ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Minimum Connection of Gas Pipelines from Takoradi to all the Regional Capital Towns in Ghana

The demand for the use of natural gas is on the increase as an energy source. Natural gas transportation requires a continuous pipeline network from the source of gas across long distance to the various destinations. The main objective involves extending gas pipelines from Takoradi to all the regional capital towns in Ghana by developing a straight forward method of locating pipeline facilities and designing pipeline networks to minimize cost and distance covered. The problem is formulated as a network of distances and the solution is presented based on Prim’s Algorithm for minimum connections. Data on distances are obtained from the Ghana Highways Authority. In comparison, the total distance in the original network was reduced drastically by 68.79% to the new network. Solutions are provided for the environmental damages revealed by the gas pipeline network.

Source: KNUST
Minimum connecter of pipelines from Tema/Takoradi to all the regional capitals of Ghana

Natural gas transportation in Ghana is heavily dependent on trucks (tankers). Due to the highly inflammable nature of natural gas, the trucks sometimes catch fire resulting in the death of the truck drivers and causing a big loss to the gas marketing companies. Gas pipeline transportation is unique in the transportation industry due to its continuous system and time of delivery. The aim of this thesis is to mathematically model optimally, the minimum connection of gas pipelines from Takoradi/Tema to all the capital towns of Ghana. Prim’s algorithm has been used to achieve this.

Source: KNUST
Minimum connection of pipe layout system and optimal location of maintenance unit: a case study of Abuakwa Township

Network design phase is done before laying the infrastructure. As the water supply indus-try matures, there is vital interest in good pipe network designs.The study sought to assess the causes of the numerous water supply problems faced by the Abuakwa community.To nd the optimal solution to the pipe network system for the supply path at e cient sup-ply,a solution-oriented modelling approach can help to devise e cient automatic planning and optimization schemes for Atwima Nwabiagya District.This thesis discusses how good mathematical models can be obtain for real-world problems using prim's algorithm, which model structures to minimize pipe network systems.The prim's algorithm can also help in easy and less expensive water supply especially Abuakwa in Kumasi from Owabi Dam.The prim's algorithm employed to nd the optimal solution was able to reduce the total pipe network from the original network.

Source: KNUST
Mining effects on Rural livelihoods, adopted strategies by households and the role of Stakeholder and Regulatory Institutions in Ghana: a case study of the Amansie West District

The study determines the effect of mining on rural livelihoods, adopted strategies and the role of stakeholder and regulatory institutions in ensuring sustainable livelihoods. Most livelihood studies do not prioritise the role of institutions which is a key instrument of ensuring shocks on livelihood assets do not result in the detriment of farmers’ livelihoods. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse the extent of threat posed by mining on rural livelihoods by acknowledging the importance of the role played by institutions in ensuring the effects or impact of mining are mitigated and livelihoods of farmers improved. The significant differences in the means of income, yield value and labour cost between non-mining and mining communities are evidence of the threat posed by mining. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index results show that social, physical and human capital were vulnerable to the impact of mining whilst natural and financial capital were found to be moderately vulnerable. Also the propensity score matching results obtained showed that households in mining communities had a better well-being than those of nonmining communities due to the higher expenditure per capita. The multinomial logit result indicated that farmers’ choice of livelihood strategy in mining communities is influenced by gender, age, family size, leadership status of household head, labour cost, annual household income, number of years of education and extension training. The results showed that in mining communities farmers had no option but to diversify into non-farm and off-farm activities in order to increase or sustain income. Stakeholder and regulatory institutions were not able to regulate the activities of miners in order to avoid a negative impact on assets and livelihoods in mining communities. The study concluded that poor relations and ineffective performance of stakeholder and regulatory institutions led to the negative impact of mining on livelihoods of farmers by rendering livelihood resources vulnerable to the vagaries of nature. The study therefore recommended that there should be inter-institutional policy that would link stakeholder and regulatory institutions together for effective performance as well as enhancing sensitization with adequate funds. Institutional capacities should be strengthened by the government through adequate funding of programs geared towards protection of the environment and provision of logistics to enhance protection and preservation of the capital resources for sustainable livelihoods in mining communities. The study recommends that in order for regulatory and stakeholder institutions to work effectively, the government should avoid political interference by formulating policies that would make the institutions autonomous and independent in terms of operations.

Source: KNUST
Minimum spanning tree route for major tourist centers in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana

The tourism industry is becoming more lucrative in the country. Various measures have been taken by government and private individuals to make the industry more attractive. In this thesis, a mathematical model for finding minimum spanning tree was used to find the minimum spanning tree route for some selected tourist sites in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. Prim’s Algorithm was used to find the minimum spanning tree. The study reveals that a total minimum distance of three and hundred and sixty kilometres (360Km) will be covered for touring all the eleven selected tourist centers. Also, Wenchi and Buoyem serve as hubs for the tourist industry in the region. Among the recommendations offered was that the Ghana Tourist Board and other Travel and Tour Operators adopt this study as a basis of developing facilities and resources to support the industry in the study area

Source: KNUST
Minimum connection of pipes for water distribution network in Agric Nsima

It is worthy to know that water is a constrained natural resource. Shortage of water therefore is a serious problem that requires urgent solution. In recent times, research on network has been on the increase. There is the need for improved network design, as demand for water from supply industries is high. Minimum connection of pipes for a network using shortest path algorithm means saving cost, thereby helping the government and GWCL to extend their services to meet the needs of the increasing population. The research showed that shortage of water for a long time at Nsima was due to broken pipes, rust pipes, the quantity of water pumped and the nature of network that existed at the time. A software Tora for Windows 2 analysis was used to analyze the data and assess cost of laying new pipes of network for Nsima township.

Source: KNUST
Ministering to street children within the Kumasi Metropolitan Area: a comparative assessment of the role of the Kumasi Baptist Association and the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi

Children on the streets have become a great concern to churches, organizations and governments in general. A number of children on the streets are homeless, threatened and rejected which has serious social and economic consequences on the country. The plight of these children sends a strong signal for reintegration into normal life in society. This is a major challenge to grapple with; not only by Baptists and Catholics but also the entire nation is involved. This essay focuses on a comparative assessment of the role of the Kumasi Baptist Association and the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi in ministering to street children within the Kumasi Metropolitan Area. It is the basis by which we examine the issue at stake and the way forward to rehabilitate street children, a number of whom have a psychological posturing at the face and are helpless victims of our time. As long as we are responsible in propagating the gospel of Christ, the only way the Goodnews becomes beneficial is when it is applied to the social and economic lives of people. This, we think, presents a complete gospel to humankind, since God is concerned not only in meeting spiritual needs but emotional and material needs as well. The neglect of children appears as a crime against humanity which must seriously be addressed. It is time civil society becomes child friendly, considering the kind of trauma a number of them go through. If we ignore these children, they eventually lose their worth and become hostile to society. We need to take a second look at the plight of street children and how best they can be rehabilitated to contribute meaningfully to national growth and development. Humanity should identify with the poor street child who due to lack of opportunity on his or her part ends up in the streets. Categories of such children are mentioned in the write-up outlining what forces them to the streets. Recommendations and suggestions are made so as to help alleviate the plight of these children.

Source: KNUST
Mitigating critical risk factors on project delivery

Several scholars have stated the fact that risk has a major impact on projects and its delivery, which proves that risk management is very vital in the execution of every project. This study engrossed on the mitigating critical risk factors on project delivery. The various objective for the study were: To identify type of risks or risk factors that influence project delivery, and to examine risk mitigating strategies adopted by construction companies. This study used questionnaires for data collection, through which the quantitative method was used. The purposive sampling and convenience sampling techniques were employed. The study sampled 60 respondents from 5 construction firms in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Twelve (12) respondents from each firm, these companies include: Berock ventures, Consar, Multi Tridax complex, Tonyam company Ltd and Core Construction Ltd Further, in which the target is also made up of top level managers and officers within the target population. In all, data gotten back from all respondents were 43. The descriptive statistics and the mean score ranking was used in analysing data. Two objectives assisted in attaining the main goal of the research. The first objective offered the risk factors that influence project delivery, these risk factors were presented under these headings, which are; external and site condition risks, economic and financial risks, technical and contractual risks and managerial risks. and from the data results, these factors ranked under these headings includes; unforeseen site ground condition influence project delivery, difficulty in obtaining permits and ordinances influence project delivery, constant rise in prices of materials influence project delivery, poor cost control influence project delivery, delay in providing detail drawing influence project delivery and finally, labour, material and equipment problems affect project delivery. The main goal of the second objective was also achieved, this was successful by presenting the risk mitigating strategies adopted by construction companies, these strategies includes: there is information to forecast and identify future risks, projects are constantly screened to avoid unwanted risks, to ensure insurance policies to ensure risk transfer when risk occurs, to ensure integrated catastrophic model for risk prevention or elimination and the final strategy ranked as effective was; thorough risk assessment or evaluation is done always. The focus of this research is to mitigate critical risk factors on project delivery, and from the following above the aim of the research was accomplished.

Source: KNUST
Mitigating the Impact of Non-Isoprene Constituents of Latex on Product Degradation and Process Emissions

This study assessed the impact of chemical and mechanical pre-treatment methods that could be applied in the natural rubber industry with the objective of process-odour mitigation and product improvement. In the chemical treatment, fresh latex were treated with of 1% acids (acetic and phosphoric) sufficient to induce coagulation; 1.0 to 2.0 g/kg.dry rubber of hydroxylamine sulphate salts (HNS); and 0.7 to 4.0 g/kg.dry rubber of copper (II) EDTA chelates separately. The impacts of these chemicals on the utilisation of latex carbohydrates and mercaptans generated during 96 h of natural fermentation have been reported. The effects of these chemicals on the resulting product’s Wallace plasticity, Plasticity retention index and Mooney viscosities of each sample were analysed. Hydroxylamine sulphate neither affected the carbohydrates nor the mercaptans generated during the fermentation step. However, acetic acid, phosphoric acid and copper (II) EDTA chelate caused a reduction in the levels of mercaptans and the carbohydrates in the fermenting latex. Hydroxylamine sulphate, acetic and phosphoric acids caused an improvement on the products’ Plasticity retention index, whereas all the concentrations of copper (II) EDTA chelate impacted negatively on both Wallace plasticity and Plasticity retention index of products through the oxidation of the polyisoprene itself. The impact of mechanical pre-treatment was assessed using industrial mills such as slab cutter, macerator and a series of seven creepers in conjunction with a post milling maturation periods of 0, 168, 336, 504, and 672 hours, taking untreated cuplumps (free and agglomerated) as the control samples. iv The impact of each of the combinations of mechanical pre-treatment and maturation periods were expressed in terms of Wallace plasticity, Plasticity retention index, Mooney viscosity, colour, degradation kinetics and odour emitted from the process of drying each sample. It was observed that, irrespective of the pre-treatment process or maturation period, heat degradation of processed NR obeys the first order rate law. Mechanical pre-treatment and maturation caused various degrees of improvement in the product properties as well as odour- mitigation depending on the combination of pre-treatment process and maturation period observed. The mechanical pre-treatment by the use of seven crepers became the optimum process since it simultaneously mitigated the odour and improved product properties beyond 336 h of maturation.

Source: KNUST
Mixed media painting of the Ghanaian open air market

The abundance of different coloured materials in Ghana for mixed media painting motivated the researcher to address the problem relating to lack of instructional materials for mixed media painting. The researcher was particularly interested in combining odds and ends plus pigment as a medium of expression. It was discovered that mixed media painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of expression. The Ghanaian open market was chosen as the most appropriate theme because it is one of the several areas which exhibit the whole colour spectrum from black to white which could be studied and adapted to mixed media technique. Literature about the various materials and techniques relating to the topic were reviewed and interpreted in relation to this research. This made it possible for the researcher to be familiar with what had been done so far by various mixed media painters. The Project report also sought to combine: Fabric and acrylic paints; sheets of coloured paper plus acrylic paints; plant products plus acrylic paints and fabric, pigment dyed plus acrylic paints in mixed media painting. The Descriptive and Analytical Research Methodologies were employed in the experiments by identifying tools and materials, assemblage and preparation of materials for Mixed Media Paintings. These prepared materials were then tested to find their suitabilities for Mixed Media Painting. The experiences gained from the experimental survey were therefore harness’ to execute ten paintings in mixed media. The paintings were also critically analysed and interpreted. The report finally discusses the results, draws conclusion and gives recommendations.

Source: KNUST
A mixed Gaussian model for motor insurance claims (Case study: an insurance company in Ghana)

The aim of this study was to determine the best mixture model for the claims amount and use the model to determine the expected claim amount per risk for the coming year. The claims data were obtained from the motor insurance department of one of the top three insurance companies in Ghana. The data consists of one thousand and three (1,003) claim amounts from 2012 to 2014. The average claim amount was GHS878.54 with standard deviation GHS339.03. Principles of Maximum likelihood estimation was used to determine the parameters of Heterogeneous Normal-Normal, Homogeneous Normal- Normal and Pareto-Gamma mixture models. The Q-Q plot and measures of goodness-of-fit (AIC and BIC) were used to determine the best mixture model. The Heterogeneous Normal-Normal mixture distribution was the model that best fit the motor insurance claims data with an expected claims amount of GHS868.40 per risk.

Source: KNUST
Mixed commercial and residential development-Princess Town

The search of oil in large quantities over the years have proved fruitful. What next? Many minds have wondered and as an architectural student as well, it has been a task to consider the probable situations that will arise and hence provide suitable and commendable answers. One major situation, is that of the housing and economic needs that the oil companies are going to be faced with when manufacturing begins due to the discovery of millions of barrels approximately 65km offshore. A mixed commercial and residential development which then is the solution to this need is proposed at a site close to this discovery, Princess Town. A mixed commercial and residential development is that which combines the various needs as basic commercial needs, purely residential needs, health needs, recreational needs, religious needs, transport needs and any other associated form of need within a confined space. This space in question could be within a building or a confined environment. This dissertation looks at the best means of combining these various needs in aspects of planning a confined community for the oil companies that will be managing the oil discoveries. In view of this, planning principles as zoning, and design criteria as access, circulation, safety and functionality were considered to design the proposed community. The application of existing architectural details in building forms and character, various c ase studies (iSaudi Aramco residential camp, Saudi Arabia and Akosombo Township) and analysis as well as demographic contributions aided in the design and conclusion of a self sustaining community in Princess Town, West Cape Three Points to cater for expected population of 5000 people.

Source: KNUST
Mixed media sculpture, as furniture

The purpose of this project is to satisfy one of the requirements for the award of a Master of Fine Art (M.F.A.) sculpture degree. The project itself probes into the ways to construct and assemble various materials for furniture. This, in turn is to help create the awareness about Metal, wood, glass, sheepskin and batik fabric, for attractive and functional dining table and four dining chairs. Even though construction and assemblage has been practiced in various ways and in many parts of the world, the methods are still used for more powerful interior design works. This project has revealed how welding and carving, are able to bring out designs for various forms such as dining tables, chairs, mirrors, room dividers or storage units, shoe racks, bottle racks and others. In achieving the modest successes that are contained in this report, a number of experiments have to be researched. For good understanding of the processes and the end result, sketches, and photograph have been provided.

Source: KNUST
Mobile Advertising in Ghana: A Study to Explore its Prospects

The study sought to explore the use of mobile telephony by firms to advertise goods, products and services. Out of Ghana’s population of twenty-five (25) million, mobile subscriber base of the telecommunication industry reached a peak of fifteen (15) million as at the end of June 2012. Mobile advertising, one of the key advertising tools used by firms in developed economies and parts of Africa has not witnessed active usage in Ghana, except for bulk messaging by political parties and other groups. Most messages sent though useful to consumers are unsolicited generating a lot of public outcry. Firms in Ghana could package their adverts for specific audience. The study therefore sought to assess the prospects and challenges of mobile advertising by firms in Ghana. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, 100 questionnaires for consumers and 70 for firms were administered in Dansoman and its environs. Descriptive statistic was used to analyse the responses and the results presented in tables. Findings indicate that mobile phone users and firms were aware of mobile advertising. The low usage of the facility could be attributed to lack of information of the service/product by mobile network providers. The study also revealed that firms are willing to use the network platforms to reach their clients if the cost of advertising is relative cheaper than the traditional forms of advertising. In conclusion, mobile advertising can be beneficial to consumers and firms if challenges such as cost and product education are improved. The study recommends that telecommunication companies should engage firms and phone users on the benefits of using mobile advertising as an alternative advertising tool.

Source: KNUST
Mobile money service in Ghana: the need for a regulatory framework.

Mobile money has become a fast growing phenomenon in Ghana. It has brought great benefits such as an increase in financial inclusion and convenience in transferring money across the country. The system also has its challenges: it is wrought with fraud and other serious issues. It is also unclear whether telecommunication companies running the mobile money system are venturing into the banking sector thus should be considered and regulated as banks. Mobile money has also received criticisms especially from the banks who felt threatened by their presence. The rate at which the mobile money system is growing calls for clear-cut regulations to foster growth and at the same time address challenges. This study adopted an interdisciplinary approach as well as used a comparative analysis to select the best practices which can be employed in Ghana to address the questions posed in this research. Research was conducted in Accra, the capital city and some staff from the various stakeholders such as banks and telecommunication companies as well as the regulators were interviewed. This study revealed that the mobile money system should have a clear-cut separate legislation. This legislation, however, must be read together with other financial laws because mobile money affects more than just the telecommunication companies.

Source: KNUST