The Effects of Exercise on the Tumor Immune Microenvironment

This review explores the current understanding of the immunomodulatory effects of exercise, and the effectiveness of utilizing exercise as a therapy for cancer. Physical exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of developing cancer and appears to possess tumor-suppressive capabilities in existing solid tumors by modulating the tumor immune microenvironment. The current literature suggests exercise to enhance intra-tumoral tumor-suppressive immune cell activity through multiple pathways. The immunomodulating capabilities of exercise are likely dependent on anti-tumor immunity pathways. Exercise appears to be a viable tumor-suppressive strategy, depending on the state of anti-tumor immunity

The effects of collaboration scripts on the number and quality of student interactions in a social annotation tool

[EN] Social Annotation (SA) tools can be used to facilitate active and collaborative learning when students have to study academic texts. However, making these tools available does not ensure students participate in argumentative discussions. Scaffolding students by means of collaborations scripts geared towards collaboration and discussion encourages students to engage in meaningful, high-quality interactions. We conducted an experiment with students (n=59) in a course running at a Dutch university, using the SA tool Perusall. A control group received normal instructions, while an experimental group received scaffolding through collaboration scripts. The results showed a significant increase in the number of responses to fellow students for the experimental group compared to the control group. The quality of the annotations, measured on levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, increased significantly for the experimental group compared to both its baseline measurement and the control group. However, when scaffolding was faded out over subsequent assignments these differences became non-significant. The experimental groups’ increased quality of annotations did not remain over time, suggesting that internalization of the scripts was not achieved.De Boer, V.; Spoelstra, H. (2021). The effects of collaboration scripts on the number and quality of student interactions in a social annotation tool. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 967-974. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.12862OCS96797

Self-Organized Criticality and Punctuated Equilibria

Many natural phenomena evolve intermittently, with periods of tranquillity interrupted by bursts of activity, rather than following a smooth gradual path. Examples include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, solar flares, gamma-ray bursts, and biological evolution. Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge have coined the term "punctuated equilibria" for this behavior. We argue that punctuated equilibria reflects the tendency of dynamical systems to evolve towards a critical state, and review recent work on simple models. A good metaphoric picture is one where the systems are temporarily trapped in valleys of deformable, interacting landscapes. Similarities with spin glasses are pointed out. Punctuated equilibria are essential for the emergence of complex phenomena. The periods of stasis allow the system to remember its past history; yet the intermittent events permit further change.Comment: 17 pages, latex, 4 ps-figures enclose

High-Field Optical Cesium Magnetometer for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

We present a novel high-field optical quantum magnetometer based on saturated absorption spectroscopy on the extreme angular-momentum states of the cesium D2 line. With key features including continuous readout, high sampling rate, and sensitivity and accuracy in the ppm-range, it represents a competitive alternative to conventional techniques for measuring magnetic fields of several teslas. The prototype has four small separate field probes, and all support electronics and optics are fitted into a single 19-inch rack to make it compact, mobile, and robust. The field probes are fiber coupled and made from non-metallic components, allowing them to be easily and safely positioned inside a 7 T MRI scanner. We demonstrate the capabilities of this magnetometer by measuring two different MRI sequences, and we show how it can be used to reveal imperfections in the gradient coil system, to highlight the potential applications in medical MRI. We propose the term EXAAQ (EXtreme Angular-momentum Absorption-spectroscopy Quantum) magnetometry, for this novel method.Comment: Corrected a minor mistake in affiliation