Perceptions of Education Stakeholders on the Implications of Textbook Liberalization Policy in Tanzania

The purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of education stakeholders on the implications of textbook liberalization policy in Tanzania. The researchers used various methods of data collection. The findings were both negative and positive. Negative views involved frequent change of the school syllabus, approval of books with low quality, piracy and corruption. Positive views involved improved quality of textbooks, enhanced intellectual diversity and increased employment opportunities. However, pedagogical issues were less considered by the respondents. Hence improving the skills of those involved in the chain of publishing should go together with appropriate management system under liberal policy. Keywords: Curriculum, textbooks, publishing, liberal polic

A dynamic model and performance analysis of a stepped rotary flow control valve

The hydraulic independent metering (IM) is an advanced actuator driving technique that allows the implementation of advanced control algorithms or methods. The main concept of IM is to control hydraulic actuators ports, which are the meterin and meter-out, separately. In this paper, a novel stepped rotary type valve has been developed for embedding in hydraulic independent metering systems, instead of conventional types such as poppet and spool. The insertion leads to developing different and novel control techniques, which require a software in loop and hardware in loop simulation of the proposed system. The paper explores the dynamic representation of this valve and defines its own performance limitations. This includes the development of a linear model comprising its two main sub-parts which are the stepper motor and the rotary orifice. Consequently, the linear timeinvariant methods are used to explore the performance of the valve by considering the effect of different parameters namely the pressure drop, friction coefficient, damping coefficient and bristle coefficient

Elusive Truths: Baltasar del Castillo, Royal Subsidies, and the 1576 Residencia of Florida

The year 1576 was tumultuous for the settlement of Santa Elena. Ten years had passed since the town’s founding, and not all of its residents were content with the colony’s state of affairs. In the fall of 1576, the Crown’s appointed investigator, Baltasar del Castillo y Ahedo, began a lengthy investigation of the tenures of Santa Elena’s royal officials. The timing and significance of these reviews was crucial as they were performed shortly after Santa Elena’s temporary abandonment in June of 1576. Castillo, a former accountant in Pedro Menéndez de Avilés’s royal armada, revealed how Santa Elena’s officials systematically abused Florida’s royal subsidy for personal gain. Florida was a region notorious for financial ruin yet it still held immense symbolic importance. After fifty years of failed colonization attempts, the Crown relied on the private entrepreneurship of Pedro Menéndez and his comuño, or kinship network, to colonize Florida. Castillo’s investigation, however, reveals that despite lucrative incentives, private entrepreneurship did not work to expand Spain’s empire into North America. Instead, royal officials remained on the coast where they could safely profit from guaranteed royal subsidies

Elusive Truths: Baltasar del Castillo, Royal Subsidies, and the 1576 Residencia of Florida

The year 1576 was tumultuous for the settlement of Santa Elena. Ten years had passed since the town’s founding, and not all of its residents were content with the colony’s state of affairs. In the fall of 1576, the Crown’s appointed investigator, Baltasar del Castillo y Ahedo, began a lengthy investigation of the tenures of Santa Elena’s royal officials. The timing and significance of these reviews was crucial as they were performed shortly after Santa Elena’s temporary abandonment in June of 1576. Castillo, a former accountant in Pedro Menéndez de Avilés’s royal armada, revealed how Santa Elena’s officials systematically abused Florida’s royal subsidy for personal gain. Florida was a region notorious for financial ruin yet it still held immense symbolic importance. After fifty years of failed colonization attempts, the Crown relied on the private entrepreneurship of Pedro Menéndez and his comuño, or kinship network, to colonize Florida. Castillo’s investigation, however, reveals that despite lucrative incentives, private entrepreneurship did not work to expand Spain’s empire into North America. Instead, royal officials remained on the coast where they could safely profit from guaranteed royal subsidies

Distribution of Trace Elements in Surface Water and Sediments from Warri River in Warri, Delta State of Nigeria

The pollution of surface water and sediments by heavy metals has become a difficult thing to deal with due to their toxicity and accumulative behavior. The present study was undertaken to provide information on the concentrations and distribution of selected heavy metals in surface water and sediments from Warri River, and to compute a contamination/pollution index of heavy metals. Surface water and sediment samples were collected using standard methods and then analysed for nine trace metals. These metals were determined using a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer – UNICAM 929. According to our results, the mean concentrations of the select metals in the sediments were higher than those of the surface water. The figures, however, varied significantly in the six sample locations (SW1–SW6). In the sediments, the highest mean concentration was of Fe (504.13 mg/kg) in location SW1, whereas in surface water, generally, the highest mean concentration was of Fe (1.23 mg/l). In other words, mean metal levels in the sediments exceeded those of surface water. This indicates that sediments are a sink for metal pollution loads. Computation of contamination/ pollution index in sediment matrix revealed that Cd moderately polluted the sediment, Zn, Fe, Ni slightly, yet significantly contaminated the sediment, while Cu, Cr and Mn very slightly contaminated the sediments. The mean values of metals in this present study were compared with other values reported by other researchers. The higher than normal metal values were attributed to anthropogenic wastes, runoff, refinery jetty and varied petroleum related activities in the area