Road Use Behaviour of Urban Primary School Children in Ghana: Case Study of Ablekuma South Education Circuit of Metropolitan Accra

School children form majority of injured children on Ghanaian roads. The objective was to observe the road use behaviour of public primary school pupils in Ablekuma Education Circuit, Accra. This unobtrusive observational study targeted Primary one to six pupils. Five behaviours were studied: Walking while crossing road; Stopping at the kerb; Looking left-right-left before crossing; Keep looking left-right-left while crossing and Facing traffic while walking. 882 pu­pils on their way to or from school were observed from eight schools. A little over two in three children stopped at the kerb before crossing the road while almost three in four children looked for cars before stepping off the kerb. A little over three in four children walked while crossing and less than one in four children kept looking while crossing. Not looking for cars before crossing, not facing on-coming traffic and not keeping looking for cars while crossing, were more associated with boys than girls (p < 0.001; 95%CI in all cases). Girls behaved significant­ly more safely than boys. In stopping at the kerb, there was no difference in gender behaviour (p < 0.135; 95%CI). Child Road Safety Education in Schools and Communities is recommended

Noise Pollution in Teshie-Nungua Schools

Schools located in the Teshie-Nungua area a suburb of Accra, have their background noise levels above 55 dB, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended noise level in educational facility. A maximum noise level (Lmax) value of 95.8 dB and a minimum noise level (Lmin) value of 51.6 dB were recorded. In this paper, a Quest Technologies 210 Model sound level meter equipped with a microphone had been used to measure noise levels in schools around the Teshie-Nungua area. It has been shown that about 90 % of the measured schools presented equivalent noise levels (Leq) above 72.5 dB. Pupils were exposed to a high noise pollution level (LNP) value of 95.8 dB and the day and night noise levels (Ldn) in and around the target schools were all above 72 dB. About 98% of schools in the Teshie-Nungua area do not have acoustic materials to minimize noise levels has been established. It was observed that schools in the study area are located in mixed commercial and semi-commercial areas. Nearly 80 % of survey respondents ranked Constant Traffic as number one source of noise. These measured noise levels have the potential to adversely affect the hearing of the pupils in these schools if the required sound proof mechanism is not put in place. Keywords: Equivalent noise level, Noise level, Noise pollution, Teshie-Nungua

A Low Cost Synthesis and Characterization of CuO Nanoparticles for Photovoltaic Applications

A simple low cost chemical route has been used to synthesize cupric oxide nanoparticles. The synthesized CuO nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, TEM and UV-absorption. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the synthesized nanoparticles to be a pure cupric oxide. EDAX analysis showed the presence of copper and Oxygen in the as prepared CuO nano particles, with the AAS indicating that Cu2+ represented 53.5% of the sample. The particle size and particle size distribution of the cupric oxide nanoparticles were obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) whereas the crystallite size and crystallite size distribution were obtained by X-ray diffraction. The particle size was found to be between 20 nm and 60 nm. The particle size distribution obtained from cumulative percentage frequency plots features a log-normal function. Absorbance measurements and analysis showed that the material has an absorbance peak at 314 nm and energy bandgap of 1.48 eV, making it a good candidate for photovoltaic applications

The Ghana Highway Code as a Teaching and Learning Material

The Ghana Highway Code is the official state-recognised traffic teaching and learning ma­terial widely used in traffic schools and by motorists in Ghana. Ghana changed its traffic from left-hand to right-hand drive in 1974; the Code was subsequently published to, besides other reasons, guide road users to be reconditioned to a fresh standard of behaviour. However, 46 years after its publication, the content of the Code has been outgrown by new developments in the road environment and traffic systems, rendering the Code ineffective. Content analysis was used to ascertain the validity and reliability of the Code. Out of 95 mo­torists interviewed, 91.5% indicated they use or had ever used the Code, while 3.2% had not used it before and 5.3% did not know about it at all. Hundred percent of driving schools used the Code as teaching and learning material. It was concluded that the Code was an obsolete teaching and learning material. The implication was that, the wide user population of the Code had an adverse impact on learners. It was recommended that the Code be revised and republished as new edition

Charge Transfer via Temporary Bonds in C60+C60+C_{60} + C_{60}^+ Molecular Collisions

We present a theoretical description of resonant charge transfer in collisions of nano-particles, specifically for $C_{60} + C_{60}^+$ collisions. We predict that transient bonds between colliding fullerenes can significantly extend the interaction time, allowing for a greater probability of charge transfer. In our model, the dumbbell-shaped $(C_{60}-C_{60})^+$ quasi-molecule, that is temporarily formed during the collision, is described as a dynamic system of 120 zero-range potentials. Using this model, we calculate the exchange interaction between colliding fullerenes and subsequently determine the corresponding charge transfer cross sections at different collision velocities. Our results have been verified with data obtained from quantum molecular dynamics simulations of the fullerene collisions. The presented theoretical model provides a description of the experimental data on the $C_{60} + C_{60}^+$ resonant charge transfer collision through the inclusion of the temporary formation of dumbbell-shaped fullerene molecules at low collision velocities.Comment: 5 pages (6 if you include citations), 3 figure

City dynamics: mobility and livelihoods of urban residents

City dynamics: mobility and livelihoods of urban resident

Performance of oysters in reciprocal transplants between two Ghanaian lagoons

Oyster spat were reciprocally transplanted between Benya Lagoon at Elmina and Nakwa Lagoon at Nakwa and grown on cultches. Shell growth, dry meat weight, and survival of the transplants were monitored for at least six months and compared with their counterparts at their new locations as well as their places of origin. Temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, pH, salinity and transparency of the water bodies were also monitored. In Benya Lagoon, growth in shell height of the transplants were higher than their counterparts in Nakwa but lower than resident indigenes in the first experiment. In the second trial, shell growth of the transplants and their two counterparts were comparable. Survival of oysters introduced into Benya Lagoons was significantly higher than both indigenous counterparts. In both experiments, oysters transplanted from Benya to Nakwa did not survive beyond the second month. These observations were attributed to differences in the salinity and transparency which were relatively unstable in the Nakwa Lagoon. It could be inferred from the results that transplantation of spat from a widely fluctuating environmental background to seed a more stable habitat would be a viable venture. Furthermore, better results are likely to be achieved during the main spatfall season. JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 1 Number 2, January (1999) pp. 78-8

Aspects of the dynamics of the inshore and offshore populations of Brachydeuterus auritus (Family: Haemulidae) in Ghana

Growth and mortality parameters of the bigeye grunt populations in Ghana were estimated from length-frequency data collected between November 1993 and October 1995. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters, L4, K and to, were estimated as 23.0 cm TL, 1.20 yr-1 and - 0.14 yr, respectively, for the inshore population, and 22.7 cm TL, 1.16 yr-1 and -0.15 yr, respectively, for the offshore population. The growth performance index was calculated as 2.80 for the inshore population and 2.78 for the offshore population. Estimates of the mortality coefficients were: Z = 6.40 yr-1, M = 2.14 yr-1 and F = 4.26 yr-1 for the inshore population, and Z = 6.40 yr-1, M = 2.10 yr-1 and F = 4.30 yr-1 for the offshore population. Similar estimates of the exploitation rate (E = 0.67) were obtained for the two populations. This value exceeds the optimum (Eopt) of 0.46 and 0.57 derived by the yield-per-recruit analysis for the inshore and offshore populations, respectively. These observations suggest the over-exploitation of the B. auritus populations. JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 2 No. 3 (2000) pp. 113-12