Exploring the role of Entrepreneurial Education, Technology and Teachers’ Creativity in excelling Sustainable Business Competencies

Encouraging entrepreneurs and transforming entrepreneurship education is a need to a time, which can assist in excelling the economic development, wealth and employment generation. However development of Business Entrepreneurial Competencies remains crucial as it enables the entrepreneurs to excel in the highly competitive market. Moreover, the transformation of Entrepreneurial Education through vocational colleges is an under studied area. Hence the current study aims to explore the role of Entrepreneurial Education, Technology and Teachers’ Creativity in excelling Entrepreneurial Competencies through vocational colleges. Based on a thorough discussion and literature exploration, the current study propose the hypothesized relationships which were statistically evaluated through the application of Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling on the data of 357 of potential future entrepreneurs. The results reported a significant association of the said predictors in excelling the Entrepreneurial Competencies. Based on this findings, several policy recommendations were proposed including re-adjustment and timely update of the teaching material whereas facilitators and instructors are also directed to be creative and innovative while integrating the use of technology efficiently

Isolation of VGF derived neuropeptide receptor

VGF (non-acronymic) is a ~68 kDa neurosecretory protein, belongs to the extended granin family of proteins, initially identified as a nerve growth factor (NGF) inducible gene product, is selectively synthesised mostly in neuronal and neuroendocrine cells. Due to the presence of paired basic amino acid residues (R – Arginine, and K – Lysine), the VGF sequence undergoes endoproteolytic cleavage to produce several smaller peptides, released upon stimulation via the regulated secretory pathway both in vitro and in vivo. There are data suggesting that the VGF-derived peptides are the biologically active, stored in dense core vesicles and secreted in order to play a role in inter cellular communication, and responsible for the diverse range of biological functions associated with VGF. Several of these VGF-derived peptides have been characterised and are involved in energy balance, reproductive behaviour, pain modulation and mood order. Till now, the best characterized VGF derived peptide is designated as TLQP-21. As growing data is accumulating on the several significant biological effects of TLQP-21 like energy balance, pain modulation, gastric, reproduction, stress, diabetes; identification of its receptor(s) is of particular relevance. In light of this extensive array of effects, the very limited knowledge about its molecular mechanisms of TLQP-21 is remarkable. Recently, C3AR1 and gC1qR have been reported as receptors of murine TLQP-21. However, human TLQP-21 whose sequence shows differences with respect to murine TLQP-21, exhibits at best very weak binding to these receptors, suggesting the existence of different receptors for human vs rodent TLQP-21. Here using affinity chromatography and mass spectrometry-based protein identification, the heat shock cognate 71 kDa protein A8 (HSPA8) has been identified as a receptor of human TLQP-21. Binding of TLQP-21 to membrane associated HSPA8 in live SHSY5Y cells was confirmed by cross-linking and FACS studies. Furthermore, molecular modeling studies show that TLQP-21 can be docked into the peptide binding pocket of HSPA8. The major task moving forward is to elucidate the signaling pathways of the ligand TLQP-21 and its receptor HSPA8. Identification of HSPA8 as a receptor of human TLQP-21 could open new approaches for diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide range of human diseases related with VGF, in particular those in which TLQP-21 has been shown to have an effect

Reproductive Health Education in NCTB Curriculum and Text Books: A Critical Review

The Education Policy-2010, paved the way to introduce Reproductive Health (RH) as part of curricula of few selected subjects for the secondary school children in Bangladesh, which can be considered as a first step in the right direction. Consequently subjects like Physical Education and Health and Home Science has been chosen to incorporate some aspects of RH for the students of classes VI-VIII, and Science are for the students of classes IX-X. This article aimed to explore, examine and review critically to what extent incorporation has taken place and whether this has fulfilled the learning needs of the adolescent groups at the secondary level. Class/grade wise analysis revealed that topics, contents, narration of information, facts, examples, illustrations and use of language are aged and grade specific and need oriented to a moderate extent. However the lapses were observed in the use of language in describing contents and illustrations for the younger children (particularly for class VI) and other classes also. A more gender balanced approach should have been undertaken in the whole development process of curriculum and text books which incorporated RH as part of other subjects. Intensive teacher training program along with development of supplementary learning and teaching materials will be needed in order to provide right and proper knowledge, information and facts to these young learners and keep the safe from wrong information from wrong sources. For the students of 21st century knowing about Reproductive Health in broader terms and Sexual Reproductive Health is not merely a policy issue but a right also

Diet Composition and Seasonal Fluctuations in the Feeding Habit of Snow Barbel (Schizothorax plagiostomus) in River Indus, Pakistan

Background:Schizothorax plagiostomus is widely distributed in river Indus and is most important food fish in Pakistan. The feeding habit of fish is directly related to the size of fish, its metabolic rate and environmental temperature. The accurate description of fish diet and feeding habit is a very important aspect in fisheries management for the purpose of species conservation, breeding and culture. The present work was aimed to investigate the specie abundance, the diet composition and seasonal variations in the feeding habit of Snow barbell Schizothorax plagiostomus.Materials, Methods & Results: A total of 1799 fish specimens were caught at the confluence of six tributaries along river Indus at Indus Kohistan, northeastern Pakistan. The fish were collected by 5-panels of gill net during first week of each month. The site specific Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) and season specific CPUE of fish fauna were assessed. For the gut content analysis 240 samples (99 male and 141 females) of S. plagiostomus were selected on monthly basis. Frequency of occurrence method and volumetric method were applied to record the different food items in the gut of S. plagiostomus. The physico-chemical parameters, NO3 concentration and dissolved Co2 of water from different localities of river Indus were recorded month wise by Hach sensION 156 meter, Horiba LAQUA Nitrate Meter and EA80 meter respectively. Significant difference was observed in water temperature during the four seasons. Except alkalinity no other water parameter showed significant variation across different localities. The results showed that highest Mean CPUE was observed for Darel Stream (0.55) and lowest for Jalkot stream (0.26). Peak abundance of fish was recorded in the month of November with a mean catch of 44.50, mean CPUE of 0.74 and mean Kruskal-Wallis rank value of 63.25. Spirogyra and Ulothrix occurred as maximum food items in the gut of S. plagiostomus during summer while their minimum amount occurred during autumn. According to the ranking index spirogyra and ulothrix ranked higher with significant difference in comparison to other food items. The results showed that S. plagiostomus is phytophagous in its feeding habit, which consumed mainly algae attached to stones and pebbles during the whole year. However, the presence of some secondary items such as animal matter, detritus, sand and mud might be due to the distinct availabilities of food along the seasons. The highest feeding activity of S. plagiostomus was recorded during summer while the lowest one occurred during autumn, spring and winter. Discussion: Catch per unit effort (CPUE) is an indirect measure of the abundance of a target species. It is used as an index of stock abundance in fisheries and conservation biology. During the study low fish fauna was found in River Indus as reported previously. Majority of the fish occurred in snow fed river tributaries in the study area as these tributaries are comparatively less turbulent. Previous studies have also recorded that Schizothoracine generally prefer clean waters. The present findings of gut contents analysis showed clearly that S. plagiostomus is a phytophagous fish which scrap and consumed spirogyra and ulothrix attached to stones and pebbles. Earlier it was reported that mouth of S. plagiostomusis is inferior, wide, with deep lower jaw having keratinized cutting edge and the lower lip is folded and expanded with numerous papillae making it best suited for scrapping algae attached to stones and pebbles. The highest feeding activity was observed during warmer months as compared to cold months. S. plagiostomus spawn twice in a year in autumn and in spring. The highest feeding activity of S. plagiostomus seems to be link with a reflex of recovery strategy due to physiological process of gonadal development