Feasibility report: Delivering case-study based learning using artificial intelligence and gaming technologies

This document describes an investigation into the technical feasibility of a game to support learning based on case studies. Information systems students using the game will conduct fact-finding interviews with virtual characters. We survey relevant technologies in computational linguistics and games. We assess the applicability of the various approaches and propose an architecture for the game based on existing techniques. We propose a phased development plan for the development of the game

Academic Success of African American Males in the Blount County, Tennessee: Perceptions of the Community

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate factors that contribute to the academic success of African American males in the Blount County Area. More specifically, the study was focused on the perception of the participants concerning noncognitive, demographic, and institutional variables associated with the academic success of African-American males. The participants for this study were attendees of four local churches: Mount Pleasant A.M.E. Zion, Rest Haven Missionary Baptist Church, St. John Missionary Baptist Church, and St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church. Each of the four churches is located in Blount County, Tennessee. Participants were male and female adults of varied ages and ethnic classifications but were all familiar with the focus area. Research supported the suggestion that both cognitive and noncognitive variables contribute to the academic success of African American males in the Blount County Area. The data were collected and analyzed using a 27-question survey measured on a 5 point Likert scale. The last section of the survey instrument was composed of 3 open-ended questions. Seven research questions served as the bases for this study and the data were analyzed using a series of single-sample t tests. Results indicated that participants agreed that noncognitive, demographic, and institutional factors are contributors to the academic success of African American males in Blount County, Tennessee

The effect of halide and metal ions on the corrosion of aluminium in ethylene glycol solutions

Aluminium components attached to an engine cooling system, will be exposed to 50% ethanediol coolant contaminated with metal cations and halide anions. Since copper cations enhance the corrosion rate of aluminium, the effect of other metal cations of metals commonly found in the cooling system on the corrosion rate were evaluated. Aluminium samples were exposed to 50% ethanediol solutions containing various metals and metal cations. Previous work has shown that halide anion size and concentration have an effect on the corrosion potential of aluminium, but the effects of metal cations have not. been evaluated. A new corrosion cell was designed and built to evaluate these effects. The nobility of the pitting potential of aluminium has been observed to decrease with chloride anion concentration and temperature increase in double distilled water. Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic experiments were therefore carried out to determine whether similar effects are observed with fluoride, bromide and iodide. Theoretically, if the penetration theory of pitting initiation is correct, then the nobility of Ep should increase with halide anion size. It was concluded from the experimental work that:- (1) Lead cations in the presence of chloride anions initiate corrosion of aluminium. (2) Lead and copper cations in halide solutions shift the corrosion potential of aluminium to more noble values before deposition. Nobility continued to increase with metal cation concentration until the pitting potential was achieved and then levelled off. It is proposed that this effect is due to metal cations disrupting the outer Helmholtz plane. (3) Ep values of aluminium in double distilled water and 50% ethanediol decreased in nobility with increase in halide concentration and solution temperature for all four halides. (4) The fluoride Ep values were out of sequence, these values being as noble as those of iodide. A film was observed to form on aluminium exposed to the fluoride solution. It is proposed that this film increases the nobility of the pitting potential

UBE2QL1 is Disrupted by a Constitutional Translocation Associated with Renal Tumor Predisposition and is a Novel Candidate Renal Tumor Suppressor Gene

Investigation of rare familial forms of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has led to the identification of genes such as VHL and MET that are also implicated in the pathogenesis of sporadic RCC. In order to identify a novel candidate renal tumor suppressor gene, we characterized the breakpoints of a constitutional balanced translocation, t(5;19)(p15.3;q12), associated with familial RCC and found that a previously uncharacterized gene UBE2QL1 was disrupted by the chromosome 5 breakpoint. UBE2QL1 mRNA expression was downregulated in 78.6% of sporadic RCC and, although no intragenic mutations were detected, gene deletions and promoter region hypermethylation were detected in 17.3% and 20.3%, respectively, of sporadic RCC. Reexpression of UBE2QL1 in a deficient RCC cell line suppressed anchorage-independent growth. UBE2QL1 shows homology to the E2 class of ubiquitin conjugating enzymes and we found that (1) UBE2QL1 possesses an active-site cysteine (C88) that is monoubiquitinated in vivo, and (2) UBE2QL1 interacts with FBXW7 (an F box protein providing substrate recognition to the SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase) and facilitates the degradation of the known FBXW7 targets, CCNE1 and mTOR. These findings suggest UBE2QL1 as a novel candidate renal tumor suppressor gen

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http://archive.org/details/performanceindic00prigNAN

Real estate securities : asset level disclosure issues

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-78).by Kristin J. Prigmore.M.S

Prenatal exome sequencing analysis in fetal structural anomalies detected by ultrasonography (PAGE): a cohort study

Background: Fetal structural anomalies, which are detected by ultrasonography, have a range of genetic causes, including chromosomal aneuploidy, copy number variations (CNVs; which are detectable by chromosomal microarrays), and pathogenic sequence variants in developmental genes. Testing for aneuploidy and CNVs is routine during the investigation of fetal structural anomalies, but there is little information on the clinical usefulness of genome-wide next-generation sequencing in the prenatal setting. We therefore aimed to evaluate the proportion of fetuses with structural abnormalities that had identifiable variants in genes associated with developmental disorders when assessed with whole-exome sequencing (WES). Methods: In this prospective cohort study, two groups in Birmingham and London recruited patients from 34 fetal medicine units in England and Scotland. We used whole-exome sequencing (WES) to evaluate the presence of genetic variants in developmental disorder genes (diagnostic genetic variants) in a cohort of fetuses with structural anomalies and samples from their parents, after exclusion of aneuploidy and large CNVs. Women were eligible for inclusion if they were undergoing invasive testing for identified nuchal translucency or structural anomalies in their fetus, as detected by ultrasound after 11 weeks of gestation. The partners of these women also had to consent to participate. Sequencing results were interpreted with a targeted virtual gene panel for developmental disorders that comprised 1628 genes. Genetic results related to fetal structural anomaly phenotypes were then validated and reported postnatally. The primary endpoint, which was assessed in all fetuses, was the detection of diagnostic genetic variants considered to have caused the fetal developmental anomaly. Findings: The cohort was recruited between Oct 22, 2014, and June 29, 2017, and clinical data were collected until March 31, 2018. After exclusion of fetuses with aneuploidy and CNVs, 610 fetuses with structural anomalies and 1202 matched parental samples (analysed as 596 fetus-parental trios, including two sets of twins, and 14 fetus-parent dyads) were analysed by WES. After bioinformatic filtering and prioritisation according to allele frequency and effect on protein and inheritance pattern, 321 genetic variants (representing 255 potential diagnoses) were selected as potentially pathogenic genetic variants (diagnostic genetic variants), and these variants were reviewed by a multidisciplinary clinical review panel. A diagnostic genetic variant was identified in 52 (8·5%; 95% CI 6·4–11·0) of 610 fetuses assessed and an additional 24 (3·9%) fetuses had a variant of uncertain significance that had potential clinical usefulness. Detection of diagnostic genetic variants enabled us to distinguish between syndromic and non-syndromic fetal anomalies (eg, congenital heart disease only vs a syndrome with congenital heart disease and learning disability). Diagnostic genetic variants were present in 22 (15·4%) of 143 fetuses with multisystem anomalies (ie, more than one fetal structural anomaly), nine (11·1%) of 81 fetuses with cardiac anomalies, and ten (15·4%) of 65 fetuses with skeletal anomalies; these phenotypes were most commonly associated with diagnostic variants. However, diagnostic genetic variants were least common in fetuses with isolated increased nuchal translucency (≥4·0 mm) in the first trimester (in three [3·2%] of 93 fetuses). Interpretation: WES facilitates genetic diagnosis of fetal structural anomalies, which enables more accurate predictions of fetal prognosis and risk of recurrence in future pregnancies. However, the overall detection of diagnostic genetic variants in a prospectively ascertained cohort with a broad range of fetal structural anomalies is lower than that suggested by previous smaller-scale studies of fewer phenotypes. WES improved the identification of genetic disorders in fetuses with structural abnormalities; however, before clinical implementation, careful consideration should be given to case selection to maximise clinical usefulness.The PAGE study is supported by a Health Innovation Challenge from the UK Department of Health and Wellcome Trust (no. HICF-R7-396). Additionally, LSC is partially funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital and ERM acknowledges support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (an NIHR Senior Investigator Award). The University of Cambridge has received salary support with regard to ERM from the UK National Health Service (NHS) in the east of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve