Assessment of the Effectiveness of Cocoa Pod-Husk Ash Extract as Alkaline in Reducing the Crude Fiber Levels in Sorghum Spent Grain (Pito Mash)

A ratio of 1:8.1 alkali strength of NaoH to cocoa pod husk ash extract was determined, based on the concentration of 25g of cocoa pod husk ash/200ml of water. This was established after titrating aqueous solutions of NaOH and cocoa pod husk ash in turns against 1MHcl.In the second category, four different solutions with concentrations of 62.5g/0.5L, 125g/1L, 187.5g/1.5L and 250g/2.0L were prepared. Each solution was divided into three equal parts, and used to treat 50g of milled pito mash. These were allowed to digest for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The 48 digestion duration, was found to be the most effective in reducing crude fiber content of the pito mash from 10.22 – 6.74%. The CP, EE. NDF, ADF and hemicelluloses were also reduced from 30.80 – 28.80, 9.50 – 2.50, 73.00 – 53.00, 30.00 – 26.00 and 43.00 – 27.00 % respectively, whilst ash and moisture contents increased from 3.50 – 12.00 and 3.00 – 11.50%, respectively, in alkali concentration of 1.5L in the treatment duration of 48hour. Key words: Crude fiber, Acid detergent fiber, Neutral detergent fiber, hemicellulose

Chemical Analysis of Freshwater Bodies in the Kumasi Metropolis and Its Environs, Ghana

One of the main environmental problems facing the city of Kumasi the second largest city in Ghana over the years has been the pollution of water bodies arising from anthropogenic activities. This has become a potential health threat to the inhabitants of the city which was formerly referred to as the garden city of Ghana and its environs. The most affected are the surrounding rural areas that rely solely on the rivers for drinking, domestic and agricultural purposes. This study focused on the extent of chemical pollution of these water bodies through the determination physicochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), Total suspended solids (TSS), alkalinity, Total hardness, nitrates, sulphates as well as heavy metals and biological contamination through the determination of total coliform and Escherichia coli. Eight samples were taken from three main rivers in the Kumasi metropolis namely Wiwi, Sisa and Subin. This data showed variations in the parameters in the samples as follows: pH, 6.67-7.50; temperature, 28-29°C; electrical conductivity (EC), 220-2120 mS/cm; TDS,10-1800 mg/l; alkalinity, 24-124 mg/l; total hardness, 25-365 mg/l; nitrates, b/d-0.47 mg/l; sulphate,0.352-40.30 ; phosphates, 5.2-30 mg/l; Pb, 6.620-6.797 mg/l; Fe. 14.81-45.65 mg/l; Mn, 0.726-4.7427 mg/l; Cd, 0.156-0.219 mg/l; Cr, 0.03-0.10 mg/l; Ni, 0.002-0.018 mg/l; Cu 0.113-2.258 mg/l and Zn 0.368-5.255 mg/l.  However, all the results obtained for the levels of the metals exceeded the EPA Maximum contaminant level (MCL) with the exception of the zinc where only one of the samples exceeded the MCL level. Keyword: environmental, chemical pollution, Maximum contaminant level, physicochemical parameters, Kumasi-Ghan

Seasonal Variation in Heavy Metal Content of Lake and Underground Water in Some Selected Towns around the Bosomtwe Crater Lake

The levels of Arsenic, Iron, Lead, Zinc, Chromium, Cadmium and Nickel in water samples from Lake Bosomtwe and Bore Holes in some towns around the Lake have been determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Varian AAS 220). The levels of Arsenic, Cadmium and Nickel were generally small and were below the detection limit of the instrument. The results showed seasonal variations in the mean levels of Pb, Fe, Zn and Cr in water from the Bosomtwe Crater Lake. There were significant correlations between the mean levels of Fe and Pb in the underground water in the two seasons whilst Zn and Cr showed weak correlation in underground water for the wet and dry seasons. The levels of the metals in the bore holes were generally below the WHO standard values compared to the levels of the metals in the water samples from the lake. The mean pH values for water samples from the bore holes in the towns around the Bosomtwe Crater Lake were within the WHO standard of 6.50-8.50. Keywords: Lake Bosomtwe, Borehole, Crater, Heavy metals, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer

‘Jenal Soy Shito’ an Alternative Source of Protein

Today’s companies need fresh thinking about how to operate and compete in the new economy. The hospitality industry operates within an increasing complex and competitive market environment. In Ghana there have been many debates on not using local ingredient to produce a recipe. Soybeans have been identified as the most nutritional of ingredient. The objective of this study is to use soybeans to prepare ‘shito’ to cater for vegetarians and non vegetarians. This product is known as ‘JENAL Soy Shito’. Due to undesirable inhibitors mostly found in soybean, treatment such as sorting and picking was done to inactivate these inhibitors. After these treatments, the soybean was roasted and milled into flour, which was used to prepare the ‘shito’. Data obtained from the sensory evaluation on the attributes of taste and aroma on shrimp and soy bean ‘shito’, was analysed using SPSS. The Kruskal Wallis test indicated that was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the two samples in terms of taste. For aroma, the shrimp powdered ‘shito’ was preferred to the soy bean powdered ‘shito’. Key Words: Protein, ‘Shito’, Soybeans

Low-cast smart traffic management system

Capstone Project submitted to the Department of Engineering, Ashesi University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering, May 2020In Ghana and other parts of Africa, most traffic management systems are implemented by the use of a timer at each phase. This method of traffic management is inefficient because equal length of green light is assigned to each lane at the intersection; resulting in long wait times for vehicles behind a traffic light with the red signal on, especially when other lanes are vacant. This project addresses problems such as the one stated in the previous sentence through designs and implementation of a low-cost smart traffic management system. The project is carried out by the use of electrical components that are affordable, easy to maintain and reliable. An inductive loop is used as the vehicle detection device for each lane. Traffic density acquisition is then done using an algorithm running on a single board computer, Raspberry Pi, to obtain the number of vehicles on each lane. After the acquisition of traffic density, the data is processed to obtain the green light length for a lane. After green light length determination, the traffic density acquired earlier is sent to a database on a server via Wi-Fi to enable another microcontroller to use the data to execute traffic coordination between a lane and its preceding lane. In testing the coordinated control system, the statistical analysis showed that the coordinated traffic control between a lane and its preceding lane can be improved to gain the optimal performance.Ashesi Universit

Hydrochemical characteristics of surface water and ecological risk assessment of sediments from settlements within the Birim River basin in Ghana

Abstract Background Geogenic and anthropogenic activities such as Artisanal and illegal gold mining continue to have negative impacts on the environment and river basins in China. This work studied the hydrogeochemical characteristics of surface water from the Birim River basin and assess the quality of water for human consumption and agricultural activities. In addition, the ecological risk assessment for Cd, Zn, Pb and As in sediment was evaluated using pollution indices. Results The results show that the turbidity, temperature, colour and iron concentration in the water samples were above the World Health Organization guidelines. Multivariate analysis explained five components that accounted for 98.15% of the overall hydrogeochemistry and affected by anthropogenic and geogenic impacts. The surface water was observed to range from neutral to mildly acidic, with the dominance of HCO3 −, Cl−, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Na+ in ionic strength. The Piper diagram reveals five major surface water types: Na–HCO3–Cl, Na–Cl–HCO3, Na–Ca–Mg–HCO3, Na–Ca–Mg–HCO3 and Ca–Na–Mg–HCO3. The Gibbs plot showed that the major ion chemistry of surface water was mostly influenced by atmospheric precipitation and the water quality index showed that the majority of the surface water from settlements within the Birim River basin were of poor quality for drinking and other domestic purposes. However, irrigation suitability calculations with reference to sodium adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, and magnesium ratio values, together with Wilcox and USSL models indicated that the surface water within the area under study was suitable for agriculture. The potential ecological risk for single heavy metals pollution and potential toxicity response indices gave low to considerable ecological risks for the sediments, with greater contributions from Cd, Pb and As. Whilst geo-accumulation indices indicated that the sediments ranged from unpolluted to moderately polluted Modified degree of pollution and Nemerow pollution index calculations which incorporate multi-element effects, however, indicated no pollution. Conclusion There are some levels of both potential ecological risks and health hazards in the study area. Hence continuous monitoring should be undertaken by the relevant agencies and authorities so that various interventions could be put in place to prevent the situation from deteriorating further in order to protect the inhabitants of the settlements within the Birim River basin

Recovery of Municipal Solid Waste Recyclables under Different Incentive Schemes in Tamale, Ghana

The recovery of recyclables from the waste stream is a vital factor to consider in any recycling scheme since it enhances the quality of recyclables and ensures efficient recycling schemes. This study was conducted in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana to investigate incentive options that can promote municipal solid waste resource recovery to support policy decisions on the formalization of recycling scheme in the Metropolis. Solid waste source separation scheme was set up in four different waste management service zones in the Metropolis. The quantity of separated materials, set-out rate, as well as separation efficiency of the targeted materials in the scheme were also assessed. The result of the study indicated a high recovery factor for dry recyclables (53.97%) as against food waste (10.03%). There was a significant effect of incentives on waste material quantities. Significant differences also occurred in the set-out rates and separation efficiency. Moreover, the study showed that employing prize as a reward scheme in addition to the provision of a waste storage facility had a high propensity for waste material recovery. The study demonstrated that the quantity of waste materials that may be retrieved in a recycling scheme in different solid waste management service zones depends on the type of incentive employed in the scheme and the service zone considered

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Additional file 1. Additional tables

DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AMONGST EMPLOYEES IN THE POULTRY SUB-SECTOR OF GHANA: A TEST OF EQUITY THEORY

The study investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction amongst workers of the poultry sub-sector: a test of equity theory in the Dormaa Municipality in the Bono Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling technique was employed in collecting data from 100 poultry workers with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The logit model was employed in modeling the factors affecting job satisfaction. The empirical findings reveal that occupational level, pay, and relationships with co-workers were the statistically significant determinants of job satisfaction. Moreover, the study found that based on equity theory if poultry workers are satisfied with their pay, they would want to stay longer compared to referent others who are not satisfied. Benevolent poultry workers were dominant (52%), followed by equity sensitive (28%) and entitled (20%) poultry workers. Moving forward, the relevance of equity theory on workers in the cocoa value chain should also be investigated as cocoa remains a staple crop in Ghana