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Empirical evidence is needed to corroborate the intuitions of gamers and game developers in understanding the benefits of Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) as a learning environment and the role that music plays within these environments. We report an investigation to determine if background music of the genre typically found in computer-based role-playing games has an effect on learning in a computer-animated history lesson about the Macquarie Lighthouse within an IVW. In Experiment 1, music stimuli were created from four different computer game soundtracks. Seventy-two undergraduate students watched the presentation and completed a survey including biographical details, questions on the historical material presented and questions relating to their perceived level of immersion. While the tempo and pitch of the music was unrelated to learning, music conditions resulted in a higher number of accurately remembered facts than the no music condition. One soundtrack showed a statistically significant improvement in memorisation of facts over other music conditions. Also an interaction between the levels of perceived immersion and ability to accurately remember facts was observed. Experiment 2, involving 48 undergraduate students, further investigated the effect of music, sense of immersion and how different display systems affect memory for facts. (Contains 7 figures and 1 table.)

Virtual reality (VR) technology can increase prosocial behaviour toward a target person or group by enhancing their empathic response for the subject, but such technology has not always improved learning outcomes. This interdisciplinary study compared the potential advantages of delivering the same learning material about daily life in an ancient Greek household via two modes of delivery: VR technology and classroom lecture. The VR group explored a Greek villa containing historical artefacts and virtual characters with whom they were able to interact through set dialogues. The dialogues illustrated social hierarchies, gender relations, the situation of slaves, cult practice, and religious beliefs. The classroom group received the same information in a classroom environment. Both randomly-assigned groups answered a multiple-choice quiz to evaluate the knowledge gained. They also responded to open-text questions designed to test the degree of empathy that was aroused. We found that classroom lecture delivery was significantly superior in terms of the acquisition of factual knowledge, consistent with cognitive learning theory. We identified this as learning with the mind. The immersive VR environment, however, imparted a level of empathic response to the lived experiences of people in ancient Greece; in that sense it allowed learning with the heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis develops over a long period of time and often begins in childhood. The goal of this study was to make a cross-sectional assessment of the pattern of cardiovascular disease risk factors among Australian vegetarian (n = 49) and nonvegetarian (n = 639) 14- to 17-year-old participants from New South Wales, Australia. Vegetarians had statistically significant lower mean total (4.05 vs 4.4 mmol/L; P <.001) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (2.18 vs 2.55 mmol/L; P <.001) and lower incidence of abnormal total and LDL cholesterol (31.1% vs 46.2%, P =.036, having total cholesterol ≥4.4 mmol/L and 13.3% vs 29.6%, P =.021, having LDL cholesterol ≥2.84 mmol/L). Vegetarians had a higher diastolic BP (72.0 vs 69.7 mm Hg; P =.038). No statistically significant difference was found in other risk factors including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P =.83), triglycerides (P =.601), systolic blood pressure (P =.727), body mass index (P =.159), plasma glucose (P =.09), C-reactive protein (P =.527), or homocysteine (P =.45). The prevalence rate with 3 or more risk factors was 12.2% among vegetarians and 13.9% among nonvegetarians (P =.156). The high percentage of abnormal total cholesterol in both diet groups and, in addition, LDL cholesterol in nonvegetarians is a cause of concern and underlines the need for lifestyle change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“We have too many first-year statistics students but too few who choose to major in statistics” is a common complaint among academics in the discipline of statistics, and our department is no exception. Many non-statistics academics appreciate the value of statistics to their discipline and include at least one statistics unit in their required units. However, students in such units often do not see the use of statistics within their discipline or the importance of learning statistics or quantitative skills in general, despite the current shortage of statisticians and deluge of data to be analysed. Our student numbers decline sharply by years of study, from first to second and from second to third. A handful of students who decide to major in statistics or decision science find themselves in high demand. In early 2016, just before the first semester started, we ran an event for the previous year’s successful first-year statistics students to encourage more students to choose statistics or decision science as a second major in addition to their existing majors. We worked with our alumni so that the second-year students heard talks mainly by people like them instead of like us – their lecturers. We called this event ‘Statistics: Your Ticket to Anywhere’. In this paper, we describe how we structured the event, its outcomes for the department, and how it helped us to “unveil the curtain” and to show the value of statistics to the students in their chosen fields of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High protein intake and reduced levels of the essential pyridine nucleotide nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) have both been independently associated with promotion of the ageing phenotype. However, it has not yet been shown whether these two independent observations are biochemically linked. To investigate this possibility, we used a cross-sectional study design of 100 apparently healthy middle-aged males (n = 48) and females, in which we assessed average dietary intakes of multiple components using a validated questionnaire. We also analysed fasting blood levels of urea, NAD+ and its metabolites, and inflammation-linked biomarkers, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), Kynurenine (Kyn), and Tryptophan (Trp). One-way ANOVA and ANCOVA were then performed for statistical analysis. Our results have shown for the first time that plasma levels of NAD+ and Total NAD(H) were lower with increasing protein intake (F (2, 92) = 4.61, P = 0.012; F (2, 92) = 4.55, P = 0.013, respectively). The associated decrease in NAD+ and NAD(H) levels was even stronger with increasing plasma levels of the protein breakdown product urea (F (2, 93) = 25.11, P≤0.001; F (2, 93) = 21.10, P≤0.001). These associations were all independent of age, gender and energy intake. However, no significant association was observed between protein intake or plasma urea, and plasma levels of NAD+ metabolites. We also observed that plasma levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, and both Kyn, and Trp, but not the Kyn/Trp ratio were higher with increasing plasma urea levels (F (2, 94) = 3.30, P = 0.041; F (2, 95) = 7.41, P≤0.001; F (2, 96) = 4.23, P = 0.017, respectively). These associations were dependent on eGFR and energy intake, except for the urea and Trp association that was independent of all. In conclusion, we report for the first time, a novel association between protein intake, its metabolism, and plasma NAD+ levels with a possible link to inflammation. These findings provide further insight into how protein restriction may contribute to the anti-ageing process observed in several studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dance has universally been used as a form of human expression for thousands of years. This common human behaviour and communication method has not been explored much in the context of computer-based technology, even within the field of virtual human research. This paper presents an experimental study investigating the impact of watching dancing virtual characters on human emotions. The study analysed the responses of 55 participants, composed of a mix of dancers and non-dancers, who watched a dancing virtual character perform 3 different dances that represented anger, sadness and happiness in different display orders. The participants’ reported changes in their emotions and their feelings of anger, sadness and happiness were significantly dependent on which dancing character’s emotion they watched and the emotional change did not rely on correct recognition of the depicted emotion. For experimental control, our characters were faceless and danced without music. Our results suggest that just by watching a dancing virtual character some of the benefits associated with dancing could be accessed in circumstances where it is not desirable or feasible to dance, justifying further research to develop a personalised character with a face and music that adapts according to the humans’ emotions and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]