Editorial

Dear readers, Welcome to Number 2 Volume 7 of Latin-American Computing Journal. This is the second issue that we make available during the global COVID-19 pandemic and with it the 2020 activity closes. On this occasion, the editors of LAJC wish to thank the many hours of dedication in the fulfillment of their professional, academic and research responsibilities of our readers and collaborators during this time. In this regular issue, I am pleased to present an interesting variety of relevant research articles in their respective fields. We hope that the eight selected topics will generate interest and encourage our readers in their various activities. A brief synopsis of each is shown below. The article "Digital agriculture in pitahaya crop" presents a technological solution that provides relevant information for precision agriculture. This solution was implemented in the Palora region, Morona Santiago Province, Ecuador where there are 1,528 hectares of pitahaya crops. In the article "Anomaly detection under a cognitive security model", an architecture is implemented to differentiate the behavior of benign from malicious network traffic, to support the cognitive processes of security analysts. In the third article "Design and implementation of a wireless sensor network with LoRa technology for industrial monitoring", an architecture for short-range communications with low-cost equipment is proposed. This solution was validated in two industrial scenarios. The study “A comparative evaluation of the performance of open-source SDN controllers" creates a software-defined network using lightweight virtualization mechanisms to compare latency, performance, and scalability of three open protocol controllers. The authors of “An implementation of a virus focused on mobile devices with Android. An Ethical Hacking Event” use a virtualized platform to perform penetration tests on Android systems to study the vulnerabilities of said systems. The article "Digital image processing in the creation of an intelligent system prototype for text detection and recognition in the labeling process of electrical cable" uses a database of images of cables of different color, text color, cable type and caliber, similar to those used in industrial plants, obtaining average error rates of 6.54%, 3.97% and 2.53%. The following article “Rain gauge data logger based on ATMEL microcontroller and LoRa transceiver” implements a weather station with low power consumption and reduced costs for data acquisition, storage, and transmission. During the confinement, the authors of the article "Use of technology in Industry 4.0 to support the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic through a hand hygiene dispenser using locally built devices" used easily available and low cost materials to manufacture a device that detects the presence of the user's hands in front of the sanitizing liquid dispenser duct. I thank the authors and reviewers of this issue for their valuable and generous contribution. Finally, a well-deserved annual recognition to all the authors and reviewers who have selflessly supported LAJC since its inception in 2014. Enjoy reading this issue!   Estimados lectores, Bienvenidos al Número 2 Volumen 7 de  Latin-American Journal of Computing. Este es el segundo número que ponemos a disposición durante la pandemia global de COVID-19 y con él se cierra la actividad del 2020. En esta oportunidad, los editores de LAJC deseamos agradecer las muchas horas de dedicación en el cumplimiento de su labor profesional, académica e investigativa de nuestros lectores y colaboradores durante esta época.   En este número regular, me complace presentar una interesante variedad de artículos de investigación relevantes en sus respectivos campos. Esperamos que los ocho temas seleccionados logren interesar e incentivar a nuestros lectores en sus diversas actividades. Una breve sinopsis de cada uno se muestra a continuación. El artículo “Agricultura digital en el cultivo de pitahaya” presenta una solución tecnológica que provee información relevante para una agricultura de precisión. Dicha solución se implantó en el cantón Palora, Provincia Morona Santiago, Ecuador donde existen 1528 hectáreas de sembríos de pitahaya. En el artículo “Detección de anomalías bajo un modelo de seguridad cognitiva” se implementa una arquitectura para diferenciar el comportamiento del tráfico de red benigno del malicioso, como apoyo a los procesos cognitivos de los analistas de seguridad. En el tercer artículo “Diseño e implementación de una red inalámbrica de sensores con tecnología LoRa para monitoreo industrial” se propone una arquitectura para comunicaciones de corto alcance con equipos de bajo costo que ha sido validada en dos escenarios industriales.  En el estudio realizado en “Evaluación comparativa del rendimiento de controladores SDN de código abierto” se crea una red definida por software utilizando mecanismos de virtualización livianos para comparar latencia, desempeño y escalabilidad de tres controladores de protocolo abierto. Los autores de “Implementación de un virus enfocado en dispositivos móviles Android. Un evento de hacking ético” utilizan una plataforma virtualizada para realizar pruebas de penetración a sistemas Androide para estudiar las vulnerabilidades de dichos sistemas. El artículo “Procesamiento digital de imágenes en la creación de prototipo de sistema inteligente para detección y reconocimiento de texto en etiquetas de conductores eléctricos recubiertos” se emplea una base de datos de imágenes de cables de diverso color, color del texto, tipo de cable y calibre, similares a los que se usan en plantas industriales, obteniendo tasas de error promedio de 6.54%, 3.97% y 2.53%. El siguiente artículo “Registrador de datos pluviométricos basado en el microcontrolador ATMEL y el transceptor LoRa” se implementa una estación meteorológica de bajo consumo de energía y costos reducidos para la adquisición, almacenamiento y transmisión de datos. Durante el confinamiento, los autores del artículo “Uso de la tecnología en Industria 4.0 para apoyar en el combate de la epidemia por COVID-19 a través de un dispensador para higiene de las manos usando dispositivos de construcción local” usaron materiales de fácil adquisición y bajo costo para fabricar un dispositivo que detecta la presencia de las manos del usuario frente al ducto del dispensador de líquido sanitizante.  Agradezco a los autores y revisores de este número por su valiosa y generosa contribución. Para finalizar, un merecido reconocimiento anual a todos los autores y revisores que han apoyado desinteresadamente a la revista LAJC desde sus inicios en el 2014. ¡Disfruten la lectura de este número

How Could MOOCs Become Accessible? The Case of edX and the Future of Inclusive Online Learning

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have great potential to provide learning opportunities for people around the world. However, to reach their full potential, MOOCs need to meet the accessibility needs of diverse learners, with and without disabilities. In the literature review, we have found some published research on accessibility evaluations of MOOCs content and platforms, but we have not found published research on how to design existing and future MOOC platforms to assist authors in producing accessible content. The main purpose of this research is to contribute to the discussion about the future of inclusive online learning, by proposing a software design to incorporate features in MOOC platforms to enable, support and guide authors toward conceptualizing, designing, building and testing accessible MOOCs. We also present the results of an evaluation of the accessibility issues of Studio, the edX course-authoring software, based on ATAG 2.0.This work has been partially supported by the Prometeo Project by SENESCYT, Ecuadorian Government

Technical Contributions to the Quality of Telerehabilitation Platforms: Case Study—ePHoRt Project

This chapter proposes three main technical contributions for the development of a telerehabilitation platform, named ePHoRT, for patients recovering from hip surgery. The first contribution is the application of a diffuse 3D model for the detection of rehabilitation exercises after hip surgery. The model applies fuzzy logic, which allows identifying in real time if a patient is performing a right or wrong movement, assisted by an avatar in 3D. The avatar copies the movements of the patient through a Kinect camera. The second contribution involves the proposal of an iterative method to improve the usability of telerehabilitation platforms along the development life cycle. The proposed method involves the use of an inspection method and includes protocols and instruments. This method has been validated in the ePHoRT project. Finally, the chapter describes accessibility guidelines for educational resources. It proposes accessibility standards for the content of educational resources in video and PDF formats in the telerehabilitation platform according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Towards Truly Accessible MOOCs for Persons with Cognitive Disabilities: Design and Field Assessment

International audienceMOOCs are playing an increasingly important role in education systems. Unfortunately, MOOCs are not fully accessible. In this paper, we propose design principles to enhance the accessibility of MOOC players, especially for persons with cognitive disabilities. These principles result from a participatory design process gathering 7 persons with disabilities and 13 expert professionals. They are also inspired by various design approaches (Universal Design for Learning, Instructional Design, Environmental Support). We also detail the creation of a MOOC player offering a set of accessibility features that users can alter according to their needs and capabilities. We used it to teach a MOOC on digital accessibility. Finally, we conducted a field study to assess learning and usability outcomes for persons with cognitive and non-cognitive impairments. Results support the effectiveness of our player for increasing accessibility

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO