Enhancing Creativity in Children by Imparting Chess Training

Creativity is the ability to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, andto generate solutions. The present study, funded by Indian Government, analysed the effect of one year chess training programon the creativity of school-going children of both genders. A pre-test post-test with control group design was used. Thesample comprised 64 children: 32 children each in experimental (Mean age=11.86, SD=1.44) and control (Mean age=12.03,SD=1.14) groups. Children in the experimental group underwent weekly chess training with Winning Moves Chess Curriculum.Creativity was assessed by Indian adaption of Wallach-Kogan Creativity Test. Pre–intervention equivalence of the two groupswas established. Independent t test analysis revealed that the experimental group had statistically significant gains in totalcreativity and Instances and Alternate Uses subtests compared to the control group. The authors conclude that systematic chessintervention increases creativity in children. The educational implications are significant

Test-enhanced learning improves learner attendance during a laparoscopic box trainer simulation program

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopy is the gold standard approach for many surgical procedures, but it is a complex skill to learn. Laparoscopic simulation training may help, but it is unclear how to best engage trainees in these programs. Test‐enhanced learning (TEL) uses regular, well‐defined assessments of performance throughout the training phase of learning. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of TEL on a laparoscopic simulation program involving a cohort of medical student volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed with a convenience sample of 40 medical students. Students were recruited to participate in a ten‐week laparoscopic simulation program. Twenty students participated in a laparoscopic surgical program with TEL (‘TEL group’), and 20 students participated in a standard laparoscopic simulation program (‘control group’). RESULTS: Attendance in the TEL group was significantly higher than in the standard group (71 vs 51.5%, P = 0.03). There was no difference between groups in mean time scores. Four themes were identified in qualitative data drawn from student surveys – personal traits and motivators, training context, clear goals and feedback enabling understanding of one's own performance. CONCLUSION: Testing laparoscopic skills throughout a learning program, in conjunction with individualised feedback and tracking of learning trajectory, increases trainee attendance. Laparoscopic simulation training programs are encouraged to reflect on the pedagogic framework in which their procedural skills training operates

Aggressive and psychopathic traits are linked to the acquisition of stable but imprecise hostile expectations

Individuals with hostile expectations (HEX) anticipate harm from seemingly neutral or ambiguous stimuli. However, it is unclear how HEX are acquired, and whether specific components of HEX learning can predict antisocial thought, conduct, and personality. In an online sample of healthy young individuals (n = 256, 69% women), we administered a virtual shooting task and applied computational modelling of behaviour to investigate HEX learning and its constellation of correlates. HEX acquisition was best explained by a hierarchical reinforcement learning mechanism. Crucially, we found that individuals with relatively higher self-reported aggressiveness and psychopathy developed stronger and less accurate hostile beliefs as well as larger prediction errors. Moreover, aggressive and psychopathic traits were associated with more temporally stable hostility representations. Our study thus shows that aggressiveness and psychopathy are linked with the acquisition of robust yet imprecise hostile beliefs through reinforcement learning

Promoting Bicycle Commuter Safety, Research Report 11-08

We present an overview of the risks associated with cycling to emphasize the need for safety. We focus on the application of frameworks from social psychology to education, one of the 5 Es—engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. We use the structure of the 5 Es to organize information with particular attention to engineering and education in the literature review. Engineering is essential because the infrastructure is vital to protecting cyclists. Education is emphasized since the central focus of the report is safety

Hypoxia-induced responses by endothelial colony-forming cells are modulated by placental growth factor

BACKGROUND: Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), also termed late outgrowth endothelial cells, are a well-defined circulating endothelial progenitor cell type with an established role in vascular repair. ECFCs have clear potential for cell therapy to treat ischaemic disease, although the precise mechanism(s) underlying their response to hypoxia remains ill-defined. METHODS: In this study, we isolated ECFCs from umbilical cord blood and cultured them on collagen. We defined the response of ECFCs to 1% O(2) exposure at acute and chronic time points. RESULTS: In response to low oxygen, changes in ECFC cell shape, proliferation, size and cytoskeleton phenotype were detected. An increase in the number of senescent ECFCs also occurred as a result of long-term culture in 1% O(2). Low oxygen exposure altered ECFC migration and tube formation in Matrigel®. Increases in angiogenic factors secreted from ECFCs exposed to hypoxia were also detected, in particular, after treatment with placental growth factor (PlGF). Exposure of cells to agents that stabilise hypoxia-inducible factors such as dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) also increased PlGF levels. Conditioned medium from both hypoxia-treated and DMOG-treated cells inhibited ECFC tube formation. This effect was reversed by the addition of PlGF neutralising antibody to the conditioned medium, confirming the direct role of PlGF in this effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study deepens our understanding of the response of ECFCs to hypoxia and also identifies a novel and important role for PlGF in regulating the vasculogenic potential of ECFCs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-016-0430-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Surface Patterning of Low Carbon Steel via Dc Plasma Nitriding

Abstract The surface patterning by plasma nitriding treatment was applied in low carbon steel SAE 1004 and presente