Search

Blogs are useful interaction tools to promote learners' knowledge construction and interaction in online teaching activities. On the other hand, although many studies show that mindtools facilitate learners' cognitive process, little research focus on their effects on learners' higher order cognitive thinking in blogs. This research developed a learning environment by using a mindtool-based blog to promote learners' higher order cognitive thinking in their online discussions and to assess their learning effects. The participants were 276 senior high school students from an information ethics class. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted in this research. The control group used the ordinary blogs. The Experimental Group 1 used the basic mindtools in blogs, which means that learners can use all the mindtool functions except the "Knowledge Compilation" function. The Experimental Group 2 used the advanced mindtools in blogs, which means that they can use all the mindtool functions, including the "Knowledge Compilation" function. The results indicated that both experimental groups showed better learning effects and more higher order cognitive thinking than the control group. Moreover, the higher order cognitive thinking category "Analyze" was found more often in the Experimental Group 2 than in the Experimental Group 1.

Background: Deep learning–based segmentation algorithms usually required large or multi‐institute data sets to improve the performance and ability of generalization. However, protecting patient privacy is a key concern in the multi‐institutional studies when conventional centralized learning (CL) is used. Purpose: To explores the feasibility of a proposed lesion delineation for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) scheme for federated learning (FL), which can solve decentralization and privacy protection concerns. Study Type: Retrospective. Subjects: 506 and 118 vestibular schwannoma patients aged 15–88 and 22–85 from two institutes, respectively; 1069 and 256 meningioma patients aged 12–91 and 23–85, respectively; 574 and 705 brain metastasis patients aged 26–92 and 28–89, respectively. Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5T, spin‐echo, and gradient‐echo [Correction added after first online publication on 21 August 2023. Field Strength has been changed to "1.5T" from "5T" in this sentence.]. Assessment: The proposed lesion delineation method was integrated into an FL framework, and CL models were established as the baseline. The effect of image standardization strategies was also explored. The dice coefficient was used to evaluate the segmentation between the predicted delineation and the ground truth, which was manual delineated by neurosurgeons and a neuroradiologist. Statistical Tests: The paired t‐test was applied to compare the mean for the evaluated dice scores (p < 0.05). Results: FL performed the comparable mean dice coefficient to CL for the testing set of Taipei Veterans General Hospital regardless of standardization and parameter; for the Taichung Veterans General Hospital data, CL significantly (p < 0.05) outperformed FL while using bi‐parameter, but comparable results while using single‐parameter. For the non‐SRS data, FL achieved the comparable applicability to CL with mean dice 0.78 versus 0.78 (without standardization), and outperformed to the baseline models of two institutes. Data Conclusion: The proposed lesion delineation successfully implemented into an FL framework. The FL models were applicable on SRS data of each participating institute, and the FL exhibited comparable mean dice coefficient to CL on non‐SRS dataset. Standardization strategies would be recommended when FL is used. Level of Evidence: 4 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The delineation of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) is crucial for subsequent treatment planning. Manual segmentation is time‐consuming and labor‐intensive. Applying deep learning to automatically detect and segment bAVM might help to improve clinical practice efficiency. Purpose: To develop an approach for detecting bAVM and segmenting its nidus on Time‐of‐flight magnetic resonance angiography using deep learning methods. Study Type: Retrospective. Subjects: 221 bAVM patients aged 7–79 underwent radiosurgery from 2003 to 2020. They were split into 177 training, 22 validation, and 22 test data. Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5 T, Time‐of‐flight magnetic resonance angiography based on 3D gradient echo. Assessment: The YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 algorithms were utilized to detect bAVM lesions and the U‐Net and U‐Net++ models to segment the nidus from the bounding boxes. The mean average precision, F1, precision, and recall were used to assess the model performance on the bAVM detection. To evaluate the model's performance on nidus segmentation, the Dice coefficient and balanced average Hausdorff distance (rbAHD) were employed. Statistical Tests: The Student's t‐test was used to test the cross‐validation results (P < 0.05). The Wilcoxon rank test was applied to compare the median for the reference values and the model inference results (P < 0.05). Results: The detection results demonstrated that the model with pretraining and augmentation performed optimally. The U‐Net++ with random dilation mechanism resulted in higher Dice and lower rbAHD, compared to that without that mechanism, across varying dilated bounding box conditions (P < 0.05). When combining detection and segmentation, the Dice and rbAHD were statistically different from the references calculated using the detected bounding boxes (P < 0.05). For the detected lesions in the test dataset, it showed the highest Dice of 0.82 and the lowest rbAHD of 5.3%. Data Conclusion: This study showed that pretraining and data augmentation improved YOLO detection performance. Properly limiting lesion ranges allows for adequate bAVM segmentation. Level of Evidence: 4 Technical Efficacy Stage: 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers suggest that game-based learning (GBL) can be used to facilitate mathematics learning. However, empirical GBL research that targets young children is still limited. The purposes of the study is to develop a scenario-based digital game to promote children's route-planning ability, to empirically explore children's learning performance in route planning through the game, and to probe children's technology acceptance of the game. A total of 71 children participated in the study, and both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used, including an interview analysis as well as performance and content analyses of learners' route-planning tasks. The findings showed that the game had a positive effect on children's learning of route-planning strategies, that children's route-planning strategies were improved with the support of the game, and that children demonstrated high technology acceptance toward the game. This study may be of importance in offering insight into children's GBL.

Simple Summary: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers and can be difficult to treat. One of the treatment methods uses drugs that target a protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor, but the results vary from patient to patient. In this research, we used a technique called radiomics, which involves analyzing detailed scans of the patients' tumors, to see if we can predict who will respond best to these drugs. We reviewed previous studies and found that this method was promising, with patients showing certain patterns on their scans more likely to have longer periods without disease progression. However, more research is needed to confirm these findings and develop reliable methods of using these scans in clinical practice. In the context of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), this research evaluated the prognostic value of CT-based radiomics. A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of studies up to April 2023, which included 3111 patients, was conducted. We utilized the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool and radiomics quality scoring (RQS) system to assess the quality of the included studies. Our analysis revealed a pooled hazard ratio for progression-free survival of 2.80 (95% confidence interval: 1.87–4.19), suggesting that patients with certain radiomics features had a significantly higher risk of disease progression. Additionally, we calculated the pooled Harrell's concordance index and area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.71 and 0.73, respectively, indicating good predictive performance of radiomics. Despite these promising results, further studies with consistent and robust protocols are needed to confirm the prognostic role of radiomics in NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' conceptions of and approaches to learning science in two different forms: internet-assisted instruction and traditional (face-to-face only) instruction. The participants who took part in the study were 79 college students enrolled in a physiology class in north Taiwan. In all, 46 of the participants were from one class and 33 were from another class. Using a quasi-experimental research approach, the class of 46 students was assigned to be the "internet-assisted instruction group," whereas the class of 33 students was assigned to be the "traditional instruction group." The treatment consisted of a series of online inquiry activities. To explore the effects of different forms of instruction on students' conceptions of and approaches to learning science, two questionnaires were administered before and after the instruction: the Conceptions of Learning Science Questionnaire and the Approaches to Learning Science Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance results revealed that the students in the internet-assisted instruction group showed less agreement than the traditional instruction group in the less advanced conceptions of learning science (such as learning as memorizing and testing). In addition, the internet-assisted instruction group displayed significantly more agreement than the traditional instruction group in more sophisticated conceptions (such as learning as seeing in a new way). Moreover, the internet-assisted instruction group expressed more orientation toward the approaches of deep motive and deep strategy than the traditional instruction group. However, the students in the internet-assisted instruction group also showed more surface motive than the traditional instruction group did. (Contains 2 tables.)

Promoting dementia‐friendly communities is an important strategy for improving quality of life for people with dementia and dementia‐family caregivers. The process of building dementia‐friendly communities should include all people living in the community. The objective of this study was to compare perceived dementia friendliness in the community among people with dementia, family caregivers, service providers, and the general public. In Taiwan, we surveyed 60 people with dementia, 140 family caregivers, and 200 members of the general public face to face, with 200 service providers surveyed by mail. Participants completed the Perceived Community Dementia Friendliness measure, consisting of seven subscales: care services, community members, community environment, community interactions, transportation, hospitals, and stores and organisations. This measure has acceptable convergent validity, construct validity, and internal consistency reliability for use in Taiwan. Differences in perceived dementia friendliness were examined by chi‐square tests/analysis of variance. Among the seven subscales, hospitals were rated with good dementia friendliness by 70% of people with dementia (n = 42); however, care services were rated poor by 23.3% of people with dementia (n = 14). Hospitals were also rated with good dementia friendliness by 39.2% of family caregivers (n = 54). Care services were rated as having good dementia friendliness by 43.5% of service providers (n = 87) and 47% of the general public (n = 86). Furthermore, community interactions were rated as good by small percentages of family caregivers (11.4%, n = 16), service providers (22.2%, n = 44), and the general public (30.9%, n = 58). Family caregivers, service providers, and the general public rated hospitals with the highest mean dementia‐friendliness score and community interactions with the lowest. Perceived community‐dementia friendliness among participants with dementia differed from that of participants without. People with dementia prioritised improving care services, while people without dementia rated facilitating community interactions as more vital. These differences provide vital insights into understanding the policies and administration of dementia‐friendly communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]