PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LEADERSHIP STYLES OF DEANS IN ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENTAL TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (TVET) COLLEGES

The Industrial Development Strategy of 2003 has shown that considerable human resource deficits in Ethiopia are the major reason for the low rate of industrial development. This strategy confirms in its statement: “...education and a training system that is capable of producing the manpower that is both professionally and ethically capable of carrying and sustaining the responsibility of seeing to it that our industrial development program will have achieved its goals” (MOFED, 2003). Therefore, it called for efforts towards quality improvement of the workforce, to reverse the marginalisation of the industrial professions in the TVET system, and to build a culture of entrepreneurship and self-employment (MOFED, 2010). In 2009, the Southern Nations, Nationalities People’s Region (SNNPR) Centre of Competence (COC) conducted standard exams for those who graduated from TVETs. The results were disappointing, as only 12.2% of the TVET graduates and 34.9% of the TVET instructors passed the examinations (SNNPR TVET, 2010). Hence, to solve this chronic problem, high calibre deans should be appointed. In line with this idea, in the year 2003, the World Bank designed a training project to produce and assign skilled leaders in higher education in Ethiopia (World Bank, 2003). Although it failed, it was also the plan of the Ethiopian government that the percentage of TVET leaders trained in leadership would reach 100% in the year 2014 (MOFED, 2010). The TVET sector has particular significance for the reduction of poverty and for the promotion of gender equity because it stresses certain dimensions such as opportunities, skills, human resources development and empowerment. However, in Ethiopia, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) has introduced an emphasis on developing TVET skills only since the turn of the 21st century. As a result, the MOE has required TVET practitioners not only to link up their knowledge and skills with the past in order to understand the present situation, but also to prompt them to look beyond the present to cope with this dynamic world (MOFED, 2006). The present study assumes importance in finding out perceived effectiveness of the leadership styles of deans in Ethiopian governmental technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.  Article visualizations

LEADERSHIP STYLES OF THE DEANS IN ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENTAL TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (TVET) COLLEGES

Technological advancements have driven the development of dynamic work environments leading to a need for dynamic and visionary leaders who possess leadership skills and are capable of meeting the challenges and opportunities that exist in the modern workplace that is intent on promoting the change necessary for developing and maintaining the competitive edge (Burke, Stagl, Klein, Goodwin, Salas, Halpin & Winer, 2006). Again, it is even more critical that leaders of the highest calibre are identified, developed, and sharpened within educational institutions. Avolio and Bass (1991) who in their research identified three leadership styles, namely: transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire. They state that these three leadership styles can be used to identify the predictive roles of this range of leader attributes as well as the three outcomes of leadership, namely: extra effort, effectiveness and satisfaction. The FRL is regarded as a contemporary model that has the potential to explain leadership and its multidimensional nature and to measure behaviours empirically that can be used to predict leadership outcomes (Antonakis, Avolio & Sivasubramaniam, 2003; Avolio, 2010). According to Dew (1995) and Northouse (2012), leaders make an attempt to lift up motivation and morale when a transformational leadership style is put into effect. Similarly, Curtin (2004) and Conger and Kanungo (1990) propose that organisations require leadership that stimulates leaders and followers as a result of which observable change can come to the fore. For Avolio (2010), college deans should use the transformational leadership style to be the most successful. The findings of Morgenson, DeRue and Karam (2009), and Ross and Offerman (1991) have suggested that it is advantageous for organisations if they are led by lenient, more nurturing leaders. In his work, Nahavandi (2003) has tried to describe the characteristics of transformational leaders as follows: they work hard to promote self-reliance and optimism about goals and followers' ability, provide a vivid vision, initiate innovation through empowerment and rewards for followers, inspire high expectations by creating a conducive environment and, finally, form and strengthen personal relationships with followers. For Nahavandi (2003), these five characteristics of a transformational leader are of vital importance and the absence of one of these characteristics would make such a leader either ineffective or less effective in terms of his/her leadership. The present study assumes importance in finding out to what extent do the leadership styles adopted by deans have an effect on the government TVET Colleges’ perceived effectiveness as evaluated by deans, teachers, and students.  Article visualizations

Strange Particle Production Via The Weak Interaction

The differential cross sections for the neutrino-induced weak charged current production of strange particles in the threshold energy region are presented. The general representation of the weak hadronic current is newly developed in terms of eighteen unknown invariant amplitudes to parametrize the hadron vertex. The Born term approximation is used for the numerical calculations in the framework of the Cabibbo theory and SU(3) symmetry. For unpolarized octet baryons four processes are investigated, whereas in the case of polarized baryons only one process is chosen to study the sensitivity of the differential cross section to the various polarizations of the initial state nucleon and the final state hyperon.Comment: This paper was originally submitted to Physical Review C and published on 30 August, 201

Extending the BASE architecture for complex and reconfigurable cyber-physical systems using Holonic principles.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2021.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: ndustry 4.0 (I4.0) represents the newest technological revolution aimed at optimising industries using drivers such as Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things (IoT) and many more. In the past two decades, the holonic paradigm has become a major driver of intelligent manufacturing systems, making it ideal to advance I4.0. The objective of this thesis is to extend an existing holonic reference architecture, the Biography-Attributes-Schedule-Execution (BASE) architecture, for complex and reconfigurable CPSs. In the context of this thesis, complex and reconfigurable systems are considered to be systems that are comprised of many diverse, autonomous and interacting entities, and of which the functionality, organization or size is expected to change over time. The thesis applies the principles of holonic systems to manage complexity and enhance reconfigurability of CPS applications. The BASE architecture is extended for two reasons: to enable it to integrate many diverse entities, and to enhance its reconfigurability. With regards to research on holonic systems, this thesis aims to address two important functions for systems implemented using holonic principles, namely cooperation and cyber-physical interfacing The most important extensions made to the architecture were to enable scalability, refine the cooperation between holons, and integrate cyber-physical interfacing services as Interface Holons. These extensions include platform management components (e.g. a service directory) and standardised plugins (e.g. cyber-physical interfacing plugins). The extended architecture was implemented on an educational sheep farm, because of the many heterogeneous resources (sheep, camps, sensors, humans, etc.) on the farm that need to be integrated into a BASE architecture implemented CPS. This case study implementation had to integrate data from different sensors, provide live analysis of observed data and, when required, notify the physical world of any problems in the CPS. At the end of the implementation, an evaluation was done using the requirements of a complex, reconfigurable CPS as evaluation criteria. This evaluation involved setting up quantitative and qualitative evaluation metrics for the evaluation criteria, doing the evaluations, and discussing what the results from the different evaluations indicate about the effectiveness and efficiency of the extensions made to the BASE architecture. The extensions made to the BASE architecture were found to improve robustness and resilience. The use of Erlang was found to play a very important role in the resulting reliability. The extensions also helped to fully address the original BASE architecture’s scalability shortcomings and to increase development productivity. Lastly, the extensions show the benefits of using service orientation to enable cooperation between holons and how extracting all cyber-physical interfacing of a system into dedicated Interface Holons reduces development time, improves reusability and enhances diagnosability of interfacing problems.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ndustrie 4.0 (I4.0) is die nuutste tegnologiese revolusie en dit is daarop gemik om industrieë te optimiseer deur middel van drywers soos Kuber-Fisiese Stelsels (KFSs), die Internet of Things (IoT) en vele meer. In die afgelope twee dekades het die holoniese paradigma ʼn belangrike drywer van intelligente vervaardigingstelsels geword, wat dit ideaal maak om I4.0 te bevorder. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om ‘n bestaande holoniese verwysings argitektuur, die Biography-Attributes-Schedule-Execution (BASE-) argitektuur, uit te brei vir komplekse, herkonfigureerbare KFSs. In die konteks van hierdie tesis, word komplekse en herkonfigureerbare stelsels gesien as stelsels wat bestaan uit menige diverse, outonome entiteite wat met mekaar interaksie het en waarvan die funksionaliteit, organisasie en grootte verwag is om te verander met verloop van tyd. Hierdie tesis pas die beginsels van holoniese stelsels toe om die kompleksiteit van KFSs te bestuur en om herkonfigureerbaarheid van KFSs te verbeter. Die BASE-argitektuur word uitgebrei om twee redes, naamlik om die integrasie van menige diverse entiteite te ondersteun en om die argitektuur se herkonfigureerbaarheid te verbeter. Die studie sal ‘n navorsingsbydrae lewer oor holoniese stelsels deur twee belangrike funksionaliteite van stelsels wat geïmplementeer is deur middel van holoniese stelsels aan te spreek – samewerking tussen holons en kuber-fisiese koppeling. Die belangrikste uitbreidings wat gemaak is aan die argitektuur was om skaleerbaarheid moontlik te maak, samewerking tussen holons te verfyn en om kuber-fisiese koppelingsdienste te integreer as holons. Hierdie uitbreidings sluit nuwe platformbestuurkomponente en gestandaardiseerde plugins in. Die uitgebreide argitektuur is geïmplementeer op ʼn opvoedkundige skaapplaas, omdat die skaapplaas baie heterogene hulpbronne (skape, kampe, sensors, mense, ens.) insluit wat in die BASE-argitektuur geïmplementeerde KFS geïntegreer kon word. v Hierdie gevallestudie-implementering moes data van verskillende sensors integreer, intydse analises doen van die waargeneemde data en wanneer nodig, ‘n entiteit in die fisiese wêreld inlig van enige probleme in die KFS. Aan die einde van die implementering is ʼn evaluering gedoen deur die vereistes van ʼn komplekse, herkonfigureerbare KFS as evalueringskriteria te gebruik. Die evaluering het bestaan uit die opstel van kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe evalueringsmaatreëls, die uitvoer van die evaluerings en ʼn bespreking van wat die evalueringsresultate aandui oor die effektiwiteit en doeltreffendheid van die uitbreidings wat aan die BASE- argitektuur gemaak is. Dit is bevind dat die uitbreidings wat gemaak is aan die BASE-argitektuur robuustheid en veerkragtigheid verbeter het. Die gebruik van Erlang het ʼn groot rol gespeel in die gevolglike betroubaarheid. Die uitbreidings aan die BASE- argitektuur het ook gehelp om die argitektuur volledig skaleerbaar te maak en om ontwikkelingsproduktiwiteit te verbeter. Laastens, bewys die uitbreidings die voordele van diensoriëntasie in die samewerking tussen holons en hoe die gebruik van Koppelings Holons (Interface Holons) ontwikkelingstyd verminder, die herbruikbaarheid van programbronkode verbeter en diagnoseerbaarheid van koppelingsprobleme versterk.Master

Brushless direct current motor efficiency characterization

Abstract: The use of a compact lightweight efficient propulsion system is one of the main technological requirements for a long endurance electric Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Currently the most popular trend is to use a permanent magnet brushless direct current (BLDC) model motor. This type of motor is used because of its efficiency which can be greater than 90% when optimally driven. However the majority of manufacturers do not provide adequate performance response profiles throughout the specified motor applied voltage range. This paper presents a methodology to characterize the BLDC efficiency

The JWS online simulation database

Summary: JWS Online is a web-based platform for construction, simulation and exchange of models in standard formats. We have extended the platform with a database for curated simulation experiments that can be accessed directly via a URL, allowing one-click reproduction of published results. Users can modify the simulation experiments and export them in standard formats. The Simulation database thus lowers the bar on exploring computational models, helps users create valid simulation descriptions and improves the reproducibility of published simulation experiments. Availability and Implementation: The Simulation Database is available on line at https://jjj.bio.vu. nl/models/experiments/

Control methods for Dermanyssus gallinae in systems for laying hens: results of an international seminar

This paper reports the results of a seminar on poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae. Eighteen researchers from eight European countries discussed life cycle issues of the mite, effects of mites on hens and egg production, and monitoring and control methods for PRM in poultry facilities. It was determined that PRM probably causes more damage than envisaged, with the cost in The Netherlands alone reaching 11 million euro per annum. However a great deal is still unknown about PRM (e.g. reproduction, survival methods, etc.) and that PRM monitoring is an important instrument in recognising and admitting the problem and in taking timely measures. Currently, the most promising control method combines heating the hen house in combination with chemical treatments. Future areas of development which show promise include the use of entomopathogenic fungi, vaccination and predatory mites. The final aim is to solve the problem of D. gallinae in housing systems for laying hens

TarO : a target optimisation system for structural biology

This work was funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Structural Proteomics of Rational Targets (SPoRT) initiative, (Grant BBS/B/14434). Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by BBSRC.TarO (http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/taro) offers a single point of reference for key bioinformatics analyses relevant to selecting proteins or domains for study by structural biology techniques. The protein sequence is analysed by 17 algorithms and compared to 8 databases. TarO gathers putative homologues, including orthologues, and then obtains predictions of properties for these sequences including crystallisation propensity, protein disorder and post-translational modifications. Analyses are run on a high-performance computing cluster, the results integrated, stored in a database and accessed through a web-based user interface. Output is in tabulated format and in the form of an annotated multiple sequence alignment (MSA) that may be edited interactively in the program Jalview. TarO also simplifies the gathering of additional annotations via the Distributed Annotation System, both from the MSA in Jalview and through links to Dasty2. Routes to other information gateways are included, for example to relevant pages from UniProt, COG and the Conserved Domains Database. Open access to TarO is available from a guest account with private accounts for academic use available on request. Future development of TarO will include further analysis steps and integration with the Protein Information Management System (PIMS), a sister project in the BBSRC Structural Proteomics of Rational Targets initiative.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe