Recovery and resilience plan (RRP) approved by the European Commission fosters the development of lifelong learning programs to upgrade employees’ skills and knowledge for digital and green transitions. Within higher education, the field of information and communication technology (ICT) is also a priority area, so we compared the demographic variables of students enrolled in formal first-cycle higher education programs in ICT with those enrolled in lifelong ICT programs within the framework of the Advanced Computer Skills project funded by the RRP in Slovenia. The results show that formal first-cycle higher education in the field of ICT remains strongly male-dominated, whereas, among participants in lifelong learning, the percentage of females stands out. Bachelor programs in ICT are primarily enrolled by young people aged up to 24 years, while shorter university-based lifelong learning programs attract mostly older participants with higher completed formal education and from a broader range of prior educational backgrounds. Finally, when all three variables (gender, age and level of prior formal education) are considered, participants in lifelong learning are much more similar to part-time students than full-time bachelor ICT students, although the percentage of men in formal education is still predominant even in part-time studies. The research findings highlight the need for further efforts to offer lifelong learning in ICT to enable individuals to improve their employment prospects, progress in the workplace or even change their field of work.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has both positive and negative impacts, particularly in term of increasing plagiarism. This research analyzes Indonesia’s plagiarism regulations and offers solutions. It uses doctrinal methods with legislative, case, and comparative studies, revealing that plagiarism is regulated but not specifically for AI involvement. The results show that plagiarism in scientific work has actually been regulated through several regulations. On the other hand, there is no regulation governing the involvement of AI in the process of preparing scientific articles. Comparative studies show that the US, Singapore, and the EU have advanced regulations for AI in education. The US has copyright laws for AI works and state regulations, Singapore’s Ministry of Education has guidelines for AI integration and ethics, and the EU has the Artificial Intelligence Act. To tackle AI-related plagiarism in Indonesia, the study suggests enacting AI-specific laws and revising existing ones. Ministerial and Rector statutes should address technical aspects of AI use and plagiarism checks. The Ministry should issue guidelines for universities to develop Standard Procedures for Writing and Checking Scientific Work, using reliable AI-checking software. These measures aim to prevent plagiarism in Indonesia’s educational sector.
This study, drawing on the Knowledge-Based View (KBV) and Contingency Theory, explores how analyzer strategic orientation, learning capability, technical innovation, administrative innovation, and SME growth and learning effectiveness are interrelated. Analyzing cross-sectional data from 407 founders, cofounders, and managers of trade and service SMEs in Vietnam’s Southeast Key Economic Region through PLS-SEM, the research demonstrates that analyzer orientation positively impacts both technical and administrative innovation, thereby bolstering SME growth and learning effectiveness. However, learning capability does not significantly impact technical innovation or growth and learning effectiveness. Instead, learning capability negatively affects administrative innovation. Notably, technical and administrative innovations act as mediators between analyzer orientation and SME growth and learning effectiveness. The study provides practical insights tailored for SMEs navigating dynamic market environments like Vietnam, enriching theoretical understanding of SME strategic management within the trade and service sector.
In response to the prevailing energy crisis, this research focuses on elevating the potential of lithium niobate (LN) thin films for advanced optoelectronic applications. Employing electron beam evaporation, films undergo precise annealing (700°C to 1100°C), revealing a structural evolution through X-ray diffraction—crystallite sizes transition from 69.34 nm (unannealed) to 47.90 nm (1100°C). Scanning electron microscopy captures the transformation from coarse grains to photonic crystal clusters, while energy dispersion X-ray analysis discloses LN's composition (97.27 wt.% oxygen, 2.73 wt.% niobium). Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy illustrates surface damage post-Helium ion implantation, proportionate to depth. UV-VIS spectrophotometry highlights a significant blue shift in the optical band gap (3.70 eV to 2.52 eV), with further reduction at 700°C (2.48 eV) and a climactic shift at 1100°C (2.68 eV). This study not only addresses the pressing energy crisis but also emphasizes the indispensable role of lithium niobate in shaping the future of optoelectronics. It provides insights into tailoring LN properties for sustainable advancements in optoelectronic devices, marking a crucial chapter in our collective journey towards energy resilience. The urgency of innovation in the face of global challenges is underscored, marking a crucial chapter in our collective journey towards energy resilience.
Instant and accurate evaluation of drug resistance in tumors before and during chemotherapy is important for patients with advanced colon cancer and is beneficial for prolonging their progression-free survival time. Here, the possible biomarkers that reflect the drug resistance of colon cancer were investigated using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in vivo. SW480[5-fluorouracil(5-FU)-responsive] and SW480/5-FU (5-FU-resistant) xenograft models were generated and subjected to in vivo 1H-MRS examinations when the maximum tumor diameter reached 1–1.5 cm. The areas under the peaks for metabolites, including choline (Cho), lactate (Lac), glutamine/glutamate (Glx), and myoinositol (Ins)/creatine (Cr) in the tumors, were analyzed between two groups. The resistancerelated protein expression, cell morphology, necrosis, apoptosis, and cell survival of these tumor specimens were assessed. The content for tCho, Lac, Glx, and Ins/Cr in the tumors of the SW480 group was significantly lower than that of the SW480/5-FU group (p < 0.05). While there was no significant difference in the degree of necrosis and apoptosis rate of tumor cells between the two groups (p > 0.05), the tumor cells of the SW480/5-FU showed a higher cell density and larger nuclei. The expression levels of resistance-related proteins (P-gp, MPR1, PKC) in the SW480 group were lower than those in the SW480/5-FU group (p < 0.01). The survival rate of 5-FU-resistant colon cancer cells was significantly higher than that of 5-FUresponsive ones at 5-FU concentrations greater than 2.5 μg/mL (p < 0.05). These results suggest that alterations in tCho, Lac, Glx1, Glx2, and Ins/Cr detected by 1H-MRS may be used for monitoring tumor resistance to 5-FU in vivo.
Breast cancer was a prevalent form of cancer worldwide. Thermography, a method for diagnosing breast cancer, involves recording the thermal patterns of the breast. This article explores the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm to extract features from a dataset of thermographic images. Initially, the CNN network was used to extract a feature vector from the images. Subsequently, machine learning techniques can be used for image classification. This study utilizes four classification methods, namely Fully connected neural network (FCnet), support vector machine (SVM), classification linear model (CLINEAR), and KNN, to classify breast cancer from thermographic images. The accuracy rates achieved by the FCnet, SVM, CLINEAR, and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithms were 94.2%, 95.0%, 95.0%, and 94.1%, respectively. Furthermore, the reliability parameters for these classifiers were computed as 92.1%, 97.5%, 96.5%, and 91.2%, while their respective sensitivities were calculated as 95.5%, 94.1%, 90.4%, and 93.2%. These findings can assist experts in developing an expert system for breast cancer diagnosis.
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