Information technology in the British and Irish undergraduate accounting degrees

Using an online questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews, this study seeks the perceptions ofaccounting educators and professional accounting bodies in the UK and Ireland on the status quo of technologicaldevelopments within accounting curricula and the factors influencing this status quo. Findings suggest a fairlywidespread view that technological developments represent an important area that should be covered acrossaccounting curricula, to expose changes in the marketplace and to enhance the employability of graduates.However, it is still a peripheral component in accounting curricula, with no clear agenda for change. Professionalaccounting bodies seem to play a hegemonic inhibiting role through accreditation requirements although otherinhibitors were reported such as lack of competent/interested staff and lack of time/space in already overloadedsyllabi

The Role of Nano-Technology in Sustainable Construction: A Case Study of Using Nano Granite Waste Particles in Cement Mortar

Better understanding of the properties of cement-based materials, one of the most widely used building materials, at the nano-scale is crucial to improve its functionality in the built environment. This paper presents areas of using nano-materials in improving the characteristics of cement-based materials as well as introducing a new role of nano-technology together with waste management in enhancing the concept of sustainable construction. A case study on the use of nano-granite waste particles as a replacement of cement and fine aggregate in mortar production is presented. The research concluded that replacing 5% cement and 10% sand with nano-granite waste in the mortar mix increased the compressive strength of the green mortar by 41% compared to that of the control mix (CM). SEM images reinforced this result as the green mortar mix showed maximum density and minimum micro cracks and number of pores. A comparative study between the green mortar and traditional mortar was carried out using sustainability indicators to examine the environmental, social and economic implications. The environmental and social attributes showed a saving of 10% in the field of resource consumption, whereas savings in energy consumption and CO2 emissions reached 5%. The economic field showed saving of 6.5% indicating promising results in enhancing the sustainable construction industry

Penggunaan jenis-jenis penilaian oleh pensyarah dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran di Jabatan Kejuruteraan Awam, Politeknik Ungku Omar

Penilaian ialah satu sistem atau proses yang meliputi aktiviti-aktiviti mengumpul maklumat tentang st'artegi dan aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran, untuk membuat analisis dan keputusan denagn tujuan mengambil tindakan yang sewajamya seperti merancang aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran selanjutnya dengan cara yang lebih berkesan. Penilaian terdiri daripada empat iaitu pra penempatan, formatif, diognastik dan sumatif. Keempat-empat jenis penilaian ini mempunyai kelebihan dan kelemahan yang tersendiri. Melalui dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa pensyarah lelaki lebih banyak menggunakan jenis-jenis penilaian dalam bilik kuliah iaitu min 3.37 berbanding dengan pensyarah perempuan iaitu min 3.28. Selain daripada itu, dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan sebanyak 47 % responden mempunyai pengetahuan tentang penilaian pendidikan jenis objektif, 6 4 % responden mengaplikasikan jenis penilaian kaedah lisan dalam aktiviti pengajaran dan 84 % responden bersetuju bahawa penilaian pendidikan telah dapat meningkatkan mutu diri pensyarah dalam aktiviti pengajaran. Manakala 2.7 % responden tidak bersetuju bahawa pelajar diberi masa yang mencukupi sebelum sesuatu jenis penilaian dilakukan. Sehubungan dengan itu pengkaji mencadangkan supaya pensyarah-pensyarah didedahkan dengan penggunaan jenis-jenis penilaian untuk meningkatkan keupayaan dan kecekapan dalam usaha membina jenis-jenis ujian dengan lebih bermutu. Pensyarah juga digalakkan untuk melakukan jenis-jenis penilaian dalam bilik kuliah. Selain daripada itu, pensyarah juga perlu memastikan pelajar sentiasa bersedia untuk dibuat penilaian. Seterusnya pensyarah perlu mempelbagaikan jenis-jenis penilaian pendidikan dalam aktiviti pengajaran bagi mengesan peringkat penguasaan dan kemajuan pelajar dalam semua bidang yang berkaitan dengan pendidika

Trans-arterial therapy for Fibrolamellar carcinoma: A case report and literature review

Introduction: Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a rare pathologically distinct primary liver cancer. Surgical resection is the only treatment associated with prolonged survival. Trans-arterial embolization (TAE), which is a recognised treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma has been used to treat FLC. We present a case and performed a literature review of patients with FLC treated with TAE. Case presentation: We present a 19-year old female with a large potentially resectable FLC which was initially treated with trans-arterial chemo-embolization (TACE) with drug eluting beads. The TACE was followed by surgical resection. Histology confirmed tumour necrosis related to the previous TACE. Discussion & literature review: We identified seven case reports and one case series of TAE for FLC. TAE was either used as a neo-adjuvant therapy to facilitate subsequent tumour resection or as a palliative treatment modality. We propose an algorithm for the treatment of FLC that includes TAE. Conclusion: The rarity of FLC and the paucity of data precludes establishing clear evidence-based standards of care. We propose an algorithm for the treatment of FLC. The establishment of an international registry may facilitate the collection of better quality evidence

Analysis of the filed data of a sample of Egyptian children with bronchial asthma

Background: Identification of the clinical profile of asthma in a community is crucial to the understanding of the growing disease burden. We sought to evaluate the clinical characteristics and management outcome of a sample of asthmatic children from Cairo city and its suburbs. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed the data of 422 consecutively numbered files of asthmatic children from the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit of Ain Shams University Children's Hospital. Data collected included the age at onset, duration of follow up, precipitating factors, feeding history, clinical severity, presence of other allergic diseases and outcome and course of the disease. This is besides the available results of laboratory and imaging studies and the treatment received including the routes and types of therapy. Results: The results revealed that 197 children (46.7%) had bronchial asthma only while 225 (53.3%) had concomitant allergic disorders. Males outnumbered females and urban residents outnumbered suburban and rural residents and all cases belonged to the low and middle social and economic community sectors. A positive family history of allergy in general was evident in about 40% of cases. Viral infection was the most common precipitating factor for exacerbations. Mild and moderate persistent asthma were more frequent than the severe variety (15.10%, 10.20%, and 1.50%). Serum total IgE and peripheral blood eosinophil counts were elevated and atopy was evident in most cases. Inhaled corticosteroid therapy was the most commonly prescribed treatment in the current study but compliance was generally poor. Conclusion: Wider scale multi-center studies in Cairo and other localities of Egypt are needed to outline the profile of childhood asthma in the whole country using a population rather than a referral center-based approach.Keywords: Pediatric asthma, risk factors, asthma grade, asthma triggers, smoking, residenceEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2009;7(2):59-6

A Catalog of Very Isolated Galaxies from the SDSS Data Release 1

We present a new catalog of isolated galaxies obtained through an automated systematic search. These 2980 isolated galaxies were found in approximately 2099 sq deg of sky in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 1 (SDSS DR1) photometry. The selection algorithm, implementing a variation on the criteria developed by Karachentseva in 1973, proved to be very efficient and fast. This catalog will be useful for studies of the general galaxy characteristics. Here we report on our results.Comment: 67 pages, which includes 14 figures. Accepted for publication by A

Effect of the Bio-agents (Bacillus megaterium and Trichoderma album) on Citrus Nematode (Tylenchulus semipenetrans) Infecting Baladi orange and

The effect of two commercial compounds namely Bioarc TM (Bacillus megaterium) and Biozeid TM (Trichoderma album) at different rates against Tylenchulus semipenetrans was examined under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. In laboratory experiment, both compounds Bioarc and Biozeid as bio-control agents found to be highly nematostatic agents against J2 of T. semipenetrans. The rates of 20, 25 and 30g/l gave more than 60% J2 mortality after 72h exposure time. The highest effect was achieved at 30 g/l whereas, Bioarc (90.5 %) exhibited the highest effect followed by Biozeid (88.3%) at 30g/l after 72h exposure time. In greenhouse experiment, the bio-agents were evaluated at rates of 20, 25 and 30 g/l compared to nematicide Nemathorin 10% G at recommended dose (12.5 kg/ feddan) on the development of T. semipenetrans infecting Baladi orange and Lime seedlings. Results showed significant differences between the tested rates of both bio-agents. At the higher rate (30.0g/l), Bioarc (89.0, 89.5%; 76.6, 82.9%) was found to be more effective than Biozeid (88.3, 89.0%; 72.0, 77.9%) in reducing number of J2/100g soil and females/g root of Baladi orange and Lime infected with T. semipenetrans  respectively. Moreover, both Bioarc and Biozeid at 30.0g/l significantly increased plant growth of Baladi orange and Lime infected with T. semipenetrans

Recurrence after correction of acquired ankle equinus deformity in children using Ilizarov technique

To describe our Ilizarov technique for the treatment of acquired equinus deformity in children and to determine if compliance with continuous use of an ankle foot orthosis (after removal of the fixator and until skeletal maturity) can influence the severity of recurrence. A cohort of 26 children with post-traumatic or post-burn contractures producing an equinus deformity was followed up for a minimum of 2 years after skeletal maturity. Cases with a bony deformity and/or nerve injury were excluded from this study. All patients were managed by a percutaneous tendo-Achilles lengthening followed by application of an Ilizarov external fixator. Post-operative treatment was in the form of gradual correction at a rate of 0.5 mm per day. Correction started from the second postoperative day until an over-correction of 15 degrees dorsiflexion was achieved. Ankle range of movement was encouraged 4 weeks prior to removal of the external fixator. On removal of the fixator, a posterior splint was applied until substituted by an ankle foot orthoses (AFO). The AFO was used continuously during the first 2–3 months and at nighttime thereafter until skeletal maturity. Fifteen children were compliant with the use of the AFO until skeletal maturity and 11 non-compliant. We compared the recurrence and the size of deformity between the two groups. The rate of recurrence, degree of equinus at recurrence and number of episodes of external fixation surgery showed statistical significant differences (P < 0.01) between the groups. The Ilizarov technique for treatment of acquired equinus deformity secondary to soft tissue scarring is a safe and effective technique. The use of an AFO until skeletal maturity can decrease the risk and degree of recurrence

Computational and experimental elucidation of the boosted stability and antibacterial activity of ZIF-67 upon optimized encapsulation with polyoxometalates

Water microbial purification is one of the hottest topics that threats human morbidity and mortality. It is indispensable to purify water using antimicrobial agents combined with several technologies and systems. Herein, we introduce a class of nanosized metal organic framework; Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cages encapsulated with polyoxometalates synthesized via facile one-step co-precipitation method. We employed two types of polyoxometalates bioactive agents; phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) that act as novel antibacterial purification agents. Several characterization techniques were utilized to investigate the morphological, structural, chemical, and physical properties such as FESEM, EDS, FTIR, XRD, and N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms techniques. The antibacterial assessment was evaluated using colony forming unit (CFU) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as models of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The PTA@ZIF-67 showed higher microbial inhibition against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 98.8% and 84.6%, respectively. Furthermore, computational modeling using density functional theory was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of PTA when compared to PMA. The computational and experimental findings demonstrate that the fabricated POM@ZIF-67 materials exhibited outstanding bactericidal effect against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and effectively purify contaminated water

Primary Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Metastatic to the Breast: Case Report and Review of Nineteen Cases

Metastases to the breast from extramammary primaries are uncommon and account for 0.5–6% of all breast malignancies (Georgiannos et al., 2001, and Vizcaíno et al., 2001). Malignant melanoma, lymphoma, and lung and gastric carcinomas are the most frequently encountered nonmammary metastases to the breast in adults (Georgiannos et al., 2001, and Chaignaud et al., 1994). Primary colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) metastatic to the breast is extremely rare, with the medical literature having only 19 recorded cases. Typically CRC metastatic to the breast is indicative of widely disseminated disease and a poor prognosis. Here we present a case of poorly differentiated colon cancer metastatic to the breast and review the current literature on this rare event