Reading and writing mathematical notation in e-learning environments

How do students and teachers communicate mathematics via the internet? Why do they use these methods? Is there any better way of communicating mathematics via the internet? In addition to the time needed to understand a concept, it is also a challenge for students to write formulae in e-learning environments, since most computers and software are not designed to write formulae. Furthermore, most physics, mathematics and engineering students do most of all their initial analysis and calculations using pen and paper and then have to translate it into a computer environment. Does this extra time investment play a role in the academic results achieved?This paper presents exploratory research into the different methods used by teachers and students to communicate mathematics via the internet and to use appropriate patterns according to the different subjects and knowledge areas. It explores the reasons that make students choose one method or another and analyses the extreme case: when students write mathematical formulae on paper and then scan this electronically.The analysis is carried out on engineering subjects at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in which mathematics plays an important role: 17,000 emails are analysed and five physics teachers are interviewed as part of a qualitative study about handwritten scanned exercises.This paper shows that the key to explaining students' behaviour is the time factor. In order to reduce the time required to write the required mathematical formulae, the paper proposes a speech-to-text tool, such as TalkMaths, to help students create and edit mathematical formulae, since speech is the fastest and most natural way of communicating

Idiosincrasia de los PFC en la UOC

En este artículo se introducen las características de los proyectos finales de carrera (PFC) en la Universidad Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), en los que se simula el desarrollo de un proyecto en el mundo empresarial. Para ello se empieza introduciendo las distintas figuras que llevan a cabo la acción docente en la UOC, sus roles y la forma como se complementan entre sí. A continuación se explican las limitaciones y elementos que distinguen los PFC de la UOC de los de la universidad presencial y cómo se estructuran, mostrando su paralelismo con los proyectos empresariales. También se ponen de manifiesto los problemas con los que se enfrenta la UOC a la hora de poner en práctica estos PFC, y las actuaciones emprendidas para poner remedio a estas limitaciones. Finalmente, se recogen las conclusiones del trabajo en las que se refleja que, si bien los PFC planteados como proyectos de empresa son fundamentales para los estudiantes, sería aconsejable extender esta forma de trabajar a todas las universidades, ya que en el caso de la UOC, muchos estudiantes son ya profesionales integrados en el mundo empresarial

A simheuristic algorithm for time-dependent waste collection management with stochastic travel times

A major operational task in city logistics is related to waste collection. Due to large problem sizes and numerous constraints, the optimization of real-life waste collection problems on a daily basis requires the use of metaheuristic solving frameworks to generate near-optimal collection routes in low computation times. This paper presents a simheuristic algorithm for the time-dependent waste collection problem with stochastic travel times. By combining Monte Carlo simulation with a biased randomized iterated local search metaheuristic, time-varying and stochastic travel speeds between different network nodes are accounted for. The algorithm is tested using real instances in a medium-sized city in Spain

Videos con las manos: fáciles de crear, expresivos y útiles para los estudiantes

Los videos digitales tienen una presencia importante y creciente en los procesos de aprendizaje. Sin embargo, la creación de videos es una actividad compleja que consume mucho tiempo a los profesores. Por tanto, es importante analizar qué coste tiene crear videos en distintos formatos y qué utilidad tiene cada uno de ellos para el estudiante. Con ese objetivo, el trabajo presentado analiza el coste de creación y la utilidad de lo que denominamos “Videos con las manos” y se compara con otros tipos de videos (grabación de escritorio y grabación con un bolígrafo de tipo LiveScribe®). Las pruebas se han realizado con alrededor de 100 videos de distintos tipos en distintas asignaturas durante 2016. La metodología utilizada para analizar la dificultad en la creación de los distintos tipos de videos y su utilidad para los estudiantes es mixta, cualitativa y cuantitativa. El estudio se ha llevado a cabo en asignaturas de física de diversas ingenierías tanto en entornos presenciales como virtuales. Los resultados indican que los videos con las manos son fáciles de crear, son útiles para los estudiantes y consiguen transmitir información no verbal.Digital videos have an important and growing presence in the learning processes. However, the creation of videos is a complex activity that consumes a lot of time to teachers. Therefore, it is important to analyze the cost of creating videos in different formats and the usefulness of each video format to the students. The presented work analyzes the cost of creation and the usefulness of what we call “Videos with your hands” and compares them with other types of videos (desktop recording and recording with a LiveScribe® pen). The tests have been made with around 100 videos of different types in different subjects during 2016. Subsequently, qualitative and quantitative techniques have been used to analyze the efforts required in the creation of the different types of videos and the usefulness of each type for students. The analysis has been conducted on Physics subjects from different degrees, both in face-to-face and virtual environments. Results indicate that hand-held videos are easy to create, are useful and provide useful non-verbal information

Development of spatial density maps based on geoprocessing web services: application to tuberculosis incidence in Barcelona, Spain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health professionals and authorities strive to cope with heterogeneous data, services, and statistical models to support decision making on public health. Sophisticated analysis and distributed processing capabilities over geocoded epidemiological data are seen as driving factors to speed up control and decision making in these health risk situations. In this context, recent Web technologies and standards-based web services deployed on geospatial information infrastructures have rapidly become an efficient way to access, share, process, and visualize geocoded health-related information.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data used on this study is based on Tuberculosis (TB) cases registered in Barcelona city during 2009. Residential addresses are geocoded and loaded into a spatial database that acts as a backend database. The web-based application architecture and geoprocessing web services are designed according to the Representational State Transfer (REST) principles. These web processing services produce spatial density maps against the backend database.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results are focused on the use of the proposed web-based application to the analysis of TB cases in Barcelona. The application produces spatial density maps to ease the monitoring and decision making process by health professionals. We also include a discussion of how spatial density maps may be useful for health practitioners in such contexts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this paper, we developed web-based client application and a set of geoprocessing web services to support specific health-spatial requirements. Spatial density maps of TB incidence were generated to help health professionals in analysis and decision-making tasks. The combined use of geographic information tools, map viewers, and geoprocessing services leads to interesting possibilities in handling health data in a spatial manner. In particular, the use of spatial density maps has been effective to identify the most affected areas and its spatial impact. This study is an attempt to demonstrate how web processing services together with web-based mapping capabilities suit the needs of health practitioners in epidemiological analysis scenarios.</p

Consequences on economic outcomes of generic versus brand-name drugs used in routine clinical practice: the case of treating peripheral neuropathic pain or generalized anxiety disorder with pregabalin

Background: Discrepancies are seen between arguments in favor of and against prescribing generic versus brand-name drugs. Objective: To provide real-world evidence on treatment persistence, economic and clinical outcomes of pregabalin, generic versus brand-name (Lyrica®, Pfizer), routinely used to treat neuropathic pain (NP) or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods: Electronic medical records from subjects' first starting treatment with pregabalin between January-2015 and June-2016 were analyzed. Persistence, resources utilization, and costs were assessed, along with remitter and responder rates. (...

Comparación de dos técnicas Proteómicas aplicadas al análisis de las proteínas de membrana de Mycoplasma genitalium

Comunicaciones a congreso

Extended proteome and membrane subproteome of mycoplasma genitalium

Comunicaciones a congreso

Blood component requirements in liver transplantation: effect of 2 thromboelastometry-guided strategies for bolus fibrinogen infusion, the TROMBOFIB randomized trial

Background: A low plasma fibrinogen level influences blood component transfusion. Thromboelastometry provides clinical guidance for fibrinogen replacement in liver transplantation (LT). Objectives: We hypothesized that infusions of fibrinogen concentrate to reach an A10FIBTEM value of 11 mm during LT could reduce red blood cell (RBC) and other component and fluid requirements in comparison to standard care. Methods: This randomized, blinded, multicenter trial in 3 hospitals enrolled 189 LTscheduled patients allocated to an intervention target (A10FIBTEM, 11 mm) or a standard target (A10FIBTEM, 8 mm); 176 patients underwent LT with fibrinogen replacement. Data were analyzed by intention-to-treat (intervention group, 91; control group, 85). Blood was extracted, and fibrinogen kits were prepared to bring each patient's fibrinogen level to the assigned target at the start of LT, after portal vein clamping, and after graft reperfusion. The main outcome was the proportion of patients requiring RBC transfusion during LT or within 24 hours. Results: The proportion of patients requiring RBCs did not differ between the groups: intervention, 74.7% (95% CI, 65.5%-83.3%); control, 72.9% (95% CI, 62.2%-82.0%); absolute difference, 1.8% (95% CI, −11.1% to 14.78%) (P = .922). Thrombotic events occurred in 4% of the patients in both groups; reoperation and retransplantation rates and mortality did not differ. Nearly 70% of the patients in both groups required fibrinogen concentrate to reach the target. Using an 11-mm A10FIBTEM target increased the maximum clot firmness without affecting safety. However, this change provided no clinical benefits. Conclusion: The similar low plasma fibrinogen concentrations could explain the lack of significant between-group outcomes