Clinical Pharmacology: A Comprehensive Drug Reference

Abstract

This column discusses the point-of-care tool Clinical Pharmacology. This review is primarily intended for newer health sciences librarians who are learning about drug references and clinical decision-making support systems or health sciences librarians making collection development decisions, although any librarian will find this review useful. A sample search will be provided to highlight the database’s unique features as well as a comparison to other resources.     

Re-imagining universities as places where learners address global transformation

“Learner agency for what?” is one of the key questions addressed in this article and the response distinguishes between more self-interested responses and answers that suggest a wider orientation towards global transformation. The context is that of education at global centres of international development studies and the mid-career professionals worldwide—whether practitioners, activists or academicians—who undertake courses of studies at such centres in order to gain insights and abilities related to social transformation that earlier education at conventional universities did not expose them to. Since such global centres tend to be located in the “Global North” but are largely attended by experienced people from the “Global South,” the article examines these binary distinctions and how learners navigate the geo-political fault lines that the binaries represent. The pedagogical dynamic is explored in terms of the “wicked problems” that international development studies wrestle with and that can be approached using the experience of learners from across the continents in interaction with formal knowledge. One hundred twenty-four in-depth interviews with protagonists from 27 countries who attended one of the oldest centre of development studies in Europe open windows onto global transformation during the second half of the 20th century and illustrate both insights and challenges for learners who are struggling towards positive change around universal rights and well-being across the planet. Traditional universities are urged to learn from pedagogies at global centres of international development studies in order to gain relevance in their societies and the world around them.     

Secondary school students’ perceptions of teacher–student interaction and students’ attitudes towards project work

Project work (PW) provides one of the pathways for students’ self-inquiry learning and collaboration in Singapore schools. In this context, PW teachers function as facilitators. This study investigated quantitatively how a group of 270 secondary-school students (aged 14 years) perceived their seven PW teacher-facilitators’ face-to-face interactions with students based on the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), and whether their perceptions of teacher–student interaction during PW classrooms were related with their attitudes towards PW learning as a whole. Seven out of eight QTI scales were associated with Enjoyment of Project Work Lessons and two QTI scales were associated with Attitude to Inquiry in Project Work. The findings are discussed in terms of how teachers who function as facilitators can translate their interpersonal behaviours into effective teaching strategies for communicating with students and facilitating students’ learning in PW classrooms.     

Introduction—Improving skills development for employability in an ever-changing world

The article provides an overview of the global economic landscape in which the contemporary skills development discourse is located. Effective skills development oriented to market needs and to competitiveness in high-value global value chains will help developing economies to avoid the middle income trap. It outlines major issues and challenges that developing economies need to deal with in crafting appropriate policies and strategies for skills development: addressing the persistent problem of skills-jobs mismatches, strengthening the participation of the private sector to increase market-oriented training, assuring inclusive growth, preparing for the expansion of green economy opportunities, and increasing emphasis on soft skills. It also provides an introduction to the various articles in the special issue.     

P.S.: I Survived: An Activism Project to Increase Student and Community Trauma Awareness

Social work students created a community activism project to raise awareness about trauma prevalence and impact. Trauma theory describes silencing as the mechanism that hinders individual and community healing. Therefore, students sought to create an interactive opportunity to heighten trauma visibility on campus. They created a physical mailbox and invited community members respond to the prompt, “I am a survivor because …” and to read others’ responses. Through the project, students were able to document participants’ trauma experiences, increase community trauma awareness, and enhance their own learning. Moreover, the authors believe that this assignment successfully fostered student integration of micro and macro social work skills.     

High performance magnesium anode in paper-based microfluidic battery,powering on-chip fluorescence assay

A high power density and long-lasting stable/disposable magnesium battery anode was explored for a paper-based fluidic battery to power on-chip functions of various Point of Care (POC) devices. The single galvanic cell with magnesium foil anode and silver foil cathode in Origami cellulose chip provided open circuit potential, 2.2 V, and power density, 3.0 mW/cm². A paper-based fluidic galvanic cell was operated with one drop of water (80 μl) and continued to run until it was dry. To prove the concept about powering on-chip POC devices, two-serial galvanic cells are developed and incorporated with a UV-light emitting diode (λ = 365 nm) and fluorescence assay for alkaline phosphatase reaction. Further, detection using smart phones was performed for quantitative measurement of fluorescent density. To conclude, a magnesium-based fluidic battery paper chip was extremely low-cost, required minute sample volumes, was easy to dispose of, light weight, easy to stack, store and transport, easy to fabricate, scalable, and has faster analysis times.