Encountering American higher education: First-year academic transition of international undergraduate students in the United States

This study explored how international undergraduate students perceive their academic transition into American higher education. Schlossberg’s (1984) 4S Transition Theory served as the framework for exploring what academic challenges, if any, international students experience during their first year of undergraduate studies in a new cultural and educational setting. The findings revealed that students’ academic transition into the U.S. higher education was characterized by difficulties in understanding the academic system of their new environment; overcoming educational, instructional and pedagogical differences; building social relationships with domestic students; and receiving the support necessary from the appropriate institutional services.

EFFECTIVENESS OF INSTITUTIONAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN IN NEED OF CARE AND PROTECTION: A REVIEW

The Nation’s development depends on the development of children. Child must be encouraged to live in a family environment which gives an atmosphere of happiness, understanding, love, affection and emotional support for development of child’s personality. The growth, development and personality of children is depended on the environment where the children grown up. Children are being institutionalized with various reasons such as destitution due to death of parents, poverty, inability of parents, unconducive family environment and health issues. As the children are living in the institutions away from their parents, it effects on physical, psychological and emotional development of children. The Government mandated child care institutions to maintain the minimum standards for providing effective rehabilitation services for children in need of care and protection. The child care institutions were managed by Government and Non-Government Organisations. Many studies have been conducted to see the services provided by child care institutions really meeting the needs of the children for their development to attain their goals and mainstreaming in the society. KEY WORDS: Vulnerability, protection, institutions, rehabilitation, development.

Short-term Effect of Monosodium glutamate on serum hormonal level and histological changes of uterus during estrus phase in rat

Background Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is commonly used in the Middle East and worldwide as a flavour enhancer in food. MSG is called Chinese salt and is commonly used by the food processing industry, restaurants, and institutional services. The current study was conducted to investigate the effects of monosodium glutamate on the uterine tissue of adult female Sprague Dawley rats with a regular estrus cycle. Results The mean relative values of progesterone and estrogen to the control in the MSG-treated animal group significantly affect (P < 0.05) compared with the control group. The means of the relative lumen area (um2) showed smaller than the control group. Conclusions MSG may cause disturbance in serum progesterone and estrogen levels in young female rats. So, a precautionary utilised for this compound, especially for females under risk factor of hormonal abnormality, is recommended. Further study should be conducted to evaluate the effect of MSG on corpus lutea function.

The Role of Banking Institutional Services on the Sustainable growth of SMEs in Cameroon

Banking institutions have been very instrumental to the growth of Small and Medium Sized enterprises in many developed economies, and they have been considered as one of the principal driving forces for economic development. The case has not been the same for Cameroon as owner managers of these SMEs have been complaining of the limited presence of banking institutions in solving their problems. Mindful of the fact that Cameroon has a growth vision to become an emerging economy by 2035, the country had to take giant steps to boast the growth of SME in the country. Some of these steps were the introduction of the small business law in 2010. This was all in a drive to ensure that SME play a vital role to the GDP growth, reduce unemployment, alleviate poverty and act as an engine for the country’s emergence growth drive. It is therefore in this light that a study was carried out on the role of banking institutional services on the sustainable growth of SME in Cameroon. A logistic regression model was adopted to examine the impact of banking institutions on the growth of SMEs in Cameroon. The data used in the study was extracted from the 2016 Cameroon Enterprise Survey which was collected from 361 enterprises by the National Institute of Statistics in the country. From the empirical results, it was discovered that 68.4% of the enterprises were growing as opposed to the 31.6%. Despite the high growth rate of these SME bank loans were affecting the growth of SME negatively while MFI loans, electronic banking services, internal funds and research and development were positively contributing to the growth of SME in the country. Thus, we concluded the study by emphasisng the implementation of relationship lending which will contribute positively to the growth of SMEs and more so fiscal policies should be ameliorated to boast the growth of startups businesses.

The Stamp Act and Legal and Economic Institutions

The chapter evaluates the Stamp Act and the contrasting visions of the colonial economy and its institutions advanced by the Stamp Act supporters in England and the Stamp Act opponents in the colonies. It focuses on the first colony, Virginia, as an example of events taking place throughout the colonies. The chapter begins by describing how colonial legislatures assumed authority over establishing the level of fees imposed by the county-level institutions. Moving to the Stamp Act crisis, it then examines how colonial protestors found the Stamp Act taxes offensive because, in addition to usurping colonial legislatures' power over taxation, they targeted official legal documents in the course of services offered by colonial institutions, like land transfers, mortgages, and court procedures. The opposition to the Stamp Act was, in part, rooted in a profound hostility to raising the fees and costs of the institutional infrastructure that was foundational to the day-to-day workings of the colonial economy. The legislative reforms of the founding era reveal that a lasting legacy of the colonial era was an opposition to using institutional services as a source of government revenue.

Etica della collaborazione e responsabilità Per una nuova gestione, valorizzazione e trasmissione del patrimonio culturale

Proper management of institutional services and enhancement of cultural heritage can be achieved taking into account problems we face everyday. Throughout our activities we make choices that must be shared with all professionals involved in the complex management of cultural institution and heritage. The exhibitions – if well-conceived – represent a unique opportunity to enhance our heritage and disseminate knowledge by adopting new technologies.

Marketing of baobab pulp in Kenya: Collectors’ choice of rural versus urban markets

Baobab products provide cash income and supplement diets for local communities living in marginalised, arid and semi-arid regions. However, these products are neglected by research, selectively traded and considered underutilised. This study endeavours to narrow this information gap by analysing the determinants of baobab collectors’ choice of marketing channels in Kenya. A multinomial logit was employed, using a dataset of 268 baobab collectors from three counties. The results show that the majority of baobab collectors sell their baobab pulp through rural markets (assemblers and rural wholesalers), as opposed to urban buyers (urban wholesalers, retailers and processors). Export channels are conspicuously missing from the chain. Human capital and transactional and institutional factors significantly influence the collectors’ choice of marketing channels. The results reveal that building capacity around market development, research and education, road networks and institutional services is essential to create more profitable channels for generating income, enhancing food security and reducing malnutrition.