An Alternative for the Future: Growth and Lipid Production in Extremophilic Algae

Microscopic algae are a potential source of renewable fuels. Determining what conditions are most favorable to the growth and lipid production of specific algal strains can aid in the search for an alternative to fossil fuels. Desert and polar strains of Bracteacoccus bullatus were grown on different media and tracked for their growth rates over a month. In another experiment, the same strains were frozen for two hours, grown for several weeks, and subsequently harvested. The cellular lipids were chemically extracted and analyzed using a GC/MS. The results suggested that the polar strains grew best in nutrient-enriched media while the desert strains grew best in the nutrient-poor media. In response to freezing, total lipid content increased in the desert strains and decreased in the polar strains. This suggested major physiological differences between the desert and polar strains of the same species. The polar strains were better acclimated to the freezing and nutrient stress than the desert strains, which could be explained by adaptations to different environments

Public Policy and Enhancement of Access in Private Universities in Nigeria

The licensing of private universities in Nigeria in 1999 was a milestone in the development of higher education in Nigeria. Prior to that, public policy gave the federal and state governments the monopoly to establish and run higher education institutions. During this period also, enrollment into the existing public universities was very low accounting for not more than an average of 15% of the total number of those who applied for admission into the universities each academic session. Consequently, one of the major reasons for the liberalization of ownership of higher education institutions and the eventual licensing of private universities in 1999, was to expand access into the universities. However, evidence does not seem to suggest that this important policy goal has been achieved. For example, during the first decade (1999-2009), the enrollment data from 30 private universities which had enrolled students (by 2007), suggests that public policy failed to effectively use private universities to expand access as private universities contributed only 3.4% of total enrollment into the universities, and this rose to 5% in 2009 with 41 private universities. However, in the first half of the second decade (2010-2013) the enrollment contribution of 50 private universities increased reasonably as they accounted for 10.4% of total enrollment. But even with this increased contribution, existing public policy enablers have failed to serve as catalyst for rapid enhancement of access in private universities. Based on this therefore, new critical policy enablers for expanding access are identified and recommended. Key Words: Public policy, public policy enablers, higher education access, private universities in Nigeria

Determining Evidence Based Properties of M.O.P. Civic Education School Discipline Program

School discipline helps establish a safe and supportive environment for student learning and development. There are however factors that can undermine the creation of such an environment. These factors include the conduct of students as well as that of school staff. The Me Others Property Civic Education School Discipline Program has been implemented for the last 20 years in several local schools in Indiana. However its evidence based properties have yet to be evaluated. This study examined such properties via the literature on evidence based practices for school discipline. The APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) suggests that the use of EBP in schools can help boost students’ psychological wellbeing, and also create the grounds for productive learning outcomes (Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology, 2006). There is increasing appeal for interventions developed on the basis data-informed practices (Kelly et al., 2010). Specifically the study continues to assess the data from a survey administered in two local schools (70 elementary students) and 45 high school-age students who completed a pre-post-test in Belize. The MOP program espouse to help students learn how to respect themselves, others, and property and make right choices. Preliminary findings are presented and discussed

NT -pro BNP as a Mediator of the Racial Difference in Incident Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure.

Background Blacks harbor more cardiovascular risk factors than whites, but experience less atrial fibrillation ( AF ). Conversely, whites may have a lower risk of heart failure ( CHF ). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide ( NT -pro BNP) levels are higher in whites, predict incident AF , and have diuretic effects in the setting of increased ventricular diastolic pressures, potentially providing a unifying explanation for these racial differences. Methods and Results We used data from the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) to determine the degree to which baseline NT -pro BNP levels mediate the relationships between race and incident AF and CHF by comparing beta estimates between models with and without NT -pro BNP . The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study was used to assess reproducibility. Among 4731 CHS (770 black) and 12 418 ARIC (3091 black) participants, there were 1277 and 1253 incident AF events, respectively. Whites had higher baseline NT -pro BNP ( CHS : 40% higher than blacks; 95% CI , 29-53; ARIC : 39% higher; 95% CI , 33-46) and had a greater risk of incident AF compared with blacks ( CHS : adjusted hazard ratio, 1.60; 95% CI , 1.31-1.93; ARIC : hazard ratio, 1.93; 95% CI , 1.57-2.27). NT -pro BNP levels explained a significant proportion of the racial difference in AF risk ( CHS : 36.2%; 95% CI , 23.2-69.2%; ARIC : 24.6%; 95% CI , 14.8-39.6%). Contrary to our hypothesis, given an increased risk of CHF among whites in CHS (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.20; 95% CI , 1.05-1.47) and the absence of a significant association between race and CHF in ARIC (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% CI , 0.94-1.23), CHF -related mediation analyses were not performed. Conclusions A substantial portion of the relationship between race and AF was statistically explained by baseline NT -pro BNP levels. No consistent relationship between race and CHF was observed

Teaching Respect: Effectiveness of the 'Me Others Property (M.O.P.) Civic Education Program'

Many factors often undermine the creation of safe and supportive environments for learning, academic, and social development in schools in general. These factors may include the conduct of students as well as that of school staff. The Me Others Property (M.O.P.) civic education program has been implemented for 25 years in local Indiana schools. However, its effectiveness to teach respect has not been evaluated. The program was designed to increase three outcomes, participants’ respect for themselves, others, and property. With the main goal of assessing effectiveness of the program properties, we evaluated the three outcomes and assessed differences according to age, gender, and ethnicity. This study highlights the role civic education programs may play in schools in general. It suggests that through these programs students, regardless of their age, gender, and ethnicity, learn values about helping self, others, and property to aid their country. More evaluation of the evidence based properties of civic education programs is necessary

Serotonin transporter polymorphisms and clinical response to sertraline across ethnicities

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the relationship between clinical response, adverse effects, sertraline (SERT) plasma concentrations and the genetic polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR) in 2 ethnic patient groups. The study involved 45 patients in a clinical trial who received a fixed dose regimen of 50 mg SERT for one week, then a variable-dose regimen for a further 6 weeks for major depressive disorder. At weeks 1 and 6, the following assessments were completed: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI), drug adverse reaction scale and measurement of plasma SERT levels. Genomic analysis for the long and short allele variants of the 5HTTLPR polymorphism was also carried out. Caucasian subjects had a higher rate of l/l genotype while Chinese subjects had higher frequencies of l/s and s/s genotypes. Comparison of the subjects with the 5HTTLPR s/s genotype and those with the l/l and l/s genotypes found no significant differences in the HDRS scores, CGI scores, response rates, adverse effects and SERT plasma concentrations at week 6