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Remote controlled laboratories had a great push during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, they were already out there but lacking in visibility. This external trigger pushed the academy to face a global challenge to start offering remote experiments more consistently and maturely. Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) has been offering several remote experiments since 2000 but with the need for an update due to technological aging. As such, the framework for remote experiments in education (FREE) was created based on new web technologies. In addition to the most diverse experiments that had already been developed, FREE includes two experiments that aimed at advanced-level physics students: the Langmuir probe and the electromagnetic (EM) cavity. Both allow users to configure the various parameters and to access the results in real time or check back later. All this access is done using a browser (on a PC or mobile phone) without the need to install additional software. The results of an experimental execution are stored in a database and are downloadable, allowing users to do various analyses and to determine the corresponding plasma density and temperature. In this paper, we will introduce how FREE was used in the implementation of both experiments and give an insight into their didactic approach, such as: (i) how to perform an experimental execution, (ii) the typical data set obtained with, and (iii) the corresponding analysis necessary for the user to retrieve information from it.

Measurement of the concentration of iron in the skin, if correlated with total body iron stores, may enable better informed decisions on when to initiate, change or stop therapy in hereditary heamochromatosis. Naive haemochromatosis patients with iron overload and with C282Y and/or H63D HFE mutations were evaluated at the following time-points: disease diagnosis, end of the therapy programme, and 6 months after the end of therapy. The distribution and concentration of iron in the skin were assessed by quantitative nuclear microscopy methods, in parallel with serum and plasma iron concentration. Iron content in the liver was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance. Iron accumulated in the epidermis; its concentration increased from outer to inner layers, being maximal in the basal layer (7.33±0.98 μmol/g). At all 3 time-points, most of the iron was associated with the extracellular space. During the phlebotomy programme the iron content of the skin and the liver decreased by a factor of 2. These data suggest that measurements of iron concentration in the epidermis, which is a readily accessible tissue, reflect iron overload in the liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]