Application of statistical and neural network model for oil palm yield study

This thesis presents an exploratory study on modelling of oil palm (OP) yield using statistical and artificial neural network approach. Even though Malaysia is one of the largest producers of palm oil, research on modelling of OP yield is still at its infancy. This study began by exploring the commonly used statistical models for plant growth such as nonlinear growth model, multiple linear regression models and robust M regression model. Data used were OP yield growth data, foliar composition data and fertiliser treatments data, collected from seven stations in the inland and coastal areas provided by Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Twelve nonlinear growth models were used. Initial study shows that logistic growth model gave the best fit for modelling OP yield. This study then explores the causality relationship between OP yield and foliar composition and the effect of nutrient balance ratio to OP yield. In improving the model, this study explores the use of neural network. The architecture of the neural network such as the combination activation functions, the learning rate, the number of hidden nodes, the momentum terms, the number of runs and outliers data on the neural network’s performance were also studied. Comparative studies between various models were carried out. The response surface analysis was used to determine the optimum combination of fertiliser in order to maximise OP yield. Saddle points occurred in the analysis and ridge analysis technique was used to overcome the saddle point problem with several alternative combinations fertiliser levels considered. Finally, profit analysis was performed to select and identify the fertiliser combination that may generate maximum yiel

Amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran guru-guru sekolah kluster kecemerlangan sekolah rendah zon selatan

Pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran merupakan sebahagian daripada proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran bagi guru-guru sekolah kluster kecemerlangan (SKK) sekolah rendah Zon Selatan Semenanjung Malaysia. Secara terperinci, ia memberi maklumat tentang tahap pemahaman konsep asas pentaksiran dalam pendidikan dan menilai amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran yang dilaksanakan. Kajian juga turut menilai hubungan amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran mengikut profil demografi serta menentukan sumbangan yang signifikan strategi pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran terhadap amalan pentaksiran yang dilaksanakan di bilik darjah. Kaedah kajian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Pendekatan kuantitatif melibatkan kaedah tinjauan dijalankan pada fasa pertama kajian. Pendekatan kualitatif melibatkan kajian kes dijalankan pada fasa kedua untuk menyokong dan menerangkan lebih lanjut dapatan kajian fasa pertama. Pada fasa pertama seramai 152 orang guru dari 9 buah sekolah SKK sekolah rendah Zon Selatan, Semenanjung yang mengajar mata pelajaran teras iaitu Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Inggeris, Matematik dan Sains untuk menjawab satu set soal selidik. Pada fasa kedua seramai 8 orang guru yang terdiri daripada 4 orang guru mata pelajaran teras dan 4 orang guru yang terlibat dalam pengurusan pentaksiran dipilih berdasarkan persampelan bertujuan untuk ditemu bual dan 8 orang guru mata pelajaran teras dipilih untuk pemerhatian pengajaran. Dapatan kajian terhadap tahap pemahaman konsep asas dan tujuan pentaksiran menunjukkan tahap pemahaman yang sangat jelas. Dapatan amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran berdasarkan tujuh strategi amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran menunjukkan secara keseluruhannya berapa pada tahap tinggi dengan amalan yang kerap dilakukan kecuali pada strategi keempat dan ketujuh mempunyai tahap amalan yang sederhana dengan amalan sesekali sahaja dilaksanakan oleh guru-guru tersebut. Berdasarkan profil demografi, dapatan menunjukkan tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan antara faktor jantina guru, pengalaman guru, dan mata pelajaran yang diajar dengan amalan pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran. Sebagai sumbangan, kajian ini mencadangkan satu panduan dan kerangka pentaksiran untuk pembelajaran yang boleh digunapakai oleh semua guru di sekolah

The perceptions of students at Indera Mahkota MARA Professional College of English Language Proficiency and its role in preparation for employment

This study aims to find out the perceptions of the students at Indera Mahkota MARA Professional College towards the importance of English language proficiency and its role in preparation for employment. The objectives are to identify the students’ proficiencies in the aspects of listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary, and the use of the skills during their studies, as well as in the work force. The study seeks to identify the correlation between the students’ perceptions and its influence on their overall academic performance (CGPA). A set of questionnaire adapted from a survey by Hamidah Yamat@Ahmad et. al. (2003) was distributed to two hundred and twenty-five students of Diploma in Accountancy (DIA) and HND (Business Information Technology) (HNDBIT). Three hypotheses on finding differences in perceptions between programmes, demographic areas and gender have been tested and the score signifies no correlation between the students’ perceptions and their overall academic performance. This study proposes some recommendations to the existing Ministry of Education’s (KPM) English syllabi and to MARA Higher Education Department

A Note on Informality in the Labor Market

This paper provides a detailed analysis of various dimensions of informality in the Mexican labor market. To understand the nature of informality in terms of regulations and compliance, the legalistic view, and in terms of productivity view of the labor market this paper makes an empirical contribution to the debate in the literature on the concept of informality. Questions related to these various concepts, social security and benefits coverage, contractual information, legal status of migrants, the nature of self-employment and job history information are analyzed in terms of their relationship to each other and are also related to individual and household characteristics. This paper finds a substantial overlap between the various concepts, current legal arrangements of social security coverage or contract and also in the individual's job history. In terms of individual characteristics age, education, martial status and scores in the Raven's test, an ability measure, are significant determinants for the various forms of informality, with some degree of variation across the different categories. Overall, a case is made for further studies of household survey data and the implementation of questions relating to different dimensions of informality and their inter-linkages.informality, social security, contracts, illegal migration, self-employment, job history, Mexico

Does the Minimum Wage Have a Higher Impact on the Informal than on the Formal Labor Market? Evidence from Quasi-Experiments

This paper investigates a puzzle in the literature on labor markets in developing countries: labor legislations not only have an impact on the formal labor market but also an impact on the informal sector. It has even been argued that the impact on the informal sector in the case of the minimum wage is stronger than on the formal sector. Using quasi-experiments of minimum wage changes and thereby exploiting geographical variation of the minimum wage bite, I find evidence for this hypothesis. Informal workers, workers without social security contribution, experienced significant wage increases when the minimum wage was raised while formal workers did not. This result highlights that non-compliance with one labor legislation, the social security contribution, does not necessarily imply non-compliance to other labor laws such as the minimum wage.minimum wages, informal economy, quasi-experiments

Crisis and Recovery in Argentina: Labor market, poverty, inequality and pro-poor growth dynamics

This paper explores the labor market, poverty, inequality and pro-poor growth dynamics in the recent economic crisis and recovery in Argentina. In the labor market it is possible to see the diverging experience of the economic crisis and recovery. For instance, the unemployed were more likely to find employment in the informal sector than in the formal sector. In terms of economic sectors it seems that certain labor-intensive, dynamic, low-skilled sectors such as manufacturing, other services, construction and retail contributed most to the movement between the different labor force states of employment, unemployment and inactivity. Policy responses in the labor market to poverty and inequality increases from the economic crisis were implemented through government transfers, in particular the workfare program Plan Jefes y Jefas. The pro-poor features of the early economic recovery period were mainly accounted for by these government transfers. However, at later stages of recovery income increases of the poor are less attributed to government transfers and more due to the pro-poor pattern of growth itself.Economic crisis and recovery; poverty; informal labor market; workfare programs; Argentina

Is Informal Sector Work an Alternative to Workfare Benefits? The Case of Pre-Program Expansion and Economic Crisis

Limited availability of workfare programs and unemployment insurance and a large informal sector are features of the Argentine labor market at the outset of the 2001 economic crisis. This paper tests the hypothesis whether informal work is an alternative to workfare participation before a large-scale program expansion took place. Results from the propensity score matching indicate that observable characteristics of informal low-income workers and current workfare participants are significantly different. However, within these groups, it is possible to identify subgroups that exhibit similar observable characteristics. This indicates that only a subset of the individuals sees workfare and informal sector work as substitutable alternatives.South America, Argentina, informal labor market, workfare program, propensity score matching

Awareness, attitudes and knowledge about evidence based medicine among doctors in Gaza:A cross sectional survey

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has emerged as a strategy to integrate research evidence within clinical decision-making. We have explored awareness, knowledge and attitudes about EBM among doctors in the Gaza Strip. In 2014, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among doctors working in health centres in Gaza, using a 20 item, web-based self-administered questionnaire. Approximately two thirds of the respondents welcomed EBM in principle, and believed that it could improve patient care. However, they had a relatively low level of knowledge about EBM. The main barriers to EBM mentioned by respondents were lack of knowledge needed to practise EBM [n= 47 (35%)]; negative attitude among senior colleagues [n= 34 (25%)]; lack of relevant resources [n= 31 (23%)]; work overload [n= 27 (20%)]; and lack of institutional support [n= 248 (18%)]. Thus, there are personal and organisational barriers to its practice that need to be addressed

Investigating Educational Change: The Aga Khan University Institute For Educational Development Teacher Education For School Improvement Model

This article continues the analyses of the impact of an innovative teacher education programme aimed at school improvement in a developing country context (Khamis and Sammons 2004). Building on recent publications that have analysed outcomes of the teacher education programme and how the cadre of teacher educators has worked to initiate improvement in schools in Pakistan, the article considers the ‘Teacher Education for School Improvement Model’ based on findings from nine co-operating school case studies. Lessons are presented to further inform the development of teacher education programmes and the measurement of effectiveness of such programmes in developing country contexts. The article further considers relevant international research on educational change and reform to draw further lessons. These lessons include the need to pay greater attention to the cultural contexts and milieu in Pakistan, and the need to create models of school improvement and teacher education that originate within developing country contexts rather than the adaptation of European/North American models that are based on sources of data in those contexts. The article concludes by arguing for the need to develop better theoretical understandings from the current innovations underway and placing the onus on intervening agencies to better inform educational change strategies promoted in developing country contexts