Student Performance and the Cost of Failure

This paper examines student performance and calculates the theoretical cost of academic failure by Australian undergraduates, using factors implicit in government funding formulae. In order to survive, higher education institutions have had to diversify their funding base and at the same time the government appears now to perceive its contributions as a subsidy to university students, rather than as being an investment in society's broad human infrastructure. The demand for accountability has increased, and output-based funding is much discussed. The ultimate university output is student success, and governments could place a monetary value on this in a very direct way. This paper takes a methodological approach in analysing the cost of failure.     

Asymmetry in nature—Discrete symmetries in particle physics and their violation

This two-part article considers certain fundamental symmetries of nature, namely the discrete symmetries of parity (P), charge conjugation (C) and time reversal (T), and their possible violation. Recent experimental results are discussed in some depth. In the first part of this article we present a general background and discuss parity violation. B Ananthanarayan is at the Centre for Theoretical Studies, Indian Institute of Science His research interests are in the field of elementary particle physics. J Meeraa is finishing her MSc at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. Bharti Sharma is finishing her MSc at Aligarh Muslim University. Seema Sharma is finishing her MSc at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Ritesh K Singh is working towards his PhD at the Indian Institute of Science in the field of elementary particle physics.     

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in alcoholics and non-alcoholics and its value as a Biochemical marker in alcoholism

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in a normal reference population from North India was determined from results of 22 healthy subjects (12 male and 10 female). We compared these data with results of 19 alcoholic patients (13 male and 6 female). The mean erythrocyte ALDH activity of male and female alcohol abusers was 16.2% and 20.9% lower than the mean values for healthy subjects, respectively (P<0.001 and <0.01). It is proposed that erythrocyte ALDH activity may be a useful clinical chemical marker of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.     

Status of epidermal growth factor receptors family in hormone-dependent carcinomas of the breast and prostate with reference to serum lipids and lipoproteins

There are numerous growing evidences of resemblance between carcinomas of the breast and prostate. A total of 45 cases of these two hormone-dependent cancers along with appropriate controls were subjected for status of epidermal growth factor receptors as well as serum lipid profile. Paraffin embedded tissue sections from aforesald tumours were analysed by immunohistochemical staining for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R), c-erbB-2 oncoprotein, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR). Sera from same individuals were studied for serum lipid profile analysis. The study revealed that immunoexpression of all receptor proteins (EGF-R). c-erbB-2 was significantly higher in breast carcinoma. In addition, mean levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol were found to be significantly elevated while the level of HDL-cholesterol was observed to be lower among patients with breast cancer as compared to matched controls. Further, ER-positive breast cancer cases have significantly higher mean level of HDL-cholesterol when compared with ER-negative breast cancer patients. Contrary to this, no alteration in different serum lipid fractions was noticed among the patients with prostate cancer. However, a positive relationship was noticed between immunoexpressions of EGF-R and c-erbB-2 in prostate cancer.     

Age and sex related variations in the levels of tear proteins in healthy Indian people

In 150 healthy Indians, aged 10 months to 84 years, levels of total proteins. IgA, IgG and lysozyme in tears have been estimated to find age and sex, related variations. No sex related changes, were observed but levels increased significantly with advancing age upto 30 years, remained stationary between 31–45 years, and started declining thereafter, Immunoglobulin G was quantifable in 26% cases only. Furthermore, tear samples with high concentrations of total proteins had high level of IgA and lysozyme.     

Lack of precision in HbA1c values on variant II in cases of hemoglobin Q India

This study was carried out to check the precision of HbA_1c values on Bio-Rad Variant II in cases of a rare hemoglobin variant Q India. The study was carried out over a three month period on samples collected for HbA_1c estimation. Seven out of eleven patients showed variable results of HbA_1c with a very high and unacceptable intraday mean coefficient of variation (CV) of 9.93%. We conclude, that the results of HbA_1c on Variant II can not be reported without adversely affecting HbA_1c as a marker of long-term glycemic control in patients who have hemoglobin Q India. The HbA_1c value of these patients needs to be assessed by a different instrument/method or the glycemic control be monitored by an alternate test like serum Fructosamine.     

Serum and amniotic fluid mucoproteins in normal and toxaemic pregnancy

Serum and amniotic fluid mucoprotein concentrations were estimated in normal and toxaemic pregnant women. The levels were found to be higher in preeclampsia and eclampsia than the normal controls. Comparatively higher concentrations were observed in amniotic fluid than serum. Data suggest that the estimation of serum and amniotic fluid mucoproteins may be useful in assessing the severity of toxaemia of pregnancy and fetal well being.     

Bone mineral content and bone density in Indian females

Bone mineral content and bone density of 234 females were measured using single photon absorptiometry technique on Computerised Bone Density Scanner-1100. The bone mineral content and bone density showed a decreasing trend with advancing age. There was no significant decrease in bone mineral content and bone density during pregnancy.