ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Rationale and cross-sectional study design of the Research on Obesity and type 2 Diabetes among African Migrants: the RODAM study

ntroduction: Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are highly prevalent among African migrants compared with European descent populations. The underlying reasons still remain a puzzle. Gene–environmental interaction is now seen as a potential plausible factor contributing to the high prevalence of obesity and T2D, but has not yet been investigated. The overall aim of the Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) project is to understand the reasons for the high prevalence of obesity and T2D among sub-Saharan Africans in diaspora by (1) studying the complex interplay between environment (eg, lifestyle), healthcare, biochemical and (epi)genetic factors, and their relative contributions to the high prevalence of obesity and T2D; (2) to identify specific risk factors within these broad categories to guide intervention programmes and (3) to provide a basic knowledge for improving diagnosis and treatment. Methods and analysis: RODAM is a multicentre cross-sectional study among homogenous sub Saharan African participants (ie, Ghanaians) aged >25 years living in rural and urban Ghana, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK (http://rod-am.eu/). Standardised data on the main outcomes, genetic and non-genetic factors are collected in all locations. The aim is to recruit 6250 individuals comprising five subgroups of 1250 individuals from each site. In Ghana, Kumasi and Obuasi (urban stratum) and villages in the Ashanti region (rural stratum) are served as recruitment sites. In Europe, Ghanaian migrants are selected through the municipality or Ghanaian organisations registers. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval has been obtained in all sites. This paper gives an overview of the rationale, conceptual framework and methods of the study. The differences across locations will allow us to gain insight into genetic and non-genetic factors contributing to the occurrence of obesity and T2D and will inform targeted intervention and prevention programmes, and provide the basis for improving

Source: KNUST
Rate and Time of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application on the Growth, Nitrogen Remobilization and Yield of Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill

Two field experiments were conducted in 2012 at the Plantation Crops Section of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, to investigate the effect of N availability on the growth, nodulation, nitrogen fixation, N remobilization and grain yield of soybean. The design used in both studies was a 3×4 factorial arranged in randomized complete block design. Each treatment was replicated three times. The factors studied were rate and time of N fertilizer application. The N rates were 0, 20, 40 and 60 kgN/ha and the time of application were early vegetative, late vegetative and early flowering phases. `The soybean variety used was Anidaso an improved variety released by the CSIR- Crops Research Institute, with a maturity period of 110 days. The land was ploughed, harrowed and plots were laid out. Plot length was 3×3m. Each plot consisted of five rows in both seasons and planting was done at the beginning of the rains in May at a spacing of 50×5cm. All required cultural practices were observed. The results indicated that soybean growth indices were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by rate and time of N application. Nodulation was also not significantly (P>0.05) affected by N rate and time of application. However, there was a positive correlation between nodule numbers and nodule dry weight, as well as between nitrogen fixation and grain yield in the minor season. Nitrogen fixation was significantly (P<0.05) affected by time of N application in the minor season. Harvest index was significantly affected by time of N application in the major season. Grain vii yield was also significantly affected by time of N application in both seasons. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that N remobilization occurs in soybean during grain filling although rate and time of application used did not significantly (P>0.05) affect N remobilization. It is recommended that in future work, isotope N should be applied and soil samples should be collected alongside with plant samples during the growth stages of the plant to assess how much of the N in the harvested plant comes from the fertilizer and how much was taken up by the plant from N stored in the soil. Also, further work should be done in a more N-deficient soil to study this phenomenon of N remobilization.

Source: KNUST
Rationale for basic design experience in technical education in Ghana

This research is devoted to the investigation of the lack of Basic Design in the technical Institutes. the aim was to examine the causes of this problem and suggest a means of arresting the institution, the population for the study covered 13 technical Institutes out of 20 in the public school system and 2 officers each from the headquarters of the Technical/Vocational Directorates and the technical/vocational Examination units, all of the Ghana Education Service in Accra. Meanwhile, the research covered mainly metalwork and woodwork courses, the head of department of such courses and the vice- principals attended too. Interviews and syllabuses were studied to supplement data from questionnaire. The research shows that the Technical student needs a creative base which is a type of art that will arouse and spur him or to observe the environment Information around him will be used to solve problems. The research has therefore proposed content for Basic Design experience in Technical Education. It is a programme that covers the first two years of a student’s stay in a Technical Institute while undertaking 3 – year course.

Source: KNUST
Rationally designed tungsten trioxide nanosheets for high-efficiency aqueous battery application

Aqueous battery (AB) with non-metallic charging carriers is a viable candidate for grid energy storage devices owing to its comparatively low cost and high safety. However, developing practical electrode materials with remarkable electrochemical performance remains a great challenge. In this study, tungsten trioxide nanosheets (WONSs) with one-dimensional tunnels were facilely synthesized through a hydrothermal reaction. When used as the cathode material in aqueous batteries, the as-prepared WONS exhibits excellent long-term cycling stability and impressively high rate capability due to the nearly zero-strain structural characteristics of super-fast proton storage. Notably, a stable cycling performance with 89% capacity retention after 10000 cycles was achieved with an increased mass loading of WONS at around 12 mg cm−2. Our work points to a new direction of promoting high-efficiency AB applications with protons as charge carriers in a mild electrolyte.

Source: KNUST
Rationalised allocation of available space and time to lectures at the Central Classroom Block of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

This study has been undertaken to develop a model for optimally allocating limited spaces, being classrooms of different capacities, to competing activities, being Lecture or courses, within specified time periods. Data detailing courses held at the Central Classroom Block (CCB) for each period was collected from the various departments of KNUST and a list of rooms and their capacities was obtained from the Examinations office. A dynamicised Assignment Problem, which is a special technique of the Transportation Problem of Linear Programming, was applied to solve the problem of minimizing excess space at CCB. For this purpose a QBASIC programme code implementing a modified Hungarian Algorithm was written by me. At the end of a programme run, unallocated courses were shifted to other periods or classes were split into smaller units and the programme re-run until all courses were allocated. Whereas the model successfully solves the problem of optimal allocation for KNUST, it is recommended that extra classrooms need ultimately to be constructed if the problem is to remain tractable in the face of increasing student population.

Source: KNUST
Raw Material and Component Supply Infrastructure in Ghana to Support Professional Engineering Design and Manufacturing

The purpose of this thesis wor k is to assess the supply and availability of raw material and component infrastructure in Ghana to support professional engineering design and manufacturing. The ar eas cover ed by the research include: the range of engineering inputs available in the country; the sizes, ratings, as well as the condition of the available inputs; the criteria used by importers of those inputs; technical qualifications of the importers; the amount of engineering inputs produced locally as compared to those imported into the country and the effects of non-availability of the required material inputs on overall manufactur ing efficiency and effectiveness. In the study the availability of engineering inputs are investigated using a questionnaire administered on suppliers/dealers in engineer ing inputs, local engineering materials producers as well as machinery design and manufacturing firms in the country. In addition, some amount of data was generated through personal observation. The survey revealed that most of the engineer ing materials available in the country essentially comprise low and medium carbon steels which come in various forms. Engineering components such as bearings and their mountings, roller chains, washers, pins, retaining rings, „O rings, induction motors, motor starters, contactors, circuit breakers as well as main switches are readily available and can be obtained as both „new and „used components in various sizes. It further revealed that, almost all of these engineering inputs come from outside sources into the country. Again, most of the supplier s/dealers have very low technical qualifications with majority of them having no background at all in relevant technical areas. Also, occasional requests made by customers coupled with importer s own personal experiences from the import business form the criteria upon which the later order their engineering inputs, but healthier situation will result if qualified people such as graduates from the country s higher training institutions, particularly the universities and polytechnics, are encouraged to go into the design and manufacture of machiner y as well as the supply of engineering inputs. This will ensure availability and cor rect specification of the inputs.

Source: KNUST
Raw Material and Component supply Infrastructure in Ghana to support Professional Engineering Design and Manufacturing

The purpose of this thesis work is to assess the supply and availability of raw material and component infrastructure in Ghana to support professional engineering design and manufacturing. The areas covered by the research include: the range of engineering inputs available in the country; the sizes, ratings, as well as the condition of the available inputs; the criteria used by importers of those inputs; technical qualifications of the importers; the amount of engineering inputs produced locally as compared to those imported into the country and the effects of non-availability of the required material inputs on overall manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness. In the study the availability of engineering inputs are investigated using a questionnaire administered on suppliers/dealers in engineering inputs, local engineering materials producers as well as machinery design and manufacturing firms in the country. In addition, some amount of data was generated through personal observation. The survey revealed that most of the engineering materials available in the country essentially comprise low and medium carbon steels which come in various forms. Engineering components such as bearings and their mountings, roller chains, washers, pins, retaining rings, „O‟ rings, induction motors, motor starters, contactors, circuit breakers as well as main switches are readily available and can be obtained as both „new‟ and „used‟ components in various sizes. It further revealed that, almost all of these engineering inputs come from outside sources into the country. Again, most of the suppliers/dealers have very low technical qualifications with majority of them having no background at all in relevant technical areas. Also, occasional requests made by customers coupled with importers‟ own personal experiences from the import business form the criteria upon which the later order their engineering inputs, but healthier situation will result if qualified people such as graduates from the country‟s higher training institutions, particularly the universities and polytechnics, are encouraged to go into the design and manufacture of machinery as well as the supply of engineering inputs. This will ensure availability and correct specification of the inputs.

Source: KNUST
Re-appraisal of Water Supply Systems on the River Densu

The development of Multisite Water Supply Systems based on abstraction from major rivers in Ghana has often been carried out without prior detailed and integrated river basin studies. The Densu River, which typifies this problem, has been studied in this work as a test case to analyse; and evaluate alternative investment schemes for water supply as well as to solve problems of water regulation, allocation and management within the basin. Using techniques of systems analysis this dissertation has shown that even though the water resources of the Densu River abound, the distribution within the year is poor and therefore requires regulation to meet varying demands along its stretch. Evaluating various feasible alternative design schemes for improved water supply to Koforidua and Nsawam and studies of the operation of the existing Weija reservoir in Accra indicated that it is economically more attractive to build one impounding reservoir at Koforidua to cater for the Water Supply demands of the two towns, It has also been shown that the Weija Reservoir System is not jeopardized by increased abstraction upstream.

Source: KNUST
The Reactivity of Soil Organic Fractions towards Cadmium, Copper, Calcium and Zinc

Humic substances are extremely important soil components because they constitute a stable fraction of carbon and improve their water holding capacity. They also play an important role in the behaviour of trace metals in natural environments, due to the formation of complexes which modify can mobility of these ions. In this project, the physico-chemical characteristics and metal binding for six (6) different soil types from Bibiani mines have been investigated. The physical properties viz: pH, conductivity,particle size distribution, moisture content, exchangeable acidity were determined on the raw Samples and potassium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, cadmium, lead and zinc were determined from the digest. The total nitrogen and organic matter were also determined. Although the characterization could not reveal details of chemical processes taking place in the sample, some characteristics that revealed differences between the samples were identified. The mine tailings ^exhibited some characteristics similar to samples Bibiani forest (cocoa plantation) eg: Organic ter (New Tailings - 0.53%; Old Tailings - 0.64%; Cocoa Plantation - 0.58%); and Carbon- Nitrogen ratio (New Tailings -12; Old Tailings -10.30; Cocoa Plantation -11,20) were similar. Humnic substances were extracted from the soil samples using various standard procedures. The amount of humic acids extracted ranged from 0.493g to 0.092g, whilst the volumes of orange fulvic acid were 215mL for Russel Pit and 212mL for the Old Tailings. A study of complexation of humic acids by trace metals (Cd, Zn, Ca, and Cu) revealed that metal-humic substances association depends on the metal, the nature of the humic substance and concentration. Ca was complexed to a higher extent than Cu, followed by Cd and Zn. The Complexation strength was in the order FA < HA. A comparison of the calculated stability constants suggests that the strength of metal complexation by humic substances from Old Tailings was higher than that of humic substances from Russel Pit. For the Old Tailings, the order of decreasing complexation stability constants of the humic and fulvic acids is Ca ^ > Cu+ Cd 2+ > Zn 2+ and Ca 2+ > Cu 2+ > Zn 2+ > Cd 2+ respectively. For Russel Pit the order is ric Acid: Ca 2+ > Cu 2+ > Cd 2+ > Zn 2+ Humics Acid: Ca 2+ > Cd 2+ > Cu 2+ > Zn 2+

Source: KNUST
The readiness of public procurement entities in Ghana for e-procurement: perspective of procurement practitioners in the road sector in Ghana

Successful implementation of the e-procurement system would require massive infrastructural change by government in order to ensure that all procurement practitioners in public procurement entities have access to internet, sensitive and educated on the changes required for a successful implementation. In lieu of these, currently, the country is not ready for e-procurement. However, ongoing activities and money voted by the World Bank to establish e-procurement under e-Ghana’s project indicates that the government is preparing for the implementation of such a system. But are these institutions really ready for the implementation and how successful would be the pilot run? This research identified the drivers and barriers to the successful implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector with the aim to determine their readiness for a successful implementation of e-procurement. In order to achieve the overall aim, the specific objectives of identifying drivers and barriers to the implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector were accomplished. Cast in the quantitative research approach, questionnaire survey was used to elicit the perceptions of respondents on the barriers and benefits of e-procurement. The response data gathered was subjected to analysis using inferential analysis including factor analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed the following factors as the most significant challenges of e-procurement in public procurement entities in Ghana: End-user uptake and training (User involvement, user support/communication, user training); Supplier Adoption (Supplier e-readiness); Lack of e-Procurement Implementation Strategy (documented and executable strategies prior to the deployment); costly technological solutions; and lack of top management support (Management involvement & investment in organizational change). The resolution of these challenges is inevitably critical to the successful implementation of e-procurement in public procurement entities in the road sector in Ghana. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: Adequate resources must be made available to organizations implementing and those seeking to implement e-procurement; Organizations must have a good IT structure and also provide employees with IT education; and lastly ensure that the service providers are well tooled through the provision of reliable access hubs. Therefore, this study is important to stakeholders and policy makers in the road sector seeking innovative ways to implement e-procurement successfully. Further study is recommended for the impacts of e-procurement on organizational success.

Source: KNUST
Reading materials for new literates

General Education is regarded as a preparation of the educand for life in general. Any form of education given anywhere must therefore have positive change in the life style of the learner. The functional literacy programme fully embarked upon in Ghana since 1990 has now produced new literates for the 3rd stage of the educational continuum - the post literacy stage. One important requirement for post literacy activities is the need to create an environment which favours the use of written communication and requires good reading habits in general, thus, motivating the interested new literates and the general public to participate in the process of self-education. There is therefore the need for enough suitable reading materials for the new literates to facilitate continuous reading from the reading ability they have already acquired at the literacy into the post literacy stage. The production of such reading materials must be guided. This is the concern of this project report. The findings and recommendations in the report, it is hoped, will be a valuable source of information for all those who want to write and produce reading materials for new literates in Ghana and more particularly those in the Ashanti region. Through thorough field studies, personal interviews with authorities and facilitators of the Non-Formal Education Division of Ministry of Education (NFED) and grassroots interaction with learners of the functional literacy programme this report was eventually prepared. It is hoped that whoever reads the report would find it useful for our national efforts and attempt to redicate illiteracy from our society by the year 2000.

Source: KNUST
Real income and income distribution in Ghana (1991-1999)

The essence of this study has been to find out the trends in real income in Ghana during the 1990s. But trends in real national income are often assessed using aggregate indicators such as GDP per capita, or mean household income, whereas distribution literature centres on trends in inequality. By contrast, this study takes an integrated approach to real national income measurement. It uses methods that incorporates size and distributional considerations and applied them to household micro data in order to measure changes in real national income in Ghana during the last decade. A class of decomposable real income indices is used which compliments the quasi- ordering method, generalised dominance criterion. The indices are also additively decomposable by socio-economic subgroups, a property, which helps us to know whose income fell, and whose income rose. Prior to the estimation of real income indices, the extent of unequal distribution of income in Ghana was explored. All the measures of inequality used: - that is the positive measure (the Lorenz curve quantified by the Gini index) and the normative measure (Atkinson index) has shown that inequality in Ghana has deteriorated between 1991/92 and 1998/99. This confirms the belief of most participants in the Ghanaian income distribution debate: increasing inequality of income during the 1990s. The empirical application suggests that, according to the generalised Lorenz curves and all the real income indices, real national income decreased between 1991/92 and 1998/99. Moreover, non-farm self-employment sub-group was the worse-off whereas families belonging to the household agricultural income were those who suffered the least decline in real income during the period. Estimates of the index incorporating a relatively high degree of inequality aversion suggest that real national income remain the same during 1 990s for agricultural income (contrasting with wage income and non-farm self-employment). For non-farm self-employment income, the mean income saw an increase (as opposed to all the other income categories except “others” subgroup). All the other real income indices for non-farm self-employment however fell. Real income indices for the “Others” income group however increased.

Source: KNUST
Real and perceived impacts of blasting at Teberebie Goldfields Limited

Teberebie Goldfields Limited (TGL) is a company incorporated in the Republic of Ghana. The Pioneer Goldflelds Ltd., Guernsey registered company holds 90% of the issued shares and the Government of Ghana holds the remaining 10%. All mining operations are conducted using open cut mining methods, with a fleet of caterpillar mining equipment. Drilling and blasting form part of the normal sequence of mining operations.

Source: KNUST