Credit Card Fraud: A New Perspective On Tackling An Intransigent Problem

This article offers a new perspective on battling credit card fraud. It departs from a focus on post factum liability, which characterizes most legal scholarship and federal legislation on credit card fraud and applies corrective mechanisms only after the damage is done. Instead, this article focuses on preempting credit card fraud by tackling the root causes of the problem: the built-in incentives that keep the credit card industry from fighting fraud on a system-wide basis. This article examines how credit card companies and banks have created a self-interested infrastructure that insulates them from the liabilities and costs of credit card fraud. Contrary to widespread belief, retailers, not card companies or banks, absorb much of the loss caused by thieves who shop with stolen credit cards. Also, credit card companies and banks earn fees from every credit card transaction, including those that are fraudulent. In addressing these problems, this article advocates broad reforms, including legislation that would mandate data security standards for the industry, empower multiple stakeholders to create the new standards, and offer companies incentives to comply by capping bank fees for those that are compliant, while deregulating fees for those that are not compliant

Comparative study of hatching rates of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell 1822) eggs on different substrates

The hatching rates of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) eggs on four natural substrates: the roots of Nile cabbage (Pistia stratiotes), water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), pond weed (Ceratophyllum dermasum) and green grass leaves (Commelina sp.), and four artificial substrates: sisal mats, nylon mats, papyrus mats and kakaban mats, was assessed. Concrete slabs were used as control. The natural substrates performed better than the artificial ones. Pistia roots gave the best mean hatching rate of 66.2 ± 3.62%. Green grass leaves were second with a mean rate of 54.0 ± 3.46%, water hyacinth was third with 49.7 ± 3.16% and Ceratophyllum fourth with a mean of 13.0 ± 2.37%. Concrete slabs gave a mean rate of 18.6 ± 2.8%, sisal mats 18.6 ± 2.0%, papyrus 12.2 ± 1.2% and kakaban 11.8 ± 1.9%. Nylon mats were the last, with a mean rate of 4.0 ± 0.7%. The best performing natural substrates were those with the ability to float and thin fibrous roots that seemed to allow higher aeration of the eggs during incubation. The cost of using natural substrates was minimal

Comparative study of hatching rates of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell 1822) eggs on different substrates

The hatching rates of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) eggs on four natural substrates: the roots of Nile cabbage (Pistia stratiotes), water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), pond weed (Ceratophyllum dermasum) and green grass leaves (Commelina sp.), and four artificial substrates: sisal mats, nylon mats, papyrus mats and kakaban mats, was assessed. Concrete slabs were used as control. The natural substrates performed better than the artificial ones. Pistia roots gave the best mean hatching rate of 66.2 ± 3.62%. Green grass leaves were second with a mean rate of 54.0 ± 3.46%, water hyacinth was third with 49.7 ± 3.16% and Ceratophyllum fourth with a mean of 13.0 ± 2.37%. Concrete slabs gave a mean rate of 18.6 ± 2.8%, sisal mats 18.6 ± 2.0%, papyrus 12.2 ± 1.2% and kakaban 11.8 ± 1.9%. Nylon mats were the last, with a mean rate of 4.0 ± 0.7%. The best performing natural substrates were those with the ability to float and thin fibrous roots that seemed to allow higher aeration of the eggs during incubation. The cost of using natural substrates was minimal.Hatching, Seed production, Fish eggs, Africa, Kenya, Clarias gariepinus

Electronic capture and analysis of fraudulent behavioral patterns : an application to identity fraud

The objective of this research was to find a transparent and secure solution for mitigating identity fraud and to find the critical factors that determine the solution\u27s acceptance. Identity fraud is identified as a key problem with total losses exceeding fifty two billion dollars (Javelin Strategy and Research 2005). A common denominator in most identity-fraud-prone transactions is the use of a keypad; hence this research focuses on keypad data entry and proposes a biometric solution. Three studies develop, evaluate and investigate the feasibility of this solution. The first study was done in three stages. Stage one investigated the technical feasibility of the biometric keypad, stage two evaluated the keypad under different field conditions and stage three investigated acceptable user parameters. A key shortcoming with current authentication methods is the use of external identifiers that are prone to theft, unlike biometric patterns. A biometric keypad that supplements the present external identifiers was proposed, prototyped and evaluated. The results demonstrated that a biometric keypad can be a feasible medium performance solution. Addition of pressure and higher typing speeds were found to enhance discrimination accuracy while typing patterns were found to vary with elapsed time which led to deterioration in accuracy. The second study interviewed executives with experience in the introduction of new technologies with the objective of identifying and ranking critical factors that are important in the adoption of new biometrics. Performance, ease-of-use and trust-privacy issues were the most cited factors. A biometric acceptance model was formulated and five hypotheses were proposed from these interviews and prior research. Executives rated the keypad\u27s ease-of-use high in comparison to other biometric approaches but were concerned about its accuracy. The third study was a user attitude survey whose objective was to validate the formulated biometric acceptance model and acquire data on acceptable usage parameters. The proposed biometric model was validated and the proposed hypotheses were supported. Acceptable error rates and training times indicated that the biometric keypad would be more complex to engineer. The dissertation concludes by summarizing the contributions and limitations of the three studies followed by several suggestions for future research

PARTICIPATION OF KENYAN NOMADIC PASTORALISTS IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

The desire for any government that values the economic growth of its country is to provide education to its citizens. Kenya has made innumerable efforts towards this end since independence. However, several decades down the line, this is yet to be realised. The nomadic pastoralist community is one such a group that has remained out of school due to its palpetic lifestyle. Generally, formal education is appropriate for people leading a sedentary lifestyle, thereby making nomadic pastoralist community be persistently excluded from accessing formal education. Nevertheless, in efforts to promote access to education among communities that are mainly nomadic pastoralists, the Government of Kenya has established mobile schools in Turkana County. Several studies have been conducted on factors contributing to low participation of nomadic pastoralists in education, but very little research has been done on mobile schools. Using a mixed methods research design, various County Government documents and official documents found in schools were reviewed to obtain information concerning Mobile schools in the area of study. Purposive sampling was adopted for this study to identify schools and the population for study. Focused Group Discussions were also held for parents and the learners of the final grade in mobile schools. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics whereas thematic analysis approach was used for qualitative data. The findings were presented in verbatim and tables. This study found out that although mobile schools have promoted access to education among Turkana nomadic pastoralists, their level of participation in education is still significantly low. The study established that some of the conditions that enhance participation in education through mobile schools include: awareness and sensitization, community involvement and multi grade and multi shift approaches in education provision. Also importantly is adopting a multifaceted approach whereby there is both provision of education, food and security. This study recommends further research to establish ways of sustaining mobile schools in provision in provision of education among the nomadic pastoralists

Planning and wilful community action: Epistemological considerations

While individual accounts vary, most planners would agree that their calling, historically, has been bound up with the idea of bringing an increased measure of rationality to collective human activities. Since the late 1960s, however, traditional neo-positivist models of scientific problem solving and systematic administration have come increasingly under the gun. Urban riots, ecological disasters and the failure of the first UN Development Decade proved a damning indictment. By the early 1970s, new voices were being heard, calling for a different, more certain method of linking knowledge to action. Planning for turbulence through social learning was suggested as an alternative approach, and its emphasis on learning from practice has led to an ever increasing identity on the part of many planning theoreticians with the materialist concept of praxis. Both radical and liberal thinkers have come to endorse quite similar epistemological positions

Effect of Acacia tortilis pods on intake, digestibility and nutritive quality of goat diets in southwestern Eritrea

Fresh Acacia tortilis pods were mixed with low quality native grass hay to form the following five rations: 100% hay (T 1), 25% pods and 75% hay (T 2), 50% pods and 50% hay (T 3), 75% pods and 25% hay (T 4) and 100% pods (T 5) on ‘as fed’weight basis. Fifteen male Barka goats, approximately one year old and 10–15kg body weight, were randomly assigned to the five rations and fed in individual pens. Chemical composition, dry matter intake (DMI), in vitro dry and organic matter digestibility and body weight changes of the animals were evaluated. The average crude protein content of the pods was about 47% higher than the 7% minimum required for normal rumen function, while that of the hay was about 13% below. Percent ash, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), hemi-cellulose (HC), cellulose (CL) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents were higher in the hay than in the pods. The pods were, however, generally higher in Ca, P, Mg and Na than the hay. Average DMI (g d -1 and g kg-1 LBW), percent in vitro dry and organic matter digestibility and body weight gains (total kg and gd -1) increased with an increase in A. tortilis pods, up to 75% level and then begun to decline. However, despite the decrease, T 5 still had significantly (P< 0.05) higher feed digestibility and body weight gains than T 2 and T3. Thus, supplementing low quality range herbage with Acacia pods can considerably improve the nutritive value of range livestock diets, particularly during the dry season when other types of fodder are of extremely low quality

Re-Examining the Role of Private Property in Market Democracies:Problematic Ideological Issues Raised by Land Registration

In the post-1989 world, the primacy of private property is taken for granted. The final fall of communism, it would seem, is an adequate commentary of the supremacy of private property arrangements in facilitating economic development. Debates pitting plan (with its associated appetite for communal or collective property) against market (with its avowed belief in private property) are now considered superfluous. As far as the Western world was concerned, it seemed that the task of persuading the rest of the world that private property is the key to efficient market performance and economic development had finally been accomplished. The only task left was for development and policy makers to devise regimes for establishing private property arrangements in the rest of the world. The argument made was that, barring transaction costs, if: 1) the initial endowment of property rights is clearly defined; 2) corruption held in check; 3) freedom of contract entrenched; and 4) the rule of law respected, then a viable market for property, and other rights to economic resources will ensue. The eventual result would be an exchange and reallocation of property rights to the most efficient users with attendant benefit to the entire economy. In the first instance, this Article evaluates how this task of establishing regimes of clear property rights” supported by a transparent rule of law has worked out in practice

Land Use Change and Ecosystem Valuation in North Georgia

A model of land allocation at the aggregate watershed level was developed assuming profit/net benefit maximization under risk neutrality. The econometric land use model was analyzed as an equation by equation SURE model as all the independent variables were the same for both equations. In analyzing effect of land use change on water quality, we took year 2005 as our baseline and postulated three land use scenarios. We applied Benefit Transfer techniques to value water quality changes resulting from land use change and estimated lower bounds for WTP to improve water quality to meet the FCB criterion for drinking water supply and fishing waters and BOD (DO) criteria for fishing waters. Water quality modeling revealed that land use change would result in increased runoff, and associated increase in FCB and BOD/DO violations. But the BOD/DO violations could be curtailed by managing urban growth as evidenced absence of BOD violations in the managed growth scenario. Our study finds there may be problems of FCB under all postulated future land use scenarios. The findings also support existing literature that there are problems with FCB violation in the study area at the moment. Finally, it seems that the people of UCRB would be willing to pay a lower bound value between USD 15,785,740 and USD 16,141,230 per year to create and maintain quality standards for fishing and drinking water supply.Ecosystem, Economic value, North Georgia, land use, land use change, fish, water quality, structural time series, willingness to pay, benefit transfer, forecasting, vector autoregression, Upper Chattahoochee River, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,