Thermal Conductivity Measurement With 3ω Method Background and Synopsis of Its Implementation

ABSTRACT Continued advances in nanostructured materials have made it necessary to develop materials with specific thermoelectric properties. The 3ω Method provides an accurate measurement of one such property, thermal conductivity. It will be used in this research to find high electrical conductivity alloys with low thermal conductivity

PROGRAM EVALUATION OF MUSIC TEACHER EDUCATION IN GHANA: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE, POLICY, AND RESEARCH

The improvement of music teacher education programs is inevitably tied to improvement of the quality of music instruction in schools. As such, one of the essential avenues for improving educational programs is conducting regular program evaluations. Given the ever-evolving national standards for school music, along with the changing socio-cultural dynamics in Ghana, a corresponding review of the music teacher education programs is needed. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the music teacher education programs in Ghana. By overlaying the Content, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model as a conceptual framework, I sought the perspective of practicing music teachers. Using a concurrent mixed methods approach, I collected data primarily through a survey that featured both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, I reviewed the curricula and instructional materials used for music teacher education in Ghana. Results of this study indicated that while music teachers preferred practical and performance related activities, the programs emphasized theoretical and historical concepts. Practices that contributed to the success of the programs included support and commitment of faculty, experiential learning opportunities, and emphasis on African music. The lack of musical instruments, curricular misalignments, and inadequate training time were the major challenges that confronted the programs. Participants concluded that greater emphasis on practical courses would have been an added advantage to their music teaching practice. This study augments the limited research on music teacher education in Ghana; thereby informing policymakers, administrators, and music educators on how to plan, implement, and promote music education programs

Free Will:Convergence and Divergence of Libet and Wegner

Int the light of the advancement in cognitive neuroscientific investigations of free will, from rCBF to EEG scan techniques and eventually fMRI scan techniques, such advanced studies on free will arguing for human determinism centre their research on the works of Libet and Wegner. The neurobiological experiment of Libet and the cognitive assessment by Wegner could be argued to eliminate the possibility of free will but Libet and Wegner’s views are in tandem, non-identical and intolerant of human freedom. This article exposes the incoherency intercepting Libet and Wegner’s studies and the philosophical imports that make them not coherent. Keywords: initiation, control, readiness potential, conscious will, illusion DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/56-01 Publication date:March 31st 202

Microfinance, Household Indebtedness and Gender Inequality

My dissertation explores the implications of access to microfinance for gender equity and household welfare in Ghana. The study draws on the quantitative and qualitative evidence from a unique dataset generated from a survey of 499 households, with and without access to microfinance, during my field research work in Ghana from May to July 2013. The motivation for the dissertation derives from evidence suggesting that access to finance is an important tool for fighting poverty and reducing inequality. However, for most developing countries access to finance for the poor is mainly through the informal or the semi-formal sector, including microfinance institutions (MFIs). Microfinance is taking the center stage in developing countries as a major source of finance for the poor. The question is whether there is a risk that the conditions of the poor could be worsened through increased debt burden from access to credit from MFIs. This question is legitimate for two main reasons. First, the interest rates charged by MFIs on credit tend to be relatively higher than those charged by banks. Second, higher interest rates imply higher debt obligations for low income households with low returns on investment, which weakens their balance sheet. This is a cause of concern, especially given the lack of institutional mechanisms for households in developing countries to deal with debt distress. This situation may make it harder for households to obtain additional external financing and to sustain expenditures, thereby leading to worsening household welfare. The evidence from this study shows that access to microfinance reduces gender asset gaps and generally improves household welfare. Further, the results suggest that debt burden beyond certain thresholds creates significant financial distress for households and reduces food expenditures while increasing the household’s credit constraints. The study shows that microfinance market, borrower-specific and household-specific characteristics are important factors explaining household indebtedness. Using an approach that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative analysis, and by applying different econometric approaches to household welfare analysis, this dissertation contributes to the growing body of empirical literature on the impact of access to microfinance on household-level welfare. It also contributes to a relatively new area of research on borrower debt distress arising from access to microfinance

An Investigation of Determinism and Chaotic Behavior in Flight Performance Data: A Chaos Theory and Nonlinear Time Series Analysis Approach

Human flight performance data were investigated using non-linear time series analysis methods to determine deterministic chaotic behavior in the data. Using a sequence of steps of non-linear methods, four flight performance data were used to investigate for the existence of deterministic chaotic behavior. Results revealed that flight performance data may exhibit chaotic behavior. Results also showed a consistent low determinism value in all the data examined which is the defining characteristic of chaotic behavior. It was also found that the data originated from non-stationary process. The Maximal Lyapunov Exponent (MLE) value which indicate chaotic behavior exist in the data revealed that most of the data examined possessed some traces of deterministic chaotic behavior evident by the low Maximal Lyapunov Exponent value

Market research for SWoove

Applied project submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, April 2019This capstone project sought to provide the client with an in depth understanding of the delivery space of Ghana, the various interactions between the businesses in this space, individuals and the major players in the delivery space I.e. logistic and delivery service personnel. It achieved this by conducting interviews and through the administration of surveys to the general public through platforms like WhatsApp and Twitter and Facebook. It did not however include an evaluation of the competitors and their individual strengths and weaknesses. It did this by conducting an in-depth interview between the above mentioned. It also sought to find out if the proposed operational plan of the firm is a good fit for the local industry and finally if their proposed strategy for entering the market is a sound one.Ashesi Universit

Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B Induced Clonal Anergy in αβ T Cell Receptor Transgenic Mice

Superantigens such as staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) have been widely used to study T cell tolerance. While both clonal deletion and apparent anergy have been described in response to superantigens, it has not been clear whether true anergy occurs, or whether the most reactive T cells are selectively deleted, leaving less reactive clones. To address this question, the response of an essentially monoclonal population of primary T cells to a superantigen was followed by priming ovalbumin (OVA) specific (X T cell receptor transgenic mice with SEB. Cells from these mice appeared to be anergic in that they were hyporesponsive to OVA peptide as well as to SEB. The anergic cells could respond to PMA and ionomycin suggesting that a proximal signal transduction step was affected. Cells from transgenic mice primed with OVA peptide, the specific antigen, were not anergic. Thus, in this system, the ability to tolerize mature T cells appears to be a property unique to superantigens. To address the question of whether superantigen induced tolerance was due to T cell activation in the absence of costimulation, we examined the effect of the CD28/B7 pathway on the response of T cells to SEB and OVA. The T cell response to both OVA and SEB was enhanced by antibodies to the CD28 coreceptor suggesting that CD28/B7 mediated costimulation plays a role in the signal transduction pathways coupled to the two types of antigens

College Students\u27 Choice Criteria of Retail Banks

The purpose of this research is to develop a scale identifying American college students’ choice criteria of retail banks. It is an exploratory study that complements extant studies on retail bank selection. The reliability of the scale was assessed using exploratory factor analysis and serves as a prelude to further empirical validation analysis. The results present four distinct factors important in the selection of retail banks, namely, convenience , competence”, “recommendation by parents and free banking - no bank charges . It concludes by discussing managerial contributions, limitations and future research directions

Effects of Market Orientation on University Brand Equity

Given the propensity of brand equity to act as a good information resource and performance evaluation system for market-oriented universities, the current study proposes that market orientation is positively correlated with brand equity in an academic institution where brand equity is operationalized by four dimensions: perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty. This study used open ended interviews to investigate brand equity concept in an educational environment. This method was designed to get individual observations of brand equity from the leaders of colleges and schools. Three Deans and Associate Deans were invited to participate in face-to-face open-ended discussions . Since it was the open-ended interview, the interviewees had opportunities to express their ideas about university brand equity and specific features that make brand equity in an academic setting different from that in a corporate setting. Based on extensive experiences in management, ideas of the university leaders set a solid foundation for establishing the right brand equity concept used in an academic setting. The findings of the study showed that there was a strong connection between market orientation and university brand equity. It seems reasonable to assume that these relationships should be positive because, like a business, universities attempt to implement marketing strategies in order to build a strong brand name in the marketplace, differentiating themselves from the others in a competitive environment, and attracting more students