Now showing 1 - 10 of 14
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A Virtual Repository of Learning Objects to Support Literacy of SEN Children

2015 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Guerrero L.A.

Literacy development is an essential process for special education needs children. Otherwise, they will have additional difficulties in their daily life activities and hence their social inclusion. It is a big challenge for parents and teachers, but it is easier if the process begins since childhood. In this paper, we present Tic@ula, a virtual repository for creating, centralizing, and sharing learning objects based on the IEEE learning object metadata standard. The framework aims to enhance the adaptation of the resources for literacy to the Costa Rican reality and extend its application to children with moderate intellectual disability. The educational resources are based on the literacy method proposed by Spanish authors in their book Down Syndrome: Reading and Writing. The method and the resources were evaluated in a case study. The preliminary results showed that the method cannot only be applied in local context but also assists teachers and parents in the design and use of literacy resources for special education. © 2013 IEEE.

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Neuropsychological assessment of attention: Symbols and digits test.

2018 , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Acosta-Rodas P. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Guevara-Maldonado C.B. , Zapata-Rodríguez M. , Apolo-Buenaño D.

Introduction: The symbol digit modality test is a reactive which provides great support in neuropsychological evaluation. Its execution permits to evaluate brain functions such as visual perception, stimuli recognition, attention (focal, selective and sustained), task supervision, interference control among others. Object: The purpose of the current research study was to analyze the normative percentiles of the execution of the test, to identify the performance activity of the reactive according to age group and gender; applying the test in a sample of college students. Method: The sample included 250 university students,142 (56.8%) males and 108 (43.2%) females. The age range of the participants was between 18 and 34 years old (M=21.53, DE=2.25). A transversal, non-experimental, quantitative research model with a correlational scope was used. Results: The correct answer average for the test was 52.83 (DE=13,60) and for percentile P5 31,55 right answers were found; for percentile P75 60,00 right answers, P25 had 46,00 right answers, and for P95 74,45 right answers were found. No significant differences were found for the mean of errors in the test in terms of age group f(3, 246)=0,67, p=0,57 and gender t(248)=0,68, p=0,49 of the participants as comparison factor. Conclusions: Results were discussed based on prior research pointing out the importance of counting with a first statistical parameter of the test as ground for neuropsychological clinical practice in Ecuador. © 2018 Fundacion para la difusion neurologica en Ecuador - FUNDINE. All rights reserved.

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Fundamental concepts in the neuropsychological theory [Conceptos fundamentales en la teoría neuropsicológica]

2017 , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Ramos V. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Lepe-Martínez N. , Paredes-Núñez L. , Gómez-García A. , Bolaños-Pasquel, Mónica

This article presents three concepts that are fundamental in the neuropsychological theoretical: (a) historical data in the study of the human brain, (b) neuropsychological evaluation of brain functions and (c) neuropsychological rehabilitation of brain functions. As relevant data in the theoretical development of the study of the human brain is a tour of the trepanation acts performed hundreds of years ago, the contributions of phrenology, the masterful findings of Broca and Wernicke, the heuristic contribution of Luria and the current revolution with the neuro-image. In the neuropsychological evaluation of brain functions, the role of specific, non-specific and delayed observation tests in the interpretation of the neuropsychological state of the human being is analyzed, which allow analyzing neuropsychological functions in the laboratory and in real lifeactivities. Finally, we analyze the process of neuropsychological rehabilitation of brain functions, where mention is made of the processes of restoration, compensation, substitution, activation-stimulation and integration, which are very useful when intervening in a brain that has suffered an acquired damage. It is concluded that the current accelerated pace has determined the advance of neuroscience, where technology and the forceful scientific contribution propose new techniques and theories to understand the processes of evaluation and rehabilitation of brain functioning.

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Behavioral Report from Professors and Self-Report from University Students

2018 , Ramos-Galarza C. , Fiallo-Karolys X. , Ramos V. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio

In this article, we analyze the internal consistency of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th ed. (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the adult population, in addition, we analyze the correlation between the teacher's report and the student's own, the prevalence of the disorder and the risk of presenting it according to gender. The sample was composed by 175 university students aged between 16 and 36 years old (M = 21.49, SD = 3.22) that belonged to the private higher education system of Quito, Ecuador. As measurement instruments, two scales were used based on the 18 items of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD described in the DSM-5. As a result, it was determined that the scales used present adequate internal consistency coefficients (attention deficit α = .77 & α = .90; hyperactivity/impulsivity α = .74 & α = .91 & the total scale α = .83 & α = .92 filled by the student and the professor, respectively), all scales correlated significantly between .15 and .88. As far as the ADHD prevalence percentage in university students, findings showed that the subtypes would be present between 7.42% and 26.85% of the time. As a risk factor, it was found that men present more probability to have ADHD than women. The article concludes pointing out the importance to implement intervention programs for university students that could present ADHD, since the condition could influence negatively the spheres in which the students with the disorder perform. © 2018 American Psychological Association.

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Anomaly detection with negative selection and graphs of user behavior profiles [Detección de anomalías con selección negativa y gráfos de perfiles de comportamiento del usuario]

2018 , Maldonado C.B.G. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio

This work proposes the application of a Negative Selection Algorithm inspired in Artificial Immune Systems and the use of Graphs. This approach allows to identify anomalous activities based on user's behavior, during the execution of tasks, as well as at the end of the user session. The main contributions of this work are: creation of a graph-based user profile for the detection and prediction of anomalies in execution tasks. In addition, the generation of anomalous behaviors for the detection of irregularities at the end of the user session. The article presents in detail the development and the acceptable result in the detection of fraudulent tasks, showing an optimum precision and a low percentage of false positives. © AISTI 2016.

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Use of tangible interfaces to support a literacy system in children with intellectual disabilities

2014 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , López G. , Guerrero L.A.

People with intellectual disabilities should develop reading and writing skills since children. Otherwise, they will have additional difficulties in their daily life activities, as buying in a store, taking medicaments or getting a job. In this paper we present a prototype that uses tangible interfaces and augmented objects to support a literacy method for children with intellectual disabilities. The prototype was evaluated and the preliminary results showed that the system can not only assists teachers in the classroom, but also helps to better manage the interaction with children and non-traditional interfaces. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.

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Talented soccer players, the big secret is in the brain: The great tragedy of the star player and the fate of magicians with a preserved nervous systems

2017 , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Peña-García S. , Pérez-Salas C. , Cadena-Almeida I. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Bolaños-Pasquel M.

In previous work, we have presented case studies from fascinating films for the eye of the neuropsychologist;1,2,3 continuing with this line of research, we describe here for your consideration a critical analysis of the role of brain functions in one of the most fascinating sports, soccer. In this analysis, we will look more closely at the brain damage suffered by the great footballer Salvador Cabañas and the role of the highly complex brain functions that allow the magical players to stand out in this sport. In the next pages, we present the case of Salvador Cabañas, both before and after his cerebral accident, and later we analyze the cerebral functions that are activated in brilliant players like Messi or Ronaldinho. We conclude this article by reflecting on the role of the brain in our normal human activities, and how catastrophic it becomes on a daily basis when our brain tissue is damaged so that as a result of this condition we can lose everything. © 2017 Fundacion para la difusion neurologica en Ecuador - FUNDINE. All Rights Reserved.

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Neuropsychological evaluation of inhibitory control and interference control: Validation of experimental tasks in the ecuadorian context

2017 , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Ramos D. , Bolaños M. , Ramos V. , Fiallo-Karolys M.X.

This article reports a study in which three experimental tasks (SIMON, Go / No-Go and Stroop Victoria) were adapted and validated to evaluate the inhibitory control and interference control in a sample of Ecuadorian students. The sample consisted of 100 students between 6 and 15 years old (M = 10.13 years, SD = 2.48) belonging to the public education system of Ecuador. The process followed in the adaptation and validation was through the linguistic translation of the experiments, followed by an expert judgment and a pilot study. In the results it was found that there are no statistically significant differences in the measures that assess the inhibitory control and the interference considering the sociodemographic variables of the participants as comparison factors. In the correlation analysis we found a statistically significant association between the measurements of the experiments. We conclude by analyzing the associations found and underlining the need to continue providing evidence in the research line of adaptation and validation of test for using in neuropsychological evaluation.

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Efeco scale for assessing executive functions in self-report format [La escala efec'o para valorar funciones ejecutivas en formato de auto-reporte]

2019 , Ramos Galarza, Carlos , Bolanos-Pasquel M. , Garcia-Gomez A. , Siiarez P.M. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio

EFEC'O questionnaire is an instrument that allows assessing executive functions from an ecological perspective because it is based on a day-by-day behavioral report of an individual. The aim was to validate EFEC'O questionnaire in a self-report format. Participants were 250 Ecuadorian adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (3/a?e=16.23. SD=\.Ti). As results, there was found a significant internal consistency (a=.64-.95), correlation among items (r=.32-.62), correlation among sub-scales (r=.40-76). confirmatory factor analysis of two factors (x2=3S.S7, CFI=98, RMSEA=. 065 [035-094], SRMR=027) and discriminant capacity in monitoring, cognitive flexibility. organization of material, initiative, working memory and planning of adolescents with differences on academic performance. In the discussion part, results are presented in relation to previous findings and taking on account the importance of having an instrument with an ecological validity to assess executive functions. © 2019 AIDEP. All rights reserved.

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An agile approach to improve the usability of a physical telerehabilitation platform

2019 , Pilco H. , Sanchez-Gordon S. , Calle-Jimenez T. , Pérez-Medina J.L. , Rybarczyk Y. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Maldonado C.G. , Nunes I.L.

The goal of a telerehabilitation platform is to safely and securely facilitate the rehabilitation of patients through the use of telecommunication technologies complemented with the use of biomedical smart sensors. The purpose of this study was to perform a usability evaluation of a telerehabilitation platform. To improve the level of usability, the researchers developed and proposed an iterative process. The platform uses a digital representation of the patient which duplicates the therapeutic exercise being executed by the patient; this is detected by a Kinect camera and sensors in real time. This study used inspection methods to perform a usability evaluation of an exploratory prototype of a telerehabilitation platform. In addition, a cognitive workload assessment was performed to complement the usability evaluation. Users were involved through all the stages of the iterative refinement process. Usability issues were progressively reduced from the first iteration to the fourth iteration according to improvements which were developed and applied by the experts. Usability issues originally cataloged as catastrophic were reduced to zero, major usability problems were reduced to ten (2.75%) and minor usability problems were decreased to 141 (38.74%). This study also intends to serve as a guide to improve the usability of e-Health systems in alignment with the software development cycle. © 2019 by the authors.