Una aproximación a los entornos 1x1,«Un Ordenador Por Niño», desde las experiencias y las percepciones de los estudiantes de Educación Secundaria en el marco de la Sociedad Informacional

El presente trabajo emerge de la ejecución en Catalunya del proyecto"Las políticas de un «un laptop por niño» en España. Visiones y prácticas del profesorado en el Escuela 2.0 programa. Un análisis comparado entre comunidades autónomas, EDU2010-17037". Financiado en el marco del Plan Nacional I+D+i del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Se trata del primer estudio realizado en España que busca explorar los efectos e impactos que ha tenido la entrada masiva de las tecnologías en las aulas y escuelas del país, hecho impulsado en la actualidad por programa como el Escuela 2.0. Si bien la investigación se focaliza en la práctica y visión del profesorado, durante la ejecución del proyecto hemos podido conocer las vivencias y perspectivas de otros actores involucrados en la ejecución de este programa, entre ellos las del propio estudiantado. Con el fin de desarrollar esta dimensión, hemos centrado este artículo en desarrollar la siguiente pregunta. En el marco de los entornos 1x1, ¿Cual es la visión de los estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) ante la utilización de un ordenador en el aula, en el proceso de enseñanza /aprendizaje?

Patients, médecins et internet [Patients, doctors and the internet].

The majority of the Swiss population uses the internet to seek information about health. The objective is to be better informed, before or after the consultation. Doctors can advise their information-seeking patients about high quality websites, be it medical portals or websites dedicated to a specific pathology. Doctors should not see the internet as a threat but rather as an opportunity to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship.

On-line life history calendar and sensitive topics : A pilot study

The use of the life history calendar (LHC) or the event history calendar as tools for collecting retrospective data has received increasing attention in many fields of social science and medicine. However, little research has examined the use of this method with web-based surveys. In this study, we adapted this method to an on-line setting to collect information about young adults' life histories, sexual behaviors, and substance use. We hypothesized that the LHC method would help respondents to date sensitive and non-sensitive events more precisely than when using a conventional questionnaire. We conducted an experimental design study comparing university students' responses to an on-line LHC and a conventional on-line question list. A test-retest design in which the respondents completed the survey again two weeks later was also applied to test the precision and reliability of the participants' dating of events. The results showed that whereas the numbers of sensitive and non-sensitive events were generally similar for the two on-line questionnaires, the responses obtained with the LHC were more consistent across the two administrations. Analyses of the respondents' on-line behavior while completing the LHC confirmed that respondents used the LHC's graphic interface to correct and reedit previous answers, thus decreasing data errors. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning 2.0 : concepts and experiences

E-learning arises in all educative contexts and levels with the use of information and communication technologies and massive access to internet connected computers. On the other hand, the fast development of social networking tools and web 2.0 technologies are producing an evolution of e-learning towards what is called a learning 2.0 paradigm. In this short paper weshall present the main technologies and pedagogical issues related to that new way of learning and how we can use them to improve the acquisition of competences and new knowledge.

An architecture for decentralized service deployment

Peer-reviewed

Photoelectric Measurements and Modeling of Bacteriorhodopsin

Recent technology has provided us with new information about the internal structures and properties of biomolecules. This has lead to the design of applications based on underlying biological processes. Applications proposed for biomolecules are, for example, the future computers and different types of sensors. One potential biomolecule to be incorporated in the applications is bacteriorhodopsin. Bacteriorhodopsin is a light-sensitive biomolecule, which works in a similar way as the light sensitive cells of the human eye. Bacteriorhodopsin reacts to light by undergoing a complicated series of chemical and thermal transitions. During these transitions, a proton translocation occurs inside the molecule. It is possible to measure the photovoltage caused by the proton translocations when a vast number of molecules is immobilized in a thin film. Also the changes in the light absorption of the film can be measured. This work aimed to develop the electronics needed for the voltage measurements of the bacteriorhodopsin-based optoelectronic sensors. The development of the electronics aimed to get more accurate information about the structure and functionality of these sensors. The sensors used in this work contain a thick film of bacteriorhodopsin immobilized in polyvinylalcohol. This film is placed between two transparent electrodes. The result of this work is an instrumentation amplifier which can be placed in a small space very close to the sensor. By using this amplifier, the original photovoltage can be measured in more detail. The response measured using this amplifier revealed two different components, which could not be distinguished earlier. Another result of this work is the model for the photoelectric response in dry polymer films.

Defining a framework model to determine total costs of managed desktops using ITIL best practices

In modern day organizations there are an increasing number of IT devices such as computers, mobile phones and printers. These devices can be located and maintained by using specialized IT management applications. Costs related to a single device accumulate from various sources and are normally categorized as direct costs like hardware costs and indirect costs such as labor costs. These costs can be saved in a configuration management database and presented to users using web based development tools such as ASP.NET. The overall costs of IT devices during their lifecycle can be ten times higher than the actual purchase price of the product and ability to define and reduce these costs can save organizations noticeable amount of money. This Master’s Thesis introduces the research field of IT management and defines a custom framework model based on Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices which is designed to be implemented as part of an existing IT management application for defining and presenting IT costs.

Older consumers adopting information and communication technology: Evaluating opportunities for health care applications

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyse older consumers' adoption of information and communication technology innovations, assess the effect of aging related characteristic, and evaluate older consumers' willingness to apply these technologies in health care services. This topic is considered important, because the population in Finland (as in other welfare states) is aging and thus offers a possibility for marketers, but on the other hand threatens society with increasing costs for healthcare. Innovation adoption has been under research from several aspects in both organizational and consumer research. In the consumer behaviour, several theories have been developed to predict consumer responses to innovation. The present dissertation carefully reviews previous research and takes a closer look at the theory of planned behaviour, technology acceptance model and diffusion of innovations perspective. It is here suggested that there is a possibility that these theories can be combined and complemented to predict the adoption of ICT innovations among aging consumers, taking the aging related personal characteristics into account. In fact, there are very few studies that have concentrated on aging consumers in the innovation research, and thus there was a clear indent for the present research. ICT in the health care context has been studied mainly from the organizational point of view. If the technology is thus applied for the communication between the individual end-user and service provider, the end-user cannot be shrugged off. The present dissertation uses empirical evidence from a survey targeted to 55-79 year old people from one city in Southern-Carelia. The empirical analysis of the research model was mainly based on structural equation modelling that has been found very useful on estimating causal relationships. The tested models were targeted to predict the adoption stage of personal computers and mobile phones, and the adoption intention of future health services that apply these devices for communication. The present dissertation succeeded in modelling the adoption behaviour of mobile phones and PCs as well as adoption intentions of future services. Perceived health status and three components behind it (depression, functional ability, and cognitive ability) were found to influence perception of technology anxiety. Better health leads to less anxiety. The effect of age was assessed as a control variable, in order to evaluate its effect compared to health characteristics. Age influenced technology perceptions, but to lesser extent compared to health. The analyses suggest that the major determinant for current technology adoption is perceived behavioural control, and additionally technology anxiety that indirectly inhibit adoption through perceived control. When focusing on future service intentions, the key issue is perceived usefulness that needs to be highlighted when new services are launched. Besides usefulness, the perception of online service reliability is important and affects the intentions indirectly. To conclude older consumers' adoption behaviour is influenced by health status and age, but also by the perceptions of anxiety and behavioural control. On the other hand, launching new types of health services for aging consumers is possible after the service is perceived reliable and useful.

CFD simulation of complex phenomena containing suspensions and flow throughporous media

There is an increasing reliance on computers to solve complex engineering problems. This is because computers, in addition to supporting the development and implementation of adequate and clear models, can especially minimize the financial support required. The ability of computers to perform complex calculations at high speed has enabled the creation of highly complex systems to model real-world phenomena. The complexity of the fluid dynamics problem makes it difficult or impossible to solve equations of an object in a flow exactly. Approximate solutions can be obtained by construction and measurement of prototypes placed in a flow, or by use of a numerical simulation. Since usage of prototypes can be prohibitively time-consuming and expensive, many have turned to simulations to provide insight during the engineering process. In this case the simulation setup and parameters can be altered much more easily than one could with a real-world experiment. The objective of this research work is to develop numerical models for different suspensions (fiber suspensions, blood flow through microvessels and branching geometries, and magnetic fluids), and also fluid flow through porous media. The models will have merit as a scientific tool and will also have practical application in industries. Most of the numerical simulations were done by the commercial software, Fluent, and user defined functions were added to apply a multiscale method and magnetic field. The results from simulation of fiber suspension can elucidate the physics behind the break up of a fiber floc, opening the possibility for developing a meaningful numerical model of the fiber flow. The simulation of blood movement from an arteriole through a venule via a capillary showed that the model based on VOF can successfully predict the deformation and flow of RBCs in an arteriole. Furthermore, the result corresponds to the experimental observation illustrates that the RBC is deformed during the movement. The concluding remarks presented, provide a correct methodology and a mathematical and numerical framework for the simulation of blood flows in branching. Analysis of ferrofluids simulations indicate that the magnetic Soret effect can be even higher than the conventional one and its strength depends on the strength of magnetic field, confirmed experimentally by Völker and Odenbach. It was also shown that when a magnetic field is perpendicular to the temperature gradient, there will be additional increase in the heat transfer compared to the cases where the magnetic field is parallel to the temperature gradient. In addition, the statistical evaluation (Taguchi technique) on magnetic fluids showed that the temperature and initial concentration of the magnetic phase exert the maximum and minimum contribution to the thermodiffusion, respectively. In the simulation of flow through porous media, dimensionless pressure drop was studied at different Reynolds numbers, based on pore permeability and interstitial fluid velocity. The obtained results agreed well with the correlation of Macdonald et al. (1979) for the range of actual flow Reynolds studied. Furthermore, calculated results for the dispersion coefficients in the cylinder geometry were found to be in agreement with those of Seymour and Callaghan.

Computação em química teórica: informações técnicas

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the usefulness of low cost high performance computers. It is presented technics and software packages used by computational chemists. Access to high-performance computing power remains crucial for many computational quantum chemistry. So, this work introduces the concept of PC cluster, an economical computing plataform.

Técnicas para análise de desempenho de computadores

A series of open source benchmarks for computer performance analysis of personal computers with a focus on computational chemistry calculations is presented. The results returned by these tests are discussed and used to correlate with the actual performance of a set of computers available for research on two computing intensive fields of chemistry, quantum chemical and molecular simulation calculations.

Aspectos técnicos envolvidos na construção de um "cluster beowulf"

Beowulf cluster is perhaps the cheapest way to construct a high performance computers. The strategy of reaching a high power computing isn't so difficult, but buying and configurating should be done carefully. Technical aspects of hardware components and message-passing libraries are considered, with some results given as examples.

O ensino de química quântica e o computador na perspectiva de projetos

This paper aims to discuss and reflect about the use of computers in the teaching of Quantum Chemistry. A course on Computational Quantum Chemistry concentrating on Medicinal Chemistry projects was developed for undergraduate and graduate students. The results showed that students got more motivated and involved when there is an articulation between theory and practice. This work presents an alternative way to teach Theoretical Chemistry using projects.

Integration of Real-Time Simulator, Motion Platform and Haptics

This thesis describes the process of the integration of a real-time simulator environment with a motion platform and a haptic device as a part of the Kvalive project. Several programs running on two computers were made to control the different devices of the environment. User tests were made to obtain information of needed improvements to make the simulator more realistic. Also new ideas for improving the simulator and directions of further research were obtained with the help of this research.

FEMA’s Capability Development After Katrina

After Action Reports for Hurricane Isaac & Sandy concluded that WebEOC was correct choice for FEMA’s Crisis Management System: real time data easily shared between FEMA Headquarters, Regions and Incident Management Assistance Teams; cloud capability allowed use on any web connected device, laptop, tablet, iPad, smart phone; intuitive System - Offgoing personnel able to train incoming reliefs on new features or changes within minutes; widespread use of WebEOC through out country in 19 other Federal Departments and Agencies, 40 States, hundreds of cities/counties and industry provided a number of users that had prior experience using WebEOC and reduced learning curve experienced when new systems are introduced; focusing on a single shared web database reduced creation of new single purpose databases, spreadsheets and share point sites allowing best practices to be captured, refined, shared and continued