Implementing immersive virtual reality in higher education:a qualitative study of instructor attitudes and perspectives

The current study aimed to understand the attitudes and perceptions of higher education (HE) instructors who have previously used immersive virtual reality (IVR) in teaching. This study employed a qualitative design by conducting semistructured interviews with HE instructors from several disciplines and institutions. Using thematic analysis, five major themes were formulated. These included: (a) applications and benefits; (b) curriculum integration; (c) classroom logistics; (d) barriers to application; and (e) evaluation. Instructors were generally positive about using I-VR as a pedagogical tool, proposing a range of novel applications and uses. However, logistical and technical problems were prominent which made implementation and widescale adoption challenging. The implications of these prominent attitudes are discussed, alongside a range of practical recommendations for applied future practic

Evaluation of sliding baseline methods for spatial estimation for cluster detection in the biosurveillance system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) BioSense system provides near-real time situational awareness for public health monitoring through analysis of electronic health data. Determination of anomalous spatial and temporal disease clusters is a crucial part of the daily disease monitoring task. Our study focused on finding useful anomalies at manageable alert rates according to available BioSense data history.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study dataset included more than 3 years of daily counts of military outpatient clinic visits for respiratory and rash syndrome groupings. We applied four spatial estimation methods in implementations of space-time scan statistics cross-checked in Matlab and C. We compared the utility of these methods according to the resultant background cluster rate (a false alarm surrogate) and sensitivity to injected cluster signals. The comparison runs used a spatial resolution based on the facility zip code in the patient record and a finer resolution based on the residence zip code.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Simple estimation methods that account for day-of-week (DOW) data patterns yielded a clear advantage both in background cluster rate and in signal sensitivity. A 28-day baseline gave the most robust results for this estimation; the preferred baseline is long enough to remove daily fluctuations but short enough to reflect recent disease trends and data representation. Background cluster rates were lower for the rash syndrome counts than for the respiratory counts, likely because of seasonality and the large scale of the respiratory counts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The spatial estimation method should be chosen according to characteristics of the selected data streams. In this dataset with strong day-of-week effects, the overall best detection performance was achieved using subregion averages over a 28-day baseline stratified by weekday or weekend/holiday behavior. Changing the estimation method for particular scenarios involving different spatial resolution or other syndromes can yield further improvement.</p

Scaling dependence on the fluid viscosity ratio in the selective withdrawal transition

In the selective withdrawal experiment fluid is withdrawn through a tube with its tip suspended a distance S above a two-fluid interface. At sufficiently low withdrawal rates, Q, the interface forms a steady state hump and only the upper fluid is withdrawn. When Q is increased (or S decreased), the interface undergoes a transition so that the lower fluid is entrained with the upper one, forming a thin steady-state spout. Near this transition the hump curvature becomes very large and displays power-law scaling behavior. This scaling allows for steady-state hump profiles at different flow rates and tube heights to be scaled onto a single similarity profile. I show that the scaling behavior is independent of the viscosity ratio.Comment: 33 Pages, 61 figures, 1 tabl

60 kD Ro and nRNP A Frequently Initiate Human Lupus Autoimmunity

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically heterogeneous, humoral autoimmune disorder. The unifying feature among SLE patients is the production of large quantities of autoantibodies. Serum samples from 129 patients collected before the onset of SLE and while in the United States military were evaluated for early pre-clinical serologic events. The first available positive serum sample frequently already contained multiple autoantibody specificities (65%). However, in 34 SLE patients the earliest pre-clinical serum sample positive for any detectable common autoantibody bound only a single autoantigen, most commonly 60 kD Ro (29%), nRNP A (24%), anti-phospholipids (18%) or rheumatoid factor (15%). We identified several recurrent patterns of autoantibody onset using these pre-diagnostic samples. In the serum samples available, anti-nRNP A appeared before or simultaneously with anti-nRNP 70 K in 96% of the patients who had both autoantibodies at diagnosis. Anti-60 kD Ro antibodies appeared before or simultaneously with anti-La (98%) or anti-52 kD Ro (95%). The autoantibody response in SLE patients begins simply, often binding a single specific autoantigen years before disease onset, followed by epitope spreading to additional autoantigenic specificities that are accrued in recurring patterns

Flexible Microfabricated Parylene Multielectrode Arrays for Retinal Stimulation and Spinal Cord Field Modulation

The first flexible parylene-based multielectrode arrays (MEAs) designed for functional electrical stimulation (FES) in retinal prostheses, and the extension of this technology toward enabling reflex-arc neuromodulation in cases of spinal cord damage or transection, are presented. A single metal layer 16 × 16 retinal electrode array of 125 μm-diameter thin-film Ti/Pt electrodes and lines of 12 μm-pitch has been fabricated as a demonstration of this technology. To allow for even higher density arrays, a novel dual-layer process has also been implemented that enables leads to pass under overlying electrodes without making electrical contact to them. A biomimetic parylene-based electrode array consisting of 1024 electrodes of highly variable spacing, 60 of which have been connected in this manner, has been fabricated according to this paradigm. A parylene-parylene annealing process has also been developed to increase device longevity under accelerated-lifetime saline soak conditions. Surgical tests of novel anatomically-conformal geometries that enable such parylene-based electrode systems to interact with their neuronal targets of interest while causing minimal mechanical damage to tissues or to the implants are also presented. The use of these flexible electrode arrays in spinal cord stimulation experiments in animal models has proven their efficacy in stimulating neurons

Growth hormone and resistance exercise effects on myotendinous junction in hind-limb unloaded rats: an ultrastructural study

Myotendinous junction (MTJ), is the site at which the contractile forces are transmitted from myofibrils to extracellular matrix, and, when observed at ultrastructural level, it displays an interdigitated profile (Kojima et al., 2008). The aim of this study is to investigate the junctional behaviour in the atrophic condition and during particular prevention protocols. The MTJs of plantaris muscles from twenty hypophysectomized rats were processed for electron microscopy (Curzi et al., 2012). The animals were assigned to one of five groups: control (CTRL), hind-limb suspended (HS), hind-limb suspended and exercised (EX), hind-limb suspended and growth hormone injected (GH) and hind-limb suspended, GH injected and exercised (GH+EX). After unloading, the tendon finger-like processes appeared small and irregular and the contact between tissues is reduced to 61.3%. The prevention treatments increased the interface area up to 6.2% in GH, 25.3% in EX and 46.4 % in GH+EX respectively. The resistance exercise protocol, as well as GH treatment, was not capable of maintaining the contact surface between tissues, but in both exercised groups the number of bifurcated interdigitations was higher than in the CTRL. In conclusion, ultrastructural changes occur at MTJ in HS, as an adaptation to muscle unloading. Differently, MTJ structure is partially maintained by resistance training or GH treatment, while the exercise with simultaneous somatropin administration showed a greater effect

“Crocodiles in the corridors” : security vetting, race and Whitehall, 1945 – 1968

In July 2018, the UK’s Intelligence & Security Committee issued a report into diversity and inclusion across the intelligence and security community. The picture the report painted was far from satisfactory; in short, Britain’s intelligence agencies did not ‘fully reflect the ethnic make-up of modern Britain’. The report argued that Britain’s spy agencies – MI5, SIS (or MI6) and GCHQ – should improve black, Asian and ethnic minority recruitment, highlighting areas for improvement, especially around the vetting of recruits. This problem stems from the post-war Cold War 'security state' and the development of security-vetting programmes from the 1940s, aiming to protect Whitehall from Soviet spies and 'fellow travellers' to those with so-called 'character defects' - drink, drugs and homosexuality. But this 'security state' also saw the newly emerging multicultural Britain as a major threat. The so-called 'Windrush Generation' of migrants from the Caribbean, and migration from the Indian subcontinent and Africa, forever changed the social complexion of Britain, but posed significant questions for security officials. What was Britishness? With first or second generation migrants entering the civil service, who was a 'UK eye' and what access to secret information should they have? To what extent was discrimination justifiable to protect state secrets, and how should officials respond to new legislation such as the Race Discrimination Act? As this article shows, new entrants to the civil service faced deeply engrained prejudices, and questions over their loyalty to Britain. As late as the 1960s (and beyond), 'coloured' members of the civil service were rejected from secret posts across government, including the Ministry of Defence and intelligence and security services, especially MI5 and GCHQ, with discrimination on ‘security’ grounds justified by the landmark 1968 Race Relations Act, which barred race discrimination for housing and employment elsewhere

Increased Hepatic Insulin Action in Diet-Induced Obese Mice Following Inhibition of Glucosylceramide Synthase

Obesity is characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver and other tissues, leading to insulin resistance. We have previously shown that a specific inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthase, which inhibits the initial step in the synthesis of glycosphingolipids (GSLs), improved glucose metabolism and decreased hepatic steatosis in both ob/ob and diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Here we have determined in the DIO mouse model the efficacy of a related small molecule compound, Genz-112638, which is currently being evaluated clinically for the treatment of Gaucher disease, a lysosomal storage disorder.DIO mice were treated with the Genz-112638 for 12 to 16 weeks by daily oral gavage. Genz-112638 lowered HbA1c levels and increased glucose tolerance. Whole body adiposity was not affected in normal mice, but decreased in drug-treated obese mice. Drug treatment also significantly lowered liver triglyceride levels and reduced the development of hepatic steatosis. We performed hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps on the DIO mice treated with Genz-112638 and showed that insulin-mediated suppression of hepatic glucose production increased significantly compared to the placebo treated mice, indicating a marked improvement in hepatic insulin sensitivity.These results indicate that GSL inhibition in obese mice primarily results in an increase in insulin action in the liver, and suggests that GSLs may have an important role in hepatic insulin resistance in conditions of obesity

p53 Expression in Node-Positive Breast Cancer Patients: Results from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9344 Trial (159905)

p53 as a prognostic and predictive factor in early stage breast cancer, has had mixed results. We studied p53 protein expression, by immunohistochemistry, in a randomized clinical trial of stage II patients treated with adjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide with or without paclitaxel (CALGB 9344, INT0148)