Chatbots and messaging platforms in the classroom: An analysis from the teacher's perspective.

Messaging platforms are applications, generally mediated by an app, desktop program or the web, mainly used for synchronous communication among users. As such, they have been widely adopted officially by higher education establishments, after little or no study of their impact and perception by the teachers. We think that the introduction of these new tools and the opportunities and challenges they have needs to be studied carefully in order to adopt the model, as well as the tool, that is the most adequate for all parties involved. We already studied the perception of these tools by students, in this paper we examine the teachers' experiences and perceptions through a survey that we validated with peers, and what they think these tools should make or serve so that it enhances students learning and helps them achieve their learning objectives. The survey has been distributed among tertiary education teachers, both in universitary and other kind of tertiary establishments, based in Spain (mainly) and Spanish-speaking countries. We have focused on collecting teachers' preferences and opinions on the introduction of messaging platforms in their day-to-day work, as well as other services attached to them, such as chatbots. What we intend with this survey is to understand their needs and to gather information about the various educational use cases where these tools could be valuable. In addition, an analysis of how and when teachers' opinions towards the use of these tools varies across gender, experience, and their discipline of specialization is presented. The key findings of this study highlight the factors that can contribute to the advancement of the adoption of messaging platforms and chatbots in higher education institutions to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Non-small-cell lung cancer classification via RNA-Seq and histology imaging probability fusion.

BACKGROUND: Adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two most prevalent lung cancer types, and their distinction requires different screenings, such as the visual inspection of histology slides by an expert pathologist, the analysis of gene expression or computer tomography scans, among others. In recent years, there has been an increasing gathering of biological data for decision support systems in the diagnosis (e.g. histology imaging, next-generation sequencing technologies data, clinical information, etc.). Using all these sources to design integrative classification approaches may improve the final diagnosis of a patient, in the same way that doctors can use multiple types of screenings to reach a final decision on the diagnosis. In this work, we present a late fusion classification model using histology and RNA-Seq data for adenocarcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma and healthy lung tissue. RESULTS: The classification model improves results over using each source of information separately, being able to reduce the diagnosis error rate up to a 64% over the isolate histology classifier and a 24% over the isolate gene expression classifier, reaching a mean F1-Score of 95.19% and a mean AUC of 0.991. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a classification model using a late fusion methodology can considerably help clinicians in the diagnosis between the aforementioned lung cancer cancer subtypes over using each source of information separately. This approach can also be applied to any cancer type or disease with heterogeneous sources of information.

The osteotomy diameter in the transcanalicular laser dacryocystorhinostomy. Our experience in 192 lacrimal pathways.

OBJECTIVES: We want to evaluate the influence of the size of the osteotomy on the postsurgical outcomes. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in patients who underwent TCL-DCR from January 1, 2008, to March 1, 2019. The patients were divided into two groups: the patients in one group were subjected to LP surgery with an osteotomy diameter equal to 9 mm ± 1 mm (group A), and the patients in the other group were subjected to surgery with an osteotomy diameter equal to 14 mm ± 1 mm (group B). RESULTS: A total of 159 lacrimal pathways (LPs) were operated on in group A with a success rate (SR) of 66.6%. Thirty-three LPs were operated on in group B with an SR of 81.8%. CONCLUSION: An osteotomy diameter equal to 14 mm ± 1 mm achieved better postoperative results than an osteotomy diameter equal to 9 mm ± 1 mm.

A Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques for Muon Count in UHECR Extensive Air-Showers.

The main goal of this work is to adapt a Physics problem to the Machine Learning (ML) domain and to compare several techniques to solve it. The problem consists of how to perform muon count from the signal registered by particle detectors which record a mix of electromagnetic and muonic signals. Finding a good solution could be a building block on future experiments. After proposing an approach to solve the problem, the experiments show a performance comparison of some popular ML models using two different hadronic models for the test data. The results show that the problem is suitable to be solved using ML as well as how critical the feature selection stage is regarding precision and model complexity.

Composition Classification of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays.

The study of cosmic rays remains as one of the most challenging research fields in Physics. From the many questions still open in this area, knowledge of the type of primary for each event remains as one of the most important issues. All of the cosmic rays observatories have been trying to solve this question for at least six decades, but have not yet succeeded. The main obstacle is the impossibility of directly detecting high energy primary events, being necessary to use Monte Carlo models and simulations to characterize generated particles cascades. This work presents the results attained using a simulated dataset that was provided by the Monte Carlo code CORSIKA, which is a simulator of high energy particles interactions with the atmosphere, resulting in a cascade of secondary particles extending for a few kilometers (in diameter) at ground level. Using this simulated data, a set of machine learning classifiers have been designed and trained, and their computational cost and effectiveness compared, when classifying the type of primary under ideal measuring conditions. Additionally, a feature selection algorithm has allowed for identifying the relevance of the considered features. The results confirm the importance of the electromagnetic-muonic component separation from signal data measured for the problem. The obtained results are quite encouraging and open new work lines for future more restrictive simulations.

Involvement and Autonomy of Minors in Medical Settings: Perceptions of Children Undergoing Surgery and Parents.

Informed consent presupposes competence and represents a formal decision by an informed person who has the legal capacity to accept medical action or participate in research. Our aim was to analyze the perceptions of minors and their parents about the age at which they consider that a minor is competent for making health decisions. A descriptive observational study was carried out in 302 minors between 12 and 17 years of age undergoing elective surgery, and 302 parents (range 30 to 62 years). Two semistructured questionnaires were designed, one for the minors and the other, for the parents. A total of 20.1% of minors and 31.1% of parents believe that patients should not make decisions related to their health until they are 18 years old. A total of 74.9% of the minors surveyed consider that from 16 years of age, the minor is empowered to make decisions. In parents, this percentage is 60%. In the pediatric setting, each case and situation must be examined individually to determine if the minor meets the condition of maturity to decide. The ideal is to promote the minor's participation in decision-making, giving them the opportunity to participate in the process in a manner appropriate to their capacity.

Modified alar batten grafts for treatment in nasal valve dysfunction: Our experience.

OBJECTIVE: Alar batten grafts are used to treat in nasal valve dysfunction (NVD). They can be placed by open or closed rhinoplasty using rib, septal, or auricular concha cartilage. Our surgical team used a modified placement of the classic alar batten.We aim to describe these changes and to the technique and demonstrate that modified alar batten grafts can improve the effects of spreader grafts and classic alar batten grafts. METHODS: A retrospective study of 91 functional rhinoplasties was performed from March 2011 to November 2019 at a public university hospital in Murcia. The patients were divided into three groups. Group A included patients operated on using spreader grafts, group B included patients operated on using spreader grafts associated with alar batten grafts fixed to the caudal edge of the lateral crura of the lower lateral cartilage (LLC), and group C included patients operated on using modified alar batten grafts. RESULTS: A total of 91 functional rhinoplasties were performed, 31 patients were operated on in group A, 27 patients were operated on in group B, and 33 patients were operated on in group C. The success rate was 67.7% in group A, 70.4% in group B and 93.9% in group C. CONCLUSION: Modified alar batten grafts achieved better results than spreader grafts and spreader grafts associated with classic alar batten grafts. The size, position and placement of the sutures of modified alar batten grafts were the key factors in improving our results.

Preparation of Samples for Characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are an important element of the plant microbiome as they establish an endosymbiotic relationship with the roots of most plant species. This association enhances access to nutrients and water for plants, and provides the fungus with plant-derived organic carbon. In this chapter, I describe a range of methods to work with AMF including: soil sampling; isolation of AMF propagules (spores, sporocarps, roots, and mycelium) by a wet sieving and centrifugation in a sucrose solution; trap (from field soil with AMF spores) and one-species pot cultures (from AMF spores divided into morphotypes); staining of mycorrhizae in plant roots; and production of diagnostic slides. These methods are widely used in taxonomic and ecological studies to characterize the morphology of AMF.

Prediction of color change after tooth bleaching using fuzzy logic for Vita Classical shades identification.

Tooth bleaching is becoming increasingly popular among patients and dentists since it is a relatively noninvasive approach for whitening and lightening teeth. Instruments and visual assessment with respect to commercial shade guides are currently used to evaluate tooth color. However, the association between these procedures is imprecise and the degree of color change after tooth bleaching is known to vary substantially between studies; there are currently no objective guidelines to predict the effectiveness of a tooth-bleaching treatment. We propose a new methodology based on fuzzy logic as a natural means of representing the imprecision present when modeling the color change produced by a tooth-bleaching treatment on the basis of a tooth's initial chromatic values. This system has the advantage of producing a set of interpretable fuzzy rules that can subsequently be used by scientists and dental practitioners. The fuzzy system obtained has the special characteristic whereby the rule antecedents correspond to prebleaching shades of the well-known Vita commercial shade guide. Additionally, the rule consequents directly correspond with the expected CIELAB postbleaching values for each Vita shade, thanks to a modification of the system's inference structure. Finally, the values of these postbleaching CIELAB coordinates have been associated with Vita shades by evaluating their respective membership functions, thereby approximating which posttreatment Vita shades are to be expected for each prebleaching shade.

Glomus ibericum, Septoglomus mediterraneum, and Funneliformis pilosus, three new species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Three new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species-Glomus ibericum, Septoglomus mediterraneum, and Funneliformis pilosus-are described and illustrated. In the field, the three species were associated with roots of Ammophila arenaria (Poaceae), Elymus farctus (Poaceae), Otanthus maritimus (Asteraceae), and Echinophora spinosa (Apiaceae) colonizing maritime dunes located along the Mediterranean coast in eastern Spain. The novelty of these species is supported by morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic analyses. Single-species cultures of S. mediterraneum and F. pilosus were obtained using Trifolium repens as a host plant, both forming arbuscular mycorrhizae, whereas single-species cultures from G. ibericum could not be obtained. Spores of G. ibericum usually occur in sporocarps, rarely singly in soil or inside roots. In contrast, S. mediterraneum only forms single spores in soil and F. pilosus occurs in sporocarps and singly in soil or inside roots. The respective small subunit, internal transcribed spacer, and large subunit (SSU-ITS1-5.8S-ITS2-LSU) nrDNA sequences placed the new species in the genera Glomus, Septoglomus, and Funneliformis, all of them separated from previously described species.

Ethanol consumption impairs regulation of fatty acid metabolism by decreasing the activity of AMP-activated protein kinase in rat liver.

The mechanisms by which ethanol consumption causes accumulation of hepatic triacylglycerols are complex. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a central role in the regulation of lipid metabolism. Therefore, in the present study we investigated whether AMPK may have a role in the development of ethanol-induced fatty liver. Hepatocytes isolated from rats fed with an ethanol-containing liquid diet showed higher rates of fatty acid and triacylglycerol syntheses, but a decreased rate of fatty acid oxidation, concomitant to a lower activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I. Hepatocytes from both ethanol-fed and pair-fed control rats were incubated with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleoside (AICAR), an AMPK activator in intact cells. In both hepatocyte preparations AICAR strongly inhibited the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in parallel to fatty acid synthesis, but cells from ethanol-fed rats showed significantly lower sensitivity to inhibition by AICAR. Moreover, AICAR strongly decreased triacylglycerol synthesis and increased fatty acid oxidation in control hepatocytes, but these effects were markedly attenuated in hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats. In parallel, AMPK in liver of ethanol-fed rats showed a decreased specific activity and a lower sensitivity to changes in the AMP/ATP ratio, compared to the enzyme of control rats. These effects are consistent with the impairment of AMPK-mediated regulation of fatty acid metabolism after ethanol consumption, that will facilitate triacylglycerol accumulation. Taken together, these findings suggest that a decreased AMPK activity may have an important role in the development of alcoholic fatty liver.

Desensitization of cyclic GMP-mediated regulation of fatty acid metabolism in hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats.

The mechanisms by which ethanol causes accumulation of hepatic triacylglycerols are complex. It has been proposed that nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling pathway may be involved in regulation of fatty acid metabolism in the liver. Here, we investigated if this mechanism may have a role in adaptation to ethanol consumption. Hepatocytes were isolated from rats fed with an ethanol-containing liquid diet and pair-fed control rats, and incubated with a range of concentrations of 8-bromo-cyclic GMP. In both types of cells, this cyclic GMP analog inhibited in parallel fatty acid synthesis de novo and acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity. Addition of 8-bromo-cyclic GMP also decreased the rate of palmitate esterification to triacylglycerols and phospholipids, whereas palmitate oxidation was increased. However, in all these metabolic effects, hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats were significantly less sensitive to the addition of 8-bromo-cyclic GMP. In order to know if this may be a more general mechanism of adaptation to ethanol, we also studied the effects on glucose metabolism. Similarly, hepatocytes from ethanol-fed rats showed a decreased sensitivity in the inhibition by 8-bromo-cyclic GMP of glycogen synthesis, fatty acid synthesis and the synthesis of glycerol backbone of hepatic triacylglycerols. These data suggest that ethanol consumption induces a desensitization of the regulatory effects mediated by cyclic GMP in fatty acid metabolism, contributing to triacylglycerol accumulation in the liver.

Involvement of nitric oxide/cyclic GMP signaling pathway in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism in rat hepatocytes.

The role of nitric oxide (NO)/guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) signaling pathway in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism was investigated in rat hepatocytes. Treatment with NO donors, which are known to activate soluble guanylyl cyclase, inhibited in parallel fatty acid synthesis de novo and acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity. This effect was mimicked by 8-Br-cGMP and abolished by KT5823, a selective inhibitor of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Furthermore, specific and hydrolysis-resistant activators of PKG, and inhibitors of Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum, were also effective in inhibiting both fatty acid-synthesizing activities. These results suggest that this biological action of NO is regulated by a signaling cascade involving soluble guanylyl cyclase, cGMP, and PKG, and may be mediated, at least in part, by inhibition of Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, 8-Br-cGMP was able to stimulate fatty acid oxidation by two different mechanisms: the relieving of malonyl-CoA-dependent inhibition by lowering levels of this product of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and a malonyl-CoA-independent stimulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I. Taken together, results of this study suggest that NO/cGMP signaling pathway is endowed with regulatory properties in fatty acid metabolism, and may have a physiological role in the control of this metabolism in liver.

Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on Go protein in rat brain.

Almost all of the important pathophysiological targets for ethanol in the nervous system appear to be specific membrane proteins involved in signal transduction. In this paper we have examined levels and functionality of the alpha subunit of the Go protein (Goalpha) in cerebral cortex and cerebellum from rats that have chronically ingested ethanol, by using immunoblotting and pertussis toxin-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation experiments. Goalpha protein levels were increased in plasma membranes from the two brain areas, and this increase was shown to specifically affect Go1alpha, one of the two isoforms of the Goalpha subunit. Results obtained here lead us to suggest that increased Go1alpha in plasma membranes would counteract a modified and non-functional protein generated during chronic alcohol treatment.