47 research outputs found

    Relations of science students’ academic performance at university level with their gender: a case study at the faculty of science, university of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

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    University is an institution for higher education, research, and social development. Hence, the students’ performance at the University is very important as graduates are supposed to become future leaders in this world. There are many factors affecting the students’ performance at the University level. Thus, this study was focusing on assessing the impact of gender on students’ academic performance at University level. This is a quantitative study. Sample of the study was drawn from the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya through convenient sampling technique. The sample consisted of 1729 undergraduates from four consecutive batches from 2006 to 2009. There were 822 males and 907 females in the sample. The data were collected through documents from the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya and analyzed using MS Excel 2010 and SPSS 17. The study established a relationship between gender of students and their performance measured according to the students’ Grade Point Average (GPA) at the University. The results of the study revealed that the performance of female students is higher than that of males. There were 18% of female undergraduates in 4.00-3.70 GPA range while only 5% of male undergraduates were in the same range. Male undergraduates are prominent in 3.30-3.00 GPA range and < 3.00 GPA.This situation could be due to many inter-related factors such as study habits, aspirations, self-concepts, motivation, other psychological conditions, and some physiological aspects. Thus, an in-depth study has to be conducted to investigate the issue in order to support especially the male students to perform well in their higher education at the University level

    Fabrication of Pt/Ru Nanoparticle Pair Arrays with Controlled Separation and their Electrocatalytic Properties

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    Aiming at the investigation of spillover and transport effects in electrocatalytic reactions on bimetallic catalyst electrodes, we have prepared novel, nanostructured electrodes consisting of arrays of homogeneously distributed pairs of Pt and Ru nanodisks of uniform size and with controlled separation on planar glassy carbon substrates. The nanodisk arrays (disk diameter approximate to 60 nm) were fabricated by hole-mask colloidal lithography; the separation between pairs of Pt and Ru disks was varied from -25 nm (overlapping) via +25 nm to +50 nm. Morphology and (surface) composition of the Pt/Ru nanodisk arrays Were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy, the electrochemical/electrocatalytic properties were explored by cyclic voltammetry, COad monolayer oxidation ("COad stripping"), and potentiodynamic hydrogen oxidation. Detailed analysis of the 2 COad oxidation peaks revealed that on all bimetallic pairs these cannot be reproduced by superposition of the peaks obtained on electrodes with Pt/Pt or Ru/Ru pairs, pointing to effective Pt-Ru interactions even between rather distant pairs (50 nm). Possible reasons for this observation and its relevance for the understanding of previous reports of highly active catalysts with separate Pt and Ru nanoparticles are discussed. The results clearly demonstrate that this preparation method is perfectly suited for fabrication of planar model electrodes with well-defined arrays of bimetallic nanodisk pairs, which opens up new possibilities for model studies of electrochemical/electrocatalytic reactions

    Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

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    Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

    Neural Correlates of Motor Vigour and Motor Urgency During Exercise

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    25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

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    The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

    Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

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    Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

    The impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease and its treatment on interstitial lung disease outcomes

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    Abstract Background To determine the relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and its treatment and interstitial lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods SSc patients from the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS) were included. GORD was defined as self-reported GORD symptoms, therapy with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or histamine 2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) and/or the presence of reflux oesophagitis diagnosed endoscopically. The impact of GORD and its treatment on ILD features (including severity and time to ILD development) and survival was evaluated. Results GORD was a common manifestation affecting 1539/1632 (94%) of SSc patients. GORD affected 450/469 (96%) of those with SSc-ILD cohort. In SSc-ILD, there was no relationship between the presence of GORD or its treatment and time to ILD development or ILD severity. However, GORD treatment was associated with improved survival in those with ILD (p = 0.002). Combination therapy with both a PPI and a H2RA was associated with a greater survival benefit than single agent therapy with PPI alone (HR 0.3 vs 0.5 p < 0.050 respectively). Conclusion GORD is a common SSc disease manifestation. While the presence or treatment of GORD does not influence the development or severity of ILD, aggressive GORD treatment, in particular with a combination of PPI and H2RA, is associated with improved survival in those with SSc-ILD
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