Firearms and Tigers are Dangerous, Kitchen Knives and Zebras are Not: Testing whether Word Embeddings Can Tell

This paper presents an approach for investigating the nature of semantic information captured by word embeddings. We propose a method that extends an existing human-elicited semantic property dataset with gold negative examples using crowd judgments. Our experimental approach tests the ability of supervised classifiers to identify semantic features in word embedding vectors and com- pares this to a feature-identification method based on full vector cosine similarity. The idea behind this method is that properties identified by classifiers, but not through full vector comparison are captured by embeddings. Properties that cannot be identified by either method are not. Our results provide an initial indication that semantic properties relevant for the way entities interact (e.g. dangerous) are captured, while perceptual information (e.g. colors) is not represented. We conclude that, though preliminary, these results show that our method is suitable for identifying which properties are captured by embeddings.Comment: Accepted to the EMNLP workshop "Analyzing and interpreting neural networks for NLP

Augmented Reality in Informal Learning Environments: Investigating Short-term and Long-term Effects

While many researchers have qualitatively examined the affordances and constraints of AR in educational settings, only few studies exist that tried to quantify the effect of AR on learning performance. To contribute to filling this research gap, we conducted a pretest-posttest-posttest crossover field experiment with 24 participants at a mathematics exhibition to measure the effect of AR on acquiring and retaining mathematical knowledge in an informal learning environment, both short-term (i.e., directly after visiting the exhibition) and long-term (i.e., two months after the museum visit). Our empirical results show that museum visitors performed significantly better on knowledge acquisition and retention tests related to augmented exhibits than to non-augmented exhibits directly after visiting the exhibition (i.e., short-term), but this positive effect of AR vanished in the long run

Progesterone receptor gene polymorphism and recurrent spontaneous abortion

PURPOSE: to assess a possible association between polymorphism of the progesterone receptor gene (PROGINS) and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). METHODS: in this case-control study, 85 women with at least three previous spontaneous abortions without an identifiable cause (RSA Group) and 157 women with at least two previous term pregnancies without pathologies and no previous miscarriage (Control Group) were selected. An amount of 10 mL of peripheral blood was collected by venipuncture and genomic DNA was extracted by the DTAB/CTAB method, followed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) under specific conditions for this polymorphism and by amplification by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. The bands were visualized with an ultraviolet light transilluminator and the gels were photographed. Differences in the PROGINS genotype and allele frequencies between groups were analyzed by the χ2 test, with the level of significance set at p<0.05. The Odds Ratio (OR) was also used, with 95% confidence intervals 95%CI. RESULTS: PROGINS genotypic frequencies were 72.3% T1T1 and 27.7% T1T2 for the RSA group and 764% T1T1, 22.3% T1T2 and 1.3% T2T2 for the control group. There were no differecnes between groups when the genotype and allele frequencies were analyzed: respectively p=0.48 (OR: 0.8) and p=0.65 (OR: 0.9). CONCLUSIONS: our results suggest that PROGINS polymorphism is not associated with RSA.OBJETIVO: investigar se polimorfismos dos genes que codificam o receptor de progesterona (PROGINS) estão relacionados à ocorrência de aborto espontâneo de repetição (AER). MÉTODOS: em estudo caso-controle, foram selecionados 85 pacientes com antecedente de pelo menos três abortos precoces sem etiologia definida (Grupo Caso) e 157 mulheres com história de pelo menos duas gestações de termo sem intercorrências e sem passado de abortamento (Grupo Controle). Realizada coleta de 10 mL de sangue por punção venosa periférica e extração de DNA pela técnica DTAB/CTAB. As genotipagens foram feitas por reação em cadeia de polimerase (PCR), nas condições de ciclagem específica para o polimorfismo em estudo, seguida de amplificação em gel de agarose a 2%. A visualização das bandas foi feita sob luz ultravioleta e os géis foram fotografados. As diferenças genotípicas e alélicas entre os dois grupos para o polimorfismo PROGINS foram calculadas pelo teste de χ2, adotando-se como nível de significância valores de p<0,05. Calculou-se ainda o Odds Ratio (OR, razão de chances), com intervalos de confiança de 95% (IC95%). RESULTADOS: As frequências genotípicas encontradas para o polimorfismo PROGINS foram de 72,3% T1/T1 e 27,7% T1/T2 no grupo com AER e 76,4% T1/T1, 22,3% T1/T2 e 1,3% T2/T2 no Grupo Controle. Não houve diferenças entre os grupos, analisando-se as frequências genotípicas e alélicas: respectivamente p=0,4 (OR: 0,8) e p=0,6 (OR: 0,9). CONCLUSÕES: os dados do presente estudo sugerem que o polimorfismo PROGINS do gene dos receptores de progesterona não está relacionado ao AER.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de ObstetríciaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESP, Depto. de ObstetríciaUNIFESPSciEL

Augmented Reality in Informal Learning Environments Design and Evaluation of Mobile Applications

The digitization of the education sector is already in progress, and the new concepts and technologies are continuously explored. In particular, Augmented Reality (AR) is receiving increasing focus, and many studies are investigating its effectiveness for teaching and training. However, only a few studies have been conducted outside laboratory settings, and most of them have used questionnaires to evaluate learning outcomes in terms of concepts aspects likeperceived learning, perceived usefulness, and students’ motivation. What’s more, the development of such AR applications is rarely based on design guidelines that support a wellfounded evaluation and measurement of learning effects based on significant metrics. Against this background, this cumulative thesis and the related research project introduce the study of AR outside laboratory settings and in informal learning environments. It covers the research (i.e., steps, processes, tasks, and results) undertaken to develop a framework thatprovides design guidelines for the development of AR applications that support teaching and training. Following a well-defined design science research process, this thesis covers the design and implementation of AR applications as IT artifacts and their applicability and utility in empirical terms. Therefore, the design framework acts as a toolbox that is structured in layers and considers design elements derived from learning theories to support learning and thedevelopment of efficient applications. The thesis also provides metrics for the measurement of user and task performance and discusses the requirements for research rigor and validity. The application of the design framework was successfully tested in several implementations in a variety of learning environments. The results, the impact, the practical benefits, and thefindings from the field studies make valuable contributions to the knowledge base for mobile AR in education.This thesis covers most of the research work in the educational research and development project “LAAR - Principles for effective Learning Analytics in AR learning applications for professional education,” which was conducted between 2017 and 2019 and is listed in the ERASMUS+ Program of the European Commission under the number 2017-1-LI01-KA202-000087.The digitization of the education sector is already in progress, and the new concepts and technologies are continuously explored. In particular, Augmented Reality (AR) is receiving increasing focus, and many studies are investigating its effectiveness for teaching and training. However, only a few studies have been conducted outside laboratory settings, and most of them have used questionnaires to evaluate learning outcomes in terms of concepts aspects likeperceived learning, perceived usefulness, and students’ motivation. What’s more, the development of such AR applications is rarely based on design guidelines that support a wellfounded evaluation and measurement of learning effects based on significant metrics.Against this background, this cumulative thesis and the related research project introduce the study of AR outside laboratory settings and in informal learning environments. It covers the research (i.e., steps, processes, tasks, and results) undertaken to develop a framework that provides design guidelines for the development of AR applications that support teaching and training. Following a well-defined design science research process, this thesis covers the designand implementation of AR applications as IT artifacts and their applicability and utility in empirical terms. Therefore, the design framework acts as a toolbox that is structured in layers and considers design elements derived from learning theories to support learning and the development of efficient applications. The thesis also provides metrics for the measurement of user and task performance and discusses the requirements for research rigor and validity. The application of the design framework was successfully tested in several implementations in avariety of learning environments. The results, the impact, the practical benefits, and the findings from the field studies make valuable contributions to the knowledge base for mobile AR in education.This thesis covers most of the research work in the educational research and development project “LAAR - Principles for effective Learning Analytics in AR learning applications for professional education,” which was conducted between 2017 and 2019 and is listed in the ERASMUS+ Program of the European Commission under the number 2017-1-LI01-KA202-000087

Representations of Euro-Asian relations in 2010: South Korean newspapers report on ASEM and German newspapers on Asia (especially China). EU Center/Singapore Working Paper No. 2, December 2010

Empirical studies of EU-East Asian relationships as depicted in the media are increasingly moving into the foreground of discursive international relations analysis concentrated on the ASEM process. Yet region-to-region perceptions are still largely conceived within national, historical and linguistic prisms which are only gradually transferring into trans-regional ones. This working paper considers two interrelated moments, as indicated in the title, and hopes to make a modest contribution to the academic study of the construction of perceptions as a necessary precondition of and complement to an emerging sense of a common, shared and mutually beneficial inter-regional cooperation

Augmented Reality in Informal Learning Environments: Investigating Short-term and Long-term Effects

While many researchers have qualitatively examined the affordances and constraints of AR in educational settings, only few studies exist that tried to quantify the effect of AR on learning performance. To contribute to filling this research gap, we conducted a pretest-posttest-posttest crossover field experiment with 24 participants at a mathematics exhibition to measure the effect of AR on acquiring and retaining mathematical knowledge in an informal learning environment, both short-term (i.e., directly after visiting the exhibition) and long-term (i.e., two months after the museum visit). Our empirical results show that museum visitors performed significantly better on knowledge acquisition and retention tests related to augmented exhibits than to non-augmented exhibits directly after visiting the exhibition (i.e., short-term), but this positive effect of AR vanished in the long run

Molecular pharmacology of amantadine and related drugs in cells heterologously expressing human transporters and receptors

Seit den 70er Jahren wird das tricyklische Amin Amantadine als Hilfsmittel bei der Parkinson Erkrankung verwendet da es wesentlich dazu beiträgt Parkinson Symptome zu reduzieren. Die Parkinson Erkrankung ist gekennzeichnet durch einen Verlust von dopaminergen Nervenfasern der Substantia nigra pars compacta aber auch Noradrenalin-hältigen Fasern des locus coeruleus die auch von Nervenzellschädigung betroffen sind. Substanzen die den Dopaminspiegel wiederherstellen in der Anfangsphase der Krankheit sowie den Noradrenalin Spiegel in späteren Stadien sind klinisch relevant. In den 70er Jahren konnte gezeigt werden, dass Amantadin fähig ist den Dopamin und Noradrenalinspiegel anzuheben durch Blockade des Noradrenalin und Dopamintransporters (NAT und DAT) oder durch vermehrte Freisetzung dieser Katecholamine. In der nachfolgenden Arbeit wollten wir herausfinden, ob Amantadin wie Amphetamin freisetzende Eigenschaften besitzt oder wie ein Wiederaufnahmehemmer am DAT und NAT wirkt. Die Umsetzung erfolgte mittels Uptakeexperimenten, Superfusions- experimenten und Patch clamp, da der genaue Mechanismus in den bisherigen Studien nicht untersucht wurde. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit bestand in der Herstellung von N-methyl-d-Aspartat (NMDA) Rezeptor (NR12A) exprimierenden HEK 293 Zellen deren neuer Rezeptor autotoxisch ist. In einigen Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass Amantadin als NMDA Rezeptorblocker wirkt. Die Potenz von Amantadin, NMDA Rezeptor vermittelnde Autotoxizität zu unterdrücken wurde in Vitalitätsversuchen an diesen Zellen untersucht. Die Fähigkeit von Amantadin, das NAT Toxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) zu blockieren wurde ebenfalls untersucht. Die Uptake Experimente zeigten, dass Amantadin 15 mal potenter war bei der Hemmung des NAT als des DAT. Bei den Superfusionsexperimenten konnte deutlich bewiesen werden, dass Amantadin einen Freisetzungseffekt besitzt mit einem Maximalwert der weniger als halb so groß ist wie der von Amphetamin. Mit Patch clamp konnte auch gezeigt werden, dass Amantadin ein freisetzendes Substrat am NAT ist. Bei den DAT exprimierenden Zellen produzierte Amantadin keine signifikanten Einwärtsströme was mit einer niedrigeren Affinität am Dopamintransporter zu erklären ist, übereinstimmend mit den Uptake Messergebnissen. Im Vitalitätsversuch konnte Ketamin die Cytotoxizität im µmolaren Bereich zu mehr als 90% unterbinden im Vergleich zu Zellen ohne NMDA Rezeptor Bildung. Im Gegensatz dazu war Amantadin bei 300 µM nur teilweise protektiv.Since the 70s the tricyclic amine amantadine is used as anti Parkinson adjuvans as it could substantially reduce parkinsonian symptoms. Parkinson´s disease is characterized by a loss of dopaminergic fibers of the substantia nigra pars compacta but also the noradrenaline rich fibers of the locus coeruleus are affected by neuronal cell damage. Drugs which are restoring dopamine levels in the early stage and noradrenaline levels in later stages are clinically useful. In the 70s it was revealed that amantadine is able to increase central dopamine and noradrenaline levels due to enhanced release or uptake blockade of the dopamine and noradrenaline transporter (DAT and NAT). In the following work we wanted to assess its role as a possible releaser like amphetamine or uptake blocker on the human DAT or NAT by means of uptake experiments, superfusion experiments and patch clamp, as this was not clarified in the previous studies. The second part of my work was dedicated to the design of n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (NR1/2A) expressing HEK 293 cells whose NMDA receptor is autotoxic. In several studies amantadine also showed NMDA receptor blocking properties. The potency of amantadine to suppress NMDA receptor mediated autotoxicity was compared with other test drugs like ketamine in cell viability assays. The ability of amantadine to block the entry of the NAT toxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) was also examined. Uptake experiments showed that amantadine is 15 times more potent in inhibiting the NAT than the DAT. In superfusion experiments amantadine clearly demonstrated a releasing action with a maximum effect less half than that of amphetamine. Patch clamp also revealed that amantadine was a releasing drug at the NAT. On dopamine transporter expressing cells amantadine produced no significant inward currents suggesting a lower affinity at the DAT which is in agreement with the uptake data. In the cell viability assay ketamine blocked cytotoxicity in the µmol range restoring cell viability to more than 90% of that of cells without NMDA receptor induction. Contrary to this, amantadine was only partly protective at 300 µM. In NAT expressing cells the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine had the highest potency in blocking MPP+ induced toxicity. Amantadine was less potent than desipramine but 100µM had a significant effect and 300µM a strong protective effect restoring cell viability to 80% of vehicle treated cells

The Effect of Marker-less Augmented Reality on Task and Learning Performance

Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have evolved rapidly over the last years, particularly with regard to user interfaces, input devices, and cameras used in mobile devices for object and gesture recognition. While early AR systems relied on pre-defined trigger images or QR code markers, modern AR applications leverage machine learning techniques to identify objects in their physical environments. So far, only few empirical studies have investigated AR\u27s potential for supporting learning and task assistance using such marker-less AR. In order to address this research gap, we implemented an AR application (app)with the aim to analyze the effectiveness of marker-less AR applied in a mundane setting which can be used for on-the-job training and more formal educational settings. The results of our laboratory experiment show that while participants working with AR needed significantly more time to fulfill the given task, the participants who were supported by AR learned significantly more