Impact of PowerPoint and Chalkboard teaching in Physiotherapy Undergraduates.

Background: A teacher's basic tool for displaying lectures are through blackboards, pegboards, bulletin boards, transparencies with an overhead projector (TOHP), PowerPoint presentation and walk and talk. Nowadays PowerPoint presentation is commonly used as it has ability to present the information in a clear, organized and simpler manner. The present study was carried out to find out the best method of teaching amongst the undergraduate Physiotherapy students. Objective: To compare the impact of the PowerPoint multimedia presentation and chalkboard in teaching by assessing the knowledge based on the marks obtained in the pretest and posttest. Methodology: 40 students were divided into two groups and a selected content-based lecture in pharmacology was delivered. For one group lecture was delivered using PowerPoint presentation, for second group using Chalkboard. Single - best Multiple Choice Questions [MCQs] paper was used for assessing the knowledge gained. The differences in the marks obtained in the two groups were analyzed Results: Students who attended the class on chalkboard obtained significantly higher score in single best MCQ examination compared to those students who attended the same content based lecture on the PowerPoint. Conclusion: The chalkboard method of teaching was found more suitable tool of teaching and learning than PowerPoint for small group

Impact of PowerPoint and Chalkboard teaching in Physiotherapy Undergraduates.

Background: A teacher\u27s basic tool for displaying lectures are through blackboards, pegboards, bulletin boards, transparencies with an overhead projector (TOHP), PowerPoint presentation and walk and talk. Nowadays PowerPoint presentation is commonly used as it has ability to present the information in a clear, organized and simpler manner. The present study was carried out to find out the best method of teaching amongst the undergraduate Physiotherapy students. Objective: To compare the impact of the PowerPoint multimedia presentation and chalkboard in teaching by assessing the knowledge based on the marks obtained in the pretest and posttest. Methodology: 40 students were divided into two groups and a selected content-based lecture in pharmacology was delivered. For one group lecture was delivered using PowerPoint presentation, for second group using Chalkboard. Single - best Multiple Choice Questions [MCQs] paper was used for assessing the knowledge gained. The differences in the marks obtained in the two groups were analyzed Results: Students who attended the class on chalkboard obtained significantly higher score in single best MCQ examination compared to those students who attended the same content based lecture on the PowerPoint. Conclusion: The chalkboard method of teaching was found more suitable tool of teaching and learning than PowerPoint for small group

Numerical Modelling of Regenerative Liquid Propellant Guns with Annular Piston

The development of regenerative liquid propellant guns (RLPGs) needs due consideration of numerous interdependent parameters that affect its performance. To help in this task, computer simulation was undertaken to predict internal ballistics of a conceptual liquid propellant gun. The expected pressure and other important parameters are documented which serve as an aid to the hardware, design of the regenerative liquid propellant guns

Investigation of Ignition of Liquid Propellant in Reservoir in Regenerative Liquid Propellant Gun Trials

It is important to understand the internal ballistic processes for the development of regenerative liquid propellant guns (RLPGs). A 30 mm RLPG test fixture was developed and firing trials were conducted to study the performance of the gun. During the trials, sometimes, combustion ignition in the reservoir took place resulting in substantial damage to the injection piston. This paper highlights the possible causes of this combustion and offers suggestions. regarding improvement in the design. An elaborate instrumentation set-up which could pinpoint the specific conditions leading to failures is suggested

Kinetic non-reversibility of the cracking reactions and its accounting during mathematical modeling of industrial process

The paper presents the approach to the catalytic cracking modeling with consideration of the reactions' reversibility/non-reversibility depending on the current concentrations and the cracking temperature. The thermodynamic analysis of the reactions using the quantum-chemical methods allows formulating a hydrocarbons conversion scheme at the thermal equilibrium temperature between the feedstock and the catalyst. The magnitude of the current chemical attraction of reactions is a criterion of thermodynamic non-reversibility of reactions, which is determined at each stage of the calculation. It has been shown that the change in the concentrations of conversion participants and cracking temperature have a significant effect on the catalytic cracking reactions. Thus, the cyclization reactions are non-reversible up to 512.9 °C (A[rij]=6.46 kJ/mol) during the processing of feedstock with saturated hydrocarbons to aromatics ratio is 2.1 and with further temperature increasing the contribution of reverse reactions rises. Also with increasing the saturated hydrocarbons to aromatics ratio from 2.1 to 3.2 in the feedstock, the equilibrium of the reaction shifts to low temperatures from 512.9 to 508.9 °C (A[rij]=6.497 kJ/mol). It is connected with the fact that intensification of the exotermic reactions (alkylation, condensation, coke formation) under certain conditions is possible. It is an important factor in terms of catalyst deactivation and has an effect on the desired product yield

Nasopharyngeal Colonization and Invasive Disease Are Enhanced by the Cell Wall Hydrolases LytB and LytC of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common colonizer of the human nasopharynx and one of the major pathogens causing invasive disease worldwide. Dissection of the molecular pathways responsible for colonization, invasion, and evasion of the immune system will provide new targets for antimicrobial or vaccine therapies for this common pathogen. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have constructed mutants lacking the pneumococcal cell wall hydrolases (CWHs) LytB and LytC to investigate the role of these proteins in different phases of the pneumococcal pathogenesis. Our results show that LytB and LytC are involved in the attachment of S. pneumoniae to human nasopharyngeal cells both in vitro and in vivo. The interaction of both proteins with phagocytic cells demonstrated that LytB and LytC act in concert avoiding pneumococcal phagocytosis mediated by neutrophils and alveolar macrophages. Furthermore, C3b deposition was increased on the lytC mutant confirming that LytC is involved in complement evasion. As a result, the lytC mutant showed a reduced ability to successfully cause pneumococcal pneumonia and sepsis. Bacterial mutants lacking both LytB and LytC showed a dramatically impaired attachment to nasopharyngeal cells as well as a marked degree of attenuation in a mouse model of colonization. In addition, C3b deposition and phagocytosis was more efficient for the double lytB lytC mutant and its virulence was greatly impaired in both systemic and pulmonary models of infection. Conclusions/Significance: This study confirms that the CWHs LytB and LytC of S. pneumoniae are essential virulence factor

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century