Student progress assessment with the help of an intelligent pupil analysis system

Students and lecturers would like to know how well students have learned the study materials being taught. A formal test or exam would cause needless stress for students. To resolve this problem, the authors of this article have developed an Intelligent Pupil Analysis (IPA) System. A sufficient amount of studies worldwide prove an interrelation between pupil size and a person's cognitive load. The obtained research results are comparable with the results from other similar studies. The original contribution of this article, compared to the research results published earlier, is as follows: the IPA System developed by the authors is superior to the traditional pupil analysis research due to the integration of pupil analysis with subsystems of decision support, recommender and intelligent tutoring systems and innovative Models of the Model-base, which permit a more detailed analysis of the knowledge attained by a student. This article ends with a case study to demonstrate the practical operation of the IPA System.     

The fundamentals of the future international emissions trading system

The study aims to analyze the sectoral marginal abatements cost curves for a number of EU countries as well as to examine the efficiency aspects and the economic impacts for the major sectors of the ETS under different carbon market configurations in 2010 and 2020. To produce a consistent and realistic assessment, we employ sources such as GHG National Inventories, NAPs and POLES world energy model to constitute the sectoral base year and 2010, 2020 emission levels in different countries and regions. We then use the market analysis tool ASPEN, which enables to derive supply and demand from sectoral MACCs produced with the POLES model, and to evaluate the economic impacts on the carbon market participants. The paper shows that, in compliance with the Kyoto targets, the benefits of an enlarged carbon market are significant, since more than 50% of the abatement in the short term have to be achieved in ETS sectors, which may indeed use CDM or JI credits. A second major conclusion is that in 2020 the new flexibility margins provided by the adjustment of investments in new capacities compensate for the increase in pressure towards stronger emission reductions. This reduces the relative importance of the enlarged carbon market.     

Silver nanostructured catalyst for modification of dielectrics surface

The preparation of nano-size Ag particles and their application for forming nanostructured catalysts on various surfaces are described. Silver colloid solutions were prepared by reduction of Ag(I) salt by tin(II) and characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and light absorption spectra. Depending on the colloid preparation conditions metal particles of 5-100 nm size were obtained. According to XRD data, the colloid particles contain Ag and SnO₂ phases and no metallic Sn. The Ag nanoparticles were found to be efficient electrocatalysts for anodic oxidation of formaldehyde in alkaline solutions. The catalytic activity of a glassy carbon electrode with Ag surface coverage of 0.3-1 μg cm⁻² is similar or even exceeds that of the metallic electrode. The silver particles were used for the initiation of the electroless copper deposition process on dielectrics; for that 1-2 μg cm⁻² Ag is needed.     

Synthesis and association properties of thermoresponsive and permanently cationic charged block copolymers

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used to prepare thermosensitive cationic block copolymers of (3-acrylamidopropyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (AMPTMA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) with different block lengths. By using ethyl-2-chloropropionate (ECP) as initiator and CuCl/CuCl₂/tris(2-dimethylaminoethyl)amine (Me₆TREN) catalytic system in DMF:water 50:50 (v/v) mixtures at 20 °C the polymerization was controlled. The association properties in NaCl aqueous solution were studied as a function of temperature and polymer concentration by dynamic light scattering, NMR spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and energy filtered-transmission electron microscopy. The block copolymers formed micellar aggregates above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of pNIPAAM. The LCST is strongly influenced by the relative length of the two blocks and is significantly higher than that of pure pNIPAAM. The size of core and shell of the micelles is discussed in terms of block copolymer composition.     

Efficiency of ITS Sequences for DNA Barcoding in Passiflora (Passifloraceae)

DNA barcoding is a technique for discriminating and identifying species using short, variable, and standardized DNA regions. Here, we tested for the first time the performance of plastid and nuclear regions as DNA barcodes in Passiflora. This genus is a largely variable, with more than 900 species of high ecological, commercial, and ornamental importance. We analyzed 1034 accessions of 222 species representing the four subgenera of Passiflora and evaluated the effectiveness of five plastid regions and three nuclear datasets currently employed as DNA barcodes in plants using barcoding gap, applied similarity-, and tree-based methods. The plastid regions were able to identify less than 45% of species, whereas the nuclear datasets were efficient for more than 50% using “best match” and “best close match” methods of TaxonDNA software. All subgenera presented higher interspecific pairwise distances and did not fully overlap with the intraspecific distance, and similarity-based methods showed better results than tree-based methods. The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region presented a higher discrimination power than the other datasets and also showed other desirable characteristics as a DNA barcode for this genus. Therefore, we suggest that this region should be used as a starting point to identify Passiflora species.     

Quality and nutritional characteristics of traditional curd cheese enriched with thermo-coagulated acid whey protein and indigenous Lactococcus lactis strain

Consumer interest in a healthy lifestyle and health-promoting natural products is a major driving force for the increasing global demand for bio-functional and sustainable dairy foods. Supplementation of curd cheese with thermo-coagulated acid whey protein (TAWP) led to 8–10% higher contents of moisture, 23–31% of lactose, 12–13% of unsaturated, 5–6% of monounsaturated, 63% of polyunsaturated, and 3–4% of long-chain fatty acids. Lipid quality indices – TI, AI, h/H, and Omega 6/3 among others, were also significantly better than those of control cheese. The addition of indigenous Lactococcus lactis strain enhanced the flavour of cheese samples, decreased the counts of yeast and mould up to 1 log cfu g⁻¹ after 10 days of storage. The replacement of curd with TAWP resulted in novel cheese with overall sensory perception above 77 points and added nutritional and functional value, however, body and texture parameters of modified cheese samples require an improvement.     

A novel wet polymeric precipitation synthesis method for monophasic β-TCP

β-Tricalcium phosphate (β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂, β-TCP) powders were synthesized using wet polymeric precipitation method for the first time to our best knowledge. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of almost single a Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) phase of a poor crystallinity already at room temperature. With continuously increasing the calcination temperature up to 800 °C the crystalline β-TCP was obtained as the main phase. It was demonstrated that infrared spectroscopy is very effective method to characterize the formation of β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂. The SEM results showed that β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂ solids were homogeneous having a small particle size distribution. The β-TCP powders consisted of spherical particles varying in size from 100 to 300 nm. Fabricated β-TCP specimens were placed to the bones of the rats and maintained for 1–2 months. The histological properties of these samples will be also investigated.     

Isolation and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers for Passiflora contracta

Passiflora contracta Vitta (Passifloraceae) is an endemic species of the Atlantic Rainforest, one of the most species-rich ecoregions in the world, although extremely endangered. We have developed an enriched microsatellite library in order to fine-scale studies of the genetic structure of P. contracta. Twelve pairs of microsatellite primers were designed, and seven loci were successfully amplified and characterized by genotyping two wild populations of P. contracta. All seven loci were polymorphic, with an average number of alleles found being 4.8 and 5 per population. The cross-species transferability was tested using sister species Passiflora ovalis Vell. Ex Roemer. The development of these markers will contribute to the studies of population genetics in P. contracta as well as future studies concerning diversity patterns in the Atlantic Rainforest, and may also help to establish strategies for the conservation of this species.     

Benefits of β-xylanase for wheat biomass conversion to bioethanol

BACKGROUND: The efficiency of bioethanol production from wheat biomass is related to the quality of end products as well as to safety criteria of co‐products such as distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS). The inclusion of a new biocatalyst for non‐starch polysaccharide degradation in fermentation processes could be one of the solutions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of β‐xylanases in combination with traditional amylolytic enzymes on the efficiency of bioethanol production and DON detoxification during fermentation of Fusarium‐contaminated wheat biomass with high concentration of deoxynivalenol (DON; 3.95 mg kg^?1). RESULTS: The results showed that the negative effect of Fusarium spp. on yield and quality of bioethanol could be eliminated by the application of Trichoderma reesei xylanase in combination with amylolytic enzymes. This technological solution allowed to increase the concentration of ethanol in the fermented wort by 35.3% and to improve the quality of bioethanol by decreasing the concentrations of methanol, methyl acetate, isoamyl and isobutyl alcohols. Mass balance calculations showed that DDGS was the main source of DON contamination, comprising 74% of toxin found in wheat biomass. By using new enzyme combination for wheat biomass saccharification, a higher level of detoxification (41%) of DON was achieved during the fermentation process. CONCLUSION: The addition of Trichoderma reesei xylanase played a positive role in bioethanol production from Fusarium‐contaminated wheat biomass, indicating that the yeast‐growing medium was enriched during the enzymatic treatment. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry