Assessing Public Perception of Beach Quality for Ecotourism Development: A Case Study in Kokrobite Beach in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Tourism has become a major economic force in the world in recent times and seen as one of the fastest growing sectors of the 21st century. Over the years, tourism sector in Ghana has seen a drastic growth and ranked as the fourth foreign exchange earner for the country with a contribution of 6.2% to GDP in 2008 and 6.9% in 2011. However, tourism in Ghana still remains largely undeveloped and leaves much to be desired; with minimal support for tourism infrastructure. The objective of this paper is to assess the public preferences in selecting a beach and their perceptions of the quality of Kokrobite beach to recommend some management strategies and policies toward tourism development. A reconnaissance survey was conducted, followed by a survey of 150 beach users to collect relevant data. The study revealed that the preference for Kokrobite beach is influenced by specific characteristics such as less noise, security and landscape. Most of the tourists were satisfied with the availability of restaurants and bars, accommodation, noise level and access to the beach. They were, however, not satisfied with the level of sanitation and toilet facilities. It is recommended that the conservation of the natural environment, sanitation and an improvement in toilet facilities should be treated with utmost priority by managers of the beach to promote its patronage. Fencing of the beach was also recommended to prevent intrusion by humans as well as animals. Sea defense is also recommended to be built to check erosion, and lighting systems provided to promote the use of the beach at night. Key words: Environment, Greater Accra, landscape, Kokrobite beach, tourism and sanitation

Partisan political connections, ethnic tribalism, and firm performance

This paper investigates the impact of partisan political connections and ethnic tribalism on firm performance in a hyper-partisan political environment. Although existing literature generally shows that political connections improve firm performance, we argue that under the theory of electoral competition, political connections can be a double-edged sword because of the tension of partisan politics. Hence, we expect that changes in government can affect firm performance. Using a unique dataset from Nigeria, we find that political connections are valuable when a firm's patron party is in power, whereas they are detrimental to firm value when their patron party is in opposition. Furthermore, we find that CEO ethnic tribal affiliation with the President improves firm performance even when the firm's patron party is in opposition. This paper extends the literature on political connections and helps managers and policymakers understand the timely use of political connections in a hyper-partisan environment

Effect of Irradiation and Storage on the Physico-chemical Properties of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) Powder under Solar and Freeze-Dried Conditions in Ghana

A study was conducted to assess the effect of irradiation and storage on the physico-chemical properties of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) powder under solar dried and freeze-dried conditions in Ghana.  Forty kilogrammes (40 kg) of tomato fruits were obtained for the study. The fruits were solar and freeze dried and tomato powder obtained from them. These were exposed to gamma radiation from 1-3 kGy, with 0 kGy as control. The parameters investigated in the study for the two-month period include; moisture content, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, pH and colour.  The pH of the samples ranged from 4.02 to 6.18, moisture content from 12.55% to 23.47%, total titratable acidity from 0.11% to 0.99%, total soluble solids from 4.80% to 5.06%, L*(colour) from 32.71 to 36.97, a* (colour) from 6.69 to 22.02 and b*(colour) from 14.38 to 22.91. Gamma radiation did not affect moisture content of the samples, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity and pH (p>0.05). Gamma irradiation affected the colour of the samples significantly (p<0.05). Key words: irradiation, storage, moisture content, pH, total soluble solids, solar dried, freeze dried, Akoma, month

Designing a Mechanical System That Will Be Used To Extract and Separate Lemon Grass Oil

ABSTRACT Lemon grass is broadly used in medicine, perfumery industry, vitamin A manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. The need for lemon grass oil, especially in human health and its problem of extracting the oil, have directed this paper in designing a mechanical system that will be used to extract and separate lemon grass oil. The extraction of essential oil from lemon grass was done using direct steam distillation process. In all, three concepts were developed based on the orientation of the condensers, source of power, and method of oil production. The three (3) concepts were evaluated and the best concept was selected as the final design. Design analysis was performed on each part to determine their specification, the material to be used and manufacturing processes for the fabrication. Two tests were performed to determine the performance of machine and the quality of the oil produced. From the results, it can be established that the prototype machine developed can be used to extract lemon grass oil from the leaves. The efficiencies were then computed and favorable results were obtained. Also, the results obtained for the four tests responded positive given an indication of the pureness of the oil. It can then be concluded that the prototype machine developed can be used to extract lemon grass oil from the leaves and its efficiency ranges from 2.37 to 3.95 ml/kg and it is economically viable, effective and efficient

A Survey of the Benthic Macrofauna and Fish Species Assemblages in a Mangrove Habitat in Ghana

In order to enhance ecological knowledge for coastal and mangrove  ecosystem conservation in Ghana, the study documents the taxonomic groups of benthic macrofauna and fish assemblages in an urban mangrove swamp as its fundamental objective with emphasis on their composition, richness and diversity. This is because benthic and fish fauna of mangrove habitats are amongst the least studied biota in Ghana. Fish and benthos sampling was undertaken from five randomly selected pools within a mangrove stand during the wet and dry seasons using pole-seine net (7 m long and 1.5 m depth, with stretched mesh size of 5 mm) and an Ekman grab (15 cm × 15 cm dimensions), respectively. All samples were  preserved in 10% formalin for laboratory analysis. The results indicated a more diverse macrozoobenthic community in the wet (H¹ = 1.8) than dry season (H¹ = 1.5) . Overall, five out of a total of 13 genera found are intolerant to pollution and four moderately tolerant, while four comprising polychaetes and the midge Chironomus, are pollution tolerant. This suggests that the mangrove habitat is less polluted. A grand total of 917 fish specimens, belonging to 15 species and nine families, were encountered for both seasons (371 and 546 specimens for wet and dry seasons, respectively). The black-chinned tilapia, Sarotherodon  melanotheron, was the dominant fish species in the wet season, accounting for 54.2% of the total fish caught, whilst the grey mullets, Mugil babanensis and Mugil curema, were the dominant species in the dry season, with a combined total of 51.4% of the fish population. However, over 70% of these dominant fish species from both seasons were juveniles providing a strong justification for the observation that the mangrove habitats are nursery grounds for fish inhabiting adjacent riverine, estuarine and inshore marine habitats. Considering this relevance of mangroves and the ongoing conversion attempts of mangrove habitats to other land uses, a concerted mangroves conservation effort is strongly advocated

Representation of Africa online: sourcing practice and frames of reference

The dominant perspective on the representation of Africa in the western media claims that western media coverage is bias and crisis orientated and the liberal perspective claims that the coverage of Africa is not as negative as is often assumed. However, there is a paucity of literature on the representation of Africa online. This research enquiry is relevant because literature claims that the Internet has the potential to resolve the journalistic predicament of representing other culture through political participation and deliberation. But this requires a re-orientation of the sourcing practice of news organization to embrace sensitivity to and knowledge of African cultures. Moreover, the journalistic predicament can be resolved or not depending on the news gathering approach adopted by the news organization. Literature has identified two approaches, that is, ‘gatekeeping’ used mainly by dominant traditional media and ‘gatewatching’ used by alternative media in their quest to counter mainstream ideology. This study examines the impacts of the ‘gatewatching’ approach adopted by Africa Have Your Say (AHYS) website on its representation and frames of reference of Africa. It uses on-site observation, in-depth interviews and textual analysis to gather data. The study found that although the sourcing practice at the AHYS is elaborate and complex, the ‘gatewatching’ approach makes its susceptible to second level agenda setting. Hence, its frame repeats the attributes and tone used by the mainstream traditional media. However, a minority of users did not use repeat this frame in their comments

Reduced Bacterial Counts from a Sewage Treatment Plant but Increased Counts and Antibiotic Resistance in the Recipient Stream in Accra, Ghana-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Wastewater treatment plants receive sewage containing high concentrations of bacteria and antibiotics. We assessed bacterial counts and their antibiotic resistance patterns in water from (a) influents and effluents of the Legon sewage treatment plant (STP) in Accra, Ghana and (b) upstream, outfall, and downstream in the recipient Onyasia stream. We conducted a cross-sectional study of quality-controlled water testing (January-June 2018). In STP effluents, mean bacterial counts (colony-forming units/100 mL) had reduced E. coli (99.9% reduction; 102,266,667 to 710), A. hydrophila (98.8%; 376,333 to 9603), and P. aeruginosa (99.5%; 5,666,667 to 1550). Antibiotic resistance was significantly reduced for tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime, and ceftazidime and increased for gentamicin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and imipenem. The highest levels were for amoxicillin/clavulanate (50-97%) and aztreonam (33%). Bacterial counts increased by 98.8% downstream compared to the sewage outfall and were predominated by E. coli, implying intense fecal contamination from other sources. There was a progressive increase in antibiotic resistance from upstream, to outfall, to downstream. The highest resistance was for amoxicillin/clavulanate (80-83%), cefuroxime (47-73%), aztreonam (53%), and ciprofloxacin (40%). The STP is efficient in reducing bacterial counts and thus reducing environmental contamination. The recipient stream is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria listed as critically important for human use, which needs addressing

Haemophilus influenzae Infection Drives IL-17-Mediated Neutrophilic Allergic Airways Disease

A subset of patients with stable asthma has prominent neutrophilic and reduced eosinophilic inflammation, which is associated with attenuated airways hyper-responsiveness (AHR). Haemophilus influenzae has been isolated from the airways of neutrophilic asthmatics; however, the nature of the association between infection and the development of neutrophilic asthma is not understood. Our aim was to investigate the effects of H. influenzae respiratory infection on the development of hallmark features of asthma in a mouse model of allergic airways disease (AAD). BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and intranasally challenged with OVA 12–15 days later to induce AAD. Mice were infected with non-typeable H. influenzae during or 10 days after sensitization, and the effects of infection on the development of key features of AAD were assessed on day 16. T-helper 17 cells were enumerated by fluorescent-activated cell sorting and depleted with anti-IL-17 neutralizing antibody. We show that infection in AAD significantly reduced eosinophilic inflammation, OVA-induced IL-5, IL-13 and IFN-γ responses and AHR; however, infection increased airway neutrophil influx in response to OVA challenge. Augmented neutrophilic inflammation correlated with increased IL-17 responses and IL-17 expressing macrophages and neutrophils (early, innate) and T lymphocytes (late, adaptive) in the lung. Significantly, depletion of IL-17 completely abrogated infection-induced neutrophilic inflammation during AAD. In conclusion, H. influenzae infection synergizes with AAD to induce Th17 immune responses that drive the development of neutrophilic and suppress eosinophilic inflammation during AAD. This results in a phenotype that is similar to neutrophilic asthma. Infection-induced neutrophilic inflammation in AAD is mediated by IL-17 responses