This paper argues that Cultural-Historical neuropsychology provides a solid theoretical framework for the assessment of reading difficulties.The objective of the paper is to discuss how reading process and reading difficulties are perceived through the prism of Cultural-Historical neuropsychology.This paper is of a theoretical and methodological nature, directed to practice and research in the field of neuropsychology.This paper provides an outline of the fundamental concepts and principles of Cultural–Historical theory that are relevant to the assessment of reading difficulties. It provides a blueprint for the assessment of difficulties in reading Spanish via a presentation of data on common mistakes and their relationship to neuropsychological factors.The crucial role of in-school teaching in facilitating students to avoid developing reading difficulties, or to overcome them, is highlighted. They are subject to instruction and should be introduced as voluntary and conscientious intellectual actions, first as a joint action between school teachers and children. In line with systemic, dynamic, and hierarchical representation of psychological actions as functional systems .The consideration of the content of operations which take part in the process of reading allows for the establishment of a relationship with the brain’s action of reading via the application of the concept of a functional system.  systems . The braAccording to Luria’s proposal for the consideration of functional brain organization , the rea… voluntary movement is the basis of the joint work of diverse brain sectors, and if the apparatus of the first block guarantees the necessary muscle tone, without which no kind of coordinated movement would be possible, the apparatus of the second brain block provides the possibility of afferent synthesis, on which systemic basis the movement takes place, so that the third functional brain block ensures that the whole process of the movement and the action according to the corresponding intentions, creates the programs and the motor realization, and guarantees regulation and control of the course of the movements in order to preserve an organized and conscious character” (p. 123).A functional system may be stable if the subject accomplishes a high level of learning of the action, or unstable if the subject only happens to start the learning process or encounters any kind of obstacles or difficulties in the process for any reason . A funct… each form of conscious activity is always represented as a complex functional system and is fulfilled with the help of joint work of three cerebral blocks, each of which accomplishes its own participation in the realization of the psychological process (p. 123).The task of Cultural-Historical neuropsychology is not to provide a diagnostic label , but to study the origin of the difficulties from the perspective of functional brain organization, and to establish the precise reason for the child’s functional difficulties.“is a structural-functional unit characterized by a definite principle of psychophysiological activity and functioning (modus operandi)” ” , p. 73. erandi)” . The reaTable 1 shows the participation of different neuropsychological factors in the process of reading in the Spanish language.Very frequently, children present the “symptoms” of difficulties for the codification of sounds into letters of the language they study at school. There is no one functional brain reason that explains these difficulties. Plenty of different reasons might underlie this symptom. These various reasons might include difficulties with the phonemic and phonematic analysis of sounds of oral speech, problems with the kinesthetic analysis and synthesis of the motor articulations of oral speech, complications with the visual and spatial analysis of graphic signs, and difficulties with the regulation and control of their own voluntary activity. All these kinds of functional deficits correlate with the child’s struggles in acquiring reading skills. In each case, the child would present specific typical mistakes in the reading process. At the same time, such errors in reading will appear together with similar types of mistakes in the other school activities, such as writing, oral speech, mathematics, drawing, etc. According to the conception of a complex functional system, it is possible to identify specific mechanisms or components of reading as psychological processes related to the functioning of certain brain zones. It is important to stress that before identifying the brain mechanisms, it would be necessary to provide a psychological analysis of the content of the reading process. In other words, psychological analysis of the structure and content of the cognitive action might be carried out before the neuropsychological analysis of the functional system and its brain mechanisms. Brain representation of reading actions is dynamic because it’s changeable according to different conditions: stages of learning, type of usage, inner structure (language), age, etc. Brain representation of reading is systemic because a series of specific psychophysiological  mechanisms take part.The brain might be intact but the existence of the brain without cultural activity would mean the absence of functional systems. A functional system might be understood, not as a feature of the brain itself, but as the basis for executing actions, when the subject (a child) learns within cultural interactions with others, and with the culture in general. According to the belief of Cultural-Historical psychology about the formation of a functional system as active action , the absFollowing the principles of A neuropsychological syndrome is not a sum or a combination of different external behavioral symptoms . ConsideDuring learning at school, the child only learns psychological processes or acquires intellectual actions . The difThe neuropsychological syndrome, in these cases, should be understood as involving specific obstacles for learning some cultural activities (reading), always combined with difficulties for learning other cultural activities , based on the same brain-function deficit or the same neuropsychological factor. The cultural actions which do not include this factor, present a positive level of development. The cultural actions which include this factor, present a deficient level of development. The child may or may not be conscious of their own difficulties.The consequence of such neuropsychological syndromes would always include personal effects in the child’s life, such as poor school learning, negative communication with peers and teachers, absence of broad cognitive interests, and so on. Each concrete case of reading difficulties should be analyzed from different levels or different points of view: 1) the neuropsychological factor, 2) affected and unaffected intellectual actions, and 3) negative consequences in the child’s personality. In the case of reading difficulties, as in any other kind of verbal difficulties, one more level must be included during the analysis of difficulties: the linguistic level. This level comprises specific features or the structural organization of language: for example, phonologic, lexicon, grammar, or syntax at the level of general verbal expression as the sense of communicative expression .Table 2 shows the levels for analysis of neuropsychological syndrome in cases of learning disabilities, according to our proposal. Each concrete case of learning diffficulties should be analyzed according to these levels. The level of neuropsychological factors should unify and explain all the clinical manifestations of the rest of the levels.Table 2, reading difficulties never appear as isolated problems. Brain mechanisms or factors which might be identified as the functional reason for reading difficulties, trigger problems at different levels: psychological, personal, and verbal. The student shows multiple learning difficulties. Even then, only reading difficulties are detected by the teacher. Reading challenges are accompanied by challenges in writing, problem-solving, productive tasks, and so on. The combinations and manifestations of these difficulties differ depending on each neuropsychological factor (Table 1). At the same time, the weak functional state of each factor causes typical mistakes by the child in the process of reading, which might be described in detail for each language system.As shown in From a Cultural-Historical neuropsychological point of view, the most crucial aspect of assessing reading difficulties involves the nature and explanation of errors . FindingAs previously mentioned, the functional system of the reading process includes several functional brain mechanisms. The functional deficit of each brain mechanism provides specific difficulties. Such deficits are related to an unfavorable functional stage of neuropsychological factors, commonly detected as responsible for problems in the reading process in Spanish-speaking school children . These fIt is important to mention that, in the case of reading difficulties in Mexican children (Spanish language), no complications are related to phonematic integration, as was shown in a recent study . Difffic. Functional deficit in kinesthetic analysis and synthesis might be observed in constant substitutions and omissions of sound, which are close to the point and mode of articulation production. These reading mistakes are related specifically to the phonological and morphological level of language. The most notable difficulties are related to consonant sounds. These mistakes occur in all kinds of productive oral speech, including repetition of words and sentences or proper individual expressions. For example, children confuse consonant sounds which are similar by mode and place of motor production (articulation), such as “l”, “r”, “ch”, “y”, “d”, “n,” and confuse all kinds of combinations of consonants in words. Similar difficulties appear during reading words, sentences, and texts aloud. Similar omissions also occur in writing by dictating and elaborating independent words, sentences, and texts. These mistakes might not be notable in repetition, especially in the repetition of unique words. Children will also present a very poor lexicon, which might be limited to very few common words, phrases, or sentences. At the same time, children try to articulate entire sentences with all syntactic components: subject, predicate, and direct or indirect object. This kind of difficulty is severe and persistent and reflects constant problems in all oral and written verbal processes. Correction in cases of such challenges is prolonged and requires patience from the therapist, the child, and the parents. Correction should be based on gradual training of precise hand and oral postures with the help of games and actions with objects. Drawings and perceptual table games are useful before the gradual introduction of reading and writing.1. Functional deficits in spatial simultaneous analysis and synthesis are related to understanding and producing long sentences with complex grammar structures, and with severe difficulties with the production and understanding of spatial and temporal prepositions. For example, children do not understand sentences like “The dog runs behind (or in front of) the car.” These reading mistakes are related specifically to grammar and the syntactic level of language. There are no errors in the repetition of words and direct simple sentences or proper short individual expressions, or the inability to produce or understand texts. Technically, reading is accessible but without a proper understanding of written information. Children are able to pronounce long words and sentences. In some cases, confusion between similar letters in a visual image or spatial orientation might be found. Systemic effects of these brain mechanisms seriously affect the learning of mathematics, writing, and sciences, which require orientation on the perceptual level, such as tables, graphics, schemes, maps, and systematic rules. Correction should include external orientation to objects and surroundings, with the help of games and external intellectual actions, and then proceed slowly to the level of orientation in perceptual space.2. Functional deficits in the sequential motor organization will be related to severe difficulties in all reading modalities, and even total inability to read. These reading mistakes are related specifically to the phonological, morphological, and grammar– syntactic levels of language, and a very common inability to produce or understand sentences or phrases, with a clear preference for isolated word articulation and understanding. For example, children produce only isolated short nouns instead of long properly-organized sentences, such as “play” instead of “I like to play every day.” There may be considerable difficulties in understanding and producing phrases or sentences with prepositions and with any kind of complex grammar structures, with frequent omission of complex consonants in words, and a total inability for producing or understanding texts. Technically, reading is not accessible at all. Systemic effects of the functional deficit of sequential motor organization affect all intellectual and practical actions based on organized movements. Correction in such cases is prolonged and difficult, and should include exercises for hand movements in established series, such as playing musical instruments, active games with physical actions, and ongoing drawing activity before passing to the level of written speech.3. Functional deficit in regulation and control may be associated with the superficial articulation of common words and sentences, confusion and anticipation of sounds, words, and even sentences while reading texts. For example, children may read “go” instead of “going” or “play back” instead of “playing basketball.” These reading mistakes are related to morphological and grammar–syntactic levels of language, but primarily to the level of sense reception and transmission of verbal communication as the general meaningful expression, with an absence of the ability to critique their own mistakes. There is a total inability to produce or understand the profound meaning of texts and to replace complex sentences and phrases by direct and simple grammar structures in all tasks for reading and writing, with a poor interest in learning in general. Technically, understanding the reading of texts is not accessible at all. Systemic effects of a functional deficit of regulation and control are reflected in all intellectual tasks, which are new, require new understanding, or follow the goal and proper selection of the solution among two or more options. Correction of such difficulties should include detailed work with an orientation provided by steps, games with explicit rules, and external representation of each rule of strategy for each intellectual action.4. A functional deficit in general brain activation may cause superficial articulation of common words and sentences. There is no specific level of linguistic organization of language observed concerning this factor, and more research should be conducted to determine the relationship between general brain activation and linguistic difficulties. It’s possible to foresee potential problems with the general understanding of written texts due to a lack of stability in cognitive functioning. There are constant fluctuations and an absence of consistency in the execution of reading and all intellectual tasks. Children present an adequate reading of isolated words. There is an absence of consciousness of their own mistakes in situations of frustration or tiredness. Severe difficulties for producing or understanding the profound meaning of long texts might be detected with a much better understanding of short and funny stories. Children may show insufficient interest in learning in general, especially for long monotonous tasks. Technically, the understanding of texts is accessible in a good functional state with interest in the topic. Systemic effects of these difficulties also appear in all intellectual actions, which require a long period of concentration and execution of tasks, and repetition of exact information. Correction of such problems should include work with new and motivating tasks, changes in tasks, and the inclusion of rhythmic and active physical actions and games with a clear explanation of rules. Table 3 summarizes the relationship between five neuropsychological factors as the reason for difficulties in reading, and the linguistic level of language organization for the Spanish language.5According to the principles presented, neuropsychological analyses might provide much more information and explain neuropsychological mechanisms in reading difficulties. The reading process may be hindered by multiple factors of brain functioning, such as kinesthetic integration, phonological integration, motor organization of sequential, flexible movements, regulation and control, and a general stage of activation. In each case, different kinds of mistakes would be typical in children with difficulties in the reading process. It is imperative to study and compare these typical mistakes in other languages. In Spanish-speaking school children, five functional brain mechanisms were observed as the main areas where difficulties arise during reading acquisition, according to the authors’ clinical practice. These factors are: 1) kinesthetic integration; 2) simultaneous spatial analysis and synthesis; 3) motor organization of sequential, flexible movements; 4) regulation and control; and 5) a general activation stage.Successful identification of such types of mistakes might help to find the proper ways to develop and correct children’s reading. Modern neuropsychology should not be limited only to labeling students according to diagnostic categories, such as those presented in DSM-V . Instead, it should be providing practical means for an objective understanding of difficulties in the reading process. Such knowledge may offer proper suggestions for teaching, organization of day-to-day activity, and correction. In this sense, reading-correction programs at school have to be directed not to the training and repetition of exercises for strengthening the reading process, but the gradual strengthening of absent, weak psychological operations with the inclusion of weak neuropsychological factors.It is also essential to consider that difficulties in the acquisition of reading might develop due to inappropriate teaching methods at school, or the low level of a child’s preparation for school learning. School psychologists, neuropsychologists, and teachers interested in analyzing the process of reading should pay special attention to the development of the symbolic function and general verbal communication at preschool age, the pattern of conformation of voluntary activity, cognitive motivation, and emphatic reflection as essential features of the child’s personality.Several intervention programs that are rooted in Cultural-Historical neuropsychology have been used to help children overcome their difficulties in reading. Evidence has started accumulating for the effectiveness of such methods in Spanish and Russian (e.g.,


CDIO (Conceiving-Designing-Implementing-Operating), crowdsourcing and gamification are gaining more popularity in IT education. However, factors that influence learners' attitude toward this method are yet to be discovered. Therefore, this study aims to develop and test a conceptual model of implementing CDIO-based curriculum in IT education. For this purpose, CDIO dimensions were conceptualized and developed into questionnaire items. Then 141 students who experienced the CDIO method in information security course and lab, were sampled through action-research approach to investigate their perceptions and experiences about the learning stages, dimensions and values of this teaching method. Data gathered were analyzed by multiple regression algorithm using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical approach. The results reveal that the ‘mastery of the concept’, ‘implement and operate’, ‘perceived values’, ‘demonstration and resources’, and ‘admin’ could significantly (in direct and indirect paths) affect learner's intention to accept the CDIO method and adopt it in IT classes. Finally, implications to theory and practice were indicated, and future research directions were suggested. •CDIO methodology is a practical gamification approach to teach IT and Engineering courses.•Still, no CDIO-based evidence that shows the learners' attitudes towards and acceptance of this method.•A novel model of the CDIO dimensions is developed, validated and tested statistically using PLS-SEM approach. CDIO, Crowdsourcing; Gamification; Information security learners; Regression analysis; SEM-PLS. Today's generations Z and Alpha form most of the students in colleges and schools. The different mindsets and new skills of browsing, searching, texting, digesting snippets of information, gaming and watching videos, prompted educators to reconsider their educational methods . More reInformation Technology (IT) and particularly information security courses are poised to lead the way and innovate new learning strategies to respond to the challenges. Only recently had universities introduced information security courses at the undergraduate levels. Patricia Logan in  identifiOne of the common concerns in IT courses is the ability of the students to apply what they have learned in realistic scenarios. Carol Hsu applied situated learning strategy in a “Security of Information Systems in Organisations” course in the UK . The hybIt worth mentioning that relevant research studies focused more on the gamification concept than the CDIO concept. For example, the results of this study  indicateThe CDIO framework, which stands for Conceive – Design – Implement – Operate, has been popular in teaching IT courses. The teaching by doing framework has gained a lot of attention recently in IT courses . Guo andInformation security courses and ethical hacking per say are unique in that a comprehensive set of skills must be developed and, in the fact, that the tools and equipment needed carry a lot of risk. Some of the tools are plain illegal and the experiments performed might result in leakage of malware, intrusion incidents and committing of illegal activities . The att1.Ungraded in class activities that are instructor-led hacking exercises. Basically, walking the students through hacking numerous vulnerable machines. This helped in skills building, developing an arsenal of diverse attack tools, and engrave the hacking life cycle in the student's memory. The vulnerable machines are designed specifically to teach different attack vectors and tools.2.Eliminated the final test as the main assessment because the learning outcome is measuring the skills developed during the semester rather than what the student had memorized.3.Introduced gamified final project, as an alternative fun assessment. This was the final learning by doing exercise that took the form of capture the flag competition between the different student teams. The project was conducted live with an online scoreboard showing the teams progress in real time.4.The project and in class activities encouraged Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), use of Internet competitive intelligence and collaborative problem-solving. Online and offline inter- and intra-team collaboration were encouraged in a crowdsourced fashion.We proposed and designed a CDIO-based information security and ethical hacking courses. The hacking life cycle was mapped onto the CDIO framework in an iterative fashion. The course included reduced in class instruction , student teams, practical in class activities, assignments, and limited testing as well as gamified final project. In addition to mapping the hacking process onto the CDIO framework, the course had the following contributions .1.UngradIt is worth noting that all the experiments and activities are performed in an isolated lab, separate from the university production network. All the victim machines are local virtual boxes, and no real systems or networks were jeopardized during the course. One hundred and forty-one students were surveyed over three semesters. The research model items in the questionnaire were analysed by using the method of Partial Least Squares in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM-PLS) approach. CDIO lab experiments helped build the students' skills and had a profound effect on perceived enjoyment of the course. The perceived enjoyment in turn made the courses more desirable, affecting the attitude towards the course and consequently affecting the student's intentions to take similar courses. The gamification aspect helped achieve the learning outcomes in a fun way reflecting on the positive relationship of the students and the university as a whole .2The current study employed a quantitative approach to examine the learners’ perceptions and experiences about the CDIO implementation in information security classes. To achieve this, learners were asked to complete a questionnaire survey by the completion of the CDIO-driven class. The questionnaire instrument included questions about the dimensions of the CDIO , perceived values of CDIO classes, CDIO demonstration, resources and administration availability by the instructor, attitude towards the method and behavioural intention. A Likert scale of five-point was used to measure the research variables, ranging from 1 to 5 with the values from strongly disagree to strongly agree, respectively. The survey instrument was improved during a pre-test by a panel of academics to ensure face validity.As for the sampling approach, this study followed a non-random technique to approach the targeted sample, which is the convenience approach. Links of online surveys were shared with the learners using the university e-learning platform. In total, six lab classes at the College of Technological Innovation were targeted to implement the CDIO technique at Zayed University in its two campuses: Dubai and Abu Dhabi. As a result, 141 senior students participated in this study during a twelve-months period. All responses were checked and validated as complete and valid for analysis.For ethical considerations, the researchers included a consent form and information to participants in the beginning of the survey, in order to familiarize the participants with the goal of the study, the voluntariness nature of the participation, the anonymity and privacy of the participants' identities, the length of the survey (7–10 min), the confidentiality of research data (to be stored at the researchers’ database), the research findings  and other details.Regarding the data analysis, the researchers conducted two types of statistical analysis: descriptive statistics that were performed by using SPSS statistical software to describe some research items, and SEM-PLS statistical analysis, which was performed by using SmartPLS 3.0 software to test the research model. SEM is a set of statistical models, which explains the relationships among multiple variables, and gives a holistic picture of the entire model by showing the connections among the variables . As one 3The subsequent sections demonstrate the findings of the descriptive statistics and the SEM-PLS analysis, in its both outer and inner model testing steps.3.1This subsection includes some descriptive statistics about students’ demographics, the clarity of the new lab structure and to what degree the students agreed that the course was delivered as proposed in the course syllabus and were calculated by the software SPSS27.0. Firstly, the targeted sample in this research includes students from both male and female students. In details, the female accounted for 61.3% of the total students, whereas male students accounted for only 38.7%, while the total number of students who participated in this research was 141. All participated students were senior students (in their 4th and last year of study in their degree).The students were asked about whether the new lab structure was clearly explained at the beginning of course. As a result, most of the students (88.7%) agreed/strongly agreed that the CDIO lab structure was explained clearly, as shown in In addition, the students were also asked about whether the course was delivered as outlined in the course syllabus and followed the new structure of the CDIO practice. Consequently, the vast majority  of the students agreed that the instructor adopted the new structure of the lab that adopted the CDIO implementation. Further statistics about this point are presented in The descriptive statistics of each item in the survey show the minimum and maximum scores, the range, the mean, and the standard deviation. As shown in More advanced data analysis took place in order to understand the relationship among the research variables, and to investigate their impact on students’ attitudes and behaviours.3.2As mentioned earlier, the PLS model is usually analysed and interpreted in two stages: (1) by assessing the reliability and validity of the measurement model (the outer model of constructs and items), and (2) by assessing the structural model through interpreting the path coefficients and identifying the adequacy of the research inner model . The fol3.3Firstly, the PLS outer model is assessed by examining the scores of the item loadings, which are tested in order to examine the correlations between the latent variable and the reflective indicators. As a result, nearly all the items are found above the acceptable level of (0.6), thus demonstrating reliable items, with the exception of the highlighted item ‘Efficiency6’ in Another measurement of the item's quality is testing the construct validity, which assesses whether the measures chosen are true measures of the constructs and represent the associated constructs . ConstruIn addition, Cronbach's alpha measures are examined to assess the internal consistency of the constructs and is achieved when the reliability estimates are greater than .70 , 22. As Secondly, the PLS inner structural model is examined to assess the significance of the regression paths and the predictive power of the model. Given the model fit indices in 4By testing the research model, seven hypotheses out of ten are found significant. It is noteworthy that the path with the highest impact in the current study is the influence of “Demo” on CDIO “Implementation and Operation” , which then significantly impacts learners' attitude towards accepting CDIO learning method . Attitude, in turn, significantly and directly influences learners' intention to practice the CDIO method for information security courses . Other strong paths are the ones associated the impact of “Mastery of Concept” and “Perceived Values” on learners' attitudes towards the CDIO method  and , respectively. In addition, the impact of ‘Implementation and Operation’ on ‘perceived values’ and the impact of ‘perceived values’ on learners' attitudes towards the CDIO methodology are found to be significant  and , respectively.The weakest path, however, is the influence of ‘Mastery of Concept’ on learners' Attitudes, which has the lowest score in affecting intention to use this methodology (β = 0.244), where it is still found to be significant on 5% confidence interval. Another weak path, though significant, is the influence of ‘Perceived Values’ on learners' attitudes towards applying the CDIO method in the classroom .2 is usually used, which provides an indication of the predictive ability of the endogenous variables. The R2 scores should be greater or equal to 0.10 [2 value of ‘Behavioral Intention’ is moderate and equal to 79.7%, and 69.5% for ‘Attitude’ construct, and thus both endogenous variables show high amount of variance. Moreover, the two constructs ‘Perceived Values’ and ‘Implementation and Operation’ have moderate R2 scores of 60.1% and 51.3%, respectively. Overall, and since R2 scores are greater than 50% for the four endogenous variables, it is argued that more than the half of the observed variation can be explained by the model's inputs, which in turn provides another measure of a good fit model [The amount of variance explained by R to 0.10 . As a reit model .5As a conclusion, the availability of the admin and educational resources can play an important role in presenting CDIO demonstrations, which in turn significantly influence the implementation and the operation of the method. The latter could impact learner's perceived values of the CDIO method, which directly influences their attitudes towards the method and then their intention to apply it. From another aspect, the mastering of concept would be a great start to impact learners' perceived values about the CDIO, as well as their attitude and behavior towards the method. Learners' perceived values about the CDIO are the key player in our model by presenting a mediating role among CDIO's dimensions  and learners' attitude towards and intention to apply the CDIO in their undergraduate classes.Theoretically, the crafted and validated research model contributes to the CDIO literature by presenting genuine relationships of the CDIO dimensions  and learners’ attitude towards implementing the method. In addition, the results indicate the important role of resources and admin availability as well as demonstrating CDIO at the beginning of each class (if necessary), could not only impact the implementation and operation of the method, but also contribute to what values learners perceive the method. To the best of our knowledge, this aspect had not been discussed before.For practitioners, instructors need to consider good preparation and administering of the tools and concepts associated with CDIO and provide a clear demo of how CDIO should be implemented in each class. Learners, form the other side, should understand clearly how the method works, what resources are required, and should be informed about all potential values associated with the method. In addition, it is highly recommended that instructors who plan to implement a CDIO-based class to follow the guidelines mentioned in the summary of the discussion part.There are some limitations associated with this study. For example, this research utilized surveys, which, by nature, are prone to measurement error and bias. To handle this, the researchers checked face validity with a panel of academics and established the convergent and discriminant validity and reliability of all research variables. Secondly, the convenience sampling approach chosen for this research is usually associated with result's generalizability to other subjects, subject bias, and less sample representativeness. The results of the current study could be limited to the information security classes and subjects selected for the study; however, our research results could extend the context of IT and Engineering classes to other classes, which follow the same description of the CDIO method as identified in literature, and build studying groups to develop CDIO concepts, implementation and operation is essential. As for future research work, we would suggest testing the model in different contexts and backgrounds, and for different schools and programs. Additionally, examining the results with the moderating role of gender or school, the role of culture, and the social influences through word of mouth among learners could provide a helpful insight to better understanding the CDIO acceptance factors. In addition, future work might include the examination of teacher engagement in some stages of applying CDIO in classrooms.In summation, and in order to implement the CDIO methodology successfully in computer engineering and science classes, the adoption process of the CDIO should be organized and sequential. First, the CDIO context and syllabus outcomes should be clearly identified, aligned and integrated with the course syllabus. In each CDIO implementation, the practice should be enhanced by the instructor to reach the best practice and a possible innovation. Second, the lab structure should consider the CDIO aspects and consequently redesigned. Afterwards, the CDIO resources and facilities should be prepared and familiarized by the faculty who is required to develop his CDIO and course skills, and knowledge. Finally, the CDIO skills and course outcomes should be assessed and evaluated towards course, major operation and student learning.Ahmed Shuhaiber: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.Monther Aldwairi: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.No data was used for the research described in the article.The authors declare no conflict of interest.No additional information is available for this paper.


In the Mediterranean Basin, a critical focal point for the conservation of plant diversity, there has been a large increase in practical conservation actions for many plant species to prevent extinction and to improve their conservation status; quantifying the effectiveness of these initiatives in reversing species declines is urgently important. In 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched a new tool that allows the impact of conservation actions on plant species to be assessed. The Green Status of Species is a new set of metrics under the Red List of Threatened Species that assigns species to recovery categories, complementary to the classic extinction risk categories. Crucially, the Green Status of Species provides methods to evaluate the impact of past conservation, and the potential for future conservation impact, on species status and recovery in a standardized way. Considering the efforts made so far for the conservation of Mediterranean threatened plants, using the Green Status of Species would be highly useful to direct future conservation policies. We, therefore, encourage botanists and practitioners working on threatened plants in the Mediterranean area to use this new assessment tool to inform conservation and recovery programs. The conservation of biodiversity is unanimously considered a priority on a global level, as biological diversity is dramatically declining globally due to numerous severe threats ,2,3. To Given this context, the Mediterranean Basin presents a focal area for plant conservation: this region is a priority center of plant diversity, because although it represents only 1.6% of the earth’s surface, it hosts about 7% of the planet’s plant species. For this reason, it has been recognized as one of the world’s plant diversity hotspots . SecondlOne of the main goals of conservation is to avoid extinctions and to reduce rates of species decline. Due to a large amount of threatened taxa relative to the resources available for conservation efforts, an estimation of species’ extinction risk in order to identify taxa and geographical areas that are a priority for conservation is required ,18. The To provide evidence to help guide plant conservation, Red List assessments for certain plant groupings of conservation interest have been undertaken . Some iAt the same time, sometimes in a poorly coordinated way, there has been a large increase in practical conservation actions for many plant species in the Mediterranean Basin. At first, numerous conservation actions for threatened species, financed by national or international projects, were carried out indirectly through actions designed to benefit umbrella habitats or species. More recently, synergistic conservation actions have been developed; based on a framework that focuses firstly on a precautionary approach  and subsequently on in situ conservation interventions. In this framework, numerous conservation responses have been implemented to try to halt plant declines: from general large-scale measures, such as the designation of protected areas and international legislation aimed at protecting species, to local species-specific efforts, such as seed-banking programs and conservation translocations. It is well-established that protected areas alone  do not guarantee per se positive outcomes for species ,28, so eGiven the global increase in practical conservation actions targeting plants, and the accompanying expenditure of resources, quantifying the effectiveness of these initiatives in reversing species declines is important. Being able to quantify and demonstrate the effectiveness of plant conservation is more crucial than ever as conservation programs increasingly need to demonstrate results via evidence and metrics in order to obtain financing  and in sIn 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched a new tool that will allow the impact of conservation actions on species to be assessed ,43,44. TGreen Score, where 100% represents a Fully Recovered or Non-Depleted species while 0% represents a species that is Extinct or Extinct in the Wild. The Green Score at the time of assessment, based on observed or inferred information, is called the Species Recovery Score.The Green Status of Species introduces, and its metrics are based upon, a standardized definition of species recovery. A species is considered Fully Recovered (or Non-Depleted) if it is (1) present, (2) viable , and (3) ecologically functional, in all parts of its indigenous range  . The degConservation Legacy (impact of past conservation); Conservation Dependence ; Conservation Gain (expected impact of continuing conservation in the short term); and Recovery Potential (maximum possible recovery within 100 years) [However, the assessment does not end there. Relevant to the need for impact evaluation in conservation, a Green Status assessment provides a framework for assessing the impact of conservation actions on the species’ Green Score. In addition to the Species Recovery Score, Green Scores are also estimated under scenarios including or excluding past and expected future conservation actions; assessors provide evidence-based estimates of the Green Score in four specific scenarios . These s0 years) . These fRibes sardoum) [Ribes sardoum is just 33%—far away from the 100% that represents full recovery.One of the first species to be assessed using the Green Status of Species approach was the Sardinian Currant (sardoum) . The Gresardoum)  demonstrsardoum) . Within Ribes sardoum, the Green Status of Species assessment also reports the four additional metrics which measure the impact of past and future conservation action. The species has a Conservation Legacy of 0%, indicating that if past conservation actions  did not occur, the resulting Green Score is predicted to be the same as the current Green Score . In contrast, the Conservation Dependence, or projected importance of ongoing conservation action, is high. The Conservation Dependence value of 33% indicates that if conservation action stopped today, the species’ Green Score is expected to drop by 33% within the next 10 years; bringing the score to 0% (Extinct in the Wild). The Conservation Gain of the species is 0%, indicating that ongoing and planned conservation actions are not expected to change the Green Score in the next 10 years. Finally, the Recovery Potential indicates that it is still biologically possible for the species’ Green Score to reach 100% (full recovery) within the century. However, this future is uncertain, especially because the single location is vulnerable to extinction via stochastic events, which are expected to increase in frequency with climate change.In addition to the current Green Score of https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/green-status-assessment-materials (accessed on 22 September 2022).The introduction of the IUCN Green Status of Species as a new tool in the conservation toolbox presents an exciting opportunity to standardize the evaluation of conservation impact and recovery potential between species. However, in order to do this, a dataset of Green Status assessments must first be established; in particular, it would be essential to start evaluating the impact of the many conservation actions carried out so far to guide future conservation measures. Considering the many initiatives/projects carried out and the efforts made for the conservation of plant diversity in the Mediterranean, the ability to evaluate the impact of past conservation, and the potential for future conservation impact, on plant species status and recovery would be helpful in directing conservation actions and policies at the regional or biogeographic level. Given the utility of the new information provided by a Green Status assessment, we encourage scientists and practitioners working on threatened plants in the Mediterranean area to contribute by engaging in Green Status assessments. If you would like to participate, or would like more information, please reach out to the IUCN-SSC Mediterranean Plant Specialist Group via the corresponding author and review the materials on the Green Status website:


Patients with colorectal cancer may lack information about the disease and treatment. In 2017, a group consultation before start of surgery was introduced at a university hospital in western Sweden to inform about the disease, treatment, and ongoing scientific studies. The primary aim of this study was to explore the experience of the patients attending the group consultation. Based on semi-structured interviews with patients with colorectal cancer, a questionnaire was constructed and administered to patients, both those attending and those not attending the group consultation. In total, 124 patients were included and the response rate was 86%. A majority of patients attending the group consultation would recommend it to someone else with the same illness. Of the patients attending the group consultation, 81% (30/37) patients agreed, fully or partially, that attending the group consultation had increased their sense of control and 89% (33/37) that the information they received at the group consultation increased their feeling of participation in the treatment. Preoperative group consultation is a feasible modality for informing and discussing the upcoming treatment for colorectal cancer with the patients, and the patients who attended the group setting appreciated it. Attending the group consultation increased the patients’ feeling of active participation in their treatment and their sense of control, which could possibly both improve their experience of their illness and facilitate recovery.NCT03888313 Patients with colorectal cancer receive information at different occasions during the course of the care, both before, during, and after treatment, to increase their ability to cope with their illness and to promote recovery . Group cphysical HRQoL [mental and global HRQoL [Patients with colorectal cancer have been found to lack information on the disease and the treatment –5. Patieal HRQoL . In the al HRQoL , 10.The specific background to this study is that in 2017, a group consultation inviting patients planned for elective surgery for colorectal cancer was launched at a University Hospital in western Sweden. The consultants and nurses that participated in the group consultation expressed verbally that they found patients appreciative. However, before deciding whether to include the preoperative group consultation into usual care at the University Hospital, an explorative study of the patients’ experience was deemed important. The aim of this study was to investigate how the patients with recently diagnosed colorectal cancer experienced the preoperative group consultation.The group consultation was held in a conference room at the hospital. A consultant surgeon and a research nurse were present, and the patients were invited to bring along family members. The session began with a presentation including information about the postoperative mobilization and breaking of fast. When needed, the importance of smoke cessation before surgery was also discussed. This was followed by questions from the patients and relatives about things related to colorectal cancer and the planned treatment. After this questions-and-answers part, information about ongoing clinical trials were given, orally as well as the formal written patient information document.The data from the questionnaires were supplemented by data retrieved from medical records. The study-specific questionnaire consisted of questions previously used , 12 and All patients planned for surgery for colorectal cancer at a university hospital in Sweden were invited to participate in the group consultation on the Friday of the week they had their primary consultation. The patients who chose to attend the group consultation were informed about, and invited to participate in, the study during the group consultation; if they accepted, they also received the questionnaire. The patients who chose not to attend the group consultation were informed and invited to participate in the study at their next visit in the routine pathway (the outpatient pre-operative work-up visit), where they were given the specific questionnaire after informed consent. All questionnaires were accompanied by a pre-paid return envelope. All patients who mailed the questionnaire to the research secretariat received a thank you post card. When possible, patients who had not returned the questionnaire received a reminder either by post card or telephone. No reminder post cards were sent out after the patients undergone surgery.Since the aim of the study was to explore the experience of the patients attending the group consultation rather than explicit statistical hypothesis testing, no a priori calculation of power was performed. Descriptive statistical methods were used for presenting the demography and the outcome measures, SPSS and R version 3.2.3  were usewww.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03888313). Permission was obtained from the Regional Ethical Review Board in Sweden (2019-00665/1127-18). Permission to use the EQ-5D 5L [The study was preregistered at EQ-5D 5L  was obtaIn total, 124 patients were included from April to November 2019. Forty-two patients attended the group consultation and 82 did not. Fifteen patients did not return the questionnaire, rendering a response rate of 86%  and for the patients that did not attend the group consultation median 70.0 . The results of the five dimensions of the EQ-5D 5L are presented in Fig. Among the patients who attended the group consultation, there was a tendency that a larger proportion of patients had tertiary or university education Table . The patwww.1177.se), than those who attended the group consultation.Two-thirds of the patients collected further information about cancer and treatment from other sources than healthcare, and this finding was consistent among the two groups Table . None ofAmong the patients attending the group consultation, 15/36 stated that they wanted information both at the group consultation and at their ordinary visit to the outpatient clinic. Further, 2/36 stated that they wanted information on scientific studies at the out-patient clinic only and 9/36 at the group consultation only.Of the 37 patients attending the group consultation, 35 would recommend someone with the same condition to attend  programme, which concluded that it made the patients more active in their own recovery after surgery . The resThe strengths of this study were the study-specific questionnaire developed by interviews with patients and face validation before use. Further, the high response rate ensured reliable results. One limitation was the possible selection bias, meaning that all patients were invited to the group consultation but we found indications that those patients who chose to attend differed in some aspects, such as pain, anxiety, and distance to the hospital. Consequently, comparisons between groups were made with caution. Furthermore, the number of patients included did not provide power for statistical analyses regarding differences between the two groups of patients, but for this explorative study the design was considered suitable.In a time of abundant information available from many sources, the validated information provided by healthcare personnel is important for patients recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer . The patPreoperative group consultation is a feasible modality for delivering supplemental information to patients before treatment of colorectal cancer and to inform of ongoing clinical studies. The benefits of the group consultation following the standard visit to the outpatient clinic, could be to supplement the information found on the internet and through other sources, to answer and discuss issues appearing after the initial patient-surgeon consultation, and to increase of the patient’s participation in their treatment.For the patients with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer who chose to attend the group consultation, it was found to have several benefits. To introduce it permanently in the care prior to surgery for colorectal cancer could probably increase the attending patients’ feeling of being in control and their active participation in their own treatment.


N = 50 subjects  performed a simulated airspace surveillance task. Emotional valence was detected using facial expression analysis, and pupil diameters were used to indicate emotional arousal. A cluster analysis was performed to group subjects into ARCs based on their individual correlations of valence and performance as well as arousal and performance. Three different clusters were identified, one of which showed no correlations between emotion and performance. The performance of subjects in the other two clusters benefitted from negative arousal and differed only in the valence-performance correlation, which was positive or negative. Based on the identified clusters, the initial ARC model was revised. We then discuss the resulting model, outline future research, and derive implications for the larger context of the field of adaptive tutoring systems. Furthermore, potential benefits of the proposed concept are discussed and ethical issues are identified and addressed.Affect-adaptive tutoring systems detect the current emotional state of the learner and are capable of adequately responding by adapting the learning experience. Adaptations could be employed to manipulate the emotional state in a direction favorable to the learning process; for example, contextual help can be offered to mitigate frustration, or lesson plans can be accelerated to avoid boredom. Safety-critical situations, in which wrong decisions and behaviors can have fatal consequences, may particularly benefit from affect-adaptive tutoring systems, because accounting for affecting responses during training may help develop coping strategies and improve resilience. Effective adaptation, however, can only be accomplished when knowing which emotions benefit high learning performance in such systems. The results of preliminary studies indicate interindividual differences in the relationship between emotion and performance that require consideration by an affect-adaptive system. To that end, this article introduces the concept of Affective Response Categories (ARCs) that can be used to categorize learners based on their emotion-performance relationship. In an experimental study,  Students who are anxious, angry, or depressed don't learn; people who are caught in these states do not take in information efficiently or deal with it, well.” Goleman, , p. 78Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) enable individualizing the learning experience as well as identifying and mitigating non-optimal learning conditions, these systems can be used to address the emotional state. ITSs that assess the learner's emotions and use this information to promote learning are called Affective Tutoring Systems (ATSs). De Vicente and Pain  of emotional state diagnosis, the relationships between positive or negative valence and performance were analyzed on an individual level  systems . All participants were employees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE) and were invited via e-mail. Participation was not compensated, but for motivational purposes, the three best-performing subjects earned an online shopping voucher. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Chemnitz.Data were collected from Three variables were recorded during the experimental task: emotional valence, emotional arousal, and performance. A subdivision into dependent and independent variables is not possible since the conducted correlation procedure is part of interdependency analysis.Task difficulty was varied in a within-subjects design. All subjects completed 12 scenarios that differed in the number of tasks, and the scenarios were presented in a randomized order to avoid sequence effects. After each scenario, affective self-report questionnaires were presented along with an assessment of the Big Five personality factors. Both this information was not used in the present investigation.To categorize subjects according to their emotion-performance relationships, we performed a hierarchical cluster analysis with the Pearson correlation coefficients.via a performance score that considered the priority of the tasks, accuracy, and response time  is based on the identification friend or foe (IFF) code and a camera image. Aircraft with IFF code 4 are to be identified as friendly by clicking on the blue button. If the IFF code is unknown, a neutral  or hostile (fighter jets) identity is assigned based on the camera image.The warned.Enemy aircraft approaching the user's ship represent a potential threat. Upon entering the outer perimeter around the user's ship, hostile contacts must be engaged (buttons at the bottom right).Hostile contacts that proceed into weapon range (inner perimeter) must be The score was displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen see , enablinEach scenario consisted of three attack waves, each 70 s long. There were 6, 12, 18, or 24 contacts in one wave to cover a broad spectrum of difficulty levels, adding up to three scenarios, each with 18, 36, 54, or 72 contacts in total. The number of tracks, time, and order of appearance were based on the Warship Commander Task .The Emotient FACET engine offers three non-dependent scales for classifying valence: positive, negative, and neutral valence. Mapping these scales to the single valence dimension of the Circumplex Model of Affect Russell,  required*interquartile range method. Due to differences between subjects regarding pupil diameter and their response, they were normalized per subject (min-max method) and thus mapped onto the arousal dimension of the Circumplex Model of Affect  and with arousal (A*P). A hierarchical cluster analysis grouped subjects by these two correlation coefficients, and analysis was performed using the cluster package  of the subjects in a cluster was determined.To investigate the direction and magnitude of the respective emotion-performance relationship, we calculated two product-moment correlations for each subject. The performance was correlated with valence  and ARC 3 (0.3), which indicates that these two clusters may have merged into one. We assigned this merged cluster to ARC 3 since, as hypothesized for this category, there was a positive correlation for valence with at least a small effect according to Cohen , even tht-tests, one for each ARC and the correlation coefficients of valence and arousal, were used to test whether the mean values of the observed clusters correspond to the expected values of the ARCs or whether there are significant differences. To counteract the problem of multiple comparisons, we used the Holm test procedure  and arousal*performance (A) are shown. When the mean observed correlation coefficient varied significantly from the expected value, the mean original value is crossed out. When an ARC was not found, the number in the box is also crossed out.Based on the results of the cluster analysis, the originally established framework of relevant ARCs  required*P and V*P do not reach the threshold for small effects (0.1) according to Cohen  is based on the Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox  or not . If decrements in performance are detected, for example, a parallel classification of the emotional state could assist the system in selecting an appropriate adaptation in order to stabilize performance. This would fulfill the goal of ATS according to Petrovica et al. , which iThis article describes the concept of ARCs for categorizing students in affect-adaptive learning systems in safety-critical systems based on their individual relationships regarding emotion and performance. The concept was developed from various preliminary studies and tested in a laboratory experiment. The results of a cluster analysis show that a subdivision of the learners into three groups is possible. One group shows high performance associated with negative valence and another with positive valence. This classification should be taken into account by an affect-adaptive system to select appropriate adaptive mechanisms to achieve the best possible performance by an individual. One-third of the subjects showed no connection between emotion and performance and thus would not benefit from affect-adaptive mechanisms. The present article contributes to the research field of affective computing by confirming the presence of interindividual differences in the relationship between emotion and performance and suggesting a validated concept that allows a future ATS to consider them.The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the University of Technology Chemnitz. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.ASH organized and wrote most of article, developed, and validated the concept. SMS contributed to the user ethics section and data collection. RB developed the experimental testbed and provided technical support in conducting the experiment, data preparation, and analysis. SF organized funding, provided input to several scientific aspects, and improved clarity and intelligibility. MW gave valuable input to concept and statistical analyses and significantly improved structure. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.This research was funded by TALENTA, a scholarship program for women at Fraunhofer, and public grants.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.


Oryctolagus cuniculus) was the first animal model used to understand human diseases like rabies and syphilis. Nowadays, the rabbit is still used to study several human infectious diseases like syphilis, HIV and papillomavirus. However, due to several mainly practical reasons, it has been replaced as an animal model by mice (Mus musculus). The rabbit and mouse share a recent common ancestor and are classified in the superorder Glires which arose at approximately 82 million years ago (mya). These species diverged from the Primates’ ancestor at around 92 million years ago and, as such, one expects the rabbit-human and mouse-human genetic distances to be very similar. To evaluate this hypothesis, we developed a set of tools for automatic data extraction, sequence alignment and similarity study, and a web application for visualization of the resulting data. We aligned and calculated the genetic distances for 2793 innate immune system genes from human, rabbit and mouse using sequences available in the NCBI database. The obtained results show that the rabbit-human genetic distance is lower than the mouse-human genetic distance for 88% of these genes. Furthermore, when we considered only genes with a difference in genetic distance higher than 0.05, this figure increase to 93%. These results can be explained by the increase of the mutation rates in the mouse lineage suggested by some authors and clearly show that, at least looking to the genetic distance to human genes, the European rabbit is a better model to study innate immune system genes than the mouse.The European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus) was one of the first animal models used in immunological studies and was essential, for example, for the development of the rabies vaccine by Louis Pasteur in 1811 . The increase in the use of mice has found ground in their reduced maintenance costs, small size, ease of breeding with a short reproductive cycle and high number of progeny, wide availability of commercial immunological reagents and availability of inbred strains, knockouts (KO) and transgenic models . The usiewed in ). As suciewed in , 8].Furthermore, the rabbit is an excellent model to study the immune system evolution because it has unique features, like the use of mainly only one variable heavy chain (VH) gene in the antibody rearrangement  or havinFinally, rabbit and mouse are related species that share a recent common ancestor. Both species are grouped in the super order Glires which arose at approximately 82 million years ago (mya), but each is classified in a different order, the rabbit is a lagomorph and the mouse is a rodent . These shttps://www.innatedb.com/), a publicly available database of genes, proteins, experimentally-verified interactions and signaling pathways involved in the innate immune response to identify the largest number of innate immune system genes represented for humans and other species. From the subset of 4723 genes names (available in https://www.innatedb.com/redirect.do?go=resourcesGeneLists under the Immport label), we searched for available annotated sequences for the three species , using NCBI’s Gene and Nuccore databases (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), resulting in a set of 3580 mRNA and CDS sequences. Finally, for each gene we compared the rabbit-human and mouse-human genetic distances based on the aligned CDS sequences for orthologous genes.In this study, we tested the hypothesis that since the rabbit and mouse diverged from the human ancestor at the same time, they will have a similar genetic distance to human. To do so, we used a subset of the innate immune system gene repertoire of InnateDB [21]  API). For each gene name and species name combination, a gene search was conducted (on the Gene NCBI database), using the corresponding URL and the respective arguments. This returned the gene identifiers of the different genes. For each gene identifier, the corresponding gene report was downloaded in XML format  and parsed to extract the set of mRNA Reference Sequences (RefSeq) identifiers.For each RefSeq identifier, the corresponding GenBank data was downloaded, in XML format (using the Nuccore NCBI database). From the resulting data the mRNA sequence and the corresponding CDS sequences were extracted.For the sequence alignment and similarity process we designed a tool that, given a set of gene names, a set of species names, and reference species name aligns the CDS sequences and measures their similarity against the given reference, as presented in For each gene name, the CDS sequences from each species (including reference species) was selected. The sequences are then aligned against the reference sequence, using Python’s Biopython library. For the alignment, a local pairwise alignment strategy was selected using the match score and gap penalty parameters similar to the ones used in NCBI’s Blast tool . The similarity score was calculated by counting the number of equal base pairs and dividing it by the difference between the length and the number of indels of the aligned sequence.The final relative similarity data set was constructed by measuring, for each gene, the difference between the similarity score for the different species against the reference one.For the visualization process we designed a web application for visualizing the similarity scores obtained from the Alignment and Similarity process. This was implemented in HTML and javascript, using NodeJS and Express for the back-end Web service, and HTML, Bootstrap and Chart.js for the front-end.https://warm-plains-91813.herokuapp.com/) allows the user to visualize the relative similarity from the set of genes common among the different species. Additionally, it allows users to select specific genes and visualize the respective information (including Gene Bank and Nuccore data) as well as the similarity results and resulting alignments.The application  was used as input to the Data Extraction pipeline. The resulting data from this process was a dataset of gene names, species names, mRNA and CDS sequences available for each orthologous gene of the three species.The set of gene names [available in InnateDB ] and theThis dataset, in conjunction with the set of gene names, the set of species names and the reference species name was then used as input to the Alignment and Similarity process. The resulting data from this process was a dataset of gene names, species names, aligned CDS sequences and similarity scores between the aligned sequences.The visualization process uses the dataset produced by the Alignment and Similarity process from calculating and displaying the relative similarities for each orthologous gene of the three species.The phylogenetic relationships and genetic distances, nucleotide and amino acid, between human, rabbit and mouse were obtained for four key innate immune system genes: CD4, ABCB11, IL2 and MYO1E. The full CDS sequences for these genes were obtained from Genbank .From the 2793 genes, 320 (12%) showed a genetic distance between mouse and human lower than the obtained between rabbit and human, 2468 (88%) showed a genetic distance between mouse and human higher than the obtained between rabbit and human and in 5 genes we observed identical genetic distance between mouse and human and rabbit and human see Figure 4The increase in the number and quality of entire genomes in the last years allows us to get a better picture of the number and the variability of genes between species. Taking advantage of the high-quality genomes available for human, rabbit and mouse, we tested our hypothesis that since the rabbit and mouse shared a recent common ancestor and diverged from human ancestor at the same time, they will have a similar genetic distance to human. To test this hypothesis we compared the genetic variability of 2793 innate immunity genes.The results obtained showed that the genetic diversity between rabbit and human is clearly lower than that between mouse and human. These results are in line with previous observation obtained with some immune genes –20. The https://warm-plains-91813.herokuapp.com/.Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: JS designed and developed the tools for data extraction, analysis and data visualization. AP and PE participated in the designing process and discussed the data. PE conceived the study. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.This work was funded by the project NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). FCT also supported the post-doctoral fellowships of AP (SFRH/BPD/117451/2016) and the Investigator grant of PE (CEECIND/CP1601/CT0005).The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.