Computer based trainer for signal and systems undergraduate students

University students demand many exercises for practicing during their undergraduate courses. Although there are many resources where they can find proposed exercises, specially for basic courses, these resources include a fixed and limited set of proposed exercises. The students usually want to repeat similar exercises till they are sure they have the skill to solve it. Additionally they demand fast feedback about their trials. With the development of the European Higher Education Area, the work of the students must be assessed and this could be seen as a higher workload for the instructors, so the development of tools that help in the assignment and assessment of students work is necessary. Here, a tool that automatically generates thousands of numerical and wording variations of the same exercise and automatically assesses the solution given by the student is presented. The selected exercise is the convolution of two signals, a basic exercise for Signals and Systems undergraduate course for Electrical and Electronic Engineering students. Wording variations of the exercise include discrete time and continuous time signals, to find the output of a linear and invariant system for a given input and different presentations of the signals (analytic expressions, graphical or tabulated representation for the time span where the signals have non zero values). Both wording and numerical variations are obtained from a single seed. The remainders of division of the seed by different divisors are calculated and used to obtain a large set of variations of the exercise. One of these remainders is used to group the variations of the exercise by difficulty grade. The teacher can use this tool to automatically assign personalized exercises for each student that attends his/her course. This personalized assignment makes the cheating among students more difficult than when the same exercise is assigned to all the students. The teacher can be sure that all the assignments are in the same difficulty group. Moreover, this tool automatically grades the solution given by the student, so can be used as an assessment tool by the teacher. The basic algorithm to generate the variations in this exercise could be extended to almost all typical exercises in Signal and Systems cours

Polymorphisms in prostaglandin synthase 2/cyclooxygenase 2 (PTGS2/COX2) and risk of colorectal cancer

Inflammation plays a key role in the development of colorectal cancers. We have investigated the relationship between PTGS2 (COX2) polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk in a hospital based case-control study. We recruited 292 patients with colorectal cancer and 274 controls from new patients admitted to Bellvitge Hospital, Barcelona, Spain, from 1996 to 1998. Subjects responded to a questionnaire on risk factors. Genotypes of the eight more frequent polymorphisms of PTGS2 were determined. Two polymorphisms are located in the promoter sequence, one in the untranslated region of exon 1, one in exon 3, one in intron 5, two in the untranslated region of exon 10, and one downstream of the last polyadenylation (poly-A) signal. Associations were analysed with logistic regression models assuming a dominant effect for rare variants to increase statistical power. An association was detected between colorectal cancer and a polymorphism in the untranslated region of exon 10 of PTGS2, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.17-5.32, P=0.01. A nearby polymorphism downstream of the last poly-A signal also showed a nonsignificant increase in risk (OR 2.17, 95% CI 0.99-4.78, P=0.05). Analysis of haplotypes confirmed that individuals with these variants were at increased risk of colorectal cancer (OR compared to the most frequent haplotype: 2.17, 95% CI 0.97-4.84, P=0.06) Interactions between PTGS2 genotype and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of colorectal cancer were also explored

Manual Moodle 3.1 para el profesor

El presente manual es el fruto del trabajo y la experiencia de los técnicos del Gabinete de Tele-Educación de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid que desde el año 2005 vienen gestionando y prestando soporte a la herramienta Moodle para toda nuestra comunidad universitaria. Se trata de una actualización del manual realizado en 2012 para la versión 2.2. Anteriormente, este equipo realizó un manual para el profesor adaptado hasta la versión 1.9. Ese manual tenía como partida el libro “Using Moodle” y se completó con la documentación existente en su momento y las aportaciones del personal de nuestro equipo. Para tener una visión general de la información de este manual, siga leyendo la descripción que se presenta a continuación

Manual Moodle 2.4 para el profesor

El presente manual es el fruto del trabajo y la experiencia de los técnicos del Gabinete de Tele-Educación de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid que desde el año 2005 vienen gestionando y prestando soporte a la herramienta Moodle para toda la comunidad universitaria. Se trata de una actualización del manual realizado en 2012 para la versión 2.2. Anteriormente, este equipo realizó un manual para el profesor adaptado hasta la versión 1.9. Ese manual tenía como partida el libro “Using Moodle” y se completó con la documentación existente en su momento y las aportaciones del personal de nuestro equipo. Para tener una visión general de la información de este manual, siga leyendo la descripción que se presenta a continuación

Manual Moodle 2.6 para el profesor

El presente manual es el fruto del trabajo y la experiencia de los técnicos del Gabinete de Tele-Educación de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid que desde el año 2005 vienen gestionando y prestando soporte a la herramienta Moodle para toda la comunidad universitaria. Se trata de una actualización del manual realizado en 2012 para la versión 2.2. Anteriormente, este equipo realizó un manual para el profesor adaptado hasta la versión 1.9. Ese manual tenía como partida el libro “Using Moodle” y se completó con la documentación existente en su momento y las aportaciones del personal de nuestro equipo. Para tener una visión general de la información de este manual, siga leyendo la descripción que se presenta a continuación

Manual Moodle 2.8 para el profesor

El presente manual es el fruto del trabajo y la experiencia de los técnicos del Gabinete de Tele-Educación de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid que desde el año 2005 vienen gestionando y prestando soporte a la herramienta Moodle para toda nuestra comunidad universitaria. Se trata de una actualización del manual realizado en 2012 para la versión 2.2. Anteriormente, este equipo realizó un manual para el profesor adaptado hasta la versión 1.9. Ese manual tenía como partida el libro “Using Moodle” y se completó con la documentación existente en su momento y las aportaciones del personal de nuestro equipo. Para tener una visión general de la información de este manual, siga leyendo la descripción que se presenta a continuación. Contenido del Manual Antes de empezar, se realiza un acercamiento a Moodle 2.8 para el profesor que ha utilizado versiones anteriores, ya que algunos aspectos presentan importantes cambios. A continuación, el contenido se divide en cuatro grandes bloques

Estudio arqueológico y arqueométrico de restos de cosméticos hallados en una píxide malacológica en Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Badajoz)

En el presente artículo se da a conocer un hallazgo excepcional localizado en una de las áreas funerarias de la antigua capital de la Lusitania, Augusta Emerita. Concretamente se analizan funcional, tipológica y arqueométricamente una pixide malacológica que contenía durante el momento de su exhumación restos de su contenido. Además se aprovecha la ocasión para realizar un análisis contextual del hallazgo y se pone en relación con el fenómeno del cuidado femenino en época roman

Zn Biofortification of Dutch Cucumbers with Chemically Modified Spent Coffee Grounds: Zn Enrichment and Nutritional Implications

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are a food waste with a large generation around the world. However, their utilization as a soil organic amendment is difficult due to their phytotoxic effect. In the present work, the impact of agronomic biofortification on Dutch cucumbers was studied by using different chemically modified SCGs, analyzing their effects on Zn content, the release of antioxidant capacity and the production of short-chain fatty acids after in vitro digestion–fermentation. The results indicated variations in the Zn content and chemical composition of cucumbers according to the treatment groups. The functionalized with Zn and activated SCGs were able to increase Zn levels in cucumbers. Meanwhile, the activated hydrochar obtained at 160 ºC and the activated and functionalized with Zn SCGs showed the highest Zn supply per serving. Differences in the antioxidant capacity and short-chain fatty acid production were observed between the groups. It is concluded that the growing conditions and the presence of Zn may significantly influence the contribution of these cucumbers to the dietary intake of nutrients and antioxidants, which could have important implications for human health and nutrition.Research project P20_00585 from the Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad of the Andalusia GovernmentEuropean Research Commission (Research Executive Agency) under the research project Stance4Health (Contract Nº 816303)Plan propio de Investigación y Transferencia of the University of Granada under the program “Intensificación de la Investigación, modalidad B”Unit of Excellence ‘UNETE’ from the University of Granada (reference UCE-PP2017-05

Cardiac magnetic resonance outperforms echocardiography to predict subsequent implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapies in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients

Altres ajuts: Conselleria de Educación-Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2021/008); Sociedad Española de Cardiología (Grant SEC/FEC-INVCLI 21/024)Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) are effective as a primary prevention measure of ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and depressed left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The implications of using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) instead of echocardiography (Echo) to assess LVEF prior to the indication of ICD in this setting are unknown. We evaluated 52 STEMI patients (56.6 ± 11 years, 88.5% male) treated with ICD in primary prevention who underwent echocardiography and CMR prior to ICD implantation. ICD implantation was indicated based on the presence of heart failure and depressed LVEF (≤ 35%) by echocardiography, CMR, or both. Prediction of ICD therapies (ICD-T) during follow-up by echocardiography and CMR before ICD implantation was assessed. Compared to echocardiography, LVEF was lower by cardiac CMR (30.2 ± 9% vs. 37.4 ± 7.6%, p < 0.001). LVEF ≤ 35% was detected in 24 patients (46.2%) by Echo and in 42 (80.7%) by CMR. During a mean follow-up of 6.1 ± 4.2 years, 10 patients received appropriate ICD-T (3.16 ICD-T per 100 person-years): 5 direct shocks to treat very fast ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, 3 effective antitachycardia pacing (ATP) for treatment of ventricular tachycardia, and 2 ineffective ATP followed by shock to treat ventricular tachycardia. Echo-LVEF ≤ 35% correctly predicted ICD-T in 4/10 (40%) patients and CMR-LVEF ≤ 35% in 10/10 (100%) patients. CMR-LVEF improved on Echo-LVEF for predicting ICD-T (area under the curve: 0.76 vs. 0.48, p = 0.04). In STEMI patients treated with ICD, assessment of LVEF by CMR outperforms Echo-LVEF to predict the subsequent use of appropriate ICD therapies