2,727 research outputs found
Development of Distance Education in the Eastern European Countries
The evolution of the European structure brought about the promotion of the distance education as a new strategy for the 3rd Millennium. Its development was due to the even more diversified work market and the expansion of communication techniques. In the modern society ruled by new forms and levels of competition, education became a top priority. As a consequence, the policy of education, especially the academic one, needs to be perceived from a totally new perspective. In a world where there are no longer boundaries for information and communication techniques the part played by universities changed accordingly. In this context, distance education represents an important step in the evolution of teaching. The progress of modern society demands new types of teaching which should increase the professional preparation, allowing general access to higher education forms
Mining Project- Oriented Business Processes
Large engineering processes need to be monitored in detail
regarding when what was done in order to prove compliance with rules
and regulations. A typical problem of these processes is the lack of con-
trol that a central process engine provides, such that it is difficult to
track the actual course of work even if data is stored in version control
systems (VCS). In this paper, we address this problem by defining a
mining technique that helps to generate models that visualize the work
history as GANTT charts. To this end, we formally define the notion of a
project-oriented business process and a corresponding mining algorithm.
Our evaluation based on a prototypical implementation demonstrates
the benefits in comparison to existing process mining approaches for this
specific class of processes
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Rapid fabrication of pressure-driven open-channel microfluidic devices in omniphobic RF paper
This paper describes the fabrication of pressure-driven, open-channel microfluidic systems with lateral dimensions of 45-300 microns carved in omniphobic paper using a craft-cutting tool. Vapor phase silanization with a fluorinated alkyltrichlorosilane renders paper omniphobic, but preserves its high gas permeability and mechanical properties. When sealed with tape, the carved channels form conduits capable of guiding liquid transport in the low-Reynolds number regime (i.e. laminar flow). These devices are compatible with complex fluids such as droplets of water in oil. The combination of omniphobic paper and a craft cutter enables the development of new types of valves and switches, such as âfoldâ valves and âporous switches,â which provide new methods to control fluid flow.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog
Effect of the vinyl group on the reactivity of LIGNIN H, G, S units during biomass fast pyrolysis
Product distributions from fast pyrolysis of 10 Ecuadorian agricultural residual biomass samples
Introducing life cycle thinking to define best available techniques for products: Application to the anchovy canning industry
This study presents a method based on life cycle assessment to reduce and simplify the decision-making process and to identify the best available techniques of a product. This procedure facilitates the selection of a technical alternative from an environmental point of view and the reduction of emission levels and the consumption of energy and primary resources. This method comprises the following four steps: (i) the identification of the current techniques of a specific product, (ii) the application of a life cycle assessment to determine the hot spots, (iii) the proposal of the best available techniques and (iv) the development of a best available techniques reference document (step not implemented in our case study). The Cantabrian anchovy canning industry is selected as a case study due to the importance of this sector from economic, social and touristic points of view. An entire life cycle assessment of one can of anchovies in extra virgin olive oil is conducted. The results indicated that the hot spots of the life cycle were the production of aluminium cans (for packaging) and extra virgin olive oil and the management of the packaging waste. According to these results, the study proposes several improvements, such as packaging recycling and several best available techniques for the canned anchovy product.The authors thank the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Spanish Government for their financial support via the project GeSAC-Conserva: Sustainable Management of the Cantabrian Anchovies (CTM2013-43539-R) and to Julia Celaya for her technical support. Jara Laso thanks the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spanish Government for their financial support via the research fellowship BES2014-069368. Pere Fullana y Alba Bala thanks the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change
Can Kinesiological Activities Change »Pure« Motor Development in Preschool Children during One School Year?
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an additional, organized, and more intensive kinesiological
treatment on »pure« motor abilities in preschool children. In the present study an experimental treatment was carried out
on a sample of 37 preschool boys by applying kinesiological activities. The 60 minute treatment was applied over a period
of one school year (9 months), twice a week. A control group of 31 boys were trained according to the regular program for
preschool institutions. Treatment effects were assessed by 8 motor ability tests and 5 anthropometric measures. The signifi
cant differences between the groups, which were observed after the fi nal measurement and compared to the initial one,
proved that the kinesiological treatment had a positive impact on the general development of »pure« motor abilities. The
most signifi cant effect of experimental kinesiological treatment was the improvement in whole body force, fl exibility and
coordination of preschool boys. These fi ndings, obtained only in one school year, point to the importance of physical exercise
and the application of additional kinesiological activities with various modalities, to improve motor development,
even morphological growth and development in preschool children. The effects of the perennial application of kinesiological
activities, under the supervision of kinesiological professionals, could be benefi cial and could form the basis for a
better biological and motor development in older age
MiR-155 has a protective role in the development of non-alcoholic hepatosteatosis in mice
Hepatic steatosis is a global epidemic that is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. MicroRNAs (miRs) are regulators that can functionally integrate a range of metabolic and inflammatory pathways in liver. We aimed to investigate the functional role of miR-155 in hepatic steatosis. Male C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and miR-155â/â mice were fed either normal chow or high fat diet (HFD) for 6 months then lipid levels, metabolic and inflammatory parameters were assessed in livers and serum of the mice. Mice lacking endogenous miR-155 that were fed HFD for 6 months developed increased hepatic steatosis compared to WT controls. This was associated with increased liver weight and serum VLDL/LDL cholesterol and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels, as well as increased hepatic expression of genes involved in glucose regulation (Pck1, Cebpa), fatty acid uptake (Cd36) and lipid metabolism (Fasn, Fabp4, Lpl, Abcd2, Pla2g7). Using miRNA target prediction algorithms and the microarray transcriptomic profile of miR-155â/â livers, we identified and validated that Nr1h3 (LXRα) as a direct miR-155 target gene that is potentially responsible for the liver phenotype of miR-155â/â mice. Together these data indicate that miR-155 plays a pivotal role regulating lipid metabolism in liver and that its deregulation may lead to hepatic steatosis in patients with diabetes
Incorporating linear programing and life cycle thinking into environmental sustainability decision-making: a case study on anchovy canning industry
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to support environmental informed decisions among product and process alternatives. LCA results reflect the process stage contributions to several environmental impacts, which should be made mutually comparable to help in the decision-making process. Aggregated environmental indexes enable the translation of this set of metrics into a one final score, by defining the attached weights to impacts. Weighting values reflect the corresponding relevance assigned to each environmental impact. Current weighing schemes are based on pre-articulation of preferences, without considering the specific features of the system under study. This paper presents a methodology that combines LCA methodology and linear programming optimisation to determine the environmental improvement actions that conduct to a more sustainable production. LCA was applied using the environmental sustainability assessment methodology to obtain two main indexes: natural resources (NR) and environmental burdens (EB). Normalised indexes were optimised to determine the optimal joint of weighting factors that lead to an optimised global Environmental Sustainability Index. The proposed methodology was applied to a food sector, in particular, to the anchovy canning industry in Cantabria Region (Northern Spain). By maximising the objective function composed of NR and EB variables, it is possible to find the optimal joint of weights that identify the best environmental sustainable options. This study proves that LCA can be applied in combination with linear programing tools as a part of the decision-making process in the development of more sustainable processes and products.Authors thank to Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spanish Government for the financial support through the project GeSAC-Conserva (CTM2013-43539-R). Jara Laso also thanks to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spanish Government for the financial support through the research fellowship BES-2014-069368
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