Top tools for Data Visualisation in web development : a performance first approach

The purpose of this final year project was to deliver a visualisation based solution for the game analytics company, Game Refinery. The company’s platform presents a handful of reviews for games based on features with an additional chart that shows the rank of games in stores. Due to the slowness of the charts on the platform, multiple types of performance testing mechanisms were implemented to optimize the charts and the ways the system runs them. The focal point of the thesis is testing the performance of different charting libraries based on their user friendliness, features, functionalities, customisability, architecture, scalability, compatibility and performance. The project also put emphasis on performance optimization in web development and proper implementation of data visualization in web applications

The many meanings of collective action: lessons on enhancing gender inclusion and equity in watershed management

"Collective action in agriculture and natural resource management is all too often perceived of in terms of the mere number of participants, with little consideration given to who participates, why, and the outcomes of inequitable participation. The literature is replete with cases of how uncritical approaches to participation structure positions of privilege vis-à-vis project benefits and the natural resource base. Yet lessons on how to engage with local communities in ways that promote equitable participation of women, the poor and other stakeholders are only now coming to light. This paper focuses on approaches under development under the rubric of the African Highlands Initiative to bring collective action principles to bear on gender-equitable change processes in natural resource management. The paper utilizes a number of case studies to illustrate the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches for enhancing gender inclusion and equity throughout the stages of problem diagnosis, planning and monitoring. The analysis suggests that an arbitrary definition of collective action is insufficient for assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, and that method evaluation should consider the different forms that collective action can take. A typology of different forms of collective action is proposed, and then utilized to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches for fostering gender inclusion and equity in watershed management." Authors' AbstractNatural resource management, Gender, Water, Collective action, Community organizations, Community-based organizations, Women, Watershed management,

Analysis of village poultry value chain in Ethiopia: Implications for action research and development

This study aimed at developing a baseline understanding of producers, use of inputs, production performance, marketing, institutional and infrastructural environment and support services in order to identify potential areas of improvement for action research and poultry value chain system development in Ethiopia

Physiological suitability of six West African gramineous borers (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Pyralidae) for development of Cotesia species complex (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Three gregarious, endoparasitic braconids, a Kenyan strain of Cotesia sesamiae, and the exotic Cotesia flavipes and Cotesia chilonis were imported into Benin as candidates for biological control of stem- and cob borers of maize and stemborers of millet. Host acceptability and host suitability of six gramineous borers occurring in western Africa, the noctuids Sesamia calamistis, Sesamia poephaga, Busseola fusca, the crambid Coniesta ignefusalis, and the pyralids Eldana saccharina and Mussidia nigrivenella, to these parasitoids were evaluated to test the hypothesis that new associations were superior over old association parasitoid-host relationships. All hosts were accepted by all Cotesia spp., except M. nigrivenella, which was not attacked by C. chilonis. Parasitoid progeny developed successfully in S. calamistis, S. poephaga and C. ignefusalis. S. calamistis was the most suitable host in terms of duration of developmental time, brood size and mortality of parasitoid progeny. It was concluded that because of its host specificity, the old association parasitoid C. sesamiae would have the highest chance of establishment in cereal systems in West Afric

The Determinants of Profit Efficiency of Coffee Producing and Marketing Cooperatives (The Case Study of Sidama Coffee Farmers’ Union)

Ethiopia is implementing the plan for modernizing agriculture and eradicating poverty through cooperatives as one of ways to tackle poverty in both rural and urban areas. Consequently, it necessitates to access technical information on strategic cash crops such as coffee, which is the major cash earner for the farmers and the nation at large. The main objective of this study was to explore the major determinants of profit efficiency of coffee producing and marketing cooperatives. Along with plastering objectives of measuring profit efficiency and estimating profit frontier. The research used cross sectional data collected from three districts namely Abela, Howolso and Taramessa in south region Ethiopia. The data used both quantitative and qualitative paradigms .Apart from this, the thesis employee two econometric models of Stochastic Profit frontier Model and Firm specific inefficiency models. The parameters were estimated simultaneously using FROTIER4.1 and STATA 9 softwares.  In the research both primary and secondary data were used and more of primary data have been given priority as the model requires primary data. The result showed area/land under coffee and cost of hired labor had positive impact on profit levels while cost of family labor and capital were found to have negative influence on profitability. The analysis reveals that firms were not operating at profit frontier and scored a mean profit efficiency of 57 and it implies there a 43%profit loss due to firm specific and institutional variables. Further analysis showed coffee farmers are losing income due to allocative and technical inefficiency. The established source of inefficiency variables were found limited access to credit extension worker lack of storage after harvest, education level of the farmers and the major determinants were access to extension service, lack of formal education and storage facilities. The research has come up with recommendation That government need to train farmers about basic skills of farming and technology diffusion, establishing and strengthening existing cooperative banks to enable farmers to have access to credit facilities so as to uplift and scale up the lively hood of farmers

An improved channel model for medical body area network device testing

For testing and validation of medical body area network devices the knowledge of the wireless channel is very crucial. Although this could be implemented by utilizing existing BAN channel models, their restriction to specific device usage scenarios and environments make them less appropriate. For this purpose, this thesis presents a methodology for an MBAN device testing by developing an improved channel model, which accounts for a room size and use case variability. The improved channel model is based on channel sounding, over the frequency band from 2.3 GHz to 2.5 GHz, performed for five different use cases defined based on body posture, movement, and orientation. In order to study the room size effect, the measurements have been carried out in three different office rooms and an anechoic chamber. The proposed channel model is composed of three components, which are modeled separately: the mean path loss, body shadowing, and multipath fading. The mean path loss is modeled as a distance log function, while the body shadowing is modeled statistically by a lognormal distribution, and the multipath fading by a Rician distribution. The impact of room size is mainly notified in the Rician K-factor value; whereas the effect of movement is notified in the lognormal parameter. Furthermore, the effect of body orientation and posture is represented in the path loss model parameters

Determinants of Turnover Intention of Employees Among the Academic Staffs (The Case of Some Selected Ethiopian Universities)

Turnover intention is a potential risk that exists in all organization, despite of the type or its activities. The educational institution is one such organisation that comes under threat from this risk, when its employees and faculty members are exposed to thinking of leaving their jobs. Thus this study aimed at exploring the Determinants of Employees Turnover Intention among the Academic Staffs of Some Selected Ethiopian public Universities.The research was conducted with a mixed research approach coupled with descriptive and explanatory research design and cross sectional data collected for the year 2016/17 using a self administered questionnaire. A Binary Logistic Regression model was employed for analysis of the determinants of turnover intention. The descriptive statistics showed that the 36% of the academic staff were intended to leave their Universities in the fore- coming future whereas, the rest 64 % prefer to be stayed in their universities. The findings from the estimated general binary logistic regression model signified a moderate relationship between explanatory variables and the dependent variable. Age affirms a negative and however, a statistically insignificant result, year of experience revealed a different result than it was hypothesized. Female academic staff were 1.492 times more likely to have turnover intention than their counterparts, married academic staffs were 2.088 times less likely to leave their university than their counter parts and academic staffs with a perceived lower salary were 1.231 times more likely intended to leave their Universities. Hence, the researchers recommended the case universities to Provide appropriate and adequate resources for conducting daily operation such as teaching and research, appropriate staffing and proper internal placement of staff, More over Empower personnel through workshops and training, Provide employees with clear job descriptions and a career path and  Provide adequate support of employees as well as adequate supervision contribute a lot in reducing intention to leave in the selected University. Keywords: turnover, turn over intention, Binary logistics, academic staff, Determinants

Determinants of Turnover Intention of Employees Among the Academic Staffs (The Case of Some Selected Ethiopian Universities)

Turnover intention is a potential risk that exists in all organization, despite of the type or its activities. The educational institution is one such organisation that comes under threat from this risk, when its employees and faculty members are exposed to thinking of leaving their jobs. Thus this study aimed at exploring the Determinants of Employees Turnover Intention among the Academic Staffs of Some Selected Ethiopian public Universities.The research was conducted with a mixed research approach coupled with descriptive and explanatory research design and cross sectional data collected for the year 2016/17 using a self administered questionnaire. A Binary Logistic Regression model was employed for analysis of the determinants of turnover intention. The descriptive statistics showed that the 36% of the academic staff were intended to leave their Universities in the fore- coming future whereas, the rest 64 % prefer to be stayed in their universities. The findings from the estimated general binary logistic regression model signified a moderate relationship between explanatory variables and the dependent variable. Age affirms a negative and however, a statistically insignificant result, year of experience revealed a different result than it was hypothesized. Female academic staff were 1.492 times more likely to have turnover intention than their counterparts, married academic staffs were 2.088 times less likely to leave their university than their counter parts and academic staffs with a perceived lower salary were 1.231 times more likely intended to leave their Universities. Hence, the researchers recommended the case universities to Provide appropriate and adequate resources for conducting daily operation such as teaching and research, appropriate staffing and proper internal placement of staff, More over Empower personnel through workshops and training, Provide employees with clear job descriptions and a career path and  Provide adequate support of employees as well as adequate supervision contribute a lot in reducing intention to leave in the selected University. Keywords: turnover, turn over intention, Binary logistics, academic staff, Determinants