Reforming a university during political transformation: a case study of Yangon University in Myanmar

Since 2010, Myanmar has been transitioning from an authoritarian military regime towards a parliamentary democracy. Several education policies have been launched as part of this political transformation process, including the reform of Myanmar’s flagship higher education institution, Yangon University. This article investigates the reform of Yangon University. Through so doing, we examine a key node in Myanmar’s higher education system, and contribute to academic debates over higher education reforms in countries undergoing political transformations. The article draws on qualitative data obtained from stakeholders involved in the reform of Yangon University, and uses Arnhold et al.’s ‘educational reconstruction framework’ to conceptualize the reform process. It is argued that while improvements have been made to the physical infrastructure, there has been a failure to consider the ideological and psychological reconstruction of the university, which staff and students alike deem essential to transforming long standing authoritarian practices, and creating a constructive learning environment

Public transport transformation : an incremental approach to delivering public transport systems in South Africa

Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 7-10 July 2014 "Leading Transport into the Future", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The rollout of Integrated Rapid Public Transport Networks (IRPTNs) in 13 cities across South Africa has been a significant step forward in the provision of safe, affordable and reliable public transport services to the communities of our cities and towns. The incorporation of the existing minibus taxi operators into these systems has fundamentally changed the role of local government and the existing operators in the provision of public transport services and these changes have not come without their risks. This paper explores some of the risks experienced by the current approach to the design of our IRPTNs and suggests an alternative approach to the transformation of public transport services in South Africa. This alternative approach attempts to build on the capacity that already exists within the public transport sector whilst still being able to deliver regular, reliable and affordable transport services without some of the institutional and financial strains currently being experienced.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by CE Projects cc. Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: [email protected]

NITROUS ACID-INDUCED VARIATIONS IN SOME QUANTITATIVE TRAITS OF THE FOXTAIL MILLET SETARIA ITALICA (L.) P. BEAUV.

The effects of different concentrations of nitrous acid on the agronomic parameters of foxtail millet were investigated. Seeds treated with different concentrations of nitrous acid and untreated seeds (control) were planted in a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) for two generations. The following data collected: percent germination, plant height, leaf number, length, and width, fresh and dry weights, number of days to 50% flowering, panicle length, and weight, and 1000-seed weight. Significant variations were observed in plant height, leaf number and length, fresh and dry weights, panicle length and weight, and 1000-seed weight in the control. Plant height, leaf length, fresh weight and dry weight had highest mean values at 0.1% nitrous acid. Number of leaves and panicle length and weight were highest at 0.4% concentration, while 1000-seed weight was highest with 0.3% nitrous acid. From this experiment, nitrous acid proved to be effective in inducing mutations that increased quantitative traits of the foxtail millet. The mutations have great potentials which can be harnessed for use in a breeding programme

Myocardial Fibrosis and Cardiac Decompensation in Aortic Stenosis

OBJECTIVES: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was used to investigate the extracellular compartment and myocardial fibrosis in patients with aortic stenosis, as well as their association with other measures of left ventricular decompensation and mortality. BACKGROUND: Progressive myocardial fibrosis drives the transition from hypertrophy to heart failure in aortic stenosis. Diffuse fibrosis is associated with extracellular volume expansion that is detectable by T1 mapping, whereas late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) detects replacement fibrosis. METHODS: In a prospective observational cohort study, 203 subjects (166 with aortic stenosis [69 years; 69% male]; 37 healthy volunteers [68 years; 65% male]) underwent comprehensive phenotypic characterization with clinical imaging and biomarker evaluation. On CMR, we quantified the total extracellular volume of the myocardium indexed to body surface area (iECV). The iECV upper limit of normal from the control group (22.5 ml/m(2)) was used to define extracellular compartment expansion. Areas of replacement mid-wall LGE were also identified. All-cause mortality was determined during 2.9 ± 0.8 years of follow up. RESULTS: iECV demonstrated a good correlation with diffuse histological fibrosis on myocardial biopsies (r = 0.87; p < 0.001; n = 11) and was increased in patients with aortic stenosis (23.6 ± 7.2 ml/m(2) vs. 16.1 ± 3.2 ml/m(2) in control subjects; p < 0.001). iECV was used together with LGE to categorize patients with normal myocardium (iECV <22.5 ml/m(2); 51% of patients), extracellular expansion (iECV ≥22.5 ml/m(2); 22%), and replacement fibrosis (presence of mid-wall LGE, 27%). There was evidence of increasing hypertrophy, myocardial injury, diastolic dysfunction, and longitudinal systolic dysfunction consistent with progressive left ventricular decompensation (all p < 0.05) across these groups. Moreover, this categorization was of prognostic value with stepwise increases in unadjusted all-cause mortality (8 deaths/1,000 patient-years vs. 36 deaths/1,000 patient-years vs. 71 deaths/1,000 patient-years, respectively; p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: CMR detects ventricular decompensation in aortic stenosis through the identification of myocardial extracellular expansion and replacement fibrosis. This holds major promise in tracking myocardial health in valve disease and for optimizing the timing of valve replacement. (The Role of Myocardial Fibrosis in Patients With Aortic Stenosis; NCT01755936)

Anatomy of STEM Teaching in American Universities: A Snapshot from a Large-Scale Observation Study

National and local initiatives focused on the transformation of STEM teaching in higher education have multiplied over the last decade. These initiatives often focus on measuring change in instructional practices, but it is difficult to monitor such change without a national picture of STEM educational practices, especially as characterized by common observational instruments. We characterized a snapshot of this landscape by conducting the first large scale observation-based study. We found that lecturing was prominent throughout the undergraduate STEM curriculum, even in classrooms with infrastructure designed to support active learning, indicating that further work is required to reform STEM education. Additionally, we established that STEM faculty’s instructional practices can vary substantially within a course, invalidating the commonly-used teaching evaluations based on a one-time observation

Access, participation and capabilities: Theorising the contribution of university bursaries to students’ well-being, flourishing and success

For the last 10 years, universities in England have been expected to offer financial support to low-income students alongside that provided by government. These bursaries were initially conceived in terms of improving access for under-represented groups, but attention has turned to their role in supporting student retention and success. This paper reports on two qualitative studies undertaken by contrasting universities that have been brought together due to their complementary findings. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a total of 98 students. Students’ views on bursaries and how they impact on their lives are reported and used to develop a descriptive model of the web of choices that students have in balancing finances and time. This is contextualised within Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, to argue that providing access to higher education is insufficient if disadvantaged students are not able to flourish by participating fully in the university experience

Genome-wide RNA-Sequencing analysis reveals a distinct fibrosis gene signature in the conjunctiva after glaucoma surgery

Fibrosis-related events play a part in most blinding diseases worldwide. However, little is known about the mechanisms driving this complex multifactorial disease. Here we have carried out the first genome-wide RNA-Sequencing study in human conjunctival fibrosis. We isolated 10 primary fibrotic and 7 non-fibrotic conjunctival fibroblast cell lines from patients with and without previous glaucoma surgery, respectively. The patients were matched for ethnicity and age. We identified 246 genes that were differentially expressed by over two-fold and p < 0.05, of which 46 genes were upregulated and 200 genes were downregulated in the fibrotic cell lines compared to the non-fibrotic cell lines. We also carried out detailed gene ontology, KEGG, disease association, pathway commons, WikiPathways and protein network analyses, and identified distinct pathways linked to smooth muscle contraction, inflammatory cytokines, immune mediators, extracellular matrix proteins and oncogene expression. We further validated 11 genes that were highly upregulated or downregulated using real-time quantitative PCR and found a strong correlation between the RNA-Seq and qPCR results. Our study demonstrates that there is a distinct fibrosis gene signature in the conjunctiva after glaucoma surgery and provides new insights into the mechanistic pathways driving the complex fibrotic process in the eye and other tissues

ApoSense: a novel technology for functional molecular imaging of cell death in models of acute renal tubular necrosis

Purpose: Acute renal tubular necrosis (ATN), a common cause of acute renal failure, is a dynamic, rapidly evolving clinical condition associated with apoptotic and necrotic tubular cell death. Its early identification is critical, but current detection methods relying upon clinical assessment, such as kidney biopsy and functional assays, are insufficient. We have developed a family of small molecule compounds, ApoSense, that is capable, upon systemic administration, of selectively targeting and accumulating within apoptotic/necrotic cells and is suitable for attachment of different markers for clinical imaging. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability of these molecules as a diagnostic imaging agent for the detection of renal tubular cell injury following renal ischemia. Methods: Using both fluorescent and radiolabeled derivatives of one of the ApoSense compounds, didansyl cystine, we evaluated cell death in three experimental, clinically relevant animal models of ATN: renal ischemia/reperfusion, radiocontrast-induced distal tubular necrosis, and cecal ligature and perforation-induced sepsis. Results: ApoSense showed high sensitivity and specificity in targeting injured renal tubular epithelial cells in vivo in all three models used. Uptake of ApoSense in the ischemic kidney was higher than in the non-ischemic one, and the specificity of ApoSense targeting was demonstrated by its localization to regions of apoptotic/necrotic cell death, detected morphologically and by TUNEL staining. Conclusion: ApoSense technology should have significant clinical utility for real-time, noninvasive detection of renal parenchymal damage of various types and evaluation of its distribution and magnitude; it may facilitate the assessment of efficacy of therapeutic interventions in a broad spectrum of disease states

Decolonial education and geography: Beyond the 2017 Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers annual conference

This review is inspired by the recent resurgence of grassroots movements aimed at the decolonisation of education. The departure point of the paper are the numerous, recent academic responses to campaigns such as Rhodes Must Fall, Why is My Curriculum White?, Why Isn't My Professor Black?, and #LiberateMyDegree. Following from there, the narrative is divided into two sections. The first part reviews theoretical approaches to decolonial education, especially those rooted in the modernity/coloniality/decoloniality paradigm. The second part analyses the ways in which geographers have applied these ideas to our discipline. The review pays particular attention to the 2017 Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers annual conference, curated under the “Decolonising geographical knowledges” theme. I argue that as geographers, we have to continue reflecting on the meaning of decolonial praxis, especially in relation to geographical education, beyond the recent conference. To these ends, the review concludes with seven specific questions for geographers to consider in the near future