THE ROLE OF BROCA’S AREA IN SYNTAX: A TMS STUDY ON WRITTEN GREEK LANGUAGE

A number of recent papers have addressed the potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to interfere with linguistic processes or speech production. In this paper we present an experiment with TMS to clarify the role of Broca’s area in syntactic processing. An experimental paradigm contrasted sentences that require syntactic and semantic decisions on written Greek language. We found a clue of selective priming effects on syntactic decisions but not on semantic decisions. Our results provide evidence of the involvement of Broca’s area in syntax

Physical activity awareness and preferences in rheumatic diseases: a qualitative study

Background: Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death (1) and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients with rheumatic diseases (RDs), especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA), report low cardiorespiratory fitness levels (2), placing them at an increased risk of premature mortality and CVD.Published versio

Harmonizing and improving European education in prescribing: An overview of digital educational resources used in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics

Aim: Improvement and harmonization of European clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education is urgently required. Because digital educational resources can be easily shared, adapted to local situations and re-used widely across a variety of educational systems, they may be ideally suited for this purpose. Methods: With a cross-sectional survey among principal CPT teachers in 279 out of 304 European medical schools, an overview and classification of digital resources was compiled. Results: Teachers from 95 (34%) medical schools in 26 of 28 EU countries responded, 66 (70%) of whom used digital educational resources in their CPT curriculum. A total of 89 of such resources were described in detail, including e-learning (24%), simulators to teach pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics (10%), virtual patients (8%), and serious games (5%). Together, these resources covered 235 knowledge-based learning objectives, 88 skills, and 13 attitudes. Only one third (27) of the resources were in-part or totally free and only two were licensed open educational resources (free to use, distribute and adapt). A narrative overview of the largest, free and most novel resources is given. Conclusion: Digital educational resources, ranging from e-learning to virtual patients and games, are widely used for CPT education in EU medical schools. Learning objectives are based largely on knowledge rather than skills or attitudes. This may be improved by including more real-life clinical case scenarios. Moreover, the majority of resources are neither free nor open. Therefore, with a view to harmonizing international CPT education, more needs to be learned about why CPT teachers are not currently sharing their educational materials

EurOP2E – the European Open Platform for Prescribing Education, a consensus study among clinical pharmacology and therapeutics teachers

Purpose Sharing and developing digital educational resources and open educational resources has been proposed as a way to harmonize and improve clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in European medical schools. Previous research, however, has shown that there are barriers to the adoption and implementation of open educational resources. The aim of this study was to determine perceived opportunities and barriers to the use and creation of open educational resources among European CPT teachers and possible solutions for these barriers. Methods CPT teachers of British and EU medical schools completed an online survey. Opportunities and challenges were identified by thematic analyses and subsequently discussed in an international consensus meeting. Results Data from 99 CPT teachers from 95 medical schools were analysed. Thirty teachers (30.3%) shared or collaboratively produced digital educational resources. All teachers foresaw opportunities in the more active use of open educational resources, including improving the quality of their teaching. The challenges reported were language barriers, local differences, lack of time, technological issues, difficulties with quality management, and copyright restrictions. Practical solutions for these challenges were discussed and include a peer review system, clear indexing, and use of copyright licenses that permit adaptation of resources. Conclusion Key challenges to making greater use of CPT open educational resources are a limited applicability of such resources due to language and local differences and quality concerns. These challenges may be resolved by relatively simple measures, such as allowing adaptation and translation of resources and a peer review system

Application of the urban traffic control strategy TUC at the Kifisias–Attiki Odos roundabout

Το άρθρο αναφέρεται στην εφαρμογή της στρατηγικής ελέγχου φωτεινής σηματοδότησης TUC στο δίκτυο Κηφισίας - Παρ. Αττικής Οδού με στόχο τη διερεύνηση, μέσω μικροσκοπικής προσομοίωσης, της εν δυνάμει βελτίωσης των κυκλοφοριακών συνθηκών του δικτύου συγκριτικά με το τωρινό εφαρμοζόμενο σταθερό πλάνο φωτεινής σηματοδότησης. Επίσης, διερευνάται αν η στρατηγική TUC μπορεί να αντιμετωπίσει το φαινόμενο εισχώρησης της κυκλοφοριακής συμφόρησης (μέσω των εξόδων της Αττικής Οδού) στην κύρια ροή της Αττικής Οδού, γεγονός που παρατηρείται στην πραγματικότητα, κατά τις ώρες αιχμής, με το τωρινό σταθερό πλάνο σηματοδότησης. Σημειώνεται ότι, βάσει των παρουσιαζόμενων αποτελεσμάτων και βελτιώσεων, είναι σε εξέλιξη η εφαρμογή πεδίου της TUC στο εν λόγω δίκτυο.The paper concerns the application of the real-time traffic control strategy TUC at the Kifisias – Attiki Odos network and investigates, by use of microscopic simulation, the potential improvement of the traffic conditions compared to the currently applied fixed signal plan. In particular, the paper investigates whether the control strategy TUC may reduce the phenomenon of queue spillback (of Attiki Odos freeway exits approaching the roundabout) onto the mainstream freeway flow that occurs, during the peak hours, with the current fixed plan. Based on the presented encouraging results and improvements, the field implementation of TUC strategy at the investigated network is now in progress

Real-Time Merging Traffic Control for Throughput Maximization at Motorway Work Zones

AbstractWork zones on motorways necessitate the drop of one or more lanes which may lead to significant reduction of traffic flow capacity and efficiency, traffic flow disruptions, congestion creation, and increased accident risk. Real-time traffic control by use of green-red traffic signals at the motorway mainstream is proposed in order to achieve safer merging of vehicles entering the work zone and, at the same time, maximize throughput and reduce travel delays. A particular issue addressed in this research is the investigation of the appropriate distance between the merge area and the traffic lights so as to lead, in combination with the employed real-time traffic control strategy, to the most efficient merging of vehicles. The control strategy applied for real-time signal operation is an ALINEA-like PI-type feedback regulator. In order to achieve maximum performance of the control strategy, some calibration of the regulator's parameters may be necessary. The calibration is first conducted manually, via a typical trial-and-error procedure. In an additional investigation, the recently proposed learning/adaptive algorithm AFT is employed in order to automatically fine-tune the regulator parameters. Experiments conducted with a microscopic simulator for a hypothetical work zone infrastructure, demonstrate the potential high benefits of the control scheme