Volume 10, Issue 9, September 2022 Edition - GSJ Journal Publication

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Chitosan, chitin and chitocal; Identification, antioxidant activity and incision wound recovery []


Aim of Research. The aim of this research is comparing Chitin and chitosan extracted from shrimp shell with the pharmaceutical chitocal. Methods. FT-IR spectrum has done to identify chitin and chitosan extracts. A method of antioxidant activity has been done before dressing paste for wound dressing technique has been done. Results and Discussion. FT IR identified N-H stretching and -C=O stretching around at 2275-2250 cm-1, with a strong broad band for N-C=O for chitin acetyl group bond. These bands distinguish chitin spectrum than chitosan spectrum. In DPPH radical scavenging, vitamin C followed by chitocal was higher than chitosan and finally chitin. Reducing power compared to vitamin C the strongest, followed by chitosan, chitocal and finally chitin. Dough for incision wound consisted of chitosan-glycerol-honey. The constituted materials of the dough are synergistic together toward the rapid healing. After one week, organized collagen fiber was formed with chitosan paste. While, only chitocal or dough with oral chitocal after three weeks showed abnormal epithelial growth and dis-organized collagen.

THE IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLES ON EMPLOYEES’ JOB SATISFACTION IN THE ICT GOVERNMENT SECTOR, EGYPT []


Leadership is a process of influence between leaders and followers where a leader attempts to influence the behavior of subordinates to achieve organizational goals. Organizational success in achieving its goals and objectives depends on the leaders of the organization and their leadership styles. By adopting the appropriate leadership styles, leaders can affect employee job satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the impact of leadership style (transformational and transactional) on employees’ job satisfaction. Data collection was carried out through a mixed-method approach. The quantitative data were collected by using an electronically structured questionnaire with nonprobability convenience sampling to the employees of the ICT sector in Egypt. For the study, 500 questionnaires were delivered to the employees in all different management levels, but 388 respondents successfully completed the questionnaire and returned to the researcher, making the response rate 78%. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26 IBM is used to conduct various analyses. Whilst semi-structured interview has been chosen to be applied in this study 10 managers used the judgmental sampling strategy. This approach is considered a primary source of data collection. Thematic analysis was selected as a method for analyzing qualitative data. The findings of the study indicate that transformational leadership and transactional leadership were significantly positively related to the employees’ job satisfaction in the ICT government sector, in Egypt. Multiple linear regression showed that leadership styles are causing a change in employees’ job satisfaction by 43.8%. The results demonstrated that transformational leadership dimensions have partially been supported with respect to employees’ job satisfaction. The two dimensions of transformational leadership: idealized influence attributes (IIA), and individualized consideration (1C) were significant and positive effects on employees’ job satisfaction, while intellectual stimulation (IS), idealized influence behaviors (IIB), and inspirational motivation (IM) were insignificant with employees’ job satisfaction in this study. In addition, the findings showed that the dimensions of transactional leadership: contingent rewards, and active management by exception have fully supported respect for employees’ job satisfaction. They have a positive and significant effect on employees’ job satisfaction. This implies that transformational and transactional leadership are deemed suitable for managing the ICT government sector in Egypt. The results of the study provide a guideline model that can be used by managers to increase employees’ job satisfaction by focusing on transformational and transactional leadership behaviors and this model also can be applied when an organization needs to hire new managers in this sector.

EFFECT OF CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS: A CASE OF EQUITY BANK KENYA LIMITED []


In the competitive Kenyan banking marketplace, corporate entrepreneurial intention is crucial. EQUITY BANK KENYA LIMITEDL (EBKL) has embraced the corporate entrepreneurial approach in its business models throughout the country which has enabled the creation of new business lines that are not typical of banking. The objective of study was to assess how the concept of entrepreneurism, as adopted by EBKL, influenced business performance. The study adopted descriptive research design since it accurately depicts conditions. The population of the study was 144 interviewees from EBKL’s departments responsible for business growth, finance, human resources, operations and IT, and used stratified sampling approach to select the sample. The study collected both primary and secondary data using questionnaires as the data collection instruments. Descriptive statistics, mean scores, standard deviation and percentages were used to analyse the quantitative data. Further inferential statistics, correlation and regression were done. Correlation analysis was used to establish the strength of association between variables, while regression analysis was done to establish relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and business performance. The study established that corporate entrepreneurship had a significant influence on business performance.

CASE STUDY ON BUYER-SELLER NEGOTIATION: ULTRABOOK GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION []


This article addressed a Brazilian buyer-seller negotiation between a Military Organization Representative and an IT Company, aiming to acquire ten ultrabooks. The public agent (buyer) represents the federal government, and the seller is a private company. The negotiation occurred in sequences, both virtual and live negotiation rounds. Key findings pointed out the necessity of improvement of negotiation planning and communication skills. Discussion and future research compile the present work.

Rôle des communautés rurales dans la restauration de la couverture forestière pour l’atténuation des effets au changement climatique : cas de la commune rurale de Koury dans la zone soudanienne du Mali []


Devant le constat de la perte de la fertilité des sols, la dégradation de la couverture forestière, le changement climatique, la Politique Forestière Nationale relue a été adoptée intègre les questions émergentes comme, entre autres, le changement climatique, la promotion du partenariat public et privé, le reboisement intensif et sécurisé. Malgré la pertinence de cette option stratégique, la dégradation prend de l’ampleur du jour au lendemain dans la commune de Koury. Ainsi, le gouvernement du Mali a sollicité et obtenu auprès de l’Union européenne une assistance pour inverser le phénomène de la dégradation du couvert végétal et réduire l’impact du changement climatique à travers la subvention des actions de restauration de la couverture forestière. La présente étude intitulée « Rôle des communautés dans la restauration de la couverture forestière et l’adaptation au changement climatique : cas de la commune de Koury » a pour objectif de contribuer à l’amélioration de la couverture forestière en réponse aux enjeux liés au changement climatique. Pour la réalisation de l’étude, une série de formations a été organisée à l’attention des communautés bénéficiaires et le stagiaire. La technique d’échantillonnage par convenance, qui consiste à enquêter les porteurs disponibles et volontaires, a été utilisée. Dans 19 villages de la commune de Koury, nous avons recensé 224 porteurs. Le questionnaire élaboré nous a permis de collecter les informations sur le terrain. Ces informations ont permis la création d’une base de données dans le logiciel Excel. Les données ont été analysées avec le même logiciel. Ces actions est la première dans la commune avec 225 hectares de terres dégradées sont boisées sur 235 sites à l’aide des espèces fruitières et forestières pour mieux répondre aux impacts du dérèglement climatique. Les résultats ont prouvé que de nombreuses contraintes sont présentes dans la restauration notamment : la production de plants (la quantité et la qualité, retard dans la mise en place), les ressources génétiques, la disponibilité de la main-d’œuvre, l’inexpérience dans le domaine, l’inexistence d’une base de données. Nous retenons que la réussite des actions de restauration est possible partout au Mali à travers la participation de toutes les parties prenantes (les acteurs) depuis sa conception jusqu’à la mise en œuvre, car chacun joue un rôle primordial. En finalité, d’après les résultats de cette étude, la commune de Koury doit être une référence dans le cercle de Yorosso avec cette superficie formidablement réalisée par la plantation pure en essences de valeur économique et qui contribuera à l’amélioration de la couverture forestière pour l’adaptation au changement climatique dans la commune rurale de Koury.

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENHANCED SMART STREET LIGHTNING SYSTEM USING IOT []


In this modern era where energy is a major concern worldwide, there is a need for effective utilization of energy, with the development and advancement in technology, automation system plays a vital role in mitigating this problem which is also preferred over the traditional manual system previously used. Internet of Things (IoT), is the ideal emergent technology to influence the internet and communication technologies. Traditionally in the object-oriented paradigm, everything in the world is considered an object, whereas, in the Internet of Things, everything in the world is considered a smart object, and allows them to relate with each other through internet technologies. With the main considerations in the present field of technologies being automation, power consumption, and cost-effectiveness, problems posed by the previous system being used such as street lights powered to full capacity at midnight when they should have been properly managed to conserve energy, faulty lighting points taking a long time to be identified when early detection would have saved a lot of both human resources, time, and cost of identifying faults in the system. Enhanced smart street lighting system using IOT spotlights on different restrictions and difficulties identified with traditional and Old Street light systems. This work illustrates the design and development of enhanced smart street lightning using IoT-based monitoring thus implementing the advanced development in embedded systems. The system developed is a real-time system that is expected to be controlled remotely using a web-based interface. The system is expected to detect visible light/darkness which is a major determinant of whether the light comes on or remains off, it will detect movement at night to decide if the light will remain up when it detects movement and then reports a fault at the lightning point on the web interface which also has a graph that displays the amount of energy consumed by the system. The street lighting system has multifunctional features as two primary sensors are used which are the Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) sensor to point a day/night time and also the passive infrared sensor (PIR) to detect the movement of vehicles on the road. The nodemcu (esp8266) is employed as both the server and the controller to regulate the road light system, where C++, HTML, and CSS programming are used. Upon sensing the movements, the sensor transmits the info to the microcontroller which instructs the LED to change to ON. Similarly, as soon as the vehicle or an obstacle goes away the light intensity drops fully. This system when tested, was able to conserve energy, as the energy graph on the application interface confirmed. Keyword – Internet of Things, IoT, ESP8266, LDR, PIR sensor, Ultrasonic sensor, LED.

Effect of socioeconomic inequality in access to healthcare facilities in Kicukiro district,-Rwanda []


Abstract Inequities in health constitute one of the main challenges for public health globally. In all countries people of lower socioeconomic status (SES), as measured by social determinants such as education, income or occupation, are in a worse state of health compared to those from higher SES across the entire range. Around 1.3 billion people around the world are unable to access affordable and effective healthcare. For households with access, approximately 170 million people have been forced to spend more than 40% of their household income on medical treatment, which forces them into financial catastrophe. Economic deficiency and access to health care facilities are most development constraints in Africa. Even in Rwanda, income inequality has been implicated as a potential risk to population health due to lower provision of healthcare services in deeply unequal communities. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of socioeconomic inequality in access to healthcare facilities among people living at Kicukiro district and the specific objectives were covered to determine the factors associated with individual’s Social Economic Status on demand for healthcare services, to establish the relationship between socioeconomic status and accessibility to healthcare facilities, and to describe the role of health insurances in resolution of healthcare disparity based to socioeconomic status. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, targeting all people living at Kicukiro district and sectors falling in research were selected by simple random sampling technique by the use of random number table. Sample size of 384respondents was picked from selected sectors from 318,564 total targeted population. Validated questionnaire were used while collected data being analysed by use of quantitative techniques. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis and presentation, whereas, inferential statistics were introduced to test the hypotheses based on specific objectives. Logistic regression model was used hypothesis derived from research questions one and two. Among 384 respondents 57.0% were males 35.4% aged between 41-50 years old followed by 32.3% aged between 31-4- years old, 34.1% attended primary school followed by 26.8 and 26.3% university and secondary respectively, 76.3% married, 72.9% with family size between 3 to 6 family members, 55.7% are self-employed, 74.0% with informal source of income, 76.8% from low middle income cat.[ubudehe), 66.7% subscribed for CHI. The research findings revealed that the factors associated with medical services demand: 54.4% of respondents use 30 min to 1 hour to reach HCFs, 63.0% use public transport vehicles to reach HCFs, the majority 96.1% enrolled for CHI, 85.2% are being charged copay, 54.2% wait 4-6 hour for medical service. Education (AOR=0.010; 95%CI [0.004-0.0240]) at p<0.001, (AOR=0.011; 95%CI [0.003-0.043]) at p<0.001 and (OAR= 0.085; 95%CI [0.041-0.178] at p<0.001, formal-salaried worker (OAR=17.341; 95%CI [9.509-31.641] at p<0.001, private transport use (AOR= 36.429; 95%CI [11.194-118.552] at p<0.001. regular renewal of health insurance (AOR=4.469; 95%CI [1.951-10.237] at p<0.001), The findings indicated that time waiting for medical service is remarkably high for the majority and again accessibility was accrued for some advantaged people due to health insurance scheme and family income. , it is recommended policymakers, practitioners develop and implement health action programs that focus on equity to reduce healthcare inequality through strategies and interventions focused on care pathways, intersectoral ad multidisciplinary that include all sectors of the health system

THE CHALLENGES OF AGING POPULATIONS IN AFRICA” Case study of Rwanda []


ABSTRACT The main objectives of this study were to examine the challenges faced by aging population in Africa with a case study of Rwanda. The study was guided by three objectives such as:To examine the challenges faced by aging population in Africa, to identify the advantages and disadvantages of aging population, and find out the measures to curb the challenges of aging population. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data from 96 respondents from different departments of life (aging populations, sector social affairs officers, RSSB officers and its beneficiaries from all the 5 administrative divisions of Rwanda (4provinces and Kigali city) by using purposive sampling technique. The instruments of data collection were questionnaire, interview, and documentary techniques. The results show the perceptions of respondents about the challenges for aging population in Rwanda. Their perceptions show that more than 90% of the respondents confirmed that aging populations in face a variety of challenges including: poverty due lack of job, ageism, mistreatment and abuse of many types, isolation, famine and NCDs (Non Communicable Diseases). The respondents’ perceptions have identified various effects of aging population and how they can be solved. They added that working people have make savings for their old agesinstead of waiting government aids. As conclusion, based on findings, there are various challenges faced by aging populations in Rwanda and various effects have been identified. Through giving constructive recommendations to both citizens and government, populations during their working ages are encouraged to save more as they can so that at their old age, they will access to pronounced value of money to cover a large number of the needs (both primary and secondary needs).

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A MODEL FOR DETECTION OF MALICIOUS UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR (URL) USING MACHINE LEARNING []


Malware is a worldwide scourge, and studies imply that with the advancement of the internet, it is getting even worse. Every minute a new virus is introduced, and while numerous practical ideas and tactics, such as the blacklist, have been suggested to lessen and eliminate cyber dangers, they have all been shown to be ineffective. In this study, we use statistical techniques to gather character distribution features and structural features of harmful URLs with a focus on character features. Then, we cross-train two different classifiers to find an efficient classifier for harmful URL detection. The study's objective was to develop and use a machine learning model for the detection of malicious URLs. The Python programming language and the Scikit-learn machine learning algorithm were used. Over 11054 datasets (both malicious and safe) were downloaded from Kaggle and stored in Excel to train the model. The Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM) was applied. In the end, the model worked well by maintaining a high level of accuracy and efficiency while displaying if a URL was malicious or benign. A parallel changeover was also recommended after deployment to avoid disrupting the existing process. Keywords: Malware, Dataset, Internet, URL, Machine Learning

A Biochemical Assay Provides Better Diagnosis for Active Malaria Infection []


Malaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium parasite and it is the most deadly parasitic disease affecting humanity. Detection of this microscopic organism using currently available techniques in the face of reducing quality of testing reagents is increasingly becoming quite challenging especially in low prevalent settings and low density infections. The absence of a particular detection method devoid of shortcomings and pitfalls of significant order prompted the development of a simple biochemical in vitro diagnostic technique for malaria detection known as AfinUrimal. In this study we examined the efficacy of AfinUrimal in detecting malaria using stained blood microscopy method as the reference standards for detecting active infection on 397 patients with febrile illness in Jos, Nigeria in the year 2022. Sensitivity/specificity of AfinUrimal method against stained blood microscopy method was 99.42/92.0% respectively. The analysis showed that biochemical detection of malaria infection using AfinUrimal provides greater sensitivity and specificity useful for diagnostic, epidemiological and research purposes.

DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: ADOPTION, USE, FIRM PERFORMANCE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT []


Digital marketing integrates electronic technology with traditional marketing concepts and covers strategies such as social media, video, content, affiliate, mobile and internet marketing. Embracing digital marketing can contribute to firm performance and national development. This review paper explores digital marketing in the hospitality industry. The objectives of the review are to establish how the facilities can adopt and use digital marketing, determine how digital marketing can affect the performance of the firms and highlight how digital marketing can contribute to Kenya Vision 2030 and sustainable development goals. The paper builds on the author’s knowledge, observations and experiences on digital marketing in the hospitality industry and explores secondary data from books, journal articles, newspapers and conference papers. The paper highlights the digital tools that the firms can adopt including the internet, mobile, video and social media and shows how the tools can be used to convince, educate and inspire stakeholders. The review also reveals that digital marketing can affect the non-financial and financial performance of hospitality firms. Digital marketing can con-tribute to customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, profits and costs. This study finds that digital marketing can contribute to Kenya Vision 2030 through selling and marketing hospitality products. Digital marketing also promotes sustainable development goals of climate action and economic growth. The paper concludes that hospitality firms should embrace digital marketing for enhanced performance and national development.

Quality of Life and its Associated Factors among Government medical officers in Uva province, Sri Lanka []


ABSTRACT Introduction Higher quality of life among medical officers has been identified as a key factor of increased productivity of health service delivery. Objectives This study was designed and conducted to determine the quality of life and its associated factors among medical officers in Uva province. Methods A descriptive cross sectional study using self-administered questionnaires was carried out in the study population. The study sample of 403 of grade medical officers was selected following multi-stage stratified random sampling method in selected health institutions. Independent t test and one-way ANOVA were used appropriately to determine the statistical significance. Results The mean total quality of life score of study participants was 65.1 (SD ±11.3) and all the domains had the mean scores above 50. Age category (Less than 40 years) shown a negative association with Quality of Life revealed adjusted OR of 0.7 (95% CI: 0.45-0.92) while doctors who are involved in private practice demonstrated the adjusted OR of 2.68 (95% CI: 1.34-4.33). Involved in regular physical exercise (adjusted OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.10-2.31), Level of qualification (Having post graduate qualifications) (adjusted OR=2.98, 95% CI: 2.3-3.6), Not living with children (adjusted OR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.67-0.93), were the other significant predictors retained in the model (p < 0.05). Conclusions and recommendations The level of total quality of life of government medical officers in Uva province was substantially high. Individual domain scores also showed higher acceptable levels. Similar to our findings, studies in the literature have shown higher level of quality of life among medical officers (Liang et al., 2015). As far as the associated factors of quality of life among medical officers are concerned, number of adjustable behavioral factors was identified and could be attended to further increase the quality of life among medical officers. Therefore, appropriate measures are possible to be taken at national as well as at provincial level to further increase the quality of life among these very important healthcare providers. Key words: Quality of life, Medical officers, Physical activity, Doctors, Health care