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Background: Being easy to learn and fun, block-based programming tools are widely used to teach students introductory programming. Scratch and LEGO robots are two popular block-based programming tools. However, the objects they manipulate are completely different. Scratch manipulates graphical virtual sprites, whereas LEGO robots manipulate physical robots. Different manipulating objects may bring students varied learning experiences. Objectives: This study compared undergraduate students' learning engagement and flow experience when programming on Scratch and LEGO robots. Methods: The study was conducted in a programming course which involved 28 Chinese undergraduates. At the end of the 14-week course, all students were requested to complete the questionnaire twice, one for their perceptions of Scratch and the other for those of LEGO robotics. Three semi-structured focus-group interviews were also conducted for students' perceptions of the course. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that LEGO robots scored significantly higher on behavioural and emotional engagement, while cognitive engagement was not significantly different. As for the flow experience, Scratch provided students with a greater sense of control, while LEGO robots allowed students to experience temporal distortion. There were no significant differences in terms of clear goals and immediate feedback. Takeaways: Our study contributes to a better understanding of students' engagement and flow experience in block-based programming and helps teachers select appropriate programming tools for teaching.

Glioblastoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in the central nervous system. Due to the high plasticity, heterogeneity and complexity of the tumor microenvironment, these tumors are resistant to almost all therapeutic strategies when they reach an advanced stage. Along with being a unique and effective way to kill cancer cells, tumor-treating fields (TTFields) has emerged as a breakthrough among glioblastoma therapies since the advent of temozolomide (TMZ), and the combination of these treatments has gradually been promoted and applied in the clinic. The combination of TTFields with other therapies is particularly suitable for this type of "cold" tumors and has attracted a large amount of attention from clinicians and researchers in the era of cancer cocktail therapy. Here, we introduced the current treatment regimen for glioblastoma, highlighting the unique advantages of TTFields in the treatment of glioblastoma. Then, we summarized current glioblastoma clinical trials that combine TTFields and other therapies. In addition, the main and potential mechanisms of TTFields were introduced to further understand the rationale for each combination therapy. Finally, we focused on the most advanced technologies applied in glioblastoma research and treatment and the prospect of their combination with TTFields. This review provides a unique overview of glioblastoma treatment., Competing Interests: None., (AJCR Copyright © 2021.)

Purpose: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal malignancy of the female reproductive system, and the prevention and treatment of ovarian carcinoma are still far from optimal. Epidemiological studies reported that ovarian cancer risk was inversely associated with low level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)]. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the chemoprevention of vitamin D on epithelial ovarian cancer induced by 7, 12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene (DMBA)., Methods: The mouse ovarian surface epithelial cells were isolated from estrus mice by mild trypsinization and maintained in completed culture medium by repeated passaging. The malignant transformation of mouse ovarian surface epithelial cells was induced by DMBA in vitro. DMBA was directly injected into the bursa of mouse ovary to produce optimized in vivo ovarian cancer model., Results: The results indicate that 1α,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 may delay malignant transformation of mouse ovarian surface epithelial cells induced by DMBA and significantly decreased the colony formation rate from 18.4% to 3.2% (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between incidence of DMBA-induced tumor and 25-hydroxy vitamin D level (R (2)=0.978, P<0.05). Vitamin D3 can delay the progression of ovarian cancer induced by DMBA, and the administration of vitamin D3 during the whole process worked more effectively than the administration only during tumor initiation or promotion. Moreover, we found the vitamin D3 increased the expression of E-cadherin and vitamin D receptor while it decreased the expression of β-catenin., Conclusion: We succeeded in establishment of epithelial ovarian cancer models both in vitro and in vivo. The DMBA-implanted model in mice yields high incidence and specificity of epithelial derived tumors. We also found that vitamin D delays the progression of ovarian cancer. However, spontaneous epithelial ovarian carcinoma models are still to be explored for testing the preventive effects of vitamin D on epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: The evidence for vitamin D reducing cancer risk is inconsistent, and it is not clear whether this reduction is related to variation in cytochrome P450 (CYP)24A1, the only enzyme known to degrade active vitamin D. We focused on evaluating the association of CYP24A1-rs2296241 polymorphism with hormone-related cancer risk by conducting a meta-analysis., Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in April 2014 (updated in December 2014) to identify eligible studies. A random-effects model was used to pool the odds ratio (OR)., Results: Eleven studies including 5,145 cases and 5,136 controls were considered for the allelic model, and eight studies of 3,959 cases and 3,560 controls were utilized for the additive, recessive, and dominant models. There was no significant association between CYP24A1-rs2296241 and hormone-related cancer risk in any of the models, yet substantial heterogeneity was observed. Subgroup analyses indicated that CYP24A1-rs2296241 variation reduced the prostate cancer risk in the additive (OR 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.85-0.97) and recessive (OR 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.67-0.95) models, with no evidence of heterogeneity., Conclusion: This meta-analysis indicated that CYP24A1-rs2296241 polymorphism reduced the androgen-related prostate cancer risk in additive and recessive models. More genetic loci are needed to confirm the effect of CYP24A1 variation on the risk of prostate cancer.