Hydro-Alcoholic Cinnamon Extract, Enhances Glucose Transporter Isotype-4 Translocation from Intracellular Compartments into the Cytoplasmic Membrane of C2C12 Myotubes

Cinnamon has been used as an anti-diabetic agent for centuries but only in recent few years its mechanism of action has been under investigation. Previous studies showed that cinnamon might exert its anti-diabetic effect via increasing glucose transporter isotype-4 (GLUT4) gene and glycoprotein contents in fat cells. To study if hydro-alcoholic cinnamon extract (HACE) enhances GLUT4 translocation from intracellular compartments of nuclear or endoplasmic reticulum membranes (N/ER) into the cytoplasmic membrane (CM). C2C12 myoblastic cell line were seeded in DMEM plus 20 % FBS and differentiated to myotubes using 2 % horse serum. After myotubes formation, 100 or 1,000 μg/ml HACE, as intervention, and as control 1 % DMSO were added for 3 h. Cells were washed and homogenized followed by ultracentrifuge fractionation, protein separation by SDS-PAGE and GLUT4 detection using semi-quantitative Western blotting. Data analysis was done by two-independent samples t test for comparison of mean ± SD of GLUT4 percent in categories. GLUT4 contents were higher in CM of groups 100 and 1,000 μg/ml HACE and lower in 1 % DMSO treated myotubes (CI = 0.95, P < 0.05). For N/ER reverse results were obtained (CI = 0.95, P < 0.05). As our results have shown HACE induces GLUT4 translocation from intra-cell into cell surface. We conclude that cinnamon maybe a choice of type-2 diabetes mellitus treatment because its extract enhances GLUT4 contents in CM where it facilitates glucose entrance into the cell. However it is necessary to trace the signaling pathways which are activated by HACE in muscular tissue.     

A Community-Driven Metadata Framework for Describing Cultural Resources: The Digital Library North Project

This article describes the Digital Library North (DLN) project, a collaboration among researchers at the University of Alberta, staff at the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, and communities within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) to develop a culturally appropriate metadata framework for a digital library of cultural resources. It will discuss gathering of data to inform the first iteration of the metadata framework and digital library prototype, as well as revisions made to both the framework and the digital library based on feedback obtained through community interaction with the prototype.     

ASSESSING CHEMISTRY-LEARNING COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS IN ISOLATED RURAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS BY USING THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION: A CASE STUDY OF SIMEULUE ISLAND,INDONESIA

This study explored learning competency based on the Indonesian National Examination focusing especially on chemistry performance and the circumstances of senior high school students and teachers in rural areas of Simeulue Island, Indonesia. The National Examination total score and chemistry score for students in rural areas were consistently lower than students in urban areas during 2008–2010. The majority of rural students were failing to master key chemistry concepts. Their low performance on laboratory-based questions appeared to indicate that the associated practical work was not done as part of the chemistry courses. Some chemistry topics were not taught due to insufficient time, student weaknesses, insufficient textbooks, and other reasons. The issues of low competency of teachers, poverty for the majority of students, low enrollment in schools, and low competition among students in these rural senior high schools appeared to be common problems across rural settings. The local government has recommended providing a consolidated rural high school with qualified chemistry teachers, laboratories, and transportation to address factors negatively influencing student achievement. Furthermore, local rural school officials need to recruit and retain qualified teachers in these isolated areas, provide effective textbooks and instructional resources, and facilitate the professional development of chemistry teachers.     

Indigenous innovations in higher education: Local knowledge and critical research

International Review of Education -     

The impact of organizational factors on management information system success: An investigation in the Iran's agricultural extension providers

Information system success has been widely discussed in the past two decades. As systems and technologies are being improved and developed, discussions on their effectiveness and evaluation on their success have been continuously debated by researchers, scholars and practitioners throughout the years. Besides the major concern of IS effectiveness, factors influencing IS effectiveness are also important. One of these factors is the organizational factor. Using perceptual measures, this study aims to investigate the influence of organizational factors on MIS success. Survey questionnaires were gathered from 132 Extension Managers from Iran's Agricultural Extension Providers. Seven items were identified to influence MIS success. They are IS department structure, top management support, management style, managerial IT knowledge, goal alignment, resources allocation and IS infrastructure. The study also identified five MIS success dimensions; systems quality, information quality, perceived Ease of use, organizational impact and individual impact. The study found that the MIS success variables are significantly and highly correlated. The study also found all the organizational factors are significantly correlated to the five IS success factors investigated; the system quality, information quality, perceived ease of use, organizational impact and individual impact. Multiple regression analyses also found goal alignment as the highest predictor of IS success, followed by IS department structure, IS infrastructure and management style.     

无边界教育:通过电子教学与有效网络拆除障碍——在“2008世界开放与远程教育论坛”上的主题报告

近年来，无边界教育有了长足的发展，主要原因有：高等教育机构日益紧迫的国际化要求、信息与通信技术的优势以及全世界教育需求的迅速增长。这引起发达国家与发展中国家从各自不同的视角就这一主题开展了非常热烈的讨论，每一方都试图就无边界教育的优点与推行无边界教育的成本作出评估。什么是无边界教育呢？“无边界教育”这个词是指跨越常规的时空和地域界线所提供的教育。     

The geometry of linearly and quadratically constrained optimization problems for signal processing and communications

Constrained minimization problems considered in this paper arise in the design of beamformers for radar, sonar, and wireless communications, and in the design of precoders and equalizers for digital communications. The problem is to minimize a quadratic form under a set of linear or quadratic constraints. We present solutions to these problems and establish a connection between them. A majorization result for matrix trace and Poincare's separation theorem play key roles in establishing the connection. We show that our solutions can be formulated as generalized sidelobe cancellers (GSCs), which tie our constrained minimizations to linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) estimations. We then express our solutions in terms of oblique projection matrices and establish the geometry of our constrained minimizations.     

Differential subordination and superordination of analytic functions defined by the Dziok-Srivastava linear operator

Differential subordination and superordination results are obtained for analytic functions in the open unit disk which are associated with the Dziok-Srivastava linear operator. These results are obtained by investigating appropriate classes of admissible functions. Sandwich-type results are also obtained.     

The three facets of knowledge: A critique of the practice-based learning theory

The community of practice learning theory (Lave and Wenger, 1991) can be credited with establishing the social basis of learning, viewing it as occurring through participation in social practices and activities. However, it remains silent on the cognitive content of what is learned by participants in a community of practice. Nor does it address explicitly the role of individuals in the knowing process. Individuals are merely depicted in terms of a desire to belong to a community, progressing from a peripheral participation position to a more central one. The aim of the present paper is to assess the contribution of Lave and Wenger's (1991) practice theory for educational and other learning social settings. In a schooling context, for instance, Lave and Wenger's (1991) account of learning would imply that what students learn at school is how to relate and belong to the school community. By reducing learning and knowing to participation, and by displacing cognition from individuals to anonymous practices, the practice-based epistemology ignores the significant corpus of content knowledge (such as curriculums) and ascribes too passive a role to individuals and glosses over their differentiated access to resources for changing practices and their differentiated efforts in their social and cognitive development. The present paper suggests an approach to knowledge that takes into account the various facets of knowledge, that is, knowledge as knowledge-productive practices, as content, and as relation to a knowing subject, at the same time preserving the sociality of knowledge and learning.