ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Dataset on the comparison of synthesized and commercial zeolites for potential solar adsorption refrigerating system

The purpose of this dataset is to provide a comparison between synthesized and commercial 4A and 13X type zeolites. Metakaolin produced from the calcination of beneficiated kaolin at 750 °C for 4 h was dealuminated using sulphuric acid to get the required silica to alumina ratio for the zeolite synthesis. Zeolite 4A and 13X samples were characterized along-side with the commercial variants using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. These analyses revealed that, the zeolites synthesized are of comparatively acceptable quality. The pore size of 120.859 nm, pore volume of 0.0065 cm3/g and surface area of 22 m2/g were obtained from BET analyses for zeolite 4A synthesized from kaolin, while the commercial zeolite 4A used as control gave pore size of 58.143 nm, pore volume of 0.2462 cm3/g and surface area of 559.13 m2/g. In the same vein, the pore size of 10.5059 nm, pore volume of 0.135847 cm3/g and surface area of 324.584 m2/g were obtained from BET analyses for zeolite 13X synthesized from kaolin, while the commercial zeolite 13X gave pore size of 7.2752 nm, pore volume of 0.135951 cm3/g and surface area of 310.0906 m2/g

Source: UG
Datasets on the elastic and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite: A first principle investigation, experiments, and pedagogical perspective

The purpose of this data article is to report the quantum mechanical analysis by generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange-correlation functional using density functional theory (DFT). The predictions were based on the elastic constants and mechanical properties of stoichiometric hydroxyapatite (HAp) crystal. The elastic stiffness constants in hexagonal symmetry were obtained by fitting the Hookes’ law for the energy-strain and stress-stain relations. Some of the theoretical datasets were compared to measured mechanical properties of produced HAp pellets obtained through micro and nanoindentation experiments. The datasets show considerable anisotropy in the stress-strain behaviour and are discussed in the context of the mechanical properties of HAp which are useful for tissue engineering. We also provide a pedagogical snapshot on the use of the datasets herein to teach and interpret DFT based atomistic simulations in a typical blended online teaching set-up for engineering students using a new pedagogy, CACPLA (Communicate, Active, Collaborate, Practice, Learning and Assessment).

Source: UG
Davidson’s Phenomenological Argument Against the Cognitive Claims of Metaphor

In this paper, I take a critical look at the Davidsonian argument that metaphorical sentences do not express propositions because of the phenomenological experience—seeing one thing as another thing—involved in understanding them as metaphors. According to Davidson, seeing-as is not seeing-that. This verdict is aimed at dislodging metaphor from the position of being assessed with the semantic notions of propositions, meaning, and truth. I will argue that the phenomenological or perceptual experience associated with metaphors does not determine the propositional contentfulness or truth-evaluability of metaphors. Truth-evaluability is not inconsistent but compatible with a perceptual model for metaphors. I argue for this partly by showing that seeing-as does not constitute understanding of metaphors when understanding is appropriately construed in terms of being able to use an expression.

Source: UG
Day surgery at korle bu teaching hospital: A six year review

Day surgery is not simply a matter of economics for the health institution or the individual patient, or improved utilization of scarce and dwindling resources, or even a matter of increasing access to health care, fundamental as this is to us in the developing world. The ultimate question is to what extent does it satisfy the true needs of the patient and meet the requirements of his care as a whole. To address this day surgery in a general surgical unit has been reviewed over a 6 year period. This covered a total of 1547 cases consisting of hernias, hydroceles, excision biopsies, varicose veins etc. Infiltrative local anaesthesia using lignocaine (4 mg/kg) mostly with 1 in 200,000 adrenaline added proved effective in 98 percent of cases; there were no deaths. For the institutions day surgery has proven cost effective, lowering cost of operative treatment and improving utilization of scarce resources. It has also proven eminently acceptable to patients and their families, enhancing access to care and significantly reducing the personal cost of treatment. To demonstrate enhanced health economics future studies should ideally show a parallel diminution of in-patient bed facilities with increasing load of day surgery.

Source: UG
‘The Days of their Heedless Power Were Over and Done’: Dynamics of Power in the Military Structures of the Precolonial Asante State, 1874–1900

The British surprisingly faced no military resistance when they captured Asante in 1896. Previous works have focused on the agency of actors like Prempe and Frederick Hodgson to explain why. This paper, in contrast, approaches this epoch in Asante history from the context of the sociopolitical power structure within which the precolonial Asante state operated. It asserts that Asante’s independence was contingent on having a strong military. But since it had no standing army, the state used Asante’s ‘social contract’ to coerce its subjects into ad hoc armies to meet military threats. Starting from the 1874 Sagrenti War, however, the state disregarded the social contract. This unleashed a series of events that undermined the state’s power to coerce Asantes into military service. The article posits further that this erosion of the state’s coercive power ultimately prevented it from countering the British with armed resistance in 1896 to maintain independence.

Source: UG
DDT and pyrethroid resistance status and laboratory evaluation of bio-efficacy of long lasting insecticide treated nets against Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex decens in Ghana

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers

Climate change has diverse physical and socio-economic implications for communities in semi-arid areas. While several studies have sought to understand the underlying power relations that shape adaptive capacities of rural farmers, fewer studies have focused on unpacking the differences within the different social groups. In this paper, we present a case study based on women smallholder farmers from semi-arid Ghana. It explores their nuanced perceptions of climate variability and highlights how gender intersects with other identities, roles and responsibilities to influence adaptation strategies and barriers to adaptation in the semi-arid context. Farm-level data was collected from 103 women farmers using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Rainfall patterns were perceived by the women farmers to be increasingly erratic and perceptions of average temperatures were that they are increasing. Adoption of adaptation strategies were influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, marital and residential status, which also influenced decision-making and power dynamics within the household. The paper highlighted the complex relationships that mediate women farmers’ access to resources and influence their vulnerability to climate variability and change. Highlighting the intra-gender differences that shaped the adaptation options and adaptive capacity is a prerequisite for proper adaptation policy planning and targeting.

Source: UG
Dealing with Climate Change in the Coastal Savannah Zone of Ghana: In Situ Adaptation Strategies and Migration

Although environmental change represents a global developmental challenge (Foresight, 2011; Piguet, 2013), there is enough evidence to suggest that climate change/variability particularly affects people living in poor and drier regions of Africa (Odada et al., 2008; Mertz et al., 2009). Farmers in Africa are particularly affected by changes in temperature and rainfall patterns because they depend on rain-fed agriculture (Van der Geest, 2011; Yaro et al., 2014). Additional constraints, such as disease burden, poverty, weak governance and political instability, increase the vulnerability of farmers in Africa to climate change/variability (Stanturf et al., 2011). In view of the weak adaptive capacity in many parts of Africa, recurrent drought has resulted in low levels of crop production, food insecurity, water stress and poverty in drier regions of Africa (Dixon et al., 2001; Owusu and Teye, 2014). Communities in coastal areas are also being impacted by the rise in sea level and flooding (Stanturf et al., 2011).

Source: UG
Dealing with COVID-19 in Ghanaian urban shared low-income housing: What it reveals and the planning implications

Compound and shared low-income houses in Ghana have economic, social, cultural, and familial advantages. Yet, COVID-19 and its related lockdown and home confinement in two urban cities, Accra and Kumasi, raised questions about the appropriateness of staying in a compound house while observing the COVID-19 protocols. Whereas a few studies have underscored the ineffectiveness of COVID-19 protocols in low-income shared houses, these assume a homogeneity of such households without reflecting on the diversities that exist among and be tween the different categories of low-income households and the imperative nuanced implications for the spread of infectious diseases. Against this backdrop the paper employed qualitative methodologies of in-depth in terviews and non-participant observations to interrogate the experiences of low-income households’ utilisation of space as they observed COVID-19 protocols. Drawing respondents from four low-income communities in Accra, the authors examined how traditional family households and non-traditional family households implemented the safety protocols and their implications for shared housing. Issues of sharing inadequate communal facilities and public health concerns as well as lack of access to inadequate water and living spaces impacted the respondents’ COVID-19 experience. The study discovered that households’ socioeconomic status is directly related to the management of epidemics in urban spaces in Ghana.

Source: UG
Deals and Development: The Political Dynamics of Growth Episodes

This chapter explores the extent to which political settlements interacting with the rents space affect the nature of the deals space and consequently help explain economic growth in Ghana. The discussions are centred around four break points and therefore five growth episodes for Ghana: pre-1966, 1966–74, 1974–83, 1983–2001, and 2001–14. First, there are signs that the post-2001 period has been more ordered and open than the first twenty-five years after independence. Second, the political settlement has also changed somewhat over the years, from a dominant to a more competitive type. However, it is argued that political patronage remains rife. Third, the chapter finds that the interplay of political settlements and rent space has been important in shaping the nature of the deals space in Ghana. Finally, it highlights two types of positive and negative feedback loop relating to these variables over the years.

Source: UG
Death and the sociocultural dimensions of forced relocations: experiences from the Tugwi-Mukosi displacement in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe

This article is an ethnographic inquiry into the cultural dimensions of forced relocations. It is based on the experiences of four resident anthropologists on the forced displacements at Tugwi-Mukosi in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. Using the concept of death, we question the idea of belonging and what is regarded as an “honourable” way of exiting this world. These are interwoven in the cultural fabric of most Zimbabwean communities and any phenomenon that severs this tie to home is a cause of discomfort and pain amongst local people. Forced displacements have altered issues of honour associated with death rituals. We use death rituals as a window to understand the sociocultural effects of displacement. Novel ways of dealing with death are witnessed as people struggle with lack of a permanent “home.” The sacredness of cultural dimensions of death has been reconfigured in ways that have left the displaced struggling to find closure in dealing with the dead. Death rituals give us an opportunity to understand the multifaceted effects of displacement. Through death we experience the pain of displacement, understand the chords that bind the displaced communities together and witness the enduring social bonds that structure life beyond the disruptions of displacement.

Source: UG
Death is the cause of my predicament: A cross cultural study of death-related personal names in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This article explores the motivations, beliefs, and attitudes toward death-related names in some onomastic traditions in Nigeria: Ibibio, Igbo (south-east), and Owe (mid-west). The study is anchored theoretically on the ethnopragmatic framework which accounts for the locally interpretable meaning of discourse practices in terms of values and beliefs within particular cultural contexts. Drawing on ethnographic qualitative data sourced through par ticipant observation and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants, I argue that death related names are based on varied cultural scripts that communicate many nuances of meaning grounded in lived experiences of name-givers. The article concludes that death related names have cultural semantics that are shared cross-linguistically: to acknowledge the inevitability and unpredictability of death; to admit the existence of superior forces that control the affairs of human beings and to question the temporality of life. These names, therefore, serve as consolatory sites for the expression of grief, tension, and the rebuilding of identity.

Source: UG
Debating the Roots of Poor Academic Performance in the West African Subregion: The Perspective of a Philosopher

Recent nationalistic arguments have tended to blame the use of foreign language as responsible for poor academic performance and even underdevelopment. Although I theoretically agree with the mother tongue (MT) proposal concerning early elementary education, I identify some narrowness in the meaning of MT that drives the nationalistic school. A correction of this connotative inaccuracy would mean that the importance of the MT proposal to education is not as all embracing as nationalists would love to see. Even presuming theoretical correctness, I also see a number of grave practical problems with the MT initiative, including the unwillingness to develop local languages in terms of equiping them with the lexical power to serve as medium for modern research, academics, science, and technology. I also see a potential of the MT idea to sustain ethnicity, a political problem that ultimately undermines the quality of education itself. I conclude that the most critically determining factor for academic performance in this region is not the use (or lack of use) of MT but the political handling of education. I discuss, and tentatively suggest solutions to (a) the monopoly of salary fixing by politicians and (2) the extremely low budget percentage allocated to the educational sector. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.

Source: UG
Debt Capital Structure and Credit Information Sharing: Evidence on Listed Firms from an Emerging Market

This study examines the effect of credit information sharing on debt financing structure of listed firm on the Ghana Stock Exchange market between 2003 and 2013. Employing a panel data of 20 listed non-financial firms in Ghana in robust ordinary least squares, random effect and fixed effect models, findings are presented on how information sharing affect debt financing structure. Findings show that information sharing, coverage quality and the presence predominantly promote short-term debt financing options while these at the same time detract long-term debt financing options. While the positive nexus between credit information sharing and short-term debt financing confirms the information asymmetry and information sharing theories, We attribute the negative nexus between credit information sharing and long-term debt financing options to the shallow and weak nature of credit information sharing activities and institutions; hence making it difficult to permeate risks and uncertainties surrounding long-term financing options. This is an indication that credit information can increase access to debt financing for firms. These findings imply that policymakers must enact policies and laws that deepen, expand and enhance the coverage and quality of credit information in order for the full potency of information sharing can be realized on the debt financing structure of firms.

Source: UG
Debt Financing, Information Sharing, and Profitability: Evidence from Listed Firms from an Emerging Economy

This study investigates how credit information sharing conditions debt financing to boost the profitability of 20 listed enterprises on the Ghana Stock Exchange between 2003 and 2013. We employ robust least squares and simultaneous bootstrapping models in a panel setting. Our findings show that the impact of debt financing profitability increases when it is subject to information sharing and takes the shape of short, long, and total debts. In the worst-case situation, contingent debt financing reduces the negative impact of debt financing on profitability. Therefore, authorities must adopt laws and legislation that deepen, widen, and strengthen credit information sharing to offset the negative impact of information asymmetry on loan financing and business profitability.

Source: UG
Debt holdings and investment cash flow sensitivity of listed firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of debt holdings on the sensitivity of firms’ investment to availability of internal funds. Design/methodology/approach For a panel data set of 27 Ghanaian listed firms for the period 2007–2013, the paper applies the Euler equation approach to the empirical modeling of investment. Findings The study finds support for the assertion that listed firms face less severe corporate control problems and lower financing constraints, and thus, have lower investment cash flow sensitivities. The study also finds that a significant positive sensitivity of investment to internal funds is associated with firms that have high debt holdings. Practical implications An implication of this study is that firms with high debt holdings face greater challenges in accessing external finance. These firms are likely to experience under-investment which at a macro level would translate into lower investments and economic growth for the country. Originality/value Empirical literature document that in the presence of market imperfections, investments of financially constrained firms become sensitive to the availability of internal finance. There are also contradictory evidences regarding the pattern of the observed investment cash flow sensitivity. This study examines the effect of debt holdings on the sensitivity of firms’ investment to availability of cash flow. This is yet to be empirically tested despite some theoretical explanations.

Source: UG
A Decade of Political Leadership in Ghana

Market forces may create the conditions for success or failure of a state; but a critical factor determining which states succeed and which do not is political leadership. The study of effective leadership is enjoying a period of resurgence at present across the globe. One of the most persuasive ideas to emerge from such studies is that, unlike the Asian ‘dragons’, which have developed transformational leaders to spearhead socio-economic development, African states have not paid sufficient attention to preparing tomorrow’s leaders and this, to a large extent, is why so many states have remained largely underdeveloped. Against this background, this chapter assesses the performance of political leadership, especially of the presidency in Ghana covering the period 1993 – 2004. It compares the political leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was in power from 1993 to 2000, with that of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which came to power in January 2001

Source: UG
Decades of public-private partnership in solid waste management: A literature analysis of key lessons drawn from Ghana and India.

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirical studies on public-private partnerships (PPPs) and solid waste management (SWM) in Ghana and India to synthesize the “crucial lessons” for urban managers and policy makers in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of empirical studies was carried out, the search process comprised four categories of keywords combined differently across three main search engines in order to obtain a pool of more relevant literature on the study. Sorting for relevance was done at various levels; retrospective content analysis of relevant empirical studies on PPP and SWM in Ghana and India was subsequently carried out to draw lessons and policy suggestions. Findings PPPs have mainly been impressive in coverage of waste collection in the Ghanaian context, whilst in India, emphasis has been on injection of technology and effectiveness into SWM. It is also observed that in both cases the PPP processes have lacked adequate openness, transparency and sufficient stakeholder engagement. In the Ghana cases, mostly, urban authorities hardly pay attention to details in the partnership deed and also ignore monitoring of private partners. Poorly performed PPPs do occur when one of the partners relent on his role which could have a cascading effect on other actors. Practical implications Whilst PPP is a strong candidate to address the SWM challenges of urban centers in developing countries, this does not necessarily come about by joining the bandwagon. Merely entering into a partnership deed with private waste management companies without paying due attention to details of the contract will usher urban managers into a state of schizophrenia. The paper presents five key lessons to inform policy and practice. Originality/value The paper draws lessons from multiple cases of PPPs in Ghana and India by synchronizing lessons adaptable to city authorities and policy makers in developing countries.

Source: UG