ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Problems of policy formulation and implementation: The case of ICT use in rural women’s empowerment in Ghana

This paper sheds some light on the logic of designing a disaggregated ICT policy to empower rural women using information from selected rural areas in Ghana. The study uses survey data from three regions in Ghana to determine the factors influencing rural women's' choice of information delivery technology. The three regions are the Upper East, Ashanti, and Greater Accra. The basic hypothesis in the study was that the wide differences in the socio-economic status of rural women households' influences their choice of information delivery technology and also their willingness to pay for a selected technology. This basic hypothesis was addressed using data from a survey instrument administered to 100 households from each of the three designated regions. The study concludes that there is the need to examine ICT use in empowering rural women within a 'holistic' context. The results point to a merit in allocating considerable authority to regional and local authorities in setting priorities and approaches to empowering rural women through the use of ICT.

Source: UG
The problems of translation from english into arabic: lexical and syntactic issues

It is an undeniable fact that translation is a necessity in our lives. It has become a viable venture with the emergence of international trade, increased migration and globalization. The translator therefore plays a pivotal role as a bilingual or multi-lingual transmitter of cultures, concepts, and literary works by attempting to convey meaning from one language to another as accurately as possible. There is no doubt that, there are some problems in any translation process. Linguistic problems such as problems of ambiguity; problems that originate from structural and lexical differences between languages make it difficult for the student of translation. The differences in the syntax of Arabic and English are typical case regarding the problems in translating from Arabic to English. For example, in translating “the boy wrote a letter” into Arabic, it becomes كتب الولد رسالة "kataba al-waladu risaalatan" kataba is the verb, al-waladu is the subject and risaalatan is the object. Thus, the word order in Arabic normally is VSO contrary to English, the source language. Again, the cultural difference that exists between the two languages is another area which causes problems. This study however, will be limited to the lexical and syntactic difficulties that the students of Arabic at the Department of Modern Languages of the University of Ghana face in translating English texts into Arabic. The paper discusses the problems and offers some recommendations and solutions to the problems in translating from English into Arabic.

Source: UG
Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa.

THE Narrative of the Proceedings of the Society that was formed in the year 1788, for the purpose of Promoting the Discovery of the Inland Districts of Africa, was written, at the request of his Colleagues, by one of the Members of the Committee of that Association; and is now printed at the desire, and for the ufe of. The Society: but as it may also be read by persons unacquainted with Origin and Object of the Undertaking to which it relates, the following Paper, as descriptive of both, is republished for their information.

Source: UG
Proceedings of the Association, For Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa.

THE Narrative of the Proceedings of the SOCIETY that was formed in the year 1788, for the purpose of Promoting the Discovery of the Inland Districts of Africa, was written, at the request of his Colleagues, by one of the Members of the Committee of that ASSOCIATON and is now printed at the desire, and for the use of the SOCIETY. But as it may also be read by persons unacquainted with the Origin and Object of the Undertaking to which it relates, the following Paper, as descriptive of both, is re... published for their information.

Source: UG
Process And Lessons Learned In The Development Of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines In Ghana

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are used, globally, as a tool for promoting awareness of healthy diets and, thereby, to improve dietary behaviour. It is also used as a policy framework for creating a health-promoting food environment. In sub-Saharan Africa, only a few countries have developed FBDGs. In 2016, Ghana commenced the process for developing a national FBDG. Four years down the line, significant progress has been achieved towards developing dietary guidelines for persons living in Ghana. The process for developing Ghana's FBDGs has, generally, follow the plan proposed by the 1998 FAO/WO consultative meeting on development of FBDGs, but with minor deviations. These deviations have been occasioned by the need to adapt the process to accommodate context-relevant circumstances relating to local capacity and financial resources constraints. The first step in developing Ghana’s FBDGs was to set up a national Multisectoral Technical Task Team (MTTT) under the policy direction of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Thereafter, an evidence review exercise was carried out, involving systematic review of existing literature, complemented by primary data collection, all aimed at understanding the priority foods, nutrition and health issues to be addressed by recommendations in the FBDGs. The key issues identified in the evidence review were validated by the MTTT and subsequently prioritized using an online survey, as well as a prioritization workshop that convened key stakeholders in nutrition and health in Ghana. Subsequently, the priority issues served as the basis for the crafting of technical recommendations. The aim of this paper is to describe the processes, people, data, and resources that have facilitated progress towards development of Ghana’s FBDGs. The challenges, and limitations of the process, as well as the solutions that have been employed to overcome them, have also been highlighted here. For the benefit of future FBDGs development in Ghana and elsewhere, the key lessons that have been learned in the development of Ghana’s FBDGs have been presented, including lessons on political will, planning and time management, resources, capacity development, and multi-sectoral action.

Source: UG
Process and Product Characterization of Aliha, A Maize-Based Ghanaian Indigenous Fermented Beverage

Aliha is a maize-based traditional fermented beverage prepared and consumed in Ghana, predominantly in the Volta Region and other parts of Ghana. ,e study sought to characterize the production processes, the nutritional values, and microbial composition of aliha. A total of 126 aliha producers in the Volta, Greater Accra, and Ashanti Regions were sampled using snowballing to identify and to recruit the producers for the study, using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. ,e physicochemical and microbial composition were carried out using standard methods. Four different production techniques were identified across the production sites. ,e variations identified during the production existed across the production chain. ,e main ingredients used for aliha production are corn, caramel, sugar, and water. However, aliha produced by the ‘original’ method (DN2) presented the best nutritional values (proteins, energy, and calcium), followed by backslopping techniques, AG1 (total carbohydrates and ash), and AG2 (fats and oils and phosphorus). Fungi and Enterobacteriaceae dominated the initial fermentation stages (24 h) with low acid values. However, as the fermentation time increased from 24 h to 72 h, the acid contents of the fermenting beverage increased sharply leading to a drastic reduction of fungi and Enterobacteriaceae contents with increasing records of lactic acid bacterial counts. Even though DN2 presented the best nutritional values, it was highly contaminated. Hence, the producers must be encouraged to use backslopping techniques for safety and to shorten the duration of production.

Source: UG
Process Of Use Of Evidence Products By Frontline Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Staff At The Facility Level In Ghana.

Although the use of evidence products has been identified as beneficial in improving reproductive, maternal and child health, very little is known about the processes that facilitate the use of these evidence products by frontline Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Reproductive and Child Health (RNCH/RCH) practitioners in decision-making on the issues that confront them in their line of work. The study examined the nature, processes, and barriers, to the use of evidence products for care decision-making by front-line MNCH/RCH staff in selected health facilities in Ghana. Using a qualitative case study design, interviews of 24 frontline RNCH/RCH practitioners across 16 healthcare facilities in the Greater Accra, Eastern, and Ashanti regions of Ghana were conducted. The study employed a semi-structured interview guide modelled along the Action Cycle phase of the Knowledge-To-Action (KTA) framework, and the objectives of the study. Themes were built out of the transcribed data. The study revealed that the processes that facilitate the use of evidence products include problem identification activities (such as service evaluation, using accepted benchmarks, inadequate logistics for providing service and client feedback) and, adapting knowledge to their local context. The usual suspects of socio-cultural and health systems-related factors such as resource constraints and human factors were found to hinder the use of evidence products in providing RNCH/RCH services. The study contributes to knowledge by operationalising the KTA, simplifying the concept of knowledge sustainability and makes it easy for adoption and implementation especially at the frontline. Appropriate interventions that rely on strong education to navigate the societal norms and beliefs that inhibit the uptake of evidence-based care by clients will be essen tial in improving the use of evidence to inform practice decisio

Source: UG
Processes and challenges associated with informal electronic waste recycling at Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Accra, Ghana

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a worldwide problem in terms of increasing production rate in the global waste stream. Its recycling is known to be associated with adverse health outcomes. The recycling site at Agbogbloshie is a major e-waste recycling hub which presents enormous health threats to the residents in this community as a result of exposure to complex mixtures of chemicals associated with the poor work methods employed. This paper describes the processes involved in e-waste recycling at Agbogbloshie and discusses some of the associated health and psychosocial challenges. Direct field observations and in-depth interviews of eight e-waste workers were conducted from November, 2017 to December, 2017. Results from a thematic analysis of the data gathered; suggest that inappropriate recycling methods, financial constraints, and the high physical demands of e-waste recycling work were associated with adverse musculoskeletal health conditions among the workers. A more systematic ergonomic study is currently being undertaken to quantify the associations between physical work exposures and worker musculoskeletal health among e-waste workers in Agbogbloshie. Further studies that focus on locally adapted ergonomic interventions for effective recycling of e-waste and reducing the health risk to workers are needed.

Source: UG
Processing of a cowpea - Groundnut blend into a miso-like product

A traditional salt-miso process was used to produce a miso-like product from a 50-50 mixture of cowpea and groundnuts in a 60-day fermentation process as part of a study to determine the suitability of local legumes as raw materials for the production of miso. The koji was freshly prepared from a locally obtained rice and Aspergillus oryzae spores obtained from Japan. An old miso sample also obtained from Japan was used as the source of lactic acid bacteria. The physico-chemical changes in the product associated with the fermentation and the functional and quality characteristics of the final product were determined. The study demonstrated the possibility of processing the legume blend into a miso-like product. The physico-chemical, functional and quality characteristics of the final product showed the suitability of the product for its intended use as a soup base. The product had a high protein and a moderately high lipid content (about 25% and 29%, respectively), which could contribute to the nutritional contents of diets. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Source: UG
Processing of time reference in agrammatic speakers of Akan: a language with grammatical tone

Background: Languages of the world have several ways of expressing time reference. Many languages such as those in the Indo- European group express time reference through tense. Languages such as Chinese and Standard Indonesian express time reference through aspectual adverbs, while Akan does so through grammatical tone. Previous studies have found that time reference is selectively impaired, with reference to the past being more impaired than reference to the non-past. The PAst DIscourse LInking Hypothesis (PADILIH) posits that pastime reference is difficult because it requires discourse linking. Aims: The goal of this study was first to examine whether pastime reference is impaired also in languages that do not use grammatical affixes but rather tone, to make time reference. Second, this study aims to decouple the effect of tone from the effect of temporal reference on Akan verbs. Method and Procedures: Ten Akan agrammatic speakers and 10 non-brain-damaged speakers (NBDs) participated in this study. An Akan adapted version of the Test for Assessing Reference of Time (African TART), for both production and comprehension was used. The TART focuses on the future, present (habitual) and the pastime frames. Additionally, five of the agrammatic speakers performed two tonal discrimination tasks: a non-linguistic and a linguistic (lexical) one. Outcomes and Results: While the NBDs scored at ceiling, the agrammatic speakers made errors, and these affected past more than present and the future time references, in both comprehension and production tasks. However, the comprehension data showed a dissociation between the present habitual and the future. The substitution error analysis revealed a preference for the present. The five agrammatic speakers showed an intact performance on non-linguistic tonal discrimination task. Conclusion: The conclusion is that regardless of how time reference is expressed, whether through inflectional morphology or grammatical tone, reference to the past is problematic for individuals with agrammatic aphasia. The fact that the agrammatic speakers could perceive the non-linguistic tonal differences demonstrates that it is not tone in general that is disrupted, but rather time reference, particularly reference to the past, as predicted by the PADILIH.

Source: UG
Processing of waste polyethylene into polymer-ceramic composite through lipid assisted melt compounding

In this work, a modified approach to melt compounding has been successfully developed to study the dispersion of kaolin particles in polyethylene and properties of polyethylene-kaolin clay composites. The process involved the use of melt compounding technique with vegetable lipid acting as a melting medium with the capability to enhance miscibility of the polyethylene with the kaolin which is necessary for strength improvement of the polyethylene-kaolin composite. Eight different compositional batches were formulated and cast at 245 °C. In all the thermal and mechanical properties as well the microstructure of the composites were studied. Comparisons of the composites with pristine polyethylene-lipid have shown an improved glass transition temperature (Tg) and the thermal decomposition temperatures as a result of changes in the chemical structure. Proportional kaolin additions did not change the crystallization temperature (Tc) of the blends as compared to the pristine polyethylene-lipid blend. Incorporation of 60% kaolin by weight in the polyethylene-lipid matrix significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composites to its peak and an increased compressive strength of 2.0 to 8.7 MPa has been measured. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analyses shows the formation of a web-like entanglement caused by the dispersion of the kaolin particles in the matrix. © 2006-2012 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN).

Source: UG
Processing practices of small-scale palm oil producers in the Kwaebibirem District, Ghana: A diagnostic study

Ghana produces about 2,000,000 metric tons of oil palm fruits annually, and small-scale processors contribute about 60% of crude palm oil production. The country is not self-sufficient in the fats and oils needed for industrial use and home consumption. A large percentage of the palm oil produced by small-scale processors cannot be utilized by the larger scale industries in Ghana or abroad because of its poor quality. There is an urgent need to explore the causes and to identify ways to address the situation. We carried out a diagnostic study in the Kwaebibirem District using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and surveys based on a semi-structured questionnaire to assess the processing practices of small-scale oil palm fruit processors, and to analyse the rationale behind these practices and their effects on the quality of palm oil produced. The processing practices identified included storage of loosened fruits for long periods before boiling, disposal of effluent into drains, use of spent tyres for boiling fruits and no clarification of the oil. About 54% of the processors store oil palm fruits for 1-3 weeks before processing, possibly allowing some fermentation, to increase extractability and reduce labour costs. This practice may reduce the quality of palm oil by increasing the levels of free fatty acids. The effects of the storage period on the quality and quantity of palm oil, the seasonal oil content of oil palm fruits, and the types of linkages and interactions amongst actors in the oil palm industry were identified together with stakeholders as issues for further research. Innovation in small-scale oil palm fruit processing is revealed as a multi-stakeholder, multiple-scale, and interdisciplinary process. © 2012 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences.

Source: UG
The processing, preparation, and cooking practices of small fsh among poor Ghanaian households: An exploratory qualitative study

Small fish are an important part of the diet in Ghana, but malnutrition rates remain high. The nutritional quality of fish consumed in Ghana may be affected by food processing and cooking practices, but the extent to which these processes are practiced among poor Ghanaian households along the coastal belt is unknown. This study explored how poor Ghanaian households process, prepare, and cook meals containing small fish. This exploratory qualitative study used Attride-Stirling thematic network analysis. Respondents were purposively sampled from fishing communities in the coastal regions of Ghana. One-on-one interviews were performed by trained field assistants, audio recorded and videotaped, and transcribed for further data analysis. The most common small fish species identified were anchovies and herrings. Anchovies were fried and eaten whole. Herrings were eaten either smoked or fresh; for fresh herring, the head, fns, and viscera were removed before boiling. Herrings were smoked with the head and viscera; however, both the head and viscera were removed before being added to boiling soup and were not consumed. Anchovies were fried for 10 min, and herrings were boiled for 15–30 min. Processing methods and further meal preparation depend on the small fish species. Nutrient composition and contribution of small fish depend on the processing method, preparation method, and what tissues are eaten. Thus, these results will be of importance for sampling schemes for food composition tables and for the calculation of nutrient intake from small fish.

Source: UG
Procyanidin trimer C1 derived from Theobroma cacao reactivates latent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 provirus.

Most research activities involve the use of molecular methods such as regular PCR (PCR), quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), genomic sequence and analysis using different software, genetic engineering, probe hybridization techniques, biological and molecular cloning, evaluation of immune markers for laboratory diagnosis of infections, serological assays involving the use of rapid tests, ELISA-based evaluations and immunofluorescent assay techniques.

Source: UG
Producing an urban system for the spatial development of Ghana: Lessons for sub-Saharan Africa

This paper illustrates the power of geography in solving spatial problems. We demonstrate how an urban system can be produced to meet spatial development objectives stated in Ghanas nascent National Urban Policy. Even though the growth pole, functional, territorial and economy of affection approaches have been used to theorize the role of towns, we conceptualize the role of towns in the development process as arenas for providing services, infrastructure, livelihoods, housing, governance and environmental protection. Urban systems are therefore produced to meet development objectives which are often spelled out in development plans or societal imperatives. Based on our conceptualization of the role of towns, we identify the current functional structure of Ghanas urban system. This is followed by a determination of functional gaps and weaknesses in the countrys urban system. We offer ways of filling the gaps and strengthening weaknesses in the countrys urban system in the light of objectives of the proposed NUP. We conclude the paper with general lessons for sub-Saharan African countries. © 2013 The African Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.

Source: UG
Producing composite codeswitching: The role of the modularity of language production

The basic characteristic of composite codeswitching is that the languages involved share responsibility for framing bilingual constituents. This paper points to evidence of this characteristic in the nature of morpheme distribution in mixed possessive constructions in Ewe–English codeswitching, spoken in Ghana. An Ewe semantic distinction between two types of possessive constructions is consistently neutralized when English possessum nominals are used instead of their Ewe counterparts, and the paper demonstrates that the neutralization of this distinction results from direct mapping of English-origin grammatical information about English nominals onto Ewe grammar. It explains that this mapping of information from one grammar onto another one is characteristic of composite codeswitching and that it is facilitated by the fact that language production is modular in the sense of Levelt ((1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) and Myers- Scotton ((1993). Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in codeswitching. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press; (2002). Contact linguistics: Bilingual encounters and grammatical outcomes. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press).

Source: UG