Stochastic processes and calculus (An Elementary Introduction with Applications)
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Improvement of teaching service quality standard at vocational school, a case study at SMKN 4 Malang
The research study was about process of teaching, facilities supporting learning achievement, and school programs to improve learning quality of output SMKN 4 Malang. Research done with qualitative approach by case study model. Data analysis used to Miles-Huberman technique. The results showed SMKN 4 Malang implemented learning active model, teachers prepared learning design (RPP), learning media, game simulation and slides presentation. Students are assigned to work on projects that require the growth of creative learning. The learning process has the support of adequate facilities ranging from the common manifold facilities to specialized facilities. Learning evaluation not only at learning result but involved learning processes. Work practice done in 1 year duration, Meanwhile in others school the program done 6 mounts. Teachers competency improvement by teacher soft skill program and student soft skill program. The lack must to improve at SMKN 4 Malang is headmaster and teachers senior monitoring to junior teachers, and monitoring to students work practice program.
Keywords: teaching, learning quality standard, vocation
Hendyat Soetopo, Asep Sunandar, Sultoni. Improvement of teaching service quality standard at vocational school, a case study at SMKN 4 Malang. Acta Scientiae et Intellectus, 2(2)2016, 7-15.
Anti-commons in the aquaculture sector in Portugal: entrepreneurship and bureaucracy
Last decades of the 20th century have shown many problems arisen from the emergence of commons mismanagement and under-defined property rights (The “Tragedy of the Commons”, cf. Hardin, 1968), affecting, especially, the design of environmental and natural resources management policy.
In the 80s, Michelman introduced another problem, this time about the excessive fragmentation of property rights. A new concept, “anticommons”, was developed to put in evidence some problems one can see as the mirror image of traditional “Tragedy of the commons”. These problems include the under-use of resources and may come from several sources, including bureaucracy.
Michelman introduced the concept of “anticommons” to explain “a type of property in which everyone always has rights respecting the objects in the regime, and no one, consequently, is ever privileged to use any of them except as particularly authorized by others”. In this sense, “anticommons” is seen as a property regime in which multiple owners hold effective rights of exclusion in a scarce resource.
The problem stands in this: coexistence of multiple exclusion rights creates conditions for suboptimal use of the common resource. Buchanan and Yoon (2000) suggested a special view of this problem. The authors stated that the anti-commons construction offers an analytical tool for isolating a central feature of “sometimes disparate institutional structures”. This means that the inefficiencies introduced by overlapping and intrusive regulatory bureaucracies may be studied with the help of this conceptualization.
When an entrepreneur seeks to invest in a project and his action is inhibited by the necessity of getting permits from several national and regional agencies, each one holding exclusion rights to the project, we may face the “Tragedy of the Anticommons”. In this context, the possible emergence of a situation of anticommons can create a lot of problems in the development of local initiatives of entrepreneurship, affecting the potential of innovation and of regional development.
There are only a few empirical studies on anticommons tragedies in the real world, most of them focusing on pharmaceutics industry. The main purpose of this paper is to use this conceptualization to study the design and execution of aquaculture policy in Portugal and to introduce the possible emergence of an “anti-commons tragedy” when we approach the difficult process of approval and execution of projects of aquaculture in the Portuguese coastal areas. Our results are consistent with the suggestion of Buchanan and Yoon (2000).
Keywords: Anti-commons, Bureaucracy, Coastal Development, Aquaculture Overall Theme: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Networks
Manuel Coelho, Manuel Alberto M. Ferreira, José António Filipe. Anti-commons in the aquaculture sector in Portugal: entrepreneurship and bureaucracy. Acta Scientiae et Intellectus, 2(2)2016, 16-26.
The possible protective effects of oxytocin on cisplatin-induced toxicity in female rats
The present study aimed to assess the protective effect of oxytocin against cisplatin-induced liver, renal spleen and ovarian toxicities in female Sprague Dawly rats. Cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg, i.p. single dose) caused significant increase in blood urea, serum creatinine, liver enzymes: AST, ALT and alkaline phosphatase. Cisplatin caused decrease in catalase and reduced glutathione meanwhile it caused increase in the malondialdehyde content of kidney, liver and spleen homogenates. On the other hand, administration of oxytocin (800 µg/kg i.p) for six days with injection of a single dose of cisplatin onset of the day 3, ameliorated the cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity as indicated by the restoration of kidney, liver functions and oxidative stress biomarkers. Furthermore, oxytocin reduced the histopathological changes induced by cisplatin and caused decreased expression of caspase-3 in immune-histochemical studies of liver, kidney, spleen and ovarian tissues. In conclusion, oxytocin showed protective effects against cisplatin-induced toxicity in female rats due to its antioxidant and immunomodulatory functions.
Keywords: cisplatin, oxytocin, nephrotoxicity, liver enzymes, immunomodulation
Zeinab A. Rahman, Wedad A. Hassan, Amany El Garhy. The possible protective effects of oxytocin on cisplatin-induced toxicity in female rats. Acta Scientiae et Intellectus, 2(2)2016, 27-38.
Ichthyotoxic effect of Phyllantus niruri leaf
Phyllantus niruri is a versatile African medicinal plant employed for control of several human ailments. It has been reportedly used in control of certain fish infections. It lowers fish blood sugar level, has immunostimulant activities and is a stress reliever in fishes. The present work shows that despites its health benefits, it has some ichthyotoxic effect which is both concentration and time dependent. The affected fishes showed behavioral changes which include weakness, erratic swimming and moribund behavior and finally death. The gills of such fishes showed lamellae inflammation and distortion and serious gill shrinkage and lamellae erosion. They must have died due to poor supply of oxygen. The work therefore suggests that care should be taken when treating fishes with Phyllantus niruri in order not to exceed its safe limit.
Keywords: Phyllantus niruri, Clarias gariepinus, ichthyotoxicity, gill lamellae inflammation, lamellae erosion
Frank N.I. Morah, Albert P. Ekanem, Enobong M. Michael. Ichthyotoxic effect of Phyllantus niruri leaf. Acta Scientiae et Intellectus, 2(2)2016, 39-44.
Optimization tools in management and finance
Through this paper, the most commonly used in management and finance optimization problems mathematical tools are presented, in a combined coherent way. The respective mathematical fundaments are synthetically outlined and the resolution methods are briefly described, hopping that this text functions as a manual in these matters.
Keywords: Management, Mathematics, Optimization, Convex Programming
Manuel Alberto M. Ferreira. Optimization tools in management and finance. Acta Scientiae et Intellectus, 2(2)2016, 45-59.