Volume 9, Issue 3, March 2021 Edition - GSJ Journal Publication

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The Strategic Review of Critical Social and Business Issues Faced by Sri Lanka due to COVID-19 : A Special Reference of Digital Transformation of Kelani Cables PLC. []


COVID-19 has become a global challenge since year 2019 after first being identified in Wuhan, China. Many countries were affected by the virus and the impact on the global economy and human lifestyles. Thus All the businesses including manufacturing, services, agriculture, tourism and entertainment activities were frozen or limited. However Most of the people started using digital tools and IMS to execute their personal and business goals and mankind realized that the importance of Digital transformation is much more vital than ever in the past.Sri Lanka is a country with a traceable history of 2,500 years and with an area of 65610km2. In 2019 the population was 21.4 million consisting of nine ethnic groups and four main religions. Compared to the Asian region, Sri Lanka still maintains its authentic traditional rituals and people belonging to different cultures are driven by their own religious beliefs and traditions. When comes to the economic point of view, the Apparel and Textiles sector plays a major role in the country's economy and annually it gains a turnover of USD 5.3 billion while showing a 5.1% year on year increase. Agriculture is one of the industries that continued without much hindrance during the COVID-19 period and since most of the imports were restricted by the government, the local farmers were encouraged to cultivate as much as possible. Whilst foreign employment is one of the main income sources in Sri Lanka and more than 3 million people are employed in overseas countries.After the pandemic the Sri Lankan construction industry is still struggling to resume work and is faced with a labor shortage since thousands of workers have not yet returned to work or they have not been recalled to work yet by their employers.and countries like Sri Lanka find it difficult to find alternative suppliers. While coming out of the extensive review on the social and economic impacts due to COVID-19, we saw the local community switching back to their roots and practicing some of the traditional medical treatments, consuming traditional foods and medicine, old farming methods and even spending more quality time with their loved ones. This article will emphasize the value of transforming to digitalization via technology adaptation and how a company gains the optimum usage of Information Technology in order to gain new market shares and acquire a competitive advantage. Kelani Cables has also obtained evidence of its success story, which is one of the classic cases when it experienced the pandemic in a very effective and sustainable way. They overcome the obstacles caused by the situation and the success stories behind the success stories. Plan, and adjust the company’s goals according to new market conditions and the latest methodological and technological advancement practices. Digitization is the conversion from analogue data and information digital platform through use of appropriate electronic tools so that the transformed information can be processed, stored or even made use of whenever needed .The people factor is the most important aspect in order to carry out the expected change. In order to reach the ultimate objective, especially for a manufacturing based company, the ultimate objective will be to digitally transform all its processes.

EXPLORING THE USE OF FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE SPACES IN STUDENT HOUSING DESIGN []


Flexibility can be thought of as the concept of quality about 20 years ago. For decades now, flexibility has been a central theme in the design of dwellings; by incorporating adaptability, maintainability, accessibility and resilience into the concept, buildings of different scales and purpose, can be designed to ascertain certain high levels of sustainability. Flexible spaces are used as solutions in social housing at varying context i.e. lack of space, changing user needs, temporal structures, etc. this study attempts to research less focused concept on flexible housing that has the potential to be adopted into student design characterized by an interrelated spatial organization which contributes to placing of spaces according to their functions by creating multilateral relationships that respond to the user (students) ever-changing needs; while avoiding any major damages to the structure. This paper also reveals the potential of the student housing project in Nigeria as well as a historical background 0f adaptable architecture.

On comparative performances of ARIMA, hybrid ARIMA-ARCH and hybrid ARIMA- GARCH models in modeling the volatility of foreign exchange. []


Foreign exchange markets are important in the field of finance in order to measure the currency value of a country with respect to another. The foreign exchange rates data are volatile time series as they have huge price swings and jumps in a shortage or demanding periods. It is known that, most economic and financial data are either non-linear or non-stationary, which is a problem when inappropriate model is applied and the result of the prediction may be inaccurate. In this study, we compared the performances of ARIMA, hybrid ARIMA-ARCH and hybrid ARIMA-GARCH models in modeling the volatility of the foreign exchange (official exchange rates). The capabilities of the models were evaluated using some selected criteria. It was concluded that, the hybrid ARIMA-ARCH/GARCH models performed better compared to Box-Jenkins ARIMA model in terms of fitting and forecasting the official exchange rates.

Potential of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) on drought stress alleviation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for dry condition- A Review []


Lack of water is one of the limiting factors of wheat production in arid and semi-arid regions in the world and farmers suffer more in order to produce wheat. One of the strategy that requires wheat production or coping with drought is stress the use of probiotic and PGPR microorganisms. This bacterium with different mechanisms reduces the drought stress of wheat. PGPR by colonizing rhizospheres and endo-rhizospheres of wheat by increasing biofertilizer, lateral root production, extracellular polysaccharide production, phytohormone regulator, amino cyclopropane carboxylase deaminase, stimulants, induction and storage of osmolyte materials, antioxidants, regulation of genes that respond to stress and access to insoluble substances in resistance causes drought stress and systemic resistance in wheat. The end result is resistance to drought stress. In the present review, described the role of PGPR in increasing the resistance of wheat plant to drought stress.

Status of Forestry Trust Fund and its Impacts on Plantation Establishment in a Nigerian State []


This study assesses the status of Forestry Trust Fund (FTF) and its impacts on plantation establishment in a Nigerian state from year 2000-2012 using a simple but systematic approach. Five forest reserves were purposely selected based on the available information and their popularity. Data were collected using a primary means (via a semi-structured questionnaires) and a secondary means (existing records). The results show that a large portion of the respondents agree that plantation establishment has improved by 50-60% since the inception of FTF. In addition, they agreed that fund for plantation establishment in the State has always been insufficient, thus ranking it higher than other identified sample questions. The secondary data collected further supported the respondent opinions, as Oluwa forest reserve recorded the highest number of hectarage planted with 825 hectares, followed by Owo and Akure forest reserves with both 640 and 633 hectares. Some problems like non-release of appropriate funds, late release of funds and corruption among some of the forestry officers were highlighted. Recommendations which can improve the implementation of FTF in the establishment of forest plantation were highlighted.

COOPERATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – AN OMANI PERSPECTIVE []


Youth unemployment and poverty presents a major challenge that threatens the social fabric of many communities around the world. Though the challenge is forcing the younger generation to focus on developing their own businesses, the extreme competition and uncertain market dynamics are making venture creation even more challenging. The cut-throat competition has made it difficult for the small-scale entrepreneurs also to survive in the market. The Covid 19 pandemic and the resultant market conditions, in terms of higher job losses and reduced market growth across different sectors, are making the complex situation even more complicated. Oman, as a country, is facing multiple challenges with youth unemployment, as more and more eligible and educated youth joining the labour market every year, looking for suitable positions. This further aggravates unemployment related issues faced by the individuals and communities. Cooperative entrepreneurship, which encourages collective effort, could play a major role in overcoming this situa-tion, as it provides a framework for young individuals, both job seekers and entrepreneurs alike, to work together by sharing the risks and rewards, thereby enhancing the economic and social value to individuals and to the society. This study intends to provide a clear understanding on the role of cooperative entrepreneurship on sustainable development and will explore the scope of adopting the concept in a wider scale to provide economic and social value, among the communities in Oman. The author has used the secondary data available, for the purpose of this study, while duly acknowledging the different approaches used by other authors. While adding value to the existing literature, the findings of this study could also be of interest to job seekers, small-scale entrepreneurs, educators, researchers, mentors and decision makers in Oman. This study could also be used as a point of reference for future studies in this field.

VIABILITY OF CONSTRUCTING SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS IN RECLAIMED LANDS- BY COMPARING FIELD EXPERIMENT & THEORETICAL RESULTS []


The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the bearing capacity of shallow foundations in a reclaimed land of Dhaka city known as Mirpur Defense Officers’ Housing Scheme (DOHS) having weak soil of soft to medium consistency. In this study, analytical method of bearing capacity determination has been verified through practical field experiment by full scale load test. The results depict that improved bearing capacity by ground reinforcement may present a better choice of adopting shallow foundation in reclaimed land considering the axial load case. At the base of the shallow foundation depth (6’ from existing ground level) filling grey sandy soil has a good angle of inter-nal friction of 28o having approximate SPT N Value of 8. A shallow foundation (5’x5’) with a layer of reinforced aggregate base coupled with geotextile was placed for full scale load test. Ultimate bearing capacity was found approximately 400 kPa from field load test (exper-imental method). On the other hand, theoretical bearing capacity calculation by various renowned methods returns conservative values. The case worsens further if elastic settlement is taken into consideration. The conventional methods of bearing calculation proposed by Terzaghi, Meyerhof and Hansen’s exhibited 56%, 35% and 14% less capacity respectively compared to the yielded field load test result. The study thus illustrates viability of shallow foundation design in reclaimed land of Dhaka city identical to the selected site for low rise or low occupancy structures. This study is based on static load case for simplicity though regular foundation design warrants dynamic analysis too.

Assessment of Major Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) From Acute and Chronic Gamma Irradiated M1V5 Population []


Napier or elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is among the most important feed resources for livestock in many countries including Malaysia. Even though it was introduced into Malaysia almost a century ago, very little research on breeding for improvement of this species has been reported in this country. High biomass yield, vigorous growth, good nutritional contents and resistance to pest and diseases are among the most sought after traits for forage grasses. A mutation breeding programme for Napier grass using acute and chronic gamma irradiation was carried out to generate new improved varieties with good biomass yield and nutritive quality for livestock. Two varieties of Napier grass (cv. Dwarf and Taiwan) were irradiated using acute gamma ray (BioBeam GM8000) at doses 0 (non-irradiated control), 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80 and 100 Gy; and chronic gamma (Gamma Greenhouse) with the total of accumulated doses ranging from 0 (control) to 1089.86 Gy. Total accumulated doses for chronic gamma irradiation were calculated based on dose rate and exposure period. Survived cuttings after irradiation treatments were propagated and frequently screened for several vegetative generations. A total of 129 variant lines were initially selected from both varieties and irradiation types at M1V4 generation based on visual morphological variations. These variants were further planted at M1V5 generation for specific evaluations of their morphological and physiological characteristics. Of the 129 initial variant lines evaluated, 21 lines were selected as potential mutant lines based on plant height and total leaf area (TLA). Plant height and total leaf area are among the indicators for good biomass yield. In this study, acute gamma was seen to induce mutant plants with shorter height whilst chronic gamma seemed to generate mutants with taller height. These potential mutant lines will be planted for several additional generations to analyze their nutritional quality, toxicity and total yield in order to establish new mutant varieties for high quality animal feed.

REFOCUSSING THE BUDGETING STRATEGY FOR HANDLING COVID-19 (CASE STUDY ON BEPELITBANG ARU ISLANDS) []


Analyzing the process and results of refocusing budgets at Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD), Research and Development Planning Agency of Aru Islands Regency (Bapelitbang). In the research design used by researchers at this time is to use descriptive qualitative methods based on a phenomenological approach. The research site is located in the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) of the Research and Development Planning Agency (Bapelitbang) of the Aru Islands Regency, Maluku Province. Sources of data in this study are primary and secondary data. Data collection techniques are interviews, observation, and document data sources. Researchers use analysis tools based on direct observation and the NVivo 12 application to assess informants / cases and their experiences / notes and then display them in the coded form of parent nodes, child notes and cases.

Profitability Analysis of Less Water Consuming Crops and Its Impacts on Rural Peoples using Solar Structured Dug Wells in Hard Barind Areas of North-Western Region. []


This study was conducted mainly to analyze the production, cost; return and profitability of mostly used less water consuming crops like non-rice crops and vegetables in the hard Barind areas of north-west region of Bangladesh. An attempt has been made to change the cropping pattern and people’s perception in the study area. Dug well was the mode of irrigation for less water consuming crops. Both primary and secondary data were used and analyzed to achieve the objectives of the study. Per hectare profitability was the view point of the study. It is clear from analysis of the results that vegetables production was more profitable than the production of non-rice crops. The Benefit-Cost ratio was observed highest (2.07) in tomato and lowest (1.17) in Boro paddy. In case of vegetables, the lowest Benefit-Cost ratio (1.70) was found in country bean. Per hectare gross production costs of tomato and Boro paddy were BDT 253380 and 97030 respectively. The corresponding net returns were BDT 271620 and 16805 respectively. There were a positive and significant average rate of return (90.55%) and average rate of net return (9.44%) on investments among the vegetables. A positive impact was observed in cropping pattern in the study area. The percentage of triple cropped areas was increased from 14.80% (year 2008-09) to 24.75% and quadruple cropped areas were increased to 0.50% after about 10 years of cropping periods. There was zero quadruple cropped area in the year 2008-09, or before. Moreover, single and double cropped areas were increased due to massive crop cultivation practices using such production techniques of less water consuming cropping practices to vegetables, wheat, maize, potato, mustard, onion, garlic etc. in the dug well schemes. Dug well irrigation has changed the condition of life style in this drought prone area.

Anarchical Periurbanisation and Environmental Management in Nkoabang (Center Region-Cameroon) []


ABSTRACT Urban sprawl and anarchical periurbanisation in Nkoabang have posed problems of environmental management. This is linked to poor urban planning policies, with the occupation of risk zones, inadequate dumps sites, pollution, absence of drains, difficult access to potable water resources and extinction of biodiversity. This has necessitated the collection of secondary and primary data via documentary research, observation, surveys and interviews. Manual and computerized processing of collected data as well as their analysis helped to obtain results for the production of maps and tables via software’s like ARCGIS, Word,Excel and SPSS(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).Findings revealed that, environmental management problems in Nkoabang of which occupation of ecological fragile zones with risks of flooding, difficult access to potable water, poor wastes disposal, poor drainage and extinction of biodiversity is as a result of it anarchical periurbanisation process. Wherein the need for a sustain town and environment that will pass through state and individual policies, of which rules and regulations in favour of environmental protection, the consumption of more renewable resources and wastes recycling amongst others. Key words: Anarchical periurbanisation, Environmental Management, Urban Planning, Sustain town

Financial Time Series Analysis Using Machine Learning []


Analysis of finical time series is a complex task and an active area for researchers and financial analysts. Machine learning approaches have been used for financial time series analysis in recent years. Before the technological revolution, the researcher and experts of financial time series were used different traditional methods for prediction and forecasting purposes. Few years ago, the researchers applied several machine learning techniques on different data for analysis of financial time series. In this paper, we have discussed in detail multiple advanced machine learning algorithms and their model’s architecture for financial time series analysis. After the observation, the performance of our presented methods i.e. logistic regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), Support vector machine (SVM), neural network (NN), and deep neural network (DNN) are too much better than traditional approaches.

Effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in Supply Chain Management on Quick Service Restaurants in Riyadh []


Restaurants have recently witnessed a fast growth in Saudi Arabia. Though this growth considers being relatively recent, it is widely observed by everyone. This literature review illustrates the effectiveness of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in supply chain management and its application on quick services restaurants. The culture of eating out at the restaurants in Saudi Arabia is still relatively new and this is due to the long-embedded practices in the culture of having food together at home. Although there is an early emergence of consuming soft drinks and Turkish sweets, the notion of fast-food restaurants was delayed to more than four decades in the past. Saudis did eat food just at their homes or at visitations where it was prepared by their housewives. The inception of restaurants took place in KSA as to facilitate people who were travelling for different purposes, where travelers found a place to eat and rest in, unlike city residents who were facilitated within a permanent place to live in Today the investment in that sector has rapidly increased by more than 17 billion Saudi Riyals (SAR) wherein it offers many jobs opportunities to Saudis.

A NEW METHOD FOR BALANCED INCOMPLETE SEQUENCE CROSSOVER DESIGN []


Crossover design is a design in which allocation of different treatment sequences receives by each subject one at a time at different period. It has been useful in the field of clinical trials, animal nutrition and so on. A single algorithm for construction method of Balanced Incomplete Sequence Crossover Design which is universally optimal is presented in this paper, where construction method satisfies primitive root x=2 and x=3 for any number of treatment t which is prime for BISCOD and the number of times each treatment precedes each other treatment increases as number of treatments increase. Each other treatment precede each treatment k-1 times with replicate of k(t-1)times for all number of treatments and pair of treatments occur together k(t-1)/2. Conclusion showed that no treatment allocated more than once per sequence and in the first p-1 period all treatments replicated equally for the estimation of residual effect

Image en médecine []


La maladie de Behçet (MB) est une maladie inflammatoire chronique, évoluant par poussées. Les atteintes vasculaires de la MB sont représentées essentiellement par les thromboses veineuses (80 à 90%). Nous rapportons l’observation d’un patient suivi pour MB qui a présenté une thrombose de la veine cave supérieure compliquée d’une circulation veineuse collatérale thoraco-abdominale d’aspect monstrueux

Identification of the combination of microteaching skills best fitted to the highly accepted class to the students of elementary science in secondary level. []


This study is an investigation to explore the extent of integrating ICT in teaching and learning in science in secondary schools of Bangladesh. In the present study, the aim of this action research was to make the science education more effective. The research was planned in two cycles. The first cycle consisted of identifying the problems, developing and implementing the action plan, gathering and analyzing the data, and evaluation. The participants of this first cycle were 10 students, 05 observers and a researcher. The first cycle was started with an identification of the existing problems. In order to address the problems encountered in the field, an action plan, including ICT integrated POE strategy, was developed and implemented. To evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation, quantitative (achievement tests) and qualitative (interviews and observations) data were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that the first cycle of this action research will be used in developing an action plan for the second cycle. Statistical findings indicated that the ICT integrated POE strategy was effective in abstract content (understanding, analysis, and application) of Science for 10th grade of students. In this study researcher create an atmosphere so that students became competent to think critical. In addition, the information presented in this study will help to take bold new steps to utilize and integrate ICT more intensively in Science Education in Bangladesh.

Review on Production and Application of Synthetic SeedsReview on Production and Application of Synthetic Seeds []


Bread wheat productivity is mainly constrained by high seed rate and lack of site-specific fertilizer (NPSB) recommendation in the study area. Hence, field experiment was carried out to assess the effect of NPSB blended fertilizer rates and seed rate on growth, yield and yield related traits of bread wheat. Factorial combinations of four blended NPSB levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1) with four seed rates (125, 150, 175 and 200 kg ha-1) were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. All of the plots were supplemented uniformly with 200 kg urea ha-1. Analysis of the results revealed that plant height, total tillers, productive tiller, number of kernels per spike, grain yield and harvest index were significantly affected by main effects of NPSB fertilizer, seed rate and interaction. Whereas, Thousand’s kernel weight was affected by seeding rates and interaction of blended NPSB rate and seed rates. The tallest plant (82.3cm), the maximum number of productive tillers m-2 (128) and the highest number of kernels per spike (49.5) were obtained from combined use of 125 kgha-1 seed rate and 150 kgha-1 blended fertilizer. The highest grain yield (4.857tha-1) and the highest harvest index (48.99%) were obtained from interaction of 150kgha-1 blended NPSB rate and175kgha-1 seed rates.

Substance Abuse among Youth and Community Role []


Drug abuse is staggeringly expanding, and one of the excessive socially and medically issue of the 21th century. This is the one of the greatest worldwide issue including in the Pakistan. A summary was concluded by the UNODC (2018) that approximately 275 million individuals used illegal drugs world wild in the2016 (N. J. P. J. o. M. R. Aslam, 2019). While around 29 million people suffer from substance use disorder, and need counseling, support programs, medical services and rehabilitation therapy. .

ANALYSIS INFLUENCE OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION, MARKET SEGMENTATION OF BRAND AWARENESS AND DECISION OF PURCHASE OF MILK BASED FORMULA IN GERBANGKERTASUSILA AREA []


This researcher discusses intergrated marketing communication on formula milk products in certain market segments in brand awareness. The marketing of Formula Milk products in the process of determining the marketing strategy that will be used because with this literature the company will make a strategy to fill opportunities in the market that are also contrary to laws and regulations.

Word of mouth as a marketing strategy in Motor Insurance sector in Sri Lanka: Accomplishing marketing needs []


Word of mouth is the transfer of information between people through oral communication, as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication, in which one person tells other people stories about real events or fictional content. Oral traditions are cultural materials and traditions that are passed on orally to future generations. A good word-of-mouth marketing strategy can bring the business to a hike with a minimum cost, but it can bring benefits to new customers. This is a marketing method that any company can benefit from, and this strategy is relatively easy to implement. Word of mouth marketing (WOM or WOMM) is the information that customers tell people that they understand a product or service. Basically free ads, inspired by rich experience. Traditionally, this was done in person, but now many recommendations are done online. It can also have a great influence on purchasing decisions. Studies have found that customers trust recommendations from people they know far more than other forms of advertising. Improving WOM marketing may be simple, such as joining the community, building relationships with customers, or even requesting recommendations. The most powerful and credible form of advertising is also the most cost-effective. Word-of-Mouth marketing is being used by several major players in the motor insurance sector as a form of free and paid sales promotions, where satisfied customers tell others how satisfied they are with company and its motor insurance policy . Some insurance companies have identified that nothing better than a personal recommendation or recommendation from a trusted colleague or friend of a buyer. Therefore in this article it has explored most significant factors you need to know about the topic.

Work Stress and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Bahrain []


This research aims to identify the impact of work stress (physical pressure, workload pressure and role pressure) on job satisfaction at a private company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Two hundred and fifty employees were surveyed through a simple random representative sample of the employees at a private company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The researchers hypothesized that there is a positive significant impact for the work stress (physical pressure, workload pressure and role pressure) on job satisfaction of the employees at a private company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The results showed that there is a positive significant impact for the work stress (physical pressure, workload pressure and role pressure) on job satisfaction of the employees at a private company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Moreover, the results indicated that there were no significant differences relating to the impact of work stress (physical pressure, workload pressure and role pressure) on the job satisfaction of the employees at a private company in the Kingdom of Bahrain due to the demographics (gender, age, qualification and years of experience).

Principals Leadership Practice in creating positive school culture in Metekel Zone secondary schools (Benishangul Gumuz National Regional state) []


Abstract The major purpose of this research was to assess the principals’ leadership practice in creating positive school culture in secondary schools of Metekel zone Benishangul Gumuz Region and to identify the major challenges. Proposing possible solutions which will help the schools to improve their practice was also the concern of this study. In doing so, four basic questions which helped the researcher to assess practice of principal’s leadership in creating positive school culture and to identify the major challenges were formulated. To conduct this research descriptive survey research design was employed as the study covered large area. Again, quantitative and qualitative research methods giving more emphasis to quantitative one were used in conducting this research. The study was delimited to only to seven randomly selected secondary schools of the zone. For collecting necessary data for this research, 7 principals, 7 vise principals, 7 cluster supervisors and 70 students who were the member of students council and 35 PTA members of the sample secondary schools were selected using purposive sampling technique. Whereas,65 teachers were selected as respondents by using lottery method of simple random sampling technique. The researcher has used questionnaire consisting of both close-ended and open-ended questions to gather data from principal, vise principal, cluster super visors and teacher respondents and FGD was conducted among sample students as well as PTA respondents. In addition, the important documents related to teacher, parents and students participation were consulted. The data collected using close-ended questions of the questionnaire were analyzed mainly using quantitative data analysis method. In doing so, frequency and percentage were used. Chi-square test was used to test the presence of significant statistical difference between responses of two respondent groups. But the responses obtained through open-ended questions of the questionnaire, FGD and results of document analysis were analyzed qualitatively for the sake of validating and triangulating the quantitatively analyzed data. Accordingly, the findings of the research has indicated that creating positive school culture in secondary schools of the study area was poorly practiced due to problem in applying participatory leadership in formulating vision, negative perception of leaders and teachers to ward professional skill development, lack of commitment in managing and supporting teaching and learning, classroom observation, providing feedback and discussion, lack of necessary skill and knowledge of performance evaluation, unable to communicate with parents and surrounding community and generally inconsistency of the practice. Therefore, the issue of planning, assigning senior teachers in assisting beginner teachers , practicing consistent and ongoing classroom observation, designing consistent feedback system, providing trainings for teachers, creating awareness on both teachers, parents and students, developing conducive and healthy environment and conducting self-evaluation of performance are recommended by the researcher for secondary schools of the study area to practice.

IMPACTS OF JIGSAW IV COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY (J4CLS) ON STUDENTS PERCEPTION IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ZARIA EDUCATION ZONE, KADUNA, NIGERIA []


ABSTRACTThis study examined the impacts of Jigsaw IV Cooperative Learning Strategy (J4CLS) on Students Perception in Organic Chemistry in Zaria Education Zone. Two research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A pretest and posttest Quasi-experimental research design was used. The population consists of 1,154 Senior Secondary school Science students from eleven public co-educational schools out of which two schools were randomly selected and assigned as an experimental and control group. A sample size of 234 students was used for the study. A Validated instrument of Organic Chemistry Perception Questionnaire (OCPQ), with a reliability coefficient of 0.76 was used to generate data after treatment. The data were analyzed using Kruscal Wallis H statistics and Wilcoxcon U statistics. The results showed that the experimental group taught Organic Chemistry concepts using Jig-saw(IV) Cooperative Learning Strategy had positive perception of Organic concepts than their counterparts taught the same concepts using lecture method. However, students gender had no impact on their perception of organic chemistry concepts. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Chemistry Teachers should employ the J4CLS in the teaching of Organic Chemistry in senior secondary schools classrooms to enhance students enthusiasm of students and positive perception about organic concepts since the strategy is student-centered based. Keywords: Jigsaw IV Cooperative Learning Strategy, Perception, Organic Chemistry.

Lime and Nitrogen Fertiliser Interaction in Influencing Root System Architecture in Sandy - Textured Soils in Zimbabwe []


The plant rhizosphere should be treated as an indispensable plant organ in influencing an avalanche of crop plant physiological processes. The overall appearance of the rooting system of a plant is referred to as root system architecture (RSA). Soil scientists and plant breeders have made significant efforts in manipulating, inter alia; the structure, depth and functions of plant roots in order to boost the productivity of crops by withstanding both biotic and abiotic stresses. Morphological root characterisation together with other growth and yield parameters under irrigated conditions in a field trial was done using sandy loam soil occupied by a yellow/orange dent maize genotype SC402. Dolomitic lime (calcium magnesium carbonate) was used in the 9 treatments to determine the chemotropic response of maize plant roots to different levels of lime and nitrogen fertilisers. Maize has a moderate terminal root depth of ±30cm with a root divergence angle of ˃ 180⁰. SC402 is an early maturing maize genotype of the 400 series suitable for low rainfall areas of Zimbabwe. It is one of the best yielding variety in terms of above ground biomass as well as kernel yield under both rainfall and soil nutrient – marginal conditions. Its organoleptic orange /yellow colouration due to presence of carotenoids has created a demand for culinary and livestock uses. A linear relationship was observed in the measured agronomic parameters of soil type, texture, depth, type and amount of lime applied in abiotic acidic soil stress conditions induced largely by nitrogen fertilisers. The findings of the study have revealed that morphological markers are more applicable in phenotypic root characterisation under field trials. A linear association was noted to exist between root density and maize growth and yield parameters under the influence of different lime and nitrogen regimes. Keywords: maize, root, root system architecture, abiotic stress, dolomitic lime, root characterisation.

Financial leverage and fixed asset cover of quoted Nigerian manufacturing companies []


The study investigated financial leverage and fixed asset cover of quoted Nigeria manufacturing companies from 2011 to 2017. Secondary data obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) were used to analyse the data using Regression Model and E-view. The study concluded that there is a positive relationship between asset structure (tangibility and profitability of the Nigerian manufacturing companies. The study therefore recommended that in order to improve on their profitability, management of Nigeria manufacturing companies should be efficient in management of fixed assets.

COOPERATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – AN OMANI PERSPECTIVE []


Youth unemployment and poverty presents a major challenge that threatens the social fabric of many communities around the world. Though the challenge is forcing the younger generation to focus on developing their own businesses, the extreme competition and uncertain market dynamics are making venture creation even more challenging. The cut-throat competition has made it difficult for the small-scale entrepreneurs also to survive in the market. The Covid 19 pandemic and the resultant market conditions, in terms of higher job losses and reduced market growth across different sectors, are making the complex situation even more complicated. Oman, as a country, is facing multiple challenges with youth unemployment, as more and more eligible and educated youth joining the labour market every year, looking for suitable positions. This further aggravates unemployment related issues faced by the individuals and communities. Cooperative entrepreneurship, which encourages collective effort, could play a major role in overcoming this situa-tion, as it provides a framework for young individuals, both job seekers and entrepreneurs alike, to work together by sharing the risks and rewards, thereby enhancing the economic and social value to individuals and to the society. This study intends to provide a clear understanding on the role of cooperative entrepreneurship on sustainable development and will explore the scope of adopting the concept in a wider scale to provide economic and social value, among the communities in Oman. The author has used the secondary data available, for the purpose of this study, while duly acknowledging the different approaches used by other authors. While adding value to the existing literature, the findings of this study could also be of interest to job seekers, small-scale entrepreneurs, educators, researchers, mentors and decision makers in Oman. This study could also be used as a point of reference for future studies in this field.

THE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMATICALLY: INTRODUCTION OF ERP SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST []


Enterprise Resource Planning is one of the thriving trends in the drastically changing business world. The success achieved by tycoons in the technologically advanced business world through the adoption of ERP systems has attracted many other organizations to consider adopting the same. However, looking at past trends, it is evident that adopting the same ERP system does not necessarily promise the same success achieved by another . Even if the way of achieving the success in ERP implementation is becoming problem and a considerable attention is given to the decisive factors of gaining success, how it could be achieved seems not to be identified with a proper spotlight in the past literature. Going through the past studies makes it apparent that the various models brought forward to facilitate the successful implementation of an ERP system have not served the purpose in reality due to the failures reported around the world .Hence, the author is trying to walk through the literature to identify the existing models on ERP implementation along with the similar concepts which are available in various streams to with the hope of coming up with a potential concept to overcome the loopholes prevailing in the existing models. Accordingly, in the first half of the paper an introduction of ERP by bringing about the definitions given by various scholars followed by the identification of the factors which affect the successful implementation. Out of the factors identified, the most important factor would be analyzed as the decisive factor for achieving the success in implementation based on the past researches. The existing models presented in the literature which guide the successful ERP implementation have then been reviewed to identify the possibility of coming up with a new concept for the same. Finally, the conclusions are arrived at based on the review done on the literature on the subject matter. Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), ERP implementation, Decisive Factor, Technology Adoption Model