The doctrine of normal tendency in active learning teaching methodology: investigations into probability distributions and averages.

Traditional lecture and active learning methods of teaching a university course are compared. The particular course is university calculus. The lecture method was applied to two sections of calculus. The active learning method was applied to two other sections. In all cases students were given an examination near the beginning of the course and a final examination at the end of the course. The score averages for the active learning method were higher than for the lecture method. The distribution of scores for the lecture method were non-normal multimodal in the first and final examinations. The distribution for the active learning method went from non-normal multimodal in the first examination to unimodal normal in the final examination. A new undeceivable nature evidence-based method is presented for measuring teaching efficacy by probability distribution. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-021-00154-1.

Pharmacological Effects of Selected Medicinal Plants and Vitamins Against COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is a serious disease that has caused multiple deaths in various countries in the world. Globally, as of May 23, 2021, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 have reach 166,346,635 with a total of 3,449,117 deaths. Several recent scientific studies have shown that medicinal plants and vitamins can benefit and improve the health of COVID-19 patients. However, the benefits of medicinal plants and vitamins in the treatment of COVID-19 remain unproven. Therefore, the objective of this article is to expounds the benefits of using medicinal plants (Allium sativum, curcumin, Nigella sativa, Zingiber officitale) and vitamins (vitamin C and vitamin D) that possess the antiviral properties for the prevention and/or control of COVID-19. To reach our objective, we searched scientific databases of ongoing trials in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites, PubMed Central, Medline databases, and Google Scholar websites. We also searched databases on World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to collect relevant papers. We found that all of the selected medicinal plants and vitamins possess antiviral activities, and their individual intake shows promise for the prevention and/or control of COVID-19. We conclude that, the selected medicinal plants and vitamins possess anti-viral properties that are more likely to prevent and/or disrupt the SARS-CoV-2 replication cycle, enhance the human immune system and promote good health.