Puzzles Unpuzzled

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (CHI PLAY) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Andrey Krekhov ◽  
Katharina Emmerich ◽  
Ronja Rotthaler ◽  
Jens Krueger
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Design Framework ◽  
Emotional Challenges ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Current State ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
High Level

Escape rooms exist in various forms, including real-life facilities, board games, and digital implementations. The underlying idea is always the same: players have to solve many diverse puzzles to (virtually) escape from a locked room. Within the last decade, we witnessed a rapidly increasing popularity of such games, which also amplified the amount of related research. However, the respective academic landscape is mostly fragmented in its current state, lacking a common model and vocabulary that would withstand these games' variety. This manuscript aims to establish such a foundation for the analysis and construction of escape rooms. In a first step, we derive a high-level design framework from prior literature. Then, as our main contribution, we establish an atomic puzzle taxonomy that closes the gap between the analog and digital domains. The taxonomy is developed in multiple steps: we compose a basic structure based on previous literature and systematically refine it by analyzing 39 analog and digital escape room games, including recent virtual reality representatives. The final taxonomy consists of mental, physical, and emotional challenges, thereby providing a robust and approachable basis for future works across all application domains that deal with escape rooms or puzzles in general.

Managing Third Sector Organizations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Murdock ◽  
Stephen Barber
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Third Sector Organizations ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Core ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Third Sector ◽  
High Level ◽  
Managerial Perspective ◽  
Stakeholder Environment

What is the state of what can be described as management in the third sector? At its heart, it discusses the long-held assertion that these organizations are reluctant to accept the need for ‘management’. After all, what makes third sector organizations different, by their own estimation, from their commercial equivalents is the deeply embedded concepts of mission and values together with a distinctly complex stakeholder environment. For all that, there are also “commercial” pressures and an instinct for survival. To serve the mission necessarily needs resources. And there is a perennial tension in high-level decision-making between delivery of the mission and maintaining solvency. Third-sector organizations, like any other, are innately concerned with their own sustainability. It is here that the analysis is located and there is an opportunity to examine the topic theoretically and empirically. By introducing the concept of the “Management See-Saw” to illustrate the competing drivers of values and commercialism before exploring these identified pressures through the lens of three real-life vignettes, it is possible to appreciate the current state of play. Given all this, it is important for modern organizations to be able to measure value and impact. From a managerial perspective, the reality needs to be acknowledged that this environment is complex and multi-layered. In drawing the strands together, the discussion concludes by illustrating the importance of leadership in the sector, which is a powerful indicator of effectiveness. Nevertheless, with a focus on management, the core contention is that management remains undervalued in the third sector. That said, commercial focus can increasingly be identified and the longer term trend is squarely in this direction.

scholarly journals Obstacle Tower: A Generalization Challenge in Vision, Control, and Planning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Juliani ◽  
Ahmed Khalifa ◽  
Vincent-Pierre Berges ◽  
Jonathan Harper ◽  
Ervin Teng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
High Fidelity ◽  
Level Control ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Current State ◽  
Vision Control ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
High Level ◽  
Planning Problems

The rapid pace of recent research in AI has been driven in part by the presence of fast and challenging simulation environments. These environments often take the form of games; with tasks ranging from simple board games, to competitive video games. We propose a new benchmark - Obstacle Tower: a high fidelity, 3D, 3rd person, procedurally generated environment. An agent in Obstacle Tower must learn to solve both low-level control and high-level planning problems in tandem while learning from pixels and a sparse reward signal. Unlike other benchmarks such as the Arcade Learning Environment, evaluation of agent performance in Obstacle Tower is based on an agent's ability to perform well on unseen instances of the environment. In this paper we outline the environment and provide a set of baseline results produced by current state-of-the-art Deep RL methods as well as human players. These algorithms fail to produce agents capable of performing near human level.

Method of virtual reality for early comprehensive rehabilitation of patients with acute stroke

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
N. Nozdryukhina ◽  
E. Kabayeva ◽  
E. Kirilyuk ◽  
K. Tushova ◽  
A. Karimov
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Acute Stroke ◽  
Functional Outcome ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Stroke Disability ◽  
Comprehensive Rehabilitation ◽  
High Level

Despite significant advances in the treatment and rehabilitation of stroke, level of post-stroke disability remains at a fairly high level. Recent innovative developments in the rehabilitation of these patients provide good results in terms of functional outcome. One of such developments is method of virtual reality (VR), which affects not only the speed and volume of regaining movement, as well as coordination, but also normalizes the psycho-emotional background, increasing the motivation of patients to improve the recovery process. This article provides a literature review of the use of the VR method in the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients, neurophysiological aspects of recovery of lost functions using this method are considered.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ КУРСАНТОВ КАК НЕОБХОДИМОЕ УСЛОВИЕ СТАНОВЛЕНИЯ СОТРУДНИКА УИС

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Votinov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Professional Culture ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Successful Performance ◽  
Current State ◽  
Professional Self ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Executive System ◽  
High Level

Современное состояние и развитие уголовно-исполнительной системы Российской Федерации диктует необходимость овладения будущими специалистами комплексом определенных знаний, умений и навыков, позволяющих им эффективно решать служебные задачи. Одним из путей повышения профессионального уровня специалистов является формирование и развитие профессиональной культуры. Проведенный в статье анализ понятия «профессиональная культура» позволяет констатировать сложность его содержания, что связано с особенностями профессиональной деятельности сотрудников УИС, многообразием решаемых задач. Автором подробно исследуется процесс формирования профессиональной культуры в вузах ФСИН России, рассматриваются особенности работы в данном направлении профессорско-преподавательского состава, командиров строевых подразделений, сотрудников отделов по работе с личным составом, приводятся возникающие при этом проблемы и предлагаются возможные пути решения. Отмечается, что успешность формирования профессиональной культуры курсантов зависит от их профессионализма, дисциплинированности, инициативности, настойчивости и личного примера сотрудников. В заключение подчеркивается, что высокий уровень профессиональной культуры сотрудника УИС является условием успешной служебной деятельности и целью дальнейшего профессионального самосовершенствования.The current state and development of the criminal Executive system of the Russian Federation dictates the need for future specialists to master a set of certain knowledge, skills and abilities that allow them to solve official tasks effectively. One of the ways to improve the professional level of specialists is the formation and development of professional culture. The analysis of the concept of «professional culture» in the article allows us to state the complexity of its content, which is associated with the peculiarities of professional activity of employees of the UIS, the variety of tasks to be solved. The author studies in detail the process of formation of professional culture in the universities of the Federal penitentiary service of Russia, examines the features of work in this direction of the teaching staff, commanders of combat units, employees of departments for work with personnel, presents the problems arising in this case and suggests possible solutions. It is noted that the success of the formation of professional culture of cadets depends on their professionalism, discipline, initiative, perseverance and personal example. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the high level of professional culture of the employee is a condition of successful performance and the purpose of further professional self-improvement.

Novel Therapeutic Approaches and Targets for Treatment of Chronic Urticaria: New Insights and Promising Targets for a Challenging Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-45
Author(s):  
Emanuela Martina ◽  
Federico Diotallevi ◽  
Tommaso Bianchelli ◽  
Matteo Paolinelli ◽  
Annamaria Offidani
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Immunosuppressive Agents ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria ◽  
New Targets ◽  
Current State ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Novel Drugs

Background: Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) is a disease characterized by the onset of wheals and/or angioedema over 6 weeks. The pathophysiology for CSU is very complex, involving mast cells and basophils with a multitude of inflammatory mediators. For many years the treatment of CSU has been based on the use of antihistamines, steroids and immunosuppressive agents with inconstant and frustrating results. The introduction of omalizumab, the only licensed biologic for antihistamine- refractory CSU, has changed the management of the disease. Objective: The aim of this article is to review the current state of the art of CSU, the real-life experience with omalizumab and the promising drugs that are under development. Methods:: An electronic search was performed to identify studies, case reports, guidelines and reviews focused on the new targets for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria, both approved or under investigation. The search was limited to articles published in peer-reviewed journals in the English Language in the PubMed database and trials registered in Clinicaltrials.gov. Results:: Since the advent of omalizumab, the search for new therapies for chronic spontaneous urticaria has had a new impulse. Anti-IgE drugs will probably still be the cornerstone of therapy, but new targets may prove effective in syndromic urticaria or refractory cases. Conclusion:: Although omalizumab has been a breakthrough in the treatment of CSU, many patients do not completely get benefit and even require more effective treatments. Novel drugs are under investigation with promising results.

scholarly journals Assessment of Wheelchair Propulsion Performance in an Immersive Virtual Reality Simulator

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8016
Author(s):  
Yu-Sheng Yang ◽  
Alicia M. Koontz ◽  
Yu-Hsuan Hsiao ◽  
Cheng-Tang Pan ◽  
Jyh-Jong Chang
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Spinal Cord Injuries ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Wheelchair Propulsion ◽  
Subjective Data ◽  
Wheelchair Users ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Propulsion Performance

Maneuvering a wheelchair is an important necessity for the everyday life and social activities of people with a range of physical disabilities. However, in real life, wheelchair users face several common challenges: articulate steering, spatial relationships, and negotiating obstacles. Therefore, our research group has developed a head-mounted display (HMD)-based intuitive virtual reality (VR) stimulator for wheelchair propulsion. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of this VR stimulator for wheelchair propulsion performance. Twenty manual wheelchair users (16 men and 4 women) with spinal cord injuries ranging from T8 to L2 participated in this study. The differences in wheelchair propulsion kinematics between immersive and non-immersive VR environments were assessed using a 3D motion analysis system. Subjective data of the HMD-based intuitive VR stimulator were collected with a Presence Questionnaire and individual semi-structured interview at the end of the trial. Results indicated that propulsion performance was very similar in terms of start angle (p = 0.34), end angle (p = 0.46), stroke angle (p = 0.76), and shoulder movement (p = 0.66) between immersive and non-immersive VR environments. In the VR episode featuring an uphill journey, an increase in propulsion speed (p < 0.01) and cadence (p < 0.01) were found, as well as a greater trunk forward inclination (p = 0.01). Qualitative interviews showed that this VR simulator made an attractive, novel impression and therefore demonstrated the potential as a tool for stimulating training motivation. This HMD-based intuitive VR stimulator can be an effective resource to enhance wheelchair maneuverability experiences.

scholarly journals A Review of Algorithms and Hardware Implementations for Spiking Neural Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Duy-Anh Nguyen ◽  
Xuan-Tu Tran ◽  
Francesca Iacopi
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Training Algorithms ◽  
Current State ◽  
Hardware Implementations ◽  
Neuromorphic Hardware ◽  
High Level ◽  
Event Based ◽  
Hardware Platforms

Deep Learning (DL) has contributed to the success of many applications in recent years. The applications range from simple ones such as recognizing tiny images or simple speech patterns to ones with a high level of complexity such as playing the game of Go. However, this superior performance comes at a high computational cost, which made porting DL applications to conventional hardware platforms a challenging task. Many approaches have been investigated, and Spiking Neural Network (SNN) is one of the promising candidates. SNN is the third generation of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), where each neuron in the network uses discrete spikes to communicate in an event-based manner. SNNs have the potential advantage of achieving better energy efficiency than their ANN counterparts. While generally there will be a loss of accuracy on SNN models, new algorithms have helped to close the accuracy gap. For hardware implementations, SNNs have attracted much attention in the neuromorphic hardware research community. In this work, we review the basic background of SNNs, the current state and challenges of the training algorithms for SNNs and the current implementations of SNNs on various hardware platforms.

Criteria for the Evaluation of Social Policy Effectiveness of States

2014 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Author(s):  
V. Sautkina
Keyword(s):  
Developed Countries ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
State Control ◽  
National Education ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Cost

The following article is devoted to the study of current state of national education and healthcare systems. The cost of services in these areas constantly increases, there for even developed countries are forced to make significant efforts in order to maintain earlier achieved results. Due to this reason countries entered into the period of constant reforms with the purpose of maintaining that high level of health and educational services for all segments of population with a constant reduction of its volume of financing. The legal aspects of these changes are requiring manifestation of the will of politicians in order to overcome the opposition of parties which are defending their interests. As an example, the main opponents of the healthcare reforms proposed by Barak Obama in the USA are Republicans who are concerned about a significant increase of a state control over the entire national insurance system. The author comes to the conclusion that only joint actions of the government and every segment of population might actually improve the quality of medical and educational services.

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