48 research outputs found
Learning objects and learning designs: an integrated system for reusable, adaptive and shareable learning content
No full textThis paper proposes a system, the Smart Learning Design Framework, designed to support the development of pedagogically sound learning material within an integrated, platform-independent data structure. The system supports sharing, reuse and adaptation of learning material via a metadata-driven philosophy that enables the technicalities of the system to be imperceptible to the author and consumer. The system proposes the use of pedagogically focused metadata to support and guide the author and to adapt and deliver the content to the targeted consumer. A prototype of the proposed system, which provides proof of concept for the novel processes involved, has been developed. The paper describes the Smart Learning Design Framework and places it within the context of alternative learning object models and frameworks to highlight similarities, differences and advantages of the proposed system
Immortal and Ageless: Artemis in a Fresco from Akrotiri, Thera
No full textThis abstract of a paper sketches out an interpretation of the goddess in the women-oriented wall paintings from Xeste 3, Akrotiri, Thera (ca. 1600 BCE). The author proposes that she is Artemis
Saffron Crocus and Yellow Garments in Aegean Wall-Painting
No full textThis paper was prepared for the conference, Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World, Edinburgh, 9-11 September 2001. The author revised the paper and published it in the volume dedicated to Sara Immerwahr (online at this site). The study looks at saffron-dyed costumes, with a focus on their appearance in Aegean art
Transition from supraglottic to infraglottic rescue in the “can’t intubate can’t oxygenate”(CICO) scenario
No full text
Salvage lenalidomide in four rare oncological diseases
No full text In rare disorders, there are often no standard therapy recommendations. Patients with refractory disease may require novel experimental approaches. Applied as second- up to fourth-line treatment, lenalidomide (10–25 mg perorally on days 1–21 in a 28-day cycle) was used in our cohort of four adult patients with aggressive, multisystem and relapsing diseases. Complete and long-lasting remissions (more than 1 year, no maintenance therapy) were achieved in patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (11 cycles, combination with dexamethasone and etoposide, consolidated by allogeneic blood stem cell transplant) and plasma-cell Castleman disease (15 cycles, monotherapy). Mixed response with complete disappearance of brain infiltrates was reached in Erdheim-Chester disease (6 cycles, monotherapy) and gastrointestinal bleeding was well controlled in multiple angiomatosis (9 cycles, combination with thalidomide). For disease activity evaluation each patient underwent fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan imaging, which was complemented by clinical and laboratory investigations. </jats:p
Springtime for Caesar : Vergil's Georgics and the defence of Octavian
No full textVergil’s Georgics was published in 29 BCE, at a critical point in the political life of Octavian-Augustus. Although his position at the head of state had been confirmed by victory at Actium in 31, his longevity was threatened by his reputation for causing bloodshed during the civil wars.
This thesis argues that Vergil, in the Georgics, presents a defence of Octavian against criticism of his past, in order to safeguard his future, and the future of Rome. Through a complex of metaphor and allusion, Vergil engages with the weaknesses in Octavian’s public image in order to diminish their damaging impact. Chapter One examines the way in which the poet invokes and complements the literary tradition of portraying young men as destructive, amorous creatures, through his depiction of iuvenes in the Georgics, in order to emphasise the inevitability of youthful misbehaviour. Since Octavian is still explicitly a iuvenis, he cannot be held accountable for his actions up to this point, including his role in the civil wars.
The focus of Chapters Two and Three of this thesis is Vergil’s presentation of the spring season in the Georgics. Vergil’s preoccupation with spring is unorthodox in the context of agricultural didactic; under the influence of the Lucretian figure of Venus, Vergil moulds spring into a symbol of universal creation in nature, a metaphor for a projected revival of Roman affairs under Octavian’s leadership which would subsequently dominate the visual art of the Augustan period. Vergil’s spring is as concerned with the past as it is the future. Vergil stresses the fact that destructive activity can take place in spring, in the form of storms and animal violence; the farmer’s spring labor is characterised as a war against nature, which culminates in the horrific slaughter of oxen demanded by bugonia. In each case destruction is revealed as a necessary prerequisite for some form of creation: animal reproduction, increased crop yield, a renewed population of bees. Thus, the spring creation of a new Rome under Octavian will come as a direct result of the bloodshed of the civil wars, a cataclysm whose horrors are not denied, but whose outcome will ultimately be positive. Octavian is assimilated to Jupiter in his Stoic guise: a providential figure who sends fire and flood to Earth in order to improve mankind
OCT Biomarkers as Functional Outcome Predictors in Diabetic Macular Edema Treated with Dexamethasone Implant
No full textPurpose: Identification and characterization of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) are important for individualizing treatment and optimizing outcome. We investigated optical coherence tomography (OCT) bio- markers for DME treated by intravitreal dexamethasone (DEX) implant.
Design: Multicenter, retrospective, observational cohort study.
Participants: A total of 299 eyes from 284 patients treated with DEX implant for DME (naïve, n 1⁄4 209; re- fractory, n 1⁄4 90). Baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was between 0.3 and 1.0 on a logarithm of minimum angle of resolution visual chart.
Methods: The OCT scans previous to DEX implants were evaluated for submacular fluid, size and location of cystoid changes, inner segment-outer segment (IS-OS) continuity, quantity and location of hyperreflective foci (HRF), vitreomacular interface abnormalities, and epiretinal membrane. The BCVA and central macular thickness were recorded at baseline and at 1, 2, and 4 months after treatment with DEX implants. Correlations between OCT measures and visual outcome were analyzed using the generalized estimating equations procedure.
Main Outcome Measures: The correlation between spectral-domain (SD) OCT measures at baseline and BCVA response (mean change from baseline; categorized improvement [<5, 5e9, or !10; Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters] in BCVA) after treatment with a DEX implant.
Results: The presence of subretinal fluid (odds ratio [OR], 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23e3.20; P 1⁄4 0.01), absence of HRF (OR, 3.66; 95% CI, 1.40e9.62; P 1⁄4 0.01), and integrity of the IS-OS layer (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.30e3.37; P 1⁄4 0.003) were all predictive of better visual outcome after treatment with DEX implants. Although eyes with naïve DME gained more vision than refractory eyes (P < 0.001), the predictive value of OCT findings did not differ according to this classification.
Conclusions: Spectral-domain OCT is useful in identifying various imaging findings in DME. Among eyes with DME, those with submacular fluid, no HRF, and a continuous IS-OS layer responded better to DEX implants than those without these features. These findings call for further study of combinations of OCT and metabolic biomarkers
What is a Good Plan? Cultural Variations in Expert Planners’ Concepts of Plan Quality
No full textThis article presents the results of a field research study examining commonalities and differences between American and British operational planners’ mental models of planning. We conducted Cultural Network Analysis (CNA) interviews with 14 experienced operational planners in the US and UK. Our results demonstrate the existence of fundamental differences between the way American and British expert planners conceive of a high quality plan. Our results revealed that the American planners’ model focused on specification of action to achieve synchronization, providing little autonomy at the level of execution, and included the belief that increasing contingencies reduces risk. The British planners’ model stressed the internal coherence of the plan, to support shared situational awareness and thereby flexibility at the level of execution. The British model also emphasized the belief that reducing the number of assumptions decreases risk. Overall, the American ideal plan serves a controlling function, whereas the British ideal plan supports an enabling function. Interestingly, both the US and UK would view the other’s ideal plan as riskier than their own. The implications of cultural models of plans and planning are described for establishing performance measures and designing systems to support multinational planning teams
Building Bridges with Blocks: Assisting digital library and Virtual Learning Environment integration through reusable middleware
No full textVarious studies have reported that achieving effective use of increasingly heterogeneous scholarly objects within institutional learning and teaching frameworks is becoming critical to the performance of educational institutions. The integration of digital information environments, such as a University library, within a virtual learning environment (VLE) encapsulates this challenge. This paper presents reusable middleware to achieve effective digital library (DL) and VLE integration. The aim of the study is to demonstrate that the use of open standards and service-oriented architectures (SOA) to build “light” web-services-based middleware is a suitable alternative for embedding digital library information sources in learning and teaching frameworks. We argue that by using open-source and open-standards approaches rather than software and practices developed specifically for a particular VLE product, it is possible to obtain open reusable middleware that can simplify the DL-VLE integration and bridge the functionality of both environments. We hope that our methodology can provide a common foundation on which a variety of institutions may build their own customized middleware to integrate scholarly objects in VLEs. The study has assessed the impact of the VLE-library integration on academic users of both the library and the VLE. Performance issues of the proposed digital library-VLE integration are also discussed. A secondary but important finding of our study is that much more effort is required to open and standardize the closed, restricted and proprietary approach of digital publishers to the reuse of scholarly material. This approach can be a serious obstacle to effective digital library-VLE integration and can limit the publishers’ ability to allow the discovery, integration and reuse of scholarly material. Current research in this area is analyzed and discussed
