Automated Feedback Generation for a Chemistry Database and Abstracting Exercise

Timely feedback is an important part of teaching and learning. Here we describe how a readily available neural network transformer (machine-learning) model (BERT) can be used to give feedback on the structure of the response to an abstracting exercise where students are asked to summarise the contents of a published article after finding it from a publication database. The dataset contained 207 submissions from two consecutive years of the course, summarising a total of 21 different papers from the primary literature. The model was pre-trained using an available dataset (approx. 15,000 samples) and then fine-tuned on 80% of the submitted dataset. This fine tuning was seen to be important. The sentences in the student submissions are characterised into three classes - background, technique and observation - which allows a comparison of how each submission is structured. Comparing the structure of the students' abstract a large collection of those from the PubMed database shows that students in this exercise concentrate more on the background to the paper and less on the techniques and results than the abstracts to papers themselves. The results allowed feedback for each submitted assignment to be automatically generated.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 3 table

Factors influencing transfusion-associated HLA sensitization in patients bridged to heart transplantation using ventricular assist device.

BackgroundBridging heart failure patients with mechanical ventricular assist devices (VAD) enables access to transplantation. However, VAD is associated with increased risk for anti-HLA antibodies associated with rejection of subsequent allografts. Factors determining alloantibody formation in these patients remain undefined.MethodsWe performed a single-center retrospective cohort study of 164 patients undergoing heart transplantation from 2014 to 2017. Medical records including use of VAD, transfused blood products, anti-HLA antibody testing, crossmatch, and time to transplant were evaluated.ResultsPatients received an average of 13.8 red blood cell and 1.9 single-donor platelet units associated with VAD. There was a 28.7% increase in the incidence of anti-HLA antibodies after VAD. Development of anti-HLA antibodies did not correlate with volume or type of blood products, but with pre-VAD HLA sensitization status; relative risk of new alloantibodies in patients with pre-VAD antibodies was 3.5-fold higher than those without prior antibodies (P = .008). Development of new anti-HLA antibodies was associated with an increased time to transplant (169 vs 330 days, P = .013).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that the presence of anti-HLA antibodies pre-VAD was the most significant risk factor for developing additional antibodies post-VAD, suggesting that a subset of patients may be predisposed to alloantibody formation

Amyloid positron emission tomography candidates may focus more on benefits than risks of results disclosure

IntroductionGiven mounting calls to disclose biomarker test results to research participants, we explored factors underlying decisions by patients with mild cognitive impairment to receive amyloid imaging results.MethodsProspective, qualitative interviews were conducted with 59 participants (30 = mild cognitive impairment patients, 29 = care partners) from the scan arm of a randomized controlled trial on the effects of amyloid PET results disclosure in an Alzheimer Disease Research Center setting.ResultsSixty‐three percent of the participants were female, with an average age of 72.9 years, and most had greater than a high school level of education (80%). Primary motivations included: (1) better understanding one’s mild cognitive impairment etiology and prognosis to plan ahead, and (2) learning one’s brain amyloid status for knowledge’s sake, regardless of whether the information is actionable. Most participants demonstrated an adequate understanding of the scan’s limitations, yet instances of characterizing amyloid PET as a definitive test for Alzheimer’s disease occurred. Mention of potential drawbacks, such as negative psychological outcomes, was minimal, even among care partners.DiscussionFindings demonstrate a risk of disproportionate focus on possible benefits of testing among amyloid scan candidates and suggest a need to clearly emphasize the limitations of amyloid PET when counseling cognitively impaired patients and their families before testing. Future research should examine whether minimizing drawbacks at the pre‐imaging stage has adverse consequences on results disclosure.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152635/1/dad2jdadm201805003.pd

Elaboración del catálogo musical descriptivo: Cien años de música coral para niños en el Perú

Entre sus múltiples beneficios, la práctica coral infantil es también una oportunidad para que nuestros niños conozcan las expresiones artísticas propias de nuestros pueblos. En un país pluricultural como el nuestro, esa diversidad nos enriquece como individuos, como Nación. Es, a su vez, fuente de saber e inspiración para nuestros músicos y compositores. Al ser así, se hace imprescindible la inclusión de sus obras, destinadas a las llamadas voces blancas, en el repertorio coral infantil de nuestro país. El presente trabajo describe el proceso de realización del Catálogo musical descriptivo: Cien años de música coral para niños en el Perú, sobre las obras corales para niños —de compositores peruanos— escritas en el periodo comprendido entre 1921 y 2021; el cual incluye, también, los aportes de las publicaciones realizadas por importantes directores y pedagogos musicales, a favor del repertorio coral en las escuelas. Se indagó y se recopiló información de diversas fuentes bibliográficas, se contactó a la mayor cantidad de compositores nacionales, o a sus familiares (en el caso de compositores ya desaparecidos); lo cual permitió generar una red de contactos tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. A raíz de ello, se tuvo acceso a información relevante sobre sus composiciones y arreglos para coros de niños que, estoy seguro, permitirá ampliar el repertorio coral infantil y adolescente de nuestro país; así como su difusión y su empleo para fines didácticos o de investigación

It's time! Ten reasons to start replicating simulation studies

The quantitative analysis of research data is a core element of empirical research. The performance of statistical methods that are used for analyzing empirical data can be evaluated and compared using computer simulations. A single simulation study can influence the analyses of thousands of empirical studies to follow. With great power comes great responsibility. Here, we argue that this responsibility includes replication of simulation studies to ensure a sound foundation for data analytical decisions. Furthermore, being designed, run, and reported by humans, simulation studies face challenges similar to other experimental empirical research and hence should not be exempt from replication attempts. We highlight that the potential replicability of simulation studies is an opportunity quantitative methodology as a field should pay more attention to

Evaluation of gene-based family-based methods to detect novel genes associated with familial late onset Alzheimer disease

AbstractGene-based tests to study the combined effect of rare variants towards a particular phenotype have been widely developed for case-control studies, but their evolution and adaptation for family-based studies, especially for complex incomplete families, has been slower. In this study, we have performed a practical examination of all the latest gene-based methods available for family-based study designs using both simulated and real datasets. We have examined the performance of several collapsing, variance-component and transmission disequilibrium tests across eight different software and twenty-two models utilizing a cohort of 285 families (N=1,235) with late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD). After a thorough examination of each of these tests, we propose a methodological approach to identify, with high confidence, genes associated with the studied phenotype with high confidence and we provide recommendations to select the best software and model for family-based gene-based analyses. Additionally, in our dataset, we identified PTK2B, a GWAS candidate gene for sporadic AD, along with six novel genes (CHRD, CLCN2, HDLBP, CPAMD8, NLRP9, MAS1L) as candidates genes for familial LOAD.</jats:p

Big bottlenecks in cardiovascular tissue engineering.

Although tissue engineering using human-induced pluripotent stem cells is a promising approach for treatment of cardiovascular diseases, some limiting factors include the survival, electrical integration, maturity, scalability, and immune response of three-dimensional (3D) engineered tissues. Here we discuss these important roadblocks facing the tissue engineering field and suggest potential approaches to overcome these challenges

RELACIONES ENTRE LOS FENÓMENOS GEOGRÁFICOS Y LA CONCIENCIA GEOGRÁFICA EN TACNA

El presente trabajo se orienta al análisis de las características geomorfológicas y climáticas del espacio geográfico tacneño, y la forma como éstas se relacionan, dando lugar a una diferenciación de regiones, zonas y subzonas geográficas, que establecen determinadas condiciones para el comportamiento del hombre que construye y explota el espacio que socialmente ocupa. Se destaca la importancia que tiene el conocimiento científico de la realidad espacial para el desarrollo de la conciencia geográfica, entendiendo a ésta como la actitud positiva y la identificación del hombre como el espacio geográfico, sus recursos, potencialidades y situaciones medioambientales. En consecuencia, el desarrollo y afianzamiento de la conciencia geográfica puede y debe contribuir al mejoramiento y progreso de las condiciones de vida de la población regional