The enumeration of simultaneous higher-order contacts between plane curves

Using the Semple bundle construction, we derive an intersection-theoretic formula for the number of simultaneous contacts of specified orders between members of a generic family of degree $d$ plane curves and finitely many fixed curves. The contacts counted by the formula occur at nonsingular points of both the members of the family and the fixed curves.Comment: 32 pages, AmS-TeX v2.1 (Revised statement and proof of one lemma; other minor changes.

Cartan Prolongation of a Family of Curves Acquiring a Node

Using the monster/Semple tower construction, we study the structure of the Cartan prolongation of the family $x_1x_2 = t$ of plane curves with nodal central member

Improving support for older people looking after someone with advanced cancer

The briefing paper is about the findings and recommendations from a research project conducted at the University of Nottingham, with funding awarded by Macmillan Cancer Support. The project was set up to study the experiences and main support needs of older carers looking after someone with advanced cancer and to facilitate the active involvement of carers in the research process. Looking after someone with advanced cancer approaching the end of their life has a substantial and enduring impact on older carers. Various factors contribute to the diverse quality and impact of end of life care experiences for both the person with advanced cancer and their caregiver. These include factors relating to the care giver and care recipient, such as the communication style and quality of relationship between them; the availability, provision and quality of informal support, and the duration of the end of life care phase. They also include factors external to the care giver and care recipient such as the availability, provision and quality of formal health and social care services for both the care giver and the person with advanced cancer. The study participants main support needs and recommendations for improving support for older carers are provided

An Inservice Program for Developing Teacher Lesson Plans

This paper deals with change and the inservice program that brought about the change. A log is included that documents the process from the establishment of need, through three workshops that direct the change, to the final writing of a manual of yearly goals and objectives for each teacher participant. The writer of the paper is an elementary principal of a small rural school. The faculty participants were both elementary and high school teachers who were deeply ingrained in unchanging teaching methods. Several had taught in their fields for so long that they felt no need of establishing a plan for teaching, much less the need for lesson plans for substitute teacher use. The inservice program employed the use of a consultant and was funded through a grant from the Illinois Center for Educational Improvement. Stipends were paid to all participants from these funds, as well as consultant expenses and printing costs. Many of the problems that developed in the inservice process were attitudinal, brought about by teacher anxiety as it related to evaluation and accountability. The writer cites specific instances of teacher hostility and gives examples of techniques used to solicit a more cooperative attitude. By allowing the teachers to include the conditions that worked for and against instruction, and to itemize material needs, the writer explains how the teachers were guided toward the belief that the project would help them become better teachers and improve their working conditions. An appendix is included with the paper to illustrate this and the form taken by the goals and objective manual. The paper concludes with an analysis of the activity and makes reference both to the successes and failures of the activity. Plans for the ongoing use of the inservice program and a brief outline of the activity\u27s usefulness in developing a minimal competency test for the writer\u27s school district, are included

Designing whole-systems commissioning: lessons from the English experience

The paucity of formal evidence, allied to the requirement for strategies that are sensitive to local history and context, means that a ‘blueprint’ for successful strategic commissioning is not currently available for adoption. We are therefore confined to proposing ‘design principles’ for those seeking to embark upon a transition towards a whole systems approach to strategic commissioning. People and relationships are of critical importance all the way through the chain from strategic commissioning to micro-commissioning. Most crucially, experience suggests that structural solutions alone cannot deliver effective relationships and will not be effective when relationships are neglected. The need to ensure staff, partner and political buy-in suggests that relationship management and consensus-building are an integral component of the leadership role in moving toward strategic commissioning. As with any major re-organisation, the move to strategic commissioning is essentially a change management initiative and therefore will stand or fall according to whether it adheres to good practice in the change management process. Central to this, and to achieving commissioning outcomes, is the requirement for meaningful service user and public engagement. Effective commissioning emphasizes individual capabilities as well as needs, and community assets as well as deficits and problems. Adoption of strategic commissioning approaches is still at the developmental and learning stage and arguably all structural arrangements should be regarded as transitional

Dichorionic Diamniotic Twin Pregnancy Discordant for Bladder Exstrophy

A 38 year-old woman presented with a dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy at gestational age of 32 weeks concerning for an abdominal wall mass in one of the twins. Initial ultrasound evaluation was suspicious for an omphalocele, but the affected twin was found to have bladder exstrophy at birth. This illustrates the difficulties of accurate prenatal diagnosis of bladder exstrophy in a twin pregnancy at a late gestation

The structural invariants of Goursat distributions

This is the first of a pair of papers devoted to the local invariants of Goursat distributions. The study of these distributions naturally leads to a tower of spaces over an arbitrary surface, called the monster tower, and thence to connections with the topic of singularities of curves on surfaces. Here we study those invariants of Goursat distributions akin to those of curves on surfaces, which we call structural invariants. In the subsequent paper we will relate these structural invariants to the small-growth invariants.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figure

Determinants of Effective Leadership in Banks: A Case Study of Diamond Trust Bank - Kenya

Leadership is described as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". For example, some understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others, while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal”. However, effective leadership refers to systematic approach to improving results through evidence-based decision making, continuous organizational learning, and focus on accountability for performance. Accordingly, effective leaders are considered to be more successful and efficient in performing their duties towards achievement of organizational goals, building collective vision, mission, and set of values that help people focus on their contributions to bring out their best. Furthermore, effective leaders increase productivity, outcomes and also instill a sense of belonging within the entire workforce. In this connection, there are several determinants that influence effectiveness in leadership including, leadership skills, education levels and delegation culture et cetera. These factors also influence how leaders respond to challenges in mobilizing others to do extraordinary things for their organizations and to achieve company’s objectives. There are variety of leadership challenges facing organizations, ranging from lack of skilled manpower, human resource management, competition from peer Organizations, change resistance, adoption of new technology, deployment of capital, balance sheet structuring, customer demands et cetera. In fact, the hallmark of management is characterized by disruption in all spheres. Leaders are tasked to lead their respective teams towards resolving the above challenges and achievement of the overall company’s objectives within prescribed budgets and given timeframe thereby enhancing efficiency, profitability and productivity. However, often, leaders face challenges in achievement of their objectives due to the disruptive environment and the inherent leadership gaps thereof. As a result, leaders make wrong decisions, which end up costing their organizations dearly. This study sought to explore the factors influencing effective leadership in organizations. A case study of Diamond Trust Bank, Kenya was used. The study was guided by three specific objectives namely: to determine the influence of leadership skills on effective leadership in Diamond Trust Bank, to assess the effects of educational background on effective leadership in DTB and to determine the influence of delegation of duties on effective leadership in DTB. Data was collected using questionnaires and face to face interviews. A target population of 800 staff members of DTB was sampled by way of stratified sampling technique to obtain a representative sample. Data was analyzed using chi-square tests, correlations and descriptive statistics using SPSS version 20. Keywords: leadership skills, educational background, delegation of duties, effective leadership in Banks