Due to COVID-19, numerous new technologies are being implemented in education, with a growing interest in the metaverse. The term “metaverse” refers to an immersive digital environment where one can interact with virtual avatars. This study aims to analyze the experiences and attitudes of the metaverse for learner-centered education from a constructivist perspective to determine how closely related this virtual environment is to the lives of elementary school students. This study also examined how students are becoming the focal point of new educational technologies. After reviewing the literature on this topic, a survey of 336 elementary school students in Korea was conducted using 18 items for measuring each factor in the metaverse, followed by statistical analyses that included a difference of means and an independent sample t-test. The results revealed that, on average, 97.9% of elementary school students had experiences with the metaverse, with 95.5% of them considering it closely related to their everyday life. In addition, various conclusions according to each metaverse factor and each participant’s gender are provided.

It is considered that Cutometer parameters R7 and R2 are used as main parameters to assess skin elasticity and aging. And our studies using Moire topography on the face have confirmed that instrumental measurements reflect the decrease in skin elasticity, which is perceived visually.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of transmucosal administration of thyroxine on the tooth movement and osteoclastic activity in Beagle dogs. Materials and Methods Eight Beagles were randomly divided into control group (n = 4) and thyroxine group (4-week group, n = 2 and 8-week group, n = 2). Buttons were bonded on the labial surfaces of the second premolar and anchorage teeth. Nickel-titanium closed-coil springs were connected. In the thyroxine group, thyroxine tablets were bonded to the hooks attached to the second premolar. Results The mean rate of orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) in the thyroxine group was slightly higher than that in the control group. Microscopic evaluation showed that the number of osteoclasts in the thyroxine group significantly increased. Conclusion The protocol for transmucosal administration of thyroxine could not significantly accelerate OTM. An increase in the number of osteoclasts was observed through microscopic evaluation during the 4th week.

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Simultaneous enantioseparations of 15 racemic aromatic amino acids and L-mimosine for their chiral discrimination were achieved by neutral selector-modified capillary electrophoresis (CE) and by charged selector-modified CE. Among the diverse cyclodextrins (CDs) examined, hydroxypropyl (HP)-alpha-CD as the neutral selector and highly sulfated (HS)-gamma-CD as the charged selector provided best chiral environments of different enantioselectivities. Fairly good enantiomeric resolutions were achieved with the HP-alpha-CD mode except for racemic 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine and homophenylalanine while high-resolution separations of all the enantiomeric pairs were achieved in the HS-gamma-CD mode except that L-mimosine was not detected and a partial resolution (0.6) for threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine enantiomers. Relative migration times to that of internal standard under the respective optimum conditions were characteristic of each enantiomer with good precision (% RSD: 0.7-3.8), thereby enabling to cross-check the chemical identification of aromatic amino acids and also their chiralities. The method linearity was found to be adequate (r> 0.99) for the chiral assay of the aromatic amino acids investigated. When applied to extracts of three plant seeds, nonprotein amino acids such as L-mimosine (42 nug/g) from Mimosa pudica Linné, and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (268 nug/g) from Vicia faba were positively detected along with L-tryptophan, L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine.