Factors Affecting Students’ Satisfaction with a Course: Does Physical Environment Matters?

This study intends to examine factors that influence students’ satisfaction with a course and how this satisfaction with a course affects course recommendation. Furthermore, the moderating effects of the physical classroom environment were examined in the relationship between the factors and students’ satisfaction with a course. Data were collected from students in private universities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was analyzed using Partial Least Squared Method (PLS). The results showed that course evaluation, instructional support, students self-efficacy all have a significant positive effect on students’ satisfaction with a course, and students’ satisfaction with a course positively influences course recommendation. However, our results did not find a significant relationship between the student-teacher relationship and students’ satisfaction with a course. Moreover, our findings confirmed the moderating role of the physical classroom environment on the relationship between course evaluation, instructional support, students’ self-efficacy, student-teacher relationship and course satisfaction. Research paper Keywords: Course Evaluation; Instructional Support; Self-Efficacy; Physical Classroom Environment; Student Satisfaction; Course Recommendation; Higher Education; Malaysia Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Batouei, A., & Teoh, A. P. (2021). Factors Affecting Students’ Satisfaction with a Course: Does Physical Environment Matters?. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 9(2), 132–173

Gravitational collapse with tachyon field and barotropic fluid

A particular class of space-time, with a tachyon field, \phi, and a barotropic fluid constituting the matter content, is considered herein as a model for gravitational collapse. For simplicity, the tachyon potential is assumed to be of inverse square form i.e., V(\phi) \sim \phi^{-2}. Our purpose, by making use of the specific kinematical features of the tachyon, which are rather different from a standard scalar field, is to establish the several types of asymptotic behavior that our matter content induces. Employing a dynamical system analysis, complemented by a thorough numerical study, we find classical solutions corresponding to a naked singularity or a black hole formation. In particular, there is a subset where the fluid and tachyon participate in an interesting tracking behaviour, depending sensitively on the initial conditions for the energy densities of the tachyon field and barotropic fluid. Two other classes of solutions are present, corresponding respectively, to either a tachyon or a barotropic fluid regime. Which of these emerges as dominant, will depend on the choice of the barotropic parameter, \gamma. Furthermore, these collapsing scenarios both have as final state the formation of a black hole.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures. v3: minor changes. Final version to appear in GR

Complementarity between innovation knowledge sources: Does the innovation performance measure matter?

We analyse complementarity between different knowledge sources (internal, external and/or cooperation) employing a wide range of innovation performance measures (product, process, organizational, and commercial). The empirical study uses 2014 Spanish CIS data and studies complementarities by performing conditional complementarity/substitutability tests. The results show evidence of conditional complementarity in product innovation performance between external and internal knowledge sources in absence of cooperation and of conditional substitute relationship between external and cooperation knowledge sources in presence of internal source. In product and process innovation performance we found a conditional substitute relationship between internal and cooperation sources when external source is used and not used, respectively. This relationship turns to conditional complementarity in organisational innovation in absence of external knowledge source. Therefore, when designing innovation strategy, managers must consider their objectives on a priority basis, since not all the strategies have the same effects on innovation performance

Pendidikan Islam di Era Society 5.0: Perspektif Nurcholish Madjid dalam Dinamika Kontemporer

Era Society 5.0 membawa perubahan drastis dalam dunia pendidikan, termasuk pendidikan Islam yang dihadapkan pada tantangan mengintegrasikan teknologi berbasis Artificial Intelligence (AI) dan Internet of Things (IoT). Namun, hambatan seperti keterbatasan infrastruktur, kurangnya kesiapan tenaga pendidik, dan resistensi terhadap perubahan masih menjadi kendala utama. Pemikiran Nurcholish Madjid menawarkan pendekatan yang relevan, dengan menekankan pentingnya nilai-nilai inklusivitas, pluralisme, dan humanisme dalam pendidikan Islam. Perspektif ini tidak hanya mendorong penguatan moralitas dan spiritualitas tetapi juga beradaptasi terhadap kebutuhan zaman melalui inovasi berbasis teknologi. Dalam penulisan ini menggunakan Metode penelitian library research atau studi kepustakaan yang update dan relevan, adalah metode penelitian yang dilakukan dengan mengumpulkan dan menganalisis data dari berbagai sumber literatur yang relevan. Penelitian ini juga memperhatikan pentingnya pengembangan kurikulum pendidikan Islam yang responsif terhadap tantangan Society 5.0. Kurikulum tersebut harus mampu mengintegrasikan literasi teknologi, data, dan manusia dengan nilai-nilai keislaman universal. Di sisi lain, pendidikan Islam perlu menjadi wadah pembinaan karakter yang bercirikan pada etika, moralitas dan spiritualitas dalam menghadapi dampak negatif disrupsi teknologi. Dengan pendekatan ini, pendidikan Islam diharapkan tidak hanya relevan tetapi juga mampu berkontribusi dalam menciptakan generasi yang kompeten secara global dan kokoh secara moral

Another Avenue for Anatomy of Income Comparisons : Evidence from Hypothetical Choice Experiments

September 2010, Revised December 2010, Secondly Revised November 2011, Thirdly Revised May 2012, Fourthly Revised March 2013

Global, regional, and national burden of tuberculosis, 1990–2016: results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2016 Study

Background Although a preventable and treatable disease, tuberculosis causes more than a million deaths each year. As countries work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, robust assessments of the levels and trends of the burden of tuberculosis are crucial to inform policy and programme decision making. We assessed the levels and trends in the fatal and non-fatal burden of tuberculosis by drug resistance and HIV status for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. Methods We analysed 15 943 site-years of vital registration data, 1710 site-years of verbal autopsy data, 764 site-years of sample-based vital registration data, and 361 site-years of mortality surveillance data to estimate mortality due to tuberculosis using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. We analysed all available data sources, including annual case notifications, prevalence surveys, population-based tuberculin surveys, and estimated tuberculosis cause-specific mortality to generate internally consistent estimates of incidence, prevalence, and mortality using DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool. We assessed how the burden of tuberculosis differed from the burden predicted by the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, average years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Findings Globally in 2016, among HIV-negative individuals, the number of incident cases of tuberculosis was 9·02 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8·05–10·16) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 1·21 million (1·16–1·27). Among HIV-positive individuals, the number of incident cases was 1·40 million (1·01–1·89) and the number of tuberculosis deaths was 0·24 million (0·16–0·31). Globally, among HIV-negative individuals the age-standardised incidence of tuberculosis decreased annually at a slower rate (–1·3% [–1·5 to −1·2]) than mortality did (–4·5% [–5·0 to −4·1]) from 2006 to 2016. Among HIV-positive individuals during the same period, the rate of change in annualised age-standardised incidence was −4·0% (–4·5 to −3·7) and mortality was −8·9% (–9·5 to −8·4). Several regions had higher rates of age-standardised incidence and mortality than expected on the basis of their SDI levels in 2016. For drug-susceptible tuberculosis, the highest observed-to-expected ratios were in southern sub-Saharan Africa (13·7 for incidence and 14·9 for mortality), and the lowest ratios were in high-income North America (0·4 for incidence) and Oceania (0·3 for mortality). For multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, eastern Europe had the highest observed-to-expected ratios (67·3 for incidence and 73·0 for mortality), and high-income North America had the lowest ratios (0·4 for incidence and 0·5 for mortality). Interpretation If current trends in tuberculosis incidence continue, few countries are likely to meet the SDG target to end the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. Progress needs to be accelerated by improving the quality of and access to tuberculosis diagnosis and care, by developing new tools, scaling up interventions to prevent risk factors for tuberculosis, and integrating control programmes for tuberculosis and HIV

Preliminary study on Copper, Zinc and Iron concentration in soils from waste dumping site in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, Malaysia

Soil is a complex matrix and a major reservoir of contamination. It can bind many potential toxic elements such as heavy metals, and they can exist in various forms. The main objective was to characterize the soil sample in relation to heavy metal concentrations in the Tanah Merah waste dumping site. Soil samples were taken from three different locations around the waste dumping site and determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) for Cu, Fe and Zn determination. High concentrations of Fe (9.18 mg/L) as compared to Cu (0.53 mg/L), and Zn (0.49 mg/L) were found in the soil samples but were lower than previous studies. However, early precautionary actions need to be implemented since a higher volume of waste disposal in the future might cause changes in heavy metals intensity at the waste dumping site

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Basic science of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent, disabling disorder of the joints that affects a large population worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure. This review provides critical insights into the basic knowledge on OA that may lead to innovative end efficient new therapeutic regimens. While degradation of the articular cartilage is the hallmark of OA, with altered interactions between chondrocytes and compounds of the extracellular matrix, the subchondral bone has been also described as a key component of the disease, involving specific pathomechanisms controlling its initiation and progression. The identification of such events (and thus of possible targets for therapy) has been made possible by the availability of a number of animal models that aim at reproducing the human pathology, in particular large models of high tibial osteotomy (HTO). From a therapeutic point of view, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising option for the treatment of OA and may be used concomitantly with functional substitutes integrating scaffolds and drugs/growth factors in tissue engineering setups. Altogether, these advances in the fundamental and experimental knowledge on OA may allow for the generation of improved, adapted therapeutic regimens to treat human OA.(undefined

A case-control study of mastitis: nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND: Mastitis is a common problem for breastfeeding women. Researchers have called for an investigation into the possible role of maternal nasal carriage of S. aureus in the causation of mastitis in breastfeeding women. METHODS: The aim of the study was to investigate the role of maternal S. aureus nasal carriage in mastitis. Other factors such as infant nasal S. aureus carriage, nipple damage, maternal fatigue and oversupply of milk were also investigated. A case-control design was used. Women with mastitis (cases, n = 100) were recruited from two maternity hospitals in Melbourne, Australia (emergency departments, breastfeeding clinics and postnatal wards). Breastfeeding women without mastitis (controls, n = 99) were recruited from maternal and child health (community) centres and the rooms of a private obstetrician. Women completed a questionnaire and nasal specimens were collected from mother and baby and placed in charcoal transport medium. Women also collected a small sample of milk in a sterile jar. RESULTS: There was no difference between nasal carriage of S. aureus in breastfeeding women with mastitis (42/98, 43%) and control women (45/98, 46%). However, significantly more infants of mothers with mastitis were nasal carriers of S. aureus (72/88, 82%) than controls (52/93, 56%). The association was strong (adjusted OR 3.23, 95%CI 1.30, 8.27) after adjustment for the following confounding factors: income, private health insurance, difficulty with breastfeeding, nipple damage and tight bra. There was also a strong association between nipple damage and mastitis (adjusted OR 9.34, 95%CI 2.99, 29.20). CONCLUSION: We found no association between maternal nasal carriage of S. aureus and mastitis, but nasal carriage in the infant was associated with breast infections. As in other studies of mastitis, we found a strong association between nipple damage and mastitis. Prevention of nipple damage is likely to reduce the incidence of infectious mastitis. Mothers need good advice about optimal attachment of the baby to the breast and access to skilled help in the early postpartum days and weeks