Prospects of implementing xAPI as a solution for progress tracking in a Blended Learning environment

Learning and development is an exciting world of never ending change, challenges, and trends. Businesses are currently attempting to adapt to the rapid digitization of workplaces. Therefore, L&D (Learning and Development) professionals are making learning material available to learners when and where they need it. According to two of “The State of Learning and Development” reports, published by “InSync Training” in 2016 and 2017 [1,2], the L&D industry is experiencing a shift from traditional approaches (e.g. classrooms, multi-day workshops…), to more modern learner-centered approaches (e.g. blended learning, mobile learning…). The aforementioned reports emphasize on the importance of implementing blended learning. It’ a learner-centered approach that matches different parts of the educational content to their most appropriate delivery methods (e.g. classroom interaction, article, video, audio, video game…) and sequences the resulting learning activities into a complete program of instruction. Although it’s currently a very popular trend given its benefits, there are multiple challenges it’s facing. In this article, we’ll explain the different benefits and challenges of blended learning. After that we’ll explore the prospects of implementing the Experience API (xAPI in short), a new open source specification for learning technology published by ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning) in 2013 [3], as a solution to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of blended learning

What Are the Peripheral Blood Determinants for Increased Osteoclast Formation in the Various Inflammatory Diseases Associated With Bone Loss?

Local priming of osteoclast precursors (OCp) has long been considered the main and obvious pathway that takes place in the human body, where local bone lining cells and RANKL-expressing osteocytes may facilitate the differentiation of OCp. However, priming of OCp away from bone, such as in inflammatory tissues, as revealed in peripheral blood, may represent a second pathway, particularly relevant in individuals who suffer from systemic bone loss such as prevalent in inflammatory diseases. In this review, we used a systematic approach to review the literature on osteoclast formation in peripheral blood in patients with inflammatory diseases associated with bone loss. Only studies that compared inflammatory (bone) disease with healthy controls in the same study were included. Using this core collection, it becomes clear that experimental osteoclastogenesis using peripheral blood from patients with bone loss diseases in prevalent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, periodontitis, and cancer-related osteopenia unequivocally point toward an intrinsically increased osteoclast formation and activation. In particular, such increased osteoclastogenesis already takes place without the addition of the classical osteoclastogenesis cytokines M-CSF and RANKL in vitro. We show that T-cells and monocytes as OCp are the minimal demands for such unstimulated osteoclast formation. In search for common and disease-specific denominators of the diseases with inflammation-driven bone loss, we demonstrate that altered T-cell activity and a different composition—such as the CD14+CD16+ vs. CD14+CD16– monocytes—and priming of OCp with increased M-CSF, RANKL, and TNF- α levels in peripheral blood play a role in increased osteoclast formation and activity. Future research will likely uncover the barcodes of the OCp in the various inflammatory diseases associated with bone loss

Chemical Composition and Allelopathic Potential of Essential Oils from Citharexylum spinosum L. grown in Tunisia

Citharexylum spinosum L. (Verbenaceae) also known as C. quadrangulare Jacq. or C. fruticosum L. is an exotic tree introduced many years ago in Tunisia, specially used as a street and park ornamental tree. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of the different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits; drupes) collected from trees grown in the area of Monastir (Tunisia). In total, 84 compounds, representing 90.1-98.4% of the whole oil composition, were identified by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. The root essential oil was distinguished by its high content in monoterpene hydrocarbons (α-phellandrene; 30.8%) whereas that obtained from stems was dominated by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (cuparene; 16.4%). The leaf oil was rich in an apocarotenoid derivative (hexahydrofarnesyl acetone; 26%) and an aliphatic hydrocarbon (n-nonadecane; 14.5%). Flowers oil was rich in esters (2-phenylethyl benzoate; 33.5%). Finally, drupes oil was rich in oxygenated sesquiterpenes (β-eudesmol; 33.1%). Flowers oil showed a significant phytotoxic effect against lettuce seeds germination, it induces a total inhibition when tested at 1 mg/ml. The highest inhibition of 100% was detected for flower oil tested at 1 mg/ml. Our in vitro studies suggest a possible and new alternative use of C. spinosum essential oils in herbicidal formulations, further experiments involving field conditions are necessary to confirm its herbicidal potential. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved