2,575 research outputs found
Fostering critical thinking and motivation through digital escape rooms: preliminary observations
[EN] This paper reports our preliminary observations of a pilot project
carried out from February to April 2019 with a group of students
learning Spanish at the University of Central Missouri and students
learning English at the University of León. The project combines
challenging escape room activities with intercultural and interlinguistic
interaction in a virtual exchange. Students learned of the premise of
the activity through a video that set the context in a dystopian future
with an authoritarian dictator who had hidden and controlled access
to knowledge. The contextual narrative also explained that a hacker
was leaking information that the students could retrieve. Therefore,
they needed to collaborate with their partners in order to save the
world by solving different types of enigmas that involved knowledge
about geography, culture, and language. In addition to these problemsolving activities, they were also required to discuss cultural topics
and comment on different habits, traditions, and stereotypes. This
combination might enhance the students’ motivation, foster their
communication skills, and help them develop critical thinking skills
and learn more about each other’s language, country, and culture
Beyond Control-Flow: Extending Business Process Configuration to Roles and Objects
A configurable process model is an integrated representation of multiple variants of a business process. It is designed to be individualized to meet a particular set of requirements. As such, configurable process models promote systematic reuse of proven or common practices. Existing notations for configurable process modeling focus on capturing tasks and control-flow dependencies, neglecting equally important aspects of business processes such as data flow, material flow and resource management. This paper fills this gap by proposing an integrated meta-model for configurable processes with advanced features for capturing resources involved in the performance of tasks (through task-role associations) as well as flow of data and physical artifacts (through task-object associations). Although embodied as an extension of a popular process modeling notation, namely EPC, the meta-model is defined in an abstract and formal manner to make it applicable to other notations
The novel mu-opioid antagonist, GSK1521498, reduces ethanol consumption in C57BL/6J mice.
RATIONALE
Using the drinking-in-the-dark (DID) model, we compared the effects of a novel mu-opioid receptor antagonist, GSK1521498, with naltrexone, a licensed treatment of alcohol dependence, on ethanol consumption in mice.
OBJECTIVE
We test the ability of GSK1521498 to reduce alcohol consumption and compare its intrinsic efficacy to that of naltrexone by comparing the two drugs at doses matched for equivalent receptor occupancy.
METHODS
Thirty-six C57BL/6J mice were tested in a DID procedure. In 2-day cycles, animals experienced one baseline, injection-free session, and one test session when they received two injections, one of test drug and one placebo. All animals received GSK1521498 (0, 0.1, 1 and 3 mg/kg, i.p., 30 min pre-treatment) and naltrexone (0, 0.1, 1 and 3 mg/kg, s.c. 10 min pre-treatment) in a cross-over design. Receptor occupancies following the same doses were determined ex vivo in separate groups by autoradiography, using [3H]DAMGO. Binding in the region of interest was measured integrally by computer-assisted microdensitometry and corrected for non-specific binding.
RESULTS
Both GSK1521498 and naltrexone dose-dependently decreased ethanol consumption. When drug doses were matched for 70-75 % receptor occupancy, GSK1521498 3 mg/kg, i.p., caused a 2.5-fold greater reduction in alcohol consumption than naltrexone 0.1 mg/kg, s.c. Both GSK1521498 and naltrexone significantly reduced sucrose consumption at a dose of 1 mg/kg but not 0.1 mg/kg. In a test of conditioned taste aversion, GSK1521498 (3 mg/kg) reduced sucrose consumption 24 h following exposure to a conditioning injection.
CONCLUSIONS
Both opioid receptor antagonists reduced alcohol consumption but GK1521498 has higher intrinsic efficacy than naltrexone
EXTENDING A MOBILE DEVICE WITH LOW-COST 3D MODELING AND BUILDING-SCALE MAPPING CAPABILITIES, FOR APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHAEOLOGY
One of the most challenging problem in architecture is the automated construction of 3D (and 4D) digital models of cultural objects with the aim of implementing open data repositories, scientifically authenticated and responding to well accepted standards of validation, evaluation, preservation, publication, updating and dissemination. The realization of such an ambitious objective requires the adoption of special technological instruments. In this paper we plan to use portable devices (i.e. smartphones, tablets or PDAs eventually extended to wearable ones), extended with a small plug-in, for automatically extracting 3D models of single objects and building-scale mapping of the surrounding environment. At the same time, the device will provide the capability of inserting notes and observations. Where the instrument cannot be directly applied, for example for exploring the top of a complex building, we consider mounting our device, or using equivalent existing equipment, on a drone, in a modular approach for obtaining data de-facto interchangeable. The approach based on the expansion packs has the advantage of anticipating (or even promoting) future extensions of new mobile devices, when the spectrum of possible applications justify the corresponding increased costs. In order to experiment and verify this approach we plan to test it in two specific scenarios of the cultural heritage domain in which such devices seem particularly promising: Strada Nuova in Genoa and Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, both located in Italy
Delusional beliefs and reason giving
Delusions are often regarded as irrational beliefs, but their irrationality is not sufficient to explain what is pathological about them. In this paper we ask whether deluded subjects have the capacity to support the content of their delusions with reasons, that is, whether they can author their delusional states. The hypothesis that delusions are characterised by a failure of authorship, which is a dimension of self knowledge, deserves to be
empirically tested because (a) it has the potential to account for the distinction between endorsing a delusion and endorsing a framework belief; (b) it contributes to a
philosophical analysis of the relationship between rationality and self knowledge; and (c) it informs diagnosis and therapy in clinical psychiatry. However, authorship cannot provide a demarcation criterion between delusions and other irrational belief states
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Tau PET and multimodal brain imaging in patients at risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
ObjectiveTo characterize individual and group-level neuroimaging findings in patients at risk for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).MethodsEleven male patients meeting criteria for Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome (TES, median age: 64) underwent neurologic evaluation, 3-Tesla MRI, and PET with [18F]-Flortaucipir (FTP, tau-PET) and [11C]-Pittsburgh compound B (PIB, amyloid-PET). Six patients underwent [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (FDG, glucose metabolism). We assessed imaging findings at the individual patient level, and in group-level comparisons with modality-specific groups of cognitively normal older adults (CN). Tau-PET findings in patients with TES were also compared to a matched group of patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD).ResultsAll patients with TES sustained repetitive head injury participating in impact sports, ten in American football. Three patients met criteria for dementia and eight had mild cognitive impairment. Two patients were amyloid-PET positive and harbored the most severe MRI atrophy, FDG hypometabolism, and FTP-tau PET binding. Among the nine amyloid-negative patients, tau-PET showed either mildly elevated frontotemporal binding, a "dot-like" pattern, or no elevated binding. Medial temporal FTP was mildly elevated in a subset of amyloid-negative patients, but values were considerably lower than in AD. Voxelwise analyses revealed a convergence of imaging abnormalities (higher FTP binding, lower FDG, lower gray matter volumes) in frontotemporal areas in TES compared to controls.ConclusionsMildly elevated tau-PET binding was observed in a subset of amyloid-negative patients at risk for CTE, in a distribution consistent with CTE pathology stages III-IV. FTP-PET may be useful as a biomarker of tau pathology in CTE but is unlikely to be sensitive to early disease stages
Gestational age at delivery and special educational need: retrospective cohort study of 407,503 schoolchildren
<STRONG>Background</STRONG> Previous studies have demonstrated an association between preterm delivery and increased risk of special educational need (SEN). The aim of our study was to examine the risk of SEN across the full range of gestation. <STRONG>Methods and Findings</STRONG>
We conducted a population-based, retrospective study by linking school census data on the 407,503 eligible school-aged children resident in 19 Scottish Local Authority areas (total population 3.8 million) to their routine birth data. SEN was recorded in 17,784 (4.9%) children; 1,565 (8.4%) of those born preterm and 16,219 (4.7%) of those born at term. The risk of SEN increased across the whole range of gestation from 40 to 24 wk: 37–39 wk adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12–1.20; 33–36 wk adjusted OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.43–1.63; 28–32 wk adjusted OR 2.66, 95% CI 2.38–2.97; 24–27 wk adjusted OR 6.92, 95% CI 5.58–8.58. There was no interaction between elective versus spontaneous delivery. Overall, gestation at delivery accounted for 10% of the adjusted population attributable fraction of SEN. Because of their high frequency, early term deliveries (37–39 wk) accounted for 5.5% of cases of SEN compared with preterm deliveries (<37 wk), which accounted for only 3.6% of cases. <STRONG>Conclusions</STRONG> Gestation at delivery had a strong, dose-dependent relationship with SEN that was apparent across the whole range of gestation. Because early term delivery is more common than preterm delivery, the former accounts for a higher percentage of SEN cases. Our findings have important implications for clinical practice in relation to the timing of elective delivery
The redshift evolution of bias and baryonic matter distribution
We study the distribution of baryonic and luminous matter within the
framework of a hierarchical scenario. Using an analytical model for structure
formation which has already been checked against observations for galaxies,
Lyman- clouds, clusters and reionization processes, we present its
predictions for the bias of these objects. We describe its dependence on the
luminosity (for galaxies or quasars) or the column density (for Lyman-
absorbers) of the considered objects. We also study its redshift evolution,
which can exhibit an intricate behaviour. These astrophysical objects do not
trace the dark matter density field, the Lyman- forest clouds being
undercorrelated and the bright galaxies overcorrelated, while the intermediate
class of Lyman-limit systems is seen to sample the matter field quite well.
We also present the distribution of baryonic matter over these various
objects. We show that light does not trace baryonic mass, since bright galaxies
which contain most of the stars only form a small fraction of the mass
associated with virialized and cooled halos. We consider two cosmologies: a
critical density universe and an open universe. In both cases, our results
agree with observations and show that hierarchical scenarios provide a good
model for structure formation and can describe a wide range of objects which
spans at least the seven orders of magnitude in mass for which data exist. More
detailed observations, in particular of the clustering evolution of galaxies,
will constrain the astrophysical models involved.Comment: 13 pages, final version published in A&
Constraints on the Formation of the Galactic Bulge from Na, Al, and Heavy Element Abundances in Plaut's Field
We report chemical abundances of Na, Al, Zr, La, Nd, and Eu for 39 red giant
branch (RGB) stars and 23 potential inner disk red clump stars located in
Plaut-s low extinction window. We also measure lithium for a super Li-rich RGB
star. The abundances were determined by spectrum synthesis of high resolution
(R~25,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N~50-100 pixel-1) spectra obtained with the
Blanco 4m telescope and Hydra multifiber spectrograph. For the bulge RGB stars,
we find a general increase in the [Na/Fe] and [Na/Al] ratios with increasing
metallicity, and a similar decrease in [La/Fe] and [Nd/Fe]. Additionally, the
[Al/Fe] and [Eu/Fe] abundance trends almost identically follow those of the
{\alpha}-elements, and the [Zr/Fe] ratios exhibit relatively little change with
[Fe/H]. The consistently low [La/Eu] ratios of the RGB stars indicate that at
least a majority of bulge stars formed rapidly (<1 Gyr) and before the main
s-process could become a significant pollution source. In contrast, we find
that the potential inner disk clump stars exhibit abundance patterns more
similar to those of the thin and thick disks. Comparisons between the abundance
trends at different bulge locations suggest that the inner and outer bulge
formed on similar timescales. However, we find evidence of some abundance
differences between the most metal-poor and metal-rich stars in various bulge
fields. The data also indicate that the halo may have had a more significant
impact on the outer bulge initial composition than the inner bulge composition.
The [Na/Fe] and to a lesser extent [La/Fe] abundances further indicate that the
metal-poor bulge, at least at ~1 kpc from the Galactic center, and thick disk
may not share an identical chemistry.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 66 pages, 17 figures, 3 tables;
prior to publication, data tables in electronic form will be made available
upon reques
Temporal features of sitting, standing and stepping changes in a cluster-randomised controlled trial of a workplace sitting-reduction intervention
Background There is now a body of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce workplace sitting time. However, there has been limited reporting of how such interventions may impact behaviour both during and outside of work. Sitting, standing and stepping changes following a workplace intervention were examined across five timeframes (work time on work days; non-work time on work days; work days; non-work days; overall (i.e. work and non-work time on all days)), and the relationships between changes during and outside of work was assessed. Methods The cluster-randomised controlled trial, ‘Stand Up Victoria’, delivered a multi-component workplace-delivered intervention that successfully reduced workplace and overall sitting time (relative to controls). Separately, over the five timeframes, changes in device (activPAL3)-assessed outcomes — sitting; prolonged sitting (≥30 min bouts); standing; and, stepping — were compared between intervention (n = 114) and controls (n = 84), along with the time-course of sitting changes during work hours, using mixed models. The potential relationships of changes during work with changes outside of work were examined using compositional data analysis. Results On workdays, intervention participants significantly (p < 0.05) improved their activity profile relative to controls, with reduced sitting (− 117 min/8-h workday, 95% CI: − 141, − 93) and prolonged sitting (− 77 min/8 h workday, 95% CI: − 101, − 52); increased standing (114 min/8 h workday, 95% CI: 92, 136) and maintenance of stepping (3 min/8 h workday, 95% CI: − 7, 11, p = 0.576). Effects were nearly identical for time at work; similar but slightly weaker for overall; and, small and non-significant outside of work on workdays and non-work days. Improvements occurred at all times, but not equally, during work hours (p < 0.001). Correlations between changes during and outside of work on workdays were very weak in both the intervention group (r = − 0.07) and controls (r = − 0.09). Conclusions Sitting time was reduced almost exclusively during work hours (via replacement with standing), with reductions evident during all working hours, to varying degrees. There was no evidence of compensation, with minimal change in activity outside of work, in response to changes in activity at work. Future interventions may benefit from exploring how best to elicit change throughout the whole day, and across work and non-work domains
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