A tangible interface for collaborative urban design for energy efficiency, daylighting, and walkability

An increasingly urbanizing human population presents new challenges for urban planners and designers. While the applicability of urban design tools for simulation experts is constantly improving, urban development scenarios require the input of multiple stakeholders, each with different outlooks, expertise, requirements, and preconceptions, and good urban design requires communication and compromise as much as it requires effective use of tools. The best tools will facilitate this communication while remaining evidence-based, allowing diverse planning teams to develop high quality, healthy, sustainable urban proposals. Presented in this paper is a new such tool, implemented as a tangible user interface, that allows varied stakeholders to quickly collaborate on creation and exploration of new urban design solutions. The tool provides performance feedback for a neighborhood’s operational energy costs, daylight availability, and walkability. Fast interaction is attained through a novel precalculation method that is also presented and validated. Details of the tool’s deployment as part of a case study that was conducted with members of the planning commission of Riyadh, SA, in March 2015 are given

A Web-Based Collaborative Decision Support System for National Water Policy Planning

In this paper, we introduce a web-based collaborative decision support system (WCDSS) to enable stakeholders to evaluate and refine complex scenarios addressing the location, timing, and technology of water and related energy investments across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We start by providing insight into the utility of this WCDSS in the Kingdom in the framework of a strategic sustainable desalination network project. We present the components of the WCDSS: a GIS-based web interface and its layers, a common geospatial database, and a simulation and optimization engine to analyze various scenarios. This WCDSS enables participative data collection and interacts with different stakeholders. We present examples of the scenario analysis and conclude with perspectives to enhance the web-based collaborative decision support system

Psychogenetic, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in Candida auris: Role in drug resistance

In recent years, we are facing the challenge of drug resistance emergence in fungi. The availability of limited antifungals and development of multi-drug resistance in fungal pathogens has become a serious concern in the past years in the health sector. Although several cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms have been proposed to explain the drug resistance mechanism in fungi, but a complete understanding of the molecular and genetic mechanisms is still lacking. Besides the genetic mechanism, epigenetic mechanisms are pivotal in the fungal lifecycle and disease biology. However, very little is understood about the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the emergence of multi-drug resistance in fungi, especially in Candida auris (C. auris). The current narrative review summaries the clinical characteristics, genomic organization, and molecular/genetic/epigenetic mechanisms underlying the emergence of drug resistance in C. auris. A very few studies have attempted to evaluate the role of epigenetic mechanisms in C. auris. Furthermore, advanced genetic tools such as the CRISP-Cas9 system can be utilized to elucidate the epigenetic mechanisms and their role in the emergence of multi-drug resistance in C. auris

Psychogenetic, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in Candida auris: Role in drug resistance

In recent years, we are facing the challenge of drug resistance emergence in fungi. The availability of limited antifungals and development of multi-drug resistance in fungal pathogens has become a serious concern in the past years in the health sector. Although several cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms have been proposed to explain the drug resistance mechanism in fungi, but a complete understanding of the molecular and genetic mechanisms is still lacking. Besides the genetic mechanism, epigenetic mechanisms are pivotal in the fungal lifecycle and disease biology. However, very little is understood about the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the emergence of multi-drug resistance in fungi, especially in Candida auris (C. auris). The current narrative review summaries the clinical characteristics, genomic organization, and molecular/genetic/epigenetic mechanisms underlying the emergence of drug resistance in C. auris. A very few studies have attempted to evaluate the role of epigenetic mechanisms in C. auris. Furthermore, advanced genetic tools such as the CRISP-Cas9 system can be utilized to elucidate the epigenetic mechanisms and their role in the emergence of multi-drug resistance in C. auris

An international, interprofessional investigation of the self-reported podcast listening habits of emergency clinicians: A METRIQ Study

Objectives Podcasts are increasingly being used for medical education. A deeper understanding of usage patterns would inform both producers and researchers of medical podcasts. We aimed to determine how and why podcasts are used by emergency medicine and critical care clinicians.Methods An international interprofessional sample (medical students, residents, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and paramedics) was recruited through direct contact and a multimodal social media (Twitter and Facebook) campaign. Each participant completed a survey outlining how and why they utilize medical podcasts. Recruitment materials included an infographic and study website.Results 390 participants from 33 countries and 4 professions (medicine, nursing, paramedicine, physician assistant) completed the survey. Participants most frequently listened to medical podcasts to review new literature (75.8%), learn core material (75.1%), and refresh memory (71.8%). The majority (62.6%) were aware of the ability to listen at increased speeds, but most (76.9%) listened at 1.0 x (normal) speed. All but 25 (6.4%) participants concurrently performed other tasks while listening. Driving (72.3%), exercising (39.7%), and completing chores (39.2%) were the most common. A minority of participants used active learning techniques such as pausing, rewinding, and replaying segments of the podcast. Very few listened to podcasts multiple times.Conclusions An international cohort of emergency clinicians use medical podcasts predominantly for learning. Their listening habits (rarely employing active learning strategies and frequently performing concurrent tasks) may not support this goal. Further exploration of the impact of these activities on learning from podcasts is warranted