Adequate Support for Distance Learners: An Ongoing Challenge for Distance Education Programs

Distance education is a thriving force that has been challenged with a lack of satisfactory student support services in many postsecondary institutions for almost a decade. This symposium attends to the need of a support services base that can suitably tend to the learning needs of students enrolled in distance education programs. An examination of a student support services structure already in place at a public 4-year institution will be performed so as to identify factors that are called for in the design and development of services that can effectively motivate, sustain, and guide students enrolled in distance education program

Supervisory Practices in a Virtual Internship Program: A Multi-Case Study

This study explored certain leadership methods that eSupervisors were utilizing with eInterns through the theoretical lenses of House’s (1971) path-goal theory of leadership and the effectiveness of these methods on learning outcomes. The overarching research question that guided this study was: How do eSupervisors contribute to the learning growth of eInterns? A qualitative multi-case study was conducted on a population of eSupervisors, current eInterns (students), and past eInterns (graduates) that were associated with the Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) program. VSFS is a program aimed at exposing students to working opportunities in the government. The findings from this study imply that there are a number of ways in which eSupervisors can contribute to the learning growth of eInterns. These contributions will vary depending on the eInterns, the environmental characteristics, the leadership approach taken, and the motivational factors involved. The significance in applying this research today falls in line with the booming growth of distance education programs the trend of incorporating technology in the classrooms

Potential application of tetrapleura tetraptera and hibiscus sabdariffa (Malvaceae) in designing highly flavoured and bioactive pito with functional properties

Sorghum beer (pito) is an indigenous alcoholic beverage peculiar to northern Ghana and parts of other West African countries. It is overwhelmed with calories, essential amino acids (such as lysine, etc.), B-group vitamins, and minerals. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for highly flavoured yet functional pito in Ghana; however, the local producers lack the prerequisite scientific expertise in designing such products. We propose the utilization of Tetrapleura tetraptera (TT) and Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) as cheap and readily available materials in designing functional flavoured pito. The addition of TT and HS would not alter the fermentation profile but rather augment the starter with nutrients, thus improving the fermentation performance and shelf life of the final pito. In vitro and in vivo studies provide substantive evidence of antioxidant, nephro-and hepato-protective, renal/diuretic effect, anticholesterol, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive effects among others of the TT and HS, hence enriching the pito with health-promoting factors and consequently boosting the health of the consumer. Herein, we summarise the phytochemical, biological, pharmacological, and toxicological aspects of TT and HS as well as the technology involved in brewing the novel bioactive-flavoured pito. In addition, we also report the incidence of heavy metal in conventional pito. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.University of OtagoP.A. is grateful to the University of Otago for support via the University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship

Automatic generation of business process models from user stories

In this paper, we propose an automated approach to extract business process models from requirements, which are presented as user stories. In agile software development, the user story is a simple description of the functionality of the software. It is presented from the user's point of view and is written in natural language. Acceptance criteria are a list of specifications on how a new software feature is expected to operate. Our approach analyzes a set of acceptance criteria accompanying the user story, in order, first, to automatically generate the components of the business model, and then to produce the business model as an activity diagram which is a unified modeling language (UML) behavioral diagram. We start with the use of natural language processing (NLP) techniques to extract the elements necessary to define the rules for retrieving artifacts from the business model. These rules are then developed in Prolog language and imported into Python code. The proposed approach was evaluated on a set of use cases using different performance measures. The results indicate that our method is capable of generating correct and accurate process models

Web service discovery approach: application in e-healing domain

The main objective of today's companies is to cope with rapid changes in the environment. For this, they must ensure the integration and interoperability of their applications. To manage and automate the life cycle of these applications, companies are adopting web services technology. The current problem is that the content of these web services cannot be processed automatically. Only humans can interpret its contents. The semantic web is a new vision of the web that promises to overcome this difficulty. The goal of this technology is to automate the retrieval, assembly, and selection of web services. In this post, we are interested in semantic detection of web services. The main problem is automatically discovering web services on request from clients. Against this background, we first describe the principle of the proposed detection mechanism and then present the designed matchmaking algorithm. Finally, we implement our proposed method. To verify our work, we run tests against various user requests and web service panels. As part of a case study, we consider an online hospital problem. This problem is a typical web service discovery scenario to which the concepts of our method are applied

Production and investigations of antioxidant rich beverage: utilizing Monascus purpureus IHEM LY2014 - 0696 and various malts

ArticleAntioxidant evokes numerous health benefits to the consumer as well as stabilisation of the beverages flavours. Therefore, this paper provides detailed information on the application of Monascus purpureus IHEM LY2014 - 0696 in combination with vario us malts in brewing antioxidant rich beverage (ARB). Starter culture Angkak was prepared by solid state bioprocessing (SSB). Single infusion method of mashing was used. Physicochemical parameters, volatile compounds, DPPH (2, 2 - diphenyl - 1 - picrylhydrazyl) r adical scavenging activity and fermentability of the wort were evaluated. Distillation procedure based on pycnometry technique was use to quantify the alcohol content (%ABV). Fermentability of the wort was found to be 97.6 ± 0.46% whilst %ABV was equal to 5.42 ± 0.03 . It was observed that ARB showed a strong DPPH radical scavenging activity of 1.00 × 10 – 4 mol × equ (R 2 = 0.91) whereas 3.43 × 10 - 5 mol × equ (R 2 = 0.81) for wort. The strong antioxidant activity (AOA) is thought to be caused by pigments produced by M. purpureus IHEM LY2014 - 0696 and other compounds originated from the malts and hops utilised in brewing ARB. A total of 4 volatile compounds were identified in the present study. Incidence of microbial load ranged from 2.14 ± 0.04 × 10 7 and 0.8 ± 0.1 × 10 5 for M. purpureus IHEM LY2014 - 0696 and bacterial respectively was observed in the ARB. This study contradicts some previous ones, as the ARB brewed did not take the red pigment produced by the M. purpureus . Panellists generally ex pressed their acceptance for the ARB as they assessed it as a new product, moreover, taking account its health benefits

"Ink on the Pandemic in Ghana": A Qualitative Analysis of How the Ghana News Agency and Joy Online News Covered COVID-19

This study investigates how the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and Joy News Online covered the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to December 2021, using a qualitative content analysis approach informed by Framing Theory. The research analyzed news articles from both outlets, focusing on themes such as public health, economic impacts, government responses, and social consequences of the pandemic. The study found that while both outlets addressed similar core issues, Joy Online emphasized government accountability and transparency more strongly, whereas the GNA's coverage was more focused on factual updates and promoting government measures without extensive critique. Data was gathered through content analysis, with inclusion criteria that focused on articles directly related to COVID-19 and exclusion criteria that filtered out unrelated content. The analysis revealed that the framing strategies used by both platforms influenced public perception, emotional engagement, and behavior during the pandemic. The findings suggest the importance of balanced and accurate media coverage in health crises. The study recommends that media outlets strive for balanced framing, collaborate with health experts, and actively combat misinformation to enhance public health communication and foster informed decision-making. This research emphasizes the need for transparent and consistent messaging, with a call for further studies on the role of media in framing future health crises

Production and analysis of non-traditional beer supplemented with sea buckthorn

ArticleIn recent years, there has been a growing demand for non-traditional beer (craft) with different flavours hence the main aim of this research is to produce beer with sea buckthorns (SBT). Brewing software BeerSmith was used to design the Kölch beer. After one month of primary fermentation, SBT were sanitised and crashed before adding into the green beer. Carbonation was done using keg with 1.8 bar of carbon dioxide. Physicochemical properties, microbial load and sensory evaluation of Kölch fruit beer (KFB) were determined. All the physiochemical parameters measured were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the fermentation time. The pH dropped from 5.8 ± 0.1 to 3.9 ± 0.1 toward the end of the fermentation. There was no microbial growth when KFB was inoculated in the media. °Brix likewise decreases from 13.3 ± 0.43 to 3.86 ± 0.25. There was a change in the colour of the wort throughout the fermentation from 11.2 ± 0.44 to 32.5 ± 0.56 EBC. A decrease from 1.48 ± 0.02 to 0.86 ± 0.02 mg maltose per 100 ml in the reducing sugar was observed during the entire period of fermentation. A total of 32 volatile compounds were identified. All assessed sensory variables of KFB were significantly different (P < 0.05) and preferred by the panellists, however, foaminess and clarity of KFB should have to be improved. KFB showed higher DPPH radical scavenging activity as compared to other types of beer examined due to biologically active substances contributed by SBT

Living with HIV in the time of COVID-19: A glimpse of hope

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