Moving online

I had been working with Ann and Liz, on and off, for a few months before the idea of capturing their thoughts for a short piece for the Journal struck me. I asked them to reflect on the process so far of developing their courses – Return to Professional Practice and Mentorship in Professional Practice respectively, both in the area of healthcare – for a new audience of learners who would study part of the programme as an online package from a distance

Identifying opportunities and obstacles for the use of solar energy in commercial office buildings in the northeastern region of united states

The aim of this research was to find the existing challenges to and opportunities for the use of solar energy, in commercial office buildings in the northeastern region of the United States. Although solar energy is an abundant source of energy, it is still not the number one source of energy when compared to other renewable sources of energy. This research explored some of the hindrances or hurdles associated with it and any new opportunities available. The research tried to analyze the various solar energy utilization strategies or other renewable energy strategies employed in a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building and the motivation behind them. Throughout this research study different initiatives, progress and future outlook related to the goal are discussed. Case studies that included surveys or in-depth interviews were conducted along with extensive literature review for this research study. LEED Certified green buildings located in the northeastern region of the United States were selected for the case studies. The case studies included buildings where solar energy was actively utilized and where solar energy was not utilized. The information collected from the case studies, surveys and interviews were used for further analysis and drawing conclusions for this research. Though the idea to use solar energy in buildings has been discussed in the past decades, recent years have witnessed factors that have brought increased focus on the use of alternative energy, including solar energy. The research underlines the importance of aspects such as financial viability, government initiatives or incentives and environmental benefits or concerns. The results of this research present the current opportunities and challenges for solar energy utilization in commercial buildings, which may be of interest to individuals or research institutions, industry or government

US 2012 Live: When the Classroom becomes a Newsroom.

In November 2012, 300 students came together in the Media School at Bournemouth University in the UK to report the US Presidential Election. Over the course of 10 days, students published 176 articles on a rolling news website, garnering more than 20,000 hits. On election night itself, students produced 10 h of live coverage on both TV and radio, airing 30 pre-recorded video packages and 35 pre-recorded radio packages. This experiential project adopted a so-called ‘live case’ methodology that encapsulated a high degree of application and a cer- tain level of structure, which allowed for the ‘variety and uncertainty’ or reality to intervene. It also empowered and enabled students to reflect on and evaluate their individual experiences in light of their own learning styles. This paper will discuss the challenges and successes experienced during this experiential project, and will provide a nine-step guide on how others could replicate a similar project

NLP-based personal learning assistant for school education

Computer-based knowledge and computation systems are becoming major sources of leverage for multiple industry segments. Hence, educational systems and learning processes across the world are on the cusp of a major digital transformation. This paper seeks to explore the concept of an artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) based intelligent tutoring system (ITS) in the context of computer education in primary and secondary schools. One of the components of an ITS is a learning assistant, which can enable students to seek assistance as and when they need, wherever they are. As part of this research, a pilot prototype chatbot was developed, to serve as a learning assistant for the subject Scratch (Scratch is a graphical utility used to teach school children the concepts of programming). By the use of an open source natural language understanding (NLU) or NLP library, and a slackbased UI, student queries were input to the chatbot, to get the sought explanation as the answer. Through a two-stage testing process, the chatbot’s NLP extraction and information retrieval performance were evaluated. The testing results showed that the ontology modelling for such a learning assistant was done relatively accurately, and shows its potential to be pursued as a cloud-based solution in future

A rare presentation of hypothyroidism

In this case report, we have brought out a very rare presentation of hypothyroidism in the form of cataplexy and this case is of significance because there have been no similar case reports of hypothyroidism presenting as cataplexy so far. The other highlight of the case is that treatment of hypothyroidism alone resulted in complete freedom from cataplexy without the need for agrypnotic drugs

IMPACT OF PATIENT COUNSELLING ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE OF HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: Hypertension is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and proper assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) factors are helpful in its management. Our aim was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice among hypertensive patients and the impact of patient counselling on the same.Methods: A prospective study was conducted among hypertensive patients from November 2015 to April 2016. Suitably designed and validated KAP questionnaire was used to evaluate the baseline KAP score. Patient information leaflets were provided after counselling. After 3 mo patients were followed up and their KAP scores were reassessed and data were analysed.Results: Before the intervention, the mean score±SD of knowledge, attitude, and practice were 11.76(SD±4.58); 5.14(SD±2.13); 9.26(SD±1.66) which increased to 14.29(SD±2.95); 5.74(SD±1.39); 10.32(SD±1.33) respectively after the intervention.Conclusion: Our study suggests that pharmacist mediated counselling plays a vital role in improving patients' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards the disease managemen

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of phytoremediation in removing heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and zinc, from a smelter site located in Oklahoma. Considering the climatic conditions of Oklahoma corn and sunflower were selected for the experiment. Effects of heavy metals on the growth of corn and sunflower and extend of phytoaccumulation were also studied. A concentration ratio was used for determining the better plant for phytoremediation. The study clearly revealed that phytoremediation cannot be used a primary treatment method for the site. The metal concentration in the soil was phytotoxic to sunflower plants. It was found that accumulation of metals was minimal in both the plants. By comparing the the concentration ratio, it was found that corn is better than sunflower for heavy metal uptake.School of Civil & Environmental Engineerin

Red blood cell morphology as a marker of oxidative stress in in early Type 2 Diabetes patients and efficacy of Antioxidants as an add on therapy to standard treatment: A Randomized, Open Label, Comparative Pilot study

OBJECTIVE: To study RBC morphology (crenated edges with Heinz bodies) in Type 2 Diabetes as a marker of oxidative stress and efficacy of Antioxidants as add on therapy to standard treatment. METHODOLOGY: 60 patients with Type2 Diabetes on metformin were randomized equally into study and control groups. 1ml of blood was collected, washed with saline, centrifuged and RBC suspension observed under high power microscope. Study group received Vitamin C (500mg) and Vitamin E (400 I.U) once daily with standard treatment for 8 weeks. Patients were assessed at 4 and 8 weeks for RBC morphology, fasting glucose, Hemoglobin, RBC count and Blood pressure. RESULTS: After 8 weeks, study group in comparison to the control group showed near complete restoration to normal RBCs and significant improvement in fasting glucose, Hemoglobin, RBC count and BP. CONCLUSION: Free radical induced oxidative damage to RBCs leading to hemolysis is the main cause of anemia in these patients, hence RBC morphology can be used as a marker of oxidative stress in Type 2 diabetes. Adding Vitamin C and E to standard treatment is cost effective and novel approach in the management of these patients

Climate Adaptation decision support Tool for Local Governments: CATLoG

AbstractThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the globally-recognised reference body for climate-related research, describes warming of the climate system as ‘unequivocal’. The changing climate is likely to result in the occurrence of more frequent and intense extreme weather events. This demands preventative and preparatory actions (mitigation and adaptation) from all levels of government including local governments. No matter how robust the mitigation responses will be, adaptation actions will still be required to prepare for the already committed changes on the climate.The study of climate extremes is particularly important because of their high impact nature. Analysis of the extreme events are challenging because of their rare occurrences resulting in very few past observations that can help in any statistical analysis or conclusions. Currently available climate projections especially for extreme events at local scales are associated with a wide range of uncertainties. Apart from that, analysis and damage assessment of the extremes over a period of time also present a lot of uncertainties related to economic analysis (e.g. discount rate, growth rate) and the unknown future.Unfortunately, often end users do not understand the range of uncertainties surrounding the research outputs they use for extreme events. This research project was designed to develop a pilot tool to enable end users to analyse and prepare for extreme events in a less predictable, complex world. Due to the lack of historical data, the tool relies on expert judgements on the frequency and severity of such events. It is important to point out that the results of the analysis are highly dependent on the quality of these judgements such that the reliability of the results depends on finding appropriate experts in the field who can provide appropriate estimates for frequency and impact of the considered events. The Tool uses a combination of quantitative (Cost-Benefit Analysis) and qualitative (Multi-Criteria Analysis) methods to frame the decision support Tool. The current version of the Tool allows users to conduct sensitivity tests, examine the impact of uncertain parameters ranging from climate impacts to discount rates. The final product is a user-friendly decision tool in the form of an Excel add-in together with a user manual booklet that demonstrates sample worked out projects. The Tool is made flexible so that stakeholders can adopt or refine or upgrade it for their context specific applications.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the globally-recognised reference body for climate-related research, describes warming of the climate system as ‘unequivocal’. The changing climate is likely to result in the occurrence of more frequent and intense extreme weather events. This demands preventative and preparatory actions (mitigation and adaptation) from all levels of government including local governments. No matter how robust the mitigation responses will be, adaptation actions will still be required to prepare for the already committed changes on the climate.The study of climate extremes is particularly important because of their high impact nature. Analysis of the extreme events are challenging because of their rare occurrences resulting in very few past observations that can help in any statistical analysis or conclusions. Currently available climate projections especially for extreme events at local scales are associated with a wide range of uncertainties. Apart from that, analysis and damage assessment of the extremes over a period of time also present a lot of uncertainties related to economic analysis (e.g. discount rate, growth rate) and the unknown future.Unfortunately, often end users do not understand the range of uncertainties surrounding the research outputs they use for extreme events. This research project was designed to develop a pilot tool to enable end users to analyse and prepare for extreme events in a less predictable, complex world. Due to the lack of historical data, the tool relies on expert judgements on the frequency and severity of such events. It is important to point out that the results of the analysis are highly dependent on the quality of these judgements such that the reliability of the results depends on finding appropriate experts in the field who can provide appropriate estimates for frequency and impact of the considered events. The Tool uses a combination of quantitative (Cost-Benefit Analysis) and qualitative (Multi-Criteria Analysis) methods to frame the decision support Tool. The current version of the Tool allows users to conduct sensitivity tests, examine the impact of uncertain parameters ranging from climate impacts to discount rates. The final product is a user-friendly decision tool in the form of an Excel add-in together with a user manual booklet that demonstrates sample worked out projects. The Tool is made flexible so that stakeholders can adopt or refine or upgrade it for their context specific applications.Please cite this report as:Trueck, S, Mathew, S, Henderson-Sellers, A, Taplin, R, Keighley, T, Chin, W 2013 Climate Adaptation Decision Support Tool for Local Governments: CATLog: Developing an Excel Spreadsheet Tool for Local Governments to compare and prioritise investment in climate change adaptation, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 39

Bioremediation of marine oil spill using beeswax

1227-1231Oil spills can have devastating environmental, economical, and social impacts. The use of bioremediation is a preferred technique for cleaning up oil spills because it facilitates the process of naturally converting oil into non-toxic byproducts without any further local environmental disruption. An experimental study was conducted to degrade marine oil spill using beeswax as a biostimulant for bioremediation and also to study the chemical variation. Beeswax, a nutrient source for proliferation of olephic (oil eating) bacteria, was added in intervals of five days and the corresponding dissolved oxygen (DO) was measured using Azide Winkler’s method. The recuperation of the DO concentration from 3.1 mg/l to 7.4 mg/l is an indication of the reduction in oil content. An oxygen sag curve and a graph showing temporal variation of chemical parameters such as nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium were plotted. During the period of study, the oil content reduced from 10 ml to 5 ml. As the addition of biostimulant resulted in an increase in the rate of bioremediation, the use of beeswax as a biostimulant appears to be an effective tool for the clean-up of oil-contaminated marine waters without adverse environmental impact