The Introduction Of Management By Objectives Into the Buchanan, Michigan, Seventh-day Adventist Church

The most urgent concern of the twentieth-century church is building an effective working team composed of pastor and laymen (or lay people) that will be responsive to the commission of carrying the gospel to the world. Methods must be discovered so that intentional pastors can help bring intentional congregations into being. In the context of management by objectives, self-assessment and goal setting may be the means by which intentional congregations are created. If this is true, the pastor needs to know how to apply the concept of management by objectives to his ministry. To develop guidelines for the introduction of a system of management by objectives into the local church, models have been studied and literature surveyed in the areas of (1 ) theology of the church as an institution in need of management, (2 ) management by objectives in modern profit organizations, (3) management by objectives in non-profit organizations. In addition, surveys were conducted among members of one congregation to discover the degree of change that could be attributed to the introduction into the church of management by objectives. The study of Scripture reveals that the church is an institution in need of organization and management. Literature in the management field was found to be rich in sound theoretical principles that can be adapted to effective management of the church. The management-by-objectives plan introduced into the Buchanan, Michigan, Seventh-day Adventist church sought to implement these principles arid ideals into the everyday life of the church members. The interest and participation of the congregation suggest that the same program could be used with some modification in other congregations. Some areas should be expanded and others shortened or adjusted to include additional strategies. An oral and written survey conducted among the members of the congregation showed generally favorable responses to the facilitative style of church management which is a broad management-by-objectives concept. Church growth, increased attendance, and improved stewardship each attest to the favor with which the project was accepted by the congregation. While a new pastor naturally effects some changes in a congregation, the introduction of a new well-developed plan of management into the church effects greater and more long-range changes. The employment of modified objectives and goals each year using the principles of management by objectives will help the congregation become a better witness to the community in which it lives, and in the process the congregation and pastor become united by their common goals. There was an enthusiastic response when sixty members of the Buchanan congregation met to evaluate the 1978 program and set their goals for 1979. In this meeting laymen led in the goal-setting process and the pastor served as secretary

Principals’ Perception of Information Technology Infrastructure Management Constraints in Enugu State Seconadry Schools

This study investigated Principals’ Perception of Information Technology Infrastructure Management Constraints in Enugu State Secondary Schools. The study adopted survey research design. One research question was answered using mean with standard deviation. One null hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance using t – test statistic. The population for the study was 291 principals of public secondary schools in Enugu state. A sample of 186 principals was used in analysis drawn through multi stage sampling. Initially, proportionate random sampling technique followed by proportionate stratified random sampling technique and finally simple random technique. Questionnaire constructed by the researcher titled, Principals’ Perception of Information Technology Infrastructure Management Constraints Questionnaire (PPITIMCQ) was used as the instrument for data collection. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was calculated using cronbach alpha and was found to be 0.73. Findings from the study show that the principals agreed on six Information Technology Infrastructure Management Constraints and equally agreed that there is no significant difference between the mean ratings of urban and rural school principals on how information technology infrastructure constraints affect management of public schools in Enugu state. Based on this, the study recommended among others; that government should create financial allocation for school IT infrastructure; government should organize  seminars, workshops and conferences on regular basis for teachers on ICT; Principals should encourage school/community relationship and through the help of functional Parent Association procure important information technology infrastructures and fortify security outfits for them; schools wishing to adopt ICT integration in their all round school activities should procure a power generating set as a supplement to Electricity Distribution Company power supply or procure solar system power supply among others. Keywords: Principals’ Perception, Information Technology, Infrastructure Management, Constraints, Secondary School

Cylindrical surface profile and diameter measuring tool and method

A tool is shown having a cross beam assembly made of beams joined by a center box structure. The assembly is adapted to be mounted by brackets to the outer end of a cylindrical case. The center box structure has a vertical shaft rotatably mounted therein and extending beneath the assembly. Secured to the vertical shaft is a radius arm which is adapted to rotate with the shaft. On the longer end of the radius arm is a measuring tip which contacts the cylindrical surface to be measured and which provides an electric signal representing the radius of the cylindrical surface from the center of rotation of the radius arm. An electric servomotor rotates the vertical shaft and an electronic resolver provides an electric signal representing the angle of rotation of the shaft. The electric signals are provided to a computer station which has software for its computer to calculate and print out the continuous circumference profile of the cylindrical surface, and give its true diameter and the deviations from the ideal circle

Estimated financial returns from two white pine plantations, Station Bulletin, no.496

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Predicting Postoperative Morbidity in Adult Elective Surgical Patients using the Surgical Outcome Risk Tool (SORT)

Background: The Surgical Outcome Risk Tool (SORT) is a risk stratification tool that predicts perioperative mortality. We construct a new recalibrated model based on SORT to predict the risk of developing postoperative morbidity. Methods: We analysed prospectively collected data from a single-centre cohort of adult patients undergoing major elective surgery. The data set was split randomly into derivation and validation samples. We used logistic regression to construct a model in the derivation sample to predict postoperative morbidity as defined using the validated Postoperative Morbidity Survey (POMS) assessed at one week after surgery. Performance of this "SORT-morbidity" model was then tested in the validation sample, and compared against the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity (POSSUM). Results: The SORT-morbidity model was constructed using a derivation sample of 1056 patients, and validated in 527 patients. SORT-morbidity was well-calibrated in the validation sample, as assessed using calibration plots and the Hosmer-Lemeshow Test (χ² = 4.87, p = 0.77). It showed acceptable discrimination by Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (Area Under the ROC curve, AUROC = 0.72, 95% CI 0.67–0.77). This compared favourably with POSSUM (AUROC = 0.66, 95% CI 0.60–0.71), while remaining simpler to use. Linear shrinkage factors were estimated, which allow the SORT-morbidity model to predict a range of alternative morbidity outcomes with greater accuracy, including low- and high-grade morbidity, and POMS at later time-points. Conclusions: SORT-morbidity can be used preoperatively, with clinical judgement, to predict postoperative morbidity risk in major elective surgery

Understanding factors associated with the translation of cardiovascular research: A multinational case study approach

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Funders of health research increasingly seek to understand how best to allocate resources in order to achieve maximum value from their funding. We built an international consortium and developed a multinational case study approach to assess benefits arising from health research. We used that to facilitate analysis of factors in the production of research that might be associated with translating research findings into wider impacts, and the complexities involved. Methods: We built on the Payback Framework and expanded its application through conducting co-ordinated case studies on the payback from cardiovascular and stroke research in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. We selected a stratified random sample of projects from leading medical research funders. We devised a series of innovative steps to: minimize the effect of researcher bias; rate the level of impacts identified in the case studies; and interrogate case study narratives to identify factors that correlated with achieving high or low levels of impact. Results: Twenty-nine detailed case studies produced many and diverse impacts. Over the 15 to 20 years examined, basic biomedical research has a greater impact than clinical research in terms of academic impacts such as knowledge production and research capacity building. Clinical research has greater levels of wider impact on health policies, practice, and generating health gains. There was no correlation between knowledge production and wider impacts. We identified various factors associated with high impact. Interaction between researchers and practitioners and the public is associated with achieving high academic impact and translation into wider impacts, as is basic research conducted with a clinical focus. Strategic thinking by clinical researchers, in terms of thinking through pathways by which research could potentially be translated into practice, is associated with high wider impact. Finally, we identified the complexity of factors behind research translation that can arise in a single case. Conclusions: We can systematically assess research impacts and use the findings to promote translation. Research funders can justify funding research of diverse types, but they should not assume academic impacts are proxies for wider impacts. They should encourage researchers to consider pathways towards impact and engage potential research users in research processes. © 2014 Wooding et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.RAND Europe and HERG, with subsequent funding from the NHFA, the HSFC and the CIHR. This research was also partially supported by the Policy Research Programme in the English Department of Health

Berkovich Nanoindentation on AlN Thin Films

Berkovich nanoindentation-induced mechanical deformation mechanisms of AlN thin films have been investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) techniques. AlN thin films are deposited on the metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD) derived Si-doped (2 × 1017 cm−3) GaN template by using the helicon sputtering system. The XTEM samples were prepared by means of focused ion beam (FIB) milling to accurately position the cross-section of the nanoindented area. The hardness and Young’s modulus of AlN thin films were measured by a Berkovich nanoindenter operated with the continuous contact stiffness measurements (CSM) option. The obtained values of the hardness and Young’s modulus are 22 and 332 GPa, respectively. The XTEM images taken in the vicinity regions just underneath the indenter tip revealed that the multiple “pop-ins” observed in the load–displacement curve during loading are due primarily to the activities of dislocation nucleation and propagation. The absence of discontinuities in the unloading segments of load–displacement curve suggests that no pressure-induced phase transition was involved. Results obtained in this study may also have technological implications for estimating possible mechanical damages induced by the fabrication processes of making the AlN-based devices