SEM and AFM studies of two-phase magnetic alkali borosilicate glasses

The morphology and composition of four types of two-phase alkali borosilicate glasses with magnetic atoms prepared by inductive melting have been studied. The results of scanning electron microscopy point to uniform distribution of Na, Si, and O atoms in these samples whilemagnetic iron atoms formball-shaped agglomerates. The magnetic properties of these agglomerates have been confirmed by magnetic force microscopy. Atomic force microscopy had shown that in these samples two different morphological structures, drop-like and dendrite net, are formed. The formation of dendrite-like structure is a necessary condition for production of porous magnetic glasses. The obtained results allowus to optimize the melting and heat treatment processes leading to production of porous alkali borosilicate glasses withmagnetic properties. The first results for nanocompositematerials on the basis ofmagnetic glasses containing the embedded ferroelectrics KH2PO4 demonstrate the effect of applied magnetic field on the ferroelectric phase transition. The morphology and composition of four types of two-phase alkali borosilicate glasses with magnetic atoms prepared by inductive melting have been studied. The results of scanning electron microscopy point to uniform distribution of Na, Si, and O atoms in these samples whilemagnetic iron atoms formball-shaped agglomerates. The magnetic properties of these agglomerates have been confirmed by magnetic force microscopy. Atomic force microscopy had shown that in these samples two different morphological structures, drop-like and dendrite net, are formed. The formation of dendrite-like structure is a necessary condition for production of porous magnetic glasses. The obtained results allowus to optimize the melting and heat treatment processes leading to production of porous alkali borosilicate glasses withmagnetic properties. The first results for nanocompositematerials on the basis ofmagnetic glasses containing the embedded ferroelectrics KH2PO4 demonstrate the effect of applied magnetic field on the ferroelectric phase transition.DAA

Contactless microwave sensors and their application in biological single use

In bioprocess technology, highly-sensitive robust sensors are required for operation in single use bioreactors (SUB) without direct contact to the fluid under analysis. Measuring the change of dielectric properties (permittivity and conductivity) at microwave frequencies allows the investigation of biological and chemical matter and processes, e.g., cell growth, cell metabolism and the concentration of large aqueous based molecules. This contribution describes a high frequency sensor that combines detection in macro- or microfluidic networks with quick and precise analysis. These kinds of sensors can be installed directly to the outer surface of the culture device (Figure 1) or can be clamped onto tubing (Figure 2). A clamped on sensor consists of a fluidic channel placed between a micro-strip line waveguide combined with resonant properties. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Telepresence and the Role of the Senses

The telepresence experience can be evoked in a number of ways. A well-known example is a player of videogames who reports about a telepresence experience, a subjective experience of being in one place or environment, even when physically situated in another place. In this paper we set the phenomenon of telepresence into a theoretical framework. As people react subjectively to stimuli from telepresence, empirical studies can give more evidence about the phenomenon. Thus, our contribution is to bridge the theoretical with the empirical. We discuss theories of perception with an emphasis on Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Gibson, the role of the senses and the Spinozian belief procedure. The aim is to contribute to our understanding of this phenomenon. A telepresence-study that included the affordance concept is used to empirically study how players report sense-reactions to virtual sightseeing in two cities. We investigate and explore the interplay of the philosophical and the empirical. The findings indicate that it is not only the visual sense that plays a role in this experience, but all senses

Games in Higher Education

International audienceThis entry presents an overview of how and why Learning Games are used in higher education.Learning Games can be defined as games that are designed to captivate the learners’ attention and facilitate their learning process. They have explicit educational purposes and can be used for teaching at all levels of education. All types of games can be used for learning: board games, card games, role-playing games, First Person Shooter games, simulation games, management games, puzzle games, treasure hunts…The main characteristic of Learning Games for higher education is the fact that they are designed to teach specific complex skills taught at university or during professional training programs. Unfortunately, it is not infrequent to observe strong opposition on the part of this target audience to this mode of learning, that these adult students associate with children.The use of Learning Games in primary school seems natural to teachers and is encouraged by specialists in didactics and neuroscience. This learning technique is much less frequently used in middle school and is almost completely absent from higher education. Yet teachers at all these levels are faced with the same problems, such as lack of motivation and investment, for which games are known to be an effective solution. This entry presents an overview of the games that can be used for higher education and the reasons why some teachers and students still show resistance to this type of learning. The numerous advantages of games for higher education will then be presented, citing games presently used in universities, in graduate schools and for professional training. Finally, thisDraft : Marfisi-Schottman I. (2019) Games in Higher Education. In: Tatnall A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies. Springer, Chamentry presents the current research questions that need to be addressed concerning the design of games for higher education and the acceptance of these games by teachers

Predicting video game players’ fun from physiological and behavioural data : one algorithm does not fit all

Finding a physiological signature of a player’s fun is a goal yet to be achieved in the field of adaptive gaming. The research presented in this paper tackles this issue by gathering physiological, behavioural and self-report data from over 200 participants who played off-the-shelf video games from the Assassin’s Creed series within a minimally invasive laboratory environment. By leveraging machine learning techniques the prediction of the player’s fun from its physiological and behavioural markers becomes a possibility. They provide clues as to which signals are the most relevant in establishing a physiological signature of the fun factor by providing an important score based on the predictive power of each signal. Identifying those markers and their impact will prove crucial in the development of adaptive video games. Adaptive games tailor their gameplay to the affective state of a player in order to deliver the optimal gaming experience. Indeed, an adaptive video game needs a continuous reading of the fun level to be able to respond to these changing fun levels in real time. While the predictive power of the presented classifier remains limited with a gain in the F1 score of 15% against random chance, it brings insight as to which physiological features might be the most informative for further analysis and discuss means by which low accuracy classification could still improve gaming experience

Design and implementation of a non-invasive real-time microwave sensor for assessing water hardness in heat exchangers

A non-invasive-monitoring of concentration and dielectric properties of calcium hardness in heat exchanger cooling water was conducted with a 2.5 GHz microwave cavity resonator designed and fabricated locally for the experiment. The principle of electric dipole moment theories were used to analyse the sample solution that occurs as a function of calcium ion content. Artificial difference of water hardness was prepared by mixing CaCl 2 in deionised water . The sample was centrally positioned in the electric field of the TM 010 mode of a resonant cylindrical cavity. COMSOL simulation package was used to compare and validate the experimental cavity resonator frequency. Transmission signal (S 21 ) measurements via vector network analyser at different concentrations were observed a linear relationship in amplitude with different frequency changes. In addition, calcium absorption provides a first-order change in material polarisation (i.e. real permittivity), and second-order transitions associated dielectric losses (i.e. imaginary permittivity). These research findings introduce a novel technique of real-time monitoring of water hardness concentration by using non-invasive microwave sensor. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

The Influence of Perceptual Training on Working Memory in Older Adults

Normal aging is associated with a degradation of perceptual abilities and a decline in higher-level cognitive functions, notably working memory. To remediate age-related deficits, cognitive training programs are increasingly being developed. However, it is not yet definitively established if, and by what mechanisms, training ameliorates effects of cognitive aging. Furthermore, a major factor impeding the success of training programs is a frequent failure of training to transfer benefits to untrained abilities. Here, we offer the first evidence of direct transfer-of-benefits from perceptual discrimination training to working memory performance in older adults. Moreover, using electroencephalography to evaluate participants before and after training, we reveal neural evidence of functional plasticity in older adult brains, such that training-induced modifications in early visual processing during stimulus encoding predict working memory accuracy improvements. These findings demonstrate the strength of the perceptual discrimination training approach by offering clear psychophysical evidence of transfer-of-benefit and a neural mechanism underlying cognitive improvement

An ARF GTPase module promoting invasion and metastasis through regulating phosphoinositide metabolism

The signalling pathways underpinning cell growth and invasion use overlapping components, yet how mutually exclusive cellular responses occur is unclear. Here, we report development of 3-Dimensional culture analyses to separately quantify growth and invasion. We identify that alternate variants of IQSEC1, an ARF GTPase Exchange Factor, act as switches to promote invasion over growth by controlling phosphoinositide metabolism. All IQSEC1 variants activate ARF5- and ARF6-dependent PIP5-kinase to promote PI(3,4,5)P3-AKT signalling and growth. In contrast, select pro-invasive IQSEC1 variants promote PI(3,4,5)P3 production to form invasion-driving protrusions. Inhibition of IQSEC1 attenuates invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Induction of pro-invasive IQSEC1 variants and elevated IQSEC1 expression occurs in a number of tumour types and is associated with higher-grade metastatic cancer, activation of PI(3,4,5)P3 signalling, and predicts long-term poor outcome across multiple cancers. IQSEC1-regulated phosphoinositide metabolism therefore is a switch to induce invasion over growth in response to the same external signal. Targeting IQSEC1 as the central regulator of this switch may represent a therapeutic vulnerability to stop metastasis