Transformational Leadership Qualities Of Florida Community College Student Government Advisors

College student government organizations (SGOs) have the important responsibility for achievement of purposes that serve students and the college community. They are also the student voice in higher education governance. Effective student leadership is vital to the effective fulfillment of these purposes, as is the role of the student government advisor in ensuring the success of student leadership and leadership development. Transformational leadership (Bass, 1985) is seen as a way of reaching higher levels of leadership effectiveness and organizational performance, and it has been advanced for use in SGOs. This study examined the extent to which community college student government advisors who exhibited transformational leadership qualities had an influence on the organizational outcomes of community college student governments. Several research questions were formulated to guide this examination. Surveys which included an instrument to measure the effectiveness of reaching organizational outcomes and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire for Research (MLQ 5X) (Bass & Avolio, 1995, 2000) were given to Florida community college student government executive board members and their respective student government advisors. Anticipated findings included increased levels of organizational outcomes in those community college SGOs in which advisors exhibit greater levels of transformational leadership qualities. Analysis of the data yielded advisor and student government member demographics, and a strong level of fulfillment of organizational outcomes. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between student reported transformational leadership qualities of advisors and student ratings of achievement and importance of organizational outcomes. A statistically significant correlation was also found between student ratings of importance of organizational outcomes and student ratings of the achievement of organizational outcomes. This indicates the existence of a relationship between the transformational leadership qualities of Florida community college student government advisors and the perceived importance and achievement of student government organizational outcomes. Secondary results were also given. Results of this study suggest that Florida community college student government advisors who exhibited higher levels of transformational leadership qualities engendered higher levels of organizational outcomes in Florida community college student governments. Implications were discussed for the study findings, and recommendations for future research were made

Future Bloom and Blossom Frost Risk for Malus domestica Considering Climate Model and Impact Model Uncertainties

The future bloom and risk of blossom frosts for Malus domestica were projected using regional climate realizations and phenological (= impact) models. As climate impact projections are susceptible to uncertainties of climate and impact models and model concatenation, the significant horizon of the climate impact signal was analyzed by applying 7 impact models, including two new developments, on 13 climate realizations of the IPCC emission scenario A1B. Advancement of phenophases and a decrease in blossom frost risk for Lower Saxony (Germany) for early and late ripeners was determined by six out of seven phenological models. Single model/single grid point time series of bloom showed significant trends by 2021-2050 compared to 1971-2000, whereas the joint signal of all climate and impact models did not stabilize until 2043. Regarding blossom frost risk, joint projection variability exceeded the projected signal. Thus, blossom frost risk cannot be stated to be lower by the end of the 21st century despite a negative trend. As a consequence it is however unlikely to increase. Uncertainty of temperature, blooming date and blossom frost risk projection reached a minimum at 2078-2087. The projected phenophases advanced by 5.5 d K-1, showing partial compensation of delayed fulfillment of the winter chill requirement and faster completion of the following forcing phase in spring. Finally, phenological model performance was improved by considering the length of day.Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture/KLIF

Comparison of manual and automatic barcode detection in rough horticultural production systems

Automation of production in the nurseries of flower producing companies using barcode scanners have been attempted but with little success. Stationary laser barcode scanners which have been used for automation have failed due to the close proximity between the barcode and the scanner, and factors such as speed, angle of inclination of the barcode, damage to the barcode and dirt on the barcode. Furthermore, laser barcode scanners are still being used manually in the nurseries making work laborious and time consuming, thereby leading to reduced productivity. Therefore, an automated image-based barcode detection system to help solve the aforementioned problems was proposed. Experiments were conducted under different situations with clean and artificially soiled Code 128 barcodes in both the laboratory and under real production conditions in a flower producing company. The images were analyzed with a specific algorithm developed with the software tool Halcon. Overall the results from the company showed that the image-based system has a future prospect for automation in the nursery

Investigations on the Effects of Low Laser Infrared Marking Energy and Barcode Size on 2D Data Matrix Code Detection on Apples

Product marking in horticulture aims at providing robust and permanent means of marking products and preventing theft, tampering and cheating by customers. Direct part marking has sought to provide solutions to these problems. However, unlike in industry where it has been successful, in horticulture there are still a lot of challenges that prevent successful marking and reading of directly marked barcodes on horticultural products. The laser energy, barcode size, product color and days of storage are important factors that affect the marking, quality and readability of directly marked Data Matrix (DM) on apples. Therefore, the objective of this study was to solve the aforementioned problems with these factors by using Synrad 48-5 CO2 laser (10,600 nm), to mark some apples using low energy levels. Laser energy, the skin of the product and the inertia of the laser beam affected the printing of the DM on the apples. Incomplete marking of the DM at some of the energies used resulted in the DM not being decoded. Generally, there was successful decoding on Golden Delicious compared to Kanzi and Red Jonaprince for 10 days of storage. On the average, the smaller barcode size produced a better detection of the code than the bigger size. The better detection on Golden Delicious can be attributed to the better contrast between the DM and its color. As the days of storage increased, detection decreased for Kanzi and Red Jonaprince. There is a future prospect for directly reading marked apples in real production systems

Modelling of longwave radiation exchange at greenhouse surfaces under all-sky conditions

Accurate and detailed longwave radiation heat transfer models are necessary in modern protected cultivation especially for greenhouses. For this reason, the study focuses on modelling the longwave radiation exchange between glass-covered greenhouse surfaces and the sky taking into consideration representative test conditions. Apart from the surface design and the thermal properties of the cover, the key meteorological parameters influencing longwave radiation models include air temperature, cloudiness and relative humidity. To model the downwelling longwave radiation under all-sky conditions, an effective atmospheric emissivity is required, which depends on the cloudiness of the sky. To achieve this, 10 typical clear-sky atmospheric emissivity equations were selected from the literature and their performances assessed. From comparative statistics, the Sugita and Brutsaert (1993) model produced the best results for emissivity estimations both at night and during the day. To work with the model a cloudiness factor was derived from analyzed weather maps and with cloudiness octas (eighths) assigned by weather watchers. The best simulation results for both the downwelling and the upwelling longwave radiation were obtained with the map-based cloudiness factor. However, the errors related to the model performance with the two cloudiness prediction approaches were not significantly different. The thermal emissions were weighted according to the computed view factors and these enhanced delivery of reliable results in the simulation models. The most sensitive parameters in the longwave radiation models were found to be the air temperature and the surface-to-air temperature difference (sensitivity index SI > 1). Furthermore, the SI of the models with respect to the cloudiness was always higher than with respect to the relative humidity. Overall, precise measurement or estimation of atmospheric parameters is important in accurate modelling of the exterior longwave radiation exchange

Anemia Control in Kidney Transplant Recipients Using Once-Monthly Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator: A Prospective, Observational Study

In a multicenter, prospective, observational study of 279 kidney transplant recipients with anemia, the efficacy and safety of once-monthly continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.R.A.) were assessed to a maximum of 15 months. The main efficacy variable was the proportion of patients achieving a hemoglobin level of 11-12 g/dL at each of visits between months 7 and 9. At study entry, 224 patients (80.3%) were receiving erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) therapy including darbepoetin alfa (98), epoetin beta (61), and C.E.R.A. (45). The mean (SD) time between C.E.R.A. applications was 34.0 (11.9) days. Among 193 patients for whom efficacy data were available, mean (SD) hemoglobin was 11.1 (0.99) g/dL at study entry, 11.5 (1.1) g/dL at month 7, 11.6 (1.3) g/dL at month 9, and 11.4 (1.1) g/dL at month 15. During months 7–9, 20.7% of patients had all hemoglobin values within the range 11-12 g/dL and 64.8% were within 10–13 g/dL. Seven patients (2.5%) discontinued C.E.R.A. due to adverse events or serious adverse events. In this observational trial under real-life conditions, once-monthly C.E.R.A. therapy achieved stable hemoglobin levels in stable kidney transplant recipients with good tolerability, and with no requirement for any dose change in 43% of patients

How to improve drug dosing for patients with renal impairment in primary care - a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk for inappropriate or potentially harmful prescribing. The aim of this study was to examine whether a multifaceted intervention including the use of a software programme for the estimation of creatinine clearance and recommendation of individual dosage requirements may improve correct dosage adjustment of relevant medications for patients with CKD in primary care. Methods: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted between January and December 2007 in small primary care practices in Germany. Practices were randomly allocated to intervention or control groups. In each practice, we included patients with known CKD and elderly patients (>=70 years) suffering from hypertension. The practices in the intervention group received interactive training and were provided a software programme to assist with individual dose adjustment. The control group performed usual care. Data were collected at baseline and at 6 months. The outcome measures, analyzed across individual patients, included prescriptions exceeding recommended maximum daily doses, with the primary outcome being prescriptions exceeding recommended standard daily doses by 30% or more. Results: Data from 44 general practitioners and 404 patients are included. The intervention was effective in reducing prescriptions exceeding the maximum daily dose per patients, with a trend in reducing prescriptions exceeding the standard daily dose by more than 30%. Conclusions: A multifaceted intervention including the use of a software program effectively reduced inappropriately high doses of renally excreted medications in patients with CKD in the setting of small primary care practices

Engineering and Technologies for Horticultural Plant Production

Gartenbauliche Produktion ist gekennzeichnet durch den Einsatz von Gewächshäusern und Automatisierungstechnologien. Im Verbundprojekt ZINEG (Zukunftsinitiative Niedrig-Energiegewächshaus) konnten Gewächshauskonzeptionen entwickelt werden, die über 80 % Energieeinsparung im Vergleich zu konventionellen Gewächshausanlagen erzielten. Aktuelle wird der Einfluss der erhöhten Luftfeuchtigkeit auf die Pflanzenqualität getestet. Zur Integration von Automatisierungstechniken in hochintensive Pflanzenproduktionsprozesse wurden Arbeiten durchgeführt, die eine automatische bildanalytische Auswertung komplexer Pflanzensituation erlauben. Mit Hilfe sogenannter Active-Shape-Modelle und dem Einsatz von Überlappungsalgorithmen konnte das bisher ungelöste Problem der Automatisierung bei überlappenden Objekten deutlich reduziert werden. Ein erster Analyse-Prototype im Bereich der Unkrautbekämpfung mit Lasertechnologie im Gewächshaus wurde entwickelt.Intensive horticultural production is characterized by the use of greenhouses and automation technologies. In the project ZINEG (Low-Energy-Greenhouse for the Future) greenhouse concepts were developed that achieve over 80 % energy saving compared to conventional greenhouses. The extent of the increasing influence of humidity on the plant quality is currently being tested. For further development and integration of automation techniques in highly intensive plant production processes, work was carried out to allow automatic image analysis of complex plant situations. Using so-called Active Shape Models and the use of new developed overlapping algorithms the previously unsolved problem of automation in overlapping situations can be significantly reduced. A first prototype of an analysis machine in the field of weed control with laser technology in the greenhouse was developed