Authors:Emmanuel Hayford, Emmanuel Appiah-Adjei Pages: 1 - 17 Abstract: Many boreholes have been drilled on KNUST campus to aid meet water supply demands due to rising population and inadequate water supply from Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). Unfortunately, these boreholes are managed individually by units without any institutional scheme leading to water shortages at some units whilst other boreholes are underutilized. Therefore, this study seeks to assess the groundwater potential from the boreholes against the water demands on campus towards sustainable efficient water supply. The methodology employed involved mapping of all the campus boreholes, acquisition of available data on the boreholes, carrying out pumping test on selected boreholes to validate their yields and water quality suitability for drinking, and administering of questionnaires for water demand estimation. The study results indicate that there are 112 functional boreholes on campus; these boreholes generally have suitable drinking water quality except in few areas where the levels of colour, turbidity, pH, iron, and total coliform are outside the recommended WHO guideline values. The estimated groundwater volume that can be abstracted from the boreholes is 8.04 million l/day when pumped for 16 hours in a day. This is far higher than the current estimated water demand of 4.60 million l/day and the projected future water demand of 7.95 million l/day for the year 2029. Thus, the current available boreholes on campus can be relied on solely for sustainable water supply for the next ten years if managed together as a system. PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:John Adedokun, A.O. Dr. Okewale A.O. Pages: 18 - 39 Abstract: To study the process of aluminium metal corrosion using locust bean pod as an inhibitor with a view to evaluating the weight loss, rate of corrosion, statistical data, and optimum process conditions in an aggressive medium was carried out using the gravimetry method. Optimization of the variables that affect corrosion of metals surface was undertaken with the aid of desirability function of the quadratic model in Response Surface Methodology (RSM). To obtain the maximum loss in weight of the aluminium metal in the presence of the locust bean pod inhibitor, four parameters were varied via; process time, the concentration of hydrochloric acid, locust bean pod extract concentration, temperature and their reciprocal effects on loss in weight aluminium metal were confirmed. The model predicted the optimum aluminium weight loss of 1.08187 g at 6.95 hours, 1.50 M, 111.98 ppm, and 64.12 oC for process time, hydrochloric acid concentration, locust bean pod extract concentration, and temperature, respectively. The existence of aromatic combination, and amine bond groups that are evidenced in locust bean pod FTIR analysis meet the descriptive qualities of typical corrosion inhibitors. An increase in HCl concentration led to an increase in the rate of aluminium metal dissolution in the inhibited and uninhibited media. The highest corrosion rate values obtained were 105.50 mm/yr and 103.35 mm/yr for uninhibited and 20 ppm inhibitor concentration respectively at 1.5 M HCl concentration. The useability of locust bean pod extract as an inhibitor in mitigating corrosion of aluminium metal in oil and gas facilities in the presence of hydrochloric acid and its optimum process values were confirmed in this present study. PubDate: 2022-12-22 DOI: 10.4314/just.v40i3. Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Josephine Ofeimun, Upe Babaiwa, Osayemwenre Erharuyi, Bassey Blessed, Alex Eze Pages: 40 - 55 Abstract: This study evaluated the in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of peel volatile oils of Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus limon, Citrus paradisi and Citrus sinensis on clinical isolates of Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Ciprofloxacin resistant Escherichia coli, Ciprofloxacin sensitive Escherichia coli and Candida albicans obtained from the oral cavity. Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis of the oils was also carried out. The agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the oils while the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. Total flavonoid and phenol contents of oils were equally determined. The composition of the oils was determined by GC-MS analysis. The volatile oil of C. aurantifolia exhibited the most activity against the test pathogens with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range of 2 – 4 mg/ml, while C. limon had the least antimicrobial activity as its MIC could not be determined against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Ciprofloxacin resistant and sensitive Escherichia coli. C. limon and C. paradisi had MICs in the range of 4-16 mg/ml and 4-32 mg/ml respectively.C. sinensis peel oil had the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity of 47.86±2.22% and C. aurantifolia the least with a value of 25.27±1.23%. Methylisobutyl ketone was identified in C. paradisi, C. aurantifolia and C.sinensis. This study revealed that the peel volatile oils of the investigated citrus species possess antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against oral pathogens and have the potential to be used in the management of oral diseases caused by the selected pathogens PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Martin Arkoh, Ebenezer Belford Pages: 56 - 66 Abstract: Climate change has been affecting the rainfall patterns that influence the soil moisture supply in most areas of the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Soil moisture has thus, become a problem to farmers and agronomists in these agro-ecological regions as a result of the deleterious effects that inadequate osmotic water has on the morphology and anatomy of growing plants. This study determined the effects of soil moisture stress on the tissues of the plants of six cowpea accessions. Six accessions of cowpea were collected from the three agro-ecological zones and planted in polythene bags containing 2 kg each of well mixed loamy soil. The plants were allowed to grow for three weeks before being subjected to two water stress treatments with a third being a control. Harvests were done through random sampling on three occasions. Tissues were obtained from the plants and prepared on slides for study. The mean values of all the parameters measured were subjected to statistical tests. There were significant reductions in the sizes of the cells and tissues subjected to the moisture stress regimes (P<0.05, df=2). Among the plants, there were non-uniformed variations at 0.05 confidence limit and n=6. Most of the cells plasmolysed under the stress treatment and resulting in the reduction of the tissue sizes. Exceptions to this trend of decreasing sizes of the tissues were found in the sizes of the cuticular cover on the surfaces of leaves and the frequency of the xylem vessels, where these features increased in sizes and frequency respectively under the water stress regimes. The accession from the Semi-deciduous ecological zone of Ghana performed better under the moisture stress regimes. The study identified accessions of cowpea that can grow better under inadequate soil moisture condition that is prevalent in the sub-tropical region of Africa, and lead to high yields in the production of the legume crop. PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Nana Ama Donkor-Boateng, Jacob Agbenorhevi, Antoinette Anim-Jnr Pages: 67 - 76 Abstract: Okra pectin has been found as an emulsifying agent for food systems, including meat products. In this study, the physicochemical, textural, and sensory attributes of Frankfurter sausage emulsified with okra pectin were evaluated. A completely randomized design was used for the formulations of three sausage treatments (T0, T1, and T2). Only okra pectin was varied (T0 = 0%, T1 = 0.5%, and T2 = 1.0%), whereas all other ingredients used for the formulation were kept constant. The results indicated that cooking loss increased with increasing levels of okra pectin whereas pH values were within an acceptable range (6.09-6.15). Moisture, protein, fat, ash, and fibre content varied among the samples studied. Resilience, cohesiveness, and chewiness were not significantly different (p > 0.05) among the samples. Hardness increased with increasing okra pectin concentration but there was no significant difference between T0 and T1 samples. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between T1 and T0 for the appearance (T0 = 7.43, T1 = 6.80), juiciness (T0 = 7.37, T1 = 6.30) and taste (T0 = 7.80, T1 = 6.93), which indicates they were either liked moderately or liked slightly. T2 (which had appearance = 5.47, juiciness = 5.10 and taste = 5.30) was however, significantly different (p < 0.05). T1 (6.77) and T2 (5.43) were liked moderately and liked slightly, respectively for overall acceptability. The present findings suggest that okra pectin at low levels (~ 0.5%) could be used as an emulsifier to produce acceptable sausage PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Francis Awortwi , Emmanuel Frempong, Samuel Aikins , Robert Hecky Pages: 77 - 93 Abstract: The areal light utilization efficiency, one of the key factors in primary production, of a natural community of pelagic phytoplankton of Lake Bosomtwe (Ghana, West Africa), its seasonal signature and factors that influence it were investigated fortnightly from September 2005 to August 2006 by estimating the percentage of solar radiation utilized by phytoplankton of the lake in primary production. The results indicate an annual mean value of 0.28 ± 0.14% (n=25, CV=51.4 %) which lies at the lower end of values typical for lakes and reservoirs of the world. Mean light intensity within the mixed layer 166.03 ± 77.30 µE m-2s-1 (n=25, CV=51.4 %) did not reach a level that can potentially cause photoinhibition among the dominant phytoplankton groups viz, Cyanobacteria, Dinophyceae, and Chlorophyceae. Both the mean areal light utilization efficiency and mean irradiance in the mixed layer differed significantly between seasons at p < 0.05. Of the physicochemical factors investigated, changes in the mixed layer depth (r2 = 29.3%, n=25), surface irradiance (r2 = 36.5 %, n=25), mean irradiance in the mixed layer (r2 = 23.3 %, n=25), surface water temperature (r2 = 17.7%, n=23) and mean temperature in the mixed layer (r2 = 22.8 %, n=23) significantly affected changes in the areal light utilization efficiency of the phytoplankton community at p< 0.05. However, of the biological factors measured, changes in the areal light utilization efficiency of the phytoplankton community had a significant predictive value only for the gross primary productivity (r2 = 41.6%, n=25) at p< 0.05 PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Samuel Nortey Pages: 94 - 112 Abstract: Women have played a great deal of role in the ceramic traditions of Ghana and beyond. The practice of ceramics in Ghana indigenously has been women-centric. Though ceramics is intimately associated with women in a traditional context, they have been marginalized in academic, contemporary art, and indigenous settings. The study looks at the shift in gender dynamics of ceramics, especially for attaining the goal of advocating for women ceramic artists in academia and practice. Data was collected using a survey, interview, and observation. The study revealed that women in ceramics have not been in mainstream academia due to issues with terminal degrees, a shift from the ceramic field, cultural and structural challenges, and low history in exhibitions, publications, and residencies. They also have difficulty setting up, unavailability of jobs in the industry, inadequate role models, lack of mentorship, and technological challenges have caused a shift from women-centric to male dominated practice. A model was developed to address this shift and to spur collaboration between women in academia and indigenous industry. PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
Authors:Josephine Opoku, Akosua Amankwah, Ginn Assibey Pages: 113 - 127 Abstract: This study focused on exploring unconventional designs through cosmopolitan localism to promote environmental sustainability in the field of fashion through the experimental method. The research aimed at using upcycled materials for garment detailing on bridal gowns and employed a studio-based design method, which consisted of problem discovery and definition, unconventional bridal fashion conceptualization, and upcycled material experimentation for garment development and construction for bridal fashion. A reflective journal was used as a data-gathering process during the study. In the area of analysis, reflexivity was used. The result of the study showed that different types of non-fabric and fabric materials can be improvised through cosmopolitan localism for innovative construction techniques through machines and handcrafting techniques for creating a complete bridal fashion detailing that advances the concept of environmental sustainability. Authors recommend that sustainable bridal detailing from natural and artificial materials be explored further in other fashion categories through cosmopolitan localism apart from the bridal gowns to perpetuate the circular economy embraced by the fourth industrial revolution. PubDate: 2022-12-20 Issue No:Vol. 40, No. 3 (2022)
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