A Blended Learning System to Improve Motivation, Mood State, and Satisfaction in Undergraduate Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Smartphone-based learning, or mobile learning (m-learning), has become a popular learning-and-teaching strategy in educational environments. Blended learning combines strategies such as m-learning with conventional learning to offer continuous training, anytime and anywhere, via innovative learning activities. Objective: The main aim of this work was to examine the short-term (ie, 2-week) effects of a blended learning method using traditional materials plus a mobile app—the iPOT mobile learning app—on knowledge, motivation, mood state, and satisfaction among undergraduate students enrolled in a health science first-degree program. Methods: The study was designed as a two-armed, prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. Subjects who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (ie, blended learning involving traditional lectures plus m-learning via the use of the iPOT app) or the control group (ie, traditional on-site learning). For both groups, the educational program involved 13 lessons on basic health science. The iPOT app is a hybrid, multiplatform (ie, iOS and Android) smartphone app with an interactive teacher-student interface. Outcomes were measured via multiple-choice questions (ie, knowledge), the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (ie, motivation), the Profile of Mood States scale (ie, mood state), and Likert-type questionnaires (ie, satisfaction and linguistic competence). Results: A total of 99 students were enrolled, with 49 (49%) in the intervention group and 50 (51%) in the control group. No difference was seen between the two groups in terms of theoretical knowledge gain (P=.92). However, the intervention group subjects returned significantly higher scores than the control group subjects for all postintervention assessed items via the motivation questionnaire (all P<.001). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a significant difference in the confusion and bewilderment component in favor of the intervention group (P=.01), but only a trend toward significance in anger and hostility as well as total score. The intervention group subjects were more satisfied than the members of the control group with respect to five out of the six items evaluated: general satisfaction (P<.001), clarity of the instructions (P<.01), clarity with the use of the learning method (P<.001), enough time to complete the proposed exercises (P<.01), and improvement in the capacity to learn content (P<.001). Finally, the intervention group subjects who were frequent users of the app showed stronger motivation, as well as increased perception of greater gains in their English-language competence, than did infrequent users.Educational Innovation Unit of the University of Granada, Spain 16-54University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES

A Self-managed Mesos Cluster for Data Analytics with QoS Guarantees

[EN] This article describes the development of an automated configuration of a software platform for Data Analytics that supports horizontal and vertical elasticity to guarantee meeting a specific deadline. It specifies all the components, software dependencies and configurations required to build up the cluster, and analyses the deployment times of different instances, as well as the horizontal and vertical elasticity. The approach followed builds up self-managed hybrid clusters that can deal with different workloads and network requirements. The article describes the structure of the recipes, points out to public repositories where the code is available and discusses the limitations of the approach as well as the results of several experiments.The work presented in this article has been partially funded by a research grant from the regional government of the Comunitat Valenciana (Spain), co-funded by the European Union ERDF funds (European Regional Development Fund) of the Comunitat Valenciana 2014-2020, with reference IDIFEDER/2018/032 (High-Performance Algorithms for the Modelling, Simulation and early Detection of diseases in Personalized Medicine). The authors would also like to thank the Spanish "Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad" for the project "BigCLOE" with reference number TIN2016-79951-R.López-Huguet, S.; Pérez-González, AM.; Calatrava Arroyo, A.; Alfonso Laguna, CD.; Caballer Fernández, M.; Moltó, G.; Blanquer Espert, I. (2019). A Self-managed Mesos Cluster for Data Analytics with QoS Guarantees. Future Generation Computer Systems. 96:449-461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.02.047S4494619

New Approaches Based on Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation and Mental Representation Techniques Targeting Pain in Parkinson’s Disease Patients: Two Study Protocols for Two Randomized Controlled Trials.

Pain is an under-reported but prevalent symptom in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), impacting patients’ quality of life. Both pain and PD conditions cause cortical excitability reduction and non-invasive brain stimulation. Mental representation techniques are thought to be able to counteract it, also resulting effectively in chronic pain conditions. We aim to conduct two independent studies in order to evaluate the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and mental representation protocol in the management of pain in PD patients during the ON state: (1) tDCS over the Primary Motor Cortex (M1); and (2) Action Observation (AO) and Motor Imagery (MI) training through a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) using Virtual Reality (AO + MI-BCI). Both studies will include 32 subjects in a longitudinal prospective parallel randomized controlled trial design under different blinding conditions. The main outcomes will be score changes in King’s Parkinson’s Disease Pain Scale, Brief Pain Inventory, Temporal Summation, Conditioned Pain Modulation, and Pain Pressure Threshold. Assessment will be performed pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 15 days post-intervention, in both ON and OFF states.post-print453 K

Characterization of the platelet phenotype caused by a germline RUNX1 Variant in a CRISPR/Cas9-generated murine model

RUNX1-related disorder (RUNX1-RD) is caused by germline variants affecting the RUNX1 gene. This rare, heterogeneous disorder has no specific clinical or laboratory phenotype, making genetic diagnosis necessary. Although international recommendations have been established to classify the pathogenicity of variants, identifying the causative alteration remains a challenge in RUNX1-RD. Murine models may be useful not only for definitively settling the controversy about the pathogenicity of certain RUNX1 variants, but also for elucidating the mechanisms of molecular pathogenesis. Therefore, we developed a knock-in murine model, using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, carrying the RUNX1 p.Leu43Ser variant (mimicking human p.Leu56Ser) to study its pathogenic potential and mechanisms of platelet dysfunction. A total number of 75 mice were generated; 25 per genotype (RUNX1WT/WT, RUNX1WT/L43S, and RUNX1L43S/L43S). Platelet phenotype was assessed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. On average, RUNX1L43S/L43S and RUNX1WT/L43S mice had a significantly longer tail-bleeding time than RUNX1WT/WT mice, indicating the variant's involvement in hemostasis. However, only homozygous mice displayed mild thrombocytopenia. RUNX1L43S/L43S and RUNX1WT/L43S displayed impaired agonist-induced spreading and α-granule release, with no differences in δ-granule secretion. Levels of integrin αIIbβ3 activation, fibrinogen binding, and aggregation were significantly lower in platelets from RUNX1L43S/L43S and RUNX1WT/L43S using phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and high thrombin doses. Lower levels of PKC phosphorylation in RUNX1L43S/L43S and RUNX1WT/L43S suggested that the PKC-signaling pathway was impaired. Overall, we demonstrated the deleterious effect of the RUNX1 p.Leu56Ser variant in mice via the impairment of integrin αIIbβ3 activation, aggregation, α-granule secretion, and platelet spreading, mimicking the phenotype associated with RUNX1 variants in the clinical setting.This work was partially supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Feder (PI17/01311, PI17/01966, and CB15/00055), Fundación Séneca (19873/GERM/15), Gerencia Regional de Salud (GRS 2061A/19 and 1647/A/17), Fundación Mutua Madrileña (FMM, AP172142019), and Sociedad Española de Trombosis y Hemostasia (SETH-FETH; Premio López Borrasca 2019 and Ayuda a Grupos de Trabajo en Patología Hemorrágica 2019). The authors' research on IPDs is conducted in accordance with the aims of the Functional and Molecular Characterization of Patients with Inherited Platelet Disorders Project, which is supported by the Hemorrhagic Diathesis Working Group of the Spanish Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. A.M.-Q., C.F.-I., and L.H.-C. were supported by predoctoral grants from the Junta de Castilla y León, Spain. E.V. was supported by the predoctoral grant from the University of Salamanca, Spain. IG-T and RB were supported by "Contratos postdoctorales Programa II) from the University of Salamanca, Spain

Single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with susceptibility for development of colorectal cancer: Case-control study in a Basque population

Given the significant population diversity in genetic variation, we aimed to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously identified in studies of colorectal cancer (CRC) susceptibility were also relevant to the population of the Basque Country (North of Spain). We genotyped 230 CRC cases and 230 healthy controls for 48 previously reported CRC-susceptibility SNPs. Only the rs6687758 in DUPS10 exhibited a statistically significant association with CRC risk based on the crude analysis. The rs6687758 AG genotype conferred about 2.13-fold increased risk for CRC compared to the AA genotype. Moreover, we found significant associations in cases between smoking status, physical activity, and the rs6687758 SNP. The results of a Genetic Risk Score (GRS) showed that the risk alleles were more frequent in cases than controls and the score was associated with CRC in crude analysis. In conclusion, we have confirmed a CRC susceptibility locus and the existence of associations between modifiable factors and the rs6687758 SNP; moreover, the GRS was associated with CRC. However, further experimental validations are needed to establish the role of this SNP, the function of the gene identified, as well as the contribution of the interaction between environmental factors and this locusto the risk of CRC.This work was supported by two projects (from the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs, Basque Government 2011111153; and Saiotek, Basque Government S-PE12UN058), by a pre-doctoral grant from the Basque Government (PRE_2016_2_0046), by the CIBERehd and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (ARS), under agreement. 581950-4-003. Neither Basque Government nor U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) had a role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. CIBERehd is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III