Effect of Market Capitalization on Economic Growth of East African Community

Stock markets in developing nations are faced with various constraints such as thin trading, liquidity issues and lack of developed investor base. Most stock markets in Africa are dominated by a single Industry as the backbone of the economy. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to establish effect of market capitalization on economic growth of east African community. The study was guided by Financial Intermediary theory. This study adopted causal research design. Data were obtained from: capital markets, Stock Exchanges (USE NSE, RSE and DSE) of the EAC member countries, annual Statistical report from the EAC website and World Bank as well. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. This study adopted a Panel Vector Autoregressive (Panel VAR) model. The results of this study indicated that stock market performance variables have a long run positive effect on the economic growth in the EAC and a bi-directional causality between market capitalization. Therefore, this research is beneficial to East Africa Securities Regulatory Authority (EASRA) in designing of policies that creates favorable business environment for stock markets to flourish. The study recommends that the EAC member governments should pursue policies that can contribute to increased liquidity as this would in turn lead to a higher stock turnover rate. Keywords: Capitalization, Market, Economic Growth, East Africa Community. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-10-05 Publication date:May 31st 202

Litterfall production in a tropical mangrove of Sarawak, Malaysia

Assessment of litterfall production is essential to ascertain the status of nutrient cycling and forest health. Sarawak, Malaysia, is endowed with numerous pristine and estuarine mangroves; however, research on primary productivity of these forests is scanty. Therefore, litterfall production in a pristine Sibuti mangrove of Sarawak was estimated using litter traps for one year (January–December 2013), and forest structure was studied through tree census. The forest was dominated by Rhizophora apiculata (relative density [RD] was 77.11%), followed by Xylocarpus granatum (RD was 16.92%) and other species (RD was only 5.97%). The annual dry weight of litterfalls was estimated to be 1640.82 g m−2, of which R. apiculata contributed 92.94%, followed by X. granatum (4.01%) and other species (3.05%). Leaves were the most abundant (57.21%) contributory component of litters, followed by propagules (11.89%), flowers (10.85%), twigs (8.56%), and stipules (8.45%). No significant correlations were found for total litterfall and its major components with climatic variables and forest structure. Total litterfall of R. apiculata and X. granatum did not show any seasonal variations. However, leaf litter of R. apiculata showed a significant seasonal variation between intermediate (January–April) and wet (September–December) seasons. The litterfall production of Sibuti mangrove forest is higher in comparison to other tropical mangroves of the world. The higher productivity of the forest could be due to nutrient availability, pristine nature, and stand maturity of the forest rather than climatic influences. The findings of the study suggest that litterfall production of the pristine Sibuti mangrove is not influenced by the variability of climatic factors

Yield and disease resistance of plantain (Musa spp., AAB group) somaclones in Nigeria

This study examined the potential of somaclonal variation for the improvement of plantain. Approximately 500 somaclones each of ‘Agbagba’ (False Horn plantain) and ‘Bise Egome’ (French plantain) were field evaluated for their agronomic performance and response to the black Sigatoka disease. The micropropagated populations were independently generated from a number of suckers from each accession. Significant differences between micropropagated accessions and crop cycles were observed. Differences between plants derived from suckers of the same accession were also expressed, indicating the chimerical nature of variation in the traits studied. None of the plants of the micropropagated populations from ‘Bise Egome’ exhibited significantly better disease tolerance and agronomic performance than the source accession. However,one somaclonal variant of ‘Agbagba’ (‘AO 2B2-2’) expressed lower susceptibility to the black Sigatoka disease. Compared to ‘Agbagba’, ‘AO 2B2-2’ had a higher bunch weight, more fruits per bunch with higher average weight, greater average length, and greater average girth. These data clearly show that, in contrast to previous reports, it is possible to recover superior somaclonal mutants in Musa

Verfahren zur Herstellung einer metallischen Kontaktierungsstruktur auf einer Oberfläche einer Halbleiterstruktur und photovoltaischen Solarzelle

The method involves applying an aluminum-containing layer (5) on a surface of a semiconductor structure in a contact region i.e. cell contact region, of a surface. Aluminum is alloyed from the aluminum-containing layer into the semiconductor structure by thermal effect for forming a p-doped region (4), which is formed as a dopant by aluminum, in the semiconductor structure at the contact region. The aluminum-containing layer in the contact region is partially removed by an acid etching agent. The contact region is electrochemically metalized with metal, which is not aluminum. The acid etching agent contains hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium trichloride. An independent claim is also included for a photovoltaic solar cell