Development of International Educational Systems by Competence Networking based on Project Management

AbstractThe globalization demands new kinds of concepts and models to ensure the provision of skilled labor by international educational systems based on advanced competence networking. The success depends on the professional use of the latest project management theory, methodology, and practice. Multinational multi-projects fail and are aborted. A reason for that could be the deficiency of project readiness. The project management approach should be integrated into other management subsystems such as information, knowledge, competence, network management etc. One of the most important challenges is to ensure the communication and information transfer for competence balancing and sharing. A successful and efficient cooperation is only possible under equivalent partners. It creates the necessary trust. Beginning with the presentation of the need for cooperation and the exchange of knowledge for global and fair growth, the relationship between education, competence development and applied project management will be explained for educational transfer systems. Subsequently, the application of the approach will be illustrated by the planning, designing, implementing, and further developing of a large-scale Sino-German cooperation in higher education. The success of the project and the sustainability will be guaranteed. The roll-out to other network partners on a national and international scale is in progress

Prevalence of H. pylori among asymptomatic HIV-positive and negative individuals in Central Ethiopia and efficacy of eradication therapy

OBJECTIVES: Helicobacter pylori is a widespread pathogen and major contributor to dyspeptic disease and gastric cancer. Although the interaction between HIV and H. pylori infection is not well investigated, previous studies have suggested a decreased prevalence of H. pylori and limited efficacy of eradication therapy in HIV-positive individuals. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence of H. pylori infection according to HIV status and analyze the efficacy of eradication therapy in Ethiopia. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, interventional study was performed involving HIV-positive and negative participants presenting to the Asella Referral and Teaching Hospital in Central Ethiopia between March and June 2017. A stool antigen test was used as a screening tool for H. pylori infection. Randomly selected patients received triple eradication therapy. RESULTS: The cumulative H. pylori prevalence was 77.3% (392/507): 78.8% (241/306) among HIV-positive individuals versus 75.1% (151/201) among HIV-negative individuals (P = 0.386). Twenty-five HIV-positive and 26 HIV-negative H. pylori-infected participants were randomized to receive standard triple therapy; three of them were lost to follow-up (one HIV-positive, two HIV-negative). The total eradication rate was 50.0%: 62.5% (15/24) among those HIV-negative versus 37.5% (9/24) among those HIV-positive [Au?1]. CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of H. pylori was observed among HIV-positive and negative individuals in Central Ethiopia. The efficacy of eradication therapy was low, with a trend towards lower efficacy in HIV-infected individuals

Webmate: a tool for testing web 2.0 applications

ABSTRACT Quality assurance of Web applications is a challenge, due to the large number and variance of involved components. In particular, rich Web 2.0 applications based on JavaScript pose new challenges for testing, as a simple crawling through links covers only a small part of the functionality. The WEBMATE approach automatically explores and navigates through arbitrary Web 2.0 applications. WEBMATE addresses challenges such as interactive elements, state abstraction, and non-determinism in large applications; we demonstrate its usage for regular application testing as well as for cross-browser testing

Antiferromagnetic stacking of ferromagnetic layers and doping-controlled phase competition in Ca1−x Srx Co2−y As2

In search of a quantum phase transition between the two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetism of CaCo2−yAs2 and stripe-type antiferromagnetism in SrCo2 As2, we instead find evidence for 1D magnetic frustration between magnetic square Co layers. We present neutron-diffraction data for Ca1−x Srx Co2−y As2 that reveal a sequence of x -dependent magnetic transitions which involve different stacking of 2 D ferromagnetically aligned layers with different magnetic anisotropy. We explain the x-dependent changes to the magnetic order by utilizing classical analytical calculations of a 1D Heisenberg model where single-ion magnetic anisotropy and frustration of antiferromagnetic nearest- and next-nearest-layer exchange interactions are all composition dependent

Competing magnetic phases and itinerant magnetic frustration in SrCo2 As2

Whereas magnetic frustration is typically associated with local-moment magnets in special geometric arrangements, here we show that SrCo2As2 is a candidate for frustrated itinerant magnetism. Using inelastic neutron scattering (INS), we find that antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations develop in the square Co layers of SrCo2As2 below T approximate to 100 K centered at the stripe-type AF propagation vector of (1/2, 1/2), and that their development is concomitant with a suppression of the uniform magnetic susceptibility determined via magnetization measurements. We interpret this switch in spectral weight as signaling a temperature-induced crossover from an instability toward ferromagnetism ordering to an instability toward stripe-type AF ordering on cooling, and show results from Monte-Carlo simulations for a J(1)-J(2) Heisenberg model that illustrates how the crossover develops as a function of the frustration ratio -J(1)/(2J(2)). By putting our INS data on an absolute scale, we quantitatively compare them and our magnetization data to exact-diagonalization calculations for the J(1)-J(2) model [N. Shannon et al., Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 599 (2004)1, and show that the calculations predict a lower level of magnetic frustration than indicated by experiment. We trace this discrepancy to the large energy scale of the fluctuations (J(avg) greater than or similar to 75 meV), which, in addition to the steep dispersion, is more characteristic of itinerant magnetism

Hedgehog spin-vortex crystal stabilized in a hole-doped iron-based superconductor

Magnetism is widely considered to be a key ingredient of unconventional superconductivity. In contrast to cuprate high-temperature superconductors, antiferromagnetism in most Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs) is characterized by a pair of magnetic propagation vectors, (π,0) and (0,π). Consequently, three different types of magnetic order are possible. Of these, only stripe-type spin-density wave (SSDW) and spin-charge-density wave (SCDW) orders have been observed. A realization of the proposed spin-vortex crystal (SVC) order is noticeably absent. We report a magnetic phase consistent with the hedgehog variation of SVC order in Ni-doped and Co-doped CaKFe 4As 4 based on thermodynamic, transport, structural and local magnetic probes combined with symmetry analysis. The exotic SVC phase is stabilized by the reduced symmetry of the CaKFe 4As 4 structure. Thus, our results suggest that the possible magnetic ground states in FeSCs have very similar energies, providing an enlarged configuration space for magnetic fluctuations to promote high-temperature superconductivity

Magnetic crystalline-symmetry-protected axion electrodynamics and field-tunable unpinned Dirac cones in EuIn2As2

Knowledge of magnetic symmetry is vital for exploiting nontrivial surface states of magnetic topological materials. EuIn$_{2}$As$_{2}$ is an excellent example, as it is predicted to have collinear antiferromagnetic order where the magnetic moment direction determines either a topological-crystalline-insulator phase supporting axion electrodynamics or a higher-order-topological-insulator phase with chiral hinge states. Here, we use neutron diffraction, symmetry analysis, and density functional theory results to demonstrate that EuIn$_{2}$As$_{2}$ actually exhibits low-symmetry helical antiferromagnetic order which makes it a stoichiometric magnetic topological-crystalline axion insulator protected by the combination of a 180$^{\circ}$ rotation and time-reversal symmetries: $C_{2}\times\mathcal{T}=2^{\prime}$. Surfaces protected by $2^{\prime}$ are expected to have an exotic gapless Dirac cone which is unpinned to specific crystal momenta. All other surfaces have gapped Dirac cones and exhibit half-integer quantum anomalous Hall conductivity. We predict that the direction of a modest applied magnetic field of $H\approx1$ to $2$ T can tune between gapless and gapped surface states.Comment: 49 pages, 26 figure

Risk-adjusted active tuberculosis case finding strategy in central Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends active case finding for tuberculosis (TB). Our study evaluated the targeted screening of household contacts (HHCs) of patients with contagious pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in Central Ethiopia. METHODS: The HHCs of patients with microbiologically confirmed PTB were screened for TB symptoms and risk factors for TB transmission. Symptomatic HHCs were subjected to secondary investigation. Antimicrobial resistance was investigated among study participants. RESULTS: Overall, 112 index patients with TB were included, and 289 HHCs from 89 households were screened. Multidrug-resistant-TB was detected in 2.7% (n=3) of index patients. The routine public health system process did not identify any TB suspects among HHCs. In total, 23.9% (n=69) of HHCs reported ≥1 TB symptom and PTB was confirmed in 2.1% (n=6). Reporting >1 TB symptom (relative risk [RR] 29.4, 95% CI 3.5−245.5, P<0.001) and night sweats (RR 27.1, 95% CI 3.2−226.6, P<0.001) were associated with the greatest relative risk. Regular alcohol consumption was identified as an individual risk factor for TB among HHCs (P=0.022). CONCLUSION: The MDR-TB rate among our patients was higher than recently reported for Ethiopia. Enhanced contact tracing using a risk-adjusted approach seems feasible and increases the case detection rate among HHCs of confirmed TB cases