Credit serves as a crucial driver of agricultural growth, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh, where agriculture is central to the economy. This study investigates the credit usage, availability, cost, and repayment behavior of pineapple farmers in Sreemangal Upazila. Using purposive and simple random sampling, data were collected from 100 farmers across four unions, of which 57 had obtained loans. These 57 borrowers were categorized into small, medium, and large farm sizes. A simple linear regression model was employed to examine the relationship between farm size and loan repayment performance. Findings indicate a positive correlation between farm size and credit practices. As farm size increased, farmers received a higher percentage of the loan amount they applied for, while their reliance on credit for household expenditure decreased. Notably, 57 percent of the borrowed funds were used for productive agricultural purposes, while the rest was spent inefficiently. Small-scale farmers showed weaker repayment performance whereas large-scale farmers demonstrated satisfactory loan recovery, as the regression analysis confirms. The results suggest that larger farms benefit from lower effective credit costs due to scale and efficiency. However, smallholders face barriers in accessing institutional credit-particularly from the Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB)-due to complex procedures, collateral demands, and delayed disbursement. Strengthening rural financial institutions and tailoring loan services to the needs of small-scale farmers could enhance credit accessibility and repayment performance, and ultimately foster inclusive agricultural development.
Modem Chinese art is not simply about preserving tradition or blindly following the West. Rather, it uses the mirror of outsiders to reflect its own face, expanding its own mind and realm. This allows for better introspection, development, and the formation of a distinct style. Against the backdrop of studying aesthetic modernity and the modernization of Chinese socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, traditional art faces the challenge of how to maintain its traditional essence while embodying a modern sensibility and the connotations of the new era. As a precious heritage of humanity, oracle bone inscriptions represent the oldest systematic writing discovered in present-day China. The artistic practice and theoretical contemplation of oracle bone inscriptions face the same challenges. This paper explores several dimensions including the modernity of artistic creation through oracle bone inscriptions, the primary formal characteristics of contemporary oracle bone inscription art, and the development of new media technologies in oracle bone inscription art. Employing methods such as induction, summarization, and comparison, this research aims to exhaustively summarize interpretations of the development and formal characteristics of oracle bone inscription art within modern aesthetic activities. Through this, the ancient art of this script is revitalized, revealing its intrinsic value in contemporary times.
This paper establishes that states with absolute sovereignty generate sovereignty-based conflicts. There has been limited scholarly effort to analyze the Chadian conflicts through a sovereign-based conflicts, especially by drawing attention how recurring cycles of authoritarian regimes generate and sustain these conflicts. Chad has long been confronted with sovereignty-based conflicts and entrenched authoritarian governance, with the two operating in a mutually reinforcing cycle. Specifically, it argues that authoritarian regimes systematically restrict meaningful participation in democratic processes, promote divided societies, and are not accountable to the electorate. The long-term risks are the `conflict trap' and the `authoritarian trap' in which conflict as well as authoritarian culture increases considerably after the first occurrence of conflict or an authoritarian regime. The paper also considers a third factor, the `peace agreement trap', in which peace agreements merely scratch the surface without dealing with the core issues: ethnic rights and democratic accountability. Peace thus also becomes a source of conflict.
This research explores how sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19, and government factors influence citizen satisfaction in post-COVID-19 South Korea, using hierarchical linear regression analysis. The findings reveal that trust in the national government (0.081) and political parties (0.081), along with demographic variables such as age (0.074), income (0.064), and residence in urban areas (-0.163), are key predictors of perceived quality of life. In terms of pride, political party trust (0.076), age (0.100), and urban living (-0.120) show significant associations. For the living dimension of satisfaction, trust in the national government (0.072), age (-0.311), and income (0.063) emerge as influential factors. Although COVID-19-specific policy measures do not significantly influence any category of satisfaction, both sociodemographic and governmental trust variables show consistent and meaningful effects across all aspects of citizen satisfaction.
