Assessing the impact of a construction virtual reality game on design review skills of construction student

Being able to perform an effective design review is a fundamental skill that every design or construction student should possess. Performing a design review requires critical thinking, analysis, and communication skills. To support the acquisition of these skills, this study investigated the impact of a virtual reality game, the design review simulator (DRS), in a classroom environment. To assess the impact of the game, the authors performed a crossover experiment with 120 students. The students were split into groups and were asked to perform design reviews in two treatment conditions, 2D drawings or the DRS. A knowledge test was administered at the end of different treatments to collect quantitative data on the students’ performance. Results from this research indicate that the DRS supported students in identifying a higher number of design mistakes. Furthermore, students that played with the DRS after performing 2D drawings reviews scored significantly higher in the knowledge test. The research results contribute to the growing knowledge base on the implementation of VR in the classroom and in supporting students in meeting learning objectives related to design review skills. In particular, the research illustrated that the benefits of VR found in the construction industry in terms of improved communication, user involvement, and feedback collection could be translated into the classroom environment

Randomized Trial of Artesunate+Amodiaquine, Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine+Amodiaquine, Chlorproguanal-Dapsone and SP for Malaria in Pregnancy in Tanzania

Malaria in pregnancy is serious, and drug resistance in Africa is spreading. Drugs have greater risks in pregnancy and determining the safety and efficacy of drugs in pregnancy is therefore a priority. This study set out to determine the efficacy and safety of several antimalarial drugs and combinations in pregnant women with uncomplicated malaria.Pregnant women with non-severe, slide proven, falciparum malaria were randomised to one of 4 regimes: sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine [SP]; chlorproguanil-dapsone [CD]; SP+amodiaquine [SP+AQ] or amodiaquine+artesunate [AQ+AS]. Randomisation was on a 1ratio2ratio2ratio2 ratio. Women were admitted for treatment, and followed at days 7, 14, 21, 28 after the start of treatment, at delivery and 6 weeks after delivery to determine adverse events, clinical and parasitological outcomes. Primary outcome was parasitological failure by day 28.1433 pregnant women were screened, of whom 272 met entry criteria and were randomised; 28 to SP, 81 to CD, 80 to SP+AQ and 83 to AQ+AS. Follow-up to day 28 post treatment was 251/272 (92%), and to 6 weeks following delivery 91%. By day 28 parasitological failure rates were 4/26 (15%, 95%CI 4-35) in the SP, 18/77 (23%, 95%CI 14-34) in the CD, 1/73 (1% 95%CI 7-0.001) in the SP+AQ and 7/75 (9% 95%CI 4-18) in the AQ+AS arms respectively. After correction by molecular markers for reinfection the parasitological failure rates at day 28 were 18% for CD, 1% for SP+AQ and 4.5% for AQ+AS. There were two maternal deaths during the trial. There was no apparent excess of stillbirths or adverse birth outcomes in any arm. Parasitological responses were strikingly better in pregnant women than in children treated with the same drugs at this site.Failure rates with monotherapy were unacceptably high. The two combinations tested were efficacious and appeared safe. It should not be assumed that efficacy in pregnancy is the same as in children.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00146731

Explicit Solution of the Inverse Eigenvalue Problem of Real Symmetric Matrices and Its Application to Electrical Network Synthesis

A novel procedure for explicit construction of the entries of real symmetric matrices with assigned spectrum and the entries of the corresponding orthogonal modal matrices is presented. The inverse eigenvalue problem of symmetric matrices with some specific sign patterns (including hyperdominant one) is explicitly solved too. It has been shown to arise thereof a possibility of straightforward solving the inverse eigenvalue problem of symmetric hyperdominant matrices with assigned nonnegative spectrum. The results obtained are applied thereafter in synthesis of driving-point immittance functions of transformerless, common-ground, two-element-kind RLC networks and in generation of their equivalent realizations

Kronik Ürtiker Otoimmün bir hastalık mıdır

Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common clinical condition in which urticaria attacks occur almost daily and persist more than six weeks. No underlying etiology can be detected in many CU patients, and these cases are called chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). © 2010 by Türkiye Klinikleri

Localized Palmar-Plantar Epidermal Hyperplasia Associated with Use of Sorafenib

A 45-year-old man receiving oral sorafenib 400 mg twice daily for metastatic renal cell carcinoma developed pain and rash on his hands and feet 3 weeks after commencement of treatment. Dermatological examination revealed hyperkeratotic plaques surrounded by erythema and with a callus-like brownish-yellow appearance centrally, together with bullae with purulent content under the plaques. Histopathological examination revealed intense hyperkeratosis in the upper part of the epidermis and parakeratosis beneath the epidermis. The integrity of the epidermis was therefore compromised and intense neutrophilic infiltration was seen. The patient was diagnosed on clinical and histopathological grounds as having localized palmar-plantar hyperplasia associated with use of sorafenib, representing the second case reported in the literature. The patient's skin lesions improved markedly after the sorafenib dose was decreased to 200 mg twice daily, a regimen that he continues to take. In the authors' opinion, use of the term localized palmar-plantar hyperplasia, as diagnosed in this patient, is more appropriate in this clinical setting than related terms such as palmoplantar erythrodysaesthesia or hand-foot syndrome

Presepsin: A Novel and Potential Diagnostic Biomarker for Sepsis

Abstract Sepsis is a potential clinical condition which is a consequence of infectious disease or a severe inflammatory reaction secondary to infection or injury. Sepsis in Greek means putrefaction or decay, correlating well with the multiple organ failure and severe shock resulting in death of the patient suffering from severe sepsis. Clinical management of sepsis requires prompt laboratory diagnosis and formulation of effective patient management strategies that may include antimicrobial chemotherapy in case of sepsis induced by infectious microbe. Although many laboratory biomarkers are available for the diagnosis of sepsis, only few markers have proven to be beneficial in differentiating infectious disease sepsis and sepsis of non-infectious origin. Of the available markers only few have prognostic value. We in this review discuss the utility of a novel and emerging sepsis marker, the presepsin which has a better diagnostic and prognostic value, and has been effective in predicting the survival of the sepsis patients

CLPP-Null Eukaryotes with Excess Heme Biosynthesis Show Reduced L-arginine Levels, Probably via CLPX-Mediated OAT Activation

The serine peptidase CLPP is conserved among bacteria, chloroplasts, and mitochondria. In humans and mice, its loss causes Perrault syndrome, which presents with growth deficits, infertility, deafness, and ataxia. In the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina, CLPP loss leads to longevity. CLPP substrates are selected by CLPX, an AAA+ unfoldase. CLPX is known to target delta-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS) to promote pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) binding. CLPX may also influence cofactor association with other enzymes. Here, the evaluation of P. anserina metabolomics highlighted a reduction in arginine/histidine levels. In Mus musculus cerebellum, reductions in arginine/histidine and citrulline occurred with a concomitant accumulation of the heme precursor protoporphyrin IX. This suggests that the increased biosynthesis of 5-carbon (C5) chain deltaALA consumes not only C4 succinyl-CoA and C1 glycine but also specific C5 delta amino acids. As enzymes responsible for these effects, the elevated abundance of CLPX and ALAS is paralleled by increased OAT (PLP-dependent, ornithine delta-aminotransferase) levels. Possibly as a consequence of altered C1 metabolism, the proteome profiles of P. anserina CLPP-null cells showed strong accumulation of a methyltransferase and two mitoribosomal large subunit factors. The reduced histidine levels may explain the previously observed metal interaction problems. As the main nitrogen-storing metabolite, a deficiency in arginine would affect the urea cycle and polyamine synthesis. Supplementation of arginine and histidine might rescue the growth deficits of CLPP-mutant patients

Prevalence and intensity of Trypanosoma sp. in wild swamp eels (Synbranchus bengalensis) marketed in Surabaya, Indonesia

Prevalence and intensity of Trypanosoma sp. in wild swamp eels (Synbranchus bengalensis) marketed in Surabaya, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 3262-3268. Trypanosoma sp. is parasitic protozoa, which can infect not only aquatic organisms but also humans. As the parasite considered a zoonosis disease, there has been a lot of concern about the presence of this parasite in aquaculture commodities. This research aimed to detect and determine the prevalence and intensity of Trypanosoma sp. infection in wild-caught swamp eels (Synbranchus bengalensis) marketed in Surabaya. A total of sixty swamp eels with 47.30±4.69 cm in length were collected from two different locations, Ambengan and Karah, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. The swamp eels were transported alive in two aerated plastic bags to the laboratory. The observed parameters were prevalence and intensity of Trypanosoma sp. in the eels’ blood, total erythrocyte counts and total differential leucocyte count (monocytes, lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophil, and neutrophil). The result showed that 7 of 30 (23%) wild-caught swam eels obtained from Ambengan and 9 of 30 eels (30%) collected from Karah were infected by Trypanosoma sp. The intensity of the parasite in eels collected from both locations was considered as moderate, 12.6 parasites/eel (Ambengan) and 5.9 parasites/eel (Karah). Additionally, hematology analysis indicated total erythrocytes count of blood in the infected eels from both locations were significantly lower than total erythrocytes of blood in the non-infected eels, p0,05. These results demonstrate that swamp eels marketed in Surabaya were infected by Trypanosoma sp