Persuasive Technology for Learning and Teaching – The EuroPLOT Project

The concept of persuasive design has demonstrated its benefits by changing human behavior in certain situations, but in the area of education and learning, this approach has rarely been used. To change this and to study the feasibility of persuasive technology in teaching and learning, the EuroPLOT project (PLOT = Persuasive Learning Objects and Technologies) has been funded 2010-2013 by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in the Life-long Learning (LLL) programme. In this program two tools have been developed (PLOTMaker and PLOTLearner) which allow to create learning objects with inherently persuasive concepts embedded. These tools and the learning objects have been evaluated in four case studies: language learning (Ancient Hebrew), museum learning (Kaj Munk Museum, Denmark), chemical handling, and academic Business Computing. These case studies cover a wide range of different learning styles and learning groups, and the results obtained through the evaluation of these case studies show the wide range of success of persuasive learning. They also indicate the limitations and areas where improvements are required

Persuasive Technology for Learning in Business Context

"Persuasive Design is a relatively new concept which employs general principles of persuasion that can be implemented in persuasive technology. This concept has been introduced by BJ Fogg in 1998, who since then has further extended it to use computers for changing attitudes and behaviour. Such principles can be applied very well in learning and teaching: in traditional human-led learning, teachers always have employed persuasion as one of the elements of teaching. Persuasive technology moves these principles into the digital domain, by focusing on technology that inherently stimulates learners to learn more quickly and effectively. This is very relevant for the area of Business Management in several aspects: Consumer Behavior, Communications, Human Resource, Marketing & Advertising, Organisational Behavior & Leadership. The persuasive principles identified by BJ Fogg are: reduction, tunnelling, tailoring, suggestion, self-monitoring, surveillance, conditioning, simulation, social signals. Also relevant is the concept of KAIROS, which means the just-in-time, at the right place provision of information/stimulus. In the EuroPLOT project (2010-2013) we have developed persuasive learning objects and tools (PLOTs) in which we have applied persuasive designs and principles. In this context, we have developed a pedagogical framework for active engagement, based on persuasive design in which the principles of persuasive learning have been formalised in a 6-step guide for persuasive learning. These principles have been embedded in two tools – PLOTmaker and PLOTLearner – which have been developed for creating persuasive learning objects. The tools provide specific capability for implementing persuasive principles at the very beginning of the design of learning objects. The feasibility of employing persuasive learning concepts with these tools has been investigated in four different case studies with groups of teachers and learners from realms with distinctly different teaching and learning practices: Business Computing, language learning, museum learning, and chemical substance handling. These case studies have involved the following learner target groups: school children, university students, tertiary students, vocational learners and adult learners. With regards to the learning context, they address archive-based learning, industrial training, and academic teaching. Alltogether, these case studies include participants from Sweden, Africa (Madagascar), Denmark, Czech Republic, and UK. One of the outcomes of this investigation was that one cannot apply a common set of persuasive designs that would be valid for general use in all situations: on the contrary, the persuasive principles are very specific to learning contexts and therefore must be specifically tailored for each situation. Two of these case studies have a direct relevance to education in the realm of Business Management: Business Computing and language learning (for International Business). In this paper we will present the first results from the evaluation of persuasive technology driven learning in these two relevant areas.

The emerging structure of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis: where does Evo-Devo fit in?

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) debate is gaining ground in contemporary evolutionary biology. In parallel, a number of philosophical standpoints have emerged in an attempt to clarify what exactly is represented by the EES. For Massimo Pigliucci, we are in the wake of the newest instantiation of a persisting Kuhnian paradigm; in contrast, Telmo Pievani has contended that the transition to an EES could be best represented as a progressive reformation of a prior Lakatosian scientific research program, with the extension of its Neo-Darwinian core and the addition of a brand-new protective belt of assumptions and auxiliary hypotheses. Here, we argue that those philosophical vantage points are not the only ways to interpret what current proposals to ‘extend’ the Modern Synthesis-derived ‘standard evolutionary theory’ (SET) entail in terms of theoretical change in evolutionary biology. We specifically propose the image of the emergent EES as a vast network of models and interweaved representations that, instantiated in diverse practices, are connected and related in multiple ways. Under that assumption, the EES could be articulated around a paraconsistent network of evolutionary theories (including some elements of the SET), as well as models, practices and representation systems of contemporary evolutionary biology, with edges and nodes that change their position and centrality as a consequence of the co-construction and stabilization of facts and historical discussions revolving around the epistemic goals of this area of the life sciences. We then critically examine the purported structure of the EES—published by Laland and collaborators in 2015—in light of our own network-based proposal. Finally, we consider which epistemic units of Evo-Devo are present or still missing from the EES, in preparation for further analyses of the topic of explanatory integration in this conceptual framework

The combined effect of two mutations that alter serially homologous color pattern elements on the fore and hindwings of a butterfly

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ability for serially homologous structures to acquire a separate identity has been primarily investigated for structures dependent on Hox gene input but is still incompletely understood in other systems. The fore and hindwings of butterflies are serially homologous structures as are the serially homologous eyespots that can decorate each of these wings. Eyespots can vary in number between fore and hindwings of the same individual and mutations of large effect can control the total number of eyespots that each of the wings displays. Here we investigate the genetics of a new spontaneous color pattern mutation, <it>Missing</it>, that alters eyespot number in the nymphalid butterfly, <it>Bicyclus anynana</it>. We further test the interaction of <it>Missing </it>with a previously described mutation, <it>Spotty</it>, describe the developmental stage affected by <it>Missing</it>, and test whether <it>Missing </it>is a mutant variant of the gene <it>Distal-less </it>via a linkage association study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Missing </it>removes or greatly reduces the size of two of the hindwing eyespots from the row of seven eyespots, with no detectable effect on the rest of the wing pattern. Offspring carrying a single <it>Missing </it>allele display intermediate sized eyespots at these positions. <it>Spotty </it>has the opposite effect of <it>Missing</it>, i.e., it introduces two extra eyespots in homologous wing positions to those affected by <it>Missing</it>, but on the forewing. When <it>Missing </it>is combined with <it>Spotty </it>the size of the two forewing eyespots decreases but the size of the hindwing spots stays the same, suggesting that these two mutations have a combined effect on the forewing such that <it>Missing </it>reduces eyespot size when in the presence of a <it>Spotty </it>mutant allele, but that <it>Spotty </it>has no effect on the hindwing. <it>Missing </it>prevents the complete differentiation of two of the eyespot foci on the hindwing. We found no evidence for any linkage between the <it>Distal-less </it>and <it>Missing </it>genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The spontaneous mutation <it>Missing </it>controls the differentiation of the signaling centers of a subset of the serial homologous eyespots present on both the fore and the hindwing in a dose-dependent fashion. The effect of <it>Missing </it>on the forewing, however, is only observed when the mutation <it>Spotty </it>introduces additional eyespots on this wing. <it>Spotty</it>, on the other hand, controls the differentiation of eyespot centers only on the forewing. <it>Spotty</it>, unlike <it>Missing</it>, may be under Ubx gene regulation, since it affects a subset of eyespots on only one of the serially homologous wings.</p

The Role of Interleukin-1 and Interleukin-18 in Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Viral Responses to Rhinovirus in Primary Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Human Rhinovirus (HRV) is associated with acute exacerbations of chronic respiratory disease. In healthy individuals, innate viral recognition pathways trigger release of molecules with direct anti-viral activities and pro-inflammatory mediators which recruit immune cells to support viral clearance. Interleukin-1alpha (IL-1α), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) have critical roles in the establishment of neutrophilic inflammation, which is commonly seen in airways viral infection and thought to be detrimental in respiratory disease. We therefore investigated the roles of these molecules in HRV infection of primary human epithelial cells. We found that all three cytokines were released from infected epithelia. Release of these cytokines was not dependent on cell death, and only IL-1β and IL-18 release was dependent on caspase-1 catalytic activity. Blockade of IL-1 but not IL-18 signaling inhibited up-regulation of pro-inflammatory mediators and neutrophil chemoattractants but had no effect on virus induced production of interferons and interferon-inducible genes, measured at both mRNA and protein level. Similar level of virus mRNA was detected with and without IL-1RI blockade. Hence IL-1 signaling, potentially involving both IL-1β and IL-1α, downstream of viral recognition plays a key role in induction of pro-inflammatory signals and potentially in recruitment and activation of immune cells in response to viral infection instigated by the epithelial cells, whilst not participating in direct anti-viral responses

VapC Toxins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis Are Ribonucleases that Differentially Inhibit Growth and Are Neutralized by Cognate VapB Antitoxins

The chromosome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) encodes forty seven toxin-antitoxin modules belonging to the VapBC family. The role of these modules in the physiology of Mtb and the function(s) served by their expansion are unknown. We investigated ten vapBC modules from Mtb and the single vapBC from M. smegmatis. Of the Mtb vapCs assessed, only Rv0549c, Rv0595c, Rv2549c and Rv2829c were toxic when expressed from a tetracycline-regulated promoter in M. smegmatis. The same genes displayed toxicity when conditionally expressed in Mtb. Toxicity of Rv2549c in M. smegmatis correlated with the level of protein expressed, suggesting that the VapC level must exceed a threshold for toxicity to be observed. In addition, the level of Rv2456 protein induced in M. smegmatis was markedly lower than Rv2549c, which may account for the lack of toxicity of this and other VapCs scored as ‘non-toxic’. The growth inhibitory effects of toxic VapCs were neutralized by expression of the cognate VapB as part of a vapBC operon or from a different chromosomal locus, while that of non-cognate antitoxins did not. These results demonstrated a specificity of interaction between VapCs and their cognate VapBs, a finding corroborated by yeast two-hybrid analyses. Deletion of selected vapC or vapBC genes did not affect mycobacterial growth in vitro, but rendered the organisms more susceptible to growth inhibition following toxic VapC expression. However, toxicity of ‘non-toxic’ VapCs was not unveiled in deletion mutant strains, even when the mutation eliminated the corresponding cognate VapB, presumably due to insufficient levels of VapC protein. Together with the ribonuclease (RNase) activity demonstrated for Rv0065 and Rv0617 – VapC proteins with similarity to Rv0549c and Rv3320c, respectively – these results suggest that the VapBC family potentially provides an abundant source of RNase activity in Mtb, which may profoundly impact the physiology of the organism

Regulation of the Escherichia coli HipBA Toxin-Antitoxin System by Proteolysis

Bacterial populations produce antibiotic-tolerant persister cells. A number of recent studies point to the involvement of toxin/antitoxin (TA) modules in persister formation. hipBA is a type II TA module that codes for the HipB antitoxin and the HipA toxin. HipA is an EF-Tu kinase, which causes protein synthesis inhibition and dormancy upon phosphorylation of its substrate. Antitoxins are labile proteins that are degraded by one of the cytosolic ATP-dependent proteases. We followed the rate of HipB degradation in different protease deficient strains and found that HipB was stabilized in a lon- background. These findings were confirmed in an in vitro degradation assay, showing that Lon is the main protease responsible for HipB proteolysis. Moreover, we demonstrated that degradation of HipB is dependent on the presence of an unstructured carboxy-terminal stretch of HipB that encompasses the last 16 amino acid residues. Further, substitution of the conserved carboxy-terminal tryptophan of HipB to alanine or even the complete removal of this 16 residue fragment did not alter the affinity of HipB for hipBA operator DNA or for HipA indicating that the major role of this region of HipB is to control HipB degradation and hence HipA-mediated persistence

Comprehensive Functional Analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Toxin-Antitoxin Systems: Implications for Pathogenesis, Stress Responses, and Evolution

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems, stress-responsive genetic elements ubiquitous in microbial genomes, are unusually abundant in the major human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Why M. tuberculosis has so many TA systems and what role they play in the unique biology of the pathogen is unknown. To address these questions, we have taken a comprehensive approach to identify and functionally characterize all the TA systems encoded in the M. tuberculosis genome. Here we show that 88 putative TA system candidates are present in M. tuberculosis, considerably more than previously thought. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the vast majority of these systems are conserved in the M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC), but largely absent from other mycobacteria, including close relatives of M. tuberculosis. We found that many of the M. tuberculosis TA systems are located within discernable genomic islands and were thus likely acquired recently via horizontal gene transfer. We discovered a novel TA system located in the core genome that is conserved across the genus, suggesting that it may fulfill a role common to all mycobacteria. By expressing each of the putative TA systems in M. smegmatis, we demonstrate that 30 encode a functional toxin and its cognate antitoxin. We show that the toxins of the largest family of TA systems, VapBC, act by inhibiting translation via mRNA cleavage. Expression profiling demonstrated that four systems are specifically activated during stresses likely encountered in vivo, including hypoxia and phagocytosis by macrophages. The expansion and maintenance of TA genes in the MTBC, coupled with the finding that a subset is transcriptionally activated by stress, suggests that TA systems are important for M. tuberculosis pathogenesis

Human Nasal Challenge with Streptococcus pneumoniae Is Immunising in the Absence of Carriage

Infectious challenge of the human nasal mucosa elicits immune responses that determine the fate of the host-bacterial interaction; leading either to clearance, colonisation and/or disease. Persistent antigenic exposure from pneumococcal colonisation can induce both humoral and cellular defences that are protective against carriage and disease. We challenged healthy adults intra-nasally with live 23F or 6B Streptococcus pneumoniae in two sequential cohorts and collected nasal wash, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and blood before and 6 weeks after challenge. We hypothesised that both cohorts would successfully become colonised but this did not occur except for one volunteer. The effect of bacterial challenge without colonisation in healthy adults has not been previously assessed. We measured the antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in challenged but not colonised volunteers by ELISA and Flow Cytometry. Antigen-specific responses were seen in each compartment both before and after bacterial challenge for both cohorts. Antigen-specific IgG and IgA levels were significantly elevated in nasal wash 6 weeks after challenge compared to baseline. Immunoglobulin responses to pneumococci were directed towards various protein targets but not capsular polysaccharide. 23F but not 6B challenge elevated IgG anti-PspA in BAL. Serum immunoglobulins did not increase in response to challenge. In neither challenge cohort was there any alteration in the frequencies of TNF, IL-17 or IFNγ producing CD4 T cells before or after challenge in BAL or blood. We show that simple, low dose mucosal exposure with pneumococci may immunise mucosal surfaces by augmenting anti-protein immunoglobulin responses; but not capsular or cellular responses. We hypothesise that mucosal exposure alone may not replicate the systemic immunising effect of experimental or natural carriage in humans