Magnetoresistance of CuCoNi, CuCo and AlFeNi Granular Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

In this project, a series of Cu-based and AI-based granular thin films have been prepared using the RF magnetron sputtering system. The effect of the temperature, magnetic field and annealing temperature on the magnetoresisatnce (MR.) of the samples prepared has been discussed. It has been demonstrated that the MR is composition, thickness and temperature dependent. For Cu-based sample which has been prepared under ambient temperature, the highest MR of 1.35% is 'observed for sample CU80.46CO19.54 (CC6). The samples with different compositions of magnetic entities show the different optimum thickness that would give the highest MR. The samples CU72.41CO19.62Ni7.97 and CU75.63CO19.56N4.51 have the maximum MR when the deposition time is 80 minutes whereas for sample CU8O.46CO19.54, the maximum occurs when the deposition is 60 minutes.Upon annealing, the MR of samples also changes. In this study, all of the Cu-based samples prepared at ambient temperature have been annealed at the temperature of 300°C, 350°C, 400°C, 450°C for 10 minutes in the argon environment. Among the samples, CU80.46CO19.54 shows the highest MR of 1.8% when it is annealed at 450°C

ONE BELT, ONE ROAD: ENHANCING MALAYSIAN STUDENTS’ MOBILITY

This paper aims to develop a framework on the determinants of international student mobility from Malaysia. China’s One Belt, One Road initiative is an important milestone for Malaysia as the two countries seek closer economic and political ties. The education sector also benefitted from this closer relationship. The significance of this paper is that it formulates a logistic regression model which encompasses various parameters in students’ choice of country to study abroad. With an understanding of the various determinants of student mobility, the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia will be able to fine-tune its macro policies to attract more international students to study in Malaysia.  Article visualizations

RETHINKING EDUCATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES – DOMINANCE OF WESTERN PERSPECTIVES?

This paper examines the different approaches and methods in comparative education research. It begins with a broad overview of the influences of Western philosophies and how Western education researchers approach social situations. Its differences with Chinese philosophies were highlighted with the concept of dao and Confucianism. More than just an epistemological discussion, this paper argues that Western researchers’ biasness towards Asian researchers may be due to their failure or lack of experience in making the connections with Asian social systems. It attempts to provide some plausible explanations of the prevalence of biasness by peer reviewers of Western journals.  Article visualizations

Uso de la retroalimentación de los estudiantes para evaluar la eficacia de los docentes

This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of students’ feedback as a teacher evaluation tool. An effective teacher evaluation system should incorporate multiple measures of teachers’ performance. Currently, all students evaluate lecturers teaching at both the diploma and degree levels using the same set of questionnaires. As the entry requirements for the two classes of students are different, the feedback results do not fully reflect the teaching efficiency of teachers. Students’ assessment of teachers must support valid inferences of teachers’ effectiveness and is one of the many tools of teacher evaluation. The author also argues that for a teacher evaluation model to be effective, the university needs to look at other measures such as student achievement, content knowledge, instructional planning and delivery, and classroom management.Este artículo tiene como objetivo explorar la eficacia de la retroalimentación de los estudiantes como una herramienta de evaluación de los maestros. Un sistema eficaz de evaluación docente debe incorporar múltiples medidas de desempeño de los maestros. En la actualidad, todos los estudiantes evalúan los profesores que enseñan tanto a nivel de diplomatura como de grado utilizando el mismo conjunto de cuestionarios. A medida que los requisitos de entrada para las dos clases de los estudiantes son diferentes, los resultados de retroalimentación no reflejan totalmente la enseñanza eficiente de los maestros. La evaluación estudiantil de los maestros debe ser apoyada con inferencias válidas de la eficacia de los profesores y ser una de las muchas herramientas de evaluación de los maestros. El autor también sostiene que para un modelo de evaluación de los maestros sea eficaz, la universidad tiene que mirar a otras medidas como el rendimiento de los estudiantes, el conocimiento del contenido, la planificación de la instrucción y la distribución, y la gestión del aula

Purification and Characterization of Enterovirus 71 Viral Particles Produced from Vero Cells Grown in a Serum-Free Microcarrier Bioreactor System

[[abstract]]Background: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections manifest most commonly as a childhood exanthema known as hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) and can cause neurological disease during acute infection. Principal Finding: In this study, we describe the production, purification and characterization of EV71 virus produced from Vero cells grown in a five-liter serum-free bioreactor system containing 5 g/L Cytodex 1 microcarrier. The viral titer was >106 TCID50/mL by 6 days post infection when a MOI of 10?5 was used at the initial infection. Two EV71 virus fractions were separated and detected when the harvested EV71 virus concentrate was purified by sucrose gradient zonal ultracentrifugation. The EV71 viral particles detected in the 24–28% sucrose fractions had an icosahedral structure 30–31 nm in diameter and had low viral infectivity and RNA content. Three major viral proteins (VP0, VP1 and VP3) were observed by SDS-PAGE. The EV71 viral particles detected in the fractions containing 35–38% sucrose were 33–35 nm in size, had high viral infectivity and RNA content, and were composed of four viral proteins (VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4), as shown by SDS-PAGE analyses. The two virus fractions were formalin-inactivated and induced high virus neutralizing antibody responses in mouse immunogenicity studies. Both mouse antisera recognized the immunodominant linear neutralization epitope of VP1 (residues 211–225). Conclusion:These results provide important information for cell-based EV71 vaccine development, particularly for the preparation of working standards for viral antigen quantification

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

REFRAMING NON-ATTENDANCE OF STUDENTS: CASE STUDY OF A MALAYSIA PRIVATE UNIVERSITY

This paper examined the impact of attendance on student achievement. An analysis of students taking Statistics course in the third semester of 2015 was carried out to investigate the relationship between class attendance and their final exam grades. Students’ achievements were affected by absenteeism from class. The study showed that students who missed classes regularly performed poorly in their final exam. There is a strong correlation between absenteeism rate and failure rate. Students who recorded more than 20% absentee rate in class failed their final exam. This paper also suggests that we look at Reframing as a technique to reduce the non-attendance and to improve students’ achievements.  Article visualizations

Need for regulatory revamp of private institutions

This paper examines the need for regulatory revamp of private institutions in Singapore, many of which may not have met the regulatory requirements if strict monitoring actions were to be applied to them. This first part of this paper explores the possible reasons why some private commercial schools are still in operation despite not meeting the recommended regulatory guidelines. It suggests stricter actions could be taken by the Council for Private Education to ensure that private commercial schools contribute to the improvement of the overall education landscape in Singapore and makes recommendations where the Council for could increase its vigilance on these schools. The second part of the paper explores the failure of private commercial schools to deliver quality education to their students and the reasons students are still choosing the private education route as an option for their studies

In vitro micropropagation of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni in Malaysia

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a medicinal plants and commercially use as non-caloric sweetener for diabetic patient. In the present study, a protocol was developed for in vitro micropropagation using 6-benzylamino purine (BAP) and Kinetin (Kn) for the formation of multiple shoot proliferation and Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) for the induction of roots. Maximum shoot formation (7.82 ± 0.7 shoots per explants) was observed on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L-1 BAP and 0.25 mg L-1 Kn. The maximum number of roots (30.12 ± 2.1 roots per explants) was obtained on a MS medium containing 1.0 mg L-1 IBA. The well rooted plantlets were successfully weaned and acclimatized in plant soil with survival rate of 83.3 %