Gendered Socialization with an Embodied Agent: Creating a Social and Affable Mathematics Learning Environment for Middle-Grade Females

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed-methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred and twenty 9th-graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners’ evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners’ task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews revealed that Latina and Caucasian females built a different type of relationship with their agent and reported more positive learning experiences as compared to Caucasian males. The females’ favorable view of the agent-based learning was largely influenced by their everyday classroom experiences, implying that students’ learning experience in real and virtual spaces was interconnected

Early Recurring Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Partial Hepatic Resection: Preoperative CT Findings

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of preoperative CT in predicting early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after partial hepatic resection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preoperative three-phase helical CT scans in 53 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed by two radiologists. In 27 patients (group I), HCC had recurred within six months, while 26 (group II) had remained disease free for at least two years. In each group, preoperative CT findings were evaluated in each group for the tumor size and number, the presence or absence of capsule, distinctness of tumor margin, perinodular extension, and the presence or absence of portal vein thrombosis. RESULTS: In group I, a tumor capsule of tumor was seen in five of 27 patients (19%), and in group II, in 16 of 26 (62%) (p =.001). The tumor margin was distinct in eight patients (30%) in group I and in 20 (77%) in group II (p =.001). Multiple tumors, perinodular extension, and portal vein thrombosis were more frequently seen in group I but the differences were not statistically significant (p >.05). Tumor size was similar in each group (p >.05). CONCLUSION: Preoperative CT findings that may help predict the early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection are an absence of capsule of tumors and an indistinct margin. Reference to these findings during preoperative CT can guide clinicians in their choice of treatment.ope