347,776 research outputs found
Three methods for correction of astigmatism during phacoemulsification
No full textPurpose: To compare the safety and efficacy of three methods for correcting pre-existing astigmatism during phacoemulsification.
Methods: This prospective, comparative, non-randomized study was conducted from March 2010 to January 2011, and included patients with keratometric astigmatism ≥1.25 D undergoing cataract surgery. Astigmatism was corrected using the following approaches: limbal relaxing incisions (LRI) on the steep meridian, extension and suturing of the phaco incision created at the steep meridian (extended-on-axis incision, EOAI), and toric intraocular lens (tIOL) implantation. Keratometric and refractive astigmatism were evaluated 1, 8, and 24 weeks postoperatively.
Results: Eighty-three eyes of 72 patients (35 male and 37 female) with mean age of 62.4 ± 14.3 (range, 41-86) years were enrolled. The astigmatism was corrected by using the LRI, EOAI and tIOL implantation methods in 17, 33 and 33 eyes, respectively. Postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was significantly improved in all three groups. The difference in postoperative UDVA was not statistically significant among the study groups throughout follow-up except at week 24, when UCVA was significantly better in the tIOL group as compared to the EOAI group (P = 0.024). There is no statistically significant difference of correction index and index of success between three groups at week 24 (P = 0.085 and P = 0.085 respectively).
Conclusion: There was no significant difference in astigmatism reduction among the three methods of astigmatism correction during phacoemulsification. Each of these methods can be used at the discretion of the surgeon
INSET programmes in Kuwait: a national survey of stakeholder perception
No full textIn-service teacher training programmes, which is mentioned as INSET in this thesis, is considered by the different educational policies around the world as one of the most important and sensitive factors which has the potential to support and improve schools performance in a visible scale (Almazkoor, 2009; Alwan, 2000; Bayracki, 2009; Burns, 2005; Rakumako & LaugKsch, 2010; and Yigit, 2010). However, there is a need of designing and producing sustainable INSET programmes which are practical to the demands of specific contexts. The purpose of this research is to explore current INSET programmes provided to teachers in the public schools in the State of Kuwait and understand the perceptions of the respective teachers, heads of departments and head teachers.The nature of this research can be fallen under the pragmatic paradigm because it tries to connect the perceptions and reflections of teachers and school members to perceive a holistic picture of the targeted educational practice. Mixed methods approaches were used in this descriptive study, and one questionnaire and forty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the research participants’ perceptions on the quality, contributions and suggestions on present INSET programmes in Kuwait.Thirty sets of questionnaire were delivered to the teachers of the fifty primary, intermediate and secondary public schools of all six districts of Kuwait namely Alasema, Alfarwanya, Aljahra, Alahmadi, Hawalli and Mubarak Alkabeer. Teachers responded to the questionnaire and shared their opinions using both the Likert scale statements and open ended questions. Interviews were conducted with teachers, head of departments and head teachers to examine their perception in more elaborately about current INSET programmes in order to understand and explore their wider views and opinions. The sample was selected as a randomly selection in order to obtain a representative sampling and the reason for that was to gather a representative findings that can describe the population fairly.The data analysis procedure was completed through three phases. Firstly, quantitative data were collected via questionnaires from participants and questionnaires were then revised and treated by the SPSS system. The quantitative data were divided in a thematic way based on the research questions, and each theme has its own items that were set to answer that theme. The quantitative findings were then presented in tables as counts and percentages for each theme and its items. Secondly, qualitative data were collected from interviewees who were given coded in order to illustrate each one is voice. Data were then transcribed and categorized in a thematic way based on the research questions and literature review.Finally, each of the two methods was presented in a thematic manner with its findings and results and supported by each method. The aim is to combine and match the two methods as one theme and that support each other. The responses of the interviewees were allocated to the six major themes namely programme design PD, trainer competency TC, identifying and meeting needs IMN, impact I, feedback F and teacher willingness and rewards TWR. Analysis of the words, views and ideas from teachers, head of departments and head teachers were given full consideration based on the six themes. The interviewees showed deep and wider picture for current INSET programmes that support and enrich the questionnaire responses along the overall study. All the data from teachers, head of departments and head teachers indicated that there is a need to improve and reconstruct INSET programmes and the way they are designed and delivered.The findings of this research study showed agreement across all data collection tools concerning teachers and schools strong willingness to contribute and participate in plan and design INSET programmes. In addition, the findings also showed clear indications to the deficiencies and weakness of the current INSET programmes policy and practice in Kuwait and to provide teachers and schools with the authority to plan and design their own INSET programmes. It is also discovered that INSET programmes do not have a systematic follow up and evaluation by those who deliver it in Kuwait. Furthermore, there was no systematic rewards and incentives system for INSET programmes in Kuwait. This study reflects that in order to plan and design effective INSET programmes there is a need to allow teachers and their schools to contribute and participate in plan and design such programmes and to provide them with power
RoMEO Studies 4: An analysis of Journal publishers' Copyright Agreements
No full textThis article is the fourth in a series of six emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open archiving). It describes an analysis of 80 scholarly journal publishers’ copyright agreements with a particular view to their effect on author self-archiving. 90% of agreements asked for copyright transfer and 69% asked for it prior to refereeing the paper. 75% asked authors to warrant that their work had not been previously published although only two explicitly stated that they viewed self-archiving as prior publication. 28.5% of agreements provided authors with no usage rights over their own paper. Although 42.5% allowed self-archiving in some format, there was no consensus on the conditions under which self-archiving could take place. The article concludes that author-publisher copyright agreements should be reconsidered by a working party representing the needs of both partie
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Axial field permanent magnet DC motor with powder iron armature
No full textThe paper describes a double-gap axial field permanent magnet (PM) dc motor whose double-layer armature wave winding is constructed of copper strips. It investigates the performance of two machines using powder iron and lamination steel materials as armature teeth. Tests are conducted to evaluate the motor torque and speed curves as well as their efficiency under different loads. Finite element analysis (FEA) and equivalent circuit models are used to determine the levels of the magnetic saturation in the motors; calculate torque, inductance, and electromotive force (EMF); and determine the distribution of losses in the machine. The results show that the powder iron armature machine has lower back EMF and torque constants, and is less efficient than the steel laminations machine, which is due to the lower permeability and saturation flux density of the powder iron material
Information security strategy in telemedicine and e-health systems: A case study of England’s shared electronic health record system
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 9/11/2010.Shared electronic health record (EHR) systems constitute an important Telemedicine
and e-Health application. Successful implementation of shared health records calls
for a satisfactory level of security. This is invariably achieved through applying and
enforcing strict, and often quite complicated, rules and procedures in the access process. For this reason, information security strategy for EHR systems is needed to be in place. This research reviewed the definition of different terms that related to
electronically stored and shared health records and delineated related information
security terms leading to a definition of an information security strategy. This
research also made a contribution to understanding information security strategy as a significant need in EHR systems. A major case study of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in England is used to be the container of other two sub-case studies in
two different Acute Trusts. Different research methods used: participant observation and networking, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis. This research aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding to the information security strategy of England’s EHR system by presenting its different information security issues such as consent mechanisms, access control, sharing level, and related legal and regulatory documents. Six factors that influence the building of an information
security strategy in EHR systems, were identified in this research, political, social, financial, technical, clinical and legal. Those factors are considered to be driving the strategy directly or indirectly. EHR systems are technical-clinical systems, but having other factors (than technical and clinical) that drive this technical-clinical system is a big concern. This research makes a significant contribution by identifying these factors, and in addition, this research shows not only how these factors can influence building the information security strategy, but also how they can influence each other. The study of the mutual influence among the six factors led to the argument that the most powerful factor is the political factor, as it directly or indirectly influences the remaining five factors. Finally, this research proposes guidelines for building an information security strategy in EHR systems. These guidelines are presented and discussed in the form of a framework. This framework was designed after literature analysis and after completing the whole research journey. It provides a tool to help putting the strategy in line by minimising the influence of various factors that may steer the strategy to undesirable directions.The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Higher Education in Syri
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
POLIGAMI DALAM PANDANGAN MOHAMMAD KHALIFA DAN ORIENTALIS
No full textAbstract: This paper discusses polygamy proposed by Mohammad Khalifa and the orientalists in the book The Sublime Qur'an and Orientalism. In the view of Islam, the discourse of polygamy is often associated with QS. An-Nisa' verse 3. If it is seen from the asbab an-nuzul, according to the majority of scholars, this verse came down as an answer to the number of children who were abandoned by their fathers, and wives who were abandoned by their husbands due to the battle of Uhud. This paper is a library research using analytical descriptive methods and documentation techniques. From this research it can be concluded that, Mohammad Khalifa regarding the practice of polygamy, he is in line with what is stated by the majority of scholars. According to him, the practice of polygamy is devoted to widowers with the aim of helping widows and orphans who are victims of natural disasters, famine, and etc. Meanwhile, according to orientalists, there are those who say that the practice of polygamy is only a means to channel lust. There are also those who say that polygamy occurs so that husbands do not do deviant things to other women.
Keywords: Polygamy, Mohammad Khalifa, Orientalis, The Sublime Qur'an and Orientalism
Abstrak: Tulisan ini membahas tentang poligami yang dikemukakan oleh Mohammad Khalifa dan para orientalis dalam buku The Sublime Qur'an and Orientalism. Dalam pandangan Islam, wacana poligami seringkali dikaitkan dengan QS. An-Nisa' ayat 3. Jika dilihat dari asbab an-nuzul-nya, menurut jumhur ulama, maka ayat tersebut turun sebagai jawaban dari banyaknya anak yang ditinggal mati oleh ayahnya, dan istri yang ditinggal mati oleh suaminya akibat perang Uhud. Tulisan ini merupakan penelitian kepustakaan dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif analitis dan teknik dokumentasi. Dari penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa, Mohammad Khalifa mengenai praktik poligami, ia sejalan dengan apa yang dikemukakan oleh para jumhur ulama. Menurutnya, praktik poligami tersebut dikhususkan pada para duda dengan tujuan untuk menolong janda-janda dan anak yatim akibat korban dari bencana alam, kelaparan, dan lain sebagainya. Adapun menurut para orientalis, ada yang mengatakan bahwa praktik poligami tersebut hanya sebagai sarana untuk menyalurkan nafsu saja. Adapula yang mengatakan bahwa poligami terjadi agar suami tidak melakukan hal menyimpang pada perempuan lain.
Kata Kunci: Poligami, Mohammad Khalifa, Orientalis, The Sublime Qur'an and Orientalis
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