Toward Sustainable Open Education Resources: A Perspective From the Global South

Abstract

One of the emerging issues in educational discourse today is the development and use of Open Education Resources (OER) and their potential in expanding access and improving the quality of education, particularly in developing countries where there is a dearth of quality materials. This article seeks to contribute to the debate on OER. It critically examines the experiences of the Commonwealth of Learning in the creation and dissemination of OER and identifies lessons learned. It also suggests concrete ways in which various stakeholders can contribute to the sustainability of OER.     

Biological and Biochemical Potential of Sea Snake Venom and Characterization of Phospholipase A<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Anticoagulation Activity

This study is designed to isolate and purify a novel anti-clotting protein component from the venom of Enhydrina schistosa, and explore its biochemical and biological activities. The active protein was purified from the venom of E. schistosa by ion-exchange chromatography using DEAE-cellulose. The venom protein was tested by various parameters such as, proteolytic, haemolytic, phospholipase and anti-coagulant activities. 80 % purity was obtained in the final stage of purification and the purity level of venom was revealed as a single protein band of about 44 kDa in SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis under reducing conditions. The results showed that the Potent hemolytic activity was observed against cow, goat, chicken and human (A, B and O positive) erythrocytes. Furthermore, the clotting assays showed that the venom of E. schistosa significantly prolonged in activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and prothrombin time. Venomous enzymes which hydrolyzed casein and gelatin substrate were found in this venom protein. Gelatinolytic activity was optimal at pH 5–9 and ¹H NMR analysis of purified venom was the base line information for the structural determination. These results suggested that the E. schistosa venom holds good promise for the development of novel lead compounds for pharmacological applications in near future.     

Learning to teach literacy through collaborative discussions of student work

Despite the high numbers of students with disabilities struggling with literacy, few teachers report feeling well prepared to address it. Most students with disabilities encounter challenges in reading and professional development can help teachers learn a range of ways to address those. In this article, we discuss a professional development project in which prospective teachers work collaboratively with practicing teachers throughout their university preparation. The professional development provided builds on the idea of ‘literacy artifacts’, which are samples of students’ and teachers’ work. Using guided discussions, teachers across the career continuum construct understandings and practices in which they learn how to infuse literacy instruction into all teaching and learning. By conjoining the literacy artifact with instructional resources teachers use, participants make visible the complexity of literacy instruction and how literacy could be embedded in teaching content for students with disabilities especially in general education classrooms.     

Database structure and system design of an online acquisition system

This paper outlines an online acquisition system and describes in brief the various factors involved in the automated environment. The acquisition system database is based on a network model and is structured to handle the complex nature of bibliographic data efficiently and economically to achieve an integrated library system. The comprehensibility of the system has been reflected in the database design stage itself. System design and development factors concerning hierarchical menu-driven operation, as well as considerations of portability with respect to hardware/system software requirements are highlighted.     

Analysis of Modification of Liver Proteome in Diabetic Rats by 2D Electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-MS

The uncontrolled hyperglycemia can lead to disturbances in the cell structure and functions of organs. This study was performed to analyze the “differential proteome” change in rat liver associated with diabetes mellitus in relation to effects of an anti-diabetic herb, Cynodon dactylon leaf extracts. Rats were intraperitoneally injected with alloxan (150 mg/kg/bw) and treated with C. dactylon leaf extracts (450 mg/kg/bw/day/orally). The liver proteins were subjected to proteome analysis using the advanced technologies i.e., 2D electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry. Comparison of 2-DE protein distribution profiles among the livers from normal, alloxan-induced diabetic rats and alloxan-induced diabetic rats treated with C. dactylon leaves identified three proteins that were up-regulated in alloxan-induced diabetic rats i.e., nucleophosmin, l-xylulose reductase and carbonic anhydrase III which are known to be mainly involved in ribosome biogenesis, centrosome duplication, cell proliferation, tumor suppression, glucose metabolism, osmo-regulation, water–CO₂ balance and acid–base balance. These results help us to understand the elucidation of molecular mechanism connected to liver function and insulin associated with diabetes mellitus. These identified proteins were primarily involved in cell proliferation and homoeostasis of liver tissues upon the treatment with C. dactylon leaf extracts.     

Computer generation of thesaurus from structured subject-propositions

Several experiments were conducted at the Documentation Research and Training Centre for generating thesaurus. The work reported in this paper, uses subject headings structured according to postulates and principles for facet analysis, as the input for generating thesaurus. The system uses a coding scheme for augmenting the subject headings to make them suitable for computer manipulation. Once the subject headings are coded and input, the other processes are done automatically. The system has five phases namely, Translation Phase, Term-pair Generation Phase, Coordinate Term-pair Generation Phase, Retranslation Phase and Printing Phase. The system is described briefly, giving the systems flow-chart, inputs and outputs of the different phases and a sample printout of a model thesaurus generated using test data of about 1500 subject-propositions from Leather Technology.     

The Brain on Music

Permeating across societies and cultures, music is a companion to millions across the globe. Despite being an abstract art form, music affects all of us deeply, encouraging us in periods of difficulty, comforting us in moments of sadness and celebrating with us in times of joy. In recent years, neuroscientists have recognized that listening to and producing music involves a tantalizing mix of practically every human cognitive function. Thus, music has emerged as an invaluable tool to study varying aspects of the human brain such as auditory and motor perception and learning, attention, memory, and emotion. In this paper, we will discuss the different attributes of music and the neural structures associated with them. We will also highlight some recent work in our laboratory at the National Brain Research Centre in India on emotions associated with Hindustani rāga music.