Selecting Suitable Sites for Wind Energy Development in Ghana

Recent energy crisis in Ghana has led to an intense search for an alternate energy solution. Currently the country is relying on fossil fuel for electricity generation. About 43% of energy generated in the country is from fossil fuel thermal energy. In the event of shortages in petroleum products, these power plants will have to shut down or run on a low capacity resulting in load shedding routines. In order to explore an alternate energy source, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a study to assess Ghana’s wind energy potential. Some areas across the country were found to have enough wind resource for power generation. However, sites for wind farms are not wind speed dependent only; other underlying factors also play an important role in the site selection process. The objectives of this research work are to identify these factors and integrate them in the site selection process within a GIS environment. The site selection was based on two major kinds of criteria setting; the constraints and factor criteria. Layers of these criteria setting were combined using the overlay function in a GIS environment. Weights were also assigned to the factor criteria layers using pairwise comparisons. Suitable sites were selected in five regions after incorporating the various criteria. A total of 142 isolated sites were selected after incorporating a number of factors and constraints. The optimal arrangement of the turbines for the Oforikrom site was also designed. This research recommends that the existing land use and ownership of the selected sites should be ascertained. Wind speed measuring masts should also be erected at the various sites to determine the economic viability of setting up a commercial wind farm. Keywords: Wind Energy, Wind Farm, GIS, Criteri

Learning for a Better Future

Various international scholars and associates of the PASCAL (Place, Social Capital and Learning Regions) International Observatory (Africa hub), under the auspices of the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) based at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), have contributed chapters in this scholarly book. The book aims to demonstrate how a combination of globalisation, pandemics and the impact of innovation and technologies are driving towards a world in which traditional ideas are being challenged. The book carries forward a dual context and relevance: to South African social, educational, economic and cultural development, and the broader international context and action directed at how lifelong learning for all can be fostered in communities as a foundation for a just, human-centred, sustainable world. The distinctive contribution of this book to the production of a local body of knowledge lies in the symbiotic relationships between these objectives, so that South Africa could serve as a test case in working towards approaches that have a wider international significance

Identification of tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms in regions with varying linkage disequilibrium

We compared seven different tagging single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) programs in 10 regions with varied amounts of linkage disequilibrium (LD) and physical distance. We used the Collaborative Studies on the Genetics of Alcoholism dataset, part of the Genetic Analysis Workshop 14. We show that in regions with moderate to strong LD these programs are relatively consistent, despite different parameters and methods. In addition, we compared the selected SNPs in a multipoint linkage analysis for one region with strong LD. As the number of selected SNPs increased, the LOD score, mean information content, and type I error also increased

Occurrence of neonatal hypothermia and associated risk factors among low birth weight (LBW) infants in Accra, Ghana

# Background Neonatal hypothermia is a prominent issue in low-resource settings. Preterm and low birth weight (LBW) infants are at increased risk for developing hypothermia. If left untreated, hypothermia can lead to hypoxia, sepsis, hypoglycemia, apnea, and poor weight gain in neonates, contributing to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Identifying risk factors for neonatal hypothermia is important, especially in low-resource settings, where the burden of neonatal mortality is highest. The study sought to describe the distribution of neonatal hypothermia and examine risk factors associated with neonatal hypothermia among LBW infants admitted to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. # Methods Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, who were less than 28 days old, weighing less than \<2,500 grams, and clinically stable, were enrolled. Infants of mothers under 18 years old and those expected to be discharged within 24 hours were excluded from the study. A standardized questionnaire was administered to collect information on the mother, infant, pregnancy, and birth characteristics. Axillary temperature readings were taken every 4 hours over a 24-hour monitoring period and during hypothermic events detected by the continuous temperature monitoring bracelet. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses with generalized estimating equations were used to examine risk factors associated with temperature. # Results Of the 254 infants included in the analysis, 42.1% were male, 49.6% were very LBW (\<1,500 grams), and 94.1% were preterm (\<37 weeks). Of the 1,948 temperature readings, 44.5% were hypothermic (\<36.5^o^C). Hypothermia occurred in 85.8% of infants during the 24-hour monitoring period. Multivariate linear regression demonstrated that being very LBW, having no skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, not being wrapped or treated in an incubator at the time of temperature, and mixed feeding (compared to exclusive breastfeeding) were associated with lower neonatal temperatures. # Conclusions Neonatal hypothermia was common among infants admitted to the NICU. The findings highlight the importance of thermal practices such as wrapping, exclusive breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact. Increased education to promote thermal care is needed

Learning for a Better Future

Various international scholars and associates of the PASCAL (Place, Social Capital and Learning Regions) International Observatory (Africa hub), under the auspices of the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) based at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), have contributed chapters in this scholarly book. The book aims to demonstrate how a combination of globalisation, pandemics and the impact of innovation and technologies are driving towards a world in which traditional ideas are being challenged. The book carries forward a dual context and relevance: to South African social, educational, economic and cultural development, and the broader international context and action directed at how lifelong learning for all can be fostered in communities as a foundation for a just, human-centred, sustainable world. The distinctive contribution of this book to the production of a local body of knowledge lies in the symbiotic relationships between these objectives, so that South Africa could serve as a test case in working towards approaches that have a wider international significance

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations$^{1-6}$ in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth's 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories$^{7}$, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world's most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

D.L.M.C. was supported by the London Natural Environmental Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership grant (grant no. NE/L002485/1). This paper developed from analysing data from the African Tropical Rainforest Observatory Network (AfriTRON), curated at ForestPlots.net. AfriTRON has been supported by numerous people and grants since its inception. We sincerely thank the people of the many villages and local communities who welcomed our field teams and without whose support this work would not have been possible. Grants that have funded the AfriTRON network, including data in this paper, are a European Research Council Advanced Grant (T-FORCES; 291585; Tropical Forests in the Changing Earth System), a NERC standard grant (NER/A/S/2000/01002), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to S.L.L., a NERC New Investigators Grant to S.L.L., a Philip Leverhulme Award to S.L.L., a European Union FP7 grant (GEOCARBON; 283080), Leverhulme Program grant (Valuing the Arc); a NERC Consortium Grant (TROBIT; NE/D005590/), NERC Large Grant (CongoPeat; NE/R016860/1) the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and Gabon’s National Parks Agency (ANPN). This paper was supported by ForestPlots.net approved Research Project 81, ‘Comparative Ecology of African Tropical Forests’. The development of ForestPlots.net and data curation has been funded by several grants, including NE/B503384/1, NE/N012542/1, ERC Advanced Grant 291585—‘T-FORCES’, NE/F005806/1, NERC New Investigators Awards, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. Fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Yangambi and Yoko sites) was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office BELSPO (SD/AR/01A/COBIMFO, BR/132/A1/AFRIFORD, BR/143/A3/HERBAXYLAREDD, FED-tWIN2019-prf-075/CongoFORCE, EF/211/TREE4FLUX); by the Flemish Interuniversity Council VLIR-UOS (CD2018TEA459A103, FORMONCO II); by L’Académie de recherche et d’enseignement supérieur ARES (AFORCO project) and by the European Union through the FORETS project (Formation, Recherche, Environnement dans la TShopo) supported by the XIth European Development Fund. EMV was supported by fellowship from the CNPq (Grant 308543/2021-1). RAPELD plots in Brazil were supported by the Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) and the National Institute for Amazonian Biodiversity (INCT-CENBAM). BGL post-doc grant no. 2019/03379-4, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). D.A.C. was supported by the CCI Collaborative fund. Plots in Mato Grosso, Brazil, were supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), PELD-TRAN 441244/2016-5 and 441572/2020-0, and Mato Grosso State Research Support Foundation (FAPEMAT)—0346321/2021. We thank E. Chezeaux, R. Condit, W. J. Eggeling, R. M. Ewers, O. J. Hardy, P. Jeanmart, K. L. Khoon, J. L. Lloyd, A. Marjokorpi, W. Marthy, H. Ntahobavuka, D. Paget, J. T. A. Proctor, R. P. Salomão, P. Saner, S. Tan, C. O. Webb, H. Woell and N. Zweifel for contributing forest inventory data. We thank numerous field assistants for their invaluable contributions to the collection of forest inventory data, including A. Nkwasibwe, ITFC field assistant.Peer reviewe

Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important predictor of aboveground biomass (−9.1 megagrams of carbon per hectare per degree Celsius), primarily by reducing woody productivity, and has a greater impact per °C in the hottest forests (>32.2°C). Our results nevertheless reveal greater thermal resilience than observations of short-term variation imply. To realize the long-term climate adaptation potential of tropical forests requires both protecting them and stabilizing Earth’s climate

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim: Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosys-tems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evo-lutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon se-questration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quanti-fied global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change.Location: Tropical and subtropical moist forests.Time period: Current.Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae).Methods: We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co-occurring non-palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure.Results: On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly asso-ciated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long-term climate stability. Life-form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non-tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above-ground biomass, but the mag-nitude and direction of the effect require additional work.Conclusions: Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also over-whelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests