Exploring the Gamification Paradox: Why Does Improved Engagement Not Lead to Improved Performance?

Gamification is the application of game elements to non-game environments (Deterding, 2012), and is often used to engage people and make their experiences more enjoyable in areas ranging from fitness and education to psychological research. Previous studies have shown that adding gamification to new environments can result in increased motivation (Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014). However, increased motivation from gamification does not seem to increase performance in terms of accuracy or response times (Hawkins et al., 2013). This research study examined this “gamification paradox” by testing the performance of 87 participants on a visual search task both with and without gamification elements. We found no difference in terms of intrinsic motivation between participants in the gamified and non-gamified conditions. Additionally, the two conditions did not significantly differ in their performance. However, we did find that motivation was related to performance in terms of accuracy. We also found that our point formula altered participant behavior, such that participants emphasized accuracy over response time. These findings suggest that game elements, such as points, can affect participant behavior. However, because the implementation of gamification failed to sufficiently motivate participants, we were unable to see whether gamification can increase participant performanc

Modified ‘one amino acid-one codon’ engineering of high GC content TaqII-coding gene from thermophilic Thermus aquaticus results in radical expression increase

BACKGROUND: An industrial approach to protein production demands maximization of cloned gene expression, balanced with the recombinant host’s viability. Expression of toxic genes from thermophiles poses particular difficulties due to high GC content, mRNA secondary structures, rare codon usage and impairing the host’s coding plasmid replication. TaqII belongs to a family of bifunctional enzymes, which are a fusion of the restriction endonuclease (REase) and methyltransferase (MTase) activities in a single polypeptide. The family contains thermostable REases with distinct specificities: TspGWI, TaqII, Tth111II/TthHB27I, TspDTI and TsoI and a few enzymes found in mesophiles. While not being isoschizomers, the enzymes exhibit amino acid (aa) sequence homologies, having molecular sizes of ~120 kDa share common modular architecture, resemble Type-I enzymes, cleave DNA 11/9 nt from the recognition sites, their activity is affected by S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). RESULTS: We describe the taqIIRM gene design, cloning and expression of the prototype TaqII. The enzyme amount in natural hosts is extremely low. To improve expression of the taqIIRM gene in Escherichia coli (E. coli), we designed and cloned a fully synthetic, low GC content, low mRNA secondary structure taqIIRM, codon-optimized gene under a bacteriophage lambda (λ) P( R ) promoter. Codon usage based on a modified ‘one amino acid–one codon’ strategy, weighted towards low GC content codons, resulted in approximately 10-fold higher expression of the synthetic gene. 718 codons of total 1105 were changed, comprising 65% of the taqIIRM gene. The reason for we choose a less effective strategy rather than a resulting in high expression yields ‘codon randomization’ strategy, was intentional, sub-optimal TaqII in vivo production, in order to decrease the high ‘toxicity’ of the REase-MTase protein. CONCLUSIONS: Recombinant wt and synthetic taqIIRM gene were cloned and expressed in E. coli. The modified ‘one amino acid–one codon’ method tuned for thermophile-coded genes was applied to obtain overexpression of the ‘toxic’ taqIIRM gene. The method appears suited for industrial production of thermostable ‘toxic’ enzymes in E. coli. This novel variant of the method biased toward increasing a gene’s AT content may provide economic benefits for industrial applications

The Redox Imbalance and the Reduction of Contractile Protein Content in Rat Hearts Administered with L-Thyroxine and Doxorubicin

Oxidative stress and disorders in calcium balance play a crucial role in the doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. Moreover, many cardiotoxic targets of doxorubicin are regulated by iodothyronine hormones. The aim of the study was to evaluate effects of tetraiodothyronine (0.2, 2 mg/L) on oxidative stress in the cardiac muscle as well as contractility and cardiomyocyte damage markers in rats receiving doxorubicin (1.5 mg/kg) once a week for ten weeks. Doxorubicin was administered alone (DOX) or together with a lower (0.2T4 + DOX) and higher dose of tetraiodothyronine (2T4 + DOX). Two groups received only tetraiodothyronine (0.2T4, 2T4). Coadministration of tetraiodothyronine and doxorubicin increased the level of lipid peroxidation products and reduced RyR2 level when compared to untreated control and group exposed exclusively to doxorubicin. Insignificant differences in SERCA2 and occasional histological changes were observed. In conclusion, an increase of tetraiodothyronine level may be an additional risk factor of redox imbalance and RyR2 reduction in anthracycline cardiotoxicity

Tirapazamine-Doxorubicin Interaction Referring to Heart Oxidative Stress and Ca2+ Balance Protein Levels

Doxorubicin (DOX) causes long-term cardiomyopathy that is dependent on oxidative stress and contractility disorders. Tirapazamine (TP), an experimental adjuvant drug, passes the same red-ox transformation as DOX. The aim of the study was to evaluate an effect of tirapazamine on oxidative stress, contractile protein level, and cardiomyocyte necrosis in rats administered doxorubicin. Rats were intraperitoneally injected six times once a week with tirapazamine in two doses, 5 (5TP) and 10 mg/kg (10TP), while doxorubicin was administered in dose 1.8 mg/kg (DOX). Subsequent two groups received both drugs simultaneously (5TP+DOX and 10TP+DOX). Tirapazamine reduced heart lipid peroxidation and normalised RyR2 protein level altered by doxorubicin. There were no significant changes in GSH/GSSG ratio, total glutathione, cTnI, AST, and SERCA2 level between DOX and TP+DOX groups. Cardiomyocyte necrosis was observed in groups 10TP and 10TP+DOX

Functional hierarchy for tactile processing in the visual cortex of sighted adults

Perception via different sensory modalities was traditionally believed to be supported by largely separate brain systems. However, a growing number of studies demonstrate that the visual cortices of typical, sighted adults are involved in tactile and auditory perceptual processing. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of the visual cortex’s involvement in a complex tactile task: Braille letter recognition. Sighted subjects underwent Braille training and then participated in a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study in which they tactually identified single Braille letters. During this task, TMS was applied to their left early visual cortex, visual word form area (VWFA), and left early somatosensory cortex at five time windows from 20 to 520 ms following the Braille letter presentation’s onset. The subjects’ response accuracy decreased when TMS was applied to the early visual cortex at the 120–220 ms time window and when TMS was applied to the VWFA at the 320–420 ms time window. Stimulation of the early somatosensory cortex did not have a time-specific effect on the accuracy of the subjects’ Braille letter recognition, but rather caused a general slowdown during this task. Our results indicate that the involvement of sighted people’s visual cortices in tactile perception respects the canonical visual hierarchy—the early tactile processing stages involve the early visual cortex, whereas more advanced tactile computations involve high-level visual areas. Our findings are compatible with the metamodal account of brain organization and suggest that the whole visual cortex may potentially support spatial perception in a task-specific, sensory-independent manner

Activation-induced chromatin reorganization in neurons depends on HDAC1 activity

Spatial chromatin organization is crucial for transcriptional regulation and might be particularly important in neurons since they dramatically change their transcriptome in response to external stimuli. We show that stimulation of neurons causes condensation of large chromatin domains. This phenomenon can be observed in vitro in cultured rat hippocampal neurons as well as in vivo in the amygdala and hippocampal neurons. Activity-induced chromatin condensation is an active, rapid, energy-dependent, and reversible process. It involves calcium-dependent pathways but is independent of active transcription. It is accompanied by the redistribution of posttranslational histone modifications and rearrangements in the spatial organization of chromosome territories. Moreover, it leads to the reorganization of nuclear speckles and active domains located in their proximity. Finally, we find that the histone deacetylase HDAC1 is the key regulator of this process. Our results suggest that HDAC1-dependent chromatin reorganization constitutes an important level of transcriptional regulation in neurons.publishedVersio

Micropropagation Protocol and Genetic Stability of the <i>Salix myrtilloides</i> Plants Cultivated In Vitro

Salix myrtilloides L. is a relict species, threatened with extinction in many European countries. To prevent the loss of the species, tissue culture was established to produce plant material for reintroduction in natural habitats. Micropropagation was chosen as a method to obtain new plants. S. myrtilloides shoots were disinfected with NaOCl, AgNO3, or with a two-step disinfection with NaOCl, and then placed on MS medium supplemented with BA at 1 mg·dm−3 and IBA at 0.1 mg·dm−3. Regenerated shoots were cultivated in presence of BA, KIN, and 2iP to select the treatment with the highest multiplication rate. The obtained plants were acclimatized to ex vitro conditions. Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and flow cytometric analyses were conducted on in vitro regenerated plants to check their genetic stability. The best disinfection results were obtained when explants were treated with 1.5% NaOCl for 20 min. The highest multiplication rate and good quality plants were noted in the control media, without growth regualtors and in presence of kinetin at 0.5 mg·dm−3. Flow cytometry and ISSR analyses confirmed genetic stability in plantlets, which indicated the possibility to use the in vitro obtained plants for reintroduction

Verteporfin, photofrin II, and merocyanine 540 as PDT photosensitizers against melanoma cells

The efficiency of photodynamic effect (PDE) for Photofrin II (PfII), Verteporfin, and Merocyanine 540 (MC540) was compared against neoplastic cells. Triplet state lifetimes and singlet molecular oxygen quantum yields were correlated with biological effect. PfII triplet lifetime was two times longer than that of Verteporfin, however, its singlet molecular oxygen quantum yield was two times lower in comparison with Verteporfin. High singlet molecular oxygen quantum yield of Verteporfin resulted in high biological efficacy. To achieve 50% mortality of cells four times lower light dose and five times lower concentration of Verteporfin were applied in comparison with PfII. The same level of cell damage was reached using 10 times higher light dose and two times higher concentration of MC540 in comparison with PfII. Our results confirm that singlet molecular oxygen based mechanism, prevalent for Verteporfin and PfII, was highly effective against melanoma cells. Verteporfin can be used at small doses with high cellular damage efficiency

Recent advances in infrared spectroscopy applied to single specimen dinoflagellate cysts : methodological framework and applications

Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a spectrochemical technique able to retrieve macromolecular information from organic materials. When combined with a microscope (micro-FTIR), the (geo)chemical composition of single specimen dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) can be determined. Over the last decades a small number of dinocyst micro-FTIR studies booked often inconsistent results by overlooking important methodological aspects during analysis. This study takes into account variables like sample preparation, specimen morphology and size and spectral data processing steps and presents a standardized method based on attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy which is able to collect robust spectral datasets. These datasets are largely devoid of nonchemical artifacts inherent to other infrared spectrochemical methods which have typically been used in similar studies in the past (i.e. transmission and transflection spectroscopy). Several guidelines are proposed which facilitate the collection and qualitative interpretation of highly reproducible and repeatable spectrochemical dinocyst data. These, in turn, pave the way for a systematic exploration of dinocyst chemistry and its assessment as a chemotaxonomical tool or proxy. An ATR micro-FTIR case study on morphologically similar late Paleogene to early Neogene dinocysts Palaeocystodinium golzowense, Svalbardella clausii and Svalbardella cooksoniae is also presented, which highlights the chemotaxonomical potential of the method