Environmental Benefit Assessment of Second-Life Use of Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Batteries in Multiple Scenarios Considering Performance Degradation and Economic Value.

Second-life use of electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is an inevitable trend; however, battery performance degradation increases environmental loads. This study evaluated the life cycle environmental impacts of second-life use of LIBs in multiple scenarios, considering performance degradation and economic value. The results showed that a component replacement rate of retired LIBs below 50% made the batteries worthy of repurposing. Reusing whole packs of retired LIBs was better than using only cells or modules owing to the environmental loads from diagnosis, disassembly, replacement, and test processes. The battery energy density and performance degradation significantly affect the maximum return on the environmental input. Compared with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, new lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) batteries, or lead-acid batteries, using retired NMC-811 batteries with capacities as low as 60.7% for energy storage systems to store wind electricity rather than hybrid or photovoltaic electricity, had substantial environmental benefits, including a low global warming potential. Considering the costs of battery recycling, labor, and electricity, using whole packs of retired LIBs could simultaneously achieve high economic and environmental values in energy storage and peak shaving scenarios.

In-between worlds: Chilean university lecturers' experiences of teaching transition between face-to-face and virtual reality contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The advent of new technology is breaking the boundaries of traditional teaching and learning patterns with virtual worlds (VW) creating new frontiers in education. Previous research has explored the use of VW within educational settings. However, limited studies have investigated the transition processes that educators experience by adopting VW based online tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative exploratory study investigated 18 Chilean lecturers' teaching experiences using a three-dimensional computer-mediated environment: Second Life. Findings suggest that changing from traditional to virtual teaching context is a complex process, which (re)shaped the lecturers' various senses of identity and agency towards different instructional approaches resulting in the sense of in-betweenness with multiple digital competencies. These changes indicated that they taught in an 'in-between' mode mapped by different teaching mediations. The participants' teaching experiences of shaping a sense of in-betweenness could provide a unique theoretical lens to explore instructors' teaching experiences from traditional to a technology-mediated online setting.

Using second life to teach health professions students about Alzheimer's Disease: A comprehensive review.

Increased training is necessary to ensure that the next generation of health care professionals are prepared to effectively and compassionately serve patients with Alzheimer's Disease. Second Life® is a virtual world shown to provide a safe, convenient, and effective environment for teaching health-related content. To date, there has been no comprehensive review of studies using Second Life in education about Alzheimer's Disease. The authors conducted a scoping review of the literature on the use of Second Life in the education of medical, nursing, and health professions students about Alzheimer's Disease. Searches were conducted in PubMed, SCOPUS, and CINAHL. Thirty-two studies containing outcomes of the application of virtual reality and the virtual world Second Life were identified. Studies were classified using the Kirkpatrick Four-Level Training Evaluation Model. Changes in knowledge, attitudes, and confidence (Level 2), were most commonly reported, followed by positive reactions (Level 1). No studies identified system-level results and few examined changes in behavior. While results indicate positive student reactions and enhanced learning from Second Life interventions related to Alzheimer's Disease, they also highlight a need for future research examining outcomes at the higher Kirkpatrick levels.

Environmental impact assessment of second life and recycling for LiFePO4 power batteries in China.

The number of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) will increase exponentially in the coming decade with the retirement of electric vehicles (EVs). There is a knowledge gap in assessing the environmental impact of different terminal disposal paths for EV LIBs in China. Here, we take representative lithium iron phosphate (LFP) power batteries as example and carry out a bottom-up life cycle assessment (LCA). The life cycle stages of battery manufacturing, use, second life and battery recycling are considered to conduct a cradle-to-grave environmental impact analysis. To investigate the environmental benefits of end-of-life (EoL) stage for LFP batteries, two EoL management scenarios are considered in this study. The first one combines second life application with battery recycling, and the second recycles the retired batteries directly after EV use. The result shows that the secondary application of retired LFP batteries in energy storage systems (ESSs) can effectively reduce the net environmental impact of LIB life cycle, especially for fossil fuel depletion. When the service life of secondary use is increased from 1 year to 10 years, the environmental benefits of different impact categories will increase by 0.24-4.62 times. For direct recycle scenario, recycling retired LFP batteries can save more than 30% of metal resources. By comparison, we find that recycling lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NCM) batteries has greater environmental benefits than recycling LFP batteries for all impact categories. When considering the environmental benefits at the EoL stage, most life cycle environmental impact is likely to be offset or even show positive benefits if more than 50% of power batteries can be reused in ESSs after retirement.

Direct Measurement of Veterinary Student Learning Outcomes for the NAVMEC Professional Competencies in a Multi-User Virtual Learning Environment.

Education in veterinary medicine, as in other allied health care-health science professions and academia in general, has been subject to the public call for accountability for the quality of its student learning outcomes. A principal stakeholder in veterinary medicine is the American Veterinary Medical Association-Council on Education (AVMA-COE). AVMA-COE has adopted program accreditation standards requiring veterinary colleges to provide evidence that they are measuring and assessing the clinical competency of students before graduation and again shortly after graduation. Schools and colleges are required to develop relevant measures to validate scientific knowledge, skills, and values aligned with North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC) core competencies. Beginning in May 2012, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University modified the professional veterinary medical curriculum by including a required clinical rotation centered on veterinary emergency preparedness and response. A distinguishing major component of the instructional design of the clinical rotation includes Second Life, a commercially obtained computer-generated multi-user virtual simulation learning environment. The virtual reality situations require high-volume, mass-casualty medical triage decision making. The interpersonal communications and interactivity among students, faculty, and third-party actors enable faculty and instructor observers and simulation facilitators to evaluate students actively engaged in critical thinking and complex problem solving while demonstrating skill in the NAVMEC professional competencies. The Second Life virtual simulation has been adopted as a primary tool for direct measurement of student learning objectives outcomes achieved in this clinical rotation and is being implemented in other clinical teaching platforms.

The Effects of Native Language and Gender on Procedure Performance.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of effects of native language-native (L1) versus nonnative (L2)-on procedure performance. BACKGROUND: Written procedures are used by global industries to facilitate accurate and safe performance of hazardous tasks. Often companies require that all employees be sufficiently literate in English and to use only English versions. METHOD: Industrial tasks were tested using a virtual reality industrial environment (Second Life®) to explore effects on procedural performance and safety statement adherence. Fifty-four engineering students (27 L2) participated in the study to explore the native language variable. The participants completed the procedures under time pressure and were scored according to procedure performance and hazard comprehension. RESULTS: Analysis of eight procedures showed significant differences between L1 and L2 for procedure performance (specifically for L2 females). There were no language fluency or hazard comprehension differences found between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that (a) the lower procedure performance of L2 readers was not due to English proficiency but more likely to time pressure; (b) implications regarding single language procedures are not fully understood, particularly with regard to gender differences. APPLICATION: This research is applicable to high-risk industries providing single language, time critical procedures to multilingual workforces.

Second life batteries lifespan: Rest of useful life and environmental analysis.

Road transportation is heading towards electrification using Li-ion batteries to power electric vehicles offering eight or ten years' warrant. After that, batteries are considered inappropriate for traction services but they still have 80% of its original capacity. On the other hand, energy storage devices will have an important role in the electricity market. Being Li-ion batteries still too expensive to provide such services with economic profit, the idea to reuse affordable electric vehicle batteries for a 2nd life originated the Sunbatt project, connecting the automotive and electricity sectors. The battery reuse is, by itself, a path towards sustainability, but the cleanliness of energy storage also depends on the electricity generation power sources and the battery ageing or lifespan. This paper analyses the rest of useful life of 2nd life batteries on four different stationary applications, which are: Support to fast electric vehicle charges, self-consumption, area regulation and transmission deferral. To do so, it takes advantage of an equivalent electric battery-ageing model that simulates the battery capacity fade through its use. This model runs on Matlab and includes several ageing mechanisms, such as calendar ageing, C-rate, Depth-of-Discharge, temperature and voltage. Results show that 2nd life battery lifespan clearly depends on its use, going from about 30 years in fast electric vehicle charge support applications to around 6 years in area regulation grid services. Additionally, this study analyses the day-to-day emissions from electricity generation in Spain, and states that grid oriented energy storage applications will hardly offer environmental benefits in the nearby future. On the other hand, applications that go by the hand of renewable power sources, such as self-consumption applications, are much more appropriate.

Use of virtual reality as a learning environment in dentistry.

Second Life (SL) is an online virtual world with a social environment that may serve as a valuable learning supplement to traditional preclinical teaching methods. The educational advantages of this virtual world include immersion and interactivity. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of using 3-dimensional interactive platforms (3DIPs) designed in SL to that of traditional teaching methods for developing students' understanding of dental clinical situations that are difficult to simulate in real life. For this study, 3DIPs were developed to compare the acquisition of 3 learning objectives: understanding concepts, procedural aspects of interaction with the patient, and spatial interpretation of anatomical structure interactions. A representative dental topic, the use of a semiadjustable articulator, was selected. A quasi-experimental design with 2 groups and pretest-posttest comparison was used. The students in the control group received the conventional teaching established for the subject, which does not include SL experiences. The students in the experimental group received conventional instruction and had access to all 3DIPs for 4 weeks without limitation. The pretest and posttest consisted of a multiple-choice test with 20 questions. A Student t test was used to compare the test results of the groups (significance level α = 0.05). The posttest scores for the understanding of concepts and spatial interpretation were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in posttest scores on the topic of procedural aspects. Students who used cooperative methods for acquisition of knowledge were observed to be highly motivated. The results suggest that the SL environment helps students to understand anatomical interactions that are difficult to observe in real life, is attractive to students, and contains tools with high didactic potential.

Using the Virtual World of Second Life in Veterinary Medicine: Student and Faculty Perceptions.

Virtual worlds are emerging technologies that can enhance student learning by encouraging active participation through simulation in immersive environments. At Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM), the virtual world of Second Life was piloted as an educational platform for first-semester students to practice clinical reasoning in a simulated veterinary clinical setting. Under the supervision of one facilitator, four groups of nine students met three times to process a clinical case using Second Life. In addition, three groups of four clinical faculty observed one Second Life meeting. Questionnaires using a 4-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly agree) and open-ended questions were used to assess student and clinical faculty perceptions of the Second Life platform. Perception scores of students (M=2.7, SD=0.7) and clinical faculty (M=2.7, SD=0.5) indicate that Second Life provides authentic and realistic learning experiences. In fact, students (M=3.4, SD=0.6) and clinical faculty (M=2.9, SD=1.0) indicate that Second Life should be offered to future students. Moreover, content analyses of open-ended responses from students and faculty support the use of Second Life based on reported advantages indicating that Second Life offers a novel and effective instructional method. Ultimately, results indicate that students and clinical faculty had positive educational experiences using Second Life, suggesting the need for further investigation into its application within the curriculum.

An examination of the equivalency of self-report measures obtained from crowdsourced versus undergraduate student samples.

Increasingly, researchers have begun to explore the potential of the Internet to reach beyond the traditional undergraduate sample. In the present study, we sought to compare the data obtained from a conventional undergraduate college-student sample to data collected via two online survey recruitment platforms. In order to examine whether the data sampled from the three populations were equivalent, we conducted a test of equivalency using inferential confidence intervals-an approach that differs from the more traditional null hypothesis significance testing. The results showed that the data obtained via the two online recruitment platforms, the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing site and the virtual environment of Second Life, were statistically equivalent to the data obtained from the college sample, on the basis of means of standardized measures of psychological stress and sleep quality. Additionally, correlations between the sleep and stress measures were not statistically different between the groups. These results, along with practical considerations for the use of these recruitment platforms, are discussed, and recommendations for other researchers who may be considering the use of these platforms are provided.

Second Life simulation as a strategy to enhance decision-making in diabetes care: a case study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The case study evaluated the Second Life perceived usability and the decision-making of insulin administration via situational awareness at two different simulation freezes during Second Life simulation. BACKGROUND: Due to safety issues stemming from nursing knowledge deficits of insulin administration, the use of simulation via practice in a virtual immersive environment, Second Life was evaluated in a case study of practicing nurses. DESIGN: This case study used a single convenience group, post-test design. METHODS: Perceived usability was evaluated using the System Usability Scale. Evaluation of decision-making was evaluated via Situational Awareness Score at two simulation freezes in the Second Life simulation with practicing nurses (n = 12). RESULTS: Nurses with more years of practice reported difficulty in using Second Life. As age increased, the total Situational Awareness Score decreased. Day shift nurses were more likely to obtain a High Situational Awareness Score. CONCLUSIONS: Although usability was nearly obtained, virtual immersive environments for nurses has promise to provide practice in aiding clinical decision-making. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Finding a new platform to allow all nurses to practice difficult clinical decisions is key. A virtual immersive environment, like Second Life, can provide simulation for nurses to practice making such difficult decisions.

Promoting health in virtual worlds: lessons from second life.

BACKGROUND: Social media services can help empower people to take greater responsibility for their health. For example, virtual worlds are media-rich environments that have many technically advantageous characteristics that can be used for Health 2.0 purposes. Second Life has been used to build environments where people can obtain information and interact with other users for peer support and advice from health care professionals. OBJECTIVE: The intent of the study was to find out whether Second Life is a working and functional platform supporting the empowerment of people in health-related issues. METHODS: We conducted a review of the current health-related activity in Second Life, coupled with an extensive series of observations and interactions with the respective resources inside Second Life. RESULTS: A total of 24 operative health resources were found in Second Life, indicating that health-related activity is rather limited in Second Life, though at first glance it appears to contain very rich health-related content. The other main shortcomings of Second Life relate to a lack of activity, a low number of resource users, problems with Second Life's search features, and the difficulty of finding trustworthy information. CONCLUSIONS: For the average user, Second Life offers very little unique value compared to other online health resources.

Preparing facilitators from community-based organizations for evidence-based intervention training in Second Life.

BACKGROUND: A major barrier to the use and scale-up of evidence-based interventions are challenges related to training and capacity building. A cost-effective and highly interactive multi-user virtual environment, Second Life (SL) is a promising alternative for comprehensive face-to-face facilitator training. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using SL to train facilitators from community-based organizations to use ¡Cuídate! (Take Care of Yourself), one of the few evidence-based interventions developed and tested with Latino youth to reduce sexual risk behaviors. METHODS: We recruited 35 participants from community-based organizations throughout the United States to participate in the SL ¡Cuídate! Training of Facilitators. Preparation to use SL consisted of four phases: (1) recruitment and computer capacity screening, (2) enrollment, (3) orientation to the SL program, and (4) technical support throughout the synchronous training sessions. Technical difficulties, the associated cause, and the mitigation strategy implemented were recorded during each session. Participants completed evaluations including perceptions of self-efficacy and confidence to complete the necessary skills to participate in SL training. RESULTS: Overall, participants reported high levels of self-efficacy for all skills necessary to participate in SL training. Based on an 11-point scale (0-10), self-efficacy to download and access the software was rated the highest: mean 8.29 (SD 2.19). Interacting with items in SL had the lowest mean score: mean 7.49 (SD 2.89). The majority of technical difficulties experienced by participants were related to inadequate Internet connections or computer malfunctions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the feasibility of using SL for the ¡Cuídate! Training of Facilitators. The process used in this study to prepare participants to use SL can be used as a basis for other evidence-based intervention training in SL. This study is an important contribution to developing cost-effective and accessible training options for evidence-based interventions.

Undertaking qualitative health research in social virtual worlds.

AIMS: This paper discusses the methodological challenges of using the 3D social virtual world Second Life for research and offers some solutions on a range of research issues including research ethics committee approval, gaining consent, recruitment of sample, data collection and engagement with 'in - world culture'. BACKGROUND: The attraction of social virtual worlds to researchers is their ability to mimic the physical world, as they, are seen as 'places' where people have a feeling of presence (being there) and social presence (being there with others) through the use of a 'customisable' avatar (digital self-representation). Emerging research demonstrating the persuasive nature of avatars on health behaviours through virtual worlds, online games and the 3D web has increased the use of and interest in these areas for delivering health information, advice and support. However, conducting research can be challenging in a 3D world where people are represented as anonymous avatars in an environment unlike any other online media. DATA SOURCES: 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted in Second Life from September 2011-June 2012. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Nurses wishing to undertake research in social virtual worlds should spend time in-world to acquire technical skills and gain an understanding of the culture of the world. CONCLUSION: Our experience of an interview-based study in virtual worlds indicates that researchers require several virtual world technical skills to create innovative tools to recruit, gain consent and collect data and an understanding of in-world culture, language and social norms to increase the chances of successful research.

Carbon emission assessment of lithium iron phosphate batteries throughout lifecycle under communication base station in China.

The demand for lithium-ion batteries has been rapidly increasing with the development of new energy vehicles. The cascaded utilization of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in communication base stations can help avoid the severe safety and environmental risks associated with battery retirement. This study conducts a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of new and cascaded LFP batteries applied in communication base stations using a life cycle assessment method. It analyzes the influence of battery costs and power structure on carbon emissions reduction. Results indicate: When consuming the same amount of electricity in a cascaded battery system (CBS), LFP batteries with a retirement state of health (SOH) range between 76.5 % and 90.0 % can reduce 30.3 % of the global warming potential (GWP) compared to new batteries. From the perspective of battery costs, when the price ratio of new to old batteries is greater than 31.0 %, the GWP of batteries retired at 70.0 % SOH is higher than that of new batteries. As the proportion of renewable energy sources in the power structure increases, the GWP of new batteries in 2035 is 15.0 % lower than in 2020. For batteries retired at 80.0 % SOH, their GWP decreases by 12.3 % compared to 2020. This study offers a new approach to determining the retirement point for LFP batteries from an environmental perspective, promoting carbon emission reduction throughout the entire battery life cycle and the sustainable development of the transportation sector.

From E-Commerce to the Metaverse: A Neuroscientific Analysis of Digital Consumer Behavior.

The growing interest in consumer behavior in the digital environment is leading scholars and companies to focus on consumer behavior and choices on digital platforms, such as the metaverse. On this immersive digital shopping platform, consumer neuroscience provides an optimal opportunity to explore consumers' emotions and cognitions. In this study, neuroscience techniques (EEG, SC, BVP) were used to compare emotional and cognitive aspects of shopping between metaverse and traditional e-commerce platforms. Participants were asked to purchase the same product once on a metaverse platform (Second Life, SL) and once via an e-commerce website (EC). After each task, questionnaires were administered to measure perceived enjoyment, informativeness, ease of use, cognitive effort, and flow. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine differences between SL and EC at the neurophysiological and self-report levels, as well as between different stages of the purchase process. The results show that SL elicits greater cognitive engagement than EC, but it is also more mentally demanding, with a higher workload and more memorization, and fails to elicit a strong positive emotional response, leading to a poorer shopping experience. These findings provide insights not only for digital-related consumer research but also for companies to improve their metaverse shopping experience. Before investing in the platform or creating a digital retail space, companies should thoroughly analyze it, focusing on how to enhance users' cognition and emotions, ultimately promoting a better consumer experience. Despite its limitations, this pilot study sheds light on the emotional and cognitive aspects of metaverse shopping and suggests potential for further research with a consumer neuroscience approach in the metaverse field.

Lithium-ion battery second life: pathways, challenges and outlook.

Net zero targets have resulted in a drive to decarbonise the transport sector worldwide through electrification. This has, in turn, led to an exponentially growing battery market and, conversely, increasing attention on how we can reduce the environmental impact of batteries and promote a more efficient circular economy to achieve real net zero. As these batteries reach the end of their first life, challenges arise as to how to collect and process them, in order to maximise their economical use before finally being recycled. Despite the growing body of work around this topic, the decision-making process on which pathways batteries could take is not yet well understood, and clear policies and standards to support implementation of processes and infrastructure are still lacking. Requirements and challenges behind recycling and second life applications are complex and continue being defined in industry and academia. Both pathways rely on cell collection, selection and processing, and are confronted with the complexities of pack disassembly, as well as a diversity of cell chemistries, state-of-health, size, and form factor. There are several opportunities to address these barriers, such as standardisation of battery design and reviewing the criteria for a battery's end-of-life. These revisions could potentially improve the overall sustainability of batteries, but may require policies to drive such transformation across the industry. The influence of policies in triggering a pattern of behaviour that favours one pathway over another are examined and suggestions are made for policy amendments that could support a second life pipeline, while encouraging the development of an efficient recycling industry. This review explains the different pathways that end-of-life EV batteries could follow, either immediate recycling or service in one of a variety of second life applications, before eventual recycling. The challenges and barriers to each pathway are discussed, taking into account their relative environmental and economic feasibility and competing advantages and disadvantages of each. The review identifies key areas where processes need to be simplified and decision criteria clearly defined, so that optimal pathways can be rapidly determined for each end-of-life battery.

Corrigendum: Lithium-ion battery second life: pathways, challenges and outlook.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1358417.].

Design and evaluation of a simulation for pediatric dentistry in virtual worlds.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional virtual worlds are becoming very popular among educators in the medical field. Virtual clinics and patients are already used for case study and role play in both undergraduate and continuing education levels. Dental education can also take advantage of the virtual world's pedagogical features in order to give students the opportunity to interact with virtual patients (VPs) and practice in treatment planning. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to design and evaluate a virtual patient as a supplemental teaching tool for pediatric dentistry. METHODS: A child VP, called Erietta, was created by utilizing the programming and building tools that online virtual worlds offer. The case is about an eight-year old girl visiting the dentist with her mother for the first time. Communication techniques such as Tell-Show-Do and parents' interference management were the basic elements of the educational scenario on which the VP was based. An evaluation of the simulation was made by 103 dental students in their fourth year of study. Two groups were formed: an experimental group which was exposed to the simulation (n=52) and a control group which did not receive the simulation (n=51). At the end, both groups were asked to complete a knowledge questionnaire and the results were compared. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference between the two groups was found by applying a t test for independent samples (P<.001), showing a positive learning effect from the VP. The majority of the participants evaluated the aspects of the simulation very positively while 69% (36/52) of the simulation group expressed their preference for using this module as an additional teaching tool. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a pediatric dentistry VP built in a virtual world offers significant learning potential when used as a supplement to the traditional teaching techniques.

Exploring the Darkverse: A Multi-Perspective Analysis of the Negative Societal Impacts of the Metaverse.

The Metaverse has the potential to form the next pervasive computing archetype that can transform many aspects of work and life at a societal level. Despite the many forecasted benefits from the metaverse, its negative outcomes have remained relatively unexplored with the majority of views grounded on logical thoughts derived from prior data points linked with similar technologies, somewhat lacking academic and expert perspective. This study responds to the dark side perspectives through informed and multifaceted narratives provided by invited leading academics and experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. The metaverse dark side perspectives covered include: technological and consumer vulnerability, privacy, and diminished reality, human-computer interface, identity theft, invasive advertising, misinformation, propaganda, phishing, financial crimes, terrorist activities, abuse, pornography, social inclusion, mental health, sexual harassment and metaverse-triggered unintended consequences. The paper concludes with a synthesis of common themes, formulating propositions, and presenting implications for practice and policy.