Baynoon Centre for Studies and Development (BCSD): OJS
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Gas Chromatographic Analysis of the Phyto-Constituents and the Assessment of the Anti-Microbial Properties of the Leave Extracts of Nigeria-Grown Gingko biloba
Get PDFPurpose: Gingko biloba (GB) leaves have been recognized for their therapeutic effects, dating back to traditional Chinese medicine where the ground leaves were used to treat several health problems. GB extracts are renowned for their medicinal properties in Asia, Europe and South America. However, GB leaves are rarely grown and used in Nigeria. In this study, we screened the phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial activities of GB leaves (aqueous and ethanol extracts) grown in Enugu, Enugu State, South East Nigeria.
Study Design: Experimental
Materials and Methods: Quantitative analyses of phytochemicals were done using gas chromatography while disk diffusion and broth dilution methods were used to determine the antimicrobial activities.
Results: The phytochemical analysis of aqueous and ethanol extracts showed high quantity of flavonoids (anthocyanin, rutin, epicatechin, kaemferol and catechin), alkaloids (lunamarine and ribalindine) and saponin while the moderate quantity of steroids and terpenes, tannin and phenols were also observed. The phytochemical analysis also showed very little concentration of antinutrients (phytate and oxalate) in both extracts. The ethanol extract showed some degree of antibacterial and antifungal activities as observed from their zones of inhibition (mm). Activity was observed on gram-positive bacteria; Staphylococcusaureus (15.5+0.71mm) and less activity on gram-negative bacteria; Escherichia coli (10.5+1.41mm) and Pseudomonasaeruginosa (no activity). Also there was an activity on yeast; Candida albicans (16.5+0.71mm) and less activity on moulds; Penicilliumcyclopium (9+1.41mm) and Aspergillus fumigatus (no activity). The aqueous extract showed no antimicrobial activity on both bacteria and fungi.
Conclusion: This study revealed the medicinal potentials of Ginkgo biloba leaves grown in Nigeria. The findings, therefore, will be useful for pharmaceutical industries and medical practice in Nigeria and beyond for the provision of good health to individuals
Financial Performance of Indian Pharmaceutical Companies: Analysis of Leverage and Cost of Capital
Get PDFPurpose: The main aim of the study is to examine the performance of selected pharmaceutical companies in India based on the Degree Of Operating Leverage, Degree Of Financial Leverage, Degree Of Combined Leverage, and Cost Of Capital.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Five pharmaceutical companies were randomly selected, and the annual reports and financial statements of these companies were analyzed. The analysis methods involved Degree Of Operating Leverage, Degree Of Financial Leverage, Degree Of Combined Leverage, and Cost Of Capital. ANOVA test was also employed to test hypotheses. The study is made for five years from 2013-14 to 2017-18.
Findings: The results of the study reveal that there is a significant difference in the (means) variables in terms of leverage (operating, finance, and combined) and cost of capital. All leverages are different to each other and the cost of capital. The analysis reveals that Sun Pharma performed well during the study period, whereas Lupin underperformed in all aspects.
Practical Implications: The leverage and cost of capital are very important components for deciding whether to invest or not in pharmaceutical companies. The present study highlights the financial performances and growth of the selected pharmaceutical companies.
Originality/value: The results of the paper give certain indicators about the performance of the selected companies. These indicators can be used to inform an investment decision
The Impact of the Second National Fadama Development Project on Poverty Reduction in the Geidam Local Government of Yobe State, Nigeria
Get PDFPurpose: The study was conducted to examine the economic impact of the National Fadama-II Development Project (NFDP-II) on poverty reduction and food security among farmers in Geidam local government of Yobe State, Nigeria.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Four communities were identified and selected through random sampling. These four are the farmers of the cultivated crops like rice, millet, maize, vegetables and okra. And interview and a closed-ended questionnaire were administered to a total of one hundred respondents. For the analysis of this study, a descriptive statistic like frequency and simple percentage were used.
Findings: After careful evaluation of collected data, it is found out that the majority of the farmers (78.9%) were male and their mean age was 44 years. Out of 95 respondents, 75 (78.9%) were associated with the Fadama and the remaining 20 (21%) have no association with the project. The results of the study revealed that the project has a positive impact on poverty reduction. The result of the study further revealed that all the Fadama-II farmers share similar opinion on the ten identified constraints. These constraints were grouped under three main categories: technical problems, institutional problems, and economic problems.
Practical Implications: This study provides strong suggestion to create more awareness about the programme among the people so that they may come forward to participate actively in it. It enhances their income level and they may be able to utilize it for the betterment of their lives.
Originality/value: After the careful analysis of the collected data, it can be concluded that the success of Fadama project is dependent upon the provision of the credit facilities for land preparation to farmers, the supply of subsidized farm inputs and farmers’ training by the Fadama facilitators
Effect of Interest Rate Liberalisation on Domestic Savings in Nigeria
Get PDFPurpose: Empirical investigations into the interest rate effects on domestic savings have provided mixed results. Hence, this study examined the interest rate effects on domestic savings in line with the financial liberalization hypothesis since the period of structural adjustment program (SAP) in Nigeria.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Data on gross domestic savings, interest rate, gross capital formation, and rate of inflation from 1986 to 2018 were obtained and analyzed using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique.
Findings: The results revealed that interest rate and gross domestic savings are co-integrated in the long-run. The study showed that while capital formation positively affects domestic savings, the interest rate affects domestic savings negatively since the economic reforms of 1986 in Nigeria.
Practical Implications: The results of the study are important for the Nigerian government to promote home-grown investments through domestic savings and capital formation. This will be made possible in the face of interest rate liberalization in which a higher interest rate serves as incentives for the household to save more thereby increasing domestic savings of the economy.
Originality/value: The study further revealed that the long-run relationship exists between domestic private investments and interest rates
A Survey on Technology used in Higher Secondary EFL Class in Bangladesh
Get PDFPurpose: The paper aims to present an overview of the technologies that are used in English language learning classes in Higher Secondary Level of Studies in Bangladesh. The aim is also to identify the gaps between the use of technology and CLT- based curriculum and material.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Four colleges were selected randomly as a sample of the study. For collecting data, an open-ended questionnaire was constructed, validated, and administrated. In addition, structured interviews and an observation guide of classes were employed as instruments to collect data.
Findings: Based on the results of data analysis, it is clear that the use of technology in Bangladesh is increasing day by day but the percentage is still very low. The results of this study indicate that there is a gap between the use of technology and CLT based curriculum and material in Bangladesh. Hence, it is concluded that the technologies that are used in the classrooms are not adequate.
Practical Implications: The study reflects on the use of technology in classrooms. This is in line with the mission of digital Bangladesh.
Originality/value: This study is important for teachers, students and authorities since it reflects on the technology being used in higher secondary level, the gaps between the use of technology and CLT- based curriculum and material in Bangladesh and how the gap can be fulfilled to ensure the proper use of technology in CLT- based educational environment and attain the vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’
An Investigation of Deep and Surface Learning Approach towards English Vocabulary Acquisition of EFL Students
Get PDFPurpose: The aim of this research study is to examine the most dominant EFL Students’ approach in acquiring English vocabulary employed by the first-year students of English Department at Muhammadiyah University of Makassar. The study also investigates whether there is any difference in approach preference between male and female students in acquiring English vocabulary by first-year students at English Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Muhammadiyah University of Makassar, Indonesia
Approach/Methodology/Design: A descriptive quantitative research method is employed in data analysis. Twenty four first-year undergraduate students (42% male & 58 female) were selected as a sample for the study based on purposive sampling technique. These students chose English major at Muhammadiyah University of Makassar and were enrolled in the acedmic year 2018-2019. The instruments used were a Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and Likert Scale to assess the research participants’ approach preference.
Findings: The findings of this research study reveal that the first-year students of English Department at Muhammadiyah University of Makassar dominantly adopt surface approach compared to deep approach in acquiring English vocabulary. The statistical analysis shows that the mean score for Surface is 35.12 and the mean score for Deep Approach is 34.66. The findings also indicate a difference in approach preference between male and female.
Practical Implications: The study will contribute positively to the understanding of the students’ adopted approaches for acquiring vocabulary, assisting instructors to improve their teaching strategies.
Originality/value: The study provides an avenue for exploring students’ learning processes. Male students preferred Surface approach to deep approach. Male students scored high (38.10) on surface approach compared to deep approach (36.60). Meanwhile, female students got slightly higher score (33.28) on deep approach than surface approach (33.00)
Social Distancing, Community Quarantine and Bullets: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s Speeches on the War against COVID-19 Pandemic
Get PDFPurpose: Language is essential in creating ideologies and power as a means of delivering a politician’s agenda. Building such power, this study explored the transitivity processes and how they constructed ideological frame used in the first seven speeches of the Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on the precautionary measures of the government during the COVID-19 crisis.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied in this study. The corpus of the study was downloaded from the website of the Presidential Communications Operations Office of the Philippine government. These consist of his first seven (7) public speeches and addresses with the 15,749 total number of words.
Findings: Guided by Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2004; 2014) transitivity system, it was revealed that Duterte has a total 1,371 processes with a preponderance use of material, relational, and mental processes showing that the president’s concrete action, clarity of description and emotional appeal effectively delivered his agenda as a political leader in order to win the present crisis. These resulted in building a connection with his audience in presenting specific guidelines in addressing the health-related issues including social distancing, community and home quarantine, government assistance, public support and a number of warnings. Likewise, the result shows that language certainly serves as a tool in shaping philosophical foundations to serve both the speaker and the listeners in achieving their goals.
Practical Implications: Presenting a discourse analysis of presidential speeches in a time of crisis, COVID-19.
Originality/value: Public discourses on the precautionary measures of the government in fighting COVID-19 prove that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s Speeches power, ideologies and policies are constructed and delivered through transitivity system of Halliday and Matthiessen
The Feminist Film: An Analysis of the Feminist Narrative Form in the Films of Rakshane Bani-Etemad, Pouran Derakshande, and Manijeh Hekmat
Get PDFPurpose: In this paper, the aim is to examine film form and narrative in relation to gender identity and the politics of representation. Drawing distinctions between these methods make it possible to identify how feminist frameworks are used to examine identity, aesthetics, and ideology through film culture.
Approach/Methodology/Design: Thematic analysis, employing a feminist perspective. Three films were selected for conducting this type of analysis: Rakshane Bani-Etemad’s ‘Nargess’, Manijeh Hekmat’s ‘Women’s Prison’ and Pouran Derakshande’s ‘Hush! Girls Don’t Scream.
Findings: By understanding the representation of women in Iranian Cinema and the cultural/traditional norms and values of the Iranian Society, I argue that the narrative form identifies feminist perspectives, which create an Iranian feminist cinema. Combining textual analysis with a greater concern for the audience-text relationship, and the rejection of the male gaze, these films recognize texts as shaped by the struggle to make meaning amongst institutions which shapes the filmic text from different components of the socio-historical context, and which creates a relationship between feminist film and cultural studies.
Practical Implications: Iranian female directors have been adopting a feminist approach in their films’ narrative structure dating back to the reformist period of the 90s. Through the social/political context of female characters and the counter-cinematic development of agents, circumstances, and surroundings of the systems of patriarchy and oppression, women directors have been applying feminist narrative form to their work as evident in Rakshane Bani-Etemad’s ‘Nargess,’ Manijeh Hekmat’s ‘Women’s Prison’ and Pouran Derakshande’s ‘Hush! Girls Don’t Scream.
Originality/value: This paper analyzes the principles of female desire through these selected films, the patriarchal dominance of societal oppression, the female condition, and the examination of violence in the traditions and attitudes related to women while looking at the representation of this violence and oppression in the Iranian Society
Density of Aedes Aegypti Larvae Based on The Knowledge, Attitude and Action of The Manager and the Conversion in Al-Markaz Al-Islami Mosque, Makassar City
Get PDFPurpose: This study aims to determine the density of Aedes aegypti larvae based on the knowledge, attitudes, and actions of the managers and congregants of the Al-Markas Al-Islami Mosque in Makassar City.
Methods: This type of research is descriptive observational. There are two types of samples in this study, namely the sample of the management and congregation of the Al-Markaz Al-Islami Mosque in Makassar City and the sample of containers. For container samples as many as 165 containers. Data analysis using univariate analysis. The assessment of larvae density used the Container Index (CI) and Density Figure (DF) values.
Results: The results of the analysis showed that the number of positive containers larvae was 41 containers with a CI value of 24.85% and a DF value of 6 in the high density category. Two categories were used to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and actions of the respondents, namely the good category and the unfavorable category. The results of data analysis showed that 19 (54.3%) respondents had good knowledge and 16 (45.7%) respondents had poor knowledge, 21 (60%) respondents had good attitudes and 14 (40%) respondents had good attitudes. unfavorable, as many as 18 (51.4%) respondents had good actions and 17 (48.6%) respondents had unfavorable actions. It is advisable to do counseling about the dangers of dengue disease and health training related to efforts to eradicate mosquito nests.
Conclusion: The density of Aedes aegypti larvae in containers at the Al-Markaz Al-Islami Mosque in Makassar City and the congregation's house is in the high density category
Colonialism and Environment: A Postcolonial Eco-critical Approach towards Dhruv Bhatt’s Oceanside Blues
Get PDFPurpose: The present paper analyses the role of nature in the lives of the tribals while exploring their indigenous eco-customs and traditions that have helped in sustaining their eco-centric approach to life. It also explores the culture-nature dialectic that surfaces the long-lasting conflict between tradition and modernity through a distinctive tribal perspective.
Methodology/ Approach: Postcolonial ecocritical approach.
Findings: The paper analyzes Oceanside Blues (2001) by Dhruv Bhatt, a Gujarati writer, from an eco-critical perspective while exploring the representation of tribal eco sensibilities and analyzing their eco-ethical imports. The narratives along with sending a lucid message for the survival of ecology, urge the human race to rekindle its communion with nature.
Conclusion: The novel in itself is a piece of resistance against the colonial activities that harm the environment as well as the tribal people by seizing their land on their preconceived notion of growth and development that contradicts their cultural values. Nature protests in its own ways like the sea protesting against environmental destruction in the form of a tornado in the region