Agentes inteligentes para el soporte a la reutilización de software

En este trabajo presentamos SmartBooks, un método para documentar frameworks orientados a objetos. En base a este método, es posible diseñar un agente inteligente que guíe el proceso de instanciación, ele acuerdo con la funcionalidad requerida para la aplicación que está siendo construida.Eje: Ingeniería de software y base de datosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Agentes inteligentes para el soporte a la reutilización de software

En este trabajo presentamos SmartBooks, un método para documentar frameworks orientados a objetos. En base a este método, es posible diseñar un agente inteligente que guíe el proceso de instanciación, ele acuerdo con la funcionalidad requerida para la aplicación que está siendo construida.Eje: Ingeniería de software y base de datosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

From Lab to Production: Lessons Learnt and Real-Life Challenges of an Early Student-Dropout Prevention System

This paper presents the work done to support student dropout risk prevention in a real online e-learning environment: A Spanish distance university with thousands of undergraduate students. The main goal is to prevent students from abandoning the university by means of retention actions focused on the most at-risk students, trying to maximize the effectiveness of institutional efforts in this direction. With this purpose, we generated predictive models based on the C5.0 algorithm using data from more than 11,000 students collected along five years. Then we developed SPA, an early warning system that uses these models to generate static early dropout-risk predictions and dynamic periodically updated ones. It also supports the recording of the resulting retention-oriented interventions for further analysis. SPA is in production since 2017 and is currently in its fourth semester of continuous use. It has calculated more than 117,000 risk scores to predict the dropout risk of more than 5,700 students. About 13,000 retention actions have been recorded. The white-box predictive models used in production provided reasonably good results, very close to those obtained in the laboratory. On the way from research to production, we faced several challenges that needed to be effectively addressed in order to be successful. In this paper, we share the challenges faced and the lessons learnt during this process. We hope this helps those who wish to cross the road from predictive modelling with potential value to the exploitation of complete dropout prevention systems that provide sustained value in real production scenarios2018-201

Toxicity of ethanol and acetaldehyde in hepatocytes treated with ursodeoxycholic or tauroursodeoxycholic acid

AbstractIn hepatocytes ethanol (EtOH) is metabolized to acetaldehyde and to acetate. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) are said to protect the liver against alcohol. We investigated the influence of ethanol and acetaldehyde on alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)-containing human hepatoma cells (SK-Hep-1) and the protective effects of UDCA and TUDCA (0.01 and 0.1 mM). Cells were incubated with 100 and 200 mM ethanol, concentrations in a heavy drinker, or acetaldehyde. Treatment with acetaldehyde or ethanol resulted in a decrease of metabolic activity and viability of hepatocytes and an increase of cell membrane permeability. During simultaneous incubation with bile acids, the metabolic activity was better preserved by UDCA than by TUDCA. Due to its more polar character, acetaldehyde mostly damaged the superficial, more polar domain of the membrane. TUDCA reduced this effect, UDCA was less effective. Damage caused by ethanol was smaller and predominantly at the more apolar site of the cell membrane. In contrast, preincubation with TUDCA or UDCA strongly decreased metabolic activity and cell viability and led to an appreciable increase of membrane permeability. TUDCA and UDCA only in rather high concentrations reduce ethanol and acetaldehyde-induced toxicity in a different way, when incubated simultaneously with hepatocytes. In contrast, preincubation with bile acids intensified cell damage. Therefore, the protective effect of UDCA or TUDCA in alcohol- or acetaldehyde-treated SK-Hep-1 cells remains dubious