Availability Of Physical Resources Research Articles

Practicability of Fundraising Used by Heads of Schools in Mobilizing Physical Resources in Public Secondary Schools in Hai District, Tanzania

The study investigated the practicability of fundraising used by heads of schools in mobilizing physical resources in public secondary schools in Hai District. The study was guided by one research question. Convergent research design under a mixed methods approach was employed. The study anchored on Resource Mobilization theory. The targeted population was 1 District Secondary Education Officer, 624 teachers, and 31 heads of schools in public secondary schools in Hai District. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used to select 124 Teachers, 6 Heads of School and 1 DSEO, making a total of 131 respondents. Data were collected through Questionnaires, interview guides and document analysis guides. Validation of instruments was done by three research experts from Mwenge Catholic University. The reliability of quantitative data collection instruments was ensured through Cronbach alpha for Likert-type items where the coefficient determined was 0.7, hence acceptable for data collection. Credibility of qualitative data collection instruments such as interview guides and document analysis guides was ensured through triangulation. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to generate percentages, frequencies and means scores. Qualitative data from the interview guide was organized and analyzed thematically. The study found fundraising to be an essential strategy to bridge resource gaps, improve the availability of physical resources, and common strategies for mobilizing physical resources in public secondary schools. The study recommends that teachers and heads of schools strengthen teamwork in conducting fundraising for the mobilization of physical resources.

Accessing the Effectiveness of Preparing Teachers’ Program at University Level in Pakistan

B.Ed (Honors) program initiated with the recommendations of the National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan. Government of Pakistan (GOP) ensures to expose a deep interest in creating severe modifications to confiscate entirely differences in the transnational standards. The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of B.Ed (Honors) program being offered in private and public sector universities in Pakistan. Faculty teachers and alumni were selected as sample of the study. For data collection, questionnaire containing 45 statements with four factors and focus group discussion were used. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics indicated that the respondents were satisfied about the teachers’ content knowledge, effectiveness of teaching methodologies, practices of behavior changes and timely feedbacks. Respondents were less satisfied with the statements related to admission criteria, appropriateness of content, supportive environment for learning and teaching practices, assessment system and availability of physical resources. Inferential statistics showed that significant difference in mean scores of respondents from private and public sectors universities on the factors of program objectives, content of program, assessment procedure and accessibility of physical facilities. It is suggested in the light of findings that administration of universities should allocate more budget for improving the quality of this program, content should revised, selection criteria should appropriate, availability and proper use of technology and proficiency of English.
 

The Availability of Physical and Human Resources on the Implementation of Adult Education Programmes in Cross River State, Nigeria

This study investigated the availability of physical and human resources on the implementation of adult education programmes in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two research questions were formulated. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 600 respondents were selected from eighteen local government areas using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The instrument used for data collection was 20 items, modified rating scale questionnaire titled “Availability of Physical and Human Resources and Implementation of Adult Education programmes Rating Scale (APHRIAEPRS)” was used for data collection. The instrument was dully validated by experts and its reliability estimate was established at .84 using Chronbach Alpha reliability method. Data collected were analysed using simple percentages. The findings from the results revealed that availability of physical resources on the implementation of adult education programmes was inadequate while availability of human resources for the implementation of adult education programmes was 50% average in the study area. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that there should be adequate provision of physical resources to boost the implementation of adult education programmes

Evaluating Trauma Care Capabilities using the Essential Trauma Care Guidelines of the World Health Organization: Cross-sectional study of primary health centres in Muscat, Oman.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate trauma care capabilities at the primary care level in Muscat, Oman, using World Health Organization guidelines.MethodsThis descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2015 at eight primary health centres in Seeb. An English-language questionnaire was distributed to the medical officer or nurse in-charge at each centre to determine the number of staff, total population being served, number of emergency trauma cases and availability of ambulances. Subsequently, 10 doctors from each health centre were randomly selected to assess the availability of physical resources as well as their trauma skills and knowledge.ResultsThere were limited physical and human resources for the management of trauma and a complete absence of trauma administrative functions, such as local trauma registries or quality improvement activities.ConclusionThis study highlighted the need to introduce national guidelines and improve the delivery of trauma services in Oman.

STAKEHOLDERS PREPAREDNESS OF SCHOOL TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES TO FACILITATE TRANSITION FROM 8-4-4 TO COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM IN BUNGOMA, KENYA

Change and transition processes are complex. As a result, the implementers tend to be reluctant in executing them. Education in Kenya has evolved with time in an effort to meet the needs of the changing times to attain quality standards. However, policy changes in the education sector have been both a success as well as have experienced failures in their implementation. Kenyas education system is currently transitioning from 8-4-4 to the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) which is in its implementation stage following a one-year pilot. This study sought to investigate the Stakeholders preparedness of school teaching and learning resources to facilitate transition from 8-4-4 to Competency Based Curriculum in Bungoma, Kenya. The study was anchored on Kotters eight step model theory that defines the manner of handling change in an organization and used descriptive research design due to its appropriateness in identifying characteristics, frequencies, trends, correlations and categories of the variables under study. The population under study was divided into separate clusters from which a probability sample was drawn. The target population of 3,159 was used and samples were drawn from the target population with the use of systematic random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Further, data was collected by use of questionnaires, interview guides and document analysis guide. The study revealed that the pace of transition from 8-4-4 to CBC was slow with (287) 90% out of the 319 school heads who held the view that the pace of transition to CBC is slow while 113(64.6%) out of the 175 teacher respondents held a similar view. The study found that the lack of adequate resource variables accounted for the slow pace of transition compared to attitude and condition variables. Further the study revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between availability of school resources and transition from 8-4-4 to CBC. Indeed, the availability of physical resources is critical in facilitating the transition from 8-4-4to CBC. Further, the study recommended that focus should be laid on providing interventions for the lacking resource variables and incorporation of self-learning training strategies for the instructors as well as students in order to overcome the challenge occasioned by the inappropriate pupil-teacher ratio. The study concluded that the discrepancy with regards to the lack of adequate resources had more to do with lack of proper change management with regards to transition and therefore the National government, County government, educational planners, principals and School Boards of Management ought to intervene by incorporating change management strategies to spur the CBC change management process, failure to which the CBC may fail to take root like other preceding policies in the education sector.

Family and provider perceptions of quality of care in the management of sick young infants in primary healthcare settings in four counties of Kenya

BackgroundUnderstanding the perceptions of quality of care given to sick young infants in primary healthcare settings is key for developing strategies for effective uptake and utilisation of possible severe bacterial...

Physical and Social Neighborhood Environments and Well-Being

Existing research has found effects of neighborhood environment on well-being. However, it is still not clear what features of neighborhood environments affect well-being for older adults and whether the impact of the environment varies depending on the health and economic conditions. In this study, we examined the relations between 4 physical and social neighborhood-context factors, that is, the availability of neighborhood physical resources (e.g. community centers and libraries), the walkability and accessibility, the availability of social resources (e.g. culture and recreation programs, and social care services), and the social inclusion (e.g. participation in decision making, and positive social attitude toward older adults), and individual-level well-being. Moreover, we examined the health and economic disparities of effect of neighborhood environments on well-being. We used data from locally representative longitudinal study of older Japanese aged 74 to 86 (N = 1388). Results from multi-level linear regression showed that after controlling individual variables having inhibitory/facilitatory effects of well-being, the availability of physical resources was associated with higher well-being score. Especially among older adults who had financial strains, the availability of physical environment had a positive effect on well-being more strongly. For older adults who had better physical functions, accessibility and walkability were associated with higher well-being score. The social inclusiveness was associated with higher well-being score among those who had no financial strain. These important findings demonstrate the need for more research exploring the underlying mechanisms. The potential benefits of this approach provide a basis for developing models of maintaining well-being for older adults.

The Relationship between Environmental Characteristics and Risk Management Practices on Produce Farms: A Systematic Literature Review

Produce-associated foodborne disease outbreaks have increased worldwide highlighting the importance of proper implementation of risk management practices (RMP). We determined the relationship between environmental characteristics (i.e., physical resources) of produce farms and implementation of RMP. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses principles, we identified 36 studies to include in our analysis. Most study data were collected through surveys administered to growers in developed countries. Quality assessment results showed that studies on this topic should be more rigorously conducted (e.g., powering sample sizes and training data collectors) to yield better quality evidence. Agricultural waters were the most common environmental characteristic assessed, with many farms using unsafe water sources. Hygiene aids (e.g., accessible handwashing facilities), were lacking across many farms. Animal intrusion RMP were the least commonly assessed environmental characteristic. Only one study tested the relationship between on-farm environmental characteristics and RMP implementation reporting a positive relationship between accessible handwashing and worker hygiene practices. Grower knowledge and perception of RMP combined with cost and ease in carrying out RMP might influence the availability of physical resources for proper RMP implementation. These results can inform practical interventions aimed to increase adoption of RMP on produce farms.

Timing Advance Estimation and Beamforming of Random Access Response in Crowded TDD Massive MIMO Systems

Timing advance (TA) estimation at the base station (BS) and reliable decoding of random access response (RAR) at the users are important steps in the initial random access (RA) procedure. However, due to limited availability of physical resources dedicated for RA, successful completion of RA requests would become difficult in high user density scenarios, due to contention among users requesting RA. In this paper, we propose to use the large antenna array at the massive multiple input multiple output BS to jointly group RA requests from different users using the same RA preamble. We then beamform the common RAR of each detected user group onto the same frequency resource, in such a way that most users in the group can reliably decode the RAR. The proposed RAR beamforming therefore automatically resolves the problem of collision between multiple RA requests on the same preamble, which reduces the RA latency significantly as compared to LTE. Analysis and simulations also reveal that for a fixed desired signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio of the received RAR, both the required per-user preamble transmission power and the total RAR beamforming power can be decreased roughly by 1.5 dB with every doubling in the number of BS antennas.

Relaciones interpersonales en el clima laboral de la universidad tecnológica del Chocó Diego Luis Córdoba

This work seeks to analyze the importance of interpersonal relationshipsas an essential part of social life having a direct impact on the developmentof the human being, for which it is necessary to identify how interpersonalrelationships affect the interior of the Technological University ofChoco “Diego Luis Cordoba”, to contribute to the improvement of employeeperformance. For the development of the research, eight dimensions wereused, such as: interpersonal relationships, organizational culture, communication,availability of physical resources and knowledge, autonomy anddecision-making, motivation and support, carried out through a qualitativecross-sectional study with a quantitative support on a sample of 62 people,which showed that communication is the dimension that most correlateswith the other dimensions studied, allowing to conclude that it affects directly,because maintaining good interpersonal relationships favors andincreases the productive level in every institution.

Impact of Private Secondary Schools on Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)

The aim of the study was to find the impact of private secondary schools on education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan). The study was descriptive in nature designed to know strengths and weaknesses of access and quality of education of private secondary schools in the province. A questionnaire comprised of concepts of access and quality like professional quality of teachers, methods of teaching, availability of physical resources, availability of library, were developed and administered for getting information from respondents. A sample of 1920 respondents was randomly selected from 120 private secondary schools. Data were collected personally from the respondents and analyzed on frequency percentage score method. The major findings of the study drawn from the analysis of data were that private secondary schools have positive impact on educational development of the province. It was also found that short duration, lack of coordination among principal and teachers, lack of transport and hostels, shortage of physical and instructional facilities were the problems to be solved on priority basis.

Drivers of climate risk in African agriculture

Climate-related risks to African agriculture are highly contextual. Climatic conditions are changing in diverse agro-ecological environments throughout Africa, and populations are being affected by, and responding to, these changes. The paper describes how climate change risks in African agriculture are mediated by multiple factors, ranging from the availability of physical resources through policy contexts to the role of culture. Consequently, support to adaptation needs to be complemented with research that can generate contextual information to inform adaptation policies, strategies, and measures. Interventions need to go beyond just technical fixes such as the development of new crop varieties, and must be based on an understanding of how different factors interact in a complex manner to drive risks and results in specific contexts to diverse outcomes.

Measuring the competitiveness of Latvian companies

This study makes an empirical contribution by exploring factors that contribute to the competitiveness of Latvian companies. The paper draws on a survey of owner-managers to determine the availability and use of resources and strategies found to be important drivers for firms’ competitiveness. Overall, we identify a number of firm-level factors, including involvement in risk-taking behaviour, more extensive use of networking channels, and efficient use of various business strategies as potential sources to increase the competitiveness of Latvian companies. Company owner-managers, however, tend to be more productive in using available human resources, and are satisfied with the availability of physical resources in addition to having a strong export orientation. The study also indicates various shortcomings in the external environment which, as perceived by respondents, are a burden for competitive entrepreneurship activities in the Latvian market. In this light, albeit of an exploratory nature, this study can be used as a source for evidence-based entrepreneurship policies in Latvia and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Self-adaptive testing to determine sample size for flash memory solutions

Embedded system testing, especially long-term reliability testing, of flash memory solutions such as embedded multi-media card, secure digital card and solid-state drive involves strategic decision making related to test sample size to achieve high test coverage. The test sample size is the number of flash memory devices used in a test. Earlier, there were physical limitations on the testing period and the number of test devices that could be used. Hence, decisions regarding the sample size depended on the experience of human testers owing to the absence of well-defined standards. Moreover, a lack of understanding of the importance of the sample size resulted in field defects due to unexpected user scenarios. In worst cases, users finally detected these defects after several years. In this paper, we propose that a large number of potential field defects can be detected if an adequately large test sample size is used to target weak features during long-term reliability testing of flash memory solutions. In general, a larger test sample size yields better results. However, owing to the limited availability of physical resources, there is a limit on the test sample size that can be used. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a self-adaptive reliability testing scheme to decide the sample size for effective long-term reliability testing.

Percepção de enfermeiros sobre aspectos facilitadores e dificultadores de sua prática nos serviços de saúde mental

Trata-se de um estudo que teve como objetivo identificar os aspectos facilitadores e dificultadores das práticas dos enfermeiros nos serviços de Saúde Mental. Pesquisa descritiva de abordagem qualitativa, realizada em 22 serviços de Saúde Mental públicos do interior do Estado de Goiás. Foram sujeitos do estudo 21 enfermeiros. Utilizou-se o referencial de avaliação de Avedis Donabedian para discussão dos dados. Em relação aos aspectos facilitadores, foram citadas a disponibilidade de recursos físicos, mobiliário e materiais para realização das oficinas, qualificação profissional e relacionamento interpessoal com a equipe, coordenação e com os usuários. Entre os aspectos dificultadores predominaram também os relacionados à estrutura que os serviços oferecem. Ficou evidente que aspectos relacionados à estrutura e ao relacionamento interpessoal têm sido condicionantes para a efetividade das práticas dos enfermeiros em serviços de Saúde Mental no interior do estado de Goiás.

Building adaptive capacity in South East Queensland, Australia

The effectiveness of various adaptation options is dependent on the capacity to plan, design and implement them. Understanding the determinants of adaptive capacity is, therefore, crucial for effective responses to climate change. This paper offers an assessment of adaptive capacity across a range of sectors in South East Queensland, Australia. The paper has four parts, including (1) an overview of adaptive capacity, in particular as a learning process; (2) a description of the various methods used to determine adaptive capacity; (3) a synthesis of the determinants of adaptive capacity; and (4) the identification of mechanisms to build adaptive capacity in the region. We conclude that the major issue impacting adaptive capacity is not the availability of physical resources but the dominant social, political and institutional culture of the region.

Multi-Layered Performance Monitoring for Cloud Computing Applications

Abstract Cloud computing revolutionizes the way large amounts of data are processed and offers a compelling paradigm to organizations. An increasing number of data-intensive scientific applications are being ported to cloud environments such as virtualized clusters, in order to take advantage of increased cost-efficiency, flexibility, scalability, improved hardware utilization and reduced carbon footprint, among others. However, due to the complexity of the application execution environment, routine tasks such as monitoring, performance analysis and debugging of applications deployed on the cloud become cumbersome and complex. These tasks often require close interaction and inspection of multiple layers in the application and system software stack. For example, when analyzing a distributed application that has been provisioned on a cluster of virtual machines, a researcher might need to monitor the execution of his program on the VMs, or the availability of physical resources to the VMs. This would require the researcher to use different sets of tools to collect and analyze performance data from each level. Otus is a tool that enables resource attribution in clusters and currently reports only the virtual resource utilization and not the physical resource utilization on virtualized clusters. This is insufficient to fully understand application behavior on a cloud platform; it would fail to account for the state of the physical infrastructure, its availability or the variation in load by other VMs on the same physical host, for example. We are extending Otus to collect metrics from multiple layers, starting with the Hypervisor. Otus can now collect information from both the VM level as well as the Hypervisor level; and this information is collected in an OpenTSDB database, which is scalable to large clusters. A web-based application allows the researcher to selectively visualize these metrics in real-time or for a particular time range in the past. We have tested our multi-layered monitoring technique on several Hadoop Mapreduce applications and clearly identified the causes of several performance problems that would otherwise not be clear using existing methods. Apart from helping researchers understand application needs, our technique could also help accelerate the development and testing of new platforms for cloud researchers.

Early years practitioners’ perceptions of play: An exploration of theoretical understanding, planning and involvement, confidence and barriers to practice

Previous research has indicated that the centrality of play within curricula documentation is not necessarily enough to guarantee its successful implementation, and that practice can be challenged by parental attitude, inadequate theoretical understanding and training, pressure to evidence learning outcomes and the availability of physical resources. This paper considers perceptions of play amongst 26 early years practitioners who are involved in delivery of the Foundation Phase in Wales, a recently-introduced curricular approach designed to foreground play. Using data collected via semi-structured questionnaires, practitioners reported limited knowledge and training in play, felt relatively under confident in defending play practice and continued to see curriculum objectives as being a barrier to their play practice. An additional challenge described by practitioners related to children’s own play skills and ability. The findings raise issues for further consideration by policy makers in relation to training and resources. Other professionals might also benefit from shared insight into early years practitioners views, enabling them to appreciate and support the work of these professionals in their bid to provide the best educational experiences for every child.

Community Capacity for Cancer Prevention

We pilot-tested a street-level study of availability of physical resources to assess ethnic disparities in community capacity for cancer prevention in forty Brooklyn, NY, census tracts with high proportions of White, African American, or Jamaican immigrant populations. Interns with GIS maps made street-level inventories of food retailers, fast-food restaurants, and commercial exercise facilities. Availability was quantified as resources per capita or square mile. Median income-adjusted number of supermarkets, greengrocers and fast-food restaurants per square mile was significantly higher in Jamaican than in African American or White tracts. Bodegas per capita was greatest in African American tracts, with no significant differences among the population groups in availability of health food stores, or commercial exercise venues.

Community capacity for cancer prevention.

We pilot-tested a street-level study of availability of physical resources to assess ethnic disparities in community capacity for cancer prevention in forty Brooklyn, NY, census tracts with high proportions of White, African American, or Jamaican immigrant populations. Interns with GIS maps made street-level inventories of food retailers, fast-food restaurants, and commercial exercise facilities. Availability was quantified as resources per capita or square mile. Median income-adjusted number of supermarkets, greengrocers and fast-food restaurants per square mile was significantly higher in Jamaican than in African American or White tracts. Bodegas per capita was greatest in African American tracts, with no significant differences among the population groups in availability of health food stores, or commercial exercise venues.