Game-Based Learning (GBL) Success Factors in the Public Higher Education Learning System

Game-based learning (GBL) is a form of gaming that leads to learning outcomes. It is designed to align the subject matter with how we play the game and the willingness of the player to apply and execute the matter in real-life circumstances. GBL defines a modern form of teaching technique where students are discovering a significant feature of the game in a teacher-related learning environment. The goal of this study is to investigate the performance of GBL in the quality of learning at higher public institutions. The questionnaires were distributed to the target respondents and the datacollectedwasanalyzedusingquantitative analysis methods to identify the study objectives and its performance. Results have shown that usefulness, perceived intention to use, and architectural design have a positive influence on the relationship to the efficiency of higher education learning systems. In conclusion, the outcome reveals that usefulness is the most important factor affecting the efficacy of the higher education system.Keywords—Game-based learning, Usability, Usefulness, Effectiveness of Learnin

Design models for mobile augmented reality exergames: state-of-the-art review

The sedentary lifestyle is common in this digital age and a cause of concern as it encourages individuals to elicit sedentary behavior i.e. lower instances to being physically active. This lifestyle affects the major portion of the population; with obesity being a major risk and a factor for many cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart rate disease, heart failure, stroke etc. Use of mobile devices may be linked to the increase of sedentary individuals; however, its usage could also be utilised to encourage fitness awareness among its users. Incorporating interactive digital applications such as exergames, a combination of exercise and games, to mobile devices could provide the means to encourage fitness activity for sedentary individuals through physical gameplay. This paper explores the current design models of exergames and how their usage can affect changes to the psychological and physiological states of the players as well as the promising directions for adapting their usage for the mobile environment through augmented reality immersion

Using heuristic evaluation to improve the usability of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) mobile interface of the Cardiothoracic Surgery and Anasthesia System (CSAS)

This paper presents initial work on mobile user-interface for electronic medical record for cardio experts. The current problem exits when the existing system is left unused by the users, in our case the cardio surgeons due to bad user interface design which involve a heavy cognitive loads and navigation problems. Medical records contain treatment history and relevant experiences related to the patient care. In order to avoid paper based medical record (PMR) drawbacks, most industrialized nations have implemented electronic medical record (EMR). This research aims to evaluate the existing CSAS system usability using heuristic evaluation and then develop an EMR system that overcomes the interface usability problems by designing an effective user interface that is acceptable to healthcare professionals with tablets as the device. Hence, proposing a new user interface prototype taking into account the findings from the evaluation process

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

The effect of time, temperature and solid to solvent ratio on pumpkin carotenoids extracted using food grade solvents

This study aimed to extract carotenoids from pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) by using food grade solvents (ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetic acid and virgin coconut oil). The influence of different extraction conditions; temperature of extraction (15, 30 and 45℃), duration of extraction (12, 18 and 24 h) and solid to solvent ratio (1:50, 1:100 and 1:150) on yield of carotenoids were also evaluated for optimization purposes. The compounds of the extracted carotenoids were identified by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The detected carotenoids from pumpkin had been α-carotene, β-carotene and lutein. Lutein was found to have the highest concentration in pumpkin. Furthermore, the results obtained from the yield of carotenoids showed that sample extracted with ethyl acetate was insignificant and this differed from that with virgin coconut oil extract (77.30 and 76.64 β-carotene μg/g dry matter, respectively). Meanwhile, the samples extracted by using either acetic acid or ethanol had presented low yields (68.10 and 54.98 β-carotene μg/g dry matter, respectively). Nevertheless, the extract of carotenoids was found to be optimized at the following extraction conditions; 1:150 solid to solvent ratio and extracted by using virgin coconut oil for 12 h at 30oC

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with paediatric cancer in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, observational cohort study

OBJECTIVES: Paediatric cancer is a leading cause of death for children. Children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) were four times more likely to die than children in high-income countries (HICs). This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the delivery of healthcare services worldwide, and exacerbated the disparity in paediatric cancer outcomes between LMICs and HICs. DESIGN: A multicentre, international, collaborative cohort study. SETTING: 91 hospitals and cancer centres in 39 countries providing cancer treatment to paediatric patients between March and December 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Patients were included if they were under the age of 18 years, and newly diagnosed with or undergoing active cancer treatment for Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms' tumour, sarcoma, retinoblastoma, gliomas, medulloblastomas or neuroblastomas, in keeping with the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All-cause mortality at 30 days and 90 days. RESULTS: 1660 patients were recruited. 219 children had changes to their treatment due to the pandemic. Patients in LMICs were primarily affected (n=182/219, 83.1%). Relative to patients with paediatric cancer in HICs, patients with paediatric cancer in LMICs had 12.1 (95% CI 2.93 to 50.3) and 7.9 (95% CI 3.2 to 19.7) times the odds of death at 30 days and 90 days, respectively, after presentation during the COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.001). After adjusting for confounders, patients with paediatric cancer in LMICs had 15.6 (95% CI 3.7 to 65.8) times the odds of death at 30 days (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected paediatric oncology service provision. It has disproportionately affected patients in LMICs, highlighting and compounding existing disparities in healthcare systems globally that need addressing urgently. However, many patients with paediatric cancer continued to receive their normal standard of care. This speaks to the adaptability and resilience of healthcare systems and healthcare workers globally