Roblox in Higher Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions for Multimedia Learning

Roblox is widely recognized as one of the most popular metaverse games, boasting millions of users across the globe. The focus of this paper is on the impact of Roblox on higher education, exploring how it can be utilized as a valuable educational tool and the benefits and opportunities that can be created by integrating it into university courses. Additionally, this study investigates the challenges faced by students and educators when attempting to integrate Roblox into curricula. Previous research has primarily focused on Roblox’s impact on elementary schools, leaving unexplored its potential as a metaverse learning platform for higher education. To address this gap, a systematic literature review was conducted to extract themes from the selected literature, identify gaps, and draw conclusions. The study reveals that Roblox can be an effective tool for higher education and has the potential to gamify any university course. However, there is little awareness among educators about metaverse, and creating a customized 3D environment and coding it using Lua to create games can be a challenging task for them. The potential of Roblox as a learning platform for higher education has not been explored much. This study aims to investigate the perspective of students on Roblox’s integration as an educational tool using the TAM model, which states that computer acceptance depends on perceived usefulness and ease of use. The study will examine the potential of Roblox as an educational tool for higher education, as previous research has been limited to elementary schools

The Influence of Long-Acting Somatostatin Analogs on 68 Ga-DOTATATE Uptake in Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors

Purpose A high SUVmax tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR) of 68Ga-DOTATATE can be used to select patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). In addition, an SUVmax TLR ≥ 8.1 is associated with increased progression-free survival in NET patients treated with somatostatin analogs (SSAs). To avoid a theoretical interaction, several guidelines recommend performing PET/CT just before the monthly administration of long-acting SSAs. We aimed to investigate the effect of SSA on the SUVmax of 68Ga-DOTATATE in patients with NET and to identify independent predictors for high SUVmax TLR. Patients and Methods For this retrospective study, 192 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT scans of 165 patients without (n = 115) and with (n = 77) SSA (octreotide or lanreotide) in the 3 months before PET/CT were collected and reviewed. The effect of SSA on SUVmax values was analyzed by a maximum likelihood mixed model. Results Patients with SSA had a significantly higher median SUVmax TLR than patients without SSA (4.7 [IQR], 3.1-7.7) versus 3.2 [IQR, 2.0-5.4]; P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that SSA use was an independent predictor for SUVmax TLR ≥ 8.1 (odds ratio, 2.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-6.72; P = 0.012). Conclusions Our data suggest that higher SSA concentrations do not have a negative effect on 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake in tumor lesions. In addition, we found that only SSA use was associated with SUVmax TLR ≥ 8.1. Our results are consistent with previously conducted studies and in line with the recently published guideline that suggests that the relatively recent use of SSA does not necessitate any delay in 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT imaging

Roblox in Higher Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions for Multimedia Learning

Roblox is widely recognized as one of the most popular metaverse games, boasting millions of users across the globe. The focus of this paper is on the impact of Roblox on higher education, exploring how it can be utilized as a valuable educational tool and the benefits and opportunities that can be created by integrating it into university courses. Additionally, this study investigates the challenges faced by students and educators when attempting to integrate Roblox into curricula. Previous research has primarily focused on Roblox’s impact on elementary schools, leaving unexplored its potential as a metaverse learning platform for higher education. To address this gap, a systematic literature review was conducted to extract themes from the selected literature, identify gaps, and draw conclusions. The study reveals that Roblox can be an effective tool for higher education and has the potential to gamify any university course. However, there is little awareness among educators about metaverse, and creating a customized 3D environment and coding it using Lua to create games can be a challenging task for them. The potential of Roblox as a learning platform for higher education has not been explored much. This study aims to investigate the perspective of students on Roblox’s integration as an educational tool using the TAM model, which states that computer acceptance depends on perceived usefulness and ease of use. The study will examine the potential of Roblox as an educational tool for higher education, as previous research has been limited to elementary schools

Islamic Radicalization: The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations. CEPS Paperbacks. June 2009

On June 4th, Obama will deliver his long-anticipated speech in Cairo, which is expected to convey a reconciliatory message to Arabs and Muslims across the world. As both the US and the EU are trying to reset their policies in the Middle East, the challenge of how to deal with the most important emerging actors in the region – Islamists – remains a matter of great controversy. In this book, Arab and European authors ask whether the EU's current policies are contributing to the radicalisation of Islamist movements in the Middle East and North Africa, and argue in favour of an EU policy based on inclusion

Screening for diabetes and impaired glucose metabolism in Qatar: Models’ development and validation

AimTo establish two scoring models for identifying individuals at risk of developing Impaired Glucose Metabolism (IGM) or Type two Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in Qatari. Materials and methodsA sample of 2000 individuals, from Qatar BioBank, was evaluated to determine features predictive of T2DM and IGM. Another sample of 1000 participants was obtained for external validation of the models. Several scoring models screening for T2DM were evaluated and compared to the model proposed by this study. ResultsAge, gender, waist-to-hip-ratio, history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia, and levels of educational were statistically associated with the risk of T2DM and constituted the Qatar diabetes mellitus risk score (QDMRISK). Along with, the 6 aforementioned variables, the IGM model showed that BMI was statistically significant. The QDMRISK performed well with area under the curve (AUC) 0.870 and .815 in the development and external validation cohorts, respectively. The QDMRISK showed overall better accuracy and calibration compared to other evaluated scores. The IGM model showed good accuracy and calibration, with AUCs .796 and .774 in the development and external validation cohorts, respectively. ConclusionsThis study developed Qatari-specific diabetes and IGM risk scores to identify high risk individuals and can guide the development of a nationwide primary prevention program

Synthesis and catalytic activity of supported acenaphthoimidazolylidene N-heterocyclic carbene ruthenium complex for ring closing metathesis (RCM) and ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP)

Ruthenium catalyzed ring closing metathesis (RCM) and ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) reactions using a supported bis(arylimino)acenaphthene N-heterocyclic carbene (BIAN-NHC) complex have been reported. The BIAN-NHC Ru-complex exhibits excellent catalytic activity and tolerates a wide range of substrates at low catalyst loadings. DFT calculations were also carried out on some selected key intermediates in the reaction mechanism to study the effect of having the conjugated aromatic moiety (BIAN-NHC) in the backbone of the complex. The newly synthesized BIAN-NHC Ru-complex shows comparable catalytic activities to the commercially available second generation Ru catalyst HG2. The recycled complex was reused for up to eight reaction cycles for the RCM of N,N-diallyl tosylamine affording a high average isolated yield, with lower levels of Ru contamination in the final product