Examining the Factors Influencing Technology Integration in the Teaching-Learning Process: A Case Study

The present research aims to investigate the impact of the factors of technology-integrated attitude (TIA), computer self-efficacy (CSE), technological knowledge (TK), task-technology fit (TTF), teaching experience (TE) and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) on technology-integrated intention (TII) and provide a causal model tailored to the impact of these factors on TII in the teaching-learning process (TLP). The research is applied, and in terms of data acquisition method and data analysis, it is a descriptive, correlational research. The research was conducted among 370 high school teachers in Shiraz in 2017-2018. The questionnaire was used for the data acquisition. The path analysis method was used to analyze the research hypotheses. The results show that the variables of TK and CSE directly and indirectly, attitude toward integration and TTF directly and TPK indirectly had a significant impact on TII in the TLP. The highest impact is related to CSE and the lowest total impact to TK on TII in the TLP

Effective Factors on Knowledge Commercialization in Payam-e-Noor University

Commercialization of research results refers to a set of efforts aimed at raising capital and increasing the relationship between the academic and research sector and economic and social sector. The present study intends to identify and rank the factors affecting the commercialization process of research results at Payam-e-Noor University in order to determine the extent of influence of the identified factors. Therefore, this is an applied research in terms of purpose, which studies the factors affecting the process of knowledge commercialization in previous studies, using the confirmatory factor analysis approach. Using fuzzy hierarchical analysis, it was determined that legal, economic, manpower, cultural, structural and political, and communicational and information-related barriers are the first to sixth barriers to the knowledge commercialization in Payam-e-Noor University. Using fuzzy DEMATEL technique, the effectiveness and affectability of factors involved in the process of knowledge commercialization were identified. Accordingly, weak legal framework for supporting idea people at the university, inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the rules and regulations for commercialization, lack of regulation for the apportionment of financial gain from commercialization among scholars, lack of skilled and expert human resources in the universities, lack of facilities and financial resources for research commercialization, and lack of mutual recognition between university and industry had the most affectability. In other words, these are the dependent/outcome variables of the model. On the other hand, inadequate knowledge of the faculty members, poor fund management in the university, weakness of universities in wealth creation, absence of university entrepreneurial missions, the absence of up-to-date and effective idea banks and databases in the universities, and lack of effective communication between students and industry sector’s activists had the most effectiveness. In other words, these variables are the independent/causal variables of the model

An Investigation into the Effective Factors on the Intention to Commercialization of Knowledge in a University: A Case Study

The purpose of this study was to provide a causal model for factors affecting the commercialization of academic research. This study is applied research in terms of purpose and a descriptive study of correlation type in terms of method. The statistical population consists of 499 graduate students at Engineering School of Shiraz University. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to assess its reliability. In this research, the effect of following variables on attitude to the commercialization of Knowledge (ACK) of knowledge is investigated: psychological empowerment (PE), self-efficacy, university policy (UP), social capital (SC), and perceived behavioral al control. The results of this study, based on the obtained correlation coefficients, show that the intention to the commercialization of Knowledge (ICK) has a separate and significant relation with PE, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and ACK at the level of 0.01 and with the SC variable at the level of 0.05. Furthermore, the ICK has no significant relationship with self-efficacy and UP

Causal Model of the Association between Academic Burnout and Achievement Goals: The Intermediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Procrastination

Background & Objective: There has been growing recognition that medical students, interns, residents, and practicing physicians across many specialties are prone to burnout, with recent studies linking high rates of burnout to adverse mental health issues. The aim of this study was to examine factors affecting academic burnout among medical students and investigate the association between achievement goals and its dimensions, academic self-efficacy, and academic procrastination in the form of a causal model. Methods: For this purpose, 174 students (98 in the clinical stage and 76 in the preclinical stage) of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Iran) were selected based on Cochran’s Formula and through simple random sampling. The data collection tools consisted of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS), Achievement Goal Questionnaire (Elliot and McGregor), Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Midgley et al.), and Academic Procrastination Scale (Savari). To analyze the data, path analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Results: The resulting path models indicated that academic burnout had significant negative relationships with mastery achievement goal, performance-approach, and academic self-efficacy, but it had significantly positive relationships with academic procrastination and performanceavoidance. It was also found that achievement goals had impact on academic burnout through academic procrastination and self-efficacy. The explained variance of academic burnout was 0.61. Conclusion: It was found that achievement goals and academic self-efficacy had significant effects on academic procrastination and burnout. Thus, it is suggested that those involved in education provide the students with situations in which they can achieve a higher sense of empowerment in learning, so that they become more engaged in their academic work and be less likely to experience burnout. Key Words: Academic burnout, Achievement goals, Academic self-efficacy, Academic procrastinatio

A gain-of-function mutation of STAT1: A novel genetic factor contributing to chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis

Heterozygous gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in the signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) have increasingly been identified as a genetic cause of autosomal-dominant (AD) chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC). In this article, we describe a 33-year-old man who experienced chronic refractory candidiasis, recurrent otitis media, and pneumonia resulting in bronchiectasis, severe oral and esophageal candidiases with strictures associated with hypothyroidism and immune hemolytic anemia. His son also suffered from persistent candidiasis, chronic diarrhea, poor weight gain, and pneumonia that resulted in his demise because of sepsis. The immunological workup showed that an inverse CD4/CD8 ratio and serum immunoglobulins were all within normal ranges. The laboratory data revealed failure in response to Candida lymphocyte transformation test. In addition, by Sanger sequencing method, we found a heterozygous mutation, Thr385Met (T385M), located in the DNA-binding domain of STAT1, which was previously shown to be GOF. These findings illustrate the broad and variable clinical phenotype of heterozygous STAT1 GOF mutations. However, more clinical information and phenotype–genotype studies are required to define the clinical phenotype caused by AD STAT1 GOF

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV