A Design Framework for Adaptive Gamification Applications

The application of gamification does not always achieve the expected results due to the shortcomings of the quite common one size fits all approach of standard gamification concepts. We therefore propose a design framework that can inform systematic development of adaptive gamification applications. The developed framework draws on the current body of gamification literature, focusing on the emerging research stream of adaptive gamification. It provides design paths and design principles that translate the individual elements into concrete guidelines to assist the design practice. The framework has been successfully applied to the design and implementation of a prototype application using gamification to incentivize knowledge exchange on an existing online platform for physicians in practical medical training. The evaluation in a case study indicated positive user acceptance and increased system usage after the introduction of the developed adaptive gamification solution

L3T – ein innovatives Lehrbuchprojekt im Detail: Gestaltung, Prozesse, Apps und Finanzierung

Seit Februar 2011 gibt es mit dem „Lehrbuch für Lernen und Lehren mit Technologien“ (kurz L3T) eine neuartige Sammlung von Lehrtexten für Studierende und Lehrende im Bereich des technologiegestützten Lernens. In diesem Buch werden Konzepte, Realisierungen und (Miss-) Erfolge rund um L3T zusammengetragen und das Projekt umfassend dargestellt. Es sollte für all diejenigen von Interesse sein, die im Bereich der offenen Bildungsressourcen oder offener Buchprojekte Erfahrungen und Berichte suchen, um sich für eigene Projekte inspirieren zu lassen

Clinical outcome of elderly patients (>= 70 years) with esophageal cancer undergoing definitive or neoadjuvant radio(chemo)therapy: a retrospective single center analysis

Background: To analyse the outcome of elderly patients (>= 70 years) with esophageal cancer treated with curative intent radio(chemo)therapy. Methods: Fifty five patients (median 75 years) receiving curative intent radio(chemo)therapy for esophageal cancel from 1999 to 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Most patients showed locally advanced disease (T3/4:78%, N+:58%) with squamous cell histology (74%). Charlson comorbidity score was > 1 in 27%. 48 patients (87%) received definitive treatment while 7 patients were treated neoadjuvantly. RT was carried out as 3D-conformal treatment or IMRT. Concurrent chemotherapy was applied in 85%, mainly cisplatin/5-FU or mitomycin/5-FU. (18)FDG-PET/CT staging was used in 65%. Results: Median follow-up was 11 months (1-68) and 21 months in survivors. 1- and 2-year rates of LRC, DC, FFTF and OS were 60%/45, 81%/72, 55%/41 and 46%/26% for the entire cohort. In univariate analysis, addition of surgery was associated with improved LRC and FFTF, nodal involvement with improved DC and lower T stage, lower Charlson score and use of PET-CT with improved OS. In multivariate analysis, lower T stage and lower Charlson score remained significant for OS. Patients treated after 2008 showed a significantly improved FFTF (1-year FFTF 64% vs 35%) and OS (1-year OS 66% vs 24%). Maximum (chemo)radiation related grade3+ toxicity was observed in 80% including 7 deaths (13%). Grade5 toxicity was significantly associated with Charlson score (CS > 1:33% vs CS <<= 1:5%) and treatment period (24% before vs 3% after 2008). The patients treated after 2008 included significantly more SCCs, less T4 stages, had a higher percentage of PET-CT staging and were treated with smaller field lengths. Trends were also observed for lower Charlson scores and increased use of IMRT. Conclusion: Curative intent (chemo)radiation of elderly patients with esophageal cancer may result in considerable toxicity and unfavorable outcome. However, a clear improvement over time was observed in our cohort, probably based on improved patient selection. In patients with less advanced stages and lower comoribidity similar results as in younger cohorts seem achievable with modern staging and treatment approaches. Age per se should not be a decisive factor, but careful attention should be paid regarding patient selection including a structured and tight follow-up strategy

The importance of the altricial – precocial spectrum for social complexity in mammals and birds:A review

Various types of long-term stable relationships that individuals uphold, including cooperation and competition between group members, define social complexity in vertebrates. Numerous life history, physiological and cognitive traits have been shown to affect, or to be affected by, such social relationships. As such, differences in developmental modes, i.e. the ‘altricial-precocial’ spectrum, may play an important role in understanding the interspecific variation in occurrence of social interactions, but to what extent this is the case is unclear because the role of the developmental mode has not been studied directly in across-species studies of sociality. In other words, although there are studies on the effects of developmental mode on brain size, on the effects of brain size on cognition, and on the effects of cognition on social complexity, there are no studies directly investigating the link between developmental mode and social complexity. This is surprising because developmental differences play a significant role in the evolution of, for example, brain size, which is in turn considered an essential building block with respect to social complexity. Here, we compiled an overview of studies on various aspects of the complexity of social systems in altricial and precocial mammals and birds. Although systematic studies are scarce and do not allow for a quantitative comparison, we show that several forms of social relationships and cognitive abilities occur in species along the entire developmental spectrum. Based on the existing evidence it seems that differences in developmental modes play a minor role in whether or not individuals or species are able to meet the cognitive capabilities and requirements for maintaining complex social relationships. Given the scarcity of comparative studies and potential subtle differences, however, we suggest that future studies should consider developmental differences to determine whether our finding is general or whether some of the vast variation in social complexity across species can be explained by developmental mode. This would allow a more detailed assessment of the relative importance of developmental mode in the evolution of vertebrate social systems

Towards a Framework for the Classification of Usability Issues

Part 9: Industry Case StudiesInternational audienceThis case study proposes a novel framework, which aims to support UX designers and practitioners in the classification of identified usability issues. Existing inspection methods often lack in providing further information and steps about the effort to fix those issues. Therefore, the developed framework provides four categories for classifying usability issues in order to generate a score, which represents the present level of UX maturity. Furthermore, the score enables the comparison of UX maturity levels between systems with similar customer journeys, based on the identified usability issues. Results support system designers in their decision-making process of replacing, maintaining or modernizing the system in question. First results reveal that the proposed framework could be used as a meaningful extension of existing usability methods within different application domains, for instance the heuristic evaluation

TOWARDS ADAPTIVE GAMIFICATION: A SYNTHESIS OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Adaptive gamification is an emerging and fast-growing research stream, that enhances traditional gamification approaches with user-centered, personalized and adaptive incentive mechanisms, tailored to a specific characteristic of different users and contexts. While game-like elements have been successfully applied to increase end-user engagement, satisfaction and task performance in different domains, the effectiveness has often been mixed, highly context specific and varied among individuals. In order to understand how adaptive gamification approaches can be developed that overcome such problems, we have conducted a systematic literature review that identifies main issues and challenges in current literature on adaptive gamification. The analysis corpus is composed of 43 identified studies and includes supporting theoretical contributions from related research areas. The performed analysis provides several contributions. First, a conceptual matrix of adaptive gamification design is proposed that identifies major dimensions of current approaches and classifies these accordingly. Second, we came up with a thematic overview where the identified literature and their related studies are assigned to the designated areas. Finally, we identify five research challenges and propose a research agenda that can serve as a basis for future research directions and for practitioners who want to apply adaptive gamification strategies in real-world applications

Menschenrechte in Ost und West

Menschenrechte aus theologischer und humanistischer Sicht; Menschenrechte im Kommunismus und in sozialistischen Ländern (am Beispiel Polens); Menschenrechte in der Orthodoxie; Menschenrechte und christliches Menschenbild, Kategorien der Menschenrechte; Menschenrechte im Völkerrecht; Menschenrechte und Gewaltenteilung; Menschenrechte als Ideologie und politische Waffe; Gewaltenteilung als Bedingung von Humanität und Freiheit; Was wissen die Deutschen über Menschenrechte? Die Einbeziehung der Menschenrechte in die Schlussakte der Konferenz für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa (KSZE) vom 30.08.1975 und ihre Folge

18F-FDG, 11C-methionine, and 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT in patients with smoldering multiple myeloma: imaging pattern and clinical features

This study aimed to explore the correlation between imaging patterns and clinical features in patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) who simultaneously underwent 18F-FDG, 11C-Methionine, and 68Ga-Pentixafor positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). We retrieved and analyzed clinical characteristics and PET imaging data of 10 patients with SMM. We found a significant correlation between bone marrow (BM) plasma cell (PC) infiltration and mean standardized uptake values (SUV$_{mean}$) of lumbar vertebrae L2-L4 on 11C-Methionine PET/CT scans (r = 0.676, p = 0.031) and 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT scans (r = 0.839, p = 0.002). However, there was no significant correlation between BM involvement and SUV$_{mean}$ of lumbar vertebrae L2-L4 on 18F-FDG PET/CT scans (r = 0.558, p = 0.093). Similarly, mean target-to-background ratios (TBR$_{mean}$) of lumbar vertebrae L2-L4 also correlated with bone marrow plasma cell (BMPC) infiltration in 11C-Methionine PET/CT (r = 0.789, p = 0.007) and 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT (r = 0.724, p = 0.018) PET/CT. In contrast, we did not observe a significant correlation between BMPC infiltration rate and TBR$_{mean}$ in 18F-FDG PET/CT (r = 0.355, p = 0.313). Additionally, on 11C-Methionine PET/CT scans, we found a significant correlation between BMPC infiltration and TBR$_{max}$ of lumbar vertebrae L2-L4 (r = 0.642, p = 0.045). In conclusion, 11C-Methionine and 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT demonstrate higher sensitivity than 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting BM involvement in SMM

The link between cytogenetics/genomics and imaging patterns of relapse and progression in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a pilot study utilizing 18F-FDG PET/CT

Utilizing 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), we performed this pilot study to evaluate the link between cytogenetic/genomic markers and imaging patterns in relapsed/refractory (RR) multiple myeloma (MM). We retrospectively analyzed data of 24 patients with RRMM who were treated at our institution between November 2018 and February 2020. At the last relapse/progression, patients had been treated with a median of three (range 1–10) lines of therapy. Six (25%) patients showed FDG avid extramedullary disease without adjacency to bone. We observed significantly higher maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) in patients harboring del(17p) compared with those without del(17p) (p = 0.025). Moreover, a high SUVmax of >15 indicated significantly shortened progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.01) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.0002). One female patient exhibited biallelic TP53 alteration, i.e., deletion and mutation, in whom an extremely high SUVmax of 37.88 was observed. In summary, this pilot study suggested a link between del(17p)/TP53 alteration and high SUVmax on 18F-FDG PET/CT in RRMM patients. Further investigations are highly warranted at this point