669 research outputs found
Factors Influencing Employer Attitudes towards Vocational Education
This study tested a conceptual model to determine the strengths and directions of relationshzps
between selected predictor variables and the attitude of employers about vocational education.
Personal characteristics of employers and characteristics of the firm served as predictor variables.
Variables significantly related with employer attitude were type of business, employee educational
level, years in business, sex and age. The set of varaibles of personal characteristics and the firm each
uniquely. explained a portion of the variance in employer attitudes. Whether or not the employer
operated a service type of business and the sex of the employer were the two variables which best
predicted employer attitude toward vocational education. Service employers and male employers
possessed the more positive attitude
Motivational Factors that Influence Student Work Attitude
Employers look for employees who have positive work attitudes besides technical knowledge and related skills.
Students, therefore, should have positive work attitudes to be successful in the workplace. This study is an
attempt to identify the motivational factors that may be associated with work attitudes of students at Universiti
Pertanian Malaysia. The motivational factors include: (1) educational aspirations, (2) occupational aspirations,
(3) reason for entering the programme, (4) religiosity, and (5) student perception of parental work values. A
cluster random sampling was used to determine the sample of respondents. The sample consisted of686 diploma
programme students. The results indicated that the reason for entering the programme, religiosity and student
perception of parental work values were related to work attitude. These variables were further analyzed to determine
the semi-partial multiple regression coefficients. The findings showed that reason for entering the programme
did not account for a significant unique proportion of the variance in work attitude. However, religiosity
and student perceptions of parental work values accounted for a significant unique proportion of the variance in
work attitude. These two variables were used in the stepwise multiple regression analysis. It was found that the
two variables were the best predictors of the work attitude of diploma programme students at the Universiti
Pertanian Malaysia
Draft genome sequences of seven isolates of Phytophthora ramorum EU2 from Northern Ireland
Here we present draft-quality genome sequence assemblies for the oomycete Phytophthora ramorum genetic lineage EU2. We sequenced genomes of seven isolates collected in Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2012. Multiple genome sequences from P. ramorum EU2 will be valuable for identifying genetic variation within the clonal lineage that can be useful for tracking its spread
Association Between Residential Greenness and Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Background Exposure to green vegetation has been linked to positive health, but the pathophysiological processes affected by exposure to vegetation remain unclear. To study the relationship between greenness and cardiovascular disease, we examined the association between residential greenness and biomarkers of cardiovascular injury and disease risk in susceptible individuals. Methods and Results In this cross-sectional study of 408 individuals recruited from a preventive cardiology clinic, we measured biomarkers of cardiovascular injury and risk in participant blood and urine. We estimated greenness from satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index ( NDVI ) in zones with radii of 250 m and 1 km surrounding the participants' residences. We used generalized estimating equations to examine associations between greenness and cardiovascular disease biomarkers. We adjusted for residential clustering, demographic, clinical, and environmental variables. In fully adjusted models, contemporaneous NDVI within 250 m of participant residence was inversely associated with urinary levels of epinephrine (-6.9%; 95% confidence interval, -11.5, -2.0/0.1 NDVI ) and F2-isoprostane (-9.0%; 95% confidence interval, -15.1, -2.5/0.1 NDVI ). We found stronger associations between NDVI and urinary epinephrine in women, those not on β-blockers, and those who had not previously experienced a myocardial infarction. Of the 15 subtypes of circulating angiogenic cells examined, 11 were inversely associated (8.0-15.6% decrease/0.1 NDVI ), whereas 2 were positively associated (37.6-45.8% increase/0.1 NDVI ) with contemporaneous NDVI . Conclusions Independent of age, sex, race, smoking status, neighborhood deprivation, statin use, and roadway exposure, residential greenness is associated with lower levels of sympathetic activation, reduced oxidative stress, and higher angiogenic capacity
Extragalactic Fields Optimized for Adaptive Optics
In this paper we present the coordinates of 67 55' x 55' patches of sky which
have the rare combination of both high stellar surface density (>0.5
arcmin^{-2} with 13<R<16.5 mag) and low extinction (E(B-V)<0.1). These fields
are ideal for adaptive-optics based follow-up of extragalactic targets. One
region of sky, situated near Baade's Window, contains most of the patches we
have identified. Our optimal field, centered at RA: 7h24m3s, Dec: -1deg27'15",
has an additional advantage of being accessible from both hemispheres. We
propose a figure of merit for quantifying real-world adaptive optics
performance, and use this to analyze the performance of multi-conjugate
adaptive optics in these fields. We also compare our results to those that
would be obtained in existing deep fields. In some cases adaptive optics
observations undertaken in the fields given in this paper would be orders of
magnitude more efficient than equivalent observations undertaken in existing
deep fields.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in PAS
Bostonia
Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs
An exponential decline at the bright end of the z=6 galaxy luminosity function
We present the results of a search for the most luminous star-forming
galaxies at redshifts z~6 based on CFHT Legacy Survey data. We identify a
sample of 40 Lyman break galaxies brighter than magnitude z'=25.3 across an
area of almost 4 square degrees. Sensitive spectroscopic observations of seven
galaxies provide redshifts for four, of which only two have moderate to strong
Lyman alpha emission lines. All four have clear continuum breaks in their
spectra. Approximately half of the Lyman break galaxies are spatially resolved
in 0.7 arcsec seeing images, indicating larger sizes than lower luminosity
galaxies discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope, possibly due to on-going
mergers. The stacked optical and infrared photometry is consistent with a
galaxy model with stellar mass ~ 10^{10} solar masses. There is strong evidence
for substantial dust reddening with a best-fit A_V=0.7 and A_V>0.48 at 2 sigma
confidence, in contrast to the typical dust-free galaxies of lower luminosity
at this epoch. The spatial extent and spectral energy distribution suggest that
the most luminous z~6 galaxies are undergoing merger-induced starbursts. The
luminosity function of z=5.9 star-forming galaxies is derived. This agrees well
with previous work and shows strong evidence for an exponential decline at the
bright end, indicating that the feedback processes which govern the shape of
the bright end are occurring effectively at this epoch.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, AJ in press, revised to address referee
comment
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