ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Medium Security Correctional Facility (Titrinu, Ho)

Correctional facilities or prisons are very essential components of our society. Developed societies have for a long time sought to keep their societies together (united) and peaceful by ensuring that crime is punished to deter people from being lawless. Prisons were the most popular means used to achieve this singular purpose to some degree. When the concepts of prison were introduced in the country by the Europeans colonial structures such as the forts and castles were eventually converted into prisons. The design of a correctional facility is one that has to consider a number of issues including first and foremost security that is safe custody and welfare of prisoners, rehabilitation and reformation of inmates. Reintegration of ex-convicts into society by institutionalised programmes such as vocational and technical training, formal education, religious instructions and counselling. Imprisonment is a legal penalty which basically confines or restricts a person from a range of liberties. Social interaction has been prescribed as one way of reducing deviant behaviours, so inmates should be allowed to interact and mingle in the midst of physical barriers in such facilities by the integration of courtyards, playgrounds and recreational areas. In dealing with the group of people who occupy such a facilities, various literature were use to understand the state of housing in terms of housing types and materials for construction to find out what can be durable to withstand abuse and arson at the same time pleasant. Guiding principles of affordable and energy efficient design for tropical region were also attained from books and the internet. To sum it all the design of the physical environment related to the well being of the inmates in the institution and society will be analyzed.

Source: KNUST
Medicines Usage in Pregnancy

Medication usage in pregnancy requires a lot of caution because every medicine can pose a risk and not all risks are known, Medicines are thought to account for 1-3% of maternal mortality. This research seeks to determine the extent, safety, and effectiveness of medication use in pregnancy , to reduce the incidents of maternal mortality attributed to medication use, so that healthcare professional and pregnant women could make informed decisions. Six hundred (600) pregnant women attending antenatal care and three hundred (300) pregnant women attending outpatient department (OPD) at Dormaa Presbyterian hospital were randomly sampled and interviewed. Their responses were collated and analyzed. The result indicates that both manufactured orthodox medicines and alternate herbal medicines were widely used among pregnant women of all ages, pregnant women who used herbal medicine alone or in combination were characterized by very young and very old age, little or no education, increased parity, chronic diseases and receipt of social assistance. A total of 43.5% of pregnant women were found to have had exposure to medications in FDA safety category C, D, and X, the most common of these being misoprostol, egometrine, and diclofenac. The average number of drugs prescribed per person was found to be 4.5, Over 90% of expectant mothers take four to five drugs at some stage of pregnancy, and a significant number of pregnant women were taking medications at the time their pregnancies were detected.

Source: KNUST
Meeting NCTE and Nabptex standards by Polytechnics in Ghana: Exploring the realities

The Polytechnics run two main programmes namely Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, and Applied Social Science and Arts. Most students enter Polytechnic Institutions with aggregates of between 21 and 29 of the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE)/Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) results and the ACCESS course organised by NABPTEX for technical and vocational students. Students prefer university education to polytechnic and they would have entered the university if they had satisfied the requirement of university education. The enrolment of Business related programmes in the five selected polytechnics stand at 21790 with staff strength of 277. This puts the staff-student ratio at 1:79. For the Science/Technology programmes, the enrolment stands at 11386 while the staff strength stands at 171. The staff/student ratio is 1:67. The average of both ratios stands at 1:73. This far exceeds the national norm of 1:12 for sciences and 1:18 for business related programmes averaging at 1:15 for all courses in all the polytechnics in Ghana. Large class size adversely affects teacher delivery. Management of Polytechnic Institutions have divided large classes into 2 or more classes. This innovation improves the staff/student ratio to about 1:35. The ratio of enrolment of Science/Technology to Business related programmes far exceeds the accepted norm of 60:40. Out of the 1327 full time teaching staff, 43.86 percent have a second degree. The implication is that the remaining 51.14 percent are not qualified to handle HND (according to NCTE standards). In terms of ranks, 1.73 percent of teaching staff were principal and senior lecturers instead of the acceptable 20 percent. In the same vein, the percentage of senior instructors and instructors fell short of about 17 percent iii of the norm (i.e 12.81 percent instead of 30 percent). However, 82.5 percent were principal instructors and lecturers. This far exceeds the standard of 50 percent. Facilities (workshop tools and laboratory equipment, library books, projectors, internet facilities etc.) were not very adequate in all selected schools. Most workshop tools and laboratory equipment need replacement. Only one institution had its main library connected to the internet. Teaching staff use approved syllabus which is reviewed every ten years. Examination questions go through NABPTEX moderation and examinations are conducted under strict conditions. Industrial attachment plays a significant role in the training of polytechnic students; however students do not get the right institutions for attachment and so the relevance of it is not much felt. The output of polytechnic education in terms of the HND results is not encouraging. The research revealed a downward trend of the number of students with first and second upper class divisions and an upward trend of the number of students with second lower and third class divisions from 2007 – 2010.

Source: KNUST
Men at work

In this thesis /exhibition project, I argue that the creation of the spider web sacramentally serve as a symbolism for connectivity and not necessarily a fabric of bad luck or entrapment. Through studio work, installation and experiment, I investigate metaphorical questions on how the mass is used in search for power. I am engaging metaphorically the often misleading emphasis upon the radical alterity of these spaces in reference to politically what the spider does the web for - where the mass is used in search for authority but does not benefit from the power attained. The initial stimulus for deliberations raises questions about the establishment of order in our culture, or those basic codes that govern perceptions, language and practice. The inventive play produces a different space that at the same time mirrors the issues around us. The space reflects and contests simultaneously. With war, a frightening prospect and fruitful negotiations a still-distant dream, power have become the West’s instrument of choice. They are everywhere in the financial arena, barring habitual commercial relations; in the oil sector, choking off Tehran’s principal source of currency; in the insurance sector, thwarting its ability to transport goods. Add to this myriad unintended consequences (bolstering the regime’s ability to allocate goods; harming ordinary citizens; pushing leaders persuaded the goal is regime change to escalate its own retaliatory steps; and constructing a web of punitive measures harder to unknot than to weave).Confusion on this score has undermined efforts to right the imbalance. My purpose here is to clarify the analytic roles that power and cooperation actually play in this literature, and to argue that a more balanced theory one that brings power from its periphery to its very core is both necessary and entirely possible.

Source: KNUST
Mercury contamination in fish from the marine environment in Ghana

In this study, concentrations of total mercury (Hg) were measured in the edible muscle tissues of fish samples from the Atlantic Coast of Ghana between November 2003 and May 2004 using a simple, rapid and accurate method which involves a mixture of HNO3, HC1O4 and H2S04 used for complete oxidation of organic tissue and mercury detection by the Cold Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (CVAAS) technique using an automatic mercury analyzer developed at the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD) in Japan. In general mercury concentrations increased with increase in trophic levels. Mercury concentrations were generally highest (mean=0.093 μg g-1) in high trophic level predatory fish, for example the highest mean• mercury concentration (0.047 μg g-1) was found in Argyrosomus regius which is a high trophic level carnivore, followed by middle trophic level predatory fish (mean=0.063 μg g-1). Lower mercury concentrations were seen in low trophic level fish (mean=0.047 μg g-1). Mercury levels positively correlated with the weight of two tuna species namely auxis thazard thazard (P<0.0l, r=0.952) and thunnus albacares (P<0.0l, r=0.927); and also with the fork length of the two species, r=0.927 at P<0.01 for auxis thazard thazard and r = 0.740 at P<0.05 for thunnus albacares. These determined relationships corroborate the occurrence of biomagnification of mercury in these species. All fish species analysed in this study had total mercury concentrations less than the WHO limit of 0.5 μg g-1 wet weight. The low concentrations of mercury detected in the samples do not appear to constitute any significant health hazard to the general population. Total concentrations of mercury in the internal organs of tuna fish were in the order Liver>Duodenum>Heart>Intestine>Gonads>Stomach>Gills according to LSD and Tukey Ad Hoc Tests. Overall, total mercury concentrations were found to increase with fish weight, fish length and trophic level. These findings are consistent with observations from other studies that have shown that predatory fish bioaccumulate mercury over time.

Source: KNUST
Mentorship as a means of developing employee talent: A case of Lecturers in the University of Mines and Technology UMaT-Tarkwa

The research focused on mentorship as a means of managing the talents of lecturers in the University of Mines and Technology(UMaT). With the current trend of young lecturers joining universities, there is the need to put in place a proper system of induction, training and mentoring to help settle the uncertainties that may lead to loss of confidence and later cause attrition. UMaT is a public university which employs lecturers with high levels of knowledge and talent. For all these to be put to a profitable use, mentoring can be employed.The main objective of the research was therefore, to assess the extent to which mentoring programmes at UMaT, Tarkwa impact on the management of the talents new lecturers come into the University with. The research was an explanatory study. With atotal academic staff population of 101, 83 were chosen as the sample size for the research. The 83 used were made up of 72 mentees and 11 mentors. Questionnaires were mainly used to gather data from randomly sampled respondents. The data collected were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The research found out that there exists a mentoring programme being guided by a policy. It also came to light that some mentors and mentees did not have copies of the policy guidelines. It was also found from the research that all lecturers had been assigned to professors to mentor them and this was strictly being adhered with. The study again revealed that, mentoring was strictly academic and this greatly impacted on the career of the lecturers. Recommendations such as,the evaluation of the impact of the mentoring on the lecturers of the university, regular policy reviews to reflect the views of the various stakeholders, training of mentors in conflict resolution skills and relationship management were made.

Source: KNUST
Mercury levels in fish, sediment and water from the black Volta river before the construction of the hydro electric dam-baseline studies at Bui Dam site

The risk of elevated Hg connection in fish has become one of the most important issues in assessing the environmental impact of hydroelectric reservoirs has led to increased rates of converting Hg in the aquatic system into methylmercury (MeHg), the form easily accumulated by fish.

Source: KNUST
Mercury use in small scale gold mining in Ghana: an assessment of its impact on miners

Small scale gold mining is responsible for about 5% of Ghana’s annual gold production. It is estimated that between 80,000 and 100,000 people are engaged in small scale gold mining either on part-time or permanent basis. Amalgamation is the preferred method used by small scale gold miners for extracting free gold from its ores. The rate at which mercury, an important input in this method, is discharged into the atmosphere and water bodies is alarming. This research describes the various mining and processing methods in small scale gold mining and the extent of mercury use and releases to the environment. It discusses mercury and its human and environmental effects. It defines the various forms of mercury, routes of exposure, toxic effects. The levels of exposure to mercury by all groups of small scale gold miners are determined, and the impacts on the miners and the environment are assessed. It concludes that: • Mercury is mainly released into the environment as a result of small scale gold mining through spillage of elemental mercury and evaporation of mercury from the amalgam and sponge gold when they are heated on open fire. • Mercury in environmental samples from small scale gold mining areas is well above standard limit values. • Mercury released into the environment through small scale gold mining impacts negatively on the miners themselves and the general environment. Finally, it recommends the need for the adoption of mercury emission reduction strategies for dealing with the mercury problem.

Source: KNUST
Mergers and acquisition: performance assessment of SG- SSB Ltd

An unprecedented process of financial consolidation has taken place in the European Union over the past decade (Thomson 2005). Such consolidations across barriers in the banking industry have been rare in Ghana. The study was on the only such M&A in Ghana. The study was conducted using the M&A failure model in which prior literature indicate that cross-border M&As only end up in failure. The research was carried out using dataset from the Ghana Banking Survey covering 2001 to 2007 and the annual reports of SG-SSB Ltd and its mirror banks. The empirical evidence adduced from the research shows that a couple of years after the acquisition the operating performance SG-SSB Ltd improved against that of the mirror banks. In the last five years, the operating performance of SG-SSB Ltd has dwindled compared with the mirror bank. The mirror banks were seen as taken more risk over the period than SG-SSB Ltd.

Source: KNUST
The mergereffect of the Amalgamation of Guinness Ghana Ltd (GGL) and Ghana Breweries Ltd (GBL)

The study is about the effect of the merger on the employee, shareholders and other stakeholders of GGL and GBL. Mergers and acquisitions are popular strategic business means that companies adopt to grow and achieve economies of scope and scale. However, approximately two out of every three M&As fail to achieve such intended objectives, which are mostly the basis for the alliance. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of the two entities, GGL and GBL in terms of finances, shareholders' benefits and employees' welfare before the merger. These are then compared with the present company's (GGBL) performance to ascertain the validity or necessity for the merger. The aim is to collect financial data of the two companies before the merger for the financial analysis. The turnovers, profitability, dividend payouts, return on equity, net profit margin, earnings per share, dividend per share and sustainability growth rate of the two entities five years before the merger were critically analysed and presented graphically to portray trends of performance. The above indicators were then compared with the three- year performance of the amalgamated company, GGBL. The study also developed questionnaire to solicit employees' perception on the merger, three years after the alliance. The welfare of the employees in terms of safety, remuneration, working conditions and job security were gathered for the study. The study after all these exercises was able to deduce the effect of the merger on the stakeholders of the new entity. General deductions regarding the benefits and demerits to the stakeholders in the merged company have been made

Source: KNUST
Mergers and Acquisition: Vodafone GT Case

Ghana has seen a far less number of mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunication sector over the past years as compared to the banking industry. The most prominent among them and of immense national interest was the Vodafone acquisition of Ghana Telecom (GT) but whether they have brought any significant change or the outcome has been ‘Value conserved’, ‘Value created’ or ‘Value destroyed’ to GT or Ghana economy makes it imperative to investigate in this area. This study examines the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the acquiring company’s corporate financial performance, within the Ghanaian economy, using Vodafone Ghana as case study. The issue was investigated using performance measure based on the company’s annual reports and a nonparametric test was carried out on the views of customers and staff in order to know the areas of improvements after the acquisition. The results of the study shows that the accounting performance has increase in some aspect and declined in others after the merger. There has being a downward fall in profitability performance. Sales growth increases during the post-mergers periods since it has the same trend with the pre-mergers period but much higher values in the post-mergers periods. Operating expense and financial leverage have been decreasing while liquidity has been on the rise and from the views of customers almost all areas have seen some improvements but the areas that have seen most improvements is the prices of products and services which has become cheaper and available to customers. To be able to attain merging objectives of achieving synergy, reducing cost of operations and improving market performance and profitability of the joint operations and other performance benefits, the company should strengthen its business processes, restructure its capital base and improve its cash operation cycle.

Source: KNUST
Meshfree Approximation in Nonlinear Black-Scholes Option Pricing Equation with Transaction Cost

Differential equations play a very important role in the world of finance since most problems in finance are modelled by means of differential equation. These problems are sometimes nonlinear which can be solved by using numerical techniques. We review option pricing models in general, the formulation of the Black-Scholes model, and the Black-Scholes model with transaction costs. This thesis takes a look at Black-Scholes model with transaction costs with special reference to the model by Guy Barles and Halil Mete Soner. The resulting model is a nonlinear Black-Scholes equation in which the variable volatility is a function of the second derivative of the option price. We solve this nonlinear equation with a special class of numerical technique, called, the meshfree approximation using radial basis function. The method is analysed for stability and thorough comparative numerical results are provided. The numerical results showed that, the value of the option in the case of transaction cost is found to be higher than the analytical value of the standard Black-Scholes model.

Source: KNUST
Message Tambourine Akan: Sa Valeur Litteraire Et Ses Fonctions Sociales Dans La Societe Moderne

Nous sommes reconnaissants a toutes personnes qui nous ont assisté d’une facon ou d’une autre a achever notre tâche: - Messieurs Adusi-Poku, présentateur des emissions en langue akan à Kapital Radio, Kumasi, Joseph Obeng, professeur de la langue akan à Anglican Secondary School, Kumasi, pour nous avoir assisté à comprendre les textes dans la préssente dissertation; - Opanin Akwasi Dondo, membre de l’orchestre bntDnfrDm au Palais Manhyia, Kumasi, et Prof. J.H.K. Nketia, ancien directeur de 1’ Institute of African Studies, Legon, pour nous avoir accordé des interviews sur le langage tambourine akan; - Dr. Lawrence Tuffuor, chef de department de langues et notre directeur de mémoire pour nous avoir encadré rigoureusement; - M. Stephen Kwame Amedahevi analyste en informatique a Ghana Institute of Languages, Kumasi, le typographe de notre travail; mais surtout a: - tous les précurseurs en matière de recherche sur le message tambouriñé dont les uvres nous avons cite et a - Prof. Mme. Christine Owusu-Sarpong ,une française, et notre professeur qui nous a sensibilisé a prendre au sérieux les affaires concemant la littérature orale africaine; ious ne pouvons que leur remercier a l’instar du tambourinaire en disant a chacun d’entre eux:

Source: KNUST
Metabolic Syndrome Parameters and their Associated Factors among Older Prisoners in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Prison environments had been characterized by high rates of communicable diseases until recently when prevalence of non-communicable diseases have been assessed and high rates found especially among older inmates. This transition has been blamed primarily on inappropriate diets fed to inmates. In Ghana, little is known about diet and nutrient provisions and intakes among prisoners and their relationship with nutritional status and health. This study assessed food provision, dietary patterns and nutrient intakes and their relationship with metabolic syndrome among older prisoners. Household food record was used to estimate nutrients provision within the prisons and a single 24-hour recall was used to estimate the actual intakes of inmates. A total of one hundred and sixty inmates from the Kumasi central (131), Kumasi female (10) and Manhyia local prisons (19) were included in the study. Nutrient provision for protein, fibre, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin B12, folate and zinc were inadequate for male inmates but in excess for female prisoners. However, differences were observed between nutrient provision and actual intakes. This may be due to over or underestimation by inmates with a general probable underestimation. Metabolic syndrome was defined by the NCEP ATP III criteria. The mean systolic blood pressure of study participants was 141.1±23.2 mmHg, diastolic 88.9±15 mmHg, BMI 22.8±4.1kg/m2, waist circumference 81±10.3cm, FBS 4.3±0.9mmol/L, HDL 1.4±0.4mmol/L and triglycerides 1.1±0.6mmol/L. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 8.1%; 61.9% had one metabolic parameter and 21.9% had two parameters. Correlational analysis revealed a weak positive relationship between sodium intake and serum triglyceride (r= 0.212, p= 0.007); potassium and systolic (r=0.172, p= 0.030) and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.164, p= 0.039), vitamin B12 (r= 0.226, p= 0.004) and folate (r=0.186, p=0.018) and systolic blood pressure. No association was found between nutrient intakes and metabolic syndrome. In conclusion, nutrients provided were outside ranges of recommendations and higher than actual intakes. Prevalence of dyslipidaemia and elevated blood pressure were high among inmates. Adequacy of prison diets should be checked in order to prevent deficiencies and excesses and resultant increase in morbidity and mortality. Further studies should assess serum levels of these nutrients in order to determine more concrete association

Source: KNUST