Open Access Week Seeks to Address “Textbook Crisis”

Jay Hauser ‘19 spent $391.43 for a single course’s materials during his first semester at Gettysburg College. “I had a class where we read classical text of [political] philosophy. But only sections of each text. But we had to buy the books. No one ever tried to bring in open source online copies of them and the professor did not provide them. Instead we spent a lot of money on like twentyish books and only used parts of them.” In fact, a 2016 analysis conducted by College Board found that the price of books and supplies for a full-time student at a private nonprofit 4-year college, like Gettysburg, was$11,890. Add in the cost of tuition, room and board, and living, and suddenly it is clear why college students so often are finding nutrition in ramen noodles and microwaveable hot dogs. [excerpt

E-LIS : a step towards redefining Open Access

The past few years have seen tremendous developments in information production, acquisition, and dissemination. Providing access to information free of charge in electronic formats is a concept that is gaining momentum. Open Access is one step ahead of Free Access. Open Access holds promise to remove both price and permission barriers to the scientific communication by using Internet. Creation of open access archives is a step towards redefining open access. E-LIS is a famous international disciplinary archive in Library and Information Science. The present paper describes creation and maintenance of E-LIS. It also includes content analysis of this archive

A novel agribusiness model for backward linkages with farmers: a case of food retail chain

One of the leading food retail chains, ‘Spencers’ have established backward linkages with farmers for procuring fresh fruits and vegetables. The main strategy of this system ensures a steady and continuous supply of fresh vegetables to the food retail chain and flow of income to farmers. This linkage has been able to change the method of farming and the marketing arrangement followed by the food retail chains. The marketing arrangement by Spencers food retail chain has reduced the market risks and transaction cost of farmers and has helped them in breaking away from the clutches of traditional brokers/wholesalers/commission agents. Direct supply by farmers has allowed the retail chain to simultaneously increase control over quality, supply reliability and price stability. An added advantage of this model is that it provides flexibility to the farmers to exit from this system, if they are not satisfied with its functioning, since there are no written contracts. This model of linkage is specially suited to small and marginal farmers and improves their economic conditions by providing an opportunity to grow and supply high-value vegetables round the year at a fairly decent price. The study has analyzed the impact of food retail chain linkage on farmers.Agribusiness,

Guide to on-site wastewater management for industrial and commercial establishments and other institutions: guide for vehicle service station owners and managers

Wastewater treatment, Environmental management, Organizations, Environmental Economics and Policy, Industrial Organization,

Update on the CubeSat Program of the National Science Foundation

Since 2008, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has provided grant funding for over a dozen university-led cubesat missions for scientific research and STEM education. The aims of the NSF cubesat program are to advance observations for space weather, atmospheric and geospace sciences as well as technology development in aerospace engineering and radiocommunications, and to provide “out of this world” leadership opportunities for university students in space missions. This presentation by the NSF Program Director managing the cubesat portfolio will provide an update on the NSF cubesat program

Investigating the role of BEST1 protein in Best vitelliform macular dystrophy using a novel, disease-specific human embryonic stem cell line

Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD) is a rare form of macular dystrophy involving degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). It is characterised by accumulation of fluid and lipofuscin in the macula region, and consequently shares similarities with one of the leading causes of blindness, age-related macular degeneration. BVMD is known to be caused by mutations in the BEST1 gene, which encodes for the Bestrophin-1 (BEST1) protein. Over 100 BVMD-causing BEST1 mutations have been reported including the F305S mutation. The aim of this thesis was to characterise a new and unreported human embryonic stem (ES) cell line containing the F305S BEST1 mutation to better understand the molecular pathology of BVMD. The first experimental chapter focused on characterising the pluripotent properties of the F305S-mutant BEST1 human ES cell line and its capacity to differentiate into RPE. The results revealed the F305S-mutant BEST1 human ES cells were highly similar to normal human ES cells, and that RPE derived from both normal and F305S-mutant BEST1 human ES cells displayed defining RPE properties including: pigmentation, polygonal morphology and expression of important RPE genes and proteins. A key finding was that BEST1 protein in the F305S-mutant BEST1 RPE was shown to be localised predominantly within the cells compared to BEST1 in the normal RPE, which was localised predominantly at the plasma membrane. In the second experimental chapter, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology showed that RPE derived from the F305S-mutant BEST1 human ES cells had similar voltage-gated sodium and potassium currents compared to RPE derived from normal human ES cells. As heterologous overexpression systems suggest BEST1 protein may regulate chloride (Cl-) and calcium (Ca2+) movements, the third experimental chapter used whole-cell patch clamp to compare Cl- and Ca2+ currents in RPE derived from normal and F305S-mutant human ES cells. These data revealed reduced Cl- and Ca2+ conductance in the F305S-mutant BEST1 RPE compared to normal human ES cell-derived RPE. These data suggest that in human RPE BEST1 can i) act as a Ca2+-activated Cl- channel, and ii) regulate intracellular Ca2+. Importantly, while these data are consistent with data from heterologous overexpression systems, they are also biologically more relevant as they were obtained from human RPE expressing endogenous levels of BEST1 protein without BEST1 overexpression. Overall, the data presented in this thesis begin to define the molecular consequences of BEST1 mutation on both Ca2+ and Cl- conductance in human RPE. The data also indicate further investigation of human ES cell-derived RPE will provide new molecular insights and potentially identify different treatment options for BVMD and age-related macular degeneration

Casuarina coastal forest shelterbelts in Hambantota City, Sri Lanka: Assessment of impacts

The definition of coastal forest shelterbelts in urban landscapes is highly complex. Growing of Casuarina equisetifolia as a small shelterbelt on the beach in Hambantotota City was implemented to protect the beautiful natural sand dunes, preserve visual amenity and be a barrier to seawater salt spray. The casuarina shelterbelt has become popular because it was the only undamaged area in Hambantota City after the devastating 2004 tsunami. The objective of the study was to assess the impacts of the casuarina shelterbelt in economic, social and environmental terms. The city dwellers close to the shelterbelt were interviewed and information collected based on their observations and experiences. According to them, the casuarina shelterbelt has not been able to reduce the wind speed. Although the belt has increased the size of the sand dunes, the casuarina trees have suppressed the growth of native species as an under-storey. The belt has improved the aesthetic value of the beach. No impact of the shelterbelt has been identified in protecting agricultural crops and reducing the corrosion of household goods from seawater salt spay. The city dwellers have not recognized the economic importance of casuarina timber but are impressed with the increase of fuelwood supply from the shelterbelt. The shelterbelt has prevented illegal settlement, but facilitated anti-social and illegal activities of the poor city dwellers. The attractiveness of the beach for tourism has been enhanced. Empirical evidence reveals that the casuarina belt in Hambantota City has greater environmental and social impacts than economic impacts