Search results for: the welfare state

Authors: Adewale Oladapo, Carolyn A. Afolami

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Agricultural production should be the major financial contributor to the Nigerian economy; however, the petroleum sector had taken the importance attached to this sector. The situation tends to be more worsening unless necessary attention is given to adequate credit supply among food crop farmers. This research analyses the effect of credit use on the technical efficiency of cassava farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from two hundred randomly selected cassava farmers through a multistage sampling procedure in the study area. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Findings revealed that 95.0% of the farmers were male while 56.0% had no formal education and were married. The SFA showed that cassava farmer’s efficiency increased with farm size, herbicide and planting material at 5%,10% and 1% respectively but decreased with fertilizer application at 1% level while farmers’ age, education, household size, experience and access to credit increased technical inefficiency at 10%. The study concluded that cassava farmers are technically inefficient in the use of farm resources and recommended that adequate and workable agricultural policy measures that will ensure availability and efficient fertilizer distribution should be put in place to increase efficiency. Furthermore, the government should encourage youth participation in cassava production and ensure improvement in farmer’s access to credit to increase farmer’s technical efficiency.

Keywords: agriculture, access to credit, cassava farmers, technical efficiency

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Authors: Kshitij Bhardwaj, R.K. Trivedi, Shipra Dixit

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We used biological detoxification method that converts toxic residue waste of Jatropha curcas oil seeds (non edible oil seed) into industrial bio-products and animal feed material. Present study describes the complete degradation of phorbol esters by Aspergillus Niger strain during solid state fermentation (SSF) of deoiled Jatropha curcas seed cake. Phorbol esters were completely degraded in 15 days under the optimized SSF conditions viz deoiled cake 5.0 gm moistened with 5.0 ml distilled water; inoculum 2 ml of overnight grown Aspergillus niger; incubated at 30◦ C, pH 7.0. This method simultaneously induces the production of Protease enzyme by Aspergillus Niger which has high potential to be used in feedstuffs .The maximum Protease activities obtained were 709.16 mg/ml in Jatropha curcas oil seed cake. The protein isolate had small amounts of phorbol esters, phytic acid, and saponin without any lectin. Its minimum and maximum solubility were at pH 4.0&12.0. Water and oil binding capacities were 3.22 g water/g protein and 1.86 ml oil/g protein respectively.Emulsion activity showed high values in a range of basic pH. We concluded that Jatropha Curcas seed cake has a potential to be used as a novel source of functional protein for food or feed applications.

Keywords: solid state fermentation, Jatropha curcas, oil seed cake, phorbol ester

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Authors: Elvin Lim

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This article integrates the debate about presidential powers with the debate about federalism, arguing that there are two ways of exercising presidential powers, one working in tandem with expanding federal powers, and the other working against it. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson—the former a Federalist and the latter echoing the views of many Anti-Federalists—disagreed not only on the constitutional basis of prerogative, but also on the ends for which it should be deployed. This tension has always existed in American politics, and is reproduced today. Modern Democrats and Republicans both want a strong executive, but the Democrats who want a strong executive to pass legislation to expand the reach of the federal government; naturally, they must rely on an equally empowered Congress to do so. Republicans generally do not want an intrusive federal government, which is why their defense of a strong presidency does not come alongside a call for a strong Congress. This distinction cannot be explained without recourse to foundational yet opposing views about the appropriate role of federal power. When we bring federalism back in, we see that there are indeed two presidencies; one neo-Federalist, in favor of moderate presidential prerogative alongside a robust Congress directed collectively to a national state-building agenda and expanding the federal prerogative; another, neo-Anti-Federalist, in favor of expansive presidential prerogative and an ideologically sympathetic Congress equally suspicious of federal power to retard or roll back national state-building in favour of states rights.

Keywords: US presidency, federalism, prerogative, anti-federalism

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Authors: Oljana Hoxhaj

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The integration process of Albania into the European family carries many difficulties. In this context, the Albanian legislator is inclined to implement in the domestic legal framework models which have been successful in other countries. Our paper aims to present an analytical and comparative approach to the health system in Albania and France, mainly focusing on citizen’s access to these services. Different standards and cultures between states, in the context of an approximate model, will be the first challenge of our paper. Over the last few years, the Albanian government has undertaken concrete reforms in this sector, aiming to transform the vision on which the previous health system was structured. In this perspective, the state fulfills not only an obligation to its citizens, but also consolidates progressive steps toward alignment with European Union standards. The necessity to undertake a genuine reform in this area has come as an exigency of society, which has permanently identified problems within this sector, considering it ineffective, out of standards, and corrupt. The inclusion of health services on the Albanian government agenda reflects its will in the function of good governance, transparency, and broadening access to the provision of quality health services in the public and private sectors. The success of any initiative in the health system consists of giving priority to patient needs. Another objective that should be in the state's consideration is to create the premise to provide a comprehensive process on whose foundations partnership and broader co-operation with beneficiary entities are established in any decision-making that is directly related to their interests. Some other important and widespread impacts on the effective realization of citizens' access to the healthcare system coincide with the construction of appropriate infrastructure, increasing the professionalism and qualification of medical staff, and the allocation of a higher budget. France has one of the most effective healthcare models in Europe. That is why we have chosen to analyze this country, aiming to highlight the advantages of this system, as well as the commitment of the French state to drafting effective health policies. In the framework of the process of harmonization of the Albanian legislation with that of the European Union, through our work, we aim to identify the space to implement the whole of these legislative innovations in the Albanian legislation.

Keywords: effective service, harmonization level, innovation, reform

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Authors: Sara Dragisic

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Using the theoretical analysis of the birth of biopolitics that Foucault performed through the history of liberalism and neoliberalism, in this paper we will try to show how, precisely through problematizing the role of international institutions, the model of governance differs from previous ways of objectifying body and life. Are the state and its mechanisms still a Leviathan to fight against, or can it be even the driver of resistance against the proponents of modern governance and the biopolitical power? Do paradigmatic examples of biopolitics still appear through sovereignty and (international) law, or is it precisely this sphere that shows a significant dose of incompetence and powerlessness in relation to, not only the economic sphere (Foucault’s critique of neoliberalism) but also the new politics of freedom? Have the struggle for freedom and human rights, as well as the war on terrorism, opened a new spectrum of biopolitical processes, which are manifested precisely through new international institutions and humanitarian discourse? We will try to answer these questions, in the following way. On the one hand, we will show that the views of authors such as Agamben and Hardt and Negri, in whom the state and sovereignty are seen as enemies to be defeated or overcome, fail to see how such attempts could translate into the politicization of life like it is done in many examples through the doctrine of liberal interventionism and humanitarianism. On the other hand, we will point out that it is precisely the humanitarian discourse and the defense of the right to intervention that can be the incentive and basis for the politicization of the category of life and lead to the selective application of human rights. Zizek example of the killing of United Nations workers and doctors in a village during the Vietnam War, who were targeted even before police or soldiers, because they were precisely seen as a powerful instrument of American imperialism (as they were sincerely trying to help the population), will be focus of this part of the analysis. We’ll ask the question whether such interpretation is a kind of liquidation of the extreme left of the political (Laclau) or on this basis can be explained at least in part the need to review the functioning of international organizations, ranging from those dealing with humanitarian aid (and humanitarian military interventions) to those dealing with protection and the security of the population, primarily from growing terrorism. Based on the above examples, we will also explain how the discourse of terrorism itself plays a dual role: it can appear as a tool of liberal biopolitics, although, more superficially, it mostly appears as an enemy that wants to destroy the liberal system and its values. This brings us to the basic problem that this paper will tackle: do the mechanisms of institutional struggle for human rights and freedoms, which is often seen as opposed to the security mechanisms of the state, serve the governance of citizens in such a way that the latter themselves participate in producing biopolitical governmental practices? Is the freedom today "nothing but the correlative development of apparatuses of security" (Foucault)? Or, we can continue this line of Foucault’s argumentation and enhance the interpretation with the important question of what precisely today reflects the change in the rationality of governance in which society is transformed from a passive object into a subject of its own production. Finally, in order to understand the skills of biopolitical governance in modern civil society, it is necessary to pay attention to the status of international organizations, which seem to have become a significant place for the implementation of global governance. In this sense, the power of sovereignty can turn out to be an insufficiently strong power of security policy, which can go hand in hand with freedom policies, through neoliberal governmental techniques.

Keywords: neoliberalism, Foucault, sovereignty, biopolitics, international organizations, NGOs, Agamben, Hardt&Negri, Zizek, security, state power

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Authors: Marat Kozhomberdiev

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The research will investigate the modern corporate finance management technologies currently used in the era of digitalization of the global economy and the degree to which financial institutions are utilizing these new technologies in the field of corporate finance management in Kyrgyzstan. The main purpose of the research is to reveal the role of financial management technologies as joint service centers, intercompany banks, specialized payment centers in the third-world country. Particularly, the analysis of the implacability of automated corporate finance management systems such as enterprise resource planning system (ERP) and treasury management system (TMS) will be carried out. Moreover, the research will investigate the role of cloud accounting systems in corporate finance management in Kyrgyz banks and whether it has any impact on the field of improving corporate finance management. The study will utilize a data collection process via surveying 3 banks in Kyrgyzstan, namely Mol-Bulak, RSK, and KICB. The banks were chosen based on their ownerships, such as state banks, private banks with local authorized capital, and private bank with international capital. The regression analysis will be utilized to reveal the correlation between the ownership of the bank and the use of new financial management technologies. The research will provide policy recommendations to both private and state banks on developing strategies for switching and utilizing modern corporate finance management technologies in their daily operations.

Keywords: digital economy, corporate finance, digital environment, digital technologies, cloud technologies, financial management

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Authors: Yansong Gao, Damith C.Ranasinghe, Siad F. Al-Sarawi, Omid Kavehei, Derek Abbott

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Passive crossbar arrays is in principle the simplest functional electrical circuit, together with memristive device in cross-point, holding great promise in future high-density, non-volatile memories. However, the greatest problem of crossbar array is the sneak path current. In this paper, we investigate one type of memristive device with intrinsic rectification behavior to address the sneak path currents. Firstly, a SPICE behavior model written in Verilog-A language of the memristive device is presented to fit experimental data published in literature. Next, systematic performance simulations including read margin and power consumption of crossbar array, which uses the self-rectifying memristive device as storage element at cross-point, with respect to different crossbar sizes, interconnect resistance, ratio of HRS/LRS (High Resistance State/ Low Resistance State), rectification ratio and different read schemes are conducted. Subsequently, Trade-offs among reading margin, power consumption, and reading schemes are analyzed to provide guidelines for circuit design. Finally, performance comparison between the memristive device with/without intrinsic rectification behavior is given to show the worthiness of this intrinsic rectification behavior.

Keywords: memristive device, memristor, crossbar, RRAM, read margin, power consumption

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Authors: Daria Lozovskaia

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This paper is focused on the news coverage of public opinion polls about Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Russian state-controlled media. After the announcement of the start of the so-called “Special Military Operation” on February 24, 2022, the number of publications of the results of public opinion polls increased many times over, and the poll numbers began to be discussed on social media and in the Kremlin’s official informational agenda. Headlines like "72 Percent of Russian Citizens Support the Operation " or "Russians Believe in Victory in the Special Military Operation" have become prominent parts of Russian state propaganda news stories and newspapers. At the same time, public opinion in Russia, as a concept and model, differs from the generally accepted democratic concept and has its own specifics. As a result, public opinion polls and their results, especially after February 24, have a number of features in the form of the dominance of the discourse of political elites in the media, which leads to a decrease in public awareness, the prevalence of the effect of joining the majority and a high number of non-responses due to fear of reprisals. The aim of this study was to determine the role of public opinion polls in the system of Russian war propaganda in Ukraine. For this purpose, were selected publications of the Russian media, the agenda of which corresponds to the official information policy of the Russian authorities. First, using frame analysis for the categories "Explicit trust", "Implicit trust", "Implicit distrust" and "Explicit distrust", provided by Irina Dusakova, the broadcast level of trust in the data of public opinion polls was determined. The results of this phase of the study showed that the Russian media broadcast an absolute level of confidence in public opinion polls regarding support for the war in Ukraine. The second stage of the study was the content analysis of publications. The categories of this analysis were derived from Anna Morelli's 10 Principles of Military Propaganda and Haavard Koppang's Definition of Propaganda to determine the purposes of the use of public opinion polls by Russian propaganda. The results of the study not only confirmed the widespread hypothesis that public opinion polls in Russia are used as a tool of state propaganda, but also showed that their purpose is to demonstrate the consolidation of society in support of the war and President Vladimir Putin.

Keywords: propaganda, public opinion, public opinion polls, Russian studies

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Authors: S. J. Higgs, E. Van Eck, K. Heynis, S. H. Broadberry

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Engagement with non-human animals is a rapidly-growing field of study within the animal science and social science sectors, with human-interactions occurring in many forms; interactions, encounters and animal-assisted therapy. To our knowledge, there has been a wide array of research published on domestic and livestock human-animal interactions, however, there appear to be fewer publications relating to zoo animals and the effect these interactions have on the animal, human and establishment. The aim of this study was to identify if there were any perceivable benefits from the human-animal interaction for the cheetah, the human and the establishment. Behaviour data were collected before, during and after the interaction on the behaviour of the cheetah and the human participants to highlight any trends with nine interactions conducted. All 35 participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire prior to the interaction and immediately after to ascertain if their perceptions changed following an interaction with the cheetah. An online questionnaire was also distributed for three months to gain an understanding of the perceptions of human-animal interactions from members of the public, gaining 229 responses. Both questionnaires contained qualitative and quantitative questions to allow for specific definitive answers to be analysed, but also expansion on the participants perceived perception of human-animal interactions. In conclusion, it was found that participants’ perceptions of human-animal interactions saw a positive change, with 64% of participants altering their opinion and viewing the interaction as beneficial for the cheetah (reduction in stress assumed behaviours) following participation in a 15-minute interaction. However, it was noted that many participants felt the interaction lacked educational values and therefore this is an area in which zoological establishments can work to further improve upon. The results highlighted many positive benefits for the human, animal and establishment, however, the study does indicate further areas for research in order to promote positive perceptions of human-animal interactions and to further increase the welfare of the animal during these interactions, with recommendations to create and regulate legislation.

Keywords: Acinonyx jubatus, encounters, human-animal interactions, perceptions, zoological establishments

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Authors: László L. Lippai

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In addition to the fact that mental health bears great significance to a particular individual, it can also be regarded as an organizational, community and societal resource. Within the Szeged Health Promotion Research Group, we conducted mental health surveys on two levels: The inhabitants of a medium-sized Hungarian town and students of a Hungarian university with a relatively big headcount were requested to participate in surveys whose goals were to define local government priorities and organization-level health promotion programmes, respectively. To facilitate professional decision-making, we defined three, pragmatically relevant, groups of the target population: the mentally healthy, the vulnerable and the endangered. In order to determine which group a person actually belongs to, we designed a simple and quick measurement tool, which could even be utilised as a smoothing method, the Mental State Questionnaire validity of the above three categories was verified by analysis of variance against psychological quality of life variables. We demonstrate the pragmatic significance of our method via the analyses of the scores of our two mental health surveys. On town level, during our representative survey in Hódmezővásárhely (N=1839), we found that 38.7% of the participants was mentally healthy, 35.3% was vulnerable, while 16.3% was considered as endangered. We were able to identify groups that were in a dramatic state in terms of mental health. For example, such a group consisted of men aged 45 to 64 with only primary education qualification and the ratios of the mentally healthy, vulnerable and endangered were 4.5, 45.5 and 50%, respectively. It was also astonishing to see to what a little extent qualification prevailed as a protective factor in the case of women. Based on our data, the female group aged 18 to 44 with primary education—of whom 20.3% was mentally healthy, 42.4% vulnerable and 37.3% was endangered—as well as the female group aged 45 to 64 with university or college degree—of whom 25% was mentally healthy, 51.3 vulnerable and 23.8% endangered—are to be handled as priority intervention target groups in a similarly difficult position. On organizational level, our survey involving the students of the University of Szeged, N=1565, provided data to prepare a strategy of mental health promotion for a university with a headcount exceeding 20,000. When developing an organizational strategy, it was important to gather information to estimate the proportions of target groups in which mental health promotion methods; for example, life management skills development, detection, psychological consultancy, psychotherapy, would be applied. Our scores show that 46.8% of the student participants were mentally healthy, 42.1% were vulnerable and 11.1% were endangered. These data convey relevant information as to the allocation of organizational resources within a university with a considerable headcount. In conclusion, The Mental State Questionnaire, as a valid smoothing method, is adequate to describe a community in a plain and informative way in the terms of mental health. The application of the method can promote the preparation, design and implementation of mental health promotion interventions. 

Keywords: health promotion, mental health promotion, mental state questionnaire, psychological well-being

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Authors: Khaled Suleiman Mohammed Al-Mashrafi

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A compositional plume is a fluid flow in a directional channel of finite width in another fluid of different material composition. The study of the dynamics of compositional plumes plays an essential role in many real-life applications like industrial applications (e.g., iron casting), environmental applications (e.g., salt fingers and sea ice), and geophysical applications (e.g., solidification at the inner core boundary (ICB) of the Earth, and mantle plumes). The dynamics of compositional plumes have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The experimental works observed that the plume flow seems to be stable, although some experiments showed that it can be unstable. At the same time, the theoretical investigations showed that the plume flow is unstable. This is found to be true even if the plume is subject to rotation or/and in the presence of a magnetic field and even if another plume of different composition is also present. It is noticeable that all the theoretical studies on the dynamics of compositional plumes are conducted in unbounded domains. The present work is to investigate theoretically the influence of vertical walls (boundaries) on the dynamics of compositional plumes in the absence/presence of a rotation field. The mathematical model of the dynamics of compositional plumes used the equations of continuity, motion, heat, concentration of light material, and state. It is found that the presence of boundaries has a strong influence on the basic state solution as well as the stability of the plume, particularly when the plume is close to the boundary, but the compositional plume remains unstable.

Keywords: compositional plumes, stability, bounded domain, vertical boundaries

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Authors: Abiodun O. Ibude

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Several organizations have devised the strategy of engaging the services of staff not directly employed by them in their production and service delivery. Some organizations also engage on contracting another organization to carry out a part of service or production process on their behalf. Outsourcing is becoming an important alternative employment option for most organizations. This paper attempts an exposition on the rights of workers within the more specific context of outsourcing as a human resource management phenomenon. Outsourced employees and their rights are treated conceptually and analytically in a generic sense as a mere subset of the larger whole, that is, labor. Outsourced employees derive their rights, like all workers, from their job context as well as the legal environment (municipal and global) in which they operate. The dynamics of globalization and the implications of this development for labor practices receive considerable attention in this exposition. In this regard, a guarded proposition is made, to examine the practice and effect of engaging outsourcing as an economic decision designed primarily to cut down on operational costs rather than a Human Resources Management decision to improve worker welfare. The population of the study was selected from purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data obtained were analyzed through a simple percentage, Pearson product-moment correlation, and cross-tabulation. From the research conducted, it was discovered that, although outsourcing possesses opportunities for organizations, there are drawbacks arising from its implementation of job securities. It was also discovered that some employees are being exploited through this strategy. This gives rise to lower motivation and thereby decline in performance. In conclusion, there is need for examination of Human Resource Managers’ strategies that can serve as management policy tools for the protection of the rights of outsourced employees.

Keywords: legal environment, operational cost, outsourcing, protection

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Authors: G. A. Adamu, M. S. Sallau, S. O. Idris, E. B. Agbaji

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Drinking water is supplied to Danbatta, Makoda and some parts of Minjibir local government areas of Kano State from the surface water of Thomas Reservoir. The present land use in the catchment area of the reservoir indicates high agricultural activities, fishing, as well as domestic and small scale industrial activities. To study and monitor the quality of surface and drinking water of the area, water samples were collected from the reservoir, treated water at the treatment plant and potable water at the consumer end in three seasons November - February (cold season), March - June (dry season) and July - September (rainy season). The samples were analyzed for physical and chemical parameters, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), conductivity, turbidity, total hardness, suspended solids, total solids, colour, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chloride ion (Cl^-) nitrite (NO₂^-), nitrate (NO₃^-), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and phosphate (PO₄^3-). The higher values obtained in some parameters with respect to the acceptable standard set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) indicate the pollution of both the surface and drinking water. These pollutants were observed to have a negative impact on water quality in terms of eutrophication, largely due to anthropogenic activities in the watershed.

Keywords: surface water, drinking water, water quality, pollution, Thomas reservoir, Kano

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Authors: Muhammad Umar Usman

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This study investigates the entrepreneurial intentions, drivers and challenges of starting a business among final year students in Jigawa State polytechnic. Nigeria. Final year students of Jigawa State Polytechnic from the department of accounting, business administration and management and public administration were used as a case study. The study became necessary due to the alarming rate of graduate unemployment in Nigeria. The study adopted a holistic case study approach involving a multiple methods of questionnaires involving (182) Higher National Diploma (HND) and National Diploma (ND) final year students and a telephone interview with two lecturers teaching entrepreneurship in the college. The findings clearly indicate that exposer to entrepreneurship education increases students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The result found that desire for independence, confidence and strong intention are the most important factors that influence students’ entrepreneurial intention. The study identified 3 key drivers of students’ entrepreneurial intentions. These are to earn a living, to seek job security and provision of employment. The result again identified 4 factors namely lack of support, finance, insecurity and erratic power supply as the major challenges in starting a business in Nigeria. It was also revealed that the current entrepreneurship education programme prepares students on how to open up a business not becoming an entrepreneur. The study concluded entrepreneurship helps students toward building and driving their intention to venture into business. However, the challenges of entrepreneurship in Nigeria need to be addressed in order to enable individuals to become an entrepreneur and create employment opportunities that will lead to the development of Nigerian economy. Thus, the government should provide adequate support particularly the issue of infrastructures. The Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education should fashion out the curriculum thereby making it more practically-oriented so that students may become more interested. Polytechnics should develop an internship programme for students to work in firms so as to put theory learnt in the class to practice. Students should try to align the theory learnt in college with the practical application in dynamic economic environment. Hence, this will help in building their capabilities toward entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial drivers, challenges, entrepreneurial education

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Authors: L. Abubakar, B. M. Sokoto, I. U. Mohammed, M. S. Na’allah, A. Mohammad, A. N. Garba, T. S. Bubuche

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Onion (Allium cepa var. cepa L.) is the most important species of the Allium group belonging to family Alliaceae and genus Allium. It can be regarded as the single important vegetable species in the world after tomatoes. Despite the similarities, which bring the species together, the genus is a strikingly diverse one, with more than five hundred species, which are perennial and mostly bulbous plants. Out of these, only seven species are in cultivation, and five are the most important species of the cultivated Allium. However, Allium cepa (onion) and Allium sativum (Garlic) are the two major cultivated species grown all over the world of which the onion crop is the most important. North Western Nigeria (Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States) constitute the major onion producing zone in Nigeria, which is primarily during the dry season. However, onion production in the zone is seriously affected by two main factors i.e. diseases and storage losses, in addition to other constraints that limits the cultivation of the crop during the rainy season which include lack of prolonged rainy season to allow for proper maturation of the crop. The major onion disease in this zone is purple blotch caused by a fungus Alternaria porri and currently efforts are on to develop onion hybrids resistant to the disease. Genetic diversity plays an important role in plant breeding either to exploit heterosis or to generate productive recombinants. Assessment of a large number of genotypes for a genetic diversity is the first step in this direction. The objective of this research therefore is to evaluate the genetic potentials of the onion cultivars of North Western Nigeria, with a view of developing new cultivars that address the major production challenges to onion cultivation in North Western, Nigeria. Thirteen onion cultivars were collected during an expedition covering North western Nigeria and Southern part of Niger Republic during 2013, which are areas noted for onion production. The cultivars were evaluated at two locations; Sokoto, in Sokoto State and Jega in Kebbi State all in Nigeria during the 2013/14 onion season (dry season) under irrigation. The objective of the research was to determine the genetic potentials of onion cultivars of north western Nigeria as a basis for breeding purposes. Combined analysis of the results revealed highly significant variation between the cultivars across the locations with respect to plant height, number of leaves/plant, bolting %, bulb height, bulb weight, mean bulb yield and cured bulb weight, with significant variation in terms of bulb diameter. Tasa from Warra Local Government Area of Kebbi State (V4) recorded the greatest mean fresh bulb yield with Jar Albasa (V8) from Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State recording the least. Similarly Marsa (V5) from Silame Local Government Area recorded the greatest mean cured bulb yield (marketable bulb)with Kiba (V11) from Goronyo Local Government of Sokoto State recording the least. Significant variation was recorded between the locations with respect to all characters, with Sokoto being better in terms of plant height, number of leaves/plant, bolting % and bulb diameter. Jega was better in terms of bulb height, bulb yield and cured bulb weight. Significant variation was therefore observed between the cultivars.

Keywords: evaluation, genetic, onions, North Western Nigeria

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Authors: Siddiq Mohammed

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This study sought to identify the perceived difficult concepts in the new mathematics curriculum by senior secondary school students and mathematics teachers in Kwara State. The study involved a survey research type. Random sampling technique was used to select the 32 sampled schools, 469 students, and 103 teachers. The instrument used in data collection was a research-designed questionnaire tagged 'Perceived Difficult Concepts in Mathematics' (PDCM) was validated by two experts in mathematics education. The test-retest reliability index of 0.69 was obtained. Data analysis was carried out using frequency count percentages and chi-square. The result of the study showed that eight topics were identified as difficult to teach by the teachers, while 14 topics were also identified as difficult to learn by the students. This study also revealed that there was no significant difference in the topics perceived as difficult between the teachers teaching in the school located in urban and rural area. However, there was a significant difference in the perceived difficult topics between student schooling in the schools located in urban and rural area. It was therefore recommended among others that mathematics teachers should undergo training on how to concretize the abstractness of some of the topics especially the new ones as well as use appropriate teaching aid to facilitate teaching/learning of the difficult concepts. It was also recommended that there is a need for evenly development of human and materials among the schools in urban and rural areas.

Keywords: curriculum, difficult concepts, mathematics, perceived

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Authors: Umeda Junaydova

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Legal aid is a key element of access to justice. According to UN Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, state members bear the obligation to put in place accessible, effective, sustainable, and credible legal aid systems. Regarding this obligation, developing countries, such as Tajikistan, faced challenges in terms of financing this system. Thus, many developed nations have launched rule-of-law programs to support these states and ensure access to justice for all. Following independence from the Soviet Union, Tajikistan committed to introducing the rule of law and providing access to justice. This newly established country was weak, and the sudden outbreak of civil war aggravated the situation even more. The country needed external support and opened its door to attract foreign donors to assist it in its way to development. In 2015, Tajikistan, with the financial support of development partners, was able to establish a state-funded legal aid system that provides legal assistance to vulnerable and marginalized populations, including in criminal cases. In the beginning, almost the whole system was financed from donor funds; by that time, the contribution of the government gradually increased, and currently, it covers 80% of the total budget. All these governments' actions toward ensuring access to criminal legal aid for disadvantaged groups look promising; however, the reality is completely different. Currently, not all disadvantaged people are covered by these services, and their cases are most of the time considered without appropriate defense, which leads to violation of fundamental human rights. This research presents a comprehensive exploration of the interplay between donor assistance and the effectiveness of legal aid services in Tajikistan, with a specific focus on criminal cases involving vulnerable groups, such as women and children. In the context of Tajikistan, this study addresses a pressing concern: despite substantial financial support from international donors, state-funded legal aid services often fall short of meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable populations. The study delves into the underlying complexities of this issue and examines the structural, operational, and systemic challenges faced by legal aid providers, shedding light on the factors contributing to the ineffectiveness of legal aid services. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the root causes of these issues, revealing the barriers that hinder the delivery of adequate legal aid services. The research adopts a socio-legal methodology to ensure an appropriate combination of multiple methodologies. The findings of this research hold significant implications for both policymakers and practitioners, offering insights into the enhancement of legal aid services and access to justice for disadvantaged and marginalized populations in Tajikistan. By addressing these pressing questions, this study aims to fill the gap in legal literature and contribute to the development of a more equitable and efficient legal aid system that better serves the needs of the most vulnerable members of society.

Keywords: access to justice, legal aid, rule of law, rights for council

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Authors: Sujit Kumar Sinha, R. Chattopadhyay

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In the course of processing phases and use, fibres, yarns, or fabrics are subjected to a variety of stresses and strains, which cause the development of internal stresses. Given an opportunity, these inherent stresses try to bring back the structure to the original state. As an example, a twisted yarn always shows a tendency to untwist whenever its one end is made free. If the yarn is not held under tension, it may form snarls due to the presence of excessive torque. The running performance of such yarn or thread may, therefore, get negatively affected by it, as a snarl may not pass through the knitting or sewing needle smoothly, leading to an end break. A fabric shows a tendency to form wrinkles whenever squeezed. It may also shrink when brought to a relaxed state. In order to improve performance (i.e., dimensional stability or appearance), stabilization of the structure is needed. The stabilization can be attained through the release of internal stresses, which can be brought about by the process of annealing and/or other finishing treatments. When a fabric is subjected to heat, a change in the properties of the fibers, yarns, and fabric is expected. The degree to which the properties are affected would depend upon the condition of heat treatment and on the properties & structure of fibres, yarns, and fabric. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of annealing treatment on the properties of polyester cotton yarns with varying sheath structures.

Keywords: friction spun yarn, annealing, tenacity, structural integrity, decay

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Authors: E. Montesinos-Pedro, L. G. Toscano-Flores, N. Domínguez-Ramírez

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Water scarcity is a worldwide issue, coupled with climate change is a relevant problem, that affect not only large cities, but also rural areas. The Municipality of Santiago Tilantongo belongs to the district of Nochixtlán Oaxaca, it’s built up from 14 communities, one of them San Martin de las Palmas. This community was founded in 1900, at that time the inhabitants were supplied with water through rivers of the region which were abundant (they used containers filled in the river for that purpose); However, over the years the level of the rivers began to drop and in 1994 specific wells were located to store water and at the same time make it drinkable, this whit support of the state of Oaxaca and the program Procampo. By the year 2000 the shortage of water in the supply sources was notorious, the community requested support from the Oaxaca State government to solve the problem. The government’s response consisted in the implementation of ferro-cement tanks (2005) and water wells (2010), both for rainwater collection, Hower, it was not enough. Now days the community has a population of 60 inhabitants who have resisted and adapted to water scarcity, not only with the programs implemented by the government, but they also have implemented important structural analysis strategies. The objective of this research is to know the adaptation strategies used by the community to analyze them and propose improvements for water conservation and mitigation of this scarcity.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, mitigation, resiliencia

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Authors: H. Cano, P. Ferrer, N. Garcia, M. Popovic, J. Zapata

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Positive Reinforcement Training is a well-known methodology which has been reported frequently to be used in captive non-human primates. As a matter of fact, it is an invaluable tool for different purposes related with animal welfare, such as primate husbandry and environmental enrichment. It is also essential to perform some cognitive experiments. The main propose of this pilot study was to establish an efficient protocol to train captive olive baboons (Papio anubis). This protocol seems to be vital in the context of a larger research program in which it will be necessary to train a complete population of around 40 baboons. Baboons were studied at the Veterinary Research Farm of the University of Murcia. Temporally isolated animals were trained to perform three basic tasks. Firstly, they were required to take food prices directly from the researchers’ hands. Then a clicker sound or bridge stimulus was added each time the animal acceded to the reinforcement. Finally, they were trained to touch a target, consisted of a whip with a red ball in its end, with their hands or their nose. When the subject completed correctly this task, it was also exposed to the bridge stimulus and awarded with a food price, such as a portion of banana, orange, apple, peach or a raisin. Two protocols were tested during this experiment. In both of them, there were 6 series of 2min training periods each day. However, in the first protocol, the series consisted in 3 trials, whereas in the second one, in each series there were 5 trials. A reliable performance was obtained with only 6 days of training in the case of the 5-trials protocol. However, with the 3-trials one, 26 days of training were needed. As a result, the 5-trials protocol seems to be more effective than the 3-trials one, in order to teach these three basic tasks to olive baboons. In consequence, it will be used to train the rest of the colony.

Keywords: captive primates, olive baboon, positive reinforcement training, Papio anubis, training

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Authors: Jongsung Kim, Daegun Han, Myungjin Lee, Soojun Kim, Hung Soo Kim

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Recently, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are gradually increasing due to climate change. Especially in Korea, large-scale damage caused by heavy rainfall frequently occurs due to rapid urbanization. Therefore, this study proposed a Heavy rain Damage Risk Index (HDRI) using PSR (Pressure – State - Response) structure for heavy rain risk assessment. We constructed pressure index, state index, and response index for the risk assessment of each local government in Gyeonggi-do province, and the evaluation indices were determined by principal component analysis. The indices were standardized using the Z-score method then HDRIs were obtained for 31 local governments in the province. The HDRI is categorized into three classes, say, the safest class is 1st class. As the results, the local governments of the 1st class were 15, 2nd class 7, and 3rd class 9. From the study, we were able to identify the risk class due to the heavy rainfall for each local government. It will be useful to develop the heavy rainfall prediction function by risk class, and this was performed in this issue. Also, this risk class could be used for the decision making for efficient disaster management. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2017R1A2B3005695).

Keywords: natural disaster, heavy rain risk assessment, HDRI, PSR

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Authors: Chi Nguyen Thi Quynh, Steven Schilizzi, Atakelty Hailu, Sayed Iftekhar

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Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries (TURFs) have been emerged as a promising tool for fisheries conservation and management. However, illegal fishing has undermined the effectiveness of TURFs, profoundly degrading global fish stocks and marine ecosystems. Conservation and management of fisheries, therefore, largely depends on effectiveness of enforcing fishing regulations, which needs co-enforcement by fishers. However, fishers tend to resist monitoring participation, as their views towards monitoring scheme design has not been received adequate attention. Fishers’ acceptability of a monitoring scheme is likely to be achieved if there is a mechanism allowing fishers to engage in the early planning and design stages. This study carried out a choice experiment with 396 fishers in Vietnam to elicit fishers’ preferences for monitoring scheme and to estimate the relative importance that fishers place on the key design elements. Preference heterogeneity was investigated using a Scale-Adjusted Latent Class Model that accounts for both preference and scale variance. Welfare changes associated with the proposed monitoring schemes were also examined. It is found that there are five distinct preference classes, suggesting that there is no one-size-fits-all scheme well-suited to all fishers. Although fishers prefer to be compensated more for their participation, compensation is not a driving element affecting fishers’ choice. Most fishers place higher value on other elements, such as institutional arrangements and monitoring capacity. Fishers’ preferences are driven by their socio-demographic and psychological characteristics. Understanding of how changes in design elements’ levels affect the participation of fishers could provide policy makers with insights useful for monitoring scheme designs tailored to the needs of different fisher classes.

Keywords: Design of monitoring scheme, Enforcement, Heterogeneity, Illegal Fishing, Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries

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Authors: Maria Rodriguez-Gazquez, Sara Chaparro-Hernandez, Jose Rafael Gonzalez-Lopez

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Introduction: Nurses are models in healthy behaviors for their patients. This is why it is important for these professionals to not only have a good knowledge of healthy behaviors but also practice. Today’s nursing students will be tomorrow’s professionals and to fulfill their role in caring they not only need knowledge, they also must maintain behaviors which enable them to improve and protect both the health of others and their own. This is why the university is a unique environment of opportunities to foster the maximum potential of health. To care for others we first have to take care of ourselves. It is important for these behaviors in Nursing students to be evaluated during the years of their university education in order to design timely interventions which improve the health behaviors of the future professionals. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the lifestyles of first year nursing students of two Universities. Methodology: Cross-sectional study. In 2014, 140 first year Nursing students of two Universities Seville –US- (Spain -Europe, n=37) and Antioquia –UA- (Colombia -South America, n=93) self-reported the FANTASTIC Lifestyle checklist. Results: Findings reveal that (I) UA students doubled the percentage of dangerous or bad lifestyles with respect to the US students, (II) the lifestyles are not appropriate in 1 of 3 of nursing students in both Universities, (II) there are statistically significant differences for family support items (higher in US), positive thinkers (higher in UA), the use of safety belts and alcohol consumption before driving (higher in US). Discussion: The nursing students are mostly young people who are at a stage in which some of the most important behaviors for adult life can still be molded. It is necessary to develop educational interventions in their Nursing curricula to strengthen healthy behaviours during training. Nursing Schools not only have the duty to train professionals, but to also be agents that foster the health, welfare and quality of those who study and work there. It must encourage knowledge and skills oriented to healthy lifestyles.

Keywords: cross-sectional studies, life style, nursing students, questionnaires

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Authors: Olusegun Adeleke Adenuga

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The study examined effect of fishbone creative thinking strategy on problem-solving skills of public teachers in Ogun state, Nigeria. A 2x2x2 factorial design was employed for the study which consisted of 80 participants made up of 40 male and 40 female public teachers randomly selected among public teaching personnel from the two local government area headquarters (Ijebu-ode and Ijebu-Igbo) within Ogun East Senatorial District. Each treatment group received 45minutes instructions and training per week for 8weeks. Data was collected from participants with the use of standardized instrument tagged ‘Problem Solving Inventory’ (PSI) developed by the researchers prior to the training to form a pre-test and immediately after eight weeks of training to form a post-test. One hypothesis was tested; the data obtained was analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tested at significance level of 0.05. The result of the data analysis shows that there was a significant effect of the fishbone creative thinking technique on the participants (F (2,99) = 12.410; p <.05). Based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that the report of this study be used to effect organizational change and development of teaching service in Nigeria through teachers’ retraining and capacity building.

Keywords: fishbone, creative thinking strategy, and problem-solving skills, public teachers

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Authors: Deike Janssen

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In the scenery of the Tyrolean mountains, at an altitude of 1300 meters, stands a building. Residents and activists call it a prison. However, it is not a prison -according to authorities, it is a 'Return Counseling Facility' where migrants and refugees should be "motivated" to return "voluntary" to their countries of origin. This paper argues that the geographical location of the camp functions as a site of exclusion, isolation, and coercion where no one can decide “voluntary” to return, but where people are brought to despair to leave Austria. Through a qualitative case study, this paper documents the heavy impact of offshore detention on the mental, physical and social state of the residents and a variety of human rights problems in the centre. Different developments at the Return Counselling Facility and the law that back up the centre uncover a worrying dynamic that deliberately accepts human rights problems in order to enforce borders, a policy that disregards humanitarian, legal, and ethical stands in order to deport people at all hazards. It, therefore, can be seen as a creative and ultimate exercise of state power, which uses isolated locations to control migration. While the analysis revises the micro and macro implications of the facility and, therefore, the legal and political facets, it also sheds light on the role of the civil society, which tries to increase through constant and collective efforts the human rights efforts of the government.

Keywords: deportation, human rights, migration, refugee detention, voluntary return

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Authors: Diptoshi Roy, G. Sreevidya Varma, S. Asokan, Chandasree Das

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Germanium Telluride based quaternary thin film switching devices with composition Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag_24, have been deposited in sandwich geometry on glass substrate with aluminum as top and bottom electrodes. The bulk glassy form of the said composition is prepared by melt quenching technique. In this technique, appropriate quantity of elements with high purity are taken in a quartz ampoule and sealed under a vacuum of 10^-5 mbar. Then, it is allowed to rotate in a horizontal rotary furnace for 36 hours to ensure homogeneity of the melt. After that, the ampoule is quenched into a mixture of ice - water and NaOH to get the bulk ingot of the sample. The sample is then coated on a glass substrate using flash evaporation technique at a vacuum level of 10^-6 mbar. The XRD report reveals the amorphous nature of the thin film sample and Energy - Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) confirms that the film retains the same chemical composition as that of the base sample. Electrical switching behavior of the device is studied with the help of Keithley (2410^c) source-measure unit interfaced with Lab VIEW 7 (National Instruments). Switching studies, mainly SET (changing the state of the material from amorphous to crystalline) operation is conducted on the thin film form of the sample. This device is found to manifest memory switching as the device remains 'ON' even after the removal of the electric field. Also it is found that amorphous Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag₂₄ thin film unveils clean memory type of electrical switching behavior which can be justified by the absence of fluctuation in the I-V characteristics. The I-V characteristic also reveals that the switching is faster in this sample as no data points could be seen in the negative resistance region during the transition to on state and this leads to the conclusion of fast phase change during SET process. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies are performed on the chosen sample to study the structural changes at the time of switching. SEM studies on the switched Ge₁₅In₅Te₅₆Ag₂₄ sample has shown some morphological changes at the place of switching wherein it can be explained that a conducting crystalline channel is formed in the device when the device switches from high resistance to low resistance state. From these studies it can be concluded that the material may find its application in fast switching Non-Volatile Phase Change Memory (PCM) Devices.

Keywords: Chalcogenides, Vapor deposition, Electrical switching, PCM.

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Authors: Marcel Schulze, Behrem Aslan, Silke Lux, Alexandra Philipsen

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Objective: Patients with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often report that they are being flooded by sensory impressions. Studies investigating sensory processing show hypersensitivity for sensory inputs across the senses in children and adults with ADHD. Especially the auditory modality is affected by deficient acoustical inhibition and modulation of signals. While studying unimodal signal-processing is relevant and well-suited in a controlled laboratory environment, everyday life situations occur multimodal. A complex interplay of the senses is necessary to form a unified percept. In order to achieve this, the unimodal sensory modalities are bound together in a process called multisensory integration (MI). In the current study we investigate MI in an adult ADHD sample using the McGurk-effect – a well-known illusion where incongruent speech like phonemes lead in case of successful integration to a new perceived phoneme via late top-down attentional allocation . In ADHD neuronal dysregulation at rest e.g., aberrant within or between network functional connectivity may also account for difficulties in integrating across the senses. Therefore, the current study includes resting-state functional connectivity to investigate a possible relation of deficient network connectivity and the ability of stimulus integration. Method: Twenty-five ADHD patients (6 females, age: 30.08 (SD:9,3) years) and twenty-four healthy controls (9 females; age: 26.88 (SD: 6.3) years) were recruited. MI was examined using the McGurk effect, where - in case of successful MI - incongruent speech-like phonemes between visual and auditory modality are leading to a perception of a new phoneme. Mann-Whitney-U test was applied to assess statistical differences between groups. Echo-planar imaging-resting-state functional MRI was acquired on a 3.0 Tesla Siemens Magnetom MR scanner. A seed-to-voxel analysis was realized using the CONN toolbox. Results: Susceptibility to McGurk was significantly lowered for ADHD patients (ADHDMdn:5.83%, ControlsMdn:44.2%, U= 160.5, p=0.022, r=-0.34). When ADHD patients integrated phonemes, reaction times were significantly longer (ADHDMdn:1260ms, ControlsMdn:582ms, U=41.0, p<.000, r= -0.56). In functional connectivity medio temporal gyrus (seed) was negatively associated with primary auditory cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. Conclusion: MI seems to be deficient for ADHD patients for stimuli that need top-down attentional allocation. This finding is supported by stronger functional connectivity from unimodal sensory areas to polymodal, MI convergence zones for complex stimuli in ADHD patients.

Keywords: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, audiovisual integration, McGurk-effect, resting-state functional connectivity

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Authors: Serdal Pamuk, Irem Cay

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Our model is based on the theory of reinforced random walks coupled with Michealis-Menten mechanisms which view endothelial cell receptors as the catalysts for transforming both tumor and macrophage derived tumor angiogenesis factor (TAF) into proteolytic enzyme which in turn degrade the basal lamina. The model consists of two main parts. First part has seven differential equations (DE’s) in one space dimension over the capillary, whereas the second part has the same number of DE’s in two space dimensions in the extra cellular matrix (ECM). We connect these two parts via some boundary conditions to move the cells into the ECM in order to initiate capillary formation. But, when does this movement begin? To address this question we estimate the thresholds that activate the transport equations in the capillary. We do this by using steady-state analysis of TAF equation under some assumptions. Once these equations are activated endothelial, pericyte and macrophage cells begin to move into the ECM for the initiation of angiogenesis. We do believe that our results play an important role for the mechanisms of cell migration which are crucial for tumor angiogenesis. Furthermore, we estimate the long time tendency of these three cells, and find that they tend to the transition probability functions as time evolves. We provide our numerical solutions which are in good agreement with our theoretical results.

Keywords: angiogenesis, capillary formation, mathematical analysis, steady-state, transition probability function

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Authors: Yu-Chen Hsu, Kuang C. Lin

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The artificial lung called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an important medical machine that supports persons whose heart and lungs dysfunction. Previously, investigation of steady deoxygenated blood flows passing through hollow fibers for oxygen transport was carried out experimentally and computationally. The present study computationally analyzes the effect of biological pulsatile flow on the oxygen transport in blood. A 2-D model with a pulsatile flow condition is employed. The power law model is used to describe the non-Newtonian flow and the Hill equation is utilized to simulate the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin. The dimensionless parameters for the physical model include Reynolds numbers (Re), Womersley parameters (α), pulsation amplitudes (A), Sherwood number (Sh) and Schmidt number (Sc). The present model with steady-state flow conditions is well validated against previous experiment and simulations. It is observed that pulsating flow amplitudes significantly influence the velocity profile, pressure of oxygen (PO2), saturation of oxygen (SO2) and the oxygen mass transfer rates (m ̇_O2). In comparison between steady-state and pulsating flows, our findings suggest that the consideration of pulsating flow in the computational model is needed when Re is raised from 2 to 10 in a typical range for flow in artificial lung.

Keywords: artificial lung, oxygen transport, non-Newtonian flows, pulsating flows

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Authors: David Abrahams

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In October 2016 South Africa deposited its ‘instrument of withdrawal’ from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Rome Statute is the founding document of the treaty-based International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC has jurisdiction to hear cases where crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide have been committed, on the basis of individual criminal responsibility. It is therefore not surprising that one of the ICCs mandates is to ensure that the sufferings, due to gross human rights violations towards the civilian population is, in principle, brought to an end by punishing those individuals responsible, thus providing justice to the victims. The ICC is unable to effectively fulfill its mandate and thus depends, in part on the willingness of states to assist the Court in its functions. This requires states to ratify the Statute and to domesticate its provisions, depending on whether it is a monist or dualist state. South Africa ratified the Statute in November 2000, and domesticated the Statute in 2002 by virtue of the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act 27 of 2002. South Africa thus remains under an obligation to cooperate with the ICC until the final date of withdrawal, which is October 2017. An AU Summit was hosted by South Africa during June 2015. Omar Al-Bashir, whom the prosecutor of the ICC has indicted on two separate occasions, was invited to the summit. South Africa made an agreement with the AU that it will honour its obligations in terms of its Diplomatic and Immunities Privileges Act of 2001, by granting immunity to all heads of state, including that of Sudan. This decision by South Africa has raised a plethora of questions regarding the status and hierarchy of international laws versus regional laws versus domestic laws. In particular, this paper explores whether a state’s international law treaty obligations may be suspended in favour of, firstly, regional peace (thus safeguarding the security of the civilian population against further atrocities and other gross violations of human rights), and secondly, head of state immunity. This paper also reflects on the effectiveness of the trias politca in South Africa in relation the manner in which South African courts have confirmed South Africa’s failure in fulfilling its obligations in terms of the Rome Statute. A secondary question which will also be explored, is whether the Rome Statute is currently an effective tool in dealing with gross violations of human rights, particularly in a regional African context, given the desire by a number of African states currently party to the Statute, to engage in a mass exodus from the Statute. Finally, the paper concludes with a proposal that there can be no justice for victims of gross human rights violations unless states are serious in playing an instrumental role in bringing an end to impunity in Africa, and that withdrawing from the ICC without an alternative, effective system in place, will simply perpetuate impunity.

Keywords: African Union, diplomatic immunity, impunity, international criminal court, South Africa

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