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First and foremost, I thank God the Almighty for given me strength, wisdom and opportunity to complete this thesis successfully. This thesis could not have been done without the support and encouragement from many people. I am very indebted to my supervisor, Mr. Charles Sebel, for his excellent guid- ance,direction, invaluable feedback, his constructive suggestions, detailed correc- tions, support and encouragement: played enormous role resulted in this success- ful project. I would like to extend my wormiest gratitude to all the academic and administra- tive sta of the department of mathematics of KNUST.Especially to the lecturers or tutors' who took us through the latex tutorial seminar. I also own thanks and appreciate to the entire Fiele's family for their encouragement and support. I thank the Manager and sta of Ghana Commercial Bank, Obuasi for allowing the collection of data for the onward study. Finally, this e ort would not be possible without my sister and brothers; their e orts and sacri ces have been of great helped towards the completion of this thesis. More so, I am immensely indebted to James for always picking my calls when I needed him for direction and correction in the use of the latex document.
(KNUST, 2019-05-22) Fiele Abudu Suleman
Waiting for services is a phenomenon in Ghana. We wait to eat in restaurants, we queue to board buses, we line up for service in post o_ce and in banks either to deposit or withdraw money. The waiting phenomenon is not an experience limited to human beings only but objects too. Jobs wait to be processed on a machine, planes circle in stack before getting permission to land at an airport and cars stop at traffic lights waiting for their turn. Waiting cannot be elimi- nated entirely without incurring inordinate expenses and the goal is to reduce its adverse impact to a tolerable levels. The objective of this study is to use already available systems to identify and also make known the effects and rami_cations of keeping customers waiting in the queue and also the cost banks had to bear if idle facilities are not put into good use, with special emphasis on Obuasi branch of GCB. The queuing char- acteristics at the bank were analyzed using a Multi-server single-queue Model to achieve this major objective. Data for this study was collected by direct obser- vation with the help of research assistants, a stop watch to record the number of hours/minutes spent by each customer at the bank. The data collected from the bank showed that 28th of June, from an hour of 9:30am-10:30am recorded the highest number of customers in the waiting line(113) whiles the least num- ber of customers (17) in the waiting line was recorded on 18th of July hour of 9:00am-10:00am. customers had to wait an average of 0.0165 hours in the queue and 0.0183 hours in the system before leaving the bank. We _nally suggested that, queuing theory is worth studying; the _ndings of it can be used by managers of banks to determine and install the optimum service facilities or in other words put in place the appropriate technologies to help deal with long queues in their banks.
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Effect of traditional processing of hausa koko (millet porridge) and ekoegbeme (cooked dehulled maize grits) on aflatoxins.
(KNUST, 2019-06) Ankomah, Albert
Aflatoxin is produced as secondary metabolites by fungi Aspergillus flavus, A.parasiticus and A. nominusmoulds. These fungi grow on various crop such as nuts, maize, millet and other grains. Chronic dietary ingestion of low dose of aflatoxin is a risk factor for liver cancer, however ingestion of high doses of aflatoxin contaminated food can result in aflatoxicosis with symptoms including vomiting, abdominal pains and jaundice. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of traditional processes of Hausa koko (millet porridge) and “ekoegbeme" (cooked dehulled maize grit) on aflatoxin. The level of aflatoxin G1, G2, B1, B2 and total aflatoxins were measured at the end of the various processing stages of each food product by HPLC method. The processing stage that produced significant reduction was identified by using ANOVA. Overall, processing of “ekoegbeme” resulted in more aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin reduction than the processes involved in preparing Hausa koko. Fermentation of millet during Hausa koko processing resulted in 13.97 % and 4.82 % reduction in aflatoxin B2 and B1 respectively with total aflatoxin reduction of 4.9% while cooking of the fermented filtrate to Hausa koko resulted in 0.70 % and 1.85 % reduction in aflatoxin B2 and B1 respectively as well as 1.49 % reduction in total aflatoxin. However the steeping of the millet caused an increase of 11.88% and 7.67% in the aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin respectively. The dehulling of the maize during preparation of ekoegbeme resulted in 100% reduction in aflatoxins while cooking of the maize resulted in 11.52 % reduction in total aflatoxin as well as 5.95 %, 3.97 %, 41.53 % reduction in aflatoxin B1, B2 and G1 respectively. There was no aflatoxin G2 detected in the maize and millet samples used for the investigations.
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Akan Religio-Cultural Thought and Environmental Management: The Case of the Atiwa District, Ghana
(KNUST, 2018-11) Antwi, Joseph Kofi Rev
There are a number of academic studies that suggest that conservational values embedded in religio-cultural thoughts could be used in collaboration with science in finding lasting solutions to the environmental problems. However, despite these abundant studies and advocacy, successive governments of Ghana have ignored these in environmental management strategies. Using the Atiwa district in the Eastern Region of Ghana, as a case study, this study explores the reasons why policy-decision makers have not factored the Akan religio-cultural thoughts into environmental management in Ghana. Three qualitative techniques were employed in this study: key-informant personal interviews, participant’s observation and focus-group discussion. Data from the fieldwork were analysed to discover relationships, facts and assumptions that addressed the objectives of the study using the ethnographic research analysis tool. The study reveals that Akan religio-cultural thought comprises primarily the thinking patterns, values, beliefs and practices of the indigenous people and expressed through myths, customs, traditions, proverbs, beliefs and practices, values and moral systems, and they continue to shape the life of the people, including their ecological knowledge. The study further shows that Akans express their environmental conservational potentials through indigenous resources such as the concept of Kraboa (Totems), Sasa-tumi (Spirits), Sacred groves, Gyedua (Trees), Asaase Yaa (Mother Earth), and others. The study notes that the people have been relying on these conservational strategies since time immemorial, long before the encounter with Westernisation. To be able to harness their conservational potentials today, it is proposed that the religio-cultural thoughts must be ennobled to serve as a guide to environmental managers in formulating new policies of conserving the environment not only in Atiwa, but other communities in Ghana.
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Virtualization of knust’s tangible heritage: an Alternative medium to enhance access
(KNUST, 2020-11) Asiamah, Kwabena Ofori
Indisputably, museums provide research, educational and recreational benefits to mankind. This has been carried out manually for centuries. But with the emergence, and spread of Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) this manual services are changing rapidly to virtual services; all because the current generation of students and researchers alike unconsciously resonate towards electronic platforms to access and utilize information. Not very mindful of this, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology attempted to establish a brick and mortar museum between 2002 -2012 to showcase her heritage but to no avail. Meanwhile huge sums of money, technical and managerial resources had gone into it. In order to salvage such investment and to be able to enjoy the benefits inherent in museum services, the idea of a virtual museum was hatched as an alternative medium to achieve the same goals. The study therefore, analyzed museum services in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), designed, developed and implemented a demonstration virtual museum (Virtual Museum of KNUST– (VIMU KNUST) and finally evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of VIMU KNUST in enhancing access to KNUST’s tangible Heritage. In advocating for the creation of such a resource, the Sequential Exploratory Design in (mixed method) was employed. Questionnaires, interviews, documentary reviews and observation were used to gather data. Initial assessment results were reinforced by a subsequent survey in order to be sure of the preference of the virtual museum by the University. Additionally, a demonstration virtual museum was designed for evaluation and the evaluated opinions were used to refine it for implementation. Analysis of Data revealed that, apart from access enhancement of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s (KNUST) heritage by the Virtual Museum (VIMU KNUST), it will also provide monetary, visibility and educational benefits. More so, it became evident that the preference of the university community was on a virtual museum where patrons could sit anywhere and access it via the internet. As a sequel to these, the study recommended among others that the University Management Committee prioritizes the creation of a virtual museum as needed by the University community while ensuring that, the resource is well advertised and that the interactivity as well as navigability features of the resource is up to task.
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Health and safety knowledge transfer and diffusion From the construction industry to the community as a Corporate social responsibility
(KNUST, 2020-06) Williams, Justice
Clear evidences have shown that poor state of health and safety cultural practices have existed among Ghanaian citizenry. This has created much debate among government, academics, religious bodies, opinion leaders and the media, thereby calling for immediate action to improve the situation. Reports from some national institutions like The National Statistical Service Report, (2016) and the Ghana National Fire Service Incident Report, (2016) have pointed out the urgent need to improve the state of Health and safety in the country. The reports have acknowledged that ignorance and negligence rank high as causes of most health and safety problems reported in the country. In recent years, awareness of Health and safety in the construction industry has increased. Meanwhile, these construction companies operate in the communities and are socially expected to go beyond the execution of their projects and engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a give back to society. However, contractors complain about several factors that affect their ability to fulfil this expectation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a framework for the transfer of health and safety knowledge and its diffusion into Ghanaian communities by construction companies as a corporate social responsibility. In order to facilitate the understanding of the processes of transferring knowledge from a construction company to the Ghanaian communities, two theories were integrated: innovation diffusion theory and knowledge transfer and conversion theory. Through a questionnaire survey and semistructured face-to-face interviews, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from road and building contractors of all classes across the country. The data were analysed using chi-square test of independence, one sample t-test, cumulative scale analysis and factor analysis for the quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative studies confirmed the improvement of health and safety knowledge in the Ghanaian construction industry. The study found that road contractors are better performers in Health and safety than building contractors. Furthermore, the study established that the maturity of health and safety culture in the Ghanaian construction industry is at its first stage of the health and safety culture maturity ladder. The study further found six major challenges confronted by Ghanaian contractors engaged in corporate social responsibility. Topmost among these are the view that Ghanaian contractors have of i v CSR as avoidable expense, the absence of a legal framework to guide CSR implementation and lack of incorporation of CSR into the Vision and Mission Statements of organisations. The study also identified five knowledge transfer enablers and four barriers to knowledge transfer from the Ghanaian construction firms to the communities. Six enablers were also found to be significant in diffusion of knowledge in the Ghanaian communities by contractors with four associated barriers. The findings from the study resulted in the development of stage by stage knowledge transfer and diffusion framework for facilitating transfer of knowledge and its subsequent diffusion from construction companies to the communities as a corporate social responsibility to construction companies. The study contributed immensely to the academia where it tests, extends and integrates innovation diffusion theory and Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge conversion and transfer theory to a new context thereby helping to better explain external knowledge transfer and diffusion from the construction company to the community. Practically, the dynamic factors in integrating innovation decision processes, knowledge transfer and conversion processes, knowledge transfer influencers and complexities and knowledge diffusion influencers and complexities would assist researchers to understand external knowledge transfer from the perspectives of construction companies to the communities. Further, the framework proposed provides a practical step towards actions and activities required to be institutionalised to enhance the transfer process. Therefore, the findings of this study can be used as a practical guide for construction companies to transfer knowledge from the industry to any community in which they find themselves.
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Adaptive selection and behavioural conditioning framework for the attitudinal change of construction workers towards the use of safety helmets and goggles
(KNUST, 2020-10) Adade-Boateng, Anita Odame
Construction workers are constantly faced with several hazards due to the nature of their work environment. Head traumas and eye injuries on construction sites are of great concern to industry stakeholders in the efforts to improve health and safety performance of the construction industry. Like most PPE, Safety helmets and goggles are a statutory requirement in most countries to protect the head and face regions which are the most vulnerable in the event of an accident. Safety helmets protect the head against the impact of lateral objects or the impact of falling objects on construction sites. Similarly, safety goggles protect the eyes and the face region from severe injury from flying particles and or other hazards encountered during construction work when used appropriately. Despite their importance, construction workers are reluctant to use safety helmets and goggles due to several discomforts experienced and thus are continuously faced with exposure to several hazards at the workplace. While using these PPE may prevent injury and or fatalities on the construction site, providing workers with poor fitting PPE may introduce other forms of strain that may contribute to avoidable incidents on site. This research employed a combination of adaptive selection and behavioural conditioning principles to remedy the discomforts associated with safety helmets and goggles to improve their use on construction sites. A preliminary investigation was initially conducted through the personal administration of questionnaires to one hundred and twenty-three (123) construction operatives to find out why construction workers do not use given PPE. Data for the main study was obtained through semi-structured interviews and a physiological strain field experiment (using physiological indicators of heart rates and body temperatures) involving sixteen (16) male construction workers, a comparative analysis of linear anthropometric head and face measurements of one hundred and twenty-seven (127) male construction workers and dimensions of construction helmets and goggles available in Ghana within a multiple case study. A questionnaire survey of seventy – four (74) large construction firms in the country was also conducted to identify selection considerations made in the procurement of helmets and goggles. A content analysis on interviewee data indicated that hotness and poor fit are the top two discomforts associated with safety helmets while blurred vision and poor fit are prevalent among safety goggle users. Workers were found to experience little or no physiological strain while using uncomfortable safety helmets in hot weather, when values of physiological indicators were entered into a physiological strain equation and interpreted on a universal scale. A two-sampled T-Test indicated statistically significant differences between helmet and head dimensions, as well as safety goggles and face measurements. Descriptive analysis of the likert data indicated that construction firms consider several factors aimed at ensuring the procurement of comfortable safety helmets and goggles. The study recommends a behaviour-based framework with a three – tier intervention plan, that combines a selection criteria consisting of anthropometric characteristics, ambient temperature, consideration of standards (aimed at improving the comfort experience of users), with activities such as user- involvement in the procurement process, safety inductions with audio-visuals, participatory toolbox meetings and selection of safety champions to stimulate the preferred behaviour of appropriate use of the PPEs. The conditioning theory is then applied in Tier three of the framework to maintain the acceptable behaviour. The proposed framework is intended to ensure the procurement of comfortable safety helmets and goggles for construction work and simultaneously improve the attitude of workers towards these PPE.
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Key indicators for assessing sustainability during the construction phase of building projects in Ghana
(KNUST, 2020-09) Botchway, Seth Yeboah
The attainment of sustainable development would be elusive until due attention is given to sustainability performance assessment. Globally, there is a proliferation of methodologies meant to offer a means of evaluating sustainability performance. Nevertheless, the existing sustainability assessment tools focus more on design and operation issues at the expense of construction-related issues. The sustainability of the project delivery process is equally important, due to its considerable environmental, social and economic impacts. The context sensitivities exhibited by the sustainability concept requires that indicators are established for suitable local application. This study sought to examine key sustainability indicators (SIs) for assessing the sustainability performance of building projects during their construction phase. It specifically sought to assess the degree of familiarity of professionals with the sustainability assessment tools in the Ghanaian Construction Industry (GCI) and identify environmental, economic and social SIs. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey, following the comprehensive review of literature to determine the sustainability assessment tools that have been used in the GCI and identify the relevant candidate SIs, by adopting the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Out of a total of 330 questionnaires administered, 167 responses were received and analysed. The data analysis consisted of descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, mean score ranking, normality testing and finally the Kruskal-Wallis and MannWhitney tests. In all, 28 sustainability indicators - 10 environmental, 9 social and 9 economic, were identified as critical for construction-phase sustainability assessment of building projects in Ghana. It was recommended that all stakeholders make a concerted effort to enhance the widespread uptake of sustainability practices within the GCI. Further studies can be undertaken to develop a full-fledged index for sustainability assessment, in consequence of indicator development.