An exploratory study to design an adaptive hypermedia system for online-advertisement

The revolutionary world of the World Wide Web has created an open space for a multitude of fields to develop and propagate. One of these major fields is advertisement. Online advertisement has become one of the main activities conducted on the web, heavily supported by the industry. Importantly, it is one of the main contributors to any businesses’ income. However, consumers usually ignore the great majority of adverts online. This research paper studies the field of online advertisement, by conducting an exploratory study to understand end users’ needs for targeted online advertisement using adaptive hypermedia techniques. Additionally, we explore social networks, one of the booming phenomena of the web, to enhance the appropriateness of the advertising to the users. The main current outcome of this research is that end users are interested in personalised advertisement that tackles their needs and that they believe that the use of social networks and social actions help in the contextualisation of advertisement

Designing social personalized adaptive e-learning

Here we introduce Topolor, a social personalized adaptive elearning system aiming to improve social interaction in the learning process as well as applying classical adaptation based on user modeling. Here, we focus on the system architecture and preliminary evaluation that showed high system usability

Exploring participatory design for SNS-based AEH systems

The rapidly emerging and growing social networking sites (SNS) offer an opportunity to improve adaptive e-learning experience by introducing a social dimension, connecting users within the system. Making connections and providing communication tools can engage students in creating effective learning environment and enriching learning experiences. Researchers have been working on introducing SNS features into adaptive educational hypermedia systems. The next stage research is centered on how to enhance SNS facilities of AEH systems, in order to engage students’ participation in collaborative learning and generating and enriching learning materials. Students are the core participants in the adaptive e-learning process, so it is essential for the system designers to consider students’ opinions. This paper aims at exploring how to apply participatory design methodology in the early stage of the SNS-based AEH system design process

Apply the We! Design methodology in E-learning 2.0 system design : a pilot study

During the emergence of Web 2.0, the methodologies and technologies of E-learning have developed to a new era, E-learning 2.0, emphasises on social learning and the use of social interaction tools. The students are the main end-user of the E-learning 2.0 systems, so it is essential to take students' opinions into consideration during the design process of such systems. The We!Design participatory design methodology is proposed for incorporating undergraduate students in the development of educational systems. This pilot study aims to investigate how the We!Design methodology would work and what the results might propose, and gather initial preferences and improve the quality and efficiency of the larger scale studies in the future

The Role of ST-18 in Inv16 Leukemogenesis

The human gene Suppression of Tumorigenicity-18 (ST-18) encodes a zinc finger protein previously associated with breast carcinoma, however it may have an oncogenic role in the development of Inversion 16 leukemia (inv16). This project assayed the level of ST-18 in inv16 leukemic lines compared to unrelated cancer lines. The data show that ST-18 is more highly expressed in an inv16 acute myeloid leukemic cell line (Me-1) compared to Kasumi-1 and U937 non-inv16 cancer lines. In addition, murine ST-18 was successfully cloned into plasmid vector pMSCV2.2 for use in future over-expression experiments

Investigation of the antioxidative and radical scavenging impact of natural compounds in-vitro and on cell metabolism

In an aerobic environment the occurrence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a common phenomenon. The diverse roles of ROS in cellular function and in diseases make them a target of interest in many research areas. Substances capable of directly or indirectly reducing the (harmful) effects of ROS are referred to as “antioxidants”. However, the term is applied miscellaneously in the chemical and the biological context to describe different attributes of a substance. In this work the potential of an electrochemical assay to detect different ROS in-vitro was explored. The method was optimized to investigate the radical scavenging activities (antioxidant potential) of trolox and different plant compounds (ascorbic acid, caffeic acid, epigallocatechin gallate, ferulic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, and Gynostemma pentaphyllum extract) in-vitro. The obtained data was compared to established antioxidant in-vitro assays. Further, the impact of the plant substances on cellular parameters was evaluated with the electrochemical assay and established cell assays. The optimization of the electrochemical assay allowed the reproducible detection of ROS. The sensor electrode proved differently sensitive towards individual ROS species. The highest sensitivity was recorded for hydroxyl radicals while superoxide and hydrogen peroxide had little impact on the sensor. Extracellular ROS concentrations could be detected from cell lines releasing elevated ROS into the extracellular space. The antioxidant activity of the investigated plant substances could be demonstrated with all in-vitro assays applied. However, the absolute as well as the relative activity of the individual substances varied depending on the experimental parameters of the assays (pH, radical species, phase, detection method). The plant compounds modified redox related intracellular parameters in different cell lines. However, a direct correlation between intracellular and extracellular effects of the plant compounds could not be established. The work demonstrates the feasibility to use the electrochemical assay to sense ROS as well as to evaluate the radical scavenging activity of molecules. The in-vitro antioxidant activities demonstrated for the individual plant substances are not reliable to predict the cellular effects of the molecules.In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde der Einsatz eines elektrochemischen Sensors zur Detektion von reaktiven Sauerstoffspezies (ROS) untersucht und dahingehend optimiert die antioxidative Aktivität verschiedener Pflanzeninhaltsstoffe zu bestimmen. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit etablierten Messmethoden und den Auswirkungen auf intrazelluläre Redox-Parameter in unterschiedlichen Zelllinien verglichen. Die Arbeit verdeutlicht die Abhängigkeit antioxidativer Aktivitäten von den experimentellen Bedingungen

Social e-learning in topolor : a case study

Social e-learning is a process through which learners achieve their learning goals via social interactions with each other by sharing knowledge, skills, abilities and educational materials. Adaptive e-learning enables adaptation and personalization of the learning process, based on learner needs, knowledge, preferences and other characteristics. In this paper, we present a case study that analyzes the social interaction features of a social personalized adaptive e-learning system developed at the University of Warwick, called Topolor. We discuss the results of a quantitative case study that evaluates the perceived usefulness and usability. The results demonstrate a generally high level of learner satisfaction with their learning experience. We extend the discussion of the results to explore future research directions and suggest further improvements for the studied social personalized adaptive e-learning system

The IAB establishment panel : from sample to survey to projection

"The IAB Establishment Panel is an annual survey of establishments and is unique in Germany, as it represents all industries and establishment sizes nationwide and can also be analysed on a longitudinal basis. The design of the IAB Establishment Panel was developed in the early 1990s and subjected to a wide range of tests. This process also involved parallel development activities taking place on the Hannover Firm Panel, which were carried out on behalf of the "Forschungsstelle Firmenpanel" at the University of Hanover (Gerlach et al.: 1998) and the Institute for Applied Economic Research in Tübingen (IAW). The survey began in West Germany in 1993, with the aim of building up a representative information system for continuous analysis of labour demand. It has been carried out in East Germany since 1996, making it a nationwide survey. The IAB Establishment Panel is conceived as a longitudinal survey, i.e. a large majority of the same establishments are interviewed every year. Consequently, it enables both analysis of developments across time through comparison of cross-sectional data on different points in time, and also longitudinal studies of individual establishments. Now in the IAB Establishment Panel approx. 16,000 establishments are surveyed on a large number of employment policy-related subjects, including employment development, business policy and business development, investment activities, innovations in the establishment, public funding, personnel structure, vocational training and apprenticeships, new and exiting personnel, recruitment, wages and salaries, working times in the establishment, further training and general data on the establishment. The survey also includes varying focal topics every year. With the exception of Hamburg, all the German federal states (Bundesländer) currently contribute regional extension samples to the IAB Establishment Panel. This firstly enables evaluations on the federal state level, and secondly results in a total range of samples that significantly widens the evaluation options on the nationwide level. The IAB Establishment Panel contains high data quality, achieved by means of the high-quality sample, the high exploitation level and the sophisticated process of data monitoring and error correction. The survey is carried out by TNS Infratest Sozialforschung GmbH on behalf of the IAB. A general introduction to the IAB Establishment Panel is contained in German in Bellmann (2002) or in English in Kölling (2000). The IAB Establishment Panel is based on a complex study design, which also presents challenges for users of the dataset. This paper provides an overview of the methodology of the IAB Establishment Panel. It goes into detail on the design of the samples and survey, the weighting process, and data access at the Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). The most important points are presented at the beginning of each chapter. It is intended for users of the IAB Establishment Panel, firstly as a collection of methodological aspects of the IAB Establishment Panel, and secondly to make it easier for first-time users in particular to start using the data. This paper is also aimed at users of the IAB Linked-Employer-Employee Dataset (LIAB1), in which the IAB Establishment Panel is an important component." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Here you can find the German version of the report.IAB-Betriebspanel, Datengewinnung, Stichprobenverfahren, Stichprobe, Erhebungsmethode, Befragung, Fragebogen, Antwortverhalten, Datenaufbereitung, Datenanalyse, Hochrechnung, Querschnittuntersuchung, Längsschnittuntersuchung

Evaluation of social interaction features in topolor - a social personalized adaptive e-learning system

Here we present a case study that analyses the social interaction features in Topolor, an adaptive personalized social e-learning system. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the perceived usefulness and usability. The results show a considerably high satisfaction of the students. We discuss the evaluation results and outline the plan for improvement

Topolor : a social personalized adaptive e-learning system

This paper briefly introduces Topolor, a social personalized adaptive e-learning system, which aims at improving fine-grained social interaction in the learning process in addition to applying classical adaptation based on user modeling. Here, we present the main features of Topolor and its preliminary evaluation that showed high system usability from a student’s perspective. The intention is to demonstrate Topolor hands-on at the conference