Empathy in the Classroom through Video Games: How a Video Game Affected the Narrative Empathy of Upper Secondary Students

Though previously viewed as little more than entertainment, video games have gained much recognition as an art form within recent years, slowly taking their place amongst established media such as literature and films. However, such is not the case within the second language classroom, where video games are vastly ignored in favour of other media. This in spite of research showing the benefits of working with video games in the classroom. The interactive nature of games lends itself greatly to allowing students to explore narratives in a different way than presented by texts or films, and to connect with the characters of those stories on a new level. As the Swedish curriculum for the upper secondary school puts emphasis on students ability to empathise, this study seeks to explore the empathic abilities of students. If exposure to the interactive nature of a video game, rather than a static piece of text, might cause a greater empathic response within the students. Though previous research refers to the empathic benefits of video games in the classroom, the findings of this study will present why the interactive medium of video games might serve as a hindrance for empathy rather than as an advantage

Development of a deep inspiration breath-hold system for radiotherapy utilizing a laser distance measurer

Deep inspiration breath‐hold (DIBH) is a technique for treating left‐sided breast cancer (LSBC). In modern radiotherapy, one of the main aims is to exclude the heart from the beam aperture with an individualized beam design for LSBC. A deep inhalation will raise the chest wall while the volume of the lungs increase, this will again push the heart away from the breast to be treated. There are a few commercial DIBH systems, both invasive and noninvasive. We present an alternative noninvasive DIBH system based upon an industrial laser distance measurer. This system can be installed in a treatment room at a low cost; it is very easy to use and requires limited amount of training for the personnel and the patient. The system is capable of measuring the position of the chest wall with high frequency and precision in real time. The patient views its breathing curve through video glasses, and gets instructions during the treatment session. The system is well tolerated by test subjects due to its noninvasiveness.publishedVersion© 2016 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Fra politisk beslutning til lokal implementering

Executive Master of Management i Strategisk ledelse fra Handelshøyskolen BI, 2024I denne oppgaven tar vi for oss en strategisk utfordring Bærum kommune står overfor. Kommunedirektøren har fått i oppdrag fra politisk ledelse å innføre en ny samhandlingsmodell, Bedre Tverrfaglig Innsats (BTI). Oppdraget ble politisk vedtatt i 2020, men kommunen har ikke til nå lykkes å iverksette. Ny organisasjon og prosjektrigg er på plass, og planen er at samhandlingsmodellen skal implementeres fra høsten 2024. En lovpålagt plikt til tverrfaglig samarbeid, økende bekymring for vold, trusler og utenforskap blant barn og unge, kombinert med stramme økonomiske rammer, gjør det nødvendig å iverksette tiltak. Vi vet imidlertid ikke om bruken av BTI vil føre til forventet formål i Kommuneplanens samfunnsdel - om «å skape gode liv og like muligheter». Erfaringer fra andre BTI-kommuner viser at implementeringen krever omstilling, perspektivskifte og kulturbygging, som ofte blir bagatellisert. Lederes rolle, kompetanse og gjennomføringskraft undervurderes også. Vi undersøker grunnene til at Bærum kommune, Oppvekst, ikke har lykkes med implementeringen av BTI, og hva som skal til for å gjøre det. Vi intervjuer tjenesteledere i barnehager og skoler for deres sentrale rolle i implementeringsarbeidet. Gjennom intervjuer finner vi motivasjon for å hjelpe sårbare barn og unge, men også bekymringer som tretthet i egen organisasjon, konkurrerende prosjekter, manglende relasjonell kapasitet på tvers i organisasjonen, stramme økonomiske rammer, og stafettholderansvaret som krever tid og vil gi ansvar uten tilstrekkelig myndighet. Etter intervjuer finner vi relevant teori om strategi i offentlig sektor, implementeringsteori, lærende organisasjoner og tillitsbasert ledelse. Vi gjennomfører strategiske analyser og oppsummerer i en SWOT-analyse. Det tydeliggjøres utfordringer, hindringer og forbedringsområder som må jobbes med for å lykkes med implementering av BTI, inkludert tiltak innenfor 1) tillitsbasert ledelse og organisasjonsutvikling, 2) styrking av kommunen som lærende organisasjon, og 3) bruk av interne prosjektressurser. Vi diskuterer og oppsummerer anbefalinger for tiltak innenfor disse tre områdene. I oppgaven følger vi et oppdrag fra politisk beslutning til lokal implementering. I en kommune finnes mange slike oppdrag med konkurrerende prosjekter og målbilder, noe som synliggjør kompleksiteten i strategi i offentlig sektor. Balanseringen av politisk legitimitet, offentlig verdiskaping og organisasjonskapasitet er avgjørende for å realisere samfunnsoppdraget

Biological characterization of purified native 20-kDa human growth hormone

Because of the propensity of the 20-kDa variant of human growth human (GH) to aggregate with itself and with 22-kDa human GH, it has been difficult to prepare monomeric 20-kDa GH in highly purified form. This has been a major complicating factor in determining whether 20-kDa GH has a biological activity profile distinct from that of 22-kDa GH. In the present study, native 20-kDa GH was isolated from a human GH dimer concentrate and purified by a procedure that included column electrophoresis in agarose suspension as a final separation step. This procedure yielded highly purified monomeric 20-kDa GH, which was contaminated to an extent of less than 1% with 22-kDa GH, and which exhibited only a small degree of dimerization upon storage. The native 20-kDa Gh was quite active in stimulating growth in hypophysectomized rats, when growth was assessed by body weight gain, longitudinal bone growth, the stimulation of sulfation of cartilage, and the elevation of serum IGF-1 level. However, in all of these growth assays, the 20-kDa GH was somewhat less active than the native 22-kDa GH to which it was compared; e.g., in the body weight gain and longitudinal bone growth assays, it had an estimated potency of 0.6 relative to the 22-kDa GH. The 20-kDa GH exhibited substantial diabetogenic activity when tested for the ability to raise fasting blood glucose concentration and to impair glucose tolerance in ob/ob mice. Also, the native 20-kDa GH had significant in vitro insulin-like activity, although its potency was approximately 20% that of the native 22-kDa GH to which it was compared. Thus, the biological activity profile of native 20-kDa GH differs from that of 22-kDa GH primarily in that insulin-like activity is markedly attenuated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26576/1/0000115.pd

Nerve regeneration and serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I in rats with streptozotocin-induced insulin deficiency

Peripheral nerve regeneration was studied in female Sprague-Dawley rats with streptozotocin-induced insulin deficiency. Nerve regeneration was provoked by a crush lesion on the sciatic nerve 21 days after the streptozotocin injection. The regeneration was assessed by a pinch test at different time-points after injury. The rate ofregeneration in insulin-deficient animals, 2.5 mm/day, was significantly lower than in control animals, 2.9 mm/day(P 0.01). The streptozotocin-treated rats were found to have a 39% reduction in the serum level of insulin-like 1 growth factor-I (IGF-I)_compared to control rats (0.33 ± 0.22 μg/ml and 0.54 ± ml respectively, (P < 0.001). Insulin treatment 1830 1732 during the regeneration period completely restored the IGF-I level back to normal