Exploratory Study of the Download Speed of Leading University Hospitality and Tourism Department Websites Worldwide

Increased broadband penetration (BP) rates around the world have encouraged web designers to include more web content and additional functions on their web sites, thereby enhancing the richness and playfulness of the information. However, it is often very difficult for web surfers who are still using narrowband connections to access such web sites. Many university web sites target international audiences; therefore their download performance should be considered, as it may directly influence the user experience. This exploratory study examined 331 university hospitality and tourism department web sites in 37 countries. The empirical results showed that entry web pages of universities in Asia, with a medium BP rate (mid-BP), have the slowest download speeds, and those in Australia and New Zealand perform the best. The adoption rate of the Cascade Style Sheet (CSS) in Asia is relatively lower than that of other regions.

Influence, policy formation, and higher education in Florida : 1989-94

This study examined the perceptions of state governmental officials and administrators from the state university system, community college system, and independent institutions concerning the ability of various groups to influence state-level higher education policy formation. The study was conducted in Florida for the period 1989-94. Florida has a history of legislative involvement in higher education, an unique system of state universities and community colleges, and a limited number of private institutions of higher education. This study was grounded in the works of Mortimer and McConnell (1978), Millett (1987), Marshall, Mitchell, and Wirt (1989) and Finitfer, Baldwin, and Thelin (1991). The study represented the application of an embedded, single-case design. A survey was the primary collection instrument. Respondents were asked questions concerning: (a) personal involvement in higher education, (b) perceptions of the ability of various groups to influence higher education policy, (c) the names of particular individuals considered key players in higher education policy formation, (d) important state-level documents, (e) personal knowledge of key areas of policy formation, and (f) emerging higher education issues in Florida. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the different sections of the survey. The findings indicated that a power and influence hierarchy exists among the various groups that attempt to influence higher education policy and that this hierarchy is recognized by state government officials and higher education administrators. While an analysis of variance of the various groups revealed a few differences between state government officials and higher education personnel, the high overall agreement was an important finding. Leading members of the legislature, especially the Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and key staff members, especially from the Senate Ways & Means Committee, were considered the most influential. Representatives from higher education institutions and research organizations were considered among the least influential. Emerging issues identified by the respondents included: (a) the political nature of state-level policy formation, (b) the role of legislative staff, (c) the competition for state moneys, (d) legislative concern for state-wide budgetary efficiency, and (e) legislative attempts to define quality and supervise academic program development for higher education.

The use of presidential executive orders to control the management and administration of the federal government

As long as governmental institutions have existed, efforts have been undertaken to reform them. This research examines a particular strategy, coercive controls, exercised through a particular instrument, executive orders, by a singular reformer, the president of the United States. The presidents studied- Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-are those whose campaigns for office were characterized to varying degrees as against Washington bureaucracy and for executive reform. Executive order issuance is assessed through an examination of key factors for each president including political party affiliation, levels of political capital, and legislative experience. A classification typology is used to identify the topical dimensions and levels of coerciveness. The portrayal of the federal government is analyzed through examination of public, media, and presidential attention. The results show that executive orders are significant management tools for the president. Executive orders also represent an important component of the transition plans for incoming administrations. The findings indicate that overall, while executive orders have not increased in the aggregate, they are more intrusive and significant. When the factors of political party affiliation, political capital, and legislative experience are examined, it reveals a strong relationship between executive orders and previous executive experience, specifically presidents who served as a state governor prior to winning national election as president. Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton (all former governors) have the highest percent of executive orders focusing on the federal bureaucracy. Additionally, the highest percent of forceful orders were issued by former governors (41.0%) as compared to their presidential counterparts who have not served as governors (19.9%). Secondly, political party affiliation is an important, but not significant, predictor for the use of executive orders. Thirdly, management strategies that provide the president with the greatest level of autonomy-executive orders redefine the concept of presidential power and autonomous action. Interviews of elite government officials and political observers support the idea that executive orders can provide the president with a successful management strategy, requiring less expenditure of political resources, less risk to political capital, and a way of achieving objectives without depending on an unresponsive Congress.

SEMINAR ON CENTRAL CONCLUSIONS MANIFESTS IFLA-UNESCO FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY, SCHOOL AND INTERNET

Central America is a region with accumulated experiences of collaborative work in developing the Central Library, among them are: The CSUCA (Council of Central American Universities) globally recognized organization founded in 1948 has strengthened the development of University Libraries, with the creation of the Central American University Libraries. Another significant contribution is made by the Public Libraries and supported by SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) has substantially expanded the concept of National Public Library. Today is forming the Confederation of Associations and Colleges Central Library, a product of the Workshop held in El Salvador, with the support of IFLA / ALP.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS IN NONPROFIT UNIVERSITY: A PROJECT GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE

The universities rely on the Information Technology (IT) projects to support and enhance their core strategic objectives of teaching, research, and administration. The researcher’s literature review found that the level of IT funding and resources in the universities is not adequate to meet the IT demands. The universities received more IT project requests than they could execute. As such, universities must selectively fund the IT projects. The objectives of the IT projects in the universities vary. An IT project which benefits the teaching functions may not benefit the administrative functions. As such, the selection of an IT project is challenging in the universities. To aid with the IT decision making, many universities in the United States of America (USA) have formed the IT Governance (ITG) processes. ITG is an IT decision making and accountability framework whose purpose is to align the IT efforts in an organization with its strategic objectives, realize the value of the IT investments, meet the expected performance criteria, and manage the risks and the resources (Weil & Ross, 2004). ITG in the universities is relatively new, and it is not well known how the ITG processes are aiding the nonprofit universities in selecting the right IT projects, and managing the performance of these IT projects. This research adds to the body of knowledge regarding the IT project selection under the governance structure, the maturity of the IT projects, and the IT project performance in the nonprofit universities. The case study research methodology was chosen for this exploratory research. The convenience sampling was done to choose the cases from two large, research universities with decentralized colleges, and two small, centralized universities. The data were collected on nine IT projects from these four universities using the interviews and the university documents. The multi-case analysis was complemented by the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to systematically analyze how the IT conditions lead to an outcome. This research found that the IT projects were selected in the centralized universities in a more informed manner. ITG was more authoritative in the small centralized universities; the ITG committees were formed by including the key decision makers, the decision-making roles, and responsibilities were better defined, and the frequency of ITG communication was higher. In the centralized universities, the business units and colleges brought the IT requests to ITG committees; which in turn prioritized the IT requests and allocated the funds and the resources to the IT projects. ITG committee members in the centralized universities had a higher awareness of the university-wide IT needs, and the IT projects tended to align with the strategic objectives. On the other hand, the decentralized colleges and business units in the large universities were influential and often bypassed the ITG processes. The decentralized units often chose the “pet” IT projects, and executed them within a silo, without bringing them to the attention of the ITG committees. While these IT projects met the departmental objectives, they did not always align with the university’s strategic objectives. This research found that the IT project maturity in the university could be increased by following the project management methodologies. The IT project management maturity was found higher in the IT projects executed by the centralized university, where a full-time project manager was assigned to manage the project, and the project manager had a higher expertise in the project management. The IT project executed under the guidance of the Project Management Office (PMO) has exhibited a higher project management maturity, as the PMO set the standards and controls for the project. The IT projects managed by the decentralized colleges by a part-time project manager with lower project management expertise have exhibited a lower project management maturity. The IT projects in the decentralized colleges were often managed by the business, or technical leads, who often lacked the project management expertise. This research found that higher the IT project management maturity, the better is the project performance. The IT projects with a higher maturity had a lower project delay, lower number of missed requirements, and lower number of IT system errors. This research found that the quality of IT decision in the university could be improved by centralizing the IT decision-making processes. The IT project management maturity could be improved by following the project management methodologies. The stakeholder management and communication were found critical for the success of the IT projects in the university. It is hoped that the findings from this research would help the university leaders make the strategic IT decisions, and the university’s IT project managers make the IT project decisions.

Part-time and fractional staff in the learning and skills sector

This Universities and College Union Launch Event presentation reported on the findings of Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) London and South East (LSE) Regional Research Project. The presentation reflected on research carried out during 2002-06 on the development and deployment of part-time staff in the Learning and Skills Sector. Although the lifelong learning sector is the largest UK education sector, little attention has as yet been paid to the role of LSC sector part-time staff. Worrying trends of an increasing casualisation of staffing have been reported. The role of part-timers as highly committed (philanthropic) but generally underpaid and exploited staff (ragged-trousered) emerged from the data collected by this investigation, which examined the role of part-timers in several colleges and adult education institutions in London and the South East. The metaphor of the 'ragged-trousered philanthropist' was consciously selected to investigate the interactivity between philantrophy, employment practices for PT staff, and education as social action, in addressing the need for good practice to achieve quality outcomes in learning and teaching. The results are to some extent transferable to other education and training sectors employing part-time staff, e.g. higher education institutions and work-based training organisations.

Predictive Value Of Phase I Trials For Safety In Later Trials And Final Approved Dose: Analysis Of 61 Approved Cancer Drugs.

Phase I trials use a small number of patients to define a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and the safety of new agents. We compared data from phase I and registration trials to determine whether early trials predicted later safety and final dose. We searched the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website for drugs approved in nonpediatric cancers (January 1990-October 2012). The recommended phase II dose (R2PD) and toxicities from phase I were compared with doses and safety in later trials. In 62 of 85 (73%) matched trials, the dose from the later trial was within 20% of the RP2D. In a multivariable analysis, phase I trials of targeted agents were less predictive of the final approved dose (OR, 0.2 for adopting ± 20% of the RP2D for targeted vs. other classes; P = 0.025). Of the 530 clinically relevant toxicities in later trials, 70% (n = 374) were described in phase I. A significant relationship (P = 0.0032) between increasing the number of patients in phase I (up to 60) and the ability to describe future clinically relevant toxicities was observed. Among 28,505 patients in later trials, the death rate that was related to drug was 1.41%. In conclusion, dosing based on phase I trials was associated with a low toxicity-related death rate in later trials. The ability to predict relevant toxicities correlates with the number of patients on the initial phase I trial. The final dose approved was within 20% of the RP2D in 73% of assessed trials.

Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of pathological aggression in children and adolescents: literature review and clinical recommendations

Objective: To review the literature about the use of atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of pathological aggression in children and adolescents. Method: The databases MEDLINE, SciELO, and LILACS were searched for publications in Portuguese or English from 1992 to August 2011 using the following keywords: mental disease, child, adolescent, treatment, atypical antipsychotic, aggressive behavior, aggression, and violent behavior. Results: Sixty-seven studies of good methodological quality and clinical interest and relevance were identified. Studies including children and adolescents were relatively limited, because few atypical antipsychotics have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All the medications included in this review (risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole and clozapine) have some effectiveness in treating aggression in children and adolescents, and choices should be based on clinical indications and side effects. Conclusions: There are few studies about the effectiveness and safety of atypical antipsychotics for the pediatric population, and further randomized controlled studies with larger groups of patients and more diagnostic categories, such as severe conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, should be conducted to confirm the results reported up to date and to evaluate the impact of long-term use.

Do corpo no tempo ao tempo do corpo : a ciencia e a formação profissional em Educação Fisica

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

Antidepressant-like effects of an apolar extract and chow enriched with Nepeta cataria (catnip) in mice

Nepeta cataria (catnip) is a plant used in pet toys and to treat human diseases. Catnip has also been used in the treatment of some depressive disorders. In this paper, we studied the antidepressant, anxiogenic, and motor activity effects of acute and repeated feeding of chow enriched with 10% N. cataria leaves and the acute and repeated administration of apolar and polar extracts of N. cataria leaves in male mice. The results showed that repeated feeding and acute and repeated administration with the apolar extract reduced immobility in the behavioral despair test but did not alter elevated plus maze and open-field parameters. Acute feeding and the acute and repeated administration of the polar extracts of N. cataria leaves did not alter the behavior of mice. These data suggest that N. cataria has antidepressant properties. Moreover, this antidepressant activity was present in the apolar extract.

Harmine and imipramine promote antioxidant activities in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

A growing body of evidence has suggested that reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play an important role in the physiopathology of depression. Evidence has pointed to the beta-carboline harmine as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of depression. The present study we evaluated the effects of acute and chronic administration of harmine (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg) and imipramine (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg) or saline in lipid and protein oxidation levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in rat prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Acute and chronic treatments with imipramine and harmine reduced lipid and protein oxidation, compared to control group in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The SOD and CAT activities increased with acute and chronic treatments with imipramine and harmine, compared to control group in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In conclusion, our results indicate positive effects of imipramine antidepressant and beta-carboline harmine of oxidative stress parameters, increasing SOD and CAT activities and decreasing lipid and protein oxidation.

New constraints on the chemical evolution of the solar neighbourhood and Galactic disc(s) Improved astrophysical parameters for the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey

We present a re-analysis of the Geneva-Copenhagen survey, which benefits from the infrared flux method to improve the accuracy of the derived stellar effective temperatures and uses the latter to build a consistent and improved metallicity scale. Metallicities are calibrated on high-resolution spectroscopy and checked against four open clusters and a moving group, showing excellent consistency. The new temperature and metallicity scales provide a better match to theoretical isochrones, which are used for a Bayesian analysis of stellar ages. With respect to previous analyses, our stars are on average 100 K hotter and 0.1 dex more metal rich, which shift the peak of the metallicity distribution function around the solar value. From Stromgren photometry we are able to derive for the first time a proxy for [alpha/Fe] abundances, which enables us to perform a tentative dissection of the chemical thin and thick disc. We find evidence for the latter being composed of an old, mildly but systematically alpha-enhanced population that extends to super solar metallicities, in agreement with spectroscopic studies. Our revision offers the largest existing kinematically unbiased sample of the solar neighbourhood that contains full information on kinematics, metallicities, and ages and thus provides better constraints on the physical processes relevant in the build-up of the Milky Way disc, enabling a better understanding of the Sun in a Galactic context.

Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission XIII. CoRoT-13b: a dense hot Jupiter in transit around a star with solar metallicity and super-solar lithium content

We announce the discovery of the transiting planet CoRoT-13b. Ground-based follow-up in CFHT and IAC80 confirmed CoRoT's observations. The mass of the planet was measured with the HARPS spectrograph and the properties of the host star were obtained analyzing HIRES spectra from the Keck telescope. It is a hot Jupiter-like planet with an orbital period of 4.04 days, 1.3 Jupiter masses, 0.9 Jupiter radii, and a density of 2.34 g cm(-3). It orbits a G0V star with T(eff) = 5 945 K, M(*) = 1.09 M(circle dot), R(*) = 1.01 R(circle dot), solar metallicity, a lithium content of +1.45 dex, and an estimated age of between 0.12 and 3.15 Gyr. The lithium abundance of the star is consistent with its effective temperature, activity level, and age range derived from the stellar analysis. The density of the planet is extreme for its mass, implies that heavy elements are present with a mass of between about 140 and 300 M(circle plus).

REVISITING THE FOSSIL GROUP CANDIDATES UGC 842 AND NGC 6034

We present a new insight on NGC 6034 and UGC 842, two groups of galaxies previously reported in the literature as being fossil groups. The study is based on optical photometry and spectroscopy obtained with the CTIO Blanco telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey archival data. We find that NGC 6034 is embedded in a large structure, dominated by three rich clusters and other small groups. Its first and next four ranked galaxies have magnitude differences in the r band and projected distances which violate the optical criteria to classify it as a fossil group. We confirm that the UGC 842 group is a fossil group, but with about half the velocity dispersion that is reported in previous works. The velocity distribution of its galaxies reveals the existence of two structures in its line of sight, one with sigma(nu) similar to 223 km s(-1) and another with sigma(nu) similar to 235 km s(-1), with a difference in velocity of similar to 820 km s(-1). The main structure is dominated by passive galaxies, while these represent similar to 60% of the second structure. The X-ray temperature for the intragroup medium of a group with such a velocity dispersion is expected to be kT similar to 0.5-1 keV, against the observed value of kT similar to 1.9 keV reported in the literature. This result makes UGC 842 a special case among fossil groups because (1) it represents more likely the interaction between two small groups, which warms the intragroup medium and/or (2) it could constitute evidence that member galaxies lost energy in the process of spiraling toward the group center, and decreased the velocity dispersion of the system. As far as we know, UGC 842 is the first low-mass fossil group studied in detail.

Star formation in the intragroup medium and other diagnostics of the evolutionary stages of compact groups of galaxies

Context. Compact groups of galaxies are entities that have high densities of galaxies and serve as laboratories to study galaxy interactions, intergalactic star formation and galaxy evolution. Aims. The main goal of this study is to search for young objects in the intragroup medium of seven compact groups of galaxies: HCG 2, 7, 22, 23, 92, 100 and NGC 92 as well as to evaluate the stage of interaction of each group. Methods. We used Fabry-Perot velocity fields and rotation curves together with GALEX NUV and FUV images and optical R-band and HI maps. Results. (i) HCG 7 and HCG 23 are in early stages of interaction; (ii) HCG 2 and HCG 22 are mildly interacting; and (iii) HCG 92, HCG 100 and NGC 92 are in late stages of evolution. We find that all three evolved groups contain populations of young blue objects in the intragroup medium, consistent with ages < 100 Myr, of which several are younger than < 10 Myr. We also report the discovery of a tidal dwarf galaxy candidate in the tail of NGC 92. These three groups, besides containing galaxies that have peculiar velocity fields, also show extended HI tails. Conclusions. Our results indicate that the advanced stage of evolution of a group, together with the presence of intragroup HI clouds, may lead to star formation in the intragroup medium. A table containing all intergalactic HII regions and tidal dwarf galaxies confirmed to date is appended.