Higher education policies are designed to facilitate students’ learning progression and academic success. Following Tinto’s integration theory and Bean’s attrition model, this study proposes a research model to investigate whether students prone to attrition can be pre-emptively identified through self-evaluating academic factors contributing to their learning progress. Theoretically, the learning progress is identified with student success, represented by factors amenable to intervention including the interaction with peers and instructors, teaching effectiveness, exam scores, absenteeism, students’ effort, and academic course-related variables. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of 530 undergraduate students revealed that the indicators of learning progress in such students were channeled into two constructs. The results indicated that the teacher effectiveness and learning materials contributed most to the learning progress. Structural equation modelling revealed that the learning progress variables have a significant impact on students’ attrition status. A multi-group analysis confirmed the academic semesters to be a moderator in the mediating effects of the students’ grade point average (GPA). This model functions as a framework to design a student-oriented learning system promoting students’ learning experience and academic success.

To evaluate the correlation between change in attenuation and tumor metabolic activity assessed by using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in colon cancer liver metastases treated with yttrium 90 ((90)Y) radioembolization. This Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board; patient informed consent was waived. Unresectable chemorefractory colon cancer liver metastases treated with (90)Y radioembolization in 28 patients were evaluated at pre- and posttreatment multidetector computed tomographic (CT) and FDG PET scans. Maximum cross-sectional diameter, volume, and overall attenuation of target lesions were calculated. The percentage change (%Delta) in these parameters after treatment was calculated and correlated with the standardized uptake value (SUV) analysis at FDG PET. The accuracy of the radiologic parameters in helping predict response to treatment at FDG PET was assessed. Data were analyzed by using the Student t, Wilcoxon matched pair, Mann-Whitney, Spearman rank correlation, and chi(2) tests. The significance level was set at .05. Seventy-four metastatic lesions in 10 women and 18 men (mean age, 61.5 years +/- 14.3 [standard deviation]) were evaluated. Mean follow-up interval for multidetector CT after treatment was 30 days. A significant reduction in maximum cross-sectional diameter, volume, and attenuation was observed from pre- to posttreatment multidetector CT (P < .05). The %Delta in attenuation had higher correlation with %Delta in SUV (r = 0.61) than diameter (r = 0.39) or volume (r = 0.49) and also predicted the metabolic activity at FDG PET with higher sensitivity (P < .001). By using a threshold level of a reduction in attenuation of 15% or greater, attenuation showed 84.2% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity in predicting response at FDG PET evaluation. Changes in attenuation of colon cancer liver metastases treated with (90)Y radioembolization correlate highly with metabolic activity at FDG PET and may be useful as an early surrogate marker for assessing treatment response.

The ongoing developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) lead IT professionals of the academic environments worldwide to adjust the eLearning Management Systems of their universities' domains in this reality by adopting the new ideas and recommendations. As a direct consequence, the influence on teaching and learning environments is more than emphatic and the challenges revealing the all the more increasing need in utilizing modern learning applications, procedures, and policies more apparent than ever before. Nevertheless, their institutions remain teaching organizations with their core processes focused on the need for education and training of their student bodies often increasing in size, especially in the emerging economies and developing countries. The Middle East and especially the Gulf Council Countries' (GCC) higher education systems are no exception. Saudi Arabia in particular can be considered a special case in the GCC due to its numerous and rather crowded higher education institutions. In this research, a number of diverse types of administrative, technical, and general challenges and issues related to eLearning are covered in order to examine the current situation of eLearning progress in Saudi universities, investigate the obstacles preventing high rates of eLearning development, and discover what kind of learning procedures people of Saudi prefer to accommodate their educational preferences. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for the purpose of data collection. The data were gathered from students of these educational institutions in Saudi Arabia and from other individuals from all walks of life and of various employment statuses. This pilot research study suggested that the main reason behind the slow progress of eLearning in Saudi Arabia is the result of problems in the local telecommunications and other infrastructure, as noted by the survey participants, and far less the outcome of weaknesses of the established procedures and facilities available from the local eLearning institutions.

The purpose of this study was to identify threshold right and left portal vein sonographic velocities that are correlated with subsequent development of hepatofugal flow in the main portal vein (MPV), a marker of portal hypertension. A database containing 6019 Doppler liver ultrasound reports from an academic hospital was parsed using a Visual Basic computer algorithm. Right and left portal vein velocities were identified from 65 patients who developed hepatofugal MPV flow. Patients with a liver transplant or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt were excluded. Similarly, right and left portal vein velocities were identified from 195 patients free of chronic hepatic disease. The right and left portal vein velocities of these 2 groups were analyzed using a receiver operating characteristic curve to identify threshold velocities with the optimal sensitivity and specificity for patients who will develop hepatofugal flow in the MPV. A threshold velocity of 11 cm/s in the right portal vein is associated with 81.8% sensitivity and 93.5% specificity in distinguishing patients who develop hepatofugal flow from otherwise healthy control subjects. Likewise, a threshold velocity of 8 cm/s in the left portal vein is associated with a 62.3% sensitivity and a 94.5% specificity. A threshold right portal vein velocity of 11 cm/s can be used with high sensitivity and specificity to identify patients who may develop hepatofugal flow in the MPV. A left portal vein velocity less than 8 cm/s is 94.5% specific for the development of hepatofugal flow.