Effect of humidity on transonic flow

An experimental investigation of the effects of humidity-induced condensation on shock/boundary-layer interaction has been conducted in a transonic wind-tunnel test. The test geometry considered was a wall-mounted bump model inserted in the test section of the wind tunnel. The formation of a λ-shape condensation shock wave was shown from schlieren visualization and resulted in a forward movement of the shock wave, reduced shock wave strength, and reduced separation. Empirical correlations of the shock wave strength and humidity/dew point temperature were established. For humidity levels below 0.15 or a dew point temperature of 268 K, the effect of humidity was negligible. The unsteady pressure measurements showed that if a condensation shock wave formed and interacted with a main shock wave, the flow becomes unsteady with periodic flow oscillations occurring at 720 Hz

Factors Affecting Effective Succession Management in the Civil Service in Kenya: A Case of Ministry of Water and Irrigation

Effective succession management can play a very important role in ensuring positive growth in an organization. However, in Kenyan context especially in the civil service this issue has received less attention from past researchers hence the need to undertake this study. Organizations all over the world are faced with succession challenges prompted by, among other factors; demographic shifts, stagnation in one level in employment and effects of natural attrition. The affected institutions respond by instituting necessary succession management measures aimed at ensuring availability of capable human resources for consistent service delivery. The Kenya Civil Service faces career succession and stagnation management problems manifested by the ageing Civil Servants with an estimate of 58% of the total workforce aged thirty five years and above. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting succession management in the civil service. This study was carried out in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation headquarters in Nairobi. The target population was 300 civil servants in the middle and senior management level (job groups K and above) in the ministry of water and irrigation headquarters. Seventeen percent (17%) of the target population were sampled for the purpose of this study. The data had been analyzed using quantitative methods that involve simple descriptive statistics based on frequency tables and percentages and SPSS package for data analysis. The study has revealed that there is lack of effective succession management in the ministry of water and irrigation. Succession management initiatives were reported to be inconspicuous and incongruous owing to the fact that majority of the human resource management functions are performed by external agencies namely the public service commission of Kenya and Directorate of personnel Management. The Ministry should explore the possibility of forming a succession management committee to streamline succession issues and make provisions for outgoing officers to pass-on special skills to the likely successors in programmes akin to apprenticeships. It is also recommended that human resources managers should be empowered to carry out comprehensive Human resource management functions in their respective ministries Keywords:Succession Management,Stagnation,Civil service,Apprenticeships,Human Resources,Keny

Organizations Communication of Corporate Identity Elements to Employees in Kenya

This article highlights the channels organizations employ in communicating Corporate Identity (CI) elements to employees. Organizations have CI structures which act as navigators in achieving their goals and realizing their dreams, employees are expected to interpret these corporate identity symbols and statements correctly. However, there is a disparity in the development, communication, interpretation and implementation of the CI elements. As the organizations do these employees are assumed to be communicated and aware of the corporate identity. This article is based on a study carried out in one of the state agency in Kenya in which its key objective was to find out why there is disconnect in development of Corporate Identity (CI) structures by the management and the interpretation of these elements by employees. The study adopted qualitative research approach and the research method was case study. The population of the entire research site was four hundred (400) employees. The sampling technique adopted was purposive and the sample size was 20 participants, comprising of 2 managers, 3 middle level managers (supervisors) and 15 lower cadre employees. The data generation technique was interviews schedules. The data was analyzed thematically. The key finding was that the organization had channels of communication but communication flow on CI elements was not balanced in the organization resulting to employees not interpreting CI elements. The study concludes that interpretation of CI elements in the organization was still minimal. This study recommends the review on organization channels of communication on CI to enhance communication flow. Keywords: organization, communication, Corporate Identity, elements, employee

Relationship between Personality Types and Career Choices of Undergraduate Students: A Case of Moi University, Kenya

This study investigated the relationship between personality types and career choices of undergraduate students of Moi University. In Kenya, students are allowed to revise their career choices at various levels of education before they settle on one course of study in the University. The process of choosing careers begins in form three where students selects subject that would lead them to specific career. Before the final year in high school they choose University courses they would pursue in the University. After the releases of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results, they are allowed to revise their choices. On admission to the University they are given another opportunity to apply for inter-faculty change. Consequently, there is a possibility that students are in career that are not in line with their personality types. The population for the study was undergraduate students admitted by the University Joint Admission Board (JAB). Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select five schools, and a sample 399 participants. A survey research design was used because the study aimed at assessing relationships among the naturally occurring variables with the goal of identifying predictive relationships. The study was based on John Holland Personality Theory of Career Choice (Holland, 1997). The study used Questionnaires adapted from Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS) to sort out student’s personality types, and Holland’s Occupational Finder checklist was used to categorize degree programmes into career choices according to Holland’s Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional (RIASEC) model. A reliability of 0.86 of the instruments was established through a pilot study in two non-sampled degree programmes. The data collected were analysed descriptively by use of frequency tables and figures. Chi-square was used to test the null hypothesis at level of significance of 0.5. Results indicated that there was a relationship between personality types, and career choice. The study also found that most of the students (73.3%) are satisfied with their course of study.  Research findings will enhance the understanding of personality types on career planning, development and career guidance and counselling in both secondary school and the University. An appropriate career choice for students would enhance satisfaction and success in their course of study and future employment. Keywords: Relationship, Personality types, Career choice, congruence, satisfactio

NAM-SCA: A Nonhydrostatic anelastic model with segmentally constant approximations

International audienceAn atmospheric convective system may be modeled as an ensemble of discrete plume elements. A representation of decomposited plumes provides the basis for mass-flux convective parameterization. A dry version of such a prototype model is constructed in a two-dimensional horizontally periodic domain. Each discrete plume element is approximated by a horizontally homogeneous segment such that the whole system is given by segmentally constant approximations (SCA) in the horizontal direction for each vertical level in a nonhydrostatic anelastic model (NAM). The distribution of constant segments is highly inhomogeneous in space and evolves with time in a highly adaptive manner. The basic modeling strategy from a physical point of view is to activate new segments vertically upward with time when a convective plume is growing and to deactivate segments when a plume event is over. The difference in physical values crossing segment interfaces is used as a criterion for numerically implementing this strategy. Whenever a large difference is found, the given interface is stretched vertically by subdividing an existing segment into two. In turn, when a segment interface difference is found below the threshold, the given interface is removed, thereby merging the two segments into one. This nonhydrostatic anelastic model with segmentally constant approximations (NAM-SCA) is tested on an idealized atmospheric convective boundary layer. It successfully simulates the evolution of convective plumes with a relatively limited number of segments (i.e., high compression) and with a much scarcer distribution of segments over nonplume environments (i.e., extremely inhomogeneous distribution of segments). Overall, this method compresses the size of the model up to 5 times compared to a standard NAM with homogeneous grid distribution without substantially sacrificing numerical accuracy. © 2010 American Meteorological Society