Emendo – A Toolchain for Creating Gamified Learning Arrangements for Online Learning Settings

[EN] This contribution describes the Emendo toolchain which enables the effective creation and implementation of gamified learning arrangements for online learning settings based on the domain-specific modeling approach. The components of Emendo are a domain-specific modeling language, a generator which transforms models based on the language into source code as well as the embedding of the latter in a learning management system. Scenarios for the usage of Emendo for teaching and learning are presented with respect to the functionalities of the toolchain. In addition, a qualitative evaluation concerning Emendo’s goals, concept and insights on the results is given. The evaluation shows that Emendo reaches high acceptance for teaching purposes and can serve as a promising means for the digitisation of teaching and learning.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Bartel, A.; Hagel, G.; Wolff, C. (2018). Emendo – A Toolchain for Creating Gamified Learning Arrangements for Online Learning Settings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 613-620. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8045OCS61362

Effective Integration of Gamification and Learning Management Systems for Creating Gamified Learning Arrangements

[EN] This paper describes ongoing research concerning the effective development of gamified learning arrangements. It shows the necessity for more standardization of the design of such arrangements and reveals potential ways in order to support this need with the use of a domain-specific modeling language. The latter is used by lecturers for designing and exchanging models of gamified learning arrangements and provides the possibility to automatically generate a working learning management system using a language specific generator. The generated learning management system can directly be used by learners and furthermore allows to track the individual learning process for both learners and lecturers.Bartel, A.; Hagel, G.; Wolff, C. (2017). Effective Integration of Gamification and Learning Management Systems for Creating Gamified Learning Arrangements. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 679-686. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.5349OCS67968

Solar heating and cooling with absorption chiller and latent heat storage

Part of: Thermally driven heat pumps for heating and cooling. – Ed.: Annett Kühn – Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013 ISBN 978-3-7983-2686-6 (print) ISBN 978-3-7983-2596-8 (online) urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-39458 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-39458]Performance figures and control strategies of an innovative solar heating and cooling system (SHC-System) composed of an aqueous lithium bromide-water single-effect absorption chiller with 10 kW cooling capacity, a dry heat rejection system and a low phase change temperature (28-29°C) latent heat storage based on salt hydrates are given. During cooling season the latent heat storage serves as a secondary heat sink supporting the dry air cooler at high ambient temperatures to ensure 32°C coolant to the absorption chiller at any time. In the heating season the latent heat storage buffers heat surplus of the solar collectors latently by melting the phase change material (PCM) calcium chloride hexahydrate. As a result of the constant temperature during charging, solar thermal collector efficiency is increased and furthermore the overall heat dissipation is reduced. The results on the one hand show a positive effect on the cooling capacity, electrical and thermal Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the absorption chiller, which are significantly increased especially at hot days compared to solely dry air cooled systems. On the other hand a high solar fraction in the heating period, due to constantly low storage temperatures, is achieved

Mutations and Allelic Loss of the NF2 Gene in Neurofibromatosis 2-Associated Skin Tumors

Schwannomas in the skin are frequently observed in neurofibromatosis 2 patients. In about one-quarter of the cases, skin tumors are the first clinical symptoms of this disease. Recognizing neurofibromatosis-2-related skin tumors is therefore important for early diagnosis of neurofibromatosis 2, especially in pediatric patients. In this study, we examined 40 skin tumors (36 schwannomas and four neurofibromas) from 20 neurofibromatosis 2 patients for NF2 mutations and allelic loss. NF2 mutations have been identified in blood from 15 (75%) of the 20 patients. We found NF2 mutations in five (13%) and NF2 allelic loss in 18 (45%) of the 40 analyzed tumors. Genetic alterations (allelic loss or mutation) were thus found in 50 (63%) out of the total of 80 examined alleles. In 17 (43%) tumors, alterations were found on both NF2 alleles. These results suggest that, as in the case of vestibular schwannomas and meningiomas, loss of functional NF2 gene product is also the critical event in the development of skin schwannomas. Identification of genetic alterations of the NF2 gene in skin tumors may help to identify neurofibromatosis-2-associated skin tumors, thus assisting in the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis 2 in ambiguous cases, and excluding neurofibromatosis 1 in unclear cases. We also report that the detection rate of constitutional mutations was higher in patients with skin tumors (65%) than in patients without skin tumors (40%)

Nestin Modulates Glucocorticoid Receptor Function by Cytoplasmic Anchoring

Nestin is the characteristic intermediate filament (IF) protein of rapidly proliferating progenitor cells and regenerating tissue. Nestin copolymerizes with class III IF-proteins, mostly vimentin, into heteromeric filaments. Its expression is downregulated with differentiation. Here we show that a strong nestin expression in mouse embryo tissue coincides with a strong accumulation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a key regulator of growth and differentiation in embryonic development. Microscopic studies on cultured cells show an association of GR with IFs composed of vimentin and nestin. Cells lacking nestin, but expressing vimentin, or cells expressing vimentin, but lacking nestin accumulate GR in the nucleus. Completing these networks with an exogenous nestin, respectively an exogenous vimentin restores cytoplasmic anchoring of GR to the IF system. Thus, heteromeric filaments provide the basis for anchoring of GR. The reaction pattern with phospho-GR specific antibodies and the presence of the chaperone HSC70 suggest that specifically the unliganded receptor is anchored to the IF system. Ligand addition releases GR from IFs and shifts the receptor into the nucleus. Suppression of nestin by specific shRNA abolishes anchoring of GR, induces its accumulation in the nucleus and provokes an irreversible G1/S cell cycle arrest. Suppression of GR prior to that of nestin prevents entry into the arrest. The data give evidence that nestin/vimentin specific anchoring modulates growth suppression by GR. We hypothesize that expression of nestin is a major determinant in suppression of anti-proliferative activity of GR in undifferentiated tissue and facilitates activation of this growth control in a precise tissue and differentiation dependent manner

Entwicklung eines Manifests für spielifizierte Hochschullehre

In dieser Veröffentlichung präsentieren die Autoren erste Ergebnisse Ihrer Forschungsarbeit an einem Manifest für spielifizierte Hochschullehre. Ausgehend von einer Literaturrecherche über den aktuellen Forschungsstand werden erste Auszüge der aktuellen Arbeit dargestellt, auf deren Basis ein aktiver wissenschaftlicher Diskurs angeregt werden soll

Staphylococcus aureus induces tolerance in human monocytes accompanied with expression changes of cell surface markers

Exposure of human monocytes to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or other pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMPs) induces a temporary insensitivity to subsequent LPS challenges, a cellular state called endotoxin tolerance (ET), associated with the pathogenesis of sepsis. In this study, we aimed to characterize the cellular state of human monocytes from healthy donors stimulated with Staphylococcus aureus in comparison to TLR2-specific ligands. We analyzed S. aureus induced gene expression changes after 2 and 24 hours by amplicon sequencing (RNA-AmpliSeq) and compared the pro-inflammatory response after 2 hours with the response in re-stimulation experiments. In parallel, glycoprotein expression changes in human monocytes after 24 hours of S. aureus stimulation were analyzed by proteomics and compared to stimulation experiments with TLR2 ligands Malp-2 and Pam3Cys and TLR4 ligand LPS. Finally, we analyzed peripheral blood monocytes of patients with S. aureus bloodstream infection for their ex vivo inflammatory responses towards S. aureus stimulation and their glycoprotein expression profiles. Our results demonstrate that monocytes from healthy donors stimulated with S. aureus and TLR ligands of Gram-positive bacteria entered the tolerant cell state after activation similar to LPS treatment. In particular reduced gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF, IL1β) and chemokines (CCL20, CCL3, CCL4, CXCL2, CXCL3 and CXCL8) could be demonstrated. Glycoprotein expression changes in monocytes tolerized by the different TLR agonists were highly similar while S. aureus -stimulated monocytes shared some of the PAMP-induced changes but also exhibited a distinct expression profile. 11 glycoproteins (CD44, CD274, DSC2, ICAM1, LAMP3, LILRB1, PTGS2, SLC1A3, CR1, FGL2, and HP) were similarly up- or downregulated in all four comparisons in the tolerant cell state. Monocytes from patients with S. aureus bacteremia revealed preserved pro-inflammatory responsiveness to S. aureus stimulation ex vivo, expressed increased CD44 mRNA but no other glycoprotein of the tolerance signature was differentially expressed

DNA copy number alterations in central primitive neuroectodermal tumors and tumors of the pineal region: an international individual patient data meta-analysis

Little is known about frequency, association with clinical characteristics, and prognostic impact of DNA copy number alterations (CNA) on survival in central primitive neuroectodermal tumors (CNS-PNET) and tumors of the pineal region. Searches of MEDLINE, Pubmed, and EMBASE—after the original description of comparative genomic hybridization in 1992 and July 2010—identified 15 case series of patients with CNS-PNET and tumors of the pineal region whose tumors were investigated for genome-wide CNA. One additional case study was identified from contact with experts. Individual patient data were extracted from publications or obtained from investigators, and CNAs were converted to a digitized format suitable for data mining and subgroup identification. Summary profiles for genomic imbalances were generated from case-specific data. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and by univariable and multivariable Cox regression models. In their overall CNA profiles, low grade tumors of the pineal region clearly diverged from CNS-PNET and pineoblastoma. At a median follow-up of 89months, 7-year OS rates of CNS-PNET, pineoblastoma, and low grade tumors of the pineal region were 22.9±6, 0±0, and 87.5±12%, respectively. Multivariable analysis revealed that histology (CNS-PNET), age (≤2.5years), and possibly recurrent CNAs were associated with unfavorable OS. DNA copy number profiling suggests a close relationship between CNS-PNET and pineoblastoma. Low grade tumors of the pineal region differed from CNS-PNET and pineoblastoma. Due to their high biological and clinical variability, a coordinated prospective validation in future studies is necessary to establish robust risk factor