From Multi-User Virtual Environment to 3D Virtual Learning Environment

While digital virtual worlds have been used in education for a number of years, advances in the capabilities and spread of technology have fed a recent boom in interest in massively multi‐user 3D virtual worlds for entertainment, and this in turn has led to a surge of interest in their educational applications. In this paper we briefly review the use of virtual worlds for education, from informal learning to formal instruction, and consider what is required to turn a virtual world from a Multi‐User Virtual Environment into a fully fledged 3D Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). In this we focus on the development of Sloodle – a system which integrates the popular 3D virtual world of Second Life with the open‐source VLE Moodle. Our intent is not simply to provide additional learning support features for Second Life, but to study more generally the ways in which integrated virtual environments can benefit teaching and learning, and this is the focus of our closing discussion

Serverification of Molecular Modeling Applications: the Rosetta Online Server that Includes Everyone (ROSIE)

The Rosetta molecular modeling software package provides experimentally tested and rapidly evolving tools for the 3D structure prediction and high-resolution design of proteins, nucleic acids, and a growing number of non-natural polymers. Despite its free availability to academic users and improving documentation, use of Rosetta has largely remained confined to developers and their immediate collaborators due to the code's difficulty of use, the requirement for large computational resources, and the unavailability of servers for most of the Rosetta applications. Here, we present a unified web framework for Rosetta applications called ROSIE (Rosetta Online Server that Includes Everyone). ROSIE provides (a) a common user interface for Rosetta protocols, (b) a stable application programming interface for developers to add additional protocols, (c) a flexible back-end to allow leveraging of computer cluster resources shared by RosettaCommons member institutions, and (d) centralized administration by the RosettaCommons to ensure continuous maintenance. This paper describes the ROSIE server infrastructure, a step-by-step 'serverification' protocol for use by Rosetta developers, and the deployment of the first nine ROSIE applications by six separate developer teams: Docking, RNA de novo, ERRASER, Antibody, Sequence Tolerance, Supercharge, Beta peptide design, NCBB design, and VIP redesign. As illustrated by the number and diversity of these applications, ROSIE offers a general and speedy paradigm for serverification of Rosetta applications that incurs negligible cost to developers and lowers barriers to Rosetta use for the broader biological community. ROSIE is available at http://rosie.rosettacommons.org

Using shared online blogs to structure and support informal coach learning. Part 2: The participants’ view and implications for coach education

In part one of this paper, Stoszkowski and Collins (2015) showed that shared online blogs were a useful tool to structure and support the informal learning of a cohort of final year undergraduate sports coaching students. The aim of the present study was to offer insight into student coaches’ perceptions of their use and experiences of structured group blogging for reflection and learning. Twenty-three student coaches (5 females, 18 males), purposely sampled from the original study, took part in four semi-structured focus group interviews. Interview data were inductively analysed. Student coaches were generally very positive about their learning experiences and the pedagogical approach employed. This was especially apparent in terms of perceived increases in levels of reflection, knowledge acquisition and improvements in coaching practice; changes corroborated by the data presented in part one. A range of reasons emerged for these outcomes, alongside several potential limiters of engagement in shared group blogging as a learning endeavour. Whilst these findings support recent, and growing proposals to systematically incorporate Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs into coach education pedagogy, several key considerations for the process of using such tools are outlined. Finally, the implications for coach educators are discussed

Biomaterial-Mediated Reprogramming of the Wound Interface to Enhance Meniscal Repair

Endogenous repair of fibrous connective tissues is limited, and there exist few successful strategies to improve healing after injury. As such, new methods that advance repair by enhancing cell migration to the wound interface, extracellular matrix (ECM) production, and tissue integration would represent a marked clinical advance. Using the adult meniscus as a test platform, we hypothesized that ECM density and stiffness increase throughout tissue maturation, and that these age-related changes present biophysical barriers to interstitial cell migration during wound healing. We further posited that modulating the matrix could remove these impediments, enabling endogenous cells to reach the injury site. To test our hypotheses, we compared the microenvironment of fetal and adult meniscal ECM via atomic force microscopy (AFM) indentation and second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging of the collagenous matrix. We also explored interstitial cell mobility through fetal and adult native tissue environments using a three-dimensional ex vivo system. We further investigated strategies that might expedite cell migration, including enzymatic degradation of the ECM with collagenase to reduce matrix stiffness and increase porosity. To restrict these biological manipulations to the wound interface, we fabricated a delivery system in which selected biofactors were stored inside composite electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds and released upon hydration. The ability for bioactive scaffolds to enhance the cellularity and integration of meniscal injuries was evaluated in vivo using tissue explants in a subcutaneous implantation model, as well as an orthotopic meniscal injury model. Our findings suggest that matrix stiffness, density, and organization increase with meniscal development at the expense of cell mobility. Our results also indicate that partial digestion of the wound interface with collagenase improves repair by creating a more compliant and porous microenvironment that facilitates cell migration. Furthermore, when scaffolds containing collagenase-releasing fibers were placed inside meniscal defects, enzymatic digestion was localized and resulted in improved cellular colonization and closure of the wound site, similar to treatment with aqueous collagenase. This innovative approach of targeted delivery may aid the many patients that exhibit meniscal tears by promoting integrative repair, thereby circumventing the pathologic consequences of partial meniscus removal, and may find widespread application in the treatment of injuries to a variety of dense connective tissues

Rapid prototyping for biomedical engineering: current capabilities and Challenges

A new set of manufacturing technologies has emerged in the past decades to address market requirements in a customized way and to provide support for research tasks that require prototypes. These new techniques and technologies are usually referred to as rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies, and they allow prototypes to be produced in a wide range of materials with remarkable precision in a couple of hours. Although they have been rapidly incorporated into product development methodologies, they are still under development, and their applications in bioengineering are continuously evolving. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies can be of assistance in every stage of the development process of novel biodevices, to address various problems that can arise in the devices' interactions with biological systems and the fact that the design decisions must be tested carefully. This review focuses on the main fields of application for rapid prototyping in biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as on the most remarkable challenges and research trends

A New Model for Adult Literacy Education: Technology-Based Concept Mapping in GED Preparation

This paper explores the potential for the effective integration of concept mapping into the teaching of GED preparation programs in ways that benefit the academic achievement of learners through the implementation of a New Model of literacy education

Exploring children's development of ideas in music and dance

Eisner maintains that the Arts education community needs ‘empirically grounded examples of artistic thinking related to the nature of the tasks students engage in, the material with which they work, the context’s norms and the cues the teacher provides to advance their students’ thinking’ (2000:217). This paper reflects on preliminary results of a collaborative research project between teachers and university researchers that is investigating how children develop and refine arts-making ideas and related skills in Dance and Music in a small sample of schools in New Zealand. Factors such as the place of repetition in the development of ideas, the relevance of offers, the place of verbal and non-verbal communication in arts idea generation, and group work as an accepted ritual of practice, are explored and discussed

Enhancing Meniscus Repair through Biomaterial Design

The knee meniscus is prone to damage, which leads to pain and inhibits mobility in the joint long term. Due to the minimal vascularity, low cellularity and large mechanical forces imparted on the meniscus with normal use, endogenous repair is limited. Resection of the damaged region of the tissue (meniscectomy) remains the most common treatment for a torn meniscus, but this procedure results in cartilage degradation and other adverse changes in the knee joint. Given the prevalence of meniscus damage, there is thus a pressing need for novel approaches to meniscus repair. To address this issue, this thesis developed in vitro techniques to analyze the time-varying properties of the aging meniscus, and to address how the meniscus repair interface might be modulated through the use of growth factors. Further, electrospun scaffolds were designed to replicate key architectures of the native tissue while providing controlled release of biologic factors. Our findings demonstrated marked biological, biochemical, and structural changes in meniscus with age. These findings pointed to key factors that could play a role in meniscus integration (ie repair) capacity after meniscus injury; these factors were evaluated in the context of meniscus repair using a mechanical in vitro model. To address situations where substantial meniscus tissue would be removed, we tested the integration capacity of electrospun scaffolds with native tissue and maturation of these scaffolds in response to growth factor regimens, as well as how changes in scaffold characteristics (i.e. porosity and organization) and cell seeding techniques influence integration potential. Finally, we developed novel techniques to deliver bioactive growth factors and other molecules from components of electrospun scaffolds, including entrapped microspheres, with distinct release profiles. These novel, bioactive scaffolds were utilized to orchestrate complex regenerative signaling cascades from the scaffolds, with demonstration of efficacy via improved vascular density in an in vivo model. This work provides new approaches for the treatment of meniscus tears using novel electrospun materials, bringing us one step closer to new clinical options for meniscus repair

A situated approach to person memory

PsycINFO Classification: 2340, 2343, 3000, 3040O presente trabalho estende a abordagem da cognição socialmente situada (CSS; E. R. Smith &Semin, 2004) ao estudo da memória de pessoas. A investigação em memória de pessoas têm tradicionalmente estudado as estruturas e os processos psicológicos separando-os do nosso próprio corpo e dos ambientes físicos e sociais envolventes. Com base na abordagem da CSS, argumentamos que a memória de pessoas, tal como outros processos cognitivos, é corporalizada, situada, e distribuída. Estes princípios teóricos, foram explorados em três conjuntos de estudos. Nos primeiros dois estudos testámos a ideia de que a memória de pessoas é corporalizada. Tal como previsto, verificámos que a recordação é facilitada por pistas espaciais e motoras apresentadas em localizações espaciais metaforicamente compatíveis. Nos quatro estudos seguintes explorámos a natureza situadada memória de pessoas. Os resultados mostraram que a recordação de comportamentos acerca de uma pessoa-alvo é facilitada quando o contexto físico presente durante a codificação e recuperação é relevante para a ocupação do alvo. Por último, testámos o pressuposto de que a memória é distribuída. Este estudo mostrou que distribuir informação a um parceiro, após a codificação ter acontecido, reduz a memória futura para essa informação. O presente programa de investigação tem implicações para o estudo da memória de pessoas e para a abordagem da CSS. Ao adoptarmos a perspectiva da CSS para investigar a memória pessoas obtemos informação adicional sobre os factores que determinam a codificação e recuperação de informação social. Paralelamente, a nossa investigação fornece apoio adicional aos principais pressupostos da CSS.The present work extends the socially situated cognition approach (SSC; E. R. Smith & Semin, 2004) to the study of person memory. Research on person memory has typically focused on studying psychological structures and processes as independent from people’s bodies, and physical and social environments. Based on the SCC approach, we argue that person memory, like other cognitive processes, is embodied, situated and distributed. These theoretical principles are examined in three sets of experiments. The first set of two experiments examined the idea that person memory is embodied. As predicted, recall was enhanced by spatial cues and motor movements in metaphor compatible locations. Another set of four experiments was designed to investigate the situatednessof person memory. Results showed that encoding or retrieving behavioral information about a target-person in a context with target-relevant physical contextual information facilitates the recall of social information. Finally, we tested the assumption that memory is distributed. This experiment showed that distributing information to a partner, after encoding has taken place, reduces subsequent memory for that information. The present research program has implications for both person memory and the SSC approach. Adopting a SSC perspective to investigate person memory provides new insights about the factors shaping the way people encode and retrieve social information from memory. Furthermore, our research lends novel support to the main principles of the SSC perspective