Generalization of Some Inequalities for the Ratio of Gamma Functions

access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. We present some monotonic functions and some generalized inequalities involving the ratios of analogues of the Gamma function. Mathematics Subject Classification: 33B15, 26A4

Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from the West African Sub Region

The availability of reliable energy supply to meet the demand of the growing population in West Africa is important for achieving not only economic growth but also meeting the sustainable development aspirations of the subregion. However, conflicting conclusions have been espoused on the energy-growth nexus with little information on the nexus in the sub-region. In this study we employ the panel cointegration techniques and data on total energy consumption, electricity consumption and petroleum consumption to establish the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for the seventeen countries in the West African sub region. The results indicate that in the short run, there is no causal relationship running from total energy, electricity and petroleum consumption to growth. However, there is a unidirectional relationship running from growth to electricity consumption indicating that conservation policies in electricity may not have effect on economic growth. In the long run however, electricity and petroleum consumption were found to have a positive and significant impact on growth suggesting that policy choices should focus on enhancing the generation of these types of energy

Optimum Crop Production and Income in Brong Ahafo Region

This paper seeks to present a proposed linear programming model to determine the best hectare allocation for optimum crop production to ensure food security and reduce poverty among farmers in the region. Five selected crops in fifteen sampled communities in the Brong Ahafo Region were used for this study. The net income per hectare for each crop was used in formulating the objective function and data on available arable land, mean annual rainfall and the area cultivated constitutes the constraints. The revised simplex scheme was employed to determine optimal basic variables. Keywords: Linear Programming Model, Optimum Crop Production, Revised Simplex Scheme.

Female genital mutilation/cutting in Sierra Leone: are educated women intending to circumcise their daughters?

BACKGROUND:Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has been recognized as a gross violation of human rights of girls and women. This is well established in numerous international legal instruments. It forms part of the initiation ceremony that confers womanhood in Sierra Leone. Girls and women who are subjected to this practice are considered to be ready for marriage by their parents and communities and are rewarded with celebrations, gifts, and public recognition. Following this, we examined the relationship between education and women's FGM/C intention for their daughters in Sierra Leone. METHODS:We used cross-sectional data from the women's file of the 2013 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey (SLDHS) to explore the influence of education on FGM/C intention among women in the reproductive age (15-49). A sample of 6543 women were included in the study. Our analysis involved descriptive computation of education and FGM/C intention. This was followed by a two-level multilevel analysis. Fixed effect results were reported as Odds Ratios and Adjusted Odds Ratios with their respective credible intervals (CrIs) whilst results of the random effects were presented as variance partition coefficients and median odds ratios. RESULTS:Our findings showed that women who had no formal education were more likely to intend to circumcise their daughters [aOR = 4.3, CrI = 2.4-8.0]. Among the covariates, women aged 20-24 [aOR = 2.3, CrI = 1.5-3.4] were more likely to intend to circumcise their daughters compared to women between 45 and 49 years old. Poorest women were more likely to report intention of circumcising their daughters in the future compared with the richest [aOR = 2.1, CrI = 1.3-3.2]. We noted that, 63.3% of FGM/C intention in Sierra Leone is attributable to contextual factors. CONCLUSION:FGM/C intention is more common among women with no education, younger women as well as women in the lowest wealth category. We recommend segmented female-child educational and pro-poor policies that target uneducated women in Sierra Leone. The study further suggests that interventions to end FGM/C need to focus on broader contextual and social norms in Sierra Leone

Effect of input credit on smallholder farmers’ output and income: Evidence from Northern Ghana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of input credit on smallholder farmers’ output and income using Masara N’Arziki support project in Northern Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional primary data set was used to estimate the effect of project participation on farm output, yield and income using propensity score matching (PSM) methods. Findings The findings are that project participation is skewed towards experienced farmers with big-sized households and farms. The effect of project on outcomes is somewhat unsatisfactory in the sense that participation only raises output and yield, but not income. Research limitations/implications The paper only examined the project effect on farm outcomes among smallholder farmers participating in the programme in just one operational area in the Northern region. Future research should consider all the operational areas for an informed generalisation of findings. Practical implications Greater benefits to farmers from programme participation would require project management to review the contractual arrangement so that the high cost of input credit is significantly reduced. Originality/value The paper applied the PSM to estimate the effect of project participation on farm output, yield and income among smallholder farmers which is non-existent in the literature on the study area, at least as far as we know. This paper can inform future policy on the direction and nature of support for smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana

Utilization of organic fertilizer in Ghana: implications for crop performance and commercialization

Organic fertilizer commercialization may present a great opportunity to help deal with the issue of solid waste management and help improve the declining soil problems in many developing countries. Ghana’s solid waste is predominantly organic, which is suitable for organic fertilizer production. This paper seeks to establish relationship between organic fertilizer usage and crop farm performance and assess its commercialization potential. The study employed a farmer-survey and key informant interviews to generate data from 300 farmers randomly selected across three regions in Ghana. The computed organic fertilizer use rate is 42% among farmers surveyed, and organic fertilizer is primarily used in vegetable and maize production. The estimated current demand for organic fertilizer is about 0.7 million t/annum with a potential to rise to about 2.7 million t/annum in the long term. This will however require sensitization on its importance, availability, and affordability. The study has established a strong relationship between organic fertilizer adoption and farm performance increasing yield by 57%, income by 53%, and gross margins by 63%. There is obviously a cost reduction when organic fertilizer is adopted. Organic fertilizer adoption was found to be mainly related to farmer base organization membership status, access to extension services, access to organic fertilizer, and transport cost. Organic fertilizer commercialization has the potential to make Ghana a net exporter of fertilizer and create sustainable jobs for the youth. We recommend the use of organic fertilizer by farmers and highly recommend the commercial production of organic fertilizer

Examining the relationship between household air pollution and infant microbial nasal carriage in a Ghanaian cohort.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia, a leading cause of childhood mortality, is associated with household air pollution (HAP) exposure. Mechanisms between HAP and pneumonia are poorly understood, but studies suggest that HAP may increase the likelihood of bacterial, instead of viral, pneumonia. We assessed the relationship between HAP and infant microbial nasal carriage among 260 infants participating in the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS). METHODS: Data are from GRAPHS, a cluster-randomized controlled trial of cookstove interventions (improved biomass or LPG) versus the 3-stone (baseline) cookstove. Infants were surveyed for pneumonia during the first year of life and had routine personal exposure assessments. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected from pneumonia cases (n?=?130) and healthy controls (n?=?130) were analyzed for presence of 22 common respiratory microbes by MassTag polymerase chain reaction. Data analyses included intention-to-treat (ITT) comparisons of microbial species presence by study arm, and exposure-response relationships. RESULTS: In ITT analyses, 3-stone arm participants had a higher mean number of microbial species than the LPG (LPG: 2.71, 3-stone: 3.34, p?<?0.0001, n?=?260). This difference was driven by increased bacterial (p?<?0.0001) rather than viral species presence (non-significant). Results were pronounced in pneumonia cases and attenuated in healthy controls. Higher prevalence bacterial species were Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Moraxella catarrhalis. Exposure-response relationships did not yield significant associations between measured CO and nasal microbial carriage. CONCLUSIONS: Our intention-to-treat findings are consistent with a link between HAP and bacterial nasal carriage. No relationships were found for viral carriage. Given the null results in exposure-response analysis, it is likely that a pollutant besides CO is driving these differences

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Causal Relationship Among Foreign Bank Presence, Financial Development and Inclusive Growth in Africa.

The study examined 28 African countries using data collected between 2000 and 2015, and sourced data from Bank Scope (BS), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).We used principal component analysis to create inclusive growth index with a focus on inclusive growth based on the ADB framework. Due to data limitations, the study used 11 variables that were normalized before being used to generate an inclusive growth index. These variables include 11 such as Access to clean fuels and technology (% population), Control of corruption estimate, Government effectiveness estimate, Voice and Accountability estimate, Access to electricity (% population), GDP per capita (PPP constant 2017, US$), People using at least basic sanitation (% population), People using at least basic drinking water (%population), Human development index, Employment to population ratio (15 years and above), Mobile cellular subscriptions per 1000 adults. All these 11 variables were sourced from World Bank with exception of HDI which was sourced from Human development report office. The validity of the index was tested using various statistical measures. Additionally, the study employed the Svirydzenka financial development index, which contains nine indices to capture the multidimensional nature of the financial sector. This was also sourced from IMF. The measurement scale ranges from 0 to 1, where a variable closer to 1 indicates a higher level of development in the financial sector, while a variable closer to 0 suggests a less developed financial sector.Finally, the study used the share of bank assets held by foreign banks as a percentage of total assets to measure FBP, with data sourced from Bank Scope. The study limited the study period to 2015 because the estimation technique employed required no missing values, and the data on FBP was only available for that year. A variable closer to zero (0) indicates that there are more domestic banks, while the opposite is true for a variable further away from zer