Average Time to Justice Delivery; A Case Study in the Upper West and East Regional District and Circuit Courts in Ghana

In this study, survival analysis was used to determine the average time to justice delivery in law courts for the Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana.  The study revealed that the average time to justice delivery was 103 days. Four major factors were found to contribute significantly to the average time to justice delivery.  These were; the type of court handling the case, the type or nature of case, the occupation of the accused and the number of subsequent hearings.  Also, it was evident from the study that cases terminated faster in Upper East courts as compared to the Upper West courts.  Finally, it was found that civil cases tend to have shorter life spans than criminal cases. Keywords: Justice Delivery, Survival Analysis, Censoring, Court       

Tree Network-balanced Designs for Agroforestry Trials

Tree Network-balanced Designs for Agroforestry Trial

Tree Balanced Designs Assuming Proportional Network Effects for Agroforestry Experimentation

In agroforestry experiments involving tree-crop mix, effects of trees may be felt on the very plots on which they grow as well as plots in the neighborhood. The influences of trees on nearby plots imply that there are underlying connections among the plots through a network of tree effects. This tree network effects can be viewed in a manner similar to a simple graph where nodes are connected. Therefore, choosing appropriate model for agroforestry design is paramount to ensure that all sources of variation are adequately accounted for. This study aimed to develop a class of designs under proportional network effect model which account for tree effects from main as well as adjacent plots, with network effect proportional to direct effect of tree. The designs are referred to as resolvable network balanced designs (RNetBD), a property that makes them to be suitably used in multiple locations. The characterization properties of the designs have been studied and the designs are found to be variance balanced for estimating direct effects of trees. The efficiency factors of the designs are generally high and appear to increase as number of tree species increases

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Not AvailableThis study aimed to develop volume estimation models which will be robust and useful for predicting merchantable volume of teak trees in different teak growing regions of the world. The data was statistically simulated based on various published models for different teak growing conditions in different parts of the world. A total of thirteen models comprising nine conventional (linear and nonlinear) and four Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques-based models, thus two Support Vector Machine (SVM) techniques and two Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques, were fitted to the data. Several statistical model selection criteria including Efron’s pseudo R-squared, Root Mean Square Error, Mean Absolute Bias, Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency, Index of Agreement and Akaike Information Criterion were used to evaluate and rank the models’ performances from best to worst. All AI techniques-based models were superior over conventional models in performance, and the overall best model was SVM technique followed by an ANN technique. Among conventional models, allometric models generally fitted the data better than linear regression type models, with model 5 being the best while 2 was the worst. Combination of tree diameter at breast height (dbh) and height as predictors of tree volume was shown to improve model prediction accuracy for teak trees irrespective of the model involved. On the basis of the varied nature of the data used for model fitting, the developed models would be useful in making reliable predictions of teak timber volume for different teak growing regions across the world. The models have wide application potential and may be recommended for use in managing teak plantation inventory in different parts of the world.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThis study was carried out to develop designs for agroforestry experiments involving multiple trees and multiple crop species. A linear network effects model incorporating tree effects from adjacent plots has been considered, and a general method of constructing a class of designs balanced for tree network effects has been developed. The proposed designs are partially variance balanced for estimating direct effects of tree-crop combinations, with the tree-crop combinations following a two-associate class Group Divisible (GD) association scheme. It has been shown that these designs are highly efficient. Also, the layout in separate arrays permits each replication of these designs to be suitably adapted in a different location. Hence, the designs have promising application potential in agroforestry experimentations involving multiple trees and multiple crop species with resource limitations.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableNetBD refers to a design based on the network effects model in which each treatment has every other treatment appearing as left, right, top and bottom neighbours equal (constant) number of times. The layout of the design can be obtained using the program written in SAS IML in the form of a Macro by just entering the number of treatments.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSometimes a single continuous piece of land may not be available at one location to the researcher for implementation of the designs. In such situations, it will be preferable to have suitable designs which can be implemented in multiple locations despite the limitations associated with the available land. A new class of designs called Network Balanced Designs Type II (NetBD2) is used in such experimental situations. The layout of the design can be obtained as generated using the developed SAS macro by just entering the number of lines.Not Availabl

Efficient class of tree network balanced designs for agroforestry experimentation

The use of an appropriate design is a very important aspect of agroforestry experimentation. Since different species of trees may interact spatially, plots in agroforestry could be connected through network of trees which would create non-directional adjacency effects on a plot. Hence, there is a need to take the “direct effect of trees” and “tree network effects” on the crop into account when designing an agroforestry experiment. Tree network effect refers to the influence a tree exerts on the surrounding plots as a result of adjacency of the plots. In this paper, a class of network designs incorporating effects of trees from adjacent plots has been obtained. The characterization properties of the designs have also been studied. The designs are found to be variance balanced for the estimation of direct as well as network effects of trees. They are also highly efficient designs, and hence, are recommended for agroforestry experimentation with multiple tree species and a single crop

Can Africa achieve food sufficiency? Taking lessons from Indian agriculture in the face of 21st century agricultural challenges

There is no gainsaying the fact that Agriculture remains the backbone of developing nation’s economy considering its importance for food security as well as major source of employment and rural livelihood. This is true in Africa as Agriculture remains the major source of income though this varies widely across countries. However, percentage share of agriculture in national GDP of many African countries in the recent time is declining. This coupled with increase in demand for food, population growth as well as changing in consumers’ food patterns have led to increment in food importation bills of many African countries in other to meet their domestic food demand. This paper therefore reviewed the possibilities of African agriculture achieving food sufficiency in the face of 21st century agricultural challenges and opportunities. Effort was made to understudy the pathway to India Agriculture attaining food sufficiency keeping in mind the similarity of India Agriculture to African agricultural scenario with nearly same opportunities and challenges. We therefore conclude that a proactive and innovative pathway should be created in Africa using policy tools, adoption of proven adaptable agricultural technologies as well as promotion of climate smart agricultural technologies for transformation of Africa Agriculture from net importer of food to food sufficiency as well as becoming net exporter of food