College of Science

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    An empirical study of attitude towards mobile insurance in Accra
    (October, 2019) Adjei, Adolf;
    Attitude towards mobile insurance products and services are influenced by socio-economic and background characteristics of the mobile phone users. This study examined possible determinants of attitude towards mobile insurance in Accra. The data for the study was obtained through the use of a questionnaire. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Binary Logistic Regression were used to analyze and fit the data for predicting uptake or otherwise of mobile insurance. The findings of the study revealed that there are three main factors explaining the attitude towards mobile insurance products and services in Accra. These factors are the affect (feelings) attitude, cognitive and conative or behaviour. The findings of the study showed the attributes of risk, convenience, price and investment as the main (significant) predictors of attitude toward mobile insurance in Accra. Gender, age, income status, employment status, number of dependents were found to be significant at 5% level of significant as predictors of attitude towards mobile insurance in Accra. It is recommended that the insurance companies on the mobile platform take advantage of the results on the attributes and the socio-economic and background characteristics that influence attitude towards m-insurance to formulate and implement relevant marketing strategies, aimed at improving their existing marketing strategies and most importantly targeting the uninsured.
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    Prevalence of common bacteria isolates and their susceptibility to antibiotics in malnourished children up to 5 years admitted at the maternal and child health hospital in Kejetia, Kumasi, Ghana
    (SEPTEMBER, 2018) Osei, Young Dorcas; .
    Malnutrition in children is the outcome of factors that are concerned poor food quality, insufficient food intake and recurring of infectious diseases. World Health Organization in 2011 estimated that 178 million children were stunted and 115 million children were underweight. Heikki in (2001) stated that the incidence and impact of life threatening bacterial infections in children across Africa have not been quantified and these bacterial infections can result in severe malnutrition. The study was to determine the prevalence of common bacteria isolates in malnourished children who are upto 5 years admitted at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital. Samples of urine, blood and stool were taken from 200 malnourished children alongside with administration of questionnaires. Samples were subjected to laboratory analysis such as culture and sensitivity and biochemical test for identification of bacteria. Out of 200 malnourished children, severe acute malnutrition (SAM) was found in 71.1% and 27.7% were moderately malnourished. Children (65.0%) were marasmic and 35.0% suffered from kwashiorkor. Of the malnourished children, who 63.5% had diarrhoea, 49.5% presented with vomiting and 40.5% presented with fever. Bacteria isolated from urine were Klebsiella sp (43.3%), Escherichia coli (30.0%), Pseudomonas sp (13.3%), Salmonella sp (6.7%), Enterobacter sp (3.3%) and Proteussp (3.3%). For blood samples, Staphylococcus aureus (53.6%) was the highest isolate, followed by Streptococcus sp (25.0%). Out of 38 stool samples, Escherichia coli (42.1%) was the highest isolated species followed by Klebsiella sp (21.1%) and Proteus sp (18.4%). Escherichia coli, Proteus sp, Salmonella sp and Enterobacter sp were resistant to 100% Ceftriaxone. Pseudomonas sp and Salmonella sp were resistant to 100% Ampicillin. Staphylococcus aureus (100%) was resistant to Ampicillin, Gentamicin and Cefuroxime. Streptococcus sp (100%) was susceptible to Gentamicin, 71.4% was susceptible to Azithromycin and 57.1% was vi susceptible to Chloramphenicol. Breastfeeding, complementary feeding, how the child is fed, daily feeding periods, surrounding where food is bought or prepared and storage of feeding tools of malnourished children were found to be factors that predisposed children to malnourishment.
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    Flood control and assessment of Accra using the weap hydrological model
    (January, 2018) Anderson, Ekow Akyen;
    The increase in the frequency and intensity of flood in some parts of Greater Accra Region is becoming a matter of great concern to the entire nation due to its negative effects on the development of the region. These floods have over the years been attributed to numerous factors including; climate change, urbanization, poor drainage systems, sea level rise and over population. The study used Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) hydrological model to estimate the surface runoffs for the sub-basins and also to find the correlation between Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the historical flood events in Greater Accra. The study also determined the surface runoffs generated within each sub-basin. The WEAP model was used to generate surface runoff from 1990 to 2040 taking 1990 as the base year. ArcGIS 10.3 was used to delineate eight sub-basins and thereafter deter mined the characteristics of the sub-basins. Rainfall normalization was performed using the Standardized Precipitation Index and the results were verified against historical flood events for the basin over the study period. The model output was compared to observed stream flow measurement. In general a good correlation of 0.81 and 0.71 were obtained for correlation coefficient and coefficient of determination respectively. The study re vealed that, a minimum rainfall of about 60 mm would cause flood across all the eight (8) sub-basins. Also, extreme rainfall with SPI of 1.5 or more would cause flood in Greater Accra. The month of June was found to produce the highest volumes of surface runoff while December generated the least volumes of surface runoff with average runoffs of 2.4 ii× 106 m3 and 1.0 × 106 m3 respectively. It was confirmed from the research that, higher volumes of rainfalls in the sub-basins generates higher surface runoffs and therefore there are higher tendencies for floods to occur when rainfalls are high.
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    Mapping cases of tuberculosis distribution and treatment outcomes using geographical information system - the case of Birim Central municipality, Eastern region - Ghana
    (OCTOBER 2018) Ahulu, Boaz;
    Analyzing the spatiotemporal distribution of tuberculosis (TB) is a very important way to understand its epidemiology thereby helping to identify geographic regions at higher risk and to enable proper control and resource allocation. This study was undertaken to ascertain the spatiotemporal distribution of TB cases and treatment outcomes in the Birim Central Municipality (BCM) for the period 2012 -2016 and to recommend appropriate preventive measures. In this retrospective study, the locations of the total of 268 TB cases identified from 2012-2016 were geocoded on the BCM digital maps. Spatial visualization using choropleth maps, network analysis, and service area analysis of ArcGIS10.2 was used to identify the geographic concentration of cases and the various treatment outcomes as well as proximity of patient community to health facility. A questionnaire was also used to collect primary data from TB patients diagnosed in year 2017. This data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Five main communities were identified as hot spots of TB in the municipality with variations in other communities. It was found that other non-spatial factors such as socioeconomic factors and stigmatization highly influence treatment outcome. Reducing stigmatization, regular sensitization of health staff who are not directly involved in tuberculosis care, and using a formerly cured TB patient as a peer educator were some of the best ways identified to help improve positive treatment outcomes in the municipality.
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    Improving network security by sanitizing network topological information to encapsulate particular network topology
    (JUNE, 2019) Gbate, Jeff;
    Securing data is crucial in a world where attackers will attempt to gain access to personal and business information that, for privacy reasons, we want to protect. Information on a network topology can be used by an adversary to undermine a network. To preserve this information, access to the data can be restricted. What if, however, we want to share the information with another party to allow analysis on the data? How can we ensure that the privacy of our data is protected while still providing accurate analysis? Summarizing the information of network topology may not allow for any analysis to be performed on the data. Sanitization, on the other hand, explores methods to mask the network topology information in such a way that the network’s characteristics will be hiding while still providing an analyst with data on which she can run statistics. There exists a tenuous balance between the need for privacy of the unsanitized network data and the accuracy of the analysis on the sanitized data. The goal is to effectively hide the raw data while the analysis on the sanitized data produces the same results as if performed on the raw data. By exploring the network characteristics, we can determine possible statistics that may derive from the data. We proposed a standard syntax for defining a network. From the syntax and the topology characteristics, sanitization schemes are detailed explaining the balance between privacy and statistical accuracy. IP addressing ramifications and the concerns when sanitizing are also identified.