Elements of Working Conditions and Retention of Course Tutors in Distance Education in Ghana

This study examined the relationship between elements of working conditions and retention of course tutors facilitating distance academic programmes in Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional survey design from the quantitative approach was adopted for the study. A sample of 612 tutors was drawn with the help of simple random and stratified sampling techniques from a study population of 2,700 from two public universities in Ghana—the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba. The study adopted the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling technique for the analysis of the results. It was found that elements of working conditions, such as compensation, workload and welfare, had a statistically and significant relationship with retention of course tutors. In conclusion, compensation, workload and welfare influence retention of part-time academic staff in distance education programmes in Ghana. Therefore, it was recommended that the management of the two universities should introduce attractive compensation and welfare packages for their course tutors facilitating their distance education programmes. It was also suggested that tutors assist in the enrolment drive for students, since more students lead to better working conditions through the workload as an element of working conditions.&nbsp

Poisson derivations of a semiclassical limit of a family of quantum second Weyl algebras

In [16], we studied deformations Aa,b of the second Weyl algebra and computed their derivations. In the present paper, we identify the semiclassical limits of these deformations and compute their Poisson derivations. Our results show that the first Hochschild cohomology group HH1(Aa,b) is isomorphic to the first Poisson cohomology group HP1(Aa,b).

Examining the Challenges of Procurement Professionals in a Public Institution: The Case of WA Polytechnic, in the Upper West Region of Ghana

The research work was titled “Examining the Challenges of Procurement Professionals in a Public institution, “WA Polytechnic, in the Upper West Region of Ghana was chosen as a case of study.The research work was organized into five coherent chapters. Chapter one was basically the introductory part of the research work. An extensive literature on the research work was piled up at chapter two.Methodology such as the use of questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data for the research.Interesting findings such as problems faced by procurement professionals in public institutions were discovered from the research. Some of these problems included long and cumbersome procurement procedure, low threshold, inadequate funds from Ghana.Education Trust Fund(GetFund)  to complete Getfund projects, no representation of procurement managers to serve on entity tender committees in public institutions, Inadequate funds to support projects, Political interference from government and many others.Benefits that accrued from procuring of goods, works and services at WA polytechnic were also revealed from the research.The research was concluded with the statement that even though the work of procurement professionals come with a lot of challenges, their presence is necessary in every business entity since they help in ensuring better utilization of funds and many others.The research finally ended with recommendations that, The Government of Ghana should endeavor to review the Public procurement Act, 2003(Act 663) to limit the number of steps in the procurement process so as to reduce the level of bureaucracy in the system.Moreover, government subventions allocated to WA polytechnic should be paid on time and the actual budget amount or funds needed to support projects should be given much consideration by government in order to undertake and support projects successfully. Keywords: Procurement Professionals, Challenges, Public Institution, Ghana Education Fund (GETFUND)  

Allelopathic Effect of Topsoil Extract From Tectona grandis L. Plantation on the Germination of Lycopersicum esculentum

The use of topsoil extracts transferred from Tectona grandis L. plantation to explore similar effects and use of the leaf, bark and root extracts on germination and growth of Lycopersicum esculentum is presented. The study was designed to determine the effect of variation of masses of topsoil extracts from teak plantation on the germination and growth response of tomato seeds planted on another soil whose physico - chemical analysis indicate that it can support plant growth. The topsoil extracts were collected in 5kg, 5.5kg, 6kg and 6.5kg packs and respectively spread on 4 mini - plots each with 3 replications and containing 50 planted tomato seeds. The control was the mini - plot without any topsoil extracts. The results showed that the topsoil extracts were able to suppress the germination of the tomato seeds and the effect increased with the mass used. There was a significantly progressive decrease in the mean tall lengths of the seedlings with mass of topsoil indicating a growth inhibition. However, the effect was not very much pronounced in the comparison of the mean values of the short lengths of the seedlings. Key words: Allelopathy,  topsoil extracts, germinatio

Antecedents of marketing climate change adaption construction materials: Evidence from Ghana

Purpose: Climate Change affects all countries in the world. It impacts negatively on the living conditions of humankind, especially livelihood, temperature change, rainfall regime, and rise in tidal waves. Design/Methodology/Approach: The population in the real estate industry. A descriptive design was used, including questionnaires, to gather data. Since the study sought to examine the willingness to purchase accordingly, a logit regression model was used to predict the likelihood that the dependent variable willingness to pay (WTP) equals 1 (rather than 0). Findings: Income level, price of the products, respondent’s age, gender, and availability of policies concerning eco-friendly products and identified associated health risks positively influence respondents’ WTP. The study reveals that in the real estate sector of the Ghanaian economy, there is a positive WTP eco-friendly roofing product; hence, entrepreneurs and investors should take advantage of the urgency to reduce the impact of climate change in Ghana by investing in eco-friendly products for both the real estate and construction sectors of the economy. Recommendations: The results show that any eco-friendly roof material must raise consumer awareness about the effects of climate change and shape consumer perceptions

Examining graphemic and lexical anglicisms in Twi for academic purposes in textbooks written in Twi

This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on Clyne’s (1977) Borrowing Typology and Haugen’s (1950) Borrowability Scale. Three key findings emerged from the analysis. First, the study yielded that in TAP two letters (<v>,  and <j>) are borrowed towards empowering Asante Twi to enable it to account for words that contain these letters. Second, at the lexical level, it was found that the borrowed words were either integrated or adapted into Asante Twi linguistic environment. The final point was that all the lexical items realized were nominals affirming the primacy of noun on borrowability scales. The findings have implications for developing Ghanaian languages for academic purposes.This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on Clyne’s (1977) Borrowing Typology and Haugen’s (1950) Borrowability Scale. Three key findings emerged from the analysis. First, the study yielded that in TAP two letters (<v>,  and <j>) are borrowed towards empowering Asante Twi to enable it to account for words that contain these letters. Second, at the lexical level, it was found that the borrowed words were either integrated or adapted into Asante Twi linguistic environment. The final point was that all the lexical items realized were nominals affirming the primacy of noun on borrowability scales. The findings have implications for developing Ghanaian languages for academic purposes

Evaluation of individual and combined markers of urine dipstick parameters and total lymphocyte count as a substitute for CD4 count in low-resource communities in Ghana

We evaluated the individual and combined levels of urine dipstick and total lymphocyte count (TLC) as surrogate markers for CD4 count in a low-resource community in Ghana. This cross-sectional study recruited 200 HIV-infected patients from the Saint Francis Xavier Hospital, Assin Fosu, Ghana. Complete blood count, CD4 count, and urine dipstick analysis were measured for participants. The threshold values were determined as

Economic Analysis of Rubber Agroforestry Systems in Ghana

Even though rubber contributes massively to Ghana’s economy, smallholder rubber farmers’ inability to wait for about 6-8 years to see the benefits constrains establishment and expansion of the rubber subsector. To lessen the waiting time to the benefits, an option exists to intercrop rubber with food crops. Cost benefits analysis of rubber/plantain intercropping system under different treatments on two experimental plots for sole crop plantain (P) and three intercropping treatments consisting of one (PR), two (PPR) and three (PPPR) rows of plantain each between two rows of rubber each were carried out to assess the most viable. Analysis using discounted cash flow was used to determine the benefit/cost ratio (BCR), net present value (NPV) in addition to internal rate of return (IRR) at 25 % interest rate. All the rubber/plantain intercropping systems (PR, PPR and PPPR) were found to be profitable from the results. The highest return of GHȻ40, 331 (USD 9,379) per hectare from plantain over the period of two years was realized from the PPPR cropping system. Additional analysis performed to assess the profitability of rubber/plantain intercropping systems by varying the price of plantain, discount rate and the total cost of production showed that the systems were all profitable. The PPPR was the most profitable with the highest income to smallholder farmers. Extension education by the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Ghana Rubber Estates Limited and support to rubber farmers to access credit can help in farmers’ adoption of rubber agroforestry system

HEALER2: a framework for secure data lake towards healthcare digital transformation efforts in low and middle-income countries.

Low and middle-income countries are vigorously digitizing their operations in the healthcare sector as steps in the digital transformation journey. However, some of the basic principles in information security are being skipped. This has a tendency to introduce fundamental vulnerabilities in the core foundation of their healthcare IT infrastructure. This paper, therefore, assessed e-health strategies in Africa and proposed a data lake framework for healthcare IT infrastructure which is deemed secure, privacy-preserving and economically efficient

Impact of exercise intensity on oxidative stress and selected metabolic markers in young adults in Ghana

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different levels of exercise on markers of oxidative stress and selected metabolic parameters in Ghanaian young adults. Results Significant increases in a marker of oxidative stress malondialdehyde and antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and uric acid were observed in the exercisers compared with the inactive group (p < 0.05). Total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein levels were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Positive associations between exercise intensity, antioxidant concentration and malondialdehyde were observed within the exercise group for vigorous exercise with regards to uric acid, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde (r = 0.512, p = 0.004; r = 0.810, p = 0.001; r = 0.715, p = 0.001) respectively and moderate exercise vs malondialdehyde (r = 0.841, p = 0.001) compared to the inactive group. Exercise participants performed more vigorous exercise (p < 0.001), moderate exercise (p < 0.001) and more walking (p < 0.001) compared with the inactive group while the inactive group exhibited more sitting (p < 0.001). The study provides a first report on the risk associated with increase in oxidative stress and the importance of walking as a health promotion intervention among young Ghanaian adults