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Abstract-ICT-enabled virtual and remote labs have become a platform augmenting user engagement in blended education scenarios enhancing University education in rural India. A novel trend is the use of remote laboratories as learning and teaching tools in classrooms and elsewhere. This paper reports case studies based on our deployment of 20 web-based virtual labs with more than 170+ online experiments in Biotechnology and Biomedical engineering discipline with content for undergraduate and postgraduate education. Via hands-on workshops and direct feedback using questionnaires, we studied the role of remote lab experiments as learning and teaching tools. Although less reliable than direct feedback, we also included online feedback to perceive blended and remote learning styles among various users. Student and teacher user groups suggested significant usage adaptability of experimental process and indicated usage of remote labs as supplementary tools for complementing laboratory education. Usage analysis implicated the role of online labs as interactive textbooks augmenting student interaction and positive correlates to learning.

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Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, affects millions of people and has gained attention because of its clinical roles affecting behaviors related to motor and nonmotor symptoms. Although studies on PD from various aspects are becoming popular, few rely on predictive systems modeling approaches. Using Biochemical Systems Theory (BST), this article attempts to model and characterize dopaminergic cell death and understand pathophysiology of progression of PD. PD pathways were modeled using stochastic differential equations incorporating law of mass action, and initial concentrations for the modeled proteins were obtained from literature. Simulations suggest that dopamine levels were reduced significantly due to an increase in dopaminergic quinones and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL) relating to imbalances compared to control during PD progression. Associating to clinically observed PD-related cell death, simulations show abnormal parkin and reactive oxygen species levels with an increase in neurofibrillary tangles. While relating molecular mechanistic roles, the BST modeling helps predicting dopaminergic cell death processes involved in the progression of PD and provides a predictive understanding of neuronal dysfunction for translational neuroscience.

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