Deontological and Consequential Ethics for Quality Standards: Blurring the Boundaries to Secure Accountability in Policy Compliance for Public Administration Practices

The nexus between ethics and accountability has long been assumed and debated in public administration but the nature of that relationship has not been clearly scrutinized and pronounced. This is the essence of this article as it seeks to define how problematic the relationship has been in administrative practices in a Ghanaian public university.  The paper makes an effort to provide policy direction for service improvement by introducing two key philosophies that form the basis of ethical behaviour for quality standards in administrative work in public universities. It discusses the major approaches to moral theory (deontology, consequentialism and virtue ethics) and links ethics to laws and statutory regimes of public organisations. Finally, the paper discusses how these theories might inform ethical administrative practices to achieve quality standards in public universities. The paper obtained empirical data from students and administrative staff from a public university, and lays primary emphasis on the general and common elements in contemporary administrative practices that are needed to achieve quality standards, but nonetheless the discussion also considers the contextualisation processes involved in the realisation or enactment of policy or regulatory statutes in specific organisational settings for ethical behaviour. A set of generic ‘problems’ which constitute the contemporary social and political conditions for administrative practices are also adumbrated. The paper sets out philosophical ideas and a number of practical mechanisms for infusing and institutionalizing quality standards in administrative work. It shows that for the introduction of the relevant codes of ethics and conduct to be effective in administrative work, these need to be supported by a range of mechanisms, training, and strong leadership by managers, and these are made possible when the boundaries around deontological and consequential ethics are blurred. Keywords: public administration; good governance; code of ethics; professionalism; moral principles; Kantianism; utilitarianism; moral theories. DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-5-01 Publication date:July 31st 202

Measuring Teacher Classroom Management Skills: A Comparative Analysis of Distance Trained and Conventional Trained Teachers

Many researchers and educationist remain skeptical about the effectiveness of distance learning program and have termed it as second to the conventional training method. This perception is largely due to several challenges which exist within the management of distance learning program across the country.  The general aim of the study is compare the classroom management skills exhibited by distance trained teachers to that of conventional trained teachers in their field of work. Teacher classroom management was classified into two multidimensional constructs consisting of effective behavior management skills and instructional learning format skills. A quantitative design strategy was adapted for the study. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire from 500 teachers-consisting of 250 conventional and 250 distance trained teachers - and 60 head teachers selected from basic schools across 10 regions in Ghana. Head teachers assessment of teachers served as a means of triangulating results obtained. Data obtained during survey was coded and entered into a SPSS statistical software and subsequently analysed using both descriptive and inferential methods. Results from the study reveal that there were no significant differences in all nineteen (19) items used in measuring teacher classroom control mechanism. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the study. Keywords: Distance training; conventional training, effective behavior management, instructional learning

Examining Support Systems of Dual Mode Colleges of Education in Ghana

The lack of facilities, administrative structures and staffing to support the distance learning programmes has raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of distance learning program. The general aim of the study was to examine the availability of facilities, administrative structures and staffing that exist for running the distance teacher training programme within dual mode teacher training colleges, examine challenges that exist and also to make recommendations in order to improve upon the quality of the distance teacher training programme. A sequential exploratory mixed design strategy was adapted for the study. The population of the study included 38 colleges of education across 10 regions of Ghana. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire from Principals of thirty (30) colleges and via semi-structured interviews from thirty (30) teachers from thirty randomly selected colleges of education. Data obtained during survey was coded and entered into a SPSS statistical software and subsequently analysed using both descriptive and inferential methods. Results from the study revealed that both principal and teachers were of the view that, although, there were available of resources put in place within dual mode colleges of education to facilitate the running of the distance teacher training, there were still some challenges which needed urgent attention so as to improve upon the quality of teacher training in colleges. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the study

Malignant struma ovarii harboring a unique NRAS mutation: case report and review of the literature

Struma ovarii (SO), a rare tumor containing at least 50% of thyroid tissue, represents approximately 5% of all ovarian teratomas; its malignant transformation rate is reported to occur in up to 10% of cases and metastases occur in about 5-6% of them. We describe a 36-year old woman who underwent laparoscopic left annessectomy two years earlier because of an ovarian cyst. Follow-up imaging revealed a right adnexal mass, ascitis and peritoneal nodes that were diagnosed as comprising a malignant SO with peritoneal secondary localizations at histopathology performed after intervention. Restaging with F-18-FDG-PE T/CT scan, abdominal CT and ultrasonography showed abnormalities in the perihepatic region and presacral space and left hypochondrium localizations. The patient underwent thyroidectomy, hepatic nodulectomy and cytoreductive peritonectomy: histopathological examination did not show any malignant disease in the thyroid and confirmed the presence of peritoneal localizations due to malignant SO; molecular analysis detected NRAS Q61K mutation in exon 3, whereas no mutations were identified on the BRAF gene. The patient underwent radioiodine treatment: serum Tg was decreased at first follow-up after three months of I-131-therapy. We believe that our case raises some interesting considerations. First, pathologists should be aware of this entity and should check for the presence of point mutations suggesting an aggressive disease behavior, which could be beneficial for an optimal therapeutic approach. Second, although most of the knowledge in this field comes from case reports, efforts should be made to standardize the management of patients affected by malignant SO, including use of practice guidelines

The Embryonic Transcriptome Of The Red-Eared Slider Turtle (Trachemys Scripta)

The bony shell of the turtle is an evolutionary novelty not found in any other group of animals, however, research into its formation has suggested that it has evolved through modification of conserved developmental mechanisms. Although these mechanisms have been extensively characterized in model organisms, the tools for characterizing them in non-model organisms such as turtles have been limited by a lack of genomic resources. We have used a next generation sequencing approach to generate and assemble a transcriptome from stage 14 and 17 Trachemys scripta embryos, stages during which important events in shell development are known to take place. The transcriptome consists of 231,876 sequences with an N-50 of 1,166 bp. GO terms and EC codes were assigned to the 61,643 unique predicted proteins identified in the transcriptome sequences. All major GO categories and metabolic pathways are represented in the transcriptome. Transcriptome sequences were used to amplify several cDNA fragments designed for use as RNA in situ probes. One of these, BMP5, was hybridized to a T. scripta embryo and exhibits both conserved and novel expression patterns. The transcriptome sequences should be of broad use for understanding the evolution and development of the turtle shell and for annotating any future T. scripta genome sequences

Mental Disorder Recovery Correlated with Centralities and Interactions on an Online Social Network

Recent research has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence that effective social behavior plays a beneficial role in the maintenance of physical and psychological well-being of people. To test whether social behavior and well-being are also associated in online communities, we studied the correlations between the recovery of patients with mental disorders and their behaviors in online social media. As the source of the data related to the social behavior and progress of mental recovery, we used PatientsLikeMe (PLM), the world's first open-participation research platform for the development of patient-centered health outcome measures. We first constructed an online social network structure based on patient-to-patient ties among 200 patients obtained from PLM. We then characterized patients' online social activities by measuring the numbers of "posts and views" and "helpful marks" each patient obtained. The patients' recovery data were obtained from their self-reported status information that was also available on PLM. We found that some node properties (in-degree, eigenvector centrality and PageRank) and the two online social activity measures were significantly correlated with patients' recovery. Furthermore, we re-collected the patients' recovery data two months after the first data collection. We found significant correlations between the patients' social behaviors and the second recovery data, which were collected two months apart. Our results indicated that social interactions in online communities such as PLM were significantly associated with the current and future recoveries of patients with mental disorders.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables; accepted for publication in Peer

Determinants of social media adoption by B2B organizations

This study contributes to the current dearth of knowledge on the potential of social media as a marketing tool in industrial settings, by focusing on factors that determine social media adoption by B2B organizations. A conceptual model, which draws on the technology acceptance model and resource-based theory, is developed and tested using quantitative data from B2B organizations in the UK. Findings suggest that perceived usefulness of social media within B2B organizational contexts is determined by image, perceived ease of use and perceived barriers. Additionally, the results show that adoption of social media is significantly affected by organizational innovativeness and perceived usefulness. The moderating role of organizational innovativeness is also tested but no support is found. The findings of the study are further validated via nine qualitative interviews with B2B senior managers, yielding additional interesting and in-depth insights into the drivers of social media adoption by B2B organizations

The effect of water deficit on reproductive growth of Zea mays L.

xxi, 296 leaves : ill. ; 25 cm.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Plant Physiology, 197