scholarly journals Dengue, Zika and Chicungunha: The use of a mathematic concept to develop an educational game for helping on fighting important viral diseases

Author(s):  
T. Dutra ◽  
D.P. Costa ◽  
C.F.S. Barboza ◽  
L. Alves ◽  
H.C. Castro

<em>Dengue is the leading cause of viral death worldwide. The vector Aedes aegypti mosquito is also responsible for Zika and Chincungunha transmission, another very compromising viral diseases. As the understanding of the vector life cycle and its habitat is important for preventing and fighting against these diseases, we propose to use a mathematic concept, graphos, and a problem-based situation (the removal of potential breeding sites for mosquitoes in the player city) to design a computational game that may help on spreading information and to stimulate a players proactive virtual and real behavior. Thus this paper describes the design and construction of an educational computer game called "Graphos against mosquitos," based on graphos, a mathematics theoretical concept. We designed the Graphos game using as the main elements: a child, twelve neighborhood blocks, mosquitoes, streets and containers where mosquitoes lay eggs (tires, cans, bottles, plants with water deposits). In the game, the player (Avatar) is the main element that should "walk in" the streets (edges) of the city, removing the potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes in each block (vertices). As this game is based on the mathematics theoretical concept graphos using two dimensions, the city has two distinct vertices that are the beginning and end of it, which discriminate the beginning and end of the game. The player should remove all containers of each street, avoiding mosquitoes growth and passing only one time for each of them. As containers are removed, the player gains points and is prevented to return to the previous street. In this game the removal of all containers that pose risk of becoming mosquito breeding sites, without coming back to the previous street but only forward, is translatable into " graphos language". When finishing the game properly, it opens a final screen where the player is awarded with a medal. On this screen, the player can write his/her name, being invited to act as a "health worker" no longer in virtual form, but in the real life. Through teaching by using computational material ruled by mathematical concepts such as graphos, we hope to stimulate and contribute for fighting and controlling the vector of these serious viral diseases.</em>

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4757
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Bączkiewicz ◽  
Jarosław Wątróbski ◽  
Wojciech Sałabun ◽  
Joanna Kołodziejczyk

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have proven to be a powerful tool for solving a wide variety of real-life problems. The possibility of using them for forecasting phenomena occurring in nature, especially weather indicators, has been widely discussed. However, the various areas of the world differ in terms of their difficulty and ability in preparing accurate weather forecasts. Poland lies in a zone with a moderate transition climate, which is characterized by seasonality and the inflow of many types of air masses from different directions, which, combined with the compound terrain, causes climate variability and makes it difficult to accurately predict the weather. For this reason, it is necessary to adapt the model to the prediction of weather conditions and verify its effectiveness on real data. The principal aim of this study is to present the use of a regressive model based on a unidirectional multilayer neural network, also called a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), to predict selected weather indicators for the city of Szczecin in Poland. The forecast of the model we implemented was effective in determining the daily parameters at 96% compliance with the actual measurements for the prediction of the minimum and maximum temperature for the next day and 83.27% for the prediction of atmospheric pressure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-313
Author(s):  
Roman Bugaev ◽  
Mikhail Piskunov ◽  
Timofey Rakov

Abstract The founding of Akademgorodok near Novosibirsk in the late 1950s features prominently in the historiography of the Thaw and the general turn of Soviet science to the eastern parts of the country. This article puts this story into the context of the formation of modern “green” ideas in the late Soviet Union and reconsiders the relationship between humans and nature, along with the definition of nature itself. Akademgorodok produced a telling visual perspective: the architectural plan for the city dictated that its scientific, industrial, and living zones were drowned deep in the taiga. Architects named this type of urban planning “diffusive,” and memoirists described it as a “Forest City.” Using the term of Sheila Jasanoff, we designate this “Forest City” as a sociotechnical imaginary of Akademgorodok. Our aim is to study the historical roots of the “Forest City” and how it became a collective imaginary. How did it happen that in the 1950s and 1960s, when the “faces” of Soviet cities were defined by districts of standard panel houses, that a city was built near Novosibirsk in which so much attention was given to pre-human flora, fauna, and landscapes? What ideas and intellectual contexts composed the concept of Akademgorodok as a “Forest City”? Our answer possesses two dimensions. First, the rejection of the use of decorative elements in housing construction in the post-Stalin epoch stimulated architects to pay more attention to the greening of cities. They revived the concept of a “garden city” proposed by Ebenezer Howard on a new level. Second, the evolution of the ideas of Mikhail Lavrentyev, the founder of Akademgorodok, who upon arrival in Siberia applied the productivist program manifested in the slogan “Siberia is a treasure of resources,” but later changed his opinion to more “green” views under the influence of the so-called “Baikal Discussion.” The viewpoints of Lavrentyev influenced the design of this “center” of Siberian science, and then he formulated the idea of a “Forest City.” These contexts enable the utopian horizons and the search for models of a constructed future that were typical of the Thaw era to reflect upon the important challenges of the contemporary Anthropocene.


Technology has significantly emerged in various fields, including healthcare, government, and education. In the education field, students of all ages and backgrounds turn to modern technologies for learning instead of traditional methods, especially under challenging courses such as mathematics. However, students face many problems in understanding mathematical concepts and understanding how to benefit from them in real-life. Therefore, it can be challenging to design scientific materials suitable for learning mathematics and clarifying their applications in life that meet the students’ preferences. To solve this issue, we designed and developed an interactive platform based on user experience to learn an advanced concept in the idea of linear algebra called Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and its applicability in image compression. The proposed platform considered the common design principles to map between the provider in terms of clear mathematical explanation and the receiver in terms of matching good user experience. Twenty participants between the ages of 16 and 30 tested the proposed platform. The results showed that learning using it gives better results than learning traditionally in terms of the number of correct and incorrect actions, effectiveness, efficiency, and safety factors. Consequently, we can say that designing an interactive learning platform to explain an advanced mathematical concept and clarify its applications in real-life is preferable by considering and following the common design principles.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emília Carolle Azevedo De Oliveira ◽  
Iris Edna Pereira Da Silva ◽  
Ricardo José Ferreira ◽  
Ricardo José de Paula Souza e Guimarães ◽  
Elainne Christine de Souza Gomes ◽  
...  

This is an analysis of the risk of schistosomiasis transmission in the city of Recife in the Northeast of Brazil based on the number of schistosomiasis cases (Schistosoma mansoni) registered for the period 2007-2017 together with data resulting from active search of breeding sites of the Biomphalaria snail intermediate host. The analyses were performed using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), SaTScan and Map Algebra methodology using human socio-demographic data and biotic and abiotic data from the snail breeding sites. Investigating 44 breeding sites resulted in a total of 3.800 snails, 31.8% of which were positive for S. mansoni DNA. These data were considered in relation to total of 652 schistosomiasis cases. The KDE showed two high-risk and two medium-risk clusters, while three significant clusters were identified by SaTScan. Combining these data with the Map Algebra methodology showed that all high-risk neighbourhoods had breeding sites with snails positive for S. mansoni. It was concluded that schistosomiasis transmission cannot be controlled without basic sanitation and sewage management in the presence of Biomphalaria snails. The technique of Map Algebra was found to be fundamental for the analysis and demonstration of areas with a high probability of schistosomiasis transmission.


Author(s):  
S.P. Wilson ◽  
M.C. Bartholomew-Biggs ◽  
S.C. Parkhurst

This chapter describes the formulation and solution of a multi-aircraft routing problem which is posed as a global optimization calculation. The chapter extends previous work (involving a single aircraft using two dimensions) which established that the algorithm DIRECT is a suitable solution technique. The present work considers a number of ways of dealing with multiple routes using different problem decompositions. A further enhancement is the introduction of altitude to the problems so that full threedimensional routes can be produced. Illustrative numerical results are presented involving up to three aircraft and including examples which feature routes over real-life terrain data.


Author(s):  
Vadim Olegovich Voronin ◽  
Anna Aleksandrovna Grebennikova ◽  
Vladimir Vladimirovich Maslyakov

This article examines the scenario of game simulation &ldquo;The City Started by You&rdquo;. The game represents an information platform built on the basis of online game, where the players select a city they would like live in and the services they would like to use. The players are also given the opportunity to discuss and make management decisions regarding the development of their city. The game touches upon such questions as solidarity in society, meaning of paying taxes, value of local democracy, proactive budgeting, and implementation of direct online democracy. The game is aimed at the development of the skills for classification of the topical issues and separate delegated authority, liaising between the authorities and officials of the city&rsquo;s self-governance and the residents, as well as engagement of city residents in urban management. The computer game not only calculates the consequences of the made by the student management decisions, but also takes into account the factors of the internal and external environment. It is noted that this game can be used as educational in schools and universities, as well as for increasing information transparency between the executive branches and municipal officials. The latter would require conducing educational online games within the framework of group classes with the municipal officials. The use of remote technologies built on the basis of game simulation &ldquo;The City Started by You&rdquo; allows to consider and analyze alternate solutions of topical issues, work out spatial development strategies, and form project thinking. Game simulator Constant improvements in the area of ensuring transparency of the local self-governance is essential for increasing public confidence in the local authorities, effective solution of topical issues, and successful conduct of the reforms.


1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Harary ◽  
J Rockey

In 1965 Christopher Alexander took the original step of analysing the city in graph theoretical terms and concluded that its historical or natural form is a semilattice and that urban planners of the future should adhere to this model. The idea was well received in architectural circles and has passed without serious challenge. In this paper, the value of such analysis is once again emphasized, although some of Alexander's arguments and his conclusions are refuted. Beginning with an exposition of the relationship between the graph theoretical concept of a tree, and the representation of a tree by a family of sets, we present a mathematical definition of a semilattice and discuss the ‘points’ and ‘lines’ of a graph in terms of a city, concluding that it is neither a tree nor a semilattice. This clears the ground for future graphical analysis. It seems that even general structural configurations, such as graphs or digraphs with certain specified properties, will fail to characterize a city, whose complexity, at this stage, may well continue to be understood more readily through negative rather than positive descriptions.


Author(s):  
Morris S.Y. Jong ◽  
Junjie Shang ◽  
Fong-Lok Lee ◽  
Jimmy H.M. Lee

VISOLE (Virtual Interactive Student-Oriented Learning Environment) is a constructivist pedagogical approach to empower computer game-based learning. This approach encompasses the creation of a near real-life online interactive world modeled upon a set of multi-disciplinary domains, in which each student plays a role in this “virtual world” and shapes its development. All missions, tasks and problems therein are generative and open-ended with neither prescribed strategies nor solutions. With sophisticated multi-player simulation contexts and teacher facilitation (scaffolding and debriefing), VISOLE provides opportunities for students to acquire both subject-specific knowledge and problem-solving skills through their near real-life gaming experience. This chapter aims to delineate the theoretical foundation and pedagogical implementation of VISOLE. Apart from that, the authors also introduce their game-pedagogy co-design strategy adopted in developing the first VISOLE instance—FARMTASIA.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Francisco Coloma ◽  
Marta García ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Andrés Monzón

This research aims to find the most ecological itineraries for urban mobility in a small city (eco-routes), where distances are rather short, but car dependence is really high. A real life citywide survey was carried out in the city of Caceres (Spain) with almost 100,000 inhabitants. Research was done on alternating routes, traffic, times of day, and weather conditions. The output of the study was to assess fuel consumption, CO2, and regulated pollutant emissions for different type of vehicles, routes, and drivers. The results show that in the case studied, urban roads had fewer emissions (CO2 and pollutants) but there was an increase in the population affected by pollutants. On the contrary, bypasses reduced travel time and congestion but increased fuel consumption and emissions. Traffic conditions had a greater influence on fuel consumption in petrol vehicles than diesel ones. Therefore, there must be a balanced distribution of traffic in order to minimize congestion, and at the same time to reduce emissions and the number of people affected by harmful pollution levels. There should be a combination of regulatory measures in traffic policies in order to achieve that balance by controlling access to city centres, limiting parking spaces, pedestrianization, and lowering traffic speeds in sensitive areas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 631-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dag Håkon Haneberg

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address how entrepreneurial learning may be understood as an effectual process in the early phase of venture creation. Design/methodology/approach Previous research is used to develop a conceptual frame of reference, which is further developed through a longitudinal qualitative case study of five new venture teams. Conceptualising these teams’ learning as sequences of events over a one-year period provides rich insight from real-life processes. Findings A conceptual model of how entrepreneurial learning may be understood as an effectual process is presented. The interactions and interdependencies between nine process characteristics along three main dimensions in the process, activity, multiple actors and context-dependent, demonstrate how the process tie together as a whole. Research limitations/implications The present paper argues for further cross-fertilisation of entrepreneurial learning and effectuation research and showcases how studies of entrepreneurial learning may contribute to organisational learning in entrepreneurial ventures. The conceptualisation of characteristics and dimensions aims to support future process studies by suggesting a framework for analysing process events in longitudinal studies. Originality/value Previous research has already established how activities are central to entrepreneurial learning and emphasised that what constitutes the two dimensions of multiple actors and context-dependence is important. The present paper contributes to entrepreneurial learning with an enhanced understanding of why and how the three dimensions are important as well as interdependent and mutually interactive. The present paper also contributes to organisational learning by extending the understanding of learning in emerging entrepreneurial organisations.


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