Institutional Project Research Articles

A History of Danish Cinema

A History of Danish Cinema

SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN ETHIOPIAN LEATHER INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

This study's objective is to assess the level of customer satisfaction and product quality in the consultation and project office of Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute. Importance of customer satisfaction cannot be undermined for any organisation. The processes and practices of Corporate governance should assess the service gaps and should aim to fulfil the same. The SERVQUAL instrument is used in conjunction with the gap model of service quality to carry out this research. the five SERVQUAL dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy were used to gauge the extent of customers' expectations and perceptions of service quality. A sample of 240 respondents was selected using a non-probabilistic convenience sampling technique. According to the findings of the study all the five dimensions of service quality have shown a negative gap score. This indicates that customers of Ethiopian leather industry development institute consultancy and project office are dissatisfied with the service provided to them hence; there perceptions are below their expectations. The dimension with the lowest negative gap score is assurance followed by tangibles and responsiveness. The findings of the gap analysis also indicate that tangibility and responsiveness are the two dimensions with the highest negative gap scores which makes these two dimensions the largest contributors to customer’s dissatisfaction. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between SERVQUAL dimensions and service quality the results shows that all the five dimensions of service quality have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction where tangibility, empathy and responsiveness have a moderate and positive correlation with satisfaction while assurance and reliability have a weak positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Generally, only tangibility and responsiveness dimensions of service quality have shown statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. Accordingly, Ethiopian leather industry development institute consultancy and project office needs to give more emphasis and due attention to tangibility and responsiveness dimensions of service quality to improve the level of customer satisfaction.

SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN ETHIOPIAN LEATHER INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

This study's objective is to assess the level of customer satisfaction and product quality in the consultation and project office of Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute. Importance of customer satisfaction cannot be undermined for any organisation. The processes and practices of Corporate governance should assess the service gaps and should aim to fulfil the same. The SERVQUAL instrument is used in conjunction with the gap model of service quality to carry out this research. the five SERVQUAL dimensions of tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy were used to gauge the extent of customers' expectations and perceptions of service quality. A sample of 240 respondents was selected using a non-probabilistic convenience sampling technique. According to the findings of the study all the five dimensions of service quality have shown a negative gap score. This indicates that customers of Ethiopian leather industry development institute consultancy and project office are dissatisfied with the service provided to them hence; there perceptions are below their expectations. The dimension with the lowest negative gap score is assurance followed by tangibles and responsiveness. The findings of the gap analysis also indicate that tangibility and responsiveness are the two dimensions with the highest negative gap scores which makes these two dimensions the largest contributors to customer’s dissatisfaction. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between SERVQUAL dimensions and service quality the results shows that all the five dimensions of service quality have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction where tangibility, empathy and responsiveness have a moderate and positive correlation with satisfaction while assurance and reliability have a weak positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Generally, only tangibility and responsiveness dimensions of service quality have shown statistically significant impact on customer satisfaction. Accordingly, Ethiopian leather industry development institute consultancy and project office needs to give more emphasis and due attention to tangibility and responsiveness dimensions of service quality to improve the level of customer satisfaction.

User stories as a tool for the specification of requirements: institutional projects and skills development

User stories as a tool for the specification of requirements: institutional projects and skills development

Agro-morphological Characterization of Proso millet Germplasm for Utilization

Aims: In this study, 634 accessions of proso millet were evaluated to assess phenotypic diversity using morpho-agronomic traits, aiming to identify specific donors for desired traits.
 Study Design: Augmented design.
 Place and Duration of Study: During the Kharif season of 2021, a total of 634 proso millet germplasm accessions were characterized, alongside three control varieties, as part of the Institute Project (IIMR/CI/2021-2026/150) at ICAR-IIMR in Hyderabad.
 Methodology: The experimental design employed was an augmented block design, and four check varieties, namely GPUP 8, TNAU 145, TNAU 164, and TNAU 202, were included.
 Results: The results revealed significant variation across all the traits studied. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the first three principal components accounted for 60% of the total variation. PC1 accounted for 27.3% of the variation, followed by PC2 (22.6%) and PC3 (10%). PC1 was primarily influenced by Leaf blade length (cm), Peduncle length (cm), Panicle length (cm), Plant height (cm), and grain yield (g plant-1). Furthermore, the study identified 21 accessions with superior performance in multiple traits (3-6 traits).
 Conclusion: These accessions can serve as valuable genetic resources for improving yield and quality traits. The selected multi-trait donors can be directly released for cultivation, serving as a short-term breeding goal. This approach has the potential to enable farmers to achieve high remuneration by harvesting increased yields.

Multidisciplinarity and teamwork in virtual real-life projects - reflection as a tool for development

Project teams will increasingly work virtually in multidisciplinary teams. The degree of virtuality varies from fully virtual to hybrid. The purpose of this study is to identify how the virtual team (VT) members experience multidisciplinary project work and team development in the context of international real-life projects in Higher Education Institutions (HEI).
 The data were gathered from student project teams´ final reports (n=7) and students´ individual reflection diaries (n= 37). Thematic content and sentiment analysis were used.
 The results showed that team members can experience professional diversity and team development in different ways. This can lead, among other things, to social isolation. However, multidisciplinarity was largely perceived as a positive factor in teamwork. The importance of team-level and individual-level reflections are also emphasized.
 The results of this study will be taken into further discussion at HEIs to ensure that the students acquire the competences needed in virtual project teams.

COSMO-SKYMED: A SATELLITE TOOL FOR MONITORING CULTURAL HERITAGE

Abstract. COSMO-SkyMed is the flagship Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) that, among the many civilian applications for which it was originally conceived, is nowadays successfully exploited for cultural heritage applications. Current capabilities offered by both the First and Second Generations satellites are reviewed in light of the experience undertaken by ASI through data exploitation initiatives with scientific and commercial users, and more importantly in the framework of institutional projects and cooperation agreements such as those with the Colosseum Archaeological Park and the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC). The interferometric nature of COSMO-SkyMed SAR acquisitions is the key feature exploited in structural and ground deformation monitoring of monuments and historical buildings, so as the constellation is currently the essential Earth Observation asset supporting MiC’s Extraordinary Plan of Monitoring and Conservation of Immovable Cultural Heritage. Further applications that could be enabled by COSMO-SkyMed data are explored through internal ASI research activity, such as the use of high resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) for topographic surveying of archaeological tells and condition assessment to estimate the impact due to natural and anthropogenic threats (e.g. looting, agriculture, destruction). Finally, current perspectives towards operational use and greater user uptake of COSMO-SkyMed for purposes of scientific downstream are opened by the new ASI programme Innovation for Downstream Preparation for Science (I4DP_SCIENCE).

The Low-Carbon Economy as an Institutional Project: Challenges and ObjectivesMargarita V. Kurbatova

The article considers the process of creating new laws in the sphere of ecological regulation in connection with the climate change to be the means of shaping new institutional structures that can potentially transform the behavior of economic actors and the directions of resource flows. The problem statement and goal setting for the institutional design of the climate-environment agenda are scrutinized in the article. Scientific and political-economic foundations for choosing the direction of the global community's response to the threats of climate change and the corresponding institutional changes are highlighted in this research. The mechanisms of sustainable development priorities transformation towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to renewable energy sources are demonstrated in the paper. The concept of the low-carbon economy associated with the carbon-neutral constraints on economic activity is described in the paper in details. The author offers the project of institutional transformation that implies the creation of new institutions for a global response to climate change threats. The measures for ensuring the mild adaptation of economic actors to the new type of ecological constraints are also elaborated. According to the authors, one of the most significant challenges of climate change lies in the creation and simultaneous existence of overlapping institutional projects at the global and national levels. Given the inevitability of climate change, the measures ensuring the adaptation of the economy and society to the consequences of ecological changes should be prioritized. It is recommended to intensify the formation of the institutional project in line with the national interest of creating a competitive advantage for the Russian economy.

The Transitioning Experiences from Traditional to Agile Project Management: A Case of an Information Technology Department of a Private-Owned Financial Institution in Cebu City

Incorporating the Agile Project Management (APM) approach was the institution’s initiative to accelerate project delivery and be more flexible in changing requirements and client demands while producing quality software. The research explores the lived experiences of the institution's project managers to uncover the challenges and demonstrated benefits during Agile Project Management (APM) implementation. This research utilized the qualitative approach through interviews with key informants who are project managers of the institution. The data gathered were from the responses of the five (5) private-owned financial institution project managers. The responses were thoroughly reviewed and tabulated to reveal the commonalities in the data gathered. The study showed that implementing APM significantly changed how the project management team handled and delivered the projects. The project management team moved the project with agility by simplifying the scope and adapting to changes in requirements to increase customer satisfaction and value; the teams were more collaborative, flexible, and able to cope with the risks. However, the study revealed that the main challenges that the project management team experienced were the uncontrollable growth of changes in project scope, under-estimated timelines, and inefficient allocation and delegation of workloads, which resulted in the delayed delivery of projects. Also, it revealed that the current coping strategies were deprioritizing other projects to accommodate new requirements, extending project deadlines, and rendering overtime, which could have been more sustainable when appropriately handled. Furthermore, the study provided recommendations and action plans to improve the implementation of Agile Project Management.

AI and IP: Theory to Policy and Back Again – Policy and Research Recommendations at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property

The interaction between artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights (IPRs) is one of the key areas of development in intellectual property law. After much, albeit selective, debate, it seems to be gaining increasing practical relevance through intense AI-related market activity, an initial set of case law on the matter, and policy initiatives by international organizations and lawmakers. Against this background, Zurich University’s Center for Intellectual Property and Competition Law is conducting, together with the Swiss Intellectual Property Institute, a research and policy project that explores the future of intellectual property law in an AI context. This paper briefly describes the AI/IP Research Project and presents an initial set of policy recommendations for the development of IP law with a view to AI. The recommendations address topics such as AI inventorship in patent law; AI authorship in copyright law; the need for sui generis rights to protect innovative AI output; rules for the allocation of AI-related IPRs; IP protection carve-outs in order to facilitate AI system development, training, and testing; the use of AI tools by IP offices; and suitable software protection and data usage regimes.

1583-P: Dynamic Tracking and Identification of Liver-Specific Secretory Proteins in the Circulation of Live Mice

Secretory proteins are an essential component of interorgan communication networks that regulate animal physiology. Current approaches for identifying secretory proteins from specific cell and tissue types are largely limited to in vitro or ex vivo models which often fail to recapitulate in vivo biology. As such, there is mounting interest in developing in vivo analytical tools that can provide accurate information on the origin, identity, and spatiotemporal dynamics of secretory proteins. Here, we describe iSLET (in situ Secretory protein Labeling via ER-anchored TurboID) which selectively labels proteins that transit through the classical secretory pathway via catalytic actions of Sec61b-TurboID, a proximity labeling enzyme anchored in the ER lumen. To validate iSLET in a whole-body system, we express iSLET in the mouse liver and demonstrate efficient labeling of liver secretory proteins which could be tracked and identified within circulating blood plasma. Furthermore, proteomic analysis of the labeled liver secretome enriched from liver iSLET mouse plasma is highly consistent with previous reports of liver secretory protein profiles. Taken together, iSLET is a versatile and powerful tool for studying spatiotemporal dynamics of secretory proteins, a valuable class of biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Disclosure K.Kim: None. J.Suh: None. Funding National Research Foundation of Korea (2018R1A2A3075389, 2016M3A9B6902871, 2017K1A1A2013124, 2021R1A2C2007573, 2020R1C1C1013927); KAIST Key Research Institutes Project; Bio and Medical Technology Development Program (2019M3E5D3073104); Ministry of Science

Applications of telemedicine: Plastic surgery in the COVID-19 era

Applications of telemedicine: Plastic surgery in the COVID-19 era

The Physiology of Money

This article presents an ethnography of alternative currencies that foregrounds the notion of “circulation”. Building upon a long legacy wherein money is equated with a primary life force—being either water or blood—that is contained within a body, “circulation” became a dominant metaphor for the use of money from the mid-seventeenth century onwards. Imagining money as a liquid that flows and circulates means that remedying economic inequalities and injustice is often reduced to a matter of redistribution. Instead, money is itself an institutional project engineered to distribute resources and authority based on a philosophy of growth and accumulation. Alternative currency initiatives aim to re-design, rather than re-distribute, money. Importantly, they believe the technological fix of a circular software system effectively does away with the inequalities of the capitalist mode of production. What happens when on-going practices towards systemic change converge on money and the economic “body” of a local community is imagined as software?

Maintaining early diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in Japan: Local resilience against COVID-19

Background and aimsThis study evaluated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) practice in our region and discussed the effects of our institution's regional collaborative system, the “Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis Project," which was originally unrelated to this study's purpose. MethodsWe retrospectively investigated 150 patients with PA at Yokohama Rosai Hospital by defining three time periods: before (C0), during the first year (C1), and during the second year (C2) of the COVID-19 pandemic. ResultsAmong the three periods (C0, C1, and C2), there were significantly less patients with stage I PA (14.0%, 0%, and 7.4%, p = 0.032) in C1, and significantly more patients with stage III PA (10.0%, 28.3%, and 9.3%, p = 0.014) in C1. The pandemic significantly prolonged the median durations from disease onset to patients’ first visits (28, 49, and 14 days, p = 0.012). In contrast, there was no significant difference in the median durations from referral to first visit to our institution (4, 4, and 6 days, p = 0.391). ConclusionsThe pandemic advanced the stage of PA in our region. Although the pancreatic referral network remained functional during the pandemic, there were delays from disease onset to patients' first visit to healthcare providers, including clinics. While the pandemic caused temporary damage to PA practice, the routine regional collaboration provided by our institution's project allowed for early resilience. A notable limitation is that the impact of the pandemic on PA prognosis was not evaluated.

ENHANCING MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD CELLS IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA WITH AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE‐BASED TOOL

Background: Real-time monitoring of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is crucial for effective patient management. Peripheral blood (PB) is the preferred source for obtaining CLL cells due to its ease of access and lower cost. However, traditional methods of evaluating PB films have several drawbacks, such as lack of automation, reliance on personal experience, and low repeatability and reproducibility. To address these limitations, we developed an artificial intelligence-based tool that objectively evaluates morphologic features in the blood cells of CLL patients from a clinical perspective. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 284 patients newly diagnosed with CLL at Jiangsu Province Hospital from December 1, 2013 to December 31, 2020. To train and test our machine-learning algorithm, we randomly split the cohort into a training set (75%) and a testing set (25%). We obtained high-quality whole-slide images from blood films using the Bionovation CSFA-80 scanner, and developed an automated algorithm using a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to precisely identify regions of interest. Additionally, we used the well-established Visual Geometry Group-16 CNN as the encoder to segment cells and extract morphological features. This tool enabled us to extract precise morphological features of all lymphocytes for subsequent analysis. Results: Our study's lymphocyte identification had a recall of 0.96 and an F1 score of 0.97, making it suitable for future applications. Cluster analysis identified three clear, morphological groups of lymphocytes that reflect distinct stages of disease development to some extent. To investigate the longitudinal evolution of lymphocyte, we extracted cellular morphology parameters at various time points from the same patient. These time points included the initial diagnosis period without treatment indications, the pretreatment period with indications beginning to appear, and the diagnosed phase of large cell transformation. The results showed some similar trends to those observed in the aforementioned cluster analysis. Correlation analysis further supports the prognostic potential of cell morphology-based parameters. The research was funded by: National Natural Science Foundation of China [82100211]; Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation [Y-Roche2019/2-0090]; Science Foundation Project of Ili & Jiangsu Joint Institute of Health [yl2021ms04]; and Science and Technology Development Fund Project of Pukou branch of Jiangsu People's hospital [KJ2021-4]. Keywords: diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, Imaging and Early Detection - Other, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) No conflicts of interests pertinent to the abstract.

Grupo ECO-ACACIANOS: la escuela como escenario para la transformación social,la educación ambiental y sostenible en la IED Acacia II.

This article tells the motivations, progress and impact of the "Eco-Acacianos" project, an institutional project of the IED Acacia II that is part of the National Environmental Education policy and that was nominated for the 2021 educational innovation award.

FROM SCHOOL TO HOME: UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCES OF PARENTS AND LEARNERS IN MODULAR LEARNING

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a major shift in the delivery of instruction. Parents and learners were caught unprepared for this situation. As such, this study aimed to describe the experiences of parents and learners in modular learning. Following a phenomenological approach, 10 parents and 30 learners from the Schools Division of the City of Batac underwent unstructured interviews via home visits, phone calls, and messenger calls. It adopted the Hycner transcription analysis methodology for the data analysis. Findings revealed that parents’ experiences could be described along four themes: multiple roles, learning management challenges, home learning strategies, and support systems. Meanwhile, learners’ experiences were revealed by these four themes: learning preferences, learning struggles, learning strategies, and learning support. Interestingly, these experiences magnify the need for attention to shared responsibility, understanding, cooperation, commitment, and compassion for modular learning to succeed in the context of a pandemic. Furthermore, the findings could serve as a basis for providing comprehensive and inclusive educational policies that facilitate the adjustments of learners and parents in a new learning setup. As such, schools can create and implement more adoptive, relevant, and inclusive institutional plans, projects, activities, and programs for the attainment of optimum learning gains.

Improving Scaling Performance in Research for Development: Learning from a Realist Evaluation of the Scaling Readiness Approach

Complexity-sensitive decision support approaches (CSDSA) have gained prominence in the research for development (R4D) sector. However, limited attention has been given to critically examining the underlying causal assumptions of CSDSAs and their overall effectiveness in navigating complexity and achieving desired outcomes. Scaling Readiness has emerged as a novel CSDSA that is increasingly applied in R4D programs in low- and middle-income countries to improve the scaling of innovation. This study offers theory-based explanations on the extent to which Scaling Readiness supports evidence-based design, implementation and monitoring of scaling strategies in two R4D interventions. The contribution of Scaling Readiness is influenced by various contextual factors, including pre-existing partnerships and established institutional intervention project and performance management practices. The findings underscore the significance of investing in broader institutional impact culture growth. This includes critical evaluation of how funding, incentive, and performance mechanisms enable or constrain evidence-based decision-making and adaptive management at intervention and organizational level towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Adoption and Utilization of Heat and Moisture Exchangers (HMEs) in the Tracheostomy Patient.

Management of tracheostomized patients typically involves a conventional external humidification system (CEHS). CEHS are noisy, negatively impact patient mobility, and increases costs. Additionally, they prevent phonation and the ability to cough. Alternatively, heat and moisture exchange (HME) devices have been used in laryngectomized patients. We present an institutional quality improvement project exploring the use and efficacy of an HME device following tracheostomy. Health care professionals and stakeholders from multiple disciplines were identified: otolaryngology, nursing, administration, case management, and speech-language pathology. The focus was on an otolaryngology acute care nursing unit. Protocols for product acquisition, nursing education, care flowcharts, and discharge planning were established. Efficacy was assessed by tracking patient pulmonary status, nursing notes, and questionnaires. Seventy-one tracheostomized patients were enrolled. Two patients (2.8%) were unable to tolerate the HME. There were no complications from mucous plugging or respiratory distress. Eighty-nine percent of nursing staff surveyed preferred the use of an HME device over CEHS, particularly for ease of patient mobility. Additional favorable findings were patient satisfaction, cost savings, reduced noise, communication, and ease of discharge education and planning. Replacing CEHS with HMEs provides distinct advantages, with a positive impact on patients, family members, and health care personnel. Resistance to changing from the traditional standard of care was alleviated with education, focused training, and positive outcomes. These data indicate that an HME device is safe and offers advantages to both patients and nurses over traditional CEHS.

FAIMER Global Faculty Development: A Sustainable Partnership Model to Advance Health Professions Education.

The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), a member of Intealth, offers longitudinal faculty development programs (LFDPs) in health professions education (HPE) and leadership through its International FAIMER Institute (IFI) in the United States and FAIMER Regional Institutes (FRIs) globally. FAIMER fosters mutual collaboration and delineates shared responsibilities for FRI development in partnership with local institutions, using an adapted hub-and-spoke organizational design. This paper describes FAIMER's model, its sustainability, and its impacts at individual, institutional, and national levels. IFI was launched in 2001 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a 2-year part-time hybrid LFDP; with the COVID-19 pandemic onset, IFI transitioned to a fully online program. Since FAIMER's launch, 11 FRIs developed in Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and South Africa, each modeled on the IFI curriculum and adapted to local context. The more than 1,600 IFI and FRI graduates (fellows) from over 55 countries now form a global community of health professions educators who have shared exposure to HPE methods and assessment, leadership and management, educational scholarship and research, and project management and evaluation. Across all global locations and program formats, fellows self-reported a similar increase in knowledge and skills in HPE. All programs center on the fellows' institutional projects as experiential learning; these projects have focused primarily on educational methods and curriculum revisions. An increased quality of education was reported as the top impact resulting from fellows' projects. As a result of these programs, fellows have influenced education policy in their countries and established academic societies for HPE, thus contributing to recognition of the HPE academic specialty. FAIMER has successfully developed a sustainable model for advancing HPE globally, creating a vibrant network of health professions educators who have influenced country-specific educational policy and practice. FAIMER's model offers one approach to building global capacity in HPE.