Improving Information Problem Solving skills in Secondary Education through embedded instruction

This empirical study consists in an investigation of the effects, on the development of Information Problem Solving (IPS) skills, of a long-term embedded, structured and supported instruction in Secondary Education. Forty secondary students of 7th and 8th grades (13–15 years old) participated in the 2-year IPS instruction designed in this study. Twenty of them participated in the IPS instruction, and the remaining twenty were the control group. All the students were pre- and post-tested in their regular classrooms, and their IPS process and performance were logged by means of screen capture software, to warrant their ecological validity. The IPS constituent skills, the web search sub-skills and the answers given by each participant were analyzed. The main findings of our study suggested that experimental students showed a more expert pattern than the control students regarding the constituent skill ‘defining the problem’ and the following two web search sub-skills: ‘search terms’ typed in a search engine, and ‘selected results’ from a SERP. In addition, scores of task performance were statistically better in experimental students than in control group students. The paper contributes to the discussion of how well-designed and well-embedded scaffolds could be designed in instructional programs in order to guarantee the development and efficiency of the students’ IPS skills by using net information better and participating fully in the global knowledge society.

The impact of balancing on problem hardness in a highly structured domain

Random problem distributions have played a key role in the study and design of algorithms for constraint satisfaction and Boolean satisfiability, as well as in ourunderstanding of problem hardness, beyond standard worst-case complexity. We consider random problem distributions from a highly structured problem domain that generalizes the Quasigroup Completion problem (QCP) and Quasigroup with Holes (QWH), a widely used domain that captures the structure underlying a range of real-world applications. Our problem domain is also a generalization of the well-known Sudoku puz- zle: we consider Sudoku instances of arbitrary order, with the additional generalization that the block regions can have rectangular shape, in addition to the standard square shape. We evaluate the computational hardness of Generalized Sudoku instances, for different parameter settings. Our experimental hardness results show that we can generate instances that are considerably harder than QCP/QWH instances of the same size. More interestingly, we show the impact of different balancing strategies on problem hardness. We also provide insights into backbone variables in Generalized Sudoku instances and how they correlate to problem hardness.

Alteration and Contamination of Archaeological Ceramics: the Perturbation Problem

Alteration and contamination processes modify the chemical composition of ceramic artefacts. This is not restricted solely to the affected elements, but also affects general concentrations. This is due to the compositional nature of chemical data, enclosed by the restriction of unit sum. Since it is impossible to know prior to data treatment whether the original compositions have been changed by such processes, the methodological approach used in provenance studies must be robust enough to handle materials that might have been altered or contaminated. The ability of the logratio transformation proposed by Aitchison to handle compositional data is studied and compared with that of present data treatments. The logaratio transformation appears to offer the most robust approach

Measurement Problems and Problem-Solving in Kraft Pulping

Tämän työn tarkoituksena on koota yhteen selluprosessin mittausongelmat ja mahdolliset mittaustekniikat ongelmien ratkaisemiseksi. Pääpaino on online-mittaustekniikoissa. Työ koostuu kolmesta osasta. Ensimmäinen osa on kirjallisuustyö, jossa esitellään nykyaikaisen selluprosessin perusmittaukset ja säätötarpeet. Mukana on koko kuitulinja puunkäsittelystä valkaisuun ja kemikaalikierto: haihduttamo, soodakattila, kaustistamo ja meesauuni. Toisessa osassa mittausongelmat ja mahdolliset mittaustekniikat on koottu yhteen ”tiekartaksi”. Tiedot on koottu vierailemalla kolmella suomalaisella sellutehtaalla ja haastattelemalla laitetekniikka- ja mittaustekniikka-asiantuntijoita. Prosessikemian paremmalle ymmärtämiselle näyttää haastattelun perusteella olevan tarvetta, minkä vuoksi konsentraatiomittaukset on valittu jatkotutkimuskohteeksi. Viimeisessä osassa esitellään mahdollisia mittaustekniikoita konsentraatiomittausten ratkaisemiseksi. Valitut tekniikat ovat lähi-infrapunatekniikka (NIR), fourier-muunnosinfrapunatekniikka (FTIR), online-kapillaarielektroforeesi (CE) ja laserindusoitu plasmaemissiospektroskopia (LIPS). Kaikkia tekniikoita voi käyttää online-kytkettyinä prosessikehitystyökaluina. Kehityskustannukset on arvioitu säätöön kytketylle online-laitteelle. Kehityskustannukset vaihtelevat nollasta miestyövuodesta FTIR-tekniikalle viiteen miestyövuoteen CE-laitteelle; kehityskustannukset riippuvat tekniikan kehitysasteesta ja valmiusasteesta tietyn ongelman ratkaisuun. Työn viimeisessä osassa arvioidaan myös yhden mittausongelman – pesuhäviömittauksen – ratkaisemisen teknis-taloudellista kannattavuutta. Ligniinipitoisuus kuvaisi nykyisiä mittauksia paremmin todellista pesuhäviötä. Nykyään mitataan joko natrium- tai COD-pesuhäviötä. Ligniinipitoisuutta voidaan mitata UV-absorptiotekniikalla. Myös CE-laitetta voitaisiin käyttää pesuhäviön mittauksessa ainakin prosessikehitysvaiheessa. Taloudellinen tarkastelu pohjautuu moniin yksinkertaistuksiin ja se ei sovellu suoraan investointipäätösten tueksi. Parempi mittaus- ja säätöjärjestelmä voisi vakauttaa pesemön ajoa. Investointi ajoa vakauttavaan järjestelmään on kannattavaa, jos todellinen ajotilanne on tarpeeksi kaukana kustannusminimistä tai jos pesurin ajo heilahtelee eli pesuhäviön keskihajonta on suuri. 50 000 € maksavalle mittaus- ja säätöjärjestelmälle saadaan alle 0,5 vuoden takaisinmaksuaika epävakaassa ajossa, jos COD-pesuhäviön vaihteluväli on 5,2 – 11,6 kg/odt asetusarvon ollessa 8,4 kg/odt. Laimennuskerroin vaihtelee tällöin välillä 1,7 – 3,6 m3/odt asetusarvon ollessa 2,5 m3/odt.

Feature Selection, Ranking of Each Feature and Classification for the Diagnosis of Community Acquired Legionella Pneumonia

Diagnosis of community acquired legionella pneumonia (CALP) is currently performed by means of laboratory techniques which may delay diagnosis several hours. To determine whether ANN can categorize CALP and non-legionella community-acquired pneumonia (NLCAP) and be standard for use by clinicians, we prospectively studied 203 patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) diagnosed by laboratory tests. Twenty one clinical and analytical variables were recorded to train a neural net with two classes (LCAP or NLCAP class). In this paper we deal with the problem of diagnosis, feature selection, and ranking of the features as a function of their classification importance, and the design of a classifier the criteria of maximizing the ROC (Receiving operating characteristics) area, which gives a good trade-off between true positives and false negatives. In order to guarantee the validity of the statistics; the train-validation-test databases were rotated by the jackknife technique, and a multistarting procedure was done in order to make the system insensitive to local maxima.

Clinico-Pathological discrepancies in the Diagnosis of Causes of Maternal Death in Sub-Saharan Africa: Retrospective Analysis

Background Maternal mortality is a major public-health problem in developing countries. Extreme differences in maternal mortality rates between developed and developing countries indicate that most of these deaths are preventable. Most information on the causes of maternal death in these areas is based on clinical records and verbal autopsies. Clinical diagnostic errors may play a significant role in this problem and might also have major implications for the evaluation of current estimations of causes of maternal death. Methods and Findings A retrospective analysis of clinico-pathologic correlation was carried out, using necropsy as the gold standard for diagnosis. All maternal autopsies (n ¼ 139) during the period from October 2002 to December 2004 at the Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique were included and major diagnostic discrepancies were analyzed (i.e., those involving the cause of death). Major diagnostic errors were detected in 56 (40.3%) maternal deaths. A high rate of false negative diagnoses was observed for infectious diseases, which showed sensitivities under 50%: HIV/AIDS-related conditions (33.3%), pyogenic bronchopneumonia (35.3%), pyogenic meningitis (40.0%), and puerperal septicemia (50.0%). Eclampsia, was the main source of false positive diagnoses, showing a low predictive positive value (42.9%). Conclusions Clinico-pathological discrepancies may have a significant impact on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and question the validity of reports based on clinical data or verbal autopsies. Increasing clinical awareness of the impact of obstetric and nonobstetric infections with their inclusion in the differential diagnosis, together with a thorough evaluation of cases clinically thought to be eclampsia, could have a significant impact on the reduction of maternal mortality.

False normal Lung Clearance Index in infants with cystic fibrosis due to software algorithms.

BACKGROUND: Lung clearance index (LCI), a marker of ventilation inhomogeneity, is elevated early in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). However, in infants with CF, LCI values are found to be normal, although structural lung abnormalities are often detectable. We hypothesized that this discrepancy is due to inadequate algorithms of the available software package. AIM: Our aim was to challenge the validity of these software algorithms. METHODS: We compared multiple breath washout (MBW) results of current software algorithms (automatic modus) to refined algorithms (manual modus) in 17 asymptomatic infants with CF, and 24 matched healthy term-born infants. The main difference between these two analysis methods lies in the calculation of the molar mass differences that the system uses to define the completion of the measurement. RESULTS: In infants with CF the refined manual modus revealed clearly elevated LCI above 9 in 8 out of 35 measurements (23%), all showing LCI values below 8.3 using the automatic modus (paired t-test comparing the means, P < 0.001). Healthy infants showed normal LCI values using both analysis methods (n = 47, paired t-test, P = 0.79). The most relevant reason for false normal LCI values in infants with CF using the automatic modus was the incorrect recognition of the end-of-test too early during the washout. CONCLUSION: We recommend the use of the manual modus for the analysis of MBW outcomes in infants in order to obtain more accurate results. This will allow appropriate use of infant lung function results for clinical and scientific purposes. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015; 50:970-977. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinico-Pathological discrepancies in the Diagnosis of Causes of Maternal Death in Sub-Saharan Africa: Retrospective Analysis

Background Maternal mortality is a major public-health problem in developing countries. Extreme differences in maternal mortality rates between developed and developing countries indicate that most of these deaths are preventable. Most information on the causes of maternal death in these areas is based on clinical records and verbal autopsies. Clinical diagnostic errors may play a significant role in this problem and might also have major implications for the evaluation of current estimations of causes of maternal death. Methods and Findings A retrospective analysis of clinico-pathologic correlation was carried out, using necropsy as the gold standard for diagnosis. All maternal autopsies (n ¼ 139) during the period from October 2002 to December 2004 at the Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique were included and major diagnostic discrepancies were analyzed (i.e., those involving the cause of death). Major diagnostic errors were detected in 56 (40.3%) maternal deaths. A high rate of false negative diagnoses was observed for infectious diseases, which showed sensitivities under 50%: HIV/AIDS-related conditions (33.3%), pyogenic bronchopneumonia (35.3%), pyogenic meningitis (40.0%), and puerperal septicemia (50.0%). Eclampsia, was the main source of false positive diagnoses, showing a low predictive positive value (42.9%). Conclusions Clinico-pathological discrepancies may have a significant impact on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and question the validity of reports based on clinical data or verbal autopsies. Increasing clinical awareness of the impact of obstetric and nonobstetric infections with their inclusion in the differential diagnosis, together with a thorough evaluation of cases clinically thought to be eclampsia, could have a significant impact on the reduction of maternal mortality.

Net Neutrality: Measuring the Problem, Assessing the Legal Risks

Network neutrality is a growing policy controversy. Traffic management techniques affect not only high-speed, high-money content, but by extension all other content too. Internet regulators and users may tolerate much more discrimination in the interests of innovation. For instance, in the absence of regulatory oversight, ISPs could use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to block some content altogether, if they decide it is not to the benefit of ISPs, copyright holders, parents or the government. ISP blocking is currently widespread in controlling spam email, and in some countries in blocking sexually graphic illegal images. In 1999 this led to scrutiny of foreclosure of Instant Messaging and video and cable-telephony horizontal merger. Fourteen years later, there were in 2013 net neutrality laws implemented in Slovenia, the Netherlands, Chile and Finland, regulation in the United States and Canada , co-regulation in Norway, and self-regulation in Japan, the United Kingdom and many other European countries . Both Germany and France in mid-2013 debated new net neutrality legislation, and the European Commission announced on 11 September 2013 that it would aim to introduce legislation in early 2014. This paper analyses these legal developments, and in particular the difficulty in assessing reasonable traffic management and ‘specialized’ (i.e. unregulated) faster services in both EU and US law. It also assesses net neutrality law against the international legal norms for user privacy and freedom of expression