Attitudes towards staff mentoring by senior leaders of a College of Education in Ghana

Ten interviews of senior leaders gave a clear picture about what they considered mentoring should be in a College of Education in Ghana – a coaching model of directive instruction and a hierarchical transfer of skills and knowledge. While mentoring was viewed as a central part of a training teacher’s course, funds, attitudes and workload did not allow for in-house mentoring of staff. These findings are discussed with observations of how gender and reli-gious cultural expectation affected the responses of the senior leaders and how the management structure at the college may be inhibiting it from implementing a system of mentoring. This paper was written as a collaboration between educational lecturers in Ghana and the UK and brings a global perspective on the situation. It concludes with recommendations to managers of educational institutions to implement a mentoring structure and widen the definition of what it means to be a mentor

Socioeconomic factors hindering domestic tourism consumption in Kenya: the case of Nakuru, Mombasa and Nairobi towns.

This study examined the socioeconomic factors that affect domestic tourism in Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru with a view of addressing them in order to improve domestic tourism consumption in Kenya. The study targeted 600 respondents from among those who had participated or intended to participate in domestic tourism, using a questionnaire as the tool for data collection. It investigated a sample of a cross-section of the tourist stakeholders and through questionnaires schedules, obtained data from respondents consisting of those who had participated or intended to participate in domestic tourism. The respondents from the tourist industry players in the regions was selected using purposive and stratified random sampling methods. A total of 558 respondents out of 600 filled out the instruments at a response rate of 93%. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics . It was established that the level of education (86%) and income (76%) were the major contributing factors in domestic tourism consumption .this is where data was extracted for analysis and the researcher then made statistical The study findings indicated that the level of education was a major contributing factor in domestic tourism with 86% of participants having a middle level education, and above. Age was found to have a significant impact on the level of participation in domestic tourism. Education level was found to have a positive influence on participation in domestic tourism

Implications of a charged-current anomaly at HERA

We demonstrate that in the presence of mixing between different scalar leptoquark multiplets it is possible to simultaneously account for the HERA high-$Q^2$ neutral current anomaly, and produce a charged current anomaly of comparable magnitude. The reduced branching ratio to electrons and jets of the lightest leptoquark state results in a significant weakening of the CDF/D0 limits on scalar leptoquarks; masses consistent with the HERA neutral current excess are comfortably within the allowed range. We show that the possibilities for such a successful mixed leptoquark scenario are quite limited, and we investigate some aspects of their phenomenology.Comment: 10 pages Latex. Corrected 3-body decay width

String-Inspired Higher-Curvature Terms and the Randall-Sundrum Scenario

We consider the O(a') string effective action, with Gauss-Bonnet curvature-squared and fourth-order dilaton-derivative terms, which is derived by a matching procedure with string amplitudes in five space-time dimensions. We show that a non-factorizable metric of the Randall-Sundrum (RS) type, with four-dimensional conformal factor Exp(-2 k|z|), can be a solution of the pertinent equations of motion. The parameter k is found proportional to the string coupling g_s and thus the solution appears to be non-perturbative. It is crucial that the Gauss-Bonnet combination has the right (positive in our conventions) sign, relative to the Einstein term, which is the case necessitated by compatibility with string (tree) amplitude computations. We study the general solution for the dilaton and metric functions, and thus construct the appropriate phase-space diagram in the solution space. In the case of an anti-de-Sitter bulk, we demonstrate that there exists a continuous interpolation between (part of) the RS solution at z=infinity and an (integrable) naked singularity at z=0. This implies the dynamical formation of domain walls (separated by an infinite distance), thus restricting the physical bulk space time to the positive z axis. Some brief comments on the possibility of fine-tuning the four-dimensional cosmological constant to zero are also presented.Comment: 28 pages Latex, three eps figures incorporated, minor change

A New Parametrization of the Seesaw Mechanism and Applications in Supersymmetric Models

We present a new parametrization of the minimal seesaw model, expressing the heavy-singlet neutrino Dirac Yukawa couplings $(Y_\nu)_{ij}$ and Majorana masses $M_{N_i}$ in terms of effective light-neutrino observables and an auxiliary Hermitian matrix $H.$ In the minimal supersymmetric version of the seesaw model, the latter can be related directly to other low-energy observables, including processes that violate charged lepton flavour and CP. This parametrization enables one to respect the stringent constraints on muon-number violation while studying the possible ranges for other observables by scanning over the allowed parameter space of the model. Conversely, if any of the lepton-flavour-violating process is observed, this measurement can be used directly to constrain $(Y_\nu)_{ij}$ and $M_{N_i}.$ As applications, we study flavour-violating $\tau$ decays and the electric dipole moments of leptons in the minimal supersymmetric seesaw model.Comment: Important references adde

Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya

Traditional plant use is of tremendous importance in many societies, including most rural African communities. This knowledge is however, rapidly dwindling due to changes towards a more Western lifestyle, and the influence of modern tourism. In case of the Sekenani Maasai, the recent change from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle has not, thus far lead to a dramatic loss of traditional plant knowledge, when compared to other Maasai communities. However, in Sekenani, plants are used much less frequently for manufacturing tools, and for veterinary purposes, than in more remote areas. While the knowledge is still present, overgrazing and over-exploitation of plant resources have already led to a decline of the plant material available. This paper examines the plant use of the Maasai in the Sekenani Valley, North of the Masaai Mara National Reserve. The Maasai pastoralists of Kenya and Tanzania use a large part of the plants in their environment for many uses in daily life. The plant use and knowledge of the Sekenani Maasai is of particular interest, as their clan, the "Il-Purko", was moved from Central Kenya to this region by the British Colonial Administration in 1904. The results of this study indicate that despite their relocation 100 years ago, the local population has an extensive knowledge of the plants in their surroundings, and they ascribe uses to a large percentage of the plants found. One-hundred-fifty-five plant species were collected, identified and their Maa names and traditional uses recorded. Although fifty-one species were reported as of "no use", only eighteen of these had no Maasai name. Thirty-three were recognized by a distinctive Maa name. Thirty-nine species had a medicinal use, and 30 species served as fodder for livestock. Six species could not be identified. Of these plants five were addressed by the Maasai with distinct names. This exemplifies the Sekenani Maasai's in-depth knowledge of the plant resources. Traditionally, the Maasai attribute most illnesses to the effect of pollutants that block or inhibit digestion. These pollutants can include "polluted" food, contact with sick people and witchcraft. In most cases the treatment of illness involves herbal purgatives to cleanse the patient. There are alsofrequent indications of plant use for common problems like wounds, parasites, body aches and burns

Peroxiredoxin 6 in human brain: molecular forms, cellular distribution and association with Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Peroxiredoxin 6 is an antioxidant enzyme and is the 1-cys member of the peroxiredoxin family. Using two-dimensional electrophoresis and Western blotting, we have shown for the first time that, in human control and brain tissue of patient’s with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), this enzyme exists as three major and five minor forms with pIs from 5.3 to 6.1. Using specific cellular markers, we have shown that peroxiredoxin 6 is present in astrocytes with very low levels in neurons, but not detectable in microglia or oligodendrocytes. In control brains, there was a very low level of peroxiredoxin 6 staining in astrocytes that was confined to a “halo” around the nucleus. In AD, there were marked increases in the number and staining intensity of peroxiredoxin 6 positive astrocytes in both gray and white matter in the midfrontal cortex, cingulate, hippocampus and amygdala. Confocal microscopy using antibodies to Aβ peptide, tau and peroxiredoxin 6 showed that peroxiredoxin 6 positive astrocytes are closely involved with diffuse plaques and to a lesser extent with neuritic plaques, suggesting that plaques are producing reactive oxygen species. There appeared to be little astrocytic response to tau containing neurons. Although peroxiredoxin 6 positive astrocytes were seen to make multiple contacts with tau positive neurons, there was no intraneuronal colocalization. In brain tissue of patients with AD, many blood vessels exhibited peroxiredoxin 6 staining that appeared to be due to the astrocytic foot processes. These results suggest that oxidative stress conditions exist in AD and that peroxiredoxin 6 is an important antioxidant enzyme in human brain defenses

Case 3372 Brachyplatystoma Bleeker, 1862 (Osteichthyes, Siluriformes): proposed precedence over Piratinga Bleeker, 1858 and Piramutana Bleeker, 1858

Volume: 64Start Page: 54End Page: 5

Conflicting Attitudes of Local People and Conservation Officials in Kenya

We present a case study of the social issues of wildlife conservation in Kenya based on field work in and near Nairobi and Tsavo National Parks. Surveys of small‐scale cultivators and pastoralists (157) and local park officials (44) reveal that there are widespread negative feelings and perceptions of local people toward state policies and programs of wildlife conservation. For instance, 84% of the local people reported that there is a bad relationship between the national park management and the local community; only 10% stated that the park is an asset to them; and 57% asserted that the park should be abolished. Moreover, perceptions and attitudes of local people and park officials are greatly disparate with regard to the benefits the parks provide for local people, the level of conflict between local people and wildlife, and the future of the parks