Comparison between the Use of Lecture and Workbook in Improving the Academic Performance of Students in Ecology

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of lecture and workbook in improving the academic performance of students in ecology in Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, Philippines. This an action research that made use of actual scores and interventions to improve the academic performance of 44 students enrolled in Ecology. There were 22 students in the A group (lecture) and another 22 students in B group (workbook). The use of pure lecture was applied to group A (lecture) and workbook was utilized to group B. The frequency, percentage and average mean were utilized to compare the performance of   both groups in the pre-test and post-test. T-test was used to determine the difference of students’ performance. Both groups, group A (lecture) and group B (workbook) performed poorly (59%) before the utilization of lecture to group A and workbook to group B as interventions. The average performance of group A (lecture) after the implementation of lecture as intervention was very good (89%) with 21.38% progress while group B (workbook) got (90%) equivalent to very good performance with 23.09% progress. Both groups have improved in their academic performance in ecology after the utilization of interventions but the use of workbook was more advantageous

Editorial for the special issue on micro/nanofluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices for biomedical applications

Micro/Nanofluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices have been increasingly used in biomedical research [...

Implementation of a digital transition process for the documentation of an alumni association

Often consisting of stacks or boxes of disordered documents, stored in cabinets full of boxes and papers, files tend to be evaluated only as an administrative requirement. With the recognition of the importance of documentary memory, the opportunity arises for a new approach to this type of resource. Lean originated in the manufacturing industry, aiming to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Ever since, lean tools have been increasingly used in several fields, namely in the office environment, giving rise to the so-called lean office. Their principles can be applied to any type of office, from administrative and support functions to product development and customer service. On the other hand, digitalization can be a key enabler of lean office principles since it can help to automate and streamline processes, reduce errors and waste, and improve the flow of information. For instance, in associations with several members, digitalization can provide improved member engagement, enhanced event management, increased efficiency, and also a greater reach with members. Herein, the Former Students Association of the Industrial and Commercial School of Braga members’ information was gathered and organized into a digital file. The increase in the number of members over the last few years led to the need of digitizing their data, in order to improve the alumni association management.The authors also acknowledge the financial support within the R&D Units Project Scope UIDB/00319/2020. Violeta Carvalho thanks for her Ph.D. grant from FCT with reference UI/BD/151028/2021

Continuous Time Monte Carlo and Spatial Ordering in Driven Lattice Gases: Application to Driven Vortices in Periodic Superconducting Networks

We consider the two dimensional (2D) classical lattice Coulomb gas as a model for magnetic field induced vortices in 2D superconducting networks. Two different dynamical rules are introduced to investigate driven diffusive steady states far from equilibrium as a function of temperature and driving force. The resulting steady states differ dramatically depending on which dynamical rule is used. We show that the commonly used driven diffusive Metropolis Monte Carlo dynamics contains unphysical intrinsic randomness that destroys the spatial ordering present in equilibrium (the vortex lattice) over most of the driven phase diagram. A continuous time Monte Carlo (CTMC) is then developed, which results in spatially ordered driven states at low temperature in finite sized systems. We show that CTMC is the natural discretization of continuum Langevin dynamics, and argue that it gives the correct physical behavior when the discrete grid represents the minima of a periodic potential. We use detailed finite size scaling methods to analyze the spatial structure of the steady states. We find that finite size effects can be subtle and that very long simulation times can be needed to arrive at the correct steady state. For particles moving on a triangular grid, we find that the ordered moving state is a transversely pinned smectic that becomes unstable to an anisotropic liquid on sufficiently large length scales. For particles moving on a square grid, the moving state is a similar smectic at large drives, but we find evidence for a possible moving solid at lower drives. We find that the driven liquid on the square grid has long range hexatic order, and we explain this as a specifically non-equilibrium effect. We show that, in the liquid, fluctuations are diffusive in both the transverse and longitudinal directions.Comment: 29 pages, 35 figure

Blood flow modeling in coronary arteries: a review

Atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of cardiovascular events, namely, myocardium infarction and cerebral stroke, responsible for a great number of deaths every year worldwide. This pathology is caused by the progressive accumulation of low-density lipoproteins, cholesterol, and other substances on the arterial wall, narrowing its lumen. To date, many hemodynamic studies have been conducted experimentally and/or numerically; however, this disease is not yet fully understood. For this reason, the research of this pathology is still ongoing, mainly, resorting to computational methods. These have been increasingly used in biomedical research of atherosclerosis because of their high-performance hardware and software. Taking into account the attempts that have been made in computational techniques to simulate realistic conditions of blood flow in both diseased and healthy arteries, the present review aims to give an overview of the most recent numerical studies focused on coronary arteries, by addressing the blood viscosity models, and applied physiological flow conditions. In general, regardless of the boundary conditions, numerical studies have been contributed to a better understanding of the development of this disease, its diagnosis, and its treatment.This work was supported through the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020, UIDB/04077/2020, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171, and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-029394, funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE 2020, PORTUGAL 2020, and FEDER