10 research outputs found
Disrupting the disruptors via digital transformation:The response of financial institutions to Distributed Ledger Technology
Disrupting the disruptors via digital transformation: The response of financial institutions to Distributed Ledger Technology
Narrative and aesthetics as antecedents of perceived learning in Serious Games
Purpose: This study uses a critically acclaimed digital game as an instructional tool to explore the role of emotional design elements on psychological flow and perceived learning. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ transportation theory to generate a set of antecedents of psychological flow and the theory of flow to connect the gaming experience to positive learning outcomes. The authors investigate the subjective learning experience of players with the use of a psychometric survey, and the authors employ structural equation modelling (SEM) to unearth the direct as well as the indirect effects amongst narrative, aesthetics, flow and learning outcomes. Findings: The findings of this study demonstrate that narrative and aesthetics in serious games positively influence the perceived learning by facilitating a state of psychological flow. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to better understanding and theorizing the role of narrative and aesthetics on learning outcomes in the context of serious games. Practical implications: The findings of this study bear valuable implications for the design of serious games as they highlight the importance of elements often disregarded as not directly related to the learning process and are typically absent from the design of serious games. Originality/value: Prior studies have identified aesthetics and narratives as design elements that contribute to the perceived enjoyment of a game; this study empirically investigates the role of narratives and aesthetics in enhancing perceived learning through psychological flow
Narrative and aesthetics as antecedents of perceived learning in serious games
Purpose: This study uses a critically acclaimed digital game as an instructional tool to explore the role of emotional design elements on psychological flow and perceived learning. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ transportation theory to generate a set of antecedents of psychological flow and the theory of flow to connect the gaming experience to positive learning outcomes. The authors investigate the subjective learning experience of players with the use of a psychometric survey, and the authors employ structural equation modelling (SEM) to unearth the direct as well as the indirect effects amongst narrative, aesthetics, flow and learning outcomes. Findings: The findings of this study demonstrate that narrative and aesthetics in serious games positively influence the perceived learning by facilitating a state of psychological flow. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to better understanding and theorizing the role of narrative and aesthetics on learning outcomes in the context of serious games. Practical implications: The findings of this study bear valuable implications for the design of serious games as they highlight the importance of elements often disregarded as not directly related to the learning process and are typically absent from the design of serious games. Originality/value: Prior studies have identified aesthetics and narratives as design elements that contribute to the perceived enjoyment of a game; this study empirically investigates the role of narratives and aesthetics in enhancing perceived learning through psychological flow.</p
Emergence of the Plasmid-Mediated Quinolone Resistance Gene qnrS1 in Escherichia coli Isolates in Greece▿
PlasmiR: A Manual Collection of Circulating microRNAs of Prognostic and Diagnostic Value
Simple Summary Only recently have the important biomarker capacities of
microRNAs (miRNAs) in blood samples during disease been revealed. miRNAs
are abundantly detected in circulation, and are less prone to
degradation than longer RNA. Details regarding potential discriminatory
miRNAs against numerous pathologic conditions are dispersed across
articles, while existing resources that catalogue miRNA abundance in
blood samples are not tailored to biomarker research. This study
presents the meticulous manual curation of more than 200 articles that
specifically interrogate the biomarker potential of miRNAs in whole
blood, serum, or plasma. This annotation effort resulted in the creation
of plasmiR, a database that systematically provides experimental
evidence for the diagnostic and prognostic potential of circulating
miRNAs against human diseases. plasmiR features 1021 entries,
accompanied by rich study-specific meta-information, and an intuitive
interface that enables the formation of complex queries and
visualizations. Only recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) were found to exist in
traceable and distinctive amounts in the human circulatory system,
bringing forth the intriguing possibility of using them as minimally
invasive biomarkers. miRNAs are short non-coding RNAs that act as potent
post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Extensive studies in
cancer and other disease landscapes investigate the
protective/pathogenic functions of dysregulated miRNAs, as well as their
biomarker potential. A specialized resource amassing experimentally
verified, circulating miRNA biomarkers does not exist. We queried the
existing literature to identify articles assessing diagnostic/prognostic
roles of miRNAs in blood, serum, or plasma samples. Articles were
scrutinized in order to exclude instances lacking sufficient
experimental documentation or employing no biomarker assessment methods.
We incorporated information from more than 200 biomedical articles,
annotating crucial meta-information including cohort sizes,
inclusion-exclusion criteria, disease/healthy confirmation methods and
quantification details. miRNAs and diseases were systematically
characterized using reference resources. Our circulating miRNA biomarker
collection is provided as an online database, plasmiR. It consists of
1021 entries regarding 251 miRNAs and 112 diseases. More than half of
plasmiR’s entries refer to cancerous and neoplastic conditions, 183 of
them (32%) describing prognostic associations. plasmiR facilitates
smart queries, emphasizing visualization and exploratory modes for all
researchers