Telecommunications Management

DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Leo A. Wrobel (Boston: Artech House, 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-89006-460-1,112 pp.)

LONG DISTANCE SERVICES: A BUYER'S GUIDE by Daniel D. Briere (Boston: Artech House, 1990—price not given, ISBN 0-89006-439-3,293 pp.)

ADVANCES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT edited by Jagdish Sheth and Garly Frazier (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1990—$63.50 each, ISBN as listed below)

MANAGING THE R&D/MARKETING INTERFACE FOR PRODUCT SUCCESS: THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOCUS edited by Massoud Saghafi and Ashok K. Gupta (1990—ISBN 1-55938-144-2,218 pp.)

PURCHASING IN THE 1990S: THE EVOLUTION OF PROCUREMENT IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY edited by Wesley J. Johnston (1990—ISBN 1-55938-145-0,257 pp.)     

Treatment Comparisons

The purpose of this paper is to provide concrete illustrations of the efficacy of the multiple regression approach to the analysis of experimental results. A bridge between theoretical and specific applications is provided by parallel multiple regression and analysis of variance solutions for two typical educational designs. Detailed illustrations are given in the techniques of writing linear constraints and determining degrees of freedom. The major advantages of the multiple regression approach are its adaptability to unusual designs and the facilitation of meaningful interpretation afforded by the provision of regression weights in addition to the usual Fratios.     

Socio‐cultural‐historical constructivism in the preparation and practice of early childhood teachers in New Delhi,India

Abstract

The author conducted a study with early childhood educators in New Delhi to understand the teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between their preparation and practice within a theory‐practice framework. The research problem emanated from the observations and experiences of the author, indicating an existing three‐way tension between the design of current Indian teacher education programs, the dominant discourse of early childhood education, and the underlying values of Indian philosophy that defined the construct of the teacher and child in Indian society.     

Atrazine biodegradation efficiency, metabolite detection, and trzD gene expression by enrichment bacterial cultures from agricultural soil

Atrazine is a selective herbicide used in agricultural fields to control the emergence of broadleaf and grassy weeds. The persistence of this herbicide is influenced by the metabolic action of habituated native microorganisms. This study provides information on the occurrence of atrazine mineralizing bacterial strains with faster metabolizing ability. The enrichment cultures were tested for the biodegradation of atrazine by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and mass spectrometry. Nine cultures JS01.Deg01 to JS09.Deg01 were identified as the degrader of atrazine in the enrichment culture. The three isolates JS04.Deg01, JS07.Deg01, and JS08.Deg01 were identified as efficient atrazine metabolizers. Isolates JS04.Deg01 and JS07.Deg01 produced hydroxyatrazine(HA) N-isopropylammelide and cyanuric acid by dealkylation reaction. The isolate JS08.Deg01 generated deethylatrazine(DEA), deisopropylatrazine(DIA), and cyanuric acid by N-dealkylation in the upper degradation pathway and later it incorporated cyanuric acid in their biomass by the lower degradation pathway. The optimum pH for degrading atrazine by JS08.Deg01 was 7.0 and 16S rDNA phylogenetic typing identified it as Enterobacter cloacae strain JS08.Deg01. The highest atrazine mineralization was observed in case of isolate JS08.Deg01, where an ample amount of trzD mRNA was quantified at 72 h of incubation with atrazine. Atrazine bioremediating isolate E. cloacae strain JS08.Deg01 could be the better environmental remediator of agricultural soils and the crop fields contaminated with atrazine could be the source of the efficient biodegrading microbial strains for the environmental cleanup process.     

Two tests of approach-iron golf skill and their ability to predict tournament performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent and predictive validity of two skill tests that examine the ability of golfers to hit accurate approach-iron shots. Twenty-four high-level golfers (handicap = 2.6 ± 1.7) performed the Nine-Ball Skills Test (assesses the ability to shape/control ball trajectory with high accuracy) and the Approach-Iron Skill Test (assesses the ability to hit straight shots from varying distances with high accuracy). Participants then completed at least eight rounds of tournament golf over the following 90 days and reported an indicator of approach-iron accuracy (per cent error index). A moderate correlation (r = 0.50, P < 0.05) was noted between scores for both tests. Generalised estimating equations, using two covariates (lie of the ball and distance to hole), were used to determine model fit and the amount of variance explained for tournament per cent error index. Results showed that the Approach-Iron Skill Test was the slightly stronger predictor of on-course per cent error index. With both test scores considered together, a minimal amount of additional variance was explained. These findings suggest that either of the tests used individually or combined may be used to predict tournament approach iron performance in high-level golfers.     

A contextual perspective of performance assessment in eGovernment: A study of Indian Police Administration

There is considerable research work on the performance assessment of eGovernment projects, especially on performance assessment measures per se. The point that the authors in this paper make is that while a variety of performance assessment measures are important for evaluation of eGovernment projects, performance itself is intended to relate governance with eGovernment applications. Thus, while developing performance assessment measures, there is a need to be conscious of governance as the ultimate purpose. Taking the Indian Police Administration as its domain, this paper demonstrates how performance assessment can be so conceived as to help capture the impact of eGovernment in regard to implications for governance in the given domain.     

Student achievement conditioned upon school selection: Religious and secular secondary school quality in Bangladesh

In this paper we present new evidence on the impact of school characteristics on secondary student achievement using a rich dataset from rural Bangladesh. We deal with a potentially important selectivity issue in the South Asian context: the non-random sorting of children into madrasas (Islamic faith schools). We do so by employing a combination of fixed effects and instrumental variable estimation techniques. Our empirical results do not reveal any difference in test scores between religious and secular schools when selection into secondary school is taken into account. However, we document significant learning deficit by gender and primary school type: girls and graduates of primary madrasas have significantly lower test scores even after controlling for school and classroom-specific unobservable correlates of learning.     

An Analysis of the Presentation of Art in the British Primary School Curriculum and its Implications for Teaching

This article presents an analysis of the way art is conceptualised in the British primary school curriculum and provides an historical framework that maps an evolution of ideas that have shaped the way art is presented in the modern day primary curriculum. In order to achieve this a Foucauldian style genealogical analysis is utilised to trace the discourses (systems of meaning) surrounding the nature of children's artistic development and how these discourses are used in the present day British primary curriculum to construe art in different ways. The analysis in this article is threefold. It explores the presentation of art in the curriculum as (1) an expressive subject, (2) a skills based subject, (3) a subject which focuses on art history and art appreciation. Second, the teaching positions associated with each approach are identified as follows (a) the facilitator, (b) the expert and (c) the philosopher; as well as the issues teachers face when adopting these positions. Third, attention is given to how these theoretical principles might be linked to practice. In so doing this article contributes to the debate surrounding the value of art in the primary curriculum and the way in which the curriculum serves to shape teaching practice.     

Some reflections on mathematics classroom notebooks and their relationship to the public and private nature of student practices

This article considers students' classroom notebooks, their character and their role in learning. The results presented were found within the frame work of a broader international project, the Learners Perspective Study, whose goal is to identify classroom practice from the students' point of view. Two 8^thgrade classrooms were studied. In each,every lesson over the course of three weeks was videotaped. After each lesson, two students were interviewed and their notebooks entrees for that lesson were photocopied; once a week, the teacher was interviewed as well. From the analysis of the data it became apparent that the notebook in the classroom is a publicobject; it is ever open for inspection and contains only finished work. That it is not a private object in which the student may freely record preliminary ideas, musings, and reflections may affect student learning negatively. The categorization of public and private as a categorization of learning activities is discussed. The relationship between the findings on notebooks and research on writing and classroom journals is discussed; in particular, a connection is made between public and private domains and transactional and expressive writing,respectively. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A method to assess the influence of individual player performance distribution on match outcome in team sports

This study developed a method to determine whether the distribution of individual player performances can be modelled to explain match outcome in team sports, using Australian Rules football as an example. Player-recorded values (converted to a percentage of team total) in 11 commonly reported performance indicators were obtained for all regular season matches played during the 2014 Australian Football League season, with team totals also recorded. Multiple features relating to heuristically determined percentiles for each performance indicator were then extracted for each team and match, along with the outcome (win/loss). A generalised estimating equation model comprising eight key features was developed, explaining match outcome at a median accuracy of 63.9% under 10-fold cross-validation. Lower 75th, 90th and 95th percentile values for team goals and higher 25th and 50th percentile values for disposals were linked with winning. Lower 95th and higher 25th percentile values for Inside 50s and Marks, respectively, were also important contributors. These results provide evidence supporting team strategies which aim to obtain an even spread of goal scorers in Australian Rules football. The method developed in this investigation could be used to quantify the importance of individual contributions to overall team performance in team sports.