Application of Sigma Metrics for the Assessment of Quality Assurance in Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory in India: A Pilot Study

Ensuring quality of laboratory services is the need of the hour in the field of health care. Keeping in mind the revolution ushered by six sigma concept in corporate world, health care sector may reap the benefits of the same. Six sigma provides a general methodology to describe performance on sigma scale. We aimed to gauge our laboratory performance by sigma metrics. Internal quality control (QC) data was analyzed retrospectively over a period of 6 months from July 2009 to December 2009. Laboratory mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were calculated for all the parameters. Sigma was calculated for both the levels of internal QC. Satisfactory sigma values (>6) were elicited for creatinine, triglycerides, SGOT, CPK-Total and Amylase. Blood urea performed poorly on the sigma scale with sigma <3. The findings of our exercise emphasize the need for detailed evaluation and adoption of ameliorative measures in order to effectuate six sigma standards for all the analytical processes.     

MicroRNAs: Tiny genetic switches in our genome

Gary Ruvkun is a winner of the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. He is a co-discoverer of microRNAs (with Victor Ambros, University of Massachusetts), regarded as one of the seminal discoveries of 21st century molecular biology. In addition to the Breakthrough Prize, Ruvkun and Ambros have received the Warren Triennial Prize, the Laskar Foundation Award, and numerous other awards and prizes. Professor Ruvkun obtained his PhD from Harvard University, did his postdoctoral research at MIT, and subsequently accepted a faculty position at Harvard, where he is currently Professor of Genetics. His laboratory conducts research on basic cellular processes, using the worm C. elegans as a model system.     

Understanding and enabling marketplace literacy in subsistence contexts: The development of a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program in South India

To function in the economic realm, two important resources that individuals need are finances and know-how. Whereas there has been considerable attention on microfinancing, we describe an educational program that focuses on enabling generic skills about the marketplace and complements these important efforts. We conducted research aimed at understanding lives and marketplaces in subsistence contexts in urban and rural parts of a state in South India. We used the research as a basis for developing a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program. This program uses the “know-why”, or an understanding of marketplaces, as a basis for the know-how of being an informed buyer or seller. Despite the difficulties with abstract thinking that low-literate individuals experience, we enable deeper understanding of marketplaces by leveraging the social skills that participants bring to the program and relating educational content back to their lived experiences. Such understanding can enable individuals to place themselves on a path to lifelong learning. Implications of this work for research and practice in non-formal education are discussed.     

Professor G N Ramachandran’s contributions to X-ray crystallography

This article presents briefly the original contributions of Professor G N Ramachandran to the methods of the structure determination by X-ray diffraction of crystals.     

Letter to the Editor: Physics for Women: The Last Frontier

Journal of Science Education and Technology -     

Effect of n-3 fatty acid supplementation on blood glucose, lipid profile and cytokines in humans: A pilot study

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of n-3 fatty acid supplementation on blood glucose, lipid profile and cytokines in humans. Twenty adult healthy subjects were supplemented with 1g/day fish oil concentrate capsules for 2 weeks. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and again after 2 week intervention. Fish oil supplementation significantly lowered fasting serum concentrations of total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, very low density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein (P < 0.01). Also high density lipoprotein increased significantly compared with baseline value (P < 0.01). Fish oil did not significantly altere the fasting blood glucose concentration but significantly reduced the serum cytokines (P < 0.001). This study demonstrated that eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation altered serum lipids, lipoprotein and cytokine concentrations in normal human subjects even at the small dose of 660 mg of EPA plus DHA per day. It appears that EPA plus DHA can be a safe and perhaps beneficial supplement to inflammatory diseases.