Higher Education Policy Development and Brain Drain in Sudan: A Case Study in Khartoum

This study aims to find elements for developing higher education policy in order to stem a brain drain in Sudan based on the interview with university students and graduates in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Sudan has focused on higher education since its independence in 1956, especially concerning budget allocation. It has been expanding the number of educational institutions and students following the formulation of the Higher Education Act 1990, under the former regime (1989-2019). However, a large number of highly-skilled workers, such as doctors and professors, have been leaving the country aiming to secure a better life owing to the unstable political and economic situation. This brain drain leads to a hollowing out of the highly skilled human resources and to economic stagnation in the country. I conducted a semi-structured interview in Khartoum from March to May 2018. The interviewees were 26 university students and graduates. I found that almost all interviewees intended to go out of Sudan, and they could be categorized four groups: (1) voluntary returning group, (2) acceptable remaining group, (3) aiming planned emigration group, and (4) aiming unplanned emigration group. The first group intends to come back after they get experience abroad. The second one hopes to go out, but considers that staying in Sudan is another option. The last two types are eager to move out, but the former group has plans for studying or working in foreign countries; the latter one has no specific ideas. Given the country's political and economic situation, this study recommends accepting the temporal brain drain and focusing on the increase of the number of voluntary returning group in collaboration and cooperation with researchers, companies, and policymakers

Histone deacetylase inhibitors modulate human polyomavirus JC replication

M.S.M.S. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 201

An Exploration of US NCAA Division I (DI) Female Soccer Players’ Perceptions Regarding Morality in Sport

To date, little research exists with regard to how athletes think about morality within sport (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987), and even less exists which explores the concepts of bracketed morality or game reasoning within sport contexts (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, Boardley, Sager, & Ring, 2013. The same is true for research related to sport moral identity (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Kavussanu, Willoughby, & Ring, 2012; Sage & Kavussanu, 2010; Sage, Kavussuanu, & Duda, 2006; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987) and none, to date, has explored character strengths within sport. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to use interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA; Smith, 1996) to explore U.S. NCAA DI female soccer players’ perceptions regarding morality in sport. The results are presented in two separate manuscripts; one focuses on moral identity in DI female soccer players and the other focuses on moral dilemmas faced by DI female soccer players. For the first study, results included female soccer players’ perceptions of (a) their moral and athlete selves, (b) the saliency of each and (c) any conflicts related to these two self-identity components. For the second study, results were developed from two major themes: (a) On-field dilemmas and (b) Offfield dilemmas. Implications for sport psychology consultants (SPCs) are twofold. First, SPCs need to be more aware of what elite-level female soccer players value in their sport, as well as help them build on their moral strengths. Secondly, SPCs should work toward understanding the dilemmas female soccer players face in their sport as well as ways to help them handle such dilemmas

The rise of women leaders in the Japanese workplace : a Bushido perspective

Master's thesis in global studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger, December 2016The primary purpose of the thesis is to understand the main challenges faced by women in leadership positions in Japan with the Bushido as a theoretical perspective. The other objectives of the project involve investigating the main challenges women come across to become leaders in the marketplace in Japan. For the project to achieve the objectives of the research, the methodology that will be adopted for the present study will be text studies, using a comprehensive literature review of leadership in Japan in the field of Social Sciences, descriptive data about the political, private sectors and societal challenges. The collected data from the text studies will then be analyzed in view of the aims of the project. I will apply the Bushido principles as analytical tool to analyze and deepen the understanding of Japanese women's roles as leaders in Japanese society. The Bushido consists in the codes that were followed by the samurais in Japan. These codes are deeply rooted in the society and influences the way women are seen and treated. The Japanese society is a collectivist culture that affects the way Japanese Women are understood and the challenges they find in the path to become leaders. Thus, the results from this reflection will be discussed in view of the relevant facts and figures presented. The author will provide an independent understanding of the Japanese Culture and the Bushido including their leadership style and the roles of women play in the society. Overall, the conclusion of the project will be presented based on the study findings and in the context of analyzed results.MV 17 S

Numerical analysis of a ground-source heat-pump system in traditional Japanese “Kyo-machiya” dwellings

Kyo-machiya, which is a traditional wooden dwelling in Kyoto, is generally equipped with a shallow well. The well water can be potentially utilized as a heat source with a geothermal heatpump system without incurring a high drilling cost. Hereby, more energy saving in the traditional dwelling can be realized with the heat-pump system. However, an appropriate technique to utilize geothermal heat from a shallow well has not been established yet in Japan. To promote the geothermal use, we have continued an experiment to evaluate the practicability of a simple geothermal heat-pump system installed in a shallow well since the winter of 2013. In this study, the condition of the water flow in the well was examined using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique, and the velocity of flow of the groundwater into the well was also estimated. We show that constant buoyancy was generated because of the temperature difference due to the heat-pump operation. Based on the results, a three-dimensional heattransfer numerical analysis model, proposed in the previous study, was developed so that moisture transfer in the ground could be considered. Using the estimated buoyancy of the well water and the groundwater velocity, the calculated results seemed to reproduce the characteristic of the measured value. Furthermore, we show that the groundwater velocity has a large influence on the well water temperature

COPING ATTITUDE & MENTAL ADJUSTMENT TO CANCER

Objective Purpose is to examine the relationship between older persons with cancer coping attitudes and patterns of mental adjustment during treatment. Methods : Coping attitudes and patterns of mental adjustment were measured using an original questionnaire and the Mental Adjustment Cancer Scale (MAC) in 193 patients with cancer aged 65 or over under treatment with surgical therapy, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy. Results : The mean scores for “Do my best to cope with cancer” ,“Make my own decisions on treatment” in coping attitudes showed a significant positive correlation with [fighting spirit] scores in MAC, and “Cancer is just a part of my life”, “At my age, no complaint about cancer development”, “Face cancer in an easy-going manner”, “Do my best to cope with cancer” “Be anxious about my future” were significantly correlated with [fatalism] scores. Conclusions : In conclusion, [fighting spirit] [fatalism] were shown to form the basis for elderly’s mental adjustment. [Fatalism] was shown to be a main component of mental adjustment for elderly to develop affirmative coping skills based on their life experiences. In addition, [fighting spirit] was also essential to fulfill their lives, and it may be necessary to support them to keep [fighting spirit] to the end of their lives

GPU-acceleration for Moving Particle Semi-Implicit method

The MPS (Moving Particle Semi-implicit) method has been proven useful in computation free-surface hydrodynamic flows. Despite its applicability, one of its drawbacks in practical application is the high computational load. On the other hand, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which was originally developed for acceleration of computer graphics, now provides unprecedented capability for scientific computations. The main objective of this study is to develop a GPU-accelerated MPS code using CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) language. Several techniques have been shown to optimize calculations in CUDA. In order to promote the acceleration by GPU, particular attentions are given to both the search of neighboring particles and the iterative solution of simultaneous linear equations in the Poisson Pressure Equation. In this paper, 2-dimensional calculations of elliptical drop evolution and dam break flow have been carried out by the GPU-accelerated MPS method, and the accuracy and performance of GPU-based code are investigated by comparing the results with those by CPU. It is shown that results of GPU-based calculations can be obtained much faster with the same reliability as the CPU-based ones

Effect of Air Pressure on Moisture Transfer inside Porous Building Materials Three-dimensional Behavior of Moisture and Air

The effect of air pressure on moisture transfer inside porous building materials cannot be ignored in cases in which air cannot escape through the surfaces of the materials; in such cases, the air is compressed by the movement of the moisture. Therefore, in a situation in which most surfaces of a specimen are sealed or treated with surface-protecting materials (a situation that is often encountered in typical water-absorption tests), the experimental results may differ from those without sealed or treated surfaces. In the present study, the influence of air pressure on moisture transfer was investigated quantitatively. First, the following water-absorption test was conducted. Water infiltrated into a brick through its top surface, whereas the side surfaces were sealed to prevent the transfer of moisture and air. The bottom surface was exposed to the ambient air. The water content was measured twodimensionally during the experiment using gamma-ray attenuation. Next, to investigate how air pressure affects water infiltration, another experiment was conducted after sealing the bottom surface. The air inside the brick was expected to be compressed by the infiltrating water when the bottom surface was sealed. A water-absorption test was then performed after a small hole was made in a side surface of the bottom-sealed brick to reduce the interior air pressure. Finally, we analyzed the experiments numerically using a three-dimensional calculation model for simultaneous air and moisture transfer, assessing the validity of the model by comparing the calculated and measured water contents. The experimental and numerical results show that water infiltration is slowed by higher air pressure inside the specimen when it is difficult for air to escape. It is also shown that the hole in the side surface helped limit the rise in air pressure to some extent

Optical coupling for multi-layer printed wiring board by selfwritten waveguide

For the future of optical interconnect, high optical coupling efficiency is required for high density multilayer optical printed wiring board (OPWB). Hence, we propose optical pin as optical coupling devices between surface devices and the multi-layer channel of OPWB using self-written waveguide (SWW) with mask-transfer method. SWW-pin is passively aligned and mask-transfer provides precise positioning between surface device and channel waveguide. This makes these technology is a promising technology for coupling device. A comparison of coupling efficiency of three cases methods is performed-using ray-tracing simulation. The calculation for optical coupling efficiency with vertical pin of -0.05 dB is achieved. The proposed of an easy and sufficient fabrication concept using MTSW method with the application of prism are expected. The vertical pin technologies are anticipated to be useful in the future of high optical coupling devices of the multi-layer and multi-channel waveguides and /or a multi-core optical fiber