Basic Pillars Research Articles

Media Usage in Post-Secondary Education and Implications for Teaching and Learning

The Web 2.0 has permeated academic life. The use of online information services in post-secondary education has led to dramatic changes in faculty teaching methods as well as in the learning and study behavior of students. At the same time, traditional information media, such as textbooks and printed handouts, still form the basic pillars of teaching and learning. This paper reports the results of a survey about media usage in teaching and learning conducted with Western University students and instructors, highlighting trends in the usage of new and traditional media in higher education by instructors and students. In addition, the survey comprises part of an international research program in which 20 universities from 10 countries are currently participating. Further, the study will hopefully become a part of the ongoing discussion of practices and policies that purport to advance the effective use of media in teaching and learning.

<i>Meloda</i>, métrica para evaluar la reutilización de datos abiertos

Current policies demanding an increase in transparency, open government and smart cities share open data publication as one of their basic pillars. However, there is a limited availability of mechanisms to assess the use and value of this information. The goal of this paper is to present a new metric, Meloda, that qualifies the information and helps to assess its reusability. Meloda’s four dimensions are described: technical standards, access, legal considerations, and data model. Finally Meloda’s assessment process is explained.

A Methodology of CAPP/CAP Systems Integration Based on a Product Intermediate State Representation

The proposed idea of the integration methodology is based on the two basic pillars it is the modified functional model of the manufacturing process plan and a product intermediate states representation. The product state in certain moment of the manufacturing process can be identified by a set of states which describe the current status of the manufacturing process advance for particular manufacturing features. On the other hand from a manufacturing process nature results that during its course a product can be at one of the following states after rough, medium and finishing manufacturing treatment. Information about product states makes the full integration between CAPP and CAP systems possible. The proposed methodology allows reacting to unexpected production process disturbances. In this case the CAP system in cooperation with manufacturing execution system MES, which collects production data just from PLCs controllers, communicates with CAPP system in the feedback loop and sends a set of the product intermediate states. Base on this description the CAPP system redesign a manufacturing process plan taking into account the current product state. In the paper the modified functional model of the technological process plan and the method of product intermediate states are presented. Moreover the proposal of the functional schema of the integrated CAD/CAPP/CAP environment is shown.

Transparency is the Most Important Governance Issue in the WTO Subsidy Control

Transparency, one of the basic pillars and fundamental norms of a well-functioning trading system, is increasingly seen as an inevitable tool in the governance of international trade. Without transparency, trade agreements are just words on paper. Transparency allows economic actors and trading partners to see how rules are implanted, reformed and implemented. For subsidy control, one of the most debated and ambivalent areas of international trade, it is more necessary than ever. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) establishes disciplines on its Members’ use of subsidies and provides extensive means for reporting and monitoring. Transparency in subsidization has increased considerably in the last two decades. But the transparency mechanism has been criticized for deficient attention, underperformance and impetus to implementation. Members comply with transparency obligations only half-heartedly. Lack of incentive for notification and sanction for non-compliance, resource constraint, ambiguous notification-template and inherent difficulties of the subsidy regime have been great obstacles for transparency to work. Experiences from the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and the Technical Barriers to Trade show that well-defined provisions, collaborative approach and capacity building for increased domestic reporting are necessary for the system to run smoothly. Civil society and NGO involvement may also contribute positively. For transparency to control subsidy, negotiators must think carefully about the government behaviour they wish to modify using the mechanism. The future of the WTO as a legitimate and effective international organization will depend, in short, on finding a mode of transparency accessible to all its Members.

Don't reinvent the wheel: the search for an identity for public administration

For many years, public administration has suffered from an identity crisis. This article argues that public administration's identity actually exists in the form of abandoned and often neglected fragments of well-established knowledge. We advocate reassembling these fragments and arranging them using a logic that will crystallize an identity for public administration. Our approach is based on viewing public administration as a social science of results, not a profession relying on a generic viewpoint. We maintain that there is a trialectic system of relationships among three pillars of public administration: the political, the legal and the managerial. The interrelationships between these pillars generate configurations, temporary arrangements geared toward certain issues. At any given time, one pillar may be emphasized over the other two. Such variations should not be viewed as a crisis of identity. Rather, this article suggests a research agenda for examining the identity of the field through longitudinal historical studies in which configurations may be identified in order to determine the conditions and circumstances that led to the variations in emphasis among the pillars. The more knowledge that is accumulated, the better we will be able to develop a reasonable approach for public administration and free it from oft-repeated cries of identity crisis.Points for practitionersPractitioners should be aware of the logic presented in this article. A logic that views the identity of public administration not in generic terms, but rather as a field of inquiry that is influential and consequential. It should be regarded as a social science of results that politicians use to solve citizens' problems. Hence, in democracies, the three pillars, the legal, the managerial and the political, interact constantly, constituting a range of public administration configurations. Configurative cyclicality should be regarded as public administration's normal, natural state of being. Normality means that a temporary configuration of the three basic pillars of the field does not testify to a crisis of identity, but constitutes an interim variation of interrelationships under special circumstances and conditions.

Tratamiento quirúrgico de los carcinomas escamosos de cabeza y cuello en España durante el periodo 2006-2011

Introduction and objectivesSurgery is one of the basic pillars in the treatment of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The objective of the present study was to analyse the current state of the use of surgery in patients with HNSCC in Spain. MethodsRetrospective review of the hospital discharge reports of the patients with HNSCC treated surgically during the 2006-2011 period in Spain. We obtained the data from the Minimum Basic Data Set during the hospital discharge. ResultsWe obtained information on 26,629 hospital discharges, with a total of 27,937 surgical procedures. Overall, in our country about half of the patients with HNSCC receive surgical treatment of the primary tumour location. There were no significant changes in the number of surgical procedures throughout the study period. There was a smooth downward trend in the number and percentage of surgeries carried out in male patients, and a significant increase in those carried out in female patients throughout the study period. Among the total of surgical procedures, 15.7% were carried out in hospitals with a low level of complexity, 32.2% in hospitals with an intermediate complexity and 52.1% in centres of high complexity. ConclusionsSurgery is one essential pillar in the treatment of patients with HNSCC. In Spain about half of the patients with HNSCC receive surgical treatment for the primary location of the tumour.

Which Media Services do Students Use in Fact? Results of an International Empirical Survey

The dissemination of online information services into higher education has led to constant changes in students’ learning behaviour. Nowadays they use services like Google and Wikipedia most often not only during free time but also for studying. At the same time, traditional information media such as the textbook or the printed hand-out from the teacher still form basic pillars in their learning environment. To measure the whole variety of media, that are used for learning, an international long term Media Survey in Higher Education (“MESHED”) was set up by the authors. It aims to get detailed knowledge about how students use media for study from an international and a long term perspective. This knowledge shall be used to develop recommendations for university media strategy, make prognoses for future media trends in higher education and to figure out influences of external dimensions on the media usage. Beginning with a first survey carried out at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany in 2009, currently (October 2013) a total of 30 surveys in ten countries were, or currently are carried out. The survey uses a fully standardized questionnaire that measures the acceptance of 48 media services, such as Google search, library catalogues, printed books, e-books, printed journals, e-journals, e-learning-services, virtual class, Wikipedia, open educational resources, bibliographic software and more. It also measures adjacent areas, such as the learning behaviour, study success, media usage during free time, usage of IT hardware, education biography and sociodemographic factors. This paper focusses on the results of a survey that was conducted at the University of Barcelona (UB) between March and June 2012. There, about 1,000 samples were collected. The data showed an intense use of a broad variety of media among UB students. Though, not all media services were accepted equally: while especially some university external services, such as Google web search or Wikipedia were used by almost every student, other media, e.g. virtual learning services were used on a very low level. An exploration of hidden structures of media usage behaviour, using factor and cluster analysis revealed that especially text and text related media (books, eBooks, library catalogues) seem to have a positive effect on the learning success. A comparison of the Barcelona sample with the data of other countries showed some communalities, e.g. a high usage of Google and other external services. But there were also hints to cultural differences, such as an explicit maverick or non-social learning behaviour of Spanish students. This general tendency also appears in the media sector where they tend to use information media and, compared to students from other countries, use less social media. An additional survey in Canada/Ontario has been conducted in January-February 2013, and at the moment the third survey at the KIT is running. Especially some of the results from Canada show specific aspects, that might be interesting to be compared to the Spanish and German findings.

Food Security and Public Distribution System in India

This study was conducted to assess the temporal changes in the status of food security in India. The food security was assessed in terms of its basic pillars—availability access and absorption. Findings reveal that though there has been a remarkable improvement in the status of food security in India, the presence of food insecurity on a large scale erodes the large chunk of sheen from the glory of economic development in India. Several initiatives have been taken to tackle the challenge of food security, and the public distribution system (PDS) has been the most important instrument of ensuring food security in India. It has been observed that its contribution to poverty reduction and food security improvement has been increasing over time.

Surgical subspecialization: escape route for surgeons or added benefit for patients?

Surgical subspecialization: escape route for surgeons or added benefit for patients?

Health literacy among university students in Greece: determinants and association with self-perceived health, health behaviours and health risks.

BackgroundHealth literacy is widely considered as a key determinant of health and a priority in the public health policy agenda. Low health literacy has been associated with poorer health states, broader inequalities and higher health systems’ costs. In the present study we bring into focus the functional health literacy among university students in Greece, researching and assessing mainly their ability to apply basic knowledge in a health context.MethodsThe study was carried out during the period 15–30 April 2013, among a random sample of 1,526 students of 14 Higher Tertiary Public universities and Technological Educational Institutes in Greece. The objective of the study was to assess the functional health literacy among university students in Greece, adopting the short four-item comprehension test of Bostock and Steptoe. Summary statistics, correlations and regressions were used to assess the determinants of health literacy and the association with self-perceived health, health behaviours and health risks.ResultsEconomic factors, such as family income, demographic factors, such as gender, and health behaviours and risks, namely consumption of alcohol, smoking and physical workout are associated with the level of health literacy and health status of the participant. While the results of the study are consistent with previous work in this area, several findings worth further research.ConclusionsThough, health promotion interventions in Greece include health literacy as one of the basic pillars of the public health policy agenda, it is clear, that health literacy needs to become a key policy issue in Greece, mainly focusing in young ages, where healthy (or unhealthy) behaviours are established affecting the health through the life span.

The Development and Measurement of Conducive Campus Environment for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) of Campus Sustainability

The campus environment in a higher learning institution should be conducive to support the synergistic effects of its three basic functions namely: learning, social interactions and living. Campus conduciveness is rarely measured in the context of campus sustainability. This study will develop and establish Conducive Campus Environment (CCE) tools while measuring the level of conduciveness to improve the management of facilities, services, infrastructures and the physical environmental settings of the campus environment. It is implied in the context of campus sustainability initiatives at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, to fulfil the three basic pillars of sustainability, hence environmental, social and economic. The standardized structured questionnaires distributed among 380 students focus on facilities, services and infrastructures in the campus setting. An inferential factor analysis has been applied and the four levels of conduciveness have been developed. At last, the study reveals the adoption of CCE ca be an example on how sustainable balance score card adopted in higher learning institution.

An Analysis of Abortion in Iranian Law and Imamia Fiqh: a Cursory Look at International Law

The pregnancy is considered to be a beautiful and pleasing event from a medical and social perspective, and conversely abortion is seen as a social problem in all human societies, and a universal inevitable phenomenon, particularly in different populous countries and can undermine the general health of family and society. On the other hand, in addition to legal and juristic (Fiqh) considerations, abortion is concerned with a combination of medical, psychological, moral and philosophical issues. Unfortunately, due to cultural and economic poverty, people commit the illegal act of abortion which can afflict mother with severe consequences and mental disorders after and before abortion. Abortion violation is an illegal practice pertinent to women and this social problem has affected criminologists and lawyers opinions. From a juristic (Fiqh) point of view, abortion is taken into consideration before and after birth of the infant, and mothers are considered as the most critical pillars of the society due to their fundamental roles in nurturing and developing constructive personalities into the society, taking care of their husbands and finally strengthening the basic pillars of family. Nowadays, among a myriad of countries throughout the world, only twenty six countries including UK, China, France, Russia and Germany(since 1948 and by adopting relevant regulations) regarded abortion as a completely legitimate and valid act, and in Australia, abortion is a crime and doer should be punished. Punishment is not the most influential practice to prevent or reduce abortion. This is because this illegal act is committed by the formal consent of fetus's parents, a doctor or other persons in a completely secret manner and with a high rate of incidence.

Conceptual framework of implementing strategic cost management and reducing costs through target costing system

Strategic cost management represents a respond to the need of organization to cope with changes in modern business environment, Target costing is one of the most important strategic cost management tools, which enables through it organizations to adopt cost reducing strategy which is considered to be a strategic choice that can be implemented, in order to gain competitive advantages over rivals in the marketplace.
 This paper research aims to identify the concept of target costing system, along with its contribution in managing and reducing cost, as well as shed light on the basic pillars of strategic cost management and its importance in the current business environment

Electronic Rubrics to Assess Competences in ICT Subjects

Helping students to acquire specific competences is nowadays one of the basic pillars of university teaching; therefore its evaluation and accreditation is of key importance. As of late, rubrics and in particular electronic rubrics (e-rubrics) have become an important resource to assess competences and guide students in their learning processes. In this contribution, the authors present a quasi-experimental study that was conducted to explore and evaluate the use of the e-rubrics in subjects related to information and communication technology (ICT). Data were collected on how students viewed their use of e-rubrics in self-evaluation and peer evaluation. They show that the experimental groups using e-rubrics were better evaluated by their professors than the control groups who did not engage in self-evaluation using e-rubrics. The students see e-rubrics as a positive resource because they feel e-rubrics allow for a truly objective evaluation. Additionally, e-rubrics are considered to be helpful in improving learning and self-regulation.

Possibilities of Augmented Reality Use in Mathematics Aiming at a Meaningful Learning

This article aims to present various softwares in mathematics teaching, where visualization of mathematical objects is done by using Augmented Reality. This is a computational technique in which virtual objects are added in a real environment, allowing an enrichment of the information for students to visualize concepts and test hypotheses with the teacher, providing a more playful and meaningful investigative environment. Meaningful learning is the theoretical framework that guides the development and software use. Such softwares are characterized as potentially meaningful materials that are allied to the student’s prior knowledge and their will to learn establishes the basic pillars of the theory.

Connective tissue disease in pregnancy

Connective tissue diseases (CTD) include a variety of chronic multisystem disorders with a high percentage of autoimmune conditions. Many of these conditions affect women of childbearing age and, therefore, pregnancy poses an important challenge for doctors looking after such women. Knowledge of medication safety, the effect of pregnancy on such diseases and vice versa, together with preconception counselling and multidisciplinary team care, are the basic pillars needed to provide the best obstetric and medical care to these women. In this review, we discuss the management of the most common autoimmune CTD before, during and after pregnancy, along with the most relevant issues regarding appropriate medication.

Smartphones: Powerful Tools for Geoscience Education

Observation, formation of explanatory hypotheses, and testing of ideas together form the basic pillars of much science. Consequently, science education has often focused on the presentation of facts and theories to teach concepts. To a great degree, libraries and universities have been the historical repositories of scientific information, often restricting access to a small segment of society and severely limiting broad‐scale geoscience education.

Critical Factors of CSR in India: An Empirical Evaluation

The past two decades have witnessed a remarkable change in the way businesses run and operate. Profit maximization is no longer remains the focus of businesses. The turn of events has pressurized firms to put serious efforts into a wide range of social responsibility activities and thus shift the corporate goals from socio - economic focus towards increasing shareholder value to the welfare of all stakeholders. The present study determines critical CSR factors that may influence the business and strategic decisions for the Indian corporations using survey instrument. Factor Analysis, one way ANOVA and Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. The study reports that ‘Financial Health, Competency and Stakeholders are the basic pillars of every organization.

The Case for Biomed Involvement in Purchasing

Money talks. There is no better way for a biomedical engineering or healthcare technology management (HTM) to get the attention of the supply chain or materials management department—which is run by financially focused individuals—than to prove you can save them money. Many hospitals use Quint Studer’s management principles, which are driven by basic pillars that can be adopted and customized. They usually include: people, quality, service, and financial. Studer teaches that if you attract and retain the best people, and hardwire a culture of quality and service, then positive financial results will follow. However, I have found that describing the intangible effects of selecting better products and therefore increasing physician satisfaction, seems to result in a mild reaction from chief financial officers (CFOs), as compared to telling them that you saved $150,000 by reallocating underutilized systems. Since CFOs are almost always the lead on procurement processes, they are the ones to focus on, even if your primary motivator is one of the other pillars.

Centroamérica: lo impostergable de una diversificación comercial coherente

This work analyzes the behavior of Central American foreign trade, describing how its productive structure and the geographic and mercantile concentration affect commerce in the region. The main objective of this research is to analyze the current panorama of trade in Central American using fundamental variables, such as the level of diversification, linkage with major partners and the role of intraregional commerce, as well as econometric analysis of panel data, and to evaluate the correlation with major macroeconomic measurements. Initial results show that geographic diversification and intraregional commerce are the basic pillars of economic growth in the region.