ICT helps to overcome disabilities

As a result of technological progress ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) has created the so-called „digital divide“. Some people are unable to individually respond to this progress, but the proper use of ICT can help them overcome this handicap. One of the possibilities is to create accessible and usable applications depending on the character and level of disability. In accordance with the European CertiAgri project, e-learning tools are used for integrating people with disabilities into the horticultural area. The paper specifically describes examples of simple teaching aids from the practical „green care“ course, which focus on the skills of people with mental disabilities.ICT, mental disability, educational materials, CertiAgri, accessibility, usability., Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, GA, IN,

Possibilities of web-conferencing systems for disabled students

This paper deals with issues of web-conferencing systems accessibility and usability. These systems and applications are becoming increasingly popular in the educational process. Unfortunately, the majority of webconferencing systems are not designed for users with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to describe possibilities of web-conferencing system for teaching handicapped students and explain the benefits of using this solution for common education. The main part of testing the hypothesis and possibilities were carried out in the Adobe Acrobat Connect system which is commonly used in the educational process at CULS.Accessibility, web-conferencing system, education, assistive devices Anotace, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, GA, IN,

Wettability and Other Surface Properties of Modified Polymers

Surface wettability is one of the crucial characteristics for determining of a material’s use in specific application. Determination of wettability is based on the measurement of the material surface contact angle. Contact angle is the main parameter that characterizes the drop shape on the solid surface and is also one of the directly measurable properties of the phase interface. In this chapter, the wettability and its related properties of pristine and modified polymer foils will be described. The wettability depends on surface roughness and chemical composition. Changes of these parameters can adjust the values of contact angle and, therefore, wettability. In the case of pristine polymer materials, their wettability is unsuitable for a wide range of applications (such as tissue engineering, printing, and coating). Polymer surfaces can easily be modified by, e.g., plasma discharge, whereas the bulk properties remain unchanged. This modification leads to oxidation of the treated layer and creation of new chemical groups that mainly contain oxygen. Immediately after plasma treatment, the values of the contact angles of the modified polymer significantly decrease. In the case of a specific polymer, the strongly hydrophilic surface is created and leads to total spreading of the water drop. Wettability is strongly dependent on time from modification

Strain Rate Contribution due to Dynamic Recovery of Ultrafine-Grained Cu−Zr as Evidenced by Load Reductions during Quasi-Stationary Deformation at 0.5 Tm

During quasi-stationary tensile deformation of ultrafine-grained Cu-0.2 mass%Zr at 673 K and a deformation rate of about 10−4 s−1 load changes were performed. Reductions of relative load by more than about 25% initiate anelastic back flow. Subsequently, the creep rate turns positive again and goes through a relative maximum. This is interpreted by a strain rate component ϵ˙− associated with dynamic recovery of dislocations. Back extrapolation indicates that ϵ˙− contributes the same fraction of (20±10)% to the quasi-stationary strain rate that has been reported for coarse-grained materials with high fraction of low-angle boundaries; this suggests that dynamic recovery of dislocations is generally mediated by boundaries. The influence of anelastic back flow on ϵ˙− is discussed. Comparison of ϵ˙− to the quasi-stationary rate points to enhancement of dynamic recovery by internal stresses. Subtraction of ϵ˙− from the total rate yields the rate component ϵ˙+ related with generation and storage of dislocations; its activation volume is in the order expected from the classical theory of thermal glide

Comunidades de minhocas em um ecótono entre floresta e campo arável e suas relações com as propriedades do solo

The objective of this work was to assess the effects of a forest-field ecotone on earthworm assemblages. Five sites (blocks) differing in the type of crop rotation used in the field were studied in Central Bohemia, Czech Republic. In each block, sampling was carried out in seven parallel rows perpendicular to a transect from a forest (oak or oak-pine) to the centre of a field, both in spring and autumn 2001–2003. Individual rows were located in the forest (5 m from the edge), in the forest edge, and in the field (at 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 m distances from the forest edge). The density and biomass of earthworms were lowest in the forest, increased markedly in the forest edge, decreased again at 5 or 10 m distance from the forest edge and then continuously increased along the distance to the field boundary. The highest number of species was found in the forest edge and in the field boundary. Individual species differed in their distribution along the transect. Both density and biomass of earthworms were correlated with distance from forest edge, soil organic matter content, soil porosity, and water infiltration rate.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de um ecótono entre floresta e campo arável sobre comunidades de minhocas. Cinco locais (blocos) com diferentes tipos de rotação de culturas utilizados no campo foram estudados na Boêmia Central, República Tcheca. Em cada bloco, amostragens foram feitas em sete linhas paralelas perpendiculares a um transecto de floresta (carvalho ou carvalho e pinheiro), em direção ao centro de um campo, na primavera e no outono de 2001–2003. Linhas individuais foram marcadas na floresta (a 5 m da borda), na borda da floresta e no campo (a 5, 10, 25, 50 e 100 m da borda da floresta). A densidade e biomassa das minhocas foi menor na floresta, aumentou marcadamente na borda da floresta, decaiu novamente a 5 ou 10 m de distância da borda da floresta e aumentou continuamente com a distância até o limite do campo. O maior número de espécies foi encontrado na borda da floresta e no limite do campo. As espécies apresentaram distribuições diferentes ao longo do transecto. Tanto a densidade quanto a biomassa de minhocas foram correlacionadas com a distância da borda da floresta, o conteúdo de matéria orgânica do solo, a porosidade do solo e a infiltração de água

Towards effective research recommender systems for repositories

In this paper, we argue why and how the integration of recommender systems for research can enhance the functionality and user experience in repositories. We present the latest technical innovations in the CORE Recommender, which provides research article recommendations across the global network of repositories and journals. The CORE Recommender has been recently redeveloped and released into production in the CORE system and has also been deployed in several third-party repositories. We explain the design choices of this unique system and the evaluation processes we have in place to continue raising the quality of the provided recommendations. By drawing on our experience, we discuss the main challenges in offering a state-of-the-art recommender solution for repositories. We highlight two of the key limitations of the current repository infrastructure with respect to developing research recommender systems: 1) the lack of a standardised protocol and capabilities for exposing anonymised user-interaction logs, which represent critically important input data for recommender systems based on collaborative filtering and 2) the lack of a voluntary global sign-on capability in repositories, which would enable the creation of personalised recommendation and notification solutions based on past user interactions