Educational Games & Health Sciences

This webinar will begin with an overview of educational games and their benefits. Rina Wehbe, University of Waterloo, will speak about her research and recent game “Above Water” which informs people about strategies for coping with anxiety. Zeb Mathews, University of Tennessee, will speak about his game, “PubWizard” which quizzes graduate level informatics students\u27 knowledge of primary and secondary sources. This will be followed by an interactive exercise of exploring some of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) & National Library of Medicine (NLM) endorsed games. A Q&A session will follow. Are you interested in creating a game? We’ll have an exit survey to discuss hosting a game creation course. The learning objectives currently include the following: - Understand how educational games and gamification are unique - Learn about the possible benefits and advantages of learning with games - Better general understanding of the process of creating an educational game - Become acquainted with 2 educational games that intersect with the health sciences - Understand how basic game design elements are significant in educational games - Become familiar with some NIH & NLM endorsed games Outline:Introduction/Overview: 5-10 min.Rina Wehbe (Above Water): 20 min.Zeb Mathews (PubWizard): 20 min.Game Exercise: 15-20 min.Q&A & Survey: 5–10 min

Control of COVID-19 dynamics through a fractional-order model

We investigate, through a fractional mathematical model, the effects of physical distance on the SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission. Two controls are considered in our model for eradication of the spread of COVID-19: media education, through campaigns explaining the importance of social distancing, use of face masks, etc., towards all population, while the second one is quarantine social isolation of the exposed individuals. A general fractional order optimal control problem, and associated optimality conditions of Pontryagin type, are discussed, with the goal to minimize the number of susceptible and infected while maximizing the number of recovered. The extremals are then numerically obtained.publishe

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, & Health

There are plenty of new and emerging technologies that are revolutionizing the health sciences. These webinars explore the applications of reality technologies including augmented reality, virtual reality, multi-reality, mixed reality, and more! From hands-on training, to human simulation software, there is a lot for us to learn about health and technology. Join us for an exploration of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies, with special attention given to their significance in the health sciences. Also learn how you can start and fund your own AR or VR health sciences project with NNLM Technology funding opportunities. This webinar is appropriate for everyone, regardless of how much you know about augmented or virtual reality. Speakers include: Zeb Mathews – University of Tennessee Health Science CenterCorina Bustillos – Texas Tech University Health Sciences CenterAllison Herrera – University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolMarilyn Gugliucci - University of New England Outline:AR and VR - Introduction & OverviewAugmented Reality & HealthVirtual Reality & HealthTechnology Funding OpportunitiesUniversity of New England VR Projec

High temperature dielectric ceramics: a review of temperature-stable high-permittivity perovskites

Recent developments are reviewed in the search for dielectric ceramics which can operate at temperatures >200 °C, well above the limit of existing high volumetric efficiency capacitor materials. Compositional systems based on lead-free relaxor dielectrics with mixed cation site occupancy on the perovskite lattice are summarised, and properties compared. As a consequence of increased dielectric peak broadening and shifts to peak temperatures, properties can be engineered such that a plateau in relative permittivity–temperature response (εr–T) is obtained, giving a ±15 %, or better, consistency in εr over a wide temperature range. Materials with extended upper temperature limits of 300, 400 and indeed 500 °C are grouped in this article according to the parent component of the solid solution, for example BaTiO3 and Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. Challenges are highlighted in achieving a lower working temperature of −55 °C, whilst also extending the upper temperature limit of stable εr to ≥300 °C, and achieving high-permittivity and low values of dielectric loss tangent, tan δ. Summary tables and diagrams are used to help compare values of εr, tan δ, and temperature ranges of stability for different material

Deconstructing Local Adaptation Plans for Action (LAPAs) - Analysis of Nepal and Pakistan LAPA initiatives

This paper analyses the organizational and implementation design strategies of two ongoing Local Adaptation Plan for Action (LAPA) initiatives in Nepal and Pakistan. LAPA is considered an answer for institutionalized local-level adaptation planning that aims to capture local needs and direct resources to where, when and by whom these are most needed. While both Nepal and Pakistan LAPAs have similar objectives of bottom-up planning, the operational and structural designs of the two LAPAs are very distinct, leading to different outcomes. Different internal and external factors such as age and size of LAPA, technology, local institutional arrangements, core process and environment also exert significant structural tensions on the planned organizational design of LAPAs that may inhibit delivery of their objectives

Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi DNA mismatch repair proteins act differently in the response to DNA damage caused by oxidative stress

MSH2, associated with MSH3 or MSH6, is a central component of the eukaryotic DNA Mismatch Repair (MMR) pathway responsible for the recognition and correction of base mismatches that occur during DNA replication and recombination. Previous studies have shown that MSH2 plays an additional DNA repair role in response to oxidative damage in Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei. By performing co-immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry with parasites expressing tagged proteins, we confirmed that the parasites’ MSH2 forms complexes with MSH3 and MSH6. To investigate the involvement of these two other MMR components in the oxidative stress response, we generated knockout mutants of MSH6 and MSH3 in T. brucei bloodstream forms and MSH6 mutants in T. cruzi epimastigotes. Differently from the phenotype observed with T. cruzi MSH2 knockout epimastigotes, loss of one or two alleles of T. cruzi msh6 resulted in increased susceptibility to H2O2 exposure, besides impaired MMR. In contrast, T. brucei msh6 or msh3 null mutants displayed increased tolerance to MNNG treatment, indicating that MMR is affected, but no difference in the response to H2O2 treatment when compared to wild type cells. Taken together, our results suggest that, while T. cruzi MSH6 and MSH2 are involved with the oxidative stress response in addition to their role as components of the MMR, the DNA repair pathway that deals with oxidative stress damage operates differently in T. brucei

Ion microprobe analysis of oxygen isotopes in garnets of complex chemistry

Accurate ion microprobe analysis of oxygen isotope ratios in garnet is possible if appropriate standards are employed to correct for instrumental bias, a component of which depends on the cation chemistry of the analyzed mineral. In this study, 26 garnet standards (including 14 new standards) that span the compositional range of pyrope, almandine, grossular, spessartine, and andradite were analyzed repeatedly by ion microprobe to develop a new method of correcting for instrumental bias in garnets. All analyses were normalized to a single master garnet standard (UWG-2) before bias from cation composition was considered. Bias due to cation composition in garnet was found to correlate with grossular content in pyralspite garnets and with andradite in ugrandite garnets. Bias is correlated with molar volume in garnets of all compositions in this study. Although this correlation is suitable as a correction scheme for bias, a more accurate correction scheme based on the grossular and andradite compositions of garnet is proposed. This method reproduces the bias of all but one standard to within a range of 0.4%%, an accuracy that is on the same order as the reproducibility (+/-0.3%%, 2S.D.) of the master garnet standard UWG-2, but that remains an independent source of error. The new correction scheme is used to successfully reproduce laser fluorination analyses along a traverse of a polymetamorphic, zoned skarn garnet from the Adirondack Mountains. While previous analyses were at the mm-scale, the new data resolve a gradient of δ^1^8O of 2.1%% over 16 m. If experimentally derived diffusion coefficients are correct, these new results show that granulite-facies metamorphism was significantly faster than previously assumed and the thermal peak was less than 5Myr