Building Competitive Advantage in Academic Programmes in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Institutions: Case of The Open University of Tanzania

The determinants that affect competitiveness of ODL Higher Learning Institutions (ODL-HLI) can loosely be lumped up as being either from within the organization itself, or from the market. These include: student enrollment trends, staff development, academic trends, technology trends and economic trends among others. These challenges can be viewed and used as a way of planning ahead; and as important pointers in assessing the institution‟s performance. The determinants should highlight where the institution is doing well and needs to guard its market competitive advantage as well as indicate where there are weaknesses that need to be addressed in order to gain a competitive advantage of the higher education market. In order to maintain its market position, the paper presses greater importance on investments in ICT enhanced education delivery and sharing systems, improved customer service and greater publicity on all media and in particular through improved visibility and quality of the institution‟s website. The paper however, suggests that greatest competitive advantage for ODL-HLIs such as OUT‟s is hidden in its postgraduate programmes. The paper stresses that improved quality and completion rates of research and postgraduate students in business, law, economics, and education and applied natural sciences should become new market niche for ODL-HLIs.Key words: competitive advantage, academic programmes, ODL institution

Trisomy 9 syndrome in a neonate with unusual features

Aim of the Work: To report a newborn infant with multiple congenital anomalies and apparent complete trisomy 9 in the blood. Review will be included.Methods: Clinical examination, TORCH screening, echocardiography, skeletal survey, ultrasound head and abdomen were done. In addition chromosomal analysis of a peripheral blood sample using GTG, CBG banding and FISH techniques were employed.Results: Multiple congenital anomalies including craniofacial features, centralnervous, cardiovascular, skeletal, gastric and urogenital systems becauseof chromosomal abnormality which indicated: 47, XY, inv (9) (p12;q13) + inv(9) (p12;q13) mat. Conclusion: Our case could be a new case of apparently complete trisomy 9syndrome with unusual findings.Key Words: Trisomy 9, congenital anomalies, karyotype, FIS

Growth Rate Evaluation of the Alcyonacean Soft Coral Sinularia polydactyla (Ehrenberg, 1834) at Hurghada, Northern Red Sea, Egypt

Growth rate of Sinularia polydactyla has been studied to determine the changes of surface area using 2D method as modified method for measuring growth increasing. The measurements indicate to that restricted and slow growth rates in the big samples under the variable oceanographic conditions. Summer recorded the highest rates of growth. The mean growth rate of the biggest colonies recorded 51.83±4.90mm2 while the small colonies recorded 20.8±6.25 mm2 in summer. On contrary, autumn showed the lowest and restricted rates during. The annual growth reached 116.28±10.57 and 33.78±12.45mm2/y in the big and small colonies respectively. The growth ratio in relation to the original colonies size appears to grow with a relatively faster ratio in the small colonies (9.73±1.62% with a range of 6.67-12.68%) than the elder one (5.79±0.34% with a range of 4.37-6.72%). The temperature changes, gonads and gametes maturation, sedimentation rates are major controlling factors affect the growth rates. ANOVA Bivariate correlation illustrated a positive relationship (without significant difference) between the growth and temperature (ºC) (at P=0.38 and R2=0.62). By comparing the present study and the available growth data of Sinularia sp., we found that, the annual growth of S. polydactyla is higher (116.28±10.57 - 33.78±12.45mm2/yr) than the previous studies. Keywords: Growth Rate Sinularia polydactyla, Hurghada, Red Se

Comparison of 1 vs 2 Brain Death Examinations on Time to Death Pronouncement and Organ Donation: A 12-year Single Center Experience

OBJECTIVE: To fill the evidence gap on the value of a single (SBD) or dual brain death (DBD) exam by providing data on irreversibility of brain function, organ donation consent and transplantation. METHODS: 12-year tertiary hospital and organ procurement organization data on brain death (BD) were combined and outcomes, including consent rate for organ donation and organs recovered and transplanted after SBD and DBD were compared after multiple adjustments for co-variates. RESULTS: two-hundred sixty-six patients were declared BD, 122 after SBD and 144 after DBD. Time from event to BD declaration was longer by an average of 20.9 hours after DBD (p=0.003). Seventy-five (73%) families of patients with SBD and 86 (72%) with DBD consented for organ donation (p=0.79). The number of BD exams was not a predictor for consent. No patient regained brain function during the periods following BD. Patients with SBD were more likely to have at least one lung transplanted (p = 0.033). The number of organs transplanted was associated with the number of exams [beta coefficient, (95% CI) -0.5 (-0.97 to -0.02), p=0.044], along with age (for 5 year increase, -0.36 (-0.43 to -0.29), p\u3c0.001) and PaO2 level (for 10 mmHg increase, 0.026 (0.008 to 0.044), p=0.005) and decreased as the elapsed time to BD declaration increased (p=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: A single neurologic examination to determine brain death is sufficient in patients with non-anoxic catastrophic brain injuries. A second examination is without additional yield in this group and its delay reduces the number of organs transplanted

Influence of preload and nonlinearity of railpads on vibration of railway tracks under stationary and moving harmonic loads

In railway track dynamics, the stiffness and damping properties of railpads have a significant effect on track vibration, decay rates as well forces transmitted to the track supporting structure. Many studies have shown that railpads exhibit pronounced nonlinear behaviour, with preload and frequency dependent properties. This paper presents a three parameter railpad model, together with its differential equation of motion and the required model parameters obtained from experimental data. A time domain model of a rail discretely supported on these railpads is then formulated using the finite element method. The model is subjected to static and dynamic loading in order to study the effects of preload and frequency on its dynamic behaviour. Results are shown as time histories and frequency spectra for the track displacements and reaction forces for various preload levels. They emphasise the necessity of accounting for nonlinear behaviour based on the large disparities (up to 20 dB) observed between the linear and nonlinear cases for the parameters used in this study

Bicaval obstruction complicating right atrial tuberculoma:the diagnostic value of Cardiovascular MR

Cardiac tuberculosis is rare and usually involves the pericardium. Myocardial tuberculoma is a very rare occurrence and only a few cases were reported

Electrical characterization and nanoscale surface morphology of optimized Ti/Al/Ta/Au ohmic contact for AlGaN/GaN HEMT

Good ohmic contacts with low contact resistance, smooth surface morphology, and a well-defined edge profile are essential to ensure optimal device performances for the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors [HEMTs]. A tantalum [Ta] metal layer and an SiNx thin film were used for the first time as an effective diffusion barrier and encapsulation layer in the standard Ti/Al/metal/Au ohmic metallization scheme in order to obtain high quality ohmic contacts with a focus on the thickness of Ta and SiNx. It is found that the Ta thickness is the dominant factor affecting the contact resistance, while the SiNx thickness affects the surface morphology significantly. An optimized Ti/Al/Ta/Au ohmic contact including a 40-nm thick Ta barrier layer and a 50-nm thick SiNx encapsulation layer is preferred when compared with the other conventional ohmic contact stacks as it produces a low contact resistance of around 7.27 × 10-7 Ω·cm2 and an ultra-low nanoscale surface morphology with a root mean square deviation of around 10 nm. Results from the proposed study play an important role in obtaining excellent ohmic contact formation in the fabrication of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Spontaneous regression in alveolar soft part sarcoma: case report and literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sarcomas are a type of malignant tumors that arise from connective tissue. They are most of the time found in extremities</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We are presenting a case of adult male patient, who was found to have huge abdominal mass and multiple gastric and duodenal polyps. Pathological diagnosis for all lesions was Alveolar soft part sarcoma. Although he complained from metastasis to both lungs and right atrium, all these deposits regressed spontaneously. Patient stated that he used some herbs (Teucrium polium, Cat Thyme) prescribed for him. No chemotherapy or radiotherapy was given. The duration of regression was about 5 months before other lesions appeared. Later on, he died secondary to brain metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ASPS is a rare type of sarcomas that affect primarily the lower limbs. This tumor does rarely metastasize to the gastrointestinal tract.</p

Complex patterns of human antisera reactivity to novel 2009 H1N1 and historical H1N1 influenza strains

Background: During the 2009 influenza pandemic, individuals over the age of 60 had the lowest incidence of infection with approximately 25% of these people having pre-existing, cross-reactive antibodies to novel 2009 H1N1 influenza isolates. It was proposed that older people had pre-existing antibodies induced by previous 1918-like virus infection(s) that cross-reacted to novel H1N1 strains. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using antisera collected from a cohort of individuals collected before the second wave of novel H1N1 infections, only a minority of individuals with 1918 influenza specific antibodies also demonstrated hemagglutination-inhibition activity against the novel H1N1 influenza. In this study, we examined human antisera collected from individuals that ranged between the ages of 1 month and 90 years to determine the profile of seropositive influenza immunity to viruses representing H1N1 antigenic eras over the past 100 years. Even though HAI titers to novel 2009 H1N1 and the 1918 H1N1 influenza viruses were positively associated, the association was far from perfect, particularly for the older and younger age groups. Conclusions/Significance: Therefore, there may be a complex set of immune responses that are retained in people infected with seasonal H1N1 that can contribute to the reduced rates of H1N1 influenza infection in older populations. © 2012 Carter et al

Eliminating Malaria Vectors.

Malaria vectors which predominantly feed indoors upon humans have been locally eliminated from several settings with insecticide treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying or larval source management. Recent dramatic declines of An. gambiae in east Africa with imperfect ITN coverage suggest mosquito populations can rapidly collapse when forced below realistically achievable, non-zero thresholds of density and supporting resource availability. Here we explain why insecticide-based mosquito elimination strategies are feasible, desirable and can be extended to a wider variety of species by expanding the vector control arsenal to cover a broader spectrum of the resources they need to survive. The greatest advantage of eliminating mosquitoes, rather than merely controlling them, is that this precludes local selection for behavioural or physiological resistance traits. The greatest challenges are therefore to achieve high biological coverage of targeted resources rapidly enough to prevent local emergence of resistance and to then continually exclude, monitor for and respond to re-invasion from external populations