Surface energy balance partitioning in tilled and non-tilled bare soils

Knowledge of the partitioning of the surface energy balance (SEB) components is essential in understanding heat and water budgets at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface. Agriculturally, changes in soil structure due to soil tillage in the fall and spring affects the magnitude of these components. SEB partitioning determined by modeled and measured studies usually assumes a constant near surface bulk density values for extended periods of time. The objectives of this study is to determine the effect of soil bulk density changes on net radiation, soil heat flux (G), latent heat flux (LE) and sensible heat flux (H) of a tilled and non-tilled bare soil with time. Micro-Bowen ratio (MBR) system were set up for 91 days on a tilled (Till) soil and a non-tilled (NT) soil at the Iowa State University Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering Research farm near Ames. MBR systems measured water vapor and air temperature at 0.01 and 0.06 m heights above the soil surface, to determine atmospheric gradients for LE and H calculations. Net radiation was obtained by a net radiometer positioned at 1.25 m above the surface, while soil heat flux measurements were obtained from soil heat flux plates at a 0.06 m depth and soil heat storage calculations (0- 0.06 m). Evaporation rates were also determined by micro-lysimeters. Two time periods, were selected early and late in the season (relative to tillage), to determine the effect of changing bulk density with time. Bulk density showed little to no change following tillage in Period 1 but increased by 0.11 g cm-3 following substantial rainfall events at the Till plot during Period 2. In Period 1, Rn and G fluxes did not differ between plots as bulk density and water contents were similar. The Till soil LE flux was 12% higher than in the NT according to the MBR measurements and 15% higher according to the ML measurements. In Period 2 (DOY 262-266), Rn and G fluxes showed relatively larger daytime difference between Till and NT. As bulk density and water content increased during this period, G fluxes represented 7% more Rn at the Till soil than in the NT soil. A subsequent 7% lower available energy was observed at the Till plot leading to 10% lower LE values for Period 2. The results of this research highlight the value of considering dynamic bulk density measurements with time when determining the distribution of energy at the soil surface

Traditional Values, Socio-Cultural Factors and Human Resource Management Practices in Public Sector Organisations in Ghana

The paper assesses the effects of traditional values (collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable and proper or bad, undesirable and improper in a given society) and socio-cultural factors (these are models of life, human rights, value systems, customs, beliefs and arts) on human resource management (HRM) in public sector organizations in Ghana and the need for Human Resource (HR) Managers to “rethink their role, to overcome the difficulties inherent in their position”. Socio-cultural practices are the distinctive, spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or a social group. Ghanaian worker in general and the HR manager in particular is influenced by socio-cultural practices and values of a larger society of which he/she is a member. For instance, the HR manager is in dilemma as to whether or not to refuse a worker\'s permission to attend funerals, naming ceremonies, festivals or visit relatives at hospital during working hours. In other words, HR manager is at cross-roads as to what to do in order to maintain his/her job while holding on to his/her socio-cultural practices when some of these practices contravene the organizational code of conduct. Among these factors, is how to deal with the traditional values and socio-cultural environment within which (HR) specialists find themselves. The paper therefore focuses on the impact of some of the traditional values such as the pressure from family members, attitudes and socio-cultural factors. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the directors and the simple random sampling method was used to select the other respondents. Questionnaires were designed and self-administered questionnaire and face -to-face interview methods were used to obtain information for the study. Thus, the traditional values and socio-cultural factors, which the society maintains, remain strong among workers and have impacted on the work of HR specialist in spite of the conflicting values prescribed by the public sector organizations. Keywords: Traditional values, socio-cultural factors, human resource management Journal of Science & Technology (Ghana) Vol. 28 (3) 2008: pp. 58-6

The role of parental authoritarianism and religiosity in child-rearing goals and practices

Do one\u27s religion and authoritarian attitudes affect child-rearing techniques? Research suggests that factors such as religious orientation, educational attainment and authoritarian attitudes of parents are implicated in their child-rearing goals and practices (e.g., Wiehe, 1990). Also, parents\u27 fundamentalist religious orientation is associated with an authoritarian norm of parenting, which involves greater emphasis on obedience and the use of punitive disciplinary practices (Ellison & Sherkat, 1993a; 1993b). 83 mothers and 71 fathers participated in a survey to examine how parents\u27 religious orientation and their endorsement of right-wing authoritarian attitudes are linked to the kinds of goals they establish for their children, and their approval of corporal punishment. A model was developed which hypothesized that while parents\u27 religious fundamentalism would be negatively related to their endorsement of child autonomy, it would be positively linked to stronger desires to keep children in their religious faith, to greater emphasis on obedience and to greater approval of corporal punishment. Also, parents\u27 right-wing authoritarian attitudes should be linked to their fundamentalist religious orientation, as well as a more authoritarian norm of parenting. Results from the zero-order correlations were in keeping with the hypotheses. However, a LISREL path analysis procedure indicated that the relationship between parental religious fundamentalism and emphasis on obedience was indirect, mediated though parental right-wing authoritarian attitudes. Also, the positive relationships obtained between faith-keeping and obedience, as well as approval of corporal punishment, were spurious. Parents\u27 right-wing authoritarianism was a better predictor of their child-rearing attitudes than was religiosity. Religiosity, however, proved important in predicting parents\u27 goal of socializing their children to accept their religious faith

Social Capital and Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme: Understanding Informal Sector Participation

Pursuing Universal Health Care in a developing economy like Ghana is a bold, laudable idea. Given the immutable benefits of Social Health Insurance in this pursuit, the long-term performance of Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Schemes in developing countries remains a conundrum when viewed from the predominant economic and health system frameworks. In the context of a weak state with a large informal sector however, this study demonstrates that the inclusion of a social context in the foundational framework yields valuable insights that must inform the conceptualization, design and implementation of CBHI-founded Social Health Insurance initiatives across the developing world

Editorial Book Critique: A Grammar of Kusaal

In this paper, we review Musah’s (2018) Grammar of Kusaal – a modern, carefully researched study of Kusaal, a Central-East Mabia language spoken in the Bawku Municipality and surrounding towns, and in parts of Burkina Faso and Togo. The review covers major topics in the book such as phonology, morphological affixes, syntax of nouns, verbs and modifiers, temporal and aspectual marking, argument structure and grammatical relations, serialization, and focus constructions. The author makes an effort to situate the Kusaal language in the larger Mabia cluster in the analysis of the data. More importantly, he provides fresh data and analysis of Kusaal that incorporates ethnolinguistic knowledge. The book is written in a clear language and effort is made to limit theoretical labeling and jargon to a minimum thus, making it accessible to those with limited background in linguistics

Has Policy Rate Been an Effective Tool in Taming Inflation?

This paper explores the effectiveness of monetary policy rate as a tool to tame Inflation in sub-Saharans Africa using the systems GMM and other econometric approaches. Financial data (unconsolidated) from Orbis for the period 2011-2018 was used for the purpose of this study. We find that expected Inflation, GDP growth rate, unemployment, Exchange rate, broad money supply, and policy rate significantly influence the inflation rate in SSA. To the margin that the monetary policy rate has the most substantial impact on Inflation in the region and that re-evaluating monetary policy design could help control Inflation. The paper concludes that the credibility and accountability of the monetary policy authorities should be improved by setting targets appropriate to their institutional capacity and meeting them.O

Evaluation of Figure Drawing Skills of Art Students in Tertiary Institutions. A Case Study of Bolgatanga Polytechnic

Figure drawing is at the centre of many visual art programmes in the tertiary institutions in Ghana such as Fashion Designing, Sculpture, Painting and Graphic Designing. This is important because careers in these programmes requires the use of knowledge on correct representation of the human figure. Fortunately, the second cycle Visual Art and General Art programmes syllabi mandates the teaching of figure drawing. Unfortunately, students who are admitted to pursue various programme options in Industrial Art at the Bolgatanga Polytechnic are unable to demonstrate good skill in the drawing of the human figure. This paper therefore sort to identify areas in figure drawing which pose challenging to students. The study was carried out between 2014 and 2017 with the level 100 students of Industrial Art department of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic. The students were made to produce several human figure drawings each week and these drawings were then scored and the various infractions recorded. The study revealed that human figure drawing is a general problem for graduates of the second cycle visual art programme. Areas in the human figure drawing which was very difficult for students to handle included the facial features as well as the fingers. The study recommends that the Ghana Art Teachers Association takes a look at this trend and advice teachers to take lessons of figure drawing serious. Also, figure drawing teachers in Tertiary institutions needs to start the lessons of figure drawing from the basics. Keywords: Adult figure drawings, draw-a-person, human figure drawing, industrial art. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-8-09 Publication date:March 31st 201

Non-African Linguists Be Like, “This Is a New Way to Quote!”

The objectives of this paper are to show that quotative like, while relatively new to colloquial varieties of (white) English, is attested in varieties of African speech of the continent (represented by Akan (Asante Twi)) and the diaspora (represented by Anti-American African (AAA))[1] decades, if not over a century prior. Secondly, we show that there are similar bases for grammaticalization for Akan (Asante Twi) sɛ and AAA like whereby they have gone from showing resemblance/approximation to serving as quotatives. Thus, we provide examples from AAA and Akan (Asante Twi) to demonstrate correlations between the two quotatives using primary text research and analyses based on a variety of sources placing the putative origin of quotative like into the collective African context. In doing so, we find that both AAA quotative like and Akan (Asante Twi) sɛ are attested prior to what seems to be the relatively recent adoption of AAA’s pre-existing quotative into colloquial white American English, which is only first attested in the 1980s. We also find that quotative like and sɛ follow similar trajectories in terms of grammaticalization. In conclusion, we argue that quotative sɛ and like represent a common African source of a similar linguistic phenomenon.  [1] The commonly used term African-American is a marker of the integrationist tradition among Black people in the United States. However, we are of the view that the quotative like construction – before being absorbed into colloquial (white) American speech – was more reflective of the Anti-American African tradition in which Africans consciously and subconsciously maintained a distinct African identity in the face of enslavement, oppression and Eurasian linguistic and cultural hegemony. Also, due to the pioneering work of linguists like Lorenzo Dow Turner (1949), it has been demonstrated that varieties of speech of Africans of the Diaspora have maintained aspects of African languages from throughout the continent while conscientiously and sub-conscientiously remaining distinct from Standard (white) American English – a remarkable feat considering the extenuating circumstances under which they exist. Thus, Anti-American African (AAA) is preferred to other terms in the literature such as so-called African American Vernacular English/Black English

Children’s Drawings with Genitals: Art Works from Children Who Co-Sleep with Adults

Children’s drawings have been used by several therapist as a rare window into the subconscious of the child. One area which has benefitted much from this is sexual abuse of children. Several therapists agree that the presence of genitals in a child’s drawing is a strong indication of a possible abuse. However, these recommendations do not speak much of the social background of the child who produced the drawing. It was therefore necessary to find out whether the presence of genitals in the drawings of children who are in environments where mother showed breasts in the open during breastfeeding; and grandmothers seldom covered their chests. The study was conducted in two metropolitan areas in Ghana, one in the northern part and the other in the south. Children were asked to draw their families and these drawings were screened for genitals. Those which had genitals were separated and these children were taken through processes to understand the why genitals were present in their drawings. The study concludes that environment has influence on the drawings of children and when parents expose genitals to children in the environment without abusing the children, these genitals will find their way in the drawing of the child. Keywords: co-sleep, human figure drawing, kinetic family drawing, genita