Centro de Investigación de Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación
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Effects of a dual intervention (motor and virtual reality-based cognitive) on cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial

2024 , Buele, Jorge , Avilés-Castillo, Fátima , Carolina Del-Valle-Soto , Varela Aldas, José , Guillermo Palacios-Navarro

Abstract Background The increase in cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) underlines the urgency of finding effective methods to slow its progression. Given the limited effectiveness of current pharmacological options to prevent or treat the early stages of this deterioration, non-pharmacological alternatives are especially relevant. Objective To assess the effectiveness of a cognitive-motor intervention based on immersive virtual reality (VR) that simulates an activity of daily living (ADL) on cognitive functions and its impact on depression and the ability to perform such activities in patients with MCI. Methods Thirty-four older adults (men, women) with MCI were randomized to the experimental group (n = 17; 75.41 ± 5.76) or control (n = 17; 77.35 ± 6.75) group. Both groups received motor training, through aerobic, balance and resistance activities in group. Subsequently, the experimental group received cognitive training based on VR, while the control group received traditional cognitive training. Cognitive functions, depression, and the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) were assessed using the Spanish versions of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-S), the Short Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-S), and the of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL-S) before and after 6-week intervention (a total of twelve 40-minutes sessions). Results Between groups comparison did not reveal significant differences in either cognitive function or geriatric depression. The intragroup effect of cognitive function and geriatric depression was significant in both groups (p < 0.001), with large effect sizes. There was no statistically significant improvement in any of the groups when evaluating their performance in ADLs (control, p = 0.28; experimental, p = 0.46) as expected. The completion rate in the experimental group was higher (82.35%) compared to the control group (70.59%). Likewise, participants in the experimental group reached a higher level of difficulty in the application and needed less time to complete the task at each level. Conclusions The application of a dual intervention, through motor training prior to a cognitive task based on Immersive VR was shown to be a beneficial non-pharmacological strategy to improve cognitive functions and reduce depression in patients with MCI. Similarly, the control group benefited from such dual intervention with statistically significant improvements. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06313931; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06313931.

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Academic Tutoring in Virtual Education: A Case Study in University Students

2023 , Núñez-Hernández C. , Núñez Naranjo, Aracelly

Tutoring plays a crucial role in students' success by providing them with academic support, helping them overcome obstacles, and fostering their confidence in professional development. Specifically, in higher education, tutoring aims to complement academic training and address dropout and educational lag. Virtual tutoring offers advantages in terms of scope and logistics, but also presents challenges in building online relationships. The interaction between teachers and students is a key factor that influences the motivation of the latter, and personalized virtual tutoring is highly valued by distance students. This study employed a descriptive and quantitative methodology, collecting data from a representative sample of higher education students in Ecuador. An adapted questionnaire was used to assess students' satisfaction with the university tutor, as well as the organization and content of the tutoring sessions. The results revealed satisfactory levels regarding the tutor's personal skills, the work performed, and university tutoring in general, both in face-to-face and virtual modalities. The conclusions highlight the importance of virtual academic tutoring for student success, emphasizing its personalized support and positive impact on motivation. Further research is recommended to delve into the factors influencing satisfaction with academic tutoring and to utilize these findings to improve the tutoring process in higher education. © 2023 IEEE.

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Movement Monitoring in Commercial Areas Using Internet of Things

2023 , Varela Aldas, José , Ruales, María Belén , Bastidas G.

The Internet of Things has been a trend in the last decade and is now found in countless applications, solving problems in almost any field. Specifically, in the commercial area, there is an effort to apply this technology to facilitate the control of services or processes. This work presents the movement monitoring of commercial areas. The proposal uses the ESP32 board that, using passive infrared sensors located perpendicular to each other, covers two areas of interest for commercial premises with multiple products. The collected data travel to the ThingSpeak Platform, where there are graphs with the states of the sensors, allowing identify the active area. The results present the motion state readings in the two areas, indicating the correct functioning of the system. Finally, we use a technology acceptance model to analyze this proposal, determining an acceptance of 69.6% that is not favorable for this proposal. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Criminal characteristics and psychopathy in women in prison [Características delictivas y psicopatía en mujeres en prisión]

2023 , Molina-Coloma V. , Lara-Machado R. , Lara-Barros B. , Valdez-Miño C.

Objectives: To compare the factors and facets of psychopathy based on criminal characteristics in a sample of women in prison. Material and method: Descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study composed of a sample of 41 women incarcerated in the Ambato prison in Ecuador. In an individual session, the Hare Psychopathy Scale Revised was applied. Results: Recidivist women, with a juvenile criminal history and who are admitted to the maximum-security ward, have a higher score in the affective facet of the PCL-R. In addition, those women who are in the maximum-security pavilion have scored high in factor 2 (social deviance), mainly in the antisocial aspect. Discussion: This subgroup of women in prison is characterized by lack of remorse, emotional insensitivity, manipulation, inability to accept responsibility for their own actions, and superficial affection. Further expansion of the study of psychopathy in women is required. © 2023, Sociedad Espanola de Sanidad Penitenciaria. All rights reserved.

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Modeling and Control of Omnidirectional Robots with Displaced Center of Mass

2022 , Gallo L.V. , Paste B.D. , Varela Aldas, José , Andaluz, Víctor H.

This work focuses on the design and implementation of a control algorithm for tracking trajectories of an omnidirectional robotic platform. The design is based on a dynamic model that considers the center of mass displaced; this model is obtained by formulating Euler–Lagrange considering the kinetic energy that acts on the robotic system. This type of model is used for when robots carry loads and these are not located in the center of the robot directly affecting the dynamics of the robotic platform; validation of the obtained model is carried out experimentally with an identification algorithm using the robotic platform built. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Educational strategies in the resolution of school conflict among adolescents [Estrategias educativas en la solución de conflictos escolares entre adolescentes]

2023 , Remache-Bunci M.G. , Ponce N.V.R. , Beatriz Hortencia Cóndor Quimbita

The purpose of the research was, on the one hand, to establish the relationship between the variables that make up the components of conflict, strategies and coexistence actions; on the other hand, determine the actions of coexistence, more akin to the strategies used by teachers. Due to the nature of school coexistence, students interact with positive and negative attitudes, provoking behaviors and conflicts of different nature and intensity. Therefore, the role of teachers is to generate solutions to conflicts. The research design was quantitative and descriptive with a non-experimental correlational level. The objects under review were the students from ninth and tenth grade of Basic General Education in the city of Quito. The instrument for data collection was the survey, it was structured according to the variables, dimensions and indicators. The data processing was carried out with the support of the SPSS software and the results allowed: to answer the research questions, Is there a linear relationship between the components conflicts, strategies and coexistence actions? What are the coexistence actions that are most related to the strategies used by teachers in conflict resolution? it concludes with, the existence of a relationship between the conflict components, strategies and actions of coexistence. According to the perception of those surveyed, the strategies most used by teachers were to make the approach to conflict resolution viable; while the coexistence actions with the greatest relationship were: the participation of students and teachers in the establishment of norms, expression and regulation of emotions, work within the class curriculum, education in values, cooperation in class activities, due to the significance established in the results. © 2023, Universidad Compultense Madrid. All rights reserved.

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Una aproximación cualitativa Learning experiences in virtual teacher training during confinement by COVID-19. A qualitative approach [Experiencias de aprendizaje en la formación virtual de docentes durante el confinamiento por COVID-19.]

2023 , Suárez V.G. , Monzón N.S. , Mesa M.L.C. , Paredes D.G.L.

Teachers’ university training during the confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been influenced by various factors. This research’s main objective was to analyse the learning experiences of undergraduate students in Basic Education at an Ecua-dorian university. The current study involves a qualitative approach using a thematic content analysis of narratives written as reflective reports. The sample was composed by 5th semester students of the Basic Education career. They were between 19 and 38 years old, and their narratives were selected taking into account these selection parameters: the stories were set up in a reasonable and meaningful way, followed the structure: introduction, development, conclusion; and they were deep, but very clear in the reflections made that direct the future perspective of the subject in question. This study was organized as part of a project for the improvement of teachers’ training, taking into account the six categories that have a direct influence on student education and that define a didactic and pedagogical challenge of those who are in charge of university processes. According to the previous argument, some of these categories are the use of electronic devices and access to learning technologies; the adaptation and use of teaching strategies in the virtual context; the development of students’ creativity during virtual learning; learning environment and family coexistence at home; and physical and emotional well-being. The findings indicate: greater relevance of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a platform for teaching and receiving classes; improvement of the teaching-learning process; means of social interaction; resources for research on the internet. Moreover, the training of future teachers currently depends on the possession of devices to be able to access training activities; this technological gap makes social inequality increasingly visible. Another important result is that the pandemic tested the capacity of both, students and teachers to restructure and adapt to the virtual context. This is related to the status of most teachers as digital migrants and of students as digital natives. In the case of teachers, they have not yet managed to adapt to the use of teaching strategies in the virtual context, while students mastered ICTs. For those who found their applications and tools for the first time in the context of the pandemic, it was a welcomed learning opportunity. The development of students’ creativity during virtual learning was marked by the role assumed by teachers, as a consequence of the intensive use of ICTs that has allowed young people to keep busy and learn while having fun. Teachers have focused more on their use in order to enhance their emotional intelligence to face new and stressful situations in their professional practice. Regarding the family environment, beyond the leading role that families have assumed as facilitators of the teaching-learning process, members may hinder attention, concentration, comprehension, and memorization of knowledge due to the different distractions generated at home. According to some of the teachers in training consulted for this research, student and teacher communication was flexible, and many students have been able to pass every subject. The teachers in training consulted recognized the practices that threaten their physical and emotional well-being and the need to rethink new styles of healthcare for themselves and their families. Finally, it is concluded that the experiences manifested were presented bearing in mind the fundamental categories of the study. Students confirmed the different perceptions on categories that influence their training and the need to advance in an integrative strategy between education and health professionals that incorporates the particularities described for a more inclusive approach to teacher training. © (2023), All Rights Reserved.

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Construction of a Low-Cost Semi-automatic Machine for Tensile Testing

2021 , Varela Aldas, José , Buele, Jorge , Cruz J.

Tensile tests make it possible to determine the resistance and other relevant parameters of the materials. These procedures are usually performed with equipment that is expensive and inaccessible to higher education centers with limited budgets. In the case of acquiring this hardware, the disadvantage is that this are purely manual machines that make the use and learning process difficult. That is why this document shows the construction of a machine that allows this type of testing, but using low-cost materials. The mechanical and electronic design and programming that has been used to implement and semi-automate the machine is briefly but clearly described. To validate the functionality, the respective tests have been carried out, although it is a limited version that requires improvements, the results are satisfactory. The curve obtained when carrying out tests with A36 steel has shown a similarity with the theory. Thus, students obtain a technological tool that contributes to academic training, strengthening knowledge in the study of materials. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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IoT Monitoring to Control a Bicycle Parking Lot

2022 , Ruales, María Belén , Lara-Alvarez P. , Riba C. , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio

In recent years, the development of new technologies has improved the management of resources and services at the urban level. In this sense, several cities worldwide have developed intelligent infrastructures such as Smart Cities in which, through data collection and management, they aim to achieve social, environmental and economic improvements. Innovative bike racks are a promising solution to traffic-related problems in major cities around the world; however, there is a lack of low-cost solutions for controlling and monitoring bike racks and thus boosting the mobility of cyclists. This paper presents a system to monitor and control a bicycle parking lot. In order to achieve this goal, software and hardware specifications were defined and characterised by the control system. The conceptual design and detail of the prototype and the materialisation proceeded, where technology with ESP8266 microcontrollers and Raspberry Pi+Ethernet/WiFi microprocessors was used in the MQTT communication protocol to implement its architecture. The system implements in the bicycle parking lot of the Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica. The series of data collected allowed for determining the frequency of use. With this, a database creates where the information on the frequency of use of bicycles is stored. Finally, through a mobile application, the availability of parking spaces can be consulted, and bikes in the parking lot can monitor. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Virtual System for Industrial Processes: Distillation Towers

2021 , Jacome E.M. , Toaquiza J.F. , Mullo G.M. , Andaluz V.H. , Varela Aldas, José

In this paper a realistic and intuitive virtual environment of a distillation tower system is developed. The three-dimensional model of the system is based on a real system, which is replicated in Blender software to be later implemented in Unity, in order to simulate its behavior. By showing the evolution of the system, control and monitoring maneuvers are implemented, so that the virtual animation is similar to a real process. The application developed is intended to provide support in the learning process of an operator in the work area. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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