Using games for teaching crisis communication in higher education and training

© 2016 IEEE. Terror actions and catastrophes are frequently described in media. As more and more countries experience terror actions and natural disasters, there has been a greater focus on learning how to handle and to manage them. In Norway on the 22nd of July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik placed a bomb in a car that exploded near the Governmental Offices killing 8 persons. He went on to an island where there was a political camp for youths killing another 67. The rescue operations unveiled an unprepared task force. The Gjrv-report provide a massive critique towards the call out services [1]. This kicked off a major work on updating safety routines in all municipalities. The municipalities are now obliged to have a plan for crisis preparedness [2]. This again triggered the need for education within the area of crisis preparedness, crisis training and crisis management. Hedmark University of Applied Science now offers different study programs, including a BA within these areas. It is, however, very expensive to train realistically and the need for different approaches regarding training has been discussed. One of the solutions that the University is currently working on, is the use of games. Game based learning, also called 'serious games', has become an academic genre and using games for learning and training has proven fruitful [3-12]. In the military, games have been used for simulation purposes [13] and spin offs from these have also reached a commercial market [14, 15]. Using games in education opens up a range of opportunities. One of them is within the area of Crisis Communication. Crisis Communication as a curriculum is about how to approach the area of crisis communication, understanding the key concepts and develop skills within the curriculum. Games that support communication between the gamers can for instance contribute towards a greater understanding of communication in a crisis situation. What is needed to communicate and how messages are received, in order to support handling a crisis, are amongst the concrete learning objectives one can attribute towards this type of training. To use games to support the hands on training can thus provide the learners with valuable know how, and support their learning outcome. The learning from this will be beneficial to the organizations they work in as they will have an experience that will aid them in the work on planning for and preparing for crisis in their own organizations

Flipped gaming-testing three simulation games

© 2018 IEEE. At the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences 'flipped gaming' has been tested with two student groups (in 2017). This paper will present a newer version of the 'flipping' and also how a total of eight groups utilized tree different types of simulators to play the scenarios. The scenarios were developed by the student themselves as this was their mandatory assignment. The mandatory assignment was handed out in January. The assignment was about making a playable script for an incident, in addition to conduct the planning, execution and evaluation of a complete exercise in crisis management. They were given feedback once before the workshop where they presented and played the script. The tools that were used was Rayvn (https://rayvn.global/), Microsoft HoloLens (https://www.microsoft.com/nb-no/hololens) and a simulator based on a platform from Bohemia Interactive Solutions (https://bisimulations.com/)-the same platform as Virtual Battle Space 3 uses. Rayvn is an incident management tool, mainly for communication. The written messages can then be logged and stored for later reflections. Microsoft HoloLens is a tool for 3D vision, a tool that can show environments in 3D and allow the player to carry out operations using movements that are recorded and executed. This was a prototype. The game based simulator is computer based. The different views are 2D maps and 3D environments. The players use the keyboard and mouse to move the vehicles and avatars around. This in a 'disaster town', called 'Lyngvik', a very poor planned city centre with a large accident/crisis potential. The study is based on the previous study of the learning outcome from assignment that is based on student input. The mandatory assignment was to develop a playable scenario and they could choose in which of the three different simulation tools they were to play their scenario. Two by two, the groups are to play each other's scenario. They have received some supervision and the lecturers have remarked on that the students may lack insight in what a 'playable scenario' require. One of the groups operates as the exercise management staff(the ones that makes the incidents happen and 'play out') and the other group is the ones who man the different roles in handling the scenario e.g.,-different call out services. This group is also calledmain training audience (MTA). The students are in their 6th and last semester in their Bachelor in Crisis Management. The students have been subjected to diverse teaching methods, but this is the first time they have a simulation tool to work with in order to enhance their learning outcome. The preliminary reports from the reflections after the simulating are very positive. The students report on a learning outcome, both from making the scenarios and from simulating. There is also a final report to be written where the students are to reflect on their learning outcome from the simulation and the work on the assignment. The paper shows the results from the whole undertaking and presents further details from the different phases. We also present the theoretical backdrop and the methodological reasoning behind the data collection and analysis

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

A simple proof of Kotake-Narasimhan theorem in some classes of ultradifferentiable functions

[EN] We give a simple proof of a general theorem of Kotake-Narasimhan for elliptic operators in the setting of ultradifferentiable functions in the sense of Braun, Meise and Taylor. We follow the ideas of Komatsu. Based on an example of Metivier, we also show that the ellipticity is a necessary condition for the theorem to be true.C. Boiti and D. Jornet were partially supported by the INdAM-GNAMPA Projects 2014 and 2015. D. Jornet was partially supported by MINECO, Project MTM2013-43540-PBoiti, C.; Jornet Casanova, D. (2017). A simple proof of Kotake-Narasimhan theorem in some classes of ultradifferentiable functions. Journal of Pseudo-Differential Operators and Applications. 8(2):297-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11868-016-0163-yS29731782Boiti, C., Jornet, D.: The problem of iterates in some classes of ultradifferentiable functions. Oper. Theory Adv. Appl. Birkhauser Basel 245, 21–33 (2015)Boiti, C., Jornet, D.: A characterization of the wave front set defined by the iterates of an operator with constant coefficients. arXiv:1412.4954Boiti, C., Jornet, D., Juan-Huguet, J.: Wave front set with respect to the iterates of an operator with constant coefficients. Abstr. Appl. Anal. 2014, 1–17 Article ID 438716 (2014). doi: 10.1155/2014/438716Bolley, P., Camus, J., Mattera, C.: Analyticité microlocale et itérés d’operateurs hypoelliptiques. Séminaire Goulaouic-Schwartz, 1978–1979, Exp No. 13, École Polytech, PalaiseauBonet, J., Meise, R., Melikhov, S.N.: A comparison of two different ways of define classes of ultradifferentiable functions. Bull. Belg. Math. Soc. Simon Stevin 14, 425–444 (2007)Braun, R.W., Meise, R., Taylor, B.A.: Ultradifferentiable functions and Fourier analysis. Result. Math. 17, 206–237 (1990)Fernández, C., Galbis, A.: Superposition in classes of ultradifferentiable functions. Publ. Res. I Math. Sci. 42(2), 399–419 (2006)Jornet Casanova, D.: Operadores Pseudodiferenciales en Clases no Casianalíticas de Tipo Beurling. Universitat Politècnica de València (2004). doi: 10.4995/Thesis/10251/54953Juan-Huguet, J.: Iterates and hypoellipticity of partial differential operators on non-quasianalytic classes. Integr. Equ. Oper. Theory 68, 263–286 (2010)Juan-Huguet, J.: A Paley–Wiener type theorem for generalized non-quasianalytic classes. Stud. Math. 208(1), 31–46 (2012)Komatsu, H.: A characterization of real analytic functions. Proc. Jpn Acad. 36, 90–93 (1960)Komatsu, H.: On interior regularities of the solutions of principally elliptic systems of linear partial differential equations. J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo Sect. 1, 9, 141–164 (1961)Komatsu, H.: A proof of Kotaké and Narasimhan’s theorem. Proc. Jpn Acad. 38(9), 615–618 (1962)Kotake, T., Narasimhan, M.S.: Regularity theorems for fractional powers of a linear elliptic operator. Bull. Soc. Math. Fr. 90, 449–471 (1962)Kumano-Go, H.: Pseudo-Differential Operators. The MIT Press, Cambridge, London (1982)Langenbruch, M.: P-Funktionale und Randwerte zu hypoelliptischen Differentialoperatoren. Math. Ann. 239(1), 55–74 (1979)Langenbruch, M.: Fortsetzung von Randwerten zu hypoelliptischen Differentialoperatoren und partielle Differentialgleichungen. J. Reine Angew. Math. 311/312, 57–79 (1979)Langenbruch, M.: On the functional dimension of solution spaces of hypoelliptic partial differential operators. Math. Ann. 272, 217–229 (1985)Langenbruch, M.: Bases in solution sheaves of systems of partial differential equations. J. Reine Angew. Math. 373, 1–36 (1987)Lions, J.L., Magenes, E.: Problèmes aux limites non homogènes et applications, vol. 3. Dunod, Paris (1970)Métivier, G.: Propriété des itérés et ellipticité. Commun. Part. Differ. Eq. 3(9), 827–876 (1978)Nelson, E.: Analytic vectors. Ann. Math. 70, 572–615 (1959)Newberger, E., Zielezny, Z.: The growth of hypoelliptic polynomials and Gevrey classes. Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 39(3), 547–552 (1973)Oldrich, J.: Sulla regolarità delle soluzioni delle equazioni lineari ellittiche nelle classi di Beurling. (Italian) Boll. Un. Mat. Ital. (4) 2, 183–195 (1969)Petzsche, H.-J., Vogt, D.: Almost analytic extension of ultradifferentiable functions and the boundary values of holomorphic functions. Math. Ann. 267(1), 17–35 (1984

The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of point-of-care tests (CoaguChek system, INRatio2 PT/INR monitor and ProTime Microcoagulation system) for the self-monitoring of the coagulation status of people receiving long-term vitamin K antagonist therapy, compared with standard UK practice : systematic review and economic evaluation

Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Nitrogen transfer from forage legumes to nine neighbouring plants in a multi-species grassland

Legumes play a crucial role in nitrogen supply to grass-legume mixtures for ruminant fodder. To quantify N transfer from legumes to neighbouring plants in multi-species grasslands we established a grass-legume-herb mixture on a loamy-sandy site in Denmark. White clover (Trifolium repens L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) were leaf-labelled with 15N enriched urea during one growing season. N transfer to grasses (Lolium perenne L. and xfestulolium), white clover, red clover, lucerne, birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor L.)and caraway (Carum carvi L.) was assessed. Neighbouring plants contained greater amounts of N derived from white clover (4.8 gm-2) compared with red clover (2.2 gm-2) and lucerne (1.1 gm-2). Grasses having fibrous roots received greater amounts of N from legumes than dicotyledonous plants which generally have taproots. Slurry application mainly increased N transfer from legumes to grasses. During the growing season the three legumes transferred approximately 40 kg N ha-1 to neighbouring plants. Below-ground N transfer from legumes to neighbouring plants differed among nitrogen donors and nitrogen receivers and may depend on root characteristics and regrowth strategies of plant species in the multi-species grassland

Tourism Firms' Strategic Flexibility: The Case of Slovenia

Strategic flexibility provides an approach for tourism destinations to respond more readily to turbulent environments. It is a management method that can assist tourism suppliers to meet the challenges of achieving competitive advantage. The paper also explores the importance that is accorded to the facilitators or drivers of strategic flexibility by Slovenian tourism industry stakeholders along with their performance in actioning these drivers. Importance performance analysis suggests the priority strategic actions to reduce the risk of strategic drift. The paper concludes with an assessment of the implications of these findings for emerging destinations generally. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Quantitative effects of tobacco smoking exposure on the maternal-fetal circulation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the existence of various published studies regarding the effects of tobacco smoking on pregnancy, and especially in regards to placental blood flow and vascular resistance, some points still require clarification. In addition, the amount of damage due to tobacco smoking exposure that occurs has not been quantified by objective means. In this study, we looked for a possible association between flow resistance indices of several arteries and the levels of urinary cotinine and the concentration of carbon monoxide in the exhaled air (COex) of both smoking and non-smoking pregnant women. We also looked for a relationship between those findings and fetal growth and birth weight.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective design, thirty pregnant smokers and thirty-four pregnant non-smokers were studied. The volunteers signed consent forms, completed a self-applied questionnaire and were subjected to Doppler velocimetry. Tobacco smoking exposure was quantified by subject provided information and confirmed by the measurement of urinary cotinine levels and by the concentration of carbon monoxide in the exhaled air (COex). The weight of newborns was evaluated immediately after birth.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Comparing smoking to non-smoking pregnant women, a significant increase in the resistance index was observed in the uterine arteries (P = 0.001) and umbilical artery (P = 0.001), and a decrease in the middle cerebral artery (P = 0.450). These findings were associated with progressively higher concentrations of COex and urinary cotinine. A decrease in the birth weight was also detected (P < 0.001) in association with a progressive increase in the tobacco exposure of the pregnant woman.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In pregnant women who smoke, higher arterial resistance indices and lower birth weights were observed, and these findings were associated with increasing levels of tobacco smoking exposure. The values were significantly different when compared to those found in non-smoking pregnant women. This study contributes to the findings that smoking damage during pregnancy is dose-dependent, as demonstrated by the objective methods for measuring tobacco smoking exposure.</p

Progression of coronary artery calcification and cardiac events in patients with chronic renal disease not receiving dialysis

We tested for the presence of coronary calcifications in patients with chronic renal disease not on dialysis and studied its progression in 181 consecutive non-dialyzed patients who were followed for a median of 745 days. Coronary calcifications (calcium score) were tallied in Agatston units by computed tomography, and the patients were stratified into two groups by their baseline calcium score (100 U or less and over 100 U). Survival was measured by baseline calcium score and its progression. Cardiac death and myocardial infarction occurred in 29 patients and were significantly more frequent in those patients with calcium scores over 100 U (hazard ratio of 4.11). With a calcium score of 100 U or less, the hazard ratio for cardiac events was 0.41 and 3.26 in patients with absent and accelerated progression, respectively. Thus, in non-dialyzed patients, the extent of coronary calcifications was associated to cardiac events, and progression was an independent predictive factor of cardiac events mainly in less calcified patients. Hence, assessment of coronary calcifications and progression might be useful for earlier management of risk factors and guiding decisions for prevention of cardiac events in this patient population