Role of semantics ontologies on modern educational systems

The author describes his experience with students interacting with some websites he made for didactics and how this led him to an appreciation for the need for better searching tools and strategies for education. The students’ difficulties emerging from the above observations were a special case of the more general problem evidenced from people while searching information on the web. Semantic web is then discussed as a way to help people overcome their difficulties in using the web to gain knowledge. The paper describes some models for knowledge construction and analyzes them in terms of their suitability as instruments for the introduction of semantics on the web. The paper then provides evidence regarding some limits for the systematic use of semantic search engine and ontology domain systems in everyday teaching and knowledge construction. Finally, the paper reports and explains a hypothesis of an information system for building communities of practice and letting them work on the construction of domain ontology. The paper concludes that this construct is well adapted to the model for knowledge construction firstly hypothesized, and can give good results in teaching-learning planning and carrying out and in helping scientists and scholars to analyze scientific paradigms and to find new trends for research

Legal Aspects of Decentralisation of Government in the Sudan.

The Sudan is afflicted by continuous and increasing problems of nation-building arising from the significant cultural, linguistic, religious and historical diversity of its citizens. Decentralisation of government has, of late, been identified as a possible solution. The thesis examines the legal aspects of the policies of decentralisation of government in the Sudan from the colonial period to the present time. After an historical survey of the earlier period, the thesis concentrates upon decentralisation policies and programmes implemented after the May revolution of 1969. The constitutional provisions for decentralisation of government in the constitutions of 1968 and 1973 are examined, with reference to the earlier constitutional arrangements, including those made for independence in 1956, which contained no such provisions. The concept, objectives and history of decentralisation of government in the Sudan are also examined. At the theoretical level, the types and forms of decentralisation generally, are considered. The distinction between "delegation" and "devolution" as forms of decentralisation are examined. An attempt is made to identify the principal motives for policies of decentralisation. These include the achievement of national unity and the promotion of popular participation in government. Some comparative references are made in order to illuminate the important aspects of decentralisation. Particular attention is given to the problems of implementing decentralisation policies between 1971 and 1985. The discussion focusses upon: the organization of decentralised governments; the scheme of power-sharing between central, regional and local governments; the relationship between central and regional governments and between regional and local governments. The financial arrangements for the decentralised governments especially their ability to budget and raise revenue, and their capacity for effective financial management are among the problems discussed. Other topics considered include the staffing of decentralised governments, problems of physical infrastructure and the constant questions of the extent of the central government intervention and the role of traditional rulers. The character and quality of political support for decentralised policies is analysed. The prospects of decentralisation in the Sudan are considered in the light of these problems and in the context of the latest developments. In conclusion, it is submitted that an appropriate form of decentralisation of government which must involve substantial devolution of powers to the regional governments is an essential condition for the stability and security in the Sudan. However, recognition of this fact accompanied by political compromises are the vital conditions without which decentralisation will remain incomplete

Price Behaviour and Forecasting of Onion Prices in Kurnool Market, Andhra Pradesh State

The objective of present study was to analyse the behaviour of onion prices in Kurnool market and forecasting the prices for the future. Based on secondary data from January 2003 to December 2017, the future prices were predicted for the months of January to June, 2018 by employing the Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) technique. The annual increase in prices of onion in Kurnool market was observed to be ` 6.22 per quintal per annum. The highest seasonal index was observed in the month of August and lowest seasonal index was recorded in May. Price cycles were not identified in onion prices. Maximum R-Square (62.34), minimum Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) (34.96), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) (454.71) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) (263.19) was used as a criteria to select the best model for price forecasting. Based on the above criteria the model (1,1,1) (1,1,1) was found to fit the time series to predict future prices. The forecasted price of onion would be ranging from ` 2956 to ` 1651 per quintal for the months from January to June 2018 respectively

E-Resources and Services in Engineering College Libraries – A Case Study

Introduction Libraries have witnessed a great metamorphosis in recent years both in their collection development and in their service structure. Over the last several years, a significant transformation has been noticed in collection development policies and practices. Print medium is increasingly giving way to the electronic form of materials. This study examines libraries by region within the State of Karnataka, India. It examines the level of effort taken by the engineering college libraries in Karnataka to build electronic resources

E-Resources and Services in Engineering College Libraries – A Case Study

Introduction Libraries have witnessed a great metamorphosis in recent years both in their collection development and in their service structure. Over the last several years, a significant transformation has been noticed in collection development policies and practices. Print medium is increasingly giving way to the electronic form of materials. This study examines libraries by region within the State of Karnataka, India. It examines the level of effort taken by the engineering college libraries in Karnataka to build electronic resources

Attractants for Synanthropic Flies. 2. Response Patterns of House Flies to Attractive Baits on Poultry Ranches

A proteinaceous attractant, prepared by freeze-drying fermented whole egg solids, was found to attract Musca domestica L. and other synanthropic Diptera. In field experiments, a mixture of 2 g of the attractant and 2 g of dichlorvos sugar-bait increased fly collection two-fold on manure substrate in trays set on the ground and three-fold in suspended bait units over the sugar-toxicant bait alone. This increase was due primarily to the increased response of nulliparous and parous females in which vitellogenesis was about to occur. Attractancy of the bait declined sharply after 48 hours of field exposure. The location of bait stations significantly affected the number, sex ratio, and female age structure of the flies collected. Stations collecting the greatest number of flies were generally situated at the ends of the cage rows in sunlight-shade border areas. Fly collections from areas of greatest fly activity were characterized by a high proportion of hoth nulliparous and parous protein-searching females, and the sex ratio in these high-activity zones approached 1. East-west and north-south preferences of certain female age groups were manifested in the collection

Postpartum Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease in the Modern Era

To describe the clinical features of individuals hospitalized for postpartum invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection, a retrospective, population-based study of hospitalized patients in the state of Florida was conducted. Cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection (occurring within 42 days of delivery) were compared to women with other manifestations of invasive GAS disease with respect to their age at the time of admission. Four cases of postpartum invasive GAS infection were detected in this population, yielding a prevalence of 1.6% (4/257) of postpartum disease in this invasive GAS infection database. Patients presented a median of 4 days (mean of 9 days) after delivery with signs and symptoms of infection. Three cases were complicated by bacteremia and one patient had streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Each patient received multiple antibiotics and survived. No patients received intravenous immunoglobulin. For comparison, a secondary retrospective investigation of a large hospital discharge dataset obtained from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration was assessed for patients with puerperal GAS infections. This method yielded an additional three cases, whose clinical and demographic characteristics were summarized. These data highlight that postpartum invasive GAS infection continues to complicate pregnancy, though the frequency has decreased markedly over the past century

Bait Units for Collection of House Flies

Lurtox™4 is a proteinaceous attractant for Musca domestica L. and other synanthropic Diptera (Mulla et al. 1973: Willson and Mulla 1973a) and is easily mixed with commercial poison sugar baits. The mixture of Lurtox and dichlorvos sugar bait (50:50 by wt) can be administered in measurable quantities into compact bait units where dead flies can be easily recovered for counting and for other studies. While developing Lurtox for control of Hippelates eye gnats, Mulla et al. (1973) found that moisture was essential for the emanation of the volatile attractants contained in the bait. Therefore, if the prevalent humidity level is not sufficient to activate the attractant, the bait unit designed for use with the bait mixture should include a moisture sourc

Solution of a Mathematical Model Describing the Change of Hormone Level in Thyroid Using the Laplace Transform

In the present paper, a mathematical model describing the thyroid-pituitary homeostatic mechanism is analyzed for its physiological and clinical significance. The influence of different parameters on the stability behavior of the system is discussed. We have assumed in the present paper that the rate of thyrotropin production is reduced by an amount which is proportional to the blood concentration of thyroxine and also the rate of loss of thyrotropin is proportional to the existing thyrotropin concentration. The stability behavior of the system is analyzed and the possibility of occurrence of periodic solutions is looked into. As the pituitary gland can produce no output in the presence of thyroxine concentration greater than a certain value, we have also included a degenerate form of the equation for thyrotropin production in the present paper. The solutions of the system of governing equations are obtained by applying the Laplace transform. Also, the nature of the solution is interpreted graphically using the Maple12 technique for both stable and unstable behavior