Assessment on The Information-Communication Technology Literacy of Principals of Health School

The study determinedanassessment of the Information-Communications Technology literacy of the principal of health school in Eastern Visayas Region, Philippines. This was conducted randomly selected central health schools in thirteen (13) divisions in the Department of Education. A total of 505 respondents, one hundred one (101) of whom were central school principals, 101 district supervisors, and 303 teachers who rated the principal's performance along with the following indicators:Occupational Competence, Professional and Personal Competence, Attendance and Punctuality and Plus Factors. A survey questionnaire was used to gather the data relevant to the study. The obtained data were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted through frequency counts, mean, percentage of distribution, and t-test. Findings of the study were as follows: Of the 505 respondents, 65 (64.4%) were females while 36 (35.6%) were males, 53 (52.5%) belonged to early later years, 33 (32.7%) were masters' and doctoral degree holders, 57 (56.5%) with anactual monthly income of 36,501–42,500, 40(48.51%) or almost half of the respondents has no ICT training, 49 (48.51%) owned computers for 1-3 years, 80 (79.21%) has 1-3 computer units, and 51 (50.5%) have favorable attitudes towards computer literacy. Onthe performance of principals as rated by teachers it was very satisfactory with a mean of 4.11 while immediate supervisors and principals themselves have a similar rating of very satisfactory with a mean of 3.86 and 4.01 respectively. It is recommended that school principals must undergo continuing education programs concerning ICT. Literacy skills of principals of health school may lead to effective instructions and managerial functions.

Genotypic Variation in Apple Rootstock Low Temperature Tolerance During Spring and Fall

To identify genotypes of apple (Malus ×domestica) rootstock with vulnerability to low temperature, we measured the low temperature tolerance of xylem, phloem and cambium in 2-year-old shoot pieces from cultivars Budagovsky 9 (B.9), M.7 EMLA (M.7), M.9 EMLA (M.9), Geneva® 41 (G.41), Geneva 30 (G.30), Geneva 214 (G.214), Geneva 814 (G.814), and Geneva 935 (G.935), as well as six advanced selections in the Geneva (G.) series and three in the Vineland (V.) series. From Oct. 2013 to Apr. 2014, injury was measured as a 0–10 rating based on percentage of discolored cross-sectional xylem and phloem, and cambial length and circumference with brown discoloration, with 0 indicating no browning and 10 indicating browning in the entire tissue. From Oct. 2014 to Apr. 2015, injury was measured as xylem, phloem and cambium browning using a similar rating scale that accounted for both the percentage of browned tissues and the intensity of browning. Following exposure to −35 to −40 °C, many genotypes, including ‘M.7’, ‘M.9’, ‘G.935’, G.4011, G.4292, G.5087, and V.5, had only partial xylem injury in the fall, whereas others, ‘M.7’, ‘G.41’, ‘G.214’, and G.4011, had more extensive xylem browning at −30 °C and colder. ‘G.30’ had moderate to severe xylem browning at −15 to −19 °C. In late October of both years, G.4013 exhibited severe phloem browning at relatively high temperatures, but accrued additional hardiness by Nov. 2014, whereas genotypes ‘B.9’, ‘M.9’, ‘G.30’, and ‘G.41’ developed considerable phloem hardiness by late October with no additional increase in hardiness in November. Geneva and Vineland genotypes exhibited a low degree of susceptibility to injury at −35 to −40 °C in Jan. 2014 and Mar. 2015. Shoot hardiness in Apr. 2014 and 2015 was highly variable between the 2 years, with severe browning of xylem and cambium at −40 °C in every genotype sampled in Apr. 2014, but not in Apr. 2015. ‘M.9’ and G.3902 appeared to be the least vulnerable to injury in April, whereas ‘G.30’, ‘G.41’, ‘G.814’, G.4292, and G.5257 seem more likely to suffer injury in spring. ‘G.30’ had tender xylem in both fall and spring, G.4013 had the least hardy cambium and phloem in fall, and G.5257 the least hardy cambium in the spring. These genotypes are vulnerable to damaging temperatures during fall acclimation and spring deacclimation.

Can Morningstar Analyst Ratings Predict Fund Performance?

This paper analyzes the Morningstar Inc.s new Analyst Ratings that were introduced in November 2011. The ratings are intended to help investors make long-term investment decisions. According to Morningstar, these ratings reflect the long-term risk-adjusted performance of mutual funds. This paper examines whether the Analyst Ratings can predict future fund performance. We assume that the rated funds would have a similar rating in 2010, since they are not based on short-term performance measures, and using quantile regressions, we find that the Analyst Ratings are significantly positively related to future fund performance, measured by Alpha in 2012, that captures the performance over the past three years, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The Analyst Rating is a synthesis of five individual aspects (pillars) of a fund, namely, People, Parent, Process, Performance, and Price. We also find that funds with a higher People Rating will perform better in the future. Since Morningstar contends that the Analyst Ratings are not based on short-term measures of performance, we test this statement also, and using Ordinary Least Squares model find that these ratings are in fact, significantly positively related to contemporaneous fund performance, using the Sharpe Ratio, as a measure. In spite of the assumptions made in this analysis, we argue that these results are important as this paper is the first to analyze the Analyst Ratings and we present some important findings.

Student Evaluations Of Online Classes Versus On-Campus Classes

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Some schools have reported that student evaluations of teaching for online/Internet classes are significantly lower that the evaluations given for traditional/on-campus classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>While many institutions appear to use the same (or similar) rating forms for online and on-campus classes, some people question the validity of using forms designed for on-campus classes to evaluate online classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The authors of this paper contend that the same general characteristics of effective teaching apply equally to online and on-campus courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>However, students in online classes interpret these factors differently when evaluating the instructor (e.g., the relative importance of the instructor's oral versus written communication skills is different in online versus on-campus courses).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;">Specifically, this paper identifies ten factors that are frequently measured by student evaluation forms: (1) Knowledge of the Subject, (2) Communication Skills/Ability, (3) Enthusiasm for the Subject, (4) Encouragement of Student Participation, (5) Rapport with Students, (6) Fairness in Grading, (7) Timeliness in Providing Feedback, (8) Organization of Class, (9) Adequacy of Textbook and Other Learning Materials, and (10) Instructor's Preparation for Class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The paper then discusses the differences between how online and on-campus students may interpret these factors when completing student evaluations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The paper concludes with suggestions for improving student evaluations of online classes. </span></p>

An Investigation Of 'Honesty Check' Items In Higher Education Course Evaluations

The reliability and validity of course evaluations in higher education is often assumed. The typical Likert-type surveys utilized when students' evaluate the course and instructor often overlook measurement issues, or deal with them in an ineffective manner. Given the importance that is placed on higher education course evaluations, with results impacting such events as merit raises and promotion, the proper construction and use of evaluation tools is a critical issue. In an effort to assure 'honesty' in student responses, many institutions include items written positively and negatively, which are intended to measure the same construct. Using 537 course evaluations for a mathematics faculty member at a Midwest college, an item analysis is conducted with attention given to means and standard deviations, frequency counts, nonparametric correlations and tests of significant differences between questions that should, in theory, produce a similar measure or exactly opposite. A contention is made that the way the item is asked does matter, at least in some instances, and it should not be assumed that an item written in the positive and negative should directly correlate. The survey research community and institutions utilizing similar rating scale instruments will benefit from the results of this study, as well as the education community in general.

Optimal Bespoke CDO Design via NSGA-II

This research work investigates the theoretical foundations and computational aspects of constructing optimal bespoke CDO structures. Due to the evolutionary nature of the CDO design process, stochastic search methods that mimic the metaphor of natural biological evolution are applied. For efficient searching the optimal solution, the nondominating sort genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is used, which places emphasis on moving towards the true Paretooptimal region. This is an essential part of real-world credit structuring problems. The algorithm further demonstrates attractive constraint handling features among others, which is suitable for successfully solving the constrained portfolio optimisation problem. Numerical analysis is conducted on a bespoke CDO collateral portfolio constructed from constituents of the iTraxx Europe IG S5 CDS index. For comparative purposes, the default dependence structure is modelled via Gaussian and Clayton copula assumptions. This research concludes that CDO tranche returns at all levels of risk under the Clayton copula assumption performed better than the sub-optimal Gaussian assumption. It is evident that our research has provided meaningful guidance to CDO traders, for seeking significant improvement of returns over standardised CDOs tranches of similar rating.

Substantial Reduction of Power Loss in a 14kVA Inverter Using Paralleled SiC-MOSFETs and SiC-SBDs

For higher power application of SiC devices, we have designed and developed an inverter module with paralleled SiC-MOSFETs and SiC-SBDs.We have successfully completed the operation of the SiC inverter module at continuous rating of up to 11kW with carrier frequency of 20 kHz. The power loss during the operation was measured by calorimetric method and the results showed that the loss was considerably reduced by 30% of a similar rating commercialized IGBT power module at carrier frequency of 15 kHz.

High Power-Density SiC Converter

A compact SiC converter having power densities about 9 W/cm3 is designed and fabricated. It is confirmed that the converter operates in a thermally permissive range. The power loss of the module of the converter measured under motor operations is less than 50% of the similar-rating Si module loss. The shrink of the effective volume of DC-link capacitor is necessary to achieve the high power-density SiC converter, in addition to the decrease of the cooling system volume due to the loss reduction caused by SiC devices.

Developing a Quantitative Rating System for Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement

A jointed concrete pavement rating system based on sampling and quantitative surface distress data was developed several years ago for North Carolina. This rating system has been adopted by the pavement management system for the priority ranking of projects. The first attempt to develop a similar rating system for continuously reinforced concrete (CRC) pavement was made with no fruitful results. There remains an urgent need for a comparable CRC rating system for project ranking. Another attempt that used a different approach was made. A linear regression equation was developed, and the correlation with experts’ rating was reasonably good.

Analysis of the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale-28 (CTRS-28)

One hundred and nineteen teachers of 540 normal boys and girls, ages 5 to 10, were administered the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale-28 (CTRS-28). Their responses were analyzed to assess the instrument's internal consistency and its construct and criterion-related validity. Principle components analysis revealed a four-factor structure underlying the scale, rather than the three-factor structure originally reported. Internal consistency of the factors ranged from .79 to .95. Convergent validity with similar rating scales was primarily excellent. Norms for newly derived factors and critical analysis of the usefulness of the CTRS-28 were explored.