2,811 research outputs found
Learners' perceptions of internet-based learning in the college of education at Oklahoma State University
Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to describe Internet learners' perceptions through the Blackboard learning process in the College of Education at Oklahoma State University. This study employed a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate learners' perceptions among gender, age, marital status, educational level, family considerations, job responsibilities, satisfaction, modes of assessment, learners' autonomy, timescales for learning, knowledge and accessibility, attitudes and prior computer proficiency, course design, convenience, communication and interaction. A survey entitled,"Internet Learner's Perception Questionnaire", was distributed to the targeted subjects by emails for collecting data. The survey was sent to 71 subjects from 3 courses; 48 of the subjects returned the completed questionnaires that were used to generate the findings and conclusions of this study. Measures of central tendency and variability, and cross-tabulations were applied to illustrate and describe the results.Findings and Conclusions: Due to the privacy policy, difficulties of retrieving and obtaining enrolled students' email lists, and institutional barriers and regulations; the actual available sample was limited; the results could not be generalized to other populations. In this study, more than 80% of subjects were adult learners who were older than 25 years old. More positively perceived aspects by learners were timescales for learning, learners' autonomy, modes of assessment, convenience, and knowledge and accessibility; which should be shared with other faculty. Less positively perceived aspects by learners were course design, communication and interaction, attitudes and prior computer proficiency, and satisfaction; which should be further studied and addressed. The results of the study indicate the autonomy of the learners was highly appreciated but learners felt instant communications and interactions were lacking. Furthermore, learners who had more family considerations and job responsibilities tended to have more positive perceptions than learners who had fewer family considerations and job responsibilities. Males tended to have more positive perceptions of Internet-based learning than females; and older learners tended to have more positive perceptions of Internet-based learning than younger learners
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ON THE RELATIONSHIP QUALITY OF FACEBOOK USERS
Armed with the great potential for business value and social networking, social media have generated great interests in academia and practice. Rare studies investigated the impact of social psychological factors on the usage of Facebook and the formation of quality relationship. The objective of this paper is to examine the key social psychological factors to better explain the formation of quality relationship. Our proposed theoretical model combined the theories of social influence, social identity, and social presence to capture the essences of the relationship quality between users and Facebook. We conducted a survey to collect data and empirically test our proposed model. Overall, our findings provide theoretical insights to explain the influence of social psychological factors on the usage of Facebook and quality relationship. These findings also help practitioners to plan marketing strategies in better utilize social network sites
Optimisation- based time slot assignment and synchronisation for TDMA MAC in industrial wireless sensor network
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166209/1/cmu2bf02232.pd
Orbital apex cyst: a rare cause of compressive optic neuropathy post-functional endoscopic sinus surgery
There are various causes that can lead to compressive optic neuropathy. We present
here orbital apex cyst as an unusual cause of compressive optic neuropathy in a 49-year-old male.
He presented with 2 weeks painless loss of vision in the left eye with left-sided headache. He
had had left functional endoscopic sinus surgery for left nasal polyps 4 years earlier. Magnetic
resonance imaging of brain and orbit revealed a left discrete orbital nodule, possibly orbital cyst
or mucocele, which was compressing on the left optic nerve. Left eye vision improved markedly
from hand movement to 6/36 pinhole 6/18 after initiation of intravenous dexamethasone.
A subsequent endoscopic endonasal left optic nerve decompression found the orbital nodule
lesion to be an orbital cyst. Marsupialization was performed instead of excision, as the cyst
ruptured intraoperatively. Postoperative vision improved to 6/7.5 with normal optic nerve function
postoperatively. Possible cause of orbital apex cyst is discussed
Long-Term Prediction of Emergency Department Revenue and Visitor Volume Using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model
This study analyzed meteorological, clinical and economic factors in terms of their effects on monthly ED revenue and visitor volume. Monthly data from January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2009 were analyzed. Spearman correlation and cross-correlation analyses were performed to identify the correlation between each independent variable, ED revenue, and visitor volume. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to quantify the relationship between each independent variable, ED revenue, and visitor volume. The accuracies were evaluated by comparing model forecasts to actual values with mean absolute percentage of error. Sensitivity of prediction errors to model training time was also evaluated. The ARIMA models indicated that mean maximum temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, non-trauma, and trauma visits may correlate positively with ED revenue, but mean minimum temperature may correlate negatively with ED revenue. Moreover, mean minimum temperature and stock market index fluctuation may correlate positively with trauma visitor volume. Mean maximum temperature, relative humidity and stock market index fluctuation may correlate positively with non-trauma visitor volume. Mean maximum temperature and relative humidity may correlate positively with pediatric visitor volume, but mean minimum temperature may correlate negatively with pediatric visitor volume. The model also performed well in forecasting revenue and visitor volume
Strong and broadly tunable plasmon resonances in thick films of aligned carbon nanotubes
Low-dimensional plasmonic materials can function as high quality terahertz
and infrared antennas at deep subwavelength scales. Despite these antennas'
strong coupling to electromagnetic fields, there is a pressing need to further
strengthen their absorption. We address this problem by fabricating thick films
of aligned, uniformly sized carbon nanotubes and showing that their plasmon
resonances are strong, narrow, and broadly tunable. With thicknesses ranging
from 25 to 250 nm, our films exhibit peak attenuation reaching 70%, quality
factors reaching 9, and electrostatically tunable peak frequencies by a factor
of 2.3x. Excellent nanotube alignment leads to the attenuation being 99%
linearly polarized along the nanotube axis. Increasing the film thickness
blueshifts the plasmon resonators down to peak wavelengths as low as 1.4
micrometers, promoting them to a new near-infrared regime in which they can
both overlap the S11 nanotube exciton energy and access the technologically
important infrared telecom band.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, main text followed by supporting informatio
Using nomogram of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer system for treatment selection in patients with stage C hepatocellular carcinoma
Abstract
Background
The nomogram of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been used for outcome prediction. Patients with BCLC stage C HCC often undergo anti-cancer therapy against current treatment guidelines in real world practice. We aimed to use the nomogram to provide guidance on treatment selection for BCLC stage C patients.
Methods
A total of 1317 patients with stage C HCC were retrospectively analyzed and divided into four groups by nomogram points. One-to-one matched pairs between patients receiving different treatments were generated by the propensity score with matching model within these groups. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test.
Results
Patients with higher nomogram points were more often treated with targeted or supportive therapies (p 15, there was no significant difference in survival between patients receiving two different treatment strategies.
Conclusions
The nomogram of BCLC system is a feasible tool to help stage C HCC patients to select primary anti-cancer treatment in pursuance of better overall survival.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142787/1/12885_2018_Article_4202.pd
Feasibility of CO2 mitigation and carbohydrate production by microalga Scenedesmus obliquus CNW-N used for bioethanol fermentation under outdoor conditions: effects of seasonal changes
High serum levels of procalcitonin and soluble TREM-1 correlated with poor prognosis in pulmonary tuberculosis
SummaryObjectivesComparisons of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) would expand our knowledge of which biomarker is the best predictor for outcomes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 243 PTB patients, in whom PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 measurement were performed to evaluate their prognostic value for 6-month mortality.ResultsSerum PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels on diagnosis of PTB were significantly higher in nonsurvivors (2.22 ± 6.22 vs. 0.13 ± 0.31 ng/mL, P = 0.043; 42.1 ± 59.4 vs. 12.5 ± 29.1 mg/L, P = 0.004; 332 ± 362 vs. 128 ± 98 pg/mL, P = 0.001, respectively) as compared with 6-month survivors. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, PCT ≧0.5 ng/mL (hazard ratio 4.13, 95% CI, 1.99–8.58) and sTREM-1 ≧129 pg/mL (hazard ratio 3.39, 95% CI, 1.52–7.58) remained independent mortality predictors. Serum PCT and sTREM-1 levels above the cutoffs were also associated with the presence of disseminated tuberculosis.ConclusionsAmong PTB patients, higher PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels are observed in nonsurvivors than in 6-month survivors. Serum levels of PCT and sTREM-1 over the cutoffs are independently associated with a poor outcome. In addition, higher PCT and sTREM-1 levels would raise the clinical suspicion of disseminated tuberculosis
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