Development of Porosity Evaluation of Inservice Thermal Barrier Coated Ceramics Using X-Band Microwave Nondestructive Technique

Development of Porosity Evaluation of Inservice Thermal Barrier Coated Ceramics Using X-Band Microwave Nondestructive Techniqu

Obstacles encountering Teachers of Integration Programs in the Public Schools of Najran

The research includes the obstacles encountering teachers of integration programs in the public schools of Najran. The male and female teachers of integration program in the public schools of Najran constituted the study population. The study sample consisted of (61) male teachers and (28) female teachers, whereas the study instrument was a questionnaire which included (56) paragraphs distributed to (7) aspects to determine such obstacles. The results showed that there are great obstacles encountering the teachers of integration program in the public schools in most questionnaire aspects, and that there are no statistically significant differences in the obstacles encountering male and female teachers due to the gender variable. Also the study showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the obstacles facing the teachers due to the experience and academic specialization variables. Keywords: Obstacles, Integration, Special Education Programs

Novel Tests of Complex Recognition Memory in Animals and Humans

This thesis sought to address specific methodological issues relating to tasks of recognition memory in animals and humans. Such tasks are very widely used, so the need to reduce variability and improve the translation of animal work to humans is apparent. Study 1 sought to develop a reliable testing method based on the spontaneous recognition paradigm that would reduce the animal numbers required for such tasks. Rats displayed significant performance in multiple recognition tasks carried out in the continual trials apparatus, which allows for multiple trials within a session. Approximately 50% fewer animals were required for statistically meaningful results, compared to studies using the standard one trial a day paradigm. Study 2 sought to further develop the continual trials apparatus for an episodic-like memory task for rodents. This study focussed on the development of an object preference task to investigate the behavioural parameters that would affect recognition in the test phase of the E-maze task. Study 3 aimed to investigate whether the continual trials apparatus could be effectively applied with immediate-early gene imaging during a recognition memory task. Animals tested with novel stimuli showed greater fos expression than animals tested with familiar objects, though not significantly. Finally, Study 4 focussed on the translation of animal models of memory to humans. The analysis of receiver-operating characteristics was used to derive a quantifiable distinction between recollection- and familiarity-based processes of recognition, in a task based on paradigms typically used with rodents. The key findings of the work in this thesis include evidence of substantial animal reduction using a new behavioural apparatus for assessing recognition memory in rodents, and the successful development of an analogous human task of memory in which processes of recognition can be dissociated and quantified. These two key findings make a significant contribution to the field of recognition memory research as the new rodent behavioural tasks are a clear improvement on standard tasks with the potential to reduce variance and animal numbers, and reducing the reliance on human subjects’ introspective accounts of memory in Study 4 provides a shift away towards better controlled behavioural studies in humans, which more closely reflects the studies carried out with animals, and provides strong validation for particular animal models. Through further validation, the simplicity of the human memory task could make it a useful candidate for assessing different forms of recognition memory with neuropsychological subjects

Performance measures and resource allocation: the behavioural consequences of the University Research Assessment Exercise in England

This dissertation analyses the research funding resource allocation mechanism (the Research Assessment Exercise) in England to assess its viability as a resource allocation tool and a performance control measure, to form a view on both the internal consistency of the exercise and to explore possible unintended consequences. Case study interviews were carried out with university administrators to investigate the institutional impact. The academics' behaviour was researched by a questionnaire survey. A survey of journal editors was also carried out. Logistic regression was applied to the survey of academics to analyse the data. The RAE has resulted in a "publication culture", where academics are concentrating on research that produces early publishable results and a tendency to publish as many papers, as possible, from the same research project. The impact of the RAE on academics was not independent of their characteristics. The level of self-assessed research activity was a significant predictor variable. The 'middle-tier' academics were the most influenced by the RAE "four-paper" effect. Overall, the RAE lacked coherence and consistency as a resource allocation methodology, and had unintended consequences as a performance measure

Corporate social responsibility, institutional investors’ ownership, financial restatements and sell-side analysts’ stock recommendations

In Malaysia, the capital market regulators have recently given prominent attention to issues such as corporate responsibility (CSR), shareholder activism and integrity in financial reporting by issuing the Sustainability Reporting Guide (2015) and Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors (2014). Given the importance of these issues, this study examines whether CSR, institutional investors’ ownership, and financial restatements influence stock recommendations made by analysts. It employs a dataset from a panel of 285 Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) for the period 2008 to 2013 (737 company-year observations). The results show a positive and significant influence of CSR reporting on the stock recommendations, which means that analysts issue more favourable stock recommendations for companies with higher CSR disclosures. Further, the findings indicate that the presence of both transient and dedicated institutional investors are viewed positively by analysts. In particular, the results indicate that analysts issue more favourable stock recommendations for the companies with higher levels of transient and dedicated institutional investors’ ownership. In addition, the results also show that analysts tend to give favourable stock recommendations for companies that restated their financial statements, contrary to expectation. These findings imply that analysts tend to echo government initiatives by giving favourable stock recommendations to companies with greater engagement in CSR activities and the ability to attract institutional investors. The findings also suggest that analysts view financial restatements as informative rather than opportunistic. Overall, these findings should be useful to PLCs and policymakers. PLCs might use the findings to understand the preferences of sell-side analysts towards CSR engagement. Furthermore, policymakers might use it to recognize the important role played by institutional investors in monitoring investee companies and to understand how analysts perceive and evaluate restated companies

Determinants of CEO pay: an examination of the Hadrami charitable foundations

Although the nonprofit sector is enormous, corporate governance, particularly the role of CEO pay, has received very little attention in this sector. This study is examining CEO pay in Hadrami nonprofit organizations. For this purpose, this study uses firm characteristics (sector of the organization and organizational size) and CEO characteristics (CEO's qualifications, CEO's experience, CEO duality, and CEO's tenure) to ex-mine the impact on CEO pay. A web-based questionnaire was considered an appropriate method for this study. The sample was selected from nonprofit organizations listed on Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs that operate in Hadramout (90 charitable foundations). A total of 57 CEOs responded to the questionnaire, generating a 63.33% response rate. Using multiple regression analysis, the results of this study indicate that the size of organization and CEO's qualifications have significant influence on CEO pay. Other variables namely, sector of the organization, CEO's experience, CEO duality, and CEO's tenure have no significant impact on CEO pay

A systematic strategy for harnessing financial information systems in fighting corruption electronically

Knowledge Management (KM) is one of the hottest topics in both of the industrialized world and information research world. In our daily life, we deal with the most related systems, which were Financial Information Systems (FIS).These systems have closely linked with all aspects of administrative organizations.As a result of this link, the KM has contributed in developing FIS as attempts to harness it as part of anti-corruption strategies.This research aims to propose a systematic strategy for harnessing FIS in fighting corruption electronically.This proposed strategy demonstrates a general perceptive during the designing and implementing phases.The research has employed a repetitive design methodology, which comprises an extensive literature review, content and website analysis.Initially, the approach explores the key concepts of FIS, corruption strategies, and the popular approaches employed to minimize corruption.Cumulatively the systematic strategy has been proposed for enabling the FIS to minimize corruption.This research suggests that the FIS should be employed heavily in the process of minimizing corruption

Complications secondary to cosmetic artificial iris anterior chamber implants: a case report

BACKGROUND: Artificial iris anterior chamber implants were originally developed for therapeutic purposes but have been used recently for the cosmetic alteration of eye colour. There is a growing body of evidence surrounding their associated risks. We report a case presenting with complications secondary to bilateral NewColorIris® implants, including the first report of pressure-induced stromal keratopathy in this context. CASE PRESENTATION: A thirty-eight year old South American man presented as an emergency in the UK with best corrected visual acuities of 1/60 OD and 6/18 OS, bilateral corneal decompensation, lens opacities and raised intraocular pressures 4 years following bilateral NewColorIris® implantation in Panama. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography demonstrated the direct apposition of the implant with the iris and iridocorneal angle, together with pressure-induced stromal keratopathy with a fluid interface between the corneal stroma and previous laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis flaps. We describe the successful combined medical and surgical management in this case to yield a final visual acuity 6/12 in both eyes. CONCLUSION: Artificial iris anterior chamber implants are associated with sight-threatening complications that can present years after their implantation. We caution against their use for the cosmetic alteration of eye colour