Search results for " aid"

Context metadata to adapt Ambient Learning Environments

2008

Ambient learning and knowledge environments (ALKE) are a promising concept for new methods of learning and in particular adapted, personalized learning environments. However, currently very few approaches specify concepts for adaptation. We present a metadata approach to identify and (automatically) derive the context of learning environments as a basis for adaptation. The concept has been partially validated in a scenario of ldquoSpontaneous Group Learningrdquo in Higher Education.

Evaluation of drug-polymer solubility curves through formal statistical analysis: comparison of preparation techniques.

2014

ABSTRACT: In this study, the influence of the preparation technique (ball milling, spray drying, and film casting) of a supersaturated amorphous dispersion on the quality of solubility determinations of indomethacin in polyvinylpyrrolidone was investigated by means of statistical analysis. After annealing of the amorphous dispersions above the crystallization temperature for 2 h, the solubility curve was derived from the glass transition temperature of the demixed material using the Gordon–Taylor relationship and fitting with the Flory–Huggins model. The study showed that the predicted solubility from the ball-milled mixtures was not consistent with those from spray drying and film casting,…

Pharmacokinetics in Drug Discovery

2007

The aim of this current review is to summarize the present status of pharmacokinetics in Drug Discovery. The review is structured into four sections. The first section is a general overview of what we understand by pharmacokinetics and the different LADMET aspects: Liberation, Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity. The second section highlights the different computational or in silico approaches to estimate/predict one or several aspects of the pharmacokinetic profile of a discovery lead compound. The third section discusses the most commonly used in vitro methodologies. The fourth and last section examines the various approaches employed towards the pharmacokinetic …

Non-stochastic quadratic fingerprints and LDA-based QSAR models in hit and lead generation through virtual screening: theoretical and experimental as…

2005

In order to explore the ability of non-stochastic quadratic indices to encode chemical information in antimalarials, four quantitative models for the discrimination of compounds having this property were generated and statistically compared. Accuracies of 90.2% and 83.3% for the training and test sets, respectively, were observed for the best of all the models, which included non-stochastic quadratic fingerprints weighted with Pauling electronegativities. With a comparative purpose and as a second validation experiment, an exercise of virtual screening of 65 already-reported antimalarials was carried out. Finally, 17 new compounds were classified as either active/inactive ones and experimen…

Development and optimisation of computational tools for drug discovery

The aim of my PhD project was the development, optimisation, and implementation of new in silico virtual screening protocols. Specifically, this thesis manuscript is divided into three main parts, presenting some of the papers published during my doctoral work. The first one, here named CHEMOMETRIC PROTOCOLS IN DRUG DISCOVERY, is about the optimisation and application of an in house developed chemometric protocol. This part has been entirely developed at the University of Palermo - STEBICEF Department - under the guide of my supervisors. During the development of this part I have personally worked on the tuning and optimisation of the algorithm and on the docking campaigns to obtain molecul…

Topological Approach to Drug Design

1995

In this paper we demonstrated that by an adequate combination of different topological indices it is possible to select and design new active compounds in different therapeutical scopes, with a very high efficiency level. Particularly successful in the search of new "lead drugs", the results show the surprising ability of the topological methods to describe molecular structures.

Multiple-attribute decision support system based on fuzzy logic for performance assessment

2005

Abstract This paper deals with the problem of assessing the performance of a set of production units, simultaneously considering different kinds of information, yielded by a Data Envelopment Analysis, a qualitative data analysis and an expert assessment. The tool for integrating heterogeneous data is a model that applies fuzzy logic to decision support systems. The results obtained are a holistic performance assessment of each unit of the set and a ranking order of the units.

Spim-Cache: A Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Cache Memories Through Code-Based Exercises

2007

Cache memories represent a core topic in all computer organization and architecture courses offered at universities around the world. As a consequence, educational proposals and textbooks address important efforts to this topic. A valuable pedagogical help when studying cache memories is to perform exercises based on simple algorithms, which allow the identification of cache accesses, for instance, a program accessing the elements of an array. These exercises, referred to as code-based exercises, have a good acceptance among instructors of computer organization courses. Nevertheless, no tool (e.g., simulator) has been developed to be used in undergraduate courses working with this kind of e…

Diversification of adult education with the help of video lectures

2010

For some years now, adult education and working while studying have had an important role in the modern society. Mature-age study brings with it some special features, such as time use limitations, which must be taken into account when creating educational programmes for the students concerned. Above all, flexibility must become a major feature of participation in education. In relation to the Master Studies in Mathematical Information Technology at Kokkola University Consortium, the aim for some years now has been to increase that flexibility by diversifying traditional lecture teaching with the help of real-time and on-demand video lectures. With the help of the results presented in this …

Massive Lesions Classification using Features based on Morphological Lesion Differences

2007

Purpose of this work is the development of an automatic classification system which could be useful for radiologists in the investigation of breast cancer. The software has been designed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 collaboration. In the automatic classification system the suspicious regions with high probability to include a lesion are extracted from the image as regions of interest (ROIs). Each ROI is characterized by some features based on morphological lesion differences. Some classifiers as a Feed Forward Neural Network, a K-Nearest Neighbours and a Support Vector Machine are used to distinguish the pathological records from the healthy ones. The results obtained in terms of sensiti…