Assessment and promotion of physical activity in children - with special reference to children diagnosed with cancer

The aim of this study was to explore how to assess and support physical activity of children diagnosed with cancer, and to describe the physical activity levels in children diagnosed with cancer compared to healthy children. Healthy children’s physical activity was explored with a longitudinal cohort study (study I). The proportion of those who spent less than 1 hour in leisure-time physical activities weekly was 17% at the age of 10-years, 12% at the age of 12-years, and 38% at the age of 15 (n=571). Self-perceived physical competence was positively associated with physical activity (p<0.05), and the association was strengthened with age. At study II FitbitOne® step counts were compared to ActiGraph with an experimental design in 9-to-10-year old children (n=34). Positive correlations were consistent, r=0.94, but FitbitOne® overestimated the step counts significantly when compared to ActiGraph. At study III, effectiveness of active video games was studied with randomised controlled trial in 3-to-16-year old children diagnosed with cancer (n=36). The intervention was not effective in physical activity (p=0.63), or motor performance (p=0.77), nor in reducing fatigue (p=1.00). Small sample size and large standard deviations may have hidden the effective results. Physical activity did not differ either by diagnosis or gender. The difference between younger children (aged 3– 8) and older children (aged 9–16) was significant for step counts (p=0.028) and physical activity min/day (p=0.042). At study IV the physical activity levels (p=0.56) or self-perceived physical competence (p=0.78) did not differ between children diagnosed with cancer and healthy children (data from studies I and III). The promotion of physical activity both in healthy children and in children diagnosed with cancer is warranted.Lasten fyysisen aktiivisuuden arviointi ja edistäminen – erityisenä kohderyhmänä syöpää sairastavat lapset Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää miten syöpää sairastavien lasten fyysistä aktiivisuutta voidaan arvioida ja tukea. Lisäksi tarkoituksena oli tutkia syöpää sairastavien lasten fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrää ja verrata sitä terveiden lasten fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrään. Terveiden lasten fyysistä aktiivisuutta arvioitiin pitkittäis-kohorttitutkimuksella (osatutkimus I). Tutkimukseen osallistuneista lapsista (n=571) liikkui vapaa-aikanaan alle tunnin viikossa 10-vuotiaina 17%, 12-vuotiaina 12% ja 15-vuotiaina 38%. Lasten kokema fyysinen pätevyys oli yhteydessä fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrään kaikissa ikäpisteissä (p<0.05) ja yhteys vahvistui iän myötä. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa FitbitOne® kiihtyvyysmittarin askelmääriä verrattiin ActiGraph kiihtyvyysmittarin antamiin askelmääriin kokeellisella asetelmalla 9–10-vuotiailla lapsilla (n=34). Laitteiden antamat askelmäärät korreloivat keskenään (r=0.94) mutta FitbitOne® yliarvioi askelmäärän verrattuna ActiGraphiin. Tutkimuksen kolmannessa osatutkimuksessa aktivoivien videopelien vaikutuksia tutkittiin 3–16-vuotiailla syöpää sairastavilla lapsilla (n=36) satunnaistetussa ja kontrolloidussa asetelmassa. Interventiolla ei ollut vaikutusta syöpää sairastavien lasten fyysiseen aktiivisuuteen (p=0.63), motoriseen suoriutumiseen (p=0.77) tai itsearvioituun uupumukseen (p=1.00). Diagnoosi tai sukupuoli eivät olleet yhteydessä fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrään. Kuitenkin 3–8-vuotiaat liikkuivat enemmän kuin 9–16-vuotiaat (askelmäärä p=0.028 ja aktiivinen aika min/päivä p=0.042). Neljännessä osatutkimuksessa syöpää sairastavien lasten ja terveiden lasten fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrää ja koettua fyysistä pätevyyttä verrattiin keskenään (aineistot osatutkimuksista I ja III). Fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrä (p=0.56) tai koetun fyysisen pätevyyden arvot (p=0.78) eivät eronneet syöpää sairastavien lasten ja terveiden lasten välillä. Sekä terveiden lasten että syöpää sairastavien lasten fyysisen aktiivisuuden edistäminen on perusteltua

Investigation of the role of Lip5 - a member of the secreted lipase gene family - in the virulence of Candida albicans

Candida albicans (Ca) is the most common species isolated from invasive candidiasis. It has been shown that secreted lipases of Ca contribute to the virulence of the fungus during infection. In this study, we generated heterozygous and homozygous lipase 5 (LIP5) mutants in Ca by the caSAT1-flipper technique. Notably, the Southern-hybridization results indicated a yet unknown allelic heterozygosity in LIP5 in our laboratory strain. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR experiments demonstrated the absence of LIP5 expression in the homozygous knockout mutants. However, the knock out mutants showed no alteration in the rate of fungal growth, cell and colony morphology under temperature, pH or osmotic stress in comparison to wild type cells. In vitro infection studies using the J774.2 murine macrophage-like cell line revealed no alteration in the virulence of mutant cells. Thus, we conclude that the deletion of LIP5, somewhat surprisingly, has no effect on the physiology or virulence of Ca in our experimental setting

Raatikko

Raatikko is a traditional Finnish song and dance. The song tells of a mountain in southern Finland, Kyöpelinvuori, which is known in Finnish mythology as the place haunted by the spirits of virgins who die young.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/songstorysamplercollection/1047/thumbnail.jp

From the Hands of an Early Adopter's Avatar to Virtual Junkyards: Analysis of Virtual Goods' Lifetime Survival

One of the major questions in the study of economics, logistics, and business forecasting is the measurement and prediction of value creation, distribution, and lifetime in the form of goods. In "real" economies, a perfect model for the circulation of goods is impossible. However, virtual realities and economies pose a new frontier for the broad study of economics, since every good and transaction can be accurately tracked. Therefore, models that predict goods' circulation can be tested and confirmed before their introduction to "real life" and other scenarios. The present study is focused on the characteristics of early-stage adopters for virtual goods, and how they predict the lifespan of the goods. We employ machine learning and decision trees as the basis of our prediction models. Results provide evidence that the prediction of the lifespan of virtual objects is possible based just on data from early holders of those objects. Overall, communication and social activity are the main drivers for the effective propagation of virtual goods, and they are the most expected characteristics of early adopters.Comment: 28 page

Fictional Game Elements: Critical Perspectives on Gamification Design

Gamification has been widely accepted in the HCI community in the last few years. However, the current debate is focused on its short-term consequences, such as effectiveness and usefulness, while its side-effects, long-term criticalities and systemic impacts are rarely raised. This workshop will explore the gamification design space from a critical perspective, by using design fictions to help researchers reflect on the long-term consequences of their designs

HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION IN ORGANISATIONS: A LITERATURE REVIEW ON ENABLING VALUE CREATION

The augmentation of human intellect and capability with artificial intelligence is integral to the advancement of next generation human-machine collaboration technologies designed to drive performance improvement and innovation. Yet we have limited understanding of how organisations can translate this potential into creating sustainable business value. We conduct an in-depth literature review of interdisciplinary research on the challenges and opportunities in organisational adoption of human-AI collaboration for value creation. We identify five positions central to how organisations can integrate and align the socio-technical challenges of augmented collaboration, namely strategic positioning, human engagement, organisational evolution, technology development and intelligence building. We synthesise the findings by means of an integrated model that focuses organisations on building the requisite internal microfoundations for the systematic management of augmented systems

Gamification of E-Participation: A Literature Review

Gamification is one of the most commonly employed approaches for motivating individuals to participate in several types of activities. One of its largest application areas has been e-participation (i.e. citizen engagement in policy-making). Even though the required ICT infrastructure to facilitate e- participation mostly exists today, the focus of the problem has shifted towards humans; citizens are not motivated enough to participate. Gamification is a potential approach to increase motivation towards e- participation. However, currently there is a dearth in our understanding of how gamification is being applied and researched as well as what kinds of result there exist from gamification. The aim of this paper is to synthesize research and findings on gamified e-participation, providing directions for future research in this area