Learning emergent digital technologies: the experience in the internet of things course unit

Industry 4.0 is re-shaping the way companies and individuals operate, but it is also introducing strong demands in education processes to train professionals with adequate competencies in emergent digital technologies, e.g., Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence and collaborative robotics. In the last decade, innovative educational methods are being applied, e.g., problem-based learning and project-based learning, to move the traditional education approach into a more student-centric process where the student has a more active role. Recent studies point out that the combination of such educational methods is beneficial, each one selected according to the particularities of the learning subject and objective. Having this in mind, this paper describes the application of a learning methodology that combines different educational methods, namely face-toface, problem-based learning and project-based learning, in a teaching course unit focusing on IoT technologies. The achieved results show an increase of the student’s assessment performance, motivation and satisfaction, and the opportunity to consolidate their acquired knowledge with hands-on practice. This approach also stimulates the acquisition of soft skills, mainly teamwork, communication, creativity and critical thinking.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is there a rational basis for cannabinoids research and development in ocular pain therapy? A systematic review of preclinical evidence

Background: Purpose of the present systematic review is to investigate preclinical evidence in favor of the working hypothesis of efficacy of cannabinoids in ocular pain treatment. Methods: Literature search includes the most relevant repositories for medical scientific literature from inception until November, 24 2021. Data collection and selection of retrieved records adhere to PRISMA criteria. Results: In agreement with a priori established protocol the search retrieved 2471 records leaving 479 results after duplicates removal. Eleven records result from title and abstract screening to meet the inclusion criteria; only 4 results are eligible for inclusion in the qualitative synthesis impeding meta-analysis. The qualitative analysis highlights the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory efficacy of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and its derivative HU-308 and of new racemic CB1 allosteric ligand GAT211 and its enantiomers GAT228 and GAT229. Moreover, CB2R agonists RO6871304 and RO6871085 and CB2R ligand HU910 provide evidence of anti-inflammatory efficacy. CB2 agonist HU308 reduces of 241% uveitis-induced leukocyte adhesion and changes lipidome profile. Methodological and design issues raise concern of risk of bias and the amount of studies is too small for generalization. Furthermore, the ocular pain model used can resemble only inflammatory but not neuropathic pain. Conclusions: The role of the endocannabinoid system in ocular pain is underinvestigated, since only two studies assessing the effects of cannabinoid receptors modulators on pain behavior and other two on pain-related inflammatory processes are found. Preclinical studies investigating the efficacy of cannabinoids in ocular inflammatory and neuropathic pain models are needed to pave the way for clinical translation

Effect of genotype on individual response to the pharmacological treatment of glaucoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The social impact of glaucoma is worth of note: primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide, affecting some 68.56 million people with overall prevalence of 2.4%. Since one of the main risk factors for the development of POAG is the increase of intraocular pressure (IOP) causing retinal ganglion cells death, the medical treatment of POAG consists in the use of drugs endowed with neuroprotective effect and able to reduce IOP. these drugs include beta-blockers, prostaglandin analogues, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, alpha or cholinergic agonists and rho kinase inhibitors. however, not all the patients respond to the same extent to the therapy in terms of efficacy and safety. genetics and genome wide association studies have highlighted the occurrence of mutations and polymorphisms influencing the predisposition to develop POAG and its phenotype, as well as affecting the response to pharmacological treatment. the present systematic review and meta-analysis aims at identifying genetic variants and at verifying whether these can influence the responsiveness of patients to therapy for efficacy and safety. It follows the most updated preferred reporting Items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses 2020 recommendations. the literature search was conducted consulting the most relevant scientific databases, i.e. pubmed/MEDLINE, scopus, web of science and public health genomics and precision health Knowledge base up to June 14th, 2023. the search retrieved 1026 total records, among which eight met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the analysis. the results demonstrated that the most investigated pharmacogenetic associations concern latanoprost and timolol, and that efficacy was studied more in depth than safety. moreover, the heterogeneity of design and paucity of studies prompt further investigation in randomized clinical trials. In fact, adequately powered and designed pharmacogenetic association studies are needed to provide body of evidence with good certainty for a more appropriate use of medical therapy in POAG. PROSPERO registration: CRD42023434867

A transfer matrix method for the analysis of fractal quantum potentials

The scattering properties of quantum particles on fractal potentials at different stages of fractal growth are obtained by means of the transfer matrix method. This approach can be easily adopted for project assignments in introductory quantum mechanics for undergraduates. The reflection coefficients for both the fractal potential and the finite periodic potential are calculated and compared. It is shown that the reflection coefficient for the fractal has a self-similar structure associated with the fractal distribution of the potential

Tunable Multifunctional Topological Insulators in Ternary Heusler Compounds

Recently the Quantum Spin Hall effect (QSH) was theoretically predicted and experimentally realized in a quantum wells based on binary semiconductor HgTe[1-3]. QSH state and topological insulators are the new states of quantum matter interesting both for fundamental condensed matter physics and material science[1-11]. Many of Heusler compounds with C1b structure are ternary semiconductors which are structurally and electronically related to the binary semiconductors. The diversity of Heusler materials opens wide possibilities for tuning the band gap and setting the desired band inversion by choosing compounds with appropriate hybridization strength (by lattice parameter) and the magnitude of spin-orbit coupling (by the atomic charge). Based on the first-principle calculations we demonstrate that around fifty Heusler compounds show the band inversion similar to HgTe. The topological state in these zero-gap semiconductors can be created by applying strain or by designing an appropriate quantum well structure, similar to the case of HgTe. Many of these ternary zero-gap semiconductors (LnAuPb, LnPdBi, LnPtSb and LnPtBi) contain the rare earth element Ln which can realize additional properties ranging from superconductivity (e. g. LaPtBi[12]) to magnetism (e. g. GdPtBi[13]) and heavy-fermion behavior (e. g. YbPtBi[14]). These properties can open new research directions in realizing the quantized anomalous Hall effect and topological superconductors.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Low frequency of somatic mutations in the FH/multiple cutaneous leiomyomatosis gene in sporadic leiomyosarcomas and uterine leiomyomas

Germline mutations in the fumarate hydratase gene at 1q43 predispose to dominantly inherited skin and uterine leiomyomata and leiomyosarcomas. The enzyme, which is a component of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, acts as a tumour suppressor. To evaluate fumarate hydratase in respective sporadic tumours, we analysed a series of 26 leiomyosarcomas and 129 uterine leiomyomas (from 21 patients) for somatic mutations in fumarate hydratase and allelic imbalance around 1q43. None of the 26 leiomyosarcomas harboured somatic mutations in fumarate hydratase. Fifty per cent of leiomysarcomas tested showed evidence of allelic imbalance at 1q, but this was not confined to the vicinity of fumarate hydratase. Only 5% (seven out of 129) of the leiomyomas showed allele imbalance at 1q42-q43 and no somatic mutations in fumarate hydratase were observed. Our findings indicate that mutations in fumarate hydratase do not play a major role in the development of sporadic leiomyosarcomas or uterine leiomyomas

Expression and mutation analysis of the discoidin domain receptors 1 and 2 in non-small cell lung carcinoma

The discoidin domain receptors, (DDR)1 and DDR2, have been linked to numerous human cancers. We sought to determine expression levels of DDRs in human lung cancer, investigate prognostic determinates, and determine the prevalence of recently reported mutations in these receptor tyrosine kinases. Tumour samples from 146 non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients were analysed for relative expression of DDR1 and DDR2 using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). An additional 23 matched tumour and normal tissues were tested for differential expression of DDR1 and DDR2, and previously reported somatic mutations. Discoidin domain receptor 1 was found to be significantly upregulated by 2.15-fold (P=0.0005) and DDR2 significantly downregulated to an equivalent extent (P=0.0001) in tumour vs normal lung tissue. Discoidin domain receptor 2 expression was not predictive for patient survival; however, DDR1 expression was significantly associated with overall (hazard ratio (HR) 0.43, 95% CI=0.22–0.83, P=0.014) and disease-free survival (HR=0.56, 95% CI=0.33–0.94, P=0.029). Multivariate analysis revealed DDR1 is an independent favourable predictor for prognosis independent of tumour differentiation, stage, histology, and patient age. However, contrary to previous work, we did not observe DDR mutations. We conclude that whereas altered expression of DDRs may contribute to malignant progression of NSCLC, it is unlikely that this results from mutations in the DDR1 and DDR2 genes that we investigated

Undergraduate experiment with fractal diffraction gratings

We present a simple diffraction experiment with fractal gratings based on the triadic Cantor set. Diffraction by fractals is proposed as a motivating strategy for students of optics in the potential applications of optical processing. Fraunhofer diffraction patterns are obtained using standard equipment present in most undergraduate physics laboratories and compared with those obtained with conventional periodic gratings. It is shown that fractal gratings produce self-similar diffraction patterns which can be evaluated analytically. Good agreement is obtained between experimental and numerical results. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.We acknowledge financial support from grants DPI2008-02953 and TRA2009-0215, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain. We also acknowledge support from Generalitat Valenciana through the project PROMETEO2009-077. This work has been developed by Teaching Innovation Groups from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (e-MACAFI) and the Universitat de Valencia (GCID35/2009).Monsoriu Serra, JA.; Furlan, WD.; Pons, A.; Gimenez Valentin, MH. (2011). Undergraduate experiment with fractal diffraction gratings. European Journal of Physics. 32:687-694. doi:10.1088/0143-0807/32/3/005S6876943