Evaluation of environmental influences of Rock phosphate Mines: Water Quality and Serum Chemistry

Jhamarkotra is located a distance of 25 kms from Udaipur city. It has richest deposits of phosphorite ore (Rock phosphate) in our country. The mine has been under operation for the last several years. However, the effect of environmental influence have not been investigated. In the present study water analysis from 8 points of delivery in mine area along with pathological and biochemical parameters is reported. The water is relatively hard and has significantly high content of fluoride and chloride. The miners were divided into four groups on the basis of their exposure in the mining area. The group were; a) non exposed, b) indirectly exposed, c) transiently exposed and d) directly exposed. These were compared with controls. The results indicate that serum uric acid, GPT, alkaline phosphatase level were elevated in directly exposed miners.     

In-service teachers’ attitudes,concerns, efficacy and intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms: an international comparison of Australian and Italian teachers

The paper examined whether in-service teachers from Australia to Italy differ in terms of their attitudes, concerns, efficacy beliefs and intentions to include learners with disabilities in their classrooms. An attempt was also made to determine predictors of the participants’ intentions to include learners with disabilities in their classrooms. Participants for the study consisted of 153 Australian and 156 Italian in-service teachers. Results revealed that Italian teachers had significantly more positive attitudes, lower degree of concerns and higher level of intentions to implement inclusion in their classrooms. In both countries, attitudes and efficacy emerged as significant predictors of participants’ intentions to include learners with disabilities in regular classrooms. Reasons that could explain differences in the teachers’ beliefs from the two countries are explained using historical-cultural and legal frameworks prevalent in Australia and Italy. Implications of the findings for policy-makers, university teachers and researchers are presented that may have relevance in guiding the implementation of inclusive education in Australia, Italy and beyond.     

Mothers’ gendered aspirations for their children: a case study of Forbesganj,Bihar

Current literature on parent aspirations has not empirically explored the factors that may lead to differences in aspirations among similar types of parents. Additionally, little is known about the gendered nature of these differences. In this study, we seek to understand factors shaping mothers’ aspirations in regards to education, marriage, and careers of their daughters and sons, and to explore why differences may be found for mothers from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Using a case study approach, we conduct in-depth interviews with 28 mothers in the Indian town of Forbesganj, Bihar. We use a conceptual framework based on the capabilities approach, and draw on theories of social learning, or learning from one’s peers, through which to understand differences in aspirations. Findings suggest that mothers desire lives for their children that are different from their own, and that conceptions of such lives are influenced by exposure to role models in their communities.     

Automatic recommendation system based on hybrid filtering algorithm

Education and Information Technologies - Web recommendation systems are ubiquitous in the world used to overcome the product overload on e-commerce websites. Among various filtering algorithms,...     

Architectural Support for Context-Aware Mobile Learning Applications

Education and Information Technologies - Context-aware mobile learning applications provide learning materials to suit the needs of individual learners. Despite several applications developed,...     

MBA Students' Preparedness for Enterpreneurial Efforts

This is a survey of MBA students'preparedness for launching new businessinitiatives or other entrepreneurialactivities. It explores the readiness of theMBA students, estimated on dimensionscomprising knowledge, attitude, skills,experience, opportunity and networks. Thevariation of the postgraduate students'perceptions along these six dimensions andcertain demographic factors, including gender,stage of the MBA programme, students' permanentresidence, their funding source, enrolmentstatus, employment status, marital status andyears of work experience, was considered. Multiple regressions then established therelationship between entrepreneurialpreparedness and the six dimensions. Finally,some broad implications for the MBA curriculumare considered.     

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.     

Existence and uniqueness theorem for flow and heat transfer of a non-Newtonian fluid over a stretching sheet

Analysis is carried out to study the existence, uniqueness and behavior of exact solutions of the fourth order nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations arising in the flow and heat transfer of a viscoelastic, electrically conducting fluid past a continuously stretching sheet. The ranges of the parametric values are obtained for which the system has a unique pair of solutions, a double pair of solutions and infinitely many solutions.     

Factors contributing to the implementation of inclusive education in Pacific Island countries

This study reports the outcomes of focus group discussions reflected in presentations of concept maps relating to the implementation of inclusive education in the Pacific based on the views of 39 stakeholders from four countries (Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu). Five themes emerged, with one of the strongest being that of culture, community, and religion. This, amongst other ideas, is central to Pacific Islanders’ understandings of inclusive education implementation, and results in some tensions between western educational ideas and the local context. The implications of this paper clearly show that local culture and context must be accounted for, if inclusive education is to be successfully implemented in the region.     

Social network perspectives reveal strength of academic developers as weak ties

Social network perspectives acknowledge the influence of disciplinary cultures on academics’ teaching beliefs and practices with implications for academic developers. The contribution of academic developers in 18 scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects situated in the sciences are explored by drawing on data from a two-year national project in Australia within a case study research design. The application of a social network lens illuminated the contribution of eight academic developers as weak ties who infused SoTL knowledge within teams. Two heuristic cases of academic developers who also linked across networks are presented. Implications of social network perspective are discussed.