1,872 research outputs found

    School-based management initiatives in Sri Lanka: policy into practice

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    This thesis evaluates the policy intentions, practices and effects of two different types of School-Based Management (SBM) initiatives in Sri Lanka: the Programme for School Improvement (PSI) and the Child-Friendly Schools Initiative (CFSI). Moreover, it examines the similarities and differences between these two initiatives and, when they co-exist in the same school, the ways in which schools have integrated them. PSI is the national SBM initiative of Sri Lanka introduced to the schools during 2006-2011 following a prolonged process of designing and consensus building which started in the 1990s. Running parallel to PSI, the CFSI - a rights-based approach to education which also has SBM features - is being implemented in selected primary schools. The policy discourse of SBM/PSI focused on the proposition that schools should be empowered to meet the expectations of their communities and that the administrative decentralisation which had shifted power from national to provincial levels was not addressing adequately disparities between schools. At the same time, there was scepticism as to whether SBM would be able to address the issues of a heterogeneous school system. CFSI was introduced by UNICEF in response to the government’s request to strengthen disadvantaged schools. The policy intentions of these two initiatives were investigated through interviews with key policy officials and with the representatives of development partner agencies who assisted PSI and CFSI. The influences of the policy-intents of PSI and CFSI on organisational practices, their effects, similarities, differences and complementarities were explored through six school case studies and experiences of the principals, teachers and parents. The thesis reveals that PSI is expected to empower schools with autonomy for making collaborative decisions, create a sense of ownership among the school community and permit improvement of schools. CFSI is intended to promote inclusiveness, child-centredness and democratic participation. They are both, in principle, guided by the concerns for ensuring equitable opportunities for all to learn, improving the quality of education which is judged by student learning outcomes and improving efficiency in resource allocation and use. At the school level, each case-study school has forged collaboration between school-parent-community and ensured democracy in decision-making. School-based decision-making is promoted by PSI through a set of Ministry guidelines and by CFSI through a participatory approach recommended by UNICEF and the Ministry, but having less official ‘force’ than PSI. Both initiatives have influenced to increase parents’ contribution in the school physical infrastructure development and in the educational projects. School-based planning has been promoted by both initiatives, and in some cases has resulted in the production of two separate plans. Some schools have combined these plans in accordance with the thematic structure of national Education Sector Development Framework. These initiatives have involved principals and teachers in decision-making, planning and implementation of programmes in collaboration with the community. The emphasis given to school-based teacher development is, however inadequate. Nonetheless, the increases in attendance and retention was influenced by CFSI rather than PSI, while both initiatives have had a positive influence by improving student learning and performance through various interventions at school and learning at home. The several ways in which these initiatives are integrated by schools, ensuring that each contributes towards filling the gaps left by the other are described. Considering their complementarities, the positive features of management in PSI and rights-based approach to education in CFSI in a rational manner, the author recommends an integrated ‘Learner-Friendly School-Based Management Model’ which will effectively address learners’ needs. It also recommends a methodology to pilot this model in Sri Lanka, thus putting the new knowledge produced by this research into practice

    Experimental Modeling of NOx and PM Generation from Combustion of Various Biodiesel Blends for Urban Transport Buses

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    Biodiesel has diverse sources of feedstock and the amount and composition of its emissions vary significantly depending on combustion conditions. Results of laboratory and field tests reveal that nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from biodiesel are influenced more by combustion conditions than emissions from regular diesel. Therefore, NOx and PM emissions documented through experiments and modeling studies are the primary focus of this investigation. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the feedstock-related combustion characteristics and pollutants are investigated. Research findings verify that the oxygen contents, the degree of unsaturation, and the size of the fatty acids in biodiesel are the most important factors that determine the amounts and compositions of NOx and PM emissions

    Subsurface Characterization of Flexible Pavements Constructed Over Expansive Soil Subgrades and Selection of Suitable Rehabilitation Alternatives

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    Expansive soils present significant engineering challenges, with annual costs associated with repairing structures constructed over expansive soils estimated to run into several billion dollars. Volume changes in expansive soil deposits induced by fluctuations in the moisture content can result in severe damage to overlying structures. A flexible pavement section near the Western Border of Idaho has experienced recurrent damage due to volume changes in the underlying expansive soil layer; traditional stabilization methods have provided partial success over the years. The main objective of this research effort was to characterize the problematic soil layer contributing to the recurrent pavement damage and propose suitable rehabilitation alternatives. An extensive laboratory test matrix was carried out to characterize soil samples collected from underneath the problematic pavement section. Laboratory tests showed that the problematic expansive soil deposit was often at depths greater than 6 ft. (183 cm) from the pavement surface. Potential Vertical Rise (PVR) values calculated for ten boreholes strategically placed along the problematic pavement section closely matched with the surface roughness profile observed in the field. Liquidity Index (LI) calculations indicated that the active-zone extended to a depth of least 11 ft. (335 cm) from the pavement surface, and therefore, most of the heaving likely originates from soil layers as deep as 11 ft. (335 cm) from the pavement surface. Clay mineralogy tests indicated the presence of high amounts of Montmorillonite that can lead to significant volume changes. Moreover, high sulfate contents were detected in soil samples obtained from several of the boreholes, indicating a potential for sulfate-induced heaving upon chemical stabilization using calcium-based stabilizers. Based on findings from the laboratory testing, it was concluded that chemical stabilization or shallow treatment alternatives are not likely to be successful in mitigating the recurrent differential heave problems. A mechanical stabilization approach using geocells was proposed as a likely rehabilitation alternative for this pavement section. By dissipating the heave-induced stresses over a wider area, this reinforcement configuration was hypothesized to significantly reduce the differential heave. Finite-element models of the pavement section comprising six alternative geocell-reinforced configurations were prepared using the commercially available package, ABAQUS®. Moisture swelling and suction properties for the expansive soil deposit were established in the laboratory and were used in the numerical model to simulate the swelling behavior. Results from the numerical modeling effort established that placing two layers of geocell within the unbound granular base layer led to the highest reduction (~60%) in the differential heave. Placing a single layer of geocell, on the other hand, reduced the differential heave magnitude by approximately 50%. A single layer of geocell was therefore recommended for implementation to achieve the optimal balance between pavement performance and construction costs

    Subsonic aerodynamic characteristics of interacting lifting surfaces with separated flow around sharp edges predicted by a vortex-lattice method

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    Because the potential flow suction along the leading and side edges of a planform can be used to determine both leading- and side-edge vortex lift, the present investigation was undertaken to apply the vortex-lattice method to computing side-edge suction force for isolated or interacting planforms. Although there is a small effect of bound vortex sweep on the computation of the side-edge suction force, the results obtained for a number of different isolated planforms produced acceptable agreement with results obtained from a method employing continuous induced-velocity distributions. By using the method outlined, better agreement between theory and experiment was noted for a wing in the presence of a canard than was previously obtained

    Hygiene and Sanitation Software: An Overview of Approaches

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    A review of the state of the art in methods and techniques for sanitation and hygiene behaviour change, and other non-hardware aspects of sanitation programming. Includes introductory text and detailed entries on more than 20 approaches and techniques, with key references, summary information on effectiveness and implementation and an assessment of when different approaches should be used

    Gap Analysis of Environmental Health Research in Malawi : Report to the National Commission of Science and Technology

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    The aim of this consultancy was to assess the current gaps in research for the environmental health sector in Malawi, and to recommend research priorities and an effective action plan to address these gap

    Extravehicular Mobility Unit Penetration Probability from Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris: Revised Analytical Model and Potential Space Suit Improvements

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    The NASA Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) micrometeoroid and orbital debris protection ability has recently been assessed against an updated, higher threat space environment model. The new environment was analyzed in conjunction with a revised EMU solid model using a NASA computer code. Results showed that the EMU exceeds the required mathematical Probability of having No Penetrations (PNP) of any suit pressure bladder over the remaining life of the program (2,700 projected hours of 2 person spacewalks). The success probability was calculated to be 0.94, versus a requirement of >0.91, for the current spacesuit s outer protective garment. In parallel to the probability assessment, potential improvements to the current spacesuit s outer protective garment were built and impact tested. A NASA light gas gun was used to launch projectiles at test items, at speeds of approximately 7 km per second. Test results showed that substantial garment improvements could be made, with mild material enhancements and moderate assembly development. The spacesuit s PNP would improve marginally with the tested enhancements, if they were available for immediate incorporation. This paper discusses the results of the model assessment process and test program. These findings add confidence to the continued use of the existing NASA EMU during International Space Station (ISS) assembly and Shuttle Operations. They provide a viable avenue for improved hypervelocity impact protection for the EMU, or for future space suits

    Urban water services in Sub Saharan Africa: access, private sector involvement and technical paradigm.

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    The thesis analyses the water supply sector in the Sub Saharan African region, focusing on the challenges experienced by the water utilities to fulfil their mandates, in a context of rapid urbanization. In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations (UN) conferences and summits, world leaders came together at UN Headquarters in New York to adopt the Resolution A/RES/55/2, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets - with a deadline in 2015 - that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The goal number 7 was \u201cEnsure environmental sustainability\u201d and it included the Target 7.C which is to \u201chalve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation\u201d. The water MDG is dramatically off track in Sub Saharan Africa, with only 64% of the population covered in 2012 instead of the expected 77.5% (WHO and UNICEF 2014). These poor performances are driven by urban areas, where the water supply coverage through household connections declined while the access through other improved sources, like public taps, private hand pumps and protected wells, hardly compensated for that. This calls for a reconsideration of the policies implemented in the sector following the prescriptions of the neoliberal agenda for the sector. In the \u201880s and \u201890s policymakers from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and donors agencies designed a set of recipes to address poor performances of the urban water services in the developing world. This happened in the context of structural adjustment policies, such as trade liberalization, labor market reforms, financial deregulation and privatization of State Owned Enterprises (SOE). In the water sector, these orientations were translated into decentralization, private sector participation, commercialization and corporatization of water utilities, with the shift of governments from providers to regulators. The thesis studies some of the devices and solutions typically adopted by the reformed utilities and justified by the expectation of positive outcomes for the access to water by the poor The work shows however that some of these devices gained a certain degree of autonomy from access goals and became a priority as such, to be pursued by water utilities regardless their impacts and interaction with key social dimensions. This phenomenon was in some cases favoured by a biased attitude of water sector practitioners, benchmarking regulation and donors. The work highlights that in some cases the reform solutions do not contribute to the achievement of the declared objectives, while their implementation can divert scarce resources and attention from key sector priorities. Cost recovery, Private Sector Participation and household level metering issues are analysed. The work is organized in three parts. The first part proposes a review of the main notions and issues addressed by water economics (chapter 1), with particular attention to developing countries. The second part is divided into three chapters, closely linked together for their arguments but conceived as autonomous papers and characterized by different methodological approaches: the first is quantitative, the second and the third are more qualitative in nature and they include original findings from interviews on the Lilongwe Water Board, a water utility from Malawi. The second chapter focuses on the problems of cost recovery and access to drinking water in Sub Saharan Africa. A model explaining the dynamics in water coverage which accounts for financial performances of utilities is proposed. The data set covers 25 countries in the Sub Saharan region from 1995 to 2012. The results suggest that the access to water depends upon financial results, but this relationship is not linear: with increasing returns for relatively low levels of cost recovery and decreasing returns beyond a certain threshold. The results are consistent with the literature about the risks associated with corporatization and neoliberal reforms in the water sector, and they provide some supporting quantitative evidence and recommendations for sector policies in the region. The third chapter refers to the Light Private Sector Involvement initiatives in the Sub Saharan Africa water supply sector, considering in particular efficiency improvements, aid effectiveness and related policy implications. The study analyses the determinants that can incentivize or discourage the partners of light forms of Private Sector Involvement (PSI) initiatives to achieve the expected results in the water supply sector in the Sub Saharan Africa region. This is done through a review of case studies involving management and service contracts, which are the lightest and lower risk forms of public-private partnership. While five cases are taken from the available literature, the sixth includes contributions from original research on Lilongwe Water Board (Malawi). The chapter considers the incentives to perform for both the private and the public partner, as determined by the contracts and by the wider context. The incentives necessary for both parties to engage in the partnership are also considered, jointly with the costs of creating these preconditions. The study concludes that the allocation of risks and decision making power are among the drivers of poor performances by light PSI initiatives. Moreover, as most partnerships are financed by development projects, the study discusses the policy implications of promoting these PSI initiatives. The fourth chapter analyses the priorities and tools for Water Demand Management in urban Africa, focusing on household level water metering. The study presents an analysis of the issues associated with water metering at household level by utilities in low income areas or informal settlements of Sub Saharan African cities. Metering is considered a key tool for water demand management and recommended as a good practice in the water supply sector but, while its benefits are clearly spelled out by donors and development agencies, its costs and shortcomings are seldom considered. The chapter analyses such challenges, based on the available literature and on an original case study on Lilongwe Water Board (Malawi). It is argued that the technical paradigm of metered household level connection can be in some cases a constraint to the connection of low income households, due to the high cost and complexity of the practices associated to this paradigm, while the benefits in terms of demand management are not straightforward. Some alternatives to universal household level metering are also identified. Finally, in the last part of the work the findings from the studies presented are summarized and some conclusions and recommendations are drawn about the importance of better focusing on the priority of water access, encompassing a wider set of operational solutions

    Prospects and limitations of full-text index structures in genome analysis

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    The combination of incessant advances in sequencing technology producing large amounts of data and innovative bioinformatics approaches, designed to cope with this data flood, has led to new interesting results in the life sciences. Given the magnitude of sequence data to be processed, many bioinformatics tools rely on efficient solutions to a variety of complex string problems. These solutions include fast heuristic algorithms and advanced data structures, generally referred to as index structures. Although the importance of index structures is generally known to the bioinformatics community, the design and potency of these data structures, as well as their properties and limitations, are less understood. Moreover, the last decade has seen a boom in the number of variant index structures featuring complex and diverse memory-time trade-offs. This article brings a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of the most popular index structures and their recently developed variants. Their features, interrelationships, the trade-offs they impose, but also their practical limitations, are explained and compared
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