bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Planning Science Instruction for Critical Thinking: Two Urban Elementary Teachers’ Responses to a State Science Assessment
Authors: Mangiante Elaine
Published: July 2013

Science education reform standards have shifted focus from exploration and experimentation to evidence-based explanation and argumentation to prepare students with knowledge for a changing workforce and critical thinking skills to evaluate issues requiring increasing scientific literacy. However, in urban schools serving poor, diverse populations, where the priority is on students’ assessment results in reading and math, students may not receive reform-based science. The rationale for this qualitative study was to examine how two elementary teachers from high-poverty urban schools planned for reform-based science in response to a quality state science assessment in conjunction with their training and resources. Their state assessment included an inquiry task requiring students to construct responses to questions based on their investigation data. From evaluating evidence using Zembal-Saul’s continuum for teaching science as argument, the findings indicated that both teachers adopted an investigation-based and evidence-based approach to science teaching to prepare students for the inquiry task. However, one teacher provided argument-based science teaching from her explicit training in that approach. The results suggested that the teachers’ training and resources informed their interpretation of the focus areas on the science assessment inquiry task and influenced the extent to which they offered students an equitable opportunity to develop higher-order thinking from reform-based science.
MicroRNA-27a Is Induced by Leucine and Contributes to Leucine-Induced Proliferation Promotion in C2C12 Cells
Authors: Chen Xiaoling , Huang Zhiqing , Chen Daiwen , Yang Ting , Liu Guangmang
Published: July 2013

Leucine, a branched chain amino acid, is well known to stimulate protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. However, the role of leucine in myoblast proliferation remains unclear. In this study, we found that leucine could promote proliferation of C2C12 cells. Moreover, expressions of miR-27a and myostatin (a bona fide target of miR-27a) were upregulated and downregulated, respectively, following leucine treatment. We also found that miR-27a loss-of-function by transfection of a miR-27a inhibitor suppressed the promotion of myoblast proliferation caused by leucine. Our results suggest that miR-27a is induced by leucine and contributes to leucine-induced proliferation promotion of myoblast.
Modulation of Phytoalexin Biosynthesis in Engineered Plants for Disease Resistance
Authors: Jeandet Philippe , Clément Christophe , Courot Eric , Cordelier Sylvain
Published: July 2013

Phytoalexins are antimicrobial substances of low molecular weight produced by plants in response to infection or stress, which form part of their active defense mechanisms. Starting in the 1950’s, research on phytoalexins has begun with biochemistry and bio-organic chemistry, resulting in the determination of their structure, their biological activity as well as mechanisms of their synthesis and their catabolism by microorganisms. Elucidation of the biosynthesis of numerous phytoalexins has permitted the use of molecular biology tools for the exploration of the genes encoding enzymes of their synthesis pathways and their regulators. Genetic manipulation of phytoalexins has been investigated to increase the disease resistance of plants. The first example of a disease resistance resulting from foreign phytoalexin expression in a novel plant has concerned a phytoalexin from grapevine which was transferred to tobacco. Transformations were then operated to investigate the potential of other phytoalexin biosynthetic genes to confer resistance to pathogens. Unexpectedly, engineering phytoalexins for disease resistance in plants seem to have been limited to exploiting only a few phytoalexin biosynthetic genes, especially those encoding stilbenes and some isoflavonoids. Research has rather focused on indirect approaches which allow modulation of the accumulation of phytoalexin employing transcriptional regulators or components of upstream regulatory pathways. Genetic approaches using gain- or less-of functions in phytoalexin engineering together with modulation of phytoalexin accumulation through molecular engineering of plant hormones and defense-related marker and elicitor genes have been reviewed.
The Tumor Suppressor Roles of miR-433 and miR-127 in Gastric Cancer
Authors: Guo Li-Hua , Li Hui , Wang Fang , Yu Jia , He Jin-Sheng
Published: July 2013

The discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) provides a new and powerful tool for studying the mechanism, diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. Currently, the methylation epigenetic silencing of miRNAs with tumor suppressor features by CpG island hypermethylation is emerging as a common hallmark of different tumors. Here we showed that miR-433 and miR-127 were significantly down-regulated in gastric cancer (GC) tissues compared with the adjacent normal regions in 86 paired samples. Moreover, the lower level of miR-433 and miR-127 was associated with pM or pTNM stage in clinical gastric cancer patients. The restored expression of miR-433 and miR-127 in GC cells upon 5-Aza-CdR and TSA treatment suggested the loss of miR-433 and miR-127 was at least partly regulated by epigenetic modification in GC. Furthermore, the ectopic expression of miR-433 and miR-127 in gastric cancer cell lines HGC-27 inhibits cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, cell migration and invasion by directly interacting with the mRNA encoding oncogenic factors KRAS and MAPK4 respectively. Taken together, our results showed that miR-433 and miR-127 might act as tumor suppressors in GC, and it may provide novel diagnostic and therapeutic options for human GC clinical operation in the near future.
Effect of Ni Core Structure on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Pt-Ni/C in Methanol Oxidation
Authors: Kang Jian , Wang Rongfang , Wang Hui , Liao Shijun , Key Julian , Linkov Vladimir , Ji Shan
Published: July 2013

Methanol oxidation catalysts comprising an outer Pt-shell with an inner Ni-core supported on carbon, (Pt-Ni/C), were prepared with either crystalline or amorphous Ni core structures. Structural comparisons of the two forms of catalyst were made using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and methanol oxidation activity compared using CV and chronoamperometry (CA). While both the amorphous Ni core and crystalline Ni core structures were covered by similar Pt shell thickness and structure, the Pt-Ni(amorphous)/C catalyst had higher methanol oxidation activity. The amorphous Ni core thus offers improved Pt usage efficiency in direct methanol fuel cells.
Total Synthesis of Fellutamide B and Deoxy-Fellutamides B, C, and D
Authors: Giltrap Andrew , Cergol Katie , Pang Angel , Britton Warwick , Payne Richard
Published: July 2013

The total syntheses of the marine-derived lipopeptide natural product fellutamide B and deoxy-fellutamides B, C, and D are reported. These compounds were accessed through a novel solid-phase synthetic strategy using Weinreb amide-derived resin. As part of the synthesis, a new enantioselective route to (3R)-hydroxy lauric acid was developed utilizing a Brown allylation reaction followed by an oxidative cleavage-oxidation sequence as the key steps. The activity of these natural products, and natural product analogues was also assessed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro.
Synthesis of New Cytotoxic Aminoanthraquinone Derivatives via Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions
Authors: Nor Siti , Sukari Mohd , Azziz Saripah , Fah Wong , Alimon Hasimah , Juhan Siti
Published: July 2013

Aminoanthraquinones were successfully synthesized via two reaction steps. 1,4-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (1) was first subjected to methylation, reduction and acylation to give an excellent yield of anthracene-1,4-dione (3), 1,4-dimethoxyanthracene-9,10-dione (5) and 9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-1,4-diyl diacetate (7). Treatment of 1, 3, 5 and 7 with BuNH2 in the presence of PhI(OAc)2 as catalyst produced seven aminoanthraquinone derivatives 1a, b, 3a, and 5a–d. Amination of 3 and 5 afforded three new aminoanthraquinones, namely 2-(butylamino)anthracene-1,4-dione (3a), 2-(butylamino)anthracene-9,10-dione (5a) and 2,3-(dibutylamino)anthracene-9,10-dione (5b). All newly synthesised aminoanthraquinones were examined for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (estrogen receptor positive human breast) and Hep-G2 (human hepatocellular liver carcinoma) cancer cells using MTT assay. Aminoanthraquinones 3a, 5a and 5b exhibited strong cytotoxicity towards both cancer cell lines (IC50 1.1–13.0 µg/mL).
In-Solution Conformational Analysis of the XCYCH3 Moiety for Small Esters and Ethers with all Combinations of X, Y = O, S
Authors: Nagy Peter
Published: July 2013

Favorable steric and electrostatic fit of a ligand to a receptor is of central interest in theoretical drug design. This paper considers the effects of non-protic solvents, in comparison with the gas phase, on the preferred conformation of the XCYCH3 moiety of simple aliphatic esters and heterocyclic methyl ethers with all combinations of the X and Y atoms as oxygen and sulfur. An IEF-PCM/B97D/aug-cc-pv(t+d)z continuum dielectric solvent study in chloroform and acetonitrile explores the through-space polarization effect of the environment on the conformational preference, not affected by possible solute-solvent hydrogen bond formation. The inherently favored structure for the present molecules is important, since the hypothetical oxygen and sulfur lone-pairs point approximately in opposite directions in the cis conformation of esters, whereas the trans and gauche conformations for the methyl group in ethers define nearly parallel or perpendicular directionality for the lone pairs of the ring heteroatoms and the O or S atoms connecting to the ring. These different preferences for the studied two families of compounds allow for designing formation of hydrogen bonds with a protein in fairly different regions of the latter still within the ligand-binding cavity. For a fine-tuning of these hydrogen bonds, a replacement of an oxygen atom of the ligand by a sulfur atom could be a straightforward possibility.
A Novel Role for a Major Component of the Vitamin D Axis: Vitamin D Binding Protein-Derived Macrophage Activating Factor Induces Human Breast Cancer Cell Apoptosis through Stimulation of Macrophages
Authors: Thyer Lynda , Ward Emma , Smith Rodney , Fiore Maria , Magherini Stefano , Branca Jacopo , Morucci Gabriele , Gulisano Massimo , Ruggiero Marco , Pacini Stefania
Published: July 2013

The role of vitamin D in maintaining health appears greater than originally thought, and the concept of the vitamin D axis underlines the complexity of the biological events controlled by biologically active vitamin D (1,25(OH)(2)D3), its two binding proteins that are the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the vitamin D-binding protein-derived macrophage activating factor (GcMAF). In this study we demonstrate that GcMAF stimulates macrophages, which in turn attack human breast cancer cells, induce their apoptosis and eventually phagocytize them. These results are consistent with the observation that macrophages infiltrated implanted tumors in mice after GcMAF injections. In addition, we hypothesize that the last 23 hydrophobic amino acids of VDR, located at the inner part of the plasma membrane, interact with the first 23 hydrophobic amino acids of the GcMAF located at the external part of the plasma membrane. This al1ows 1,25(OH)(2)D3 and oleic acid to become sandwiched between the two vitamin D-binding proteins, thus postulating a novel molecular mode of interaction between GcMAF and VDR. Taken together, these results support and reinforce the hypothesis that GcMAF has multiple biological activities that could be responsible for its anti-cancer effects, possibly through molecular interaction with the VDR that in turn is responsible for a multitude of non-genomic as well as genomic effects.
Identifying Key Sectors and Measures for a Transition towards a Low Resource Economy
Authors: Koskela Sirkka , Mattila Tuomas , Antikainen Riina , Mäenpää Ilmo
Published: July 2013

A transition towards a low resource economy is unavoidable. This can be concluded from numerous initiatives which have been introduced recently. Methodologies and indicators are required in order to better assess the possibilities and challenges related to a transition towards a low resource economy. One of these is economy-wide material flow analysis (MFA). When MFA is connected to national economics accounts it enables the input-output analysis (IOA) of the economic structures causing material flows. In this study we used IO modelling and total flow analysis to identify industrial sectors with the highest material flows in Finland. The analysis exposed that in Finland most resource consumption is caused by the export industry, of which material intensity is low and does not produce significant value added, whereas the domestic construction sector, with notable resource flows, produces significant value added. A low resource economy requires significant and radical change in socio-technological systems and people’s mindsets. Due to the complexity of society and the diversity of the economy different types of measures are needed in order to achieve the change. We suggest some measures related to regulations, eco-design, material recycling and welfare for production, investments, services and individual consumption, for example. In the future, the transition towards a low resource economy needs radical changes, more innovations, policy support and actions on all societal levels.
Identification of Genes Critical for Resistance to Infection by West Nile Virus Using RNA-Seq Analysis
Authors: Qian Feng , Chung Lisa , Zheng Wei , Bruno Vincent , Alexander Roger , Wang Zhong , Wang Xiaomei , Kurscheid Sebastian , Zhao Hongyu , Fikrig Erol , Gerstein Mark , Snyder Michael , Montgomery Ruth
Published: July 2013

The West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging infection of biodefense concern and there are no available treatments or vaccines. Here we used a high-throughput method based on a novel gene expression analysis, RNA-Seq, to give a global picture of differential gene expression by primary human macrophages of 10 healthy donors infected in vitro with WNV. From a total of 28 million reads per sample, we identified 1,514 transcripts that were differentially expressed after infection. Both predicted and novel gene changes were detected, as were gene isoforms, and while many of the genes were expressed by all donors, some were unique. Knock-down of genes not previously known to be associated with WNV resistance identified their critical role in control of viral infection. Our study distinguishes both common gene pathways as well as novel cellular responses. Such analyses will be valuable for translational studies of susceptible and resistant individuals—and for targeting therapeutics—in multiple biological settings.
Minoan and Etruscan Hydro-Technologies
Authors: Angelakis Andreas , De Feo Giovanni , Laureano Pietro , Zourou Anastasia
Published: July 2013

The aim of this study is to present water and wastewater technologies used during the Minoan (ca. 3200–1100 BC) and Etruscan (ca. 800–100 BC) civilizations. The basic technologies considered are: water harvesting and distribution systems, cisterns, groundwater and wells as well as drainage and sewerage systems. Minoan water collection and distribution systems primarily consisted of cisterns and pipes. The Etruscans’ hydro-technology also consisted of cisterns and pipes but was developed for urban areas and included distinctions between public and private water use. The long-term sustainability of Minoan cisterns is evidenced by the fact that this technique is still practiced today in rural areas of Crete. In addition to cisterns, wells have been used in Crete since Neolithic times, and enjoyed wide-spread use during the Etruscan era. All the Minoan palaces applied strategies to dispose of water and wastewater with open terracotta or stone masonry-conduits, and stone masonry sewers; while, the drainage and sewerage systems developed by the Etruscans were based both on a coordinated and comprehensive planning of the slopes of drainage channels on the sides of streets as well as on a massive use of drainage tunnels.
Past, Present, and Future Nutrient Quality of a Small Southeastern River: A Pre-Dam Assessment
Authors: Miller Jonathan , Stewart Paul
Published: July 2013

Riverine dams alter both the physical environment and water chemistry, thus affecting species assemblages within these environments. In the United States, dam construction is on the decline and there is a growing trend for dam removal. The Choctawhatchee, Pea, and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority had initiated the permitting process for placing a reservoir dam on the Little Choctawhatchee River (LCR), a tributary to the Choctawhatchee River. The purpose of the proposed reservoir was water supply, and while the permit application has been suspended, history shows that this or related projects are likely to arise in the future. This study collected data on nutrient quality seasonally (four times) from 12 sites in the LCR watershed from October 2007 to June 2008 in order to determine pre-dam conditions and to compare these data to historical and regional information. Historical and current nutrient concentrations were elevated throughout the watershed, in most cases above suggested criteria, and indicated that water quality of the river was and continues to be nutrient rich. A future reservoir at recent levels of water quality will likely be highly eutrophic, and anthropogenic influences will further stress this ecosystem and its water quality as the urban region expands.
L'activité corporelle et les transformations des normes sociales de genre dans les manuels scolaires béninois de lecture et de français. L'influence des changements gouvernementaux de 1945 à nos jours
Authors: Leke Elvire Seichemey
Published: July 2013

Une étude diachronique des manuels de lecture béninois sur plusieurs niveaux de classes de premier degré, utilisés à partir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, met en évidence un certain nombre de transformations et de changements qui semblent contemporains des changements de régime dans ce pays particulier. De la période coloniale à la période démocratique actuelle en passant par la dictature marxiste, les conceptions des filles et des garçons et de leurs pratiques corporelles mais aussi laborieuses se transforment considérablement d’un régime à un autre. Les filles notamment sont davantage représentées dans des métiers prestigieux, ou a minima dans des métiers intellectuellement valorisés, au cours de la dictature marxiste et de manière moindre au cours de la période démocratique. Dans tous les cas, les manuels font également apparaître des stéréotypes ethniques, notamment sur les prénoms, les tâches domestiques et les activités corporelles attribués aux femmes comme aux hommes.
Modèles théoriques et définitions du nageur en France depuis 1960
Authors: Schwob Valérie , Joncheray Hélène
Published: July 2013

L’objet de cette étude est de mettre en évidence que l’évolution des définitions du nageur depuis 1960 varie en fonction des enjeux et des objets selon les époques et les institutions qui les génèrent. Les différentes institutions déclinent la définition du nageur en normes d’encadrement, ordonnant de ce fait les formes d’organisation de l’enseignement de la natation. À partir d’une analyse des textes officiels de l’Éducation nationale, du ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports et de la Fédération française de natation, nous serons conduits à associer ces définitions aux conceptions didactiques des institutions sous-jacentes. Les définitions du nageur varient et s’expriment par des tests. L’analyse des textes et tests nous montrera comment une convergence des objectifs des différentes instances s’est progressivement réalisée au cours de ces dernières décennies, s’exprimant partiellement à travers une définition similaire d’un savoir nager. Nous tenterons de démontrer qu’après une approche techniciste de la définition du nageur, les instances qualifient le nageur dans une conception globale s’inscrivant aussi bien dans le contexte culturel des pratiques que dans l’évolution pédagogique et didactique de l’activité.
Escritura e historia literaria en el Brutus
Authors: Fernández Corte José Carlos , González Marín Susana
Published: July 2013

En este trabajo tratamos de presentar el Bruto de Cicerón como un producto de la tensión de la época entre la escritura y la oralidad. La obra es una historia escrita en forma de diálogo, cuyo contenido es básicamente un producto de la oralidad, los discursos emitidos por los oradores romanos más famosos. Cicerón, el escritor de esta historia, es tanto un orador como un escritor de discursos que se proclama como la culminación del género gracias a su dominio de la escritura.
Cicerón utiliza los textos escritos de los oradores como fuente y también como apoyo a su juicio crítico. Desde su punto de vista, la escritura es una forma de desarrollo y aprendizaje para el orador y un importante instrumento de inuentio; asimismo, es un método para extender su auctoritas más allá de las circunstancias en que se pronunció el discurso original. Además Cicerón recibe de César el título de princeps atque inuentor Romanae copiae, lo que le confiere auctoritas para juzgar cualquier obra de prosa latina e inventar un género hasta ahora inexistente en las letras latinas, la historia de la literatura.
Destierro del poeta: la función pedagógica de la mitología en los diálogos de Platón
Authors: Martínez Javier
Published: July 2013

En este artículo se intenta desarrollar una justificación del uso pedagógico que hace Platón del mito en sus diálogos. En particular, trato de resolver una aparente contradicción: ¿por qué Platón hace uso de mitos, a pesar de sus numerosas declaraciones que parecen contradecir este enfoque pedagógico, especialmente cuando destierra a los poetas y a los escritores de mitos de su república por el peligro que sus obras representan para el logro de la verdadera sabiduría filosófica? Se efectuará un análisis sobre la importancia de los mitos en los diálogos, y, después, se ubicará el uso del muthos en su contexto histórico jónico. Con ello se establece la base para resolver la contradicción a través de la división del muthos en dos tipos distintos: el fantástico y el icástico.
Los demostrativos con partícula deíctica en el Corpus Aristotelicum: razones del uso exclusivo de ὁδί
Authors: Martín de Lucas Isabel
Published: July 2013

En el cambiante panorama de los demostrativos de la segunda mitad del siglo IV a.C., en vías de transformación de un sistema tripartito (ὅδε, οὗτος, έκεῖνος) a uno bipartito por la eliminación de ὅδε, Aristóteles ofrece un punto de vista sorprendente, con un esquema que poco tiene que ver con el de Platón o Demóstenes, y en el que desempeñan un papel fundamental los demostrativos con partícula deíctica: ὁδί en el caso de Aristóteles (frente a οὑτοσί en Platón). ¿Cuál es la razón de que οὗτος no se refuerce con partícula en Aristóteles, cuando es el demostrativo más común? En su discurso, el demostrativo ὁδί (y ὅδε) ha asumido en exclusiva las funciones propiamente deícticas, las espaciales, en el marco de la retórica oral y al servicio de unos fines didácticos y expresivos muy definidos, mientras que οὗτος es siempre anafórico.
El fenómeno del canibalismo en las fuentes literarias greco-romanas: su mención en la mitología y la filosofía antigua
Authors: Sanz Domingo F.
Published: July 2013

En este artículo se pretende analizar y comentar el mayor número posible de menciones al fenómeno del canibalismo existentes en la tradición literaria grecolatina. Tras repasar las fuentes, es posible distinguir las diferentes maneras en que esta tradición abordó dicho fenómeno y descubrir una intención común: partiendo de la mitología o la epopeya homérica, pasando por las distintas corrientes filosóficas y de pensamiento, empezaremos a comprobar cómo en muchas ocasiones se hace uso del concepto de canibalismo para definir negativamente al Otro, al distinto y/o al distante, inaugurando así un tópico que aún pervive.
Sobre los perfectos con HABER en griego Post-clásico y Bizantino temprano
Authors: Bentein Klaas
Published: July 2013

En este artículo analizo el uso y desarrollo de las construcciones perifrásticas de perfecto con el verbo ἔχω en el griego post-clásico y el bizantino temprano. Concretamente, examino las cuatro construcciones siguientes: (a) ἔχω con el participio aoristo activo/medio (anterior); (b) ἔχω con el participio de perfecto pasivo (resultativo); (c) ἔχω con el participio aoristo o presente pasivo (resultativo) y (d) ἔχω con el participio aoristo o presente activo/medio y complemento temporal (anterior). Mi análisis se basa en un corpus lingüístico variado, en el que distingo las obras de registros «bajo», «medio» y «alto».
Ovidio, Metamorfosis IV, 94 – Partenio, Ἐρωτικὰ Παθήματα 32.1-2. Una interpretación moral
Authors: Vandersmissen Marc
Published: July 2013

El problema de las fuentes griegas de Ovidio permanece complejo y muy extenso. Para J. Lightfoot, el famoso episodio de Pyramus y Thisbe del poeta latino fue inspirado por el autor griego, Partenio de Nicea. Esta nota tiene por objeto aportar un nuevo argumento a favor de esta hipótesis analizando completamente y con precisión la línea Metamorfosis IV 94 en comparación con la historia 32 de las ἘρωτικὰΠαθήματα, un «cuaderno» que recoge treinta y seis historias de amor.
Digital Typeface Design and Font Development for Twenty-First Century Bangla Language Processing
Authors: Ross Fiona G. E.
Published: July 2013

Typeface and font design are fundamental to textual communication, and therefore, such communication, whether for use in print or on screen, is greatly enhanced and facilitated by the development and application of high-quality designs. The chapter discusses the key issues that underpin best practice in Bengali digital type design—from a design’s conception to its implementation, that is, the design concept and brief, the character set, the design dimensions, character fitting, and also the considerations for harmonious multi-script setting. The design methodology described is founded on research-based practice in non-Latin type design and font development. It considers how past practices in type-making and typesetting affected current Bengali typeforms and how an evaluation of these practices, in conjunction with the use of the existing and emerging font technologies, can inform the practitioner in the design of high-quality cross-platform OpenType Bengali fonts.
Bangla Braille Adaptation
Authors: Hossain Syed Akhter , Mahbub-ul-Islam Fakhruddin Muhammad , Azam Samiul , Khan Ahamad Imtiaz
Published: July 2013

Braille, a tactile writing system, is used by visually impaired and partially sighted people for reading and writing in everyday life. Visually impaired persons in Bangladesh are deprived of basic education due to inadequate textbooks and sufficient reading materials written in Bangla Braille. This is widening the knowledge gap and disparity within the society with progress of time. In order to improve this scenario, an automated information system for facilitating machine translation of Bangla text to readable and recognizable Braille code is essential. In this book chapter, a detailed research on Bangla Braille has been accomplished and necessary grammatical rules as well as conventions are identified for rule-based Bangla Braille translation. Through the analysis of investigations, a computational model is proposed using Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA) for the machine translation. The proposed DFA demonstrated very acceptable conversion, which is validated by the visually impaired community. Based on the computational model, another software architecture is also proposed for the implementation of machine translation of Bangla to Braille using open source technology. The translator is tested with Bangla Unicode-based text contents, and the generated Braille code is validated after printing in the Braille printer. The performance of the conversion of Bangla to Braille code has been found accurate and also free from grammatical errors.
Selection of an Optimal Set of Features for Bengali Character Recognition
Authors: Sarwar Hasan , Rahman Mizanur , Akter Nasreen , Hossain Saima , Ahmed Sabrina , Rahman Chowdhury Mofizur
Published: July 2013

Feature extraction is an essential step of Optical Character Recognition. Accurate and distinguishable feature plays a significant role to leverage the performance of a classifier. The complexity level of feature identification algorithm differs for alphabet sets of different languages. Apart from generic algorithms to find features of different alphabet sets, these algorithms take care of individual characteristic common for a particular alphabet set. Dominant features of one alphabet set might completely differ from that of another set. Since there always remains the chance that inaccurate features may cause inefficient recognition, special attention should be given to identify the set of optimal features of a character set. Bengali characters also have some specific issues apart from the existing issues of other character sets. For example, there are about 300 basic, modified, and compound character shapes in the script, the characters in a word are topologically connected, and Bengali is an inflectional language. Literature survey shows that several authors have used different features and classification algorithms. The authors have extensively reviewed all these feature sets. In order to identify an optimal feature set, variability analysis has been proposed here. They focus on the specific peculiarities of Bengali alphabet sets, its different usage as vowel and consonant signs, compound, complex, and touching characters. The authors also took care to generate easily computable features that take less time for generation. However, more attention needs to be given in order to choose an efficient classifier.
Perception of Vowels and Dental Consonants in Bangla Speech Processing
Authors: Hossain Syed Akhter , Rahman M. Lutfar , Ahmed Faruk , Sobhan M. Abdus
Published: July 2013

The aim of this chapter is to clearly understand the salient features of Bangla vowels and the sources of acoustic variability in Bangla vowels, and to suggest classification of vowels based on normalized acoustic parameters. Possible applications in automatic speech recognition and speech enhancement have made the classification of vowels an important problem to study. However, Bangla vowels spoken by different native speakers show great variations in their respective formant values. This brings further complications in the acoustic comparison of vowels due to different dialect and language backgrounds of the speakers. This variation necessitates the use of normalization procedures to remove the effect of non-linguistic factors. Although several researchers found a number of acoustical and perceptual correlates of vowels, acoustic parameters that work well in a speaker-independent manner are yet to be found. Besides, study of acoustic features of Bangla dental consonants to identify the spectral differences between different consonants and to parameterize them for the synthesis of the segments is another problem area for study. The extracted features for both Bangla vowels and dental consonants are tested and found with good synthetic representations that demonstrate the quality of acoustic features.
Sentiment Recognition from Bangla Text
Authors: Hasan K. M. Azharul , Islam Sajidul , Mashrur-E-Elahi G. M. , Izhar Mohammad Navid
Published: July 2013

Sentiment analysis is a very important area of the natural language processing. In general, sentiment classification means the analysis to determine the expression of a speaker whether he or she holds positive or negative opinion to a specific subject. With the rapid growth of e-commerce, sentiment analysis can greatly influence everyone in their real life. For example, product reviews on the Web have become an important source of information for customers’ decision making when they want to buy any product. As the reviews are often too many for customers to go through, how to automatically classify and detect the sentiment from them has become an important research problem. In this chapter, the authors present a Sentiment Analyzer that recognizes the Bangla sentiment or opinion about a subject from Bangla text. They construct some phrase patterns and calculate their sentiment orientation. They add tags to words in the Bangla text to construct the phrase pattern for positive and negative sentiment. Then the authors match the phrase pattern in Bangla text with their predefined phrase pattern and cumulate the sentiment orientation of each sentence.
Indian Education System in the 21st Century
Authors: Jena Rabindra Ku , Gahlod Amruta
Published: July 2013

Education plays a vital role in developing a nation culturally, economically, and socially. That is why every nation focuses on this sector. For its improvement, all endeavors are made through formal education, non-formal, and distance education. The trend of education, particularly distance education, has developed considerably in developed countries and developing countries. Information technology plays a pivotal role for the development of education. This chapter introduces Indian Ancient Education System and structure of Indian Education System, and argues on distribution of schools throughout all categories of middle management, senior management, from state level to central level. The chapter focuses on all forms of education systems and ICT in school education systems with accreditation systems supported to nurture the Indian education system globally.
E-Learning, Fuzzy Methods, and Sign Language Video to Enhance Teaching for Hearing Impaired
Authors: Drigas Athanasios , Kouremenos Dimitris , Vrettaros John
Published: July 2013

This chapter discusses the e-learning methods that were used within the Dedalos project for the teaching of English (as a second language) to deaf and hearing impaired people through the use of Sign Language. Firstly, special educational e-content was developed using modern digital and animation technologies, which was divided into educational levels in accordance to the special needs of the deaf and hearing impaired students. In addition, this special educational content was embedded in a newly developed e-learning environment aiming at the distance training of the aforementioned target group. Apart from the educational material, special evaluation tests were embedded in the e-learning environment towards the assessment and evaluation of the skills of the students. Finally, an intelligent taxonomy system was used for setting the e-content to the right level as well as for the realization of the evaluation process. The procedure can be used in tertiary education.
Project Management of Educational Technology Projects
Authors: Williams van Rooij Shahron , Moore Joi L. , Benson Angela D.
Published: July 2013

Technology plays an important role in the delivery of education and training in school and non-school settings. Educational technology projects range from providing electronic whiteboards in K-12 classrooms to implementing campus-wide learning management systems on college campuses to deploying mobile devices for training delivery in non-profit organizations to developing performance improvement interventions for business organizations. These projects are carried out using a variety of tools, methodologies, and process, both formal and informal. In general, these projects can be described using the project management framework. This chapter introduces the project management framework and draws conclusions about its use in education and training from the 18 cases of educational technology projects presented in this book. The cases represent a range of project management approaches, from the generic and foundational to the highly complex and sophisticated.
Planning and Implementation of a Small-Scale 1-to-1 Pilot Program for Using E-Readers in Elementary School Classrooms
Authors: Rice Margaret L. , Camp Deborah , Darroch Karen , FitzGerald Ashley
Published: July 2013

A P-12 school district implemented a pilot program providing e-readers to 45 students in a 4th and a 5th grade class. The school district administrators’ goal was to determine whether it would be feasible for the district to provide technological devices to individual district students for use at school and home, beginning with a small pilot. If the pilot proved successful, the devices would be provided to additional students throughout the district. The first step was the selection of the devices. After conducting research, the Nook from Barnes & Noble was selected. Issues to be addressed included inappropriate use of Nooks by students and parents, teachers’ and students’ learning the nuances of the devices, dropped network connections, students’ forgetting to bring Nooks to school, and unrealistic parent expectations for teacher use. This chapter informs readers of successes, problems, and lessons learned from the planning and implementation of the pilot program.
Discovering Ways That Don’t Work on the Road to Success
Authors: Means Tawnya , Olson Eric , Spooner Joey
Published: July 2013

Educational technology projects undertaken by higher education institutions range in complexity, scope, and impact. The Edison project created a sophisticated studio classroom that supports active learning teaching methods for both local and distant students. The team undertaking this complex project was composed of information technology and instructional design professionals with no real background in formal project management techniques. The team soon discovered that intuition and organic processes for implementing a complex project with increasing scope resulted in risks and challenges that threatened the success and potential impact of the project. The project team learned valuable lessons about the need for a systematic project management process. This case shares the project details, major accomplishments, and lessons learned by the team through the Active Learning Studio classroom (Edison) project.
Project Management Methods for the Implementation of an Online Faculty Development Course
Authors: Tawfik Andrew A. , Reiseck Carol , Richter Richard
Published: July 2013

The case study describes the project management methods used in the implementation of a faculty development course at a small liberal arts university. The faculty development course, which was delivered online through the Learning Management System (Blackboard), not only provided faculty with technical competencies, but also a pedagogical framework for online instruction. As faculty members began to see the potential of using technology to overcome time and distance challenges, they became more interested in online education. To accomplish the project goals, the instructional design team created a detailed spreadsheet that outlined the design and implementation strategy for the initiative. Success criteria included increased demand and enrollment in the course, formal adoption of the professional development course as an institutional requirement, expansion of student enrollments in online courses, and student retention rates. The case study describes the unique project management considerations, documentation, and planning required throughout the project.
eLearning for Industry
Authors: Rodriguez Stephen R. , Thorp Dennis A.
Published: July 2013

This chapter presents a case study of the project planning and management processes—originally employed at a university instructional development center—now utilized in an evolved format at LearnSomething, A Xerox Company (LS). The authors focus upon the overall course development process, which includes the following three matters: project organizational structure, project management processes, the role of corporate culture in the company’s work and its effect on staff. In addition, the authors describe the challenges and pitfalls encountered in simultaneously managing multiple eLearning projects along with lessons learned. The authors’ prime intent is to describe in detailed case study format how eLearning projects are successfully managed and completed at LearnSomething. The writers describe effective project management procedures and strategies, which LS has utilized in successfully planning, designing, developing, evaluating, and delivering multiple eLearning courses for the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Competence Management over Social Networks Through Dynamic Taxonomies
Authors: Berio Giuseppe , Di Leva Antonio , Harzallah Mounira , Sacco Giovanni M.
Published: July 2013

The exploitation and integration of social network information in a competence reference model (CRAI, Competence, Resource, Aspect, Individual) are discussed. The Social-CRAI model, which extends CRAI to social networks, provides an effective solution to this problem and is discussed in detail. Finally, dynamic taxonomies, a model supporting explorative conceptual search, are introduced and their use in the context of the Social-CRAI model for exploring retrieved information available in social networks is discussed. A real-world example is provided.
Knowledge Sharing in the Age of Web 2.0
Authors: Deltour François , Plé Loïc , Roussel Caroline Sargis
Published: July 2013

Web 2.0 tools are more and more prevalent in organizational life, and this chapter identifies their multiple influences on knowledge sharing practices, as well as the main challenges of the social turn in knowledge sharing. Indeed, it is argued that social capital, a key concept from social sciences that recognizes the benefits practice derived from connections between people, also plays a role in the context of renewed knowledge sharing practices (i.e. based on Web 2.0 technologies). Therefore, this chapter provides an analysis of the influence of social capital in leveraging knowledge sharing in a Web 2.0 context. Finally, using secondary data, this research details a specific case to illustrate how employees can benefit from new forms of knowledge sharing that rely on interactive tools and their social capital.
The Evolution of KM Practices
Authors: Daidj Nabyla
Published: July 2013

The objective of this chapter was to understand how a “hybrid organization” (two automobile manufacturers Renault and Nissan within a strategic alliance) uses social networking and Web 2.0 tools to collaborate not only inside traditional organizational boundaries and within the alliance structure but also across geographical frontiers. Nissan has gradually lost its historic status as keiretsu as a result of its strategic alliance with the Renault. This alliance has had numerous consequences for the organizational structure of Nissan, even though both companies have maintained their identity by maintaining the two brands internationally. KM practices have evolved since the beginning of the strategic alliance. Two phases can be considered. During the first three years of the alliance, the two car manufacturers relied mainly on their own specific KM practices and processes. The second phase started in 2004 with the development of KM 2.0 and Web 2.0 tools. The adoption of these tools by Renault has led to increased collaboration between the two manufacturers.
Urban heat island in Bloemfontein during winter
Authors: Snyman Pieter , Steyn A. Stephen
Published: July 2013

Urban heat islands (UHIs) are characterised by warmer urban air temperatures compared to rural air temperatures, and the intensity is equal to the difference between the two. Air temperatures are measured at various sites across the city of Bloemfontein and then analysed to determine the UHI characteristics. The UHI is found to have a horseshoe shape and reaches a maximum intensity of 8.2 °C at 22:00. The UHI is largely affected by the local topography.
Circulating Angiogenic Modulatory Factors Predict Survival and Functional Class in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Malhotra Rajeev , Paskin‐Flerlage Samuel , Zamanian Roham T. , Zimmerman Patrick , Schmidt Jonathan W. , Deng Donna Y. , Southwood Mark , Spencer Robert , Lai Carol S. , Parker William , Channick Richard N. , Morrell Nicholas W. , Elliott C. Gregory , Yu Paul B.
Published: July 2013

The diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is frequently delayed. We hypothesized that circulating angiogenic modulatory protein levels might correspond with vascular remodeling activity and serve as sensitive biomarkers of PAH. Levels of soluble endoglin (sEng), soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor‐1 (sVEGFR1), N‐terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP), C‐reactive protein (CRP), and other biomarkers were measured in peripheral blood from 97 PAH patients, 16 first‐degree relatives of idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (HPAH) patients, and 56 controls, and correlated with disease, functional class, hemodynamic parameters, exercise capacity, and transplant‐free survival. Endoglin expression was analyzed in lung tissues of six individuals with idiopathic or HPAH and four individuals without PAH. Levels of sEng, sVEGFR1, CRP, and NT‐proBNP were elevated in Group I PAH of diverse etiologies, with sEng performing better than NT‐proBNP in detecting PAH (receiver operator characteristic‐area‐under‐the curve [ROC‐AUC] of 0.82 ± 0.03 vs. 0.71 ± 0.05, P = 0.016). While sEng, sVEGFR1, and NT‐proBNP correlated with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, sEng levels were more sensitive than NT‐proBNP in detecting NYHA Class I‐II disease (ROC‐AUC of 0.88 ± 0.05 vs. 0.67 ± 0.08, P = 0.028). sEng, sVEGFR1, CRP, and NT‐proBNP predicted transplant‐free survival by univariate Cox regression. After adjusting for NT‐proBNP levels, each of the other three markers predicted transplant‐free survival. In multivariate analysis, sEng and CRP were independent predictors of survival. Endoglin expression was markedly enhanced in the microvascular endothelium and endovascular lesions of PAH versus control lung tissues. Circulating angiogenic proteins sEng and sVEGFR1 are sensitive markers of prognosis and function in Group I PAH, including mildly symptomatic disease, and may provide unique noninvasive data reflecting underlying remodeling activity.