Archives-December 

The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk management behaviour of selected commercial banks in Malaysia based on their stock performance in term of Average Daily Return (ADR) and Value at Risk (VaR). VaR is measured using Historical Simulation Model. We present results of ADR and VaR at 99% confidence interval, on one-day horizon from year 2003-2010, for the following stock index of eight commercial banks in Malaysia: RHB; Maybank; CIMB; Affin; Alliance; Ambank; Hong Leong and Public Bank. The ADR and VaR of each commercial bank in Malaysia are measured and compared to identify their risk behaviours. The risk management behaviour of commercial banks in Malaysia can be categorised into three categories: conservative; moderate; and aggressive. Our results show that the risk management behaviour of one bank is considered conservative, three banks are considered moderate and four banks are considered aggressive. This may give suggestions to the investors which bank/banks to invest in.

For some decades, power quality did not cause any problem, because it had no effect on most of the loads connected to the electrical distribution system. Voltage sags is the most common type of power quality disturbance in the distribution. Recently various power electronic devices are proposed for this purpose. Among these devices special attention was given to the family based on the VSC technology for faster response. This project intends to investigate mitigation technique that is suitable for different type of voltage sags source with different type of loads. The mitigation techniques that will be studied are such as Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR), Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM). The simulation is done using PSCAD/EMTDC software.

Physico-chemical properties of ink particles have an important role in deinking using either washing or flotation processes. To study such properties, turbidity, zeta potential and surface tension techniques were used in this research. In this work, oleic acid and xylanase are used as surface modifiers for the ink particles. The results show that addition of enzyme alone to the ink suspension and due to its adsorption on ink particles, increase ink dispersion. This will facilitate separation of ink using washing process. On the other hand, the addition of enzyme-oleic acid blend to ink suspension reduces the electronegativity of ink particles. This will make the ink particles to flocculate and facilitate its adhesion to the negatively charged air bubbles during the flotation process. It is expected that this fundamental knowledge will lead to process technology improvements in the deinking of office wastepaper.

The study of liquid properties using spectroscopy and acoustic methods In the present investigation, non-aqueous solutions of constitutes mining field for scientists. L. Arginine are studied. FTIR spectra have been taken for the sample solutions. The observed vibrational spectra are analysed. Ultrasonic velocity and density are measured for different temperatures(278.15K to 328.15K) and at various molalities. Using the above measurements, adiabatic compressibility solvation number, apparent molal compressibility, apparent molal volume and equivalent conductivity are computed. From the computed results structural influence of the salt in the solvent is studied. The results obtained from spectroscopic study are corroborated with the acoustic behavior of the solutions.

Field trials were carried out at the farm of Livestock development unit of Ekiti state Ministry of agriculture, Erinfun, Ado Ekiti (7°40? N, 5°15? E) in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 cropping sessions to assess the effects of sprout number per cassava stand on the performance of cassava Manihot esculenta. The treatments which represented the number of shoots allowed to survive from sprouted shoots per stand were single shoot; double shoots; triple shoots and multiple shoots. At four weeks after planting (4WAP), sprouted shoots were detached to the required number per stand in each treatment. Multiple shoots produced the tallest plants while single and double shoots per stand gave the shortest plants. Single shoot per stand produced the highest stem girth figure, number of initial and final branches, fresh shoot biomass, number of tubers per plant as well as tuber yield per hectare. While the percent peel per tuber was lowest in the single and double shoots per stand, the highest percentage of peel per tuber was recorded in the multiple shoots cassava plants. It is concluded that sprouted cassava should not be allowed to be more than two shoots per stand for optimum cassava tuber yield.

This study investigated the importance of succession planning in Academic Libraries in some selected universities in the south west. The universities selected include Federal University Oye, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, University of Lagos, Lagos, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Osun state University, Osogbo, Lagos state University, Lagos, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Joseph Ayodele Babalola University, Ikeji Arakeji, and Caleb University, Lagos. The Study population was made up of all academic librarians working in the university libraries. The study made use of simple and random technique and sample size of 100 respondents were chosen to represent the academic librarians working in the library. The survey instrument was questionnaire and it consists of six questions for item to elicit information on succession planning. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed, 81 were returned while 73 were properly filled and could be analyzed giving a response rate of 81.11 %. The simple frequencies table and percentages were applied to analyze the generated data. The following recommendation were made for effective succession planning in academic libraries: succession planning must reflect in every assignment, committee; profession librarian must exposed to both academic and administrative duties that will form part of their experience on the long run and that librarians must be able to have an all round experience in all the sections of the library such that there will not be any gap peradventure there is long absence, resignation or retirement from service.

This study aims to explore the role of marketing practices in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and to evaluate the impact of changes in marketing practices from traditional to entrepreneurial marketing practices will have an impact on the SME performance. A quantitative, exploratory approach using structured questionnaire amongst 50 owners of SMEs in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia was used. Marketing in SMEs is centered on traditional methods such as using print media and hard selling. SME owners should take account of the findings and work towards introducing SME-specific marketing practices in trying to achieve higher sales volume and growth. This study uses a small number of SME companies in one region and therefore the generalizability of the findings may be limited. Further research could extend the number of SME companies and to other regions of Malaysia. The findings have a bearing on the Malaysian SME performance. This study offers insights into how the marketing practices in Malaysian SMEs needs to be adapted in light of the findings to ensure marketing practices of SMEs are compatible with current digital approaches.

The importance of primary education in promoting efficiency, security and national development in Nigeria cannot be underrated. This cannot be overstressed because this level of education is the basic foundation to other levels of education. This paper examines scope of primary education in Nigeria, it’s objectives and various reforms in the education sector as it relates to the effectiveness of primary education. This paper explains the concept of national security and national development as it relates to primary education. This paper further discusses the relevance of primary education in promoting national security and development as well as efficiency. It concludes by proffering possible solutions on how to improve on the primary education system in Nigeria.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice of teachers’ Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme in Dire-Dawa Administrative Region, Ethiopia. The specific objectives of the research were to explore the status of schools’ CPD implementation as per the national framework, identify the success areas of the schools in implementing the CPD, identify the gaps of schools in implementing the CPD, explore the challenges the schools face in implementing CPD and to suggest some possible solutions/strategies for effective implementation of the programme. The study design used was descriptive survey. A total of 20 schools (18 primary and 2secondary) and 213 teachers (144 urban and 99 rural) were taken as participants of the study using questionnaire. For observation three schools which are serving as cluster resource centers were used. Regional education bureau CPD focal person was used as interviewees. The data were analyzed using number, percentage, and mean for quantitative ones and narration for qualitative ones. The data witness that many efforts have been made by the different stakeholders of teachers’ CPD such as Ministry of Education, Regional Education Bureaus, School principals and teachers themselves. On the other hand, the efforts made were not consistent, specific CPD budget was not there. Cluster Resource Centers were not functional, CPD practices were tried in both primary and secondary schools but the practice by the secondary school teachers is very minimal, principals and supervisors were not practicing their own CPD. The major challenges or gaps identified include low commitment of teachers to perform CPD activities, lack of commitment of mentors to support teachers, failure of Cluster Resource Centers to function, lack of commitment of supervisors and principals to do their CPD and become models for their teachers, lack of ownership of CPD to follow up regularly and assess its status. finally, to implement teachers’ CPD as per Ministry of Education (MoE) guideline, there should be ownership at the different level of the Education system, the Regional Education Bureaus should organize the Cluster Resource Centers and make them functional and should have regular communication and support for the schools, supervisors and principals shall be models to their teachers in doing their own CPD were recommended.

The present study investigated the moderating role of adolescent’s intrinsic motivation to know on the relationships between novelty seeking and video game playing among 400 Iranian adolescents. Results showed that novelty seeking was significantly related to video game for adolescents who have high level on intrinsic motivation to know. The Current findings highlight the importance the motivation of game on personality traits and video game.