A supervised learning algorithm to evaluate occurrence records in virtual species

Digital and open access of occurrence data have encouraged the development of tools to improve biodiversity conservation and management. In this study, we proposed a methodology to evaluate point-occurrence records based on expert knowledge. We firstly generated virtual data to test our methodology without confounding factors by simulating geographical distributions, virtual sampling, and expert checking of occurrence records. We used a set of non-linear bioclimatic variables and principal component analysis (PCA) to define a duality function between niche and biotope spaces. Subsequently, a supervised-learning model was fit to classify records between true and doubtful presence based on the virtual expert checking. We then tested our methodology using three virtual species and 10-fold cross validation. Also, we evaluated the prediction performance of the supervise model compared with the virtual observer using a virtual external database of occurrence data.

Methodologies in medical education. Virtual expert panel in Honduras during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. The prevailing education model in Honduras is a teacher-centered one, where the main thrusts are the teacher and the lesson plans. This, along with the slow evaluation process and little improvement of the curriculum design of degrees in the healthcare sector poses a challenge in the enactment of new education methods. This article documents an expert panel which was comprised of deans from the different Medical Schools of the country where Continuing Medical Education (CME) and its educational methodologies were discussed. Presentation of experience. The Asociación de Educación Médica Hondureña carried out an expert panel through an updated approach of CME to discuss Medical Education (ME) methodologies widely used internationally: problem-based learning, reflective practice, formative assessment and self-regulated learning. Discussion. The knowledge gap between new methodologies and traditional ones in ME represents a challenge that CME can address through the use of effective pedagogical approaches in the development and execution of these types of activities. Conclusion. The use of updated methodologies in ME not only improves student training during undergraduate and postgraduate studies, but its CME. ME in Honduras is limited by economic factors, training, physical space and its acceptance by teachers and students. A sustained and systematic effort is necessary by all parties involved in teaching.

INteractive Virtual Expert-Led Skills Training: A Multi-Modal Curriculum for Medical Trainees

Background: Internationally, pediatric depression and suicide are significant issues. Additionally, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric mental health needs are rising astronomically. In light of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist (CAP) subspecialist shortages in the United States (US), there is an increasing call for primary care physicians in Family Medicine and Pediatrics to address an increasingly broad variety of patient needs. Here we report on the development and preliminary evaluation of medical student and resident perceptions on the “INteractive Virtual Expert-led Skills Training” (INVEST) medical education curriculum, a virtual synchronous CAP curriculum employing active learning strategies, including expert-led discussion and video modeling, and discussion designed to meet those priorities.Methods: In a standardized 60-min training format, our curriculum leverages audience response system polling, video modeling of key clinical skills, and interactive discussion with an expert subspecialist, over a virtual video conferencing platform. The primary educational strategy relies on use of video modeling to demonstrate best practice with CAP led group discussion to solidify and explain important concepts. Five waves of medical students and residents (N = 149) participated in the INVEST curriculum and completed pre- and post-training surveys regarding knowledge and comfort in the management of pediatric patients with depression and suicidality.Results: Trainee participants reported significant positive gains in perceived likelihood of encountering pediatric suicidality as well as knowledge/comfort with depression screening and suicidality assessment in a primary care setting. Across some competency areas, there was an effect of medical learner level. Learners at lower levels generally reported the highest benefit. Medical students reported significant increases in their comfort interpreting and discussing positive depression screens and evidenced the greatest relative benefit in comfort with discussing suicidality.Conclusion: To our knowledge, INVEST is the first fully virtual, multimodal curriculum led by expert CAP subspecialists. Our findings suggest that INVEST shows promise for equipping medical learners with baseline knowledge for caring for patients with pediatric depression and suicidality. This synchronous, virtually delivered curriculum allows for critical training delivered to diverse medical learners regardless of geographic location, a particular benefit during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Uncertainty and Tourism Consumption Preferences: Evidence from the Representative Chinese City of Shenzhen

As the fastest growing city in China, Shenzhen, a pioneer of reform and opening up, seems to have exhausted its advantages of geographical convenience, cheap land, and cheap labor; thus, the tourism industry has been adopted as a new economic strategy. However, the Shenzhen tourism market has received little attention from scholars and few studies have been done to investigate the relationships between uncertainty and tourism consumption preferences in different cultures. Therefore, this paper attempts to study Shenzhen as a travel destination to explore the consumption preferences of domestic and international tourists, specify uncertainties in tourism consumption activities, and examine their impacts on preferences. The above aims are achieved using a survey method and a new theoretically proposed preference uncertainty model inspired by combining the modified virtual expert preference approach and the ordered probit model (MVEP-OPM), in which three major components of tourism consumption (food, accommodation, and shopping) are estimated. (1) The results show that there are significant differences in tourism consumption preferences between domestic tourists and international visitors. (2) Inexperience, unfamiliarity, imperfect knowledge, and policy uncertainty are major uncertainties in tourism consumption activities, which affect tourist preferences toward consumption behavior. (3) Uncertainty plays a different moderating role in product-related influential factors, such as sanitation, safety, and decoration.

Delphi Method Supported by Forecasting Software

The Delphi method is one of the basic tools for forecasting values in various types of issues. It uses the knowledge of experts, which is properly aggregated (e.g., in the form of descriptive statistics measures) and returns to the previous group of experts again, thus starting the next round of forecasting. The multi-stage prediction under the Delphi method allows for better stabilization of the results, which is extremely important in the process of forecasting. Experts in the forecasting process often have access to time series forecasting software but do not necessarily use it. Therefore, it seems advisable to add to the aggregate the value obtained using forecasting software. The advantage of this approach is in saving the time and costs of obtaining a forecast. That should be understood as a smaller burden on data analysts and the value of their work. According to the above mentioned key factors, the main contribution of the article is the use of a virtual expert in the form of a computer-enhanced mathematical tool, i.e., a programming library for a forecasting time series. The chosen software tool is the Prophet library—a Facebook tool that can be used in Python or R programming languages.

Pathology Image Exchange: The Dutch Digital Pathology Platform for Exchange of Whole-Slide Images for Efficient Teleconsultation, Telerevision, and Virtual Expert Panels

Among the many uses of digital pathology, remote consultation, remote revision, and virtual slide panels may be the most important ones. This requires basic slide scanner infrastructure in participating laboratories to produce whole-slide images. More importantly, a software platform is needed for exchange of these images and functionality to support the processes around discussing and reporting on these images without breaching patient privacy. This poses high demands on the setup of such a platform, given the inherent complexity of the handling of digital pathology images. In this article, we describe the setup and validation of the Pathology Image Exchange project, which aimed to create a vendor-independent platform for exchange of whole-slide images between Dutch pathology laboratories to facilitate efficient teleconsultation, telerevision, and virtual slide panels. Pathology Image Exchange was released in April 2018 after technical validation, and a first successful validation in real life has been performed for hematopathology cases.

A Simple and Practical Method for Incorporating Augmented Reality into the Classroom and Laboratory

This manuscript provides two demonstrations of how Augmented Reality (AR), which is the projection of virtual information onto a real-world object, can be applied in the classroom and in the laboratory. Using only a smart phone and the free HP Reveal app, content rich AR notecards were prepared. The physical notecards are based on Organic Chemistry I reactions and show only a reagent and substrate. Upon interacting with the HP Reveal app, an AR video projection shows the product of the reaction as well as a real-time, hand-drawn curved-arrow mechanism of how the product is formed. Thirty AR notecards based on common Organic Chemistry I reactions and mechanisms are provided in the Supporting Information and are available for widespread use. In addition, the HP Reveal app was used to create AR video projections onto laboratory instrumentation so that a virtual expert can guide the user during the equipment setup and operation.