Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences

Review of approaches and styles adopted by postgraduate supervisors

Daniel Maposa — 2023-07-06

The study provides a critical review of the various postgraduate supervision approaches and styles that supervisors adopt in higher education institutions and factors that influence these adoptions of approaches and styles. Particular reference in the study is made to a higher education institution classified as a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) using the South African context of categorisation of universities. The study has outlined the kind of supervisory styles and approaches within the context of the author’s discipline of statistics, his institution’s structural-cultural traditions, beliefs, and some constraints faced in HDIs in the South African HE sector. Relevant literature sources were cited and examples were used to enhance the discussion and to provide justification and critical edge to the points raised. The dominant supervisory styles of the author were identified as directional and contractual styles, with supervision sessions being conducted predominantly using one-on-one supervision approach aided by cohort supervision approach through research seminars and workshops. The author argues that the masters and doctoral students come into the extreme value theory (EVT) discourse as novice, vicarious, peripheral and variant participants in EVT, some of whom are only interested in getting the qualification degree certificate. The author further argues that in towards the completion of their degree programme, these masters and doctoral students grow to become generative participants as they become convergent in the EVT discourse. The author further looks forward to establishing at EVT Research Unit in the School.

Research ethics and integrity issues in supervision

Daniel Maposa — 2023-07-06

Research ethics and integrity plays an important role in postgraduate supervision in universities and various research institutions across all continents in the world. Higher education (HE) institutions, in particular, universities and medical research institutions, are battling with issues related to research ethics and integrity. Studies that involve human participants, animals and biosafety materials require ethical approval of the research protocol or proposal from an accredited research ethics committee or board before commencement of the research study. Once the research protocol has been approved by the research ethics committee, it is expected that the researchers maintain research integrity in carrying out the research study and reporting of the findings. The literature is abundant with issues of research misconduct and unethical practices in research, for example, the notorious Nazi medical experiments in Germany during World War II in the health sciences. The massification of postgraduate supervision has also given rise to research misconduct and unethical practices in supervision. The present study provides a critical review of the research ethics and integrity issues in research and postgraduate supervision. Particular reference in the study is made to a HE institution classified as a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) according to the South African context of categorisation of universities. The study presents the Singapore Statement and also highlights some research ethics and integrity issues faced in HDIs in South Africa. The recent and relevant literature sources were used to support the arguments raised and useful examples were provided to enhance the discussion and to provide justification and critical edge to the points raised.

Performance evaluation of a four-stroke engine powered by biofuel blends made from waste olives of Sfax region

Munaf D. F. Al-Aseebee — 2023-04-10

Biofuel as an alternative fuel might be a future option to satisfy fossil fuel scarcity while also lowering pollution emissions from internal combustion engines. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of employing diesel-biofuel mixes on the performance and emissions of a single-cylinder direct-injection engine, both experimentally and statistically. The use of waste oil derived from olive trees in Tunisia's Sfax area is presented in this study. To make biofuel from recycled olive oil, a chemical transesterification procedure was performed. A single-cylinder engine test facility was used to create and test six mixes of varied amounts of diesel and biofuel. In terms of exhaust emissions and torque, the experimental findings were compared to those of a one-dimensional engine model, which revealed a good agreement between test and numerical data. Furthermore, the engine's thermodynamics characteristics for various blends were provided in order to better understand the elements that influence the engine's response to changes in fuel composition.

Understanding learners’ satisfaction in metaverse's online PE class: Exploring presence, usability, and enjoyment as key factors

Ji-Eun Yu — 2023-11-28

Despite the increasing use of metaverse technology in practical subjects such as physical education (PE), the application of metaverse technology to achieve learning outcomes such as learners’ satisfaction is mostly limited to theoretical courses. Therefore, in this study, virtual yoga class was used as an example of online PE class to investigate the impact of presence, usability, and enjoyment on learner satisfaction. A survey was conducted with 202 respondents and analysed using the structural equation model to extract insights. Results showed that the construct validity for questionnaires and a reasonable model fit were confirmed, and that presence showed a statistically significant effect on educational satisfaction through the mediating path of enjoyment even though it did not have a significant effect on educational satisfaction directly. In conclusion, educational satisfaction of learners in PE course using metaverse technology cannot be satisfied only with the sense of presence, the reality of performing physical activity, and the enjoyment through physical activity is necessary for learners’ satisfaction even in the virtual environment.

Classification of Knee Arthritis Diseases Using Convolutional Neural Networks

gopi krishna tiruveedula — 2024-10-27

The objective of this research turned into to create a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) version to classify knee arthritis using deep getting to know strategies. The dataset had gathered of 667 knee X-ray images from both public and private hospitals. The models were evaluated with varying image sizes and color modes. Among the models tested, the proposed custom Knee-Arthritis-Model demonstrated the highest accuracy of 93% when using grayscale images with dimensions of 100x100 pixels. The developed CAD model exhibits significant promise result for accurate knee arthritis classification, offering potential benefits for clinical diagnosis and patient care

To what extent are functional traits in microbes successfully acquired and propagated through horizontal gene transfer?

Gadafi Iddrisu Balali — 2024-10-27

This study explores the extent to which functional traits in microbes are acquired and propagated through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). A systematic review was conducted, utilizing advanced search tools such as Rayyan, Connected Papers, ChatGPT 4.0, and Covidence across multiple databases, including Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The initial search yielded 22,300 studies, which were screened and filtered, ultimately resulting in 37 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were reviewed to examine the frequency of HGT events, the types of functional traits transferred, and the contextual factors influencing successful gene transfer. The results reveal that HGT plays a significant role in microbial evolution, facilitating the acquisition of traits such as antibiotic resistance, metabolic functions, and environmental adaptability. Despite some limitations, such as potential publication bias and variability in study designs, this review synthesizes current evidence on HGT and highlights its impact on microbial fitness, ecological dynamics, and public health. The findings underscore the importance of understanding HGT mechanisms to inform strategies for mitigating the spread of antibiotic resistance and harnessing microbial traits for biotechnological applications.

Fuzzy 2-absorbing Filters in an Almost Distributive Lattice

Natnael Amare — 2024-10-27

In this study, we present the notion of fuzzy 2-absorbing filters and 2-absorbing fuzzy filters in an Almost Distributive Lattice (ADL). Furthermore, we prove that both the image and the pre-image of fuzzy 2-absorbing filters remain as fuzzy 2-absorbing filters. Mainly, we discuss the connections among the fuzzy prime filter and the fuzzy 2-absorbing filter, the prime fuzzy filter and the 2-absorbing fuzzy filter, as well as the relationship between the 2-absorbing fuzzy filter and the fuzzy 2-absorbing filters. In conclusion, we further introduce the 2-absorbing fuzzy filters in terms of the 2-absorbing filter of an ADL and the 2-absorbing element in a frame.

Essential Newborn Care Practice Among Primary Healthcare Workers at Public Health Facilities of Ethiopia

Legesse Elilo — 2024-10-27

Background: Worldwide neonatal mortality remains unacceptably high and is disproportionately concentrated in Sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia. The care given immediately after birth is crucial for survival and a decrease in the mortality rate. Healthcare workers need to have skills in preventive and curative care for newborns. This study aimed to assess Essential newborn care practices among primary healthcare workers.

Objective: To assess Essential newborn care practices among primary health workers.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in southern Ethiopia from July to August 2021. Data were collected from 407 randomly selected healthcare workers through a face-to-face interview. The data were cleaned, entered into Epi-Data 4.02, and then exported to SPSS 21.0 for analysis. Binary logistic regression with p-values less than 0.25 was entered into a multivariable logistic regression for analysis. Finally, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals at a p-value of <0.05 were considered as a statistically significant association with the outcome variable.

Results: A total of 407 health workers participated in the study, with a response rate of 97.83 percent. This study revealed that 57.7% (95% CI: 52.7–62.7) of health workers practiced essential newborn care properly. The factors significantly associated were profession (AOR = 0.032, CI: 0.010, 0.101), getting in-service training (AOR =2.21, 95% CI: 1.214, 12.199), presence of guidelines (AOR = 3.621, 95% CI: 1.667, 7.867), Education qualification (AOR = 3.091, 95% CI: 1.130, 8.455), and workload (AOR = 0.108, 95% CI: 0.210, 0.545), which were factors significantly associated with proper practice of essential newborn care.

Conclusion: The practice of essential newborn care was generally low. Therefore, improvement in essential newborn care practices might be attained through modifiable, proven interventions like the provision of in-service training, the use of guidelines, and the hiring of sufficient healthcare workers for essential newborn care.

The Impact of land holding size on farmer livelihoods in indigenous agricultural system of southern Ethiopia: evidence from a continuous treatment approach

Abiyot Mebrate — 2024-10-27

Indigenous food production systems are promising strategies to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers while conserving the natural resource. However, there is a lack of information on the landholding size intensity in relation with farmers’ livelihood thus reach farmer expand their holding by illegal purchasing. Hence, the objectives of this study were to provide empirical evidence on the impact of landholding on the livelihood of farmer households. A multistage sampling technique was employed to take 270 sample respondents from 14 rural kebeles. Primary data were collected using a structured survey questionnaire, focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews. The impact function was obtained by estimating the average annual expenditure at different levels of land holding. Both descriptive statistics and the Generalized Propensity score matching (GPSM) model were used for data analysis. The descriptive result revealed that the area can be categorized under a low level of household asset holding with 0.67 ha landholding and 1.56 TLU livestock holding. The econometric result shows that the land holding starting from minimum intensity (< 0.0312 ha) farmer livelihood increased as landholding size increased and the marginal effect of landholding size reached optimum level at 6 ha landholding and beyond which the intensify of landholding size resulted in a negative effect on farmers livelihood. The farmer households with minimum landholding intensity (< 0.0312 ha) were more dependent on off-farm activities, while formers with land holding > 6 ha also collected more land by the informal land market for no value. The results suggest that the concerned body has to support almost landless farmers through appropriate policy while discouraging farmers with more than optimum landholding size through various policy options including taxation.

Performance evaluation of a four-stroke engine powered by biofuel blends made from waste olives of Sfax region

munaf Alaseebee — 2024-10-27