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Field evaluation to measuring combine losses was conducted typically on seed corn field because of high economic importance of seed corn in Iran. Because seed corn is alive, harvesting operation should be done precisely with fewer losses. For this purpose data were collected and analyzed for different cylinder and ground speeds. Pre-harvest, gathering, and processing losses were measured. The results showed the total harvesting loss was 9.30% which combine loss was almost 8.56% with feeding rate of 2.48 kg ears per second. The highest losses occur in processing (threshing) (5.39%) because of elimination all cracked seeds (any crack in seeds decrease the seed generation power). The effect of travel speed was significant for gathering and threshing (quality) losses while cylinder speed had a significant effect on threshing (quality and quantity) losses. The lowest total combine loss (7.60%) was measured at 3 km h-1 ground speed with 400 rpm cylinder speed and the highest value (7.19%) belonged to 5 km h-1 ground speed with 600 rpm cylinder speed. Energy consumption during harvesting seed corn was calculated 1.8 GJ ha-1 which the diesel fuel input was the highest energy consumer with almost 1.2 GJ ha-1 that was 70% of total energy use.

The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K in the cement samples used for construction in Lagos and Ogun State Nigeria were measured by gamma spectrometry using a well-type NaI (Tl) detector. Radiological hazard assessments due to these natural radionuclides were carried out. The average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K determined in the samples were 2.16, 7.82 and 114.3 Bq/kg respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate, the mean annual effective dose, excess lifetime cancer risk and annual gonadal equivalent dose in the samples analyzed were 9.59 nGy/h, 17.66 µSv/y, 67.99 (MPY)-1 and 69.07 µSv/y respectively. Values of radium equivalent activity (Raeq), external (Hex) and internal (Hin) hazard indices and gamma activity concentration index (I?) were also estimated. The results obtained in all cases are well below the world average. Therefore, cements produced in this part of the country are safe and considered to have negligible radiological impact on the health of the individuals exposed to them.

The identification of linear structures are done in geophysical images. The problem of identification of curvilinear structures in real and synthetic geophysical images is faced for the first time. Here we propose a method for automatic enhancement and detection of curvilinear structures. The accurate identification of line structures in geophysical images plays an important role in geophysical interpretation and the detection of subsurface structures. The method was applied on geophysical images in an effort to recognize the linear patterns of subsurface architectural structures that exist in archaeological sites. The method efficiently combines a rotation and Scale-invariant filter and a pixel-labelling method, providing a robust enhancement and detection of mostly line structures in 2-D gray scale images. Mainly they are used in archaeological sites.

Agroforestry does not only provide tree products and services but more importantly has the potential to increase agricultural production. Despite these benefits, its adoption in developing countries, Kenya included, does not match the scientific significance, because, farmers continue to use indigenous technical knowledge (ITK). We examined the adoption of agroforestry technologies in the Maseno region of Kisumu County, Kenya where it has remained low despite the area being sufficiently served by agroforestry extension. The objective was to investigating the potential of integrating the existing indigenous technical knowledge into the current agroforestry technologies. I addition, the study investigated the potential of indigenous technical knowledge in supplementing agroforestry extension. We used purposive and proportional simple random sampling to select a sample of 150 household heads out of 4,070 farm households in the region. We collected primary data from household heads using a structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that indigenous technical knowledge plays a significant role in the adoption of agroforestry technologies that help in management of fuel wood, fodder, soil and weeds. Gender significantly influenced the dissemination of indigenous technical knowledge related to agroforestry. The level of adoption of recommended agroforestry technologies in the study area was low. There is need to develop new farmer-centred agroforestry technologies that should not be seen by farmers as mere modifications of traditional farming systems. We recommended that further studies on how effectively integrate modern agroforestry and indigenous technical knowledge for sustainability in improving agricultural production.

In this paper we work on Frechet distribution with Bayesian paradigm. Posterior distribution is obtained by using Uniform, Jeffreys and generalization of non-informative priors. We use the quadrature numerical integration to solve the posterior distribution. Bayes estimator and their risk have been obtaining four loss functions. The performances of Bayes estimators are compared by using Monte Carlo simulation study.

In this paper, we propose Bayes estimator of parameter of exponential distri¬bution Under General Entropy Loss Function (GELF) for Progressive Type-II censored data with random scheme. The proposed estimator has been com¬pared with corresponding Bayes estimator under Square Error Loss Function (SELF) and Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) in terms of their risks based on simulated samples from exponential distribution.

IT-Business alignment has been consistently rated as one of the top ten IT management concern for last three decades. Theoretically, alignment can be defined as the degree of fit and combination between an organization’s IS (Information System) strategy and business strategy. More precisely, banks operates in a strategic Information System environment, where the alignment between IT and business should be significantly focused on organizational performance. However, this study suggests that technological innovation, strategic alignment, human resources are not an isolated source of improvement, but part of a system which mutually-reinforcing organizational performances. This research followed quantitative approach and survey questionnaire, so therefore, all 46 Bangladeshi bank (excluding foreign banks) were approached, a total number of 40 observations were usable and giving the study repose rate of 87%, which utilized for subsequent analysis. For this research, different type of analysis has been done, such as Factor analysis, Multiple-regression, t-test, ANOVA, where finding of the study is, technological innovation, strategic alignment and qualified human resources on organizational performance was identified to have a significant impact on organizational performances.

Over the recent years, lives and property worth millions of shillings have been destroyed in fire disasters in secondary schools in the world. Cases of fire disasters in Kenyan secondary schools have been experienced in the last decade with increasing frequency and severity. It was therefore necessary to determine the causes of fire disasters in secondary schools. The main objective of this study was to assess causes of fire disasters in secondary schools in Kenya. An evaluation research design was used. Stratified simple random sampling was used to select the schools and the respondents. The study population was composed of secondary school principals, teachers, laboratory technicians, students and the District Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (DQASO) in Vihiga County. Data was collected by use of structured questionnaires designed for teachers, students and laboratory technicians, in-depth interviews with school principals and the DQASOs and an observation checklist. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 11.5 was used in the analysis of data with Chi-square being used to test independence and variation of responses. A spearman’s rank order correlation was run to determine the relationship between teachers’ and students’ responses. According to the findings of this study, Faulty electrical appliances, arson, flammable materials, gas leakages, waste burning, students unrest and lighting were cited as main hazards that lead to fire disasters in secondary schools. It was also established that: five out of the thirty five schools that participated in the study had experienced fire disasters in the last 10 years; in all the schools that had experienced fire disasters causes were clearly known; It was concluded that: fire disasters in Vihiga are frequent and severe; that the trends as to the causes of fire disasters in the county are dynamic; most of the administrators and even teachers were not trained in fire fighting skills; most of the schools dint have safety committees and were not practicing fire drills and that most of the general requirements for fire disaster preparedness were not in place. The findings of the study will enable schools to be aware of fire hazards and empower them to reduce their vulnerability to fire disasters. It will also be important to education policy makers who will use this information in formulating and implementing policies on fire safety in schools.

The amino acid composition of the muscle and skin of the matured female guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acids ranged from 30.4 g/100g to 43.5 g/100g crude protein or from 49.7% - 51.2% of the total amino acid. The amino acid score showed that lysine ranged from 0.66-1.17 (on whole hen’s egg comparison), 0.75-1.31 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern) and 0.71-1.25 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a preschool child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 1.81-2.25 and the essential amino acid index range was 0.87-1.28. The correlation coefficient (?xy) was positive and significant at r = 0.05 for the total amino acids, amino acid scores (on whole hen’s egg basis) and other parameters in the two samples. Results have good comparison with whole hen’s egg protein.

The choice of the similarity coefficient used in clustering could have great impact on the resulting classification, there is need to study and understand these coefficients better to be able to make the right choice for specific situations. In this study, variations caused by three similarity coefficients: Dice, Jaccard and Simple matching with five clustering methods: (Unweighted Pair-Group Mean Arithmetic (UPGMA), Weighted Pair-Group Mean Arithmetic(WPGMA), complete linkage, single linkage and Neighbour-Joining with AFLP markers in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolates from yam were assessed. Comparison among the similarity coefficients and clustering methods were made using correlation analysis, multidimensional scaling and principal component analysis. Dendrogram topology was compared using consensus fork index (CFI) and node counts. The grouping of the pathogens by the markers is not related to their agro-ecological zones. The CFI results showed varying level of similarity for the cluster analysis CA methods. It was observed that high correlation does not necessarily imply similarity in the topology of a tree, therefore care should be taken in its interpretation. The cophenetic correlation with original distances suggests that the UPGMA method gives consistent results with respect to grouping irrespective of the similarity coefficient. The use of UPGMA method is therefore recommended for its consistency.