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Investigating Inclusivity in Game-Based Learning: Current Practices and Multistakeholder Perspectives
Get PDFYesThis study aims to examine how inclusivity measures are understood and applied in game-based learning (GBL). It considers the perspectives of various stakeholders, such as educators, game designers, and students. The focus is on creating accessible and engaging games that meet the diverse needs and characteristics of players. The methodology adopted a combination of primary and secondary data sources to pursue these aims. The primary data collection involved focus groups with educators, game designers, and students. The study employed a participatory design approach, involving multiple stakeholders in the exploration of inclusivity measures. The data collected from the focus groups, along with findings from the literature review, helped in formulating a set of inclusivity metrics for educators to create educational games that cater to diverse student needs. The obtained results emphasize the limited state of analogue GBL accessibility in scholarly and professional literature, while emphasizing the existing frameworks to be adopted by educators, designers, and publishers. Stakeholder discussions revealed themes related to inclusivity measures, including motor, sensory, and cognitive needs of players. Game designers can enhance accessibility by considering these requirements and incorporating alternative communication channels, accessible cues, adaptable gameplay options, and diversified knowledge-based requirements. In addition to inclusivity, addressing instances of exclusion, managing teams effectively, promoting inclusive communication, and incorporating gameplay limitations, educational components, diverse perspectives, and real-world applicability are discussed as important in education game design, to this extent
Locked down in distress: a quasi-experimental estimation of the mental-health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFYesAn extensive literature documents the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, while a nascent one is beginning to detail the mental health impact. A limitation of existing work is that reported findings generally cannot be taken as causal estimates. In this study, we use a large-scale longitudinal survey coupled with a differences-in-differences research design to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the United Kingdom. We report substantial increases in psychological distress for the population overall during the first wave. These impacts were, however, not uniformly distributed with the costs in terms of mental health being much more pronounced for females, younger cohorts, the BAME community, and migrants. We also looked beyond socio-demographics to identify characteristics of the individual and their living environment which can predict who was least resilient to the mental health effects associated with the first wave. We find that people with financial worries, feeling lonely or living in overcrowded dwellings experienced significantly worse mental health deterioration during the first wave, ceteris paribus.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC
Plasma and rectal mucosal oxylipin levels during aspirin and eicosapentaenoic acid treatment in the seAFOod polyp prevention trial
Get PDFYesAspirin and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have colorectal polyp prevention activity, alone and in combination. This study measured levels of plasma and rectal mucosal oxylipins in participants of the seAFOod 2 × 2 factorial, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, who received aspirin 300 mg daily and EPA 2000 mg free fatty acid, alone and in combination, for 12 months.
Resolvin (Rv) E1, 15-epi-lipoxin (LX) A4 and respective precursors 18-HEPE and 15-HETE (with chiral separation) were measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in plasma taken at baseline, 6 months and 12 months, as well as rectal mucosa obtained at trial exit colonoscopy at 12 months, in 401 trial participants.
Despite detection of S- and R- enantiomers of 18-HEPE and 15-HETE in ng/ml concentrations, RvE1 or 15‑epi-LXA4 were not detected above a limit of detection of 20 pg/ml in plasma or rectal mucosa, even in individuals randomised to both aspirin and EPA. We have confirmed in a large clinical trial cohort that prolonged (12 months) treatment with EPA is associated with increased plasma 18-HEPE concentrations (median [inter-quartile range] total 18-HEPE 0.51 [0.21-1.95] ng/ml at baseline versus 0.95 [0.46-4.06] ng/ml at 6 months [
Modulation of human adipose-derived stem cells and dermal fibroblasts in co-cultures by activation of the IL-6 trans-signalling pathway via the soluble IL-6Rα receptor
No full textInterleukin-6 (IL-6), a major wound healing cytokine, has rare, versatile agonistic effects, due to dual pro and anti-inflammatory roles depending on the intracellular signalling pathway.
The aim was to evaluate the relationship between human dermal fibroblasts (DF), human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC), IL-6 and activation of the IL-6 trans-signalling pathway under four different cell culture conditions.
The two cell types were co-cultured to assess cell migration when pre-treated with the soluble human IL-6Rα receptor (rhIL-6Rα). In addition, secreted cytokine levels (TGFβ1, TGFβ3 and VEGF) and biomarker expression (TGF β1RII, SMAD2/3, SMAD 1/5/9 and SMA) were quantitated.
Although both cell types secreted IL-6, ADSC basal levels were 100-fold that of DF. Both cell types expressed CD130 (gp130) signalling transductor but were negative for the membrane-bound CD126 receptor required for the classical IL-6 signalling pathway.
Following IL-6 trans-signalling pathway activation with rhIL-6Rα, ADSC migrated predominantly, while DF acted more as attractants. Moreover, the overall secretion of TGFβ3 and VEGF, and the ratio of TGFβ3/TGFβ1 showed similar variations which suggested they increased, although not statistically significant and were maintained at 72h, but only in co-cultures where the ADSC were pre-treated. When cells were pre-treated with rhIL-6Rα, the overall expression of TGFβRII and SMAD2/3 increased suggesting crosstalk between TGFβ1 and IL-6.
In summary, these results suggest that activation of the IL-6 trans-signalling pathway modulates ADSC plasticity impacting on migration. Thus, further research is required to assess the use of ADSC in concurrence with manipulation of the IL-6 signalling pathway in wound management.Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Uni
Advances in medicinal inorganic chemistry: Exploiting the biological activity of metal arene complexes
Get PDFHalf-sandwich complexes containing transition metals offer a wide range of applications owing to their interactions with a variety of targets/molecules that are not accessible for some organic scaffolds. The use of such complexes is therefore a way
to provide new mechanisms of action. In this thesis, a series of metal complexes containing ruthenium, osmium, cobalt, rhodium, and iridium are explored for different biological applications, such as antibacterial and anticancer activities. Herein, the ability of some of these complexes to act as biocatalysts to reduce the coenzyme NAD+ in presence of sodium formate is reported, alongside in-depth studies on their chemistry in solution, and their mode of action within the cell. The metal ion (Ru, Os, Rh, Ir) can strongly alter the reactivity of the complexes in solution, and therefore, their biological activity. This work gives insights into our understanding of this class of compounds and paves the way for finding better chemotherapeutic agents to palliate the side effects and the resistance of current treatments.
On a related note, preliminary data on some complexes containing the biocompatible metal cobalt are also reported. This data demonstrates the potential of these complexes to be explored more in detail and be considered as a promising alternative
to its heavier congeners rhodium and iridium. This thesis highlights the significance of organometallic chemistry and brings to light a bright future for this class of complexes, as their versatility and adaptability make them a cornerstone of modern chemistry
Demountable reinforced concrete structures - a way forward to minimize energy and waste in construction industry
Get PDFYesIn the current practice, at the end of life of a reinforced concrete struc-ture, it is destructively demolished, and the demolition waste is limited to downcycling and low-tech applications, while the remaining is being landfilled. A recent report showed that construction and demolition waste (CDW) is the big-gest waste stream in the EU by weight, accounting for over 800 million tons in 2018, i.e. around 32% of the total waste generated. This approach is clearly wasteful of energy, jeopardizing the health of individuals and environments and at high cost. However, design for deconstruction (DfD) of reinforced concrete structures would facilitate the future reuse of structural elements at the end of their life, potentially achieving a significant reduction in embodied energy of structures and CO2 emission as well as giving the owners the benefit of retaining the value of their assets.
In this paper, recent research developments and practical applications of DfD of reinforced concrete structures are reviewed and key technical issues are dis-cussed. The focus is on connections that should be designed in such a way to al-low demounting of precast reinforced concrete structural elements, including beam/column, wall/wall, column/column and segmental slab connections. The main achievements and progress to date are outlined for each type of dry connec-tions, along with the aspects that still need to be developed. The paper concludes with an outline of challenges in the application of DfD in concrete structures.This project was supported by the Newton Prize 2020, UK-Turkey award, grant ref number NP2020PB\100026, funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. It has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 894100.This paper is from the fib Symposium 2023, Building for the future: Durable, Sustainable, Resilient. 5-7 Jun, Istanbul, Turkey
Women Leaders South West Programme (WLSW) Experiences of People with Disadvantaged Backgrounds with Leadership and (Social) Entrepreneurship in Arts: Implications for Entrepreneurial and Policy Ecosystems
No full textNoArts Council Englan
A survey of breastfeeding attitudes and health locus of control in the Nigerian population
Get PDFYesBreastfeeding is important to infant health and survival in sub-Saharan Africa. To promote breastfeeding effectively, understanding of psychological factors associated with infant feeding choices is required. This study investigated
breastfeeding attitudes and health locus of control (HLoC) in a Nigerian community sample.
Men and women (N=400) (71% female; mean age 34.2 years/ range 18–86 years) were recruited through community groups in Nigeria. Self-report survey by questionnaire measured breastfeeding attitudes using the Iowa Infant Feeding
Attitude Scale (IIFAS) and health locus of control using the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLoCs).
IIFAS scores (mean=57.7; sd=7.8) became less favourable with increasing age (p=0.02). Men had higher
IIFAS scores (mean=58.6; sd=7.6) than women (mean=56.6; sd=8.0) indicating more favourable attitudes toward breastfeeding (p=0.02). Women scored higher than men on external chance HLoC (ECHLoC) (p=0.003) and external powerful
others HLoC (EPHLoC) (p=0.02). Increasing age was associated with higher scores on ECHLoC (p<0.01) and EPHLoC
(p<0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis was significant (p<0.001) and explained 7.8% of variance in breastfeeding
attitude. Lower IIFAS scores, reflecting more negative attitudes to breastfeeding, were associated with higher ECHLoC
(p<0.01) and EPOHLoC (p<0.05). Higher IIFAS scores, reflecting more positive attitudes to breastfeeding, were associated
with greater IHLoC (p<0.01). Neither age nor gender were associated with IIFAS scores in the final model.
This implies a need to explore health locus of control when promoting positive attitudes to breastfeeding and
supporting families in breastfeeding advocacy
A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Trajectories of Mental Health Problems in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
Get PDFYesTo review the longitudinal trajectories – and the factors influencing their development – of mental health problems in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Systematic review methods were employed. Searches of six databases used keywords and MeSH terms related to children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, mental health problems, and longitudinal research. After the removal of duplicates, reviewers independently screened records for inclusion, extracted data (outcomes and influencing factors), and evaluated the risk of bias. Findings were tabulated and synthesized using graphs and a narrative. Searches identified 94,662 unique records, from which 49 publications were included. The median publication year was 2015. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were the most commonly included population in retrieved studies. In almost 50% of studies, trajectories of mental health problems changed by Swedish Research Council (2018-05824_VR