College of Basic and Applied Sciences
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing College of Basic and Applied Sciences by Issue Date
Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Women in physics in Ghana: Improvement on the horizon(AIP Conference Proceedings, 2005-09) Andam, A.B.; Amponsah, P.E.; Kaufmann, E.E.In Ghana, the number of women involved in physics has been rather small compared with that of men. We report a gratifying increase in the number of women studying physics in Ghana during the past 5 years. This is the positive result of various intervention strategies that have been put in place in Ghana during the past 15 years. It is estimated that the developing countries of Africa need at least 2000 scientists per 1 million in population for effective industrial development. If this critical mass of scientific personnel is to be assembled, with the relevant supporting technical personnel, no country can afford to leave 50% of the population—the half that consists of women—out of scientific, technological, and mathematics education. It is imperative that many more women study physics if the country is to move forward and have the critical mass of scientists needed for economic growth. One of the basic problems that have put women on the sidelines in the pursuit of scientific studies and careers is gender stereotyping. Gender stereotyping of school courses and careers finds expression in the expectation that certain courses like physics, mathematics, engineering, and other technical work are “boys courses” or “men’s jobs” and girls will study languages, typing, cooking, and sewing, which will lead to jobs in catering and junior-level office work. These societal expectations are projected in the school into what has been described as “the hidden curriculum.” On paper, all subjects are open to all students, but in practice there is often gender bias toward certain subjects. The result has been a categorization of careers into “men’s jobs” and “women’s jobs.” In fact, some well-meaning people have, in the past, advised that the study of science and mathematics could harm the delicate feminine frameItem A review on techniques applied to modelling, simulating and visualising evolution of physical landscape(CSSim 2009 - 1st International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Modelling, and Simulation, 2009) Nti, I.K.; Sallis, P.J.; Shanamuganathan, S.The paper considers contemporary physical landscape visualisation and simulation models that are used for impact analysis and decision making for geographical location studies. For this purpose a generic framework is presented that provides professionals with a tool to facilitate decision making. The main reasons for the framework construction are to provide a rigorous approach to the task of studying the evolution of physical landscapes, and to provide appropriate data for forecasting and scenario projections using computational simulations that reflect future changes. The framework is based on an in-depth analysis and assessment of a landscape monitored over time. On satisfactory completion of landscape models construction, the set of models developed are then used for the construction of visualisation images to represent the entire evolutionary process of the landscape. This framework includes functions through which users can generate visualisation models either with twodimensional maps and/or interactive immersive three dimensional images. © 2009 IEEE.Item Observations of thermal variations in the mixed layer depth of the equatorial Atlantic(International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2009-01) Agyekum, K.A.; Wiafe, G.; Houghton, B.; Dolk, S.; Drake, T.; Vogel, A.A set of Argo temperature data collected in the equatorial Atlantic [0° -5° N, 55° W-10° E] was used to estimate the mixed layer depth (MLD) and associated thermal variability for the period between January 2002 to April 2009. MLD climatology were estimated from 0.3° *0.3° median binned temperature profile using temperature difference criterion with a reference layer at 10m depth. At the 30m depth, 22° C cold water flows from the south onto the continental shelfs of Ghana-Cote D'Ivoire indicating the potential source of nutrient rich bottom water that nourishes the MLD and drives biological production. The MLD was shallow at the east and relatively deeper at the western end of the equatorial Atlantic. Variability within the MLD can be associated with variations in the westward flow of the warm and saline Equatorial Undercurrent. Further warming of the equatorial Atlantic has a potential of increasing the mixed layer depth and affecting upper surface ocean processes. ©2009 IEEE.Item Integrating geo-spatial information infrastructure into conservation and management of wetlands in Ghana(Proceedings - 2011 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Systems, Modelling and Simulation, ISMS 2011, 2011-02) Owusu-Banahene, W.; Nti, I.K.; Sallis, P.J.Most data infrastructure tend to focus on data access and not particularly spatial aspects of data and services especially data relating to natural resource management. This project will conceptualise and implement a geospatial information infrastructure to facilitate conservation and management of wetlands in Ghana, where a scalable, accessible and robust solution is urgently needed. Critically, rather than relying on governmental agency as a sole means of continued and current data provision, the approach will link technical advances in mobile telephone services, global positioning systems and concepts of citizen science with advanced developments in semantics and interoperability to formalise a spatial infrastructure system capable of weighing assertion and achieving authority. This paper attempts to propose the use of the following technology in developing a Ghana Wetland Information System: remote sensed imagery plus scripting and database, e-Governance frameworks and Protégé OWL for the management of semantics. © 2011 IEEE.Item Can an Enterprise System Persuade? The Role of Perceived Effectiveness and Social Influence(Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 2018-04) Dabi, J.; Wiafe, I.; Stibe, A.; Abdulai, J.D.This study provides an interpretation to empirically explain and predict use continuance intention of students towards an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. A research model based on the information system continuance, the social identity theory, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology was adopted and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The analysis uncovered important roles that perceived effectiveness and social influence play in explaining the intention of students to continue using the ERP. Further, the model demonstrated how primary task support contributes to perceived effort, which helps in explaining perceived effectiveness of the system. Computer-human dialogue support significantly contributes to perceived credibility, primary task support and perceived social influence. Social identification of the students significantly predicts perceived social influence. Research related to continuous usage of an ERP system is viable, as it enables designers and developers building more persuasive enterprise and socially influencing systems. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.Item Use of Sentinel-l and Sentinel-2 for Monitoring Illegal Fishing Off Ghana(International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2018-07) Kurekin, A.; Loveday, B.; Clements, O.; Quartly, G.; Miller, P.; Wiafe, G.; Agyekum, K.A.An efficient and inexpensive service has been developed for the monitoring of fishing vessels in West Africa using Earth Observation (EO) data. The service makes use of fast- delivery data from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument on Sentinel-1 and the Multi Spectral Imager (MSI) on Sentinel-2, detecting objects that differ markedly from their immediate background using a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) test. The selected objects are then discounted from further analysis if they fall within the bespoke land mask or can be shown from time series analysis to be static (signals associated with jetties, oil platforms and "ghost objects" arising from very bright land targets). Detections are matched to, and verified by, AIS data, which provides location and dimensions of ships that are legally in the region. Both matched and un-matched data are then displayed on a web portal for use by the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) state authorities.Item Intelligent Instrument Reader Using Computer Vision and Machine Learning(2018 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, IAS 2018, 2018-09) Sowah, R.A.; Ofoli, A.R.; Mensah-Ananoo, E.; Mills, G.A.; Koumadi, K.M.A novel algorithm using computer vision and machine learning techniques have been developed in this research and applied to automate the reading of analog meters. This approach does not rely on any prior information about the meter being read or any human intervention during the process. High-level features of the meter including the graduation values and angles are extracted using a cascade of image contour filters with a series of digit classifiers. The features are refined and used to train regression models that return the reading of the analogue meter automatically. The proposed approach was tested to read a variety of offline and live-feed images of analog pointer meters automatically without any prior information about the meters. © 2018 IEEEItem Survey of Mobile Malware Analysis, Detection Techniques and Tool(2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference, IEMCON 2018, 2018-11) Gyamfi, N.K.; Owusu, E.The rapid increase in the use of smartphones, has contributed to the increase in mobile attackers. In most situations deceitful applications are infected with malicious contents to cause harm to both the hardware and the software. These malicious programs or malware are usually designed to disrupt or gather information from the device. By attempts to curtail these problems various techniques are proposed. This paper attempts to analyze the most popular and recent techniques and suggests which is better.Item Effect of Dipole Corrections and Spin Orbit Coupling on Tungsten Dichalcogenides Monolayer: A in Silico First Principles Study(2018 Open Innovations Conference, OI, 2018-11) Obodo, K.O.; Ouma, C.N.M.; Gebreyesus, G; Obodo, J.T.; Braun, M.The structural and electronic properties of tungsten dichalogenides compounds (WS 2 , WSe 2 , WTe 2 ) were investigated from first principles calculations. We found that the structural and electronic properties changed both as a function of the dipole corrections and spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Comparing the calculated results with experimental values, we found that introducing SOC by itself in these 2D materials grossly underestimates the electronic band gap. Adding the self-consistent dipole correction results in larger electronic band gap for these tungsten dichalogenide compounds. Thus, the influence of dipole corrections in these 2D WX 2 materials was found to be significant. The SOC are not relevant for these materials and care should be taken on application of these dipole corrections.Item Bank Fraud Detection Using Support Vector Machine(2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference, IEMCON 2018, 2018-11) Gyamfi, N.K.; Abdulai, J.D.With the significant development of communications and computing, bank fraud is growing in its forms and amounts. In this paper, we analyze the various forms of fraud to which are exposed banks d data mining tools allowing its early detection data already accumulated in a bank. We use supervised learning methods Support Vector Machines with Spark (SVM-S) to build models representing normal and abnormal customer behavior and then use it to evaluate validity of new transactions. The results obtained from databases of credit card transactions show that these techniques are effective in the fight against banking fraud in big data. Experiment result from the study show that SVM-S have better prediction performance than Back Propagation Netw orks (BPN). Besides the average prediction, accuracy reaches a maximum when training the data ratio arrives at 0.8.Item Item Government rainwater harvesting initiative in northern Ghana and its impacts on local livelihoods and work-life balance: evidence from Savelugu Municipality(The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 2024) Koranteng, A.F.; Obour, P. B.; Owusu, K.The “One Village One Dam (1V1D)” is a rainwater harvesting technology initiated by the Government of Ghana in 2017 to make water available all year round for animal watering, irrigation and domestic use in dryland areas in northern Ghana. However, scepticism about the potential of the 1V1D to stave off water stress and its associated impact on local livelihood activities is still prevalent in the country. This case study of Savelugu Municipality investigated the impact of the 1V1D on local livelihood activities and the work-life balance of women. Using qualitative data collection methods, 12 focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews were conducted in six communities in the municipality. The results showed that after >5 years of implementation, not much has been achieved for the intended purposes of the project, namely water for animal watering, irrigation and household consumption. Non-performance of the dams was attributed to engineering flaws like poor design and small size which often resulted in early dry out of the dams in the dry season. However, emerging activities like water commercialisation have provided a source of sustenance to water vendors. The services of the vendors save women time to fulfil the demands of work, family andItem Population infection estimation from wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Nagpur, India during the second pandemic wave(PLoS ONE, 2024) Acheampong, E.; Husain, A.A.; Nayak, A.R.; et al.,Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as an effective environmental surveillance tool for predicting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2) disease outbreaks in high-income countries (HICs) with centralized sewage infrastructure. However, few studies have applied WBE alongside epidemic disease modelling to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in low-resource settings. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of collecting untreated wastewater samples from rural and urban catchment areas of Nagpur district, to detect and quantify SARS-CoV-2 using real-time qPCR, to compare geographic differences in viral loads, and to integrate the wastewater data into a modified Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Confirmed Positives-Recovered (SEIPR) model. Of the 983 wastewater samples analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, we detected significantly higher sample positivity rates, 43.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 40.1, 47.4) and 30.4% (95% CI 24.66, 36.66), and higher viral loads for the urban compared with rural samples, respectively. The Basic reproductive number, R0, positively correlated with population density and negatively correlated with humidity, a proxy for rainfall and dilution of waste in the sewers. The SEIPR model estimated the rate of unreported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases at the start of the wave as 13.97 [95% CI (10.17, 17.0)] times that of confirmed cases, representing a material difference in cases and healthcare resource burden. Wastewater surveillance might prove to be a more reliable way to prepare for surges in COVID-19 cases during future waves for authorities.