Digital storytelling in Kindergarten: An alternative tool in children's way of expression

This paper refers to Digital Storytelling as an alternative tool enhancing children's way of expression in kindergarten classroom. Storytelling is a global culture depicting the way people live, feel and interact in life. Especially in early childhood storytelling springs naturally in children's play helping them to exercise a great variety of skills. Nowadays, advances in technology offer the opportunity to create a new form of storytelling, namely digital storytelling. The idea of creating a digital story is based on processes similar to those used in traditional stories. On the other hand the story is supplemented with various types of multimedia content. Meaningful integration of technology into kindergarten gives children the opportunity to create their own digital stories and thanks to multimedia technology children are enabled to become co-authors in the story writing process. In this paper a teaching experiment that took place in the kindergarten of an urban area in Greece on February 2012 is described. The teaching experiment lasted three weeks. We present the attempt of creating an educational framework in which the children were given the opportunity to combine various elements and Information Computer Technology tools, in order to express themselves and give birth to a digital story. It was found that children were engaged to the whole process, showed responsibility, self-confidence and they also exercised cooperation skills

Enhancing WPS security

The main concern on the use of wireless technologies is security, due to the nature of the medium. User awareness in order to implement efficient security configurations is an important requirement raised by the technology, undermining its use. Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) was introduced as a viable solution to the problem, offering automatic network setup and device configuration. WPS itself suffers from a security flaw; the feature has to be disabled on the devices and user confidence is subverted. In this work we propose to enhance WPS security through the Visual Device Pairing Security (ViDPSec) method to address this problem. ViDPSec is a user-based, lightweight device pairing protocol that establishes secure communication channels between devices, encrypting data with a one time symmetric key that is securely exchanged per session. Enhanced WPS alleviates the WPS security issues and enables the user to have full control over the procedure, raising user confidence. © 2012 IEEE

Mailbook: A social network against spamming

Spam is the main problem of email systems nowadays. The total amount of spam emails account for more than 75% of the total emails exchanged worldwide; recent reports raise this number up to more than 90%. Novel anti-spam solutions are proposed constantly, to be followed by announcements of sophisticated methods to overcome them through the use of advanced software to reach the spammers' goal. In this paper we propose a collaborative spam filter over a social network, exchanging vote databases containing the hash values of the emails perceived as spam by its users, the mailbook. Social networks are blooming nowadays and users are accustomed to their use more and more every day. Our proposal builds upon that strong attachment between friends and people with the same interests and habits. We propose a user based collaborative approach to address the spam problem. Users characterize spam mail and exchange their votes among their friends through mailbook. User profiles are created in mailbook to express user interests, which in turn are used for evaluating mail as spam according to the user's characteristics. Users also form groups of interests which are also used by our method as another mean to evaluate spam for the specific group in a more effective way. © 2011 ICITST

Hyperpigmented small spots induced by long-term PUVA therapy. A clinical, light and electron microscopic study

Among 308 photochemotherapy (PUVA)-treated patients, 15 psoriatics and 1 case of mycosis fungoides developed persistent disseminated hyperpigmented small spots at the trunk and limbs as a side effect of the therapy. The histological, histochemical and electron microscopical studies performed on 5 of the patients revealed a greatly increased number of melanocytes in the macules, hyperactivity of the melanocytes and increased transfer of pigment to dermis and keratinocytes. Moreover, binucleated cells were found as well as multifarious signs of melanocytic damage in varying degrees. Similar alterations but less pronounced were observed in the intermacular skin. Some of the changes could be recognized even 7 months after the treatment had been stopped. The PUVA spots are compared with other etiologically light-dependent hyperpigmentations

A COMPARATIVE-STUDY WITH 2 ADMINISTRATION SCHEDULES OF LEUCOVORIN AND 5-FLUOROURACIL IN ADVANCED COLORECTAL-CANCER

One hundred and seven previously untreated patients with measurable metastatic colorectal cancer who were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and leucovorin (LV) in two different maximum doses and schedules were retrospectively analyzed. Group A, 52 pts, was treated with LV 200 mg/m(2)/D IV push, followed by 5FU 700 mg/m(2)/D IV 1 h infusion for 5 D. Cycle was repeated every 21 D. Group B, 55 pts, was treated with LV 500 mg/m(2)/D in a 2 h infusion and 5FU 600 mg/m(2)/D IV bolus at mid-time of LV infusion, repeated every week for 6 wk followed by 2-wk rest period. There was no difference in response (A 8%, B 11%). Median survival for A was 37 (2-131) wk, B was 59 (1-112) wk (P = 0.021), time to progression for A was 20 (0-131) wk, B 30 (0-102) wk (P = 0.021). Administered mean dose intensity of LV was 350.8 mg/m(2)/wk in group A and 405.0 mg/m(2)/wk in group B without any significant difference; that of 5FU was significantly higher in group A as compared to group B (1205.3 vs 468.9 mg/m(2)/wk, respectively) (p < 0.0001). This difference was a consequence of the planned dose intensity for this drug in the two treatment regimens. Toxicity was more frequent and intense in group A for mucositis (P < 0.001), fatigue (P < 0.01), and neurotoxicity (P < 0.05), and in group B for neutropenia (P < 0.001) and nausea-vomiting (P < 0.001). There were one and four iatrogenic deaths in group A and B patients, respectively (NS). Although this study was not prospective and randomized, we can conclude that toxicity was significantly different in the two groups, with a prevalence of mucositis in group A and neutropenia in group B and a higher number of iatrogenic deaths in the latter group. Response rates were the same for the two groups although survival and time to progression were significantly increased for group B patients

Postoperative radiation and concomitant bolus fluorouracil with or without additional chemotherapy with fluorouracil and high-dose leucovorin in patients with high-risk rectal cancer: A randomized phase III study conducted by the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group

Background: Randomized studies have shown that postoperative chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy (RT) improved local control and survival of patients with stages II or III rectal cancer. However, the optimal sequence of treatments and the optimal chemotherapeutic regimen have not been defined. Modulation of fluorouracil (FU) by leucovorin (LV) has yielded a highly significant difference in response rate from that of FU monotherapy, as suggested by an overview of randomized trials in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. However, this difference in response rate did not translate into a survival benefit. Purpose: To evaluate the impact on the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients with stages II or III rectal cancer of postoperative RT and concomitant bolus FU administration alone or with additional chemotherapy using FU and high-dose LV. Patients and methods: From October 1989 until February 1997, 220 patients were randomized postoperatively to receive either one cycle of chemotherapy with FU (600 mg/m(2)/week x 6 followed by a two-week rest) and leucovorin (LV, 500 mg/m(2)/week x 6 as a two-hour infusion) followed by pelvic RT with concomitant FU (400 mg/m(2)) as a rapid intravenous injection during the first three and last three days of RT, and three more cycles of the same chemotherapy with FU and LV (standard, group A, 111 patients) or pelvic RT with concomitant FU only (experimental, group B, 109 patients). Results: As of August 1998, after a median follow-up of 4.9 years, there was no significant difference in either three-year DFS (Group A, 70.3%; group B, 68.2%, P = 0.53) or OS (group A, 77%; group B, 73.3%, P = 0.75). Cox multivariate analysis revealed stage of disease, number of infiltrated nodes, tumor grade, presence of regional implants and perforation to be significant prognostic factors. The incidence of severe side effects was significantly higher in the patients in group A than in those in group B (32.4% vs. 4.6%, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: The incorporation of additional chemotherapy with FU and LV into postoperative concomitant RT and bolus infusion of FU does not offer a greater than or equal to 10% three-year survival benefit over that of concomitant RT and bolus infusion of FU, and significantly increases toxicity in patients with stages II or III rectal cancer

Fluorouracil and leucovorin with or without interferon alfa-2a as adjuvant treatment, in patients with high-risk colon cancer - A randomized phase III study conducted by the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group

Background: It has been shown in randomized studies that adjuvant treatment with the combination of fluorouracil (FU) and levamisole reduced the risk of recurrence and deaths of patients with stage III colon cancer. Pharmacological studies of FU led to its use in combination with a number of modulating agents including interferon-a and leucovorin (LV) that appear to enhance its activity in vitro. Furthermore, a meta-analysis suggested that the combination of FU with LV increased the response rate as compared to FU monotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Purpose: To evaluate the impact of adjuvant treatment with the combination of FU and LV with or without interferon alfa-2a (IFN) on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with stage II or III colon cancer. Patients and Methods: From August 1989 to July 1997, 280 patients with stage II and III colon cancer entered the study and were randomly assigned to receive either the combination of FU (600 mg/m(2)/week x 6, followed by a 2-week rest) and LV (500 mg/m(2)/week x 6 as a 2-hour infusion, followed by a 2-week rest) for 4 cycles (group A, 139 patients), or the same chemotherapy plus recombinant IFN (3 MU subcutaneously 3 times a week) for 1 year (group B, 141 patients). Results: A total of 109 patients (78.9%) of group A and 119 (84.4%) of group B complated four cycles of chemotherapy. Also, 51.4% of patients of group A and 53.9% of group B received greater than or equal to 80% of the planned dose of FU. One patient (group A) was found to be ineligible and was not included in the analysis. The median relative dose intensity of FU in the two groups was 0.90 and 0.85, respectively. As of August 1998, after a median follow up of 4 years, there was no significant difference in either 3-year DFS (group A, 83.1%; group B, 75.9%, p = 0.14) or OS (group A, 84.5%; group B, 80.0%, p = 0.27). In the Cox model, stage of disease, number of infiltrated nodes, tumor grade and presence of regional implants were identified as significant prognostic factors for OS. Grade 3-4 toxicities, mainly diarrhea, were observed in 26.1% of patients of group A and in 24.8% of group B, There were no treatment-related deaths. Conclusions: The addition of IFN to the combination of FU with LV postoperatively does not improve DFS and OS of patients with stage II or III colon cancer. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel