Digital Game-Based Learning and Serious Games in Physician Assistant Education

Physician assistant educators continuously strive and seek innovative solutions to improve education opportunities and student learning experiences for their adult learners. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of digital game-based learning (DGBL) and serious games(SG), review the advantages and challenges of DGBL and SG, and share resources to assist PA educators with the integration of these novel approaches into PA curricula. Digital game-based learning as a means of active learning is becoming an increasingly popular educational resource in medical education, allied health professions, and higher education science-based programs. A recent retrospective five-year PubMed literature search was conducted with the keyword search terms ‘digital game-based learning,’ and ‘medical education’ retrieved 107 articles. A similar PubMed literature search using key search terms ‘digital game-based learning’ and ‘physician assistant education’ keywords retrieved zero resources. The limited DGBL and SG scholarly publication findings and studies related to their effectiveness in medical education and PA education are opportunities for PA educators to explore DGBL and SG research specifically to PA education

Negative interest rates: how the existent financial models can fit with this new scenario? a focus on vasicek and CIR

My project work has the purpose to question on the use of financial models with this new scenario of negative interest rates. Precisely, the two models I am going to study are the Vasicek and CIR. First of all, the research will be focused on the analysis of them looking at both their limitations and strengths, and trying to make some needed and essential modifications for this shift in macroeconomic scenario. The entire work has the objective of understanding which are the economic agents affected and which are the future perspectives in this economic situation

The Reconceptualization of Academic Discourse as a Professional Practice in the Digital Age: A Critical Genre Analysis of TED Talks

This paper explores how academic discourse is reconceptualized as a professional practice via the web-mediated genre of TED talks (Technology, Entertainment and Design), popularizing speeches delivered by experts in fields that range from the ‘hard’ disciplines to the social sciences and the humanities. More precisely, this study compares two corpora of academic spoken discourse, i.e., a corpus of transcribed TED talks given by academics (TED_ac) and a corpus of university lecture transcripts (MICASE_lect) drawn from the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) to understand how academics’ communicative purposes differ in these two settings. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Critical Genre Analysis (Bhatia 2012) and Discourse Analysis (Goffman 1981; Fairclough 1989; Pennycook 1994; De Fina 1995; Benwell/Stokoe 2006; De Fina 2006), the present study sets out to investigate ways in which academics make use of language on the TED stage to achieve their “private intentions” as professionals (Bhatia 2012), e.g., building up their identity as experts as well as promoting their research and scholarship, rather than training a group of novices in their discipline or merely informing mass audiences. To this end, consideration is given to the distribution of first and second person pronouns in the two pragmatic contexts under investigation. Special emphasis is placed on referents and discourse functions of the pronoun we, which is significantly more frequent in TED_ac than in MICASE_lect. Despite its language-centered approach, this study has a marked sociological intent, as it casts light on an instance of academic discourse seen as an example of “professional practice” embedded in the wider context of a “professional culture” (Bhatia 2012)

Dehydroepiandrosterone Biosynthesis, Role, and Mechanism of Action in the Developing Neural Tube

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is synthesized from cholesterol by activity of P450scc and P450c17, enzymes that we previously characterized in the developing nervous system. We describe the localization of P450c17 in the differentiated field of the ventral spinal cord in different motor neuron subtypes. We show that, during organogenesis, P450c17 activity is regulated along the antero/posterior axis of the spinal cord concomitantly with the gradient of neurogenesis. To examine whether DHEA may modulate this process, we measured proliferation and differentiation of ventral neural precursors in primary and explant cultures. Our results showed that DHEA-induced the expression of class II protein Nkx6.1, motor neuron precursor Olig-2, and definitive motor neuron marker Isl-1/2. DHEA also promoted proliferation of ventrally committed precursors in isolated spinal cord precursor cultures and in whole spinal cord explants. Both the proliferative and inductive effects of DHEA were dependent on sonic hedgehog signaling. The possibilities that the effects observed with DHEA were due to its metabolism into androgens or to activation of NMDA receptors were excluded. These results support the hypothesis that the tight regulation of DHEA biosynthesis may be a biologic clock restricting the period of ventral neuronal-precursor proliferation, thus controlling the number of pre-committed neurons in the developing neural tube

Examining the Association between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Style in Nurse Leaders

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) and transformational leadership (TL) style are linked to leadership effectiveness. At our organization, there is a gap in knowledge around EI and TL in our nurse leaders. Objective: To assess the relationship of EI and TL among nurse leaders, appraise participants ability to accurately define EI, assess their belief that education can increase the level of EI, and discover the learning method preference to increase their level of EI. Methods: We used a descriptive-comparative survey design with a sample of nurse leaders working at a Northeast academic medical center. Participants included clinical nurse managers, nurse administrators, patient care directors, and directors of nursing. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-SF), and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X (MLQ-5X). A Pearson correlation was calculated using the mean scores on the TEIQue-SF and MLQ-5X. Frequencies and percents were calculated for the ability to define EI, and beliefs and preferences related to EI education. Results: Fifty-six of 127 (44%) nurse leaders responded. A significant, positive correlation (r = 0.523, p \u3c .001) was found between the mean TEIQue-SF scores (M = 5.69, SD = 0.51) and MLQ-5X (M =3.25, SD = 0.35). Most participants were unable to accurately define EI (n =42, 75%), believed that education would increase EI (n = 45, 80.4%), and preferred classroom learning methods (n = 31, 55.4%). Conclusion: The correlation between EI and TL in nurse leaders supports further education and training in EI to improve patient outcomes

Peptides binding cocaine: A strategy to design biomimetic receptors

A computational methodology for designing and rationalizing the selection of small peptides as biomimetic receptors for cocaine is proposed. The method started by searching and filtering proteins X-ray and NMR data of biological receptor-cocaine complexes. On the basis of different cocaine zones, the amino acids involved in biological binding sites were selected as pivots to design an initial library of 768 penta-peptides. The peptides flexibility was studied determining the minimum number of conformers required to make a reliable computed binding score. The 25 highest ranked penta-peptides were selected and used as starting point to generate a 3000 hexapeptides library by inserting each of the 20 natural amino acids in all sequence positions. All structures were energy minimized and docking runs were carried out using FRED tool from OpenEye scientific. The binding scores calculated by FRED were compared with a preliminary in vivo experimental test, using two different peptides as selective sorbent material used for cocaine in Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) technique coupled with Mass Spectrometry (MS). The simulation data were found to be in agreement with experimental laboratory results, supporting the methodology proposed in this work. © 2013 Perez G, et al

La recherche en partenariat : entre fiction et friction

Our paper deals with the issues and practices at stake in the interdisciplinary partnership research field. Taking as a starting point the observation of three on-going research projects confronting agriculture with environmental or sanitary issues, the authors analyse the effects produced, in terms of scientific results, by the relationships established among researchers and development partners. The hypothesis is that the partnership is based on a two-sided reality: fiction, on the one hand, goes with the assumption that while researchers and partners do consider each other as allies, they consistently avoid confrontation in order to let things run their course. Friction, on the other hand, may arise with disagreement and thus alter the course of events. As revealed by the results of the study, this two-sided reality is held in tension within each project. Their comparison brings out three key points required in the management of such projects: the degree of solidarity between the groups concerned, the kingpin role of mediators, and the manner in which the research is conducted to meet changes in the partnership.L'article explore les enjeux et les pratiques de recherches interdisciplinaires en partenariat. À partir d'une lecture du déroulement de trois projets de recherche, portant sur l'agriculture face à des enjeux sanitaires ou environnementaux, les auteurs analysent l'effet sur la production scientifique des relations établies avec des acteurs du développement. L'hypothèse est que ce partenariat s'inscrit dans une double réalité : l'une, "fictionnelle", qui postule que chercheurs et partenaires s'allient tout en évitant de se confronter vraiment, ce, afin de maintenir le cours des choses ; l'autre, "frictionnelle", qui surgit lorsque, dans une phase d'investissement plus poussé des acteurs, des désaccords apparaissent, ce qui réoriente le cours des événements. Les résultats révèlent la mise en tension de cette double réalité dans chacun des projets. Leur comparaison fait ressortir trois points-clés de la conduite de ces recherches : le degré de constitution et la force du "projet" propre des acteurs impliqués, le rôle pivot d'individus médiateurs et l'attention qu'il convient de porter aux reconfigurations éventuelles du partenariat qu'impliquent les évolutions mêmes du projet