Teaching global engineering in Canada,learning informality of the Global South

Globalisation has inspired a wide assortment of curricular initiatives within engineering education in the USA and Europe. This interest could be categorised in multiple directions – international exposure, service learning, or critical understanding and praxis. In Canada, however, there has been far less consideration for integrating globalisation within the engineering curriculum. The recent episode of reform initiated by the Canadian Board of Engineering Accreditation could usher in changes on this front. Situating the development of a course titled Development and Global Engineering within these broader conceptual and organisational impulses, this paper will illuminate a pathway towards understanding globalisation, especially within the Global South, through a comprehension of complexity and informality.     

Influence of alcoholic extract of whole fruit of trichosanthes dioica on blood sugar,serum lipids,lipoproteins and faecal sterols in normal albino rabbits

Effect of oral administration of 2 ml per day of suspension (in water) of alcoholic extract of whole fruit of Trichosanthes dioica (2%) (=100 g fresh wt.=7 g dry wt.=1/15 g of alcoholic extract) with the help of catheter alongwith basal diet for four weeks have been studied in the normal albino rabbits. It was observed that this extract lowered the blood sugar, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and increased the high density lipoprotein cholesterol, phospholipid and faecal sterol levels. Such effects are manifested from the very first week of feeding and are statistically significant.     

Assessment of Some Biochemical Oxidative Stress Markers in Male Smokers with Chronic Periodontitis

The present study aims to assess and compare the biochemical oxidative stress markers in male smokers and non-smokers with chronic periodontitis. One hundred thirty-four male chronic periodontitis patients and 64 apparently healthy male volunteers were recruited for the study. The periodontal status was evaluated by measuring gingival index, plaque index, papillary bleeding index and clinical attachment loss using UNC-15 probe. The biochemical markers estimated were total antioxidant capacity, RBC-superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, vitamin C, malondialdehyde and C-reactive protein. The obtained results indicate higher oxidative stress in chronic periodontitis. Smokers with chronic periodontitis show significantly higher periodontal clinical parameters and relatively higher systemic oxidative stress. Vitamin C estimation may be an important biochemical parameter in conjunction with clinical parameters for diagnosis of chronic periodontitis in smokers.     

From Heavens to Earth A Biography of Cumulus Clouds

In this article, I discuss the life cycle of cumulus clouds. The events of birth, growth and demise of clouds are discussed in terms of microphysical processes that underlie them. My hope is that the next time you raise your eyes to the sky and see a cloud, it will present itself to your mind’s eye as more than a ‘white fluffy thing’.     

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.     

Micro-scale technologies propel biology and medicine

Click here to view.^{(14M, mpg)}Historically, technology has been central to new discoveries in biology and progress in medicine. Among various technologies, microtechnologies, in particular, have had a prominent role in the revolution experienced by the life sciences in the last few decades, which will surely continue in the years to come. In this Perspective, we illustrate how microtechnologies, with a focus on microfluidics, have evolved in trends/waves to tackle the boundary of knowledge in the life sciences. We provide illustrative examples of technology-enabled biological breakthroughs and their current and future use in clinics. Finally, we take a closer look at the translational process to understand why the incorporation of new micro-scale technologies in medicine has been comparatively slow so far.     

Algebra and geometry of Hamilton’s quaternions

Inspired by the relation between the algebra of complex numbers and plane geometry, William Rowan Hamilton sought an algebra of triples for application to three-dimensional geometry. Unable to multiply and divide triples, he invented a non-commutative division algebra of quadruples, in what he considered his most significant work, generalizing the real and complex number systems. We give a motivated introduction to quaternions and discuss how they are related to Pauli matrices, rotations in three dimensions, the three sphere, the group SU(2) and the celebrated Hopf fibrations.