ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Geographical perspectives on bednet use and malaria transmission in the Gambia, West Africa

Insecticide-impregnated bednets are now widely accepted as an important tool in reducing malaria-related deaths in children in Africa. Defining the circumstances in which net treatment programmes are likely to be effective is essential to a rational development of this control strategy. In The Gambia a National Impregnated Bednet Programme was introduced into the primary health care system in 1992. Prior to its introduction baseline epidemiological and entomological studies were conducted throughout the country. These studies showed that in areas where mosquito biting nuisance was high, people protected themselves with bednets and that where mosquito densities (and therefore bednet usage) was low malaria prevalence rates were relatively high. Since the national programme is designed to assist only those people who already own a bednet (by providing the insecticide) an understanding of the factors which determine bednet ownership is needed to help evaluate the programme's effectiveness and provide guidelines for increasing bednet usage. Village scale bednet usage rates and malaria prevalence rates obtained from the baseline survey were correlated with certain geographical variables: dominant ethnic group, area, habitat, distance from the River Gambia and distance from the 'bluffline' (the interface between the sandstone soils and alluvial soils which border the river system). In a multiple regression analysis, bednet usage was independently associated with area (P < 0.001), ethnic group (P = 0.010), habitat (P = 0.006) and distance from the river (P = 0.013). A negative association of bednet usage with malaria prevalence persisted after allowing for the other variables. Malaria prevalence was not independently associated with area, ethnic group, habitat or distance from the river. Our analysis showed that the impregnated bednet programme is likely to be most effective in villages which are sited near to or on the alluvial soils in the middle and lower river zones. These villages, which were originally settled for easy access to the river (for transport) and its swampy margins (for rice production) are within the flight distance of mosquitoes that have their breeding sites on the poorly drained alluvial soils. Variation in malaria prevalence rates (after bednet usage has been taken into account) may be related to factors such as poverty and access to health care, and/or to localized differences in the ecology of The Gambia, which determine the duration and intensity of transmission. If the National Bednet Programme is to be effective throughout The Gambia it is vital to develop promotional activities which will encourage bednet usage in areas where nuisance biting by mosquitoes is low.

Source: UG
Geographical Variation in Total and Inorganic Arsenic Content of Polished (White) Rice

An extensive data set of total arsenic analysis for 901 polished (white) grain samples, originating from 10 countries from 4 continents, was compiled. The samples represented the baseline (i.e., not specifically collected from arsenic contaminated areas), and all were for market sale in major conurbations. Median total arsenic contents of rice varied 7-fold, with Egypt (0.04 mg/kg) and India (0.07 mg/kg) having the lowest arsenic content while the U.S. (0.25 mg/kg) and France (0.28 mg/kg) had the highest content. Global distribution of total arsenic in rice was modeled by weighting each country’s arsenic distribution by that country’s contribution to global production. A subset of 63 samples from Bangladesh, China, India, Italy, and the U.S. was analyzed for arsenic species. The relationship between inorganic arsenic content versus total arsenic content significantly differed among countries, with Bangladesh and India having the steepest slope in linear regression, and the U.S. having the shallowest slope. Using country-specific rice consumption data, daily intake of inorganic arsenic was estimated and the associated internal cancer risk was calculated using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cancer slope. Median excess internal cancer risks posed by inorganic arsenic ranged 30-fold for the 5 countries examined, being 0.7 per 10,000 for Italians to 22 per 10,000 for Bangladeshis, when a 60 kg person was considered.

Source: UG
Geographies of Crime and Collective efficacy in urban Ghana

Geographies of Crime and Collective Efficacy in Urban Ghana. Territory, Politics, Governance. The quest to understand how urban neighbourhood characteristics impact on crime has become an important theoretical and policy-relevant component of contemporary criminology thinking and a potential gauge for the relative value of informal and formal mechanisms of social control. This renewed interest and vigour stems, in great part, from recent works which use social disorganization theory as a spring board to examine the mediating effects of collective efficacy on crime-growth rates. The recent preeminence notwithstanding, the situation in less-developed countries remains under-researched and poorly understood, a situation partly attributable to the dearth of official disaggregated data at the community level. This paper addresses this gap in knowledge by drawing on our empirical study in Accra, Ghana. Our analytical results reveal that crime opportunities are neither uniformly nor randomly organized in space and time, and provide consistent support for lower levels of violent crime in neighbourhoods with higher levels of collective efficacy. While raising concerns about a rigid dichotomy between ‘safer’ and ‘incubator’ crime communities, we also caution that such practices can mislead policy-makers and preclude attempts at devising practical preventive interventions.

Source: UG
The geography of agriculture participation and food security in a small and a mediumsized city in Ghana

The debate about the contribution of urban agriculture to urban household food security has not considered the possible differential effects by geography of production activities, focusing either on urban household’s participation in agriculture irrespective of where the activity takes place, or restricting participation to production within urban and peri-urban areas, or more narrowly, production within build-up urban spaces. Using a sample of 2004 households in a small and a medium-sized city in Ghana, this article contributes by disentangling urban household’s participation in agriculture by geography of production activities and the implications for the food security of urban households. We find no evidence from our sample that participation in agriculture in general matters for the food security of urban households. However, urbanites who produced food in both urban and rural areas had better food security in the medium-sized city

Source: UG
The geological and hydrogeological framework of the Panabako, Kodjari, and Bimbilla formations of the Voltaian supergroup – Revelations from groundwater hydrochemical data

This research demonstrates the utility of groundwater hydrochemical data for facilitating lithological mapping in a sedimentary terrain. Factor analysis and Q-mode Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied to groundwater hydrochemical data from the Nasia Basin in Northern Ghana to determine the major sources of hydrochemical variation and the main spatial groundwater associations (groups). These analyses were complemented by mass balance hydrochemical modeling from PHREEQC and petrographical analysis of rock samples from the area. Rock samples from the study area were subjected to petrographical and geochemical analyses from a petrographic microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) respectively. Four principal factors were distinguished from the factor analysis, highlighting four principal processes responsible for the observed hydrochemistry in the area. These four factors cumulatively account for over 79% of the total variance in the dataset. Factor scores were computed from the factor loadings matrix through a regression process, to highlight the spatial variations in the significance of each of the factors in the terrain. On the basis of the parameter loadings, the first factor, which has been noted to be pervasive throughout the terrain, has been interpreted to represent silicate mineral weathering. Both the geochemical data and petrographical analysis indicate the presence of silicate minerals indicating the plausibility of silicate mineral weathering. The process of silicate mineral weathering appears to be highly pervasive throughout the basin, indicating high factor scores in places. The trend of spatial variations in the scores of factor 1 clearly mimics the known geology of the terrain, indicating that the geology is the main controlling factor in the hydrochemistry of groundwater in the basin. This pattern, exhibited by the factor scores indicates that where adequate groundwater hydrochemical data is available, factor analysis would prove useful in mapping out lithological variations in an area. Two of the remaining factors have been observed to represent other specific geogenic processes. Mass balance hydrochemical modeling suggests that albite may be in active dissolution, presenting pervasively negative saturation indices (undersaturation), while kaolinite is extensively supersaturated. Five groundwater associations distinguished from the Q-mode HCA display a spatial pattern which identifies with the underlying geology.

Source: UG
Geological evaluation of black shale as a suitable Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) to optimize the use of clinker in cement production

Faced with challenges like resource depletion and climate change, the cement industry needs sustainable solutions. This study explores the potential of geologically-delinaeated black shale from Apersua, Ghana, as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) to reduce reliance on traditional methods. The researchers analysed the shale’s chemical composition and mineralogy, then created laboratory cement formulations with varying black shale content. These were compared to standard formulations without shale. The results show cement with black shale has comparable compressive strength, meeting standard requirements. Even a formulation with only black shale (excluding limestone, a common ingredient) passed strength tests. Overall, the black shale demonstrated good potential as a SCM based on strength, chemical makeup, setting time, and its possible contribution to durability. This research suggests that black shales from Apersua are worth exploring further as a sustainable and potentially cost-effective alternative in cement production.

Source: UG
The geology and geochemistry of the Rhyacian Josephine gold deposit, Northwest Ghana

his paper focuses on the geology and geochemistry of the Rhyacian Josephine gold deposit in northwestern Ghana, where gold is primarily hosted in quartzites, with other lithologies observed, including granitoids, mafic intrusions, and gneisses. Four deformational events, DJO0, DJO1, DJO2, and DJO3, are observed. DJO0 is synonymous with the primary preserved sedimentary crossbedding in the quarzitic rocks. Gold mineralization within the deposit is mainly associated with the DJO1 NNW-trending dextral and steeply dipping sinusoidal shear zone. Gold occurs primarily as free gold and invisible gold within the lattices of the disseminated arsenopyrite along the shear foliation planes of the host rock. The ore body geometry is 15–40 m wide and strikes 800 m in the NNW direction. Silicification, sericitization, chloritization, and sulphidation are the main alteration assemblages associated with the gold mineralization zones within the Josephine deposit. Pathfinder elements for gold are stibnite, tellurium, sulphur, copper, silver, and Lead

Source: UG
Geology, Re-Os and U-Pb geochronology and sulfur isotope of the the Donggebi porphyry Mo deposit, Xinjiang, NW China, Central Asian Orogenic Belt

The the Donggebi porphyry Mo deposit in the eastern section of the Eastern Tianshan Orogenic Belt in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt contains Mo metal reserves of 0.5 Mt. The deposit is hosted in Early Carboniferous metasedimentary rocks, namely; metasandstone, meta-sandy mudstone . Multiple hydrothermal activities have resulted in propylitic, phyllic, and argillic alteration in this deposit. Four stages (I-IV) of hydrothermal activity are identified. Stage I is represented by a mineral assemblage of K-feldspar, quartz and wolframite. Stage II consists of quartz + magnetite+pyrite ± chalcopyrite veinlets/veins with phyllic halos. Stage III consists of quartz + molybdenite + pyrite ± galena ± sphalerite ± chalcopyrite veins that are commonly related to phyllic alteration in the altered rocks. Stage IV has an assemblage of calcite + gypsum. Molybdenite mainly occurs in Stages III. Re-Os dating results for molybdenite samples from these two stages yielded an isochron age of 234.2 ± 1.6 Ma (2σ, MSWD = 0.25, n = 8). Porphyritic granites have a SIMS U-Pb zircon age of ∼236 Ma and it was probably related to the Triassic felsic magmatism in this area. Values of δ34S of sulfides range from 1.5‰ to 3.8‰, with an average value of 2.81 ± 2.24‰ (n = 22), reflecting a deep sulfur source. Most molybdenite samples have high δ34S values (≥3.36‰) relative to other sulfide minerals (i.e., pyrite and chalcopyrite) of Stages I to III (δ34S = 1.5–3.8‰, n = 18). Based on the geological history and spatial-temporal distribution of the granitoids, it is proposed that the Mo deposits in the eastern part of the East Tianshan Orogenic Belt formed in a post-collision extensional setting in the Early Mesozoic.

Source: UG
Geometrical effects on thermal neutron reflection of hydrogenous moderators using 241Am-be source.

Reactor noise analysis was carried out for Ghana Research Reactor-1 GHARR-1, a tank-in-pool type reactor using the Feynman-? technique (variance-to-mean method). Measurements made at different detector positions and under subcritical conditions showed that the technique could not be used to determine the prompt decay constant for the reactor which is Be reflected with photo-neutron background. However, for very low dwell times the technique was used to measure the dead time of the detector which compares favourably with the value obtained using the ?-conventional method.

Source: UG
Geophysical assessment of flood vulnerability of Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

In light of Ghana’s exploding population, rapid urbanization, and the imminent threat of climate change, urban flooding is a severe and increasing developmental concern. This study was conducted against the proposition that without anthropogenic factors, geophysical factors drive flooding within Accra Metropolitan Area. This study assessed spatial patterns of flood vulnerability using geophysical variables. The spatial analytical technique of weighted overlays was applied to ascertain the spatial variation of flood vulnerability. Based on geophysical variables, the study finds that only 71% of the metropolis is highly susceptible to flooding. Overlay of geophysical flood vulnerability map with residential neighbourhoods, the results correlated with known vulnerable areas. Three hazard level categories—high, medium, and low—have been established for the flood risk areas. Suburbs with a high or moderate risk of flooding necessitate more sophisticated engineering safe guards. The analysis also found that areas with medium and high incomes are becoming more vulnerable to flooding. The study proposes that efforts at flood control must focus on proper physical planning, stringent development control, elimination of drainage network flaws, and limiting the city’s lateral expansion.

Source: UG
Geophysical, socio-demographic characteristics and perception of flood vulnerability in Accra, Ghana

Empirical studies of residential flood vulnerability have generally concentrated on either the geophysical characteristics or the socio-economic characteristics of a given region, rather than a combination of the two. In addition, studies using subjective assessments of flood vulnerability are not very common. However, due to the fact that people’s perceptions influence their risk behaviour, and therefore their vulnerability, understanding perceptions about a phenomenon is very significant for the design of effective communication as well as mitigation, coping, and adaptation strategies. This study uses a digital map (to calculate mean elevation, slope, proximity to lagoon, sea, and drain length by area) and the EDULINK Round II Household Survey (for socio-demographic characteristics of households) for the analysis. Perception of flood vulnerability is derived from responses from heads of households to the question, “Do you perceive your household to be vulnerable to floods?” The responses are either in the affirmative or negative. Results show that even when a subjective assessment of vulnerability is undertaken, it is geophysical characteristics that have significant associations with perceptions of flood vulnerability. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Source: UG
Geospatial analysis, web-based mapping and determinants of prostate cancer incidence in Georgia counties: evidence from the 2012–2016 SEER data

Background: Prostate cancer (CaP) cases are high in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, there are an estimated number of 174,650 CaP new cases in 2019. The estimated number of deaths from CaP in 2019 is 31,620, making CaP the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American men with lung cancer been the first. Our goal is to estimate and map prostate cancer relative risk, with the ultimate goal of identifying counties at higher risk where interventions and further research can be targeted. Methods: The 2012–2016 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program data was used in this study. Analyses were conducted on 159 Georgia counties. The outcome variable is incident prostate cancer. We employed a Bayesian geospatial model to investigate both measured and unmeasured spatial risk factors for prostate cancer. We visualised the risk of prostate cancer by mapping the predicted relative risk and exceedance probabilities. We finally developed interactive web-based maps to guide optimal policy formulation and intervention strategies. Results: Number of persons above age 65 years and below poverty, higher median family income, number of foreign born and unemployed were risk factors independently associated with prostate cancer risk in the nonspatial model. Except for the number of foreign born, all these risk factors were also significant in the spatial model with the same direction of effects. Substantial geographical variations in prostate cancer incidence were found in the study. The predicted mean relative risk was 1.20 with a range of 0.53 to 2.92. Individuals residing in Towns, Clay, Union, Putnam, Quitman, and Greene counties were at increased risk of prostate cancer incidence while those residing in Chattahoochee were at the lowest risk of prostate cancer incidence. Conclusion: Our results can be used as an effective tool in the identification of counties that require targeted interventions and further research by program managers and policy makers as part of an overall strategy in reducing the prostate cancer burden in Georgia State and the United States as a whole.

Source: UG
Geospatial Assessment of Vegetation Changes around the Odublasi Quarry in Ghana

This study examined drivers of vegetation cover changes around the Odublasi quarry, analyzed trends of the change, and areas around the quarry prone to these drivers. Stakeholders were interviewed to identify drivers of vegetation cover change, while satellite imagery of the area from 2007, 2012, 2013, and 2014 were used for trend analysis. Field mapping of trees in the area was undertaken to acquire baseline data of vegetation for use in future studies and restoration projects. Identified drivers were; the construction of a new access road; switch in livelihoods of the local community members from small-scale quarrying to extracting biological resources around the quarry site; unsustainable farming and wood logging practices around the quarry; social exclusion; and afforestation programme around the quarry. A rising and falling trend in vegetation cover was observed in satellite images of the quarry site from 2007 to 2014. Activities around the quarry like shifting cultivation farming was a key driver of this undulating trend. Habitats along the access road to the quarry were identified to be vulnerable to the drivers of vegetation cover change and needed critical attention in any environmental restoration efforts.

Source: UG
Geospatial correlates of early marriage and union formation in Ghana

The practice of early marriage, although acknowledged as a human rights violation, continues to occur in many countries. Different studies have identified the associated factors in many developing countries. However, these factors often assume no geographical variation in these factors within countries. Again, cultural practices and beliefs which strongly influence the acceptance and practices of early marriage vary geographically. In addition, geographic clusters of high rates of early marriage and union formation are also unknown. Thus, area specific correlates of early child marriage are required for the development of location specific policies to aid the eradication of early child marriage. Using data from the 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census, this study examines the extent of geospatial clustering in early marriage amongst girls and their spatially-varying associated factors at the district level. The findings reveal strong clustering of high early marriage amongst districts in the Upper West, Northern and Volta regions. Nationally, 6.96% (CI = 6.83, 7.08) of girls are married or in union before their 18th birthday. The estimates range from 2.7% in the Jaman North district in Brong Ahafo region to 19.0% in the Gushiegu district in Northern region. Economic factors were observed as important spatially-varying associated factors. The findings suggest that targeted interventions are required in the effort to eradicate the practice in Ghana.

Source: UG