ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Single Parenting and Academic Performance Of adolescents In Senior High Schools: A Case Study of Afigya Sekyere District in Ashanti Region

The phenomenon of single parenting is not only a social problem in individual countries which they abound but has become a global issue which can deprive many school children the opportunity to attain academic excellence now and excellent labor factor for national productivity and progress. The central theme of this study is on integrating the urgent need of adolescent cognitive development and intellectual outcomes in a background of parental divorce/marital dissolution which commonly bring about single parenting. The study used an exploratory research design to investigate the relationship between single parenting and academic performance among secondary school students in Afigya Sekyere East District of the Ashanti Region. A social survey was conducted using questionnaire as the tool for data collection. The data collected were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions to explore patterns of association among variables. The result of the study revealed that academic performance and single parenting are negatively related, hence the more cases of single parenting the poorer the academic performance. It is therefore recommended that, law courts and social agencies such as churches should discourage divorce and separation at all cost. Schools can also devise special teaching strategies to meet the needs of the students who are raised up by single parent.

Source: KNUST
Relationship between subject performance in mock examination and entry to KNUST science programmes using logistic regression

This study investigated the performance of students in mock examination against their entry examination into KNUST Science programmes. A data from the 2008 mock examination and WASCE result from St. Peter’s Senior High School was modeled using SPSS.The comparison of the p-value with the cut-off value (0.05) was used in decision making as to which logit coefficient is significant. The well-fitted model found is: It was therefore concluded that the variables eng, cmath, sc and chem relates significantly to their entry to the university.

Source: KNUST
Relationship between the morphology of the placenta umbilical cord and perinatal outcome

To determine the relationship between the placenta, umbilical cord and the well being of the foetus, 256 placentae with attached umbilical cords obtained from KNUST Hospital and Victory Maternity home between 2004 and 2008 were studied. Average cord length was 44.8 cm (SD12.9, range 19.5cm-88.5 cm). Short cords, long cords and normal cords (40 to 70 cm) constituted 39.62%, 2.64% and 57.74% respectively. Majority (82.6%) of the cords had a diameter between 1.0 cm and 1.45 cm. Central, eccentric and marginal insertions constituted 60.75%, 21.14% and 18.94% respectively. Occurrence of furcate insertion of umbilical cord vessels into the placenta was 28% and non-furcate insertion was 72%. Placenta weight was 315g- 933g with a mean of 563.47g (SD= 132.31). Placenta diameter was in the range of 14 cm to 25 cm with a mean placenta diameter of 18.69 cm (SD= 2.05). The mean placental thickness was 2.65 cm (SD= 0.55) with a range of 1.3 cm to 6.0 cm. Foetal weight (birth weight) correlated significantly (p<0.01) with weight and diameter of the placenta, gestational age, maternal age, cord length and thickness of the placenta (p<0.05). Foetal length correlated significantly (p<0.01) with the weight and diameter of the placenta and the gestational age. Foetal head circumference also correlated significantly (p<0.01) with the weight and diameter of the placenta, cord length, cord diameter and thickness of the placenta (p<0.05). There was a higher incidence of short cords and marginal insertions among the study population compared to other literature. In addition, the umbilical cord was commonly positioned centrally or eccentrically. Furthermore, a normal cord must have length in the range of 40-70 cm, a diameter range of 1.0 to 2.0 cm and umbilical coiling index in the range of 0.08-0.19 coils/cm. There was no significant correlation between the intrauterine ultrasonographic measurements and the gross anatomical measurements (p>0.05) therefore intrauterine ultrasonography may be used as a guide for the determination of foetal well-being. vi

Source: KNUST
Relationship Marketing in the Banking Industry: a Case Study of Ecobank Ghana Limited.

The marketing environment within which banks operate has undergone tremendous changes over the past decade due primarily to government's deregulation policy, technological advancement and increasing competition. These factors have resulted in creating new behaviours and challenges. With increasing competition among banks, customer loyalty to their bankers' has defined. Today's customers are approached by more competitors with equal or better offers. As such, most customers have become more willing to use more than one financial institution to meet their needs and to switch funds for short-term gains. The ultimate challenge facing banking organizations today is not merely to produce satisfied customers as most competitors can do this but to produce loyal customers for strategic purposes. Marketing theory and practice have recognized this paradigm shift from the art of attracting new customers to retaining existing ones. Within this context, the study sought to carefully examine how Ecobank Ghana Ltd. has operationalised the basic tenets and philosophy of relationship banking as a strategic marketing tool to better manage its customers. The findings have shown that the effective incorporation of relationship marketing into its banking policy has enabled the bank to achieve higher customer retention and by extension improve its profitability status despite intense competition. The strategic implication is to build good relationship with your key, current customers and profitable transactions will follow

Source: KNUST
The relationship between the spiritual and material life of the people of Nkonya, Central Volta Region

Belief is one of the factors that help shape the life pattern of a people. Beliefs are linked with the spiritual and material life of each culture. Therefore there are beliefs and spiritual activities which are associated with every stage of each individual‘s life span, and so it is with the Nkonya of Central Volta Region. The thesis is aimed at orin4 the relationship between, the spiritual and the material life of the people of Nkonya. This involves an investigation of the influence of those beliefs upon their culture. It also covers the changes in religious worship, the causes and relationship between art and the beliefs. The beliefs and spiritual activities that are associated with early life that is pregnancy, infancy and adolescence are discussed in Chapter One. Rites for the barren, the sexually impotent, the baby and the adolescent are carried out because of the beliefs which must be observed. In Chapter No beliefs surrounding marriage, adult life and death are looked at. Marriages of people such as chiefs and medicne-4aen are contracted differently because of the beliefs of the people. Adult life is controlled by beliefs that have spelled out va4oms rites and activities. Beliefs about death are many and varied, as are the rites and activities connected with death. However, these activities become complex and elaborate when chiefs die for they become ancestors of the first degree. Other spiritual activities and beliefs having to do with everyday life such as farming, hunting, trading and. other occupations are discussed in Chapter three. Festivals and taboos, which follow as a result of certain beliefs, are treated in Chapter Four. Many taboos run through life and have become part of the people’s daily routine to the extent that no one asks why this or that should not be done. The festivals occur annually or quarterly for the people to renew their beliefs, feed the gods and the ancestors and generally to make merry. Discussions and comments on changing religious and customary beliefs and the impact of these changes on the people are dealt with in the concluding Chapter.

Source: KNUST
Relationship Marketing Strategy as a Source of Competitive Advantage in the Ghanaian Banking Industry: A Case Study of Ghana Commercial Bank Limited

In today’s high competitive and globalized banking environment, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty for their retention and gain competitive advantage as a result, emerges as the most important challenges faced by marketers. Cultivating satisfied and loyal customers is frequently argued to be the most important driver of organizations’ long-term financial performance, which can lead to increased sales and customer share, lower cost, and higher profit. Therefore marketing scholars emphasize the influence of relationship marketing as a strategically important tool from which customer satisfaction and loyalty can be secured and, as a result, the attainment of higher competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to explore relationship marketing strategy as a source of competitive advantage in the Ghanaian banking industry using Ghana Commercial Bank as a case study. The study also aimed to investigate the influence relationship marketing strategy has on customer satisfaction and loyalty and in turn on competitive advantage. The study was carried out in 2013 on a convenience sample of sixty Ghana Commercial Bank customers and six bank officials. Structured questionnaires and interview guides were administered to bank customers and bank officials respectfully, on a face to face interview in three selected branches of the bank in the Ashanti Region. The data were analyzed to determine the key dimensions of relationship marketing strategies. Findings indicated that trust, commitment, communication, satisfaction, quality, loyalty and complaint handling are key dimensions of relationship marketing strategy construct. The findings from this exploratory study contributed to understanding the relationships between different variable dimensions of relationship marketing strategy, and provide critical implications for bank managers, and highlight directions for future research.

Source: KNUST
Relative bioavailability of a locally manufactured ciprofloxacin tablet

With the increasing availability of drugs, coupled with the problem of which one to choose or which one to substitute in place of the other on the Ghanaian market, a lot of controversy has been generated over the years within professionals who prescribe, dispense or purchase drugs. Thus the relative bioavailability of ciprofloxacin, a quinolone, with extensive antibacterial spectrum, currently, widely employed in Ghana was investigated for a locally manufactured brand from Phyto-Riker (GIHOC) pharmaceuticals; using ciprinol, a product of KRKA, Slovenia, as the reference. In vivo dissolution tests on these products were conducted in six healthy subjects in a cross over method and the amount of unchanged ciprofloxacin in the urine voided by these subjects over 24hour period was determined and quantified. A simple, rapid, accurate, specific and sensitive isocratic HPLC method for the detection and quantification of ciprofloxacin in human urine was developed and validated. The HPLC method designed was used for the separation and resolution of ciprofloxacin in the urine on a reversed phase column at ambient temperature with a mobile phase combination of methanol and 5% glacial acetic acid (5:95) and elution was in the isocratic mode with a UV detection at a wavelength of 275nm. Norfioxacin was used as the internal standard and the mean retention times for ciprofloxacin and norfioxacin were 2.122±0.09lmins. and 3.069 ± 0.0l7mins respectively. The quantization limit for the calibration curve used was 0.1% to 0.5%w/v. The HPLC method for assaying the two products was statistically compared to the BP method and the absolute precision of 2.27 and 8.71 respectively was obtained and their respective absolute errors were 0.92 and 0.98% respectively. No significant differences existed between the means of the two methods and no significant differences in the precision of the two methods. Pharmacokinetic parameters such as the average cumulative amount of unchanged drug excreted, the time for peak urinary excretion and the mean peak urinary excretion rate were assessed to characterize bioequivalence. The products used for the work all passed the specifications described in the BP2002. The results obtained also show that there were no significant differences in the pharmacokinetic parameters assessed for the two products and thus were said to be bioequivalent. The relative bioavailability of product T (from Phyto-Riker) was thus found to be 99.94%.

Source: KNUST
Relative Frequencies and Prevalence Rates of Pathogenic Escherichia Coli and Intestinal Parasites in Diarrhoeal Infants aged 0-5 years admitted to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Child Welfare Clinic, Kumasi.

Diarrheal disease is one of the most significant health problems and it is the cause of morbidity and mortality among the notifiable diseases in infants 0-3 years in the developing countries. The main objectives of this study was to determine the relative frequency and incidence rates of pathogenic Escherichia coli and intestinal parasites in infants (0-5 years) and to investigate the socio-economic factors promoting transmission of intestinal parasites. The work also seeks to determine the concordance between the cold- Acid-fast and the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen techniques in the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in faecal specimens. From the studies, Enteropathogenic E. coli was the most frequently detected Enteropathogen, accounting for ‘14.8% of positive findings in the group with diarrheal versus 4.1% in the control group. Other important agents encountered included Ascaris lumbricoides (11.1% versus 1.6%), Cryptosporidium (8.0% versus 0.8%) in terms of sick and healthy children. The following were exclusively detected in diarrheal stools: Giardia lamblia (3.7%); Trachomonas hominis (1.9%); Trichuris trichiura (0.6%); and Hookworm (0.6%). Toilet facilities, water supply and family background were investigated using a specially prepared questionnaire. There were 118 diarrheal cases in areas with public places of convince as against 44 cases with private toilet facilities. Pipe-borne water supply is available to the study population, but not uniformly distributed and most of the infants were children of parents in the low income group. However, there was no significant difference between the cold-Acid-fast and conventional Ziehl-Neelsen staining techniques in the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in faecal specimens in this work. From the results, EPEC and Cryptosporidium may be considered as important diarrheogenic pathogens and it is hoped that improvement in environmental conditions may decrease diarrhoeas caused by EPEC and Cryptosporidium. A simple rapid and reliable diagnostic Method developed by Addy and Aikins-Bekoe (1991) for staining Cryptosporidium oocysts in faecal specimens has been suggested for research and diagnostic laboratories in developing countries.

Source: KNUST
Relative Impact of Various Taxes on Poverty in Ghana

Poverty and inequality are tortuous manifestation based on a grid of interconnecting social, demographic, economic and political elements which are source of worry to society. Understanding their nature and effect is essential in functioning policies to address them. Taxation which is one of the sources governments mobilize revenue to address issues affecting the poor and society also have effect on poverty and inequality. This study investigates the effect of Ghana’s tax policies on poverty. The study employed the Johansen cointegration estimation techniques using annual time series data from the period 1984 to 2013. The results show that increase in indirect tax policies worsen poverty level in Ghana. However, direct tax policies and remittances have mitigating effect on poverty. Considering the agrarian structure of the economy, reducing export taxes will promote activities in the export subsector.

Source: KNUST
Relative bioavailability studies on a locally manufactured aspirin tablets using UV Spectrophotometry and HPLC

Modern trends in drug analysis require use of less time consuming, efficient. Cost effective, fast, reproducible, simple and convenient methods. Two analytical methods were employed for the determination, the UV spectrophotometry and the HPLC. Aspirin, which is rapidly deacetylated to salicylic acid after absorption into the plasma, is excreted in the urine. In determining the salicylic acid concentration in the urine, the absorbance was quantitated by a spectrometer at a wavelength of 540nm. Aspirin formed an amber coloured complex with ferric ions (Trinder’s reagent). The complex, which formed instantaneously at room temperature, was stable. The solution of the complex obeyed Beer’s law at 540nm, the wavelength of maximum absorption of radiation (λmax). Phenol—induced absorbance is quenched by acidifying the reaction mixture with phosphoric acid. An HPLC analytical method was used in determining the free salicylate excreted in the urine. The mobile phase employed is a validated method from the USP- XXII (1990) which consists of water, methanol and glacial acetic acid in the ratio 69: 28: 3 respectively. The chromatographic conditions involved a flow rate of 1 .Oml/rnin, wavelength of maximum absorption of 236nrn, stationary phase Spherisorb S5 ODS 1 phase sep column with standard dimensions of 25.0cm length and 4.6cm diameter. and chart recorder speed of 5mm/min. The quality of the reference and the test tablets were assessed by a number of standard tests, which include uniformity of weight, friability, hardness and dissolution that fall within the BP 2000 specification. The observation from the study reveals that the relative bioavailability of aspirin (w.r.t. salicylic acid) were 103.39% and 94.93% for HPLC and UV respectively. The mean cumulative percentage of the drug excreted in both cases were ii .05% and 10.69% for test and reference respectively for HPLC and 76.45% and 80.53% for test and reference respectively for UV analysis. The cumulative amount of aspirin excreted (w.r.t. salicylic acid) were analyzed statistically in other to establish whether there is any significant differences between the standard deviations and the mean amount of drug excreted at 95% confidence level. There was no significant difference in both cases.

Source: KNUST
The relative toxicity of some pesticides on African Honeybee, Apis Mellifera Adansonii in Ghana

The African honeybee, Apis mellqera adaflSoflhi (L.) forages on several food and cash crops in Ghana. The pest and diseases of these crop species are controlled by blanket use of pesticides some of which may be very toxic to the bees. Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the relative toxicity of the most frequently used of these pesticides. The pesticides were selected based on a field questionnaire survey data on aspects of farming and beekeeping in some districts of Ashanti Region. The survey data revealed that three pesticides namely Karate 2.5EC, Kocide 101 and Unden 200EC were the frequently used pesticides in this part of the country. The contact and oral toxicity of these pesticides were evaluated in the laboratory. For contact toxicity test, the different concentrations were applied to the abdomen using microapplicator. Oral toxicity was evaluated by feeding starved bees on the different concentrations of the pesticides. The results clearly indicated that the contact and oral toxicity of the pesticides to the bees increased with concentration and their bioactivity also decreased with post-treatment period. The pesticides could be arranged according to their toxicity after six hours exposure, in descending order as follows: Unden 200EC > Karate 2.5EC > Kocide 101. The LD50 of the pesticides depended on the route of entry of the pesticides into the bees. Generally, topical application had a distinctly lower toxicity to the bees than oral administration of the pesticides. Kocide 101 which has been found to be non-toxic to European honeybee was found to be toxic to African honeybees at very high concentration in this study. The questionnaire data indicated that all the three pesticides are used by Ghanaian farmers as oral pesticides. Their toxicity recorded in the laboratory could be magnified in field conditions because honeybees foraging for contaminated nectar and pollen could be killed. This situation may be aggravated by the fact that majority of the farmers claimed that they crop twice in a year, during the major and minor rainy seasons. Some of the hazards involved in the use of the pesticides mentioned in the survey were skin bums, nervous and respiratory disorders, headache, vomiting and hunger. Chemical control remains the only effective method of controlling most insect pests, weeds and diseases. To obviate the need for these chemicals as production inputs, agricultural planning for both commercial and subsistence farms should aim at minimising the exposure of humans and other non-target organisms to these chemicals.

Source: KNUST
Relative toxicity of three synthetic insecticides and a plant-derived insecticide to oreochromis niloticus and some aquatic invertebrates

Three synthetic insecticides, Thiodan 35EC, Cymbush 10EC, RoxioN 40EC and a plant-derived insecticide, seed oil were tested against Oreochromis niloticus, Trithemis sp., and Sphaerodema sp. There were no significant differences between the mean weights of the test organisms used for the individual tests (P = 0.05). The temperature of the test solutions for all the test chemicals throughout the test period was in the range of 26°c — 28°C. The pH of the test solutions of Thiodan 35EC and Cymbush 10EC with O. niloticus was 7 throughout the experiments. The dissolved oxygen content of the test solutions ranged from 6.4 mg/l to 7.8 mg/l. The reaction of O. niloticus and the aquatic invertebrates to the various concentrations of the test chemicals was similar; the main symptoms were high excitability, erratic and uncoordinated movements, loss of equilibrium and finally death. The manifestation time generally decreased with increase in the concentration of the test chemicals. The percentage mortality of the test organisms also increased with increase in concentration of the test chemicals. The LC50’s of the synthetic insecticides for the test organisms ranged from 2.66 ppb to 17 782.79 ppb; those of the plant-derived insecticide ranged from 21.13 μl/l to 26.61 μl/l. The LC50’s indicated that O. niloticus is about 4,600 times more susceptible to Thiodan, an organochlorine insecticide, than to Roxion all organophosphate insecticide. Some of the invertebrates, however, were found to the othe tolerant to Thiodan than to Cymbush and Roxion. Sphaerodema sp. was in general more tolerant than the other invertebrates to the synthetic insecticides but more susceptible than the others to the plant-derived insecticide. In general, the order of susceptibility of the various test organisms to the different test chemicals was Thiodan: Berosus sp. > O. niloticus > Sphearrodema sp. > Trithemis sp. Cymbush: Trithemis sp > Berosus sp > Sphearrodema sp. > O. niloticus Roxion: Berosus sp. > Trithemis sp > O. niloticus > Sphearrodema sp J. curcas seed oil: Sphearrodema sp > Berosus sp > Trithemis sp > O. niloticus

Source: KNUST