Studying IEEE-802.11 encryption protocol

From the inception of wireless network in 1997, wireless network has enabled us to communicate over the internet without wired network. It has also grown exponentially over the past three decades and it is ubiquitous of all humans’ activities. As the wireless communication expands, so does wireless network threats. The IEEE in conjugation with Wi-Fi Alliance provides wireless encryption protocols: WEP, WPA, and WPA2.The article will look into the various weaknesses, strengths and attacks of each encryption protocols

MEASURING AND ALLOCATING PORTFOLIO RISK CAPITAL IN THE REAL WORLD: PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF VALUE-AT-RISK AND EXPECTED SHORTFALL

Financial risk professionals are constantly interested in the risk capital allocation especially when dealing with management of portfolios under their control. This paper seeks to investigate two major risk measures namely the Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) in dealing with the risk capital allocation problem. Data from the London Stock exchange was used for this study. Assuming no dividends payment, the Geometric Brownian motion (Black-Scholes Model) and a fair per-unit capital allocation principle were applied to ascertain the coherence of the two considered risk measures within a two year time horizon. It is evident from the results that stock with high mean rate of log returns and low volatility turns to have a lower fair per unit capital allocation of risk in any selected portfolio. Results of stocks with the least quantified risk (in pence) of all considered portfolios in this paper were Portfolio I (Mining: BLT - 926), Portfolio II (Media: PSON - 175), Portfolio III (Financial services: SDRC - 459), Portfolio IV (Bank: STAN - 739) and Portfolio V (FTSE 100 top 10 Companies: BATS - 1021) respectively. Keywords:   Coherent Risk Capital Allocation Value-at-Risk Expected Shortfal

Quantification of free and metal-complexed cyanide by tetrathionate derivatization

A sensitive and robust method for detection of free and metal-complexed cyanide in solutions is described. The method does not require a distillation step and is applicable for both low ionic strength and sea-water samples. The method is based on the reaction of cyanide with potassium tetrathionate followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation and UV detection of formed thiocyanate. The detection limit of the method is 250 nmol L−1 cyanide (6.5 µg L−1 CN−) without a pre-concentration step. Storage for three days does not significantly change the results. The sum of free and weak metal-complexed cyanide can be measured by tetrathionate derivatization at a pH of 10. The sum of free, weak metal-complexed cyanide, iron(II) and iron(III)-complexed cyanides may be measured by tetrathionate derivatization at pH 4.4. Derivatization requires heating to 90°C for 20 min at pH = 10 and for 12 h at pH = 4.4. Weighted mean recoveries for free, iron(II), iron(III), nickel(II), silver(I), Cd(II) and Zn(II) complexed cyanide were in the range of 87 to 112% and weighted standard deviations were in the range of 1.7 to 10.0%. The method is not applicable for cyanide complexes of gold and cobalt. We illustrate an application of cyanide quantification using pore-waters from the Delaware Great Marsh

Engendering Economic Policy in Africa

Despite Africa's relatively commendable growth performance since 2000, growth has not been accompanied by structural transformations. First, there has been little diversification from agriculture into industry, particularly manufacturing. Second, the poverty headcount and inequality remain high in many countries, even as African countries continue to rank lowest on the United Nations Development Programme's Gender Inequality Index. This contribution goes beyond the individualistic approach of supply-side policies and unveils deeper mechanisms that need to be tackled for the two transformations (diversification and inequality reduction) to occur. It demonstrates that gender inequality relies on unwritten but dominant social norms, hence, informal institutions. The removal of formal legislation that constrains women's agency, the enactment of formal laws, and the implementation of economic policies designed specifically to create incentives for behavior change are recommended

The Nexus between Communication and Development Planning. Exploring the Communication Methods Used by Development Planners in Ghana

The nexus between Planning and communication especially in Africa is barely explored despite suggestions by renowned writers such as Habermas, whose communicative action theory has informed several Planning strategies that focus on providing more practical frameworks for understanding and practicing in the field.  Using the case study methodology, this study explored the case of four agencies engaged in development planning activities in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. It was found out the Planners hardly employ the wide range of communication methods available. This study reveals that the situation results from Planners’ preference for keeping to comfort-zones shaped by their limited levels of awareness, knowledge and competence and recommends that Planner employ the broad range of options to achieve greater efficacy in the communicative process of development planning. Keywords: Communicative planning, communication methods, development planning, participation, Ghan

Optimal rice/colocasia cropping systems in the Ashanti, Eastern and Central regions within the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana.

This study is a follow-up survey to investigate the economic viability of the Rice/Colocasia cropping systems introduced by the Root and Tuber Improvement Project (RTIP)/Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the year 2000. It explores the possibility of improving the net earnings of farm families through appropriate farm plans. A Linear Programming model was developed to optimize net income from the Rice and Colocasia enterprises subject to land and labour constraints. The model selected the inter-cropping system as the optimal enterprise in relation to the resources available and allocated 1.2 ha for this cropping system out of the 3 ha available to the typical farm household. The maximum net income obtained from the inter-cropping system for the model farm was ¢4,454,726 ($543.26). There was a binding labour constraint for the first weeding of the farming activities with a shadow price of ¢14.65. Due to labour bottlenecks in certain times of the year, farmers paid unrealistic labour wages of up to ¢8,000 which resulted in low labour productivity in the study area. About 56% of the farmers were females with the younger generation forming the majority (58.9%). Journal of Science and Technology (Ghana) Vol. 27 (2) 2007: pp. 51-6

Ownership Rights and Investment in Agricultural Land in Ghana: A Gender Analysis

This paper examines the relationship between ownership rights and investment in agricultural land from a gender perspective in Ghana, using the Two-Stage Conditional Maximum Likelihood estimation technique and data from the Ghana Household Asset Survey. The results indicate that investment in agricultural lands is generally low in Ghana and tends to occur mostly in agricultural lands owned by men suggesting its inability to enhance tenure security. Furthermore, investment in agricultural lands owned by men is associated with a wider range of ownership rights. However, the same cannot be said about agricultural land owned by women as investments in their land do not significantly improve their rights to the land. Except for economic rights that appear to have a significant negative association with investments in agricultural lands owned by women, all other rights have no significant relationship with investments in agricultural lands owned by both men and women. There is a positive relationship between age and ownership rights for men suggesting that the youth may have challenges securing their tenure. We recommend the strengthening of the current land administration projects to enhance tenure security. Policies that will support the growing of perennial trees, construction of farmhouses and irrigation should be put in place by the government to encourage men to undertake such investments as they tend to improve ownership rights of agricultural lands. More should also be done to secure the ownership rights of the youth if the government wants them to engage in agriculture

A Bayesian Model for Predicting Road Traffic Fatalities in Ghana

Bayesian model for predicting the annual regional distribution of the number of road traffic fatalities in Ghana is derived, using road traffic accident statistics data from the National Road Safety Commission, Ghana Statistical Service and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority. The data span 1991 to 2009. Since the parameters are assumed to vary across the various regions, they are considered to be random variables with probability distributions. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques were used to draw samples from each of the posterior distribution, thereby determining the values of the unknown parameters for each region based on a given data. The study has shown that population and number of registered vehicles are predominant factors affecting road traffic fatalities in Ghana. The effect of other additional factors on road traffic fatality such as human error (due to the driver, passenger and/or pedestrian), vehicle (its condition and maintenance), environmental/weather and nature of the road cannot be ruled out.

Hydrogen Cyanide Accumulation and Transformations in Non-polluted Salt Marsh Sediments

While cyanide is known to be produced by many organisms, including plants, bacteria, algae, fungi and some animals, it is generally thought that high levels of cyanide in aquatic systems require anthropogenic sources. Here, we report accumulation of relatively high levels of cyanide in non-polluted salt marsh sediments (up to 230 μmol kg[superscript −1]). Concentrations of free cyanide up to 1.92 μmol L[superscript −1], which are toxic to aquatic life, were detected in the pore-waters. Concentration of total (free and complexed) cyanide in the pore-waters was up to 6.94 μmol L[superscript −1]. Free cyanide, which is released to the marsh sediments, is attributed to processes associated with decomposition of cord grass, Spartina alterniflora, roots and possibly from other sources. This cyanide is rapidly complexed with iron and adsorbed on sedimentary organic matter. The ultimate cyanide sink is, however, associated with formation of thiocyanate by reaction with products of sulfide oxidation by Fe(III) minerals, especially polysulfides. The formation of thiocyanate by this pathway detoxifies two poisonous compounds, polysulfides and hydrogen cyanide, preventing release of free hydrogen cyanide from salt marsh sediments into overlying water or air

Factors associated with the utilisation of skilled delivery services in Papua New Guinea: evidence from the 2016–2018 Demographic and Health Survey

BackgroundWe sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the use of skilled assistance during delivery in Papua New Guinea.MethodsWe analysed nationally representative data from 5210 women in Papua New Guinea using the 2016-2018 Demographic and Health survey. Both bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed. Statistical significance was set at pResultsThe prevalence of skilled assistance during delivery was 57.6%. The richest women (adjusted OR [AOR]=3.503, 95% CI 2.477 to 4.954), working women (AOR=1.221, 95% CI 1.037 to 1.439), women with primary (AOR=1.342, 95% CI 1.099 to 1.639), secondary or higher education (AOR=2.030, 95% CI 1.529 to 2.695), women whose partners had a secondary or higher level of education (AOR=1.712, 95% CI 1.343 to 2.181], women who indicated distance was not a big problem in terms of healthcare (AOR=1.424, 95% CI 1.181 to 1.718), women who had ≥4 antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR=10.63, 95% CI 8.608 to 13.140), women from the Islands region (AOR=1.305, 95% CI 1.045 to 1.628), those who read newspapers or magazines (AOR=1.310, 95% CI 1.027 to 1.669) and women who watched television (AOR=1.477, 95% CI 1.054 to 2.069) less than once a week had higher odds of utilising skilled attendants during delivery. On the contrary, women in the Momase region (AOR=0.543, 95% CI 0.438 to 0.672), women in rural areas (AOR=0.409, 95% CI 0.306 to 0.546), as well as women with a parity of 3 (AOR=0.666, 95% CI 0.505 to 0.878) or ≥4 (AOR=0.645, 95% CI 0.490 to 0.850) had lower odds of utilising skilled attendance during delivery.ConclusionThere is relatively low use of skilled delivery services in Papua New Guinea. Wealth, employment status, educational level, parity and number of ANC visits, as well as access to healthcare and place of residence, influence the utilisation of skilled delivery services