Servant leadership in the context of education: teachers as servant leaders with emphasis on individual development

This study focuses on individual development as one of the characteristics of Servant Leadership. This is an attempt to attract more attention to Servant Leadership in the context of education as the study argues that teachers, with servant leadership behaviors, can enhance students’ individual development. The study pointed out Servant Leadership behaviors which relate to individual development in the non-fiction book “The Freedom Writers Diary” by Erin Gruwell, this book is the real story of a teacher who changed lives and made a difference. The study also traced students’ character qualities that can be attributed to having Ms. Gruwell as their teacher. The study sought to answer the following research questions: (a) What Servant Leadership behaviors for individual development can be traced in the book “The Freedom Writers Diary” by Erin Gruwell? (b) What character qualities in Erwin Gruwell students’ diary entries can be attributed to her influence as a teacher? A qualitative content analysis was conducted where coding of data was done according to themes and meanings interpreted from the text. Servant Leadership behaviors for individual development were pointed out in the lives of Jesus Christ and Gandhi who are considered role model servant leaders and also from the writings of the scholars who wrote about Servant Leadership. Then, those same behaviors were drawn from the non-fiction book “The Freedom Writers Diary”. Nine Servant Leadership behaviors were pointed out and listed as nine data codes derived from the analysis, in addition to nine respective character qualities drawn from the students’ diary entries included in the book. The study concluded that Servant Leadership can develop students’ characters and help them achieve better academic results; thus, Servant Leadership behaviors need to be a part of teacher preparation and evaluation. Moreover, more research is needed on Servant Leadership in the context of education

The Legal Status of Archipelagos in the International Law of the Sea

The archipelagic States, which attempt to extend their control over the waters surrounding their islands, are demanding the establishment of a legal system for archipelagos in order to preserve their interests, their maritime wealth and their regional security. On the other hand, there are the great maritime States that hold on to the freedom of the sea and international navigation.The problems raised by the islands constituting the archipelago did not stand at the end of sovereignty disputes and their right to their own maritime areas, but many other problems were associated with the presence of archipelagic islands. The measurement of marine areas of archipelagic islands requires a description of how the baselines from which these areas are measured are to be drawn. Also, the measurement of marine areas of the islands of individual problems is different from those raised by the presence of the islands in the form of an archipelago. Drawing baselines also varies according to the archipelagic islands site, and whether they are located in front of the coast regions or at the entrances to the bays in these coasts, or were located in the sea or ocean.These problems remained subject to international controversy and tension until a new system of archipelagic State was adopted under Part IV of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, which represents a very important renewal of the international law of the sea

SCENARIO-BASED SIMULATION OF TREATMENT PROCESSES FOR MINIMIZATION OF SLUDGE PRODUCTION FROM AL-SAAD WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

The biological-activated sludge treatment process is the most widely used approach to treating domestic wastewater. It involves the transformation of soluble and particulate organic matter to gases and large amounts of settleable biomass (produced sludge). This sludge is considered one of the most pressing management challenges since its treatment represents approximately 50 to 60% of the total operational cost of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The traditional management of excess sludge is by disposal in landfills, incineration, or agriculture reuse in the form of fertilizers but due to energy and environmental concerns, many jurisdictions developed strict policies and regulations for managing excess sludge. Therefore, this calls for the investigation of novel approaches to reduce the amount of generated sludge as the benefits would then be two-fold, environmental as well as economic. Sludge can be reduced through two main approaches which are post-treatment of produced sludge or in-situ activated sludge reduction. Post-treatment is an approach where treatment will take place after sludge is produced in the plant. Whereas in-situ activated sludge reduction will reduce the amount of produced sludge from the source itself. In this thesis, the in-situ activated sludge reduction without effluent quality deterioration is investigated for an existing full-scale WWTP which generates approximately 15 tons of sludge each day (Al Saad WWTP in Al Ain, UAE). The complex combination of WWTP processes makes the investigation of their performance and interactions on bench and pilot scales technically challenging and costly. This is exacerbated when the scope of investigation attempts to experiment with different operating parameters and/or unit processes. Therefore, a simulation approach was adopted in this study using BioWin™ V.6 software. The challenge with the simulation approach is that it requires model calibration. Calibration entails the adaptation of some model parameters until the model prediction matches specific observed data of the plant stream quality characteristics. There are four different model calibration protocols proposed in the literature, the water environmental research foundation (WERF) is the one applied in this study. Routine historical data about the Al-Saad WWTP was gathered but was not enough to develop the model; therefore, a sampling campaign was conducted for further parameters characterization, particularly for determining the fractions of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN). After the model of Al-Saad WWTP was developed and calibrated, several scenarios were structured to represent the application of variations of the oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process which appears in literature as a sludge reduction retrofit. The OSA process was modeled by inserting a sludge holding tank (SHT) on the recirculation-activated sludge stream between the secondary settling tank and the aeration tank. The results revealed that the percentage reduction in the amount of produced sludge increased from 4.04% to 5.76% when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the OSA tank increased from 2 to 12 hours. Selecting the optimum HRT is governed by the available area, the initial cost of SHT, and the sludge treatment cost. This reduction was attributed to the stressful conditions that recycled biomass from the secondary settling tank faces inside the OSA process resulting in an increase in the sludge anaerobic decay coefficient. This result is consistent with previous studies that investigated an anaerobic side-stream reactor (a process similar to OSA) on a full-scale WWTP. This study concluded that the OSA process is a simple adjustment in existing/new WWTPs that can potentially reduce the amount of excess sludge without deteriorating the effluent quality. The contribution of this study lies in detailing the model calibration process and demonstrating the use of the calibrated model in examining the performance of plant retrofit alternatives. Further research is required to identify the mechanism behind the OSA process and to define the design principles for OSA

Gender and leadership in Egypt\u27s public sector: the case of the Ministry of Finance

There is a radical difference in the number of males versus females in leading positions around the world, both in public and private business structures. This may reflect an underlying perception that women are not apt to lead and if put in leadership positions, they would be less competent and not as qualified as men. The purpose of this study was to answer the main research question of whether leadership style differences exist between Egyptian men and women working in the public sector in Egypt, taking the case of mid-level managers in the Ministry of Finance. The objective was to determine whether the alleged differences were based on reality or a mere perception. This would allow us either to realize that leadership style differences between men and women do exist, or to base the call for more equality in pay, promotion and opportunities for women on firmer ground that such differences are a mere stereotype. Respondents were examined on their degree of association with six aspects of leadership: Initiation of Structure, Role Assumption, Production Emphasis, Integration, Consideration, and Tolerance and Freedom. The study findings indicate that no leadership style differences exist between men and women with regards the six aspects. Women do not tend to be more Communal than men, nor do men tend to be more Agentic

NEW METHOD TO OPTIMIZE NO-LOAD NOISE OF POWER TRANSFORMERS BASED ON CORE DESIGN & TRANSFORMER OPERATING CONDITIONS

This paper introduces a new algorithm to calculate and optimize no-load noise (sound pressure) of power transformers, and to identify iron sheet parameters. The calculation consists of two steps: the 1st step consists in calculating an initial sound pressure level (A-Evaluation) which has approx. 70 % accuracy within a tolerance interval of ±2dB (A). The 2nd step consists in estimating the expected deviation from the initial calculation to reach 90 % accuracy in the final results. This deviation could be due to material handling, quality tolerance, core manufacturing, etc. The optimization process consists of two parts: the 1st part takes place before choosing a certain iron sheet for calculation to identify the sheet parameters required for computational accuracy (“Sheet Optimization”). The 2nd part consists in considering a core design with an undesirable sound pressure level in order to reduce it to an acceptable limit. This part takes into account the other limitations such as no-load losses and transformer dimensions (“Design Optimization”). For new iron sheets in the market, there is no measurement history to rely on. However, the algorithm is also capable of identifying the sheet parameters for calculation based on the available algorithm data base and the magnetostriction measurements of the iron sheet manufacturer

Determining transformer core losses based on investigation of core material behaviour during test and operation – mathematical interpretation

By identifying the characteristic equation of the specific no-load losses of each iron sheet based on the core configuration, it is possible to reach a high level of accuracy in detecting no-load losses over a wide range of flux density. The method is applicable and frequently used for reference as well as for new sheet types that appear on the market. The results presented in this paper are based on one year experience, showing that the total weight and volume of transformers have clearly been reduced

EVALUATION OF METABOLIC SYNDROME IN HEALTHY YEMENI POPULATIONS

Objective: The metabolic syndrome is characterized by several cardiovascular risk factors and is associated with an increased incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular events and mortality. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing in epidemic proportions worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components in healthy populations in Sana'a, Yemen. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted from February 2019  to April 2019. A total of 120 healthy populations (40 years≤ old) were selected. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethical committee and informed consent was obtained from all the enrolled study patients for their inclusion in the screening and participation in the research. In the present study, the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome based on the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) and to a joint statement from several large organizations. Results:  In the current study, the presence of more than or equal to any three of the above mentioned factors is required for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. The total prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the study subjectswas40.0% (P<0.001) and 62.5% of them were within 40-49 years old. In the present study, there was not statically significant difference between the khat chewing and the metabolic syndrome. According the distribution of metabolic syndrome criteria among subjects with metabolic syndrome, the prevalence of fasting blood glucose (FBG) was the highest (85%). Conclusion: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among healthy Yemeni populations was very high and it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.  This emphasizes the need for more attention to investigate this condition to decreasing the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in these subjects.             Peer Review History: Received 20 November 2019;   Revised 12 December; Accepted 6 January, Available online 15 January 2020 Academic Editor: Prof. Dr. Gorkem Dulger, Duzce University, Turkey, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:                Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 8.0/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Prof. Dr. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, [email protected] Dr. Muhammad Shahzad Aslam, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia, [email protected] Similar Articles: PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS G VIRUS AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE AND HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS, SANA'A CITY-YEME

NEW METHOD TO OPTIMIZE NO-LOAD NOISE OF POWER TRANSFORMERS BASED ON CORE DESIGN & TRANSFORMER OPERATING CONDITIONS

This paper introduces a new algorithm to calculate and optimize no-load noise (sound pressure) of power transformers, and to identify iron sheet parameters. The calculation consists of two steps: the 1st step consists in calculating an initial sound pressure level (A-Evaluation) which has approx. 70 % accuracy within a tolerance interval of ±2dB (A). The 2nd step consists in estimating the expected deviation from the initial calculation to reach 90 % accuracy in the final results. This deviation could be due to material handling, quality tolerance, core manufacturing, etc. The optimization process consists of two parts: the 1st part takes place before choosing a certain iron sheet for calculation to identify the sheet parameters required for computational accuracy (“Sheet Optimization”). The 2nd part consists in considering a core design with an undesirable sound pressure level in order to reduce it to an acceptable limit. This part takes into account the other limitations such as no-load losses and transformer dimensions (“Design Optimization”). For new iron sheets in the market, there is no measurement history to rely on. However, the algorithm is also capable of identifying the sheet parameters for calculation based on the available algorithm data base and the magnetostriction measurements of the iron sheet manufacturer