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Wearable Biosensor Technology in Education: A Systematic Review
(2024-04-11) Hernández-Mustieles, María A.; Lima-Carmona, Yoshua E.; Pacheco-Ramírez, Maxine A.; Mendoza-Armenta, Axel A.; Romero-Gómez, José Esteban; Cruz-Gómez, César F.; Rodríguez-Alvarado, Diana C.; Arceo, Alejandro; Cruz-Garza, Jesús G.; Ramírez-Moreno, Mauricio A.; Lozoya-Santos, Jorge de J.
Wearable Biosensor Technology (WBT) has emerged as a transformative tool in the educational system over the past decade. This systematic review encompasses a comprehensive analysis of WBT utilization in educational settings over a 10-year span (2012–2022), highlighting the evolution of this field to address challenges in education by integrating technology to solve specific educational challenges, such as enhancing student engagement, monitoring stress and cognitive load, improving learning experiences, and providing real-time feedback for both students and educators. By exploring these aspects, this review sheds light on the potential implications of WBT on the future of learning. A rigorous and systematic search of major academic databases, including Google Scholar and Scopus, was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant studies were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The articles selected were assessed for methodological quality and bias using established tools. The process of data extraction and synthesis followed a structured framework. Key findings include the shift from theoretical exploration to practical implementation, with EEG being the predominant measurement, aiming to explore mental states, physiological constructs, and teaching effectiveness. Wearable biosensors are significantly impacting the educational field, serving as an important resource for educators and a tool for students. Their application has the potential to transform and optimize academic practices through sensors that capture biometric data, enabling the implementation of metrics and models to understand the development and performance of students and professors in an academic environment, as well as to gain insights into the learning process.
Hybrid Newton-like Inverse Free Algorithms for Solving Nonlinear Equations
(2024-04-10) Argyros, Ioannis K.; George, Santhosh; Regmi, Samundra; Argyros, Christopher I.
Iterative algorithms requiring the computationally expensive in general inversion of linear operators are difficult to implement. This is the reason why hybrid Newton-like algorithms without inverses are developed in this paper to solve Banach space-valued nonlinear equations. The inverses of the linear operator are exchanged by a finite sum of fixed linear operators. Two types of convergence analysis are presented for these algorithms: the semilocal and the local. The Fréchet derivative of the operator on the equation is controlled by a majorant function. The semi-local analysis also relies on majorizing sequences. The celebrated contraction mapping principle is utilized to study the convergence of the Krasnoselskij-like algorithm. The numerical experimentation demonstrates that the new algorithms are essentially as effective but less expensive to implement. Although the new approach is demonstrated for Newton-like algorithms, it can be applied to other single-step, multistep, or multipoint algorithms using inverses of linear operators along the same lines.
Peripheral Wavefront Sensor with Fixation Target Made by Optical Simulation for Measuring Human Eye Regardless of Spectacle
(2024-04-02) Oh, Su-Keun; Kim, Jung-Min; Yoon, Geun-Young; Yoo, Young-Sik; Kim, Dae Yu
This study proposes a custom-built aberrometer that measures peripheral defocus to evaluate myopia progression in the human eye. This advanced device can measure visual fields in both horizontal (up to 40°) and vertical (up to 30°) orientations. It incorporates a novel fixation target that is meticulously designed using an optical simulation software. Notably, each angular point of this novel fixation target differs considerably from the conventional fixation target. To mitigate the effects of the optical variations introduced by spectacles and the subject’s vision, we incorporated a position-variable lens positioned in front of the eye. This lens compensates for these variations, enhancing the precision of the measurements. To evaluate the performance of the proposed aberrometer, we conducted experiments under three distinct conditions: first, with the naked eye; second, while wearing spectacles; and third, while wearing a multifocal lens.
Exploring the Prospects of Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) as a Therapeutic Intervention for Post-Stroke Motor Recovery: A Narrative Review
(2024-03-27) Meng, Hao; Houston, Michael; Zhang, Yingchun; Li, Sheng
Introduction: Stroke survivors often have motor impairments and related functional deficits. Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) is a rapidly evolving field that offers a wide range of capabilities for modulating brain function, and it is safe and inexpensive. It has the potential for widespread use for post-stroke motor recovery. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS), and Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS) are three recognized tES techniques that have gained substantial attention in recent years but have different mechanisms of action. tDCS has been widely used in stroke motor rehabilitation, while applications of tACS and tRNS are very limited. The tDCS protocols could vary significantly, and outcomes are heterogeneous. Purpose: the current review attempted to explore the mechanisms underlying commonly employed tES techniques and evaluate their prospective advantages and challenges for their applications in motor recovery after stroke. Conclusion: tDCS could depolarize and hyperpolarize the potentials of cortical motor neurons, while tACS and tRNS could target specific brain rhythms and entrain neural networks. Despite the extensive use of tDCS, the complexity of neural networks calls for more sophisticated modifications like tACS and tRNS.
Uncovering Novel Protein Partners of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in Human Testis
(2024-03-24) Prabhakara, Karthik S.; Ganapathy, Kavya; Islam, Kazi N.; Thyagarajan, Hiran M.; Tiwari, Kirti K.; Parimi, Ramya L.; Rashid, Mohammad B.
Peroxidative damage to human spermatozoa has been shown to be the primary cause of male infertility. The possible role of nitric oxide (NO) in affecting sperm motility, capacitation, and acrosome reaction has been reported, too. The overproduction of NO by the enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) could be responsible as it has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases. There have been many studies on regulating iNOS function in various tissues, especially by protein–protein interaction; however, no study has looked for iNOS-interacting proteins in the human testis. Here, we have reported the identification of two proteins that interact with iNOS. We initially undertook a popular yeast two-hybrid assay to screen a human testis cDNA library in yeast using an iNOS-peptide fragment (amino acids 181–335) as bait. We verified our data using the mammalian chemiluminescent co-IP method; first, employing the same peptide and, then, a full-length protein co-expressed in HEK293 cells in addition to the candidate protein. In both cases, these two protein partners of iNOS were revealed: (a) sperm acrosome-associated 7 protein and (b) retinoblastoma tumor-suppressor binding protein.