Self-Assessment and Student Improvement in an Introductory Computer Course at the Community College-level

The purpose of this study was to determine a student‟s computer knowledge upon course entry and if there was a difference in college students‟ improvement scores as measured by the difference in pretest and posttest scores of new or novice users, moderate users, and expert users at the end of a college-level introductory computing class. This study also determined whether there were differences in improvement scores by gender or age group. The results of this study were used to determine whether there was a difference in improvement scores among the 3 campus locations participating in this study. Four hundred sixty-nine students participated in this study at a community college located in Northeast Tennessee. A survey, pretest, and posttest were administered to students in a collegelevel introductory computing class. The survey consisted of demographic data that included gender, age category, location, Internet access, educational experience, and the self-rated user category, while the pretest and posttest explored the student‟s knowledge of computer terminology, hardware, the current operating system, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. The data analysis revealed significant differences in pretest scores between educational experience categories. In each instance, the pretest mean for first semester freshmen students was lower than second semester freshmen and sophomores. The study also reported significant differences between the self-rated user categories and pretest scores as well as differences in improvement scores (posttest scores minus pretest scores), which were higher for new or novice users. Of the 3 participating campus locations, students at Location 1 earned higher improvement scores than did students at Location 2. The results also indicated that there was a significant difference between the types of course delivery and course improvement scores (posttest scores minus pretest scores). The improvement scores for on ground delivery was 5 points higher than the hybrid course delivery. Finally, the gender and age categories as compared to the self-rated user categories revealed no significant differences in the study

Big Data Services Security and Security challenges in cloud environment

This paper explores security issues of storage in the cloud and the methodologies that can be used to improve the security level. This study is concluded with a discussion of current problems and the future direction of cloud computing. Big data analysis can also be classified into memory level analysis, business intelligence (BI) level analysis, and massive level analysis. This research paper is based on cloud computing security and data storage issues that organizations face when they upload their data to the cloud in order to share it with their customers. Most of these issues are acknowledged in this paper, and there is also discussion of the various perspectives on cloud computing issues

Multiplicative disadvantage of being an unmarried and inadequately insured woman living in poverty with colon cancer: historical cohort exploration in California

Background: Many Americans diagnosed with colon cancer do not receive indicated chemotherapy. Certain unmarried women may be particularly disadvantaged. A 3-way interaction of the multiplicative disadvantages of being an unmarried and inadequately insured woman living in poverty was explored. Methods: California registry data were analyzed for 2,319 women diagnosed with stage II to IV colon cancer between 1996 and 2000 and followed until 2014. Socioeconomic data from the 2000 census classified neighborhoods as high poverty (≥30% of households poor), middle (5–29%) or low poverty (\u3c5% poor). Primary health insurance was private, Medicare, Medicaid or none. Comparisons of chemotherapy rates used standardized rate ratios (RR). We respectively used logistic and Cox regression models to assess chemotherapy and survival. Results: A statistically significant 3-way marital status by health insurance by poverty interaction effect on chemotherapy receipt was observed. Chemotherapy rates did not differ between unmarried (39.0%) and married (39.7%) women who lived in lower poverty neighborhoods and were privately insured. But unmarried women (27.3%) were 26% less likely to receive chemotherapy than were married women (37.1%, RR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.58, 0.95) who lived in high poverty neighborhoods and were publicly insured or uninsured. When this interaction and the main effects of health insurance, poverty and chemotherapy were accounted for, survival did not differ by marital status. Conclusions: The multiplicative barrier to colon cancer care that results from being inadequately insured and living in poverty is worse for unmarried than married women. Poverty is more prevalent among unmarried women and they have fewer assets so they are probably less able to absorb the indirect and direct, but uncovered, costs of colon cancer care. There seem to be structural inequities related to the institutions of marriage, work and health care that particularly disadvantage unmarried women that policy makers ought to be cognizant of as future reforms of the American health care system are considered

La dirección en la gestión del conocimiento incide en el capital intelectual de las instituciones de educación superior del Ecuador

Management is undoubtedly one of the tasks that universities must attend with priority one of the knowledge management variables. In this context, the present study relates to the knowledge management variables in the administrative process in its management stage and the variable intellectual capital. The objective of this study was to determine how the direction of knowledge management affects intellectual capital in higher education institutions in zone 4 of Ecuador. The research is of a basic - longitudinal type, jointly using documentary, historical, cross-sectional and correlational exploration. The methodology used was the collection of information obtained through data matrices applied to the units of analysis investigated. The dimensions that most influence the knowledge management variable are direction and control, as for the variable intellectual capital, the dimension that most intervenes is human capital.La dirección es sin duda una de las tareas que con prioridad deben atender las universidades una de las variables gestión del conocimiento. En este contexto el presente estudio se relaciona con las variables gestión del conocimiento en el proceso administrativo en su etapa de dirección y la variable capital intelectual. El objetivo planteado en este estudio fue determinar como la dirección de la gestión del conocimiento incide en el capital intelectual en las instituciones de educación superior de la zona 4 del Ecuador. La investigación es de tipo básica – longitudinal, empleando conjuntamente la exploración documental, histórico, transversal y correlacional. La metodología usada fue la recopilación de información obtenida a través de matrices de datos aplicadas a las unidades de análisis investigadas. Las dimensiones que más influyen en la variable gestión del conocimiento son la dirección y el control, en cuanto a la variable capital intelectual la dimensión que más interviene es el capital humano

The effects of temperature on the kinetics of aluminium evaporation from the Ti-6Al-4V alloy

In the paper, results of the study on temperature effects on the rate of aluminium evaporation from the Ti-6Al-4V alloy during smelting in a vacuum induction furnace are presented. During smelting at 1 973 – 2 023 K, 10 Pa and 100 Pa, up to 26 % reduction in the aluminium content in the alloy compared to the initial value is observed. The determined values of overall mass transport coefficient are 1,48∙10-5 m∙s sup>-1 – 1,95∙10 sup>-5m∙s sup>-1

Integrated Soil Fertility Management: Contributions of framework and practices to climate-smart agriculture

Updated on 13/09/2016. Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) is a set of practices related to cropping, fertilizers, organic resources and other amendments on smallholder farms to increase production and input use efficiency. ISFM delivers productivity gains, increased resilience, and mitigation benefits. ISFM benefits food security and incomes enhances yield stability in rainfed systems, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from soils and fertilizers making it of value to climate-smart agriculture

Sustainable surfactin production by Bacillus subtilis using crude glycerol from different wastes

Most biosurfactants are obtained using costly culture media and purification processes, which limits their wider industrial use. Sustainability of their production processes can be achieved, in part, by using cheap substrates found among agricultural and food wastes or byproducts. In the present study, crude glycerol, a raw material obtained from several industrial processes, was evaluated as a potential low-cost carbon source to reduce the costs of surfactin production by Bacillus subtilis #309. The culture medium containing soap-derived waste glycerol led to the best surfactin production, reaching about 2.8 g/L. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing surfactin production by B. subtilis using stearin and soap wastes as carbon sources. A complete chemical characterization of surfactin analogs produced from the different waste glycerol samples was performed by liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, the surfactin produced in the study exhibited good stability in a wide range of pH, salinity and temperatures, suggesting its potential for several applications in biotechnology.National Science Centre, Poland, project 2020/37/B/NZ9/ 01519. The Article Processing Charge (APC) was financed under the Leading Research Groups support project from the subsidy increased for the period 2020–2025 in the amount of 2% of the subsidy referred to in Art. 387 (3) of the Law of 20 July 2018 on Higher Education and Science, obtained in 2019. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of the UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potential Anticorrosive Effect of Hexamethylenediamine Penta(methylphosphonic) Acid on Carbon Steel in Hydrochloric Acid Solution

The inhibition ability of Hexamethylenediamine penta(methylphosphonic) acid (HTMP) against carbon steel corrosion in 1 M HCl at 30°C was evaluated by weight loss, electrochemical (potentiodynamic and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, EIS) methods. The experimental results showed that HTMP was a good inhibitor for the steel corrosion in 1 M HCl medium and its inhibition efficiency increased with the inhibitor concentration. Data, obtained from ac impedance measurements, were analyzed to model the corrosion inhibition process through appropriate equivalent circuit models. Adsorption of HTMP on the carbon steel surface followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Surface analysis by (SEM) supported the formation of a protective inhibitor film on the carbon steel surface. Furthermore, the theoretical study was carried out using the density functional theory (DFT) metho

Overview of Motorcycle Crash Fatalities Involving Road Safety Barriers

There were 238 motorcycle-related fatalities in Australia during 2006, the highest number recorded in over 15 years. Similar increases are being noted in New Zealand where 38 motorcyclists were killed in 2006. Previous research indicates around 8% of NSW motorcycle fatalities involve a roadside barrier. No studies have been done for all of Australia. Many myths still pervade concerning how injuries occur when a motorcycle strikes a roadside barrier. The main reason is that there have been relatively few recent real world studies of such crashes where "in depth" detailed analysis of the factors leading up to the crash and the injury mechanisms have been thoroughly investigated. Physics dictates that a rider/pillion passenger travelling at speeds at around 60 km/h or more impacting a crash barrier is at a very high risk of a fatal injury, regardless of whether the barrier is concrete, steel or wire rope. Obviously the human body is not designed for such high severity impacts, in the absence of any additional safe system components. This paper presents some preliminary findings from a major research project currently underway at UNSW’s Injury Risk Management Research Centre and funded by a consortium comprised of road authorities, insurers and a consumer group. Statistical characteristics from an investigation of motorcycle fatal crashes for the years 2001 to 2006 extracted from the National Coroners Information System (NCIS), are presented. The issues of survivability and motorcycle rider injury reduction strategies are also discussed and observations concerning typical crash scenarios are provided