ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Pectin isolation and characterization from six okra genotypes

Pectin was isolated by aqueous extraction at pH 6.0 from the pods of six different okra genotypes (Abelmoschus esculentus L.). Genetic diversity was determined using fragment length analysis (FLA) of ten simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Physical and chemical evaluation of pectin was performed by means of FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, sugar composition analysis (GC-MS), size exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS), dilute solution viscometry and steady shear rheology assisted by principal component analysis (PCA). Each of the SSR markers detected on average 4.1 alleles and revealed unique genotypes for each sample. Extraction yield was between 11 and 14% resulting in pectin with galacturonic acid content between 43 and 63%, low degree of methyl-esterification (17–25%) and high degree of acetylation (20–40%). All samples were of high weight-average molar mass (Mw) (700–1700 × 103 g mol−1) and sugar composition analysis revealed the structural diversity of samples with HG/RG-I ratios ranging between 1.3 and 3.1. The present work shows that individual okra genotypes provide pectin with different structural properties that could potentially provide a new source of functional pectin for the food or pharmaceutical industries.

Source: KNUST
Pectin from Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) Has Potential as a Drug Release Modifier in Matrix Tablets

Natural polymers have become attractive to pharmaceutical researchers and manufacturers as excipients because of the ad vantages they possess relative to their semisynthetic and synthetic counterparts. Although pectin from some natural sources has been investigated for use in the pharmaceutical industry as excipients, pectin from okra, which is readily available and used as food in many parts of the world, has not been extensively investigated as a potential control-releasing agent in tablets. ,is study thus seeks to determine the drug release modifying properties of okra pectin from 6 different genotypes of okra cultivated and available in Ghana. Pectin was extracted from different genotypes of okra, physicochemical properties were characterized, and control release matrix tablets of metformin (F1–F6) were formulated using the wet granulation method with the okra pectin as the drug release modifier, respectively. ,e drug content, in vitro drug release, and mathematical kinetic modeling of drug release from the matrix tablets were studied. Drug release profiles of formulated matrix tablets were compared to an existing (innovator) brand of metformin sustained-release tablet on the market using the similarity and difference factors, respectively. ,e extracted pectin had percentage yields ranging from 6 to 20% w/w with swelling indexes and water-holding capacities between 300–500% and 9-10 mL/ g, respectively, and pH within 6.20–6.90. All the formulated batches passed the drug content test (90–105%) and produced the optimal release of metformin (>80%) after 24 hours. Different batches of formulated tablets exhibited different mechanisms of drug release with batches F1, F2, F5, and F6 being similar (f 2 values being >50 and f 1 values <15) to the innovator brand. Pectin from the 6 different genotypes of okra studied has the potential for use as drug release modifiers in pharmaceutical manufacturing of control release matrix tablets and production of more affordable medicines.

Source: KNUST
Pediatric centre for Tema General Hospital.

Pediatrics is a branch of medicine that comprises the care and treatment of diseases of childhood and the study of normal growth. This specialty in medicine provides services for children from infancy to childhood (0-12) and also adolescence. This thesis, therefore, is aimed at producing a one stop health care facility that will provide these services for children. The facility has been designed not only to meet the medical needs of children but also create an environment that addresses physical, social, developmental and emotional needs of te child as he/she visits the place. As established, Pediatric needs are unique and the environment of care and healing needs to be redesigned or adapted to be effective. Moreover, it is also known that the physical environment of a treatment program affects patient outcome, but how and to what degree this is not known. Therefore, decisions about the design of the environment in areas such as; potential for growth, changes in health care delivery, cost and building-code constraints and widely varying patient characteristics and treatment models were carefully considered and resolved functionally and aesthetically. In addition to these considerations, other equally important issues which have been identified to be lacking in most of the child health care centres visited in the country such as respect for values of children and family participation in the healing process have been successfully incorporated in the medical centre design. The design of this pediatric centre is therefore as a result of critical examination and analysis of existing child healthcare centres both within and outside the country so as to improve and promote quality child health care. The proposed facility, which is a brain child of the government of Ghana, has been designed to provide medical services for children between the ages of 0 – 12years. Its system of operation is organized under the following; a patient care area, a patient service area and supporting facilities.In addition, the facility has been designed as part of Tema General Hospital. This is due to the deplorable state of the existing children’s unit and its inability to handle larger numbers of reported cases. This project therefore critically understudied some existing child health care centres around the world in order toproduce a Child Health Centre design that will provide the platform to improving upon and promoting quality health care delivery to children.

Source: KNUST
Penalized variable selection and modeling: application of h-likelihood, joint-GLM and HGLM methods to modeling crop yield in the three Northern regions of Ghana

This study proceeded on two paths; to select signi cant crop yield physical sup-port variables among many potential ones to be included in a model via penalized methods (LASSO, SCAD, H-Likelihood) and to also propose and demonstrate the excellent performance of higher levels and very recent extensions of the Gen-eralized Linear Models (GLM); Joint Generalized Linear Models (JGLM) and Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models (HGLM) in the global quest to develop-ing Statistical Models with highest model accuracy. The analyses is be based on raw data available at the regional Monitoring and Evaluation o ce of the Linking Farmers to Markets (FtM) project in Tamale - Ghana. Physical support (Fixed e ect) variables measured include; crop type, Financial Credit, Training, Study tour, Demonstrative Practicals, Networking Events, Post harvest Equip-ment, Number of farmers in the FBO and Plot size cultivated. Dependent variable measured is Total Crop Yield whereas the regions and the particular communi-ties were treated as Random variables. After the highly rigorous processes of data analysis the study concluded that, the H-Likelihood method of penalized variable selection performs both selection of signi cant variables and estimation of their coe cients simultaneously with the least penalize cross-validated errors compared to the SCAD and the LASSO. In modelling the e ects of xed physi-cal support services given to farmer based organizations on crop yield, the GLM with assumed xed dispersion will not be recommended by this study. The study concludes that the proposed modelling of both mean and dispersion (Joint-GLM) improves the quality of the models signi cantly. In the case of both xed and random e ects, the, HGLM 2 is highly recommended. This study concludes that the HGLM 2 performs far better, gives a more tting model and improves the quality of the crop yield models signi cantly. The study recommends that delib-erate e ort be put into strengthening the Agricultural support systems as a form of strategy for increasing crop production in Northern Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Pension fund asset allocation under the Markowitz model: The case of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (Ssnit)

Investors all over the world and most especially pension fund managers will all the time try to reduce risk and achieve higher returns as well. The managing of an investment portfolio requires careful selection of assets to invest in, as well as managing the proportions of funds to be channelled into a particular asset. This calls for the rational behind this study. I will investigate the various investments undertaken by Ghana’s state pension fund scheme, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). The data used was generated from the trust’s financial statements spanning from 2004 to 2013. The methodology used here was the Morkowitz Model. This model allowed us to assign weights to various investments classes by transposing the expected returns and risk associated with them. The result showed that should the pension fund be interested in minimizing the portfolio expected risk at a given return of 18.40% from their pool of investments, then they should invest 53.65% in students’ loan, 19.56% in short term investment, 19.55% in properties, 5.87% in investment available for sale, 1.37% in investment held to maturity, zero percent in treasury bills and loans & receivables On the other hand if the fund wants to maximize the portfolio expected returns at a given risk level of 3.60% (being the lowest risk for all the assets), then 28.85% of the total investment portfolio is to be channelled to the risk free asset, 26.76% to student loans, 24.19% to short term investments, 10.3% to properties, 9.22% to investment available for sale, 0.96% to loans and receivables and zero to investment held to maturity.

Source: KNUST
PEM-Less Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are comparatively new technique of simultaneously generating electricity from bio-waste while degrading the organic waste. The use of microbes to generate electricity is an uninterrupted process in MFCs since the bacteria replicate and continue to produce power indefinitely as long as there is enough food source to nurture the bacteria. Besides, MFCs have the potential to produce hydrogen for fuel cells, desalinate sea water, and provide sustainable energy sources for remote areas. Factors like type of electrodes used in the cells, partitioning of cells, oxygen complement and configurations are important factors that affect the performance of MFCs. The fabrication of microbial fuel cells of different configurations and the relationship between the factors affecting the efficiency of single chambered (SC-MFCs) and double chambered (DC-MFCs) will be presented. The experimental data on observations made on the effects of these materials on the MFCs characteristics, electricity generation and wastewater treatment have also been included. The main aim of this study is to find out whether a nonconventional inexpensive clay could be used as an ion-exchange medium alternative to the conventional expensive PEM in the fabrication of MFCs. The results obtained on power generation, current density, open circuit voltage, etc., clearly show that PEM-less MFCs can be used as practical devices for sustainable energy generation.

Source: KNUST
Pension reforms, risk transfer and housing finance innovations.

Weak housing creditor protection, accentuated by weak landed property rights and underdeveloped credit information systems constitute major constraints to housing finance development in many developing countries. Improving housing creditor protection require further institutional development and financial innovation. As a trigger of financial innovation, regulation has spawned pension reforms leading to the global shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension schemes, which has created new opportunities to improve housing creditor protection and thus engender housing finance innovations. This paper considers how pension assets—accumulated benefits and associated personal, employment and contribution information—has provided a basis for collateralized lending and an additional avenue for credit information system development. The paper proposes a pension asset-backed creditor protection model that utilizes defined contribution pension assets to improve housing credit allocation, and thus, housing finance development. Pension assets represent alternative or complementary collateral assets for securing a housing credit (mortgage). And as depositories of information, the information content of pension assets and institutions could also be used alternatively and complementarily to assess the capacity, character and contribution (equity) of potential borrowers in the credit underwriting process. Future applied research may consider how the proposed model could be integrated in existing credit underwriting systems and the operational challenges that could emerge.

Source: KNUST
Pedestrains in Kumasi City Center

"In the past human settlements were inhabited only by man and thus they were built only on human scale. New human settlements have also to accommodate the cars, the trains and all types of machines which are serving ant will serve man. Without letting the machines become masters of settlements, the latter should accommodate them as factors which are indispensable for human life."2 Men have since time immemorial grouped themselves together for safety, economic, political purposes and for social intercourse. To promote these activities, the town offered protection within its walls ant its centre was the focal point for these inter-related activities. While the town remained small, its internal movement to any function was limited ant was conveniently done on feet. In contrast to the internal movement, the external journeys for the purpose of selecting foot and other necessities in life was dangerous and difficult. To eliminate these problems man discovered various forms of transportation from the sleage to the horse drawn carriages. But because their speed was governed by the speed of the horse, the age-old human scale was hardly affected until the advent of the motor car which brought drastic changes. To begin with it occupied the same routes used by man and his horse, ant without adequate provision to segregate these modes of transport, the problem of conflict areas, resulting in accidents. Centrally to man's expectations, the motor car which was to serve him began to claim his life.3 However, with the advent of the motor car, his 1. Human scale, as described by Dr. Dexiadis, implies that the settlements were built on human dimensions, namely, such that every function was within 20 to 25 minutes walking distance and had an average population of between 10,000 and 20,000(see the Acient Greek and the City of the Present. Ekistics Vol. 18, No. 108, Nov. 1964 p. 349) 2. Ekistics Vol. 16 No. 92 p. 61 3. It claims 100 lives per day in the United States and since 1945, it has cost more British lives than did the World war II. A.M. Armstrong Synepsis of Notes from Professor Pedoski’s lecture on City Planning, p.12

Source: KNUST
Perceived Barriers To Antenatal Care By Attendants In The Sekyere East District, Ghana.

Access to antenatal care in developing nations including Ghana and mostly in its rural settings, such as the Sekyere East District poses great challenges despite effort being made to improve on the situation. Antenatal care services are free, yet, there continue to be low patronage and inconsistency in use of the service by pregnant women. A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to determine perceived social, geographic and cultural barriers to users of antenatal care in the Sekyere East district. It was evident that: 54% perceived geographic barriers to ANC and this was strongly associated with age (p=0.00), marital status (p=0.00) and area of residence of the respondents (p=0.00); 80% perceived economic barriers to antenatal care and this was significant in terms of their employment status (p=0.02) but not with the income earned (p=0.74); only 5% of the women used ANC 4times; and 80% of users were satisfied with the current services rendered. The study concluded that women are highly dependent on either their husbands or relatives for taking decisions on health care particularly antenatal care. It is recommended that women in the district are empowered to be financially independent. They must be provided with employable skills to enhance their chances of gaining employment. The District Assembly in collaboration with other agencies such as NGOs and Mission could develop innovations including provision of financial credits to women’s groups from the Poverty Alleviation Funds in the district could be a good intervention.

Source: KNUST
Pentadesma butyracea in Ghana – indigenous knowledge, uses, and seed characterization

This study ascertained the indigenous knowledge and uses of Pentadesma butyracea plant through a focus group study. The proximate, mineral, antinutritional compositions, and antioxidant activity of P. butyracea seed were also determined using standard analytical methods. The results of the focus group study showed that P. butyracea is essentially used for its butter which is prepared by women processors who hand down the skill of butter processing to their children. The butter is used for cooking, frying, and preparing traditional delicacies, and the plant is known to possess some therapeutic potential. The seed recorded the following mean proximate values: fat content of 35.82%, carbohydrate of 50.97%, 1.81% ash, 2.68% protein, 1.34% crude fibre, and moisture of 7.39%. The most abundant mineral in the seed is potassium (32.93 mg/100 g). Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, and zinc were at levels of <10 mg/100 g. Antinutritional factors found present in P. butyracea seed include oxalate (2737.42 mg/100 g), tannins (55.44 mg/100 g), saponins (10.23 mg/100 g), and alkaloids (9.18 mg/100 g). Also, the P. butyracea seed recorded mean total phenolics of 725.85 mg GAE/gdw), total flavonoids of 2313.15 μg (QE)/gdw, and DPPH activity of 82.02%. Although rich in fat, carbohydrates, and some minerals that can be exploited in food applications, the high contents of some antinutrients may pose nutritional challenges to its use. The findings from the indigenous knowledge investigation about Pentadesma butyracea seeds would partly influence the choice of appropriate processing approaches to maximising its value regarding food security challenges of indigenes in the study areas.

Source: KNUST
Perceived acceptance of vasectomy among married men in the Offinso Municipality

Introduction Vasectomy has been accepted as an important alternative to female sterilization for couples who want a permanent method of contraception. However its utilization remains low in Africa and Ghana is typical in this respect. This study assessed the perceived acceptance of vasectomy among married men in the Offinso Municipality in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Methods The study was descriptive cross-sectional and employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study population consisted of married men aged between 17-56 years who had at least two children. The study involved randomly selected 390 married men. Quantitative data was conducted through interviewing with structured questionnaires. Data was analysed with STATA 11. Results Awareness of vasectomy was good among men in the Offinso Municipality and the media was the most cited source information on vasectomy. Acceptance of vasectomy among the married men was influenced by the level of education and occupation. Respondents who were self-employed had increased odds of accepting vasectomy as compared to those who were public servants (OR =7.7 and 8.2). The perceived reactions from family members upon accepting vasectomy also influenced the men‘s decision to accept vasectomy as compared to those who believed their family members will support them (OR=0.1; p<0.05). iv Conclusion The hope for increasing acceptance of long lasting family planning methods, especially, vasectomy is not lost after all. Most considered that it would be difficult to persuade a man to undergo vasectomy even if offered financial reimbursement, however when given more information some men are willing to opt for the method particularly if those who had experienced a successful sterilisation operation spoke with them and if health workers provided such men with accurate information about the procedure. Thus. improved understanding and awareness of vasectomy at the individual and community level is important to improve utilization of vasectomy services

Source: KNUST
Perception and attitude of management and employees towards training: a case study of SSNIT (pension house) in the Accra Metropolis.

It is a well-known fact that the human resource of every organization worldwide is the key to success in today‟s highly competitive global economy. The training of new and existing employees is as important as their attraction and retention as training has proven to help in addressing employee weaknesses, improves performance, ensures consistency in task performance, guarantees worker satisfaction, improves quality of services and products, reduces cost and supervision, increases productivity, economic growth and development. Notwithstanding its importance, training, just like any other human activity in the organisation, can be problematic unless it is provided in the right conditions and met with the right attitude to ensure success. This study sought to assess the perceptions of managers and employees on training and how it impacts on the attitudes towards training. Using the case of SSNIT Head office in Accra, the study collected responses from 74 respondents made up of 51 operational staff and 23 management members. The study adopted the quantitative approach and data collection done with the use of a structured questionnaire. The findings of the study indicate that there exist perceptual differences between management and operational staff at SSNIT on training. Also, factors such as inadequacy of resources and lack of information are significant contributors to negative perceptions towards training. The study also found that attitudes of operational staff are quite poor and that management are likely not aware of such poor attitudes. It was also found that perception and managerial support are huge influencers of training in the workplace. In view of the findings, the author recommends that SSNIT Head office develops and communicate throughout the firm, a training policy that will detail the overall agenda and strategic impact all training programs have on the future and current organisational performance. Also, instead of using just the official feedback solicited as a means of decision, management must employ other unconventional, informal methods to understanding and dealing with employee attitudes. In addition, giving more recognition to the training skills and certifications obtained by employees would help to improve their perception, and subsequently attitude towards training programs.

Source: KNUST