Instructional Leadership Practices: Teachers Perceptions of a Rural School Principal in Fiji

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which teachers perceive their principal to be effectively exhibiting an instructional leadership role. Data for the study were collected from teachers (N=24) in a rural secondary school in Fiji using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) developed and advocated by Hallinger (1990). In addition to Likert scale items, the questionnaire included open-ended questions to gain deeper insights into teachers’ ratings of each item. Analyses of the data revealed that ratings for the principal were the highest for communicating school goals to students and protecting instructional time while supervision and evaluation of instruction were the lowest-rated items. The lack of professional preparation for an instructional leadership role and the dual role of the rural principal as school leader and teacher, which appears to compromise both roles, may together explain the scant attention paid to the instructional leadership role. These findings have implications for principals’ workload and in turn instructional leadership practices, which the Fiji Ministry of Education could re-visit to avoid compromising either the leadership or teaching role

Instructional leadership practices: teachers perceptions of a rural school Principal in Fiji

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which teachers perceive their principal to be effectively exhibiting an instructional leadership role. Data for the study were collected from teachers (N=24) in a rural secondary school in Fiji using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) developed and advocated by Hallinger (1990). In addition to Likert scale items, the questionnaire included open-ended questions to gain deeper insights into teachers’ ratings of each item. Analyses of the data revealed that ratings for the principal were the highest for communicating school goals to students and protecting instructional time while supervision and evaluation of instruction were the lowest-rated items. The lack of professional preparation for an instructional leadership role and the dual role of the rural principal as school leader and teacher, which appears to compromise both roles, may together explain the scant attention paid to the instructional leadership role. These findings have implications for principals’ workload and in turn instructional leadership practices, which the Fiji Ministry of Education could re-visit to avoid compromising either the leadership or teaching role

A Suggestive Diagnostic Technique For Early Identification Of Acyanotic Heart Disorders From Infant’s Cry

Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are the critical heart disorders that can be observed at the birth stage of the infants. These are classified mainly into two, Cyanotic and Acyanotic. The present paper concentrates on the Acyanotic heart disorders. Acyanotic heart disorder cannot be observed on external checkup, whereas bluish skin is the indication for the infant affected with Cyanotic disorder. Acyanotic heart disorder can only be diagnosed using chest X-Ray, ECG, Echocardiogram, Cardiac Catheterization and MRI of the Heart. The present work aims at estimating the fundamental frequency (pitch) and the vocal tract resonant frequencies (formants) from the cry signal of the infants. The pitch frequency and formant frequencies are estimated using frequency domain (Cepstrum) and Linear Prediction Code (LPC) methods. The results show that the fundamental frequency of the cry signal was between 600Hz-800Hz for the infants with Acyanotic heart disorders. This fundamental frequency helps in identifying Acyanotic heart disorders at an early stage

Cooling rate limitations in the diffusion bonding of large microchannel arrays

A significant barrier to the diffusion bonding of large (i.e. 600 mm) microchannel devices is the large capital investment required to setup production. This large capital investment extends from long heating and cooling cycles leading to poor production capacities. Empirical studies in industry have shown that cooling rate is limited by the warpage of microchannel laminae which is believed to be caused by thermal buckling. In this thesis, the limits of cooling rates during the diffusion bonding of microchannel laminae were investigated. Findings confirm that cooling rates are limited by the thermal buckling of free-standing microchannel laminae during cooling of the device. Finite element analyses (FEA) of the transient thermal and static stress behaviors of these microchannel laminae were conducted to identify the maximum cooling rates for different lamina thicknesses. FEA results were used to extrapolate implications for microchannel production

INTEND OF LUT/MUX COMPLEXS BY USING FPGA MODUS OPERANDI

For reducing the area and improving the performance of logical circuits, a combination of Lookup Table (LUT) with multiplexer methodology is applied together. By implementing this kind of architecture a new MUX: LUT structure is designed, which works based on the number of comparators and logical circuits. This implementation is more suitable for both accounting for complex logic block and routing area while maintaining mapping depth. Interconnections are increasingly the dominant contributor to delay, area and energy consumption in Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) digital circuits. The proposed implementation overcomes several limitations found in previous quaternary implementations published so far, such as the need for special features in the CMOS process or power-hungry current-mode cells. We have to use the 512bit quaternary Lookup Table for a high level of operations in the FPGA. The proposed architecture of this paper will be planned to implemented and also analysis the output current, output voltage, area using Xilinx 14.3

Contrasting Effects of Varicose Vein Surgery on Endothelial-dependent and -independent Cutaneous Vasodilation in the Perimalleolar Region

AbstractObjectivesTo evaluate the effects of varicose vein surgery on cutaneous microvascular perfusion and vasodilator responses to acetylcholine (Ach) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in the gaiter area of patients with great saphenous vein insufficiency.MethodsTwenty-nine patients with isolated great saphenous vein incompetence attended three study mornings (before surgery, and 6–8 weeks and 6 months after sapheno-femoral ligation+partial stripping) during which cutaneous microvascular responses were measured in the supine and standing positions using laser Doppler fluximetry (LDF) combined with incremental-dose iontophoretic administration of endothelial-dependent (Ach) and -independent (SNP) vasodilators.ResultsVaricose vein surgery had no significant effect on baseline cutaneous perfusion or the microvascular response to Ach: e.g. peak vasodilator responses to the 1000μC stimulus were mean 58 SEM 7, 64 SEM 6 and 65 SEM 7PU on the pre-operative, 6–8 weeks and 6 months assessments. In contrast, the corresponding responses to SNP were significantly increased following surgery: e.g. at 2000μC, mean 63 SEM 9, 142 SEM 4 and 157 SEM 9PU (p<0.0001) in the upright position.ConclusionsSapheno-femoral ligation and partial stripping in patients with great saphenous vein insufficiency improves endothelial-independent cutaneous vasodilator function at the gaiter area, which may at least partly explain the benefits of surgery in reducing the risk of venous ulceration