Advanced displays and natural user interfaces to support learning

Advanced displays and natural user interfaces (NUI) are a very suitable combination for developing systems to provide an enhanced and richer user experience. This combination can be appropriate in several fields and has not been extensively exploited. One of the fields that this combination is especially suitable for is education. Nowadays, children are growing up playing with computer games, using mobile devices, and other technological devices. New learning methods that use these new technologies can help in the learning process. In this paper, two new methods that use advanced displays and NUI for learning about a period of history are presented. One of the methods is an autostereoscopic system that lets children see themselves as a background in the game and renders the elements in 3D without the need for special glasses; the second method is a frontal projection system that projects the image on a table in 2D and works similarly to a touch table. The Microsoft Kinect^© is used in both systems for the interaction. A comparative study to check different aspects was carried out. A total of 128 children from 7 to 11 years old participated in the study. From the results, we observed that the different characteristics of the systems did not influence the children's acquired knowledge, engagement, or satisfaction. There were statistically significant differences for depth perception and presence in which the autostereoscopic system was scored higher. However, of the two systems, the children considered the frontal projection to be easier to use. We would like to highlight that the scores for the two systems and for all the questions were very high. These results suggest that games of this kind (advanced displays and NUI) could be appropriate educational games and that autostereoscopy is a technology to exploit in their development.     

Science Letters:Demonstration of a new biosensing concept for immunodiagnostic applications based on change in surface conductance of antibodies after biomolecular interactions

Electrical conductivity in biomolecules and other large polymeric systems has become an important topic of current research. Schlag et al.(2000a; 2000b) demonstrated that charge migration in proteins is highly efficient although the mechanistic origin is still debated and largely unknown even though various models have been proposed by Weinkauf et al.(1995; 1996; 1997). According to them, the charge transfer between amino acids takes place by hole hopping between local sites of lowest ionizati…     

Qualified Satisfaction: First‐Year Architecture Student Perceptions of Teamwork

Across disciplines, skills associated with collaboration are now ubiquitously considered requisite graduate attributes. Despite decades of studies on the various dimensions of academic teamwork, challenges for both students and staff remain. For this year‐long study at a UK school of architecture, we considered teamwork as a thread woven through the first‐year curriculum, traversing course modules and project types. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the collective impact of teamwork activities on the incoming cohort of 200+ undergraduate students and how the structuring and coordination of such activities might improve the holistic student experience. Across two rounds of online questionnaires and focus group sessions, student participants articulated the benefits of collaboration for learning, socialisation and professional development. However, resentment towards teamwork increased throughout the year, as frustration with disengaged cohort mates grew, and student sought greater structure and oversight from tutors. On the other hand, when given the chance to reflect on the multidimensional nature of teamwork in focus group discussions, many students adopted a productively nuanced perspective toward the topic. This implies that, whether students like or dislike certain aspect of collaborative projects, opportunities for critical conversation can promote or prompt an appreciation for the educational value of including teamwork projects in curricula. The results of this study should be relevant to educators seeking to improve the implementation and effectiveness of team‐based learning, particularly those in design‐based fields and those in higher and professional education contexts.     

Dribbling speed along curved paths predicts attacking performance in match-realistic one vs. one soccer games

This study assessed whether a new, closed-skill dribbling or sprinting task could predict attacking performance in soccer. Twenty-five male players were recruited from the Londrina Junior Team Football Academy in Brazil and asked to either dribble the ball or sprint through five custom circuits that varied in average curvature (0–1.37 radians.m^?1). These measures were then validated using a realistic one vs. one competition in which each player acted as attacker or defender in turn (N = 1330 bouts). Sprinting (ICC = 0.96) and dribbling (ICC = 0.97) performances were highly repeatable for individual players. Average dribbling speed decreased non-linearly with increasing circuit curvature (F = 239.5; P < 0.001) from 5.19 ± 0.11 ms^?1 on the straightest path to 2.13 ± 0.03 ms^?1 on the curviest. Overall, dribbling but not sprinting performance predicted attacking success in the one vs. one competition, explaining more than 50% of the variation in attacking success alone (r_p = 0.70; P < 0.001). In conclusion, our new closed-skill dribbling assessment is a valid and reliable protocol to predict a soccer player’s success in attacking performance in one vs. one situation, and can be used to identify talented players.     

创新教学报告2016

本报告提出了现代社会中改变或创新教学、学习和评价的理论与实践的十种"创新教学法",包括基于社交媒体的学习、有效失败、回授法、设计思维、众包学习、电子游戏学习、形成性分析、为未来而学、超用语以及学习区块链,它们将在未来不同时期内,对教育教学变革产生不同程度的影响.     

Effects of resistance training in HIV-infected patients: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

The relative effects of resistance training (RT) upon muscle fitness and immune function among HIV-infected patients are uncertain. The purpose of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to determine the effects of RT upon muscle strength, muscle mass and CD4 cells count and to identify potential moderators of those outcomes in HIV-infected patients. Meta-analyses use random or fixed-effects model depending on the heterogeneity of effect sizes, complemented with Hedge’s g correction factor. Thirteen trials were meta-analysed. Overall, RT increased muscle strength (35.5%, P < 0.01) and CD4 cell count (26.1%, P = 0.003) versus controls (P < 0.03), but not muscle mass (P = 0.051). Meta-regression followed by subgroup moderator analysis showed that gains in muscle strength followed a dose–response pattern with largest increase detected among trials with longer (24 weeks; 49.3%) than shorter intervention (<12 weeks; 39%), higher (Physiotherapy Evidence-Based Database [PEDro] scale = 6; 38.3%) than lower (PEDro = 5; 28.1%) quality, and longer (12 months; 59.7%) than shorter time under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (<6 months; 37.1%), (P < 0.01). RT appears to be efficacious to improve muscular strength (~35.5%) and CD4 cell count (~26.1%), but not muscle mass of HIV-infected patients. Effects upon strength were greater in studies with higher quality and among trials with longer RT and HAART.     

Autonomic modulation of heart rate in paraplegic wheelchair basketball players: Linear and nonlinear analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the autonomic modulation of heart rate in sedentary paraplegics and paraplegic wheelchair basketball players with thoracic spinal cord injury below T6. Seven paraplegic wheelchair basketball players (active paraplegic group), five paraplegics who were not involved in regular exercise (sedentary paraplegic group) and 10 able-bodied participants (control group) took part in the study. The heart rate variability was evaluated by linear (low frequency and high frequency band in normalised units and low frequency/high frequency ratio) and nonlinear methods (Shannon entropy, corrected conditional entropy, and symbolic analysis).

The sedentary group presented significantly higher values for low frequency, low frequency/high frequency ratio and symbolic index with no significant variations (0V%), and also lower values for the high frequency and symbolic index with two significant unlike variation (2ULV%) compared to active paraplegic group. Shannon entropy and corrected conditional entropy analyses revealed significantly lower values in the sedentary group than in the control or active paraplegic groups. Paraplegic individuals who regularly undertake physical exercise have higher complexity of R-R interval time series, lower sympathetic modulation, and higher parasympathetic modulation than sedentary paraplegic participants.