Teaching and Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stories from Educators Around the World

Educational institutions around the globe were considerably challenged by the unexpected health consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Schools were rapidly forced to close their doors and begin exploring alternative options to educate students. Teachers, families, and students found themselves having to navigate completely new ways of offering and accessing educational services. Educators from eight different countries share their experiences at the beginning of the Pandemic and their creative efforts to continue providing educational services to their students

Does academic assessment system type affect levels of academic stress in medical students? A cross-sectional study from Pakistan

Introduction Stress among medical students induced by academic pressures is on the rise among the student population in Pakistan and other parts of the world. Our study examined the relationship between two different systems employed to assess academic performance and the levels of stress among students at two different medical schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods A sample consisting of 387 medical students enrolled in pre-clinical years was taken from two universities, one employing the semester examination system with grade point average (GPA) scores (a tiered system) and the other employing an annual examination system with only pass/fail grading. A pre-designed, self-administered questionnaire was distributed. Test anxiety levels were assessed by The Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WTAS). Overall stress was evaluated using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results There were 82 males and 301 females while four did not respond to the gender question. The mean age of the entire cohort was 19.7±1.0 years. A total of 98 participants were from the pass/fail assessment system while 289 were from the GPA system. There was a higher proportion of females in the GPA system (85% vs. 59%; p \u3c 0.01). Students in the pass/fail assessment system had a lower score on the WTAS (2.4±0.8 vs. 2.8±0.7; p=0.01) and the PSS (17.0±6.7 vs. 20.3±6.8; p \u3c 0.01), indicating lower levels of test anxiety and overall stress than in students enrolled in the GPA assessment system. More students in the pass/fail system were satisfied with their performance than those in the GPA system. Conclusion Based on the present study, we suggest governing bodies to revise and employ a uniform assessment system for all the medical colleges to improve student academic performance and at the same time reduce stress levels. Our results indicate that the pass/fail assessment system accomplishes these objectives

Recent developments in textile based polymeric smart sensor for human health monitoring: A review

In the modern age, the most important and prevailing issue is the monitoring of human health. To address this, several devices have been developed and a need new materials investigated. The idea of textile-based smart sensors is emerging rapidly. In this regard, ICPs and ECPs have attracted the attention of researchers due to their mechanical adaptability to suit the characteristics of textile fabric. The lighter weight, stretchability and wearability, etc. are considered an advantage while selecting the material for developing sensors not only in health monitoring but also in biomedical, sports, and military fields. The idea behind wearable sensing devices is to enable easy integration of the sensor device into daily life routines. Such wearable sensors also have the potential for real time and online monitoring of human health and integrate with smart monitoring devices. The purpose of this review is to discuss the recent developments in smart monitoring sensors.Open Access funding for this article is provided by the Qatar National Library, Al Luqta Street, Al-Rayyan P.O Box 5825 Doha, Qatar” The authors acknowledge the funding received for this work from Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) for grant number TDF-03-103

MACsec in Classic AUTOSAR : MACsec Implementation PoC on Classic AUTOSAR ECUs

Classic AUTOSAR provides a standardized architecture and guidelines for automotive development. However, it does not include specifications for securing Ethernet communication. The IEEE 802.1AE standard specifies a security standard called Media Access Control Security (MACsec) to protect Ethernet communication. MACsec protected communication requires key agreement between the network peers. IEEE has also standardized this as MACsec Key Agreement (MKA) protocol specified in the 802.1X-2020 standard. This thesis determines the feasibility of incorporating the MKA protocol and MACsec standard in Classic AUTOSAR. For this purpose, we designed and implemented a proof of concept (PoC), having an evaluation board running Classic AUTOSAR communicating via Ethernet with a virtual machine. Classic AUTOSAR has a layered architecture. The PoC developed in this thesis introduces a services module in its basic software layer, which performs MKA protocol and provides MACsec protection. It interacts with the Ethernet interface in the hardware abstraction layer and with the cryptographic service manager (CSM) in the services layer. Furthermore, this thesis evaluates the results to determine that the PoC meets the security requirements and does not violate the Classic AUTOSAR specifications. Based on the design and implementation of this proof of concept, we conclude that it is feasible to incorporate the MKA protocol and MACsec standard in Classic AUTOSAR. This work also mentions the limitations of the PoC and future work required to achieve the goal of having MKA protocol and MACsec standard as a part of Classic AUTOSAR specification.Classic AUTOSAR tillhandahåller en standardiserad arkitektur och riktlinjer för fordonsutveckling. Den innehåller dock inga specifikationer för att säkra Ethernet-kommunikation. IEEE 802.1AE-standarden specificerar en säkerhetsstandard som kallas Media Access Control Security (MACsec) för att skydda Ethernet-kommunikation. MACsec-skyddad kommunikation kräver nyckelöverenskommelser mellan nätverkskollegorna. IEEE har också standardiserat detta som MACsec Key Agreement (MKA)-protokoll specificerat i 802.1X-2020-standarden. Denna avhandling bestämmer möjligheten att införliva MKA-protokollet och MACsec-standarden i Classic AUTOSAR. För detta ändamål designade och implementerade vi ett proof of concept (PoC), med ett utvärderingskort som kör Classic AUTOSAR som kommunicerar via Ethernet med en virtuell maskin. Classic AUTOSAR har en skiktad arkitektur. PoC som utvecklats i denna avhandling introducerar en tjänstemodul i sitt grundläggande mjukvarulager, som utför MKA-protokoll och ger MACsec-skydd. Den interagerar med Ethernet-gränssnittet i hårdvaruabstraktionslagret och med den kryptografiska tjänstehanteraren (CSM) i tjänsteskiktet. Dessutom utvärderar denna avhandling resultaten för att fastställa att PoC uppfyller säkerhetskraven och inte bryter mot Classic AUTOSAR-specifikationerna. Baserat på designen och implementeringen av detta proof of concept drar vi slutsatsen att det är möjligt att införliva MKA-protokollet och MACsec-standarden i Classic AUTOSAR. Detta arbete nämner också begränsningarna för PoC och framtida arbete som krävs för att uppnå målet att ha MKA-protokoll och MACsec-standard som en del av Classic AUTOSAR-specifikationen

Time allocation pattern for household and expenditure saving market activities by using economic value of time: A gender-based analysis in Pakistan

The objective of this study is to estimate the opportunity cost of time spent on household work and expenditure saving market work performed by individuals by taking into account their personal and socio-demographic characteristics. Data is gathered from Labour Force Survey of Pakistan for different years. Pseudo panel technique is used by making cohorts of household and expenditure saving market activities, region and province. Increase in the opportunity cost of time increases female household work hours and expenditure saving market hours by 6.2 and 7.001 hours/week respectively, whereas increase in the opportunity cost of time increases male household hours and expenditure saving market hours by 5.81and 6.49 hours/week. It is recommended from this study that successful policy will improve human welfare of unpaid contributing family workers and individuals involved in household work. They will get benefit from such policies and the desired results without any unforeseen negative side effects will be achieved on other groups

Cyberbullying, Fear of Missing Out and Self-Perception in Adolescents

In recent years many parents and researchers have expressed concerns regarding the potential negative impact of social media use on adolescents. Some studies have indicated that social media use may be tied to negative mental health outcomes. Other studies have not found evidence for harm or have indicated that social media use may be beneficial for some individuals. The current correlational study examined 417 adolescents from different Pakistani school and college students for their time spent using social media, and the importance of social media in their lives. The research investigated the relationship among cyberbullying, fear of missing out (FOMO), and self-perception by checking whether cyberbullying is a predictor of self-perception while fear of missing out acted as a mediator. Key findings include significant correlations between these factors, indicating that higher levels of cyberbullying and fear of missing out are associated with negative self-perception in adolescents. Results indicated that cyberbullying was not predictive of self-perception while fear of missing out acted as a mediator. However, cyberbullying was predictive of fear of missing out, suggesting this may be particularly relevant in leading to increased levels of mental health issues in cyberbullying victims. The study contributes to understanding the psychological impacts of digital technology use among young individuals and suggests the need for strategies to mitigate these negative effects. Finally, the theoretical implications of our findings on the relationship between these variables and the mental health issues of adolescent victims of cyberbullying are discussed

Inflammatory mediators as surrogates of malignancy

Inflammation related to cancer occurs in the cellular vicinity of the tumour and is involved with predictions related to the course of disease and survival prognosis in varioua malignancies. These inflammatory markers affect different phases of tumourigenesis, i.e. carcinogenesis, tumour expansion, lymphovascular invasion, and distant metastasis, and, as a result, tumour cells can activate immune mediators and cells directly and/or chemokines as well as prostaglandins. Numbers of circulating different blood cells, i.e. lymphocytes, platelets, neutrophils and levels of plasma proteins, like C-reactive protein and interleukins that are components of inflammatory responses, are hallmarks of pathways leading to tumourigenesis. Thus, they can provide vital information in stratifying patients according to the risk and precisely targeted clinical care and outcome in malignancies. ---Continu

Health-Related Anxiety and Hypochondriacal Concerns in Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study From Pakistan

UNLABELLED: Phenomenon: Transient health-related anxiety/hypochondriacal concerns in medical students are well documented. The literature suggests that after studying a particular disease, medical students are likely to consider any symptoms earlier regarded as normal to be signs of the disease they are studying. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of these phenomena and their cognitive and distress aspects among medicals students in Karachi, Pakistan.APPROACH: This was an analytical, cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires comprising demographic details, the Short Health Anxiety Inventory, Medical Students\u27 Disease (MSD) Perception Scale, and MSD Distress Scale were distributed to 1st- through 5th-year medical students.FINDINGS: In total, 513 medical students (66% female) participated. Their mean age was 21 ± 1.6years. Three hundred seventy-five students (73%) reported having visited a doctor at least once in the past 6 months. Fifty students (9.9%) admitted to having addictions. The overall prevalence of significant hypochondriacal concerns was 11.9% (61 students). The presence of addiction was associated with a greater likelihood of developing significant health-related anxiety (odds ratio = 3.82, p = .003), 95% confidence interval [1.51, 7.11]. Age, gender, medical school, year of medical school, and visits to the doctor in the previous 6 months were not associated with greater likelihood of developing significant health-related anxiety. Second-year medical students experienced a significantly greater degree of worry (MSD-Distress scale) than 5th-year students (M score = 12.6 ± 4.6vs. 10.7 ± 4.4, p = .04). Insights: The prevalence of substantial hypochondriacal concerns in medical students in Pakistan was low in comparison to similar studies published in literature. Student health physicians should be aware of the true prevalence of hypochondriacal concerns and behavior and not dismiss legitimate complaints. Educational sessions to counteract this phenomenon can be incorporated into the curriculum of undergraduate medicine. By defining heightened awareness of symptoms as a normal process, different coping techniques can be discussed to help medical students reduce their level of stress

Multiepitope-based subunit vaccine design and evaluation against respiratory syncytial virus using reverse vaccinology approach

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is primarily associated with respiratory disorders globally. Despite the availability of information, there is still no competitive vaccine available for RSV. Therefore, the present study has been designed to develop a multiepitope-based subunit vaccine (MEV) using a reverse vaccinology approach to curb RSV infections. Briefly, two highly antigenic and conserved proteins of RSV (glycoprotein and fusion protein) were selected and potential epitopes of different categories (B-cell and T-cell) were identified from them. Eminently antigenic and overlapping epitopes, which demonstrated strong associations with their respective human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and depicted collective ~70% coverage of the world’s populace, were shortlisted. Finally, 282 amino acids long MEV construct was established by connecting 13 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-I with two MHC class-II epitopes with appropriate adjuvant and linkers. Adjuvant and linkers were added to increase the immunogenic stimulation of the MEV. Developed MEV was stable, soluble, non-allergenic, non-toxic, flexible and highly antigenic. Furthermore, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations analyses were carried out. Results have shown a firm and robust binding affinity of MEV with human pathogenic toll-like receptor three (TLR3). The computationally mediated immune response of MEV demonstrated increased interferon-γ production, a significant abundance of immunoglobulin and activation of macrophages which are essential for immune-response against RSV. Moreover, MEV codons were optimized and in silico cloning was performed, to ensure its increased expression. These outcomes proposed that the MEV developed in this study will be a significant candidate against RSV to control and prevent RSV-related disorders if further investigated experimentally