Now showing 1 - 10 of 47
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Emotion classification using EEG headset signals and Random Forests [Clasificación de emociones utilizando señales de auriculares EEG y Random Forests]

2023 , Vasquez R. , Carrion-Jumbo J. , Riofrio-Luzcando D. , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron

Emotions are one of the important components of the human being, thus they are a valuable part of daily activities such as interaction with people, decision making and learning. For this reason, it is important to detect, recognize and understand emotions using computational systems to improve communication between people and machines, which would facilitate the ability of computers to understand the communication between humans. This study proposes the creation of a model that allows the classification of people's emotions based on their EEG signals, for which the brain-computer interface EMOTIV EPOC was used. This allowed the collection of electroencephalographic information from 50 people, all of whom were shown audiovisual resources that helped to provoke the desired mood. The information obtained was stored in a database for the generation of the model and the corresponding classification analysis. Random Forest model was created for emotion prediction (happiness, sadness and relaxation), based on the signals of any person. The results obtained were 97.21% accurate for happiness, 76% for relaxation and 76% for sadness. Finally, the model was used to generate a real-time emotion prediction algorithm; it captures the person's EEG signals, executes the generated algorithm and displays the result on the screen with the help of images representative of each emotion. © 2023 ITMA.

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Autonomous Learning Mediated by Digital Technology Processes in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

2020 , Fierro-Saltos W. , Sanz C. , Zangara A. , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Castillo Salazar, David Ricardo , Varela Aldas, José , Borja Galeas, Carlos , Rivera R. , Hidalgo-Guijarro J. , Yandún-Velasteguí M.

The concept of autonomous learning has been resignified in recent years as a result of the expansion of the different types of study. Online education in higher education institutions has become an effective option to increase and diversify opportunities for access and learning, however, high rates of dropout, reprisal and low averages still persist. academic performance. Recent research shows that the problem is accentuated because most students have difficulty self-regulating their own learning process autonomously. From this perspective, the purpose of the study was to examine and analyze, through a systematic review of the literature, on autonomous/self-regulated learning, theoretical models and determine which variables influence a learning process mediated by technology processes in the higher education. The findings indicate that: (1) autonomous learning is a synonym of self-regulation; (2) Pintrich’s self-regulatory model is the most used in digital contexts; and (3) the self-regulatory variables identified are wide and varied. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Development of an accessible video game to improve the understanding of the test of honey-alonso

2020 , Salvador-Ullauri, L. , Acosta-Vargas, P. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Sanchez-Gordon, S. , Calle-Jimenez, T. , Lara Álvarez, Patricio

When evaluating the learning styles of several individuals using the Honey-Alonso test, some users did not understand the meaning of several of the questions. This may be due to problems of context, tiredness in front of the extension of the test, lack of understanding or disinterest. The Honey-Alonso test consists of four groups of twenty questions each. Each group of questions allows identifying the level that an individual possesses on each one of the four learning styles. These styles are: active, reflective, theoretical and pragmatic. Answering a questionnaire of eighty questions is not an easy task from an andragogical point of view. This article proposes the creation of an educational video game designed with a script based on the questions of the Honey-Alonso test. The answers selected by the player are taken as a condition to determine the order of the next questions presented to the player. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Biomechanical Study of the Eye with Keratoconus-Type Corneal Ectasia Using a 3D Geometric Model

2023 , Sánchez-Real E. , Otuna-Hernández D., , Fajardo-Cabrera A. , Davies-Alcívar R. , Madrid-Pérez M. , Cadena-Morejón C. , Almeida-Galárraga D. , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Tirado-Espín A. , Villalba-Meneses F.

Keratoconus is an eye disease that distorts the shape of the cornea. This study aimed to analyze the effect of an increase in intraocular pressure applied to eyes with different severity of keratoconus disease using patient-specific models. Finite element models of the normal eye, eye with keratoconus, and eye with keratoglobus were constructed. The loading conditions considered the intraocular pressure increment as well as their physiological intraocular pressure. The analysis was performed with distinct materials for normal and keratoconic eyes. The finite element analysis revealed differences in the three models in terms of their deformation and maximum principal stress, and differences were observed in corneal curvature and thickness. These findings could enhance research in the biomechanical area, leading to more successful treatment options and a more individualized approach in the field of practical ophthalmology. Further investigation with larger sample sizes and more precise data on eye material would allow us to evaluate whether these disparities could inform the diagnosis of keratoconus. © 2023 by the authors.

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Development of a Convolutional Neural Network for Detection of Ovarian Cancer Based on Computed Tomography Images

2024 , Gabriela Narvaez-Chunillo , Ronny Ordoñez-Sanchez , Lizbeth Ortiz-Vinueza , Diego Almeida-Galárraga , Fernando Villalba-Meneses , Roberto Bravo-Freire , Andrés Tirado-Espín , Carolina Cadena-Morejón , Paulina Vizcaíno-Imacaña , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron

Ovarian cancer is one of the most frequent gynecologic malignancies in women, but it is often detected in late stage, leaving patients with little time to follow a successful therapy. Specialists have opted to use computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for the detection of ovarian cancer through the analysis of computed tomography (CT) images, in which the professional examines the size, shape and different characteristics that enable a precise diagnosis in the ovary. This present project purposes a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) which consist on four convolutional layers; including two pooling layer and two fully-connected layer. The cancerous ovaries images is selected from the Cancer Imaging Achive dataset for training and validation of the model. Moreover, the training of the CNN contain filters to ensure that all of the images are the same dimensions and pixel size. The testing results from the training of the images showed that the proposed model obtained a range of accuracy that goes from 90.0% to the best of the cases 98.85%. The variables obtained like the data of the pressure and loss of the training were compared with those of the validation, allowing for the determination of a successful CNN training.

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Development of Behavior Profile of Users with Visual Impairment

2020 , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Varela Aldas, José , Castillo Salazar, David Ricardo , Borja M. , Fierro-Saltos W. , Rivera R. , Hidalgo-Guijarro J. , Yandún-Velasteguí M.

The interaction of the user with visual impairment with assistive technologies, and in particular with screen readers, generates a group of actions and events during their navigation. These interactions are defined as behavioral patterns, which have a sequence that occurs at specific time slot. Understanding user behavior by analyzing their interaction with applications, in addition, details the characteristics, relationships, structures and functions of the sequence of actions in a specific application domain. The objective of this document is to find activity patterns from a set of commands used by the user, combining data mining and a Bayesian model. This model calculates the probability of the functions used with the screen reader and generates a behavior profile to improve the user experience. For this study, the screen reader JAWS version 2018, the Open Journal Systems platform version 3.0.1 and a computer with Windows 10 operating system were used. During the first phase, command history used by the user by interacting with the Open Journal Systems platform were collected. The result is that the accessibility of users with visual impairment to interact with the computer and its applications has been improved by applying this model. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Unlocking the puzzle: non-defining mutations in SARS-CoV-2 proteome may affect vaccine effectiveness

2024 , Eugenia Ulzurrun , Ana Grande-Pérez , Daniel del Hoyo , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Carmen Gil , Carlos Oscar Sorzano , Nuria E. Campillo

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 variants are defined by specific genome-wide mutations compared to the Wuhan genome. However, non-clade-defining mutations may also impact protein structure and function, potentially leading to reduced vaccine effectiveness. Our objective is to identify mutations across the entire viral genome rather than focus on individual mutations that may be associated with vaccine failure and to examine the physicochemical properties of the resulting amino acid changes. Materials and methods: Whole-genome consensus sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from COVID-19 patients were retrieved from the GISAID database. Analysis focused on Dataset_1 (7,154 genomes from Italy) and Dataset_2 (8,819 sequences from Spain). Bioinformatic tools identified amino acid changes resulting from codon mutations with frequencies of 10% or higher, and sequences were organized into sets based on identical amino acid combinations. Results: Non-defining mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genomes belonging to clades 21 L (Omicron), 22B/22E (Omicron), 22F/23A (Omicron) and 21J (Delta) were associated with vaccine failure. Four sets of sequences from Dataset_1 were significantly linked to low vaccine coverage: one from clade 21L with mutations L3201F (ORF1a), A27- (S) and G30- (N); two sets shared by clades 22B and 22E with changes A27- (S), I68- (S), R346T (S) and G30- (N); and one set shared by clades 22F and 23A containing changes A27- (S), F486P (S) and G30- (N). Booster doses showed a slight improvement in protection against Omicron clades. Regarding 21J (Delta) two sets of sequences from Dataset_2 exhibited the combination of non-clade mutations P2046L (ORF1a), P2287S (ORF1a), L829I (ORF1b), T95I (S), Y145H (S), R158- (S) and Q9L (N), that was associated with vaccine failure. Discussion: Vaccine coverage associations appear to be influenced by the mutations harbored by marketed vaccines. An analysis of the physicochemical properties of amino acid revealed that primarily hydrophobic and polar amino acid substitutions occurred. Our results suggest that non-defining mutations across the proteome of SARS-CoV-2 variants could affect the extent of protection of the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, alteration of the physicochemical characteristics of viral amino acids could potentially disrupt protein structure or function or both.

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Detection of Student Behavior Profiles Applying Neural Networks and Decision Trees

2020 , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Sanchez-Gordon S. , Arias Flores, Hugo Patricio , Varela Aldas, José , Castillo Salazar, David Ricardo , Borja M. , Fierro-Saltos W. , Rivera R. , Hidalgo-Guijarro J. , Yandún-Velasteguí M.

Education worldwide is a significant aspect for the development of the peoples and much more in developing countries such as those in Latin America, where less than 22% of its inhabitants have higher education. Research in this field is a matter of interest for each of the governments to improve education policies. Therefore, the analysis of data on the behavior of a student in an educational institution is of utmost importance, because multiple aspects of progress or student dropout rates during their professional training period can be identified. The most important variables to identify the student’s behavior are the socio-economic ones, since the psychological state and the economic deficiencies that the student faces while is studying can be detected. This data provides grades, scholarships, attendance and information on student progress. During the first phase of the study, all the information is analyzed and it is determined which provides relevant data to develop a profile of a student behavior, as well as the pre-processing of the data obtained. In this phase, voracious algorithms are applied for the selection of attributes, such as greedy stepwise, Chi-squared test, Anova, RefiefF, Gain Radio, among others. In this work, we apply the artificial intelligence techniques, the results obtained are compared to generate a normal and unusual behavior of each student according to their professional career. In addition, the most optimal model that has had a higher accuracy percentage, false positive rate, false negative rate and mean squared error in the tests results are determined. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Predictive Model to Evaluate University Students' Perception and Attitude Towards Artificial Intelligence

2024 , María Lorena Noboa Torres , Daniela Alejandra Ribadeneira Pazmiño , Daniela Paola Avalos Espinoza , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron

Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a transformative tool impacting various industries, including education As Artificial Intelligence continues to develop and gain prominence in classrooms, understanding how students perceive this integration and how it affects their educational experience becomes crucial. The aim of this research was to develop a model to predict the perception of students at Bolívar State University regarding the use and potentialities of Artificial Intelligence in the educational field. The methodology employed a factorial analysis, which represents the relationships among a set of variables. From this, a logistic regression was performed, generating an equation to identify predictors that allowed understanding student behavior based on specific characteristics such as attitude, perception, and satisfaction. As a technique for information gathering, a questionnaire composed of 25 items on a Likert scale was used, statistically validated with a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.925. The results of the model show that all covariates, except "Insecurity and fear of using artificial intelligence tools", are significant (p < 0.001). This suggests that the remaining variables are related to the dependent variable "Positive Perception of the Usefulness of Artificial Intelligence in Learning". It is concluded that students have limited knowledge about Artificial Intelligence, and this may cause them to have unrealistic expectations. Training can help students learn about AI and how to use it effectively and ethically.

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Comparative Analysis of Neural Networks and Data Processing Techniques for Parkinson’s Gait Classification

2024 , Israel Reyes , Francis Andaluz , Kerly Troya , Luis Zhinin-Vera , Diego Almeida-Galárraga , Carolina Cadena-Morejón , Andrés Tirado-Espín , Santiago Villalba-Meneses , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an advancing neurodegenerative condition characterized by motor symptoms, including disturbances in gait and varying degrees of severity, typically assessed using the Hoehn and Yahr stages. Precise classification of PD gait patterns and severity levels is of paramount importance for efficient diagnosis and continuous treatment monitoring. This research article presents a comprehensive assessment of the performance of three distinct Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models integrated with diverse data processing techniques, encompassing segmentation, filtration, and noise reduction, in the context of classifying PD severity. The classification is based on the vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) measurements obtained from both healthy individuals and those afflicted by Parkinson’s disease, sourced from a well-established database (GaitPDB, Physio Net). The study provides a comparative analysis of the efficacy of these models in accurately discriminating between various gait patterns and stages of disease severity, underscoring their potential to enhance clinical decision-making and patient care. Additionally, the study offers valuable insights into the impact of data processing methodologies on classification performance