Let’s jam the reactable: peer learning during musical improvisation with a tabletop tangible interface

There has been little research on how interactions with tabletop and Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) by groups of users change over time. In this article, we investigate the challenges and opportunities of a tabletop tangible interface based on constructive building blocks. We describe a long-term lab study of groups of expert musicians improvising with the Reactable, a commercial tabletop TUI for music performance. We examine interaction, focusing on interface, tangible, musical, and social phenomena. Our findings reveal a practice-based learning between peers in situated contexts, and new forms of participation, all of which is facilitated by the Reactable's tangible interface, if compared to traditional musical ensembles. We summarise our findings as a set of design considerations and conclude that construction processes on interactive tabletops support learning by doing and peer learning, which can inform constructivist approaches to learning with technology

In vivo activity of anprocide alone, and in vitro activity in combination with conventional antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms

The alarming spread of multiple drug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, combined with the frequent occurrence of S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis in biofilm-type infections, indicates a growing need for new therapies. The experimental steroidal amide anprocide [3β-acetoxy-17β-(l-prolyl)amino-5α-androstane] significantly reduced c.f.u. ml−1 per suture (P <0.0001) in a murine model of topical S. aureus infection. In chequerboard assays with planktonic-grown S. aureus and S. epidermidis, anprocide was synergistic with bacitracin, oxacillin, clindamycin or ceftriaxone. Anprocide was also synergistic in combination with bacitracin or oxacillin against some isolates of biofilm-grown S. aureus and S. epidermidis

Self-presentation and the role of perspective taking and social motivation in autism spectrum disorder

We compared self-presentation abilities of 132 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to those of 41 typically developing (TD) peers, and examined the potential link with their social motivation and perspective taking. Participants introduced themselves to an interviewer in a baseline condition (without incentive) and a self-promotion condition (with incentive). Children with ASD (6–12 years) were just as likely as or even more likely than TD children to highlight personal characteristics that would increase their chances of obtaining the incentive. Thus, they were strategic in their self-presentation. However, adolescents with ASD (12–19 years) were less strategic than TD adolescents as well as children with ASD. We discuss the role of social motivation and perspective taking in children’s self-presentation