The Impact of the Higher Education Regulatory Environment on For-Profit Higher Education Institutions

- 84 - I The Impact of the Higher Education Regulatory Environment on For-Profit Higher Education Institutions Rhonda L. Myers Northern Virginia Community College Berhanu Mengistu Old Dominion University The growing presence and transient nature of for-profit higher education institutions in the United States (US) pose governance and regulatory challenges for bureaucratic structures, legislatures and non-profit postsecondary institutions. One such challenge is the perceived lack of governance and regulation of for-profit higher education institutions. The inability of data to meet the assumptions of both multiple linear regression and Poisson regression required utilization of ordinal logistic regression to investigate the impact of the higher education regulatory environment (independent variables) in the US on the presence of for-profit higher education institutions (dependent variable). The study found that state higher education governance structure and two regional accrediting agencies influence the prevalence of for-profit colleges and universities. These findings suggest that policies that support the growth of for-profit higher education institutions as part of state economic development goals undermine policies that attempt to regulate higher education in that state, resulting in the need for strengthened state governance as well as laws and policies that are congruent with state and federal economic development goals

Assessment of the COVID-19 crisis management in Bahir Dar city administration government secondary schools as perceived by teachers

The purpose of the study was to examine the practices of adaptive leadership implemented by secondary school principals during the COVID-19 crisis to mitigate the pandemic's consequences on students' learning. The study employed the correlational design of the quantitative research approach. Data collected from 242 randomly selected teachers using a questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive (mean, standard deviation, one-sample t-test) and inferential statistics, including the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and multiple regressions. The findings from the data analyses showed that principals employed adaptive leadership in the schools to manage crises of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protecting the leadership voices below (β=.266) and identifying adaptive challenges (β=.190) were predictors of crisis management. Adaptive leadership contributed to 30.7% of crisis management. Giving work back to people (β =.314, p<.05) and identifying adaptive challenges (β=.269) predict the pre-crisis management phase respectively. Crisis management was aided by leadership voice (β =.331) and identifying adaptive challenges (β =.325, p<05). Leadership voice (β =.395, p<05) and distress reduction (β =.185, p<05) were factors in post-crisis management. To conclude, principals practiced adaptive leadership; protecting the leadership voices below, and identifying adaptive challenges were the best predictors of crisis management. As a recommendation, principals should take part in identifying adaptive tasks and leave technical challenges to teachers; principals must be open to those teachers who have different views from the rest of the group and to do this, they must preserve leadership voices from below, and lastly, principals must support the tasks that teachers desire to perform depending on their interests

Cost-effective solutions and tools for medical image processing and design of personalised cranioplasty implants

Cranial defects which are caused by bone tumors or traffic accidents are treated by cranioplasty techniques. Cranioplasty implants are required to protect the underlying brain, correct major aesthetic deformities, or both. With the rapid develop-ment of computer graphics, medical image processing (MIP) and manufacturing technologies in recent decades, nowadays, personalised cranioplasty implants can be designed and made to improve the quality of cranial defect treatments. However, software tools for MIP and 3D modelling of implants are ex-pensive; and they normally require high technical skills. Espe-cially, the process of design and development of personalised cranioplasty implants normally requires a multidisciplinary team, including experts in MIP, 3D design and modelling, and Biomedical Engineering; this leads to challenges and difficulties for technology transfers and implementations in hospitals. This research is aimed at developing, in particular, cost-effective solutions and tools for design and modeling of per-sonalised cranioplasty implants, and to simplify the design and modelling of implants, as well as to reduce the design and modeling time. In this way, surgeons and engineers can con-veniently and easily design personalised cranioplasty implants, without the need of using complex MIP and CAD tools; and as a result the cost of implants will be minimised

Soybean Seed Protein, Oil, and Fatty Acids are Altered by S and S + N Fertilizers Under Irrigated or Non-irrigated Environments

Information on the effect of sulfur (S) or sulfur+nitrogen (S + N) on soybean seed composition is scarce. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of S, and S + N fertilizers on soybean [(Glycine max (L.) Merr.)] seed composition in the Early Soybean Production System (ESPS) under irrigated (I) and nonirrigated (NI) environments. Two separate field experiments were conducted from 2005 to 2007. One experiment was irrigated, and the second experiment was nonirrigated. Under I condition, S at a rate of 44.8 kg/ha alone or with N at 112 kg/ha resulted in a consistent increase in seed protein and oleic acid concentrations, and a decrease in oil and linolenic acid concentrations compared with the control (C). For example, in 2006 and compared with the C, application of S + N increased the percentage up to 11.4% and 48.5% for protein and oleic acid, respectively. However, oil concentration decreased by 3%. Protein and oleic acid increase were accompanied by a higher percentage of leaf and seed N and S. Under NI conditions, seed protein and oleic acid concentrations were significantly higher in C than in any S or S + N treatments, but the oil and linolenic acid concentrations were significantly lower. The results indicate that specific rate of S alone or S + N combined can alter seed composition under irrigated or nonirrigated conditions. This knowledge may help plant breeders to develop and release cultivars to suit specific target locations to grow new value-added soybeans or select for specific seed composition traits under specific environmental stress factors such as drought

An Annotated Bibliography Of Chickpea Diseases 1915-1976

The purpose of this bibliography, on which work began in 1975, is to provide a working file of the literature concerned wi th chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) diseases that wi l l assist in the identification of fungal and bacterial microorganisms associated wi th chickpea seeds. Chickpea is one of the more important pulse crops of the Eastern Hemisphere, where it has been cultivated for centuries. The primary function of this bibliography is to make the chickpea disease literature available to agricultural workers throughout the wor ld, especially in countries where such reference material is difficult to obtain

Burden of podoconiosis in poor rural communities in Guliso woreda, western Ethiopia

Background. Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulliso woreda (district), west Ethiopia. A household survey in the 26 rural kebeles (villages) of this district was conducted to identify podoconiosis patients and to measure disease prevalence. A more detailed study was done in six randomly selected kebeles to describe clinical features of the disease, patients’ experiences of foot hygiene, and shoe wearing practice. 1,935 cases of podoconiosis were registered, giving a prevalence of 2.8%. The prevalence was higher in those aged 15 – 64 years (5.2%) and in females than males (prevalence ratio 2.6:1). 90.3% of patients were in the 15 – 64 year age group. In the detailed study, 335 cases were interviewed and their feet assessed. The majority of patients were farmers, uneducated, and poor. Two-third of patients developed the disease before the age of thirty. Almost all patients (97.0%) had experienced adenolymphangitis (ALA - red, hot legs, swollen and painful groin) at least once during the previous year. Patients experienced an average of 5.5 ALA episodes annually, each of average 4.4 days, thus 24 working days were lost annually. The incidence of ALA in podoconiosis patients was higher than that reported for filariasis in other countries. Shoe wearing was limited mainly due to financial problems. Conclusions. We have documented high podoconiosis prevalence, frequent adenolymphangitis and high disease-related morbidity in west Ethiopia. Interventions must be developed to prevent, treat and control podoconiosis, one of the core neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia

Podoconiosis in East and West Gojam Zones, Northern Ethiopia

Background: Podoconiosis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is prevalent in red clay soil-covered highlands of tropical Africa, Central and South America, and northern India. It is estimated that up to one million cases exist in Ethiopia. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of podoconiosis in East and West Gojam Zones of Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Debre Eliyas and Dembecha woredas (districts) in East and West Gojam Zones, respectively. The survey covered all 17,553 households in 20 kebeles (administrative subunits) randomly selected from the two woredas. A detailed structured interview was conducted on 1,704 cases of podoconiosis identified in the survey. Results: The prevalence of podoconiosis in the population aged 15 years and above was found to be 3.3% (95% CI, 3.2% to 3.6%). 87% of cases were in the economically active age group (15–64 years). On average, patients sought treatment five years after the start of the leg swelling. Most subjects had second (42.7%) or third (36.1%) clinical stage disease, 97.9% had mossy lesions, and 53% had open wounds. On average, patients had five episodes of acute adenolymphangitis (ALA) per year and spent a total of 90 days per year with ALA. The median age of first use of shoes and socks were 22 and 23 years, respectively. More men than women owned more than one pair of shoes (61.1% vs. 50.5%; x2 = 11.6 p = 0.001). At the time of interview, 23.6% of the respondents were barefoot, of whom about two-thirds were women. Conclusions: This study showed high prevalence of podoconiosis and associated morbidities such as ALA, mossy lesions and open wounds in northern Ethiopia. Predominance of cases at early clinical stage of podoconiosis indicates the potential for reversing the swelling and calls for disease prevention interventions

Podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminths (STHs): double burden of neglected tropical diseases in Wolaita zone, rural southern Ethiopia

Background Both podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections occur among barefoot people in areas of extreme poverty; however, their co-morbidity has not previously been investigated. We explored the overlap of STH infection and podoconiosis in Southern Ethiopia and quantified their separate and combined effects on prevalent anemia and hemoglobin levels in podoconiosis patients and health controls from the same area. Methods and Principal Findings A two-part comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from adult patients presenting with clinically confirmed podoconiosis, and unmatched adult neighborhood controls living in the same administrative area. Information on demographic and selected lifestyle factors was collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Stool samples were collected and examined qualitatively using the modified formalin-ether sedimentation method. Hemoglobin level was determined using two different methods: hemoglobinometer and automated hematology analyzer. A total of 913 study subjects (677 podoconiosis patients and 236 controls) participated. The prevalence of any STH infection was 47.6% among patients and 33.1% among controls (p<0.001). The prevalence of both hookworm and Trichuris trichiura infections was significantly higher in podoconiosis patients than in controls (AOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.25 to2.42, AOR 6.53, 95% CI 2.34 to 18.22, respectively). Not wearing shoes and being a farmer remained significant independent predictors of infection with any STH. There was a significant interaction between STH infection and podoconiosis on reduction of hemoglobin level (interaction p value = 0.002). Conclusions Prevalence of any STH and hookworm infection was higher among podoconiosis patients than among controls. A significant reduction in hemoglobin level was observed among podoconiosis patients co-infected with hookworm and ‘non-hookworm STH’. Promotion of consistent shoe-wearing practices may have double advantages in controlling both podoconiosis and hookworm infection in the study area

First experiences with a novel farmer citizen science approach: crowdsourcing participatory variety selection through on-farm triadic comparisons of technologies (TRICOT)

Rapid climatic and socio-economic changes challenge current agricultural R&D capacity. The necessary quantum leap in knowledge generation should build on the innovation capacity of farmers themselves. A novel citizen science methodology, triadic comparisons of technologies or tricot, was implemented in pilot studies in India, East Africa, and Central America. The methodology involves distributing a pool of agricultural technologies in different combinations of three to individual farmers who observe these technologies under farm conditions and compare their performance. Since the combinations of three technologies overlap, statistical methods can piece together the overall performance ranking of the complete pool of technologies. The tricot approach affords wide scaling, as the distribution of trial packages and instruction sessions is relatively easy to execute, farmers do not need to be organized in collaborative groups, and feedback is easy to collect, even by phone. The tricot approach provides interpretable, meaningful results and was widely accepted by farmers. The methodology underwent improvement in data input formats. A number of methodological issues remain: integrating environmental analysis, capturing gender-specific differences, stimulating farmers' motivation, and supporting implementation with an integrated digital platform. Future studies should apply the tricot approach to a wider range of technologies, quantify its potential contribution to climate adaptation, and embed the approach in appropriate institutions and business models, empowering participants and democratizing science