Developing a Discipleship Curriculum for Educators of East Asian Children at Children’s Education in Christ Network East Asia

This thesis aims to develop a curriculum for educators in East Asia to enhance their ability to disciple children, starting with the creation of a textbook and followed by teaching the curriculum at an online camp. Pre- and post-surveys evaluated the effectiveness of the curriculum and equipped educators to engage in koinonia education with children. Chapter 1 provides the context of the project in one area of East Asia and presents the rationale, purpose, goals, research methodologies, and definitions. Chapter 2 establishes the theological foundation of koinonia education for children. Chapter 3 addresses the application of koinonia education in East Asia and the development of methodology. Chapter 4 details the implementation of the project, including the creation of the curriculum textbook, the design of pre- and post-camp surveys, and the online camp. Chapter 5 presents an evaluation of the project, with an in-depth analysis of survey data and an assessment of the project’s strengths and weaknesses. The chapter concludes with theological and personal reflections

Positron annihilation study of superionic conductors

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Physics 2017Different experimental techniques have clearly demonstrated that the predominant intrinsic point defects in ionic barium fluoride are anion Frenkel pairs. Positron annihilation technique is utilized in obtaining Doppler broadening and positron lifetime spectra in the temperature range 300 - 900 K. Doppler broadening quantifies the defects whereas positron lifetime components elaborate on the nature of defects. Theoretical approach by density functional theory (DFT) and the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in the calculation of electron-positron momentum density (or Doppler broadening) spectra at 0 K show that the positron annihilations decay predominantly with barium valence electrons, especially the 5p and 6s electrons and to a lesser extent with core electrons. These annihilations contribute towards the electron-positron momentum density. The annihilations with valence electrons partly contribute toward the short positron lifetime component. The positron-electron annihilations in barium atoms increase steadily with temperature. At 693 K, the annihilation fraction due to the Ba-atom when the anionic Frenkel is formed is found to be 84.44% compared to 15.56% for the fluorine atom. These annihiltions become part of a larger bulk positron-electron annihilations which form a short positron lifetime component. It is also noted that for F-divacancy at 693 K, the annihilation fraction due to 5p and 6s valence electrons in Ba increases by 2.13% to 86.57% indicating the role of defect clusters in the annihilation process. The long positron lifetime decreases in the temperature range from 500 ps at 300 K to 402 ps at 711 K, corresponds to a fractional increase of 22% in the temperature range 300 K to 693 K. The long positron lifetime component is attributed to a delocalized positronium which quickly annihilates through the pick-off (spin conversion) process. Pick-off process seems to be the dominant processes in the long positron lifetime component. The self-diffusion, at all temperature ranges, of cations Ba2+ in barium fluoride is several orders of magnitude smaller than that of F− which has a diffusion constant of 10−9 m2/s at 300 K. Therefore the contribution of cations in superionic conductivity in the temperature range can be ignored. This is also supported by the absence of third lifetime component which is an indication that only anionic vacancies, F−, are generated in the temperature range. The variation of the lattice constant with temperature as determined by X-ray diffraction becomes a major factor in the determination of S-parameters as a function of temperature hence it can reveal the critical temperature at which the formation of anion Frenkel defects commences before entering superionic region. The disordering of fluorine sublattice is found to deviate from linear behaviour at a temperature of 580 K (S-parameter of 0.50622 and lattice constant of 0.623 nm) without observing any appreciable superionic conductivity. X-ray diffraction technique provides a lattice constant of 0.625 nm at 693 K (corresponding to S-parameter of 0.50776) through which an appreciable small activity in conduction is first observed. This is demonstrated through the correlation between the lattice constants and conductivity values at elevated temparatures. This effectively means that lattice constant increases exponentially with temperature. Ilmenite (FeT iO3) which is an ionic conductor in which a permanent dipole moment can be formed by local changes in the environment of Ti4+ ion. It was used to test the validity the positron annihilation spectroscopy in a completely different environment of this corundum structure of space group R-3. The observed long positron lifetime components in comparison with theoretical calculations clearly show that these long positron lifetime components emanate from positron annihilations at metallic vacancies Fe2+. M¨ossbauer pressure effect confirms the increase of Fe3+ at high pressure. At ambient conditions (pressure and temperature), the ratio Fe3+/Fe2+ is small but gradually increase as the pressure increase. The relative intensity clearly shows a dramatic increase of the Fe3+ component with pressure. Further test was carried out using variable positron beam on a 100 keV Ar+ implanted LiF in the fluence range of 1012 − 1016 ions/m2. In the process of ion implantation on alkali halides, ion vacancies in the form of F centers are formed. Using the penetration depth profile, S-parameter at different incident positron beams from 0.03 to 25 keV energies identifies the concentration of defects. This identification was also confirmed by optical absorption which clearly identified the F-band at 242 nm and F2-band at 444 nm.MT201

The implementation and sustainability of pro-poor local economic development initiatives in the King Cetshwayo district municipality.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The main aim of the study was to critically explore the implementation and sustainability of pro-poor Local Economic Development in the KCD municipality. The secondary objective of the study was to determine how the implementation and sustainability of LED initiatives are organised, assessed, strategized and reviewed in the KCD. The implementation of economic development policies seemed to be a persistent problem hindering Local Economic Development (LED) in South Africa. Local government is a sphere of government that is closest to local communities and is so placed to identify, drive and implement programmes aimed at addressing unemployment, poverty alleviation and developmental challenges facing local communities in South Africa. The King Cetshwayo District (KCD) is not excluded from these challenges, which include the challenges of stimulating pro-poor LED by creating jobs and promoting the growth of small and medium business enterprises (SMMEs). The need to address poverty and unemployment is one of the most critical issues in this municipality. This research study was founded on the theoretical framework of the World Bank Local Economic Development model that involves several stages of LED strategic planning. A qualitative approach was adopted whereby eight in-depth interviews were conducted to interview municipal officials which included the mayor, the municipal manager and LED officials in two local municipalities in the KCD. The study further conducted 14 focus group discussions with community members which included co-operatives. Thematic analysis through an interpretive approach was used to analyse and present data for this study. The findings have shown that LED in the KCD is conceptualised generally as a form of partnership or coalition undertaken between the key players in a local municipality and involves the development of partnerships between the private sector, government and civil society. Moreover, the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) together with other stakeholders, including the municipality, have put measures in place to assist SMMEs to benefit from the RBIDZ activities. LED initiatives in the uMhlathuze local municipality are intended to stimulate both the enhanced growth of the local economy (pro-growth) and to address concerns of persistent poverty (pro-poor). The study also noted that both local municipalities have adopted the LED strategy but they are not sufficiently guided by the strategy to respond to the people’s needs. Pro-poor LED initiatives allow community members to showcase their skills and their desires and at the same time they can earn a living. Both municipalities are, however, not adequately monitoring and reviewing the LED strategies and initiatives, hence most of the pro-poor LED initiatives in the KCD are not sustainable. From the discussion of the findings the study concluded that LED initiatives that are established in different communities, particularly the KCDM, lack uniqueness and face stiff competition. There is also a lack of skills to manage LED initiatives, a lack of knowledge about the processes and the procedures of implementing and sustaining pro-poor LED initiatives. Moreover, there is inadequate funding to facilitate and implement LED and there is a need to involve the people from the planning stage and a request for more community participation

Research on the Utilization of Early Childhood English Teaching Video Based on the Bilingual Background

Early childhood education is gradually utilizing English teaching videos in the context of bilingual education. There were problems encountered during the promotion process, such as the lack of scientific teaching, unsatisfying teaching effects, lack of innovation, and the inability to attract children's interest in learning. To tackle these issues, a range of measures can be proposed, such as boosting parents' trust in English teaching videos, enhancing the scientific credibility of teaching videos, enhancing the quality of teaching, and promoting children's curiosity about learning English. The study highlights the importance of shifting the focus of early childhood education, and suggests promoting the widespread use of instructional videos from both the child and parent perspectives

The pricing decision strategy of value-added services in two-stage supply chain with e-commerce platform

The homogenization of products has caused e-commerce platform merchants to provide differentiated services to consumers through value-added services, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the market. Introduce the value-added service level factor in the e-commerce environment, consider the impact of e-commerce platform merchants providing value-added services on supply chain pricing, construct a secondary supply chain for manufacturers and e-commerce platform merchants, and compare and analyze centralized decision-making supply chains and dispersion decision-making supply chain pricing decisions. The simulation analysis shows that the increase of the value-added service level coefficient in a certain range has a positive stimulation effect on the product pricing of the e-commerce platform. Centralized decision-making supply chain and decentralized decision-making supply chain have a critical value for product pricing, and centralized decision-making supply chain is more sensitive to value-added services.The impact of the value-added service level on the overall profit of the centralized decision-making supply chain is less than the overall profit of the decentralized decision-making supply chain

Dexmedetomidine versus dexamethasone as adjunct to ropivacaine in erector spinae plane block for patients undergoing breast surgery: a randomized, prospective, double blinded study

Background: Loco-regional anaesthesia (GA) has been extensively applied in the clinical field for achieving post-operative analgesia. Erector spinae plane block (ESPB) which is a novel inter-fascial plane block has been widely used for breast surgery. Dexmedetomidine and dexamethasone as an adjunct to local anaesthesia have been widely reported to reduce postoperative pain and analgesic consumption but there are no studies comparing both these drugs in ESPB for breast surgery.Methods: Sixty ASA I-II patients scheduled for breast surgery were randomly allocated into two groups-Group DX and group DM. Group DX received 20 ml ropivacaine 0.2% with dexmedetomidine 0.5 mcg/kg while group DM received 20 ml ropivacaine 0.2 % with 8 mg dexamethasone in ESPB preemptively. All the patients were induced with standard GA and extubated at the end of surgery. In the post-operative period visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score, total tramadol consumption, time for first rescue analgesia and side effects were noted for 24 hours.Results: The demographical parameters were comparable between both the groups. The VAS score, total tramadol consumption and time for first rescue analgesia were both similar in both the groups without any significant difference. No side effects were noted in any patients in both the groups.Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine (0.5 mcg/kg) and dexamethasone (8 mg) as an adjunct to ropivacaine reduces postoperative pain and analgesic consumption with no significant difference when used in ESPB for patients undergoing breast surgery without any side effects

Perceived burden in adult and pre-elderly informal caregiver

Purpose: Nowadays, caregiver’s role becomes increasingly important in providing care and support for old people who suffered from chronic diseases. Adult and pre-elderly informal caregiver have different growth and development tasks. It is important to identify their perceived burden. The aim of this research was to compare informal caregiver’s perceived burden between adults and pre-elderly. Method: This research was conducted in Sukoharjo Village between March – December 2023. Research design was cross sectional design and simple random sampling technique was used. Total respondent was 74 persons and categorized into adults and pre-elderly group. The instrument of this research was The Informal Caregiver Burden Assessment Questionnaire (QASCI-The Questionario de Avaliacao de Sobrecarga do Cuidador Informal) which has been tested for validity and reliability. Result: Significant differences was found between  adults and pre-elderly perceived burden (p=0.000). Adults standard deviation was 25,28 higher compared to pre-elderly standard deviation. This was meant that adult perceived burden was greater than pre-elderly. Conclusion: Adult informal caregiver’s perceived burden was greater than pre-elderly.  They have more responsibilities such as taking care of the household, earn living, and educate their children. Good coping mechanisms and family support are needed to overcome the excessive stressors due to caring process

APPLICATIONS OF ENSEMBLE KALMAN FILTER DATA ASSIMILATION: FROM CONVECTIVE THUNDERSTORMS TO HURRICANES

For the numerical prediction of severe thunderstorm and hurricane, data assimilation is one of the necessary tools to obtain accurate initial conditions. Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is a state of the art data assimilation algorithm, with the advantage of using flow-dependent error covariance information and retrieving unobserved model quantities. In this dissertation, EnKF is first employed to assimilate additional surface observation in the presence of radar data for severe thunderstorm analysis and prediction with Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs). The EnKF is then used to assimilate real coastal WSR-88D radar observations for Hurricane Ike (2008), and the impact of radar data on the analysis and forecast is investigated.Due to the earth curvature effect and the non-zero elevation of the lowest scan of ground-based radars, low-level coverage of radar data decreases as distance from the radar increases, causing loss of coverage for important low-level features including the cold pool and gust front. Observations from surface networks are expected to help fill such low-level data gaps. To investigate the impact of additional surface observations on the analysis and forecast of convective storms, a series of OSSEs are performed using the ARPS model and its EnKF data assimilation system.When the radar is located at a significant distance (e.g., the 115 and 185 km distances considered) from the main convective storm, a clear positive impact on the storm analysis and forecast is achieved by assimilating surface observations with a spacing of about 20 km. When the radar is located just 45 km from the storm center, a network spacing of 6 km is needed to achieve any noticeable positive impact. The impact of surface data in terms of relative error reduction increases linearly with decreased surface network spacing until the spacing is close to the grid interval of truth simulation. Assimilating observations from a coarser network over a longer period of time helps to achieve a similar level of impact as would be seen from a network of higher density.The error correlation fields derived from the forecast ensemble exhibit dynamically consistent structures. Through flow-dependent error covariance and dynamical interactions in the prediction model, the surface observations not only correct the surface errors, but also improve analyses of state variables at the mid- and upper levels. Given typical observation error, surface wind observations produce the largest positive impact, followed by temperature measurements. Pressure measurements produce the least impact. Assimilating all surface observation variables together yields the largest impact.The impact of surface data is sustained or even amplified during subsequent forecasts when their impact on the analysis is significant.In the second part of this dissertation, EnKF assimilation and forecasting experiments are performed for the case of Hurricane Ike (2008), the third most destructive hurricane hitting the United States. Data from two coastal WSR-88D radars were carefully quality controlled, including automatic and manual velocity dealiasing. For the control experiment, 32 ensemble members are used in the EnKF system, and reflectivity (Z) and radial velocity (Vr) data from the two coastal radars are assimilated at 10-minute intervals over a 2-hour period shortly before Ike made landfall.Compared to the corresponding NCEP GFS analysis, the assimilation resulted in a much improved vortex intensity at the final analysis time, although it is still weaker than observed. Compared to the forecast starting from GFS analysis at the same initial time, the forecast intensity, track and structure of Ike over a 12 hour period are improved in both deterministic and ensemble mean forecasts. The ensemble spread is well maintained with the help of multiplicative covariance inflation and posterior additive perturbations during the assimilation cycles. Assimilation of either Vr or Z alone leads to improvement in hurricane intensity, track and quantitative precipitation forecast. Vr leads to more improvement in intensity and track forecast, emphasizing more importance of Vr data. Ensemble forecast has shown uncertainty growth in track forecast but not in intensity forecast. 30-minute assimilation interval has the similar results with 10-minute assimilation interval and 60-minute assimilation interval shows weaker intensity forecast.Assimilation of additional minimum mean sea level pressure from best track data together with Z leads to further improvement in intensity and track forecast compared to assimilating Z alone. Assimilating minimum sea level pressure in addition to Vr leads to track forecast improvement but only small improvement in intensity analysis and forecast

Brooke Dan Kemelesetan Ekonomi Dunia 1929-1941

Kemelesetan ekonomi pada 1929 hingga 1933 meninggalkan kesan yang amat mendalam kepada negara-negara di Asia Tenggara. Kerajaan Brooke di Sarawak Ikut terjejas akibat krisi yang terjadi. Sebagai entiti kecil dalam empayar British yang luas ia hanya menikmati perlindungan hasil status 'Negeri Naungan'