Benefits of using the eye-tracking method for qualitative observation of students’ multiplechoice physics tasks solution process

Metoda oční kamery se v rámci různých studií ukázala jako vhodnou pro studování kognitivních procesů žáků. V článku se zaměříme na výhody použití metody sledováním žáků středních škol při řešení testu s otázkami s výběrem odpovědi. Konkrétně se zaměříme na kvalitativní analýzu dat týkajících se pohybů očí dvou žákyň řešících úlohy z fyziky. Obě žákyně řešily všechny testové úlohy nesprávně, obě navíc vybraly jako odpověď stejné alternativy. V případě klasického zadání testu (vyplňování papírových dotazníků), bychom dostali od obou žákyň naprosto stejný výstup. Data z oční kamery nám však ukázala jak podobné přístupy řešení, tak i důležité odlišnosti, na základě kterých by pak vyučující pracovali s každou dívkou odlišně. Obě dívky četly zadání pozorně a věnovaly důraz klíčovým pojmům. Je tedy zřejmé, že špatná volba odpovědi nejde na vrub nedostatečného čtení zadání. Obě dívky zřejmě mají typickou miskoncepci týkající se 1. Newtonova zákona. Liší se zejména v jejich jistotě výběru odpovědi. Eva byla v odpovídání rychlejší a zabývala se zejména možností, kterou nakonec vybrala jako odpověď. Naproti tomu Jana se velmi často vracela k zadání, často nejprve přemýšlela o odpovědi, kterou nakonec nevybrala jako správnou. U Evy jsme pozorovali netypické vertikální sakády nad vybranými klíčovými pojmy. Jana při pohledu na spíše ilustrativní obrázek projevila typickou miskoncepci “graf jako obrázek”. Detailní analýzou jsme ukázali, že souhrnná data na tzv. oblast zájmu mohou být zavádějící, pokud je tato oblast příliš velká (např. jedna alternativa v testové otázce). Dále jsme představili možné indikátory pro kvalitativní analýzu a možnosti vizualizace zpětných sakád.As previous studies have shown, the eye-tracking method is useful for monitoring cognitive processes. In this study, we focus on the benefits of analysing high school students’ problem-solving processes when completing a multiple-choice test. Specifically, we provide a qualitative analysis of eye-movements of two low prior knowledge students as they solve two physics tasks. Both students scored zero on the test and chose the same options. In a paper-pencil administration of such a test, we would receive the same results from both of them. Via analysis of the eye-tracking data, we have shown that there are several similarities and differences between their solving approaches. Particularly, they both emphasized the key terms in the stem, meaning they did not provide incorrect answers due to improper stem reading. Both students showed very typical misconceptions concerning understanding Newton’s First Law. However, they differ in their confidence. Eve arrived at her answer quicker, but Jane needed to reread the stem many times. We observed atypical saccadic eye movements when Eve read the stems of the tasks and much longer fixations when she suddenly switched to her answers. Jane showed “graph as a picture error” when interpreting an illustrative picture in the stem. Based on our analysis, we demonstrate that summarized data on areas of interest (AOIs) can be misleading when AOIs are too large (e.g., each test option). We also introduce several indicators appropriate for a qualitative analysis, and we present new visualisations for in-word and between-words saccades

Concept «of the trademark»

The scientific article is devoted to the study of the concept of the trademark. The author carried out the analysis of the concept of the trademark as an object of intellectual property, an object of industrial property, and also as means of an individualization. Also this article considers trademark distinction from other means of an individualization

Investigation of the food safety of lamb meat obtained in ecologically unfavorable territories

IntroductionThis article presents data on the ecological situation of agricultural territories where small cattle are raised, focusing on the exposure dose rate, radon concentration in residential and social buildings, and the density of alpha and beta particle flux. The study also examines the levels of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Hg) and radionuclides Cs-137 and Sr-90 in raw meat from ecologically unfavorable areas, as well as the effects of heat treatment on reducing the content of these harmful substances.MethodsThe research involved analyzing raw meat samples from the Abai district near the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Semey, Kazakhstan. The levels of heavy metals and radionuclides were measured before and after heat treatment to assess the effectiveness of cooking in reducing these contaminants. Radioecological measurements were also conducted in residential and social buildings to evaluate radon concentration and alpha and beta particle flux.Results and discussionThe results of the study showed a significant decrease in the levels of lead, cadmium, arsenic, Cs-137, and Sr-90 in meat after heat treatment. Prolonged cooking or quenching led to the most significant reductions in toxicity and radionuclides. These findings suggest that heat treatment can be an effective method for reducing the levels of harmful substances in meat from ecologically compromised areas. Further research is needed to explore other potential strategies for mitigating the impact of environmental contamination on food safety in agricultural regions

Trichothecenes and aspinolides produced by Trichoderma arundinaceum regulate expression of Botrytis cinerea genes involved in virulence and growth

Trichoderma arundinaceum (Ta37) and Botrytis cinerea (B05.10) produce the sesquiterpenoids harzianum A (HA) and botrydial (BOT), respectively. TaDTri5, an HA non-producer mutant, produces high levels of the polyketide compounds aspinolides (Asp) B and C. We analyzed the role of HA and Asp in the B. cinerea-T. arundinaceum interaction, including changes in BOT production as well as transcriptomic changes of BcBOT genes involved in BOT biosynthesis, and also of genes associated with virulence and ergosterol biosynthesis. We found that exogenously added HA up-regulated the expression of the BcBOT and all the virulence genes analyzed when B. cinerea was grown alone. However, a decrease in the amount of BOT and a down-regulation of BcBOT gene expression was observed in the interaction zone of B05.10- Ta37 dual cultures, compared to TaDTri5. Thus, the confrontation with T. arundinaceum results in an upregulation of most of the B. cinerea genes involved in virulence yet the presence of T. arundinaceum secondary metabolites, HA and AspC, act separately and together to down-regulate the B. cinerea genes analyzed. The present work emphasizes the existence of a chemical cross-regulation between B. cinerea and T. arundinaceum and contributes to understanding how a biocontrol fungus and its prey interact with each other

Comparative performances of machine learning methods for classifying Crohn Disease patients using genome-wide genotyping data

Abstract: Crohn Disease (CD) is a complex genetic disorder for which more than 140 genes have been identified using genome wide association studies (GWAS). However, the genetic architecture of the trait remains largely unknown. The recent development of machine learning (ML) approaches incited us to apply them to classify healthy and diseased people according to their genomic information. The Immunochip dataset containing 18,227 CD patients and 34,050 healthy controls enrolled and genotyped by the international Inflammatory Bowel Disease genetic consortium (IIBDGC) has been re-analyzed using a set of ML methods: penalized logistic regression (LR), gradient boosted trees (GBT) and artificial neural networks (NN). The main score used to compare the methods was the Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) statistics. The impact of quality control (QC), imputing and coding methods on LR results showed that QC methods and imputation of missing genotypes may artificially increase the scores. At the opposite, neither the patient/control ratio nor marker preselection or coding strategies significantly affected the results. LR methods, including Lasso, Ridge and ElasticNet provided similar results with a maximum AUC of 0.80. GBT methods like XGBoost, LightGBM and CatBoost, together with dense NN with one or more hidden layers, provided similar AUC values, suggesting limited epistatic effects in the genetic architecture of the trait. ML methods detected near all the genetic variants previously identified by GWAS among the best predictors plus additional predictors with lower effects. The robustness and complementarity of the different methods are also studied. Compared to LR, non-linear models such as GBT or NN may provide robust complementary approaches to identify and classify genetic markers

Isolation of synaptic vesicles from genetically engineered cultured neurons

Background Synaptic vesicles (SVs) are an integral part of the neurotransmission machinery, and isolation of SVs from their host neuron is necessary to reveal their most fundamental biochemical and functional properties in in vitro assays. Isolated SVs from neurons that have been genetically engineered, e.g. to introduce genetically encoded indicators, are not readily available but would permit new insights into SV structure and function. Furthermore, it is unclear if cultured neurons can provide sufficient starting material for SV isolation procedures. New method Here, we demonstrate an efficient ex vivo procedure to obtain functional SVs from cultured rat cortical neurons after genetic engineering with a lentivirus. Results We show that ∼108 plated cortical neurons allow isolation of suitable SV amounts for functional analysis and imaging. We found that SVs isolated from cultured neurons have neurotransmitter uptake comparable to that of SVs isolated from intact cortex. Using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, we visualized an exogenous SV-targeted marker protein and demonstrated the high efficiency of SV modification. Comparison with existing methods Obtaining SVs from genetically engineered neurons currently generally requires the availability of transgenic animals, which is constrained by technical (e.g. cost and time) and biological (e.g. developmental defects and lethality) limitations. Conclusions These results demonstrate the modification and isolation of functional SVs using cultured neurons and viral transduction. The ability to readily obtain SVs from genetically engineered neurons will permit linking in situ studies to in vitro experiments in a variety of genetic contexts