• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2023

Background: The detectors of both computed radiography (CR) and direct digital radiography (DR) have a wide dynamic range that could tolerate high values of exposure factors without an adverse effect on image quality. Therefore, this study aims to assess patient radiation dose and proposes institutional diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for two teaching hospitals in Ghana. Materials and Methods: CR and DR systems were utilized in this study from two teaching hospitals. The CR system was manufactured by Philips Medical Systems DMC GmbH, while the DR system was manufactured by General Electric. The entrance skin doses (ESDs) were calculated using the standard equation and the tube output measurements. Free-in-air kerma (µGy) was measured using a calibrated radiation dosimeter. The proposed institutional DRLs were estimated using 75^th percentiles values of the estimated ESDs for nine radiographic projections. Results and Discussion: The calculated DRLs were 0.4, 1.6, 3.4, 0.5, 0.4, 1.1, 1.0, 1.2, and 1.7 mGy for chest posteroanterior (PA), lumbar spine anteroposterior (AP), lumbar spine lateral (LAT), cervical spine AP, cervical spine LAT, skull PA, pelvis AP, and abdomen AP, respectively in CR system. In the DR system, the values were 0.3, 1.6, 3.1, 0.4, 0.3, 0.7, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.3 for chest PA, lumbar spine AP, lumbar spine LAT, cervical spine AP, cervical spine LAT, skull PA, pelvis AP, and abdomen AP, respectively. Conclusion: Institutional DRLs in nine radiographic projections have been proposed for two teaching hospitals in Ghana for the first time. The proposed DRLs will serve as baseline data for establishing local DRLs in the hospitals and will be a valuable tool in optimizing patient doses.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.41-51
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• 2014

This study investigated the ability of Bothriochloa bladhii (Retz.) S.T. Blake (Poaceae), Cyperus ligularis L. (Cyperaceae), Commelina erecta L. (Commelinaceae), Mariscus umbellatus (Rottb.) Vahl (Cyperaceae), Fimbistylis miliacea L. (Cyperaceae) and Torulinium odoratum L. (Cyperaceae) to clean up various levels of used motor oil (UMO) contaminated soils. The plants were grown in 2 kg garden soils treated to 0%, 1%, 5% and 10% levels of UMO contamination. The plant growth parameters, chlorophyll contents and dry weight of test plants were measured. The phytoremediation ability of these test plants were assessed by measuring the uptake of hydrocarbons in terms of total hydrocarbon content (THC) as well as their percentage degradation values. There was significant (P < 0.05) reduction in leaf chlorophyll contents and dry weights of the test plant species planted in UMO contaminated soils. THC as well as the percentage uptake (or degradation) of hydrocarbons were both lowest in C. ligularis but highest in T. odoratum in all cases. The phytoremediation potential of test plants was highest in soils contaminated with 5% UMO. Based on the results of this study, all test plants with the exception of C. ligularis were potentially capable of undertaking phytoremediation. However, B. bladhii and T. odoratum proved most effective in the uptake and degradation of UMO.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2016

Urban greenery is an important component of urban environment and is fast gaining prominence especially in the developing countries. The destruction of urban trees has resulted to the degradation of the environment, thus the introduction of green Kumasi project by Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Ashanti Region of Ghana. The composition and diversity of urban trees gives rise to adequate management and monitoring, thus an inventory of urban trees of the Metropolis was conducted to document complete information on its density, diversity, composition and distribution. A total tree population of 1,101 was enumerated in the principal roads of the Metropolis. The ten most encountered tree species accounted for 61.04% of all the individual tree populations with Mangifera indica being dominant. The dominant families: Fabaceae, Moraceae and Arecaceae constitute 38.57% of the tree population. Diversity of the tree species was very high. The minimum diversity criteria were met on analysis of the diversity of this population. The proportion of exotic species was high with 65.71% of the trees belonging to the introduced species. It is recommended that greater emphasis should be placed on the planting of indigenous trees in future tree planting exercise.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.151-154
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• 2008

Dramatic price increases of fossil fuels and the economic development of emerging nations accelerates the transformation of forest lands into monocultures, e.g. for biofuel production. On this account, cost efficient methods to enable the monitoring of land resources has become a vital ambition. The application of remote sensing techniques has become an integral part of forest attribute estimation and mapping. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potentials of the kNN method by combining terrestrial with remotely sensed data for the development of a pixel-based monitoring system for the small scaled mosaic of different land use types of the off-reserve forests of the Goaso forest district in Ghana, West Africa. For this reason, occurrence and distribution of land use types like cocoa and non-timber forest resources, such as bamboo and raphia palms, were estimated, applying the kNN method to ASTER satellite data. Averaged overall accuracies, ranging from 79% for plantain, to 83% for oil palms, were found for single-attribute classifications, whereas a multi-attribute approach showed overall accuracies of up to 70%. Values of k between 3 and 6 seem appropriate for mapping bamboo. Optimisation of spectral bands improves results considerably.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.20-25
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• 2013

Variation in construction means modification of design, changes in quality, quantity of work including the alteration of standard of materials or goods to be used in the work and the removal from site any kind of material not in accordance in the contract. In Ghana, Variation order has become major issue in the construction industry. This had resulted in cost overruns, delay and in some contracts dispute, between parties. The aim of this paper was to identify the root causes of variation; effects of variations on projects in Ghana and the means of reducing the impact of variation order. The method of the study involved literature review, primary data collection, interview and closed - ended- questionnaires. Mean Scores Method was used to rank the identified factors causing variation. Analysis Of Variance Test was use to test for the significant difference between means among the professional groups. The study revealed that most causes of variation were change of design by client and inadequate working details. Establishment of oversight project management committee and flow of information were identified as means of controlling variations during project administration.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2022

Purpose : Life-threatening illnesses represent a crisis for individual patients and their families. Little has been made to understand the priorities or perspectives in developing a care plan. This results in poor outcomes, and patients and families return home without being satisfied with the care provided. This study aimed to address nurses' and families' care priorities on patient and family-centered care principles and compare those priorities. Methods : A quantitative comparative descriptive research was conducted. The data were part of a study that was carried out to elicit and compare nurses' and families' perceptions of complying with patient and family-centered care (PFCC) principles in intensive care units (ICU) in Ghana. The respondents were ICU nurses (n=123) and family members of hospitalized patients in the ICU (n=111). The tool for the study was a "modernized version of a hospital self-assessment inventory on PFCC," and data analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results : Nurses and families differed significantly in their priorities of care based on the principles of PFCC. The means and p-values were significantly different for the definition, pattern of care and access to information/education, and the overall total scores of the patient and family-centered care principles (PFCCP) Conclusion : To render care that aligns with the care priority of families and patients in the ICU, nurses must plan care in consultation with their families.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2017

Objectives: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). People with AIDS are much more vulnerable to infections, including opportunistic infections and tumors, than people with a healthy immune system. The objective of this study was to correlate oral lesions associated with HIV/AIDS and immunosuppression levels by measuring clusters of differentiation 4 (CD4) cell counts among patients living in the middle western regions of Ghana. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 patients who visited the HIV clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Regional Hospital Sunyani of Ghana were consecutively enrolled in this prospective and cross-sectional study. Referred patients' baseline CD4 counts were obtained from medical records and each patient received an initial physician assessment. Intraoral diagnoses were based on the classification and diagnostic criteria of the EEC Clearinghouse, 1993. After the initial assessment, extra- and intraoral tissues from each enrolled patient were examined. Data analyses were carried out using simple proportions, frequencies and chi-square tests of significance. Results: Our study included 120 patients, and was comprised of 42 (35.0%) males and 78 (65.0%) females, ranging in age from 21 to 67 years with sex-specific mean ages of 39.31 years (males) and 39.28 years (females). Patient CD4 count values ranged from 3 to 985 cells/mL with a mean baseline CD4 count of 291.29 cells/mL for males and 325.92 cells/mL for females. The mean baseline CD4 count for the entire sample was 313.80 cells/mL. Of the 120 patients we examined, 99 (82.5%) were observed to have at least one HIV-associated intraoral lesion while 21 (17.5%) had no intraoral lesions. Oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis and xerostomia were the most common oral lesions. Conclusion: From a total of nine oral lesions, six lesions that included oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis, xerostomia and oral hairy leukoplakia were significantly correlated with declining CD4 counts.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.31.1-31.12
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• 2019

Background: The black-chinned tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron, is the most abundant fish species in the Nakwa (an open lagoon) and Brenu (a closed lagoon) in the Central Region of Ghana. Aspects of the life history characteristics and the ecology of the fish populations in both lagoons were studied to assess the bio-ecological status of this important resource. Methods: Fish samples were obtained from fishermen that fish on the Nakwa and Brenu lagoons using cast, drag and gill nets. The age of the fish was assessed from otoliths analysis and its growth modelled following the von Bertalanffy growth function. Morphometric characteristics of the fish populations were analysed using power regression and ANOVA for parameters comparisons, and Student's t test to determine whether species grew isometrically. The percentage occurrence method was used to analyse the stomach contents of the fish. Results: A total of 382 fish samples from both lagoons were measured, comprising 209 from Nakwa lagoon and 176 from Brenu lagoon. The size and weight of fish samples ranged between 3.9-11.5 cm total length and 1.0-27.3 g for Nakwa Lagoon and 5.6-12.8 cm total length and 3.2-29.8 g for the Brenu Lagoon. The estimated von Bertalanffy growth parameters were L∞ = 12.04 cm and K = 2.76/year for the Nakwa Lagoon samples and L∞ = 13.44 cm and K = 3.27/year for Brenu Lagoon samples. Daily otolith incremental rate ranged from 0.01-0.03 mm per day to 0.01-0.02 mm per day for Nakwa and Brenu lagoons, respectively. Stomach content analysis of the fish samples revealed that the species are planktivorous and the range of food varied between the lagoons. Green algae were the most prevalent food item in the stomachs of the fish samples from Nakwa with the frequency of 69% whilst diatoms (80.5%) were most prevalent phytoplanktonic food item for the fish in Brenu lagoon. Conclusions: The estimates of asymptotic length for the species in both lagoons are close to known values of the species length at first sexual maturity and points to intensive fishing pressure. As a consequence, a comprehensive sample-based survey is required in both lagoons to derive estimates of management reference points. The results of the stomach content analysis are beneficial to the construction of diet matrix for ecosystem models of the two systems.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.53-68
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• 2018

Community-based ecotourism (CBE), if well-developed can be a practical approach for promoting socio-economic well-being and sustaining ecological resources. The growth and its development worldwide especially in developing economies is a welcome development. The study aimed at assessing the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana, as an example of traditional conservation system of management that has ensured greater community participation, equity, inclusiveness, and multi-level stakeholder partnership. In-depth interviews with key informants and documentary analysis of relevant peer reviewed and grey literature were the main qualitative data collection used. Results revealed that majority of the interviewees support and value the current system of traditional management. The enforcement of rules and regulations and other cultural and religious practices were discussed by key informants. Opportunities for multiple livelihood strategies as a result of the CBE is seen as critical for increasing local's acceptance and participation. The remarkable growth of the sanctuary, as well as the increase in human population, has created a shortage of land for domestic and other commercial purposes which is identified as posing a major challenge to the sustenance of the sanctuary. The study recommends diversification of livelihood opportunities presented by the presence of the sanctuary like the introduction of homestay concept, craft making- wood carving, painting, artisan shops.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.44
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• pp.343-372
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• 2016

This paper introduces symbols from Ghana, the 'Adinkra', and expands upon the concepts associated with it. In other words, the world view, values and scalability that appear to form philosophical thoughts in everyday life. 'Adinkra' are symbols from Ghana in West Africa. Adinkra means 'goodbye' or 'farewell'. There are some 400 Adinkra symbols, but the meanings of the symbols have been lost. The first book on Adinkra is 'The Adinkra Dictionary' (1998) by W. Bruce Willis. Adinkra is related to the Ghanaian culture, and represents concepts such as philosophical ideology, history, historical figures, myths, legends, animals, plants, etc. In the old days, because of its meaning-'goodbye' or 'farewell'-Adinkra was generally used for funerals. But today, Adinkra is utilized in a full range of cultural events and activities. Each of the 'Adinkra' has various meanings. According to Willis, Adinkra is ever-evolving and constantly expanding. As a matter of fact, Adinkra continues to expand, evolve and develop. Nevertheless, no books have been published on Adinkra since Bruce Willis (5 May 2016 to the present). Adinkra provides insights into the rich philosophical, educational, and historical significance of Africa. Therefore, Adinkra requires evolution, expansion, and research. In this study, we will examine the Adinkra, divided into four categories. The first is related to God and the powers, the second is related to moral education. The third symbolizes 'love' and 'friendship'. and lastly, the fourth is 'life' and 'death'.