An Ontology- Content-based Filtering Method

Traditional content-based filtering methods usually utilize text extraction and classification techniques for building user profiles as well as for representations of contents, i.e. item profiles. These methods have some disadvantages e.g. mismatch between user profile terms and item profile terms, leading to low performance. Some of the disadvantages can be overcome by incorporating a common ontology which enables representing both the users' and the items' profiles with concepts taken from the same vocabulary. We propose a new content-based method for filtering and ranking the relevancy of items for users, which utilizes a hierarchical ontology. The method measures the similarity of the user's profile to the items' profiles, considering the existing of mutual concepts in the two profiles, as well as the existence of "related" concepts, according to their position in the ontology. The proposed filtering algorithm computes the similarity between the users' profiles and the items' profiles, and rank-orders the relevant items according to their relevancy to each user. The method is being implemented in ePaper, a personalized electronic newspaper project, utilizing a hierarchical ontology designed specifically for classification of News items. It can, however, be utilized in other domains and extended to other ontologies.

Mathematical Models of Domain Ontologies

* This paper was made according to the program No 14 of fundamental scientific research of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the project "Intellectual Systems Based on Multilevel Domain Models".

Developing of Distributed Virtual Laboratories for Smart Sensor System Design Based on Multi-Dimensional Access Method

In the article it is considered preconditions and main principles of creation of virtual laboratories for computer-aided design, as tools for interdisciplinary researches. Virtual laboratory, what are offered, is worth to be used on the stage of the requirements specification or EFT-stage, because it gives the possibility of fast estimating of the project realization, certain characteristics and, as a result, expected benefit of its applications. Using of these technologies already increase automation level of design stages of new devices for different purposes. Proposed computer technology gives possibility to specialists from such scientific fields, as chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics etc, to check possibility of device creating on the basis of developed sensors. It lets to reduce terms and costs of designing of computer devices and systems on the early stages of designing, for example on the stage of requirements specification or EFT-stage. An important feature of this project is using the advanced multi-dimensional access method for organizing the information base of the Virtual laboratory.

Ideological aspects of the translation of business annual reports in Oman (English-Arabic)

The socioeconomic context in the renaissance era in Oman has resulted in the development of new forms of discursive prastises and thus, in the introduction of new genres. One of these new genres is the business annual report, which in Oman exists in English and Arabic. This thesis examines the role of translation in the production of annual reports. This research makes a contribution to the field of Translation Studies by examining institutional translation in order to gain insights into translation agents, processes, practises and underlying policies with reference to national business institutions in their sociopolitical and historical and institutional contexts .Business reports are still largely under-researched as a genre in Translation Studies. The thesis starts with an overview of relevant aspects of Translation Studies to arrive at a theoretical framework which informs the analysis. The empirical analysis is based on sixty seven reports produced by different Oman-based companies which vary in size and organisational patterns. Annual reports are characterised as a genre in terms of function and structure at the macro-level as well as the micro-level. They have an informative and a persuasive function, as they are produced by different companies in their attempt to promote and fulfil their respective business interests and objectives.The thesis presents the sociocultural and political contexts of the production of the English and Arabic versions of the annual reports, focusing on the underlying functions and principles of institutions and agents. The next chapter illustrates the textual profiles of the English and the Arabic versions, identifying typical translation strategies. The discussion here operates within the framework of product-oriented Descriptive Translation Studies (Lambert and van Gorp 1985). It is argued that the two language versions reflect aspects of ideology, political affiliation and power relations at both the macro and micro- structural levels. These ideological aspects can be seen in particular in the addition, omission and change of specific expressions which refer to religious or interpersonal aspects. These strategies signal the aim to appeal to wider Arab readers and to fulfil the agendas of different agents (government, companies, chairpersons, directors, etc.). The description of the texts is followed by an account of these aspects in terms of sociopolitical and institutional conditions in the production of the translations. For this explanation, reference is made to sociological approaches to translation, mainly building on the work of Bourdieu (1991). This thesis emphasises that the translation of annual reports is a collective effort which takes place in a particular institutional context. Consequently, the translation strategies are regulated by the objectives of the institution within which translators and other agents operate. The translations are prepared in order to meet the expectations and needs of the intended Arabic language addressees; in addition, the generic features of the reports reveal a progression of transmission and development over the course of time in the spheres of business and economy in Oman. This thesis demonstrates that business companies too can be seen as institutions which contribute significantly to disseminating business terms and concepts and promoting investment opportunities domestically and internationally through translation work.

Contract law concentrate

Contract Law Concentrate is a high quality revision guide which covers the main topics found on undergraduate courses. The clear, succinct coverage of key legal points within a specific topic area, including key cases, enables students to quickly grasp the fundamental principles of contract law. Written by Jill Poole, an experienced teacher and examiner and author of Textbook on Contract Law and Casebook on Contract Law, the book focuses on the needs of students to pass their exams. A number of pedagogical features help with the preparation for exams and suggest ways to improve marks. This guide has been rigorously reviewed and is endorsed by students and lecturers for level of coverage, accuracy, and exam advice. Packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more, Contract Law Concentrate is also supported by extensive online resources to take your learning further (www.oxford.com/lawrevision/): · Test your knowledge with the multiple choice questions and receive feedback on your answers. · Revise the facts and discussions of key cases using the interactive flashcards. · Learn the important terms and definitions using the interactive glossary. · Check that you have covered the main points of a topic using the key facts lists. · Achieve better marks following the advice on revision and exam technique by experienced examiner Nigel Foster.

Az európai uniós tagság mint modernizációs hajtóerő. Gondolatok a kelet-közép-európai országok EU-tagságának 10. évfordulóján = EU membership as a driving force of modernization. Ideas on the 10th anniversary of EU membership of East Central European countries

A szerző az Európai Unióhoz az elmúlt évtizedben csatlakozott országok felzárkózásának összefüggéseit vizsgálja, rámutatva arra, hogy a kelet-közép-európai térség országainak természetes modernizációs központja az Európai Unió. Az európai integrációba történő szerves beépülésnek nem volt és a jövőben sincs reális alternatívája. Annak ellenére, hogy a nemzetközi pénzügyi és gazdasági válság rendkívül kedvezőtlen fordulatot hozott, az új tagországok többségében jelentős ütemű felzárkózási folyamat indult el: egy évtizeden belül relatív pozíciójuk az uniós átlaghoz képest átlagosan 15 százalékpont javult a vásárlóerő-paritáson mért egy főre jutó GDP-t tekintve. A tagság számos előnye közül ki kell emelni, hogy az uniós költségvetésből származó közvetlen transzferek hatására az új tagállamok számottevő külső forráshoz jutottak, aminek révén hosszú távú fejlődésüket és versenyképességüket befolyásoló területeken jelentős beruházásokat hajthattak végre. E transzferek kapcsán a szerző felhívja a figyelmet arra, hogy a szűk látókörűen számított nettó haszonélvezői pozíció valójában kölcsönös előnyöket rejt: az EU fejlettebb országai számára is komoly előnyök származnak a megnövekedett importkeresletből és általában a bővülés kereskedelemteremtő hatásaiból. _____ The author analyses some catch-up aspects of countries joining the EU in 2004 and 2007, pointing out that the EU is an obvious centre of modernization for the countries in East Central Europe. There was no realistic alternative to participating in the European integration process and this applies also to the future. Contrary to the extremely bad general environment caused by the international financial and economic crisis, most new member-states were able to converge on the EU average quite fast: within a decade the relative regional level of development measured in GDP per capita terms and compared with the EU average increased by 15 per cent. It should be stressed that among several advantages of EU membership, direct transfers from the EU-level budget played a crucial role in improving competitiveness through investment. Looking beyond narrow-minded net budgetary positions, the author sees mutual comprehensive benefits: the more developed member-states can enjoy additional demand for their products, and in general benefit from the trade-creating effects of enlargement.

Can the Paks-2 Nuclear Power Plant operate without State aid? A business economic analysis

Many studies have investigated the prospects for returns, the budgetary and financing background and energy management effects of the new nuclear power plant units to be built at Paks. This document seeks to complement previous economics-based studies by adding a new criterion. The key question in our analysis is whether the power plant company will be capable of independent operations in an economic sense - or will its survival depend on further additional aid by the owner, i.e. via the central budget, after its commissioning? We shall examine from a corporate perspective in what ways the already disclosed financing terms and conditions may affect the everyday operations of the power plant company.

A historical study of selected documents from the period 1890--1920 with implications for understanding success in school

During the years 1890–1920, the public school education system established itself as the medium to transmit American values, knowledge and culture. This study described and explained why some individuals were destined to fail, and others succeed in America's public schools. The exploratory questions guiding this study were: What elements constitute society's perspective of whom it should educate during the years 1890–1920? What variables influenced society's perspective of whom it should educate during the years 1890–1920? ^ After explaining these issues, educators will then have a better understanding and awareness of why certain educational practices are currently implemented and will be able to critically evaluate which ones should be continued. The methodology chosen was historical. The approach for analyzing the data was coding. The information was coded in order to determine themes, concepts and ideas amongst the documents and as portrayed in the literature. The first step was to seek out patterns and then to write out words and phrases to represent these topics. Then, these phrases were attributed to networks. ^ The data indicated that public schools during this era were designed to conform and assimilate the new immigrants and factory workers in an efficient and standardized manner. Efficiency and standardization in production became the American way for government, commerce, personal, lives and the school. Many different approaches to education emerged during this time period, specifically those, which emphasized individuality; but only those, which paralleled the ideology of efficiency, standardization and conformity were adopted. Those students who were unable to conform to society's criteria for success were penalized in the classroom, on IQ examinations and national standardized exams. ^ This study was illuminative in that it explained the root cause as to why some individuals are meant to succeed while others are penalized in the classroom. Future studies connecting standardized assessments and learning styles are suggested. ^

Predicting Financial Sources for the Lodging Industry

Given the various changes that have occurred in the financing of the lodging industry, investors and developers interested in the industry are concerned about future sources of capital and the terms at which they will be available. This article presents results of a Delphi study which illustrates the extent to which individual financial institutions are expected to provide capital to the lodging industry and looks at terms and criteria used to make loans.

An Examination of Quality Service Perceptions in a Hotel

Perceptions of managers and employees on topics related to quality and quality service in a hotel were studied to define the term “quality” and the activity of "quality service" delivery, looking at differing definitions of the terms and the activity and the identification of problem issues relating to training, communication, recognition, and department coordination. Recommendations for action included changes in the training program, a reemphasizing of the incentive programs, the development of Quality Improvement Teams, improved communication, and increased service delivery leadership.

Sistema de conversão de energia eólica baseado no gerador de indução duplamente alimentado: análise e contribuição ao controle da máquina

The humanity reached a time of unprecedented technological development. Science has achieved and continues to achieve technologies that allowed increasingly to understand the universe and the laws which govern it, and also try to coexist without destroying the planet we live on. One of the main challenges of the XXI century is to seek and increase new sources of clean energy, renewable and able to sustain our growth and lifestyle. It is the duty of every researcher engage and contribute in this race of energy. In this context, wind power presents itself as one of the great promises for the future of electricity generation . Despite being a bit older than other sources of renewable energy, wind power still presents a wide field for improvement. The development of new techniques for control of the generator along with the development of research laboratories specializing in wind generation are one of the key points to improve the performance, efficiency and reliability of the system. Appropriate control of back-to-back converter scheme allows wind turbines based on the doubly-fed induction generator to operate in the variable-speed mode, whose benefits include maximum power extraction, reactive power injection and mechanical stress reduction. The generator-side converter provides control of active and reactive power injected into the grid, whereas the grid-side converter provides control of the DC link voltage and bi-directional power flow. The conventional control structure uses PI controllers with feed-forward compensation of cross-coupling dq terms. This control technique is sensitive to model uncertainties and the compensation of dynamic dq terms results on a competing control strategy. Therefore, to overcome these problems, it is proposed in this thesis a robust internal model based state-feedback control structure in order to eliminate the cross-coupling terms and thereby improve the generator drive as well as its dynamic behavior during sudden changes in wind speed. It is compared the conventional control approach with the proposed control technique for DFIG wind turbine control under both steady and gust wind conditions. Moreover, it is also proposed in this thesis an wind turbine emulator, which was developed to recreate in laboratory a realistic condition and to submit the generator to several wind speed conditions.

Avaliação da usabilidade e da arquitetura da informação do site do Instituto do Cérebro da UFRN: um estudo de caso com base nas opiniões dos usuários da instituição

The objective of the current piece of research presents was draw up a list of recommendations for the site of the Instituto do Cérebro da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, with an emphasis on fault identification in usability and information architecture, through the application of design techniques with users of the institution. From the use of the following techniques: Cardsorting, applied to a group of six people as target public, such as professor, administrative technicians and graduate student of the institution; Interviews, carried out with the director of the Instituto do Cérebro, secretaries of the undergraduate and graduate courses; Cooperative Evaluation applied in two ways: in group and individually. The evaluation in group was fulfilled in four sessions that occurred with a group composed of six people who are part of the technical staff of the Instituto do Cérebro. In the Individual Cooperative Evaluation, eight users (graduate students and administrative technicians of the Instituto do Cérebro da UFRN) performed tasks which are frequently fulfilled by users from the public target in the site of the Instituto do Cérebro. After each session of the Individual Cooperative Evaluation, a questionnaire of the user´s satisfaction was used about his or her perception in regard to the site usability and utility of the mentioned institute site. Therefore, it was concluded that, by means of the analysis of the results and the triangulation of the obtained data in each one of the techniques applied with the users, in the present piece of research, problems were verified, among others; all related to the unsuitable use of the interface elements, navigation, labeling of some menu terms, and still, the lack of search space and integration with the social networks – besides the lack, positioning and inappropriate formatting of information that would be of high relevance to the users. Finally, a list of recommendations is presented and this can be used in a future interface redesign with the goal to improve the information architecture and the usability of the site of the Instituto do Cérebro da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte.

Promoção, vencimento e avaliação de desempenho do professor do ensino fundamental: o PCCR da rede municipal de ensino de Natal/RN (2004-2010)

This study is about the enhancement of the elementary school in Natal/RN, (PCCR - Law No. 058/2004), concerning to the horizontal promotion through the performance evaluation. It uses as reference the education policy on the legislative field hegemony and the managerial model. The analysis of the teacher´s valorization is based on the policy of Funds (Fundef and Fundeb) in the Brazilian social and educational agenda. The study focuses on the Career Plan, Career and Remuneration of teachers in the period (2004-2010).The study focuses on the Career Plan, Career and Remuneration of teachers in the period (2004-2010). The thesis argues for the necessity to adopt a direct relationship between career development and horizontal promotion for more others fifteen classes, no matter to any conditioning variables. In addition, the performance shall be evaluated by interval of 25 years to reach at least the provisions decided in the law, which determines the salary adjustment in 5% at every two years, as pointed at the PCCR, about teachers remuneration, and teachers qualifications. A work of a bibliographic and a documental review about the education funding with the purpose of enhancement of educational work, career concepts, and also promotion and evaluation performance as well was performed based on experts authors in this field. The survey was organized with the aim of articulating quantitative and qualitative information, analyzing data from the teacher's salary - payrolls and paychecks - also applying a questionnaire. After the implementation of the PCCR, it was found that the wage indices for horizontal promotion during the teaching career are tied to a strategy for evaluating the performance which disqualifies the teacher‟s salaries in a minimum percentage of 25% (up to 25 years) and there are also elements that disturb the promotion strategy. The national minimum wage was set in three salaries by the PSPN Lei nº11.738/2008 but it never reaches the three salaries at Natal/RN educational system.Otherwise, the elements that structure the horizontal promotion in fifteen classes, throughout the career, flout the minimum years of teaching work, long established in 25 years. In addition, changes in terms in the salary increase depend on individual efforts by professional development through titration. Concerning to the career, despite of the category approving its PCCR, neither this instrument nor the Funds Policy managed to establish regulations were able to cope effective rules for valuing the teachers in the educational district system. It is necessary to ensure, in percentage terms and financial, the real remuneration of teachers with the attainment of horizontal promotion, reviewing the elements that structure the career and the determinants of performance evaluation.

Crianças e investigação: aspectos teórico-metodológicos e cuidados éticos nas produções dos grupos de pesquisa da UFRN

The concepts of childhood are part of a cultural construction and vary throughout history politically, economically and socially. Nouns such as "childhood" and "child" did not exist as sense of unity in periods prior to modernity, reinforcing their historical character as concepts that have been socially constructed as profess the Historical Social Psychology, theoretical perspective which will support this research. The sociology of childhood distinguishes the terms and changes the approach toward the adult researcher approach with respect to children, aiming to give voice to the child. When it comes to defining the role of children in research, the researcher must take into consideration several relevant criteria such as age, gender, time, listening to the adults close to the children, the level of language and education and which children that will be heard in a group. It is from this discussion, considering the importance of children's participation in the research that are established the purpose of this work, namely, to analyze the theoretical and methodological aspects and ethical guidelines considered in the research process with children, by researchers at the UFRN, presenting as specific objectives: analyze and discuss, from research reports, the adopted ethical procedures and methods used in research with children. Set the goal, it was made a search of the UFRN Research Groups in SIGAA in order to select those which investigate children for participating in our survey. Among the centers of UFRN, we selected the Health Sciences Centre - CCSA, the Humanities Center, Letters and Arts - CCHLA, the Biosciences Center - CB and the Health Sciences Center - CCS, a total of 64 finalized reports to be analyzed. And here it is the observation that the foolish reports were not analyzed for ethical reasons as the guiding of this dissertation is the coordinator of the research group mentioned. In this study, we chose the documentary analysis of the finalized reports from UFRN research projects teachers / researchers as procedure to set up the corpus of the research. Data analysis was performed from the qualitative analysis in the following categories were established: the concept of childhood, concept of child, age of the subjects, the research context, theoretical and methodological care adopted and ethical care. It is hoped that this study will contribute with reflections on the ethical and theoretical and methodological care on research with children. The research showed how some of the results: significant number of reports excluded by repetition, most reports did not bring any closing remarks, no different procedures for children, with rare exceptions, the ethical issue was not mentioned in 50% of reports.

Proposta de um sistema de avaliação de desempenho para o Restaurante Universitário da UFRN

The aim of this study was to propose a Performance Evaluation System for outsourced employees of the University Restaurant of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte to supply the lack of evaluative instruments. According to Provision of Services Contract nº050/2010 and nº055/2011 of FURN with SAFE LOCAÇÃO DE MÃO DE OBRA LTDA ME, it is the hired company to promote periodic functional performance evaluation of the outsourced employees, but this is not done. The performance evaluation process serves to evaluate if the employees are making their tasks according to the organizations’ objectives and goals, besides that helps to find service failures and capacity of employees demands, thus contributing to improve work conditions and the global performance of the organizations. To elaborate the proposal of evaluation, it was chosen an action research with the participation of all stakeholders, employees and managers from UR. On data collect, first, outsourced employees and management servers were interviewed, in order to raise existing perceptions about performance evaluation aspects. From these data and the work routine observation, a proposal of performance evaluation was elaborated, that was appreciated, criticized and adjusted by the actors involved (employees and managers) to the final formulation of the instrument. This study also presents the necessary steps to the implementation of the Performance Evaluation System. The proposed Performance Evaluation System can be applied to the FURN assuming this process, after modification of contract terms and the approval by the ADCON. It also can serve as an example to others units that works with the provision of outsourced services, enabling so the performance evaluation to be part of the management policy of all people working in FURN.