Rapid Transit Research Articles

Clickable, Thermally Responsive Hydrogels Enabled by Recombinant Spider Silk Protein and Spy Chemistry for Sustained Neurotrophin Delivery.

The ability to deliver protein therapeutics in a minimally invasive, safe, and sustained manner, without resorting to viral delivery systems, will be crucial for treating a wide range of chronic injuries and diseases. Among these challenges, achieving axon regeneration and functional recovery post-injury or disease in the central nervous system remains elusive to most clinical interventions, constantly calling for innovative solutions. Here, a thermally responsive hydrogel system utilizing recombinant spider silk protein (spidroin) is developed. The protein solution undergoes rapid sol-gel transition at an elevated temperature (37°C) following brief sonication. This thermally triggered gelation confers injectability to the system. Leveraging SpyTag/SpyCatcher chemistry, the hydrogel, composed of SpyTag-fusion spidroin, can be functionalized with diverse SpyCatcher-fusion bioactive motifs, such as neurotrophic factors (e.g., ciliary neurotrophic factor) and cell-binding ligands (e.g., laminin), rendering it well-suited for neuronal culturing. More importantly, the intravitreous injection of the protein materials decorated with SpyCatcher-fusion CNTF into the vitreous body after optic nerve injury leads to prolonged JAK/STAT3 signaling, increased neuronal survival, and enhanced axon regeneration. This study illustrates a generalizable material system for injectable and sustained delivery of protein therapeutics for neuroprotection and regeneration, with the potential for extension to other chronic diseases and injuries.

Association of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) with reduced sex ratio at birth after the implementation of a rapid transit system in Taipei, Taiwan

ABSTRACT Sex ratio at birth (SRB) is a simple, noninvasive way to monitor the reproductive health of a population. Apparently only a few studies have assessed the relationship between ambient air pollution and SRBs. The studies that investigated this relationship have yielded inconsistent results. Ambient air pollution levels, including particulate matter (PM2.5) levels, have decreased in Taipei city after a mass rapid transit (MRT) system commenced operations in 1996. The aim of this study was to determine whether the changes in levels of PM2.5 after the implementation of the MRT system in Taipei may have influenced the concurrent alterations noted in the SRB. In order to assess this potential association, annual numbers of male and female births were obtained from Taiwan’s Department of Household Registration, Ministry of Interior Affairs from 1992 to 2023. Mean yearly SRBs were calculated for 4 time periods, 1992–1995, 1996–2004, 2005–2015, and 2016–2023. Linear logistic regression was employed to evaluate the variation in officially reported PM2.5 levels during those periods and alterations in the ratios. The ratios for time periods 1 to 4 were 52.61%, 52.22%, 51.78%, and 51.67%, respectively. Compared to Period 1 (pre-MRT), the odds ratios for Periods 2, 3, and 4 were 0.98 (0.97–0.99), 0.97 (0.96–0.98), and 0.96 (0.95–0.98), respectively. The trend toward the decreased SRB was found to be gradual but significant.

Review on the relationship between microplastics and heavy metals in freshwater near mining areas.

Microplastics (MPs), degraded from plastic wastes, have drawn significant attention worldwide due to its prevalence and rapid transition. Contamination of freshwater with MPs has become an emerging global issue. Heavy metals (HMs), a prominent global pollutant, also garnered much attention due to their potential interaction with MPs, presenting a multifaceted environmental threat. The primary source of HM contamination in freshwater has been identified as mining sites. Additionally, the increasing use of plastic materials within mining areas raises concerns about MP release into the surrounding freshwater environments. Recent studies only provide information on the contamination of HMs status with MPs. However, studies on the mechanism responsible for MPs contamination from both external and internal sources of freshwater MPs and HMs are limited. The knowledge gaps in the deposition and fate of MPs in various mining situations and the possibility of combined impacts of heavy metals and MPs in the ecosystem raise ecological concerns. Here, we review the origins of MPs and HM pollution within mining sites and explore the potential combined detrimental impacts on plants and animal life. We found out that polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) have higher adsorption affinity to heavy metals, and the mingle toxic consequence of the MPs and HM can depend on the MP surface properties, pH, and salinity of the neighboring water solution. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models enable the efficient design of adsorption systems. The Langmuir model describes single-layer adsorption at homogeneous sites, while the Freundlich model addresses multilayer adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces. The crucial mechanism of adsorption and desorption that underlies the occurrence of both MPs and heavy metals is a decisive matter in this issue.

Preparation of polyvinyl alcohol/carboxymethyl cellulose sodium/chitosan paper-based antimicrobial indicator cards using mixed anthocyanin with stability-colorimetric sensitivity: Monitoring freshness of carp

In this study, an anthocyanin solution with both high stability and sensitivity was successfully prepared through a blending method, and the optimal ratio was determined. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy analysis demonstrated that an increase in the proportion of black bean peel anthocyanins resulted in a deeper color and a more pronounced color change effect. Moreover, the stability of the blended anthocyanins was markedly enhanced with an increase in the proportion of purple cabbage anthocyanins, resulting in a slower decomposition rate under light, temperature, oxidation, and varying pH conditions. The blended anthocyanins, employed as a pH indicator, were utilized to prepare an antibacterial indicator card. It was observed that the mechanical properties of the coated paper remained unaltered by the ratio of the mixed pigments. The mixed pigments enhanced the stability of the antibacterial indicator card with respect to environmental fluctuations while facilitating more rapid and sensitive color transitions in the presence of ammonia and under disparate pH conditions. The application of indicator cards with five different anthocyanin ratios to fish resulted in a shelf life extension of 1–2 days compared to the control group and enabled real-time monitoring of fish freshness. A comprehensive evaluation demonstrated that the optimal indicator performance was attained when the mass ratio of black bean peel anthocyanins to purple cabbage anthocyanins was 1:1.

Play your way to an "A": helping students engage during the social isolation of remote learning.

With the increased attention focused on active learning, educators strive to find better and more innovative ways to engage students in the classroom. One of the hurtles that educators are presented with is that the classroom is no longer limited to a physical location but rather students and professor can meet via the internet, Before COVID-19, distance or remote learning was something that students, by and large, had the option of choosing in which whether to engage. Students had the option to take "online courses," whether those be synchronous remote learning or asynchronous online courses. Indeed, numerous studies have focused on investigating the efficacy of many different approaches to distance and online learning. Unfortunately, COVID 19 mandated a rapid transition to remote learning, and with this forced change has come what some students describe as "Zoom fatigue" (Wolf CR. Psychology Today, May 2020). Many students reported feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and disengaged by the dramatic increase in mandated distance education required by the COVID pandemic. Video conferencing has become the "go-to" panacea for education during this time, and students are spending unprecedented amounts of time in front of a screen when normally they would be in a classroom. This heretofore singular and unique approach to education coupled with decreased peer-to-peer interaction has caused a problem with student engagement (Goodman BE, Barker MK, Cooke JE. Adv Physiol Educ 42: 417-423, 2018). Students' engagement and performance have decreased during COVID-19 because of forced online learning and lack of peer interaction. We hypothesize that creating a nongraded, fun, and relaxing physiology-focused "Trivia Night" will increase student engagement and performance on summative assessments. Using a master's level class progressing through the respiratory physiology module utilizing remote, synchronous lectures to deliver content, we introduced a voluntary Trivia Night review session with teams randomly assigned to increase interaction among peers and review respiratory physiology material.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article presents the effectiveness of the use of the "pub Trivia Night" to facilitate learning, deconstruct misconceptions, and increase engagement during remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A deep learning approach to real-time Markov modeling of ion channel gating

The patch-clamp technique allows us to eavesdrop the gating behavior of individual ion channels with unprecedented temporal resolution. The signals arise from conformational changes of the channel protein as it makes rapid transitions between conducting and non-conducting states. However, unambiguous analysis of single-channel datasets is challenging given the inadvertently low signal-to-noise ratio as well as signal distortions caused by low-pass filtering. Ion channel kinetics are typically described using hidden Markov models (HMM), which allow conclusions on the inner workings of the protein. In this study, we present a Deep Learning approach for extracting models from single-channel recordings. Two-dimensional dwell-time histograms are computed from the idealized time series and are subsequently analyzed by two neural networks, that have been trained on simulated datasets, to determine the topology and the transition rates of the HMM. We show that this method is robust regarding noise and gating events beyond the corner frequency of the low-pass filter. In addition, we propose a method to evaluate the goodness of a predicted model by re-simulating the prediction. Finally, we tested the algorithm with data recorded on a patch-clamp setup. In principle, it meets the requirements for model extraction during an ongoing recording session in real-time.

The Shift to Online Psychotherapy: Adaptation and Implications for Brazilian Clinical Psychologists Amid Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted traditional psychotherapy practices, prompting a rapid transition to online modalities. This qualitative study investigates how Brazilian clinical psychologists adapted to online psychotherapy during and after the pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five psychologists, each with an average professional experience of 8.9 years. Using the Iramuteq software for lexical analysis, six thematic classes were identified: uncertainties during the transition, emerging possibilities, adaptability movements, pandemic context, new professional perspectives, and academic and professional trajectories. The findings highlight significant challenges, including managing technological tools, maintaining therapeutic relationships, and addressing client concerns in virtual settings. However, the transition also revealed notable advantages, such as reduced operational costs, enhanced flexibility, and expanded access to psychological care. The analysis underscores the critical role of digital competencies, including technical, communicational, and cultural skills, in ensuring effective online therapy. Additionally, the results point to gaps in academic training and professional preparation for telepsychology, emphasizing the need for curriculum reform to include digital literacy and teletherapy-specific strategies. The study concludes that online psychotherapy represents not only a response to crisis but also a sustainable model for expanding access to mental health care. It calls for targeted professional development and ethical guidelines to support psychologists in navigating digital environments effectively. These insights contribute to understanding the evolving dynamics of psychotherapy and provide actionable recommendations for improving digital mental health services in Brazil and beyond.

The Impact of Virtual Work on Employee Adaptive Performance in IT Industry

The rapid transition to virtual work, driven by technological advancements and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has significantly impacted employee adaptive performance in many industries. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities posed by virtual work environments on employee adaptability, focusing on six dimensions: geography, collaboration, culture, work practices, organisation, and technology. The research objective is to determine how these dimensions influence adaptive performance, which is crucial for organisational resilience and effectiveness in remote work. A survey was conducted with 276 employees from the IT sector, using purposive sampling to select participants with specific work experience and roles. The study employed a Structural Equation Model (SEM) using Partial Least Squares (PLS) to analyse the data. Key findings indicate that while culture, work practices, organisation, and technology positively and significantly influence adaptive performance, the impact of geography and collaboration was positive but not significant. This suggests that certain aspects of virtual work environments are more critical than others in enhancing employee adaptability. The study's findings underscore the importance of developing targeted strategies to improve adaptive performance in virtual settings, particularly by focusing on cultural adaptation, effective work practices, and leveraging technology. These recommendations are crucial for organisations seeking to enhance their remote work effectiveness. Future research should explore the role of digital skills in enhancing adaptive performance and further investigate the effectiveness of virtual work practices across different industries.

Trajectory Control Approach for Single-Stage Soft-Switching Grid-Tied Inverters

This paper presents a trajectory control model using finite state machines for a single-stage soft-switching grid-tied inverter designed with a fast dynamic response. The targeted application is a module-integrated inverter for a single photovoltaic (PV) panel which interfaces distributed energy sources with the grid. To minimize switching lossd provide advanced grid-connected functionality, the soft-switching operation is achieved through a resonant filter using a trajectory control scheme. In recent years, controllers based on digital signal processing platforms have been able to handle complex and high-speed control algorithms with precision for real-time control. In real-time control applications, the finite state machine (FSM) approach enhances responsiveness by minimizing latency with limited memory resources by executing rapid state transitions. The proposed model effectively manages the switching states of the single-stage soft-switching inverters during complex DC/AC bidirectional operations. By directly controlling the energy within the series resonant circuit, the model delivers a fast transient response while minimizing switching actions across all quadrants of operation. The control scheme has been digitally implemented on a Texas Instruments (TI) digital signal processor and validated through Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testing.

Assessing Urban Land Parcel Dynamics Driven by Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as an Exclusive Transit Route

The addition of transit routes transforms urban development by disrupting the existing equilibrium that land parcels have achieved over time and promotes revitalization. It is based on the relationships between land parcel variables and transit route characteristics, including feeder routes and road infrastructure. Traditional parametric methods for explaining this relationship have problems with multicollinearity and generalizability while non-parametric methods are not used with the multiple variables of both transit route and land parcel changes over time. This study applies the C5.0 decision tree algorithm, a non-parametric model that creates a decision tree with leaf nodes that predict the relationship. Using the BRT Lahore case study, the time series data of parcel variables in the 2 km circle of five transit stations before BRT 2010 and after BRT 2018, as well as transit route characteristics including feeder routes and road infrastructure, were collected and analyzed. The model identified eight important predictors and explained the relationship in the form of a flowchart. Property condition emerged as the strongest predictor, followed by property value, parking, population density, land use, building height, access routes, and distance from transit stations, in that order. The results show that well-developed transport infrastructure, parking spaces, and feeder routes enable sustainable urban transformation.

The nexus of intelligent transportation: A lightweight Bi-input fusion detection model for autonomous-rail rapid transit

Autonomous-rail Rapid Transit (ART) possesses various advantages in intelligent transportation, but it does not effectively recognize road conditions caused solely by deploying single-modal cameras. In this paper, a lightweight fusion-based object detection neural network was designed with multi-modal sensors for the ART. Firstly, the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) applied additional encoding and preprocessing to the point cloud. Secondly, a backbone and a detection head of the network structure were proposed through re-parameterization and pruning techniques. Furthermore, a fusion module was designed with a selective soft attention mechanism to fuse the extracted features. The proposed model was tested on the open autonomous driving dataset; it achieved a 7.38% improvement in mean average precision (mAP) compared to the original you only look once (YOLO) as well as other state-of-the-art (SOTA) models. Finally, practical experiments were conducted in the maintenance center of ART to simulate the operational scenarios and validate the feasibility of the proposed method in this study. By fully utilizing the information in different modalities and addressing the limitations of single-modal recognition, efforts were made to improve the robustness of road object detection for ART under different road conditions. Consequently, our method provides effective solutions which benefit intelligent transportation with advanced algorithms and strategies.

Teaching human anatomy before during and after COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study on kinesiology students' performance, cognitive load, and congruent embodied learning.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anatomy educators have demonstrated their ability to respond to face-to-face (F2F) teaching restrictions and offer emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) approach. Another educational model that was intensified during COVID-19 was blended learning (BL) which is a combination of F2F and online settings. Studies on the effects of the methods employed during COVID-19 pandemic on anatomy students' learning outcomes are sparse and show slightly similar but nuanced results. There is poor evidence on how the transition to online-only or to BL in response to COVID-19 impacted anatomy students' performance, cognitive load, and embodied learning. The main aim of this longitudinal study is to evaluate the effectiveness of ERTL and BL on anatomy performance in kinesiology students. The second aim of this study was to better understand students' performance in terms of cognitive load embodied learning, and the use of 3D digital tools. The results indicate no significant differences between F2F and ERTL students' performance. However, the results yielded significantly better performance for the BL students in comparison with both F2F (p = 0.001) and ERTL cohort (p = 0.001). The rapid transition to online-only teaching and learning neither enhanced nor deteriorated students' performance. The BL modality appears to be the most efficient. Learning outcomes were discussed in relation to cognitive load, embodied learning, and the use of 3D digital tools.

From Transport Development to Land Reclamation: Contested Spatio-Temporalities ⁠along Penang’s Littoral, Malaysia

“One island is enough” was written on a banner shaped like Penang Island, Malaysia, during a demonstration against the plan to create three artificial islands. The Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, adopted by the local administration and developers, aims to finance the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). This ambitious plan includes several components, such as monorail and light rapid transit lines. While land reclamation is not new in Penang, this mega-development project has faced unprecedented opposition from a wide range of actors. In dialogue with fishers and activists supporting the Penang Tolak Tambak (Penang Rejects Reclamation) campaign, and through the analysis of government documents, non-governmental reports, news articles, and social media, this paper traces how state, corporate, and civil society actors have shifted their focus from the PTMP to the PSR project. Thus far, scholarly literature on island environmental movements has focused on the right to the island and the right to nature, while claims related to the land-sea interfaces, which so clearly delineate island spatialities, have been somewhat neglected. By exploring the contested spatio-temporalities of this land reclamation project off the south coast of Penang, this paper expands the dialogue of the right to the island to include the right to the sea.

A Study on the Decoupling Effect Between Economic Development Level and Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Empirical Analysis Based on Mineral Resource-Based Cities in Southwest China

Mineral resource-based cities (MRBCs) refer to cities with mining and processing of mineral resources as the main industry, so there is a close relationship between their economic development and resource consumption. However, this relationship often hinders its rapid transition towards economic diversification and low-carbon models. Based on quantifying the economic index level of 18 MRBCs in southwest China, this paper has employed the Tapio elasticity coefficient method (Tapio model) and Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC curve) to analyze the decoupling effect between the economic index and carbon dioxide. After the deep research of the “decoupling” phenomenon and its dynamic changes between economic development and carbon emissions, this paper has aimed to explore a low-carbon transformation path suitable for each city. The research results have indicated that: (1) The overall trend of carbon dioxide emissions is increasing, but the growth rate is gradually slowing down, effectively controlling the situation of carbon dioxide emissions. (2) The economic index level shows an upward trend, and the growth rate gradually increases, which signifies a positive trend in economic development. (3) The decoupling effect began in MRBCs in southwest China in 2013, and the decoupling effect was achieved in 2019.

Potential for Recycled Silicon Solar Cells as Feedstock for New Ingot Growth

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates, by modeling, the potential for high‐value recycling of silicon wafers recovered from end‐of‐life PV modules. Technology for PV module recycling is making steady progress, both at recycling companies and R&D institutes, and it is possible that as a result, soon a stream of wafers or wafer fragments recovered from waste modules will become commercially available. Recycling the silicon for manufacturing of new PV modules is an opportunity both for reduction of cost and reduction of environmental footprint of PV. In this paper, we analyze possibilities for recycling of wafer fragments as feedstock for new silicon ingot growth. This could save up to about 0.16 kWh/Wp energy for production of the new PV system. Compared with lower value applications of the recovered silicon, the potential value and energy savings when used as feedstock for ingot growth are considerably higher. This paper presents the possibilities and challenges for recycling wafer fragments from the point of view of dopant type and resistivity control, and mitigation of the impact of recombination activity from possible increased impurity levels or related to boron. Because in current PV production a rapid transition to n‐type wafer doping is taking place, the paper also considers the question what can be done with p‐type doped recycled wafer material. We illustrate how application for perovskite–silicon tandem cells helps to mitigate possible performance loss from metallic impurities or boron. The application in tandem cells is perhaps the only realistic approach to make economically worthwhile use of recycled B‐doped silicon as feedstock for silicon ingot growth.

Highly-efficient (>70%) and Wide-spectral (400–1700 nm) sub-micron-thick InGaAs photodiodes for future high-resolution image sensors

This paper demonstrates the novel approach of sub-micron-thick InGaAs broadband photodetectors (PDs) designed for high-resolution imaging from the visible to short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) spectrum. Conventional approaches encounter challenges such as low resolution and crosstalk issues caused by a thick absorption layer (AL). Therefore, we propose a guided-mode resonance (GMR) structure to enhance the quantum efficiency (QE) of the InGaAs PDs in the SWIR region with only sub-micron-thick AL. The TiOx/Au-based GMR structure compensates for the reduced AL thickness, achieving a remarkably high QE (>70%) from 400 to 1700 nm with only a 0.98 μm AL InGaAs PD (defined as 1 μm AL PD). This represents a reduction in thickness by at least 2.5 times compared to previous results while maintaining a high QE. Furthermore, the rapid transit time is highly expected to result in decreased electrical crosstalk. The effectiveness of the GMR structure is evident in its ability to sustain QE even with a reduced AL thickness, simultaneously enhancing the transit time. This breakthrough offers a viable solution for high-resolution and low-noise broadband image sensors.

Exploring Non-Communicable Disease Risks in Postmenopausal Rural Women of Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) pose a significant health challenge globally, particularly in countries underwent rapid demographic transitions like Bangladesh. Rural populations, including postmenopausal women, are disproportionately affected by NCDs due to various socio-economic and lifestyle factors. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of NCD risk factors among postmenopausal women in a rural village. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural village of Gazipur, Bangladesh from November 2023 to February 2024. Materials and methods: A sample of 108 postmenopausal women was selected using a convenience sampling technique. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and health outcomes were collected through structured interviews and assessments. Chi-square tests were employed to analyze the associations between sociodemographic variables, lifestyle factors and the presence of NCDs. Results: The study revealed a high prevalence of NCD risk factors among postmenopausal rural women. Engaging in physical activity for 2-4 hours daily was significantly associated with both Diabetes Mellitus (p 0.04) and Hypertension (p 0.006). Similarly, occupation showed a significant association with Hypertension (p 0.012) with housewives exhibiting higher prevalence rates. However, there were no significant associations between salt intake, sweet consumption and the presence of NCDs. Conclusion: This study highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions to address NCD risk factors among postmenopausal rural women in Bangladesh. Strategies focusing on promoting physical activity and addressing occupational factors could help mitigate the burden of NCDs in this vulnerable population. By understanding the socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of NCDs, policymakers and healthcare providers can develop effective public health interventions tailored to the needs of rural communities. IAHS Medical Journal Vol 7(1), June 2024; 35-39

NEW APPROACHES TO CROSSLINKING IN COMBINATION WITH REFRACTIVE KERATOMODELING IN CORNEAL ECTASIA

Objective: To consider new approaches to crosslinking in combination with refractive keratomodeling in corneal ectasia of various etiologies.Methods: The work is based on clinical observations of the immediate and remote results of prophylactic and therapeutic corneal crosslinking with argon-fluorine excimer laser radiation (over 700 operations) over periods from 1 month to 13 years. Particular emphasis was placed on the formation of a Bowman-like membrane structure on the ablation surface and local exposure with a personalized gradient refractive profile of the total dose of radiation to achieve a greater keratomodeling effect. Rapid transition without additional calibrations to energy densities below the ablation threshold was carried out on the Russian excimer laser “Microscan Visum-500”.Results: Experimental and clinical studies have shown that excimer laser radiation on argon-fluorine can be used for corneal crosslinking, with energy densities in the pulse being below the ablation threshold. The advantage of excimer laser crosslinking was scanning with a narrow beam, which disrupts the oxygenation of the corneal stroma to a lesser extent and allows for the implementation of personalized local refractive keratomodeling based on keratotopography or aberrometry data. In this case, the induced secondary radiation covers all four peaks of maximum absorption by riboflavin. The use of subablative energy densities during irradiation of the cornea in the personalized PRK mode made it possible to locally affect the ectasia zone and enhance the refractive effect due to the gradient distribution of the total radiation dose.Conclusion: Radiation from an argon-fluorine excimer laser opens up new possibilities for refractive ablative and non-ablative refractive keratomodeling of the cornea in combination with laser-induced crosslinking in keratoconus and secondary keratoectasias of various etiologies.

Games: The WD-40 of Learning

The educational landscape has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid transition to remote learning environments, while ensuring educational continuity, may have inadvertently compromised the development of essential soft skills necessary for in-person interactions, such as communication, collaboration, and teamwork—skills that are vital for success in the workplace (Knight et al., 2021). While games have long been used in education (Conney & Darcy, 2020; Pagel et al., n.d.; Yuan et al., 2020), this study explores the potential of modernizing traditional game-based learning by integrating digital consoles and physical games into contemporary business classroom settings. This approach leverages the inherent appeal and engagement of games (Conney & Darcy, 2020; Hunicke et al., 2004), while fostering the development of critical soft skills. Building upon established frameworks for evaluating educational games, we explore the effectiveness of collaborative games in promoting positive learning experiences. Studies have shown that GBL can enhance motivation, knowledge retention, and problem-solving skills (Lester et al., 2023). Furthermore, collaborative games, by their very nature, necessitate effective communication, teamwork, and strategic planning among players (Pagel et al., n.d.). This project delves deeper into this aspect, investigating the potential of collaborative games to specifically address the regression of soft skills observed in the post-pandemic era. The initial pilot phase of this research focused on Pico Park on the Nintendo Switch and the Team 3 board game as potential collaborative games to cultivate soft skills. Using the MDA Framework (Hunicke et al., 2004), a well-established educational game evaluation tool, we assessed the games' ability to foster desired soft skills. Both games require effective communication, coordination, and strategic thinking, which are essential for fostering teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving. Additionally, their accessibility and diverse formats (digital and physical) offer opportunities for students to practice soft skills in different learning environments, ultimately contributing to the research's goal of investigating the effectiveness of collaborative games in promoting positive learning experiences. The pilot involved approximately 50 students across three classes of the same course. Anonymous open-ended feedback was collected from participants using a survey questionnaire adapted from Conney and Darcy's (2020) design, which was based on the Kirkpatrick Four Level Evaluation Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 1959, 1994). Participants were asked to provide their perceptions of the games, what they learnt, and the potential impact on their future group work. Preliminary findings from the pilot data are promising. Students found the games "fun", "different learning", “useful”, “refreshing”, "amazing", "engaging", "excellent for communication" and more (n=50). 98% of students (n=50) felt more confident in their ability to collaborate with others after playing the games and nearly 95% (n=50) indicated that it helped them identify potential teammates for their group assignments. Anecdotal evidence from academics and students corroborates the quantitative results, reporting increased motivation, improved team dynamics, and a more positive overall learning experience, suggesting that these activities significantly improved teamwork skills. To compliment this qualitative feedback, academics (n=3) observed a decrease in group issues and an increase in grades of around 5% for the major group assessment, bringing the average up from 60% in previous semesters to 65% in the trial period. This research aims to contribute to the existing literature on educational games and soft skills development. By demonstrating the positive impact of collaborative games on student engagement, teamwork, and soft skill development, we hope to encourage further exploration and implementation of this approach in classrooms. The findings of this pilot study highlight the potential of games to not only revitalise traditional pedagogy but also exhibits how technology can be used to address the critical need of fostering essential soft skills in a post-pandemic educational landscape.

Narratives of Language Teachers in Teaching English in the Post-Pandemic Era: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to education worldwide, forcing a rapid transition to online learning and fundamentally altering traditional teaching methods. As schools and institutions gradually return to in-person or hybrid models, understanding the narratives of English language teachers is crucial for developing effective pedagogical strategies and policies. This study explored the experiences and perspectives of language teachers in teaching English during the post-pandemic era through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results showed that instructional approaches and developments in technology interact in a complex way. Teachers noted a dramatic change in their pedagogy, stressing the need for adaptability, innovation, and the use of digital resources in language learning. Furthermore, this study discussed the significant changes brought by the crisis to English teachers’ feedback strategies. This research contributes to the understanding of post-pandemic educational landscapes and offers valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and institutions aiming to support language teachers in adapting a new teaching paradigm.