Multidimensional Adaptations for Open Learning Management Systems

Our work is focused on alleviating the workload for designers of adaptive courses on the complexity task of authoring adaptive learning designs adjusted to specific user characteristics and the user context. We propose an adaptation platform that consists in a set of intelligent agents where each agent carries out an independent adaptation task. The agents apply machine learning techniques to support the user modelling for the adaptation process

A Framework for Building Hypercubes Using MapReduce

The European Space Agency's Gaia mission will create the largest and most precise three dimensional chart of our galaxy (the Milky Way), by providing unprecedented position, parallax, proper motion, and radial velocity measurements for about one billion stars. The resulting catalogue will be made available to the scientific community and will be analyzed in many different ways, including the production of a variety of statistics. The latter will often entail the generation of multidimensional histograms and hypercubes as part of the precomputed statistics for each data release, or for scientific analysis involving either the final data products or the raw data coming from the satellite instruments. In this paper we present and analyze a generic framework that allows the hypercube generation to be easily done within a MapReduce infrastructure, providing all the advantages of the new Big Data analysis paradigmbut without dealing with any specific interface to the lower level distributed system implementation (Hadoop). Furthermore, we show how executing the framework for different data storage model configurations (i.e. row or column oriented) and compression techniques can considerably improve the response time of this type of workload for the currently available simulated data of the mission. In addition, we put forward the advantages and shortcomings of the deployment of the framework on a public cloud provider, benchmark against other popular solutions available (that are not always the best for such ad-hoc applications), and describe some user experiences with the framework, which was employed for a number of dedicated astronomical data analysis techniques workshops.

A Framework for Building Hypercubes Using MapReduce

The European Space Agency's Gaia mission will create the largest and most precise three dimensional chart of our galaxy (the Milky Way), by providing unprecedented position, parallax, proper motion, and radial velocity measurements for about one billion stars. The resulting catalogue will be made available to the scientific community and will be analyzed in many different ways, including the production of a variety of statistics. The latter will often entail the generation of multidimensional histograms and hypercubes as part of the precomputed statistics for each data release, or for scientific analysis involving either the final data products or the raw data coming from the satellite instruments. In this paper we present and analyze a generic framework that allows the hypercube generation to be easily done within a MapReduce infrastructure, providing all the advantages of the new Big Data analysis paradigmbut without dealing with any specific interface to the lower level distributed system implementation (Hadoop). Furthermore, we show how executing the framework for different data storage model configurations (i.e. row or column oriented) and compression techniques can considerably improve the response time of this type of workload for the currently available simulated data of the mission. In addition, we put forward the advantages and shortcomings of the deployment of the framework on a public cloud provider, benchmark against other popular solutions available (that are not always the best for such ad-hoc applications), and describe some user experiences with the framework, which was employed for a number of dedicated astronomical data analysis techniques workshops.

What to consider for applying backfilling on non-dedicated environments

The resource utilization level in open laboratories of several universities has been shown to be very low. Our aim is to take advantage of those idle resources for parallel computation without disturbing the local load. In order to provide a system that lets us execute parallel applications in such a non-dedicated cluster, we use an integral scheduling system that considers both Space and Time sharing concerns. For dealing with the Time Sharing (TS) aspect, we use a technique based on the communication-driven coscheduling principle. This kind of TS system has some implications on the Space Sharing (SS) system, that force us to modify the way job scheduling is traditionally done. In this paper, we analyze the relation between the TS and the SS systems in a non-dedicated cluster. As a consequence of this analysis, we propose a new technique, termed 3DBackfilling. This proposal implements the well known SS technique of backfilling, but applied to an environment with a MultiProgramming Level (MPL) of the parallel applications that is greater than one. Besides, 3DBackfilling considers the requirements of the local workload running on each node. Our proposal was evaluated in a PVM/MPI Linux cluster, and it was compared with several more traditional SS policies applied to non-dedicated environments.

Effects of P300-based BCI use on reported presence in a virtual environment

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are becoming more and more popular as an input device for virtual worlds and computer games. Depending on their function, a major drawback is the mental workload associated with their use and there is significant effort and training required to effectively control them. In this paper, we present two studies assessing how mental workload of a P300-based BCI affects participants" reported sense of presence in a virtual environment (VE). In the first study, we employ a BCI exploiting the P300 event-related potential (ERP) that allows control of over 200 items in a virtual apartment. In the second study, the BCI is replaced by a gaze-based selection method coupled with wand navigation. In both studies, overall performance is measured and individual presence scores are assessed by means of a short questionnaire. The results suggest that there is no immediate benefit for visualizing events in the VE triggered by the BCI and that no learning about the layout of the virtual space takes place. In order to alleviate this, we propose that future P300-based BCIs in VR are set up so as require users to make some inference about the virtual space so that they become aware of it,which is likely to lead to higher reported presence.

Building Partnerships and Fostering Activities to Promote English Outside the Classroom

Becoming proficient in at least one foreign language is a target for educational authorities throughout Europe. The question is how we can improve our students’ command of English without increasing the workload on teachers and without much funding. In El Prat de Llobregat, a city located in the vicinity of Barcelona, we have addressed that issue by creating a group of teachers, educational advisors and city council administrators, who have been acting in a coordinated way to enhance English language exposure beyond the classroom. Our interest in promoting English stems from our location: our municipality is situated next to an international airport where finding a job is bound to be dependent on English fluency. We aim to show that, through a network of members at school and administrative levels, an array of meaningful and empowering initiatives can be implemented in a city where resources are scarce and cultural backgrounds diverse.

La autoeficacia docente e investigadora del profesorado universitario: relación con su estilo docente e influencia en sus concepciones sobre el nexo docencia-investigación

The aim of this paper was to explore whether self-efficacy as teacher and researcher perceived by university lecturers was related to teaching styles and approaches. Two instruments were administered to 259 teachers at the University of Girona (Spain), who were active researchers and had a teaching workload of 9 ECTS or above. The results showed that self-efficacy as a researcher was the variable which yielded most differences. The higher the self-efficacy of the researcher, the stronger the belief that teaching was guided by research. Certain beliefs about the teaching-research nexus were very different according to the degree of self-efficacy as a researcher, while there were fewer differences in terms of gender and field of study

Circulating progenitor cells during exercise, muscle electro-stimulation and intermittent hypobaric hypoxia in patients with traumatic brain injury. A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Circulating progenitor cells (CPC) treatments may have great potential for the recovery of neurons and brain function. OBJECTIVE: To increase and maintain CPC with a program of exercise, muscle electro-stimulation (ME) and/or intermittent-hypobaric-hypoxia (IHH), and also to study the possible improvement in physical or psychological functioning of participants with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). METHODS: Twenty-one participants. Four groups: exercise and ME group (EEG), cycling group (CyG), IHH and ME group (HEG) and control group (CG). Psychological and physical stress tests were carried out. CPC were measured in blood several times during the protocol. RESULTS: Psychological tests did not change. In the physical stress tests the VO2 uptake increased in the EEG and the CyG, and the maximal tolerated workload increased in the HEG. CPC levels increased in the last three weeks in EEG, but not in CyG, CG and HEG. CONCLUSIONS: CPC levels increased in the last three weeks of the EEG program, but not in the other groups and we did not detect performed psychological test changes in any group. The detected aerobic capacity or workload improvement must be beneficial for the patients who have suffered TBI, but exercise type and the mechanisms involved are not clear.

Ergonomics and musculoskeletal pain among postgraduate students and faculty members of the School of Dentistry of the University of Barcelona (Spain). A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To evaluate the intensity and location of musculoskeletal pain suffered by students and professors from different postgraduate programs of the School of Dentistry of the University of Barcelona (Spain), to identify the variables related to the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms and signs, and to establish possible preventive measures for such disorders. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was made among students and faculty members from different postgraduate courses of the School of Dentistry at the University of Barcelona between May and June 2007. A total of 74 dentists (54 postgraduate students and 20 faculty members) completed an anonymous questionnaire containing 19 questions. The variables were divided into three main groups: sociodemographic information, ergonomic features and musculoskeletal pain arising from professional practice. Results: Most of the dentists (79.8%) had experienced some kind of musculoskeletal pain in the last 6 months. On comparing the different locations of pain (lumbar, cervical, dorsal, wrist, shoulder and others), the neck was found to be the most commonly affected location (58% of all subjects), and only 34% of the respondents took some preventive measures against musculoskeletal disorders. Women showed a higher frequency of intense pain involving the cervical, lumbar, dorsal and wrist areas (p<0.05). A higher incidence of wrist pain was recorded in professionals exclusively dedicated to oral surgery (p<0.05). No statistically significant correlation was found between the workload (hours) and pain in the different anatomical locations (p>0.05). Conclusions: An important incidence of pain symptoms secondary to musculoskeletal disorders was observed, particularly in the cervical region. Females and younger dentists showed a higher frequency of such symptoms. The implementation of preventive measures is necessary, in view of the high incidence of these disorders

La desigualdad en el consumo familiar. Diferencias de género en la España contemporánea (1850-1930)

In the last few years, Economic Theory has revised two basic ideas around the economics of the household: that family income is the result of the individual income of each of its members (income pooling), and that all family members living in the household have equal access to its resources. Unequal access to family resources (among women and men, on the one hand, and among the elderly, adults and children, on the other), is now understood as an input (for instance, that women eat less food and of worst quality than men), and as an output (for instance that women have poorer health, higher epidemic mortality, or are less tall than men as a result, among other things, of having received less food and poorer medical care, and/or of a heavier workload). Despite the fact that inequality in intra‐family consumption has become the center of attention in academic and international agencies, it can still not be found in the agenda of Economic History. In this paper we look at some of the resources consumed by Spanish families in the 19th century: food, alcoholic beverages, clothes and shoes. Medical topographies, our main source, suggest that unequal access to family resources among household members had a strong impact on their health and wellbeing.