Generating actionable predictions regarding MOOC learners' engagement in peer reviews

Peer review is one approach to facilitate formative feedback exchange in MOOCs; however, it is often undermined by low participation. To support effective implementation of peer reviews in MOOCs, this research work proposes several predictive models to accurately classify learners according to their expected engagement levels in an upcoming peer-review activity, which offers various pedagogical utilities (e.g. improving peer reviews and collaborative learning activities). Two approaches were used for training the models: in situ learning (in which an engagement indicator available at the time of the predictions is used as a proxy label to train a model within the same course) and transfer across courses (in which a model is trained using labels obtained from past course data). These techniques allowed producing predictions that are actionable by the instructor while the course still continues, which is not possible with post-hoc approaches requiring the use of true labels. According to the results, both transfer across courses and in situ learning approaches have produced predictions that were actionable yet as accurate as those obtained with cross validation, suggesting that they deserve further attention to create impact in MOOCs with real-world interventions. Potential pedagogical uses of the predictions were illustrated with several examples

Evaluación de la transmisión de la tasa de interés de referencia a las tasas de interés del sistema financiero Colombiano

This paper studies monetary policy transmission using several statistical tools -- We find that the relationships between the policy interest rate and the financial system’s interest rates are positive and statistically significant, and transmission is complete eight months after policy shocks occur -- The speed of transmission varies according to the type of interest rates -- Transmission is faster for interest rates on loans provided to households, and is particularly rapid and complete for rates on preferential commercial loans -- Transmission is slower for credit card and mortgage rates, due to regulatory issues (interest rate ceilings)En este documento se analiza la transmisión de la política monetaria a las tasas de interés de mercado del sistema financiero utilizando diferentes herramientas estadísticas -- La relación existente entre la tasa de política y las tasas de interés de colocación es positiva y significativa, y se presenta una transmisión completa para las diferentes modalidades de crédito después de 8 meses -- La transmisión de la tasa de interés de referencia a las tasas de crédito difiere según las distintas modalidades de préstamo -- Se observa una mayor transmisión y más rápida a las tasas comerciales que a las ofrecidas a los hogares -- En particular, la transmisión a las tasas de crédito preferencial es más rápida y completa -- En cuanto a las tasas de tarjetas de crédito e hipotecarias, la transmisión es más débil debido a su naturaleza, regulación (tasa límite) y rigideces de las misma

Multiple Use SiPM Integrated Circuit (MUSIC) for Large Area and High Performance Sensors

The 8-channel Multiple Use Silicon Photo-multiplier (SiPM) Integrated Circuit (MUSIC) Application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for SiPM anode readout has been designed for applications where large photo-detection areas are required. MUSIC offers three main features: (1) Sum of the eight input channels using a differential output driver, (2) eight individual single ended (SE) analog outputs, and (3) eight individual SE binary outputs using a time over threshold technique. Each functionality, summation and individual readout includes a selectable dual-gain configuration. Moreover, the signal sum implements a dual-gain output providing a 15-bit dynamic range. The circuit contains a tunable pole zero cancellation of the SiPM recovery time constant to deal with most of the available SiPM devices in the market. Experimental tests show how MUSIC can linearly sum signals from different SiPMs and distinguish even a few photons. Additionally, it provides a single photon output pulse width at half maximum (FWHM) between 5-10 ns for the analog output and a single-photon time resolution (SPTR) around 118 ps sigma using a Hamamatsu SiPM S13360-3075CS for the binary output. Lastly, the summation mode has a power consumption of approximate to 200 mW, whereas the individual readout consumes approximate to 30 mW/ch

FPGA Implementation for Real-Time Background Subtraction Based on Horprasert Model

Background subtraction is considered the first processing stage in video surveillance systems, and consists of determining objects in movement in a scene captured by a static camera. It is an intensive task with a high computational cost. This work proposes an embedded novel architecture on FPGA which is able to extract the background on resource-limited environments and offers low degradation (produced because of the hardware-friendly model modification). In addition, the original model is extended in order to detect shadows and improve the quality of the segmentation of the moving objects. We have analyzed the resource consumption and performance in Spartan3 Xilinx FPGAs and compared to others works available on the literature, showing that the current architecture is a good trade-off in terms of accuracy, performance and resources utilization. With less than a 65% of the resources utilization of a XC3SD3400 Spartan-3A low-cost family FPGA, the system achieves a frequency of 66.5 MHz reaching 32.8 fps with resolution 1,024 × 1,024 pixels, and an estimated power consumption of 5.76 W

Metoprolol exerts a non-class effect against ischaemia-reperfusion injury by abrogating exacerbated inflammation.

Clinical guidelines recommend early intravenous β-blockers during ongoing myocardial infarction; however, it is unknown whether all β-blockers exert a similar cardioprotective effect. We experimentally compared three clinically approved intravenous β-blockers. Mice undergoing 45 min/24 h ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) received vehicle, metoprolol, atenolol, or propranolol at min 35. The effect on neutrophil infiltration was tested in three models of exacerbated inflammation. Neutrophil migration was evaluated in vitro and in vivo by intravital microscopy. The effect of β-blockers on the conformation of the β1 adrenergic receptor was studied in silico. Of the tested β-blockers, only metoprolol ameliorated I/R injury [infarct size (IS) = 18.0% ± 0.03% for metoprolol vs. 35.9% ± 0.03% for vehicle; P < 0.01]. Atenolol and propranolol had no effect on IS. In the three exacerbated inflammation models, neutrophil infiltration was significantly attenuated only in the presence of metoprolol (60%, 50%, and 70% reductions vs. vehicle in myocardial I/R injury, thioglycolate-induced peritonitis, and lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury, respectively). Migration studies confirmed the particular ability of metoprolol to disrupt neutrophil dynamics. In silico analysis indicated different intracellular β1 adrenergic receptor conformational changes when bound to metoprolol than to the other two β-blockers. Metoprolol exerts a disruptive action on neutrophil dynamics during exacerbated inflammation, resulting in an infarct-limiting effect not observed with atenolol or propranolol. The differential effect of β-blockers may be related to distinct conformational changes in the β1 adrenergic receptor upon metoprolol binding. If these data are confirmed in a clinical trial, metoprolol should become the intravenous β-blocker of choice for patients with ongoing infarction.Ministry of Science and Innovation (‘RETOS 2019’ grant N_ PID2019-107332RB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; PI16/02110), and European Regional Development Fund (# AC16/00021), Comunidad de Madrid (S2017/BMD-3867 RENIM-CM). B.I. is supported by an ERCCoG grant (819775). E.O. is supported by funds from the Comunidad de Madrid Programa de Atraccion de Talento (2017-T1/BMD-5185). A.C-M. and R.V-G are supported by fellowships from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MCN) and ISCIII (FPU2017/01932 and PFIS FI17/00045). D.V.L. is supported by an Iniciativa de Empleo Juvenil grant (PEJ-2017-TL/BMD-6463) from the Comunidad de Madrid. The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the MCN, and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S

Solucionando necesidades específicas con GNU/Linux NethServer

La administración de servidores es una de las principales ventajas de Linux. De esta forma la distribución Nethserver se convierte en una alternativa eficiente para medianas y pequeñas empresas, gracias a su entorno amigable, manejo de tiempos y simplicidad en sus procesos. En el desarrollo de esta actividad, trabajaremos una de las cinco temáticas propuestas ofreciendo soluciones a partir de la aplicación e implementación de los conocimientos adquiridos usando como herramienta principal GNU/Linux, enfocándonos en la instalación y configuración de varios servicios que aseguren y brinden el respaldo de una infraestructura tecnológica robusta para una empresa.Server administration is one of the main advantages of Linux. In this way, the Nethserver distribution becomes an efficient alternative for medium and small companies, thanks to its friendly environment, time management and simplicity in its processes. In the development of this activity, we will work on one of the five proposed themes, offering solutions based on the application and implementation of the knowledge acquired using GNU/Linux as the main tool, focusing on the installation and configuration of various services that ensure and provide support. of a robust technological infrastructure for a company

Background Subtraction Based on Color and Depth Using Active Sensors

Depth information has been used in computer vision for a wide variety of tasks. Since active range sensors are currently available at low cost, high-quality depth maps can be used as relevant input for many applications. Background subtraction and video segmentation algorithms can be improved by fusing depth and color inputs, which are complementary and allow one to solve many classic color segmentation issues. In this paper, we describe one fusion method to combine color and depth based on an advanced color-based algorithm. This technique has been evaluated by means of a complete dataset recorded with Microsoft Kinect, which enables comparison with the original method. The proposed method outperforms the others in almost every test, showing more robustness to illumination changes, shadows, reflections and camouflage.This work was supported by the projects of excellence from Junta de Andalucia MULTIVISION (TIC-3873), ITREBA (TIC-5060) and VITVIR (P11-TIC-8120), the national project, ARC-VISION (TEC2010-15396), and the EU Project, TOMSY (FP7-270436)