The Volatility Of Somalia’s Unregulated Exchange Rates

Sistem kewangan dan mata wang negara (Shiling Somalia) dahulunya stabil dan kukuh.Walau bagaimanapun, Shilling Somalia mula merudum selepas 1980-an, dan akhirnya tersungur ke tahap yang teruk.Kerajaan pusat negara Somalia runtuh pada tahun 1990 selepas tiga dekad menikmati kestabilan ekonomi dan sosial. Berikutan kegagalan itu, mata wang tersebut terus didagangkan tanpa kawalan kerajaan. Pasaran tukaran mata wang asing tempatan pula beroperasi tanpa seliaan mana-mana pihak.Walaupun rakyat Somalia berurus niaga mata wang dalam pasaran tersebut, ia dikritik kerana tidak memiliki asas pasaran tukaran dagangan. Semasa tempoh kemunduran ini, nilai Shiling mengalami fenomena ketidakaturan yang tidak boleh dijangka, lebih-lebih lagi pada tahun 1997, 2001, 2008, dan 2011 Historically, the monetary system of Somalia was stable and its national currency (Somali Shilling) had very strong value but Somali shilling started to depreciate after 1980s and its value reached to a very low level. Somalia’s central government collapsed in 1990 following three decades of stability. Following the collapse of the government, the national currency continued to circulate without sovereign support and the country’s FX market has been operating without regulation. Though Somali people have been using this FX market, the market is criticized of not having the basic foundations of an FX market. During this period, the value of the Shilling experienced unpredictable volatility in particular in 1997, 2001, 2008, and 2011

Linerboard made from Soda-Anthraquinone (Soda-AQ) treated coconut coir fiber and effect of pulp beating

The performance of coir fiber in the production of linerboard made from soda-anthraquinone (soda-AQ) pulp was evaluated. Based on chemical analysis, the composition of coir fiber is suitable for the pulping process. Out of nine pulping conditions characterized, a pulping condition of 18% active alkali for 90 min cooking time was chosen. These conditions provided the highest screened yield (48.99%), a low rejection yield (0.27%), high viscosity (11.73 cP), and a kappa number (41) that is acceptable for unbleached linerboard production. Beating strengthened the coir pulp. Analyzing the beating revealed that coir pulp was optimized at 1000 to 2000 revolutions, based on a graph of freeness vs. burst index. For all beating conditions (1000 to 8000 revolutions), FESEM micrographs showed the presence of internal and external fibrillation of the fiber, which gradually increased fiber conformability and improved the inter-fiber bonding within the paper formation. Based on its burst strength of 4.57 kPa.m2/g and ring crush test of 1.76 Nm2/g, which complies with the minimum requirement of the industry standard, coir fiber can be considered an alternative fiber source for linerboard production

Suitability of coir fibers as pulp and paper

This study was to investigate the suitability of coir fibers as an alternative material in making pulp and paper. Maceration process was used to characterize the fiber. Soda-AQ pulping with various combinations of active alkali (18-22%) and cooking time (90- 150 minutes) at fixed temperature was done. Physical properties evaluated were density, brightness, opacity, scattering coefficient, tear, burst and tensile index. As concentration of active alkali and cooking time increased, the physical properties values also increased, except for the opacity and scattering coefficient. The optimum condition for producing the strongest paper is using 22% active alkali in 120 minutes

Production of instant ‘nasi lemak’ flavour ingredient from palm olein

Instant ‘nasi lemak’ flavour ingredient was prepared by microencapsulation of palm olein and pandan leaf flavour. The pandan-flavoured encapsulated powder was obtained after spray drying using maltodextrin (DE15) and sodium caseinate as wall materials. Analysis of the encapsulated powder indicated that the moisture, oil and surface oil content were 2.17%, 68.1% and 20.5% respectively. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed that 78.57% pandan flavour was encapsulated in the powder

Pendekatan inkuiri dan teknik penyoalan guru: isu dan perlaksanaannya dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran kimia

Peranan guru dalam sistem pendidikan khususnya di Malaysia merupakan tunjang pelaksana setiap dasar yang dirancang oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM). Guru merupakan jentera penggerak bagi setiap dasar yang dirancang oleh KPM. Kini tugas guru semakin mencabar, guru bukan sahaja menjadi penyampai ilmu pengetahuan dan kemahiran kepada pelajar malahan bertanggungjawab untuk menyemai minat, memperkembangkan bakat dan kebolehan pelajar. Proses pembelajaran yang berkesan akan mengasah pemikiran analitikal, kritikal dan kreatif bagi membentuk individu yang dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan perubahan persekitaran yang semakin drastik selaras dengan hala tuju sistem pendidikan negara. Menyedari hakikat ini, kerajaan Malaysia telah memberi fokus untuk memacukan peningkatan profesionalisme guru dalam gelombang pertama Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia, 2013-2025 (Saedah Siraj & Mohammed Sani Ibrahim, 2012)

TEACHING STRATEGY

Educationists hold varying views on the standard of today 's examinations but concur on one issue: Malaysia is producing rote-memorizers which could be behind the better results. They agree that a different approach could result in more intelligent and creative students. The younger generation could be pushed and challenged further by scrapping objective and quantitative questions and replcing them with more open-ended ones. This would allow them to be more creative besides using their intelligence. This study explores teachers' perceptions and practices on the teaching of thinking skills via questioning techniques which was conducted using questionnaires, observations and interviews. Findings showed that the infusion of thinking skills in the teaching and learning is still at the introductory stage and there are still lots of room for improvement.Keywords: education, teaching and learning, thinking skills, and questioning technique

Do the Global Oil Price Shocks Affect Somalia's Unregulated Exchange Rate Volatility?

The aim of this study to investigate the impact of global oil price shocks on Somalia's unregulated exchange rate volatility. While employing an EGARCH model, the study found that global oil price shocks have significant effect on Somalia's unregulated exchange rate volatility. This suggests that the effect of energy shocks is global phenomenon beyond the control of any regulatory authority and/or trade treats. The results of this paper provide a notable contribution to the literature of energy economics as well as monetary economics. The research also calls for the need of reforming and re-building Somalia's foreign exchange system to withstand the unpredictable shocks of the global oil markets. Furthermore, this study implies that even in times of war and lawlessness, we cannot escape the effect of global energy price shocks. This is an interesting noble contribution that would be worth considering in the energy and economic literature.  Keywords: Exchange Rate Volatility; global oil price; unregulated exchange rate  JEL Classifications: E00; F31; Q43; G15; O13; P1

Common species of Cyclorraphan Diptera in a Red Junglefowl Farm, Selangor, Malaysia

A study on the prevalence of Cyclorrhaphan Diptera species was carried out in a Red Jungle Fowl Farm, Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia. Trappings were done twice a day, in the morning and evening, using hand nets and baited traps over a duration of 7 days. Chicken intestines were used as bait to attract the flies. The mean temperature and relative humidity during the period of sample collection were recorded. The flies were counted and the identification of species was based on standard taxonomic keys. Eleven species of flies were detected on the farm, representing eight genera; Chrysomya megacephala, Chrysomya rufifacies, Lucilia cuprina, Hemipyrellia liqurriens, Musca domestica, Musca sorbens, Musca ventrosa, Parasacrophaga, Boettcherisca, Seniorwhitea princeps and Chrysomela cf. aenea. The most prevalent fly species was Chrysomya megacephala, accounting for 80% of the total catch, followed by Musca domestica (5.15%). The other species were present in less than 5% of the catch. There was no significant correlation between temperature and the active fly population (r=-0.324, n=14, p=0.258). Similarly, the relative humidity did not have a significant effect on the number of flies on the farm (r=0.257, n=14, p=0.376). The number of female flies on the farm was high, comprising 64.42% of the total fly population. Certain species of flies displayed temporal activity. Chrysomyza cf. aenea and Seniorwhitea princeps were active in the morning, while Boetcherisca sp. was only encountered in the evening. The correct identification of the fly species, and knowledge on their temporal distribution and sex ratios, are important in order to ensure that control measures can be carried out in a more effective manner

Export of Agricultural Raw Materials, Exchange Rate and Economic Growth in Nigeria: An ARDL Approach to Cointegration

This paper investigated the long run cointegration between export of agricultural raw materials, exchange rate and economic growth in Nigeria. An annual time series data was used for the period of 32 years from 1981 to 2013, and Auto Regressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) cointegration approach was employed in achieving the objective of the study. The result revealed that, both short run and long run models were cointegrated. Agricultural raw material export and exchange rate are instatistically and negatively related to GDP with the exception of exchange rate. Therefore, this paper suggested as part of its policy recommendation that, the Federal Republic of Nigeria in line with  its transformation agenda should focus more on human capital, infrastructural and agricultural sector development, and not only increase export of agricultural raw materials, but also encourage exportation of processed agricultural products for achieving inclusive economic growth and development. Keywords: Agricultural raw materials export, Exchange rates, GDP, ARDL cointegration, Nigeria.

Learning chemical reaction via augmented reality

The possibility of using Augmented Reality (AR) program as supplementary material in learning chemistry is evaluated in this paper. Chemistry is regarded as difficult to learn due to abstract nature of the subject. The content learning of the subject comprises multiple levels of representation, which challenge the conceptual understanding and problem solving of a student. This study is trying to identify the difficulty of learning chemistry particularly in acids and bases topic in term of conceptual understanding and algorithmic problem solving. Students are known to consistently make mistake writing the symbol of chemical formulas and also confused between the use of subscript and coefficient of a chemical formula. These eventually lead to wrong stoichiometry in balancing the chemical equation. The mistakes snowball into bigger problems when students are not able to understand the chemical equation in term of the algorithm and also conceptual. In order to the address the issues, students’ understanding regarding the chemical reaction of acids and bases should be investigated to elucidate student alternative conception if any in order to suggest suitable features for learning acids and bases chemical reaction using the AR program. As the issue is considered prevalent, the need of effective and promising solution is critical, thus AR should be evaluated as a supplementary teaching aid. AR helps students in visualizing the microscopic part of the reaction hence should promote correct understanding of the chemical reaction. The technology is considered recent and the use in chemistry field has been reported. However in chemical reaction learning, data supporting the effectiveness of the AR program is still insufficient. The effectiveness of the program towards students’ algorithmic problems solving and conceptual understanding in the acids and bases topic can be investigated. The results from the study should suggest the significance of the AR program in learning chemical reaction and equation in chemistry