FACTORS INFLUENCING USAGE OF MOBILE BANKING IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO

Human civilisation has entered a new stage labelled as Information Society (IS) which implies intensive use of information in all activities, exerting a major impact on economic and social aspects of human existence. IS permits access to vast amounts of information for its members, enabling a new working and knowledge paradigm! It also creates a positive environment for economic globalisation and the increase of social cohesion. From the perspective of financial services, IS has helped electronic banking, which underlies the determinants of the banking business model, with the special aspect of mobile commerce. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking. The aim of this research is to evaluate the state at which mobile banking is being utilised in the Republic of Kosovo, and to what extend banks are taking advantage of this aspect of banking business. A survey was conducted and results discussed as part of this research

Relationship between Economic Value and Species diversity of Timber Resources in a Hill Forest in Peninsular Malaysia

Timber resource is a major component of tropical forest and usually undervalued economically. This paper attempts to examine the relationship between economic value and species diversity of a hill dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. The rank-abundance curve described a lognormal distribution pattern, indicating high diversity communities. The species diversity indices obtained were high: Fisher’s alpha diversity index ranged from 96.53 to 109.56, Shannon-Weiner index were 5.29 to 5.39, while values of Simpson Index ranged from 134.02 to 151.11. The estimated mean stumpage value per hectare was Malaysian Ringgit RM25 413 and the main contribution was from the family Dipterocarpaceae. The regression analysis showed that the relationship between stumpage value and species diversity was not significant at the 5% level (p>0.05). Timber volume, size of trees and the presence of high timber value have great influence on the stumpage value for a given forest area

Go Green Practice: A Study on TVET Higher Learning Institution Students

Climate change and global warming has become a hot debate topic throughout the world today. The human being who lives on this earth should actively engage with environmentally conscious activities for the sustainable procurement, even just a student by making a small change in their daily lifestyle. Go green practice is the daily activities to show the intention that they are doing something for the planet earth. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the go green practice level among the higher learning institution students. The measurement for go green practice is the difficulty level of daily activities, which consists of three stages, namely easy, moderate and difficult. Besides, this study also compared the differences in go green practice level between female and male students. The research design used for this study is a cross-sectional survey design to gathers data and draw inferences about a population at one point in time. A total number of 116 bachelor degree students in a technical university were randomly selected for this study. A self-rating questionnaire that consists of 27 items was used to measure the students’ go green practice level. The gathered data were analysed using mean score, standard deviation, frequency and percentage. The finding shows that majority of the students tend to have a good practice category in go green practice. In addition, the result also found that there is no significant difference in the score of easy and moderate level for go green practice between male and female students, but not for the difficult stage where female students tend to have higher score than the male students. In conclusion, the TVET students do have a good practice in go green in general. However, efforts to enhance students’ awareness in Go Green practice must strengthen to ensure the environmental sustainability

KEBERKESANAN KAEDAH KIJO MEMBANTU MURID TAHUN 3 HISYAM DI SEKOLAH RENDAH AGAMA BERSEPADU KLUANG MENGATASI MASALAH PENGUASAAN KONSEP DARAB

This research was conducted to test the effectiveness of the methods of KIJO against 38 year 3 Hisyam in Sekolah Rendah Agama Bersepadu Kluang against the concept of multiplication. This method involves the representation of the letters K, I, J and O with math multiplication symbol in verse represents the object to be in multiplication. this research provides an opportunity for educators to assess its effectiveness against the understanding of the concept of multiplication pupils, detect tendencies interest pupils in learning the concept of multiplication. Pre and post test and questionnaire has been conducted to collect data. Data analyzed using excel software. Results of analysis showed that a variety of methods to make a practice of learning in learning the concept of multiplication on the rise and can assist students in mastering the concept of multiplication. This study shows that the existence of a significant relationship of the effectiveness of the methods of KIJO undertaken. In this study, indicators related to the effectiveness of learning multiplication topic was influenced by the improved performance of students, application of basic concepts through effective method and the interest of students towards the subjects

Competencies Needed for Improving Teaching Among Lecturers of Polytechnics in North-Western Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the competencies needed for improving teaching among lecturers of polytechnics in North-western Nigeria. A polytechnic was established in Nigeria to train individuals to learn a specific skill using competent lecturers for employment or self-reliance after graduation. These lecturers are very essential to the quality of students of electrical/ electronic technology in the polytechnics. However, technology dynamism has become a serious challenge for the lecturers to perform their teaching tasks. Hence the need for lecturers to continually improved on their competence and knowledge of the subject matter content they teach. The study is also to identify any difference of competency needed among the institutions. 122 electrical/electronic lecturers from nine universities were purposely selected as respondents for the study whose consisted of 55 lecturers from five state polytechnics and 67 lecturers from four federal polytechnics. The study adopted survey research design and used structured questionnaire as the main instrument for the data collection. The questionnaires were developed and distributed to respondents. Mean and improvement needed index analysis were used for data analysis to achieve the research objective whilst t-test was used to test the significance difference between the institutions. It was found that electrical/electronic lecturers in polytechnics need improvement of their competencies related to knowledge and skills in the subject matter. However, there was no significant difference of competency needed between the lecturers in state and federal polytechnics on the teaching subject matter. The implication of the finding is that the location of the lecturers did not significantly affect their opinion in the competencies. In conclusion, lecturers of electrical/electronic technology from the polytechnics has low competency in executing technical task assigned to them within the study area which required adequate investigation by determining the competencies of lecturers who happen to be the main implementers of the electrical/electronic programme. Therefore, it is recommended that the schools administrators should continually organized workshop and training for lecturers to build their capacity in order for the lecturers to always develop their competencies to effectively teach the contents of the subject assigned to them

R&D information and market valuation: empirical evidence from Malaysian listed firms / Sunarti Halid ... [et al.]

Research and Development (hereafter R&D) is an expensive activity where it requires an investment of a certain amount of capital with the belief that they would result in some increased benefits in the future periods. Traditionally, firms have supported R&D because the technological improvements made possible by innovation allow them to better productivity, succeeded in markets and meet the regulatory demands. In relation to this, the major aim of this study is to understand and acknowledge the value relevance of R&D in market valuation. The study only focuses on listed companies in Malaysia for the year 2000 until 2012. This study empirically investigated the association between R&D information in determining and explaining the market value. The study also to identify a relationship between R&D with all other assets. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between the R&D and the sign of earnings items. An equity valuation model based on the modified balance sheet identity was used to permit R&D and other assets to have separate empirical coefficient values. This study found weak empirical support at best for the value relevance of R&D at the firm level. However, the market was taken into consideration the Book Value of Net Asset (BVNA) in determining the firm’s equity value as compared to R&D. The results also indicated that the market’s valuation of R&D are expected to be priced differently from other assets during the period of study. In addition, our results, provided evidence that there is no significant relationship between R&D information and the sign of earnings items

Status and distribution of non-volant small mammals in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bintulu Sarawak Campus (UPMKB)

This paper presents basic distribution data on non-volant small mammals derived from four sampling periods (2006-2009) in UPMKB. A total of 22 species belonging to families Tupaiidae, Sciuridae, Muridae, Viverridae, Manidae, Tarsiidae, Felidae and Cercopithecidae were captured and recorded. Planted Forest showed the highest number of species (14), followed by Nirwana Forest (11 species), Campus Zone Area (10 species), and Forestry Park (5 species). Two (2) species have been classified as Totally Protected while seven (7) species are protected under the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1998. Mapping of the total area showed that the Campus Zone Area contained the highest diversity and the number of non-volant small mammals as compared to other sites in UPMKB. Thus, conservation effort of the area should be given higher priority to ensure that the biodiversity of the area is maintained

Reproductive patterns of Cynopterus brachyotis (dog-faced fruit bat) in Bintulu, Sarawak

Reproductive period is a critical phase for most living organism. However, the influence of environmental condition on the reproductive pattern of Chiroptera in Malaysia is not well studied. A study on the reproductive patterns of dog-faced fruit bat, Cynopterus brachyotis, was conducted at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bintulu Campus, Sarawak. Bats were captured in a planted forest and mixed dipterocarp forest using mist-nets for a period of 14 months from January 2009 to February 2010. The reproductive status was determined based on morphology of the bats. Five (I-Minor testes enlargement, no epididymal distention, II-Testes at or near maximal enlargement, no epididymal distention, III-Testes regressed, cauda epididymal distented, IV-Testes not regressed, cauda epididymal distented and V-No testiscular or epididymal enlargement) and four (I-Possibility pregnant, II-Lactating, III-Post-lactating and IV-Not reproductively active) categories of the reproductive status were categorized for the male and female C. brachyotis, respectively. Bats reproduce at all time of the year and the peak periods are associated with the rainy seasons. The first peak of reproduction (pregnancy and lactation) occurred in January to April 2009 and second peak in June to November 2009. The highest frequency of pregnancy and lactation female coincided with the fruit abundance. The results indicated that C. brachyotis performed a non-seasonal reproductive pattern. The findings are important in understanding the reproductive biology of bats and in protecting this ecologically important and diverse group of mammals