Individual needs, cooperative learning and academic achievement among university’s students

Academic achievement is an important indicator of student performance in institution of higher learning. Notwithstanding the intensity of investigation on academic performance, the dynamic nature of external environments engender continuous development of teaching and learning in higher learning institutions so as to minimize knowledge asymmetry. Previous studies emphasize on the important of individual needs and cooperative learning on the performance output of students of higher institution. Specifically this study investigates the role of student’s individual needs and cooperative learning on academic performance. Data was collected from 100 undergraduate students at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings indicate that individual needs significantly influences academic performance. In addition, cooperative learning mediates the relationship between individual needs and academic achievement, hence partial mediating function of cooperative learning. At the end of this paper, the discussion is presented and the conclusion is discussed

Capacity Dimensioning of HSDPA Urban Network

To launch a cellular network, prelaunch capacity dimensioning is performed which includes coverage estimation and throughput prediction. Cellular companies in developing countries like Pakistan are only providing 2G services, while 3G services are yet to be launched. Although a lot of research has been done on 3G services in developed countries but there is very little knowledge regarding practical aspects of planning and optimization of 3G networks in third world countries like Pakistan. This research paper includes a thorough analysis of factors that affect capacity of 3G networks, including radio propagation models. Various propagation models are studied and propagation constants of Standard Propagation Model are tuned according to topography of Islamabad. The performance analysis of these propagation models is done using Matlab and results are verified through planning tool Atoll and field measurements. Based on analysis of these results capacity dimensioning, in terms of number of sites, is carried out for an urban network of Islamabad

Market orientation, entrepreneurship orientation, relationship commitment and communication among SME exporters in Malaysia

Building partnerships with foreign importers or distributors is critical for internationalizing small and medium enterprises with limited resources. Doing so can help them leverage the resources of their partners and enhance their export performance in foreign markets. Within this context, commitment to the relationship stands as an important cross-border relationship dimension. In addition, market orientation and entrepreneurship orientation have been highlighted in the literature as important variables to develop relationship commitment. The literature also demonstrates that effective communication between partners is the critical function of relationship closeness and strength. This study used the resource-based view for theoretical foundation. We collected data from 220 small and medium business exporters in the manufacturing sector in an emerging market, namely, Malaysia which were analyzed using hierarchical moderated regression analysis. The results showed that entrepreneurship orientation is positively related to relationship commitment. The findings also revealed that the relationship between market orientation and commitment was fully moderated by communication. This means the entrepreneurial values of risk taking, innovation, and pro-action are crucial in providing SMEs with the ability to develop and maintain relationship commitment. Future studies may investigate how the rapid changes in the international business environment affect SME relationship commitment

Lateral Pre-crash Sensing and Avoidance in Emotion Enabled Cognitive Agent based Vehicle-2-Vehicle Communication System

A novel inter-vehicle communication system based on emotion enabled cognitive (EEC) agent has been anticipated as an intelligent solution to evade the road catastrophe due to hasty decisions by drivers. An input stimulus is processed in human brain using a short route and a long route during any emergency situation. The proposed EEC agent, mounted inside a vehicle, acts like a human brain and is stirred by short route information processing mechanism of human brain in fear condition. The results are acquired for the decisions made by the proposed approach through the EEC agent using short route and human drivers using long route during urgent situations. A pre crash sensing and avoidance algorithm has been proposed as well to mitigate the lateral or side by side collision using EEC agent.  Experimental findings reveal that by commencing emotions with cognition, and using formulated L-PCSA algorithm, lateral collisions chances can be sensed and avoided to secure the valued lives of passengers. It has been pragmatic that the new approach is very effectual and useful in shunning the lateral road collisions

In vitro acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory potentials of essential oil of Artemisia macrocephala

In this study we screened the essential oil of Artemisia macrocephala for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory potentials. Ellman's assay method was used to investigate the enzyme inhibitory potential of the essential oil. The oil sample showed 87.7 ± 1.2, 77.9 ± 0.6, 74.5 ± 1.9 and 62.5 ± 0.3 percent AChE inhibition at 1000, 500, 250 and 125 ?g/mL concentrations respectively with IC50 value of 40 ?g/mL. Similarly it showed 81.8 ± 0.6, 75.6 ± 1.2, 70.0 ± 0.6 and 64.2 ± 1.4 percent BChE inhibition in 1000, 500, 250 and 125 ?g/mL concentrations respectively with IC50 value of 30 ?g/mL. The results of this study confirm the beneficial applications of the oil sample in the treatment of various neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ataxia and all other forms of dementia

Trust, Commitment and Competitive Advantage in SMEs Export Performance

The entry of small businesses into international markets has intensified. However, despite the growing presence of small businesses in international markets, studies into their international behavior, particularly regarding the effect of international relationships on international outcomes, remain limited. This study investigates the cross-border relationships of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by examining the effects of the dimensions of the key relationship on the competitive advantage and performance of SMEs in export markets. These dimensions include trust and commitment. Results indicate that trust is significantly related to commitment and export performance. Commitment is positively related to competitive advantage but not to export performance. Trust affects competitive advantage through commitment. The effect of commitment on export performance is mediated by competitive advantage. The methodology and results are presented. The conclusion, implications, and limitations of this study are also discussed

Factors influencing students’ usage satisfaction toward university web portal: a pls-sem analysis

The aim of this study is to empirically examine the factors affecting users’ satisfaction with university portals in Malaysia. This study tested seven hypotheses on factors affecting users’ satisfaction of university portal with empirical data from a sample of 318 students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Data were collected through personal-administered questionnaire. Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis results revealed that system quality, information quality, service quality, user ability, and educational services were significantly influence users satisfaction. Information quality was found as the dominating factor in this research