are rarely performed. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the best diagnostic method for routine screen- ing of ASB and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methods: Urine samples from 412 pregnant women between the ages of 16 and 45 years-old attending antenatal clinic at Anglogold Ashanti Health Foundation Hospital and Ellolab Diagnostic Centre were screened for ASB by microscopy, dipstick urinalysis and bacteria culture. Susceptibility of the positive isolates were assessed against commonly used antimicrobial agents, adopting the disc diffusion test method. Results: Of the 412 pregnant women screened, 72 tested positive for ASB by the urine culture method, which translates into an overall prevalence of 17.5%. There was no association between age, marital status, occupation, parity, educational background nor duration of pregnancy with ASB (p > 0.05). Additionally, dipstick urinalysis was found to be a better diagnostic method than microscopy. The most isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli (62.5%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (30.6%), and nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid were the most effective antimicrobial agents. Conclusions: Routine urine culture and antimicrobial susceptibility test should be carried out on all pregnant women attending antenatal clinic to detect possible ASB and prescribe appropriate drugs, such as nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid, to prevent any related complications. However, in health centers that lack bacterial culture facilities, dipstick urinalysis should be the preferred screening option.

Source: UCC