Anatomically Correct: Implementing and Evaluating an Educational Digital Game for Applied Sciences Students

Digital games are a common form of entertainment in modern society and are increasingly prevalent in health education. However, little research has been conducted into their use for delivering anatomy and histology education for health students. This is surprising considering the difficulty many health students have learning anatomy and histology. The study used a mixed methodology, consisting of a controlled trial and qualitative evaluation of learner attitudes towards the digital game. The trial stratified learners into two groups: a digital game group and a multiple-choice quiz group, for one semester. At the end of semester final examination results from the two groups were compared to see if the digital game was a comparable means of revising anatomy and histology subject matter. Additionally, an online survey and semi-structured interviews were used to explore student attitudes towards the digital game. Findings demonstrated that a digital game could be as effective as alternative methods to support revision of anatomy subject matter. Further, results post-intervention survey (n=10) and semi-structured interviews (n=6) showed that students were interested in the use of digital games to support revision and enjoyed their experiences using the digital game during their studies

Twenty-one years of heave monitoring in London Clay at Horseferry Road Basement

An 11 m-deep basement structure in London SW1 was left vacant from 1968 to 1989. The basement heaved significantly during this period due to the lack of a superstructure, providing a unique opportunity to study the development of long-term heave in London Clay. May (1975) presented the monitoring results from 1968-73 and excerpts of site data collected after 1973 have also been circulating informally in the industry since the 1990s. However, the full set of monitoring data remains hitherto unpublished. This paper was initially drafted in the early 1990s when three of the authors (Nicholson, Chapman, and Solera) were working together with Arup. The paper somehow never got published as people and circumstances changed. More recently, the first author (Chan) started postgraduate research on heave and pressure beneath slabs in excavations in over-consolidated clays, using the heave monitoring data from the draft paper to complement centrifuge test results. For this reason, it was decided that the draft paper should be revised and published for the benefit of the wider industry. This paper provides a comprehensive case history of the site, publishing further heave data to June 1989, giving a total of 21 years of heave monitoring. Further site investigation data and calculations are included for comparison. The data show that the presence of a basement did not significantly reduce the shear strength of the clay beneath it. The coefficient of consolidation of the clay was 38 – 52 m²/year and long-term heave was still ongoing 21 years after the end of excavation.EPSRC grant reference number EP/L016095/

Social innovation in emerging economies: A National Systems of Innovation based approach

Drawing insights from the national systems of innovation and social entrepreneurship literature, this article examines how national systems of innovation (NSI) and social entrepreneurship interact to generate social innovation in emerging economies. Through the examination of a case study of the Emergency and Management Research Institute (EMRI), a public private partnership (PPP), social innovation is found to be an interactive bottom-up collective learning process where EMRI has developed a new model of social innovation. It also highlights the complex context in which social innovation occurs. As a boundary-spanning activity across the public and private sectors, the interactive learning process and associated capability building for social innovation has provided a catalyst for wider social reform and for the development and redesigning of NSI for social innovation-led value creation in emerging economies. Through such an approach, the EMRI has overcome the institutional voids and developed legitimacy through social innovation tailored to the local context; it thereby represents an alternative approach to the often top-down NSI organisations of developed economies

Mental Simulation and The Individual Preference Effect

Purpose - The “Individual Preference Effect” (IPE: Faulmüller et al., 2010; Greitemeyer & Schulz-Hardt, 2003; Greitemeyer et al., 2003), a form of confirmation bias, is an important barrier to achieving improved group decision-making outcomes in Hidden Profile tasks. Group members remain committed to their individual preferences and are unable to disconfirm their initial suboptimal selection decisions, even when presented with full information enabling them to correct them, and even if the accompanying group processes are perfectly conducted. This paper examines whether a mental simulation can overcome the IPE. Design/Methodology/Approach – Two experimental studies examine the effect of a mental simulation intervention in attenuating the IPE and improving decision quality in an online individual Hidden Profile task. Findings – Individuals undertaking a mental simulation achieved higher decision quality than those in a Control condition and experienced a greater reduction in confidence in the Suboptimal solution. Originality – To the authors’ knowledge, no study has examined whether mental simulation can attenuate the IPE. Research limitations/implications – Results suggest a role for mental simulation in overcoming the IPE. The test environment is an online individual decision-making task and broader application to group decision-making is not tested. Practical Implications – Since mental simulation is something we all do, it should easily generalise to an organisational setting to improve decision outcomes

Reversal of aging-induced increases in aortic stiffness by targeting cytoskeletal protein-protein interfaces

Background: The proximal aorta normally functions as a critical shock absorber that protects small downstream vessels from damage by pressure and flow pulsatility generated by the heart during systole. This shock absorber function is impaired with age because of aortic stiffening. Methods and Results: We examined the contribution of common genetic variation to aortic stiffness in humans by interrogating results from the AortaGen Consortium genome-wide association study of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. Common genetic variation in the N-WASP (WASL) locus is associated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (rs600420, P=0.0051). Thus, we tested the hypothesis that decoy proteins designed to disrupt the interaction of cytoskeletal proteins such as N-WASP with its binding partners in the vascular smooth muscle cytoskeleton could decrease ex vivo stiffness of aortas from a mouse model of aging. A synthetic decoy peptide construct of N-WASP significantly reduced activated stiffness in ex vivo aortas of aged mice. Two other cytoskeletal constructs targeted to VASP and talin-vinculin interfaces similarly decreased aging-induced ex vivo active stiffness by on-target specific actions. Furthermore, packaging these decoy peptides into microbubbles enables the peptides to be ultrasound-targeted to the wall of the proximal aorta to attenuate ex vivo active stiffness. Conclusions: We conclude that decoy peptides targeted to vascular smooth muscle cytoskeletal protein-protein interfaces and microbubble packaged can decrease aortic stiffness ex vivo. Our results provide proof of concept at the ex vivo level that decoy peptides targeted to cytoskeletal protein-protein interfaces may lead to substantive dynamic modulation of aortic stiffness

Variance decomposition of protein profiles from antibody arrays using a longitudinal twin model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The advent of affinity-based proteomics technologies for global protein profiling provides the prospect of finding new molecular biomarkers for common, multifactorial disorders. The molecular phenotypes obtained from studies on such platforms are driven by multiple sources, including genetic, environmental, and experimental components. In characterizing the contribution of different sources of variation to the measured phenotypes, the aim is to facilitate the design and interpretation of future biomedical studies employing exploratory and multiplexed technologies. Thus, biometrical genetic modelling of twin or other family data can be used to decompose the variation underlying a phenotype into biological and experimental components.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using antibody suspension bead arrays and antibodies from the Human Protein Atlas, we study unfractionated serum from a longitudinal study on 154 twins. In this study, we provide a detailed description of how the variation in a molecular phenotype in terms of protein profile can be decomposed into familial i.e. genetic and common environmental; individual environmental, short-term biological and experimental components. The results show that across 69 antibodies analyzed in the study, the median proportion of the total variation explained by familial sources is 12% (IQR 1-22%), and the median proportion of the total variation attributable to experimental sources is 63% (IQR 53-72%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The variability analysis of antibody arrays highlights the importance to consider variability components and their relative contributions when designing and evaluating studies for biomarker discoveries with exploratory, high-throughput and multiplexed methods.</p

The role of HR practices in developing employee resilience: A case study from the Pakistani telecommunications sector

There has been increasing interest in understanding the factors that contribute to the development of employee resilience. Despite such interest, there is a dearth of research examining the contributory role played by HR practices in enhancing employee resilience. Looking at the context of Pakistan’s telecommunications sector and deploying a qualitative methodology, this paper examines the impact of HR practices on employee resilience. The findings indicate that four key areas of HR practices—job design, information sharing and flow within an organisation, employee benefits (monetary as well as non-monetary), and employee development opportunities—enable the development of employee resilience. Consequently, the effective implementation of HR practices in these areas has been the key factor for the development of employee resilience

Measuring the complexity of general practice consultations:development and validation of a complexity measure

Background: The complexity of general practice consultations may be increasing and varies in different settings. A measure of complexity is required to test these hypotheses. Aim: To develop a valid measure of general practice consultation complexity applicable to routine medical records. Design and setting: Delphi study to select potential indicators of complexity followed by a cross-sectional study in English general practices to develop and validate a complexity measure. Method: The online Delphi study over two rounds identified potential indicators of consultation complexity. The cross-sectional study used an age–sex stratified random sample of patients and general practice face-to-face consultations from 2013/2014 in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. The authors explored independent relationships between each indicator and consultation duration using mixed-effects regression models, and revalidated findings using data from 2017/2018. The proportion of complex consultations in different age–sex groups was assessed. Results: A total of 32 GPs participated in the Delphi study. The Delphi panel endorsed 34 of 45 possible complexity indicators after two rounds. After excluding factors because of low prevalence or confounding, 17 indicators were retained in the cross-sectional study. The study used data from 173 130 patients and 725 616 face-to-face GP consultations. On defining complexity as the presence of any of these 17 factors, 308 370 consultations (42.5%) were found to be complex. Mean duration of complex consultations was 10.49 minutes, compared to 9.64 minutes for non-complex consultations. The proportion of complex consultations was similar in males and females but increased with age. Conclusion: The present consultation complexity measure has face and construct validity. It may be useful for research, management and policy, and for informing decisions about the range of resources needed in different practices

Development of an invasively monitored porcine model of acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure

Background: The development of effective therapies for acute liver failure (ALF) is limited by our knowledge of the pathophysiology of this condition, and the lack of suitable large animal models of acetaminophen toxicity. Our aim was to develop a reproducible invasively-monitored porcine model of acetaminophen-induced ALF. Method: 35kg pigs were maintained under general anaesthesia and invasively monitored. Control pigs received a saline infusion, whereas ALF pigs received acetaminophen intravenously for 12 hours to maintain blood concentrations between 200-300 mg/l. Animals surviving 28 hours were euthanased. Results: Cytochrome p450 levels in phenobarbital pre-treated animals were significantly higher than non pre-treated animals (300 vs 100 pmol/mg protein). Control pigs (n=4) survived 28-hour anaesthesia without incident. Of nine pigs that received acetaminophen, four survived 20 hours and two survived 28 hours. Injured animals developed hypotension (mean arterial pressure; 40.8+/-5.9 vs 59+/-2.0 mmHg), increased cardiac output (7.26+/-1.86 vs 3.30+/-0.40 l/min) and decreased systemic vascular resistance (8.48+/-2.75 vs 16.2+/-1.76 mPa/s/m3). Dyspnoea developed as liver injury progressed and the increased pulmonary vascular resistance (636+/-95 vs 301+/-26.9 mPa/s/m3) observed may reflect the development of respiratory distress syndrome. Liver damage was confirmed by deterioration in pH (7.23+/-0.05 vs 7.45+/-0.02) and prothrombin time (36+/-2 vs 8.9+/-0.3 seconds) compared with controls. Factor V and VII levels were reduced to 9.3 and 15.5% of starting values in injured animals. A marked increase in serum AST (471.5+/-210 vs 42+/-8.14) coincided with a marked reduction in serum albumin (11.5+/-1.71 vs 25+/-1 g/dL) in injured animals. Animals displayed evidence of renal impairment; mean creatinine levels 280.2+/-36.5 vs 131.6+/-9.33 mumol/l. Liver histology revealed evidence of severe centrilobular necrosis with coagulative necrosis. Marked renal tubular necrosis was also seen. Methaemoglobin levels did not rise >5%. Intracranial hypertension was not seen (ICP monitoring), but there was biochemical evidence of encephalopathy by the reduction of Fischer's ratio from 5.6 +/- 1.1 to 0.45 +/- 0.06. Conclusion: We have developed a reproducible large animal model of acetaminophen-induced liver failure, which allows in-depth investigation of the pathophysiological basis of this condition. Furthermore, this represents an important large animal model for testing artificial liver support systems

HILT : High-Level Thesaurus Project M2M Feasibility Study : [Final Report]

The project was asked to investigate the feasibility of developing SOAP-based interfaces between JISC IE services and Wordmap APIs and non-Wordmap versions of the HILT pilot demonstrator created under HILT Phase II and to determine the scope and cost of the provision of an actual demonstrator based on each of these approaches. In doing so it was to take into account the possibility of a future Zthes1-based solution using Z39.50 or OAI-PMH and syntax and data-exchange protocol implications of eScience and semantic-web developments. It was agreed that the primary concerns of the study should be an assessment of the feasibility, scope, and cost of a follow-up M2M pilot that considered the best options in respect of: o Query protocols (SOAP, Z39.50, SRW, OAI) and associated data profiles (e.g. Zthes for Z39.50 and for SRW); o Standards for structuring thesauri and thesauri-type information (e.g. the Zthes XML DTD and SRW version of it and SKOS-Core2); The study was carried out within the allotted timescale, with this Final Report submitted to JISC on 31st March 2005 as scheduled. The detailed proposal for a follow-up project is currently under discussion and will be finalised – as agreed with JISC – by mid-April. It was concluded that an M2M pilot was feasible. A proposal for a follow-up M2M pilot project has been scoped, and is currently being costed