Archives-December 

This paper investigates the technical efficiencies of rubber product manufacturing industry in Malaysia. We employed Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Secondary data from 313 firms that manufacture rubber product was obtained from the Annual Survey Of Manufacturing Industries 2004 by Department of Statistics Malaysia. Variables that are included in this are such as capital (RM), labor, and energy. Results clearly show that the mean technical efficiency of manufactured rubber product industry in Malaysia is 0.70328 or 70.33 percent. Majority of the firms are also fairly efficient in the use of available resources. Some technical assistance such as training programs for the proprietors of the firms and financial support such as subsidies could be offered to boost their production level as rubber is indeed an important component of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia.

Most Ghanaian foods are made from maize. Unfortunately, certain diets made from the cereal cannot be produced without processing the maize into flour. The corn mill has been the most efficient and often used tool for grinding legumes, cereals, nuts and spices. Maize is milled either dried or soaked. Dry maize is usually milled over and over again for about four times to retain a smooth texture. It is used to prepare many delicacies in different parts of Ghana. However, soaked maize is milled only once and it is ready for use. The work was conducted to find the levels of Cd, Al, Ni, Cu, Mg and Zn in the processed flour using instrumental neutron activation analyses at the Ghana Research reactor-1 Facility. As the grinding plates of the corn mills rub against each other, there is friction as well as wear and tear. This could introduce toxic metals into the corn flour. Results showed that the corn mills had no negative effects on the corn flour as the level of the elements recorded were below the required limits. Al values in the sample ranged from 1.8 ± 0.27 mg/kg to 5.40 ± 0.81 mg/kg. Cu, Cd, Zn and Mn also recorded concentration values of ranges 0.70 ± 0.11 mg/kg to 1.50 ± 0.23 mg/kg, 4.80 ± 0.72 mg/kg to 6.40 ± 0.96 mg/kg, 0.52 ± 0.08 ?g/kg and 0.90 ± 1.35 mg/kg to 4.10 ± 0.62 mg/kg respectively. No particular process recorded consistent peak value concentrations for the heavy metals. Ni recorded concentrations within the range 26.18 ± 3.23 mg/kg to 46.42±2.53 mg/kg. However, continuous consumption could lead to accumulation of these elements that could affect the body adversely.

Collocation is one of the most problematic areas in second language learning and it seems that if one wants to improve his/her communication in another language the collocational competence should be improved. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of applying Collins Collocation Dictionary as a concordancing tool on learning lexical collocations of Iranian EFL university students. After selecting 30 students randomly, they were divided into 2 groups: experimental group and control group. A pretest was taken from both groups at the same time. In the following week concordancing practice (task1) was given to the students in the experimental group and they were asked to work with10 lexical collocations and identify (mis)collocations. At the same time students in control group received some texts and they were asked to notice the lexical collocations. Then, posttest1 was given to the students in both groups. In the next week, the same procedure with 10 other lexical collocations was repeated and posttest 2 was administered. The results showed that the experimental group performed better on lexical collocations than the control group and their results were significant.

The histopathological effects of 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4- D) intestine tissues of the Danio rerio were determined by light microscopy. The fish were experimentally exposed to sub-lethal concentrations (0,1 ppm, 0,5 ppm and 1 ppm) of 2,4-D for 5 days. Tissues were normal in the control group. In the intestine tissues of fish exposed to 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, oedema, necrosis and atrophy of epithelial cells were observed. The present study proves its toxic potential in terms of the damages induced by 2,4- D in organ level.

A bulk of the Nigeria wealth is derived from Oil and Agriculture which lies in abundant quantity in rural communities. Current estimates put the rural population at over 80% of the entire population of almost 160 million people. So far, not much in terms of infrastructural development has been done to bring this bulk of concentration of both human and material resources to contribute optimally to national economy. The neglect has resulted to the mass exodus of rural dwellers and in turn has made the rural area qualitatively and quantitatively depopulated, and progressively less attractive for socio-economic investment. It is against this backdrop that this paper evaluates the impact of Nigerian commercial banks on rural populace in Oyo metropolis and; also to determine the relationship that exists between various activities of commercial banks and its rural populace. In line with the objectives, two hypotheses were formulated. The population of the study is the eight (8) Commercial Banks in Oyo metropolis and three (3) were selected as sample size. The study utilized data from primary source. Data were obtained from the questionnaires administered. The time frame for the study is ten years, covering the period of 2002 to 2011. The technique of analysis used in the data was Analysis of variance (ANOVA). We concluded that even though commercial banks activities such as giving out loans and receiving deposit has positive impact on the rural economy, there is room for the Commercial banks to gear more of its activities towards empowerment of the rural populace. Commercial banks should also strategize on how to attract and retain more deposits so as to further improve on their lending performance towards the rural dwellers. In addition to establishing a policy framework that maximizes the incomes of the working rural dwellers through policies to promote rural self-employment and reliability.

The significance and effectiveness of pre-reading activities in the contexts of both ESL and EFL has been acknowledged by many researchers. If students lack the required background knowledge, a teacher must activate students’ background knowledge or offer background information prior to reading a text. The present study aimed at investigating the role of pre-reading questions plus extensive reading in affecting the reading engagement of Iranian EFL learners. Participants of the study included two groups of 30 EFL learners with similar language proficiency. Reading engagement was measured using Reading Engagement Index developed by Wigfield and Guthrie (2004). Language learners were pretested on reading engagement and it was found that the two groups of the study were not significantly different in terms of reading engagement. Afterwards, one group received extensive reading plus pre-reading questions and another group received just extensive reading. The two groups’ reading engagement was measured after treatment to explore the effect of treatment on reading engagement of language learners. The results of paired samples and independent samples t-test indicated that pre-reading plus extensive reading was more successful in enhancing reading engagement of language learners compared to extensive reading.

The aim of the study is to show the relationship between the stock market developments with gross domestic product (GDP). Framework is used to show the impact of stock market on GDP over the period of 2000 to 2011 quarterly. The methods applied in the research were correlation, regression and Augmented Dicky Fuller unit root test. The arguments are made on whether it is the stock market that leads to the economic growth or the other way around. Stock market plays a very significant role as a financial intermediary. Some researchers are in favor of the argument that stock market doesn’t lead to the economic growth and conclude that emerging stock markets have little positive impact on economic growth. Some analysts argue that, because most of the corporations don’t raise capital by issuance of equity only, so the role of stock market is weak in causing economic growth, (Mayer, 1988). In contrast, Levine (1991) show that stock markets provide liquidity and can cause economic growth substantially. And now the result of research explained that there is no significant impact or stock market development on gross domestic product. The Augmented Dicky Fuller unit root test explained that 1) D (logn_index_points) represents the 1st difference and the p value is less than 0.01 so we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the data of index points is stationary at 1st difference. 2) D (LOGN_REAL_GDP) represents the 2nd difference of GDP of Pakistan and the p value is less than 0.01, so we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the data of GDP is stationary at 2nd difference. The regression result shown that D2 LOGN_REAL_GDP represents the 2nd difference of quarterly GDP of Pakistan and DLOGN_INDEX_POINTS represents the 1st difference of KSE-100 index which has been used as a proxy for stock market development for the purpose of this study. The P value against the t-statistic is insignificant, so we have to accept the null hypothesis.

The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of transformational leadership practices on student satisfaction in the academic setting in Malaysia. Approximately 450 full-time students took part in this study from three different universities in Perak from various faculties. A multi-factor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) with a Likert-Scale of 1-5 was used to collect the data to determine students’ perception of transformational leadership practiced by teaching staff at the three universities and to gauge the satisfaction level of students. To ensure reliability and validity of the respondents’ data set, the sample included only students who have studied for more than one semester at the particular university. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis to describe demographic profile of students and Pearson Product Moment Correlation to test the relationship between independent variables [(Idealized Influence (II), Individual Consideration (IC), Intellectual Stimulation (IS) and Inspirational Motivation (IM)] and dependent variable (student satisfaction). The correlation analysis shows that all the transformational leadership behavior II, IC, IS and IM were significant and highly correlated with student satisfaction. However, Multiple Regression analysis showed that transformational leadership behavior of inspirational motivation; intellectual stimulations and individual consideration were significant and positively influence student satisfaction level while idealized influence was not significant. Academic institutions of higher learning should take this into consideration when dealing with student satisfaction. This research shows that transformational leadership is crucial in improving student satisfaction. Future study should be undertaken to include a wider sample size, increase the research context to ensure validity and reliability of the results and promote student satisfaction in order to enhance a learning culture.

The study aims to determine the reliability of the Learning Environment Preferences (LEP) inventory among counselor trainees. A total of 100 subjects consisting of final-year students from the Guidance and Counseling Program in local universities, participated in this study. Results from the study found a high validity value of .948 for all the inventory items. The results also showed high reliability for the entire sub-scale items, achieving Cronbach’s Alpha values of .755 to .889. Based on these results, the LEP is considered appropriate to be used in order to test counselor trainees’ cognitive complexity.

The purpose of this paper was to explore the link between student co-curricular activity and graduate employability. In an increasingly competitive graduate labor market, the potential benefits of students engaging in co-curricular activities to aid personal growth and development, build CVs and obtain a greater competitive advantage in the job market, appear increasingly attractive. This paper studies the relationship between co-curricular activities and graduate employability through literature review. However, there was a lack of evidence to demonstrate whether students’ participation in co-curricular activities increased their employment prospects.