Primary School Students' Experiences using Minecraft Education during a National Project-Based Initiative: An Irish Study.

Minecraft Education is a digital game-based learning platform that is thought to support the development of twenty-first century competencies and skills. The purpose of this study is to explore primary students' experiences of using Minecraft Education during an innovative national project-based initiative. The initiative had two phases: 1) educational episodes for teachers and students on how to use the platform and 2) a national competition that required students to re-imagine a sustainable version of their community. We used a mixed-methods design with a sample of classes taking part in the initiative. First, third to sixth class students (N = 173) completed a survey that examined: 1) learning opportunities with Minecraft Education, 2) ease of use, 3) usefulness, and 4) enjoyment. Eight focus group interviews were then conducted with a subsample of sixth class students (n = 30). Students indicated that 1) there were good opportunities for learning with Minecraft Education, particularly for creativity and collaboration, 2) the platform was easy to use and useful and, 3) using Minecraft Education was enjoyable. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data identified five themes: 'collaboration', 'opportunities for creativity', 'immersive learning environment', 'student engagement', and 'technology and digital skills'. This research highlights the value of innovative project-based learning activities with Minecraft Education for supporting student learning.

Using a systems thinking approach to understand teachers perceptions and use of assistive technology in the republic of Ireland.

PURPOSE: Assistive technology (AT) enables and promotes inclusion and participation, especially for persons with a disability, ageing populations, and those with non-communicable diseases. AT is essential for generating collaborative learning environments, inclusive of students with a range of specific needs and required supports. However, many teachers lack the training, resources, and skills to use AT in the class. This study uses a systems thinking approach to consider teachers AT needs in the Irish classroom. METHODS: Three hundred and five teachers completed an online survey, and 10 took part in semi-structured focus groups. The survey examined teachers experiences with AT, their training needs, and the context within which they need support. RESULTS: Teachers reported low levels of AT knowledge, skills, and confidence. Many described limited access to training and support for AT use. Results also reveal non-systems thinking, whereby there is no meaningful linking across the main strategic drivers of AT - policy, products, provision, and personnel, to support the people at the centre of the AT system - between these and the contextual factors that influence their effectiveness. CONCLUSION: An AT system which is easy to navigate, which has policies and provision that supports educators, and has expert personnel on hand to support teachers, is crucial if AT is to become embedded in Irish classrooms. This research shows that a comprehensive AT system in education should include policies, practices, personnel, and products that interact to support people to engage easily and successfully with AT in the classroom.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONDescribes current trends in how teachers are engaging with Assistive Technology.Describes the current trends in disabilities in Irish classroom and teachers requirements for support.Understand the system challenges facing teachers attempting to use Assistive Technology.Support the development of Assistive Technology training for teachers which are informed by teachers needs.Inform the development and improving policies and processes for common situations.

A Qualitative Study of Child and Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland.

Mitigating the adverse physical health risks associated with COVID-19 has been a priority of public health incentives. Less attention has been placed on understanding the psychological factors related to the global pandemic, especially among vulnerable populations. This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences of children and adolescents during COVID-19. This study interviewed 48 families during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and a national lockdown, to understand its impacts. The study used an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. Parents and children discussed the negative impact of the restrictions on young people's wellbeing. Children and adolescents experienced adverse mental health effects, including feelings of social isolation, depression, anxiety, and increases in maladaptive behaviour. Families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders reported increased mental health difficulties during this period mostly due to changes to routine. The findings highlight the impact of severe restrictions on vulnerable populations' wellbeing and mental health outcomes, including children, adolescents, and those with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Evaluating the effects of a total joint education class on patient outcomes.

As the population ages and as people live longer, there is a growing demand for total hip and total knee procedures. Possible outcomes for these procedures is a postoperative joint infection (PJI) that can cause long postoperative lengths of stay (LOS) in the hospital. The PJIs can also negatively impact the quality of life for the patient. Using the roadmap of the continuous quality improvement theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the independent variables (joint education class participation, body mass index [BMI], A1c, and smoking) and dependent variables (PJI and LOS). To evaluate the relationship with PJI, a logistical regression analyzed the sample population of 1216 patients and indicated a relationship between joint education class attendance and PJI among total hip patients, but not total knee patients when controlling for the other variables. The regression also indicated a significant relationship between BMI and smoking and PJIs, but it did not show a relationship between A1c/diabetes and PJI. To evaluate the relationship between joint class education and LOS a Poisson regression indicated that those who did not attended the joint education class, whether they had total hips or total knees, had a longer postoperative LOS. The implications for positive social change involve providing information to physicians and administrators regarding the effectiveness of the total joint education class in improving outcomes. This information could be used to justify the need for patient compliance with the class and/or the possible need for additional resources to support the total joint education program.

Integrity of Glycosylation Processing of a Glycan-Depleted Trimeric HIV-1 Immunogen Targeting Key B-Cell Lineages.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that target the trimeric HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein spike (Env) are tools that can guide the design of recombinant Env proteins intended to engage the predicted human germline precursors of bNAbs (gl-bNAbs). The protein components of gl-bNAb epitopes are often masked by glycans, while mature bNAbs can evolve to accommodate or bypass these shielding glycans. The design of germline-targeting Env immunogens therefore includes the targeted deletion of specific glycan sites. However, the processing of glycans on Env trimers can be influenced by the density with which they are packed together, a highly relevant point given the essential contributions under-processed glycans make to multiple bNAb epitopes. We sought to determine the impact of the removal of 15 potential N-glycan sites (5 per protomer) from the germline-targeting soluble trimer, BG505 SOSIP.v4.1-GT1, using quantitative, site-specific N-glycan mass spectrometry analysis. We find that, compared with SOSIP.664, there was little overall change in the glycan profile but only subtle increases in the extent of processing at sites immediately adjacent to where glycans had been deleted. We conclude that multiple glycans can be deleted from BG505 SOSIP trimers without perturbing the overall integrity of the glycan shield.

Continuous-variable quantum computing on encrypted data.

The ability to perform computations on encrypted data is a powerful tool for protecting a client's privacy, especially in today's era of cloud and distributed computing. In terms of privacy, the best solutions that classical techniques can achieve are unfortunately not unconditionally secure in the sense that they are dependent on a hacker's computational power. Here we theoretically investigate, and experimentally demonstrate with Gaussian displacement and squeezing operations, a quantum solution that achieves the security of a user's privacy using the practical technology of continuous variables. We demonstrate losses of up to 10 km both ways between the client and the server and show that security can still be achieved. Our approach offers a number of practical benefits (from a quantum perspective) that could one day allow the potential widespread adoption of this quantum technology in future cloud-based computing networks.