A tale of one city: intra-institutional variations in migrating VLE platform

City University London committed in 2009 to make Moodle the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at the core of a new Strategic Learning Environment (SLE) comprised of VLE, externally facing website and related systems such as video streaming and virtual classrooms. Previously, the WebCT VLE had been separate from most of the other systems at the institution with very limited connections to other tools. Each of the schools within the institution was able to pursue their own strategy and timeframe for the migration and embedding of Moodle within their subject areas, within an absolute limit of 2 years. This paper outlines the approaches taken by the various schools, highlighting similarities and differences, and draws out common aspects from the project to make recommendations for institutions seeking to undertake similar migrations

Evaluating e-Government services from a citizens' prespective: A reference process model

Evaluating and optimizing e-government services is imperative for governments especially due to the capacity of e-services to transform public administrations and assist the interactions of governments with citizens, businesses and other government agencies. Existing widely applied evaluation approaches neglect to incorporate citizens’ satisfaction measures. Several citizen satisfaction models and indicators have been suggested in academia; however a reference process model that can assist practitioners to apply these performance measures is missing. In this paper we draw upon the evaluation approach proposed by the EU funded project CEES and propose a reference process model that captures re-usable practices for e-government evaluation from a citizens’ perspective. The novelty of the proposed approach is that using DEA for evaluating the e-services the assessment results in suggestions for strategic improvement of the e-services.EU FP7 Marie Curie People Project “CEES - Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Systems” (reference IAPP-2008-230658

Peningkatan Produksi Dan Kualitas Susu Kambing Peranakan Etawah Sebagai Respon Perbaikan Kualitas Pakan

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peningkatan produksi dan kualitas susu Kambing Peranakan Etawah sebagai respons perbaikan kualitas pakan, Penelitian ini menggunakan 12 ekor kambing laktasi dengan rancangan acak kelompok yang terdiri atas 3 perlakuan 4 ulangan. Perlakuan yaitu T1= kontrol (pakan hijauan), T2 = pakan kualitas sedang (hijauan 75% + konsentrat 25%), T2 = pakan kualitas tinggi (hijauan 60% + 40% konsentrat). Pakan diberikan dua kali sehari selama dua bulan pengamatan. Peubah yang diamati adalah produksi susu, kualitas susu dan konsumsi pakan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perlakuan perbaikan kualitas pakan tidak mempengaruhi konsumsi bahan kering pakan, konsumsi protein, serat kasar, lemak dan BETN dengan rataan berturut-turut untuk bahan kering sebesar 1445.0 gram/ekor/hari, protein 195.0 gram/ekor/hari, serat kasar 246.3 gram/ekor/hari dan BETN 1006.9 gram/ekor/hari. Perlakuan perbaikan pakan meningkatkan produksi susu kambing PE secara nyata (P<0.05) dengan produksi tertinggi pada T3 yaitu 832.78 gram/ekor/hari, diikuti perlakuan T2 sebesar 743.12 gram/ekor/hari dan T1 sebesar 621.34 gram/ekor/hari, Namun tidak mempengaruhi kualitas air susu yaitu berat jenis dengan rataan 1.0285, bahan kering susu 16.43%, lemak susu sebesar 6.83% dan protein susu sebesar 4.57%. Kesimpulan penelitian adalah permberian pakan berkualitas pada kambing Peranakan Etawah saat laktasi dapat meningkatkan produksi susu yang dihasilkan kambing dengan kualitas air susu yang relatif sama dan tidak mempengaruhi konsumsi bahan kering dan nitrien pakan kambing

Ion beam effect on Ge-Se chalcogenide glass films: Non-volatile memory array formation, structural changes and device performance

The conductive bridge non-volatile memory technology is an emerging way to replace traditional charge based memory devices for future neural networks and configurable logic applications. An array of the memory devices that fulfills logic operations must be developed for implementing such architectures. A scheme to fabricate these arrays, using ion bombardment through a mask, has been suggested and advanced by us. Performance of the memory devices is studied, based on the formation of vias and damage accumulation due to the interactions of Ar+ ions with GexSe1-x (x=0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) chalcogenide glasses as a function of the ion energy and dose dependence. Blanket films and devices were created to study the structural changes, surface roughness, and device performance. Raman Spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and electrical measurements expound the Ar+ ions behavior on thin films of GexSe1-x system. Raman studies show that there is a decrease in area ratio between edge-shared to corner-shared structural units, revealing occurrence of structural reorganization within the system as a result of ion/film interaction. AFM results demonstrate a tendency in surface roughness improvement with increased Ge concentration, after ion bombardment. EDS results reveal a compositional change in the vias, with a clear tendency of greater interaction between ions and the Ge atoms, as evidenced by greater compositional changes in the Ge rich films

Role of sea surface warming in convective activity over Europe and Northern Eurasia: estimates with sensitivity model experiments

The influence of sea surface warming on convective activity over Europe and Northern Eurasia is estimated from sensitivity model experiments by an atmospheric general circulation model, ECHAM5, with prescribed boundary conditions ("warm" and "cold" sea surface). Convective activity is analysed by using various indices (thermodynamic, dynamic, and composite). It is shown that warmer sea surface leads to a general increase in the thermodynamic indices that is broadly consistent with observations. Particularly, the observed increase in CAPE over the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and Eastern Europe is well reproduced in the sensitivity experiments. At the same time, the shear and helicity instability indices depend little on sea surface warming. The experiment with only Mediterranean and Black Seas warming tends to overestimate the increase in the thermodynamic indices near these seas and underestimate the increase in the other regions. There are several regions (the Iberian Peninsula, Mongolia, and Northern China) where the observations show a decrease in the convective indices. These negative changes are not reproduced in the model experiments, because their nature is, apparently, not related to sea surface warming

Causative factors of cost overrun in highway projects of Sindh province of Pakistan

Cost overrun is an increase of cost of project from approved budget which was signed by parties at the time of tender. Cost overrun in construction of highway projects is a common problem worldwide and construction industry of Pakistan is also facing this crucial problem of cost overrun in highway projects of Pakistan. The main objective of this research is to identify the causative factors of cost overrun in highway projects of Sindh province of Pakistan. A well designed questionnaire was developed based on 64 common factors of cost overrun from literature review. Developed questionnaire was distributed among selected 30 experts from owner/client, designer/consultant and contractor who have experience more than 20 years’ experience in highway projects. The collected data was statistical analyzed. After analysis results showed that delay process in payment by client, inadequate planning , client interference, poor contract management, delay of decision making, change of scope of project and financial problems faced by client were most causative factors of cost overrun in highway projects. This research will provide alertness to stakeholders of highway projects of Sindh province to avoid cost overrun in projects

SOME APPLICATIONS OF SEPARATION AXIOMS ON ROUGH SETS

Rough set theory  is one of the new methods that connect information systems and data processing to mathematics in general and especially to the theory of topological structures and spaces.This paper is aimed to improve some new types of separation axioms by using the concept of  sets. So, we define new separation axioms called  Also, some of its properties are investigated. Further, we defined space and studied the relation between this space and some types of mappings. Furthermore, we introduce  spaces and several properties of this space are presente

Digitalization and artificial knowledge for accountability in SCM: a systematic literature review

Purpose: In this study, the authors examine artificial knowledge as a fundamental stream of knowledge management for sustainable and resilient business models in supply chain management (SCM). The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of artificial knowledge and digitalization as key enablers of the improvement of SCM accountability and sustainable performance towards the UN 2030 Agenda. Design/methodology/approach: Using the SCOPUS database and Google Scholar, the authors analyzed 135 English-language publications from 1990 to 2022 to chart the pattern of knowledge production and dissemination in the literature. The data were collected, reviewed and peer-reviewed before conducting bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review to support future research agenda. Findings: The results highlight that artificial knowledge and digitalization are linked to the UN 2030 Agenda. The analysis further identifies the main issues in achieving sustainable and resilient SCM business models. Based on the results, the authors develop a conceptual framework for artificial knowledge and digitalization in SCM to increase accountability and sustainable performance, especially in times of sudden crises when business resilience is imperative. Research limitations/implications: The study results add to the extant literature by examining artificial knowledge and digitalization from the resilience theory perspective. The authors suggest that different strategic perspectives significantly promote resilience for SCM digitization and sustainable development. Notably, fostering diverse peer exchange relationships can help stimulate peer knowledge and act as a palliative mechanism that builds digital knowledge to strengthen and drive future possibilities. Practical implications: This research offers valuable guidance to supply chain practitioners, managers and policymakers in re-thinking, re-formulating and re-shaping organizational processes to meet the UN 2030 Agenda, mainly by introducing artificial knowledge in digital transformation training and education programs. In doing so, firms should focus not simply on digital transformation but also on cultural transformation to enhance SCM accountability and sustainable performance in resilient business models. Originality/value: This study is, to the authors' best knowledge, among the first to conceptualize artificial knowledge and digitalization issues in SCM. It further integrates resilience theory with institutional theory, legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory as the theoretical foundations of artificial knowledge in SCM, based on firms' responsibility to fulfill the sustainable development goals under the UN's 2030 Agenda

Influence of Annealing Temperature on Structural, Electrical, and Magnetic Properties of Nd0.7Ca0.3MnO3

In this paper, we investigated the effect of annealing temperature on the electrical and magnetic properties of polycrystalline Nd0.7Ca0.3MnO3 synthesized using the well-known solid-state reaction technique. After the formation of the required Perovskite crystal structure phase, another annealing treatment has been done. The selected annealing temperatures are 700, 800, and 900°C for 12 hours. Structural refinement of the X-ray diffraction patterns showed the formation of a single orthorhombic crystal structure phase the of P b n m space group in Nd0.7Ca0.3MnO3 without any impurity peaks. From magneto-resistance measurements, we found that NCMO samples have high-colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). Moreover, the under-investigated NCMO samples showed a high power factor. The resistivity data in the insulating region (T \u3eTMI) were analyzed by considering, the Mott-variable range hopping model. The phase transition temperature showed dependence on the grain size, where Curie temperature (TC) increases with an increase in the grain size

Power changes of EEG signals associated with muscle fatigue: The root mean square analysis of EEG bands

The paper reports a research conducted to determine changes in the electrical activity of the contralateral motor cortex of the brain that drives the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the right adductor pollicis muscle (APM) after fatigue. The power changes of EEG signals after muscle fatigue were computed. In twenty-five subjects, EEG signals from the left motor cortical area (C3, FC3) were recorded simultaneously with EMG signals from the right APM, before and after exercise-induced fatigue. The root mean square (RMS) of the EEG bands (alpha, beta, and gamma) was calculated to determine the power changes of the EEG signals after right APM fatigue. The mean RMS of the EEG bands were increased during MVC of the fatigued right APM compared to the RMS value during relaxation before fatigue (p<0.05). The RMS value was seen to be greatest in the beta band, and lowest in the gamma band. The observed increase in the RMS of EEG bands during MVC of the fatigued right APM suggest an increase in the EEG signal power, which could reflect an increase in energy needed by the motor cortex to perform MVC in fatigued muscles, which might give an indication of neural fatigue in the motor cortex