Competence and usage of Web 2.0 technologies by higher education faculty

Literature on Web 2.0 experiences of higher education faculty in developing countries such as Pakistan is very limited. An insight on awareness and practices of higher education faculty with these tools can be helpful to map strategies and plan of action for adopting latest technologies to support teaching–learning processes in higher education of such countries. This survey study was aimed to examine the competence and practices of higher education faculty in Pakistan with Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, Wikis, Google Docs, Skype, Flickr, YouTube, and social networks. The study was also focused to look for what type of role faculty play while using these tools; and to find whether any significant differences in terms of age, gender, or academic discipline exist in competence and usage of these tools by the faculty. The data were collected from a sample of 246 university teachers in the spring 2014 semester. The findings of the study indicated that faculty participants reported to use Web 2.0 social tools more frequently than instrumental tools. Similarly, their competence with social tools was higher than their competence with instrumental tools. Additional results indicated that their competence with Web2.0 tools significantly differed with respect to their age, gender, and academic disciplines.     

Somatic embryogenesis in wild relatives of cotton （Gossypium Spp.）

Wild cotton species can contribute a valuable gene pool for agronomically desirable cultivated tetraploid cultivars. In order to exploit diploid cotton a regeneration system is required to achieve transformation based goals. The present studies aimed at optimizing the conditions for regeneration of local varieties as well as wild species of cotton. Different callus induction media were tested with varying concentrations of hormones in which sucrose was used as nutritional source. Different explants （hypocotyls, cotyledon, root） were used to check the regeneration of both local cotton plants and wild relatives using T ＆ G medium, BAP medium, CIM medium, EMMS medium, and cell suspension medium. Different stages of embryogenicity such as early torpedo stage, late torpedo stage, heart stage, globular stage and cotyledonary stage were observed in wild relatives of cotton. The results of this study pave the way for establishing future transformation methods.     

The scholarship of teaching and learning: challenges for Malaysian academics

This paper explores the adoption of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by 10 Malaysian university academics. SoTL was part of a pioneering sector-wide initiative for improving teaching and learning. The qualitative study showed that there had been no true learning phase for SoTL because academics had high expectations of rapid success in their new research area, including journal publication. Most of their peers did not understand or value SoTL and so SoTL researchers established minority self-sustaining groups across disciplines and universities. SoTL brought new ways of thinking about teaching that were transformational for the teacher but not necessarily welcomed by the students. Students resisted radical change, and teachers were drawn back to educational practices they no longer valued. SoTL was experienced in a hierarchical educational culture where questioning of self and others was difficult and this hindered teacher development. We conclude with recommendations about realistic expectations and the importance of social learning for those considering SoTL for academic development.     

Contextualising Education in Pakistan,a White Paper: global/national articulations in education policy

This article contextualises Education in Pakistan, a White Paper (2007), an influential education policy paper in Pakistan. The focus is on the ways the White Paper constructs its own contexts as a complement to the policy solutions proffered. Here we recognise Seddon’s point about the discursive work of policy in constructing context. We focus on the way the White Paper constructs its political/ideological context and its global/national context. The White Paper works with the trope of a binary construction of Islam – fundamentalist or moderate – which rearticulates Orientalist Western constructions. The analysis of the construction of the global/national contexts demonstrates the framing of the policy by the Millennium Development Goals, and the Washington and post‐Washington consensus.     

Reversal of diabetic retinopathy in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats using traditional Indian anti-diabetic plant,Azadirachta indica (L.)

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of oral feeding of water extract of fresh leaves ofAzadirachta indica (Fam:Meliaceae) in streptozotocin induced diabetes and its associated retinopathy in rats. Treatment of the diabetic rats with aqueous extract of leaves ofA. indica at a dose of 250 mg/kg body weight for 16 weeks resulted in gradual but significant fall in blood glucose and improvement in serum total, LDL and HDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol which increased in diabetic rats. It also showed improvement in body weight and reversed retinopathy.     

Evaluation of polymerase chain reaction for rapid diagnosis of clinically suspected tuberculous pleurisy

Pleural effusion is one of the commonest presentations of tuberculosis, the clinical manifestations being typically abrupt resembling bacterial pneumonia. Since delayed hypersensitivity is the underlying immune response, bacterial load is very low. Owing to these facts, tuberculous pleurisy as an extra-pulmonary disease poses a diagnostic dilemma. The conventional bacteriological methods rarely detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pleural fluid and are of limited use in diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy. We evaluated the efficacy of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy by targeting the gene segment coding for MPB64 protein specific forMycobacterium tuberculosis. Based on the clinical criteria, 82 patients with lymphocytic exudative pleural effusion were included in the study. Patients were analyzed in two groups; one group consisting of 48 patients of tubercular pleural effusion confimed by various diagnostic procedures and another group of 34 patients comprising of non-tubercular pleural effusion. There were no false positive results by PCR and the specificity worked out to be 100%. Twenty two patients tested positive for Mantoux with a sensitivity of 45%. ZN-staining for AFB was found in samples from 15 patients (20% sensitivity). ADA was positive for 28 patients with a sensitivity of 53%. PCR was positive for 32/48 patients (67% sensitivity). Thus, PCR was found to be more sensitive than any other conventional method in diagnosis of clinically suspected tubercular pleurisy.     

Hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant properties of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum linn) on streptozotocin induced diabetes in rats

Effect of oral administration of 200 mg/Kg body weight of the aqueous extract ofOcimum sanctum (Tulsi) mixed with diet for eight weeks to diabetic (streptozotocin induced) rats was studied. There was significant reduction in fasting blood glucose, serum lipid profile, lipid peroxidation products, (LPO) and improvement in glucose tolerance. The aqueous extract also decreased LPO formation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances TBARS) and increased antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione transferase (GT) and one antioxidant reduced glutathione (GSH) in plasma and rat liver, lung, kidney and brain. The decrease in TBARS and increase in GSH, SOD, CAT, GPX, and GT clearly shows the antioxidant property ofOcimum sanctum.