Girls’ higher education in India on the road to inclusiveness: on track but heading where?

The scope of this paper spans from macro-level national and inter-state comparisons to more micro-level intra-state scrutiny of systemic fault-lines shaping the contours of girls’ education in India. Post independence, national level indicators have been suggestive of greater gender parity. Yet, there is more to inclusiveness of girls in Indian higher education than increasing absolute numbers or improving gender ratios. Rising female participation has coincided with a massive ‘systemic expansion’ of delivery systems and therefore, would have to be a function of this expanded availability. As a corollary, systemic skews and limitations, both qualitative and quantitative, are bound to influence how girls get incorporated into the system. This would matter not just in terms of how many access it, but also what courses do they access and where. In the course of this paper, we scan through several geographic layers of delivery systems to surface how critical systemic traits are shaping access to higher education in India, and how girls remain particularly vulnerable to them. It reveals how the progress achieved so far has spawned its own hierarchies, which do not get reflected adequately in the national level indicators. As we scale down to states, the first set of skews begins to surface in the form of inter-state disparities of access and uneven faculty-wise distributions. Moving to the next level of geographic dis-aggregation, further skews are revealed based on availability of medium of instruction; as also the guidelines of gender based affirmative action meant for improving girls’ participation that ironically end up creating their own distortions. Through a study of these multi-layered hurdles, this paper brings forth the systemic side of impediments that have remained less explored in comparison with the cultural-attitudinal biases that have plagued girls’ participation to higher education in India.     

In the company of citizens: the rhetorical contours of Singapore's neoliberalism

ABSTRACT

This essay explores how the language and priorities of the corporate world seep into the halls of government, and the ensuing implications of such rhetoric. Situating my analysis in Singapore's National Day Rally addresses from 1960 to 2018, I uncover two rhetorical signatures unique to Singaporean neoliberalism: the location of national character in economic performance, and the act of packaging and selling the nation to its people. I conclude by examining the implications of a corporate constitution of the nation for evoking affective ties to the nation, and by considering the value of Singapore's case to broader critiques of neoliberalism.     

An experiment that shaped the physics of the century

In this article it is pointed out how the different layers of substructure of matter were revealed to us by experiments which were essentially very similar to the famous α-particle scattering experiment performed by Rutherford. This experiment, which revealed the nuclear structure of an atom, paved the way towards our current understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter and shaped the course of physics for the 20th century.     

Serum PCT and its Relation to Body Weight Gain in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

The present study was aimed at assessing alterations in serum PCT in terms of its relation to body weight gain in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients undergoing treatment. Among patients (25–75 years) diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, those that were new smear positive, showed sputum conversion at the end of 2 months and were declared clinically cured at the end of 6 months, were included in the study (n = 40). Serum procalcitonin was determined by BRAHMS PCT-Q kit. Patients were divided into two study groups—Group 1 (n = 21; serum PCT > 2 ng/ml at diagnosis), Group 2 (n = 19; serum PCT > 10 ng/ml at diagnosis). Body weights of all patients were obtained at three different time points, PTB-0 (at diagnosis), PTB-2 (after 2 months of intensive treatment) and PTB-6 (after 6 months of treatment). In both groups, mean body weights at PTB-2 and PTB-6 were significantly higher than those at PTB-0 and at PTB-6 were significantly higher than those at PTB-2. However, percentage body weight gain following 2 months of intensive treatment was higher in group 1 (4.05 % gain, p < 0.01) than in group 2 (2.75 % body weight gain, p < 0.05). Thus, the percentage gain in group 1 was tending more towards the desirable minimum gain of 5 % during intensive phase. Increase in serum PCT levels in pulmonary tuberculosis is inversely associated with body weight gain during treatment. Thus, PCT could play a role in regulation of body weight gain in anorectic conditions like tuberculosis.     

Influence of buoyancy-driven flow on mass transfer in a two-stream microfluidic channel: Introduction of cryoprotective agents into cell suspensions

A variety of methods have been used to introduce chemicals into a stream or to mix two or more streams of different compositions using microfluidic devices. In the following paper, the introduction of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) used during cryopreservation of cells in order to protect them from freezing injuries and increase viability post thaw is described. Dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) is the most commonly used CPA. We aim to optimize the operating conditions of a two-stream microfluidic device to introduce a 10% vol/vol solution of DMSO into a cell suspension. Transport behavior of DMSO between two streams in the device has been experimentally characterized for a spectrum of flow conditions (0.7 < Re < 10), varying initial donor stream concentrations, (1% vol/vol < C_o < 15% vol/vol) and different flow rate fractions (0.23 < f_q < 0.77). The outlet cell stream concentration is analyzed for two different flow configurations: one with the cell stream flowing on top of the DMSO-rich donor stream, and the other with the cell stream flowing beneath the heavy DMSO-laden stream. We establish a transition from a diffusive mode of mass transfer to gravity-influenced convective currents for Atwood numbers (A_t) in the range of (1.7 × 10⁻³ < A_t < 3.1 × 10⁻³) for the latter configuration. Flow visualization with cells further our understanding of the effect of A_t on the nature of mass transport. Cell motion studies performed with Jurkat cells confirm a high cell recovery from the device while underscoring the need to collect both the streams at the outlet of the device and suggesting flow conditions that will help us achieve the target DMSO outlet concentration for clinical scale flow rates of the cell suspension.     

Assessment of Serum Calcium and Phosphorus in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Before,During and After Chemotherapy

Our study was aimed to assess the levels of serum calcium and phosphorus in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Blood samples were collected from 40 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis before treatment (PTB-0), at the end of 2 months of intensive phase of treatment (PTB-2) and after 6 months of treatment (PTB-6). Age and weight matched normal healthy volunteers (n = 37) served as normal controls. Serum was analyzed for calcium and phosphorus. Serum calcium significantly decreased to hypocalcemic levels and serum phosphorus significantly decreased but was within normophosphatemic limits in pulmonary tuberculosis. Chemotherapy for tuberculosis managed to raise serum levels of both the ions, with hypocalcemia still persisting in majority of patients during treatment but getting resolved in a significant percentage of patients at the end of 6 months of treatment. Results indicate the need for calcium and phosphorus supplements in tuberculosis patients during chemotherapy. This study also warrants the need for regular monitoring of serum calcium and phosphorus in patients undergoing anti-tuberculosis treatment.     

Evaluation of the radioprotective effect of turmeric extract and vitamin E in mice exposed to therapeutic dose of radioiodine

The aim of this study was to evaluate the radioprotective effect of turmeric extract (40 mg/kg body weight) and vitamin E (α- tocopherol acetate, 400 IU/kg body weight) supplementation on lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione and antioxidant defense enzymes in various organs like liver, kidney and salivary glands at 24 h in adult Swiss mice. ¹³¹Iodine exposure significantly increased lipid peroxidation in kidney and salivary glands in comparison to control animals. Pre supplementation with turmeric extract for 15 days showed significant lowering of lipid peroxidation in kidney. On the other hand vitamin E pre supplementation showed marked reduction in lipid peroxidation in salivary glands. Reduced glutathione levels decreased significantly in liver after radiation exposure. However, pre supplementation with turmeric extract and vitamin E did not improve glutathione levels in liver. In conclusion, we have observed differential radioprotective effect of turmeric extract and vitamin E in kidney and salivary glands. However, Vitamin E seems to offer better radioprotection for salivary glands which is known to be the major site of cellular destruction after radioiodine therapy in patients.