Web-based Interactive Application Research Articles

A Web-Based Interactive Application to Simulate and Correct Distortion in Multibeam Sonars

Multibeam sonars are advanced scientific tools for estimating fish school volume and density, using multiple beams to provide comprehensive size measurements of detected targets. However, challenges remain in accurately estimating target dimensions due to beam geometric expansion and overlap, particularly in athwart-beam measurements, which tend to be overestimated with increasing distance from the transducer. We present an interactive web application that simulates distortion caused by beam overlap and expansion in multibeam sonars using simple geometric equations. Users can define sonar characteristics, such as the number of beams, swath opening, or degree of overlap, as well as specify an elliptical target’s dimensions, orientation, and distance from the transducer. The application estimates and visualises the true and distorted shapes of the target, calculating the level of distortion. It can run simulations in both forward and inverse directions, either simulating the distortion of a true school or correcting the shape of a distorted school. This tool aims to enhance the interpretation of multibeam sonar signals and improve the accuracy of target dimension estimates, facilitating more effective use of these sonars in scientific research.

A web-based interactive decision support system for a multi-objective lot-sizing and production scheduling model

In the course of globalization and the corresponding steadily growing market dynamics, companies are faced with an increasing challenge to remain competitive. Therefore, the efficient use of the available resources, while maintaining a high level of service and customer satisfaction, is a key instrument for ensuring success. Within this framework, production scheduling can be seen as one of the most decisive operational activities of a manufacturing company, with the production orders being sequenced in a way that allows the achievement of an efficient allocation of the available resources. Furthermore, the correlated lot-sizing represents a crucial influencing factor in production scheduling. In this article, a novel methodology to solve multi-objective lot-sizing and production scheduling problems is proposed. Essentially, it provides an interactive three-phase framework that supports a procedure for simultaneous decision-making regarding lot-sizing and production scheduling. The main goal is not only to find an appropriate production schedule that best meets the decision-maker’s preferences but also to gain a deeper insight into the relationship among criteria and a better understanding of possible trade-offs between competing objectives. To guide the user through the whole decision-making process, a web-based interactive application was developed. The proposed methodology was applied to a case study regarding an automotive supplier company, revealing itself as a viable and practical technique able to solve real-world multi-objective lot-sizing and production scheduling problems in the manufacturing industry.

The impact of interactive clinically-based learning on the performance of medical students in radiology

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of changing the teaching method in the radiology course at a medical school from lecture-based learning to clinically case-based learning using interactive methods, with the aim to improve undergraduate radiology education and students' diagnostic abilities. MethodsDuring the 2018–2019 academic year, we compared the achievements of medical students in the radiology course. Teaching in the first year was primarily conducted through conventional lectures (traditional course; TC), while in the following year, a case-based teaching approach along with an interactive web application called "Nearpod" (clinically-oriented course; COC) was employed to motivate student participation. The student knowledge assessments were composed of identical post-test questions, which included five images of common diagnoses. The results were compared using Pearson's Chi-Square test or Fisher Exact Test. ResultsThere were 72 students who answered the post-test in the first year and 55 students responded in the second year. Post-test student achievements following the methodological changes were significantly higher as compared with the control group in the total grade (65.1 ± 21.5 vs. 40.8 ± 19.1, p < 0.001). An improvement in the identification rates of all assessed cases was noticed, with the most prominent improvement in pneumothorax recognition (4.2% vs. 61.8%, p < 0.001). ConclusionTeaching radiology using clinical case-based teaching methods combined with web-based interactive applications like Nearpod results in significant improvements in identifying key imaging pathologies when compared to traditional teaching methods. This approach has the potential to enhance radiology learning and better prepare students for their future roles as clinicians.

Catch the Open! A Gamified Interactive Immersion Into Open Educational Practices for Higher Education Educators.

Open Education (OE) opens up learning opportunities to, potentially, every person in the world. Additionally, it allows teachers, researchers, and practitioners to find, share, reuse, and improve existing resources under a dependable legal framework. Aiming to spread and foster the introduction of open policies in Higher Education (HE) institutions, the gamified interactive learning experience Catch the Open! was developed. Catch the Open! targets HE educators who wish to learn, or who wish to deepen their existing knowledge, about OE and Open Educational Practices (OEP). Within the gamified learning experience, the user becomes an educator, Alex, the game character, who receives a task from the Rector: to investigate how to best include OE and OEP in teaching and learning practice within the institution. Alex proceeds to explore and gather information in a web-based 2D virtual HE institution where students, colleagues, and guest researchers will help her to develop a comprehensive understanding of OE and the practical application of OEP. The educational content within Catch the Open! is underpinned by an OE competences framework for HE educators, developed in a previous phase of the Erasmus+ OpenGame project. In this paper, the design process to link pedagogical and technological approaches, which results in the Catch the Open! gamified web-based interactive application, is presented as well as the application itself. Moreover, two phases of piloting with 153 HE educators from six different HE institutions are presented. The obtained findings showed that the gamified environment helped in learning about OE. On the other hand, learners also suggested several improvement aspects of the gamified environment, such as the length of finishing a learning mission while playing.

PAGER Web APP: An Interactive, Online Gene Set and Network Interpretation Tool for Functional Genomics.

Functional genomics studies have helped researchers annotate differentially expressed gene lists, extract gene expression signatures, and identify biological pathways from omics profiling experiments conducted on biological samples. The current geneset, network, and pathway analysis (GNPA) web servers, e.g., DAVID, EnrichR, WebGestaltR, or PAGER, do not allow automated integrative functional genomic downstream analysis. In this study, we developed a new web-based interactive application, “PAGER Web APP”, which supports online R scripting of integrative GNPA. In a case study of melanoma drug resistance, we showed that the new PAGER Web APP enabled us to discover highly relevant pathways and network modules, leading to novel biological insights. We also compared PAGER Web APP’s pathway analysis results retrieved among PAGER, EnrichR, and WebGestaltR to show its advantages in integrative GNPA. The interactive online web APP is publicly accessible from the link, https://aimed-lab.shinyapps.io/PAGERwebapp/.

Dissemination and Exploitation of Regional Meteo-Hydrological Datasets through Web-based Interactive Applications: The SOL System Case Study

The effects of climate change are already being felt in several parts of the World. Variability of changing rainfall intensity, drought and weather patterns contribute to determining the vulnerability of many human activities such as agriculture. In the next future, climate change considerations will depend on having appropriate strategies such as strengthen implementation agencies working in a coordinated manner and with a data-driven approach in order to ensure monitoring, reporting and data verification. In this context, national and regional meteorological Services are facing with high demand for timely and quality information, services and products. A web-based interactive application with the aim of disseminating meteo-hydrological information at regional scale is described in this paper. The web application is built on a relational database and client-side programming has been used for implementing the user interface and controlling the web page behavior. The combination of PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor, a general-purpose scripting language, especially suited to server-side web development) and JavaScript (high-level object-oriented scripting language, nowadays the dominant client-side scripting language of the Web) has been chosen for this reason, since such software is free to use for everyone. The SOL system, developed on behalf of Marche region, Italy, was chosen as a case study, due to its multi-source data framework and because of the processing and public dissemination of several ad-hoc data elaborations.

Developing English Learning Materials for Mechanical Engineering Students Using Padlet

Due to emergence of English for Specific Purposes where nowadays English not only a learning material for students but it has become a need for people. Mechanical Engineering graduates are expected to have English ability to compete in job profession. For that reason, it was important to develop English learning material based on the needs of Mechanical Engineering student. The aimed of this research was to develop appropriate English learning materials for the students of Mechanical Engineering Students by using Padlet. Padlet is a web-based interactive application that can be used for communication among students. This research was conducted by using research and development method which involves a preliminary stage and collects information, planning, develop of product and expert validation. The research result was feasible to use based on validation step which was 80% and categorized very good. The product of this research were six units of English learning materials in the form of spoken and written texts as well as grammar explanation. The activities encourage the students to actively participate in the classroom discussion and be involved in solving the task. This research is expected to give contribution to English learning especially English for Mechanical Engineering students.

Summary: 2017 International Consultation on Incontinence Evidence-Based Surgical Pathway for Pelvic Organ Prolapse

The aim of this article is to summarize the relevant findings that inform the 2017 International Consultation on Incontinence pathway for surgical treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). We conducted an evidence-based review of the English-language peer-reviewed literature relating to POP surgery published prior to December 2016. Level 1 evidence (randomized controlled trials [RCTs] or systematic reviews of RCTs) was preferred; however, level 2 (poor-quality RCT, prospective cohort studies) or 3 evidence (case series or retrospective studies) has been included if level 1 data were lacking. The committee evaluated the literature and made recommendations based on the Oxford grading system summarized as follows: grade A recommendation usually depends on consistent level 1 evidence; grade B recommendation usually depends on consistent level 2 and/or 3 studies, or "majority evidence" from RCTs; grade C recommendation usually depends on level 3 studies or "majority evidence" from level 2/3 studies or Delphi-processed expert opinion; grade D, "no recommendation possible," would be used where the evidence is inadequate or conflicting. The recommendations from each chapter of the review are presented and serve to inform an evidence-based pathway for the surgical treatment of prolapse. A Web-based interactive application of the pathway is presented. The 2017 International Consultation on Incontinence pathway on surgery for POP is designed as an adjunct to transparent consultation and consent relating to POP surgery. The final decision regarding surgical intervention can be made only after a shared decision-making process between the patient and the clinician that will evaluate a variety of individual factors that cannot be assessed in the pathway.

Development of cyberblog-based intelligent tutorial system to improve students learning ability algorithm

E-learning as a learning activity conducted online by the students with the usual tools is favoured by students. The use of computer media in learning provides benefits that are not owned by other learning media that is the ability of computers to interact individually with students. But the weakness of many learning media is to assume that all students have a uniform ability, when in reality this is not the case. The concept of Intelligent Tutorial System (ITS) combined with cyberblog application can overcome the weaknesses in neglecting diversity. An Intelligent Tutorial System-based Cyberblog application (ITS) is a web-based interactive application program that implements artificial intelligence which can be used as a learning and evaluation media in the learning process. The use of ITS-based Cyberblog in learning is one of the alternative learning media that is interesting and able to help students in measuring ability in understanding the material. This research will be associated with the improvement of logical thinking ability (logical thinking) of students, especially in algorithm subjects.

CircularLogo: A lightweight web application to visualize intra-motif dependencies

BackgroundThe sequence logo has been widely used to represent DNA or RNA motifs for more than three decades. Despite its intelligibility and intuitiveness, the traditional sequence logo is unable to display the intra-motif dependencies and therefore is insufficient to fully characterize nucleotide motifs. Many methods have been developed to quantify the intra-motif dependencies, but fewer tools are available for visualization.ResultWe developed CircularLogo, a web-based interactive application, which is able to not only visualize the position-specific nucleotide consensus and diversity but also display the intra-motif dependencies. Applying CircularLogo to HNF6 binding sites and tRNA sequences demonstrated its ability to show intra-motif dependencies and intuitively reveal biomolecular structure. CircularLogo is implemented in JavaScript and Python based on the Django web framework. The program’s source code and user’s manual are freely available at http://circularlogo.sourceforge.net. CircularLogo web server can be accessed from http://bioinformaticstools.mayo.edu/circularlogo/index.html.ConclusionCircularLogo is an innovative web application that is specifically designed to visualize and interactively explore intra-motif dependencies.

A three-plane architectonic atlas of the rat hippocampal region.

The hippocampal region, comprising the hippocampal formation and the parahippocampal region, has been one of the most intensively studied parts of the brain for decades. Better understanding of its functional diversity and complexity has led to an increased demand for specificity in experimental procedures and manipulations. In view of the complex 3D structure of the hippocampal region, precisely positioned experimental approaches require a fine-grained architectural description that is available and readable to experimentalists lacking detailed anatomical experience. In this paper, we provide the first cyto- and chemoarchitectural description of the hippocampal formation and parahippocampal region in the rat at high resolution and in the three standard sectional planes: coronal, horizontal and sagittal. The atlas uses a series of adjacent sections stained for neurons and for a number of chemical marker substances, particularly parvalbumin and calbindin. All the borders defined in one plane have been cross-checked against their counterparts in the other two planes. The entire dataset will be made available as a web-based interactive application through the Rodent Brain WorkBench (http://www.rbwb.org) which, together with this paper, provides a unique atlas resource.

A managerial decision-making web app: Goldratt's evaporating cloud

This paper presents a web-based interactive application designed to complement and expand upon a relatively new conflict elimination tool, the evaporating cloud, introduced by Goldratt in the business novel It's Not Luck (Goldratt, E., 1994. It s not luck. Croton-on-Hudson, NY: North River Press). The application allows users to enter information concerning a conflict in a step-by-step manner providing opportunity to revisit input entered in previous steps. It presents the conflict in a simple, logical diagram, and systematically guides the user through the process of surfacing underlying assumptions and developing potential solutions. Based on our experience in a senior-level operations management course, we find that most students consider the web app useful in helping them articulate and resolve conflicts and, thereby, make good decisions. Suggestions for using the application in an operations management class are included.

Recovering Protein-Protein and Domain-Domain Interactions from Aggregation of IP-MS Proteomics of Coregulator Complexes

Coregulator proteins (CoRegs) are part of multi-protein complexes that transiently assemble with transcription factors and chromatin modifiers to regulate gene expression. In this study we analyzed data from 3,290 immuno-precipitations (IP) followed by mass spectrometry (MS) applied to human cell lines aimed at identifying CoRegs complexes. Using the semi-quantitative spectral counts, we scored binary protein-protein and domain-domain associations with several equations. Unlike previous applications, our methods scored prey-prey protein-protein interactions regardless of the baits used. We also predicted domain-domain interactions underlying predicted protein-protein interactions. The quality of predicted protein-protein and domain-domain interactions was evaluated using known binary interactions from the literature, whereas one protein-protein interaction, between STRN and CTTNBP2NL, was validated experimentally; and one domain-domain interaction, between the HEAT domain of PPP2R1A and the Pkinase domain of STK25, was validated using molecular docking simulations. The scoring schemes presented here recovered known, and predicted many new, complexes, protein-protein, and domain-domain interactions. The networks that resulted from the predictions are provided as a web-based interactive application at http://maayanlab.net/HT-IP-MS-2-PPI-DDI/.

ChEA: transcription factor regulation inferred from integrating genome-wide ChIP-X experiments

Experiments such as ChIP-chip, ChIP-seq, ChIP-PET and DamID (the four methods referred herein as ChIP-X) are used to profile the binding of transcription factors to DNA at a genome-wide scale. Such experiments provide hundreds to thousands of potential binding sites for a given transcription factor in proximity to gene coding regions. In order to integrate data from such studies and utilize it for further biological discovery, we collected interactions from such experiments to construct a mammalian ChIP-X database. The database contains 189,933 interactions, manually extracted from 87 publications, describing the binding of 92 transcription factors to 31,932 target genes. We used the database to analyze mRNA expression data where we perform gene-list enrichment analysis using the ChIP-X database as the prior biological knowledge gene-list library. The system is delivered as a web-based interactive application called ChIP Enrichment Analysis (ChEA). With ChEA, users can input lists of mammalian gene symbols for which the program computes over-representation of transcription factor targets from the ChIP-X database. The ChEA database allowed us to reconstruct an initial network of transcription factors connected based on shared overlapping targets and binding site proximity. To demonstrate the utility of ChEA we present three case studies. We show how by combining the Connectivity Map (CMAP) with ChEA, we can rank pairs of compounds to be used to target specific transcription factor activity in cancer cells. The ChEA software and ChIP-X database is freely available online at: http://amp.pharm.mssm.edu/lib/chea.jsp.

Dynamic modeling and simulation of greenhouse environments under several scenarios: A web-based application

Greenhouse crop production systems are located throughout the world within a wide range of climatic conditions. To achieve environmental conditions favorable for plant growth, greenhouses are designed with various components, structural shapes, and numerous types of glazing materials. They are operated differently according to each condition. To improve the pedagogy and the understanding of the complexity and dynamic behavior of greenhouse environments with different configurations, an interactive, dynamic greenhouse environment simulator was developed. The greenhouse environment model, based on energy and mass balance principles, was implemented in a web-based interactive application that allowed for the selection of the greenhouse design, weather conditions, and operational strategies. The greenhouse environment simulator was designed to be used as an educational tool for demonstrating the physics of greenhouse systems and environmental control principles. Several scenarios were simulated to demonstrate how a specific greenhouse design would respond environmentally for several climate conditions (four seasons of four geographical locations), and to demonstrate what systems would be required to achieve the desired environmental conditions. The greenhouse environment simulator produced realistic approximations of the dynamic behavior of greenhouse environments with different design configurations for 28-h simulation periods.