The case of EAI in facilitating e-Government services in a Welsh authority

This case focuses on enterprise application integration (EAI) in facilitating integrated electronic Government (e-Government) service delivery in a Welsh local authority. Whilst the development of a heterogeneous information technology (IT) infrastructure in the case organisation caused several integration problems, following a non-EAI approach was regarded as satisfactory by the management. The empirical findings illustrate that although the argument for EAI adoption was initially not seen as cost effective, strategically the decision not to implement EAI caused difficulties in the long term for realising integrated e-Government services.     

The Development of Object Permanence in Children with Intellectual Disability,Physical Disability,Autism, and Blindness

This article presents a review of the literature on object permanence with an emphasis on research on children with severe disabilities. Object permanence is the realisation that objects continue to exist in time and place even when they are no longer visible. This understanding is achieved across Stages IV(VI of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Period. Children with intellectual disability, physical disabilities, blindness, and autism develop object permanence in a similar sequence although at a slower rate than children without disabilities. Challenges with regulation make it difficult for children with autism to demonstrate object permanence knowledge in Stage VI tasks. There is ample evidence that children with severe disabilities benefit from direct and systematic instruction of object permanence. Assessment‐based instruction, establishment of visual attention, consideration of the characteristics of the object to be hidden (including the impact on differential attention), repeated naming of the object, individually appropriate prompting procedures, and direct reinforcement have been found to support mastery of object permanence in children with disabilities.     

Technology Usage for Education： Comparative Analysis Between Open and Distance Learning and Regular Students

Education is the backbone for the development of society. With the advent of technology, it is becoming necessary and being used for the advancement of society. Technology is being used for education as being used in other important fields of life. Usage of technology for education can play a big part in bringing improvement in education For this purpose, this research aims to explore the usage and effects of technology for education. While using the survey method, a questionnaire was constructed for data collection. The sample of the study consists of graduate and postgraduate students from both ODL and regular universities and the sample size would be of 300 respondents （150 from each type of university） who were selected by using simple random sampling. The present study concluded that technology is widely used by both regular and ODL students. This study further concluded that ODL students are more dependent on technology as compared to regular students.     

Personal Review： Sources of sulfide in waste streams and current biotechnologies for its removal

Sulfide-containing waste streams are generated by a number of industries. It is emitted into the environment as dis- solved sulfide (S2- and HS-) in wastewaters and as H2S in waste gases. Due to its corrosive nature, biological hydrogen sulfide removal processes are being investigated to overcome the chemical and disposal costs associated with existing chemically based removal processes. The nitrogen and sulfur metabolism interacts at various levels of the wastewater treatment process. Hence, the sulfur cycle offers possibilities to integrate nitrogen removal in the treatment process, which needs to be further optimized by appropriate design of the reactor configuration, optimization of performance parameters, retention of biomass and optimization of biomass growth. The present paper reviews the biotechnological advances to remove sulfides from various environments.     

Consumerisation in UK higher education business schools: higher fees,greater stress and debatable outcomes

For many UK higher education business schools, the continued recruitment of UK, EU and international students is crucial for financial stability, viability and independence. Due to increasingly competitive funding models across the sector, many institutional leaders and administrators are making decisions typical of highly marketised consumer environments. Thus, this paper explores academics’ perceptions of the impact of consumerisation in UK higher education business schools. To achieve this, 22 business school academics were interviewed within three UK higher education institutions (HEIs) in the North of England. Participants had a minimum of three years teaching experience. Data was analysed using template analysis taking an interpretive approach. The findings indicate that academics perceived the introduction of tuition fees to have been the catalyst for students increasing demonstration of customer-like behaviour: viewing the education process as transactional, with the HEI providing a ‘paid for’ service. It is argued that these changes in UK higher education have created tensions between university leaders and academics, creating genuine dilemmas for those with decision-making responsibilities who must balance academic integrity and long-term institutional financial viability.     

The Journal of Ayub Medical College: a 10-year bibliometric study

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a bibliometric evaluation of the Journal of Ayub Medical College (JAMC), Abbottabad, Pakistan. Methods: The data of articles, citations and authors of JAMC from 1997 to 2006 were collected and analysed in terms of bibliometric parameters. RESULTS: The number of articles published per year ranges between 27 and 97; most of the articles (47.2%) have 11-20 citations. Three-author contributions ranked the highest (134; 23.43%); the most prolific authors contributed seven articles; 295 (51.57%) of the authors are geographically affiliated to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan; the most popular subject is Internal Medicine; journal self-cited references are 43; 7769 (77.94%) of the citations were from foreign journals; the most productive institution is Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan. CONCLUSION: The number of papers published in JAMC per issue has been increasing over the last 10 years, and the core region is NWFP, Pakistan. Original articles are the main type of papers for this journal. The publication is open for all fields of medical sciences.     

What do prospective students look for in higher degrees by research? A scale development study

ABSTRACT

This empirical investigation was aimed at conceptualizing, developing and validating a scale for the measurement of the quality of higher degrees by research (HDR-QUAL). For that purpose, this study specifically measured perceptions of higher degrees by research (HDR) students about the constituents of HDR quality in Pakistani tertiary education institutions. Following the 7-step process of scale development, three studies were conducted in order to develop an initial pool of scale items, establishing proposed scale validity and reliability, and assessing nomological behavior of the proposed scale. The principal component analysis with Varimax rotation method resulted in a 3-factor solution, subsequently proposing a 15-item scale. The model fit indices of measurement and the higher-order model indicated a satisfactory fit to data. Finally, the resultant three factors, i.e. financial assistance, supervisory expertise, and infrastructural support, converged into a unidimensional HDR-QUAL scale that was found positively associated with student satisfaction, thus, confirming nomological validity as well. Important policy measures and directions for future research are proposed at the end.     

Microbial control of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L.(Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) using bacteria (Xenorhabdus nematophila) and its metabolites from the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae

Cells and cell-free solutions of the culture filtrate of the bacterial symbiont, Xenorhabdus nematophila taken from the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in aqueous broth suspensions were lethal to larvae of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella. Their application on leaves of Chinese cabbage indicated that the cells can penetrate into the insects in the absence of the nematode vector. Cell-free solutions containing metabolites were also proved as effective as bacterial cells suspension. The application of aqueous suspensions of cells of X. nematophila or solutions containing its toxic metabolites to the leaves represents a possible new strategy for controlling insect pests on foliage.