ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Ghanaian women’s life in mixed - media sculpture

The travails of searching for “individual Ghanaian identity” is the pivotal point, from which the whole research springs. Chapter one Introduction - Yearnings; Charts the evolution of this enquiry up until its emergence in the present day. It then explains the objectives and the validity of this study and the methodology that will be employed in order to resolve the above problem. Chapter Two: Literature Review - Initiation; Sets the cultural historical background from which the gold weight genre emerged. The famous Akan gold weights commonly known as Ashanti gold weights have held public attention, of worldwide acclaim for their provocative, evocative, proverbial, “delightfully mundane” and symbolic imagery. These weights represent the proto-type from whose tradition “Ghanaian Women’s Life in Mixed-Media Sculpture” continues on in literature and thought. The weights will also be surveyed. Chapter Three: Comparative Study - Metal Earth Connections; Parallels different mixed-media metal sculptures and paintings which draw on the same themes as the sculptures in chapter five. Chapter Four: Experimental Survey-Beginnings; Documents the metal sculpture executed during the first year of study. One of these is semi-abstracted, while the others are objects of varied themes. Chapter Five: Analytical Main Study - Belonging; Elucidates on the major mixed-media metal sculptural and two dimensional works. Revealing their interpretations and the cultural histories from which they draw their inspiration, is the core of this chapter. Chapter Six: Conclusion - Knowing; Brings together all the sentiments of change and awareness which have conclusively fulfiled the objective. Future application of the ideas is also put forward. The three underlying themes that run through the project are: Firstly Family for it is from this relationship which our primary source of Socialization 2 is derived. This interaction cements the character within. The family are the vital cords than joins us to our ancestors who hold the key to the mysteries of our history. Secondly The Ghanaian female body which is born out of the Ghanaian family unit and carries within itself the codes of idiosyncratic tribal behaviour and identity associated with different aspects of Ghanaian womanhood. And thirdly Dance which is a culminative rhythmic body expression of the family heritage with its particular peculiarities, which is individually

Source: KNUST
Ghana’s downstream oil and gas industry: An analysis of the legal framework on health, safety and environmental protection.

Ghana has over the years been bedeviled by incidents of gas explosions leading to loss of lives, injury to persons, and destruction of property. The recent gas explosion which occurred in Accra on 7th October, 2017 claimed more than seven lives, caused injury to a number of persons and destroyed several properties worth millions of Ghana Cedis. There have also been problems of oil spill from fuel storage tanks and retail stations exposing workers and the general public to health risks; wrong siting of fuel and gas retailing stations posing health and safety risks; emission of fumes and release of other chemicals posing threat to the environment including air and soil contaminations. These problems are associated with the various activities in the downstream oil and gas industry which include oil refining, storage, transportation and distribution of oil and gas, and sale of oil and gas products. This research analyses the existing legal framework governing the downstream oil and gas industry to ascertain whether it adequately guarantees protection of the environment, and health and safety of workers and the general public. The research reveals that the downstream oil and gas industry in Ghana is regulated by piecemeal legislations which are scanty, inconsistent and incoherent resulting in regulatory overlaps, conflicts and lacunae. The institutional framework for the enforcement of health, safety and environmental regulations remains disjointed resulting in duplications, conflict of regulatory functions, and weak regulatory and enforcement powers. This thesis concludes that the existing legal framework for Ghana‟s downstream oil and gas industry does not adequately guarantee health, safety and environmental protection. The thesis therefore recommends that a consolidation of and improvement on the downstream regulations on health, safety and environment into a more comprehensive legislation with robust, detailed and clear rules, and establishment of well-coordinated, systematic and synchronized institutional arrangements for monitoring compliance is the best way to guarantee health, safety and environmental protection in the industry.

Source: KNUST
Giant primary scrotal lipoma in a low-resource setting: challenges with diagnosis and review of literature

Lipoma is the commonest benign mesenchymal tumor composed of matured adipocytes. A literature search revealed few reported cases of giant scrotal lipoma. This article aims to report a giant scrotal lipoma weighing 1100 g and illustrate our challenges with the diagnostic process in a low-resource setting. A 28-year-old male presented with a huge right scrotal mass. Examination revealed the mass had no cough impulse. It was firm, non-tender and lobulated, with definite edges. Scrotal sonography was suspicious of lipoma. Intraoperatively, there was an encapsulated scrotal wall mass and an incidental inguinoscrotal hernia, content being the omentum. The scrotal mass was excised, hernia sac was ligated, and excised and the posterior wall was repaired. Histology confirmed the scrotal mass as a lipoma. Primary scrotal lipomas are rare but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unusual scrotal masses. Ultrasonography is a useful diagnostic tool in resource limited setting

Source: KNUST
The Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and their Usage in Some Selected Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Kumasi

The use of the gifts of the Spirit has become an important phenomenon in Christian ministry. However, there are challenges regarding their usage that need to be addressed. It is in view of this that the researcher undertakes a critical study of the use of the gifts of the Spirit in selected Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Kumasi. This introductory chapter discusses the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the objective of the study, research question, significance of the study, methodology of the research, delimitations of the study, as well as the literature review

Source: KNUST
Ghana’s plywood production and marketing trends (1961 - 1978)

The dissertation attempts to bring out some statistics on the plywood industry since 1961. Plywood industry first established in late forties, the number of operating mills at end of 1980 was nine. The, total log consumption by the plywood industry for the period 1961 - 1978 was 1650 thousand cubic metres including primary and secondary species. The major primary species are, Sapele, Mahoany, Edinam, etc. all included in 14 banned species. The total ‘plywood output for the same period was 624,800 cubic metros giving a recovery rate of 36 per cent. The statistical relation between log input and plywood output is given as: Y = 6.47 + 0.36X, whore Y is output of plywood and X log input. The co-efficient of X agrees with the recovery rate of 36 per cent. The projected local demand of plywood in 1992 is 109,514 cubic metres, resulting in overall projected output of 163,453 cubic metres. To achieve this projected output may require 66 per cent increase in existing number of plants. The plywood is characterized by two distinct markets, the local and export market. The export market started declining from 1976.

Source: KNUST
Girl child education in visual arts: opportunities and challenges

The study employed the qualitative research approach with interviewing and questionnaires to analyze the opportunities and challenges that girls encounter in the study of the Visual Arts in Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana. The study adopted quantitative research approach to study girl’s education in four Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana. One girls’ school and one co-educational school. The sample studied comprised 300 girls and five women teachers in the four selected schools in the Cape Coast-Mfantsiman districts. The study revealed that fewer girls in Senior Secondary School patronize Visual Art because many schools lack the necessary tools, materials, equipment and studios to promote student creativity. Girls also have very few practicing female artists to serve as role models for them to emulate. There are however, opportunities and benefits for girls who offer Visual Arts. These include employment skills acquisition in weaving, printing and fashion designing. The challenges include difficulty in handling heavy tools, kneading large lumps of clay and problems with figure drawing. The study recommend among other things that schools offering Visual Arts should equip their studio to enhance teaching and learning, girls must not be pressurized to study science if they prefer to study Visual Arts, and Art must be accorded the due respect in the educational system and more schools should offer Visual Arts to encourage more girls into the various disciplines.

Source: KNUST
GIS web-based solution for ecg asset tracking and billing (A case study at adentan municipality).

Today, the world is fast moving in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With the use of Spatial Technology and subsequent development of Web GlS evolving, the operations, services and management of several industries in the world over are flourishing. Electricity as utility is inimical to the socio-economic development of any country. The generation, transmission and distribution of power electricity come with lots of challenges. This study aimed at using Spatial Technology to enhance ECG business. Adentan Municipality was used as a study area and data on user requirement was gathered. Geomatic measurement techniques were employed in spatial data acquisition. The task of development of ECG-GlS Customer Information System was put into data acquisition, data processing, geo-database development and system design phases respectively. A user friendly ECG-GlS Customer Information System comprising of four modules, Customer Activity, Customer Database, Geo-database and System settings was developed and deployed. The system is centrally web based, dynamic and has the ability to track ECG customers’ information on billing with ease.

Source: KNUST
Girl Guides Training Centre —Achimota

The Ghana Girls Guides Association (GGA) established about 70 years ago is a voluntary organisation for females of all ages, classes and creed. It is a branch of an international movement with the Headquarters in Britain. The Association is concerned with the mental, physical, character and social development of girls and women as a means of preparing them for life and helping the girls in particular to cultivate good social habits. Guiding has been a very educative form of recreation for girls and women over the past years. With increasing female population and the present rate of moral decadence among the female youth and other related problems, the importance of such n Association in our society can not be overlooked. It is said: Train a. child in a way it should go and when grown will never depart from it, 1 and also …when you educate a woman you educate a whole nation.2 These two statements highlight the importance of child and woman training in our national development. In the light of the various female issues today, the Association needs to reassess and reorganise its activities to benefit as many females as possible. This would make guiding in our country more consequential. At the 1990 Guides Commonwealth Conference held in Kuala Lumpur and the 70th anniversary celebrations of the GGA in Accra the themes “TIME TO GROW” and “GUIDING – SERVICE TO THE NATION BE A VOLUNTEER” respectively were most appropriate in the light of various happenings today. For the GCA such a comprehensive objective also called for an equally comprehensive programme of action. To be able to reach out to the female youth, an awareness of societal trends, youth interests and needs and also female youth issues are critical functions of the project. Based on the needs of the female gender in our society the G.G.A. has expanded its activities from just extracurricular activities for pupils and students to all year round training programmes to benefit guides and non-guides alike. These include public programmes such as literacy campaigns mass education of women women’s co-operative society projects such as Anumle Women’s Co-operative near Achimota. To effectively reach out to the youth, more adult leaders are required. These cells for adequate training facilities to promote the associations work.

Source: KNUST
A GIS – Based Flood Risk Mapping: A Case Study of Pru District in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana

Pru District of Ghana has been experiencing yearly flooding that affects properties and lives. But the floods of 2010 brought a lot of difficulties and untold hardships on the affected victims in the District. Hence there was the need to find a new method of identifying and mapping potential flood risk zones, determining the extent of land cover and land use changes, and determining the effects of flood on affected victims. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing were integrated to map out the flood risk zones and also determined the land use and land cover changes. A total of 226 household heads and 11 officials of National Disaster Management Organization, District Assembly, Environmental Health and Sanitation Department, District Agricultural Development Unit and the District Health Directorate in the District were interviewed. In determining the flood risk zones, the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission 90 meters Digital Elevation Model was used to produce the flood risk map of the District and classified the flood risk zones into high, medium and low. It was realized that 3,246.26 km² (52.68%) of the land areas fall within the high flood risk zone, 754.54 km² (12.24%) fall within medium flood risk zone and 2,161.79 km² (35.08%) fall within the low flood risk zone. The Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus images of 1990 and 2006 of the study area were used to determine the land cover and land use changes. It was shown that between 1990 and 2006, the vegetative cover decreased by 17.25%, built up / bare surfaces increased by 18.50% and water bodies decreased by 1.25%. About 283 houses got submerged by the flood at Banyawaya, Fante Akura and Yeji Nsuano with another 69 submerged at Kobre. About 68.53% of the farmers had their farms totally or partially inundated by the floods in 2010 resulting in food insecurity, psychological problems for farmers, and increase in the prices of some food commodities. The integrated use of GIS and Remote Sensing serve as valuable tool in identifying and monitoring flood risk zones.

Source: KNUST
GIS-Based approach for landfill site selection in Obuasi Municipality

Landfill constitutes one of the primary methods of municipal solid waste disposal. Optimized landfill site selection is the fundamental step in sound waste disposal and the protection of the environment, public health and quality of life. Siting decisions have gained considerable importance in order to ensure minimum damage to the various environmental sub-components as well as reduce the stigma associated with the residents living in its vicinity thereby prolonging its life span. Waste disposal in the Obuasi Municipality in Ghana, has mainly been by open dumping which has resulted in contamination of both surface and ground water and other environmental problems. This research therefore focused on siting a new landfill in the Obuasi Municipal using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and overlay analysis in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) environment. Several factors considered in the siting process included fault lines, distances to surface water, roads and settlements, land use and sensitive sites. Weightings were assigned to each criterion depending upon their relative importance and ratings in accordance with the relative magnitude of impact. It is found that three (3) out of the seventeen (17) potential sites selected best meet all the criteria used. The integration of GIS and RS techniques has been an effective and efficient tool in carrying out this study in that RS techniques made it possible to study the various land cover types within the study area whereas GIS aided in the modelling and preparation of needed maps. The results is a databank in which the municipal authorities can refer to when the need of constructing a landfill site arises.

Source: KNUST
GIS-Based flood prediction of the Black Volta in a climate change scenario. case study:the Dikpe catchment in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region

Understanding the basic relationships between rainfall and runoff is vital for effective management of flood water. The Lawra District of the Upper West region (the driest region in Ghana) has experienced periodic and devastating flash flood resulting from high intensity short duration rainfall, a characteristics of semi-arid and arid regions...

Source: KNUST
GIS-based spatial epidemiology of the top five infectious diseases in Ghana

Infectious diseases are general burdens in developing countries but within a country or region, specific areas can be experiencing elevated rates of infection. To address this and support public health policy, Geographic Information System (GIS) and other spatial techniques are used extensively in geo-health informatics.This study explored GIS-based spatial epidemiology to describe spatial patterns, identify hotspots and assessed the determinants responsible for spatio-temporal variations of infections in Ghana. The outpatient department data of Malaria, URTI, Diarrhoeal diseases, Intestinal worms and Typhoid fever from 2010-2014 were obtained from Ghana Health Service, health determinants processed from 2010 census and geo-coded per the 170 districts to create the GIS database. Incidence rates were estimated, smoothen and spatially analysed. The rates of the infectious diseases persistently showed significant spatial dynamics with different intensities (Moran's I > 0 and Z-score > 1.96, p< 0.05). The disease and yearly-specific hotspot analyses pinpointed a number of hotspot districts. The divergence in the intensities of clustering and the number of hotspots observed undoubtedly showed location and disease-specific disparities in health intervention programmes, resources allocation and/or spatial variability of determinants across the country. There is a critical need to further strengthen/improve and prioritise disease-specific control strategies in the identified hotspot districts and to also give broader and uniform attention to other leading infectious diseases, especially Intestinal worms and Typhoid fever. From the spatial lag regression model, policy and/or social interventions to increase basic education attainment but decreasing urbanisation, intermigration and sex ratio while considering neighbourhood-effects could reduce the rates of infections in the districts. Geo-health informatics should be included into health researches and reports in Ghana as data mining tool to enhance public health promotion and health policies.

Source: KNUST
A GIS-BASED REAL ESTATE TAX INFORMATION SYSTEM The Case Study of Sinkor District, Monrovia - Liberia

The Real Estate Tax Division is responsible to steer the affairs of the property tax within the City of Monrovia. Its statutory duties are to provide the most efficient and effective method to list, assess and collect taxes on all taxable properties (unimproved and improved land) situated within the City of Monrovia. Determination of taxes on real estates requires accurate information on individualized property structure, location, ownership, condition, size, and its use classification. Moreover, today’s communities are undergoing rapid developments and so, is the need to regularly piece together those changes to keep the assessment records up-to-date. At the Division, the existing method of property mapping is not parcel based and thus is increasingly incapable of supporting unique parcel identification. Additionally, these property records are maintained in various types like filing cabinets, on paper maps of varying qualities and different sizes, and in computers using different software. This makes paramount the importance of bringing full information communication technology (ICT) into the Division’s day-to-day workings, especially the need to capture, store, retrieve, update and manage large amounts of data within a unique system. Further, any system that can visualize data and analyze trends in spatial context can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the taxation procedures. Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) provide a whole new dimension to ICT as they bring the spatial elements to it (ICT). The study aims at developing a GIS-based tax information system for Monrovia. System development techniques were used. The process involves structuring the geospatial database in its capabilities for both spatial and non-spatial data capture, management, and manipulation of the required data sets. The GIS-based tax information system is one such endeavor that makes tax assessment simpler by providing locational and thematic information on individualized properties including 2D footprints of structures on each improved parcel in rating areas. The system automatically calculates the tax due on each property just by inputting raw data. Additionally, the system has the potential to generate tax recovery information and locate each property when required, so as to keep a check on tax defaulters. Most importantly, the GIS-based tax information system provides opportunities to perform various analyses on spatial and attribute data, thus providing a base for decision-making, future planning and streamlining the workflow of the property tax assessment.

Source: KNUST
Global prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus infection in 2015: a modelling study

The 69th World Health Assembly approved the Global Health Sector Strategy to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by 2030, which can become a reality with the recent launch of direct acting antiviral therapies. Reliable disease burden estimates are required for national strategies. This analysis estimates the global prevalence of viraemic HCV at the end of 2015, an update of—and expansion on—the 2014 analysis, which reported 80 million (95% CI 64–103) viraemic infections in 2013.

Source: KNUST