Fast one-pot microwave-assisted green synthesis of highly fluorescent plant-inspired S,N-self-doped carbon quantum dots as a sensitive probe for the antiviral drug nitazoxanide and hemoglobin

In this study, we report a one-pot, green, cost-efficient, and fast synthesis of plant-based sulfur and nitrogen self-co-doped carbon quantum dots (S,N-CQDs). By 4-min microwave treatment of onion and cabbage juices as renewable, cheap, and green carbon sources and self-passivation agents, blue emissive S,N-CQDs have been synthesized (λex/λem of 340/418 nm) with a fluorescence quantum yield of 15.2%. A full characterization of the natural biomass-derived quantum dots proved the self-doping with nitrogen and sulfur. The S,N-CQDs showed high efficiency as a fluorescence probe for sensitive determination of nitazoxanide (NTZ), that recently found wide applicability as a repurposed drug for COVID-19, over the concentration range of 0.25–50.0 μM with LOD of 0.07 μM. The nanoprobe has been successfully applied for NTZ determination in pharmaceutical samples with excellent % recovery of 98.14 ± 0.42. Furthermore, the S,N-CQDs proved excellent performance as a sensitive fluorescence nanoprobe for determination of hemoglobin (Hb) over the concentration range of 36.3–907.5 nM with a minimum detectability of 10.30 nM. The probe has been applied for the determination of Hb in blood samples showing excellent agreement with the results documented by a medical laboratory. The greenness of the developed probe has been positively investigated by different greenness metrics and software. The green character of the proposed analytical methods originates from the synthesis of S,N-CQDs from sustainable, widely available, and cheap plants via low energy/low cost microwave-assisted technique. Omission of organic solvents and harsh chemicals beside dependence on mix-and-read analytical approach corroborate the method greenness. The obtained results demonstrated the substantial potential of the synthesized green, safe, cheap, and sustainable S,N-CQDs for pharmaceutical and biological applications. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Passive Video Quality Assessment Using Lab and Remote Testing

In this chapter, research about the assessment of video quality for gaming content will be provided. At first, a dataset that was used for the development of the ITU-T Rec. G.1072 will be presented. The dataset was created in a laboratory environment using the passive test paradigm described in Chap. 3. Next, some results of the collected video quality ratings will be illustrated. While QoE assessment studies traditionally make use of controlled laboratory environments, there are also other possibilities to conduct user studies without a laboratory environment. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented many researchers from performing lab studies, the concept of supervised and unsupervised remote studies got lots of attention. By using such a remote study design, two studies assessing video quality ratings of similar conditions as in the previously mentioned dataset were conducted. These two studies allow to address three research topics that will be the focus of the remainder of this chapter. At first, it will be investigated whether video quality ratings obtained using the remote study design are comparable to those collected in the lab environment. Second, a comparison between video quality ratings collected using a stimulus duration of 20 s instead of 30 s will be performed, which tries to answer whether it is enough to use a shorter stimulus duration as proposed in ITU-T Rec. P.809. Lastly, the differences between using a discrete 5-point ACR scale and the extended continuous 7-point scales will be investigated. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Undergraduate Teaching During COVID-19.

Introduction: Universities were challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic to continue providing quality education for their students while navigating the uncertainties of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Objectives: The goal of this article is to describe strategies used by Colorado State University (CSU) to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission among faculty, staff, and students and to describe procedures used in microbiology teaching laboratories. Methods: Information concerning CSU's pandemic response was gathered via email communications to the CSU community, town hall meetings, and interviews with leaders, researchers, and staff who spearheaded public health initiatives. Results: To date, there have been no known cases of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the classroom. Early strategies that contributed to this success included social norming of safe public health behaviors, development of low-cost, rapid screening and surveillance methods, an online COVID-19 reporting system, contact tracing and quarantine, rearranging classrooms to reduce the capacity by 50%, increasing air flow, enhanced cleaning and production of sanitizer, and flexible instructors who quickly changed their courses for remote delivery or launched extra risk management procedures for face-to-face delivery of laboratory, performance, or studio classes. Conclusion: Intense collaboration among the CSU community, open and frequent communication, coordination of efforts, flexible instructors, and the willingness to follow safe public health behaviors allowed CSU to continue face-to-face teaching in courses that required hands-on learning or demanded in-person instruction. It is the hope of the authors that this information can provide both a historical account and useful information for others dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trends of clandestine laboratories manufacturing methamphetamine in New Zealand between 2009-2021: Evolution, enforcement, legislative, and COVID-19 effects.

The most common method of domestic methamphetamine manufacture encountered in New Zealand is the hydrogen iodide (HI) reduction of pseudoephedrine/ephedrine. While the overall method used to manufacture methamphetamine has remained consistent, the processes and chemicals utilized have evolved. Understanding the reason for any changes to methamphetamine manufacturing trends can assist jurisdictions with predicting the potential effects of enforcement and legislative initiatives. This paper presents data and trends amassed from suspected clandestine laboratories, associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine, in New Zealand between 2009 and 2021, along with data on methamphetamine, pseudoephedrine, and ephedrine seizures at the border. The data have shown that clandestine manufacturers in New Zealand have evolved the methamphetamine manufacturing process over the years. These changes in trends can largely be attributed to various enforcement and legislative effects and the COVID-19 pandemic response. Effects that enforcement, legislation, and the COVID-19 pandemic response may have had on the precursors, chemicals and equipment encountered are discussed.

Achievement of learning outcomes in non-traditional (online) versus traditional (face-to-face) anatomy teaching in medical schools: A mixed method systematic review.

In recent years, the logistical challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic have prompted medical educators teaching gross anatomy to explore an expanded use of online instructional modalities. There is concern that this shift to online anatomy education in medical schools could affect long-term learning outcomes for future healthcare providers. In this systematic review, the educational effectiveness of online anatomy teaching is compared with traditional ("face-to-face") teaching methods, specifically in terms of students' academic performance and satisfaction. A search of four databases identified and screened 162 studies. Subsequently, 31 studies were analyzed, including both (a) teaching outcome measures (test scores) and (b) student satisfaction ratings. Authors chose studies, extracted data, assessed quality and examined risk of bias. Nineteen studies compared students' academic performances between online and face-to-face teaching methods. Twenty-six studies measured students' levels of satisfaction in both teaching methods. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data revealed comparable academic performances with no statistical difference between the two teaching methods, but a higher level of satisfaction with face-to-face teaching. The findings confirm that students can learn from online teaching but are more satisfied with face-to-face teaching. The authors conclude that online teaching cannot replace traditional teaching and there is no preference for one type of modality over the other. Therefore, a multi-modal learning approach combining online with face-to-face educational modalities for medical students could be efficient and successful.

Comparing Student Learning in Face-to-Face Versus Online Sections of an Information Technology Course

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic forced most universities into online course delivery. As such, the rapid expansion of online learning and the prospect of its permanent increase for many institutions have sharpened the issue of the efficacy of remotely delivered courses. Literature review: Past studies have compared face-to-face (FTF) courses with online courses, with mixed results. However, the broad understanding is that efficacy differs based on the subject area. Educators frequently view theory-based courses as being better suited to online teaching than hands-on or experiential courses. Research question: Can information technology courses—especially those that are more experiential and technical—be supported through online learning given the extent of differences in efficacy between online and face-to-face experiential, technical courses?Research methodology: We compared multiple sections of an experiential IT Outsourcing class over several quarters in two course delivery modes. The two modes were FTF delivery and online synchronous delivery. Students in each course section responded to two surveys where they rated their knowledge of different topics at the start and end of the course. Results: Online students reported greater increases in learning on average across all measured items. Self-reported knowledge gains were significantly greater in five items, mostly in soft skills and project management knowledge. The only significantly improved technical IT skill was in using software for virtual meetings. Conclusions and implications for education: We conclude that universities should embrace teaching experiential IT-based courses virtually, as it is possible to obtain greater improvements in self-efficacy, counter to much existing research. This is especially the case as instructional technology improves. IEEE

How to be prepared for the future

The chapter "Disease by Decision – human-induced threats to biosafety and biosecurity” starts with the 2001 anthrax attack in the USA, which was the event that led to the Fink Report, and a range of prescient interventions, including the creation of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a committee that later considered gain-of-function (GOF) controversies. The risk of a lab accident is discussed, but Gostin concludes that an incident with global catastrophic impact has not yet occurred, thus dismissing the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated from a laboratory leak. Because of the anthrax attack in 2001, the USA have been the most advanced country in considering biosecurity risks. Gostin provides a very comprehensive plan for health system strengthening, financing, research and development, governance, equitable access to pharmaceuticals, and global cooperation.

Optimization of ultrasonication-assisted extraction conditions using RSM-I-Optimal experimental design to recover vitamin D2 and K1 from selected green leafy vegetable samples

This study employed the response surface methodology to optimize the extraction conditions for recovering vitamins D2 and K1 from green leafy vegetables using ultrasonication-assisted extraction. The vitamin content was determined using an Accucore C18 column and a UPLC-Q-ToF/MS method. An RSM-I-Optimal design was used for designing the experiment to find the best combination of solvent level (mL), sonication time (min), sonication frequency (kHz), and temperature (°C). The experimental data from a 25-sample set were fitted to a second-order polynomial equation using multiple regression analysis. The extraction models had R2 values of 0.895 and 0.896, respectively, and the probability values (p < 0.0001) indicated that the regression model was highly significant. The optimal extraction conditions were: solvent level of 65 mL, sonication time of 45 min, sonication frequency of 70 kHz, and temperature of 45 °C. Under these conditions, the predicted recovery (%) values for vitamins D2 and K1 were 90.7% and 90.4%, respectively. This study has the potential to use the reported extraction method for routine quantification of vitamins D2 and K1 in the laboratory using UPLC-Q-ToF/MS.

A New Intelligent System for Evaluating and Assisting Students in Laboratory Learning Management System

Due to the Covid-19 epidemic the need for digital E-learning systems become mandatory. Also, most sectors that faced a shortage in E-learning systems are performing laboratory experiments remotely. For this reason, this research paper focuses on providing a complete Laboratory Learning Management System (LLMS) with generic and intelligent performance evaluation for experiments. The new LLMS offers many services from intelligently and automatically doing performance assessments and assistance for the students while performing the experiments online. The new performance assessment module provides regular assessment for experimental steps added to it the intelligent automatic assessment that detects if the students performed the experiments correctly from their mouse dynamics using an AI algorithm. Moreover, the new LLMS uses an analytic module to provide the teachers with analyzed results and charts to describe the behavior of students in various performed experiments. Regarding, the new performance assistant module provides students with complete assistance by pressing the help button to trigger the virtual tutor to explain any experimental steps. Furthermore, it intelligently to collects the mouse dynamics of the student performing the experiments and uses AI algorithms to detect if students face difficulties and provide them with suitable help automatically. Moreover, it can open a chat session with a real teaching assistant or a classmate to help the students. Furthermore, the new performance assessment and assistant services are considered generic because they used the mouse dynamic behavior of students which is suitable for any type of software used in the laboratory, without the need for a special device or extra cost. © 2022 IEEE.

AI Virtual Assistant for Online Laboratory Experiments Based on Multi-threshold Technique and Genetic Algorithm for Analyzing the Student's Mouse Interaction Activities

There is a great interest in online learning systems, especially due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are a lot of limitations and challenges of online laboratory learning systems. This paper presents an efficient technique that provides an intelligent virtual tutor for online laboratory environment, as in engineering and science sectors. Based on the analysis of the student's mouse activities, the AI virtual Assistant or virtual tutor will automatically estimate the difficulties that the student stuck during conducting the steps of lab's experiment. Hence, the virtual tutor can assist the student, accordingly. The technique is based on multi-threshold that are used to discriminate different levels of difficulties. The values of these thresholds are estimated and optimized via the genetic algorithm. The experimental results show that discrimination between different student behaviors can be achieved accurately and efficiently. © 2022 IEEE.

Editorial Volume 48 Issue 2

The field of education technology, and related subject areas attendant to it, welcomed millions of new participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UNESCO, the education experiences of more than 1.4 billion students were disrupted in ways that will impact them, and those around them, for years to come. This journal has a significant role to play for documenting these experiences and the research that followed. Evidence about the use of learning technologies for learning in many new education spaces and geographic places is now available. Interest in the topic of technology-enabled learning has increased exponentially and submissions documenting these new experiences, insights, research findings, and practice applications have continued to grow. Our journal supports scholars long involved in, or new to the topic of, technology-enabled learning design and delivery. © 2022 M. Cleveland-Innes and S. Lakhal.

Research on The Index System of Laboratory Assets Digitization

Under the influence of the fifth industrial revolution and the outbreak of COVID-19, the digital transformation of enterprises has entered a new stage of rapid development. Digital transformation has become the trend of enterprise operation in the digital economy era. In this context, enterprise laboratory asset operation has also become an important aspect of enterprise digital operation. It is urgent to build a set of enterprise laboratory asset digital evaluation system to assist the implementation of enterprise digital strategy. Based on the characteristics of laboratory assets and the closed-loop theory of asset operation management, this paper analyzes and studies the laboratory asset management, establishes a targeted evaluation index system of digital asset management, focuses on the composition of the digital operation system of laboratory assets, and constructs a management index evaluation system of assets, efficiency, cost and other dimensions, so as to create a real-time, comprehensive and comprehensive evaluation system The closed-loop and full cycle digital management ecological environment realizes the effective integration of laboratory resource fragmentation information and the complete embodiment of digitization, provides service support for continuously improving asset management performance, and provides support for further improving enterprise economic efficiency and operation level. © 2022 SPIE.

Interleukin-17 and the COVID-19 cytokine storm: Cases reports

We report two cases of patients with COVID-19. Clinical and biological features of the two patients confirm severe form of COVID-19 associated with cytokine storm. High levels of IL-6 and IL-17 were found. Unfortunately the patients died because of the multi-organ failure secondary to the cytokine storm. Cytokine storm is a systemic inflammatory syndrome which leads to aberrant release of cytokines. IL-6 is the most frequently reported cytokine to be increased in COVID-19 patients. Naive T CD4+ cells in the presence of TGF ß and IL-6 will differentiate into T helper 17 cells responsible for secreting IL-17A and 17F, target macrophages, dendritic cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts to increase the production of cytokines. IL-6 and IL-17 have been shown to play a role in increasing risk of airway disease. They synergistically promote viral persistence by protecting virus-infected cells from apoptosis. Immune hyperactivation in cytokine storm amplified levels of cytokines that will have systemic effects and cause collateral damage to vital organ systems. Immunotherapy can play a crucial role in COVID-19 managing. Tocilizumab an anti-IL6 receptor antibody was used with clinical improvement. The possibility of inhibiting IL17 as therapy for COVID-19 should be also considered.

Mobilizing the Effort to Make STEM Education Accessible

Learning Undefeated is a nationwide nonprofit organization committed to providing equitable access to STEM education for under-resourced communities. Their approach is experimental and entrepreneurial, blending lessons from both education and business to develop content that is current and exciting. This article examines how the organization provides access to quality STEM education that can have a profound effect on students' perceptions about their education and career options. It also describes how they were able to provide access during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning Creates Australia: Evaluation of the Learner's Journey Social Lab. Research Report. RR-A1139-1

Social labs have recently been gaining traction in a wide range of sectors internationally, and have been applied to many complex social problems, including food system security, poverty and labour market revitalisation. Social labs convene participants to collaborate and work collectively on developing prototypes that are iteratively refined and improved. Ultimately, social labs aspire to make macro-level changes that address a core problem. Learning Creates Australia (LCAust) launched in 2020 just prior to the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the objective of convening an alliance of people and organisations that could systematically reform the Australian education system to ensure that all young Australians have opportunities to learn and develop the knowledge, skills and competencies that will enable them to become successful in school, find productive employment and actively engage in their communities. LCAust invited the RAND Corporation to conduct a mixed-methods evaluation study that would offer formative feedback to the social lab implementation team and ultimately provide a summative assessment of the progress of the organisation over the first phase of its work. RAND sought to address three research questions in this evaluation: (1) How were the social labs designed and implemented to solve persistent problems of practice?, (2) What factors enabled or constrained implementation?, and (3) To what extent did LCAust's Phase I activities lay the groundwork for systemic impact? This report details findings from this evaluation. [This report was sponsored by Learning Creates Australia. This report was also prepared by RAND Australia.]

Working Together or Alone, Near, or Far: Social Connections and Communities of Practice in In-Person and Remote Physics Laboratories

The proliferation of remote laboratory instruction increased substantially during the recent global pandemic. Many physics departments implemented this rapid transition without the previous experience, time, and deliberation to optimize learning experiences for students. The present quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group design study examined social connections and communities of practice in both in-person and remote undergraduate physics laboratories during the Fall 2020 academic semester. A social networking and communities of practice theoretical framework guided the study design and methodology. Study participants (N=697) included in-person and remote undergraduate students in introductory physics laboratories at a research university in the Northeastern United States. A survey instrument was designed to measure students' perspectives relating to their social connectedness with peers and instructors as well as their physics laboratory self-efficacy. Survey factor analysis identified subdimensions related to student-student social learning perspectives, student-instructor social learning perspectives, and physics laboratory self-efficacy. Analysis of variance indicated remote students experienced weaker levels of engagement with instructors and peers than in-person students, and remote students who connected with one another experienced more social engagement than remote students who did not. Remote students who connected with one another reported having a lower physics laboratory self-efficacy than their in-person counterparts. Isolated remote students did not show a statistical difference in their physics laboratory self-efficacy from their remote-connecting nor their in-person counterparts. Correlations between factors were tested, with instructor interactions most closely related to self-efficacy formation. Results suggest that remote laboratories, which have proliferated extensively during the recent pandemic, may need formalized mechanisms and incentives to promote social interactions and foster communities of practice among peers. This is also the case for student-instructor interactions, which are often diminished in the online platform and may not be socially situated within the larger class community. Sources of self-efficacy, such as creating opportunities for vicarious learning, may also inform ways these changes can be made. Implications for policy and practice of remote physics laboratory instruction are discussed.

Enhancing Students' Understanding and Motivation during COVID-19 Pandemic via Development of Virtual Laboratory

One of the obstacles that occur in Chemistry learning is low student motivation due to monotonous media. Another thing that currently becomes an obstacle is the COVID-19 pandemic which limits face-to-face learning. However, Chemistry practicum learning in the laboratory is difficult to carry out at students' homes. The purpose of the study is to develop a virtual laboratory, the validity and effectiveness of which are measured, to increase students' understanding and motivation in Chemistry, the topic of exothermic and endothermic reactions. The 4D model is used in the development of learning media in the form of a virtual laboratory. The validity of virtual laboratory products is confirmed by media experts and material experts in their fields. Product effectiveness was measured using a posttest-only control group design with two groups of students involving 63 students. Data collection was carried out through questionnaires, tests, and interviews, with descriptive analysis for the results of validation of the learning media and pilot test and t-tests for testing the effectiveness of virtual laboratories. The results showed that the virtual laboratory is easy to use and has feedback at the end of the practicum simulation so that the virtual laboratory can be applied as a valid and effective learning media in increasing student understanding and motivation.

A Community Outreach Chemistry Lab Success in a Pandemic

This project report highlights a simple yet effective outreach lab benefiting the community partner, specifically the Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) youth program and Saint Mary's College students in a general science course. Building on a partnership focused on reciprocity, a portable lab experiment (Mattson Microscale Gas Chemistry lab) was proposed. Given the pandemic, the major challenge was working through how to incorporate the community engagement without being physically present at APC. To address this, the Saint Mary's students created an instructional video to be viewed in advance of the activity as a replacement for the formal lab handout, which allowed us to participate without being onsite. With the lab chemicals and materials delivered in advance, APC staff did a pilot run to facilitate a more successful joint lab. When both populations (APC youth and SMC students) met through a Zoom meeting, the lab resulted in a successful experiment and a shared learning experience. This lab experience raised everyone's spirits even during the pandemic. In this report, the two authors provide reflections on the student gains and wish to emphasize that civic learning can still occur even in a pandemic.

Comparison of Student Outcomes in a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience: Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Online Delivery of a Biology Laboratory

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) incorporate authentic research instead of confirmatory exercises into laboratory courses. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a general shift in instructional modalities from face-to-face (F2F) towards hybrid and online teaching. Student impacts caused by the abrupt shift to online teaching have been characterized, but comparisons between modalities for CUREs are missing. Therefore, we evaluated student learning and attitudinal outcomes in F2F, hybrid, and online delivery of an introductory college biology CURE. Additionally, we compared student outcomes between White/Asian students and persons excluded due to ethnicity or race (PEER) in these modalities. There were significant learning differences between modalities, but there were no significant learning differences by PEER status. Of six attitudinal variables, one varied significantly by modality and three varied significantly for PEER students. These results suggest that CUREs can be adapted to the online or hybrid modality with minimal impacts on student outcomes.

Virtual Laboratory Based Online Learning: Improving Environmental Literacy in High School Students

Oftentimes the increase in industrial development is the cause of environmental problems. Environmental problems can be overcome by the presence of humans who care about the environment or have environmental literacy skills. Environmental literacy skills can be instilled from an early age, for example through practicum learning in schools. However, considering that the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the obstacles in carrying out the practice, virtual laboratory-based online learning is carried out. This study was aimed to improve students' environmental literacy through virtual laboratory-based online learning that has been developed. This research is quasi experiment with pre-test and post-test research design Control Group Design. The total sample of the study was 70 students of class X of state senior high school. The research instrument used was in the form of test questions about environmental changes material and environmental literacy questionnaires. The results showed that the N-gain value of environmental literacy in the experimental class was 29% high, 60% moderate, 11.42% low with the percentage of attitudes 66.62% and 63.43% behavior. Meanwhile, for the control class, the N-gain value was 9% high, 48.57% moderate, 42.85% low and 68% attitude and 67% behavior. This shows that virtual laboratory-based online learning contributes to increasing environmental literacy skills.