Energy has become the driving force for national infrastructure development, including the socioeconomic development of every society. Ghana, like many other African countries, formulated ...developmental policies to attain middle-income status in the medium term. Socioeconomic growth comes with an upsurge in electricity consumption. Ghana seeks to use industrialization to achieve its middle-income target. To achieve this target, there is a need to develop a reliable, sustainable and affordable energy supply in a benign environment. The entry point for Ghana to become a middle-income economy is a cost-effective and reliable electricity supply. Ghana is endowed with fossil fuel, hydro and renewable resources to drive its industrial ambitions, but the indigenous gas fields feeding some thermal plants for electricity production are decreasing and could run out by early 2030 unless new fields are discovered and may also be affected by price volatility. The untapped hydro resources are also small and unreliable if the country seeks to become a middle-income country. Despite the abundant renewable resources, they are intermittent and do not present a baseload option. In safeguarding Ghana’s energy security, the country seeks to include nuclear energy into her energy mix. This research paper discusses the major drivers for nuclear energy inclusion.
► We model heat energy distribution without exceeding thermal limits ► We ascertain the hottest fuel rod is within design limits. ► Axial fuel rod heat energy increases until maximum. ► Radial energy ...profile suggest the hottest region in the core. ► We model convective heat transfer processes of the core.
Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code coupled with PLTEMP/ANL code were used to model and simulate the heat transfer problems in the fuel elements assembly of the Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) by solving Boltzmann transport approximation to the heat conduction equation. Coupled neutron radiation-thermal codes were used to determine the spatial variations of thermal energy in the fuel channels, the heat energy distribution in the radial and axial segments of the fuel assembly and the convective heat transfer processes in the entire core of the reactor. The thermal energy at maximum reactivity load of 4
mk, reactor power of 30
kW and inlet system pressure of 101.3
kPa were found to be 8.896
×
10
−16
J for a single fuel pin, and 1.104
×
10
−15
J and 7.376
×
10
−16
J, for the radial and axial sectioning of the core respectively. Using the PLTEMP/ANL V4.0 code and given that the inlet coolant temperature was 30
°C, the maximum outlet coolant temperature was 51
°C. The energy values were obtained using the following thermodynamic parameters as maximum pressure drop of 0.7
MPa and mass flow rate of 0.4
kg/s. Neutronics point kinetics model and Safety Analysis Report used to validate the results confirmed that the heat distribution in the core did not exceed 100
°C. The heat energy profiles based on the data suggested no nucleate boiling at the simulated energies, and since the melting point of U–Al alloy fuel material is 640
°C, the reactor was considered to be inherently safe during normal or steady state operations.
Globally, the cement industry has been identified as one which causes significant particle pollution. In Ghana, environmental research in the neighborhood of the cement industry especially on human ...health is scanty. In the present work, attempts were made to evaluate the concentration of airborne dust at various distances and directions around the Diamond Cement Factory in the Volta Region of Ghana. The samples of dust were collected on filter papers and later analyzed for the concentration (mg/kg) of 232 Th and 238 U using neutron activation analysis. The principal objective of the study was to generate data intended at assessing the annual effective dose due to 232 Th and 238 U inhalation for both adult and children population living in the vicinity of cement factory. The data generated were supposed to assist in remediation decision making, if required. The study recored a few incidences of higher total dust load concentrations as compared to the permissible limit of 150 μg/m 3 specified by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency. The calculated mean effective doses were 28.2 +- 1.06 μSv/year and 25.9 +- 0.91 μSv/year for both adult and child, respectively. From the radiological point of view, the study concluded that the people living in the vicinity of the cement factory are not at risk to significant radiological hazards. However, the study indicated the need to have a complete evaluation of the impact of the factory on the environment assessment programs which should include both chemical and radiological toxicity.
Contraception plays a significant role in fertility regulation and determines the reproductive health rights of women. Studies in other parts of the world have found that sexual violence has negative ...effects on unmet need for contraception. There has not been any study on the association between these two phenomena in sub-Saharan Africa using current nationally-representative survey data. We investigated the association between sexual violence and unmet need for contraception among married and cohabiting women in sub-Saharan Africa.
This study was based on secondary datasets from 26 sub-Saharan African countries' Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2010 and 2018. A sample of 101,968 women in sexual unions (married and cohabiting) with complete information on sexual violence and all the variables of interest were included in the analyses. Both bivariate and multilevel logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the association between sexual violence and unmet need for contraception. Other individual and contextual level socio-economic and demographic variables were considered as covariates. Crude odds ratios cOR and adjusted odds ratios aOR with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals CI, signifying precision, were presented. Level of statistical significance was declared at p<0.05.
The overall prevalence of sexual violence and unmet need for contraception in the 26 sub-Saharan African countries were 8.7% and 28.7% respectively. Experience of sexual violence within the last 12 months resulted in 10% increase in unmet need for contraception OR = 1.10, CI = 1.03-1.14 and 5% increase in unmet need for contraception after controlling for individual and contextual level factors aOR = 1.05, CI = 1.01-1.11. With the individual level factors, women with 4 or more births aOR = 4.85, CI = 4.41-5.33, those cohabiting aOR = 1.43, CI = 1.37-1.47, those in female headed households aOR = 1.22, CI = 1.18-1.27 and those who watched television at least once a week aOR = 1.12, CI = 1.07-1.16 had higher odds of unmet need for family planning. However, those aged 30-34 aOR = 0.56, CI = 0.52-0.61, those with secondary/higher level of education AOR = 0.80, CI = 0.77-0.84, those who read newspaper less than once a week aOR = 0.75, CI = 0.71-0.79 and those who listened to radio at least once a week aOR = 0.94, CI = 0.90-0.97 had lower odds of unmet need for contraception. In terms of the contextual factors, women in rural areas aOR = 0.87, CI = 0.84-0.91 and those in the richest wealth quintile households aOR = 0.80, CI = 0.75-0.85 had lower odds of unmet need for contraception.
Our study has shown an association between sexual violence and unmet need for contraception in sub-Saharan Africa. Experiencing sexual violence increases the likelihood of unmet need for contraception in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also worthy to note that having four or more children, cohabiting with a male partner, and living in female-headed households are some of the key variables associated with unmet need for contraception in sub-Saharan Africa. Our study recommends that, successful contraceptive initiatives should focus on reducing sexual violence, while taking into consideration other significant factors that increase unmet need for contraception. Meanwhile, in doing this, contextual factors ought to be prioritised.
Vitamin A deficiency is considered a public health issue, particularly among children under 5 years. Vitamin A supplementation is among the ten key essential nutrition actions put in place to tackle ...malnutrition in children and helps to reduce under-five mortality by almost a quarter in Vitamin A deficient areas. We, therefore, examined inequalities in Vitamin A uptake among children 6-59 months in Ghana.
We used data from the 2003, 2008, and 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys. The WHO's HEAT version 3.1 software was used for all the analyses. We adopted six equity stratifiers (maternal age, economic status, level of education, place of residence, sex of the child, and region) to disaggregate Vitamin A supplementation among children 6-59 months. Four measures were used to compute inequality, namely, Difference (D), Population Attributable Risk (PAR), Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and Ratio (R).
Over the 11-year period, the proportion of children who received Vitamin A supplementation declined from 78.6% to 65.2%. There were inequalities by maternal age, particularly in 2003 (D = 13.1, CI: 2.3, 23.9; PAF = 0.5, CI: - 12.3, 13.2). The widest inequality in Vitamin A supplementation by economic status was noted in 2003 (D = 8.8, CI: 3.3-14.2; PAF = 8.3, CI: 5, 11.5). In terms of sex, the indices revealed mild inequality in Vitamin A supplementation throughout the period studied. For education, the highest inequality was observed in 2014 (D = 11.6, CI: 6.0, 17.1), while the highest inequality in terms of place of residence was observed in 2003 (D = 4.0, CI: - 0.1-8.4). In the case of region, substantial inequality was noted in 2014 (D = 34.7, CI: 22.6, 46.8; PAF = 21.1, CI: 15.3, 27).
We conclude that there is a need for the government of Ghana to deploy targeted interventions to enhance the uptake of Vitamin A supplementation among the most disadvantaged subpopulations. Interventions targeted at these disadvantaged populations should be pro-poor in nature. In addition, the inequalities in the dimension of place of residence were mixed, favoring both rural and urban children at different points. This calls for a comprehensive and all-inclusive approach that enhances Vitamin A supplementation uptake in an equitable manner in both areas of residence. Empowerment of women through formal education could be an important step toward improving Vitamin A supplementation among children in Ghana.
Background. The emergence of drug-resistant parasites impedes disease management and eradication efforts. Hence, a reinvigorated attempt to search for potent lead compounds in the mangroves is ...imperative. Aim. This study evaluates in vitro antiplasmodial activity, antioxidant properties, and cytotoxicity of A. africana leaf alkaloidal extracts. Methods. The A. africana leaves were macerated with 70% ethanol to obtain a total crude extract. Dichloromethane and chloroform-isopropanol (3 : 1, v/v) were used to extract the crude alkaloids and quaternary alkaloids from the total crude. The antiplasmodial activities of the alkaloidal extracts were performed against 3D7 P. falciparum chloroquine-sensitive clone via the SYBR Green I fluorescence assay with artesunate serving as the reference drug. The alkaloidal extracts were further evaluated for antioxidant properties via the total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the total glutathione concentration (GSH), the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, and the ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. The cytotoxic activity of the alkaloidal extracts was tested on erythrocytes using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide-MTT assay with little modification. The phytocompounds in the alkaloidal extracts were identified via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. Results. The total crude extract showed good antiplasmodial activity (IC50 = 11.890 µg/mL). The crude and quaternary alkaloidal extracts demonstrated promising antiplasmodial effects with IC50 values of 6.217 and 6.285 µg/mL, respectively. The total crude and alkaloidal extracts showed good antioxidant properties with negligible cytotoxicity on erythrocytes with good selectivity indices. The GC-MS spectral analysis of crude alkaloidal extracts gave indole and isoquinoline alkaloids and several other compounds. Dexrazoxane was found to be the main compound predicted, with an 86% peak area in the quaternary alkaloidal extract. Conclusion. The crude and quaternary alkaloidal extracts exhibited antiplasmodial activities and ability to inhibit oxidative stress with negligible toxicity on erythrocytes. This may be good characteristics to avoid oxidative stress related to Plasmodium infection in the treatment of malaria.
Pregnant women and children are the most vulnerable group of people usually affected by malaria. The use of insecticide-treated nets is one of the proven interventions for mitigating malaria and ...its associated deaths in endemic regions, including Ghana. Meanwhile, there is limited evidence on the extent of inequality in insecticide-treated nets use by pregnant women in Ghana. This study assessed the inequalities in insecticide-treated nets use by pregnant women in Ghana.
Data from the 2011 and 2017 versions of the Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys were used. The 2019 updated World Health Organization (WHO) HEAT software (version 3.1) was used for all analyses. Four equity stratifiers were employed to disaggregate insecticide-treated nets use by pregnant women in Ghana. These are economic status, level of education, place of residence, and sub-national region. Four measures were used to compute inequality namely Difference (D), Population Attributable risk (PAR), Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) and Ratio (R).
The analyses indicated a rise in pregnant women's insecticide-treated nets use from 32.6% in 2011 to 49.7% in 2017. Except sub-national region, all the factors showed mild inequality in insecticide-treated nets use. For instance, with respect to the economic status of pregnant women, only a slight inequality was exhibited by one of the simple measures in both 2011 (R = 0.3; 95% UI = 0.2-0.6) and 2017 (R = 0.5; 95% UI = 0.3-0.7). Marginal inequality in insecticide-treated nets use was noted in 2011 (R = 0.6; 95% UI = 0.5-0.9) and 2017 (R = 0.8; 95% UI = 0.6-0.9) for level of education. In the same vein, slight inequality was realized with respect to place of residence in 2011 (R = 0.4; 95% UI = 0.3-0.6) and 2017 (R = 0.6; 95% UI = 0.5-0.7). For sub-national region, both simple (D = 50.5; 95% UI = 30.7-70.4) and complex (PAF = 91.3; 95% UI = 72.3-110.3) measures demonstrated substantial inequality in 2011. In the case of 2017, considerable inequality in insecticide-treated nets use occurred (D = 58; 95% UI = 42.2-73.8, PAF = 51.9; 95% UI = 36.2-67.6).
In conclusion, insecticide-treated nets utilization by pregnant Ghanaian women increased between 2011 and 2017. The findings show that Ghana's Ministry of Health in collaboration with anti-malarial non-governmental organizations must review patterns of insecticide-treated nets distribution and intensify advocacy among educated pregnant women, those in urban settings and the rich, to assuage the magnitude of inequality.
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