Farm credit, farmland, farm infrastructure and agricultural output in Kano State, Nigeria : the moderating effect of murabahah finance

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between farm credit, farm land, farm infrastructure and agricultural output in Kano State, Nigeria with the effect of Murabahah finance. Literature was extensively reviewed in agriculture and other related fields for better understanding of past, present and future needs in the study area. Although their relationships have generated considerable scholarly interest, few studies have actually been conducted among agricultural output in Nigeria. Agriculture is essential to economic growth in Nigeria and it is a major source of employment and poverty reduction as well as contributing significantly towards the gross domestic products. Based on a theoretical consideration, a model was proposed to examine these relationships. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted and the unit of analysis was the individual, which is small scale farmers in Kano State, Nigeria; were the respondents. The study employed systematic sampling technique in data collection, with a sample size of 764 farmers. Likewise, Partial Least Squares (PLS) algorithm and bootstrap techniques were used to test the study‘s hypotheses. The findings of this study reported that farm credit, farm land and farm infrastructure have a direct significant positive relationship with agricultural output in Kano State, Nigeria. The result of hierarchical regression (moderation test) established that Murabahah finance was found to moderate the relationships between farm credit and farm land while, farm infrastructure was not found moderated. Finally, study's implications for theory and practice, limitations, conclusions as well as direction for future research were provided and discussed

Integration of environmental safeguards into Ethiopian investment and sectoral laws

The aim of this article is to analyse the nature, scope and extent to which environmental norms and principles are integrated into the Ethiopian investment laws. The integration of an environmental matter into investment laws is very important in that it ensures that investment bodies and institutions do not disregard the environment by focusing only on economic achievement. The legal analysis of Ethiopian investment laws shows that although they contain environmental protection provisions, the language, manner and extent of stipulation adopted differ. The Mining Operation Proclamation No. 678/ 2010, Energy Proclamation No. 810/2013 and Petroleum and Petroleum Products Supply Operation Proclamation No. 838/2014 integrate environmental protection in an unequivocal manner. However, the Investment Proclamation No. 769/2012 and Transaction of Precious Minerals Proclamation No. 651/2009 do not use similar language with proceeding proclamations. This article argues that if environmental protection is integrated both under the Investment Proclamation No. 769/2012 and the Transaction of Precious Minerals Proclamation No.651/2009, the language used in both proclamations should be unequivocal, clear and in good manner similar to those of Mining Operation Proclamation No. 678/2010, Energy Proclamation No. 810/2013 and Petroleum and Petroleum Products Supply Operation Proclamation No. 838/2014.Keywords: Investment and environment, economy and environment, environmental protection, sustainable development, environmental and investment issues

THE PROGRESS TO ALLOW FULLY FLEDGED INTEREST FREE BANKING BUSINESS IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract-Islamic banking refers to banking business in which mobilizing or advancing funds is undertaken in a manner consistent with Islamic Sharia Law. Different literature shows the rapid growth of this Islamic banking as alternative to the conventional banking. Economic globalization, among other things, has led to the flourishment of Islamic banking both in Muslim and non-Muslim countries.  There has been increasingly strong public demand for interest free banking products in Ethiopia. As a response to this demand, the Ethiopian government introduced interest free banking business under Banking Business Proclamation No. 592/2008. Following this, the application to establish Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business was submitted to National Bank of Ethiopia.          However, the prohibition by National Bank of Ethiopia for the same, following the enactment of “Directive to Authorize the Business of Interest Free Banking No.SBB/ 51/2011”, forced the withdrawal of the application. Now Ethiopia is being one ofthe largest Muslim populations in the Horn of Africa, however, has no Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business to provide service to the Muslim community. The enactment of Directive to License and Authorize Interest Free Banking Business      No. SBB/72/2019, however, seems changed the situation. This directive allowed the establishment of Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business and following this directive, different banks of the same applied for the formation. Hence, the purpose of this Article is to analyze the evolution of Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business; to analyze the problem related with allowing Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business and to analyze the short coming of legal provision relating to Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business in Ethiopia.  The outcome of the analysis shows that the legal provision relating to Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business is not enough to deal with the same. It calls for the amendment of Banking Business Proclamation No. 592/2008 and the Directive to License and Authorize Interest Free Banking Business No. SBB/72/2019.The outcome also shows that the Authorization of more than one bank of the same at this early stage may bring failure both on the same and other conventional banks. Hence it calls to limit the number of Authorization for Fully Fledged Interest Free Banking Business at this early stage to not more than one.Keyword: Islamic banking, interest free banking, Islamic banking in Ethiopia

Ground-based real-aperture radar single look complex and interferometric simulation of Blue Springs Dam, Missouri

The limitations in current commercial satellite-based Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) datasets are being partially emphasized by a specialized (dual-frequency, polarimetric, and interferometric) ground-based real-aperture RADAR (GBIR) instrument developed by a team from University of Missouri (MU) in conjunction with GAMMA Remote Sensing. This MU GBIR possesses high temporal and spatial resolution, which make it well suited for measuring small and relatively fast-acting surface deformation. Simulation of single look complex (SLC) imagery and interferograms of a study site allows one to test and evaluate new methods or techniques under known conditions. A simulation of MU GBIR SLCs and interferograms is investigated in this document. The simulation accounts for the fluctuating, non-fluctuating, electromagnetic shadowing, system phase noise, and other noise components. Given a digital elevation model (DEM) and a MU GBIR position, the simulated imagery can be generated. For this study, we investigated several conditions of our Blue Springs, Missouri study site. Qualitatively the measurement SLC imagery compares well with the large-scale trends of the simulated SLCs imagery. Simulated interferograms for various refractivity change cases and noise scenarios (i.e. noisy and low noise) were explored. The noisy-scenario large-scale phase trends are similar to the low-noise scenarios. There are some small-scale differences in the phase scenarios, which are mainly associated with vegetative land cover. The phase fringes are preserved well on the dam structure and other persistent like structures.Dr. Justin Legarsky, Thesis Supervisor.Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-38)

Petrological and Geochemical Analyses and economic potential of some Milestones and Siliceous rocks in northern United Arab Emirates.

Combined microscopic, heavy mineral, X-ray diffraction and chemical analyses have been carried out on the Jurassic limestone, the upper cretaceous Hawasina cherts and the coastal and inland sand dunes in several localities in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate. The obtained results revealed that a number of represents cherts subfacies; namely: ferruginous radiolarian ribbon chert, carbonaceous radiolarian ribbon chert, colloform ribbon chert, calcareous chert and siliceous mud stone. These rocks consist of (in order of decreasing abundance): quartz, calcite, dolomite and hematite. The carbonate rocks are made up of lime mudstone, wackestone; pack stone and, rarely, crystalline limestone. Various types of wackestone and pack stone were recorded. Mineral1ogically, these limestone consist of calcite and much lesser proportions of quartz and dolomite. Diagenesis greatly modified the original textural and compositional characteristics of the rocks especially the limestone. On the other hand, the light fractions of the coastal sand dunes contain higher concentrations of carbonate lithoclasts and skeletal grains and lower proportions of quartz and chert than those of the inland dunes. Also, the heavy fractions of the former sediments are slightly more enriched in opaques, pyroxenes, epidotes and hornblende while depleted in rutile, tourmaline, garnet and monazite. The obtained geochemical data confirm the presence of the main chert types; namely: (i) radiolarites (R), (ii) calcareous cherts (CC), and (iii) siliceous mudstones(SM). Each type has a homogeneous and characteristics major and trace element confirmed by the increase of Ti02, Al2O3), MgO, Fe203) and HFSE ( High Field Strength Elements). The cherts exhibit LREE (Light Rare Earth Elements) fractionated patterns with moderate negative Eu anomalies. R-mode cluster analysis shows three clusters. The first is for the carbonate minerals the second includes the terrigenous components and the third is the silica cluster. Factor analysis produced a two-factor model, which accounts for 85.85% of the data variability. The first is the terrigenous factor (Ti02,Al2O3) FeO, K20, P205 Rb, Ga, Zr and REE), and the second is the carbonate factor. The majority of the studied limestones and a few of the chert rocks are Compositionally similar to those presently used by the Ras Ai Khaimah Rock Company for cement Production and, consequently can be considered for possible future needs. On the other hand, the compositional characteristics of the dune sands, especially the coastal dunes, do not permit their use as a possible source of silica

Design and implementation of PSO/ABC tunned PID controller for Buck converters

In the recent years, Buck converters have been widely involved in a variety of the everyday applications such as smartphones and PCs. Buck converters can provide better and steadier performance when integrating a control system in the design. Therefore, it is interesting to work on this integration and gain the required efficiency in term of the gained voltage. In this paper, PID controller is adopted to control the output voltage of the Buck converter. An optimization is achieved on the performance of the Buck converter using two bio-inspired algorithms namely, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). The voltage controlled Buck converter system is simulated using MATLAB environment to validate the proposed PID controller system. In this study, the voltage regulation process of Buck converter is investigated based on many working disturbances such as the change in the supply voltage, reference voltage, and load resistance in order to verify the robustness of the proposed PID controller. Finally, the feedabck voltage control system of the Buck converter is implemented experimentaly in real-time to validatde the simulated PID controller

Organization of Multi-Agent Systems: An Overview

In complex, open, and heterogeneous environments, agents must be able to reorganize towards the most appropriate organizations to adapt unpredictable environment changes within Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). Types of reorganization can be seen from two different levels. The individual agents level (micro-level) in which an agent changes its behaviors and interactions with other agents to adapt its local environment. And the organizational level (macro-level) in which the whole system changes it structure by adding or removing agents. This chapter is dedicated to overview different aspects of what is called MAS Organization including its motivations, paradigms, models, and techniques adopted for statically or dynamically organizing agents in MAS.Comment: 12 page

Bilateral Sub-acute Subdural Hematoma of the Posterior Fossa As a Complication of Anti-coagulation Therapy: A Case Report and Literature Review

Background: Subdural hematomas are one of the commonest neurosurgical pathologies faced in practice and it is rarely located in the posterior fossa. Posterior fossa subdural hematomas are challenging because of the difficulty in their diagnosis and management. Case Presentation: A case of bilateral sub-acute subdural hematoma of the posterior fossa in a 65-year-old female presented with a complaint of headache and vomiting for three weeks followed by a decreased level of consciousness two days prior to admission. The patient is a known cardiac patient on long-term anti-coagulant, her condition was intensively investigated and the diagnosis of posterior fossa subacute hematoma was reached, following which the patient was treated surgically and improved in the postoperative period. Conclusion: Subdural hematomas located in posterior fossa are considered very rare. Most of the reported cases are due to anti-coagulant use, with minor number of cases due to trauma. Literature denoted difficulty reaching diagnosis using only computed tomography and advice to be aided by magnetic resonance imaging as in our case. In most occasions, surgical management is the best choice for the management of such a case, regardless of surgical technique, and will result in excellent outcome

Postnatal Care Utilization and Associated Factors among Mothers who gave Birth in the Aysaeta District, Northeast Ethiopia: A Community Based Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Postnatal care is given to mothers and newborn babies within 42 days of delivery. It is a period of high maternal and newborn mortality and is also the most neglected in terms of maternal health services in many parts of the world. This study aimed to assess postnatal care and associated factors among mothers who gave birth in the year preceding the survey of the Ayssaeta district. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 406 mothers who gave birth in the year preceding the survey from August 02–30, 2020. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors associated with postnatal care utilization. RESULTS: Slightly greater than four out of ten  mothers have visited postnatal care units at least once. Living in urban areas, giving birth in a health facility, having complications during labor and after, and getting advice during antenatal care visits were associated with higher odds of postnatal care utilization. CONCLUSION: Less than half of the mothers received postnatal care following the delivery of their last child. Living in an urban, place of delivery, experiencing labor and postpartum complications, and receiving postnatal care advice during antenatal care have affected the utilization of postnatal care. Promoting skilled delivery and antenatal care with a focus on rural areas can help mothers learn about postnatal care and increase the number of mothers who use it.&nbsp

Comparative Study of Preconceived Scientific Ideas Held by Different Groups of Junior Secondary School Students in Niger State, Nigeria

This study investigates the preconceptions of junior secondary school students in Niger State on scientific ideas. The sample was made up of three hundred and sixty (360) junior secondary school students (JSSS I) who were randomly selected from twelve secondary schools. Four schools in each three educational zones with thirty (30) students from each school (15 males and 15 females) were used. The research instrument used was a 24 items of preconceptions on scientific ideas scale (POSIS) adapted by the researcher to obtain students’ preconceptions on scientific ideas. Five experts in science education validated the instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.78 and 0.80 were obtained for the instrument using test-retest method and Cronback alpha analysis respectively. Four hypotheses were formulated and tested. Data collected by means of the instruments were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA statistics. The study revealed that the gender of the respondents did not influence their preconceived knowledge on scientific ideas. (t-cal=1.42, df =358, p< 0.05). The preconceptions across the three educational zones in the state did not differ significantly. (F-cal=2.76, DF= 357 and 2, p< 0.05). There was no significant difference between the responses of students from rural and urban schools on preconceived ideas about selected scientific ideas. (t-cal=1.36, df =477, p< 0.05). However, it is revealed that the private school students responded more positively to the statements than did their counterparts in public schools. (t-cal=3.28, df= 477, p< 0.05).  Based on the findings, recommendations were made, among others, that science curriculum for Nigeria be reviewed to include basic ethnographic and ethno science concepts which will facilitate the deep understanding of scientific concepts and acquisition of appropriate scientific skills. Keywords: Preconceptions, Scientific ideas, School Location and Typ