Work in Progress: Web-Delivered Reading Improvement Battery of Tasks

Learning to read requires the development of highly organized brain systems that are capable of incorporating spelling, phonological and lexical-semantic features of written words. The main aim of the present research protocol is to strengthen the speed and accuracy of phonological awareness for children with reading impairments by designing and implementing a web delivered set of tasks. “Poke the Reading Ability” is a web-delivered application, that helps readers increase their reading speed, accuracy and comprehension by training them to avoid subvocalization (saying words in their head while reading), backtracking (going back to re-read words or sentences), and fixations, factors that have negative effects on reading speed and accuracy. “Poke the Reading Ability” includes a graphical environment that encourages learners to complete activities, while “playing an internet game”. HTML5, CSS, JavaScript were used in order to design all tasks included in “Poke the Reading Ability” web application. There are software applications that are used as intervention programs. However, “Poke the Reading Ability” is an online program designed in order to improve the reading capacity of children and adolescents. Its tasks are not only targeting at building phonological awareness but also, include tasks that improve visual and auditory memory, visual discrimination ability and text comprehension. The web application that is presented is carefully designed both in its pedagogical and computer programming aspects in order to offer a solution to tutors at everyday school practice. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Treatment with adipose stem cells in a patient with moderate Alzheimer's disease: case report

Magda Tsolaki,1,2 Stelios Zygouris,1,3 Vassilis Tsoutsikas,2 Doxakis Anestakis,2,4,5 George Koliakos6,7 1Third Department of Neurology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 2Greek Association of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Thessaloniki, Greece; 3CND+, 4Laboratory of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 5Laboratory of General Biology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; 6Biohellenika Stem Cells Bank, Thessaloniki, Greece; 7Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Objective: This article presents the case of a female patient with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The patient was treated with cholinesterase inhibitors and also with intravenous administration of autologous adipose stem cells.Methods: The patient was assessed with a neuropsychological battery including measures of general cognition, functional problems, neuropsychiatric issues, memory (verbal, visual and episodic), verbal learning and visuospatial abilities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were conducted before and after the treatment with stem cells.Results: A transient and mild improvement of scores in measures of general cognition and neuropsychiatric issues was evident. A rapid deterioration followed the initial improvement. The first MRI scan showed ischemic areas in periventricular white matter of both hemispheres, as well as in both temporal and parietal lobes. The second MRI scan revealed the same picture with no significant changes.Conclusion: This case report indicates that the administration of stem cells is feasible in a clinical setting however its effectiveness in the treatment of AD is uncertain. The improvement of the patient's condition highlights the potential therapeutic action of stem cells, however the rapid deterioration poses questions concerning limited effectiveness or possible side effects of stem cell administration. Further research is needed in order to clarify the method's effectiveness.Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, stem cells, case report, dementi

More Than Structured Programming in Primary School Syllabus

Computer programming was introduced to primary schools by many countries with the aim of advancing logic and algorithmic thinking of students. The bulk of a typical syllabus (e.g., in the case of Greece) for computer programming courses at 5th and 6th grade primary school, consists of teaching structured programming concepts. While the comprehension of basic program flow concepts such as branch instructions and loops is of paramount importance, overextending the teaching of the basics may lead to students losing their interest due to lack of challenge. On the other hand, in a mixed classroom environment there exist both students with substantial skills in modern computer technology and others with smaller such experience, e.g., due to societal and economic factors. To avoid discouraging both the talented pupils by re-visiting the same topics and the less experienced ones by not providing an alternative way of learning, we investigate instructing advanced computer programming concepts in a playful way using pair programming. Results reveal that teaching advanced programming concepts using pair programming can improve the overall programming skills of mixed classroom students. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Screening Executive Functions of Preschool Children via a Web Application

The present research protocol describes the tasks of a web application that was constructed in order to assess the executive functions of preschool aged children. A total of 65 children four and five years old participated in this study. In order to screen executive functions, we used (1) a go/nogo task, (2) a visual working memory task (3) an auditory working memory task (4) a graph phoneme discrimination task (5) a phonological discrimination task and (6) a visual discrimination task. The results revealed that children at the age of four years old presented lower scores of correct answers and larger latencies in comparison to children at the age of five years. Also, females had more correct answers in the tasks of the web application in comparison to males. Additionally, the main purpose of delivering a screening procedure via internet is to make preschoolers do something useful while perceiving that they are “playing a game”. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The use of LEGO mindstorms in elementary schools

Popular interest in robotics has increased significantly over the last years. It has been claimed that robotics can provide new benefits to the learning process at all levels of education. The main ideas of the present study adhered to the constructionist theory, according to which the learning process is not only transmitted from teacher to pupil, but rather constructed in the mind of the pupil in the form of active learning. The purpose of the present study was to implement a robotic toy (Lego Mindstorms NXT TM) in a Greek primary school, in order to teach twelve year-old children some of the basic concepts of geometry. The main hypothesis of the present study was that children who used the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform would score higher on an evaluation questionnaire than children who formed the control group. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed in order to evaluate the correct answers of the questionnaires. Statistical analysis revealed that children who participated in the experimental group performed better in the 21 items of the questionnaire. Moreover, they mentioned that the geometry course became more interesting and drew their attention in comparison to the courses that were taught through the standard teaching process. It is apparent that the present study follows the line of inquiries that supports that robotics can make a significant impact to education. Robots can be a tool that can enhance the skills of children. © 2017 IEEE

A Preliminary Study on the Feasibility of Using a Virtual Reality Cognitive Training Application for Remote Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: It has been demonstrated that virtual reality (VR) applications can be used for the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objective: The aim of this study is to provide a preliminary investigation on whether a VR cognitive training application can be used to detect MCI in persons using the application at home without the help of an examiner. Methods: Two groups, one of healthy older adults (n=6) and one of MCI patients (n=6) were recruited from Thessaloniki day centers for cognitive disorders and provided with a tablet PC with custom software enabling the self-administration of the Virtual Super Market (VSM) cognitive training exercise. The average performance (from 20 administrations of the exercise) of the two groups was compared and was also correlated with performance in established neuropsychological tests. Results: Average performance in terms of duration to complete the given exercise differed significantly between healthy(μ =247.41s/ sd=89.006) and MCI (μ=454.52s/ sd=177.604) groups, yielding a correct classification rate of 91.8 with a sensitivity and specificity of 94 and 89 respectively for MCI detection. Average performance also correlated significantly with performance in Functional Cognitive Assessment Scale (FUCAS), Test of Everyday Attention (TEA), and Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure test (ROCFT). Discussion: The VR application exhibited very high accuracy in detecting MCI while all participants were able to operate the tablet and application on their own. Diagnostic accuracy was improved compared to a previous study using data from only one administration of the exercise. The results of the present study suggest that remote MCI detection through VR applications can be feasible. © 2017 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved

Learning difficulties screening web application

Learning disabilities is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders. The aim of the present pilot study was to examine the efficacy of a new web neurocognitive screening tool, the 'askisi' that was developed to provide a brief screening measure for learning difficulties. Participants were twenty children who had been initially identified with learning difficulties and a control group of twenty students' age- and sex-matched with the children with learning difficulties. Group members' ages range between 8 and 12 years old. The set of tasks which all children had to undergo included 10 test that examined children's rreading, spelling, arithmetic and cognitive skills. In our effort to enhance the aforementioned procedure we created a client-server web application that implements its core characteristics. The results indicated that children with learning difficulties had significantly less correct responses in eight of the ten tasks, of our web screening test, compared with the control group, suggesting that the difference between the two groups could be practically important. Although time latency of learning disabled children was larger than their typical developing schoolmates (see Table 2), this difference did not reach statistical significance in five of the nine tasks measured. Overall, these results of this pilot study revealed strong convergent and discriminant evidence for the eight tasks of the 'askisi' screening measure, suggesting that this web application may provide a useful method to screen for learning difficulties in both research studies and clinical settings. © 2015 IEEE

A systematic review of bisphenol a from dietary and non-dietary sources during pregnancy and its possible connection with fetal growth restriction: Investigating its potential effects and the window of fetal vulnerability

Bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), is increasingly hypothesized to be a factor contributing to changes in fetal growth velocity. BPA exposure may be environmental, occupational, and/or dietary, with canned foods and plastic bottles contributing significantly. Our systematic review aims to evaluate the current literature and to investigate the role of BPA in abnormal fetal growth patterns. A search was conducted in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. A total of 25 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review. Eleven of them failed to show a clear relationship between BPA and abnormal fetal growth. The majority of the remaining studies (9/14) found an inverse association of BPA with indicators of fetal growth, whereas three studies suggested increased fetal growth, and two studies produced contradictory findings. Of note, both of the studies that collected a sample (amniotic fluid) directly reflecting BPA concentration in the fetus during the first half of pregnancy revealed an inverse association with birth weight. In conclusion, there is mounting evidence that combined exposure to BPA from dietary and non-dietary sources during pregnancy may contribute to abnormal fetal growth; a tendency towards fetal growth restriction was shown, especially when exposure occurs during the first half. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland