10 research outputs found
Functional complementarity of different types of English texts: University teachers' voices and experiences
The Faculty of Education under Tribhuvan University, Nepal, has recently shifted to a diversified approach to the selection of texts for its Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) and Master of Education (M.Ed.) English reading courses. Apart from the conventionally prioritized native English texts, the courses incorporate texts in nativized varieties of English from international target cultures as well as texts in the emerging variety of English from students' home culture. However, in Nepal, there is a lack of research on the potential pedagogical contribution and cultural significance of texts originating from different cultures. In this respect, the present paper aims to explore university teachers' voices with regard to different types of texts and their experiences of dealing with such texts in the classroom. The qualitative data collected from six reading teachers through a semi-structured interview were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal the teachersā awareness of functional complementarity of texts stemming from target culture, international target cultures and students' culture. As reported, different types of English texts are assumed to have complementary functions to inscribe and express local and global experiences. However, despite valuing each type of text, reading teachers tend to ascribe greater linguistic value to native English texts than nonnative texts, with the implication that the weight of native English texts continues to dominate ESL/EFL reading courses
Approaches and Activities Adopted by M. Ed. Student Teachers of English to Teach Reading: A Critical Assessment
Literature on second language reading suggests that the effectiveness of teaching reading depends largely on theoretically-guided and contextually-informed classroom methodology. In this study, we investigated the classroom methodology adopted by the students of Master of Education (M. Ed.) specializing in English from Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal, who were teaching Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.) reading courses during their practice teachinghence defined as āstudent teachersā (STs). Foregrounding the role of reading in the overall language development and academic achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) students, the present B. Ed. English curriculum under Tribhuvan University has adopted a content-based approach to teaching reading. In order to understand how those reading courses were taught, we purposively selected ten M.Ed. STs and observed two classes of each, employing a semi-structured classroom observation scheme. In order to cross-compare STs' classroom performance with their theoretical knowledge about reading pedagogy and overall objectives of the reading courses, we also analyzed the English language teaching course the STs had studied in the M.Ed. program as well as B. Ed. reading courses and coursebooks they were teaching. The collected data were coded and analyzed thematically. The findings show that the teaching methodology adopted by the STs goes counter to the principles of ESL/EFL reading and expectations articulated in the reading courses. These findings illustrate the urgent need to reassess the methodology of teaching reading at the tertiary level and minimize the gap between the M. Ed. English studentsā pedagogical knowledge and their classroom performance
Outbreak of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 in Nepal
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of H1N1 influenza virus. Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 has posed a serious public health challenge world-wide. Nepal has started Laboratory diagnosis of Pandemic influenza A/H1N1 from mid June 2009 though active screening of febrile travellers with respiratory symptoms was started from April 27, 2009.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 609 collected samples, 302 (49.6%) were Universal Influenza A positive. Among the influenza A positive samples, 172(28.3%) were positive for Pandemic influenza A/H1N1 and 130 (21.3%) were Seasonal influenza A. Most of the pandemic cases (53%) were found among young people with ā¤ 20 years. Case Fatality Ratio for Pandemic influenza A/H1N1 in Nepal was 1.74%. Upon Molecular characterization, all the isolated pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 virus found in Nepal were antigenically and genetically related to the novel influenza A/CALIFORNIA/07/2009-LIKE (H1N1)v type.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Pandemic 2009 influenza virus found in Nepal were antigenically and genetically related to the novel A/CALIFORNIA/07/2009-LIKE (H1N1)v type.</p
Nanomaterials based electrochemical approaches for biosensing and bacterial disinfection
Electrochemical approaches to myriad medical and environmental challenges are highly
attractive due to their strong potential for extensive and green applications. Point of care
diagnostics through the electrochemical monitoring of clinically and environmentally relevant
molecules are gaining attraction due to their low cost and simple fabrication procedures. The
development of highly stable and sensitive electrochemical sensors/biosensors, for a wide variety
of biomolecules in actual samples, makes these methods alternative analytical tools in different
pharmaceutical and hospital laboratories. Electrochemical biocatalysis is an additional promising
area to address the removal of bacteria for the generation of safe potable water. As the worldās
population is dealing with lack of access to safe drinking water, photoelectrocatalysis has been
investigated as a very efficient technique for the destruction of pathogenic bacteria in water.
Nanomaterials with dimensions of less than 100 nm have great potential to enhance the
performance of electrochemical methods, due to their excellent electronic, mechanical, and
thermal properties. These materials have the capacity to greatly enhance biocatalytic activity, and
thus greatly improve the performance of electrochemical sensors/biosensors. This remarkable
improvement in bacterial catalysis has been studied using a novel synergistic approach, which
incorporates both photocatalysts and electrocatalysts.
For my PhD thesis, we designed a high-performance electrochemical sensor based on
graphene for the sensitive detection of acetaminophen, valacyclovir, and mixtures thereof. This
sensor was fabricated through the concurrent electrochemical reduction and deposition of
graphene oxide (GO) onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The
electrocatalytic properties of the electrochemically reduced graphene (ERG) for the oxidation of
acetaminophen were analyzed via cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry,
(DPV) and chronoamperometry. For comparison, various ERG/GCEs were prepared under
different electrodeposition cycles to optimize the required quantity of ERG. Our experimental
results indicated that the optimized ERG/GCE possessed robust activity toward the
electrochemical oxidation of acetaminophen, valacyclovir, and their mixture, leading to the
development of a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for its detection. An extremely low
detection limit of 2.13 nM for acetaminophen, and 1.34 nM for the exclusive detection of
valacyclovir was achieved. A wide linear detection range of from 5.0 nM to 800 Ī¼M was achieved via the combination of an amperometric technique and DPV. The developed
electrochemical sensor was further employed for the determination of acetaminophen,
valacyclovir, and their mixture in human serum, with excellent recovery, ranging from 96.08%
to103.2%. The fabricated electrochemical sensor also demonstrated high selectivity, stability and
reproducibility
Carbon Nanomaterials Based Electrochemical Sensors/Biosensors for the Sensitive Detection of Pharmaceutical and Biological Compounds
Electrochemical sensors and biosensors have attracted considerable attention for the sensitive detection of a variety of biological and pharmaceutical compounds. Since the discovery of carbon-based nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, C60 and graphene, they have garnered tremendous interest for their potential in the design of high-performance electrochemical sensor platforms due to their exceptional thermal, mechanical, electronic, and catalytic properties. Carbon nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors have been employed for the detection of various analytes with rapid electron transfer kinetics. This feature article focuses on the recent design and use of carbon nanomaterials, primarily single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), SWCNTs-rGO, Au nanoparticle-rGO nanocomposites, and buckypaper as sensing materials for the electrochemical detection of some representative biological and pharmaceutical compounds such as methylglyoxal, acetaminophen, valacyclovir, Ī²-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrate (NADH), and glucose. Furthermore, the electrochemical performance of SWCNTs, rGO, and SWCNT-rGO for the detection of acetaminophen and valacyclovir was comparatively studied, revealing that SWCNT-rGO nanocomposites possess excellent electrocatalytic activity in comparison to individual SWCNT and rGO platforms. The sensitive, reliable and rapid analysis of critical disease biomarkers and globally emerging pharmaceutical compounds at carbon nanomaterials based electrochemical sensor platforms may enable an extensive range of applications in preemptive medical diagnostics
Carbon Nanomaterials Based Electrochemical Sensors/Biosensors for the Sensitive Detection of Pharmaceutical and Biological Compounds
Electrochemical sensors and biosensors have attracted considerable attention for the sensitive detection of a variety of biological and pharmaceutical compounds. Since the discovery of carbon-based nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, C60 and graphene, they have garnered tremendous interest for their potential in the design of high-performance electrochemical sensor platforms due to their exceptional thermal, mechanical, electronic, and catalytic properties. Carbon nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors have been employed for the detection of various analytes with rapid electron transfer kinetics. This feature article focuses on the recent design and use of carbon nanomaterials, primarily single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), SWCNTs-rGO, Au nanoparticle-rGO nanocomposites, and buckypaper as sensing materials for the electrochemical detection of some representative biological and pharmaceutical compounds such as methylglyoxal, acetaminophen, valacyclovir, Ī²-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrate (NADH), and glucose. Furthermore, the electrochemical performance of SWCNTs, rGO, and SWCNT-rGO for the detection of acetaminophen and valacyclovir was comparatively studied, revealing that SWCNT-rGO nanocomposites possess excellent electrocatalytic activity in comparison to individual SWCNT and rGO platforms. The sensitive, reliable and rapid analysis of critical disease biomarkers and globally emerging pharmaceutical compounds at carbon nanomaterials based electrochemical sensor platforms may enable an extensive range of applications in preemptive medical diagnostics
Carbon Nanomaterials Based Electrochemical Sensors/Biosensors for the Sensitive Detection of Pharmaceutical and Biological Compounds
Editorsā ChoiceāChallenges and Opportunities for Developing Electrochemical Biosensors with Commercialization Potential in the Point-of-Care Diagnostics Market
There is a plethora of electrochemical biosensors developed for ultrasensitive detection of clinically relevant biomarkers. However, many of these systems lose their performance in heterogeneous clinical samples and are too complex to be operated by end users at the point-of-care (POC), prohibiting their commercial success. Integration of biosensors with sample processing technology addresses both of these challenges; however, it adds to the manufacturing complexity and the overall cost of these systems. Herein, we review the different components of a biosensor and avenues for creating fully integrated systems. In the context of integration, we focus on discussing the trade-offs between sensing performance, cost, and scalable manufacturing to guide the readers toward designing new electrochemical biosensors with commercialization potential