Validity of acute phase proteins and trace metals as adjuncts in viral hepatitis A and B

The level of seven acute phase proteins was estimated together with copper and zinc in two groups of 15 children each suffering from hepatitis A (HAV) or Hepatitis B (HBV). The mean concentration of α-1 antitrypsin, α-2 macroglobulin, ceruloplasmin, C3 and copper was increased uniformly in both the types of viral hepatitis. α-1 acid glycoprotein, haptoglobin and zinc levels were decreased in both the infections. A significant decrease in albumin level was observed in HAV while the decrease was not significant in HBV. All the paramenters were repeated after one month on the day of discharge following the disappearance of clinical signs and symptoms wherein the haptoglobin level returned to normal in HAV. No change was observed in the level of other acute phase proteins. The level of the trace elements returned to normal. The observed increase in the levels of acute phase proteins at the onset does not seem to have any significant relation to the subsequent course of the disease. However, the level of acute phase proteins and other biochemical parameters may indicate a delayed biochemical recovery phase in conjunction with the underlying hepatic pathological changes in the course of viral hepatitis in spite of clinical recovery.     

Lebanese youth narratives: a bleak post-war landscape

To identify the themes that define the lives of a generation living in a conflict-ridden post-war society, I explore the changing views of Lebanese students through an analysis of the personal narrative texts that they created during my creative writing workshops over a 16-year period (1997–2012). Increasingly, young Lebanese feel trapped in a violent past, a threatening present and a hopeless future. As traditional forms of stability and loyalty (family and state) become more dysfunctional, modern alternative sources of education, employment, security and public discourse remain absent, creating an ever-widening disjunction between expectations and disheartening lived realities. Since 1998, student texts have focused on three salient thematic groupings: Idealism (1998–2005), Activism (2005–2008) and, most recently, Disillusionment (2008–present). In an atmosphere of escalating intolerance and hostility, it is hardly surprising that students are currently escaping to spaces of indulgence and personal gratification. As ongoing regional conflicts fuel local sectarian rivalries, I argue that reengaging educated young Lebanese in non-confrontational narratives that challenge dysfunctional systems can play a vital role in disrupting a dangerous sectarian narrative that is fast threatening to entangle Lebanon in yet another brutal war.     

Morphological structures in visual word recognition: the case of Arabic

This research examined the function within lexical access of the main morphemic units from which most Arabic words are assembled, namely roots and word patterns. The present study focused on the derivation of nouns, in particular, whether the lexical representation of Arabic words reflects their morphological structure and whether recognition of a word involves recognition of its morphological constituents. The morphology of Arabic language constitutes two main systems: inflectional morphology and derivational morphology. Inflectional morphology is used to express grammatical relations and derivational morphology deals with the formation of new words in language; it contains two types of word patterns: verbal and nominal. In this study, it was assumed that roots are lexical entities that can facilitate lexical access to a large cluster of words that derive from them, whereas word patterns are not lexical entities and have no role in access to words assembled by them. The lexical representations of the main morphemic units were examined in four experiments using skilled readers applying masked priming technique tasks: lexical decision and naming. The results indicated that previous exposure to a word sharing the same word pattern had no marked facilitating effect on lexical decision or on naming. The main conclusion of this study on the morphology of Arabic is that roots and word patterns have no essential role in word organisation in the mental lexicon. In addition, words in nominal pattern in derivational morphology are represented in their whole shape in the mental lexicon and each word has an independent representation.     

E-learning services acceptance in higher educational institutes: A case study in Brunei

This research studies on the e-learning services acceptance in higher education institutions in Brunei Darussalam. This research has seven hypotheses, relating to independent, intermediary, and dependent variables. The independent variables include lecturer’s characteristics, design of learning contents, teaching materials, and playfulness; while the intermediary variables are perceived benefits and perceived ease of use. On the other hand, the dependent variable in this research is the intention to use e-learning. Multiple regression analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses proposed. Data analysis from this research has confirmed that the lecturer’s characteristics, teaching materials, perceived ease of use and the intention to use e-learning corresponds to the perceived benefits. Meanwhile, the design of learning content and the intention to use e-learning are positively related to the perceived ease of use and lastly, the variable playfulness is positively related to the intention to use e-learning.     

Cancer on the cross-wires

Normal cells in our body that constitute a cellular society are not selfish and this is evident by the fact that they have evolved a phenomenal pathway whereby they cause their own death under conditions of stress that lie beyond the absorbing capacity of the cell. This phenomenon is known as ‘Apoptosis’ or ‘Programmed Cell Death’. However, cancerous cells, which are indeed selfish and proliferate at the cost of their normal counterparts, evade the apoptotic pathway by hindering the mitochondrial release of the proapoptotic protein cytochrome c (Cyt c). Here, we have proposed a scheme whereby the power of proteasome (an intracellular protein chopper) could be harnessed to remove the obstruction placed by cancer cell to the apoptotic process and thereby pushing the cancerous cells to self-destruction, leading to a possible cure for cancer.     

Establishment of engineering laboratories for undergraduate and postgraduate studies

The importance of the laboratories for the study of engineering problems is manifold. At the undergraduate level it provides an opportunity for the students to get an impression of the basic principles of engineering. At the postgraduate level it becomes an instrument for advanced level study and for the solutions to real-life engineering problems. Level of emphasis by an individual engineering institution on basic engineering, interdisciplinary aspects of engineering and relevance to international, national and local industrial trends effects the policy to establish the engineering laboratories. However, a core facility, for the teaching of the most basic principals of relevant field of engineering should be a common feature of all the laboratories associated with individual subject area. In this research paper an approach for establishing engineering laboratories is presented. It discusses the relation between the syllabus of appropriate level of study and the equipment required in the laboratory, physical planning for the laboratory, sequential and parallel approaches for establishing the laboratories, the functional capacity of laboratories, the organizational flexibility of the laboratories, the cost factor and the recurring expenditure. It suggests ways of utilizing the laboratory for effective teaching and research through optimal use of the above factors.     

皮特拉城的探索和保护

皮特拉是约旦的一座著名古城,它是古代阿拉伯国家间的交通要塞,现今则是世界上最著名的考古遗址之一,1985年被联合国教科文组织公布为世界文化遗产地段.文章简要阐述了皮特拉城的历史和文化价值,着重介绍了对文化遗址的保护,尤其是对皮特拉神庙遗址的加固保护研究,对人们了解不同地域古建筑的保护有着借鉴意义.对皮特拉的探索不仅是一种对遗址保护,当地政府还在努力寻找从物质及经济方面的改善,用规划的手段,使这座古城的城市活力再现.     

Mentoring Student Participation in Undergraduate Research: A Case Study of Twists and Turns from Two Perspectives

Abstract

Undergraduate research experiences provide excellent examples of high-impact practices. They rely on inquiry-based learning to provide important capstone experiences for the students. However, they are time-intensive for mentor faculty. In an attempt to scale up our faculty’s ability to offer such experiences, we combined a number of projects into one class: the Biomathematics Workshop. This article chronicles the experiences of one student from that class interspersed with comments from his mentor. Our goal is to illustrate some of the twists and turns in his journey and the unexpected but valuable lessons the student (and the mentoring team) learned.