Effective Integrated Strategies Research Articles

A Study on Financial Performance of Service Sector Companies Based on Pre and Post-Merger and Acquisition in India

This study aims to explore and analyze the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on service sector companies, both before and after the transaction takes place. Mergers and acquisitions have become increasingly prevalent in the service sector as companies seek growth opportunities, market expansion, and enhanced competitive advantage. However, the outcomes of such strategic moves can vary significantly depending on the pre and post-M&A strategies employed. The study adopts a comprehensive research approach that involves the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data collection methods include interviews with key stakeholders involved in M&A activities within the service sector, such as executives, managers, and employees. Secondary data from financial reports, industry publications, and academic literature are also utilized to provide a broader context for the study. The pre-merger phase focuses on the analysis of factors influencing the decision-making process, such as strategic alignment, cultural fit, financial performance, and regulatory compliance. By studying successful and unsuccessful M&A attempts, the research aims to identify key drivers and challenges in the pre-merger phase. The post-merger phase investigates the effects of M&A on various aspects of the service sector companies, including operational efficiency, financial performance, customer satisfaction, and employee morale. Additionally, the study examines how post-M&A integration strategies, such as cultural assimilation, resource consolidation, and technology harmonization, contribute to the overall success of the transaction. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the best practices and lessons learned from pre and post-merger activities within the service sector. By understanding the factors that influence M&A outcomes, service sector companies can make informed decisions and develop effective integration strategies to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with M&A transactions.

The use of Open Educational Resources in Ukraine: unleashing the potential for knowledge democratization and lifelong learning

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to investigate the current state of Open Educational Resources (OER) adoption in Ukraine, identifying the challenges, opportunities, and its potential impact on the nation’s educational landscape. Furthermore, the study aims to contribute to the broader understanding of OER implementation in transitioning countries and underscore the role of OER in promoting knowledge democratization, fostering innovation, and enhancing critical thinking and digital literacy skills among learners.
 Results. The investigation revealed that Ukraine has made significant strides in adopting OER, primarily driven by government initiatives, international partnerships, and growing awareness among educators and institutions. However, the implementation of OER is still uneven, with marked disparities in access and usage between urban and rural areas, as well as among various educational levels and disciplines. One notable finding is the positive impact of OER on students’ learning experiences, with improved engagement, critical thinking, and digital literacy skills reported across diverse settings. Additionally, the investigation highlighted the importance of ongoing professional development for educators to effectively integrate OER into their teaching practices and curricula. Despite these advancements, challenges persist, such as a lack of quality control mechanisms, limited digital infrastructure, and language barriers, which hinder the broader adoption of OER in Ukraine. The study concludes by emphasizing the need for continued investment in digital infrastructure, capacity building, and policy support to harness the full potential of OER in democratizing knowledge and fostering lifelong learning in the country.
 Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this investigation lies in its comprehensive analysis of OER adoption within the unique context of Ukraine, a transitioning country grappling with various political, social, and economic challenges. By examining the interplay of governmental policies, institutional involvement, educators’ perspectives, and students’ experiences, this study offers a holistic understanding of the OER ecosystem in the country. Additionally, the research contributes to the broader discourse on OER implementation in transitioning countries, highlighting the transformative potential of OER in democratizing knowledge and fostering skill development in such contexts.
 Practical value. The practical value of this investigation stems from its potential to inform policymakers, educators, and institutions in Ukraine about the current state of OER adoption and the existing challenges, enabling them to make informed decisions and develop targeted strategies for effective OER integration. By identifying opportunities and best practices, this study can serve as a roadmap for expanding access to quality education and bridging the gap between urban and rural learners. Furthermore, the insights gained from this research can be applied to other transitioning countries, encouraging the adoption of OER to enhance educational systems and promote lifelong learning on a global scale.

INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES IN MARITIME TRADE

Examining the challenges and opportunities in the maritime trade industry highlights the importance of effective integration strategies and risk management. At the same time it highlights the importance of distinguishing between problems arising from sectoral features of maritime transport development and those which are caused by external characteristics of the maritime trade market. The article emphasizes the significance of integration strategies and effective positioning in optimizing the use of potential and mitigating risks and threats. It underscores the negative consequences that arise from ignoring integration relationships, leading to additional losses and heightened risk exposure. The attention is paid to the importance of periodically reviewing treds and proactively responding to anticipated negative situations in order to optimize relationships based on the criteria of synergies. This, in turn, highlights the role of shipping alliances in the container segment of the maritime trade market as examples of operational frameworks that exhibit willingness to adapt and optimize relationships. With the recent research and publications it is more convenient to correctly identify the specific constraints and requirements in the global maritime trade market. It includes discussing the size of demand, cargo flow structure, and direction as crucial factors influencing fleet capacity requirements. The formation of external constraints, including environmental standards, is also explored, with a focus on the integration strategies necessary for fleet and cargo terminal development. Additionally, the article examines problems of business integration in the context of globalization taking into consideration the increasing role of business structures in international trade and the significance of maritime transport in facilitating integration relations between different structures.

Revolutionizing Teacher Preparation: Unleashing the Transformative Potential of MOOCs

This research explores the potential of MOOCs in fostering excellence in education by harnessing their power for teacher professional development. By examining the advantages, challenges, and design considerations associated with MOOC-based training, this study aims to shed light on the opportunities presented by integrating MOOCs into teacher preparation programs. The research begins by providing an introduction to MOOCs and their relevance in the context of teacher professional development. It delves into the benefits of MOOCs, design principles and pedagogical strategies that enhance the effectiveness of MOOCs for teacher training. Case studies and success stories of MOOCs in teacher professional development are examined to highlight their impact on teacher practices and student outcomes. Additionally, challenges and access barriers are addressed to identify potential limitations of MOOCs. Strategies for effective implementation and integration of MOOCs in teacher professional development, including collaborative partnerships, support systems, and blended learning models, are also explored.

Lecturer – Student Conflicts in Universities: A Pathological Interrogation

The study examines the relationship that exists between lecturers and students a pathological interrogation. Findings have shown that conflict is normal, due to the rationality of human decision-making. Conflict most times indicated disjointedness in convergence, which is not in its self-harmful but part of a process to aid sound resolve and rational choices. The school environment, presents a formidable space for conflict to thrive due to the constant interface between the teacher and student, typically called classroom conflict. This study used the secondary sources of data collection, gaining insights from textbooks, journals, and online materials, effectively contextualizing conflict and conflict situation. The study proposed effective conflict resolution strategies, like collaborating, compromising, accommodating, understanding conflict and integration strategy.

Strategies for effective integration of managementinformation system in secondary schools: teachers’perspective from Awka Education zone in Anambra State

This study looked into effective integration of management information system (MIS) in secondary schools in AwkaEducation Zone in Anambra State. The study was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses tested atthe 0.05 level of significance based on a descriptive survey research approach. The sampling technique adoptedwas purposive type in order to focus on a determined specialized number of respondents. The study’s samplesize was 130 secondary school teachers. A researcher-created questionnaire was used to gather the data. Thetool was rigorously evaluated by two experts. When the instrument’s internal consistency was examined usingCronbach’s alpha, a reliability value of 0.88 was found. At-test was used to assess the hypotheses after arithmeticmean and standard deviation scores were used to analyze the data. The findings demonstrated that the MISassists the school in managing tests, enrolments, and fees by providing different people with password protection.The findings further revealed that MIS opportunities and needs should be identified and prioritized accordingto educational objectives rather than technical criteria. In addition, there is no significant difference in the maleand female teachers’ knowledge about MIS in secondary schools. The implications of the study were drawn andrecommendations proffered.

Building a Course Portfolio with Industry- Institute Collaboration

The effective integration strategies of blended learning with traditional, designed a decade ago and proven effective, scalable, and flexible, now put forth several other challenges with delivery and evaluation. Especially for the elective courses, they demand assessments that add value to the course and the student's resume. The principles of elective design, the delivery tools, and techniques, the number of students, the significance of the course, etc., are some of the major evaluation parameters to be considered for the design of assessment strategies. This paper presents one such evaluation methodology, portfolio design, for the courses delivered in a blended learning model, which can also be adapted to the offline learning model. The model involved problem analysis, concept relation, design thinking, solution approaches, implementation, and presentation in the form of a portfolio. The portfolios were created online using various open source tools. The paper presents the model and design goals in detail. The first offering of the course had course projects, and the second offering had portfolio creation. The grades and attainment have improved in the second offering compared to the first one. There is also improvement in the course attainment where course learning objectives have remained the same. Portfolios are an effective strategy to evaluate one's course understanding. Portfolios can be an effective way to present the course realizations to the world. Keywords— assessment, blended-learning, elective design, portfolio

Reinforcement Measures for Sustaining the Integration of Innovative Teaching and Learning Technologies in Selected Tanzanian Universities

Whereas the integration of innovative technology in facilitating learning is crucial in higher education institutions (HEIs), its sustainability has been a challenge, especially in developing countries. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored academic leaders' views, perceptions, and experiences on sustainability strategies for the integration of innovative teaching and learning technologies (ITLTs). The paper contributes empirically to the educational discipline by developing a deeper understanding of specific strategies for the sustainability of the ITLTs integration in HIEs. Specifically, the study examined reinforcement measures related to rewards, culture, policies, and capacity building used by academic leaders for the integration of ITLTs in the selected Tanzanian universities. Secondly, the study looked into the perceived level of importance regarding attributes to effective integration of ITLTs in the respective universities. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data among 13 academic leaders from two public universities. Lewin’s change management model guided the study in theorising and analysis of the findings. Thematic-deductive analysis revealed that most participants favoured capacity-building strategy reinforcements. Meanwhile, implicit policies were reported to have a higher positive likelihood of enhancing the sustainability of effective integration of ITLTs. Concerning rewards, in-house training and recognition for what academics do were regarded as favourable strategies. Additionally, participants reported that the culture of offering directives and communication through online platforms has promoted the integration of ITLTs. Lastly, capacity building and policies were vital in enhancing the effective integration of ITLTs. There is a need to strengthen ITLTs policies development, rewards, and capacity-building strategies for more effective and sustainable integration of ITLTs. This further supports the cultural transformation of ITLTs usage among academics in universities.

Neocosmospora caricae sp. nov. and N. metavorans, two new stem and trunk canker pathogens on Ficus carica in Iran

During 2018–2021, a survey was conducted in rainfed fig (Ficus carica L.) orchards throughout the Fars Province of Iran to investigate the occurrence of canker diseases, and to identify the causal organisms. Morphological and cultural characteristics, as well as multilocus phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA, RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2), and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), revealed that the recovered isolates from the infected fig trees clustered in clade 3 of Neocosmospora (Nectriaceae), including N. metavorans, and a new taxon described here as N. caricae sp. nov. Neocosmospora caricae is characterised by falcate, multiseptate, gently dorsoventrally curved macroconidia with poorly developed foot-shaped basal cells, ovoid, aseptate microconidia that cluster in false heads, and abundant terminal or intercalary chlamydospores. Pathogenicity tests indicated that isolates of both Neocosmospora species were pathogenic, causing stem canker and wood discolouration on fig saplings of “Sabz” and “Shah Anjeer” cultivars. The present study adds to existing knowledge on the aetiology of fig stem and trunk canker, and may provide essential information for developing effective integrated management strategies against canker diseases affecting fig orchards in Iran.

Lessons Learned From a Patient‐Centered, Team‐Based Intervention for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes at High Cardiovascular Risk: Year 1 Results From the CINEMA Program

BackgroundThe care for patients with type 2 diabetes necessitates a multidisciplinary team approach to reduce cardiovascular risk, but implementation of effective integrated strategies has been limited.Methods and ResultsWe conceptualized and initiated a patient‐centered, team‐based intervention called Center for Integrated and Novel Approaches in Vascular‐Metabolic Disease (CINEMA) at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for cardiovascular events, including those with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, elevated coronary artery calcium score >100, chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and/or chronic kidney disease stages 2 to 4 were included. Herein, we present the year 1 results for the program. From May 2020 through August 2021, there were 417 referrals. Among 206 eligible patients, 113 (55%) completed a baseline and ≥1 follow‐up visit through December 2021, with mean (SD) time of 105 (34) days between baseline and first follow‐up visits. Mean age was 59 years, with 49% women and 37% Black patients. Patients had significant reductions from baseline in glycosylated hemoglobin (−10.8%), total cholesterol (−7.9%), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (−13.5%), systolic blood pressure (−4.0%), and body mass index (−2.7%) (P≤0.001 for all). In addition, among the 129 (63%) eligible patients not on sodium‐glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor or glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonist at baseline, 81% were prescribed evidence‐based therapy with sodium‐glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (n=66 [51%]) and/or glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonist (n=67 [52%]) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in the initial 3‐month follow‐up period.ConclusionsA team‐based, patient‐centered approach to high‐risk disease management appears to be a promising paradigm for care delivery associated with greater use of evidence‐based therapies and improved control of multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

Management information system in Nigerian secondary schools: challenges and way forward

Information is regarded as a fundamental resource to an organization and as such its management is apparently one of the most strategic operational instruments for organizational efficacy. Management information system plays an indispensable role in the smooth running of secondary schools. This paper examined the management information system in Nigerian secondary schools. The concept of a management information system was examined from different perspectives. Also, the features, components and development of management information systems in Nigeria were examined. The national policy on ICT integration in the Nigerian school system, the roles of MIS, challenges and strategies for effective integration of information systems in the Nigerian school system were elucidated consecutively. The study concluded that the school system requires an efficient management information system to take the secondary school a step further and boosts students’ academic success. It was recommended among others that secondary school administrators must maximally integrate educational management information system towards making an appropriate decision, seminars, conferences and workshops on educational management information system should be periodically organized for relevant stakeholders in secondary education and intensive efforts should be made by stakeholders (e.g. government, NGO, philanthropists) in secondary education towards genuine integration of ICT policies in the school.

Generational differences in selected aspects of social situation and health status of foreigners living in the Czech Republic.

Demographic differentiation caused by the history of migration in the Czech and Slovak Republics led the authors of this article to analyse generational differences in the groups of foreigners living in the Czech Republic (CR) and the impact of generational differences on selected aspects of their social situation and perceived health. The crucial research question was whether and to what degree do different generations of foreigners vary from each other and what impact this has had on their social situation and health determinants. The main goal was to examine mutual relationships between selected characteristics of social situation and health determinants in various groups of foreigners living in the CR. A total of 1,003 questionnaires among foreigners officially living in the Czech Republic were collected and analysed. In the area of subjective perception of health, a comparison of foreigners with Czech citizens (representative sample of Czech seniors; 1,172 respondents) in the age category 65+ was made in order to find out whether this perception differs between senior foreign nationals and senior Czechs. Older individuals (50-64 years and 65+ years) appeared to have the best integration into Czech society. This age generation felt positive about stay and migration status in the CR. Older foreigners differ from older Czech citizens who tend to refer to their health as very good to rather good compared to foreigners who described their health as neither good nor bad. The middle generation (30-49 years) of foreigners was characterized by hard work and the initial stages of integration into Czech society. This group also reported positive feelings about living in the CR relative to their home country. The oldest generation of foreigners is the best integrated in the Czech Republic (with regard to selected aspects tested in this article). This generation is able to offer new immigrant effective integration strategies. However, they assess their subjective health one degree worse in comparison with Czech seniors (representative sample), this finding should lead to the setting of preventive programmes related to a healthy lifestyle, including lifestyle for foreigners living in the Czech Republic.

Hybrid and Blended Learning – A Step in the Right Direction

The article titled “Combining the Best of Online and Face-to-Face Learning: Hybrid and Blended Learning Approach for COVID-19, Post Vaccine, & Post-Pandemic World” authored by Dr. Jitendra Singh et al., presents a research study that creatively examines the history, evolution, and development of blended learning in a variety of educational settings. The article describes the review of various models of hybrid learning and different e-learning models currently used in higher education. In addition, the article articulates a number of issues that students, faculty, schools, and institutions of higher education faced during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Finally, the authors examine effective strategies for integration of best practices moving forward in the pandemic trajectory. Using a fishbone analysis, challenges faced by instructors and academic institutions are examined to lay the foundation for potential solutions and strategies. A detailed Strength–Weakness–Opportunities–Threat (SWOT) analysis of blended and hybrid mediums of instruction is described. The authors conclude with an evidence-based approach from their own experience and research which can be utilized by faculty and administrators worldwide, as we enter a post-vaccine and post pandemic world.

Paraconiothyrium fuckelii, Diaporthe eres and Neocosmospora parceramosa causing cane blight of red raspberry in Northern Italy

Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) represents a relevant crop which production has largely increased worldwide during the last decade. Cane blight is one of the most common diseases of red raspberry and it can produce considerable losses. During 2019–2021, surveys were conducted in red raspberry orchards in Cuneo province, Northern Italy, to investigate the etiology and pathogen diversity in association with cane blight. Eleven isolates were collected from symptomatic plants of the cultivars ‘Diamond Jubilee’ and ‘Grandeur’, and were identified through multi-locus phylogenies and morphological features. Three fungal species were identified: Paraconiothyrium fuckelii, Diaporthe eres and Neocosmospora parceramosa. Four different genomic regions were included in the molecular analyses: ITS, tef1, tub2 and rpb2. The species pathogenicity was confirmed and P. fuckelii was revealed as the most aggressive. This study provides an insight into raspberry cane blight in Italy and the genomic loci sequencing lay the basis to develop specific diagnostic protocols to monitor the presence of pathogens and to prevent disease spread, adopting effective integrated control strategies.

Unique Ligand Exchange Dynamics of Metal–Organic Polyhedra for Vitrimer-like Gas Separation Membranes

Unique Ligand Exchange Dynamics of Metal–Organic Polyhedra for Vitrimer-like Gas Separation Membranes

Intelligent Interactive English Teaching Discrete Data Modeling and Simulation

This study attempts to explore the discrete data modeling and simulation of smart interactive English teaching based on mobile APP, expecting to explore the effective teaching strategies for deep integration of mobile APP technology and smart interactive English teaching, and to conduct discrete data modeling and simulation of English teaching. In this study, we propose a discrete data modeling algorithm for smart interactive English teaching based on discrete data points and normal vectors using B splines. By adding normal vector constraints, this method can maintain good fitting results even when the data points are discrete. The method consists of four parts, namely, discrete point parameterization, B-spline dominant point selection, node vector determination, and least-squares fitting, including both data point error and normal vector error. The mobile APP-based initial intelligent interactive English teaching should adhere to the four principles of autonomy of English course learning, adhere to teacher dominance in the language classroom, grasp the humanistic nature of English course content, and focus on the practical nature of English course implementation. The interactive learning environment based on mobile APP can promote students’ in-depth understanding of knowledge. The higher the student’s interest in learning, the deeper the degree of understanding; the more diverse the learning methods, the more it can promote students’ in-depth understanding of knowledge; the stronger the degree of interaction, the higher the level of understanding. The discrete data modeling of smart interactive English teaching proposed in this study provides a theoretical reference for the design and production of interactive learning resources for English courses, according to which the interactive learning resources for English courses are produced to make up for the lack of English course resources.

Strategies for Effective Integration of Management Information System in Secondary Schools: Teachers’ Perspective from Awka Education Zone in Anambra State

This study looked into effective integration of management information system (MIS) in secondary schools in Awka Education Zone in Anambra State. The study was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses tested at the 0.05 level of significance based on a descriptive survey research approach. The sampling technique adopted was purposive type in order to focus on a determined specialized number of respondents. The study’s sample size was 130 secondary school teachers. A researcher-created questionnaire was used to gather the data. The tool was rigorously evaluated by two experts. When the instrument’s internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha, a reliability value of 0.88 was found. A t-test was used to assess the hypotheses after arithmetic mean and standard deviation scores were used to analyze the data. The findings demonstrated that the MIS assists the school in managing tests, enrolments, and fees by providing different people with password protection. The findings further revealed that MIS opportunities and needs should be identified and prioritized according to educational objectives rather than technical criteria. In addition, there is no significant difference in the male and female teachers’ knowledge about MIS in secondary schools. The implications of the study were drawn and recommendations proffered.

Bi-Directional Co-Attention Network for Image Captioning

Image Captioning, which automatically describes an image with natural language, is regarded as a fundamental challenge in computer vision. In recent years, significant advance has been made in image captioning through improving attention mechanism. However, most existing methods construct attention mechanisms based on singular visual features, such as patch features or object features, which limits the accuracy of generated captions. In this article, we propose a Bidirectional Co-Attention Network (BCAN) that combines multiple visual features to provide information from different aspects. Different features are associated with predicting different words, and there are a priori relations between these multiple visual features. Based on this, we further propose a bottom-up and top-down bi-directional co-attention mechanism to extract discriminative attention information. Furthermore, most existing methods do not exploit an effective multimodal integration strategy, generally using addition or concatenation to combine features. To solve this problem, we adopt the Multivariate Residual Module (MRM) to integrate multimodal attention features. Meanwhile, we further propose a Vertical MRM to integrate features of the same category, and a Horizontal MRM to combine features of the different categories, which can balance the contribution of the bottom-up co-attention and the top-down co-attention. In contrast to the existing methods, the BCAN is able to obtain complementary information from multiple visual features via the bi-directional co-attention strategy, and integrate multimodal information via the improved multivariate residual strategy. We conduct a series of experiments on two benchmark datasets (MSCOCO and Flickr30k), and the results indicate that the proposed BCAN achieves the superior performance.

Quantification of existing rooftop PV hourly generation capacity and validation against measurement data

The spatio-temporal patterns of the existing rooftop photovoltaic (PV) production can provide valuable insights for the design of effective strategies for PV integration at large scale. In this work, we quantify the hourly production of existing rooftop PV installations by combining two large-scale methods, for detecting rooftop solar panels and for estimating their hourly PV generation, which are both applicable at the Swiss national scale. A validation against measured data of PV installations from 16 roofs in the Swiss Canton of Aargau shows that the existing PV area is detected accurately, while the hourly profiles overestimate the PV production, with higher errors in winter than in summer. These errors result in a mean overestimation of the annual PV production by 16%, assuming a triangular panel placement at low tilt (15°) on flat roofs.

Towards net-zero carbon performance: using demand side management and a low carbon grid to reduce operational carbon emissions in a UK public office

This paper investigates the performance of an office building that has achieved a low carbon performance in practice thanks to a performance contract and Soft Landings approach. The findings show the potential of this building for further de-carbonisation as a result of electrification of heating and load shifting to take advantage of a low carbon electricity grid. Whilst retrospective modelling based on the past carbon intensity data shows the effectiveness of demand-side management, assessment of the existing smart readiness of the building revealed that the building services and control strategy are not fully equipped with the data analytics and carbon or price signal responsiveness required to facilitate grid integration. The environmental strategy and procurement method used for this building combined with an effective grid integration strategy can serve as a prototype for low carbon design to achieve the ever stringent carbon emissions objectives set out for the non-domestic buildings.