Know your footprint -- Evaluation of the professional carbon footprint for individual researchers in high energy physics and related fields

Understanding the environmental impact of professional activities is becoming paramount in current times, especially within sectors that historically have had significant resource utilisation, such as High Energy Physics (HEP) and related fields. The young High Energy Physicists (yHEP) association launched the Know your footprint (Kyf) campaign to evaluate the CO$_\text{2}$-equivalent emissions generated by HEP-related research. This study delves into the carbon footprints associated with four distinct categories: Experiments, tied to extensive collaborations with substantial infrastructure; Institutional, representing the resource consumption of research institutes and universities; Computing, focusing on simulations and data analysis; and Travel, covering professional trips such as to conferences, meetings, and workshops. The findings in this assessment are integrated into a tool for self-evaluation, the Know-your-footprint (Kyf) calculator, which allows colleagues to assess their personal and professional footprint, and optionally share their data with the yHEP association. The aim of the Kyf campaign is to heighten awareness, foster sustainability, and inspire the community to adopt more environmentally-responsible research methodologies.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

A Conversational Goal Setting Buddy for Student Learning

Time management and goal setting skills are essential for student academic success in higher education. Meanwhile, the recent advances of chatbots offer new opportunities to support goal setting in a conversational way. In this preliminary research, we investigate the effects of chatbots as a conversational goal setting tool for student learning. We developed a chatbot called Sammy that invites students to pledge their study goals and reflect on their goal completion. We conducted a 7-day study among 70 undergraduate students. Analysis on pre- and post-study surveys indicated a significant improvement in student perceived time management in learning goals. Analysis on student daily check-in with Sammy showed an upward trend of student satisfaction in goal completion and confidence in future goal setting. In the future, we will conduct a more comprehensive mixed-method analysis, improve the functionalities and usability of Sammy, and conduct longitudinal studies

Increased Levels of C5a in Gingival Crevicular Fluid and Saliva of Patients with Periodontal Disease

C5a is a powerful complement effector molecule that is considered to be an important proinflammatory mediator in several systemic chronic inflammatory diseases. However, its levels in periodontal diseases are yet to be assessed. We aimed to analyse the secretion of C5a in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva of patients with periodontal disease. Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with stage 3–4 periodontitis and 16 periodontally healthy subjects participated in this study. GCF was collected from sites with the deepest probing depth of each patient, and volume was measured using a Periotron 8000®. One mL of unstimulated saliva was also collected. Samples were analysed using a commercially available ELISA kit. The data were analysed using the Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson’s bivariate testing, and receiver operating characteristic curve. C5a was present in GCF from patients with periodontitis (1.06 ± 0.25 ng/mL) whilst it was undetected in controls. Saliva concentration was also significantly higher in periodontitis (1.82 ± 2.31 ng/mL) than controls (0.60 ± 0.72 ng/mL, p = 0.006). C5a levels were more pronounced in periodontitis in both oral fluids assessed by the present pilot study. These results suggest that the more pronounced levels of C5a in oral fluids from periodontitis patients indicate a potential role of this molecule in this disease pathogenesis, deserving to be better explored in subsequent studies

Proceedings of International Conference on Women Researchers in Electronics and Computing

This proceeding contains articles on the various research ideas of the academic community and practitioners presented at the international conference, “Women Researchers in Electronics and Computing” (WREC’2021). WREC'21 was organized in online mode by Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar (Punjab), INDIA during 22 – 24 April 2021. This conference was conceptualized with an objective to encourage and motivate women engineers and scientists to excel in science and technology and to be the role models for young girls to follow in their footsteps. With a view to inspire women engineers, pioneer and successful women achievers in the domains of VLSI design, wireless sensor networks, communication, image/ signal processing, machine learning, and emerging technologies were identified from across the globe and invited to present their work and address the participants in this women oriented conference. Conference Title: International Conference on Women Researchers in Electronics and ComputingConference Acronym: WREC'21Conference Date: 22–24 April 2021Conference Location: Online (Virtual Mode)Conference Organizers: Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, INDI