A survey of the use of ethnographic methods in the study of libraries and library users

A survey and analysis of the use of ethnographic methods in studies of libraries and library users identified a total of 81 studies. Five main types of ethnographic research methods were identified: observation, interviews, fieldwork, focus groups, and cultural probes. The survey shows a recent increase in the use of ethnographic methods in libraries, and identifies an emerging genre of studies associated with library planning that uses rapid ethnographic methods to investigate libraries and their users as part of planning processes. The survey supports comparison across ethnographic studies, settings, and methods; enables the growth of ethnographic methods as a research method in libraries; and provides material for library and information science curriculum development in this area. A bibliography of the studies used in the analysis is provided in Appendix A, and includes a number of gray literature reports and online publications.     

Characterization and separation of Cryptosporidium and Giardia cells using on-chip dielectrophoresis

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been shown to have significant potential for the characterization of cells and could become an efficient tool for rapid identification and assessment of microorganisms. The present work is focused on the trapping, characterization, and separation of two species of Cryptosporidium (C. parvum and C. muris) and Giardia lambia (G. lambia) using a microfluidic experimental setup. Cryptosporidium oocysts, which are 2-4 μm in size and nearly spherical in shape, are used for the preliminary stage of prototype development and testing. G. lambia cysts are 8–12 μm in size. In order to facilitate effective trapping, simulations were performed to study the effects of buffer conductivity and applied voltage on the flow and cell transport inside the DEP chip. Microscopic experiments were performed using the fabricated device and the real part of Clausius—Mossotti factor of the cells was estimated from critical voltages for particle trapping at the electrodes under steady fluid flow. The dielectric properties of the cell compartments (cytoplasm and membrane) were calculated based on a single shell model of the cells. The separation of C. muris and G. lambia is achieved successfully at a frequency of 10 MHz and a voltage of 3 Vpp (peak to peak voltage).     

Curative role of pantothenic acid in brain damage of gamma irradiated rats

Radiation induced brain damage is associated with impairment of mitochondrial functions, variations in the level of neurotransmitters, and oxidative stress. Mitochondrial function is closely linked to the level of neurotransmitters since the precursors are supplied by the Kreb’s cycle intermediates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pantothenic acid, an essential component in the synthesis of Coenzyme A (CoA), on the activity of the Krebs cycle enzymes, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (α-KGDH), and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH); the level of aspartic, glutamic and GABA; the activity of transaminases, and oxidative stress, in the cerebrum of γ-irradiated rats. Pantothenic acid (26 mg/Kg) was orally administered to the rats, 2 h after irradiation and during the following 5 days. Animals were sacrificed the 7th day post-irradiation. The exposure of male albino rats to γ-rays (5 Gy) has triggered oxidative stress notified by a significant elevation in the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), an end product of lipid peroxidation, associated to a significant decrease in the content of phospholipids, and the antioxidant compound glutathione (GSH). The activity of IDH, α-KGDH, and SDH, has significantly decreased, while the level of aspartic, glutamic and GABA has significantly increased. In parallel to these changes, the activity of alanine and aspartate transaminase has significantly increased, compared to their values in the control rats. Pantothenic acid treatment, has significantly attenuated oxidative stress; enhanced the activity of IDH, α-KGDH, and SDH; minimized the increase in the level of amino acids and the activity of transaminases, compared to their values in the cerebrum of irradiated rats. In conclusion, pantothenic acid could improve the level of neurotransmitters amino acids, which depends on the enzymatic activities of Krebs cycle and linked to oxidative stress.     

Pre‐service Teachers' Conceptions about Teaching and Learning: A closer look at Singapore cultural context

A questionnaire was administered to 313 teacher education students of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore to examine their conceptions about teaching and learning. Two dimensions were identified, viz. traditional and constructivist conceptions about teaching and learning. While both conceptions were prevailing, there was a greater tendency for students to hold a constructivist conception about teaching and learning. Multivariate data analysis showed that there were significant differences in the two conceptions about teaching and learning across program groups, among different race groups, with respect to qualifications, but no significant differences for age, gender and subject groups. Explanations were sought in the ambit of educational initiatives and cultural premises. Implications were also drawn for future development and planning in teacher education.     

Inhibitory activities of microalgal extracts against Epstein-Barr virus DNA release from lymphoblastoid cells

This study aimed to assess the inhibitory activities of methanol extracts from the microalgae Ankistrodesmus convolutus, Synechococcus elongatus, and Spirulina platensis against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in three Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cell lines, namely Akata, B95-8, and P3HR-1. The antiviral activity was assessed by quantifying the cell-free EBV DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The methanol extracts from Ankistrodesmus convolutus and Synechococcus elongatus displayed low cytotoxicity and potent effect in reducing cell-free EBV DNA (EC(50)<0.01 μg/ml) with a high therapeutic index (>28000). After fractionation by column chromatography, the fraction from Synechococcus elongatus (SEF1) reduced the cell-free EBV DNA most effectively (EC(50)=2.9 μg/ml, therapeutic index>69). Upon further fractionation by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the sub-fraction SEF1'a was most active in reducing the cell-free EBV DNA (EC(50)=1.38 μg/ml, therapeutic index>14.5). This study suggests that microalgae could be a potential source of antiviral compounds that can be used against EBV.     

Constructing a taxonomy to support multi-document summarization of dissertation abstracts

INTRODUCTION Automatic summarization has attracted much attention both in the research community and busi- ness community as a solution for reducing informa- tion overload and helping users scan a large number of documents to identify documents of interest. A multi-document summary has several advantages over the single-document summary—it provides an integrated overview of a document set indicating common information across many documents, unique information in each document, and cross-d…     

Just‐Do‐It‐(Yourself): independent filmmaking in Malaysia

Abstract

This paper pursues the genealogies of mi-yi (secret doctors) as a threshold figure to attend to the questions of state-mediated governance and knowledge power concerning medical modernity in postwar Taiwan. To consider the mi-yi figure as symptomatic of Taiwan's medical modernity, I inquire into the question of how the scientific discourse of modernity as purported by the class of medical professionals converges with state power to discipline and regulate medical subjects and practices vis-à-vis the discourse of mi-yi. To this end, I analyze the anti-mi-yi discourse that emerged since the 1950s to discuss how the modern medical profession employed a language of science, rationality, and security that initiated an extended state surveillance of unregulated medical subjects and practices. The second part of the essay reads Chen Yingzhen's novella, Zhao Nandong as part of Taiwan's medical “archives” to explore the politics of embodied medical labor as a situated instance of the contradictions of medical modernity. I situate the literary imagination of Zhao Nandong in the social context of mi-yi discourse to frame the erased labor and violence, the ways in which the histories of these labors have been doubly obscured by the conflation of nationalistic historiography and positivist knowledge production of sociological categorizations of Taiwan's modernity.     

Research and Teacher Education: A Malaysian Perspective

This paper is concerned with a review of the available literature and the issues and problems concerned with research on teacher education in Malaysia. Three reference appendices provide the basis for the discussion and represent a serious attempt in outlining the scope of the field. It should be noted at the outset that these reference appendices are not comprehensive nor exhaustive but represent a personal effort with the assistance of the Faculty's bibliographical and documentation assistant who was able to obtain a miscellaneous collection of documents from various sources.     

Reading Instruction in Lower Primary Classes: A Second Observational Study

1985 marked the beginning of the implementation of the Reading and English Acquisition Programme (REAP)—a programme aimed at retraining lower primary English teachers in reading and English language instruction. This programme covering 90 schools in 1986 evolved from research conducted by the Institute of Education personnel. The Reading Skills Project (see Ng, 1984), a 3-year study, examined pupils' reading progress from Primary 1 to 3 in 35 schools; a teacher-observation study looked into reading instructional activities in 24 of the above schools. There was simultaneously a search for reading instruction approaches suitable for the Singapore classroom followed by a small feasibility survey on a chosen approach; a re-examination of in-service reading courses and a literature search for strategies for programme implementation. The present study attempts to discuss only the teacher-observation facet of the total research work behind REAP. In view of the fact that Singapore-based teacher-observation studies are few (see Evaluation of CLIPS, 1981) and studies on the teaching of reading in lower primary still fewer (see Ng, 1980), it is important to first record the research findings for the study done in 1984, and their implications for classroom practice. As this study both replicates and extends a similar study done earlier, teacher educators and educational authorities may find, from the accumulated experience, confirming evidence of directions for a retraining programme for reading teachers, and the urgent need for both curriculum and instructional change in this field.