Anatomical Properties of Three Lesser Utilised Ghanaian Hardwood Species

Wood is composed of mostly hollow, elongated, spindle-shaped cells that are arranged parallel to each other along the trunk of a tree. The characteristics of these fibrous cells and their arrangement affect strength properties, appearance, resistance to penetration by water and chemical solutions, resistance to decay and many other properties. The characterisation of wood helps in identifying them. In this work, we studied the anatomical properties of three lesser utilised Ghanaian hardwood species namely Albizia ferruginea (Guill. & Perr.) Benth, Blighia sapida K. D. Koenig and Sterculia rhinopetala K. Schum using the light microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Anatomical features studied were fiber length, double fiber wall thickness, fiber proportion, vessel diameter and proportion, rays and axial parenchyma proportions. We observed that the use of SEM in studying the anatomical or ultra-structural aspects of wood gave a clearer understanding of the features and structures found in wood. Anatomical features such as presence of crystals and absence of axial parenchyma in Blighia sapida and the thick wall fibers of Sterculia rhinopetala were better understood.

Enhancing the Hygienic Quality of Some Ghanaian Food Products by Gamma Irradiation

The microbiological quality (microbial load and profile) of 6 Ghanaian food products was determined before and after irradiation (0 kGy, 5 kGy, 7.5 kGy, 10 kGy) using standard microbiological methods. The microbial load was estimated by the total viable count (TVC) and moulds and yeasts count (MYC). The range of TVC and MYC of the un-irradiated products were 103 cfu/g - 106 cfu/g and 0 cfu/g - 106 cfu/g respectively. Un-irradiated Banku Mix Powder, Fermented Maize Powder and Cassava Dough Powder had relatively low microbial load (TVC ? 6.1 × 103 cfu/g;MYC ? 4.9 × 102 cfu/g). Un-irradiated Fermented Maize Dough, Kokonte Powder and Cassava Dough had relatively high TVC of >106 cfu/g. Eleven and 3 microbial isolates were detected in the un-irradiated and irradiated products respectively and the most common were Aspergillus niger and Bacillus spp. Irradiation dose of 10 kGy eliminated all microorganisms from the products. Doses of 5 and 7.5 kGy reduced the microbial loads of the products by approximately 1 to 6 log cycles to meet national and international standards. The use of low dose gamma radiation by the local food industry could improve the hygienic quality, extend shelf-life and enhance the competitiveness of the Ghanaian food products in domestic and export markets.

Determinants of Mobile Banking Adoption in the Ghanaian Banking Industry: A Case of Access Bank Ghana Limited

The study examined the determinant of mobile banking adoption among bank customers in Ghana, with specific emphasis on Access Bank. In line with literature, the study applies theoretical frameworks which have been developed from existing literatures on innovation and adoption to collect responses from one hundred and fifty (150) sampled customers of Access Bank in order to investigate the determinants of mobile banking adoption in the Ghanaian banking industry. The results from the study revealed that, each factor measured had some level of significant effect on consumer intention to adopt and use mobile banking services provided by Access Bank. Additionally, the study unveiled that, perceived credibility and perceived financial cost were the major setback with regards to customers adoption of mobile banking services provided by Access Bank, and as a result of this, Ghanaians have formed a negative behavioural pattern towards mobile banking. In addition, the findings showed that, perceived credibility and perceived financial cost have a stronger effect on consumer intention to adopt and use mobile banking service than perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. It was, therefore, recommended that banks in Ghana should create more awareness through personal interaction with customers, develop quality initiatives in order to build customer’s confidence. Equally, banks should also review the cost of their mobile banking service.

Are Voters Mind Static? Statistical Analysis of Unremitting Shift of Mind of Ghanaian Voters (2016-2020)

Elections play a crucial role in a very democratic society as they provide a means of electing their preferred candidates or leaders. It serves as a mechanism for expressing the collective will of the people and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power. This study therefore seeks to determine the difference between the proportion of votes garnered by the two main political parties during 2016 and 2020 elections. The study employed descriptive research design with two population proportion tests and found that Ghanaian voters in 2020 shifted towards the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at 95% confidence level. Moreover, in 2016, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with close to a million votes. Thus, in 2020 election, the results clearly indicate a shrank in the margin of votes between the two main political parties in Ghana. The results further revealed that during the 2016 and 2020 elections, Ghanaians changed their pattern of voting towards these two political parties. Additionally, the New Patriotic Party lost more votes as compared to what they garnered in the year 2016 at 95% and 99.9% confidence level. Also, the gap of votes between the two main political parties shrank at 95% and 99.9% confidence level. Based on the findings of the study, it was further concluded that political parties should not take the voters for granted and it should be known to political leaders that the voters have now changed their mindset and have shifted from the previously tribalistic line of voting. Therefore, for a political party to remain in power, it must promote good public relations with the masses and good campaign messages or policies that are beneficial to the electorates.

Are Voters Mind Static? Statistical Analysis of Unremitting Shift of Mind of Ghanaian Voters (2016-2020)

Elections play a crucial role in a very democratic society as they provide a means of electing their preferred candidates or leaders. It serves as a mechanism for expressing the collective will of the people and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power. This study therefore seeks to determine the difference between the proportion of votes garnered by the two main political parties during 2016 and 2020 elections. The study employed descriptive research design with two population proportion tests and found that Ghanaian voters in 2020 shifted towards the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at 95% confidence level. Moreover, in 2016, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with close to a million votes. Thus, in 2020 election, the results clearly indicate a shrank in the margin of votes between the two main political parties in Ghana. The results further revealed that during the 2016 and 2020 elections, Ghanaians changed their pattern of voting towards these two political parties. Additionally, the New Patriotic Party lost more votes as compared to what they garnered in the year 2016 at 95% and 99.9% confidence level. Also, the gap of votes between the two main political parties shrank at 95% and 99.9% confidence level. Based on the findings of the study, it was further concluded that political parties should not take the voters for granted and it should be known to political leaders that the voters have now changed their mindset and have shifted from the previously tribalistic line of voting. Therefore, for a political party to remain in power, it must promote good public relations with the masses and good campaign messages or policies that are beneficial to the electorates.

Life’s Language Lessons Ghanaian students look toward learning Chinese as a way to find opportunities

While some struggle to find their path in life. for others, nature aligns things for them. This is what happened to Edward .loseph Yawson, a 26-year-old teaching assistant at the Chinese Section of the Department of Modern Languages, Uni versity of Ghana, Legon, who trusted his intuition when a Chinese language course was offered to him.

Exploring Personal Factors That Might Influence the Vulnerability of Construction Employees to Occupational Psychological Disorders

Personal factors could act as intervening variables between the causes and effects of psychological health conditions of employees. This study focused on six personal intervening factors that were associated with the risks of occupational psychological disorders namely: low self-esteem, negative personality trait, unproductive core beliefs, poor self-concept evaluation on performance, poor relationship with others and poor time management skills. An investigation on the level of severity of these personal intervening factors was conducted involving 150 construction professionals and 150 construction trade workers, who were purposively selected in Ghana. The personal factors that were found to be prevalent among the construction employees were low self-esteem and poor time management skills. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to determine the relationships between the personal intervening factors and demographic factors such as the age, educational levels and marital status of the research participants. The results of the study indicated that the age and marital status of the respondents had no significant relationship with any of the personal intervening factors. Personal factors such as personality trait and relationship with others also had no relation with any of the demographic factors analyzed. The educational level of the respondents, however, had a significant relationship with the factors of self-esteem, productive core beliefs, self-evaluation on performance and time management skills. An independent two-sample T-test was used to compare the means of the factors with significant relations. This study revealed that construction employees who were highly educated had better self-esteem and time management skills than those who were less educated. The findings from this study broaden the view of moderators on influential sources of psychological health conditions of employees.

从自我囚笼到生命之屋——加纳作家阿依·奎·阿尔马评传

阿依·奎·阿尔马是一位颇有争议的非洲作家。紧张的家庭关系、长期的异邦流散、对非洲现实和未来的关切,既让他养成了孤僻的性格,也让他不忘思索非洲的出路。他在早期作品中深陷宣泄自我情绪的囚笼,以存在主义手法描述了非洲独立后的动荡、腐败等社会丑恶,悲观和幻灭的语调使其饱受批评。他的后期创作则逐渐走出个人的悲观主义情绪,通过对非洲历史的宏大叙事尝试从古埃及文化中寻找联结历史的纽带。这一积极的转变凸显了他的文学价值。

世界英语理论在援外医疗队英语听力教学中的应用

派遣援外医疗队是我国参与国际合作的重要方式,听力教学是援外医疗队岗前外语培训的一个重要内容。文章以世界英语理论为基础,尝试在援加纳医疗队的听力教学中引入加纳英语语音变体的知识,同时通过增加加纳英语变体的听力输入和练习,帮助医疗队队员快速适应加纳英语变体,提高英语交际效果,以期为援外医疗队岗前外语培训和医疗人才国际化培养提供一定的借鉴和启示。

热处理对腺瘤豆木材天然耐久性的影响

用4种热处理方法处理腺瘤豆心材,可有效去除异味,替代珍贵绿柄桑木材使用。处理后的木材经白腐菌侵染12星期,平均质量损失率与未经处理的试材相比变化不大,天然耐久性等级保持不变,而且其中2种处理方法还能够明显提高木材的耐腐性能,木材的天然耐久性等级因此也由Ⅱ类提高到Ⅰ类。

本土化的抗争与求索——加纳英语文学的缘起与流变

萌芽于20世纪初的加纳英语文学,至今已走过一百多年的曲折发展历程。百余年来,在西方文明的强势冲击下,加纳作家的本土意识不断觉醒,对其英语文学本土化的路径进行了艰难探索。早期的加纳英语文学多以反抗殖民主义、争取民族独立为创作主题,表现出强烈的批判意识和抗争精神。恩克鲁玛政府倒台后,蛰伏近十年的加纳英语文学进入繁荣期。作家们开始尝试在题材、语言、艺术技巧等方面展现本土风格与特色。阿依·奎·阿尔马、科菲·阿翁纳、阿玛·阿塔·艾杜三位作家引领了20世纪后半叶的加纳文坛,他们深入探求本土文化的肌理,创作出了更为深邃、更具有现实关怀的文学作品。21世纪以来,融合了本土元素的加纳儿童文学发展势头强劲,其作品不仅为本土读者喜闻乐见,也日益受到国际文坛的关注。一百多年来,几代加纳作家的努力成功实现了加纳文学特别是加纳英语文学的本土化,为非洲英语文学和其他"非主流"文学的发展提供了重要经验。

加纳议会大厦基坑支护桩墙潜孔锤施工工艺技术

随着非洲国家经济社会发展,高层建筑地基处理和基坑支护桩基工程正逐步在非洲地区得到应用和拓展。针对加纳议会大厦基坑支护桩墙工程受狭窄的施工环境、毗邻老建筑物、地层复杂坚硬的特点影响,采用车载水文水井钻机+潜孔锤造孔工艺,克服了场地窄小、钻机搬迁就位不方便,小孔径潜孔锤施钻具有对原建筑物不会产生破坏影响、碎岩功效提升、入岩效果理想的优点,尤其对施工过程中出现的三个技术问题进行了有效解决,大大提高了成孔工作效率,具有一定的技术参考价值,可为类似工程提供参考和借鉴。

Stature and Body Weight Estimations from Footprint Dimensions among Asante and Fante Females in Ghana

Background:Footprints recovered from crime scenes can assist in establishing the identity(stature,body weight,and sex)of a person.Due to variations(genetic and environmental factors)in the morphology of the foot,several authors have derived populationspecific regression equations for stature and weight estimations.Aims and Objectives:Tribal differences in the footprint dimensions of Ghanaians have not been established.Hence,this study was done to determine if they were tribal differences in footprint dimensions.Materials and Methods:The footprints of Ghanaian females,aged 19-35 years,and belonging to two tribal groups(72 Asante and 73 Fante)were recovered using an ink pad method.Height,body weight,and footprint measurements were obtained following standard procedures.Results:Although Fante females had longer foot lengths and shorter foot breadths than Asante females,the difference was significant(P<0.001)only in the left big toe-pad length(eta squared=0.496).Height correlated better with footprint dimensions of Fante(r=0.246-0.809)than Asante(r=0.214-0.660)females.Body weight correlated weakly with footprint dimensions.Unlike in Asante females,foot length measurements did not correlate significantly with body weight among Fante females.Conclusion:The use of mixed population in deriving stature,weight and sex equations is cautioned especially when there is increased genetic diversity.The findings of this study have important applications in forensic anthropometric investigations.