International Journal of Applied Science and Research

Deresse Hunde1, Asmamaw Amogne, Gezahegn Tefera2, Mola Malede3

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1.Pawe Agricultural Research Center (PARC),National Soybean Research Coordination Pawe, Ethiopia, P.o.box25 2.Bako Agricultural Research Center(BARC),Oromia, Ethiopia, P.o.box03 3.Areka Agricultural Research Center (AARC),SNNP, Ethiopia 4.Asossa Agricultural Research Center(ASARC),Benishangul Gumuze, Ethiopia, P. o. box 265 5.Jimma Agricultural Research Center(JARC),Oromia, Ethiopia,

ABSTRACT:Soybean breeding program in Ethiopia has been actively involved in improving the genetic yield potential to meet the needs of farmers and market in different parts of the country. The study aimed to determine the presence of soybean production mega-environments and to evaluate the yield performance and stability of 11 soybean genotypes. Soybean yield performances were evaluated on five production areas in Ethiopia during 2016- 2017 growing season. The experiment in each location was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Parameters observed included grain yield and yield components. The yield data were analyzed using GGE biplot and the yield components data were analyzed using analysis of variance. The results showed that the yield performances of soybean genotypes were highly influenced by genotype-environment interaction (GEI) effects. The partitioning of the G + GE sum of squares showed that PC1, PC2 and PC3 were significant components which accounted for 80. 60% and 9.20 % and 7.44 % of G + GE explained sum of squares, respectively. Based on the GGE visual assessment, agro-ecology for soybean production in Ethiopia was divided into similar five mega-environments. Genotypes 11 and 7 were the best yielding genotypes in the most discriminating environments, but adapted to specific environment E1 and E4, thus highly recommended for that specific location. Genotypes 9 and 10 were stable and had relatively high yield performances across environments.

Keyword: : Soybean, Genotypes, Genotypes by Environment Interaction, Stability, GGE

Gino Yacuoba Traore, Zeleke Worku and Mammo Muchie

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Business School 159 Nana Sita Street, Prtoria 0001

ABSTRACT:The purpose of the study was to identify and quantify differential factors that affect the flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into South Africa from the rest of the world. The study was based on data collected from a random sample of 217 practitioners (foreign exchange traders, market researchers, data analysts, consultants, brokers, clerks, advisors and administrative assistants) working in the South African foreign exchange market. The objective of study was to assess and evaluate key factors that affect the flow of FDI into South Africa. Data was gathered from eligible respondents by using a structured, pre-tested and validated questionnaire of study. The design of the study was descriptive and cross-sectional. Data analyses were performed by using methods such as frequency tables, crosstab analyses, logit regression analysis and Monte Carlo Marov Chain (MCMC) algorithms. The study found that 170 of the 217 respondents (78.34%) who took part in the study had a positive perception on the suitability of South African policies and regulations governing FDI operations, whereas the remaining 47 respondents (21.66%) had a negative perception on the suitability of South African policies and regulations governing FDI operations. Results obtained from data analyses showed that the ability to attract foreign direct investment into South Africa was significantly influenced by 3 factors. These 3 factors were the provision of economic incentives to potential investors, the pace of trade liberalisation and privatisation, and high expected rates of return on investments made in South Africa, in a decreasing order of strength.

Keyword: Foreign Direct Investment, South Africa, Economically enabling environment, Odds ratio

Yohannes Worku a * and Mammo Muchie b

a Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa and b Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

ABSTRACT:The objective of study was to assess and evaluate factors that affect the quality of services that are provided by microfinance institutions to operators of Small, Micro and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMMEs). The study was conducted by drawing a stratified random sample of size 374 microfinance institutions. Data was collected by using a structured, pretested and validated questionnaire of study. Data analyses were conducted by using methods such as frequency tables, cross-tab analyses and binary logistic regression analysis. By the standards of Barry and Tacneng (2014: 1-20) set out for assessing the quality of microfinance services that are provided to operators of Small, Micro and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMMEs) in Sub-Saharan African countries, about 21% of operators of the 374 SMMEs in the study were satisfied with the quality of services provided to them by microfinance institutions, whereas the remaining 79% of operators were not satisfied with the quality of services that were provided to them by microfinance institutions. Results obtained from cross-tab analyses showed that the quality of microfinance services that were provided to operators of SMMEs was significantly influenced by 9 variables of study. These 9 variables of study were: Country of operation, Duration of service, Perception on benefits of microfinance institutions, Highest level of education, Past history of bankruptcy, Extent to which business has improved by taking loan, Extent of difficulty in securing loan, Ability to meet requirements for securing loan, and Year of registration of business, in a decreasing order of strength. Results obtained from ordered probit regression analysis showed that 3 of the 9 variables of study were significant predictors of the ability of microfinance institutions to provide efficient services to operators of SMMEs at the 0.1% level of significance. These 3 predictor variables of study were: Country of business operation, Extent of benefits realised by SMMEs, and Highest level of formal education, in a decreasing order of strength. Similar results were obtained from factor analysis and log-linear analysis.

Keyword: Access to finance, Survival, SMME, Ordered probit regression

Frank Mahuve1, Beatrice Christopher1, and Job Asheri Chaula2

1Department of Geospatial Sciences and Technology, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2Department of Computer Systems and Mathematics, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

ABSTRACT:Access to water points is often determined using cumulative based accessibility methods, particularly the coverage-based method. The coverage-based method fails to account for the effect of distance variation as well as the possibility of a household to be served by multiple, under-utilized, or over-utilized water points. As a result, uniform accessibility indices are reported regardless of the variation in distance to water points, whether households are served by multiple, under-utilized, or over-utilized water points. Thus, this paper integrated Fuzzy set operations and the Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) to address the limitations of the coverage-based methods. This new method, Fuzzy-based E2SFCA was employed in this study to assess the variation in household’s spatial access to water points in Dodoma Rural Wards. The resulting accessibility indices were reported for each individual household, and vary from one household to another, except in some areas where there are water points of zero capacities. The accessibility indices range from 0 to 0.0204 within the nine selected rural Wards in Dodoma Urban district. The higher the index, the higher the household has access to water points. Households with the accessibility of 0.004 (100%) are considered to have full access to water points, while those with accessibility indices below 0.004 (below 100%) or above 0.004 (above 100%) are respectively considered to be underserved or over-served. The capability of the fuzzy-based E2SFCA method to eliminates the problem of reporting uniform accessibility indices encountered in the coverage-based method, and provide reliable access to water points is very apparent in this study. Thus, this approach can be adopted in accessibility studies of various service points such as education centres, health centres, and business centres, to mention few. Moreover, the findings of this study have implications for planning, decision making, and policy making regarding the improvement of access to water points in various areas. For further studies, when weighing the sub-catchment areas, it is recommended to generate pairwise comparison matrices based on the “household’s utilization of water points at different distances” data whenever it is available.

Keyword:Water points, fuzzy set operation, E2SFCA, and spatial access.

Aniayam B. Okrinya1,Juliana I. Consul2.

Department of Mathematics/Computer Science, Niger Delta University,Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT:We construct a simple mathematical model on Ebola transmission. The model accounts for the interaction between infectious and susceptible humans leading to infection. The model consisting of a system of ordinary differential equations describes the evolution and propagation of Ebola disease. The model divides the human population into susceptible humans, latent, infectious, convalescent and recovered humans. The analysis includes establishment of the basic reproduction number', R_0, in which R_0<1 guarantees a disease free state that is locally and globally asymptotically stable. The analysis shows that convalescent humans play a great role in ebola virus transmission.

Keyword:Ebola, Logistic, Modelling, Convalescence.

Jean-Christ KINANGA MASALA, Marcellin LUNANGA MUKUNDA

Département de Philosophie, Université de Kinshasa, République démocratique du Congo

ABSTRACT:It is generally considered that the "second" Wittgenstein renounces the philosophy of the "first" Wittgenstein, and that this rupture is articulated around a renunciation of the pictorial theory of the proposal exposed in the Tractatus-logico-philosophicus. However, this article intends to show that even after the turn of 1929, Ludwig Wittgenstein remains attached to a pictorial conception of thought and discourse, since thought and its expression continue to function in the image mode. Such continuity is achieved in particular through the idea of synopticity, which expresses a concern comparable to the interest of the first Wittgenstein for logical multiplicities.

Keyword:Wittgenstein, language, philosophy, thought, logical proposition, picture

Nisansala, M.D., and Himali, L.P.

Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka.

ABSTRACT:The postpartum period is a kind of risky time period for postpartum women because of unintended pregnancies. Therefore, the use of modern family planning methods rather than using traditional methods during the postpartum period will help to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and improves the well-being of maternal and new born baby. The main objective of this study was to identify the determinants of the usage of modern postpartum family planning methods. Structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews were carried out to gather primary data from 143 married women whose aged between 15-49 through cluster sampling method. Four Grama niladhari divisions in Imbulpe district secretariat division in Rathnapura district, Sri Lanka was selected as a study area using convenience sampling method. Case studies were carried out for six participants in the same age category. Binary logistic regression method and Factor analysis method were used as the main analytical techniques. The Statistical results revealed that, the employment status and accessibility of the family planning methods were positively significant with the usage of modern postpartum family planning methods. Based on the case studies, it was found that the awareness about the family planning methods and the attitudes towards health providers were positively associated on usage of modern postpartum family planning methods.

Keyword:Postpartum, Family Planning, Married women, Accessibility, Awareness

Beksisa Urge *, Markos Tadele, Tamirat Siyoum, Melese Eshete,

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holeta Agricultural Research Center

ABSTRACT:Ringworm infection is common in the dairy industry. Crossbred calves were affected by ringworm infection at holeta research center in August 2015/2016. The main clinical lesions observed on the affected calves were alopecia, circular and raised lesions which were mostly seen on the head, neck, face and other body parts. All the affected calves were treated with two treatment regimens. The treatment regime I (one) comprised of the combination of whit-field and Iodine tincture and the treatment regimen II (two) included ketoconazole treatment only. The findings indicated that all treated calves were recovered post treatment and the treatment regimen-I was better than regimen-II due to the fast recovery rate and regression of lesions. Therefore, ringworm infection should be treated through potent combination therapies and biosecurity protocols should be promoted in the dairy farms.

Keyword:Crossbred calves, Lesion, Ringworm, Treatment

Mohamed OUBEZZA1, Ali EL Hore2, Jamal EL Kafi3

1 LAROSERIE Laboratory Department of Computer Sciences Faculty of Sciences, El-Jadida, Morocco and 2 DIS Laboratory Department of Computer Sciences Faculty of Sciences, El-Jadida, Morocco and 3 LAROSERIE Laboratory Department of Computer Sciences Faculty of Sciences, El-Jadida, Morocco

ABSTRACT:Semantic interoperability of big data is a challenge for researchers today. Massive data are characterized by 5V: Volume, Variety, Velocity, Veracity and Visualization. These aspects make data processing very resource-intensive and time-consuming for the preparation, processing, verification, visualization and analysis of results. The fourth V, Veracity, recently added to the aspects of Big Data, remains essential for effective data exploitation, especially for social data and media data where not all data to be processed is always true, taking into consideration the veracity of data requires even more processing and therefore more time. Current research focuses on a single aspect and deals with it, regardless of other aspects, so the purpose of our work is to provide a system for semantic mapping of heterogeneous massive data from multiple sources, cleaning of this data, construction of knowledge in RDF format, verification of its veracity and finally the construction of the knowledge base and inference of new knowledge. In this paper we present an evolving, incremental and distributed Framework for the processing of massive heterogeneous structured, semi-structured or unstructured data.

Keyword: Semantic interoperability, Domain Ontology, Hadoop, SPARK, SPARQL, IDIM, RDF, OWL

Jude Chukwura Obi

Department of Statistics, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT:– The problem of feature selection in discriminant analysis is a challenging one, particularly in this era of availability of big data. Several techniques for selecting important features have been pro- posed by different authors, but we particularly focus on the Wrapper technique. The variants of the Wrapper technique (forward, backward and stepwise selection procedures) have been evaluated and through the use of empirical data, we have discovered that their performances are often data dependent. However, the backward selection is a greedy procedure because it includes most of the variables in classification. It seems to output the highest classification result, with relatively more variables, giving the datasets involved in the study. The forward and stepwise selection meth- ods appear to tally in choosing the important features. The number of variables chosen by both procedures are comparatively the least, in comparison with the backward selection procedure.

Keyword:Multivariate, Classification, Fisher’s Discriminant Analysis, Variable Selection, Ma- chine Learning.

*Aminu, Y1., Maryam., M.G2., Baiwa., K.I.2

1.Biology Department, College of Education and Preliminary studies, Kano State 2. Chemistry Department, College of Education and Preliminary studies, Kano State

ABSTRACT:The impact of Sodium Azide induced mutation methods on the growth and yield of three varieties of tomato were investigated with the aim of inducing variability that could be exploited in the improvement of some quality traits in Tomato plants. Three different treatments (chemical mutagenesis via sodium azide,) were applied on to the three tomato varieties. The seeds of three varieties of tomato: Roma, UC and Local varieties were treated at four different concentrations of Sodium azide (NaN3) (0.1mM, 1.0 mM, 2.0 mM and 0.0 mM as control) after which some of the mutants were not treated with the mutagen. The result obtained revealed highly significant difference (P≤0.01) in the effects of sodium azide on survival rates, number of fruits and number of seeds per fruit. Similarly, highly significant differences (P≤0.01) were observed between the treatments in Survival rate, except on the number of fruits and number of seeds where no significant differences exist. Significant difference was found in the traits between the seasons except in fruit number. The result developed that activities sodium Azide improves important quality traits of tomato. A concentration of 0.1 mM of Sodium Azide improve some important quality traits of tomato that could be utilized for further improvement of tomato crop. However, the response of variety UC to sodium Azide was higher. It was concluded that, sodium Azide via mutation improves some important quality traits of tomato that are of high economic value and possible recommendations made.

Keyword:Sodium Azide, Variation, Season, Concentration, Tomato. Parameters.

Lorraine Killion & Dean Culpepper

Associate Professor in the Health & Kinesiology Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. and Assistant Professor in the Health and Human Performance Department at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

ABSTRACT:Bullying is a complex social behavior involving an array of contributing factors. Bullying in schools is described as a form of aggression where a more powerful or dominant student repeatedly humiliates a weaker student using methods that can range from verbal teasing to physical assault. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of recalled bullying incidents by individuals who had already graduated from high school. A total of 104 individuals (females=76, males=26) responded to a posted survey. When asked, 54.8% stated they had experienced some form of bullying while in a public school setting. Chi-square tests were performed to examine the relation between bullying, the individual at cause for bullying, where it took place, being able to tell someone about the bullying, and would action result if they did tell someone. The relation between the variables was significant, for who (a peer) caused the bullying χ2(5, N=104)=75.07, p<.001, where the bullying took place, (classroom, gym, and cafeteria: p<.05), and reporting the bullying, χ2(3, N=104)=6.44, p=.04. Alarmingly, 47.4% felt they could not tell their teacher or coach about the bullying for fear of repercussions and additional bullying. The model was not significant for if bullying was reported, if any action be taken χ2(3,N=104)=6.40, p=.094. The goal of a physical education class is for children to be active, making this goal difficult to achieve if children do not actively participate for fear of being harassed/bullied. Educators play a crucial role in creating an environment that encourages all students to participate regardless of their performance level. Results provide necessary insight into the need to train future teachers, teachers, coaches, and school administrators how to better recognize, understand, and respond to bullying behavior.

Keyword:Bullying Applied Psychology

Nompumelelo Mirriam Gumede, Zeleke Worku and Mammo Muchie

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Business School 159 Nana Sita Street, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

ABSTRACT:A review of the relevant literature shows that the quality of municipal services that are routinely provided to residents of the City of Tshwane depends on the capacity of the City of Tshwane to utilize modern financial management and accounting procedures for performance monitoring and evaluation exercises. Fiscal discipline, good governance and service delivery depend on the degree to which prudent financial, auditing and accounting procedures are implemented by finance employees working for the City of Tshwane. The aim of study was to explain the relationship between the degree of adherence to the South African Municipal Finance Management Act (Act number 56 of 2003) and the degree of customer satisfaction with the quality of municipal services that are provided to customers in the City of Tshwane. Data was collected from a stratified random sample of 146 employees of the City of Tshwane who were responsible for providing financial services to cutomers. Data was collected by using a structured, pre-tested and validated questionnaire of study. Statistical methods such as frequency tables, cross-tab analyses and logit analysis were used for performing data analyses. Efficiency in financial management was assessed by assessing the degree of adherence of employees to the Muncipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) based on a composite index defined by Kaiser, Crother, Kelly, Luiselli, O’Shea, Ota, Passos, Schleip & Wuster (2013). The study showed that 89% of the 146 employees who were selected for the study demonstrated adequate adherence to the Act, whereas 11% of employees failed to do so by the same standards. The study found that the degree of adherence of employees to the MFMA was significantly influenced by 3 factors. These 3 factors were degree of skills in financial accounting and auditing, duration of service, and degree of job satisfaction, in a decreasing order of strength. The results also showed that there was a statistically significant association between the quality of financial and auditing services that were provided to customers and the degree of adherence to the Muncipal Finance Management Act.

Keyword:City of Tshwane, South African Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), Auditing and accounting skills, Ordered probit regression analysis

Inusah mahama and Salifu Katara

Bolgatanga Polytechnic, Department of Statistics, P. O. Box 767, Ghana -West Africa, and University for Development Studies, Department of Statistics, Navrongo Campus, Ghana-West Africa

ABSTRACT:Queuing problems is an important problem to our everyday life. In general, customers are not willing to wait for long before services are rendered. The analysis of the queuing model (m/m/1) shows that, if the number of servers is increased to two or more, the highest utilization factor of 82.57% for m/m/1 will be decreased to 41.29% for m/m/2 and a more decreased to 27.52% for an m/m/3 model. That is, the more the servers, the lesser the busy time of the servers, the lesser the time customers spend in the queue and in the system and finally the lesser the number of customers in the system and in the queue. Moreover, the results suggest that, the network system and service charges are to be worked on by management to improve on the services delivered to increase customers’ satisfactions. The analysis further indicates that, customers are preferred to be in the banking hall for a maximum time period of 5-10 minutes

Keyword:Queues, Queuing models, Services.

1. Mrs. Joana Rita Tembil, 2. Mr. Nathaniel Kojo Baena, 3. Jennifer Lariba Nabdoya, 4. Justina Atuk Agaab

Bolgatanga Polytechnic, Box 767, Ghana-West Africa and VRA/NED, Upper East Area, Box 19, Ghana-West Africa and Bolgatanga Polytechnic, P. O. Box 767, Ghana -West Africa and Bolgatanga Polytechnic, P. O. Box 767, Ghana -West Africa

ABSTRACT:The study generally sought to ascertain the views of customers on the factors that influence their satisfaction or otherwise with the services provided by the Northern Electricity Department of the Volta River Authority (VRA/NED) and the training offered to staffs of VRA/NED in relation to customer care to enable them deliver quality customer service. The study was limited to the Upper West Area of the NED. Stratefied sampling, proportion, simple random sampling and census techniques were employed to select the sample of 150 customer respondents and 50 staff of the Upper West Area for the study. 1. The researchers administered two sets of questionnaires; one for customers and the other set for staff. The questionnaires were administered by the researchers, assisted by two assistants. The data were presented in Tables whilst frequency distributions and percentages were used to analyse the data. 2. The study revealed that customers have a negative perception of the services of VRA/NED. The study also showed that training in customer care has improved the knowledge, skills and attitudes of staff but needs to be regular. 1. It is recommended that VRA/NED should invest in new equipment to minimize or reduce power outages. The Authority should also intensify its public education to reduce the negative perception of it. Refresher courses in customer care should be more regular for staff to be abreast of new trends in service delivery and incentive packages be provided to staff who handle customers.

Keyword:PERCEPTIONS, SERVICES ,VOLTA RIVER AUTHORITY, Customers, bills and payment point

*Obi, Chioma Maureen,Enweani, Ifeoma Bessie and Ochiabuto,Ogochukwu Barbara, Agbakoba, N. R, Chukwuma, G.O., EjeguoOgheneovo, Unaeze Bright.

Department of Medical Laboratory Science, NnamdiAzikiwe University, Nnewi Campus.Nnewi. Nigeria. and UsmanDanfodiyo University, Sokoto, School of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Department of Medical microbiology

ABSTRACT:Excessive exposure to mould contaminated materials in indoor environment can cause adverse health effects in susceptible persons, regardless of the type of mould or the extent of contamination. Aspergillus and other fungi can cause allergic and life-threatening illnesses in immunocompromised patients. The study was carried out to determine the prevalent fungal species in homes, offices and hospitals and to determine the healthrelated experiences of occupants of these environments. The investigation was carried out using health base pretested questionnaires and A6 Single Stage microbial air sampler with malt extract agar. Five hundred and fortynine (549) air samples and 226 nasal swabs of occupants were examined. A total of 55 species of fungi were isolated out of which 12 species were allergenic fungi. The predominant airborne fungi in homes, offices and hospitals were Aspergillusniger (76%), A.niger and Penicilliumnotatum (61%) and P.notatum (63.8%) respectively. Consequently A.niger and P.notatum were the dominant fungi in the nasal swabs of occupants of these environments. There was positive correlation between airborne isolates and fungal nasal carriage of occupants. Total fungal counts were found to be consistently higher in homes where different health problems were reported, reflecting the public health implication of these indoor airborne fungi. Considering the role of airborne fungi in respiratory diseases, appropriate measures should be taken in our indoor environment to prevent mould growth and subsequent dissemination.

Keyword:(1) Health effects, (2)Indoor fungi, (3)Rainy season,(4) Anambra State.

Obafemi, O.S.

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT:It is generally known that in estimating location and scatter matrix of multivariate data when outliers are presents, the method of classical is not robust, because of its sensitivity to outlier; many alternative estimators that are robust have been proposed in the last decades. Some of these estimators include the Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD), the Minimum Volume Ellipsoid (MVE), S-Estimators and Obafemi and Oyeyemi proposed estimator among others. All the methods converged on tackling the problem of robust estimation by finding a sufficiently large subset of the data. In this paper, an empirical study of the later, the classical and the two most widely used estimators is compared using biasedness. It is observed that the alternative estimator proposed by Obafemi and Oyeyemi is better because it has the least bias, virtually in all cases of non centrality parameter.

Keyword:Biasedness, Estimator, Outlier, Multivariate, covariance matrix.