Nature watch

Gerbils are rodents with a long hairy tail terminating in a tassel of hair.Gerbillus, Tatera andMeriones are the genera found in India. These rodent genera of Sahara-Tharian region differ from each other in their origin and dispersal. Since a large number of species of the genusGerbillus are found in the African continent, it is conjectured that Africa was the centre of their differentiation. However,Tatera is found only south of Sahara.Meriones of Asiatic origin which crossed over to northern Africa across the Sinai desert is now found in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and several parts of Asia.     

Reflective Teachers and Teacher Educators in the Pacific Region: Conversations with us not about us

This article reports on a study of Pacific primary school teachers’ and university lecturers’ reflections on their involvement in the in-service Bachelor of Education degree programme offered at the regional University of the South Pacific (USP) in Fiji. Two rich sets of data have emerged from this study. Firstly, there are a number of critical reflections by ourselves as teacher educators concerning levels of equitable student access and participation in our degree as it is reconceptualised for distance and flexible delivery to increase levels of teacher professionalism across the Pacific region. Secondly, there has emerged a set of statements from teachers themselves about: teaching and learning; professional development opportunities; and what it means to be a professional educator in the Pacific region. This later data suggests an alternative set of voices in what has largely been a “conversation between us about them” conducted by Ministries of Education, Curriculum Development Units, USP, other educational bodies and the media in the Pacific, but particularly Fiji, about teachers and teachers’ work. Critical reflection upon our own practice as teacher educators and the voices of experienced teachers are particularly pertinent not only as we seek to reshape a degree programme to suit the needs of the region’s primary school teachers but also as “rethinking” debates about the purposes of education in the Pacific region are on-going yet exclusive.     

Principals' and teachers' attitudes and knowledge of inclusive education as predictors of effective teaching practices in Ghana

Surveys and observations were undertaken in selected primary schools in Ghana to determine whether principals' and teachers' attitudes towards and knowledge of inclusive education, as well as principals' expectations of teachers in implementing inclusion, were predictors of effective teaching practices in their classrooms. The sample of 128 educators (20 principals and 108 teachers) drawn from 20 primary schools in two districts, were required to respond to questionnaire measures of Attitude Towards Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES), Knowledge of Inclusive Education Scale (KIES) and Principals' Expectations Scale (PES). Of the total number of teachers ( N  = 108), 37 were observed during instructional delivery in their classrooms. The data were analysed by a variety of statistical procedures including Regression Analysis and Discriminant Function Analysis. In the context of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985), the results showed that whilst attitudes towards inclusion (attitude element) and knowledge of inclusion (perceived behavioural control element) predicted effective teaching practices, principals' expectations (subjective norm) did not. Implications for the implementation of effective inclusive practices in Ghanaian schools and the need for future research are discussed.     

Aerobasics — An introduction to aeronautics

This part of the article continues the discussion of the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils presented in the previous part and extends it to wings at subsonic speeds. The effects of highlift devices and spoilers are considered and their application indicated. The effects of wing sweep and finiteness of aspect ratio are analyzed.     

Aerobasics — An introduction to aeronautics 12. Safety in aviation

Public awareness of airplane safety is very high due to the spectacular nature of airplane accidents. Partly as a result, civil airplane operations are tightly regulated at all levels from design to operation and maintenance. Scheduled airline operations have thus been able achieve a very high level of safety. In this article we quantify the safety of flight operations and indicate the design concepts like fail safety and safe life used in achieving a high level of safety. As an illustration, we consider the safety of a flight of a twin engine airplane in the event of one engine failure.     

Flight research using radio-controlled small airplanes

Conclusion Instrumented small airplanes for research and development of airplanes and other flight vehicles offer a viable method of study which is very cost-effective. The studies could also be extended into control and navigation. Development of small airplanes for various surveillance applications can also be effectively handled by this route. It is expected that the methods and instruments developed in the present context will find wider applications in future.     

Aerobasics — An introduction to aeronautics

This article introduces the concepts of lift and drag of a wing and their role in determining the performance of an airplane. The airplane is then compared with other modes of transport on the basis of a study by Gabrielli and Von Karman to bring out its special features. Next, the requirements of controlled flight are explained. The relations between the configuration of the airplane and the requirements of controlled flight are indicated.     

Role of wind tunnels in aircraft design

Aircraft of various types are necessary for meeting the defence and air transport requirements of any country. Till recently a large fraction of the Indian aircraft requirements have been met by imports or licensed production. However there is a trend towards design and manufacture of aircraft within the country. Among the recent design projects are the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Light Transport Aircraft (LTA), Advanced Light Helicopter(ALH), Hindustan Jet Trainer (HJT-16), Light Trainer (HANSA) and the unmanned air vehicles — Lakshya and Nishant.