A Tabletop Board Game Interface for Multi-User Interaction with a Storytelling System

The Interactive Storyteller is an interactive storytelling system with a multi-user tabletop interface. Our goal was to design a generic framework combining emergent narrative, where stories emerge from the actions of autonomous intelligent agents, with the social aspects of traditional board games. As a visual representation of the story world, a map is displayed on a multi-touch table. Users can interact with the story by touching an interface on the table surface with their fingers and by moving tangible objects that represent the characters. This type of interface, where multiple users are gathered around a table with equal access to the characters and the story world, offers a more social setting for interaction than most existing interfaces for AI-based interactive storytelling

Neuropathic pain and its treatment with ARA 290 and ketamine : overlapping pathways

Neuropathic pain is a disabling disease with a mechanism consisting of several pathways that ultimately converge in the development and persistence tactile and cold allodynia. Pharmacological treatment is often inadequate and coincides with intolerable side effects. The spared nerve injury animal model of neuropathic pain was employed as a method for evaluating the effect of the 11-amino acid tissue protective peptide ARA 290, and the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine on behavioral and cellular responses after nerve injury and comparison of these two drugs. Clinically, pain is a subjective outcome that can be measured by numerical rating scales or questionnaires. Due to this subjectiveness it is not reliable for diagnosing small fiber neuropathy (SFN). Therefore, SFN is being diagnosed by invasive method of intra-epidermal nerve fiber density evaluated with microscopy. Alternatively, the cornea has a high density of small nerve fibers that can be evaluated by the non-invasive method of corneal confocal microscopy. Finally, the effect of ARA 290 on nerve fiber loss and corneal nerve fiber density in sarcoidosis patients in a double-blind-randomized clinical study was evaluated that showed that ARA 290 is a potential disease modifying agent for treatment of sarcoidosis-associated SNFLD.Araim PharmaceuticalsUBL - phd migration 201

National land use specific reference values: a basis for maximum values in Dutch soil policy

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has derived Reference Values for maximum permissible soil pollution. The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) used these values as a basis for the maximum values for soil pollution. The ministry set these values down according to a proposal for an update of soil policy and the Soil Protection Act in 2003. Reference values refer to allowed concentrations of pollutants in soil, depending on the land use. The soil concentrations of pollutants with values below these concentrations meet all the requirements. The risks for humans, the ecosystem and agriculture were analyzed as critical factors, with risk thresholds derived for different types of land use, such as playgrounds, gardens, and agricultural and nature areas. Furthermore, an accelerated procedure was used to compile a complete list of reference values in 2006. The RIVM used state-of-the-art knowledge to complete the 'old' knowledge for information on toxicity of substances; figures were used where knowledge gaps occurred. A recommendation for the coming years is to address resulting inconsistencies in the list of reference values.Het RIVM heeft de referentiewaarden afgeleid waarmee het ministerie van VROM de maximaal toelaatbare bodemverontreinigingen onderbouwt (maximale waarden). Het ministerie heeft deze normen ingesteld in lijn met zijn voorstel uit 2003 om het bodembeleid en de Wet bodembescherming te actualiseren. Referentiewaarden zijn concentraties van verontreinigende stoffen in de bodem die, afhankelijk van het bodemgebruik, zijn toegestaan. Onder deze concentraties voldoet de bodem aan alle eisen. Voor verschillende vormen van bodemgebruik, zoals landbouw, kinderspeelplaatsen of industrie, zijn grensgehalten voor risico's bepaald. Dat zijn bijvoorbeeld, afhankelijk van het gebruik, risico's voor de mens, voor het ecosysteem en voor de landbouw. Het RIVM heeft gebruikgemaakt van een versnelde procedure om in 2006 een compleet voorstel van referentiewaarden gereed te hebben. Die snelheid was ingegeven door de werkgroep NOBO (normstelling en bodemkwaliteitsbeoordeling). Deze werkgroep heeft tevens uitgangspunten en beslissingen geformuleerd op basis waarvan het RIVM de referentiewaarden heeft afgeleid. Het RIVM heeft voor zijn onderzoek zo veel mogelijk gebruikgemaakt van de nieuwste kennis en inzichten, voor zover die beschikbaar zijn. Deze informatie is aangevuld met 'oude' kennis over stoffen. Deze combinatie heeft evenwel tot inconsistenties geleid in de afleiding van referentiewaarden. Het RIVM beveelt daarom aan de komende jaren aandacht te besteden aan de inconsistenties en zwakke plekken van de referentiewaarden

ARA 290, a peptide derived from the tertiary structure of erythropoietin, produces long-term relief of neuropathic pain coupled with suppression of the spinal microglia response

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain is a difficult to treat disorder arising from central or peripheral nervous system lesions. The etiology of neuropathic pain consists of several overlapping pathways converging into an exaggerated pain state with symptoms such as allodynia and hyperalgesia. One of these pathways involves activation of spinal cord microglia and astrocytes, which drive and maintain the inflammatory response following the lesion. These cells are a potential target for drugs for neuropathic pain relief. In this current study, we investigated the dose-effect relationship of the tissue protective peptide ARA 290, derived from the tertiary structure of erythropoietin, on allodynia and concurrent spinal cord microglia and astrocytes. RESULTS: Following a spared nerve injury in rats, vehicle or ARA290 (administered in either one of 4 doses: 3, 10, 30 and 60 μg/kg) was administered on days 1, 3, 6, 8 and 10. ARA290 exerted a dose-response effect by significantly reducing mechanical allodynia up to 20 weeks when compared to vehicle. The reduction of cold allodynia was significant up to 20 weeks for the doses 3, 10, 30 and 60 μg/kg when compared to vehicle. The effect 10 and 30 μg/kg ARA290 and vehicle on the microglia response (iba-1-immunoreactivity, iba-1-IR) and astrocyte reaction (GFAP-immunoreactivity, GFAP-IR) was investigated in animals surviving 2 (group 1) or 20 (group 2) weeks following lesion or sham surgery. In group 1, significant microglia reactivity was observed in the L5 segment of the spinal cord of animals treated with vehicle when compared to sham operated, while animals treated with 10 or 30 μg/kg did not show a increase. In group 2, a more widespread and increased microglia reactivity was observed for animals treated with 0 and 10 μg/kg when compared to sham operated animals, indicated by involvement of more spinal cord segments and higher iba-1-IR. Animals treated with 30 μg/kg did not show increased microglia reactivity. No difference in astrocyte reaction was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The erythropoietin-analogue ARA290 dose-dependently reduced allodynia coupled to suppression of the spinal microglia response, suggestive of a mechanistic link between ARA290-induced suppression of central inflammation and relief of neuropathic pain symptoms.Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and OutcomeAnesthesiolog

Circadian changes and sex-related differences in fetal heart rate parameters

BACKGROUND: Previous researchers have studied circadian changes in the fetal heart rate (FHR) on small sample sizes and in a strictly controlled environment. This study was undertaken to investigate these changes during the late second and third trimesters, using a portable fetal electrocardiogram recording device (Monica AN24) in pregnant women in home and hospital environments with unrestricted mobility. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of 54 pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies between 25 and 40 weeks gestation. FHR recordings were made up to 16 h at home or in the hospital setting in the United Kingdom. FHR data over 90 min periods were averaged and the day (7:00 am-11:00 pm) and night (11:00 pm-7:00 am) data from the same individual were compared. Data were examined for evidence of sex-related differences. RESULTS: During the night, there was a significant reduction in basal heart rate (bFHR) and a significant increase in short term variation (STV) and long term variation (LTV) (P < 0.05). Basal FHR decreased (P < 0.002), whereas LTV increased (P = 0.014) with advancing gestation. Male fetuses showed greater day: night variation than females regardless of gestation (P = 0.014). There was a higher bFHR in fetuses monitored during the day in hospital (P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that there are sex-, environment and time-related differences in the FHR parameters measured. These differences may need to be considered taken when interpreting FHR data

Bioaccessibility of selenium after human ingestion in relation to its chemical species and compartmentalization in maize

International audienceSelenium is a micronutrient needed by all living organisms including humans, but often present in low concentration in food with possible deficiency. From another side, at higher concentrations in soils as observed in seleniferous regions of the world, and in function of its chemical species, Se can also induce (eco)toxicity. Root Se uptake was therefore studied in function of its initial form for maize (Zea mays L.), a plant widely cultivated for human and animal food over the world. Se phytotoxicity and compartmentalization were studied in different aerial plant tissues. For the first time, Se oral human bioaccessibility after ingestion was assessed for the main Se species (SeIV and SeVI) with the BARGE ex vivo test in maize seeds (consumed by humans), and in stems and leaves consumed by animals. Corn seedlings were cultivated in hydroponic conditions supplemented with 1 mg L−1 of selenium (SeIV, SeVI, Control) for 4 months. Biomass, Se concentration, and bioaccessibility were measured on harvested plants. A reduction in plant biomass was observed under Se treatments compared to control, suggesting its phytotoxicity. This plant biomass reduction was higher for selenite species than selenate, and seed was the main affected compartment compared to control. Selenium compartmentalization study showed that for selenate species, a preferential accumulation was observed in leaves, whereas selenite translocation was very limited toward maize aerial parts, except in the seeds where selenite concentrations are generally high. Selenium oral bioaccessibility after ingestion fluctuated from 49 to 89 % according to the considered plant tissue and Se species. Whatever the tissue, selenate appeared as the most human bioaccessible form. A potential Se toxicity was highlighted for people living in seleniferous regions, this risk being enhanced by the high Se bioaccessibility