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The role of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) is very important when conducting educational activities, specially in the case of distant education - when its use becomes essential since all the interactions among the participants in the learning/teaching process are conducted through it. There are a number tools to provide this functionality, both open-source (such as .LRN, Sakai, or Moodle) and proprietary solutions (such as Blackboard).Given the wide variety of existing LMSs, it is worthwhile to devote effort in order to figure out which LMS is the most suitable for my needs? This paper strives at answering this question by presenting a twofold evaluation that compares three of the most widely used open-source LMS, namely .LRN, Sakai, and Moodle. First, a performance evaluation is presented that shows the different levels of use of the hardware resources (e.g. CPU, memory, I/O) of the machine the LMS is running on. Second, a performance evaluation from the point of view of the system administrators is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the make-up of interactive computer simulations that implement virtual laboratories in the field of Control Engineering education. We introduce Easy Java Simulations (EJS), a Java-based tool designed to help control educators with a low profile in programming to create interactive scientific simulations. This tool can be used on its own, generating stand-alone Java applications or applets, or in conjunction with MATLAB/Simulink, using them as the internal engine that describes and solves the model. This tool allows users to develop complete, interactive simulations in three steps: writing the mathematical model (optionally using MATLAB/Simulink), building the graphical user interface (GUI) using off-the-shelf graphical elements, and linking the GUI elements to the variables of the model. In this way, models of control engineering can be specified either using the programming support provided by EJS or by using MATLAB/Simulink, which can then be fully controlled from EJS. In this paper we describe this particular feature in detail, and provide some examples that show the advantages that this tool offers to the world-wide engineering education community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many investigations have been carried out with the objective of identifying the difficulties that students have in the learning process of the different mathematical concepts. Some studies have highlighted that the process of teaching mathematical knowledge by teachers in secondary and secondary education in Colombia, has been limited to a minimalist expression of algebraic processes that in no way contribute to the understanding and appropriation of these concepts of origin abstract. Students who enter the various engineering programs in the university must immediately face a Differential Calculus course, which will demand from the student a whole series of competences around the numerical, variational and spatial thoughts. It is in this scenario where we seek to identify the epistemological obstacles presented by the students of the Faculty of Engineering programs at the beginning of the academic training process at the UFPS. An instrument was designed that incorporates a series of activities that use diverse registers of semiotic representation tending to determine the level of appropriation that the students have around the concepts of limit and continuity. From the findings it is highlighted that students assume the concepts of limit and continuity as equals.

This study aims to assess the understanding of the notion of function and the ability to articulate different semiotic registers for representation by new students in the university in Colombia. Immediate context is taken as the Faculty of Engineering at a public university. Epistemologically the study is based on symbolic interaction by analyzing the meanings that students attributed to this mathematical concept when addressing problem solving. The methodology, therefore, is qualitatively and use of theoretical coding is done. For analysis of the results it has been applied grounded theory with a structured approach. The information generated by this study corresponds to a test that showed students two graphic representations with the intent to identify which of them was a function, besides which should argue their response. Altogether 86 arguments around the concept are analyzed. Data analysis was done through atlas.ti 7.0 software. The system allows a glimpse of emerging categories the following findings: conceptual deficiencies, diversity in conceptual approaches, conceptual referents, semiotic representations, and finally highlight the various conceptual variations.

Objetivo: determinar el mantenimiento del peso e índice de masa corporal en un corto plazo en pacientes entre 18 y 81 años de edad, que asistieron a tratamiento integral para sobrepeso y obesidad en consulta médica especializada Materiales y Métodos: el diseño del estudio es de tipo descriptivo observacional. La población corresponde a 67 pacientes que asistieron a tratamiento de sobrepeso y obesidad, de la cual se seleccionó una muestra que corresponde a 53 pacientes que asistieron a terapia durante el año 2012 asistiendo a última consulta en diciembre del año 2012 y reiniciando el tratamiento en enero del 2013, a quienes se les diligenció la historia clínica, cuyos datos fueron condensados en una base de datos especialmente diseñada para el estudio. Resultados: al comparar las variables del estudio entre diciembre 2012 y enero 2013, se encontró que la media de cambio en el peso fue de 0,075 ±1,57DS (p=0,729). El % de variación de peso obtenido fue de 0,12% con DS ± 2,23 y la media de la variación del índice de masa corporal fue de 0,0245 ±0,62DS (p=0,776). Conclusión: los pacientes logran mantener peso e índice de masa corporal alcanzado en el tratamiento, y mantienen éstos valores durante cortos periodos como lo es la época de navidad y fin de año, esto debido a que el paciente aprende a llevar los nuevos hábitos inclusive en ésta corta temporada en la que la dieta, a nivel cultural, tiende a ser de alto contenido calórico

Microalbuminuria (MA) is present in hypertensive autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients, but has not been reported in normotensive ADPKD patients. We examined the prevalence of MA and the effect of different determinants on urinary albumin excretion in a group of 42 normotensive ADPKD patients. Metabolic parameters, plasma renin activity and aldosterone and serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity were determined. A 24-h urine sample two or three times over a 6-month period was collected to evaluate MA. Each patient underwent an echocardiography to measure left ventricular mass. Eight patients (19%) showed MA (61.6 mg/day, range 37-164), whereas 34 patients (81%) were normoalbuminuric (8.8 mg/day, range 2-29). The groups were matched for all possible confounding variables, but microalbuminuric patients showed a tendency towards greater systolic blood pressure, plasma renin activity and left ventricular mass. There was no correlation between MA and age, sex, body mass index, systolic or diastolic blood pressure, plasma renin activity, serum ACE levels or left ventricular index. The present study demonstrates a high prevalence of MA in normotensive ADPKD patients. MA may be a predictor of early renal and vascular damage in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted with 190 first semester students who studied the art of mathematics I, in the career of Business Administration Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander (UFPS). Through a survey, some sociodemographic characteristics of the population were identified by determining the formal thought through Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) Tobin and Capie and academic performance through the first preliminary note. The results indicate that among students concrete thinking predominates and not the existence of a relationship with academic performance is observed, as this may be affected by other factors that have not been considered in this research. Investigations of other influential factors on academic performance are proposed.