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Serious Games indicate positive effects on pre-K and K-6 students and scaffold learning in a more engaging and motivating approach. Research has shown that Serious Games provide students with variety, the potential for widening participation, and the ability to work at their own pace. Serious Games based Learning has proven its added value in almost every aspect of the curriculum knowledge, skills, and attitudes, namely, Reading, Writing and Language learning, Geometric and Mathematical thinking, Strategic and Reasoning abilities, Critical thinking, Problem solving and Creativity, Executive Control skills, Physics, Geography and Science courses.

Serious Games appear to benefit children with special needs and provide a multidimensional approach to learning. According to research, Serious Games can help Special Education Needs children stay interested in their study by increasing their motivation, independence, autonomy, and resulting self-esteem. In practically every subject area of the curriculum for preschool and primary education, serious game-based learning has demonstrated its contribution for students with attention, memory, and executive control issues as well as with mental or developmental disabilities.

Background/Aim: Meningiomas represent the main intracranial primary central nervous system (CNS) tumour in adults worldwide. Oncogenes’ over-activation combined with suppressor genes’ silencing affect negatively the biological behavior of these neoplasms. This study aimed to explore the impact of p53 suppressor gene expression in meningiomas’ clinic-pathological features based on a combination of sophisticated techniques. Materials and Methods: Fifty (n=50) meningiomas were included in the study, comprising a broad spectrum of histopathological sub-types. An immunohistochemistry assay was applied on tissue microarray cores followed by digital image analysis. Results: p53 protein over-expression (high staining intensity levels) was observed in 27/50 (54%) cases, whereas the rest (23/50-/46%) demonstrated moderate to low levels of the protein. p53 over-expression was statistically significantly correlated to the mitotic index of the examined cases (p-value=0.001). Interestingly, the atypical/anaplastic group of histotypes demonstrated the strongest p53 expression rates compared to the others (p-value=0.001). Conclusion: p53 over-expression is observed in a broad spectrum of meningiomas. High expression levels lead to an aggressive biological behavior of the malignancy (combined with increased mitotic rates), especially in atypical and anaplastic sub-types that also have a high recurrence rate.

Thyroid carcinoma represents a leading malignancy among those derived from human endocrine systems. It comprises a variety of different histological subtypes, including mainly papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, anaplastic carcinoma, and medullar carcinoma. A broad spectrum of genetic imbalances, comprising gross chromosomal (polysomy/aneuploidy) and specific gene (mutations, amplifications, deletions) alterations, has been reported. Interestingly, the role of isolated, specific gene polymorphisms, especially of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) type, in thyroid carcinoma is under investigation. SNPs are the most common genetic variations in the genome. The current molecular review focuses on the impact of specific SNPs on the biological behavior of papillary thyroid carcinoma in their carriers.

Eating habits of individuals with learning and behavioral difficulties is an important and emerging area of ​​nutrition expertise. An unhealthy diet, combined with limited physical activity, is linked with an increased risk of chronic diseases and a lower quality of life. The study aims to review in a systematic way evidence on: (a) the relationship between diet quality and ADHD; and (b) the effect of three lifestyle factors, physical activity, quality of sleep, and stress on children and adults with ADHD. In December 2020, we searched for relevant articles in PubMed and Scopus. The studies included were those that assessed diet, physical activity, sleep, and stress, of children and adults with ADHD. We identified a total of eighteen studies with an invasive and observational approach that matched our research criteria. Fourteen of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis showed that a high-diet quality decreases the prevalence of ADHD in children (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.28-0.70), while a poor diet quality is associated with an increased risk of ADHD in both children and adults (OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.49-3.65). Also, a poor lifestyle indicates a higher prevalence of ADHD in both children and adults (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.43-2.61). This study is limited to its ability to extract data from some of the included studies while sampling was limited due to the absence of studies in adults with ADHD. The present study suggests that a high-quality diet with increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fish, may be protective against ADHD in children. On top of that, a poor-quality diet with higher consumption of sugar, sweetened drinks, and junk food, as well as a lifestyle that is characterized by reduced sleep and physical activity can be associated with increased risk of ADHD, for both children and adults. The current domain needs more experimental data

Explicit wave models and expensive sensor equipment capable of predicting and measuring wave parameters often carry a prohibitive computational and financial expense. To counter this, this paper proposes an alternative method for nowcasting coastal zone significant wave heights through the joint use of meteorological and structural data in the training of supervised machine learning models. In testing the hypothesis that structural data can improve model classification, artificial neural network and decision tree models were developed, trained and tested on field data recorded on a coastal jetty located in the southern coasts of Cyprus. A comprehensive investigation of the different models yields that the joint use of meteorological and structural features can improve classification performance, regardless of the network choice. It is also demonstrated that redundancy of training parameters could inject unwanted overfitting, reducing model generalization. To address this, a method for quantifying feature importance has been proposed by exploiting the nature of decision tree algorithms and the Gini impurity index, reaffirming that structural features do indeed benefit model classification. These results highlight the potential of tapping into the untapped pool of structural data for significant wave height prediction, paving the way for new research to be undertaken in this direction.

The aim of this article is to explore a paradigm shift on Brain Computer Interface (BCI) research, as well as on intervention best practices for training and rehabilitation of students with neurodevelopmental disorders. Recent studies indicate that BCI devices have positive impact on students' attention skills and working memory as well as on other skills, such as visuospatial, social, imaginative and emotional abilities. BCI applications aim to emulate humans' brain and address the appropriate understanding for each student's neurodevelopmental disorders. Studies conducted to provide knowledge about BCI-based intervention applications regarding memory, attention, visuospatial, learning, collaboration, and communication, social, creative and emotional skills are highlighted. Only non-invasive BCI type of applications are being investigated based upon representative, non-exhaustive and state-of-the-art studies within the field. This article examines the progress of BCI research so far, while different BCI paradigms are investigated. BCI-based applications could successfully regulate students' cognitive abilities when used for their training and rehabilitation. Future directions to investigate BCI-based applications for training and rehabilitation of students with neurodevelopmental disorders concerning the different populations involved are discussed., Education; Neuroscience; Psychology; Evaluation in education; Evidence-based education; Health education; Pedagogy; Teaching research; Brain computer interface; Rehabilitation; Cognitive disabilities; Intervention; Neurofeedback; Neurodevelopmental disorders; BCI; EEG

This paper proposes an alternative method for nowcasting significant wave height (Hs) through the development of hierarchical machine learning classification models. In testing the hypothesis that hierarchical classification can improve Hs prediction, flat and hierarchical classifiers were developed and tested on field-data recorded on a coastal jetty located in the southern coasts of Cyprus. A comprehensive investigation of the performance of flat over hierarchical classification models yields that the proposed method provides greater flexibility throughout the model development stages. This flexibility is attributed to the manipulation of data before training, optimization of classifier's hyperparameters during training, and the curtailment of features post-training at each level of the hierarchy. It is demonstrated that, the hierarchical approach resulted in better classification performance across a plethora of performance metrics established for a comprehensive comparison. It is also shown that the increased performance of the proposed approach comes at the expense of complexity arising from performing computationally expensive operations and the requirement for development of multiple local classifiers. Still, the increased classification performance of the hierarchical approach highlights the potential of this original method and the requirement for a rigid framework to be constructed for the development of hierarchical models for Hs prediction.

Novel vitamin E chelate derivatives and their VIV/V complexes have been synthesized and characterized, and their anticancer properties have been evaluated. The new complexes have been designed to exhibit enhanced cytotoxicity by combining high lipophilicity with the properties of vanadium to induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In particular, the β-tocopherol derivatives with iminodiethanol (β-tocDEA) and dipicolylamine (β-tocDPA) as well their VV and VIV complexes, [VVO(β-tocDEA] and [VIVO(β-tocDPA] have been synthesized and characterized by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Ultra Violet-Visible (UV–Vis) and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. Although the β-tocopherol compounds exhibit antioxidant activity their complexes induce formation of radicals. In addition, two vanadium amphiphilic complexes of 2,2′-((2-hydroxyoctadecyl)azanediyl)bis(ethan-1-ol) (C18DEA) and 1-(bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)octadecan-2-ol (C18DPA) known to activate O2 and produce ROS were synthesized and characterized (C. Drouza, A. Dieronitou, I. Hadjiadamou, M. Stylianou, J. Agric. Food. Chem., vol. 65, 2017, pp. 4942–4951). The four amphiphilic vanadium complexes exhibit enhanced hydrolytic stability. All compounds found to be cytotoxic for cancer cells exhibiting activity similar or higher to cis-platin.

In order to fulfill the demands for sustainable hydrogen production, novel, more efficient and inexpensive (precious metal-free) catalysts are thoroughly investigated. In the present study, a nanostructured Mo carbide film is prepared, using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process in Cu vapor, which promotes CH4 decomposition and the rapid carbonization of a commercial Mo foil. Structural X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals the orthorhombic crystal structure of the film. The Mo carbide film is tested as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media. The interconnection between the carbide and the underlying Mo foil leads to an enhanced electrocatalytic activity (Tafel slope − 65 mV/dev, overpotential at 10 mA/cm2 – 330 mV), followed by excellent durability after 1000 cycles. Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) provides clear evidences verifying the enhanced activity on the carbonized Mo surface. Furthermore, an increase in the carbon precursor flow favors the simultaneous growth of graphene/Mo2C heterostrustructure that forms a vertical stack and exhibits even greater electrocatalytic properties. Thus, the heterostructure possesses Tafel slope and overpotential of 56 mV/dec, at n = 212–218 mV, and 270 mV, respectively, which approach values of commercially available Pt catalysts.

Summary Introduction There is still no consensus on the need for routine removal of titanium miniplates in the maxillofacial skeleton. The purpose of this 4-year prospective study was to evaluate the reasons for removal of titanium miniplates ("2.0mm") following maxillofacial trauma. Material and methods Records of 280 patients were evaluated concerning the number of plates inserted, the site of plating, the number of patients in whom plates were removed, the site of removal and the reasons for which removal of plates was indicated. Results In the 280 patients with facial trauma, 599 miniplates were used during this period. Thirty-seven miniplates were removed from 27 of these patients. The main causes for removal were infection and exposure of the plate in the oral cavity, patients' request and/or the plates being palpable. The nasofrontal region, the area around the anterior wall of the antrum and the body of the mandible proved to be the commonest regions where plate removal was required. Conclusion The number of miniplates removed was small but not insignificant. There is no evidence from this study to support advice for the routine removal of titanium miniplates from the maxillofacial skeleton.