“Digital Twins” in Education: Prospects and Reality

This article is aimed at understanding the revolutionary in meaning and “digital” in essence metamorphoses in education and the prospects for the emergence of a new educational network reality based on them. The focus of the discussion is not so much on digital innovations and transformations in education as such, but rather on the need to understand the possible prospects and results of these social network changes and modifications brought to life by the next stage of the digital revolution in education. It is proposed to include a wide range of network technologies and methodologies among the latest scientific and technological innovations taking into account the fact that the main focus of the work is on understanding the process / result of implementing the methodology of “digital twins” in education. Despite the fact that the latter is only at the beginning of its implementation in a broad educational context, the paper raises the question of the social consequences of implementing the methodology for constructing the latest network reality of “digital twins in education”, which has all the chances in the future to become a unique network of networks of “digital twins” of various social actors in education. The article discusses the managerial potential of developing and the difficulties of implementing the digital twin methodology, the expected effects of implementing the latter in education, and the socio-technological consequences of converting this technology into a new network educational reality in the Russian Federation

Policies to reduce heat islands: Magnitudes of benefits and incentives to achieve them

A ``Cool Communities`` strategy of lighter-colored reroofs and resurfaced pavements, and shade trees, can directly lower annual air conditioning bills in Los Angeles (LA) by about $100 million (M), cool the air in the LA Basin (thereby saving indirectly$70M more in air conditioning), and reduce smog exceedance by about 10%, worth another $360M, for a total savings of about$0.5 billion per year. Trees are most effective if they shade buildings; but they are still very cost effective if they merely cool the air by evapotranspiration. Avoided peak power for air conditioning can be about 1.5GW (more than 15% of LA air conditioning). Extrapolated to the entire US, the authors estimate 20GW avoided and potential annual electricity savings of about $5--10B in 2015. To achieve these savings, they call for ratings and labels for cool materials, buildings` performance standards, utility incentive programs, and an extension of the existing smog-offset trading market (RECLAIM) to include credit for cool surfaces and trees. EPA can include cool materials and trees in its proposed regional ``open market smog-offset trading credits``

Comparison of established and emerging biodosimetry assays

Rapid biodosimetry tools are required to assist with triage in the case of a large-scale radiation incident. Here, we aimed to determine the dose-assessment accuracy of the well-established dicentric chromosome assay (DCA) and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) in comparison to the emerging γ-H2AX foci and gene expression assays for triage mode biodosimetry and radiation injury assessment. Coded blood samples exposed to 10 X-ray doses (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min) of up to 6.4 Gy were sent to participants for dose estimation. Report times were documented for each laboratory and assay. The mean absolute difference (MAD) of estimated doses relative to the true doses was calculated. We also merged doses into binary dose categories of clinical relevance and examined accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the assays. Dose estimates were reported by the first laboratories within 0.3-0.4 days of receipt of samples for the γ-H2AX and gene expression assays compared to 2.4 and 4 days for the DCA and CBMN assays, respectively. Irrespective of the assay we found a 2.5-4-fold variation of interlaboratory accuracy per assay and lowest MAD values for the DCA assay (0.16 Gy) followed by CBMN (0.34 Gy), gene expression (0.34 Gy) and γ-H2AX (0.45 Gy) foci assay. Binary categories of dose estimates could be discriminated with equal efficiency for all assays, but at doses ≥1.5 Gy a 10% decrease in efficiency was observed for the foci assay, which was still comparable to the CBMN assay. In conclusion, the DCA has been confirmed as the gold standard biodosimetry method, but in situations where speed and throughput are more important than ultimate accuracy, the emerging rapid molecular assays have the potential to become useful triage tools

Measures for assessing practice change in medical practitioners

BACKGROUND: There are increasing numbers of randomised trials and systematic reviews examining the efficacy of interventions designed to bring about a change in clinical practice. The findings of this research are being used to guide strategies to increase the uptake of evidence into clinical practice. Knowledge of the outcomes measured by these trials is vital not only for the interpretation and application of the work done to date, but also to inform future research in this expanding area of endeavour and to assist in collation of results in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. METHODS: The objective of this review was to identify methods used to measure change in the clinical practices of health professionals following an intervention aimed at increasing the uptake of evidence into practice. All published trials included in a recent, comprehensive Health Technology Assessment of interventions to implement clinical practice guidelines and change clinical practice (n = 228) formed the sample for this study. Using a standardised data extraction form, one reviewer (SH), extracted the relevant information from the methods and/or results sections of the trials. RESULTS: Measures of a change of health practitioner behaviour were the most common, with 88.8% of trials using these as outcome measures. Measures that assessed change at a patient level, either actual measures of change or surrogate measures of change, were used in 28.8% and 36.7% of studies (respectively). Health practitioners' knowledge and attitudes were assessed in 22.8% of the studies and changes at an organisational level were assessed in 17.6%. CONCLUSION: Most trials of interventions aimed at changing clinical practice measured the effect of the intervention at the level of the practitioner, i.e. did the practitioner change what they do, or has their knowledge of and/or attitude toward that practice changed? Less than one-third of the trials measured, whether or not any change in practice, resulted in a change in the ultimate end-point of patient health status

Lifetime and point prevalence of psychotic symptoms in adults with bipolar disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Psychotic symptoms, that we defined as delusions or hallucinations, are common in bipolar disorders (BD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to synthesise the literature on both lifetime and point prevalence rates of psychotic symptoms across different BD subtypes, including both BD type I (BDI) and BD type II (BDII). We performed a systematic search of Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and Cochrane Library until 5 August 2021. Fifty-four studies (N = 23 461) of adults with BD met the predefined inclusion criteria for evaluating lifetime prevalence, and 24 studies (N = 6480) for evaluating point prevalence. Quality assessment and assessment of publication bias were performed. Prevalence rates were calculated using random effects meta-analysis, here expressed as percentages with a 95% confidence interval (CI). In studies of at least moderate quality, the pooled lifetime prevalence of psychotic symptoms in BDI was 63% (95% CI 57.5–68) and 22% (95% CI 14–33) in BDII. For BDI inpatients, the pooled lifetime prevalence was 71% (95% CI 61–79). There were no studies of community samples or inpatient BDII. The pooled point prevalence of psychotic symptoms in BDI was 54% (95 CI 41–67). The point prevalence was 57% (95% CI 47–66) in manic episodes and 13% (95% CI 7–23.5) in depressive episodes. There were not enough studies in BDII, BDI depression, mixed episodes and outpatient BDI. The pooled prevalence of psychotic symptoms in BDI may be higher than previously reported. More studies are needed for depressive and mixed episodes and community samples. Prospero registration number: CRD 42017052706

Underutilization of information and knowledge in everyday medical practice: Evaluation of a computer-based solution

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The medical history is acknowledged as the <it>sine qua non </it>for quality medical care because recognizing problems is pre-requisite for managing them. Medical histories typically are incomplete and inaccurate, however. We show here that computers are a solution to this issue of information gathering about patients. Computers can be programmed to acquire more complete medical histories with greater detail across a range of acute and chronic issues than physician histories.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Histories were acquired by physicians in the usual way and by a computer program interacting directly with patients. Decision-making of what medical issues were queried by computer were made internally by the software, including determination of the chief complaint. The selection of patients was from admissions to the Robert-Bosch-Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany by convenience sampling. Physician-acquired and computer-acquired histories were compared on a patient-by-patient basis for 45 patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The computer histories reported 160 problems not recorded in physician histories or slightly more than 3.5 problems per patient. However, physicians but not the computer reported 13 problems. The data show that computer histories reported problems across a range of organ systems, that the problems detected by computer but not physician histories were both acute and chronic and that the computer histories detected a significant number of issues important for preventing further morbidity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A combination of physician and computer-acquired histories, in non-emergent situations, with the latter available to the physician at the time he or she sees the patient, is a far superior method for collecting historical data than the physician interview alone.</p

A tool for examining the role of the zinc finger myelin transcription factor 1 (Myt1) in neural development: Myt1 knock-in mice

The Myt1 family of transcription factors is unique among the many classes of zinc finger proteins in how the zinc-stabilized fingers contact the DNA helix. To examine the function of Myt1 in the developing nervous system, we generated mice in which Myt1 expression was replaced by an enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein fused to a Codon-improved Cre recombinase as a protein reporter. Myt1 knock-in mice die at birth, apparently due to improper innervation of their lungs. Elimination of Myt1 did not significantly affect the number or distribution of neural precursor cells that normally express Myt1 in the embryonic spinal cord. Nor was the general pattern of differentiated neurons altered in the embryonic spinal cord. The Myt1 knock-in mice should provide an important tool for identifying the in vivo targets of Myt1 action and unraveling the role of this structurally distinct zinc finger protein in neural development

Искусственный интеллект и персонализированное обучение: технология скаффолдинг

Introduction. The purpose of the study is to try to answer this question: what are the conditions and strategies for the implementation of AI technologies to solve the strategic task of the transition from mass educational technologies inherent in Industry 4.0 to individualized educational technologies of the upcoming Industry 5.0 using the example of scaffolding subtechnology (derived from the English word «scaffolding» meaning «staging»). The latter in educational discourse is understood as providing support to a student, solely as necessary, with a gradual decrease in the amount of such support as the student»s competencies increase.Purpose setting. The paper solves the problem of determining the conditions and strategies for the implementation of AI technologies to solve the strategic task of the transition from mass educational technologies inherent in Industry 4.0 to individualized educational technologies of the upcoming Industry 5.0 using the example of the scaffolding subtechnology.Methodology and methods of the study. The analysis of Russian and foreign sources is used as a research methodology.Results. The analysis carried out showed that, on the one hand, the scaffolding subtechnology is able to effectively solve the problems of individualization of the educational process as a response to the challenge of modern education, on the other hand, the potential of using the above-mentioned subtechnology is functionally limited by the influence of external socio-economic factors.Conclusion. Firstly, modern education is in the conditions of total digitalization. At the same time, the demands of society require individualization, humanization and an increase in the scale of the «human touch» from education. The subtechnology of scaffolding can become a link between artificial intelligence, as part of digital technologies, and education. The main reason for the insufficient use of the scaffolding subtechnology at the moment is its insufficient knowledge. Speaking about the possibilities of using subtechnology in Russia, it is worth mentioning that research on the impact of the latter on the learning process has practically not been conducted, which makes it impossible both to fully use and evaluate the possibilities of scaffolding in modern education.Введение. Цель исследования заключается в попытке ответить на следующий вопрос: каковы условия и стратегии реализации технологий ИИ для решения стратегической задачи перехода от массовых образовательных технологий, присущих Индустрии 4.0, к индивидуализированным образовательным технологиям грядущей Индустрии 5.0 на примере субтехнологии скаффолдинга (в пер. с англ. «строительные леса»). Под последней в образовательном дискурсе понимается оказание учащемуся поддержки исключительно при необходимости с постепенным уменьшением объема такой поддержки по мере повышения компетенций обучающегося.Постановка задачи. В работе ставится задача определения условий и стратегий реализации технологий ИИ для осуществления перехода от массовых образовательных технологий, присущих Индустрии 4.0, к индивидуализированным образовательным технологиям грядущей Индустрии 5.0 на примере субтехнологии скаффолдинга.Методика и методология исследования. В качестве методики исследования используется анализ отечественных и зарубежных источников.Результаты исследования. Проведенный анализ показал, что, с одной стороны, субтехнология скаффолдинга способна эффективно решать задачи индивидуализации образовательного процесса как ответ на вызов современному образованию, с другой – потенциал применения вышеозначенной субтехнологии ограничен функционально воздействием внешних социально-экономических факторов.Выводы. С одной стороны, современное образование находится в условиях тотальной цифровизации. При этом запросы общества требуют от образования индивидуализации, гуманизации и увеличения масштабов «человеческого прикосновения». Субтехнология скаффолдинга способна стать связующим звеном между искусственным интеллектом как частью цифровых технологий и образованием. Основная причина недостаточного использования субтехнологии скаффолдинга в настоящий момент состоит в его недостаточной изученности. Говоря о возможностях использования субтехнологии в России, стоит упомянуть о том, что исследований о влиянии последней на процесс обучения практически не проводилось, что делает невозможными как полноценное использование, так и оценку возможностей скаффолдинга в современном образовании