Computerized adaptive test and decision trees: A unifying approach

In the last few years, several articles have proposed decision trees (DTs) as an alternative to computerized adapted tests (CATs). These works have focused on showing the differences between the two methods with the aim of identifying the advantages of each of them and thus determining when it is preferable to use one method or another. In this article, Tree-CAT, a new technique for building CATs is presented. Unlike the existing work, Tree-CAT exploits the similarities between CATs and DTs. This technique allows the creation of CATs that minimise the mean square error in the estimation of the examinee’s ability level, and controls the item’s exposure rate. The decision tree is sequentially built by means of an innovative algorithmic procedure that selects the items associated with each of the tree branches by solving a linear program. In addition, our work presents further advantages over alternative item selection techniques with exposure control, such as instant item selection or simultaneous administration of the test to an unlimited number of participants. These advantages allow accurate on-line CATs to be implemented even when the item selection method is computationally costly.Numerical experiments were conducted in Uranus, a supercomputer cluster located at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and jointly funded by EU-FEDER funds and by the Spanish Government via the National Projects No. UNC313-4E-2361, No. ENE2009-12213- C03-03, No. ENE2012-33219, No. ENE2012-31753 and No. ENE2015-68265-P

A clone-free, single molecule map of the domestic cow (Bos taurus) genome.

BackgroundThe cattle (Bos taurus) genome was originally selected for sequencing due to its economic importance and unique biology as a model organism for understanding other ruminants, or mammals. Currently, there are two cattle genome sequence assemblies (UMD3.1 and Btau4.6) from groups using dissimilar assembly algorithms, which were complemented by genetic and physical map resources. However, past comparisons between these assemblies revealed substantial differences. Consequently, such discordances have engendered ambiguities when using reference sequence data, impacting genomic studies in cattle and motivating construction of a new optical map resource--BtOM1.0--to guide comparisons and improvements to the current sequence builds. Accordingly, our comprehensive comparisons of BtOM1.0 against the UMD3.1 and Btau4.6 sequence builds tabulate large-to-immediate scale discordances requiring mediation.ResultsThe optical map, BtOM1.0, spanning the B. taurus genome (Hereford breed, L1 Dominette 01449) was assembled from an optical map dataset consisting of 2,973,315 (439 X; raw dataset size before assembly) single molecule optical maps (Rmaps; 1 Rmap = 1 restriction mapped DNA molecule) generated by the Optical Mapping System. The BamHI map spans 2,575.30 Mb and comprises 78 optical contigs assembled by a combination of iterative (using the reference sequence: UMD3.1) and de novo assembly techniques. BtOM1.0 is a high-resolution physical map featuring an average restriction fragment size of 8.91 Kb. Comparisons of BtOM1.0 vs. UMD3.1, or Btau4.6, revealed that Btau4.6 presented far more discordances (7,463) vs. UMD3.1 (4,754). Overall, we found that Btau4.6 presented almost double the number of discordances than UMD3.1 across most of the 6 categories of sequence vs. map discrepancies, which are: COMPLEX (misassembly), DELs (extraneous sequences), INSs (missing sequences), ITs (Inverted/Translocated sequences), ECs (extra restriction cuts) and MCs (missing restriction cuts).ConclusionAlignments of UMD3.1 and Btau4.6 to BtOM1.0 reveal discordances commensurate with previous reports, and affirm the NCBI's current designation of UMD3.1 sequence assembly as the "reference assembly" and the Btau4.6 as the "alternate assembly." The cattle genome optical map, BtOM1.0, when used as a comprehensive and largely independent guide, will greatly assist improvements to existing sequence builds, and later serve as an accurate physical scaffold for studies concerning the comparative genomics of cattle breeds

Protocolo para monitorear la gobernabilidad del agua con base en indica-dores para cuencas rurales

The use of quality indicators guarantees the accurate monitoring of sustainability processes around the world. This work proposes a protocol to detail the indicators that make up the rural basin management index (GWI) in order to assess the degree of water management in a predominantly rural basin or region. The methodology contemplates the development of indicators to evaluate performance and its monitoring over time as the basis for planning. This research is based on the in situ evaluation of four municipalities within the department of Boyacá, Colombia, where there is a lack of a culture regarding the long-term planning and management of water and environmental resources. Water availability is the most sensitive factor in this context. This study raises the need for the use of monitoring systems in sustainability processes at the level of rural basins, as a result of the findings of four study cases, where processes with a low level of sustainability were evidenced.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Flood Hazard Assessment Supported by Reduced Cost Aerial Precision Photogrammetry

1566 p.Increasing flood hazards worldwide due to the intensification of hydrological events and the development of adaptation-mitigation strategies are key challenges that society must address. To minimize flood damages, one of the crucial factors is the identification of flood prone areas through fluvial hydraulic modelling in which a detailed knowledge of the terrain plays an important role for reliable results. Recent studies have demonstrated the suitability of the Reduced Cost Aerial Precision Photogrammetry (RC-APP) technique for fluvial applications by accurate-detailed-reliable Digital Terrain Models (DTMs, up to: 100 point/m2; vertical-uncertainty: 0.06 m). This work aims to provide an optimal relationship between point densities and vertical-uncertainties to generate more reliable fluvial hazard maps by fluvial-DTMs. This is performed through hydraulic models supported by geometric models that are obtained from a joint strategy based on Structure from Motion and Cloth Simulation Filtering algorithms. Furthermore, to evaluate vertical-DTM, uncertainty is proposed as an alternative approach based on the method of robust estimators. This offers an error dispersion value analogous to the concept of standard deviation of a Gaussian distribution without requiring normality tests. This paper reinforces the suitability of new geomatic solutions as a reliable-competitive source of accurate DTMs at the service of a flood hazard assessment.S

Ventilatory Thresholds Estimation Based on ECG-derived Respiratory Rate

The purpose of this work is to study the feasibility of estimating the first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2, respectively) by using electrocardiogram (ECG)-derived respiratory rate during exercise testing. The ECGs of 25 healthy volunteers during cycle ergometer exercise test with increasing workload were analyzed. Time-varying respiratory rate was estimated from an ECG-derived respiration signal obtained from QRS slopes' range method. VT1 and VT2 were estimated as the points of maximum change in respiratory rate slope using polynomial spline smoothing. Reference VT1 and VT2 were determined from the ventilatory equivalents of O2 and CO2. Estimation errors (in watts) of -13.96 (54.84) W for VT1 and -8.06 (39.63) Wfor VT2 (median (interquartile range)) were obtained, suggesting that ventilatory thresholds can be estimated from solely the ECG signal

1,4-Cyclohexanedicarboxylato-bridged cobalt coordination polymers: Synthesis, crystal structures and magnetic properties

1,4-Cyclohexanedicarboxylato-bridged cobalt coordination polymers: Synthesis, crystal structures and magnetic propertiesThree coordination polymers have been synthesized, using self-assembly solution reactions at ambient conditions, combining Co(II) ion with 1,4-ciclohexanedicarboxylic acid, in the presence of 1,10-phenantrolione and two different 2,20-bipyridines, as co-ligands: [Co(H2O)(cdc)(phen)]n (1); {[Co(H2O)(cdc)(4dmb)] 2H2O}n (2); {[Co(H2O)(cdc)(5dmb)] 3H2O}n (3), where cdc = e,a-cis-1,4-ciclohexanedicarboxylato, phen = 1,10-phenantroline, 4dmb = 4,40-dimethyl-2,20-bipyridine, and 5dmb = 5,50-dimethyl-2,20-bipyridine. Crystallographic studies show that these compounds have one-dimensional (1D) structures; Co(II) in 1–3 is six-coordinated with a distorted-octahedral coordination sphere. Complexes 2 and 3 exhibit a novel bridging motif of the cdc ligand in its equatorial, axial cis configuration. In addition, the solid-state self-assembly of the polymeric structure of 1 gives rise to a 2D supramolecular framework, mainly through hydrogen bonding. In contrast, complex 2 forms an infinite 1D supramolecular array, made of double Co ion rows bridged by hydrogen bonding interactions. Complex 3 generates an intricate 2D supramolecular framework also throughout hydrogen bonding. The thermal stabilities of the three coordination polymers were investigated. Magnetic properties measurements reveal that complexes 1–3 exhibit weak antiferromagnetic ordering with h(C-W) = 9.6, 5.8 and 7.5 K, and E2 = 0.51, 0.16 and 0.28 cm 1, accordingly to Curie-Weiss model and Rueff phenomenological approach, respectively

A real use case of semi-supervised learning for mammogram classification in a local clinic of Costa Rica

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The implementation of deep learning-based computer-aided diagnosis systems for the classification of mammogram images can help in improving the accuracy, reliability, and cost of diagnosing patients. However, training a deep learning model requires a considerable amount of labelled images, which can be expensive to obtain as time and effort from clinical practitioners are required. To address this, a number of publicly available datasets have been built with data from different hospitals and clinics, which can be used to pre-train the model. However, using models trained on these datasets for later transfer learning and model fine-tuning with images sampled from a different hospital or clinic might result in lower performance. This is due to the distribution mismatch of the datasets, which include different patient populations and image acquisition protocols. In this work, a real-world scenario is evaluated where a novel target dataset sampled from a private Costa Rican clinic is used, with few labels and heavily imbalanced data. The use of two popular and publicly available datasets (INbreast and CBIS-DDSM) as source data, to train and test the models on the novel target dataset, is evaluated. A common approach to further improve the model’s performance under such small labelled target dataset setting is data augmentation. However, often cheaper unlabelled data is available from the target clinic. Therefore, semi-supervised deep learning, which leverages both labelled and unlabelled data, can be used in such conditions. In this work, we evaluate the semi-supervised deep learning approach known as MixMatch, to take advantage of unlabelled data from the target dataset, for whole mammogram image classification. We compare the usage of semi-supervised learning on its own, and combined with transfer learning (from a source mammogram dataset) with data augmentation, as also against regular supervised learning with transfer learning and data augmentation from source datasets. It is shown that the use of a semi-supervised deep learning combined with transfer learning and data augmentation can provide a meaningful advantage when using scarce labelled observations. Also, we found a strong influence of the source dataset, which suggests a more data-centric approach needed to tackle the challenge of scarcely labelled data. We used several different metrics to assess the performance gain of using semi-supervised learning, when dealing with very imbalanced test datasets (such as the G-mean and the F2-score), as mammogram datasets are often very imbalanced

Robot Mirroring: Promoting Empathy with an Artificial Agent by Reflecting the User’s Physiological Affective States

Self-tracking aims to increase awareness, decrease undesired behaviors, and ultimately lead towards a healthier lifestyle. However, inappropriate communication of selftracking results might cause the opposite effect. Subtle selftracking feedback is an alternative that can be provided with the aid of an artificial agent representing the self. Hence, we propose a wearable pet that reflects the user’s affective states through visual and haptic feedback. By eliciting empathy and fostering helping behaviors towards it, users would indirectly help themselves. A wearable prototype was built, and three user studies performed to evaluate the appropriateness of the proposed affective representations. Visual representations using facial and body cues were clear for valence and less clear for arousal. Haptic interoceptive patterns emulating heart-rate levels matched the desired feedback urgency levels with a saturation frequency. The integrated visuo-haptic representations matched to participants own affective experience. From the results, we derived three design guidelines for future robot mirroring wearable systems: physical embodiment, interoceptive feedback, and customization

La imagen y la narrativa como herramientas para el abordaje psicosocial en escenarios de violencia. Departamentos de Caquetá y Tolima

Tabla 1. Preguntas estratégicas, reflexivas y circulares. Tabla 2. Estrategia 1 de intervención psicosocial caso del Salado. Tabla 3. Estrategia 2 de intervención psicosocial caso del Salado.Tabla 4. Estrategia 3 de intervención psicosocial caso del Salado.El territorio Colombia es y sigue siendo testigo de las diversas manifestaciones de violencia que se expande por todas las regiones del país abarcando desde las pugnas propuestas por la intolerancia, la delincuencia común, el narcotráfico hasta las disputas políticas. Sin embargo, el conflicto armado al interior de la nación ha sido el principal promotor de víctimas con sus respectivos traumas afectando su cotidianidad. No obstante, en el presente trabajo examina el poder de la narrativa como estrategia de intervención psicosocial empleando esta herramienta con el propósito de contribuir a la reestructuración de la postura de los damnificados por el conflicto ya no como víctimas sino como sobrevivientes. También identificando emergentes psicosociales al interior de la comunidad Barí como también en la población del Salado así mismo los elementos simbólicos pertenecientes a la resiliencia como también los diversos recursos de afrontamiento que están inmersos en la relatoría propuesta por miembros que estuvieron presentes en el desarrollo de los actos bélicos trascendiendo a la deshumanización de las víctimas. Del anterior sustento temático se ejecuta un análisis que implica la generación de preguntas circulares, estratégicas y reflexivas para ser aplicadas para el abordaje de eventos traumáticos del pasado desde una perspectiva transformativa para Shimaia cuya comunidad indígena ha presenciado múltiples emergentes psicosociales. Finalmente se establecen tres estrategias de intervención psicosocial estructuradas desde el contexto tanto social como normativo vigente en la población del Salado aplicando técnicas de narrativa como acciones para el afrontamiento y gestión emocional.Colombia's territory continues to bear witness to various manifestations of violence that spread across all regions of the country, encompassing conflicts arising from intolerance, common crime, drug trafficking, and political disputes. However, the internal armed conflict within the nation has been the primary cause of victims and their respective traumas, affecting their daily lives and life projects. Nevertheless, this paper examines the power of narrative as a psychosocial intervention strategy, employing this tool to contribute to the restructuring of the stance of those affected by the conflict, no longer as victims but as survivors. It also identifies psychosocial emergentes within the Barí community and the Salado population, as well as the symbolic elements of resilience and various coping resources embedded in the accounts provided by individuals present during the development of the warlike acts, transcending the dehumanization of the victims. Building on the thematic foundation, an analysis is carried out involving the generation of circular, strategic, and reflective questions to be applied in addressing traumatic events of the past from a transformative perspective for Shimaia, whose indigenous community has witnessed multiple psychosocial emergences. Finally, three psychosocial intervention strategies are established, structured within the current social and normative context of the Salado population, applying narrative techniques as actions for coping and emotional management