Archives-December 

The study by Lussier & Bobby (2007) and & Wictor Andersson (2012) states that a country is seen to be successful, viable and respected leader who is due to have strong leadership skills. According to Robinson (2009), a good leader can influence the team to participate in activities that to do well and be able to interact with the members of his team is to create a feeling of respect, understanding and cooperation among members. In the context of Malaysian national education, extra-curricular activities is an important program for developing students' potential as a holistic mission. Thus, uniformed bodies established for the purpose of meeting the interests and to address issues of misconduct among adolescents such as substance abuse, truancy, loitering and juvenile culture. Therefore, the development of leadership at the school level is important in producing students who are competent and have the added value of identity as meet the challenges of the future.

Ultrasonic velocity, density and viscosity for binary liquid mixture of fatty acid ester Ethyl Oleate with toluene have been measured at 2 MHz ultrasonic frequency within the temperature range of 303.15K to 318.15k. Thermo-acoustic parameters like adiabatic compressibility, acoustic impedance and intermolecular free length are calculated. The results are interpreted for interaction studies among the molecules of the mixtures.

The study investigated the utilization of laboratory facilities and students’ academic performance in chemistry. A total of 230 respondents (30 teachers and 200 SSII students) in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area were drawn through simple random sampling technique from four public secondary schools formed the sampled size for the study out of a target population 3,693 students and 42 chemistry teachers. Three research questions guided the study. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 alpha level using two instruments which were utilization of laboratory facilities questionnaire (ULFQ) and a proforma for collating students’ promotion examination score for chemistry. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Pearson product moment correlation as statistical tools. The results revealed that laboratory facilities are not adequately utilized in secondary schools for teaching chemistry as viewed by teachers and students. Also there was a significant relationship between utilization of laboratory facilities and students’ academic performance in chemistry. Based on the findings, it was recommended that adequate laboratory facilities be provided by relevant authorities. The utilization of laboratory facilities by teachers should be encouraged by the school authorities.

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework operationalises the knowledge necessary for a teacher to use ICT in pedagogy as consisting of seven domains. The domains are content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), technological content knowledge (TCK), and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). Therefore, this study sought first, to establish the validity and reliability of each of the seven constructs. Second, to test whether the seven constructs were independent. Third, to re-examine whether the seven-factor TPACK model was reasonable. A sample of 87 was chosen from among 500 teachers of quantitative disciplines in Makerere University in Uganda who filled a self-administered questionnaire. The analysis involved using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach alpha for the first objective; Pearson linear correlation (PLC) for the second objective; and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for the third objective. (CFA) and Cronbach alpha for the first objective; Pearson linear correlation (PLC) for the second objective; and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for the third objective. CFA and Cronbach alpha suggested that the seven constructs of TPACK were valid and reliable. However, PLC revealed that the seven constructs were highly inter-correlated. EFA revealed that while the TK and TCK constructs loaded together, the rest of the constructs (TPACK, PCK, CK, TPK, PK and PK in that order of importance) were distinct. It was recommended that researchers should continue using the TPACK framework as reasonable but at the same time while looking for avenues of refining it since it was found not to be perfect.

We investigate dark energy models in an anisotropic Kantowski-Sachs space –time with a variable equation of state(EoS). The EoS for dark energy ? is found to be time dependent and its existing range for derive models is in good agreement with the recent observations. Under the suitable condition, the anisotropic models approach to isotropic scenario. We also find that during the evolution of the universe, the EoS parameter for DE changes from ?>-1 to ?=-1 in first model whereas from ?>-1 to ?<-1 in second model which is consistent with recent observations. The cosmological constant ? is found to be a positive decreasing function of time and it approaches a small positive value at late time (i.e. the present epoch) which is corroborated by results from recent supernovae Ia observations. The physical and geometric properties are also discussed.

Light sequencer is a phenomenon which has been with us since the end of Second World War. Even though it has undergone very robust modification from the mirror balls into pure electronics. The 8051 microcontroller based light sequencer incorporates the programmable capability of the 8051 microcontroller in light sequencing light. This therefore has the advantage of changing the display of lights required as opposed to changing the whole electronics of the system of non-8051 microcontroller based light sequencer for the same effects lighting.

The paper presented a method with an improvement crossover operation, reserve policy and Niche technology to adjust the algorithm, which made algorithm be avoided to converge prematurely, and prevented algorithm falling into best local solutions. Through case emulates, it was found that it had good performance. Finally, the principle of convergence was proved.

Internal pressures of the ternary and sub-binary mixtures of Benzene(1)+Hexane(2) +n-Propanol(3) have been computed from ultrasonic velocity measurements at different mole fractions in the temperature range of 300C- 450C. The equation formulated by Andiappan et.al, for evaluating internal pressures of binary liquid mixtures has been modified and extended in the present work for the Ternary systems. The internal pressures computed with the help of the modified relation and showed close agreement with observed values. The absolute average deviation between the calculated and observed values from 1.7% to 1.9% for the ternary system studied.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the cardiac muscle associated with both infectious and noninfectious diseases. Among the infectious etiologies, viruses are the most frequent pathogens, streptococcus is rarely reported as a causative pathogen of acute myocarditis without clinical features suggestive of rheumatic fever. No epidemiological data estimating the incidence of group A streptococcus (GAS) induced myocarditis exist at this time [1]. The clinical manifestations are variable: it classically presents as an acute heart failure and can also be manifested with arrhythmia (tachycardia or bradycardia) or chest pain mimicking myocardial infarction, especially in young patients, accompanied with focal ST elevations on the electrocardiogram and elevated cardiac biomarkers. Here we present a case of a 44- year-old man who presented with myocarditis mimicking ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) a few days after he an episode of angina.

In this study chloroform and methanol extracts of Ziziphus xylopyrus stem barks were tested for analgesic (Hot plate, Tail immersion and Acetic acid- induced writhing method) and anti-inflammatory activity (paw edema induced by carrageenan) in mice and rats, respectively. The methanolic extract in doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg showed 10.91, 34.95 and 57.61 percentage of protection from writhing respectively and the percentage inhibition of paw edema at the end of four hours was 1.26, 24.05 and 35.42 respectively. In the Hot plate and Tail immersion models, methanolic extract in the above doses increased the pain threshold significantly after 30 min, 1, 2 and 3h of administration. Methanolic extract showed dose-dependent action in all the experimental models in different doses whereas chloroform extract was not able to show such remarkable significant activities.