"Extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to Predict University Students' Intentions to Use Metaverse-Based Learning Platforms"

Metaverse, which combines a number of information technologies, is the Internet of the future. A media for immersive learning, metaverse could set future educational trends and lead to significant reform in education. Although the metaverse has the potential to improve the effectiveness of online learning experiences, metaverse-based educational implementations are still in their infancy. Additionally, what factors impact higher education students' adoption of the educational metaverse remains unclear. Consequently, the aim of this study is to explore the main factors that affect higher education students' behavioral intentions to adopt metaverse technology for education. This study has proposed an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to achieve this aim. The novelty of this study resides in its conceptual model, which incorporates both technological, personal, and inhibiting/enabling factors. The empirical data were collected via online questionnaires from 574 students in both private and public universities in Jordan. Based on the PLS-SEM analysis, the study identifies perceived usefulness, personal innovativeness in IT, and perceived enjoyment as key enablers of students' behavioral intentions to adopt the metaverse. Additionally, perceived cyber risk is found as the main inhibitor of students' metaverse adoption intentions. Surprisingly, the effect of perceived ease of use on metaverse adoption intentions is found to be insignificant. Furthermore, it is found that self-efficacy, personal innovativeness, and perceived cyber risk are the main determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. While the findings of this study contribute to the extension of the TAM model, the practical value of these findings is significant since they will help educational authorities understand each factor's role and enable them to plan their future strategies

Role of the Abcg2 transporter in plasma levels and tissue accumulation of the anti-inflammatory tolfenamic acid in mice

.The Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2) is an ATP-binding cassette efflux transporter that is expressed in the apical membrane of cells from relevant tissues involved in drug pharmacokinetics such as liver, intestine, kidney, testis, brain and mammary gland, among others. Tolfenamic acid is an anti-inflammatory drug used as an analgesic and antipyretic in humans and animals. Recently, tolfenamic acid has been repurposed as an antitumoral drug and for use in chronic human diseases such as Alzheimer. The aim of this work was to study whether tolfenamic acid is an in vitro Abcg2 substrate, and to investigate the potential role of Abcg2 in plasma exposure, secretion into milk and tissue accumulation of this drug. Using in vitro transepithelial assays with cells transduced with Abcg2, we showed that tolfenamic acid is an in vitro substrate of Abcg2. The in vivo effect of this transporter was tested using wild-type and Abcg2−/− mice, showing that after oral and intravenous administration of tolfenamic acid, its area under the plasma concentration-time curve in Abcg2−/− mice was between 1.7 and 1.8-fold higher compared to wild-type mice. Abcg2−/− mice also showed higher liver and testis accumulation of tolfenamic acid after intravenous administration. In this study, we demonstrate that tolfenamic acid is transported in vitro by Abcg2 and that its plasma levels as well as its tissue distribution are affected by Abcg2, with potential pharmacological and toxicological consequences.S

Light cycling as a key to understanding the outdoor behaviour of perovskite solar cells

Forecasting the real world stability of perovskite solar cells PSCs using indoor accelerated tests is a significant challenge on the way to commercialising this highly anticipated PV technology. The lack of outdoor data and considerable magnitude of meta stability effects or reversible changes in PSCs performance over the day night cycle makes it particularly challenging to correlate results of the commonly utilised light soaking ageing test with outdoor experiments. Here we show the variety of short term and long term ageing behaviours by testing PSCs of various architectures under constant and intermitted light indoors and exposing them to natural conditions outdoors. We demonstrate that it is impossible to predict the results of a light cycling test from a continuous light test without prior knowledge of the ageing patterns for a particular device architecture. Cycling the light does not necessarily lead to an increased lifetime as expected due to dark time recovery. Instead, it sometimes reveals a different degradation behaviour resulting in a drastic lifetime reduction. The presence of various degradation patterns for different PSCs implies that an accelerated ageing with constant light experiment is no worst case scenario and thus cannot replace the light cycling test nor can it reproduce the real world scenarios. Furthermore, we show unique sets of weeks to years long outdoor series on different PSCs highlighting the monumental importance of accounting for the meta stability effects when analysing PSC outdoor data as opposed to simply following evaluation routines developed for silicon based devices. In particular, meta stability complicates the decoupling of the effects of environmental conditions from the cell s ageing behaviour and can result in large artefacts. A varying degree of saturation of reversible processes also results in unusual strong seasonality documented for PSCs, with summer representing favourable conditions for some PSCs energy generation compared to winter, despite higher temperatures. For the first time, the decisive impact of meta stable processes on the outdoor performance and stability of perovskite solar cells is demonstrated, with data from over two years in the field, which is the longest outdoor exposure of PSCs reported so far to the best of our knowledge. The correlation between the outdoor results and those from the light cycled experiments is eviden

Mouse models of breast cancer metastasis

Metastatic spread of cancer cells is the main cause of death of breast cancer patients, and elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying this process is a major focus in cancer research. The identification of appropriate therapeutic targets and proof-of-concept experimentation involves an increasing number of experimental mouse models, including spontaneous and chemically induced carcinogenesis, tumor transplantation, and transgenic and/or knockout mice. Here we give a progress report on how mouse models have contributed to our understanding of the molecular processes underlying breast cancer metastasis and on how such experimentation can open new avenues to the development of innovative cancer therapy

A Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of US-, CT-, and MR-Guided Radiofrequency and Microwave Ablation for HCC: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of thermal ablation, focusing on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA), for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using US-, CT-, and MR-guidance. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for studies comparing US, CT, and MR guidance in thermal ablation for HCC. Observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. Overall survival (OS), local tumor recurrence (LTR), primary technique effectiveness (PTE), and major complications were assessed with network meta-analysis. Results: One RCT and 13 retrospective cohort studies reporting on 2349 patients were included. For OS at 3 years, compared to CT, US had hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.98 (95%CI: 0.77–1.26), and MR had HRs of 1.60 (95%CI: 0.51–5.00); For OS at 5 years, US had HRs of 0.80 (95%CI: 0.64–1.01), and MR had HRs of 1.23 (95%CI: 0.52–2.95) compared to CT. LTR rates, PTE, and major complications did not show statistical significance among the three guidance modalities (LTR: RR = 0.29 (95%CI: 0.08–1.14), p = 0.97 MR vs. CT; RR = 0.25 (95%CI: 0.06–1.02), p = 0.97 MR vs. US; PTE: RR = 1.06 (95%CI: 0.96–1.17), p = 0.90 MR vs. CT; RR = 1.08 (95%CI: 0.98–1.20), p = 0.90 MR vs. US. Major complications: RR = 0.27 (95%CI: 0.13–0.59), p = 0.94 MR vs. CT; RR = 0.41 (95%CI: 0.10–1.74), p = 0.94 MR vs. US). Conclusions: CT-, US-, and MR-guided RFA and MWA are equally effective and safe for HCC patients

Unlocking future learning: Exploring higher education students' intention to adopt meta-education.

Despite the potential of meta-education to transform higher education, there remains a scarcity of research investigating students' adoption intentions. This study aimed to identify factors influencing students' intentions to adopt meta-education using an extended Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior model (DTPB). Data was collected via an online survey of 596 higher education students from Jordan who were purposefully selected. Structural equation modeling using partial least squares analysis revealed attitude, social influence, and perceived behavioral control as key antecedents of adoption intention. Furthermore, newly added variables including perceived enjoyment, herd behavior, student autonomy, and student innovativeness showed efficiency in explaining variance in attitude, social influence, and perceived behavioral control. Overall, the extended model provided meaningful insights on factors driving students' willingness to adopt meta-education. The study contributes to theory by extending the decomposed TPB model in the context of emerging educational technologies. It also provides practical implications for policymakers and educators aiming to encourage meta-education adoption

Transpulmonary chemoembolization and microwave ablation for recurrent or advanced non-small cell Lung Cancer

Abstract To verify the treatment effect of the combination of transpulmonary chemoembolization (TPCE) and microwave ablation (MWA), targeting the treatment of recurrent or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 53 patients were studied and grouped according to the diameter of the largest pulmonary nodule, defined as index tumor size (ITS). Patients with an ITS > 3 cm (n = 20) were treated with TPCE and MWA. Patients with an ITS ≤ 3 cm were treated either with a combination therapy (n = 24) or MWA alone (n = 9). The treatment response, including complications and survival outcome, was then analyzed. After TPCE, there was an average ITS reduction of 0.91 cm, and 25% of patients in ITS > 3 cm were downgraded to ITS ≤ 3 cm. After TPCE, there were 12 patients (27%) with PR status and 32 (73%) with SD status. No PD patient in our case series was noted before MWA.The complication rate of MWA was significantly higher in ITS ≤ 3 cm than in ITS > 3 cm (p = 0.013). The median survival time (MST) was 26.7 months, and the time to progression was 13.2 months. The patients in the ITS ≤ 3 cm had longer MST than the others (31.6 vs. 15.8 months, p = 0.003). The significant prognostic factor was ITS > 3 cm (HR: 1.18, p = 0.02). A combination of TPCE and MWA might be feasible to control non-operable, recurrent, or advanced NSCLC