Assembling content for a broad-based, first-year engineering course poses unique challenges. In order to be successful, first-year instructors must typically tailor material to accommodate the background and interests of their students, as well as to prepare students for the specific majors available in their institution. While a traditional textbook can provide both a framework and validated c...

There are errors in the Competing Interests section. The correct competing interests information is as follows: This study was supported in part by the Agency for Science Technology and Research (AÃSTAR) Singapore. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, whi...

There have been many interests in exploring multiferroic materials with superior ferroelectric and magnetic properties for the purpose of developing multifunctional devices. Fabrication of thin films plays an important role in achieving this purpose, since the multiferroicity can be tuned via strain, dimensionality, and size effect, without varying the chemical composition. Here, we report exot...

The negotiation in general sense, as one of the most fundamental and powerful interaction of human beings, represents the dynamic process of exchanging information and perspectives towards mutual understanding and agreements. Interest based negotiation allows negotiators to discuss the concerns behind the negotiation issues so that a mutually acceptable win-win solution is more likely to be rea...

Many authors suggest that market forces are inadequate to successfully manage the problems of resource availability and use. The fundamental question is whether these inadequacies are intrinsic to the market or if they arise from a failure of firms to detect and respond to subtle market signals. This paper explores the latter by describing (1) mechanisms that can limit materials availability, (...

In the context of practical reasoning, such as decision making and negotiation, it is necessary to model preferences over possible outcomes. Such preferences usually depend on multiple criteria. We argue that the criteria by which outcomes are evaluated should be the satisfaction of a person’s underlying interests: the more an outcome satisfies his interests, the more preferred it is. Underlyin...

This paper describes how the Dokeos e-learning system was installed and implemented, and then extended to enable highly-interactive adaptive e-learning, where students are heavily involved in creating multimedial learning materials, which are adapted in accordance with student targeted knowledge level and student interests for various topics.

Renewable and clean "green" electronics based on paper substrates is an emerging field with intensifying research and commercial interests, as the technology combines the unique properties of flexibility, cost efficiency, recyclability, and renewability with the lightweight nature of paper. Because of its excellent optical transmittance and low surface roughness, nanopaper can host many types o...

Herein we provide a brief summary of the background, events and results/outcome of the CECAM workshop 'Classical density functional theory methods in soft and hard matter' held in Lausanne between October 21 and October 23 2009, which brought together two largely separately working communities, both of whom employ classical density functional techniques: the soft-matter community and the theore...

Nanotechnology has entered a revolutionary stage where the structure and properties of materials can be investigated, characterized and controlled at the nanoscale. New physical properties tend to appear at the nanoscale, giving rise to novel material performance characteristics. These unusual properties have attracted enormous interest in their potential for applications in magnetic, optical, ...