Chinese Market Access Barriers of U.S Oilseeds and Grains

China was admitted into the WTO in December 2001 and this raised the hopes of the US that China will open up to agricultural trade with the US. However, this potential has not been realized. The goal of this study is to determine the impacts of trade impediments and barriers of the market access of US oilseeds and grains in China. A market access variable that was obtained by dividing the total value of U.S soybean and corn exports to China by U.S agricultural G.D.P was regressed on China’s per capita income, exchange rate of the yuan to the dollar, arable land to labor ratio in the U.S and a dummy variable representing China’s WTO accession. The result found per capita income to have a positive impact on market access of U.S oilseeds and grains in China. Exchange rate of the yuan to the dollar was found to be significant and has a negative impact on market access. However, China’s WTO accession and the arable land to labor ratio in the U.S did not have any significance on the market access of U.S oilseeds and grains.Market Access, Market Access Barriers, U.S Oil seeds and Grains, Import, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

The impact of racial representations in video game contexts: Identification with Gaming Characters.

Video games can impact individual’s identification with a character presented within that game. The following study examined the effect that racial representations (character race) in video games have upon identification, perceived similarity, and affective outcomes. Using two popular Grand Theft Auto video games participants rated their levels of identification and perceptions of similarity with characters of different races within that video game (White or Black characters/avatars). The results of this experiment show evidence that Black participants identified with and reported higher levels of perceived similarity with same race characters from a video game. Furthermore, the results showed significant differences for video games with racial representations (Black main character) for lower positive affect. This research shows significant and important findings for how individuals identify with characters in video game contexts. Furthermore, it extends research towards how identification with characters of race in media contexts impacts positive and negative outcomes. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed using the identification process of social influence. Keywords: Race, Video Games, Identification, Affec

Hydrogeological evaluation of geological formations in Ashanti Region, Ghana

The success of groundwater exploitation in an area largely depends on prior knowledge of existing hydrogeological parameters such as borehole yield, overburden thickness, depth of boreholes, static water level, specific capacity and the quality of water. This study, therefore, employed Geographical Information System to assess some of these hydrogeological parameters in the Ashanti Region using the ordinary kriging interpolation method. Data on 2,788 drilled boreholes in the region were used and the assessment focused on the various geological formations in the region that comprised the Birimian, Granitoids, Tarkwaian and Voltaian formations. The study results indicate that the Birimian formation is generally within medium to high yielding potential zones (30 – 60 l/min or higher) with a high drilling success rate of 91% and average borehole depth of 53 m. The Granitoids are, mostly, within the low yielding zone (< 30 l/min) with isolated high yielding boreholes and have average borehole depth and drilling success rate of 50 m and 72 % respectively. The Tarkwaian formation, on other hand, is within the medium yield zone with a drilling success rate of 80 % whilst the Voltaian formation is mainly classified to fall within low yield zone with about 60% success rate although significant high yield zones occur within the sandstone formation underlying its westernmost part in the region. Groundwater in the region is generally potable except in a few locations within the Birimian and ranitoids,where there are problems with levels of iron, nitrate, manganese and pH. Keywords: Groundwater; Hydrogeological parameters; Geological formations; Geographical Information System; Ashanti Regio

Structural Characteristics of Reinforced Palm Kernel Shell Concrete Deep Beams

This paper evaluates the structural characteristics of deep beams made from reinforced palm kernel shell concrete (PKSC) and normal weight concrete (NWC). Twelve PKSC and NWC deep beam samples, with and without shear reinforcement were tested under three-point loading and their structural behavior studied. The ultimate shear strength of PKSC beams increased with a decrease in the shear span-to- depth ratio. Post diagonal cracking shear resistance is greater in PKSC deep beams than beams of normal weight concrete. The shear capacity of the PKSC and NWC deep beams were assessed to be un-conservative using ACI 318-99, ACI 318-05, Eurocode (EC) 2 and a kinematic model, when compared with the experimental results. Nonetheless, this necessitated the development of a calibration procedure to correct the bias inherent in these models. Calibrated shear strength models revealed the compressive strength and the ratio of the shear span-to-total depth as significant influential parameters for correcting the inherent bias in the original deterministic shear strength models. The calibrated functional model of ACI-318-99 may produce conservative predictions, given this limited number of test specimens. Therefore future studies should investigate the reliability of the calibrated models, and quantifying the uncertainties in the estimated coefficients of parameters, using a much larger representative dataset

Critical Review on Internet of Things (IoT): Evolution and Components Perspectives

Technological advancement in recent years has transformed the internet to a network where everything is linked, and everyday objects can be recognised and controlled. This interconnection is popularly termed as the Internet of Things (IoT). Although, IoT remains popular in academic literature, limited studies have focused on its evolution, components, and implications for industries. Hence, the focus of this book chapter is to explore these dimensions, and their implications for industries. The study adopted the critical review method, to address these gaps in the IoT literature for service and manufacturing industries. Furthermore, the relevance for IoT for service and manufacturing industries were also discussed. While the impact of IoT in the next five years is expected to be high by industry practitioners, experts consider the current degree of its implementation across industry to be on the average. This critical review contributes theoretically to the literature on IoT. In effect, the intense implementation of the IoT, IIoT and IoS will go a long way in ensuring improvements in various industries that would in the long run positively impact the general livelihood of people as well as the way of doing things. Practical implications and suggestions for future studies have been discussed

Combating Biofilm and Quorum Sensing: A New Strategy to Fight Infections

Biofilms are structured aggregates of bacterial cells that are embedded in self-produced extracellular polymeric substances. Various pathogens initiate a disease process by creating organized biofilms that enhance their ability to adhere, replicate to accumulate, and express their virulence potential. Quorum sensing, which refers to the bacterial cell-to-cell communication resulting from production and response to N-acyl homoserine lactone signal molecules, also plays an important role in virulence and biofilm formation. Attenuation of microorganisms’ virulence such that they fail to adapt to the hosts’ environment could be a new strategic fight against pathogens. Thus, agents or products that possess anti-biofilm formation and/or anti-quorum sensing activities could go a long way to manage microbial infections. The incidence of microbial resistance can be reduced by the use of anti-biofilm formation and anti-quorum sensing agents

Social Capital and SME Performance: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence

Lack of extant studies on the moderating role of emotional intelligence on the relationship between social capital and firm performance necessitated this study. The main purpose of this research was to examine the extent to which Emotional Intelligence moderates the relationship between social capital and SMEs performance . A total of 1532 SMEs were selected through simple random sampling technique from a population of 5009 SMEs. Structural Eqaution Modelling using AMOS was used to analyse the relationship between the variables. The results revealed that social capital has a positive and significant relationship with emotional intelligence. Moreover, the study also showed that emotional intelligence has a positive and significant relationship with SME performance. Lastly, the study found that emotional intelligence enhances the relationship between social capital and SME performance. SME owner/managers are advised to enact polices that encourage the establishment of meaningful social networks and also help employees understand their emotions while creating social capital as both would help improve the performance of their firms. This paper breaks new ground by identifying emotional intelligence as an enabler of SMEs performance where there is adequate social capital

The role of government and the international competitiveness of SMEs: evidence from Ghanaian non-traditional exports

PurposeThe nature of international markets and the challenges with respect to the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) makes it imperative to examine government support. The study aims to assess the role and effectiveness of government and the Export Promotion Agencies in supporting exports by non-traditional horticultural SMEs in Ghana.Design/methodology/approach The study employed a qualitative research design which involved semi-structured interviews with senior managers of six export facilitating institutions to gain understanding of the services offered to SMEs with respect to exports of non-traditional horticultural products.FindingsThe findings reveal inadequate cost-efficient sources of non-traditional horticultural export financing for SMEs. This is a hindrance to the international competitiveness of exporting SMEs in developing countries such as Ghana. In addition, effective and co-ordinated support from export promotion agencies was found to be critical.Originality/valueThe study highlights the importance of government's role in policymaking and implementation of export-led programmes for horticultural exporting firms in Ghana. Despite their strategic importance, this area of research has not attracted the attention of researchers, with little or traditional horticultural products

Commercial Surrogacy: Invisible Reproductive Workers in Ghana

The issues facing surrogates are labour issues. However, there is scanty literature on the working conditions of surrogates in sub-Saharan Africa. This article explores the labour conditions of these unprotected and invisible reproductive workers in Ghana. In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants between 2018 and 2019. The study revealed the following: 1) Baby agents were increasingly playing a dominant role in the surrogacy industry, and through the surrogacy homes are able to create docile and disciplined surrogates. 2) Surrogacy agreements were oppressive and designed to reinforce the control over the bodies of surrogates. 3) Pregnancy-related scars leave emotional scars on the minds of surrogates. We recommend state regulation of the industry to ensure strict supervision of baby agents to minimise exploitation of surrogates.  KEYWORDS: surrogacy home; baby agents; surrogates; commercial surrogacy; Ghan