OPTIMIZATION OF TEST KEEPER SCHEDULING USING GENETIC ALGORITHM AT INFORMATICS DEPARTMENT PETRA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

before mid or final exam, there will be a manual process to schedule the test keepers for every exam session. The test keepers are lecturer assistants (assistant is an appointed student to help lecturer in class). For an exam session, the keeper can be 1 up to 3 people, depending on the exams participant. These manual process is considering many factors, i.e. the assistants batch (year), the average of exams participant batch(year), gender combination of the keeper, evenness of the exam keeping of every assistant, the character of the assistant itself, and the exam schedule of the assistant. These factors are considered upon picking every exam sessions keeper, which is taking a lot of time and knowledge, and this process is done twice a semester by an exam coordinator (lecturer). In this paper, will be designed an application that is using genetic algorithm to automatically assign the test keepers for every exam. The result of the application is tested during the mid-exam and final-exam early semester of 2016, and the application is giving a good result, with the accuracy of 90.23%, in which the 9.77% is some minor changes that is required to make the test keepers more suitable

Innovations of subject service in National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the implications

Looking at the development of subject librarians and subject services in Chinese libraries during the past decade, this paper highlights the innovative concepts and practices of subject librarians in National Science Library (NSL), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). After a two-year trial period, NSL, CAS, with 39 full-time subject librarians, has begun to provide personalized, subject-speci.c, and knowledge-based services to the end-users since 2006. Such a practice manifests that subject librarians and subject services should be embedded into the research process and working environment. And, the subject service should be made available to the users beyond the space restriction and time limit, and .nally create a congenial environment for users. Librarians should develop new expertise to offer the user-oriented service, changing the role from book keepers to research instructors, advisors, even chief information officer (CIO) or chief knowledge officer (CKO).</p

Beyond cute: exploring user types and design opportunities of virtual reality pet games

Virtual pet games, such as handheld games like Tamagotchi or video games like Petz, provide players with artificial pet companions or entertaining pet-raising simulations. Prior research has found that virtual pets have the potential to promote learning, collaboration, and empathy among users. While virtual reality (VR) has become an increasingly popular game medium, litle is known about users' expectations regarding game avatars, gameplay, and environments for VR-enabled pet games. We surveyed 780 respondents in an online survey and interviewed 30 participants to understand users' motivation, preferences, and game behavior in pet games played on various medium, and their expectations for VR pet games. Based on our findings, we generated three user types that reflect users' preferences and gameplay styles in VR pet games. We use these types to highlight key design opportunities and recommendations for VR pet games

Beyond the Prevention of Harm: Animal Disease Policy as a Moral Question

European animal disease policy seems to find its justification in a “harm to other” principle. Limiting the freedom of animal keepers—e.g., by culling their animals—is justified by the aim to prevent harm, i.e., the spreading of the disease. The picture, however, is more complicated. Both during the control of outbreaks and in the prevention of notifiable, animal diseases the government is confronted with conflicting claims of stakeholders who anticipate running a risk to be harmed by each other, and who ask for government intervention. In this paper, we first argue that in a policy that aims to prevent animal diseases, the focus shifts from limiting “harm” to weighing conflicting claims with respect to “risks of harm.” Therefore, we claim that the harm principle is no longer a sufficient justification for governmental intervention in animal disease prevention. A policy that has to deal with and distribute conflicting risks of harm needs additional value assumptions that guide this process of assessment and distribution. We show that currently, policies are based on assumptions that are mainly economic considerations. In order to show the limitations of these considerations, we use the interests and position of keepers of backyard animals as an example. Based on the problems they faced during and after the recent outbreaks, we defend the thesis that in order to develop a sustainable animal disease policy other than economic assumptions need to be taken into accoun

Effects of the compulsory indoor confinement of organic layer poultry: a dust storm!

In August 2005 an order was issued in the Netherlands for free range poultry to be kept indoors to prevent the introduction of avian influenza. The Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR (Wageningen University and Research Centre) conducted a telephone survey at the start of this indoor confinement regime to establish its effects on the wellbeing of laying hens and to chart the economic consequences for the poultry keepers. The survey revealed that, according to the poultry keepers, the impact on the wellbeing of the birds was not serious, thanks to the introduction of enrichment material such as extra litter and extra feeding. And the economic consequences were confined to an increase in the amount of work associated with the special enrichment measures. To obtain a more objective picture of the consequences of the indoor confinement order, the researchers visited 37 organic layer poultry farms during November and December. Despite the rules having been relaxed, these farms were still keeping their laying hens indoors. During each visit various parameters were scored, including: strain and age of hens, dimensions and equipment of the sheds, method of ventilation, general appearance of the hens, plumage, mortality and use of enrichment material. In addition, a quantitative measurement of dust was made in the sheds. Like the first study, this follow-up study also showed that compulsory indoor confinement had not led to any serious wellbeing problems. Admittedly, the condition of the laying hens' plumage often left something to be desired, but this depended to a very large extent on the strain of hens and their age. It was not possible to say to what extent the protracted indoor confinement of the hens was responsible for the mediocre condition of their plumage, since no control observations were made on farms where indoor confinement was not imposed. Serious feather pecking was observed occasionally, but did not lead to cannibalism. No correlation could be found between the outward appearance of the laying hens and the use of enrichment materials such as straw bales, etc. As this was an observational study, it is quite possible that the use of enrichment material was frequently prompted by the existing behaviour and general condition of the animals, as a result of which farms with few such problems had less need to take extra measures. Thus, it was not possible to determine the effect of the enrichment measures on the wellbeing of the animals in this way. In general, it emerged that poultry keepers often paid extra attention to their flocks at the start of the compulsory confinement period, providing extra litter or feed as enrichment, but gradually cut back on these extra measures. The study revealed that most farms were still using laying hens whose beaks had been tipped. It is not clear to what extent the absence of major feather pecking problems can be attributed to this. Further research is needed into the impact on feather pecking of the introduction (on 1 March 2006) of a prohibition on beak-tipping in organic poultry keeping, notably when animals are compulsorily confined indoors. Particularly striking were the high dust levels measured in the sheds (average 4.5 mg/m3). It was clear that the amount of dust in the sheds was directly related to the density of the laying hens and the strain of hen. The latter may be because a placid strain of hen is less prone to scratching and scraping and thus generates less dust. In particular, sheds with a "volière" (tiered aviary) system tended to have high dust concentrations (6.9 mg/m3). Previous researchers have reported that a dust concentration above 3.7 mg/m3 is bad for animal health. In summary, it can be stated that the harmful effects associated with indoor confinement can be mitigated by giving animals more enrichment. However, this present study is unable to pronounce on the effectiveness of the individual enrichment measures. It was clear that the dust levels in the sheds where laying hens are confined are too high and that this is related, inter alia, to the system employed in the sheds

EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL LOADING ON POWER OUTPUT DURING VERTICAL JUMP: A PILOT STUDY WITH WATER POLO GOAL KEEPERS.

The purpose of this study was to describe preliminary results of the effects of external loading on power output during vertical jumps performed on a force platform by three elite water polo goal keepers (1 female and 2 male). Peak power output was calculated from time-force curves during vertical jumps with and without external additional loads corresponding to 0%, 5%, 10% and 15 % of their body weight. The jumps were performed from a squat position, without lower limb counter-movement or arm swings. The peak instantaneous power was reached at 0% additional load (body weight) by two of the athletes, and for the third, the peak instantaneous power was reached at 5% additional load. This study suggests that for water polo goal keepers, the load that generates maximum power output in dry land exercises is body weight, without any additional load

Cherokee relationships to land: Reflections on a historic plant gathering agreement between Buffalo National River and the Cherokee Nation

This piece reflects on my involvement in a historic agreement between Buffalo National River and the Cherokee Nation regarding the implementation of the “Gathering of Certain Plants or Plant Parts by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes for Traditional Purposes” rule, 36 CFR Part 2 (Code of Federal Regulations, title 32, sec. 2.6., 2016). This rule allows federally recognized tribes to gather plants within national parks with which they are traditionally associated. Representatives from the Cherokee Nation’s formally constituted body of elder knowledge keepers—the Cherokee Medicine Keepers—lent their expertise on land-based knowledge and stewardship practices that provid- ed the basis for such a landmark agreement. Plant gathering within Buffalo National River offers Cherokee people a way to continue traditional cultural practices that are impacted by climate change in eastern Oklahoma. In many cases, plants are more plentiful and healthier within the park boundaries than on our limited tribal trust lands that are threatened by climate change and contemporary agricultural and development practices. The agreement also acknowledges our ancestral and political relationships to the lands within the park and allows Cherokee people to reestablish our connection to the park lands as a collective source of traditional sustenance, cultural knowledge, and health. In this piece, I offer some context for the project, specifically in terms of Cherokee relationships to land, given my previous scholarship and my longtime work with the Medicine Keepers