The Impact of a GED to College Transitions Program on Student Motivation

Student‘s motivation and persistence are common issues that educators and learners struggle with continuously. This is particularly significant in the field of adult education. According to Hardin (2008) these adult learners, or non-traditional students exhibit characteristics such as; delaying enrollment into higher education until adulthood, enrolling part time, working full time, being financially independent, has family responsibilities and academic deficiencies. Such characteristics can form severe barriers in the quest to pursue higher education. Therefore, understanding self-determination and motivation are necessary to help these learners to be successful. To help students to be successful, scholars and practitioners must engage in longitudinal studies in order to help students transition from General Education Diploma (GED) and other basic adult education programs to higher education. In this study, the researchers make meaning of the participant‘s experiences that can add data to the current research base. This study is aimed at exploring the experiences of 14 GED students enrolled in a GED to College Transitions course at a southern community college in the US during the spring 2011 semester. The study was guided by the following research question: What primary factors motivate GED students to enroll and persist

Privacy-preserving machine learning for healthcare: open challenges and future perspectives

Machine Learning (ML) has recently shown tremendous success in modeling various healthcare prediction tasks, ranging from disease diagnosis and prognosis to patient treatment. Due to the sensitive nature of medical data, privacy must be considered along the entire ML pipeline, from model training to inference. In this paper, we conduct a review of recent literature concerning Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning (PPML) for healthcare. We primarily focus on privacy-preserving training and inference-as-a-service, and perform a comprehensive review of existing trends, identify challenges, and discuss opportunities for future research directions. The aim of this review is to guide the development of private and efficient ML models in healthcare, with the prospects of translating research efforts into real-world settings.Comment: ICLR 2023 Workshop on Trustworthy Machine Learning for Healthcare (TML4H

Surface plasmon resonance biosensors for highly sensitive detection in real samples

In this work we summarize the main results obtained with the portable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) device developed in our group (commercialised by SENSIA, SL, Spain), highlighting its applicability for the real-time detection of extremely low concentrations of toxic pesticides in environmental water samples. In addition, we show applications in clinical diagnosis as, on the one hand, the real-time and label-free detection of DNA hybridization and single point mutations at the gene BRCA-1, related to the predisposition in women to develop an inherited breast cancer and, on the other hand, the analysis of protein biomarkers in biological samples (urine, serum) for early detection of diseases. Despite the large number of applications already proven, the SPR technology has two main drawbacks: (i) not enough sensitivity for some specific applications (where pM-fM or single-molecule detection are needed) (ii) low multiplexing capabilities. In order solve such drawbacks, we work in several alternative configurations as the Magneto-optical Surface Plasmon Resonance sensor (MOSPR) based on a combination of magnetooptical and ferromagnetic materials, to improve the SPR sensitivity, or the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) based on nanostructures (nanoparticles, nanoholes,...), for higher multiplexing capabilities

Chemical sensors and biosensors in liquid environment based on microcantilevers with amplified quality factors

Póster presentado al 1st Senspol Workshop: SENSPOL European Thematic Network (EC Environmental and Climate Programma) Sensing Technologies for Contaminated Sites and Groundwater celebrado en Alcala de Henares (Madrid-España) en 2001.Peer reviewe

Simultaneous time-space resolved reflectivity and interferometric measurements of dielectrics excited with femtosecond laser pulses

13 pags., 7 figs., 1 tab.Simultaneous time-and-space resolved reflectivity and interferometric measurements over a temporal span of 300 ps have been performed in fused silica and sapphire samples excited with 800 nm, 120 fs laser pulses at energies slightly and well above the ablation threshold. The experimental results have been simulated in the frame of a multiple-rate equation model including light propagation. The comparison of the temporal evolution of the reflectivity and the interferometric measurements at 400 nm clearly shows that the two techniques interrogate different material volumes during the course of the process. While the former is sensitive to the evolution of the plasma density in a very thin ablating layer at the surface, the second yields an averaged plasma density over a larger volume. It is shown that self-trapped excitons do not appreciably contribute to carrier relaxation in fused silica at fluences above the ablation threshold, most likely due to Coulomb screening effects at large excited carrier densities. For both materials, at fluences well above the ablation threshold, the maximum measured plasma reflectivity shows a saturation behavior consistent with a scattering rate proportional to the plasma density in this fluence regime. Moreover, for both materials and for pulse energies above the ablation threshold and delays in the few tens of picoseconds range, a simultaneous >low reflectivity> and >low transmission> behavior is observed. Although this behavior has been identified in the past as a signature of femtosecond laser-induced ablation, its origin is alternatively discussed in terms of the optical properties of a material undergoing strong isochoric heating, before having time to substantially expand or exchange energy with the surrounding media.This work has been partly funded by Laserlab-Europe (Grant Agreement No. 284464, EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, Project No. SLIC002014), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (Project No. TEC2014-52642- C2-1-R) as well as by the Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences. M.G.-L. acknowledges the FPU (Formación de Profesorado Universitario) Grant No. AP2012- 0217 awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education.Peer Reviewe

Lab-on-a-chip platforms based on highly sensitive nanophotonic Si biosensors for single nucleotide DNA testing

In order to solve the drawbacks of sensitivity and portability in optical biosensors we have developed ultrasensitive and miniaturized photonic silicon sensors able to be integrated in a "lab-on-a-chip" microsystem platform. The sensors are integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometers based on TIR optical waveguides (Si/SiO2/Si3N4) of micro/nanodimensions. We have applied this biosensor for DNA testing and for detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms at BRCA-1 gene, involved in breast cancer development, without target labeling. The oligonucleotide probe is immobilized by covalent attachment to the sensor surface through silanization procedures. The hybridization was performed for different DNA target concentrations showing a lowest detection limit at 10 pM. Additionally, we have detected the hybridization of different concentrations of DNA target with two mismatching bases corresponding to a mutation of the BRCA-1 gene. Following the way of the lab-on-a-chip microsystem, integration with the microfluidics has been achieved by using a novel fabrication method of 3-D embedded microchannels using the polymer SU-8 as structural material. The optofluidic chip shows good performances for biosensing

Phase profile analysis of transparent objects through the use of a two windows interferometer based on a one beam splitter configuration

AbstractIn this research we implemented a two windows interferometer based on polarization phase shifting and grating interferometry techniques in order to retrieve the phase data profile of the object in a single capture. The optical configuration has two optical beams with circular polarization in opposite directions, and it is coupled with a 4-f system. An amplitude grid is used as a filter which is placed at the Fourier plane to obtain replicas of each beam which can properly interfere, depending on the separation between beams. The interferometer presents the capability of changing the beam separation in order to make different orders interfere properly. The interference patterns produced can be separately modulated through the operation of linear polarizer's placed on each interference replica. In order to present the capabilities of the system we will select four interferograms result of contiguous orders interference

The effects of UV radiation on photosynthesis estimated as chlorophyll fluorescence in Zygnemopsis decussata (Chlorophyta) growing in a high mountain lake (Sierra Nevada, Southern Spain)

The effect of increased UV radiation on photosynthesis estimated as in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence i.e. optimal quantum yield (Fv/Fm) and electron transport rate (ETR) in the green filamentous alga Zygnemopsis decussata (Streptophyta, Zygnematales) growing in the high mountain lake "La Caldera" (Sierra Nevada, Spain) at 3050 m altitude was evaluated. Two sets of in situ experiments were conducted: (1) On July 2006, Fv/Fm was measured throughout the day at different depths (0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 m) and in the afternoon, ETR and phenolic compounds were determined. In addition, in order to analyze the effect of UV radiation, Fv/Fm was determined in algae incubated for 3 days at 0.5m under three different light treatments: PAR+UVA+UVB (PAB), PAR+UVA (PA) and PAR (P). (2) On August 2007, Fv/Fm was determined under PAB, PA and P treatments and desiccation/rehydration conditions. Fv/Fm decreased in algae growing in surface waters (0.1 m) but also at 1 m depth compared to that at 0.5 m depth. The decrease of Fv/Fm at noon due to photoinhibition was small (less than 10%) except in algae growing at 1 m depth (44%). The maximal electron transport rate was 3.5-5 times higher in algae growing at 0.25-0.5 m respectively than that at 0.1 and 1 m depth. These results are related to the accumulation of phenolic compounds: i.e. the algae at 0.25-0.5 m presented respectively about a 3-5 times higher concentration of phenolic compounds than that of algae at 0.1-1 m depth. The protection mechanisms seem to be stimulated by UVB radiation, since Fv/Fm was higher in the presence of UVB (PAB treatment) compared to PA or P treatments. UVA exerts the main photoinhibitory effect, not only at midday, but also in the afternoon. UVB radiation also had a protective effect in algae grown under desiccation conditions for three days. During re-hydration, the rapid increase of Fv/Fm (after 1 h) was higher in the UVB-grown algae than in algae grown under UVA radiation. After 5 h, Fv/Fm values were similar in algae submitted to desiccation/rehydration under PAB and P treatments as they were in the control (submerged algae). The combined effect of desiccation and UVA produced the greatest decrease of photosynthesis in Z. decussata. Thus UVB, in contrast to other species, may support the recovery process. Z. decussata can acclimate to severe stress conditions in this high mountain lake by the photoprotection mechanism induced by UVB radiation through dynamic photoinhibition and the accumulation of phenolic compounds (UV screen and antioxidant substances).This research was supported by the Spanish Ministries of Environment (PN2003/25) and Education and Science (CGL2005/01564, AGL2005/02655, CGL 2008/01127, CGL 2008/05407) and Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Excelencia project P07-CVI-02598)