KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION – AN ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH IN COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS

The paper presents an ontology-based knowledge management system developed for a Romanian university. The university used a classic Management Information System (MIS), which was the starting point for developing the knowledge management system. The developed knowledge management system has a general ontology, containing terms which are valid for a public institution, and specific ontology for two process categories, didactic and research process. The ontology is implemented using Protege. The results are very encouraging and suggest several future developments.business intelligence, knowledge management, ontology, university

Effect of the over-ageing treatment on the mechanical properties of AA2024 aluminum alloy.

The evolution of the hardness of the over-ageing AA2024 alloy scale was followed by measurements of Vickers hardness. The nanoindentation is adapted to the determination of elastoplastic properties (hardness and Young’s modulus) of the matrix and also of coarse intermetallic precipitates. Influence of the artificial over-ageing time to hardness and to mechanical properties as the local scale was investigated

Caves as observatories for atmospheric thermal tides: an example from Ascunsă Cave, Romania

As part of a microclimate study at Ascunsă Cave, Romania, we used Gemini Tinytag Plus 2 data loggers to record cave air temperature variability. At one of the monitoring points we recognized the presence of semidiurnal cycles on the order of a few thousands of a degree Celsius that could be produced under the influence of the semidiurnal tidal components of the Sun (S2) or the Moon (M2). Using a Gemini Tinytag Plus 2 data logger with an external probe we measured core rock temperature and showed that it does not influence the cave air temperature on such short time scales. We thus rejected the possibility that Earth tides, mostly produced by the lunar tidal influence on the Earth’s crust, would have had a semidiurnal influence on cave air temperature. Moreover, time series analysis revealed a 12.00-hour periodicity in temperature data, specific for the S2, allowing us to assign these variations to the influence of the thermo-tidal action of the Sun. Using the Ideal Gas Law and assuming a constant volume and amount of air, we calculated that a theoretical change in atmospheric pressure of around 40 Pa was needed to produce the temperature changes we observed. This agrees with published values of atmospheric pressure changes induced by the semidiurnal solar component of the thermal tides (S2(t)). We thus can assign the observed temperature changes to semidiurnal atmospheric pressure changes (S2(p)) induced by the thermal excitation of the Sun. Our study signals the possibility that readily available data from cave monitoring studies around the world could be used in the study of atmospheric tides. Moreover, it appears that Ascunsă Cave acts as a natural meteorological filter on a short time scale, removing the direct thermal influences of the Sun (especially night and day differences) and preserving only the barometric information from the surface

The Influence of the Number of Finite Elements upon the Accuracy of the Results Obtained Using Discrete Models

Discrete models are often used because they require a simple mathematical approach, even if their accuracy is inferior to continues models. This paper presents a study regarding the influence of the number of used elements upon the accuracy with which the natural frequencies of straight beams can determined. The results show that, to achieve a reasonable accuracy, it is necessary to use at least ten elements, while for rigorous calculus, more than three hundred elements must be considered

Conformational landscape and low lying excited states of imatinib

Abstract The conformational changes of imatinib (IMT) are crucial for understanding the ligand–receptor interaction and its mechanism of action [Agofonov et al. (2014) Nature Struct Mol Biol 21:848–853]. Therefore, here we investigated the free energy conformational landscape of the free IMT base, aiming to describe the three-dimensional structures and energetic stability of its conformers. Forty-five unique conformers, within an energy window of 4.8 kcal mol−1 were identified by a conformational search in gas-phase, at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) theoretical level. Among these, the 20most stable, as well as 4 conformers resulting from optimization of experimental structures found in the two known polymorphs of IMTand in the c- Abl complex were further refined using the 6-31+G(d,p) basis set and the polarizable continuum solvation model. The most stable conformers in gas-phase and water exhibit a V-shaped structure. The major difference between the most stable free conformers and the bioactive conformers consists in the relative orientation of the pyrimidine–pyridine groups responsible for hydrogen bonding interactions in the ATP-binding pocket. The ratio of mole fractions corresponding to the two known (α and β) polymorphic forms of IMT was estimated from the calculated thermochemical data, in quantitative agreement with the existing experimental data related to their solubility. The electronic absorption spectrum of this compound was investigated in water and explained based on the theoretical TD-DFT results, considering the Boltzmann populationaveraged computed data at CAM-B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory for the nine most stable conformers

Vaccination, life expectancy, and trust: Patterns of COVID-19 and measles vaccination rates around the world

We estimate patterns of covariation between COVID-19 and measles vaccination rates and a set of widely used indicators of human, social, and economic capital across 146 countries. About 70% of the variability in COVID-19 vaccination rates in February 2022, worldwide, can be explained by differences in the Human Development Index (HDI) and, specifically, in life expectancy at birth. Trust in doctors and nurses adds predictive value beyond the HDI, clarifying controversial discrepancies between vaccination rates in countries with similar levels of human development and vaccine availability. Cardiovascular disease deaths, an indicator of general health system effectiveness, and infant measles immunization coverage, an indicator of country-level immunization effectiveness, are also significant, though weaker, predictors of COVID-19 vaccination success. The metrics of economic inequality, perceived corruption, poverty, and inputs into the health system have strong bivariate correlations with COVID-19 vaccination but no longer remain statistically significant when controlling for the HDI. Measles vaccination in 2019 is similarly predicted by HDI, trust in doctors and nurses. National poverty rates seem to be a relevant predictor for both types of vaccination, though statistical significance is oscillating. The remaining variability in COVID-19 vaccination success that cannot be pinned down through these sets of metrics points to a considerable scope for collective and individual agency in a time of crisis. The mobilization and coordination in the vaccination campaigns of citizens, medical professionals, scientists, journalists, and politicians, among others, account for at least some of this variability in overcoming vaccine hesitancy and inequity

Vaccination, life expectancy, and trust: Patterns of COVID-19 vaccination rates around the world

We estimate patterns of covariation between COVID-19 vaccination rates and a set of widely used indicators of human, social, and economic capital across 146 countries in July 2021 and February 2022. About 70% of the variability in COVID-19 vaccination rates worldwide can be explained by differences in the Human Development Index (HDI) and, specifically, in life expectancy at birth, one year after the campaign debut. Trust in doctors and nurses adds predictive value beyond the HDI, clarifying controversial discrepancies between vaccination rates in countries with similar levels of human development and vaccine availability. Cardiovascular disease deaths, an indicator of general health system effectiveness, and infant measles immunization coverage, an indicator of country-level immunization effectiveness, are also significant, though weaker, predictors of COVID-19 vaccination success. The metrics of economic inequality, perceived corruption, poverty, and inputs into the health system have strong bivariate correlations with COVID-19 vaccination but no longer remain statistically significant when controlling for the HDI. Our analysis identified the contours of a social structure that sustains life and is reproduced through this process. COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be part of the Matthew effect of accumulating advantages and aggravating disadvantages that the pandemic inflicted on societies and communities across the world. At the same time, the remaining variability in vaccination success that cannot be pinned down through these sets of metrics points to a considerable scope for collective and individual agency in a time of crisis. The mobilization and coordination in the vaccination campaigns of citizens, medical professionals, scientists, journalists, and politicians, amo