Search

Google Classroom (GC) is a technical innovation that allows English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and students to meet remotely to create a more engaging teaching and learning experience. This study investigated factors influencing ESL teachers' intentions to utilize GC for instructions during the COVID-19 pandemic. An exploratory sequential technique was implemented as part of a mixed-methods research design. Eleven prior studies on educators' views toward the use of GC were evaluated for the qualitative data analysis. The data from these investigations were analysed and categorized into topics and categories. The findings revealed that ESL teachers had a positive attitude toward utilizing GC with their pupils. For the quantitative data analysis, a research survey was performed. Technical support, attitude, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and technological knowledge were studied as factors that impacted ESL teachers' intentions to use GC. The sample includes 216 government secondary schools in the Kinta Selatan District of Perak. The outcomes of the study revealed that attitude, perceived usefulness, and technological knowledge all influenced the desire to use GC. The link between technical support and perceived ease of use, as well as the desire to use GC, was found to be negative. In linking the factors that determine GC intention, future research might incorporate a variety of moderating variables. The study's findings might assist educators to understand the challenges of online learning in Malaysian education, as well as how to overcome them.

The utilization of algicidal bacteria for the control of harmful algal blooms (HABs) is a promising technology for ecological remediation. In our most recent publication, a novel strain of Brevibacillus sp. was isolated and proved to have significant algicidal activity and stability against Microcystis aeruginosa. In order to verify the algicidal effect of the strain in the practical application scenario, the algicidal efficacy of Brevibacillus sp. under conditions close to water in the environment was investigated. Results indicated that the algicidal threshold of Brevibacillus sp. culture was 3‰ inoculation concentration, and the removal rate of M. aeruginosa reached 100%. The process of Chl-a degradation followed a first-order kinetic model, which could be used to predict the degradation effect of M. aeruginosa in practical applications. Additionally, the inoculation of Brevibacillus sp. culture introduced additional nutrients, some of which remained in the water. Furthermore, the algicidal substances demonstrated good sustainability, with a removal rate of up to 78.53% at 144 h after three repeated uses. At 12 h, the algicidal substances caused a 78.65% increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content in M. aeruginosa compared to the control group, thereby triggering the antioxidant system of M. aeruginosa. Moreover, algal cell fragments were observed to aggregate. This study provides a promising direction for treating cyanobacterial blooms using algicidal bacteria in practical applications. [Display omitted] • Threshold of Brevibacillus sp. on M. aeruginosa under Class IV/V HABs was 3‰. • Brevibacillus sp. with high algicidal rate (78.53%) after 3 times algal additions. • Nutrition introduced with algicidal bacteria should be considered in application. • Brevibacillus sp. caused peroxidation of algae and aggregation of cell fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has shown considerable variability in the impact of financial incentive interventions on household recycling behavior, but it remains unclear which factors determine the effect of incentive policies. Building on the motivation crowding framework, this study explores how intrapersonal, interpersonal, and policy framing factors moderate the incentive effect on household recycling. Theoretical propositions were evaluated using quasi-experimental data from an incentivized recycling program in Quzhou, China. Although the program increased the recycling levels of residents, it reduced individuals' intrinsic motivation to protect the environment and, through this, exerted a negative indirect effect on recycling behavior. Such motivation crowding out was more salient among people with higher levels of environmental self-identity or self-efficacy and those embedded in stronger neighbor ties or social norms. Consequently, the incentive program was less effective in promoting recycling behavior among these subpopulations. Framing the program in an environmentally beneficial way did not affect its motivational and behavioral influences. Overall, the results extend knowledge regarding the mechanisms underlying the performance of incentive policies and the conditions that affect policy effectiveness. • It is unclear when incentive-based recycling policies are more or less effective. • This study tests intrapersonal, interpersonal, and policy framing moderators. • Four intrapersonal and interpersonal factors negatively moderate incentive effect. • Motivation crowding out explains why incentive effects decrease with these factors. • Policy framing features do not affect motivation crowding and incentive effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study characterized and compared the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of polysaccharides from Chlorella sp. extracted by hot-water extraction method at different temperatures (60–180 °C) and alkali extraction method at different alkali concentrations (0–4 %). Results showed that the dissolution percent of polysaccharides of the two methods reached maximum values of 71.19 % and 58.79 % at 120 °C and 4 % alkali concentration, respectively. All these polysaccharides contained the same monosaccharide components at different proportions. The molecular weight of polysaccharides extracted by alkali method were larger than that extracted by hot-water method. High temperature and alkali concentration both degraded polysaccharides into the lower molecules and destroyed the carboxyl group in polysaccharides. The polysaccharides from alkali method showed the better antioxidant activity, and the polysaccharide extracted by 1 % alkali concentration showed the highest antioxidant activity with 85.17 % (4 mg/mL) and 96.75 % (1 mg/mL) scavenging rates of DPPH and OH, respectively. This study concludes that the determination of the extraction condition of Chlorella polysaccharides should consider the great effect of physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity. • Dissolution law of polysaccharide extracted by two methods were revealed. • The Mw of polysaccharides from alkali method were larger. • CCP-1 showed the highest antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our two recently published articles, we investigated the effects of Tween 80, sodium lignosulfonate (LS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and rhamnolipid (RL) on the co-conversion of endogenous carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) of dairy wastewater in the hydrolytic acidification coupled microalgae culture system. Although the effects of surfactants on the microalgae (Chlorella pyrenoidosa) growth from the perspective of enhancing the accumulation of the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were investigated, the question regarding the effect of surfactants themselves on microalgae growth and mechanism remains to be addressed. In this work, we extend our discussion to clearly demonstrate the effects of these four surfactants on microalgae growth, nutrient removal, and the output of the culture system in artificial hydrolysis-acidification liquor (HAL). Furthermore, de novo transcriptome profiling and the metabolic pathway analysis of C. pyrenoidosa cells in response to these four surfactants were also performed. The results showed that SDS inhibited while the other three surfactants promoted microalgae growth (promotion order of dry weight: Tween 80 > RL > LS). The maximum ammonia nitrogen removal rate followed Tween 80 80.90 % > RL 78.32 % > LS 75.23 % > control 67.08 % > SDS 34.74 %. Surfactants enhanced the C assimilation followed Tween 80 > RL ≈ LS > control. Tween 80, RL, and LS treatment groups achieved higher yield of protein, carbohydrates, and lipid. The differential transcriptome analysis revealed that the number of down-regulated differential expression of unigenes (DEUs) more than that of up-regulated in SDS group, while the opposite was true for the other 3 surfactants. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that Tween 80 mainly affects lipid metabolism in the early stage of microalgae growth, RL mainly affects lipid metabolism and membrane transport, SDS mainly affects energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, and transport and catabolism, while no DEUs significant enriched KEGG in LS group. • Dose-time effect of four surfactants on C. pyrenoidosa growth in HAL was tested. • Four surfactants on algae growth, nutrient removal and output were compared. • SDS inhibited while Tween 80, RL, and LS promoted the growth of C. pyrenoidosa. • Tween 80, RL, and LS promoted the yield of protein, carbohydrates, and lipid. • Pyrenoidosa transcriptomic response to surfactants were reported preliminarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotics are used in plant in vitro tissue culture to eliminate microbial contamination or for selection in genetic transformation. Antibiotic timentin has a relatively low cytotoxic effect on plant tissue culture; however, it could induce an enduring growth-inhibiting effect in tobacco in vitro shoot culture that persists after tissue transfer to a medium without antibiotic. The effect is associated with an increase in oxidative stress injury in plant tissues. In this study, we assessed changes of reactive oxygen species accumulation, protein expression, and oxidative protein modification response associated with enduring timentin treatment-induced growth suppression in tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L.) in vitro shoot culture. The study revealed a gradual 1.7 and 1.9-fold increase in superoxide (O 2 •- ) content at the later phase of the propagation cycle for treatment control (TC) and post-antibiotic treatment (PA) shoots; however, the O 2 •- accumulation pattern was different. For PA shoots, the increase in O 2 •- concentration occurred several days earlier, resulting in 1.2 to 1.4-fold higher O 2 •- concentration compared to TC during the period following the first week of cultivation. Although no protein expression differences were detectable between the TC and PA shoots by two-dimensional electrophoresis, the increase in O 2 •- concentration in PA shoots was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in protein carbonyl modification content after one week of cultivation, and protein carbonylation analysis revealed differential modification of 26 proteoforms involved in the biological processes of photosynthesis and glycolysis. The results imply that the timentin treatment-induced oxidative stress might be implicated in nontranslational cellular redox balance regulation, accelerates the development of senescence of the shoot culture, and contributes to the shoot growth-suppressing effect of antibiotic treatment.