61 research outputs found
A systematic review of the quality and fit of local spirometry studies to the Global Lung Initiative (GLI) and global chronic respiratory disease burden
No full textEarly diagnosis and treatment are vital to combatting the global rise in chronic respiratory diseases (CRD). Spirometry can reliably support a CRD diagnosis when reference equations (RE) represent the target population. Multi-ethnic representation in Global Lung Initiative (GLI) RE has been a significant advance. However, the GLI lacks data from many global population groups, thus its diagnostic sensitivity may be reduced in local or ethnically diverse populations. We aimed to analyse global trends in PFT studies comparing the applicability (fit) of GLI RE to local populations and their geospatial relationships with CRD burden.
A systematic search was conducted using PubMed® and Medline. In the resulting 46 studies, the fit of each local population’s normative PFT data (relative to GLI) was determined using standardized criterion (mean Z-score=0 & -1.64 & <+1.64) and article quality was evaluated using a modified GRADE criterion. Geospatial relationships were modelled in R statistics.
Only 56% of reviewed studies met the applicability criterion and 60% rated low or very low in quality. Evidence of acculturation (post migration) was found in 18% and evidence of longitudinal changes in 31% of studies. A geospatial mismatch was found between CRD burden and the normative data used to construct the GLI RE.
We demonstrate a compelling need for normative spirometry data targeted to populations which are both underrepresented in the GLI and have the highest CRD burden. Improved quality in future studies could be facilitated with the adoption of a standardised protocol for normative PFT data collection and analysis
Book Review: Contemporary political ideologies
No full textBook Title: Contemporary political ideologiesBook Author: Roy C. MacridesCambridge, Massachusetts, Winthrop, 198
The effectiveness of internal marketing strategies in creating customer conscious employees in private tertiary education institutions in Gaborone
No full textMBA, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2019Many private tertiary education institutions (PTEis) thrive through customer satisfaction and quality service delivery. Failure to deliver services to the expected customer satisfaction breeds a myriad of problems. PTEis are facing serious competition from an increased number of competitors, reduced government spending on PTEis, and the general decrease in the desire for tertiary education by potential students. As a result of these problems PTEis are forced to apply appropriate internal marketing (IM) strategies in order to enhance service delivery. The main objective of this research is to determine if IM activities are fulfilling their intended purpose of creating customer centred employees. Such IM activities are designed to enhance employee productive behaviour (EPB). EPB is viewed as an essential element in excellent service delivery. The conceptual model for this study was adapted from Siddiqi and Zahoor (2016). The descriptive research method as well as the quantitative research approach was used in this study. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire, captured using Microsoft Excel and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21 that was further used to compute the factor analysis. The target population of this study consisted of academic staff from the PTEis in Gaborone. The questionnaires were conveniently hand delivered to a sample size of 140 respondents. The findings of this study show that most employees acknowledged that IM activities are existing in their organisations and are intended to motivate them. The author of this study argues that the PTEis management or leadership could apply the recommendations proposed by this study, the EPB could be improved and excellent customer service could be increased.Master
Stuck in the Middle? Making Sense of the Impact of Micro, Meso and Macro Institutional, Structural and Organisational Factors on Implementing Learning Analytics
No full textDespite evidence that learning analytics has become institutionalised within higher education since its emergence in 2011, there remain questions regarding its impact on informing curricula, pedagogy and ultimately, on student success. A variety of factors can impact on the successful implementation of learning analytics. Despite its huge potential, learning analytics may become stuck in the middle of, inter alia, the need to balance operational needs and resource allocation, and different perceptions of learning, agency and loci of control in learning, teaching and macro-societal factors. In this conceptual paper, we propose an institutional cartography of learning analytics and explore the impact of a number of micro, meso and macro institutional factors that may impact and shape the institutionalisation of learning analytics. We utilise a socio-critical model for understanding student success as a conceptual basis for developing this cartography
Computationally Efficient Conical Horn Antenna Design: A theoretical design approach
No full textIn this thesis, a computationally efficient model is proposed to determine different performance parameters of a conical horn antenna of arbitrary profile numerically over a wide range of frequencies. The model is developed using mode matching technique that solves the waveguide junction problem and an integral equation technique that solves the waveguide aperture free-space transition. It has functions to evaluate the S parameters, near-fields and far-fields of the antenna. Rigorous testing of the proposed novel technique has been done using MATLAB and the results have been verified by comparing them with the results obtained from commercial tools like FEKO and CST. This technique is capable of finding the performance parameters of the antennas faster than the available solvers in commercial tools like FEKO and CST. Furthermore, various goal functions are proposed for the optimization of some of the performance parameters such as the S parameters, the cross-polarization levels, and the aperture efficiency. These goal functions can be used to find optimum horn antenna feed profiles for radio astronomy applications.SK
(Un)Packing Your Backpack: Educational Philosophy, Positionality, and Pedagogical Praxis
No full textIn this philosophical research project, the author examines the question: How can the case be made that there is an imperative need to change the trajectory of current efforts to reduce “achievement gaps” in the United States and (re)vision a transformation of our school settings through conscious-raising sensitivity regarding issues of equity towards equality amongst educators that harnesses the work of philosophy of education scholars? She engages the reader in a theoretical hike through a philosophical argument for attending to philosophical theories of education, extending the work of Jane Roland Martin regarding sensitivity and drawing heavily on the scholarship of Barbara Thayer-Bacon regarding relational “(e)pistemologies,” constructed thinking, and democratic community. Contending that there is a tandem need to address issues of diversity as they pertain to equity and work towards inclusion of dominant community and marginalized groups to establish a new equality of dominant and marginalized groups working together, the author explores guiding graduate level education students to personal preparation for conscious-raising regarding issues of sensitivity to diversity for equity with the imperative of inclusion for equality. The case is made, through theory infused with illustrative narrative, that a critical philosophically positional approach can raise consciousness regarding diversity for equity and inclusion to advance toward an ideal of equality, resulting in pedagogical praxis in educational practitioners which the author claims will help advance the vital aim of reducing “achievement gaps” in schools in the United States
Die histories-kritiese metode(s) in perspektief
No full textThe historical critical method in perspective The historical critical method has made a major contribution to the scientific study of the Bible, especially since the 18th century. The historical critical method, influenced by 19thcentury positivistic and evolusionistic principles of the natural sciences has mainly concentrated on the intention of the original author, the original situation and the growth of the text. The text as it stands has to a large extent been neglected. In reaction to this the text-immanent and structuralistic approaches emerged during the 20th century. The ideal situation would be to combine the three basic elements of the communication process, i.e. the author, the text and the reader in a complementary exegetical model
Conformal Phased Array for DISTURB
No full textMankind becomes ever more reliant on wireless technology like mobile communications, navigation and radar. This development has resulted in more sensitive receivers, but this increased sensitivity also has increased the susceptibility of these receivers to interference from external sources. One of these sources that is known to disrupt terrestrial communications is the Sun. The DISTURB project aims to provide the means to observe and study interference phenomena generated by the Sun between frequencies of 10 MHz and 3 GHz. Furthermore, DISTURB stations should provide the ability to observe the Sun from sunrise to sunset, at any location in the world and thus require full hemispherical coverage. This master thesis project is concerned with the design of a conformal phased array antenna for a novel application in radio astronomy. The goal of this project is to provide an initial conformal array design that is able to provide full hemispherical coverage in the 1500 MHz to 3 GHz band of the DISTURB project. A quasi-spherical array of radius 1.55 metres and with 343 crossed modified bow-tie antenna elements, distributed using a novel geodesic topology, is proposed and found to satisfy DISTURB requirements in the frequency range of 1.3 to 3 GHz. Hence, the designed array is found to achieve a fractional bandwidth of 79% and therefore even exceeds the initial design goal. Finally, the designed array is compared to a parabolic reflector antenna, resulting in an insight in the complexity of a conformal phased array antenna design and the advantages and disadvantages such a conformal phased array antenna may bring to the DISTURB project.Electrical Engineerin
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CORPORATE SAVINGS IN SOUTH AFRICA TO RECENT RECORD CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITS
No full textRecently South Africa recorded record current account deficits at a time of high commodity prices. A major contributor to these deficits was a lower level of corporate saving. Low domestic savings makes South Africa reliant on foreign capital inflows to fund higher investment levels and the resultant current account deficits. This paper seeks to identify reasons for the fall in corporate saving using econometric techniques to analyse the relationships between corporate saving and six explanatory macroeconomic variables. Significant variables identified are the real effective exchange rate, a commodity price index and a coincident business cycle indicator. The results show that these variables explain most of the variation in corporate saving, although they do not conform to a priori expectations.Financial Economics,
Die struktuur van die tekskode: die strukturele organisasie van 'Die jonkmanskas' van Koos Prinsloo
No full textA unique quality of literature is that the text system is not just an instrument for conveying a literary message; the structure of the system is in itself meaningful. This article will closely examine the structural organisation and the functional significance of Koos Prinsloo’s short story “Die Jonkmanskas” . “Die jonkmanskas” is a story with a complex structure, written in the postmodernist idiom, and originated from three distinct stories. These embedded stories simultaneously work as commentaries, parodies and corrective devices, so that the ultimate interpretation of “Die jonkmanskas” is also determined through its structural code. An important aspect of this short story, which is highlighted by the structural code, is the interaction between the author’s text, the narrator’s text and the character’s text. In this [pseudo] autobiography the distinction between the actual author, the abstract author and the narrator is gradually erased, because time and again the narrator changes his role from character to narrator to author
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