Economic Factors behind Social Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has pool of entrepreneurs whereas there are also new establishments; new employment opportunities and so are the income sources. For the better measurement of entrepreneurship characteristics, the growth and different indicators impact on entrepreneurship needs to be identified. Thus this paper tries to find out the key economic indicators of entrepreneurship in the context of Bangladesh. The research is based on secondary research; has used entrepreneurship as a dependent variable proxied by self-employment and seven independent variables—per capita income, unemployment rate, labor force, industrial structure change, capital, human capital and literacy rate. Two regression models have been used encompassing the stated variable data from year 2008 to 2018. In the first regression analysis it has been tried to identify whether the model can be constructed with the overall economic variables with the self employment. At second regression model it has been tried to find out whether there is the explain ability of the variables result in the regression analysis and what is the degree and pattern of the relationship. The research shows that literacy rate and human capital have aligned with the self employment. But all the other variables are not matched with the self employment and could not provide the support for self employment to thrive. And the linear regression analysis shows that per capita income, labor force and literacy rate play the most important role in case of nourishing self employment. Unemployment rate is found as contradictory with the findings in the context of Bangladesh

Monitoring Lighting system using SCADA

Efficient power system monitoring and analysis enables economical use of power by using field measurements and computer modelling to analyze the power systems. This project was initiated due to issue on difficulties of monitoring the street lighting by maintenance personnel. Limited access to the online monitoring, cost and time consuming was the reason why most of the street lighting is left-out without knowing the actual condition

Determinants of Malaysian stock returns in oil and gas industry

This research paper documents the determinants of Malaysian stock return in oil and gas industry by eight factors that influence the stock return namely dividend-price ratio, earningsprice ratio, price-to-book ratio, asset growth, company size, capital structure, unsystematic risk, and systematic risk using Pearson Correlation analysis and Standard Multiple Regression analysis model in the Malaysia stock market (Bursa Malaysia). The existence of these relationships is examined in terms of fourteen oil and gas public companies in Malaysia that are listed in Bursa Malaysia Berhad, and their performance throughout a recent five consecutive years (2010-2014). Through Pearson Correlation analysis, the researcher reports a strong relationship and high significance level between asset growth and stock return; capital structure and stock return; and price-to-book ratio and stock return. While a weak relationship and low significance level between systematic risk and stock return; unsystematic risk and stock return; company size and stock return. Capital structure and unsystematic risk are variables that have inverse relationship with stock return while other variables indicate positive relationship with stock return. Overall, asset growth shows the highest significance level and variance in stock return while the systematic risk shows the lowest significance level and variance in stock return. Through Standard Multiple Regression analysis, dividend-price ratio, earnings-price ratio, price-to-book ratio, asset growth, and capital structure correlate substantially with stock return. The Durbin-Watson statistics reports the existence of positive serial correlation, significant difference and small effect size in the study. Asset growth reports the strongest unique contribution variable in explaining the stock return

Preparation and characterization of mixed matrix membrane based on Polysulfone (PSF) and Lanthanum Orthoferrite (LaFeO3) for gas separation

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of polysulfone (PSF) and lanthanum orthoferrite (LaFeO3) incorporated mixed matrix membrane (MMM) on gas permeation and selectivity properties. PSF/LaFeO3 MMMs were prepared with various weights loading of LaFeO3. The membranes obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR). The gas transport properties of MMM were measured using single gas permeation set up (CO2, CH4, O2 and N2) at ambient temperature, and feed pressure of 2, 4 and 6 bar. The permeation test showed that the mixed matrix membrane exhibited high permeability. With increasing LaFeO3 weight loading to 1.0%, the highest permeability values were 47.74 GPU for CO2, 29.85 GPU for CH4, 57.56 GPU for O2, and 40.66 GPU for N2. The results also showed that by incorporating 1.0wt% of LaFeO3 into PSF matrix, the highest CO2/CH4 and O2/N2 selectivity of 1.60 and 1.42 respectively were obtained. Overall, all the resultants MMM showed higher permeability and selectivity compared to pure PSF membrane

[ADAPTING TO ONLINE TEACHING DURING COVID-19: CHALLENGES FACED BY LECTURERS IN PENANG INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest disruption to education in history, affecting students and teachers around the world, from pre-primary education to secondary schools, universities and skills development facilities. All parties and educational institutions have taken proactive steps by conducting online classes as well as the International Islamic Technological College Penang. This research aims to know the lecturers' strategies in carrying out the teaching process during the pandemic and their challenges, including technical knowledge and facilities available in the college, and how they deal with these challenges. The method of this study is qualitative, where the researcher conducts interviews with the lecturers. In addition, this paper seeks to find out the lecturers' view of the effectiveness of online teaching during the period of the traffic control order. Among the problems faced by the lecturers were the lack of skills in conducting online classes and in choosing the most appropriate learning platforms, Internet problems, and a longer time to prepare teaching materials. The result also indicated that lecturers lack competence in integrating technology into the teaching process. Although they encountered problems, the lecturers tried to learn from their colleagues, practiced several times before the real classes took place and some of the lecturers managed to create YouTube channel, try new apps such as Quizizz and Padlet, and attending online webinars. The result of this study is useful for identifying appropriate training courses for lecturers in mastering skills in line with the government's objectives in the Malaysian Education Development Plan that help in continuing professional development and raising the efficiency of students. تسببت جائحة كوفيد-19 في أكبر انقطاع للتعليم في التاريخ حيث يؤثر على الطلاب والمعلّمين حول العالم من مرحلة ما قبل التعليم الابتدائي إلى المدارس الثانوية والجامعات ومنشآت تنمية المهارات. فاتخذ جميع الأطراف والمؤسسات التعليمية خطوات استباقية من خلال إجراء دروس عبر الإنترنت وكذلك الكلية الإسلامية التكنولوجية العالمية بينانج. يهدف هذا البحث إلى معرفة إستراتيجيات المحاضرين في القيام بعملية التدريس أثناء الجائحة وتحدياتهم تشمل فيها المعرفة التقنية والتسهيلات المتوفرة في الكلية وكيف يتعاملون مع هذه التحديات. منهج هذه الدراسة منهجا كيفيا حيث تقوم الباحثة بإجراء المقابلات مع المحاضرين. ويضاف إلى هذا، يسعى هذا البحث معرفة وجهة نظر المحاضرين تجاه فعالية التدريس عبر الإنترنت خلال فترة أمر مراقبة الحركة. من بين المشاكل التي واجهها المحاضرون نقص المهارات في إجراء الفصول الدراسية عبر الإنترنت وفي اختيار أنسب منصات التعلم، ومشاكل الإنترنت، ووقت أطول لإعداد المواد التعليمية. وأشارت النتيجة أيضا إلى أنّ المحاضرين يفتقرون إلى الكفاءة في تكامل التكنولوجيا في عملية التدريس. على الرغم من أنهم واجهوا مشاكل، حاول المحاضرون التعلم من زملائهم، ومارسوا عدة مرات قبل إجراء الفصول الدراسية الحقيقية وتمكن بعض المحاضرين من إنشاء قناة يوتيوب (YouTube)، وجربوا تطبيقًا جديدًا مثل كويز إيز(Quizizz) وبيدلت (Padlet) وحضور الندوات عبر الإنترنت (Webinar). والنتيجة من هذه الدراسة مفيدة لتحديد الدورات التدريبية المناسبة للمحاضرين في إتقان المهارات بما يتماشى مع أهداف الحكومة في خطة تطوير التعليم الماليزية التي تساعد على التطوير المهني المستمر ورفع كفاءة الطلاب

Performance Improvement of Time-Sensitive Fronthaul Networks in 5G Cloud-RANs Using Reinforcement Learning-Based Scheduling Scheme

The rapid surge in internet-driven smart devices and bandwidth-hungry multimedia applications demands high-capacity internet services and low latencies during connectivity. Cloud radio access networks (C-RANs) are considered the prominent solution to meet the stringent requirements of fifth-generation (5G) and beyond networks by deploying the fronthaul transport links between baseband units (BBUs) and remote radio heads (RRHs). High-capacity optical links could be conventional mainstream technology for deploying the fronthaul in C-RANs. But densification of optical links significantly increases the cost and imposes several design challenges on fronthaul architecture which makes them impractical. Contrary, Ethernet-based fronthaul links can be lucrative solutions for connecting the BBUs and RRHs but are inadequate to meet the rigorous end-to-end delays, jitter, and bandwidth requirements of fronthaul networks. This is because of the inefficient resource allocation and congestion control schemes for the capacity constraint Ethernet-based fronthaul links. In this research, a novel reinforcement learning-based optimal resource allocation scheme has been proposed which eradicates the congestion and improves the latencies to make the capacity-constraints low-cost Ethernet a suitable solution for the fronthaul networks. The experiment results verified a notable 50% improvement in reducing delay and jitter as compared to the existing schemes. Furthermore, the proposed scheme demonstrated an enhancement of up to 70% in addressing conflicting time slots and minimizing packet loss ratios. Hence, the proposed scheme outperforms the existing state-of-the-art resource allocation techniques to satisfy the stringent performance demands of fronthaul networks.</p

التغذية الراجعة في القراءة باللغة العربية لغة ثانية

يهدف الكتاب إلى الكشف عن تأثير التغذية الراجعة على التقدير النحوي في القراءة باللغة العربية بوصفها لغةً ثانيةً نظرًا لفعاليتها في رفع الكفاءةاللغوية لدى الطلاب وتشجيعهم في التعليم والتعلّم. كان بعض المشكلات في القراءة باللغة العربية نتيجةً عن معرفة نحوية ضئيلة. قد قامت الباحثتان بالاختبارين؛ القبلي والبعدي على المجموعتين المعالجة الضابطة والمجموعة المعالجة . ركّزت الباحثتان في خطوات التغذية الراجعة على عدة عناصر تهتم بالقراءة باللغة العربية كمعرفة المواقع الإعرابية للكلمات، وتصحيح الأخطاء مع البيان والتوضيح، واستيعاب محتوى النص. واكتشفت الباحثتان أن للتغذية الراجعة تأثير إيجابي على التدقيق النحوي ومما يؤدي إلى تحسين مستوى القراءة لدى أفراد العينة. وتم تحليل النتائج باستخدام اختبار- ت من الحزمة الإحصائية للعلوم الاجتماعية. تفوقت المجموعة المعالجة على المجموعة الضابطة

The Polemic of Female Circumcision in Garut West Java Indonesia: Clash of Culture and Regional Policy

Female circumcision remains a social issue in Muslim society, along with the rise of gender-based violence cases in Indonesia. It has became rather a polemic after regional policy on that matter was issued inconsistently. This study aimed to determine the polemic of female circumcision in Garut Regency based on cultural and regional policy analysis. The study utilized qualitative method with an ethnographic approach. The data taken were based on primary data and secondary data. Data collection techniques used were interviews and literature that supports the research. The results obtained in this study are that the polemic about female circumcision occurs because of differences in views based on fatwa so that society constructs female circumcision subjectively. Differences in the belief in the concept of female circumcision, which has become a culture in society, and the different techniques or processes for implementing female circumcision have resulted in the development of perceptions of female circumcision. The inconsistency of the policies of the Minister of Health Regulations makes the community have a bias towards pros and cons by the paradigm of religious leaders, parents, gender activists, and health workers

Removal of lead(II) from aqueous solution using polyacrylonitrile/zinc oxide activated carbon nanofibers

This study aimed to prepare activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) via electrospinning process for removal of lead from aqueous solution. The ACNFs/ZnO were characterized in term of its morphological changes, specific surface area and functional groups analysis using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, respectively. The results showed that the specific surface area (SSA) of the ACNFs/ZnO were higher than the neat ACNFs which were 163.04 m2/g as compared to 67.6 m2/g, accordingly. FESEM analysis illustrated that composite ACNFs possessed more compact fibers with presence of ZnO beads and smaller fiber diameter whereas neat ACNFs possessed more aligned nanofibers with larger fiber diameter. Adsorption study showed that the composite ACNFs possessed higher capacity which was 120.3 mg/g as compared to 77.6 mg/g of neat ACNFs. This excellent adsorption performance of ACNFs PAN/ZnO exhibits the potential of this composite adsorbent to solve the environmental issue of heavy metal contamination