A tale of three campuses: Unearthing theories of residential life that shape the student learning experience

Frank Shushok Jr., T. Laine Scales, Rishi Sriram, and Vera Kidd share some initial thoughts about responses to their Campus Residential Experience Survey. Do you recognize your institution?     

Rapid determination of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) by an electrically driven blood droplet biosensor

In healthcare practice, the sedimentation rate of red blood cells (erythrocytes) is a widely used clinical parameter for screening of several ailments such as stroke, infectious diseases, and malignancy. In a traditional pathological setting, the total time taken for evaluating this parameter varies typically from 1 to 2 h. Furthermore, the volume of human blood to be drawn for each test, following a gold standard laboratory technique (alternatively known as the Westergren method), varies from 4 to 5 ml. Circumventing the above constraints, here we propose a rapid (∼1 min) and highly energy efficient method for the simultaneous determination of hematocrit and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) on a microfluidic chip, deploying electrically driven spreading of a tiny drop of blood sample (∼8 μl). Our unique approach estimates these parameters by correlating the same with the time taken by the droplet to spread over a given radius, reproducing the results from more elaborate laboratory settings to a satisfactory extent. Our novel methodology is equally applicable for determining higher ranges of ESR such as high concentration of bilirubin and samples corresponding to patients with anemia and patients with some severe inflammation. Furthermore, the minimal fabrication steps involved in the process, along with the rapidity and inexpensiveness of the test, render the suitability of the strategy in extreme point-of-care settings.     

Growth and nature of international LIS research: An analysis of two journals

The study explores the publication trends of scholarly journal articles in two core Library and Information Science (LIS) journals indexed under ScienceDirect Database during the period for the period 2000–2010, and for the “Top 25 Hottest Papers” for 2006–2010. It examines and presents an analysis of 1000 research papers in the area of LIS published in two journals: The International Information & Library Review (IILR) and Library & Information Science Research (LISR). The study examines the content of the journals, including growth of the literature, authorship patterns, geographical distributions of authors, distribution of papers by journal, citation pattern, ranking pattern, length of articles, and most cited authors. Collaboration was calculated using Subramanyam's formula, and Lotka's law was used to identify authors' productivity. The results indicated that authors' distributions did not follow Lotka's law. The study identified the eight most productive authors with a high of 19 publications in this field. The findings indicate that these publications experienced rapid and exponential growth in literature production. The contributions by scientists from India are examined.     

Learning at any time: Supporting student learning wherever it happens

A new residential college and a faculty-in-residence program demonstrate how student affairs educators and academic faculty at one institution have collaborated to create transformational learning experiences for their students.     

On the muckiness of science,ethics, and preservice teacher education: contemplating the (im)possibilities of a ‘right’-eous stance

In this article, we wade through the muckiness of ethics in science, teaching, and teacher education, in the form of a generative metalogue. Grounded in Sara’s experience with preservice teachers learning about ethics through a case study of a high school dissection, we contend with what it means to shift away from colonial and masculinist binaries that produce particular moralistic orientations as 'wrong' or 'right.' We contemplate what it means to attempt to teach-think-feel with ethics as 'mucky,' without diminishing attention to relations of power in science and ethics. Through our own thinking–feeling process and grappling with the ways that science and education can be simultaneously oppressive and liberating in an unfinished, complex, and interdependent world (of difference), we propose: Thinking with muckiness is ethical praxis; drawing from our own embodied resources for ethical feelingthinkingdoing is central to this praxis; and (place-conscious) powered relations in science and education must be made explicit.

     

An examination of effectiveness of demand pull practices for accomplishing sustainable development in manufacturing industries

The main objective of study is to estimate and extract various significant Demand Pull (DP) practices influencing Sustainable Development in Indian manufacturing industries. The study critically examines the effectiveness of DP strategies in manufacturing enterprises. An extensive survey of 92 companies has been executed for this study, to identify improvements made by DP practices to achieve sustainable development in manufacturing industries. The companies in the survey include medium- and large-scale manufacturing enterprises. The correlations between various DP practices and sustainable development parameters are evaluated and validated using various numerical methods and tools. The focus of the paper is on the distinguishable contributions made by DP practices like stringent implementation of government regulations, transforming capabilities, unionized labor and customer attributes towards achieving sustainable development in manufacturing industries. The inter-relationships between different DP practices with sustainable development parameters have been evaluated, to efficiently manage the objectives of sustainability and growth. However, it is also acknowledged that manufacturing enterprises need to work more actively on managing certain practices of DP. In the present study the contributions of DP practices are investigated to accomplish sustainable development in manufacturing industries. Though, issue-wise independent examination can also be organized to compute the effectiveness of DP strategies towards achieving sustainable development and quality under specific orientations. The research gives priority to enhancement in planning among various DP practices and sustainable development indicators in the industries, to impart DP as an important practice to meet the challenges of competent markets worldwide. It has been exhibited from the observations that adequate DP strategies can efficiently contribute towards recognition of sustainable development to compete in the highly progressive global market. The results of various inter-relationships among DP practices and sustainable development parameters represent the effectiveness of DP practices for accomplishment of social as well as organizational objectives. The paper examines that DP practices are significant initiatives employed by the manufacturing organizations for performance improvement and sustainable development. The paper peeks into the study to find out DP issues that need to be assessed efficiently by companies to avail the benefits of sustainable development to meet the challenges posed by international markets.     

Evaluation of hypoglycemic and antioxidant effect of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ocimum sanctum</Emphasis>

Ocimum sanctum leaves have been traditionally used in treatment of diabetes mellitus. Dietary supplementation of fresh tulsi leaves in a dose of 2 gm/kg BW for 30 days led to significant lowering of blood glucose levels in test group. Intake ofOcimum sanctum also led to significant increase in levels of superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione and total thiols, but marked reduction in peroxiodised lipid levels as compared to untreated control group. The leaves were found to possess both superoxide and hydroxyl free radical scavenging action. The present observations establish the efficacy ofOcimum sanctum leaves in lowering blood glucose levels and antioxidant property appears to be predominantly responsible for hypoglycemic effect.     

An Infant with Milky Blood : An Unusual but Treatable Case of Familial Hyperlipidemia

Hyperlipidemia is increasing prevalent risk factor in children, concomitant with worldwide epidemic of obesity. Lipid disorder can occur either as primary event or secondary to an underlying disease. The primary dyslipidemia are associated with overproductions/or impaired removal of lipoprotein. The latter defect can be induced by an abnormality in either the lipoprotein itself or in the lipoprotein receptor. A 2 month old male baby was found to have highly viscous and milky serum. S. Cholesterol was 2,200 mg/dl and triglycerides 13,292 mg%. There was no dysmorphic feature. Child was anemic and had hepatosplenomegaly and xanthomas. There was positive history of hyperlipidemia in first maternal cousin. Parents of index case had normal lipid profile. The child was put on lipid lowering agents, Iron drops, medium chain fatty acid.