Primary School Teachers’ Conceptions about the Use of Robotics in Mathematics

Learning about the conceptions used by primary school teachers towards the use of robotics in class is essential as the first step towards its application in the classroom. Therefore, with the purpose of describing the understanding applied when teaching and learning mathematics use educational robots, research was conducted by means of mixed methods using a descriptive design by survey. Such research consisted of closed questions (Likert-type scale from 1 to 5) and open questions, given to 83 primary school teachers who currently teach students in the first years of school (First to Fourth grade) in two Chilean districts. The results showed that in general, there is a positive predisposition towards the addition of robots in the learning and teaching of mathematic processes during the first years of school, even though teachers claim there is a struggle to incorporate robots in their lessons due to the high number of students and the reduced space in their classrooms.

A Semi-Supervised Reduced-Space Method for Hyperspectral Imaging Segmentation

The development of the hyperspectral remote sensor technology allows the acquisition of images with a very detailed spectral information for each pixel. Because of this, hyperspectral images (HSI) potentially possess larger capabilities in solving many scientific and practical problems in agriculture, biomedical, ecological, geological, hydrological studies. However, their analysis requires developing specialized and fast algorithms for data processing, due the high dimensionality of the data. In this work, we propose a new semi-supervised method for multilabel segmentation of HSI that combines a suitable linear discriminant analysis, a similarity index to compare different spectra, and a random walk based model with a direct label assignment. The user-marked regions are used for the projection of the original high-dimensional feature space to a lower dimensional space, such that the class separation is maximized. This allows to retain in an automatic way the most informative features, lightening the successive computational burden. The part of the random walk is related to a combinatorial Dirichlet problem involving a weighted graph, where the nodes are the projected pixel of the original HSI, and the positive weights depend on the distances between these nodes. We then assign to each pixel of the original image a probability quantifying the likelihood that the pixel (node) belongs to some subregion. The computation of the spectral distance involves both the coordinates in a features space of a pixel and of its neighbors. The final segmentation process is therefore reduced to a suitable optimization problem coupling the probabilities from the random walker computation, and the similarity with respect the initially labeled pixels. We discuss the properties of the new method with experimental results carried on benchmark images.

Effects of Reduced Space Allowance and Heat Stress on Behavior and Eye Temperature in Unweaned Lambs: A Pilot Study

Current European animal transportation law contains only a few and vague indications concerning how to move lambs of less than 26 kg. Moreover, little information is available in the literature about factors affecting these lambs’ welfare. We investigated the effect of space allowance and ambient temperature on the welfare of unweaned Lacaune lambs during a simulation of long-distance transportation (19 h). Three groups of lambs (N = 130) were housed in equally sized pens for 19 h, Control (C; n = 39; 0.27 m2 per head), Low Space Allowance (LSA; n = 52; 0.20 m2 per head), and Heat Stress (HS; n = 39; 0.27 m2 per head) groups. LSA lambs had lower space allowance than C but were tested at the same temperature, within their Thermoneutral zone (range = 12–18 °C). The HS lambs were, instead, subjected to higher temperatures (range = 19–30 °C). Scan sampling of behavior was conducted, eye temperature and body weight were also recorded. LSA and HS lambs showed more discomfort behaviors (p < 0.05) and higher eye temperatures (p < 0.001) compared to C lambs, while HS lambs additionally showed a decrease in body weight over the experimental period (p < 0.001). This study indicates that lower space allowances and higher temperatures impact negatively the welfare of lambs transported for slaughter suggesting that the regulation should be implemented taking these factors into account.

Topological Data Analysis Gives Two Folding Paths in HP35(nle-nle), Double Mutant of Villin Headpiece Subdomain

The folding dynamics of proteins is a primary area of interest in protein science. We carried out topological data analysis (TDA) of the folding process of HP35(nle-nle), double-mutant of villin headpiece subdomain. Using persistent homology and non-negative matrix factorization, we reduced the dimension of protein structure into two, and investigate the flow in the reduced space. We found this protein has two folding paths, distinguished by the pairings of inter-helix residues. Our analysis showed the excellent performance of TDA in capturing the formation of tertiary structure.

Real-time bidding campaigns optimization using user profile settings

Real-Time bidding is nowadays one of the most promising systems in the online advertising ecosystem. In the presented study, the performance of RTB campaigns is improved by optimising the parameters of the users’ profiles and the publishers’ websites. Most studies about optimising RTB campaigns are focused on the bidding strategy; estimating the best value for each bid. However, our research is focused on optimising RTB campaigns by finding out configurations that maximise both the number of impressions and the average profitability of the visits. An online campaign configuration generally consists of a set of parameters along with their values such as {Browser = “Chrome”, Country = “Germany”, Age = “20–40” and Gender = “Woman”}. The experiments show that, when the number of required visits by advertisers is low, it is easy to find configurations with high average profitability, but as the required number of visits increases, the average profitability diminishes. Additionally, configuration optimisation has been combined with other interesting strategies to increase, even more, the campaigns’ profitability. In particular, the presented study considers the following complementary strategies to increase profitability: (1) selecting multiple configurations with a small number of visits rather than a unique configuration with a large number of visits, (2) discarding visits according to certain cost and profitability thresholds, (3) analysing a reduced space of the dataset and extrapolating the solution over the whole dataset, and (4) increasing the search space by including solutions below the required number of visits. The developed campaign optimisation methodology could be offered by RTB and other advertising platforms to advertisers to make their campaigns more profitable.

Simultaneous description of wobbling and chiral properties in even-odd triaxial nuclei

A particle-triaxial rigid core Hamiltonian is semi-classically treated. The coupling term corresponds to a particle rigidly coupled to the triaxial core, along a direction that does not belong to any principal plane of the inertia ellipsoid.The equations of motion for the angular momentum components provide a sixth-order algebraic equation for one component and subsequently equations for the other two. Linearizing the equations of motion, a dispersion equation for the wobbling frequency is obtained. The equations of motion are also considered in the reduced space of generalized phase space coordinates. Choosing successively the three axes as quantization axis will lead to analytical solutions for the wobbling frequency, respectively. The same analysis is performed for the chirally transformed Hamiltonian. With an illustrative example one identified wobbling states whose frequencies are mirror image to one another. Changing the total angular momentum I, a pair of twin bands emerged. Note that the present formalism conciliates between the two signatures of triaxial nuclei, i.e., they could coexist for a single nucleus.

Hydro-generators fault diagnosis with short-time-wavelet-entropy and variational auto-encoder

The prognosis and health management (PHM) of hydroelectric plants are full of difficulties caused by the complexity of the hydro-generators where each machine is different and almost unique. At industrial level, several tools are used to monitor the generator condition. Among these tools, the measurement of magnetic stray flux is one which is gaining interest. This measurement is generally based on an inductive sensor and mainly mounted near the stator. The main advantages of the magnetic stray flux are the non-invasive nature and the simplicity of its implementation. In this work, the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is used to decompose the stray flux signal. Short-Time-Wavelet-Entropy (STWE) is then applied to extract the features from the sub-bands. Finally, a variational auto-encoder (VAE) is used in an unsupervised learning process to structure the STWE signatures of more than 400 stray flux measurement collected on real hydroelectric plants. The obtained results show that the VAE has well captured the features from the wavelet entropy (WE) signatures. An analysis of the resulting latent space shows a strong correlation between a given trajectory in the reduced space and an increase of the WE.

Cyanobacterial Encapsulation In Biocompatible Silica Gels v1

Silica gels are a biohybrid material for the encapsulation of cyanobacteria. Their internal structure is based on a highly porous three-dimensional SiO2 network with a mesoporous distribution of porosity, with a high number of micropores and mesopores. The cells are "encapsulated" in the material as they are embedded in the matrix, establishing almost direct contact with it. There is a reduced space between the cell and the silica matrix, favouring contact. Macroscopically, the material can be presented in almost any desired shape and structure, ideally as thin films or hollow tubular monoliths of reduced thickness. Visually, it appears to be a rigid, greenish-coloured material. The gels allow a low diffusional limit, its transparency allows cells to photosynthesise, and it is tough. Their synthesis is not simple, as the behaviour of the gels can be variable; but in the end they form an almost ideal encapsulation for cyanobacteria.

Hybrid spaces: Sustainable city components in the transit area of Jatinegara Station Indonesia

The Jatinegara Transit Area is an area of stations, residences and markets that have the potential to be developed into a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) area. The development aims to create a sustainable city and will become a hybrid area of a new residential ecosystem. In the research location, the rate of urbanization is relatively high which causes social and environmental problems that are very dangerous to the health and welfare of residents. Problems related to the environment include: increased CO2 emissions, loss of biodiversity, air pollution and climate change. Social problems involve the reduced space for interaction between residents due to the fulfilment of housing. Holistic planning is needed to solve this problem, through social and environmental approaches to create a sustainable city by developing a hybrid space model. The research method uses analytical methods (planning documents, design projects and literature), observation methods, comparative methods, etc. The first stage is mapping the existing conditions and the next stage is creating a model that applies a hybrid space. The conclusion of this research is that hybrid space is an alternative to improve air quality and provide public space for community interaction in terms of environmental and social sustainability.