Ontology-based recommender system in higher education

International audienceAcademic advising is limited in its ability to assist students in identifying academic pathways. Selecting a major and a university is a challenging process rife with anxiety. Students at high school are not sure how to match their interests with their working future or major. Therefore, high school students need guidance and support. Moreover, students need to filter, prioritize and efficiently get appropriate information from the web in order to solve the problem of information overload. This paper represents an approach for developing ontology-based recommender system improved with machine learning techniques to orient students in higher education. The proposed recommender system is an assessment tool for students' vocational strengths and weaknesses, interests and capabilities. The main objective of our ontology-based recommender system is to identify the student requirements, interests, preferences and capabilities to recommend the appropriate major and university for each one

Evaluating User Experience in Multisensory Meditative Virtual Reality: A Pilot Study

Virtual Reality (VR) is known for its ability to immerse users in a parallel universe. Accordingly, VR offers great potential for mindfulness therapy, especially in a post pandemic world. However, the extent to which our senses should be recruited to yield an optimal feeling of presence in the Virtual Environment (VE) remains unclear. This study investigates lived and perceived effects of adding auditory and motor components to VR experiences, through narration and head movements respectively. Twelve participants experienced four nature-based VR videos in a within-subjects research design. The study employed a mixed method approach of psychometric and neurophysiological measures. Results support a significant relationship between positive affect and presence. While statistical support was not obtained for the remaining relationships, this study provides a feasibility assessment of utilizing NeuroIS methods in evaluating immersive user experiences, along with qualitative insights that extend our understanding towards optimized VE designs

Direct Visualization of Peptide/MHC Complexes at the Surface and in the Intracellular Compartments of Cells Infected In Vivo by Leishmania major

Protozoa and bacteria infect various types of phagocytic cells including macrophages, monocytes, dendritic cells and eosinophils. However, it is not clear which of these cells process and present microbial antigens in vivo and in which cellular compartments parasite peptides are loaded onto Major Histocompatibility Complex molecules. To address these issues, we have infected susceptible BALB/c (H-2d) mice with a recombinant Leishmania major parasite expressing a fluorescent tracer. To directly visualize the antigen presenting cells that present parasite-derived peptides to CD4+ T cells, we have generated a monoclonal antibody that reacts to an antigenic peptide derived from the parasite LACK antigen bound to I-Ad Major Histocompatibility Complex class II molecule. Immunogold electron microscopic analysis of in vivo infected cells showed that intracellular I-Ad/LACK complexes were present in the membrane of amastigote-containing phagosomes in dendritic cells, eosinophils and macrophages/monocytes. In both dendritic cells and macrophages, these complexes were also present in smaller vesicles that did not contain amastigote. The presence of I-Ad/LACK complexes at the surface of dendritic cells, but neither on the plasma membrane of macrophages nor eosinophils was independently confirmed by flow cytometry and by incubating sorted phagocytes with highly sensitive LACK-specific hybridomas. Altogether, our results suggest that peptides derived from Leishmania proteins are loaded onto Major Histocompatibility Complex class II molecules in the phagosomes of infected phagocytes. Although these complexes are transported to the cell surface in dendritic cells, therefore allowing the stimulation of parasite-specific CD4+ T cells, this does not occur in other phagocytic cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which Major Histocompatibility Complex class II molecules bound to peptides derived from a parasite protein have been visualized within and at the surface of cells that were infected in vivo

Les utilisations de la photographie aérienne pour un inventaire du patrimoine : l'expérience québecquoise

In 1976, the Ministère des Affaires culturelles (MAC) embarked on a major undertaking aimed at identifying Quebec's heritage resources. The goal was to obtain, as rapidly as possible, an overview of the rich heritage and to designate concentrations or themes likely to be the object of further study. Taking available financial and human resources into account, we developed the macro-inventory, which deals not only with history and ethnology but also with architectural landscapes and archaeology. This multidisciplinary approach made extensive use of aerial photography, which rapidly formed the cornerstone of the macro-inventory. In fact, never before had aerial photography been used so extensively for identifying heritage resources. Each municipality in Quebec (over 1 600) was systematically photographed. In all, more than 300 000 photographs (20 cm x 30 cm) were taken, and various specialists developed data bases from this material. In using the macro-inventory, it soon became obvious that it was an extremely effective basic tool. It has the advantage of being essentially neutral since it offers a bird's-eye view of nation's heritage in a form that is neither idealized nor schematic. Aerial photography, as a heritage inventory tool, has made an outstanding contribution to the rapid, yet exhaustive, identification of heritage resources in an aera as vast as Québec. The airplane has made it possible to accomplish in six years what would normally have taken 20 years at much more exorbitant costs. The aerial photography inventory has a number of different applications and can be used within the framework of projects related to survey and national development.En 1976, le Ministère des Affaires culturelles entreprenait une grande opération pour le repérage de son patrimoine. L'objectif était d'avoir une vue d'ensemble de la richesse patrimoniale du Québec d'en relever les concentrations ou les thèmes susceptibles de faire l'objet d'une recherche ultérieure et, cela, en un minimum de temps. C'est en tenant compte des ressources financières et humaines disponibles que l'on mit au point la formule du macro-inventaire, lequel porte aussi bien sur l'histoire et l'ethnologie que sur les paysages architecturaux et l'archéologie. Cette enquête pluridisciplinaire a permis une forte utilisation de la photographie aérienne, laquelle est rapidement devenue la pierre angulaire du macro-inventaire. La photographie aérienne a donc été appliquée à une échelle sans précédent pour le repérage du patrimoine. Ainsi, chaque municipalité du Québec (plus de 1 600) a fait l'objet d'une couverture photographique systématique. Ce sont plus de 300000 clichés (20 cm x 30 cm) qui ont été réalisés et qui ont constitué le fondement sur laquelle les différents spécialistes ont construit leur base de données. L'utilisation qui en a été faite a vite démontré que c'était l'instrument de base par excellence, parce qu'il avait l'avantage d'être essentiellement neutre en nous renvoyant l'image, à vol d'oiseau, d'un patrimoine non idéalisé ni schématisé. La photographie aérienne, à titre d'outil d'inventaire patrimonial, a été d'un apport exceptionnel pour une identification rapide, mais exhaustive, d'un territoire aussi vaste que le Québec. L'avion a permis de réaliser en six ans ce qui aurait été accompli en 20 ans et à des coûts beaucoup plus exorbitants. Les diverses utilisations qu'on peut en faire sont fort nombreuses car cet inventaire photographique aérien se prête à plusieurs problématiques de prospection et d'aménagement du territoire.Lahoud Pierre. Les utilisations de la photographie aérienne pour un inventaire du patrimoine : l'expérience québecquoise. In: Revue archéologique de Picardie. Numéro spécial 17, 1999. Actes du colloque international d'archéologie aérienne Amiens, 15 - 18 octobre 1992. Hommage à Roger Agache pour 35 ans de prospections aériennes dans le Nord de la France. pp. 97-104