Deep learning methods for improving diabetes management tools

Diabetes is a chronic disease that is characterised by a lack of regulation of blood glucose concentration in the body, and thus elevated blood glucose levels. Consequently, affected individuals can experience extreme variations in their blood glucose levels with exogenous insulin treatment. This has associated debilitating short-term and long-term complications that affect quality of life and can result in death in the worst instance. The development of technologies such as glucose meters and, more recently, continuous glucose monitors have offered the opportunity to develop systems towards improving clinical outcomes for individuals with diabetes through better glucose control. Data-driven methods can enable the development of the next generation of diabetes management tools focused on i) informativeness ii) safety and iii) easing the burden of management. This thesis aims to propose deep learning methods for improving the functionality of the variety of diabetes technology tools available for self-management. In the pursuit of the aforementioned goals, a number of deep learning methods are developed and geared towards improving the functionality of the existing diabetes technology tools, generally classified as i) self-monitoring of blood glucose ii) decision support systems and iii) artificial pancreas. These frameworks are primarily based on the prediction of glucose concentration levels. The first deep learning framework we propose is geared towards improving the artificial pancreas and decision support systems that rely on continuous glucose monitors. We first propose a convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) in order to forecast the glucose concentration levels over both short-term and long-term horizons. The predictive accuracy of this model outperforms those of traditional data-driven approaches. The feasibility of this proposed approach for ambulatory use is then demonstrated with the implementation of a decision support system on a smartphone application. We further extend CRNNs to the multitask setting to explore the effectiveness of leveraging population data for developing personalised models with limited individual data. We show that this enables earlier deployment of applications without significantly compromising performance and safety. The next challenge focuses on easing the burden of management by proposing a deep learning framework for automatic meal detection and estimation. The deep learning framework presented employs multitask learning and quantile regression to safely detect and estimate the size of unannounced meals with high precision. We also demonstrate that this facilitates automated insulin delivery for the artificial pancreas system, improving glycaemic control without significantly increasing the risk or incidence of hypoglycaemia. Finally, the focus shifts to improving self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) with glucose meters. We propose an uncertainty-aware deep learning model based on a joint Gaussian Process and deep learning framework to provide end users with more dynamic and continuous information similar to continuous glucose sensors. Consequently, we show significant improvement in hyperglycaemia detection compared to the standard SMBG. We hope that through these methods, we can achieve a more equitable improvement in usability and clinical outcomes for individuals with diabetes.Open Acces

Facilitating online discussion, tutoring and moderating skills in clinical psychology lecturers

The inclusion of online approaches in clinical psychology training has necessitated an examination of the skills required by trainers. This paper describes the development of a short tutorial to promote online discussion tutoring and moderation skills in clinical psychology lecturers

PENERAPAN METODE DEMONSTRASI DALAM MENINGKATKAN PRESTASI BELAJAR PESERTA DIDIK KELAS VII PADA MATA PELAJARAN IPA SMP NEGERI 1 ENDE SELATAN

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui keefektifan penerapan metode demonstrasi pada mata pelajaran IPA materi sistem pencernaan untuk meningkatkan prestasi belajar peserta didik kelas VII SMP Negeri 1 Ende Selatan Kabupaten Ende. Rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah: bagaimanakah penerapan metode demonstrasi pada mata pelajaran IPA peserta didik peserta didik kelas VII SMP Negeri 1 Ende Selatan Kabupaten Ende? Jenis penelitian ini adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (Clasroom Action Research). Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan kualitatif. Metode pengumpulan data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah observasi, wawancara, tes dan dokumentasi. Subyek dalam penelitian ini adalah peserta didik peserta didik kelas VII SMP Negeri 1 Ende Selatan yang berjumlah 20 orang terdiri dari 7 laki-laki dan 13 perempuan. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa pembelajaran pada kegiatan pra siklus prestasi belajar peserta didik mencapai ketuntasan sebesar 20% dengan kategori cukup. Sementara kriteria ketuntasan minimum (KKM) yang ditetapkan oleh sekolah adalah 75. Setelah dilakukan tindakan perbaikan dengan menerapkan metode demonstrasi pada siklus pertama ketuntasan preastasi belajar peserta didik mencapai 40% dengan kategori cukup, pada siklus kedua prestasi belajar peserta didik mengalami peningkatan mencapai 100%. Dari penelitian ini dapat diambil kesimpulan bahwa dengan menerapkan metode demonstrasi terjadi peningkatan prestasi belajar peserta didik kelas VII SMP Negeri 1 Ende Selatan

The Effects of Fertilizer Rate on the Growth of Egyptian Spinach in a Greenhouse

Egyptian spinach (Corchorus olitorius, L.) is an annual herb and a popular vegetable grown in the dry, semi-arid and humid regions of Africa. It belongs to the American basswood family and is very nutritious, and known to have medicinal properties as well. Introducing Egyptian spinach as a specialty crop in Texas requires examining and determining the best cultural practices needed for its successful production. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of three nitrogen fertilizer rates on the growth of Egyptian spinach grown under greenhouse conditions. We hypothesized that the yield of Egyptian spinach will increase with increasing nitrogen fertilizer rate. Seedlings of equal sizes were transplanted six weeks after planting into 15 cm plastic containers with Sunshine Professional Growing Mix. The plants were fertilized weekly with a micronutrient (i.e. boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc) containing fertilizer, All Purpose MiracleGro fertilizer [24-8-16], (Scotts Miracle-Gro Products Inc., Marysville, OH) at 94, 188, and 376 kg N ha-1 for about 4.5 months. Weekly harvesting of the fresh shoots and weighing commenced nine weeks after transplanting and continued for approximately nine additional weeks. At the conclusion of the study, the results showed that the 94 kg N ha-1 rate of MiracleGro provided a significantly higher shoot biomass yield than the other treatments. The results imply that fertilizing Egyptian spinach at the 94 kg N ha-1 fertilizer rate is the best way to optimize yields under similar growing conditions. The results also suggest that optimizing field production of Egyptian spinach may require supplementing soils with micronutrients

IMPLEMENTING JAS (NATURAL SURROUNDING EXPLORATION) BASED PLANT DETERMINATION PRATICUM MODEL AT KELIMUTU NATIONAL PARK

This study aimed to implement models and learning tools based on integrated JAS (Natural Surrounding Exploration) approach in the plant taxonomy course particularly plant determination material. This research was conducted by utilizing descriptive method with a qualitative approach. The research was conducted from September to November 2019 in the odd semester at the academic year 2019/2020. The samples were chosen by purposive sampling technique. The samples were 43 students of biology education study program at Universitas Flores who took plant taxonomy course. The research was conducted at Kelimutu National Park. Based on the results, the use of a taxonomic learning model based on natural surrounding exploration was considered quite interesting and encouraged meaningful teaching and learning activities. In addition, based on the results of interviews with biology students, this method provided advantages including (1) being able to increase students' understanding of plant identification, (2) being an attractive medium to trigger learning motivation because it was related to the real context around it, and (3) instilling a caring attitude and love for the natural wealth around and the culture around it

DaF-Unterricht in Afrika : Chancen, Grenzen, Möglichkeiten ; am Beispiel Kamerun

Die Untersuchung beschäftigt sich mit der gegenwärtigen Situation und den Problemen des DaF-Unterrichts in Kamerun. Im Rahmen einer Feldforschung wird dazu eine Lehrerumfrage durchgeführt. Abschließend werden Überlegungen zu einer Neuorientierung des Deutschunterrichts angestellt.The dissertation describes the situation of teaching German as a foreign language in Cameroon

Pengaruh Pemanfaatan Lingkungan Alam Sekitar Sekolah Sebagai Sumber Belajar Terhadap Hasil Belajar Siswa Kelas X SMA Negeri Welamosa

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh pemanfaatan lingkungan alam sekitar sekolah sebagai sumber belajar terhadap hasil belajar siswa kelas X SMA Negeri Welamosa.  Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan pendekatan eksperimen dan desain yang digunakan one group pretest-posttest design. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas  X SMA Negeri Welamosa yang berjumlah 30 orang siswa dan terdiri dari satu kelas. Sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa X SMA Negeri Welamosa yang terdiri dari 30 orang siswa. Pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini dengan menggunakan teknik purposive sampling, dan data akan dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS versi 25.       Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa pemanfaatan lingkungan alam sekitar sekolah sebagai sumber belajar berpengaruh terhadap hasil belajar siswa pada materi ekosistem kelas X SMA Negeri Welamosa tahun pelajaran 2022/2023. Hal tersebut dapat dilihat dari nilai rata-rata pretest 40,67 sedangkan nilai rata-rata posttest 79,00 dan nilai signifikan pada hasil uji hipotesis paired sample test dengan nilai sig. (2-tailed) 0,000 < 0,05

UTILIZING INQUIRY LEARNING MODEL TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AT GRADE VII SMPS CATHOLIC ST. ALOYSIUS WOLOTOPO

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of implementing inquiry learning model to improve students’ achievement on the material about plant organs at grade VII SMPS  Catholic St. Aloysius Wolotopo. This research was a Classroom Action Research conducted in 2 cycles. Each cycle consisted of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The subjects of this study were 31 students at grade VII SMPS Catholic St. Aloysius Wolotopo for the academic year 2019/2020. Data were obtained from teachers and students. The data were collected through tests and non-tests (observation). Then, the data were analyzed by using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. The results showed that the implementation of inquiry learning model could improve students’ achievement on the material about plant organs. This was seen from the results of the study finding that the percentage of the learning mastery increased from 61% in cycle I to 100% in cycle II. Besides, the students’ participation in the learning process also increased from 53% in cycle I to 90% in cycle II. Thus, it could be concluded that utilizing inquiry learning model improved the students’ learning achievement at grade VII SMPS Catholic St. Aloysius Wolotopo. This was because inquiry learning model stimulated students to think critically, creatively, and innovatively in order to find and solve a problem by using scientific steps