Smart grids are able to forecast customers' consumption patterns, i.e., their energy demand, and consequently electricity can be transmitted after taking into account the expected demand. To face ...today's demand forecasting challenges, where the data generated by smart grids is huge, modern data-driven techniques need to be used. In this scenario, Deep Learning models are a good alternative to learn patterns from customer data and then forecast demand for different forecasting horizons. Among the commonly used Artificial Neural Networks, Long Short-Term Memory networks-based on Recurrent Neural Networks-are playing a prominent role. This paper provides an insight into the importance of the demand forecasting issue, and other related factors, in the context of smart grids, and collects some experiences of the use of Deep Learning techniques, for demand forecasting purposes. To have an efficient power system, a balance between supply and demand is necessary. Therefore, industry stakeholders and researchers should make a special effort in load forecasting, especially in the short term, which is critical for demand response.
This review of human amoebiasis is based on the most current knowledge of pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and Entamoeba/microbiota interactions. The most relevant findings during this last decade ...about the
parasite and the disease are related to the possibility of culturing trophozoites of different isolates from infected individuals that allowed the characterization of the multiple pathogenic mechanisms of the parasite and the understanding of the host-parasite relationship in the human. Second, the considerable advances in molecular biology and genetics help us to analyze the genome of
, their genetic diversity, and the association of specific genotypes with the different amoebic forms of human amoebiasis. Based on this knowledge, culture and/or molecular diagnostic strategies are now available to determine the
species and genotype responsible for invasive intestinal or extraintestinal amoebiasis cases. Likewise, the extensive knowledge of the immune response in amoebiasis with the appearance of new technologies made it possible to design diagnostic tools now available worldwide. Finally, the understanding of the interaction between the
species and the intestinal microbiota aids the understanding of the ecology of this parasite in the human environment. These relevant findings will be discussed in this review.
To evaluate the extent of hearing loss among pottery workers in Mexico exposed to lead.
The authors conducted a cross-sectional study including 315 adult pottery workers. Auditory function was ...evaluated by air conduction pure-tone audiometry (pure-tone average) and distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) levels (amplitude and signal-to-noise ratio). Lead exposure was assessed with a single blood sample test and classified as low, medium, and high according to blood lead tertiles. Logistic regression models were calculated for the association between blood lead levels, pure-tone average, and DPOAE records.
Median (25th-75th) blood lead levels were 14 μg/dL (7.5-22.6 μg/dL). The audiometric pattern and DPOAE records were similar across blood lead levels groups in all frequencies, and no statistically significant differences were found. Adjusted logistic regression models showed no increase in the odds for hearing thresholds >25 dB (HL) and DPOAE absence associated with blood lead levels, and no dose-response pattern was observed ( p > 0.05).
Given the results from this cross-sectional study, no association was found between blood lead levels and hearing loss assessed with DPOAE. Future longitudinal work should consider chronic lead exposure estimates among underrepresented populations, which can potentially inform safer work practices to minimize the risk of ototoxicity.
Technology enables a more sustainable and universally accessible educational model. However, technology has brought a paradox into students’ lives: it helps them engage in learning activities, but it ...is also a source of distraction. During the academic year 2021–2022, the authors conducted a study focusing on classroom distractions. One of the objectives was to identify the main digital distractions from the point of view of students. The study was carried out at an engineering school, where technology is fully integrated in the classroom and in the academic routines of teachers and students. Discussions and surveys, complemented by a statistical study based on bivariate correlations, were used with participating students (n = 105). Students considered digital distractions to have a significant impact on their performance in lab sessions. This performance was mainly self-assessed as improvable. Contrary to other contemporary research, the results were not influenced by the year of study of the subject, as the issue is important regardless of the students’ backgrounds. Professors should implement strategies to raise students’ awareness of the significant negative effects of digital distractions on their performance, as well as to develop students’ self-control skills. This is of vital importance for the use of technology to be sustainable in the long-term.
Technology enables a more sustainable and universally accessible educational model. However, technology has brought a paradox into students' lives: it helps them engage in learning activities, but it ...is also a source of distraction. During the academic year 2021-2022, the authors conducted a study focusing on classroom distractions. One of the objectives was to identify the main digital distractions from the point of view of students. The study was carried out at an engineering school, where technology is fully integrated in the classroom and in the academic routines of teachers and students. Discussions and surveys, complemented by a statistical study based on bivariate correlations, were used with participating students (n = 105). Students considered digital distractions to have a significant impact on their performance in lab sessions. This performance was mainly self-assessed as improvable. Contrary to other contemporary research, the results were not influenced by the year of study of the subject, as the issue is important regardless of the students' backgrounds. Professors should implement strategies to raise students' awareness of the significant negative effects of digital distractions on their performance, as well as to develop students' self-control skills. This is of vital importance for the use of technology to be sustainable in the long-term.
Identification and monitoring of existing surface water bodies on the Earth are important in many scientific disciplines and for different industrial uses. This can be performed with the help of ...high-resolution satellite images that are processed afterwards using data-driven techniques to obtain the desired information. The objective of this study is to establish and validate a method to distinguish efficiently between water and land zones, i.e., an efficient method for surface water detection. In the context of this work, the method used for processing the high-resolution satellite images to detect surface water is based on image segmentation, using the Quadtree algorithm, and fractal dimension. The method was validated using high-resolution satellite images freely available at the OpenAerialMap website. The results show that, when the fractal dimensions of the tiles in which the image is divided after completing the segmentation phase are calculated, there is a clear threshold where water and land can be distinguished. The proposed scheme is particularly simple and computationally efficient compared with heavy artificial-intelligence-based methods, avoiding having any special requirements regarding the source images. Moreover, the average accuracy obtained in the case study developed for surface water detection was 96.03%, which suggests that the adopted method based on fractal dimension is able to detect surface water with a high level of accuracy.
Mixed reality opens interesting possibilities as it allows physicians to interact with both, the real physical and the virtual computer-generated environment and objects, in a powerful way. A mixed ...reality system, based in the HoloLens 2 glasses, has been developed to assist cardiologists in a quite complex interventional procedure: the ultrasound-guided femoral arterial cannulations, during real-time practice in interventional cardiology. The system is divided into two modules, the transmitter module, responsible for sending medical images to HoloLens 2 glasses, and the receiver module, hosted in the HoloLens 2, which renders those medical images, allowing the practitioner to watch and manage them in a 3D environment. The system has been successfully used, between November 2021 and August 2022, in up to 9 interventions by 2 different practitioners, in a large public hospital in central Spain. The practitioners using the system confirmed it as easy to use, reliable, real-time, reachable, and cost-effective, allowing a reduction of operating times, a better control of typical errors associated to the interventional procedure, and opening the possibility to use the medical imagery produced in ubiquitous e-learning. These strengths and opportunities were only nuanced by the risk of potential medical complications emerging from system malfunction or operator errors when using the system (e.g., unexpected momentary lag). In summary, the proposed system can be taken as a realistic proof of concept of how mixed reality technologies can support practitioners when performing interventional and surgical procedures during real-time daily practice.
Evaluar en la red García Carrasco, Joaquín; Sánchez Gómez, María Cruz; Pérez Juárez, María Ángeles ...
Education in the knowledge society,
03/2016, Letnik:
3, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
La evaluación es la que permite valorar el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje y, por tanto, no puede haber enseñanza y aprendizaje si no hay unas metas que alcanzar que se valoren. Actualmente hay muchos ...entornos virtuales de aprendizaje desarrollados, principalmente sobre el web, pero en numerosos casos dejan de lado el proceso de evaluación, debido básicamente a la problemática que ésta presenta. Además, la carencia de estándares educativos, limita la interoperabilidad entre sistemas y la reutilización de recursos.
Assessment on the net Joaquín GARCÍA CARRASCO; María Cruz SÁNCHEZ GÓMEZ; María Ángeles PÉREZ JUÁREZ ...
Education in the knowledge society,
03/2016, Letnik:
3, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Evaluation assesses the teaching-learning process, so that there can not be teaching and learning if there are not some defined objectives to be assessed. Currently, there are many virtual learning ...environments developed, mainly supported by the web, but most of them do not incorporate evaluation modules. Besides, the lack of learning technology standards limits system interoperability and resource reuse.