Bioconversion of low quality lignocellulosic agricultural waste into edible protein by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pleurotus sajor-caju</Emphasis> (Fr.) singer

Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Singer was cultivated on selected agro wastes viz. cotton stalks, groundnut haulms, soybean straw, pigeon pea stalks and leaves and wheat straw, alone or in combinations. Cotton stalks, pigeon pea stalks and wheat straw alone or in combination were found to be more suitable than groundnut haulms and soybean straw for the cultivation. Organic supplements such as groundnut oilseed cake, gram powder and rice bran not only affected growth parameters but also increased yields. Thus bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass by P. sajor-caju offers a promising way to convert low quality biomass into an improved human food.     

Networked feedback control for nonlinear systems with random varying delays

This paper discusses the controller synthesis problem of a nonlinear networked controlled system subject to delays in the measurement and actuation channels. The communication through the network also suffers non-stationary packet dropouts. The bounded nonlinearities in the plant state satisfy Lipschitz conditions. A Lyapunov function is developed for the closed-loop system considering dynamic output feedback and the resulting stabilization conditions are drawn in the form of linear matrix inequalities to ensure that the system is exponentially stable in the mean-square sense. The developed conditions are represented in the form of a convex optimization problem and the results are tested by simulation on a quadruple-tank process.     

A qualitative analysis of context-aware ubiquitous learning environments using Bluetooth beacons

The use of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons is becoming widespread for context-aware learning environments. This technology can be used in indoor and outdoor settings such as museums, shops, home and schools in order to identify the location of learners and their contexts. Specifically, in the constructivist view of learning, learners can use such sensing technology for constructing knowledge and experiencing learning at any time, anywhere. However, exploration of such technology has been limited in the constructivist context-aware ubiquitous learning (U-learning) literature. For this purpose, the authors evaluated two android-based U-learning applications: one was an outdoor learning environment in a garden, the other was about locating books in a library. The applications were implemented and tested with school and university students. The qualitative results are presented in this article, and show how such sensing technology is promising for both pedagogical environments.     

‘Its gait is too brisk:’ money mobility in Karachi’s foreign exchange market

ABSTRACT

The global spread of finance capitalism has ushered in a speculative nature of currency trade and has given rise to new forms of subjectivity. Narrowing the ethnographic gaze on a thirty-seven year old currency trader in Karachi, this paper advances two arguments. The first argument relates to the materiality of foreign exchange and their effects on traders’ bodies. In spot trading, the currency traders experience foreign currency as an affective quality breathing down heavily on the senses. The second argument points to an interconnected nature of foreign exchange markets. Using Knorr Cetina and Breugger's notion of ‘global microstructures,’ I demonstrate the ways in which a currency trader, operating in a post-9/11 counter-terrorist surveillance milieu in the country, negotiates the micro and global scales of economy. Grounded in ethnographic research in Pakistan, this paper explores the ways in which foreign currency, especially of the metropole, is circulated, exchanged, and imagined in a postcolonial context, and hence contributes to an emerging scholarship of anthropology of money and finance.     

Scaling up of Life Skills Based Education in Pakistan: a case study

Young people between the ages of 10 and 19 make up 23% of Pakistan's population. In Pakistan, young people face many challenges in terms of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues. These include early marriage and pregnancy, low use of contraception, use of unsafe abortion, lack of relevant information and poor knowledge about bodily development including puberty and menstruation, sexuality, reproduction and HIV. This paper examines the scale-up of a rights-based, life skills-based education programme during the period from 2004 until 2013, which included comprehensive education about SRH issues. The programme was introduced by Rutgers WPF Pakistan in a total of 1188 schools. Introduction and scale-up were made possible by a combination of attributes among the organisations leading the development of the programme and the users. The main challenge, which related to the conservative operating environment in which the programme was first introduced, was addressed through a multiplicity of media and advocacy activities in the community, among parents, and by involving teachers, school administrators, district education departments and Muslim scholars in the development and review of the curriculum. The scale-up of a comprehensive sexuality education programme that targets young people in a conservative Muslim country is possible when there is careful curriculum design and materials and approaches are developed in close collaboration with key stakeholders.     

Three-dimensional Visualization Software Assists Learning in Students with Diverse Spatial Intelligence in Medical Education

This study evaluated effect of mental rotation (MR) training on learning outcomes and explored effectiveness of teaching via three-dimensional (3D) software among medical students with diverse spatial intelligence. Data from n = 67 student volunteers were included. A preliminary test was conducted to obtain baseline level of MR competency and was utilized to assign participants to two experimental conditions, i.e., trained group (n = 25) and untrained group (n = 42). Data on the effectiveness of training were collected to measure participants’ speed and accuracy in performing various MR activities. Six weeks later, a large class format (LCF) session was conducted for all students using 3D software. The usefulness of technology-assisted learning at the LCF was evaluated via a pre- and post-test. Students’ feedback regarding MR training and use of 3D software was acquired through questionnaires. MR scores of the trainees improved from 25.9±4.6 points to 28.1±4.4 (P = 0.011) while time taken to complete the tasks reduced from 20.9±3.9 to 12.2±4.4 minutes. Males scored higher than females in all components (P = 0.016). Further, higher pre- and post-test scores were observed in trained (9.0±1.9 and 12.3±1.6) versus untrained group (7.8±1.8; 10.8±1.8). Although mixed-design analysis of variance suggested significant difference in their test scores (P < 0.001), both groups reported similar trend in improvement by means of 3D software (P = 0.54). Ninety-seven percent of students reported technology-assisted learning as an effective means of instruction and found use of 3D software superior to plastic models. Software based on 3D technologies could be adopted as an effective teaching pedagogy to support learning across students with diverse levels of mental rotation abilities.     

Intergenerational Narratives on Face: A South Asian Indian American Perspective

This study investigates the meaning construction of the South Asian Indian term izzat or face in intergenerational contexts. Interpretive thematic analysis revealed six themes. Key findings indicate: (1) for both older and younger South Asian Indian American (SAIA) generations, family izzat is of primary importance; (2) the motif of “respect” is central to both SAIA generations' in their narratives of izzat; (3) both older and younger SAIAs use the concealment-preventative and diversion-restorative facework strategies to save face. These findings uncover intergenerational communication challenges concerning the shifting boundary parameters of izzat in the diasporic Indian community in the US.