Teacher Allocation and Equity in Malaysian Schools

Although inequalities in education are relatively well researched, little attention is given to the inequalities in the educational resources used in education. This is clearly a shortcoming in the course of providing equitable education to all. One of the educational resources frequently used in discussion is teachers. Other than being very mobile, teachers are often used as proxy for educational resources because of their role and importance in educating a child. However, not many researchers have evaluated them/this resource in terms of availability in a school. In this paper, allocation of trained teachers to schools is measured. Using Malaysian data from 1986-2006 and Gini coefficient, a well known measure of distribution, trends and patterns of equity are examined. By estimating the Gini coefficient, we aim to enhance our understanding of resource inequalities and their drivers. Inequity is examined at two levels of education, i.e. primary schools and secondary schools. Initial results reveal that the level of equity in primary schools is less desirable than in secondary schools. In this paper, possible reasons on this outcome are delved into.- education, teachers, equity, Gini coefficient

Purification, physicochemical and regulatory properties of serine hydroxymethyltransferase from sheep liver

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (EC 2.1.2.1) was purified from the cytosolic fraction of sheep liver by ammonium sulphate fractionation, CM-Sephadex chromatography, gel filtration using Ultrogel ACA 34 and Blue Sepharose affinity chromatography. The homogeneity of the enzyme was rigorously established by Polyacrylamide gel and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectrofocusing, ultracentrifugation, immunodiffusion and Immunoelectrophoresis. The enzyme was a homotetramer with a molecular weight of 210,000 ± 5000. The enzyme showed homotropic cooperative interactions with tetrahydrofolate (nH = 2.8) and a hyperbolic saturation pattern with L-serine. At the lowest concentration of tetrahydrofolate used (0.2 mM), only 5% of the added folate was oxidized during preincubation and assay. ThenH value was independent of the time of preincubation. Preincubation of the enzyme with serine resulted in a partial loss of the cooperative interactions (nH =1.6) with tetrahydrofolate. The enzyme was regulated allosterically by interaction with nicotinamide nucleotides; NADH was a positive effector while NAD+ was a negative allosteric effector. The subunit interactions were retained even at the temperature optimum of 60‡C unlike in the case of the monkey liver enzyme, where these interactions were absent at higher temperatures. D-Cycloserine, a structural analogue of serine caused a sigmoid pattern of inhibition, in contrast with the observations on the monkey liver enzyme. Cibacron blue F3GA completely inhibited the enzyme and this inhibition could be reversed by tetrahydrofolate. Unlike in the monkey liver enzyme, NAD+ and NADH gave considerable protection against this inhibition. The sheep liver enzyme differs significantly in its kinetic and regulatory properties from the serine hydroxymethyltransferases isolated from other sources

Status of brackishwater prawn farming in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is estimated to have 762.51 ha of brackishwater area under prawn culture- Prawn culture In brackishwater ponds as well as in paddy fields converted into prawn ponds is picking up fast In the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, especially in East Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts. There are more than 200 ha of brackishwater areas suitable for prawn culture in West Godavari district alone. IVIore and more are being brought under prawn farming in this district. Seml-lntensive culture technology is employed by the fish farmers. The average yield Is estimated at 450 kg/ha/crop. This paper presents and discusses the status of prawn culture in Andhra Pradesh, identifies the constraints and suggests strategies for bringing the abundantly available brackishwater areas under scientific prawn culture to Increase the yield from these ponds

Detection of epistasis through triple test cross (TTC) analysis in maize (Zea mays L.)

The present study was carried out to detect the epistasis present in two cross of maize through triple test cross (TTC) analysis. The mean squares due to total epistasis was highly significant at P?0.01 for all the characters in both C-I and C-II, except for ear length in C-I. The i type of epistasis was highly significant for the traits such as days totasseling, days to silking, earlength, ear circumference, kernels row-1,100 grain weight and shelling percentage in C-I and in C-II, ‘i’ type was non-significant for ASI, ear length, kernels row-1and grain yield plot-1. Both j type and l type of epistasis were significant for all characters in both C-I and C-II, except for ear length in C-I and days to silking in C-II. The estimate of additive genetic component (D) was highly significant for all characters in both C-I and C-II. Epistasis played a significant role in the inheritance of all the characters in both C-I and C-II except for ear length in C-I. Both additive and dominance components of genetic variance with a predominance of dominance genetic variance played an important role in the inheritance of all the quantitative traits except ear length in C-I and kernel rows ear-1 in C-II

A Joint Solution to Scheduling and Power Control for Multicasting in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

This paper jointly addresses the problem of power control and scheduling in ad hoc networks supporting multicast traffic. First, we present a distributed algorithm which, given the set of multicast transmitters and their corresponding receivers, provides an optimal solution to the power control problem, if there is any. The transmit power levels obtained by solving the optimization problem minimize the network power expenditure while meeting the requirements on the SINR at the receivers. Whenever no optimal solution can be found for the given set of multicast transmitters, we introduce a joint scheduling and power control algorithm which eliminates the strong interferers, thus allowing the other transmitters to solve the power control problem. The algorithm can be implemented in a distributed manner. Although the proposed scheme provides a suboptimal solution, simulation results show that the obtained solution is close to the global optimum, when it exists. When instead there is no optimal solution, our algorithm allows for a high number of successful multicast transmissions

Stereochemistry of linking segments in the design of helix-helix motifs in peptides. Crystallographic comparison of a glycyl- dipropylglycyl-glycyl segment in a tripeptide and a 14-residue peptide

As part of a program to develop synthetic helix–linker–helix peptides the conformational properties of various linking segments are currently being investigated. The propensity of α,α-di-n-propylglycine (Dpg) residues to adopt backbone conformations in the extended region of the Ramachandran map, suggested by theoretical calculations and supported by experimental observations, prompted us to investigate the utility of the Gly-Dpg-Gly segment as a rigid linking motif. The crystal structure of the achiral tripeptide Boc-Gly-Dpg-Gly-OH 1 revealed a fully extended conformation (ϕ = ±178°, ψ = ±171°) at Dpg(2), with Gly(1) adopting a helical conformation (ϕ = +-72 °, ψ = +-32 °). The addition of flanking helical segments in the 14 residue peptide Boc-Val-Val-Ala-Leu-Gly-Dpg-Gly-Val-Ala-Leu-Aib-Val-Ala-Leu-OMe 2 resulted in the crystallographic characterization of a continuous helix over the entire length of the peptide. Peptide 1 crystallized in the centrosymmetric space group P21/c with a = 9.505(2) Å, b = 11.025(2) Å, c = 20.075(4) Å, β = 90.19° and Z = 4. Peptide 2 crystallized in space group P212121 with a = 10.172(1) Å, b = 17.521(4) Å, c = 46.438(12) Å and Z = 4. A comparative analysis of Gly-Dpg-Gly segments from available crystal structures indicates a high conformational variability of this segment. This analysis suggests that context and environment may be strong conformational determinants for the Gly-Dpg-Gly segment

Parental combining ability as a good predictor of productive crosses in sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

The exploitation of heterosis through the development and deployment of hybrids for commercial cultivation is one of the effective approaches for genetic enhancement of crop plants for traits of economic importance. Developing an objective criterion of choosing the parents for developing and testing hybrids is essential for maximizing the success of heterosis breeding. A set of 18 crosses produced from parents differing in their gca effects for bio-energy traits such as millable cane yield, juice volume and juice sugar content (as indicated by Brix %) were evaluated in replicated trial in the experimental plots of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore during 2006-07. The utility of parental general combining ability for producing high frequency of superior crosses for a set of bio-energy traits in sweet sorghum was investigated. The study suggested that parents with contrasting gca effects produce crosses with higher sca and heterotic potential for the bio-energy traits. The use of female parents with higher gca effects is important for realizing greater probability of crosses with sca effects and heterosis in desirable direction for bio-energy traits

Conformational choice at α,α-di-n-propylglycine residues: helical or fully extended structures?

The conformational analysis of peptides containing a single α,α-di-n-propylglycine (Dpg) residue incorporated into valine-rich sequences has been undertaken in order to delineate the possible role of sequence effects in stabilizing fully extended (C5) or local helical conformations at this residue. The three peptides Boc-Val-Dpg-Val-OMe (3), Boc-Val-Val-Dpg-Val-OMe (4), Boc-Val-Val-Dpg-Val-Val-OMe (5), have been studied by 1H-nmr methods in chloroform (CDCl3) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions. Even in a relatively poorly solvating medium like CDCl3, all the valine NH groups appear to be solvent-exposed, suggesting an absence of folded -turn conformations. However, in both CDCl3 and DMSO the Dpg NH groups in all the three peptides appear to behave like apparently solvent-inaccessible groups. In fully extended C5 conformations, the proximity of the NH and CO groups of Dpg may preclude effective solvation due to a combination of stereoelectronic factors. Nuclear Overhauser effects provide support for the largely extended backbones. The crystal structure of peptide 3 reveals an extended conformation at Dpg (2) with Φ= -176°, Ψ = 180°. A correlation between the crystallographically observed backbone conformation and solution nmr parameters in DMSO has been attempted using available data. Dpg residues placed in poor helix stabilizing environments may be expected to favor a local C5 conformation

Extension service for prawn farming

The technology of prawn culture in India is still traditional and extensive called trapping-cum-holding in brackish water ponds, but adoption of Improved extensive prawn culture technology Is claimed to be picking up fast In several places notably In West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The production from such culture practices is estimated at 15000-17000 tons/year, accounting for about 5% of the total prawn production In India the technology of scientific prawn culture is now available. Though steps are being taken to motivate, and encourage the fish farmers to take up prawn culture on scientific lines to increase their Income, lack of an appropriate extension network Is felt to be a major handicap In the field. This paper attempts to review the various extension services available for taking up prawn culture by the fish farmers. Identifies the pitfalls and proposes a working fisheries extension programme for prawn culture In Indi