Search results for: state superintendent

Authors: O.O. Ehinmowo, A.I. Fatuase, D.F. Oke

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Nigeria is endowed with resources that could boost the economy as well as generate income and provide jobs to the teaming populace. One of the keys of attaining this is by making the environment conducive for the entrepreneurs to excel in their respective enterprises so that more income could be accrued to the entrepreneurs. This study therefore examines income inequality among selected entrepreneurs in Ondo State, Nigeria using primary data. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 200 respondents for the study with the aid of structured questionnaire and personal interview. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics, Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient and Double - Log regression model. Results revealed that majority of the entrepreneurs (63%) were males and 90% were married with an average age of 44 years. About 40% of the respondents spent at most 12 years in school with 81% of the respondents had 4-6 members per household, while hair dressing (43.5%) and fashion designing (31.5%) were the most common enterprises among the sampled respondents. The findings also showed that majority of the entrepreneurs in hairdressing, fashion designing and laundry service earned below N200,000 per annum while the majority of those in restaurant and food vending earned between N400,000 – N600,000 followed by the entrepreneurs in pure water enterprise where majority earned N800,000 and above per annum. The result of the Gini coefficient (0.58) indicated that there was presence of inequality among the entrepreneurs which was also affirmed by the Lorenz curve. The Regression results showed that gender, household size and number of employees significantly affected the income of the entrepreneurs in the study area. Therefore, more female households should be encouraged into entrepreneurial businesses and government should give incentive cum conductive environment that could bridge the disparity in the income of the entrepreneurs in their various enterprises.

Keywords: entrepreneurs, Gini coefficient, income inequality, Lorenz curve

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Authors: Simeon Adebayo Oladipo

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Institutional administrators are currently facing pressure and challenges in their daily operations. Reasons for this may include the increasing multiplicity, uncertainty and tension that permeate institutional leadership. Authentic engagement for institutional leadership is premised on the ethical foundation that the leaders in the schools are engaged. The institutional effectiveness is dependent on the relationship that exists between the leaders and employees in the workplace. Leader’s self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control, strong moral code and accountability have a positive influence on authentic engagement which variably determines leadership effectiveness. This study therefore examined the role of authentic engagement in effective school leadership; explored the interrelationship of authentic engagement indices in school leadership. The study adopted the descriptive research of the survey type using a quantitative method to gather data through a questionnaire among school leaders in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. The population for the study consisted of all Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. A sample size of 255 Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers participated in the study. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The findings indicated that authentic engagement plays a crucial role in increasing leadership effectiveness amongst Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers. The study recommended among others that there is a need for effective measures to enhance authentic engagement of institutional leadership practices through relevant educational support systems and effective quality control.

Keywords: authentic engagement, self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control

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Authors: Ivelise M. Strozberg, Juliana Sales Frota, Lucas de Oliveira Vale

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The state of Ceara, located in the northeast region of Brazil, is abundant in lateritic soil which has been usually discarded due to its lack of agricultural potential while materials of similar nature have been used as constituents of housing constructive elements in many parts of the world, such as India and Portugal, for decades. Since many of the semi-arid housing conditions in the state of Ceara fail to meet the minimum criteria regarding comfort and safety requirements, this research proposed to study the Ceara lateritic soil and the possibility of its use as a sustainable building block constituent for social housings, collaborating to the improvement of the region living conditions. In order to achieve this objective, soil samples were collected from five different locations within the specific region, three of which presented lateritic nature, being characterized according to the Unified Soil Classification System and the MCT methodology, which is a Brazilian methodology developed during the 80’s that aimed to better describe and approach tropical soils, its characterization and behavior. Two of these samples were used to build two different miniature block prototypes, which were manually molded, heated at low temperatures -( < 300 ºC) in order to save energy and lessen the CO₂ high emission rate common in traditional burning methods- and then submitted to load tests. Among the soils tested, the one with the highest degree of laterization and greater presence of fines constituted the block with the best performance in terms of flexural strength tensions, presenting resistance gains when heated at increasing temperatures, which can indicate that this type of soil has potential towards being used as constructing material.

Keywords: constructive blocks, lateritic soil, MCT methodology, sustainability

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Authors: R. Sivasamy, G. Paulraj, S. Kalaimani, N.Thillaigovindan

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For profitable businesses, queues are double-edged swords and hence the pain of long wait times in a queue often frustrates customers. This paper suggests a technical way of reducing the pain of lines through a Poisson M/M1, M2/2 queueing system operated by two heterogeneous servers with an objective of minimising the mean sojourn time of customers served under the queue discipline ‘First Come First Served with an ‘m’ policy, i.e. FCFS-m policy’. Arrivals to the system form a Poisson process of rate λ and are served by two exponential servers. The service times of successive customers at server ‘j’ are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables and each of it is exponentially distributed with rate parameter μj (j=1, 2). The primary condition for implementing the queue discipline ‘FCFS-m policy’ on these service rates μj (j=1, 2) is that either (m+1) µ2 > µ1> m µ2 or (m+1) µ1 > µ2> m µ1 must be satisfied. Further waiting customers prefer the server-1 whenever it becomes available for service, and the server-2 should be installed if and only if the queue length exceeds the value ‘m’ as a threshold. Steady-state results on queue length and waiting time distributions have been obtained. A simple way of tracing the optimal service rate μ*2 of the server-2 is illustrated in a specific numerical exercise to equalize the average queue length cost with that of the service cost. Assuming that the server-1 has to dynamically adjust the service rates as μ1 during the system size is strictly less than T=(m+2) while μ2=0, and as μ1 +μ2 where μ2>0 if the system size is more than or equal to T, corresponding steady state results of M/M1+M2/1 queues have been deduced from those of M/M1,M2/2 queues. To conclude this investigation has a viable application, results of M/M1+M2/1 queues have been used in processing of those waiting messages into a single computer node and to measure the power consumption by the node.

Keywords: two heterogeneous servers, M/M1, M2/2 queue, service cost and queue length cost, M/M1+M2/1 queue

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Authors: Tai Yuan Yu, Pei-Jen Wang

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A simulation scheme of rotational motions for predictions of bump-type gas foil bearings operating at steady-state is proposed; and, the scheme is based on multi-physics coupling computer aided engineering packages modularized with computational fluid dynamic model and structure elasticity model to numerically solve the dynamic equation of motions of a hydrodynamic loaded shaft supported by an elastic bump foil. The bump foil is assumed to be modelled as infinite number of Hookean springs mounted on stiff wall. Hence, the top foil stiffness is constant on the periphery of the bearing housing. The hydrodynamic pressure generated by the air film lubrication transfers to the top foil and induces elastic deformation needed to be solved by a finite element method program, whereas the pressure profile applied on the top foil must be solved by a finite element method program based on Reynolds Equation in lubrication theory. As a result, the equation of motions for the bearing shaft are iteratively solved via coupling of the two finite element method programs simultaneously. In conclusion, the two-dimensional center trajectory of the shaft plus the deformation map on top foil at constant rotational speed are calculated for comparisons with the experimental results.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, fluid structure interaction multi-physics simulations, gas foil bearing, load capacity

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Authors: G. J. Fan, T. T. Lee, M. H. Chen, T. F. Shiao, B. Yu, C. F. Lee

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Rice straw with poor feed quality and spent mushroom substrate are both the most abundant agricultural residues in Taiwan. Edible mushrooms from white rot fungi possess lignocellulase activity. It was expected to improve the feeding value of rice straw for ruminant by solid-state fermentation pretreatment using spent mushroom substrate. Six varieties or subspecies of spent edible mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus (blue or white color), P. sajor-caju, P. citrinopileatus, P. eryngii and Ganoderma lucidium) substrate were evaluated in solid-state fermentation process with rice straw for 8 wks. Quality improvement of fermented rice straw was determined by its in vitro digestibility, lignocellulose degradability, and cell wall breakdown checked by scanning electron microscope. Results turned out that Pleurotus ostreatus (white color) and P. sajor-caju had the better lignocellulose degradation effect than the others and was chosen for advance in vivo study. Rice straw fermented with spent Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate 8 wks was prepared for growing and lactating feeding trials of dairy goat, respectively. Pangolagrass hay at 15% diet dry matter was the control diet. Fermented or original rice straw was added to substitute pangolagrass hay in both feeding trials. A total of 30 head of Alpine castrated ram were assigned into three groups for 11 weeks, 5 pens (2 head/pen) each group. A total of 21 head of Saanen and Alpine goats were assigned into three treatments and individually fed in two repeat lactating trials with 28-d each. In castrated ram study, results showed that fermented rice straw by spent Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom substrate attributed the higher daily dry matter intakes (DMI, 1.53 vs. 1.20 kg) and body weight gain (138 vs. 101 g) than goats fed original rice straw. DMI (2.25 vs. 1.81 kg) and milk yield (3.31 vs. 3.02 kg) of lactating goats fed control pangolagrass diet and fermented rice straw by spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate were also higher than those fed original rice straw diet (P < 0.05). Milk compositions, milk fat, protein, total solid and lactose, were similar among treatments. In conclusion, solid-state fermentation by spent Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate could effectively improve the feeding value of rice straw. Fermented rice straw is a good alternative fiber feed resource for growing and lactating dairy goats and 15% in diet dry matter is recommended.

Keywords: feeding value, fermented rice straw, growing and lactating dairy goat, spent Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate

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Authors: Nidal Dwaikat

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This work presents the development of alpha spectroscopy method with Solid-state nuclear track detectors using aluminum thin films. The resolution of this method is high, and it is able to discriminate between alpha particles at different incident energy. It can measure the exact number of alpha particles at specific energy without needing a calibration of alpha track diameter versus alpha energy. This method was tested by using Cf-252 alpha standard source at energies 5.11 Mev, 3.86 MeV and 2.7 MeV, which produced by the variation of detector -standard source distance. On front side, two detectors were covered with two Aluminum thin films and the third detector was kept uncovered. The thickness of Aluminum thin films was selected carefully (using SRIM 2013) such that one of the films will block the lower two alpha particles (3.86 MeV and 2.7 MeV) and the alpha particles at higher energy (5.11 Mev) can penetrate the film and reach the detector’s surface. The second thin film will block alpha particles at lower energy of 2.7 MeV and allow alpha particles at higher two energies (5.11 Mev and 3.86 MeV) to penetrate and produce tracks. For uncovered detector, alpha particles at three different energies can produce tracks on it. For quality assurance and accuracy, the detectors were mounted on thick enough copper substrates to block exposure from the backside. The tracks on the first detector are due to alpha particles at energy of 5.11 MeV. The difference between the tracks number on the first detector and the tracks number on the second detector is due to alpha particles at energy of 3.8 MeV. Finally, by subtracting the tracks number on the second detector from the tracks number on the third detector (uncovered), we can find the tracks number due to alpha particles at energy 2.7 MeV. After knowing the efficiency calibration factor, we can exactly calculate the activity of standard source.

Keywords: aluminium thin film, alpha particles, copper substrate, CR-39 detector

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Authors: Laila Almulla, Narayana Bhat, Majda Suleiman, Sheena Jacob

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Biodiversity conservation has become one of the challenging priorities to combat species extinction for many countries, including the state of Kuwait. Since native plants are better adapted to the local environment, can endure long spells of drought, withstand high soil salinity levels and provide a more natural effect to landscape projects, their use will both conserve natural resources and produce sustainable greenery. When native plants are properly blended with naturalized exotic ornamental plants in a landscape, they can improve social and cultural benefits. Screening of exotic and native plants in Kuwait during the past two decades has led to the selection of some very promising plants. Continuation of evaluation of additional native and exotic plants is essential to increase diversity of plant resources for greenery projects. Therefore, an effort was made to evaluate further native plants for their suitability for greenery applications. In the present study, various treatments were used to mass multiply selected plants using seeds to secure maximum germination. Seeds were subjected to nine treatments, and each treatment was replicated five times with ten seeds per treatment unit. After the treatment, the seeds of Zygophyllum qatarense were incubated at 30 °C, three lights for 12 h, at 40% humidity; where as the seeds of Haloxylon salicornicum were incubated at 22 °C with continuous light, at 40% humidity. Soaking in 250-ppm GA3 resulted in highest germination percentage of 20% in Zygophyllum qatarense and, Soaking in 500-ppm GA3 resulted in 6% germination in Haloxylon salicornicum. Germination of the viable seeds is influenced by various external and internal factors, seed must not be in a state of dormancy and the environmental requirements for germination of that seed must be met, before germination can occur.

Keywords: landscape, native plants, revegetation, seed germination

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Authors: Lilian A. Okeke, I. Okeke, N. Waziri, S. Balogun, P. Nguku, O. Fawole

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Background: Access to ante-natal care services promotes safe motherhood and delivery with improved maternal and neonatal outcome. We conducted this study to identify factors influencing the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) and health delivery services. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study. Households were numbered and a one in three sample was selected using a systematic sampling method. One hundred and ninety eight women who were either pregnant or had previous deliveries were interviewed using pretested structured questionnaires to obtain information on their socio-demographic characteristics, and reasons for non-utilization of ANC and health delivery services. We performed univariate and bivariate analysis using Epi info version 3.5.3. Results: The age of respondents ranged from (17-55 years) with a median age of 29 years. One hundred and ninety two (97%) utilized antenatal care services. Ninety three (47.9%) attended ANC at second trimester. More than half (58.6%) had ≥ 4 visits to ANC. One hundred and thirty one (66.2%) had their last delivery at home by a traditional birth attendant. Factors associated with ANC and health facility delivery services utilization were: age group 45-55 (OR 0.01; 95% CI: 0.00-0.16) and > 55 years (OR 0.03; 95% CI: 0.00-0.60), wife’s educational status (OR 3.17; 95% CI: 1.66-8.30), husband’s permission (OR 11.8; 95% CI 2.19-63.62), and distance ≥ 5km (OR 0.33; 95% CI: 0.16-0.60). Conclusion: ANC services were well utilized. Most women did not book early and had their last delivery at home. Predictors of ANC use and health facility delivery were age, wife’s educational status, husband's permission and long distance from health facility. A one-day health sensitization of the benefits of ANC utilization and the dangers of delivering at home was implemented.

Keywords: ante natal care, health facility, delivery services, rural area, Plateau state

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Authors: Yong Eun Yoon, Eric N. Johnson, Liling Ren

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Multirotor is one of the most popular types of small unmanned aircraft systems and has already been used in many areas including transport, military, surveillance, and leisure. Together with its popularity, the needs for proper flight control is growing because in most applications it is required to conduct its missions autonomously, which is in many aspects based on autonomous flight control. There have been many studies about the flight control for multirotor, but there is still room for enhancements in terms of performance and efficiency. This paper presents an autonomous flight control method for multirotor based on alternative input output linearization coupled with nested saturations. With alternative choice of the output of the multirotor flight control system, we can reduce computational cost regarding Lie algebra, and the linearized system can be stabilized with the introduction of nested saturations with real poles of our own design. Stabilization of internal dynamics is also based on the nested saturations and accompanies the determination of part of desired states. In particular, outer control loops involving state variables which originally are not included in the output of the flight control system is naturally rendered through this internal dynamics stabilization. We can also observe that desired tilting angles are determined by error dynamics from outer loops. Simulation results show that in any tracking situations multirotor stabilizes itself with small time constants, preceded by tuning process for control parameters with relatively low degree of complexity. Future study includes control of piecewise linear behavior of multirotor with actuator saturations, and the optimal determination of desired states while tracking multiple waypoints.

Keywords: automatic flight control, input output linearization, multirotor, nested saturations

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Authors: Min Bao

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The teacher is at the core of the three fundamental factors in international Chinese language teaching, the other two being the textbook and the method. Professional development of the teacher comprises a self-renewing process that is characterized by knowledge impartment and self-reflection, in which individual agency plays a significant role. Agency makes a positive contribution to teachers’ teaching practice and their life-long learning. This study, taking Chinese teaching and learning in Minsk State Linguistic University of Belarus as an example, attempts to understand agency by investigating the teacher’s strategic adaptation of textbooks to meet local needs. Firstly, through in-depth interviews, teachers’ comments on textbooks are collected and analyzed to disclose their strategies of adapting and localizing textbooks. Then, drawing on the theory of 'The chordal triad of agency', the paper reveals the process in which teacher agency is exercised as well as its rationale. The results verify the theory, that is, given its temporal relationality, teacher agency is constructed through a combination of experiences, purposes and aims, and context, i.e., projectivity, iteration and practice-evaluation as mentioned in the theory. Evidence also suggests that the three dimensions effect differently; It is usually one or two dimensions that are of greater effects on the construction of teacher agency. Finally, the paper provides four specific insights to teacher development in international Chinese language teaching: 1) when recruiting teachers, priority be given on candidates majoring in Chinese language or international Chinese language teaching; 2) measures be taken to assure educational quality of the two said majors at various levels; 3) pre-service teacher training program be tailored for improved quality, and 4) management of overseas Confucius Institutions be enhanced.

Keywords: international Chinese language teaching, teacher agency, textbooks, localization

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Authors: A. Banovcinova, M. Zakova

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Labor market activity and paid employment should be a key factor in protecting individuals and families from falling into poverty and providing them with sufficient resources to meet the needs of their members. However, due to various processes in the labor market as well as the influence of individual factors and often insufficient social capital, there is a relatively large group of households that cannot eliminate paid employment and find themselves in a state of so-called working poverty. The aim of the research was to find out what strategies families use in managing poverty and meeting their needs and which of these strategies prevail in the Slovak population. A quantitative research strategy was chosen. The method of data collection was a structured interview focused on finding out the use of individual management strategies and also selected demographic indicators. The research sample consisted of members of families in which at least one member has a paid job. The condition for inclusion in the research was that the family's income did not exceed 60% of the national median equalized disposable income. The analysis of the results showed 5 basic areas to which management strategies are related - work, financial security, needs, social contacts and perception of the current situation. The prevailing strategies were strategies aimed at increasing and streamlining labor market activity and the planned and effective management of the family budget. Strategies that were rejected were mainly related to debt creation. The results make it possible to identify the preferred ways of managing poverty in individual areas of life, as well as the factors that influence this behavior. This information is important for working with families living in a state of working poverty and can help professionals develop positive ways of coping for families.

Keywords: copying strategies, family, in-work poverty, quantitative research

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Authors: B. Bergström, A. Ladd, A. Jones, L. Rosso, P. Michael

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Attitudes toward treatment manuals serve as a meaningful predictor of general attitudes toward evidence-based practice. Despite demonstrating high effectiveness in treating many mental disorders, manualized treatments have been underutilized by practitioners. Thus, one can assess the state of the field regarding the adoption of evidence-based practices by surveying practitioner attitudes towards manualized treatments. This study is an adapted replication that assesses psychology graduate student attitudes towards manualized treatments, as a general marker for attitudes towards evidence-based practice. Training programs provide future clinicians with the foundation for critical skills in clinical practice. Research demonstrates that post-graduate continuing education has little to no effect on clinical practice; thus, graduate programs serve as the primary, and often final platform for all future practice. However, there are little empirical data identifying the attitudes and training of graduate students in utilizing manualized treatments. The empirical analysis of this study indicates an increase in positive attitudes among graduate student attitudes towards manualized treatments (within the United States), when compared to past surveys of professional psychologists. Findings from this study may inform graduate programs of barriers for students in developing positive attitudes toward manualized treatments and evidence-based practice. This study also serves as a preliminary predictor of the state-of-the field, in regards to professional psychologists attitudes towards evidence-based practice, if attitudes remain stable. This study indicates that the attitudes toward utilizing evidence-based practices, such as treatment manuals, has become more positive since year 2000.

Keywords: exposure therapy, evidence based practice, manualized treatments, student attitudes

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Authors: K. G. Adeosun, K. Osunaiye, E. C. Chinaguh, M. A. Aliyu, C. A. Onifade

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This study examined the effects of incompetence in the use of the mother tongue on the spoken English of selected Primary School pupils in Abeokuta South Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. The study used a structured questionnaire and interview guide as data collection instruments. The target population was 110 respondents. The sample was obtained by the use of simple random and stratified sampling techniques. The study samples were pupils from Government Primary Schools in Abeokuta South Local Government. The result revealed that the majority of pupils exhibited mother tongue interference in their oral production stage and that the local indigenous languages interfered with the pronunciation of English words to a large extent such that they pronounced ‘people’ as ‘fitful.’ The findings also revealed that there is no significant difference between inadequate teaching materials, shortage of funds towards the promotion of the mother tongue (Yoruba) and spoken English of Primary school pupils in the study area. The study recommended, among other things, that government should provide the necessary support for schools in the areas of teaching and learning materials, funds and other related materials that can enhance the effective use of the mother tongue towards spoken English by Primary School pupils. Government should ensure that oral English is taught to the pupils and the examination at the end of Primary school education should be made compulsory for all pupils. More so, the Government should provide language laboratories and other equipment to facilitate good teaching and learning of oral English.

Keywords: education, effective, government, learning, teaching

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Authors: Shoaib Alvi

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Mahatma Gandhi was said “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men”. Labor welfare is an important fact of Industrial relations. With the growth of industrialization, mechanization and computerization, labor welfare measures have got the fillip. The author believes that Labor welfare includes provisions of various facilities and amenities in and around the work place for the better life of the workers. Labor welfare is, thus, one of the major determinants of industrial relations. It comprises all human efforts the work place for the better life of the worker. The social and economic aspects of the life of the workers have the direct influence on the social and economic development of the nation. Author thinks that there could be multiple objectives in having, labor welfare programme the concern for improving the lot of the workers, a philosophy of humanitarianism or internal social responsibility, a feeling of concern, and caring by providing some of life's basic amenities, besides the basic pay packet. Such caring is supposed to build a sense of loyalty on the part of the employee towards the organization. The author thinks that Social security is the security that the State furnishes against the risks which an individual of small means cannot today, stand up to by himself even in private combination with his fellows. Social security is one of the pillars on which the structure of a welfare state rests, and it constitutes the hardcore of social policy in most countries. It is through social security measures that the state attempts to maintain every citizen at a certain prescribed level below which no one is allowed to fall. According to author, social assistance is a method according to which benefits are given to the needy persons, fulfilling the prescribed conditions, by the government out of its own resources. Author has analyzed and studied the relationship between the labor welfare social security and also studied various international conventions on provisions of social security by International Authorities like United Nations, International Labor Organization, and European Union etc. Author has also studied and analyzed concept of labor welfare and social security schemes of many countries around the globe ex:- Social security in Australia, Social security in Switzerland, Social Security (United States), Mexican Social Security Institute, Welfare in Germany, Social security schemes of India for labor welfare in both organized sector and unorganized sector. In this Research paper, Author has done the study on the Conceptual framework of the Labour Welfare. According to author, labors are highly perishable, which need constant welfare measures for their upgradation and performance in this field. At last author has studied role of trade unions and labor welfare unions and other institutions working for labor welfare, in this research paper author has also identified problems these Unions and labor welfare bodies’ face and tried to find out solutions for the problems and also analyzed various steps taken by the government of various countries around the globe.

Keywords: labor welfare, internal social responsibility, social security, international conventions

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Authors: Maha Alhussain, Moira A Taylor, Ian A. Macdonald

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Background: It is well established that dietary composition has effects on metabolism and therefore impacts on health; however other aspects of diet, such as meal pattern, could also be important in both obesity management and promoting health. The present study investigated the effect of irregular meal frequency on anthropometric measurements and energy expenditure (EE) in healthy women. Design: 11 healthy weight women (18–40 years) were studied in a randomized crossover trial with two phases of 2 weeks each. In Phase 1, participants consumed either a regular meal pattern (6 meals/day) or an irregular meal pattern (varying from 3 to 9 meals/day). In Phase 2, participants followed the alternative meal pattern to that followed in Phase 1, after a 2-weeks washout period. In the two phases, identical foods were provided to a participant in amounts designed to keep body weight constant. Participants came to the laboratory after an overnight fast at the start and end of each phase. EE was measured in fasting state by indirect calorimetry. Postprandial EE was measured during the 3 h period after consumption of a milkshake, test drink. Results: There were no significant changes in body weight and anthropometric measurements after both meal pattern interventions. There was also no significant difference in mean daily energy intake between the regular and irregular meal pattern (2043 ±31 and 2099 ±33 respectively). EE in the fasting state showed no significant differences cross the experiment visits. There was a significant difference in Postprandial EE (measured for 3 h) by visit (P=0.04). Postprandial EE after the regular meal pattern was significantly higher than at baseline (P=0.002) or than after the irregular meal pattern (P= 0.04). Conclusion: Eating regularly for 14-day period significantly increases Postprandial EE which may contribute to weight loss and obesity management.

Keywords: energy expenditure, energy intake, meal pattern, weight loss

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Authors: Roderick Melnik, Sanjay Prabhakar

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The relaxed state of graphene nanostructures due to externally applied tensile stress along both the armchair and zigzag directions are analyzed in detail. The results, obtained with the Finite Element Method (FEM), demonstrate that the amplitude of ripple waves in such nanostructures increases with temperature. Details of the multi-scale multi-physics computational procedure developed for this analysis are also provided.

Keywords: nanostructures, modeling, coupled processes, computer-aided design, nanotechnological applications

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Authors: Adebusoye Michael, Okunola Olayinka, Owolabi Abdulateef, Jacob Anayo

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Introduction: Child undernutrition remains one of Africa’s most fundamental challenges for improved human development because the time and capacities of caregivers are limited; far too many children are unable to access effectively amenities they need for a healthy life. Methods and procedures: This cross-sectional, descriptive study evaluated the maternal care practices on nutritional status of pre-school children, 150 mothers were selected by systematic random sampling in Dass L.G.A., Bauchi-State, Nigeria. Information on relevant parameters were collected by questionaire, analysed by various indices of descriptive statistics using SPSS version 16.0.Spearman’s rank correlation was used to test for associations between the variables. Results: Thirty-five (23.3%) of the respondents were aged 21-25 years. Thirty-three (28.0%) had secondary education, while forty-nine (32.7%) were full housewives. Majority 79(52.7) earned NI,000- N10,000 monthly versus 10(6.7%) who earned N11,000- N20,000.113(75.3%) married while 7(4.7%) of respondents were separated. Sixty-one (40.7%) practiced exclusive breastfeeding within six months. Only seventy-one (47.3%) initiated breastfeeding between 7 and 13 months. Five (3.3%) of children were mildly underweight while nine (6.0%) were severely stunted. Conclusion: The outcome suggested that working time of mothers is a major determinant on their child nutritional status. However, there is a significant relationship on the working time of mothers, income level and educational level of mothers to the nutritional status of their children (P<0.05). Recommendation: Good policy programmes should aim at eradicating poverty, better child care practices that would reduce malnutrition among under-five children.

Keywords: maternal care, nutritional status, preschool children, Dass L.G.A.

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Authors: Matthias Banholzer, Hagen Müller, Michael Pfitzner

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Gas internal combustion engines are widely used as propulsion systems or in power plants to generate heat and electricity. While there are different types of injection methods including the manifold port fuel injection and the direct injection, the latter has more potential to increase the specific power by avoiding air displacement in the intake and to reduce combustion anomalies such as backfire or pre-ignition. During the opening process of the injector, multiple flow regimes occur: subsonic, transonic and supersonic. To cover the wide range of Mach numbers a compressible pressure-based solver is used. While the standard Pressure Implicit with Splitting of Operators (PISO) method is used for the coupling between velocity and pressure, a high-resolution non-oscillatory central scheme established by Kurganov and Tadmor calculates the convective fluxes. A blending function based on the local Mach- and CFL-number switches between the compressible and incompressible regimes of the developed model. As the considered operating points are well above the critical state of the used fluids, the ideal gas assumption is not valid anymore. For the real gas thermodynamics, the models based on the Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state were implemented. The caloric properties are corrected using a departure formalism, for the viscosity and the thermal conductivity the empirical correlation of Chung is used. For the injector geometry, the dimensions of a diesel injector were adapted. Simulations were performed using different nozzle and needle geometries and opening curves. It can be clearly seen that there is a significant influence of all three parameters.

Keywords: high pressure gas injection, hybrid solver, hydrogen injection, needle opening process, real-gas thermodynamics

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Authors: Ibrahim Alhassan Libata

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This study was carried out to assess attitude of secondary school students towards science and technical education in Yauri metropolis, Kebbi State, Nigeria. The population of the study was 200. Proportionate random sampling method was used in selecting 132 as sample size. Science and technical education is the most powerful forces for change in the world today, and students who hope to have a hand in shaping a better future must participate for their advancements. Four Null hypotheses were generated to guide the conduct of the study, questionnaire was the only instrument used in the study; the instrument was subjected to test-retest reliability. The reliability index of the instrument was 0.69. Overall scores of the Students were analyzed and a mean score was determined, the mean score of students was 85. There were no significant differences between the attitudes of male and female students towards science and technical education. The results also revealed that there was significant difference between the attitude of boding and day school students towards science and technical education, personality constraints of students is one factor militating against the participation of students in science and technical education, socio-economic status of the parents over the years have been the dominant factor of student’s inadequate representation in the field of science and technical education. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher recommended that teachers should motivate students, which they can do through their teaching styles and by showing them the relevance of the learning topics to their everyday lives. Government and the school management should create the learning environment that helps motivate students not only to come to classes but also want to learn and enjoy learning science and technical education, establishment of more Science and Technical Colleges education, more Public enlightenment campaigns to motivate parents and the entire community to support their children in studying science and technical education.

Keywords: attitude, students, science, Yauri

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Authors: Odey Moses Ogah, Felix Terhemba Ikyereve

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The study was carried out to analyzed risks in financing agriculture by agricultural cooperatives in Benue State, Nigeria. The study made use of research questionnaires for data collection. A multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 210 respondents from 21 agricultural cooperatives. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in data analysis. Loan defaulting (66.7%) and reduction in savings by members (51.4%) were the major causes of risks faced by agricultural cooperatives in financing agriculture in the study area. Other causes include adverse changes in commodity prices (48.6%), disaster (45.7%), among others. It was found that risks adversely influence the profitability and competition of agricultural cooperatives (82.9%). Multiple regression analysis results showed that the coefficient of multiple determinations was 0.67, implying that the explanatory variables included in the model accounted for 67% of the variation in the level of profitability of agricultural cooperatives. The number of loans, average amount of loan and the interest rate were significant and important determinants of profitability of the cooperatives. The majority of the respondents (88.6%) made use of loan guarantors as a strategy of managing loan default/no repayment. It was found that the majority (70%) of the respondents were faced with the challenge of lack of insurance cover. The study recommends that agricultural cooperative officials should be encouraged to undergo formal training and education to easily acquire administrative skills in the management of agricultural loans; Farmer's loan size should be increased and released on time to enable them to use it effectively. Policies that enhance insuring farm activities should be put in place to discourage farmers from risk aversion.

Keywords: agriculture, analysis, cooperative, finance, risks

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Authors: Mohammad Saif

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In the post-Westphalianworld order, the concept of sovereignty has been a fundamental area of inquiry in Political Science, International Relations, and International Law. Modern Islamic political thought has also dedicated a fair share of debate on the subject. The debate fundamentally revolves around the ‘ontological differentiation’ between western and Islamic political thought. While the centrality of the individual in western political thought regards the individual as the center of universe, Islamic Political thought provides that space to God. The modern liberal democratic principles suggest sovereignty as one of the major attributes of modern nation state; Islamists regard sovereignty as an attribute of God. However, the position regarding God’ssovereignty in Islamic political thought is not coherent in conception. Some scholars regard such a position as ‘the political interpretation of Islam’. This paper is an attempt to first analyze the fundamental discord between two rival political ideologies (western and Islamic), and then forward a debate on the subject of sovereignty in South Asian Islamic Political thought, particularly between Syed Abul Ala Maududi (ideological father of modern islamist movements) andHifzurrahmanSeoharvi (lesser known in Academia but highly influential in shaping Deobandi position of principles related to political nature of Islamic theology). Maududi regardssovereignty as an attribute of God and the rulers as subservient to Gods will, Seoharvi suggests that God's sovereignty does not entail that the caliph or amir cannot be a ruler or hakim, nor can his command or hukum be an order. Certain references have also been made to contemporary scholars like Sayidd Qutub, Rashid al Ghanouchi, who in one way or the other have contributed to the debate on ‘sovereignty in Islamic thought’.

Keywords: nation state, sovereigty, sovereignty of God (Hakimmiyah), deoband

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Authors: Ivan Orozco

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Introduction: Forced contraception constitutes part of an effort to control the life and reproductive capacity of women through public health institutions. This phenomenon has affected many Mexican women historically and still persists nowadays. The notion of reproductive governmentality refers to the mechanisms through which different historical configurations of social actors (state institutions, churches, donor agents, NGOs, etc.) use legislative controls, economic incentives, moral mandates, direct coercion, and ethical incitements, to produce, monitor and control reproductive behaviors and practices. This research focuses on the use of these mechanisms by the Mexican State to control women's contraceptive practices in a public hospital. Method: An Institutional Ethnography was carried out, with the objective of knowing women's experiences from their own perspective, as they occur in their daily lives, but at the same time, discovering the structural elements that shape the discourses that promote women's contraception, even against their will. The fieldwork consisted in an observation of the dynamics between different participants within a public hospital and the conduction of interviews with the medical and nursing staff in charge of family planning services, as well as women attending the family planning office. Results: Public health institutions in Mexico are state tools to control and regulate reproduction. There are several strategies that are used for this purpose, for example, health personnel provide insufficient or misleading information to ensure that women agree to use contraceptives; health institutions provide economic incentives to the members of the health staff who reach certain goals in terms of contraceptive placement; young women are forced to go to the family planning service, regardless of the reason they went to the clinic; health campaigns are carried out, consisting of the application of contraceptives outside the health facilities, directly in the communities of people who visit the hospital less frequently. All these mechanisms seek for women to use contraceptives, from the women’s perspective; however, the reception of these discourses is ambiguous. While, for some women, the strategies become coercive mechanisms to use contraceptives against their will, for others, they represent an opportunity to take control over their reproductive lives. Conclusion: Since 1974, the Mexican government has implemented campaigns for the promotion of family planning methods as a means to control population growth. Although it is established in several legislations that the counselling must be carried out with a gender and human rights perspective, always respecting the autonomy of people, these research testify that health personnel uses different strategies to force some women to use contraceptive methods, thereby violating their reproductive rights.

Keywords: feminist research, forced contraception, institutional ethnography, reproductive. governmentality

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Authors: Neha Toppo

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Plans and programs for successful secondary education are incomplete without the inclusion of teaching English as an important area. Even after sixteen years of the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state, the students are still struggling to achieve quality education of English. This paper intends to account the present condition of teaching English in Jharkhand board secondary level schools through discussion on various issues of English language teaching, language need and learning challenges of its students. The study is to analyze whether the learning environment, teaching methods and materials, teaching resources, goals of language curriculum are appropriately convincing for the students of the board or require to be reanalyzed and also to provide appropriate suggestions for improvement. Immediate attention must be drawn towards the problem for benefitting those students, who despite their knowledge and talent are lagging behind in numerous fields only due to the lack of proficiency in English. The data and discussion provided are on the basis of a survey, in which semi structured interview with teachers, students and administrators in several schools including both rural and urban area has been taken. Questionnaire, observation and testing were used as important tools. The survey has been conducted in Ranchi district, as it covers large geographical area which includes number of villages and at the same time several towns. The district primarily possesses tribes as well as different class of people including immigrants from all over and outside Jharkhand with their social, economical strata. The observation makes it clear that the English language teaching at the state board is not complementing its context and the whole language teaching system should be re-examined to establish learner oriented environment.

Keywords: material, method, secondary level, teaching resources

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Authors: David Robert Irvine

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In the dental restoration sector, there has been a shift to using zirconia. With the ever increasing need to decrease lead times to deliver restorations faster the zirconia is machined in its pre-sintered state instead of grinding the very hard sintered state. As with all machining, there is tool wear and while investigating the tooling used to machine pre-sintered zirconia it became apparent that the wear rate is based more on material build up and abrasion than it is on plastic deformation like conventional metal machining. It also came to light that the tool material can currently not be selected based on wear resistance, as there is no data. Different works have analysed the effect of the individual wear mechanism separately using similar if not the same material. In this work, the testing method used to analyse the wear was a modified from ISO 8688:1989 to use the pre-sintered zirconia and the cutting conditions used in dental to machine it. This understanding was developed through a series of tests based in machining operations, to give the best representation of the multiple wear factors that can occur in machining of pre-sintered zirconia such as 3 body abrasion, material build up, surface welding, plastic deformation, tool vibration and thermal cracking. From the testing, it found that carbide grades with low trans-granular rupture toughness would fail due to abrasion while those with high trans-granular rupture toughness failed due to edge chipping from build up or thermal properties. The results gained can assist the development of these tools and the restorative dental process. This work was completed with the aim of assisting in the selection of tool material for future tools along with a deeper understanding of the properties that assist in abrasive wear resistance and material build up.

Keywords: abrasive wear, cemented carbide, pre-sintered zirconia, tool wear

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Authors: John Tate

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In 2004, the French Parliament banned the “hijab” in public schools, and in 2010 it prohibited the “burqa” and “niqab” in “public places.” The result was a “secular” outcome involving the removal of these garments, often identified with Islamic religious and cultural practice, from the French public sphere. Yet in 2016, the French local council bans on the “burqini” were overruled by France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’État, allowing for their retention in the public sphere. Unlike the burqa and hijab bans, the burqini bans produced significant divisions at the highest echelons of the French political class, with the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, and the President, François Hollande, finding themselves at odds on the issue. This article seeks to achieve four aims. It seeks to (a) explain the contrary outcomes between key French state institutions, such as the Conseil d’État and the French Parliament, concerning the hijab and burqa bans, and the Conseil d’État and French local councils, concerning the burqini bans; (b) to do so by identifying two qualitatively distinct, and at times incompatible, conceptions of laïcité, present within official French public discourse, and applied by these French state institutions to underwrite these respective outcomes; (c) explain why, given these contrary conceptions of laïcité, and these contrary outcomes, the widespread identification of laïcité with “secularism” is both misleading and inaccurate; and (d) provide an explanation why senior members of the French political class were divided on the burqini bans when they were not divided on the nation-wide prohibitions of the hijab in public schools and the burqa in public places. In regard to this last question, the article seeks to ask why the Burqini was “different”?

Keywords: liberalism, republicanism, laïcité, citizenship

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Authors: Adewale Oladapo, C. A. Afolami

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The study analyzed the effect of micro credit access on poverty reduction among small scale women entrepreneurs in Ondo state, Nigeria. Primary data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 100 randomly selected woman entrepreneurs. These were drawn in multistage sampling process covering four local government areas (LGAS). Data collected include socio economics characteristics of respondents, access to micro credit, sources of micro credit, and constraints faced by the entrepreneur in sourcing for micro credit. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index of poverty measure, Gini coefficients and probit regression analysis. The study found that respondents sampled for the survey were within the age range of 31-40 years with mean age 38.6%. Mostly (56.0%) of the respondents were educated to the tune of primary school. Majority (87.0%) of the respondents were married with fairly large household size of (4-5). The poverty index analysis revealed that most (67%) of the sample respondents were poor. The result of the Probit regression analyzed showed that income was a significant variable in micro credit access, while the result of the Gini coefficient revealed a very high income inequality among the respondents. The study concluded that most of the respondents were poor and return on investment (income) was an important variable that increased the chance of respondents in sourcing for micro-credit loan and recommended that income realized by entrepreneur should be properly documented to facilitate loan accessibility.

Keywords: entrepreneurs, income, micro-credit, poverty

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Authors: Mohammad S. Islam

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Elections in Bangladesh are always controversial, and sometimes it becomes a violent affair when state power is combined with politics. Despite the commitment of the ruling party- the polling government to ensure free, fair, and credible elections, the participants of opposition parties and the general voters became very disappointed, terribly frustrated, and severely shocked. It happened when numerous claims of serious irregularities of vote rigging and violence came out in broad daylight during the election. This paper addresses the issues of how the ruling party created frightening and a horror situation to make people silent over electoral fraud and violent incidents, including gang rape. It also seeks to demonstrate that election-2018 was simply the deceptive action of the ruling party to legitimate their power, but not to provide a minimum opportunity for voters to exercise their fundamental right to vote. The fundamental freedom and the rule of law seemed to be ignored completely in this election process and afterwards. With the help of state machinery, the government of the ruling party violated human rights, restricted fundamental freedoms, and humiliated social protection & dignity. The contestant’s views as witnessed and relevant literatures are cited first for conceptual understanding. Then, the paper will examine how a new dimension of circumstantial social measures related to sustained protection can reduce all kinds of violence against humanity towards establishing a peaceful democratic society. Finally, this paper interprets the key findings and considers wider implications.

Keywords: electoral fraud, human rights, sustained protection, social measures, vote rigging

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Authors: Amira M. Othman

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Despite the massive array of literature that engages with the Egyptian legislative system on a theoretical level, very little attention has been dedicated to the comparison between the legislative clauses on the one hand, and the (absence of their) real-world implementation on the other. This paper starts with this discrepancy, focusing on the legal proceedings in some recent cases dubbed ‘political,’ in which defendants received death sentences. Then, it sheds light on the trend of practical disregard of the law on behalf of the criminal justice apparatuses (whether security forces, public prosecution offices, lawyers, judges, prison wardens, and executioners) through the examination of case files and the conduction of interviews with some defense lawyers in the cases in question. It also identifies the resultant state of confusion among prison staff, as manifest in their treatment of defendants even before the death sentences against them is pronounced; in other words, the application of some aspects of the law in certain cases, and their simultaneous disregard of others. Then, the paper explores the effects of such execution of the law on the death row inmates, as it identifies the different strategies through which defendants who are sentenced to death appropriate a number of legal clauses to their benefit, thereby embarrassing - or highly irritating - the judges that pronounce their death sentences. In addition to appropriation, other strategies include the contestation of the law and their presence before the courts in general, as well as the complete disregard and dismissal of the legal system altogether. Finally, the paper investigates the consequent conceptual effect on the first degree families of death row inmates, namely how their daily encounters with the Egyptian legislative system - particularly its emphasis on the absence of the otherwise binding local legislation - continue to shape their conceptions of the ‘law,’ of ‘justice,’ and their trust in the ‘state.’

Keywords: death penalty, Egyptian law absence, justice, political cases

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Authors: Dony Adriansyah Nazaruddin, Mohammad Muqtada Ali Khan

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This paper aims to present some imaginative geomorphological sites in Malaysia. This study comprises desk study and field study. Desk study was conducted by reviewing some literatures related to the topic and some geomorphosites in Malaysia. Field study was organized in 2013 and 2014 to investigate the recent situation of these sites and to take some measurements, photographs and rock samples. Some examples of imaginative geomorphosites all over Malaysia have been identified for this purpose. In Peninsular Malaysia, some geomorphosites in Langkawi Islands (the state of Kedah) have imaginative features such as a “turtle” atop the limestone hill of Setul Formation at the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “shoe” at the Kasut island of the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “lying pregnant lady” at the Dayang Bunting island of the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, and a “ship” of the Singa Kecil island. Meanwhile, some other examples are from the state of Kelantan, such as a mogote hill with a “human face looking upward” at Gunung Reng, Jeli District and a “boat rock” at Mount Chamah, Gua Musang District. In East Malaysia, there is only one example can be identified, it is the “Abraham Lincoln’s face” at the Deer Cave, Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Karst landforms dominate the imaginative geomorphosites in Malaysia. The formations of these features are affected by some endogenic and exogenic processes, such as tectonic uplift, weathering (including solution), erosion, and so on. This study will recommend that these imaginative features should be conserved and developed for some purposes, such as research, education, and geotourism development in Malaysia.

Keywords: geomorphosite, geotourism, earth processes, karst landforms, Malaysia

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