AI Chatbots in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges for Personalized and Mobile Learning

The landscape of higher education is increasingly shaped by the integration of innovative tools such as chatbots, which offer promising solutions to enhance e-learning experiences. As conversational agents, chatbots are being adopted to address challenges in e-learning environments, including low student engagement and lack of personalized support. This literature review explores the current state of e-learning chatbots in higher education, with a particular focus on mobile learning environment. It aims to investigate how these tools contribute to personalize learning, the opportunities they present, and the key limitations and challenges they face. We conducted a comprehensive review of 815 publications from 2018 to 2024 across three major digital databases: Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and Science direct. From these, 39 studies were selected for in-depth analysis. Findings reveal that chatbots enhance personalized learning by adapting content and feedback based on various learner-specific features. In addition, chatbots are particularly effective when integrated into mobile applications and powered by AI technologies. Results show further that e-learning chatbots in higher education support a wide range of educational tasks from language learning to personalized guidance. Despite these advancements, significant challenges need to be addressed, including the technical limitations of both rule-based and AI-based chatbots. These challenges highlight the need for continued research aimed at improving chatbot capabilities. This review aims to inspire and support the effective integration of chatbots in higher education by offering concrete insights for instructors, developers, and researchers

Isolation, synthesis and optimization of cyclopropanation process of 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol

The synthesis of 4-((2,2-dichlorocyclopropyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol 2 have been accomplished by using cyclopropanation process and Reponse Surface Methodology [1,2]. This methodology was used to determine the optimal conditions for the cyclopropanation reaction of eugenol 1. The reaction time (X1) and the ratio of the reaction mixture’s solvent (X2) were the two investigated factors. The statistical analysis of this study indicates that both of these factors had significant effects on the cyclopropanation yield. The central composite design showed that polynomial regression models were in good agreement with the experimental results of the coefficient determination (0.95) of product 2 yield. The optimal conditions were 17.44 and 5.78 hours. In such condition, the predicted yield of the product 2 was 43.96%. Keywords: Eugenol; 4-((2,2-dichlorocyclopropyl)methyl)-2-methoxyphenol; Central composite design; Optimization experiment

Siderophore-based detection of Fe(iii) and microbial pathogens

Siderophores are low-molecular-weight iron chelators that are produced and exported by bacteria, fungi and plants during periods of nutrient deprivation. The structures, biosynthetic logic, and coordination chemistry of these molecules have fascinated chemists for decades. Studies of such fundamental phenomena guide the use of siderophores and siderophore conjugates in a variety of medicinal applications that include iron-chelation therapies and drug delivery. Sensing applications constitute another important facet of siderophore-based technologies. The high affinities of siderophores for both ferric ions and siderophore receptors, proteins expressed on the cell surface that are required for ferric siderophore import, indicate that these small molecules may be employed for the selective capture of metal ions, proteins, and live bacteria. This minireview summaries progress in methods that utilize native bacterial and fungal siderophore scaffolds for the detection of Fe(III) or microbial pathogens.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemistr

Synthesis of pyrazolo-enaminones, bipyrazoles and pyrazolopyrimidines and evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties

A novel pyrazolo-enaminones, bipyrazoles and bipyrazolopyridines from 1-(5-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)butane-1,3-dione and 4-methyl-2-phenyl-2H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-3,6(3aH,7H)-dione have been synthesized by assisted heating with microwave radiation without any catalyst. The pyridine and pyrazole ring formation has been developed from easily accessible enamino keto esters by formylation followed by intramolecular cyclization. The general applicability for the synthesis of the important pyrazolo-enaminones, bipyrazoles and pyrazolo-pyridines heterocycles was attributed to simplicity of operation, synthesis without catalyst, energy efficiency (shorter reaction time under microwave irradiation), good yields, more environmentally friendly and more cost-effective procedure. The antioxidant activity of new heterocyclic compounds was evaluated by free radical scavenging by DPPH assay. Several of these compounds showed good activity against both Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria

Trafficking of Siderophore Transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Intracellular Fate of Ferrioxamine B Conjugates

We have studied the intracellular trafficking of Sit1 [ferrioxamine B (FOB) transporter] and Enb1 (enterobactin transporter) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion proteins. Enb1 was constitutively targeted to the plasma membrane. Sit1 was essentially targeted to the vacuolar degradation pathway when synthesized in the absence of substrate. Massive plasma membrane sorting of Sit1 was induced by various siderophore substrates of Sit1, and by coprogen, which is not a substrate of Sit1. Thus, different siderophore transporters use different regulated trafficking processes. We also studied the fate of Sit1-mediated internalized siderophores. Ferrioxamine B was recovered in isolated vacuolar fractions, where it could be detected spectrophotometrically. Ferrioxamine B coupled to an inhibitor of mitochondrial protoporphyrinogen oxidase (acifluorfen) could not reach its target unless the cells were disrupted, confirming the tight compartmentalization of siderophores within cells. Ferrioxamine B coupled to a fluorescent moiety, FOB-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole, used as a Sit1-dependent iron source, accumulated in the vacuolar lumen even in mutants displaying a steady-state accumulation of Sit1 at the plasma membrane or in endosomal compartments. Thus, the fates of siderophore transporters and siderophores diverge early in the trafficking process

Homogenization of Maxwell’s Equations in Lossy Biperiodic Metamaterials

International audienc