Imparting Systems Engineering Experience via Interactive Fiction Serious Games

Serious games for education are becoming increasing popular. Interactive fiction games are some of the most popular in app stores and are also beginning to be heavily used in education to teach analysis and decision-making. Noting that it is difficult for systems engineers to experience all necessary situations which prepare them for the role of a chief engineer, in this paper, we explore the use of interactive fiction serious games to impart systems engineering experience and to teach systems engineering principles. The results of a cognitive viability, qualitative viability, and replayability analysis of 14 systems engineering serious games developed in the interactive fiction genre are presented. The analysis demonstrates that students with a systems engineering background are able to learn the Twine gaming engine and create a serious game aligned to the Apply level of Bloom’s Taxonomy which conveys a systems engineering experience and teaches a systems engineering principle within a four-week period of time. These quickly generated games cognitive, quality, and replayability scores indicate they provide some opportunity for high-level thinking, are of high quality, and with above average replayability, are likely to be played multiple times and/or recommended to others

Imparting Systems Engineering Experience via Interactive Fiction Serious Games

Serious games for education are becoming increasing popular. Interactive fiction games are some of the most popular in app stores and are also beginning to be heavily used in education to teach analysis and decision-making. Noting that it is difficult for systems engineers to experience all necessary situations which prepare them for the role of a chief engineer, in this paper, we explore the use of interactive fiction serious games to impart systems engineering experience and to teach systems engineering principles. The results of a cognitive viability, qualitative viability, and replayability analysis of 14 systems engineering serious games developed in the interactive fiction genre are presented. The analysis demonstrates that students with a systems engineering background are able to learn the Twine gaming engine and create a serious game aligned to the Apply level of Bloom’s Taxonomy which conveys a systems engineering experience and teaches a systems engineering principle within a four-week period of time. These quickly generated games cognitive, quality, and replayability scores indicate they provide some opportunity for high-level thinking, are of high quality, and with above average replayability, are likely to be played multiple times and/or recommended to others

Effect of heart rate reduction by ivabradine on left ventricular remodeling in the echocardiographic substudy of BEAUTIFUL

Aims: Occlusive coronary artery disease (CAD) is associated with left ventricular (LV) remodeling, LV systolic dysfunction, and heart failure. The BEAUTIFUL Echo substudy aimed to evaluate the effects of heart rate reduction with ivabradine on LV size (primary end-point: change in LV end-systolic volume index [LVESVI]) and function and the cardiac biomarker N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Methods and results: The substudy was carried out in 86 centers participating in the BEAUTIFUL study. 2D echocardiography was performed at baseline, and after 3 and 12 months in patients with stable CAD and LV systolic dysfunction receiving ivabradine or placebo at the same time-points. All data were read and analyzed centrally. Of 525 patients completing the study, 426 had adequate echocardiographic readings (n=220 ivabradine; n=206 placebo). Treatment with ivabradine was associated with a decrease in the primary endpoint LVESVI (change from baseline to last value, −1.48±13.00 mL/m2) versus an increase with placebo (1.85±10.54 mL/m2) (P=0.018). There was an increase in LV ejection fraction with ivabradine (2.00± 7.02%) versus no change with placebo (0.01±6.20%) (P=0.009). Reduction in LVESVI was related to the degree of heart rate reduction with ivabradine. There were no differences in any other echocardiographic parameters or NT-proBNP. Change in LVESVI was related to the log change in NT-proBNP in the ivabradine group only (r=0.18, P=0.006). Conclusions: Our observations suggest that ivabradine may reverse detrimental LV remodeling in patients with CAD and LV systolic dysfunction

Effects of selective heart rate reduction with ivabradine on left ventricular remodelling and function: results from the SHIFT echocardiography substudy

Eligible patients had chronic HF and systolic dysfunction [LV ejection fraction (LVEF) 35], were in sinus rhythm, and had resting heart rate epsilon 70 bpm. Patients were randomly allocated to ivabradine or placebo, superimposed on background therapy for HF. Complete echocardiographic data at baseline and 8 months were available for 411 patients (ivabradine 208, placebo 203). Treatment with ivabradine reduced LVESVI (primary substudy endpoint) vs. placebo [7.0 16.3 vs. 0.9 17.1 mL/m(2); difference (SE), 5.8 (1.6), 95 CI 8.8 to 2.7, P 0.001]. The reduction in LVESVI was independent of beta-blocker use, HF aetiology, and baseline LVEF. Ivabradine also improved LV end-diastolic volume index (7.9 18.9 vs. 1.8 19.0 mL/m(2), P 0.002) and LVEF (2.4 7.7 vs. 0.1 8.0, P 0.001). The incidence of the SHIFT primary composite outcome (cardiovascular mortality or hospitalization for worsening HF) was higher in patients with LVESVI above the median (59 mL/m(2)) at baseline (HR 1.62, 95 CI 1.032.56, P 0.04). Patients with the largest relative reductions in LVESVI had the lowest event rates