Evaluation of algorithms to predict graduation rate in higher education institutions by applying educational data mining

Nowadays, researchers analyse student data to predict the graduation rate by looking at the characteristics of students enrolled and to take corrective actions at an early stage or improve the admission process. Educational data mining (EDM) is an emerging field that can support the implementation of changes in the management of higher education institutions. EDM analyses educational data using the development and the application of data mining (DM) methods and algorithms to information stored in academic data repositories. The purpose of this paper is to review which methods and algorithms of DM can be used in the analysis of educational data to improve decision-making. Furthermore, it evaluates these algorithms using a dataset composed of student data in the computer science school of a private university. The core of the analysis is to discover trends and patterns of study in the graduation rate indicator. Finally, it compares these methods and algorithms and suggests which has the best precision in certain scenarios. Our analyses suggest that random trees had better precision but had limitations due to the difficulty of interpretation while the J48 algorithm had better possibilities of interpretation of results in the visualisation of the classification of data and only had slightly inferior performance

Estudio de factibilidad para la creación de un Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios en el Gobierno Provincial de Imbabura

Realizar un estudio de factibilidad para la creación de un “Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios en el Gobierno Provincial de Imbabura”.El desarrollo de este tema de investigación tiene como finalidad implementar un Centro de Servicios Agropecuarios en el Gobierno Provincial de Imbabura, ciudad Ibarra, Provincia de Imbabura. Además el de motivar a la máxima autoridad de dicha institución gubernamental la puesta en marcha de esta propuesta por cuanto constituirá un complemento de gran valor ya que podrá disponer de un estudio de factibilidad que sirva de base para desarrollar y asumir con eficiencia la competencia de fomento a las actividades productivas que está contemplado dentro de la Constitución Política del Estado. Es importante señalar que para dar cumplimiento a esta propuesta se estableció objetivos claramente definidos que permitieron culminar con éxito esta investigación. Con el propósito de conocer acerca del tema se realizó una investigación exhaustiva dentro de la dirección de Desarrollo Económico y Gestión Ambiental, la misma que permitió desarrollar el presente trabajo de grado. Se realizó encuestas a los dueños de Unidades Productivas Agrícolas de la provincia de Imbabura y encuestas a los técnicos con que cuenta la institución, para tener un claro conocimiento de la situación actual por el que atraviesa el sector agropecuario de la provincia y la dirección departamental en mención. En su contenido abarca siete capítulos y se finaliza con la descripción de algunas conclusiones y se añade las respectivas recomendaciones

Identificación polínica de Ericaceae en mieles gallegas

Se ha identificado el polen de Ericaceae contenido en 14 mieles procedentes de distintas poblaciones de las provincias de Orense y Lugo. En cinco de ellas, el taxon dominante es Ericaceae (principalmente los tipos polínicos Erica cinerea y Erina australis), en las demás domina Castanea sativa Miller, excepto en dos ellas que son milflorales.The Ericaceae pollen of 14 honeys from different localities in the provinces of Orense and Lugo (Spain), have been analysed. In five of them, the dominant taxon is Ericaceae (mainly Erica cinerea and Erica australis pollen types) while Castanea sativa Miller predominates in all the others except two multifloral samples

Soil fragmentation study applying different tillage systems

Runoff generation depends on rainfall, infiltration, interception, and surface depressional storage. Surface depressional storage depends on surface microtopography, usually quantified trough soil surface roughness (SSR). SSR is subject to spatial and temporal changes that create a high variability. In an agricultural environment, tillage operations produce abrupt changes in roughness. Subsequent rainfall gradually decreases roughness. Beside it, local variation in soil properties and hydrology cause its SSR to vary spatially at different scales. The methods commonly used to measure it involve collecting point elevations in regular grids using laser profilers or scanners, digital close range stereo-photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning or LIDAR systems. In this case, a laser-scanning instrument was used to obtain representative digital elevation models (DEMs) at a grid resolution of 7.2x7.2mm that cover an area of 0.9x0.9m. The DEMs were obtained from two study sites with different soils. The first study site was an experimental field on which five conventional tillage methods were applied. The second study site was a large olive orchard with trees planted at 7.5x5.0m and bare soils between rows. Here, three tillage treatments were applied. In this work we have evaluated the spatial variability of SSR at several scales studying differences in height calculated from points separated by incremental distances h were raised to power values q (from 0 to 4 in steps of 0.1). The q = 2 data were studied as a semivariogram model. The logarithm of average differences plotted vs. log h were characterized by their slope, ?(q). Structure functions [?(q) vs. q] were fitted showing that data had nonlinear structure functions typical of multiscale phenomena. Comparisson of the two types of soil in their respective structure functions are shown

Longitudinal evaluation of cognition after stroke - A systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment affects up to 80 percent of the stroke population, however, both the available evidence about post-stroke cognition and the measures used to evaluate it longitudinally have not been well described. The aims of this systematic scoping review were: to identify and characterize studies evaluating cognition longitudinally after stroke; to summarize the cognitive instruments used and the domains they target; and to organize cognitive domains assessed using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: We used a systematic scoping approach to search for peer-reviewed articles involving adults with stroke that evaluated cognition longitudinally. Screening of titles, abstracts, and full reports was completed independently by two reviewers, across six electronic databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Medline, Cinahl Plus, Embase, and Web of Science). Cognitive domains were mapped to an ICF function independently by the same two reviewers, using a previously tested, standardized approach. RESULTS: A total of 5,540 records were found; 257 were included, representing a total pooled sample of 120,860 stroke survivors. Of these studies, 200 (78%) provided specific cognitive outcomes from the longitudinal evaluations, 57 (22%) reported model predictions, and 77 (30%) included interventions. Cognition was evaluated with 356 unique instruments, targeting 95 distinct cognitive domains, and 17 mental functions from the ICF. The Mini-Mental State Examination was the most frequently used instrument (117 reports, 46%). Other tools used longitudinally were the Trail Making Test (17% of reports), tests of verbal fluency (14%), the Functional Independence Measure (14%), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (13%), the Digit Span (11%), and the Stroop test (10%). Global cognition was evaluated in 170 reports (66%), followed by higher-level cognitive functioning (29%), memory (28%), language (21%), attention (21%), and perceptual skills (14%). Studies using functional (or performance-based) cognitive assessments over time were scarce (\u3c 1%). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that whilst there is a substantial number of studies available that report longitudinal evaluations of cognition after stroke, there is large variability in the measures used and the cognitive domains they target. Nonetheless, the available data for evaluation of cognition over time after stroke can be organized and described systematically

Moving the IT Infrastructure to the Cloud

Cloud computing services are nowadays advertised as an emerging business model. Moreover, these services bring innovative solutions in a more sophisticated competitive market. But, the decision for their adoption could be significantly reduced due to organizations’ concerns related to security, privacy, and trust. The challenge involves such questions as where to start, which provider should the company choose or whether it is even worthwhile. Thus, this paper proposes an improved unified framework, based on a previous study where a 6 step process framework was introduced. This improved framework add one new step for security and control after the migration process. At the end, a 7 processes framework is proposed aimed to fulfill organizations’ concerns when decide to adopt cloud computing services with a follow-up step. This additional step intends to help IT directors to make sure everything is working properly in a methodological way, in order to achieve a successful cloud computing migration process. An effective solution that is gaining momentum and popularity for competitive organizations

Influence of tillage on soil surface roughness structure andsurface porosity.

Soil erosion is a complex phenomenon involving the detachment and transport of soil particles, storage and runoff of rainwater, and infiltration. The relative magnitude and importance of these processes depends on several factors being one of them surface microtopography, usually quantified trough soil surface roughness (SSR). Surface soil porosity and SSR can be altered by tillage operation. Even though the surface porosity is an important parameter of a tilled field, however, no practical technique for rapid and non-contact measurement of surface porosity has been developed yet

Moving ERP Systems to the Cloud - Data Security Issues

This paper brings to light data security issues and concerns for organizations by moving their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to the cloud. Cloud computing has become the new trend of how organizations conduct business and has enabled them to innovate and compete in a dynamic environment through new and innovative business models. The growing popularity and success of the cloud has led to the emergence of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ERP systems, a new alternative approach to traditional on-premise ERP systems. Cloud-based ERP has a myriad of benefits for organizations. However, infrastructure engineers need to address data security issues before moving their enterprise applications to the cloud. Cloud-based ERP raises specific concerns about the confidentiality and integrity of the data stored in the cloud. Such concerns that affect the adoption of cloud-based ERP are based on the size of the organization. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) gain the maximum benefits from cloud-based ERP as many of the concerns around data security are not relevant to them. On the contrary, larger organizations are more cautious in moving their mission critical enterprise applications to the cloud. A hybrid solution where organizations can choose to keep their sensitive applications on-premise while leveraging the benefits of the cloud is proposed in this paper as an effective solution that is gaining momentum and popularity for large organizations