Upward and downward accountability in local government: the decentralisation of agricultural extension services in Tanzania

A key assumption behind decentralisation in developing countries is that it enhances the accountability of local government and results in policies that reflect the preferences of the local community. However, previous research shows that local politicians and administrators in many developing countries to a large extent behave as if they were primarily accountable to central government, not local communities. The literature suggests various explanatory factors but does not provide insight into their relative weight and into how different factors interact. This paper combines comparative case-study research with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with local government politicians and officials involved in the delivery of agricultural extension services in Tanzania. It shows that limited administrative and political decentralisation and centralistic human resources management restrict downward accountability to the community. Downward accountability is also constrained by the social rules that local politicians and administrators observe. For downward accountability to materialise, formal systems of public administration need to introduce incentives to that effect.   &nbsp

Brief for \u3ci\u3eAmici Curiae\u3c/i\u3e New York State Legal Scholars in Support of Defendants-Respondents

This document presents a legal brief submitted by amici curiae in a case involving prominent Republican plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of New York State\u27s absentee voting provisions. The brief emphasizes the fundamental importance of voting as enshrined in the New York Constitution, particularly Article II, which guarantees suffrage to all qualified citizens. It argues that the Constitution\u27s democracy principle supports broad access to the electoral process, countering the plaintiffs\u27 claims that the absentee voting provisions are overly restrictive. The amici curiae assert that the legislative authority to expand voting access is consistent with the overarching democratic commitments of the Constitution. The brief also critiques the plaintiffs\u27 interpretation of the relevant constitutional provisions, advocating for a holistic understanding of the Constitution that prioritizes inclusivity and the protection of voting rights. Ultimately, the amici urge the court to uphold the Appellate Division\u27s decision and affirm the legitimacy of the absentee voting law as a means to enhance democratic participation

Monitoring infrastructure policy reforms and rural poverty reduction in Ghana : the case of Keta Sea Defence Project

Over the years Ghana has adopted many policy reforms with the aim of reducing poverty. Though official reports indicate reduction in poverty, poverty has become a rural phenomenon. An essential factor identified as crucial for rural poverty reduction is infrastructure. Though the government of Ghana has acknowledged the potential contribution of infrastructure to poverty reduction, and continues to increase annual expenditure on infrastructure provision, the government is worried about the failure of many infrastructure projects to reduce poverty. Since policies provide frameworks that guide action, it would be expected that Ghana’s infrastructure policies address these problems. The study explores the relationship between infrastructure and rural poverty reduction, and the adequacy of Ghana’s infrastructure policy environment in contributing to rural poverty reduction

A Government of the People: Popular Engagement in U.S. Constitutional Democracy

Please join us for a fascinating discussion about the place and power of the people in constitutional practice and government design, including critical areas that feature prominently in today’s public conversation in light of recent Supreme Court terms and the upcoming election. This event will feature three panelists—Alicia Bannon (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law), Corey Brettschneider (Brown University and Fordham Law School) and Joshua Douglas (University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law), the latter two of whom have recently published books that center the people in core matters of political decision making—in conversation with Professor Wilfred Codrington III.https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/event-invitations-2024/1022/thumbnail.jp

On flow masers with separated emission fields

In 1954 the invention of the ammonia molecular beam maser oscillator, through Charles Hard TOWNES and co-workers and Nikolai Gennadievich BASOV and Alexander Mikhailovich PROKHOROV, opened a new area of applied physics, the field of quantum electronics. Ten years later the importance of the invention of the new device which consists essentially of a microwave resonator and excited ammonia molecules which pass through the resonator was acknowledged by the award of the 1964 NOBEL Prize in physics to the above workers. Soon after the invention of the maser principle, an ammonia beam maser utilizing separated emission fields was brought into operation, a device which consists of two separated microwave resonators through which the ammonia beam maser passes in succession. It is now well known that this two-cavity variant has great practical advantages over the original one-cavity ammonia beam maser. However, not all of the macroscopic effects observed using the two-cavity ammonia beam maser could be explained in a straight­forward manner. One of the more obscure effects presents itself as follows: If the frequency of the auto-oscillation in the first resonator is detuned from one side of the possible frequency range in which generation occurs to the other then the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation in the second cavity can go through two maxima, with a gap in the middle. This effect, the "double-hump detuning phenomenon", which was first observed by the Russian research group of BASOV in 1962, has since then been a challenge to several theoretical and experimental workers. BASOV and co-workers themselves made two different attempts in order to explain this phenomenon. At the Third International Conference on Quantum Electronics, held in Paris in 1963, this team reported that the effect might occur because the transition probability of the molecules passing through the second resonator depends on the degree of excitation of the first cavity. However, in 1967 BASOV and co-workers published a paper where it is suggested that the double-hump detuning phenomenon might well arise because of the interference which occurs between the emissions from molecules which move with different velocities and radiate fields with different phases. On the other hand, research activities in fields other than microwave spectroscopy have made it possible to devise masers which are similar to the ammonia beam maser in that excited particles pass through a tuned resonant component, but which emit at quite different frequencies, e.g. in the audio-frequency ranee or in the mm wave range. However, up to now none of these different masers has been furnished with a successive resonator. It is the purpose of this thesis to report for the first time the successful operation of a tandem maser which is not a two-cavity molecular beam maser. The author devised and investigated a maser where excited protons in water pass successively through two tuned solenoids. The system is based on a conventional proton magnetometer maser oscillating in the magnetic field of the earth at a frequency near to 2 kHz. The general result of the investigation is that despite the enormous frequency difference (audio-frequency compared with a microwave frequency) the two coil nuclear maser behaves in much the same way as a two cavity ammonia beam maser. For the two-coil nuclear maser the double-hump detuning phenomenon can be explained in terms of the motion of the macroscopic nuclear magnetization, and an analysis by means of BLOCH'S equations is possible. It is shown that the double-hump detuning phenomenon is produced by a fundamental radiation process occurring in the first emission coil and 1 therefore, that it is not a second-order effect such as could occur because of the non-uniform velocity distribution of the excited particles. It is also shown that for the two-resonator ammonia beam maser the detuning phenomenon can be explained in terms of quantum mechanical probabilities, when a uniform velocity distribution of the ammonia molecules is assumed. Those results agree qualitatively with the results which have been obtained using BLOCH's equations and which have been verified experimentally by means of the two-coil nuclear maser. A second distinctive feature of the conventional two-cavity ammonia beam maser is that if the first resonator is sufficiently detuned, generation in the second resonator can take place simultaneously at two different frequencies. The analogous effect has been observed using the two-coil nuclear maser. The conventional one-coil nuclear maser which is currently used as a magnetometer has the disadvantage that it does not offer a suitable criterion for tuning the oscillation frequency accurately to the LARMOR frequency. For the two-cavity ammonia beam maser it has previously been proposed to modulate mechanically the inter-cavity distance and to use zero phase modulation as a means of tuning the maser frequency accurately to the centre frequency of the molecular transition. It is shown that by modulating mechanically the inter­coil distance of the two-coil nuclear maser. a suitable tuning criterion can be obtained in an analogous manner. A second tuning criterion is offered by the double-hump detuning phenomenon. In Chapter I the maser principle is discussed using a classical model, and the different maser types which are of interest in the context of this thesis are enumerated. Chapter II contains a review of previous work on two-cavity ammonia beam masers. Chapter III reviews the conventional theory of nuclear masers. In Chapters IV to IX the two-coil nuclear maser is investigated. Chapter X contains a general discussion of the two-resonator maser problem in terms of quantum-mechanical probabilities. Some general remarks concerning practical applications of two-resonator masers are made. The conclusions are summarized in a final section

Financial Deepening and Sustained Economic Growth in Nigeria: What Nonlinear Models Reveal

Motivated by the desire to expose a possible nonlinearity and non-proportionality in linking financial deepening and economic growth, we investigated the finance-growth nexus from a linear and nonlinear perspective using dataset from Nigeria for 1981: Q1 to 2017: Q4. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear Autoregressive distributed Lag (NARDL) models, and it was found that economic growth tends to adjust nonlinearly to financial deepening than it does linearly. This is expected to guide policy makers towards ensuring that the linearity and nonlinearity polarity of the finance-growth nexus are always factored-in while formulating policies relative to driving sustained growth through financial deepening

Geoelectrical and Geotechnical Characterization of Different Types of Soil in Ede, Osun State, Nigeria

Geoelectrical and geotechnical investigations were carried out to characterize soils from different locations in Ede, Osun State, Nigeria for engineering purposes. Wenner electrode configuration technique was deployed in carrying out the geoelectrical survey of about 40m for each profile. The data analysis was approached by plotting the apparent conductivity against electrode spacing (s) and the result was interpreted. The geoelectrical resistivity survey revealed locations 1 and 2 with resistivity values of 25.01-419.22ohm-m (conductivity 0.002 - 0.194 (ohm-m)-1and 5.5-1246.57 ohm-m (conductivity = 0.0002 - 0.001 (ohm-m)-1) respectively could be classified as clay. Sample 3 recorded a resistivity value of 1.00- 22,787.39 ohm-m (conductivity= 0.00004- 1.00 (ohm-m)-1) thus, was classified as silt/sand respectively. Soil from the said different locations in Ede, Nigeria, were tested in the Laboratory for certain properties like Atterberg limits, specific gravities, sieve analysis, compaction test, etc. and the results showed that samples 1, 2 and 3 have specific gravity values of 2.50, 2.13 and 2.40 respectively and could therefore be referred to as organic soil. Samples 1, 2 and 3 have maximum dry density (MDD) of 1.45g/cm3, 1.92g/cm3, 1.95g/cm3 and optimum moisture content (OMC) of 15.40%, 13.36% and 9.61% respectively. The analysis conducted in this study revealed that the soil type found in Ede, Nigeria could be classified as silt-clay, sandy clay, clay and sand

Effect of Raw Leachate on Gills and Liver of Juvenile African catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

The effect of toxicity of raw leachate obtained from dumpsites on Clarias gariepinus (C. gariepinus) (n = 6) was studied under laboratory conditions with the aim of establishing its effect on the gills and liver of C. gariepinus. The physico-parameters (pH, conductivity, total dissolved solid, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand) and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, chromium, copper and nickel) were also analyzed using standard methods. The results of physico-chemical analyses of leachate showed contamination of organics, salts and heavy metals. Furthermore, lethal concentration (LC50) of leachate effluent on C. gariepinus was determined using probit method to ascertain fish mortality.  Result revealed that C. gariepinus exposed to different concentration of raw leachate recorded increasing mortality of 0, 0, 1, 4 and 5 at 0%, 5%, 10%, 25% and 75% concentration respectively for a period of 96 hours. The colour and behavioral responses were normal in the control experiment. But there were abnormal behavior including erratic swimming and quick sudden movements in concentrated samples. Also, results of the histopathological analysis showed alterations in the gills and liver. The study concluded that raw leachate is toxic to C. gariepinus, and therefore recommends for adjusting factors enhancing anaerobic biodegradation that lead to leachate stabilization as well as treatment and monitoring of effluent released into water bodies

In-vivo antitrypanosomal effect and in-silico prediction of chronic toxicity of N-methylholaphyllamine in rats

Purpose: To determine the in-vivo anti-trypanosomal effect and sub-chronic toxicity of Nmethylholaphyllamine (MHA) isolated from H. africana against Trypanosoma brucei in rats and also to predict its toxicity by an in-silico method. Methods: Parasitemia was induced in rats with 1.5 x 105/mL trypanosomes and treatment commenced 5 days post-infection for 12 days. The rats were treated with MHA (3.5 μM/rat) for 5 days and with diminazene (3.5 mg/kg) for 2 days and were monitored every other day during and after treatment for the level of parasitemia and PCV. The chronic toxicity study was carried out with a 28-day sub-chronic toxicity cycle protocol while the toxicity was predicted in-silico with ProTox-II which is freely available on a web server. Results: MHA exhibited anti-trypanosomal effect in infected rats leading to the restoration of PCV to baseline values (≥ 40 %) on the 14th day and consequent disappearance of parasitemia on day 17 post-infection with no relapse. The slight changes in clinical observation, weight, feed consumption, clinical and histopathology of high-dose MHA rats were not significant (p < 0.05) and were not attributed to the treatment. Apart from MHA-induced immunotoxicity observed in in-silico prediction, no other predicted toxicities were significant; however, few undetected toxicities were found to be mediated by amine oxidase A, androgen and/or histamine, H1 receptors toxicophore fit. Conclusion: The high in-vivo antitrypanosomal effect and non-toxicity of MHA in this study further provide useful empirical data for lead optimization of MHA to combat sleeping sickness