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Nowadays, the concept of green building is no longer an alternative but a necessity. The acceptance of a building as "green" depends on having a certificate. LEED is one of the widely used green building certification systems in Turkey. The main objective of this study is to find out whether there were statistically significant differences between the credit achievements of 105 newly constructed and certified buildings in Turkey, which were certified according to four different levels, and to determine which of these credit achievements are weak. For this purpose, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed and the findings were interpreted. Findings revealed that the highest level of achievement of these buildings was in sustainable sites, water efficiency, innovation in design, and regional priority credits, while the lowest level of achievement was in energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality credits. The analyses revealed that the achievements in the energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality credits of green buildings are relatively low when compared to the ones in other credits. There may be several reasons behind these low levels of achievement such as poor green culture, high investment cost of necessary systems, absence of reusable, recycled, and renewable materials, etc. If these problems, most of which are peculiar to developing countries, can be overcome, higher certification levels can be achieved.

The health human resources are the most important and most expensive in the health system, and their management is considered a basic component of the health institutions success. The integration of semantic web technologies in knowledge management and e-learning structure, assure the semantic interoperability. This paper proposes an environment of e-learning based on new semantic technologies able to manage the process of building personalized educational content for training university hospital managers. The necessity of development of such a system results from the competence requirements for the specialists of human resources management (HRM) in the medical system. These goals are achieved using ontologies in implementing the personalized process of learning and in modelling the learning flow. Ontologies are used to model student profile, educational domain and learning process. These models are implemented into an intelligent learning Web platform. This ontology-based platform offers the specific tools to implement a new mechanism to obtain the relevant information from Internet. The implementation of personalization in the e-learning system is achieved starting from the student model to determine the knowledge level and to identify their preferences and interests. The students receive the learning material according to their profile, learning style, initial knowledge and education needs. Learning style and student's profile are the most important parameters in determining individual differences and define the adaptive learning environments. The e-learning prototype system contributes to increase the performance, skills and capacity to assess the health managers, proposes an automatized search method for the desired and needed information in the identified specific professional domain.

The assessment is an important process within learning. This learning stage can lead to the modification of the learning strategy, to the development of simpler or more complex mechanisms, depending on its results. The modality of evaluation can have several forms, one of them being the one which uses questions with a certain thinking time. This time can differ, depending on the question complexity, the quantity of information which must be specified in the answer and the training and age of those which are involved in learning and evaluation. Another component which will be taken into consideration in the process of composing the tests is the fact that certain questions will depend on each other and, as a result, they will be used together within the test or they will not be used at all. In this paper we will present a method of generating a group of questions in order to form assessment tests. The questions used for these tests are given by statement, solving time and relation with other tests. The assessment tests will be generated so that the time used for their solution finding would not exceed an estimated given time and the questions within the test must be related. The paper presents the description of the model, the algorithm that generates the tests and some results after the implementation of the algorithm. In order to generate all the variants of generating tests, backtracking method was used, though this method has its restrictions related to data dimension: the reduced number of questions and the reduced number of connections between questions. The times used in the application for each question were similar to the ordinary ones. The maximum solving time is variable and can be introduced by the user, as well as the questions, the solving time and the connections with other questions. With all the restrictions, the results were good in practical conditions related to a university course or study subjects from preuniversity level.

TThe research hereby aims to reveal the specific features of logopedic intervention in terms of using some adapted software applications as well as to highlight a sheer reality of our century: a meaningful combination of the traditional therapeutic methods with hi-tech informatic equipment during the logopedic therapy can remarkably stimulate children into performing a stable activity, which consequently would lead to rewarding therapeutic progress. It is presumed that, in terms of using some software applications adapted to dyslexia and dysgraphia therapy for students with mental disabilities, some notable improvements would be registered in their evolution. It is also presumable that, by using an application with a symbols processor within the dyslexia and dysgraphia therapy for students with mental disabilities, some notable improvements would be registered in their aware reading of the texts. The present research has been made by a sample lot of 46 subjects (11 girls and 35 boys) with mental disabilities diagnosis and chronological age ranging from 10 to 12 years. Methods of data collection: Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Test; proof set for assessing the language psychological age (Alice Descoudress); proof set for assessing the dyslexic and dysgraphic impairments. Subsequently to dyslexic and dysgraphic impairments noted to the students with mental disabilities within the lot, we advanced on the application-oriented part of the research. All students were involved in the ongoing activity pertaining to dyslexia and dysgraphia therapy, in compliance with their medical diagnosis and and their intellectual development level. The therapeutic activity designed for the experimental lot was also undergoing by implementing the same methodology as in the case of the control lot, while for accomplishing the set objectives, SymWriter educational software was extensively used, in order to prompt its efficiency during the targeted activity. The period of time when Widgit applications were used along the activities related to dyslexia and dysgraphia therapy was set for three months. At the end of the established period, the whole lot was again assessed by proof set means, thus to be enabled to mark the evolution of the students with mental disabilities. On examining the results of both the initial and final assessments for the control lot as well as for the experimental lot, we were finally led to the conclusion that, if using some software applications adapted to dyslexia and dysgraphia therapy, together with proceeding to some application assissted by a symbols processor, the progress in correcting the dyslexic-dysgraphic impairments were strikingly remarkable and meanwhile, notable progress was recorded in terms of aware reading of the texts.

Having a significant economic impact in country's GDP and being a major workforce, construction industry is yet characterized by low production rate, low technological advancement, minimum automation and robotic usage, and so on. With the visionary idea of Industry 4.0 that focuses on digitization of the value chain of a product and improving productivity through a variety of technologies and automated manufacturing environment, this research aims to develop a framework to adopt Construction 4.0 within a construction company. Current state of the art of the technologies in construction associated with the notion of Industry 4.0 (e.g., Building Information Modelling, virtual reality, augmented reality, Drone, etc.) is explored through extensive literature studies. The proposed framework incorporates current technological advancement related to construction industry, legislative requirements, barriers, enterprise transformation requirements and so on. Construction 4.0 would make a great impact in construction industry through improved value chain of construction projects, productivity improvement, and safe and sustainable construction. Indeed, the proposed framework would contribute to the advancement of new knowledge in the worlds' construction companies and provide potentials of new research focuses.

Previous studies have established that early attention to maintainability during the early design stages of building projects provides for delivering high levels of comfort to building occupants and reducing maintenance budgets. This paper identifies and assesses the set of structural durability design defects that are attributed to lack of maintenance manager’s feedback to the design team. The research confirmed the importance of all the identified design defects based on the assessment of the maintenance experts in the 13 public Saudi Arabian universities that operate and maintain significant building stock in their campuses. The paper presents a set of validated maintainability design review checklist for consideration by design professionals, in order to reduce the likelihood of occurrence of the identified defects. This paper serves to promote awareness among the various stakeholders in the construction industry about the earned benefits of knowledge transfer from the operation and maintenance field to the design team. It is of significant value to design professionals endeavoring on designing maintainable, cost-effective building projects; and maintenance professionals aiming to provide effective services to occupants and property owners.

Comparison of cognitive and affective gains between independent study and group presentations has been studied in some cases. They mostly approved the advantages of group presentation for students, enabling them to enhance their intellectual and cognitive abilities as well as their life-long learning in the specific courses. However, there is a more limited focus on e-learning environments in terms of activating these potentials in the e-learning settings of higher education. Conducting three focus groups with the related experts including 8 Irish master students, 6 academics and 6 entrepreneurs and as a part of a bigger research project, this study tries to design a specific tool for embedding in the current e-learning platforms, enabling students and tutors to organise some group presentations within their virtual classrooms. To do so, a Schematic Storyboard has been drawn after analysing the discussions and experiments of our focus groups? participants. Before drawing the storyboard four descriptive components named Functional Specifications (FS) have been written based on the participants? experiences, trying for defining different aspects of the storyboard. These FSs clarified the process of: creating the groups by students or their tutors, sharing the tasks amongst the group members, preparing and revising the group slides, and finally, doing the group presentation and getting feedback. This process has been done according to one of the Software Development Models, named: Prototypic Development. Finally, the features and capabilities of this designed storyboard have been compared with the previous published literature and experiences. While the paper is written from an e-learning perspective, the issues and processes raised are applicable to any higher education system that seeks to value and reward a student-centred educational system.

According to 2014 official records, 3.4 million people in Serbia use the Internet, which is about 500.000 people more than in 2013. All students (100%) use the Internet and computers, but only few institutions of higher education have distance learning programs. The information system of Serbia development strategy to 2020 and The education development strategy to 2020 generally support the use of new information and communications technologies in education and, in accordance with them, the project Digital media technologies and the social and educational changes, supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education, is realized. As a part of this project, a research has been done at the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. All 15 teachers and 272 students (undergraduate and Master-level) at the Department were the subjects in this research. The aim of this paper is to show if the teachers and students of journalism are interested in using new technologies in the educational process. The research showed that almost equal percentage of teachers (40%) and students (38%) "would like to" take part in virtual education, without being physically present in the classroom. While all teachers (100%) think that communication with students by e-mail is equal to face-to-face communication, 57% of all students said that they usually communicate with their teachers by e-mails. About 42% of all students do not use the services of "digital library" at the Faculty, although all technical conditions are fulfilled. The paper will also show the examples and the possibilities for virtual education, that is, the system of distance learning, for selected courses at undergraduate and Master-level studies of journalism and communicology.

Post-stroke rehabilitation is important for them to regain back the mobility and fitness to do the things they did previously. Post-stroke rehabilitation process may include physical activity which requires extensive exercise plus patient's self motivation to complete the process. Recent studies have shown that intensive and repetitive training may be able to modify neuronal organization and facilitate the recovery of functional motor skills using a motricity recovery platform. The most important cause of long-term morbidity and disability in Europe is stroke, according to the European Stroke Association (ESO); not less than 40% of patients need active rehabilitation. From the perspective of modern stroke management, patients should be transferred as soon as possible to their home, monitored daily and stimulated in a multidisciplinary and motivational atmosphere. The aim of this project is to develop and implement a complex system of medical rehabilitation of patients using a system with different sensors placed on a platform for the recovery of fingers after a stroke. The developed platform is based on 5 weight sensors distributed each for one finger with an amplifier and an analogue-to-digital converter located at each sensor. These sensors will measure the degree of flexion/flexion of your fingers. So that a sufficient number of values and good accuracy can be determined to assess the subject's affection. The higher the sensor's sensitivity will change its electrical resistivity. The recorded signals will be sent to the AVR central unit (Arduino Studio), which will monitor the values obtained. We will return the data in a GUI to the computer via the Bluetooth connection on each individual sensor. This will monitor the patient's progress after each session.

Two groups of college students majoring in translation participated in the study. They were enrolled in an English reading course. The control group received face-to-face in-class reading practice; whereas the experimental group received synchronous online practice using Elluminate Live, a web-conferencing software associated with Blackboard LMS. Elluminate has virtual rooms or vSpaces where virtual classes and meetings can be held. Elluminate Live communication tools include integrated Voice over IP and teleconferencing, public and private chat, quizzing and polling, emoticons, a webcam tool, a whiteboard for uploading presentations for viewing by class, a recording feature, a graphing tool, breakout rooms for group work, and a timer. In the present study, Elluminate was used as supplement in in-class instruction to provide students with extra reading practice from home. The present study aims to describe the following: (i) steps followed in preparing for and conducting synchronous reading web-conferences between EFL students and instructors using Elluminate Live; (ii) technical requirements of synchronous reading web-conferences using Elluminate; (iii) technical difficulties of synchronous web-conferences using Elluminate; (iv) the effects of using Elluminate live reading practice sessions on students' achievement; (v) participants' views of the benefits and shortcomings of synchronous reading web-conferences using Elluminate; (v) recommendations for conducting effective synchronous reading web-conferences using Elluminate. Results of the posttest showed significant differences between the experimental and control groups in reading skill development, in favor of the Elluminate reading practice sessions. Students who participated in those reading practice sessions developed positive attitudes towards web-conferencing and reading practice as well.