A microfluidic platform for measuring electrical activity across cells

In this paper, we present a microfluidic chip that is capable of measuring electrical conductance through gap junction channels in a 2-dimensional cell sheet. The chip utilizes a tri-stream laminar flow to create a non-conductive sucrose gap between the two conducting solutions so that electrical current can pass across the sucrose gap only through the cells. Using the chip, we tested the effect of a gap junction inhibitor, 2-APB, on the electrical coupling of connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junction channels in NRK-49F cells. We found that 2-APB reversibly blocks the conductivity in a dose-dependent manner. The tri-stream chip further allows us to simultaneously follow the conductance changes and dye diffusion in real time. We show that 2-APB affects both conductance and diffusion, supporting the interpretation that both sets of data reflect the same gap junction activity. The chip provides a generic platform to investigate gap junction properties and to screen drugs that may inhibit or potentiate gap junction transmission.     

The Activist Professional and the Reinstatement of Trust

Public sector reform in the field of education has been ongoing and relentless. Whether in the UK, Europe, the USA or Australasia, there has been an expectation that the education 'industry' can be managed in the same way as any other commercial enterprise with an emphasis upon forms of accountability which require less and less professional judgment on the part of practitioners. In this article we examine the growth of the 'audit society' and its consequences for professional practice in education. We indicate that there are two responses to bureaucratic surveillance: to act as an entrepreneurial professional or as an activist professional. We argue that the latter is achievable when trust is reinstated through the community of professional practice itself. We illustrate our case using issues surrounding the establishment of professional standards for teachers and we develop strategies for activist professionalism in education.     

Towards the Victimless School: Power,Professionalism and Probity in Teaching

This paper argues the importance of moving beyond the state of affairs that makes victims either of children or of teachers by exploring the conditions of possibility for the idea of a victimless school. The argument is developed drawing data from a study being conducted by the authors into the impact of risk management on teacher work and identity in a number of Australian primary schools (McWilliam, Singh & Sachs, 2002 Managing Risk in Primary Schools: Teachers professional Identity and Work Practices, ARC Discovery Project Funded by the Australian Research Council). The argument put is that risk minimisation as a system of management and surveillance (including self-surveillance) is producing some effects (whether intended or not) that are counterproductive for teachers and, indeed, for children, the very group they are purported to protect. In order to counter the more pernicious effects of this logic, teachers need actively to engage in seeking ways to optimise child protection and staff protection simultaneously.