Understanding Engagement within the Context of a Safety Critical Game

One of the most frequent arguments for deploying serious games is that they provide an engaging format for student learning. However, engagement is often equated with enjoyment, which may not be the most relevant conceptualization in safety-critical settings, such as law enforcement and healthcare. In these contexts, the term ‘serious’ does not only relate to the non-entertainment purpose of the game but also the environment simulated by the game. In addition, a lack of engagement in a safety critical training setting can have serious ethical implications, leading to significant real-world impacts. However, evaluations of safety-critical games (SCGs) rarely provide an in-depth consideration of player experience. Thus, in relation to simulation game-based training, we are left without a clear understanding of what sort of experience players are having, what factors influence their engagement and how their engagement relates to learning. In order to address these issues, this paper reports on the mixed-method evaluation of a SCG that was developed to support police training. The findings indicate that engagement is supported by the experience situational relevance, due to the player’s experience of real-world authenticity, targeted feedback mechanisms and learning challenges

A diachronic analysis of porotic hyperostosis in prehistoric populations of northern Chile

A macroscopic analysis of 604 skeletal remains was undertaken at the Museo Arqueologico de San Miguel de Azapa (MASMA) in order to ascertain the rates of porotic hyperostosis in the prehistoric populations of northern Chile. Porotic hyperostosis has been recognized as being a useful indicator of nutritional stress, in particular, iron-deficiency anemia. In the Americas, this pathology has primarily been associated with maize-dependency and pathogen load. Contrary to expectations, results reveal that pre-agricultural populations have 93% of porotic hyperostosis while the agricultural populations show a rate of 66%. This data does not support the maize-dependency model. It is suggested, instead, that the pathology could be the result of levels of parasites within the societies

Applications of Raman spectroscopy to urology

Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique that can interrogate biological tissues. In doing so it gives us an understanding of the changes in the molecular structure that are associated with disease development. The Kerr gating technique uses a picosecond pulsed laser and fast temporal gating of inelastically (Raman) scattered light. The tissue samples used were taken following fully informed consent and ethics approval. Bladder samples were obtained by taking a biopsy during a TURBT or TURP, prostate samples were taken during TURP and the liver and kidney (pigs) were bought at a supermarket. The bladder and prostate samples were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored in an -80°C freezer until required for experimentation. The liver and kidney tissue were used fresh. The constituent samples were bought from Sigma – Aldrich. Multivariate and least squares analysis were used to ascertain the biochemical basis of the differing pathologies within the bladder and the prostate gland, as well as to test diagnostic algorithms produced by a colleague in our group. Depth profiling through the bladder and prostate gland was shown to be feasible by utilizing the Kerr gating technique as was the suppression of fluorescence from dark tissue (liver and kidney). We have shown for the first time, that we can utilise Raman spectroscopy to determine the biochemical basis of pathologies of the bladder and the prostate gland. With the help of the Kerr gating technique we also obtained spectra from different depths through them. We also suppressed fluorescence and resonantly enhanced Raman spectra from dark tissue. These have major implications in terms of understanding pathogenesis and disease progression and also the potential to accurately assess depth of tumour invasion

Understanding Brettanomyces behaviour to optimise the use of alternatives to SO₂ in wines

Mestrado em Engenharia de Viticultura e Enologia / Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de LisboaThe wine world is constantly evolving, and the market is increasingly demanding with regard to the characteristics of the final product. Winegrowers must follow the trends that have been emerging in relation to winemaking methods, not only in terms of the final product, but also when talking about all the processes involved in obtaining it. As far as wine defects are concerned, one of the producers' greatest focus is Brettanomyces yeast, which is considered to have the greatest capacity to cause wine spoilage. It has been, in the last decades, a reason for great attention, since it causes great economic losses when the conditions for its establishment in the winery are met, especially when we talk about higher quality red wines that have been submitted to expensive ageing processes in wooden barrels. This yeast has the capacity to produce ethylphenols which, above certain quantities, cause highly undesirable changes in the wine's organoleptic characteristics. To date, the most used and efficient approach to dealing with Brettanomyces is the use of sulphites to prevent its growth. SO₂ is the most widely used additive in wineries for the control of this yeast. However, in recent years there has been growing concern from a number of health and food industry stakeholders about the presence of sulphites in various foods. In addition to the fact that they can be harmful to human health above certain ingested values, there is now an increasing trend towards the reduction of all chemical additives in food. The current trend has led the consumer to prefer all products that are related to organic, sustainable, natural production, words that are increasingly referred to throughout the industry. As a food product, wine has also been following this trend, which is becoming increasingly demanding and challenging. The aim of this review was to analyse most of the available alternative methods to the use of sulphites for the reduction of Brettanomyces in wine, in an attempt to minimise the amount of SO₂ to be added to the final product. Knowing how this yeast behaves, which factors influence its growth and at which stages of the winemaking process it is most likely to develop, are some of the topics. In this way, it is intended to make a synthesis of alternative methods to reduce its incidence, to understand which are the most advantageous and what still has to be done in the future to achieve the desired objectivesN/

Fostering Energy Resilience in the Rural Thai Power System—A Case Study in Nakhon Phanom

With rising electricity demand, heavy reliance on imports, and recent economic downturns due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain bottlenecks, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Thailand is suffering severely from energy resilience risks. The government has therefore set a goal of decentralizing energy production through small-scale distributed renewable energy systems. To support their design and the planning process, we simulate multiple scenarios with wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage for a model community in rural Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. Using the software NESSI4D, we evaluate and discuss their impact on energy resilience by considering environmental sustainability, economic attractiveness, and independence from the central power grid. To fill the gap of missing data on energy demand, we synthesize high-resolution load profiles from the Thailand Vietnam Socio-Economic Panel. We conclude that distributed photovoltaic systems with additional battery storage are only suitable to promote energy resilience if the government provides appropriate financial incentives. Considering temporal variations and local conditions, as well as a participatory decision-making process, are crucial for the long-term success of energy projects. Our advice to decision-makers is to design policies and regulatory support that are aligned with the preferences and needs of target communities

Education Evolution: A Qualitative Study of Student Perception

The educational imperative of textbooks was examined for university business students. 82 students were interviewed to determine their perceptions of textbooks and the factors that affect their willingness to purchase. Student preferences on delivery format, content style and price were examined using choice activities. Issues raised related to the practical nature of print, price sensitivity, student collaboration and the tradeoffs of current and future learning materials for students. Print textbooks were more popular than e-Books and summary chapters are favoured for ease of information consumption. Pacific Rim editions are favoured over International editions and currency and local relevance are key determinants in the students’ preferences. The ‘authority of print’ and ‘experience’ of purchasing and owning a hardcopy version of a text book are posited as key considerations for students

Accessible decision support for sustainable energy systems in developing countries

With rising electricity demand through digitization and innovation, the urgency of climate change mitigation, and the recent geopolitical crisis, stakeholders in developing countries face the complex task to build reliable, affordable, and low-emission energy systems. Information inaccessibility, data unavailability, and scarce local expertise are major challenges for planning and transitioning to decentralized solutions. Motivated by the calls for more solution-oriented research regarding sustainability, we design, develop, and evaluate the web-based decision support system NESSI4Dweb+ that is tailored to the needs and capabilities of various stakeholders in developing countries. NESSI4Dweb+ is open access and considers location-specific circumstances to facilitate multi-energy planning. Its applicability is demonstrated with a case study of a representative rural village in southern Madagascar and evaluated through seven interviews with experts and stakeholders. We show that NESSI4Dweb+ can support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and enable the very prerequisite of digitization: reliable electrification