Enhancing Trust in eAssessment - the TeSLA System Solution

Trust in eAssessment is an important factor for improving the quality of online-education. A comprehensive model for trust based authentication for eAssessment is being developed and tested within the score of the EU H2020 project TeSLA. The use of biometric verification technologies to authenticate the identity and authorship claims of individual students in online-education scenarios is a significant component of TeSLA. Technical Univerity of Sofia (TUS) Bulgaria, a member of TeSLA consortium, participates in large-scale pilot tests of the TeSLA system. The results of questionnaires to students and teachers involved in the TUS pilot tests are analyzed and summarized in this work. We also describe the TeSLA authentication and fraud-detection instruments and their role for enhancing trust in eAssessment.Comment: Presented at the Conference on Technology Enhanced Assessment (TEA), 2018. 18 pages, 2 tables, 3 figure

Professional And Personal Competence Of Healthcare Specialists And Inclination For Training

The management of the professional and personal competence of health professionals is one of the main tasks of modern management. A training strategy has been developed, based on empirical assessment of the needs of the target group of healthcare professionals in the Clinic of Pediatric Diseases, Dr. Georgi Stranski University Hospital, Pleven. The aim of the study is to outline the overall picture of professional and personal competence among working nurses to point out possible and necessary areas of professional competence that can be improved through training and to build a training program on this basis. The statistical processing of the data from the study was done with SPSS 16.0 and Excel, performing demographical statistics, percent ratio, average values of the individual factors, and correlation analysis. In the developed training program, in the first place there are topics related to learning communication skills, ability to work with aggressive parents, and skills to talk with parents. Pedagogical skills and competences, and abilities to use information technologies are third among all planned topics, followed by courses on coping strategies for dealing with stress and decision-making skills

Data Product Specification Proposal for Architectural Heritage Documentation with Photogrammetric Techniques: A Case Study in Brazil

peer reviewedPhotogrammetric documentation can provide a sound database for the needs of architectural heritage preservation. However, the major part of photogrammetric documentation production is not used for subsequent architectural heritage projects, due to lack of knowledge of photogrammetric documentation accuracy. In addition, there are only a few studies with rigorous analysis of the requirements for photogrammetric documentation of architectural heritage. In particular, requirements focusing on the geometry of the models generated by fully digital photogrammetric processes are missing. Considering these needs, this paper presents a procedure for architectural heritage documentation with photogrammetric techniques based on a previous review of existing standards of architectural heritage documentation. The data product specification proposed was elaborated conforming to ISO 19131 recommendations. We present the procedure with two case studies in the context of Brazilian architectural heritage documentation. Quality analysis of the produced models were performed considering ISO 19157 elements, such as positional accuracy, logical consistency and completeness, meeting the requirements. Our results confirm that the proposed requirements for photogrammetric documentation are viable

Saliva application in oral and systemic diseases

Saliva is a noninvasive and accessible biofluid that permits early detection of oral and systemic diseases. Changes in saliva reflect the alterations in the blood and thus making saliva a suitable diagnostic tool. The use of saliva has many advantages, including simple and non-invasive sampling and easy, low-cost storage.Today salivary diagnostics is a promising tool for diagnostic processes and clinical monitoring. Saliva is used to detect illicit drugs, alcohol, to measure hormone levels, and in the diagnosis of wide range systemic diseases such as cardiovascular, infectious, renal, endocrine diseases, some types of cancer as well as nonsystemic oral diseases.The current review presents a critical overview of saliva as a promising tool for the development of valuable salivary biomarkers, their relevance to the prognosis, diagnosis and management of systemic and oral diseases. Development of point-of-care testing based on saliva samples as a screening tool will also support the diagnostic process in near future

RESEARCH OF THE EFFECT OF THE VELOCITY COEFICIENT ON THE CUTTING FORCE OF VEGETABLES

This paper presents a study of the influence of the velocity coefficient on the cutting force and their components – the horizontal component Fx and the vertical component Fy when cutting vegetables. Two well-known vegetables, pumpkin and beetroot, were used in the experiments. The experiments were carried out with feed rate of the food sample 0,083 m/s and frequency of rotation of the disc knife in a range from 110 min -1 to 414 min-1. It was found that when that velocity coefficient grows, the cutting force and the components of the cutting force decrease. The lowest values of cutting force of pumpkin and red beet (131 N and 115,2 N respectively) were recorded for the highest value of velocity coefficient λ (54,8)This paper presents a study of the influence of the velocity coefficient on the cutting force and their components – the horizontal component Fx and the vertical component Fy when cutting vegetables. Two well-known vegetables, pumpkin and beetroot, were used in the experiments. The experiments were carried out with feed rate of the food sample 0,083 m/s and frequency of rotation of the disc knife in a range from 110 min -1 to 414 min-1. It was found that when that velocity coefficient grows, the cutting force and the components of the cutting force decrease. The lowest values of cutting force of pumpkin and red beet (131 N and 115,2 N respectively) were recorded for the highest value of velocity coefficient λ (54,8

Serum Iron Metabolism Variables in Clinically Healthy Persons

BACKGROUND: In healthy persons, iron acquisition, trafficking and storage are strictly regulated processes due to the lack of a physiological pathway for the excretion of excess iron from the body. The liver, the duodenum and the bone marrow are involved in the regulation of iron metabolism. MATERIAL: Subject to the testing were 60 healthy volunteers who took part in clinical trials. METHODS: Case histories, physical check-up and demographic data including people’s heights and weights, laboratory studies and tests using medical equipment. RESULTS: None of the healthy persons were reported to have shown any deviation from the reference values for the serum markers of iron metabolism tested with the exception of hepcidin. CONCLUSION: In healthy persons, there was only a positive correlation between iron level and IBC, and feedback between hepcidin serum levels and transferrin saturation

Mid-term Evaluation of NGO Programmes Under EEA Grants 2009-2014

The EEA Financial Mechanism (2009-2014) have committed 160,4 million to support seventeen NGO Programmes in sixteen countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Spain. The overall objective of the EEA Grants NGO Programmes is strengthened civil society development and enhanced contribution to social justice, democracy and sustainable development in each of the beneficiary countries. As of 30 of June 2014, 957 projects in total of 53,793,561 have been supported mainly in the fields of democracy, citizen participation, human rights, social justice and empowerment, sustainable development and provision of basic welfare services. The mid-term evaluation of the NGO Programmes funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism (2009- 2014) is an independent formative evaluation. Its objective was two-fold: 1) to assess the progress and needs for improvement of the current Programmes, and 2) to inform policies for the next financial period. The main purpose of this evaluation was to provide an expert independent mid-term assessment of the contribution of the EEA Grants 2009-2014 to the NGO sectors in the beneficiary states operating NGO Programmes. The evaluation was of dual nature: (1) of a formative evaluation to identify progress and needs for improvement of the current Programmes and (2) of a forward oriented strategic review to inform policies for the next financial period

Lexically-specific syntactic restrictions in second-language speakers

In two structural priming experiments, we investigated the representations of lexically-specific syntactic restrictions of English verbs for highly proficient and immersed second language (L2) speakers of English. We considered the interplay of two possible mechanisms: generalization from the first language (L1) and statistical learning within the L2 (both of abstract structure and of lexically-specific information). In both experiments, L2 speakers with either Germanic or Romance languages as L1 were primed to produce dispreferred double-object structures involving non-alternating dative verbs. Priming occurred from ungrammatical double-object primes involving different non-alternating verbs (Experiment 1) and from grammatical primes involving alternating verbs (Experiment 2), supporting abstract statistical learning within the L2. However, we found no differences between L1-Germanic speakers (who have the double object structure in their L1) and L1-Romance speakers (who do not), inconsistent with the prediction for between-group differences of the L1-generalization account. Additionally, L2 speakers in Experiment 2 showed a lexical boost: There was stronger priming after (dispreferred) non-alternating same-verb double object primes than after (grammatical) alternating different-verb primes. Such lexically-driven persistence was also shown by L1 English speakers (Ivanova et al., 2012a) and may underlie statistical learning of lexically-dependent structural regularities. We conclude that lexically-specific syntactic restrictions in highly proficient and immersed L2 speakers are shaped by statistical learning (both abstract and lexically-specific) within the L2, but not by generalization from the L1

The effect of X-ray radiation on the human body - pros and cons. Radiation protection in medical imaging and radiotherapy

INTRODUCTION: The discovery of X-rays in November 1895 by Roentgen opened a new chapter in the scientif­ic development and pretty soon it became clear that these rays can be useful for diagnostics and treatment. The most frequent use of X-rays is related to their ability to pass through matter. The main fields of application of the rays are medicine, industry, checks of goods and packages and scientific studies. Modern medicine consti­tutes approximately 80% of the overexposure. The contribution of diagnostic radiology is approximately 22% of the total exposure of Bulgarian population. The quality of the medical services depends to a great extent on the accurate and timely diagnoses set through different methods using also ionizing radiation. The exposure of the patient should be reasonably justified and optimized but cannot be limited. The risk of exposure to high doses of radiation is justified only if this is appropriate for the diagnosis or the treatment. Each overexposure, including medical irradiation, is related to certain radiation risk. Radiation protection is a means to apply the measures intended to protect the health from ionizing radiation-related risks. It is essential to know the bene­fits and risks of the medical procedures.AIM: To investigate radiation protection means, and the benefits and risks of medical procedures.MATERIALS AND METHODS: An analysis of literature sources was conducted.RESULTS: The medical control of the radiation protection divides exposure into three categories: professional exposure, medical exposure and exposure of the population. Irradiation by any source should be conducted by optimizing the protection and the safety, maintaining the size of the individual dose, the number of exposed persons and the exposure at levels as low as reasonably achievable considering the social and economic factors. This is the so-called optimization of the protection