EAST AND WEST, THE TWAIN SHALL MEET:A Cross-cultural Perspective on Higher Education

Both India and the U.S. were once colonies of Great Britain, the world''s first but short-lived global power. And both India and the U.S. ultimately threw off the imperialist yoke. Despite independence, both democracies inherited certain things from Great Britain. Whereas India inherited the English language, parliamentary governance, socialism, and, last but not least, the English educational system; the U.S. inherited the English language, the Judeo-Christian value system, and the .white. racial identity. The English educational system of India was augmented by Soviet-style central planning which resulted in several .Institutes. that have come to dominate higher education in India. Despite being ethnically closer to Great Britain, the U.S. evolved its own system of political governance, and, more important, its own educational system. While American higher education has come to define the .gold standard. for higher education, India still lags considerably behind in higher education. This paper seeks to explain certain cultural differences that may have contributed to this imbalance between the Indian and American higher education systems.

Contemporary lessons in Economic Philosophy drawn from two recent Indian Films

The aim of this paper is to derive some important lessons in economic philosophy from two recent Indian films. The two films, Mani Ratnam.s Guru (2007) and Madhur Bhandarkar.s Corporate (2006), are explicitly about the world of business and the people who inhabit it. The former film is not only a history lesson about the political and economic environment in India during the first 40 years after India.s independence, but is also a celebration of Adam Smith.s philosophy and, in general, capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit. At the same time, it brings to the fore the possibly misguided economic policies adopted by India during the first few decades after independence. .Corporate., on the other hand, complements .Guru., in the sense that it highlights the consequences borne by powerless individuals when corporations have profit as their sole aim and are willing to achieve them by hook or by crook. Also, highlighted in .Corporate. is how disastrous events can occur when politics and big business collude to undermine the interests of the working class. Thus, .Corporate. provides a case for Keynesian economics. The role of gender and family in economics is also explored in this film, as is the role and importance of ethics in economics. Last but not least, the limitations of rationality and rational behaviour are highlighted in .Corporate.. Classical economics assumes that people are perfectly rational in their decision-making. This assumption has been challenged by newer economic theories, and is also challenged by .Corporate..

Generalized Lomb-Scargle analysis of 90Sr/90Y\rm{^{90}Sr/^{90}Y} decay rate measurements from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

We apply the generalized Lomb-Scargle (LS) periodogram to independently confirm the claim by Sturrock et al (arXiv:1605.03088) of oscillation at a frequency of 11/year in the decay rates of $\rm{^{90}Sr/^{90}Y}$ from measurements at the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), which however has been disputed by Kossert and Nahle (arXiv:1407.2493). For this analysis, we made two different {\it ansatze} for the errors. For each peak in the LS periodogram, we evaluate the statistical significance using non-parametric bootstrap resampling. We find using both of these error models evidence for ~11/year periodicity in the $\rm{^{90}Sr/^{90}Y}$ data for two of the three samples, but at a lower significance than that claimed by Sturrock et al.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Comparing two models that reduce the number of nephrology fellowship positions in the United States

There has been a steady decline in the number of applications to nephrology training programs. One solution is to decrease the number of available fellowship positions. Proponents believe that training programs have grown too big but the method for reduction has not been established. This investigation analyzes two models that decrease the number of available training positions and compares them head-to-head to identify the least burdensome method by which this reduction should occur. In the survival of the fittest model (SotFM) fellowship positions are eliminated if they were unfilled in the National Residency Match Program’s (NRMP) 2013 Specialty Match. In the equal proportions model (EPM) a formula is used to calculate a priority score using ESRD prevalence data from the 2013 USRDS Report and the geometric mean between a given jurisdiction’s current apportionment (n) and its next position (n + 1). The least burdensome model is that which results in the (1) least number of jurisdictions losing fellow positions and (2) lowest percent reduction for any single jurisdiction. There were 416 nephrology positions offered and 47 unfilled in 2013. In the SotFM, 23 jurisdictions would sacrifice these 47 positions. In the EPM, 369 positions were apportioned (=416–47); only 9 jurisdictions would experience a reduction. The largest single-jurisdiction reduction in fellow positions was 67% (SotFM) and 50% (EPM). The EPM results in a less burdensome reduction of fellow positions nationwide. The EPM is a time-tested model that injects fairness into the painful process of reducing the total number of fellow positions across America

Alternative ideas to increase the percentage of filled seats in nephrology fellowships

Interest in nephrology has been decreasing for the last decade. In this opinion piece, the author provides four unconventional, outside-the-box strategies to increase the percentage of filled nephrology training positions

A New Algorithm for Continuous Optimization

We present a new algorithm for continuous, nonlinear or linear, and constrained or unconstrained optimization. After proving its convergence, we apply it to unconstrained and constrained maximum likelihood estimation, and compare its performance to that of the Newton-Raphson algorithm.

Generalized Lomb–Scargle analysis of 90Sr/90Y\mathrm {^{90}Sr/^{90}Y}90Sr/90Y decay rate measurements from the Physikalisch–Technische Bundesanstalt

We apply the generalized Lomb–Scargle (LS) periodogram to independently confirm the claim by Sturrock et al. (Astropart Phys 84:8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2016.07.005, 2016) of an oscillation at a frequency of 11/year in the decay rates of 90Sr / 90Y from measurements at the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), which however has been disputed by Kossert and Nahle (Astropart Phys 69:18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.03.003, 2015). For this analysis, we made two different ansatze for the errors. For each peak in the LS periodogram, we evaluate the statistical significance using non-parametric bootstrap resampling. We find using both of these error models evidence for 11/year periodicity in the 90Sr / 90Y data for two of the three samples, but at a lower significance than claimed by Sturrock et al. [1]

CORRELATION OF TWO PYRAZOLINE MOIETY IN A SINGLE MOLECULE VIA N-LINKAGE CONTAINING FLUORINE ATOM AS A SUBSTITUENT AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Objective: The aim of the present invention is to synthesize and find out the biological importance of the series of the designed pyrazoline compounds. Methods: A series of 3-[3'-(2â€,4â€-dichloro-5â€-fluorophenyl)-5'-(2â€-furyl)-4', 5'-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1'-yl]-5-substituted phenyl-2-pyrazolines (2a-j) and 1-Nitroso-3-[3'-(2â€,4â€-dichloro-5â€-fluorophenyl)-5'-(2â€-furyl)-4', 5'-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1'-yl]-5-substituted phenyl-2-pyrazolines (3a-j) were prepared in moderate yields. The structures of both pyrazoline and N-nitroso pyrazoline derivatives have been characterized on the basis of physical properties of the molecule and satisfactory spectral (IR, 1H NMR) data. The antimicrobial activity of the compounds against some Gram (+) and Gram (–) bacteria is reported. Results: The Moderate yield of the proposed compounds was obtained. Spectral analysis showed the structural confirmation of the synthesized compounds. Some of the compounds showed lower to moderate level of drug-like properties. Conclusion: From the results of spectral data and microbial activity it has been concluded that the compounds were found to exhibit some functional lead properties; hence these compounds are worth to be considered as potential lead molecules for further study

Correlation of types of diabetic retinopathy and its psychosocial impact

Background: Diabetic retinopathy affects majority (70% to 90%) of diabetic patients, causes visual impairment which leads to severe psycho-social disruption in life. Our objective was to study the patients of diabetic retinopathy, co-relate between the types of diabetic retinopathy and the extent of psychosocial impairment in these patients.Methods: Data of the diabetic patients attending the Retina Clinic of C.H. Nagri Eye Hospital, Ahmedabad was collected using a pretested questionnaire. It included ocular history, history related to diabetes, data of ocular examination and type of retinopathy (if present). For psycho-social assessment, the patients were asked to fill the validated Gujarati language version of “General Health Questionnaire -28 (GHQ 28).” Selfscoring was done ranging from 0-1-2-3 (lower to higher disability respectively). Analysis of significance was carried out by Mann-Whitney Test using statistical software.Results: Total 308 patients were studied. The subjects were divided into 3 groups: (A) Diabetes mellitus type-2 (DM-2) patients without retinopathy. (B) DM-2 patients having non-proliferative retinopathy (C) DM-2 patients having proliferative retinopathy. According to the accepted scoring pattern of GHQ-28 (cut of point 25), it was observed that 80.26% of patients having non-proliferative retinopathy in both eyes and 93.75% patients having proliferative retinopathy in both eyes were psychosocially impaired. The impairment was found to be more severe in proliferative retinopathy patients as compared to non-proliferative retinopathy patients. (p value NPDR = 35.74). It was also found that in DM-2 patients without retinopathy the average mean score was 25.22 which showed less impairment (p value <0.005).Conclusions: Patients of Diabetic Retinopathy had more psychosocial impairment which shows its significant impact on quality of life and overall health. Psychiatric counselling must be given to the impaired patients to decrease the impact of the disease on the psychosocial aspect of health. It is necessary to decrease the psychosocial suffering along with the control of disease

Understanding the mobile internet to develop the next generation of online medical teaching tools

Healthcare providers (HCPs) use online medical information for self-directed learning and patient care. Recently, the mobile internet has emerged as a new platform for accessing medical information as it allows mobile devices to access online information in a manner compatible with their restricted storage. We investigated mobile internet usage parameters to direct the future development of mobile internet teaching websites. Nephrology On-Demand Mobile (NODM) (http://www.nephrologyondemand.org) was made accessible to all mobile devices. From February 1 to December 31, 2010, HCP use of NODM was tracked using code inserted into the root files. Nephrology On-Demand received 15 258 visits, of which approximately 10% were made to NODM, with the majority coming from the USA. Most access to NODM was through the Apple iOS family of devices and cellular connections were the most frequently used. These findings provide a basis for the future development of mobile nephrology and medical teaching tools