ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Reporting Verb Usage in Academic Discourse: A Study of the English, Mathematics and the Agricultural Disciplines

ABSTRACT This research work analyzes the categories of reporting verbs employed in the literature review chapters of scholarly writings in master of philosophy theses in Agriculture, English and Mathematics departments in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The mixed method technique was employed for data collection. The sample was selected with the help of the simple random sampling method with a purpose. Forty-five (45) master of philosophy theses made up the study‟s entire sample. The first research question was analyzed using a quantitative approach to data analysis, and results were given as numbers and percentages. The second and third research questions underwent qualitative analysis. The organization of the data for analysis typically employed the descriptive, content, and inductive analysis. According to the study, the literature review chapters of master of philosophy theses in Agriculture, English and Mathematics employed the discourse, research and cognitive acts verbs. They employed them in varying degrees. In all, discourse acts verbs were the highest with respects to number of occurrences. This was followed by research act and cognitive act verbs respectively. The results indicate that in the English data, discourse acts were the highest followed by research and cognitive act verbs. As far as mathematics data is concerned, research acts were the highest followed by discourse and cognitive acts. In the agriculture thesis, discourse act was the highest followed by research act and cognitive act verbs. According to the analysis, the usage of reporting verbs in the literature review chapters of the theses in Agriculture, Mathematics and English serves a variety of purposes, including the statement of findings, countering of fact, statement of procedures, indication of writer‟s opinion about a proposition, and others. The study identified that point of view, institutional culture and aim of the writing all affect how reporting are employed when writing theses.

Source: KNUST
Representations of Finite Groups

The theory of group representation is concerned with group theory and linear algebra, with probably more of the latter than former. In Mathematics the word “representation” basically means “structure-preserving function”. Thus in group theory and ring theory at least a representation is a homomorphism. But more specifically, it should be a homomorphism from an object (group or ring) that one is trying to study to another that is in somewhat more concrete and hence, one hopes, easier to understand. The two simplest concrete kinds of groups are. firstly the group of all permutations of an arbitrary set, and secondly, the group of all invertible linear transformations on an arbitrary vector space. Groups were invented as a tool for studying symmetrical objects. These can be objects of any kind at all, if we define symmetry of an object to be a transformation of that object which preserves its essential structure then the set of all symmetries of the object forms a group. In mathematics it is always possible to regard any object as a set With Some additional structure-preserving objective function from the set to itself Composition of functions provides an operation on this set, and it is not hard to show that the group axioms must be satisfied. In order to understand groups one has to understand group actions. By considering function spaces these can be linearized, so it becomes important to understand linear actions on vector spaces, or representations of groups. Representation theory can be couched in terms of matrices or in the language of modules. We consider both approaches and then turn to the associated theory of characters.

Source: KNUST
Reproductive health clinic, Tema

The abnormal increase in population in developing countries including Ghana is characterised by abnormally high rates of maternal and child mortality. There are also other feminine complications. These complications demands specialised facilities to effectively address it. The need for such facility in Ghana arose some years back when the two teaching hospitals in Ghana were commissioned to undertake a study leading to the proposal and design of a specialised block to undertake obstetrics and Gynaecology issues to enhance the entire health delivery system of the country. It is in realisation of this need that Pro Vita specialist hospital was established almost fifteen years ago to contribute to the development of health in country as far as reproductive health is concerned. As the years went by, the hospital broke into a “new” field of infertility treatment known as assisted reproduction using the invitro fertilization technique which was hitherto unknown in the country and even West Africa. Over the years, the hospital has grown from a general obstetric and gyneacology clinic to a comprehensive fertility centre dealing with a wide range of infertility issues. The hospital has thus found it expedient to acquire a new plot for a new hospital that can effectively meet their demands and address the Issues of obstetrics and Gynecology.

Source: KNUST
Reproductive and child health: contraceptive knowledge, use and factors affecting contraceptive use among female adolescents (15 – 19 years) in Ghana

Though contraceptive knowledge has become widespread among female adolescents in Ghana, its use has persistently remained low. This paper assesses the knowledge of contraceptive methods and identifies factors affecting contraceptive use among female adolescents, aged 15 – 19 years in Ghana. Using data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), descriptive, binary logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression models were the principal methods for analysing the data. The findings of the study revealed that the knowledge of modern methods of contraceptives was almost universal with 96.5% of respondents knowing at least a method. Region of residence, together with all its categories, was the only variable that was significantly associated with the current use of contraceptives among female adolescents. It further revealed a significant association between ethnicity and contraceptive use only in respect to female adolescents who were mole-dagbanis. The level of education, religion and wealth had a weakly significant effect on contraceptive use. There was also no significant association between contraceptive use and work status, marital status, health insurance coverage and the type of place of residence. In choosing the type of contraceptive method, all the variables were strongly associated with choosing traditional method of contraceptives over modern methods; with the exception of female adolescents who had basic education and those who were Presbyterians and had no health insurance coverage. Bearing on the fact that contraceptive knowledge has not translated into its use, it is necessary to further promote the use of family planning and to stress the need to educate the adolescent on the benefits of using such measures

Source: KNUST
Research by academic librarians at public universities in Ghana: emerging patterns from a survey and a bibliometric study

This study explores how the academic environment facilitates the ability of academic librarians at public universities in Ghana to fulfil their research and publication mandate. A web survey of academic librarians was conducted to explore the opportunities and resources for research. Based on a bibliometric analysis of journal articles, the study also investigated the nature of research production of academic librarians in Ghana, specifically their co-authorship patterns, publication outlets and research visibility. The results show that academic librarians mainly produce single-authored articles and articles that are co-authored within their home institution, with a preference for publishing in local journals. Their research visibility, operationalised as time-based citation scores derived from data in Google Scholar, is also limited in light of a lack of international co-authorship. Opportunities and resources for project participation, funding, conference participation and publishing are all mostly linked to having completed a research qualification. The results further suggest that, for some librarians, it seems indeed possible to engage in research despite the odds

Source: KNUST
Research and Capacity Building for Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases: The Need for a Different Approach

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic disabling infections affecting more than 1 billion people worldwide, mainly in Africa and mostly those living in remote rural areas, urban slums, or conflict zones. By considering the NTDs together, it is clear that they threaten the health of the poorest to a similar extent as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB) [1]. Beyond their negative direct impact on health, NTDs also fuel the vicious circle of poverty and stigma that leaves people unable to work, go to school, or participate in family and community life. Whilst ‘‘the big three’’ infections have caught the world’s attention, these other disabling and sometimes fatal infectious diseases in Africa have until very recently been receiving relatively little attention from donors, policymakers, and public health officials. Yet NTD control represents a largely untapped development opportunity to alleviate misery and poverty in the world’s poorest populations, and therefore has a direct impact on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Source: KNUST
"Research into Improving the Business Processes of the Maintenance and Inventory Control Unit." (Case Study, Golden Tulip Hotel, Kumasi City.)

The need for businesses in Ghana to step up or increase their managerial processes owing to the complexities that has arisen in strategic decision making in recent times cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, there is the need to investigate whether the use of Business Process Reengineering (Optimization of processes) and Automation of some processes in the Maintenance and Inventory Control unit of business organizations will culminate in a corresponding increase or decrease in the quality of services rendered by the unit. The existing system of the Maintenance and Inventory Control Unit of Golden Tulip Hotel, Kumasi City was modeled using flowchart and activity diagram after a series of interviews with key personalities in that unit and the hotel at large. This model was fully analyzed to elicit bottlenecks therein. A "to be" state model wa$ designed bringing into focus the concept of centralized database. The proposed system was checked for its effectiveness and efficiency and it was found that, the known problems of the existing (old) system will to a greater extent, be effectively handled by the proposed system. Furthermore, the proposed system is expected to be more efficient in comparison to the former. It is recommended that, a software be developed based on the study, since off- the-shelf software are mostly seen to under perform or are too complex even-though they may be relatively cheaper.

Source: KNUST
Research by academic librarians at public universities in Ghana: emerging patterns from a survey and a bibliometric study

This study explores how the academic environment facilitates the ability of academic librarians at public universities in Ghana to fulfil their research and publication mandate. A web survey of academic librarians was conducted to explore the opportunities and resources for research. Based on a bibliometric analysis of journal articles, the study also investigated the nature of research production of academic librarians in Ghana, specifically their co-authorship patterns, publication outlets and research visibility. The results show that academic librarians mainly produce single-authored articles and articles that are co-authored within their home institution, with a preference for publishing in local journals. Their research visibility, operationalised as time-based citation scores derived from data in Google Scholar, is also limited in light of a lack of international co-authorship. Opportunities and resources for project participation, funding, conference participation and publishing are all mostly linked to having completed a research qualification. The results further suggest that, for some librarians, it seems indeed possible to engage in research despite the odds.

Source: KNUST
Research survey of current welding practices in selected metal welding industries in Ghana

Welding is essentially a repair, maintenance, manufacturing and constructional engineering activity. In the last several decades, welding has evolved as an interdisciplinary activity requiring synthesis of knowledge from various disciplines and incorporating the most advanced tools of various basic and applied sciences. This thesis discusses the current welding practices in some selected metal welding industries in Ghana. It covers, the type of training programmes for welders, categories of welding and welding techniques welders use, quality control methods employed, the type of welding processes used, welder safety issues, challenges facing welders, and welders‘ knowledge of the technology of welding in the metal joining sector of some Ghanaian industries are investigated using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered in two hundred (200) selected industries that practice welding in mostly the Ashanti, Greater Accra and Western regions. The survey reveals that, about eighty eight percent (87.50%) of welders do not go beyond secondary school education. The arc welding process is the most widely used (91%) welding process by industries in Ghana whilst the greatest proportion 86 (43.00%) of these industries use a combination of both arc and gas welding. Sixty-seven percent (67.00%) of welders have high level of knowledge of hazards in industry and 33.00% have low level of knowledge of hazards in industry. About fifty-seven percent (56.50%) of welders are highly prone to hazards in industry and 43.50% of welders are less prone to hazards in industry. It was also found out that sixty percent (60.00%) of welders suffer from various eye problems and about fifty-one percent (50.50%) suffer from various skin diseases likely stemming from long periods of exposure to radiations from the welding arc/flame daily in their work environment.

Source: KNUST
Residential development and borrowing in Ghana: A challenge for banks and private estate developers

Sub-Saharan African cities are faced with formidable housing problems, of which Accra, the capital of Ghana is no exception. The staple of these problems is the issue of finance, which has been uncovered to be of one the major factors affecting residential development in Ghana. Apart from these problems, hundreds of houses are produced by the private sector including private estate companies. Evidently, this requires a huge sum of capital to start such undertakings. Borrowing has been a very significant feature of residential development as a result of its high unit value (huge capital investment). Unfortunately, large traditional lending institutions particularly banks and other major lenders do not give acquisition, development and construction loans (ADC loans) to these private estate developers. In other words, major banks and other financial institutions are unwilling to offer credit facilities to estate developers. This study employed literature review, questionnaire inquiries, interview, purposive sampling technique and SWOT analysis to explore why banks or major lenders refuse to give ADC loans to private estate developers, and to offer recommendations, as to, how best to channel funds into residential development in Accra. The findings include the following; high risk for housing finance, insufficient funds and low income levels, information flow problems, poor macroeconomic policies, cultural aversion to own a house through mortgage finance, and immature housing finance industry. Hence, Government’s direct investment subsidies, credit guarantees to lenders, tax rebate for developers, interest cost subsidies, affordable housing policies, more real estate financial institutions and development of capital market for access for long-term funds at competitive rates are recommended.

Source: KNUST
Residual chlorine decay in the Kumasi water distribution network

The potential for microbiological regrowth in a water distribution network is minimized by chlorinating finished water to obtain residual chlorine. However, resident chlorine decays naturally within a water distribution network due to many varied reasons. Currently, there is no empirical data on chlorine decay which can guide the prediction of this chlorine loss and the top up quantity needed to ensure that a minimum residual chlorine concentration of .................................................

Source: KNUST
Residues of Pesticides in Soil, Maize (Zea Mays) and Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata) from Ejura, Ashanti Region, Ghana

Low productivity in agriculture due to damage caused by pests has led to the application of pesticides to control pest infection. Pesticide application leaves residue on crops which can have chronic effect on the health of humans who consume such products...

Source: KNUST
Reservoir Property Prediction Using Well Logs and Attribute Maps Generated from 3D Seismic Data for Reservoir Characterisation

This research sought to determine the properties of a reservoir in the Western Tano Basin using well logs and attribute maps generated from 3D seismic data, in order to counter the relatively limited vertical resolution that comes with using only seismic data to characterise reservoirs. A network of four horizons (The Seabed, Top Upper Reservoir, Middle Shale and Base of Reservoir) were identified and mapped. Seismic data was used to identify the lithology and structure, and contour mapping of the horizons revealed the trapping systems in each layer. Amplitude extraction was performed to confirm the presence of the reservoir, and attribute mapping was used to generate the architectural elements which describe the location and distribution of the sand packages in the reservoir. Two well-containing zones (UP and LP) were selected as areas of interest due to the sand distribution density and availability of sufficient log data to corroborate the assumptions made. Wireline petrophysical parameters were extracted from log data within the intervals of investigation and used to calculate petrophysical properties. The result depicted very good porosity (21.2 & 20%), permeability (408.2 & 182.9 mD), oil saturation (88.2 & 85.2%) and original oil in place (104.56729 & 388.055 x 106 bbl/STB) values for the upper and lower intervals respectively. Comparing both intervals, the lower interval proved more productive and could be the reason for the presence of two wells in close proximity to each other in that area. According to the literature, the petrophysical values compared favourably to those of commercially exploitable reservoirs. This research therefore provides an excellent method for the integration of log data, attribute maps and 3D volume seismic data to determine reservoir properties with increased quality and accuracy, due to the added improvement of enhanced vertical resolution.

Source: KNUST
Residues of organochlorine pesticides and heavy metal contamination at Akumadan, a vegetable growing centre in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

A survey was conducted at Akumadan in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, to evaluate farmers’ perception, attitude and practice in the use of pesticides. The organochiorine pesticide residues and the heavy metals in water, sediments and soil were ascertained. The survey revealed the use of insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilisers and other agrochemicals in this farming area. Of the insecticides, Karate (synthetic pyrethrum) 40%, Actellic (organophosphate) 15% and Thiodan (organochlorine) 10% were mostly used while Dithane (carbamate) and kocide were the fungicides of choice. Most of the farmers have had education only to the middle school leaving certificate level. Organochlorine pesticide residue analyses were performed on water and sediments from Afrancho, Nkotodwe, Ehuru, and Atwetwe rivers and on soil from cultivated fields about 50 m from each of the rivers as well as soils from old Akumadan Irrigation site and the Akumadan Irrigation extension site. The organochiorine detected were p p - DDT, HCB and α - Endosulfan. The mean residue levels of p p-DDT in the water of the rivers ranged from 0.232 to 0.522 μg/l and from 1.284 to 6.689 μg/1 for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and lastly from 0.00 1 to 0.002 μg/l for α - Endosulfan. These values, with the exception of HCB, were well below the W.H.O. recommenced safe values in water. The mean residue level in sediments ranged from 0.001 to 0.002 μg/g for p p -DDT and from 0.002 to 0.015 μg/g for HCB. There were no measurable quantities of organochiorine pesticides in soil samples. Heavy metals residue levels of Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Hg and Ni were analysed in water, sediment and soil. The levels of the heavy metals in water ranged as follows. Pb, 0.1, 0.28 mg/l; Zn, 0.2- 0.21 mg/l, Cd. 0.03 - 0.08 mg/l; Cu, 0.14- 0.18 mg/l; Ni 0.02 - 0.09 mg/l and Hg, 0.00 - 0.01 mg/l. The mean Pb, Cd, and Hg levels exceeded the W.H.O. recommended safe values, while Zn and Cu were below the recommended safe values in the water. In the sediments under study, Pb, Zn and Cu levels were comparable to the levels reported from unpolluted sediments, while Cd and Hg far exceeded the safe levels. Heavy metal levels in soil in both 0 - 15 cm and 15 - 30 cm depth were also compared with levels reported for rural uncontaminated arable soil. Zn and Ni were within comparable limits while Pb, Cu and Hg (where it occurred) were above the levels reported for uncontaminated soil.

Source: KNUST
Resolving conflicts using appropriate communication channel in project execution: An assessment of the Tema motorway expansion project

Studies have shown an increase in workplace conflicts among employees worldwide. Although many organizations have made the effort to balance the demands of work as against job performance, the occurrence of conflict sometimes thwart the effort. Since conflict among team members cannot be avoided, what is important is how it is managed. Based on the above background, a survey was conducted on appropriate communications channel in conflict resolution in project execution among workers implementing the Tema Motorway Interchange project using quantitative research method. Out of the targeted sample size of 95 workers, the study had 80% response rate. The findings revealed that, incompatibility of goals and poor communication management as the major cause of conflict. Further, poor communication on project expectations, issues of need to know basis, inability to take responsibility and figure pointing of blame were ranked as major factors that affected communication management. It was also revealed that, verbal interactions was the common communication channel used in resolving conflict. The study also revealed that, mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfied both parties was one of the management strategy to resolve conflict (Compromise Strategy) as compared to the individual strategy of Assertiveness and Cooperativeness (Collaborative Strategy). However, inability to recognize and respect individual views was a major challenge in handling conflict. Again, poor teamwork and self-doubt was observed as associated with conflict resolution. The study recommends that, project managers should make time to explain the tasks, expectations and time frames around project completion whiles personality clashes can be addressed through extensive training and education programs develop tolerance among workers

Source: KNUST