Exploring the origins of burnout among secondary educators

Orientation: Maslach and Leiter (1997) have suggested that burnout constitutes an erosion of the soul. Burnout is a non-discriminatory phenomenon with a pronounced negative impact on the individual employee and the organisation and is particularly prevalent among educators. Research purpose: This study aimed to explore the probable reasons for burnout among secondary educators. Study motivation: Several South African studies have focused on the phenomenon of burnout among educators but the probable reasons for burnout in this population have not yet received adequate attention. This study extended earlier international research that probed this facet. Research design, approach and method: A mixed-methods design with a predominantly qualitative methodology was employed to explore the probable reasons for burnout among 59 educators from three urban secondary schools in Gauteng, South Africa. Data comprised Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey protocols and rich data work descriptions. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the five participants who tested highest on the burnout indicators. Main findings: The results indicated that a negative learner profile and workload were the most frequently cited reasons for potential burnout. Practical/managerial implications: Burnout requires considered attention and aggressive context specific intervention to contain its negative impact on both the educator and the student learning experience

Racemic tricarbonyl[(4a,5,6,7,8,8a-η)-2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran]chromium(0)

The title compound, [Cr(C15H14O)(CO)3], displays a distorted envelope configuration of the dihydro­pyrane ring. The dihedral angle between the phenyl and phenyl­ene rings is 50.63 (4)°. The Cr0 atom is coordinated by three CO groups and the phenyl­ene ring of the flavan ligand in an η6 mode, with a common arene-to-metal distanc

Livestock paths on Namaqualand quartz fields: Will the endemic flora disappear?

AbstractQuartz fields are rare features that contribute significantly to vegetation diversity and endemism of South Africa's Succulent Karoo Biome. The Riethuis-Wallekraal quartz fields in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa contain 17 quartz field specialist species of which seven are endemic to this specific area. Hoof-action by livestock has formed paths of approximately 0.30m on these quartz fields. It would be important to conservationists to understand whether direct (e.g. trampling) and indirect effects (e.g. burial of flora by sediment movement) associated with the livestock paths holds any threat to the dwarf succulent (<0.05m) and micro-chamaephytes (0.06–0.15m) endemic to the quartz fields. We tested the hypotheses that the unique quartz field vegetation and biological soil crusts would be affected by loose soil particles transported downslope from the paths. The soil stability index, total vegetation cover, cover of specialized quartz field species and species diversity were lower on livestock paths but did not differ between upslope and downslope locations. Livestock paths also had lower cover and fewer quartz field specialist species. It is concluded that under conditions of intense and continuous grazing, livestock are likely to have an even stronger negative impact on the specialist quartz field flora

Racemic tricarbon­yl(η6-7-meth­oxy­flavan)chromium(0)

In the title compound [systematic name: tricarbonyl(η6-7-methoxy-2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran)chromium(0)], [Cr(C16H16O2)(CO)3], the Cr(CO)3 unit is coordinated by the phenyl­ene ring of the flavan ligand, exhibiting a three-legged piano-stool conformation, with a point to plane distance of 1.750 (1) Å. The phenyl ring is twisted away from the fused ring system by 36.49 (5)° (r.m.s. deviation = 0.027 Å; fitted atoms are the C6 ring and the attached fused-ring C and O atoms). The dihydro­pyran ring displays a distorted envelope configuration by displacement of the phenyl-bearing and the adjacent ring C atoms from the fused-ring system plane by 0.356 (2) and 0.402 (2) Å, respectively

Interaction effects of effective microorganisms and prolonged storage on germination and seedling vigour of maize, sorghum and sunflower

Published ArticleA study involving two incubation experiments and a germination experiment in sandy soil was conducted to determine the influence of Multiplied Effective Micro-organisms (M-EM) that were exposed to different levels of irradiation and temperature fluctuation as well as prolonged storage, on the germination and seedling vigour of maize, sorghum and sunflower. Irrespective of poor handling and/or prolonged storage of M-EM, seed treatment with M-EM improved germination under optimal conditions for all crops compared to the control. Increased planting depths and cold stress were used to create conditions where seed treatment with M-EM may improve germination and seedling growth. Seed treatment with M-EM significantly improved germination and seedling vigour of the stress-tolerant maize cultivar following cold stress. Similar improved seedling vigour results were observed for the stress-tolerant sunflower cultivar at increased planting depth. It was concluded that the beneficial influence of M-EM as a seed treatment was remarkable, even after exposure of M-EM to unfavourable environmental conditions and prolonged storage before application. Further research under field conditions and in different cultivation systems are required before the large scale application of M-EM as seed treatment can be recommended

Eccentrically Loaded Bolted Connections for Type 304 and 3CR12 Stainless Steel Lipped Channels

In this paper the results of a study on eccentrically loaded bolted connections in lipped channels are presented. The steels chosen for this study are AISI Type 304 and Type 3CR12 stainless steel. It is concluded in this investigation that an acceptable prediction of the strength of eccentrically loaded bolted connections of stainless steel lipped channels may be obtained through the combination between the eccentric loaded equation and the normal bolted connection equations for stainless steel

Tricarbon­yl(η6-flavone)chromium(0)

In the title compound, [Cr(C15H10O2)(CO)3], the Cr(CO)3 unit exhibits a three-legged piano-stool conformation. The chromium metal centre is coordinated by the phenyl ring of the flavone ligand [Cr—(phenyl centroid) distance = 1.709 (1) Å]. The ligand is approximately planar, the dihedral angles between the γ-pyrone ring and the phenyl ring and between the γ-pyrone and the phenyl­ene ring being 2.91 (5) and 3.90 (5)°, respectively. The mol­ecular packing shows π–π stacking between the flavone ligands of neighbouring mol­ecules

Worldsheet Covariant Path Integral Quantization of Strings

We discuss a covariant functional integral approach to the quantization of the bosonic string. In contrast to approaches relying on non-covariant operator regularizations, interesting operators here are true tensor objects with classical transformation laws, even on target spaces where the theory has a Weyl anomaly. Since no implicit non-covariant gauge choices are involved in the definition of the operators, the anomaly is clearly separated from the issue of operator renormalization and can be understood in isolation, instead of infecting the latter as in other approaches. Our method is of wider applicability to covariant theories that are not Weyl invariant, but where covariant tensor operators are desired. After constructing covariantly regularized vertex operators, we define a class of background-independent path integral measures suitable for string quantization. We show how gauge invariance of the path integral implies the usual physical state conditions in a very conceptually clean way. We then discuss the construction of the BRST action from first principles, obtaining some interesting caveats relating to its general covariance. In our approach, the expected BRST related anomalies are encoded somewhat differently from other approaches. We conclude with an unusual but amusing derivation of the value $D= 26$ of the critical dimension.Comment: 64 pages, minor edits in expositio

2′,3,4,4′,5-Penta­meth­oxy­chalcone

In the title chalcone [systemetic name 1-(2,4-dimeth­oxy­phen­yl)-3-(3,4,5-trimeth­oxy­phen­yl)prop-2-en-1-one], C20H22O6, the dihedral angle between the plane of the two benzene rings is 7.03 (4)° with all but one of the meth­oxy groups essentially co-planar with these rings [C—C—O—C torsion angles = −76.1 (2), −0.7 (3), 1.8 (3), −6.2 (3), 2.0 (3)°]. An intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­action occurs. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds