Boyle, E., Van Rosmalen, P., & Manea, M. (2013). Cognitive Task Analysis. CHERMUG Deliverable D14.

Basic competence in research methods and statistics is core for many undergraduates but many students experience difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills in this area. Interest has recently turned to serious games as providing engaging ways of learning. The CHERMUG project was developed against this background to develop games to support students in learning about research methods and statistics. As a first step in designing the CHERMUG games a narrative literature review was carried out to establish whether similar games, animations and simulations already existed. Search terms used in the literature review included varied terms for digital games, simulations and animations, terms relevant to the twin goals of learning and engagement in games and terms for research methods and statistics. Application of the inclusion criteria led to 26 papers which were considered relevant. Synthesis of the papers suggested that there is reason to be optimistic that a game-based approach might be effective in learning in this area.

Despite the growth of interest in serious games, there is little systematic guidance on how to assure a game fits the instruction required. Game design frameworks are still under development and do not help to articulate the educational merits of a game to a teacher nor fit with their background. In this paper we discuss the results of a GaLA workshop which examined how a widely applied instructional design model, 4C-ID, can ease the uptake of serious games by offering teachers a model fitting their background to assess games on the applicability for their learning contexts. The paper will introduce the 4C-ID model and its use in the CHERMUG project with the design of mini-games for research methods and statistics. Next, we will discuss how workshop participants used the 4C-ID model to evaluate two games on their applicability for a given learning context. The participants indicated that the approach can support teachers in deciding if and how to use a given serious game.

(for dissemination) The evaluation of the games The evaluation of the CHERMUG games was carried out in 3 phases which contributed in different ways to the game development and evaluation. Different cohorts of staff and students were involved in each phase and a detailed account of the list of pilot institutions is shown in Deliverable 21. Phase 1 was the preliminary testing of the initial game prototype and involved a small number of serious games experts, research methods experts and teacher trainers. Elements of the games were still changeable at this point. Phase 2 was the usability phase and involved nursing and social science staff who teach research methods and students taking research methods modules. Surface elements of the games and game mechanics were still changeable at this point. Phase 3 of the evaluation was a more rigorous evaluation designed to establish whether the use of the CHERMUG games engages students and helps them to learn about research methods and statistics.

The CHERMUG project aims to develop a digital game to support students in acquiring methodological and statistical expertise. This deliverable describes a literature review which was carried out to identify papers which describe digital games which aim to teach research methods and statistics. Search terms included varied terms for digital games, terms relevant to the twin goals of games for learning and engagement and terms for methodological and statistical knowledge. Search terms identified 38 papers which were considered relevant. The literature review confirmed that there are relatively few papers describing the use of games for teaching research methods and statistics and even fewer which carried out rigorous evaluations of their success, although several e-learning applications and animations to teach research methods and statistics were identified as well as papers looking at how statistics should be taught.

Over the last two decades Medical Doctors have to face the need to be high qualified professionals with always updated competencies and practical skills. Learning on the Internet by the "e learning" method, fundamentally changed the way by which doctors can get information and be involved in educational activities designed to ensure their continuous medical education.E-EDUMED is an transnational Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Inovation project focused on improvement/updating/ equal chances to knowledge/ harmonization in training of medical specialists. It represents a continous medical education approach by interactive on-line education in consultancy with acreditated programme tutors, assuring a secured final evaluation. The project developed a complex Web site in English and partners languages and a virtual health educational center (http://www.e-edumed.ro/), providing on-line education and training materials by an interactive lifelong learning platform. 2 interactive training modules in ultrasound and nurses education and a module addressed to patients aiming to improve health culture were developed.For the ultrasound module the selected approach is based on a modular architecture focused on three levels (PPT presentation, text, image). Content is structured in the best way to build gradual competences. For each module we developed packages containing a section with anatomical bases, clinical signs and pathological findings, ultrasound images and videos. The nurse module is designed to give nurses additional education to prepare her/him for advanced nursing practice and to respond to the actual demands in health care in the provision of primary health care to individuals, families but also to communities. An E-Learning platform has been set up for the delivery of the online courses and to host the PBL repository. The e-learning platform hosts asynchronous online courses - educational materials in a traditional style of presentation, PPT and course notes (text and images), questions and tests associated with each section, multimedia lessons that include sections with commented video images. Also the platform includes synchronous online courses - courses implemented in the virtual class e- EDUMED allowing a tutor via the Internet to bring together a group of students in real time. The teacher can present materials (case studies, moving images, making complete ultrasound) and can receive information and feedback from students. PowerPoint presentations are also available. Schedule and topics courses will be announced in advance and students can enroll. Claroline is the open source E-Learning platform implemented for the delivery of the online course and host the Virtual Classroom (PBL repository). Learning pathway has been realized through an innovative methodological model combining both theoretical and practical aspects, in order to enhance the learning skills based on the study of real cases thanks to the Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach implemented into a virtual environment (virtual classrooms). The learning path area is composed by different modules, as many as foreseen by the didactic strategy. Within each module, different type and number of learning objects that can be considered as elementary bulks of learning (Multimedia lessons, Video lessons and Quizzes). The project will support Medical Institutes to grow exploiting and following the changes of contexts and environment where they operate.

Boyle, E., Van Rosmalen, P., MacArthur, E., Connolly, T., Hainey, T. & et al. (2012). Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) in the Continuing/ Higher Education Methods Using Games (CHERMUG) Project. In P. Felicia (Ed.), Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Games Based Learning (pp. 63-71). October, 4-5, 2012, Cork, Ireland. Academic Publishing International Limited, Reading, UK.

INTRODUCTION:Vessel active phenomena from menopause as hot flushes have unknown cause but is demonstrated that the hormone substitution treatment has a very good efficiency in the disproof of the symptomatology.OBJECTIVES:To establish if there is a correlation between gonadotropins level, the presence of the vessel active manifestations and the atrophy of the vaginal epithelium in menopause.MATERIAL AND METHODS:The study design is cross-sectional, done on the 40 and 60-year-old women from the general population list of a family doctor. We studied the blood values of LH and FSH and the vagina cytology and the relations of these parameters with the presence of hot flushes and others vessel active phenomena in menopause.RESULTS:The group consists of 136 women aged between 40 and 60-year-old. Their blood tests prove: LH with normal levels in 79% of cases, FSH has high values in 85%, the vagina cytology marked out the epithelium atrophy in 76% of cases.DISCUSSION:The augmentation of the FSH values is associated with the presence of hot flashes. The ratio LH/FSH under 0.40 is strong associated with vessel active phenomena (p-value 0.000012). We could not establish a statistical correlation between the presence of the vessel active phenomena and vagina atrophy (p-value 0.098).CONCLUSIONS:Vessel active manifestations on the menopause have morphological substratum. The increase of FSH is statistic correlated to the vessel active disorders. It is possible that FRH be the trigger for the hypothalamic thermo detection.

Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in the world. Some studies indicate that polyphenolic compounds and antioxidants exert a protective action against gastric cancer. Among the polyphenolic compounds tested and proven effective against gastric cancer is resveratrol, a natural polyphenol present in red wines and various human food items. Resveratrol has been shown to suppress proliferation of a wide variety of tumor cells. We tested the genotoxic activity of resveratrol in primary cell cultures from gastric adenocarcinoma, obtained by mucosal biopsy at upper digestive endoscopy. The adenocarcinoma cells were analyzed for the presence of micronuclei at different concentrations of resveratrol at 48 hours and at 72 hours. The results showed that resveratrol induced micronuclei dose-dependently. The frequency of micronuclei increased progressively with the dose of resveratrol used, the high frequency is in the primary culture initiated from gastric adenocarcinoma: signet ring cell type. The high frequency of micronuclei is at 72 hours at the 20 microg/mL resveratrol and is decreased at low concentrations (5 microg/mL, 10 microg/mL resveratrol). This results show the genotoxic activity of resveratrol in adenocarcinoma gastric cell and the anticancer property of this substance.

UNLABELLED:In the present work we decided to find out more about nutritional behaviour at persons between 55-70 years from the four activity domains, representative for the professional background of the Dolj county (agriculture, education, industry and health), using the following hypothesis of work: the grade of medical culture specific for some groups of population induces decisive changes in the nutritional behaviour and, after that, in the health state and professional performance.MATERIAL AND METHOD:129 subjects were included in the research, with the age between 55 and 70 years, selected from the recalled activity sectors. With the aim of knowing the nutritional behaviour, we have done a nutritional inquiry, each subject completed thee kinds of questionnairies.RESULTS:The farmers and the subjects from industry preferred to eat cheese, eggs, vegetable concentrated lipids and cereal products which were consumed in excess; on the oher hand, they ate few meat and meat products, fish, animal concentrated lipids, vegetables and fruits, sugar and sweets. The educators preferred more various food: meat products, cheese, eggs, vegetable concentrated lipids, cereal products, bread, dried vegetables, sugar and sweets, but they consumed few milk, meat, vegetables and fruit. The food preffered by the persons coming from health was: meat and meat products, cheese, eggs, vegetable concentrated lipids, cereal products, dried vegetables but some of them were eaten in excess. Any proteins were consumed in excess by the subjects coming from agriculture, education and health, and almost normally by the persons coming from industry. Sweets were deficiently used by the persons coming from agriculture and industry and in excess by those ones coming from education and health. Lower caloric values were observed in patients belonging to the second age group coming from health and education. Mineral and vitamins consumption was in deficit in all the subjects we studied.CONCLUSION:We could identify two kinds of nutritional behaviour: one common for the persons from agriculture and industry and the other very resembling for the persons from educational and medical sector.

OBJECTIVE:Evaluate the antigen profile of cellular population from basal cell adenomas.MATERIAL AND METHODS:Histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation of four-salivary gland basal cell adenomas; the pathological samples were provided by the Oral Maxilla Facial Surgery Department of the Clinical County Hospital from Craiova.RESULTS:All basal cell adenoma exhibit differentiation toward 3 cell phenotypes: ductal luminal, basal and myoepithelial.CONCLUSIONS:The antigen profile of these tumors closely regard with other variants of salivary gland adenomas, such as pleomorphic adenoma and myoepithelioma. So, we can conclude that these tumors had a common origin, most probably from intercalated ducts and the proportion of those 3 cellular types, their cytoarchitectural arrangements and the quantity of extracellular matrix production can do the differentiation between them.

This study concerns 147 cases of limited endometrial hyperplasia, diagnosed at patients between IV, V, VI and VII decades of life. Histopathologically, the aspects were of basal hyperplasia--40 cases and polyp hyperplasia--107 cases. The polyp-like hyperplasia was present at pre and postmenopausal patients. At the premenopausal patients the polyps were hormonally active: glandular, glandular-cystic and adenomatous type polyps. In contrast, the majority of the postmenopausal patients presented hormonally inactive polyps, like cystic atrophic or fibrous polyps. Modifying the prognosis of lesions, we took in consideration the morphologic changes associated with these lesions, like epithelial metaplasia or nuclear atypia.

This study puts forth the morphological and metabolic modifications that occurred in the skin affected by Pemphigus vulgaris, modifications that have been studied by histoenzymatic techniques. There were studied skin biopsies from patients suffering from Pemphigus vulgaris, hospitalized in Dermatology services in Bucharest. The pieces were sectioned at cryotome, at 3 degrees C and then they were studied with histochemical methods, in order to evidentiate the activity of the following enzymes: NADH(2)-cytochrome-c-reductase, lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH), dihydrofolic-reductase (DHFR), folic acid (FA), ATP-ase pH 9.4, leucin-amino-peptidase (LAP). The enzymatic activity was appreciated in all skin components: epidermal layers, connective tissue cells and inflammatory cells from the superficial and deep dermis, blood vessels, nerve fibers and encapsulated corpuscles. In the affected skin, there were observed modifications of all enzymes studied. The study revealed the following aspects: the balance between oxybiotic and anoxybiotic metabolism in the epidermal cells changes from the predominance of the former in the healthy skin, to the dominance of the latter in the affected skin, an active turn-over of the nucleic acids and increased synthesis of amino acids in the dermal cell population (mainly in the fibroblasts and mast cells), morphological and functional alteration of mitochondria, lysosomes and cellular membranes.