The Poor Man's Lamb Revisited? Assessing the State of LPFM at its 10th Anniversary

In this article the authors report the results of a year-long investigation into the state of the low-power FM (LPFM) industry on its 10th anniversary. They question whether LPFM stations give voice to the previously voiceless as envisioned or, as some research has indicated, benefit religious communities' efforts to expand their cultural reach. Using a 2-phase study, the authors first mapped the LPFM industry using Federal Communications Commission data and public information provided by LPFM stations and their owners and operators over the Internet. The authors then conducted interviews with dozens of LPFM operators across the United States. Results indicate that large interests, in particular religious organizations, have created de facto networks that rely on outside entities for the majority of programming, thus circumventing the spirit of the original policy.     

Inclusion or Illusion? An Analysis of the FCC's Public Hearings on Media Ownership 2006–2007

An assessment of the extent of public involvement in the FCC's media ownership hearings in 2006–07 was conducted through an analysis of the hearings' structure, the 732 public comments made in them, and the FCC's ensuing Report & Order (R&O). In light of the rising call for pluralism, direct democracy and public involvement in policy deliberations, the results reveal that the FCC consistently hindered public participation in the hearing process it initiated and managed through limited advance notice, inconvenient timing, a hearing structure that subordinated the public to experts and stakeholders, and scarce mention of public comment in the final report.     

Analysis of protein posttranslational modifications by mass spectrometry: With special reference to haemoglobin

Mass spectrometry provides a convenient platform for the study of different protein post translational modifications from clinical specimen. Analysis of different post translational modifications of hemoglobin like glycation and glutathionylation can provide useful information on the disease progression and the possible outcome of therapies. In the present study, we have addressed post translational modifications of hemoglobin like glutathionylation and glycation in relation to diabetes and chronic renal failure. We found that both alpha and beta chains of human hemoglobin are glycated irrespective of the extent of glycemia as evidenced by a mass increment of 162 Da. The phenomenon of glutathionylation was observed with only the beta globin chain of hemoglobin probably due to the presence of an accessible cysteine residue indicated by a mass increment of 305 Da. Also, the extent of gltuathionylation observed in the CRF patients could correlate with the severity of the oxidative stress owing to renal replacement therapies like dialysis and transplantation.     

Effect of exogenous L-ornithine L-aspartate on ethanol induced testicular injury in Wistar rats

To investigate reversibility of ethanol induced testicular injuries on treatment with L-ornithine-L-aspartate, male Wistar rats were treated with ethanol (1.6g/kg b.wt/day) and L-ornithine- L-aspartate (200mg/kg b.wt/ day) for 4 weeks. L-ornithine-L-aspartate effectively prevented the ethanol induced body and testes weight reduction; changes in testicular weight well correlated with body weight. Drug exhibited an ability to counteract ethanol induced oxidative challenge as it effectively reduced testicular TBARS and increased tissue ascorbic acid, GSH and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, GSH-Red and Se-GSH-Px. However the drug didn’t show promising effect on inhibitory effect of ethanol on testicular D5, 3-beta and 17-beta HSD (hydroxy steroid dehydrogenase).     

Study of glycemic profile of Cajanus cajan leaves in experimental rats

The present study deals with the evaluation of glycemic profile of aqueous extract of Cajanus cajan leaves in streptozotocin induced type 2 diabetic rats. Single oral administration of graded doses of aqueous extract of Cajanus cajan leaves showed significant increment of 14.3 % in fasting blood glucose levels of normal rats. The sub diabetic and mild diabetic models have also shown hyperglycemic effect from the same variable doses of the extract. The dose of 1000 mg/kg showed the maximum rise of 17.1, 71.2 and 50.7 % in Blood glucose levels of normal, sub and mild diabetic rats respectively during glucose tolerance test. The study of leaves was taken into consideration on the basis of earlier reported hypoglycemic activity of Cajanus cajan seeds. However the results observed were found just opposite and therefore it may be useful in controlling hypoglycemia, occasionally caused due to excess of insulin and other hypoglycemic drugs.     

Governance structure and standard setting in educational assessment

ABSTRACT

Seldom have comparative studies of educational assessment systems been undertaken, especially regarding their standard setting procedures. This study examines the effects of governance structures on the power relations in standard setting in the dominant school-leaving or university-entrance examinations. We present acritical analysis of the published research and policy documents, including sense-checking with senior assessment practitioners from 22 jurisdictions. The nature of standard setting systems in three cases of Ireland, the USA and India are described in detail to showcase the differences between the following three models of governance systems: nationalised, commercial market and quasi-market. The contribution of this article, then, is to describe the three models of governance systems, to classify the 22 jurisdictions using the three models, and to generate propositions inductively. Thus, the article provides aconceptual basis for extension of this work to other cases to advance the literature cumulatively by theory-building.     

Drug effects and avoidance-extinction in rats: A test of the drug novelty hypothesis using ethanol

The “drug novelty hypothesis” was tested directly by giving rats experience with intraperitoneal injections of ethanol on days prior to avoidance training. This preavoidance experience with ethanol was found to eliminate the prolonged extinction of avoidance responding observed after a single exposure to ethanol. It is suggested that these findings confirm the novelty hypothesis in an active avoidance situation. Possible mechanisms of the drug novelty effect were discussed.     

Practical realization of dual S arm antenna for beam steering applications

A dual S shaped micro strip antenna with a realistic feed is proposed for generation of tilted beam radiation pattern pertaining for beam steering applications. To achieve this, four feeding points are located at a distance of 5.6 mm from the antenna centre. These feeding points when excited one by one generate four tilted beams in four different space quadrants, thus yielding a beam steerable antenna. Importantly, since the proposed antenna is symmetrical in the structure, all the four tilted beams have the same radiation pattern characteristics. A further enhancement of the antenna bandwidth is also achieved using 100-μm capacitive coupling between the feed and the antenna strip.     

A Spiral Task as a Model for In-service Teacher Education

The spiral approach has long been used by curriculum designers to deepen students’ knowledge of scientific and mathematical concepts and to bring students to higher levels of abstraction. The benefits of a spiral approach, however, can also be extended to teacher education. This paper describes a spiral activity employed by the Kidumatica program not only to raise the level of teachers’ content knowledge, but also to promote discussion and collaboration among teachers teaching at different grade levels. The activity was designed to take a single problem situation and develop it in ways appropriate to the different grade levels. At each stage, the teachers are encouraged to discuss teaching approaches required by the students at each grade level and the relationships between the different stages of the development.     

The Globalization of Cricket: The Rise of the Non-West

The article argues that international cricket has not followed the path of other transnational sporting events which, typically, are dominated by developed countries. It is a game which the non-Western countries have begun to dominate not just on the field but, more importantly, in shaping the economics and politics of the game. The article suggests that this change, that is atypical of international sport, has come about because of processes within the globalization phenomenon particularly. These are the rise of a transnational community which can support its team across frontiers, the spread of technology that provides real time coverage of the sport; and the decline of the sport in its host country, thereby allowing alternative centres of power to emerge, especially in decision making.