The Professional Doctorate of Pharmacy in a developing country: the Sudan Initiative

This paper discusses the development of a professional doctorate of Pharmacy at Pharmacy Specialization board (PSB) part of Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB), Khartoum, Sudan. The initiative for this new doctorate was led by Professor Abdalla Elbadri chairman of the PSB. The curriculum of the undergraduate programme was drug oriented and this necessitated the establishment of professional postgraduate training, which was in the responsibility of the PSB. The first degree approved was the fellowship in pharmacy. This innovation from fellowship in pharmacy to professional doctorate came about because the fellowship was not able to meet the present demand for pharmacists throughout the pharmacy practice in the country, as when graduated, many choose to migrate to western countries. The new professional doctorate in pharmacy introduced the concept of professionalism as a corner stone throughout the study period. Currently there are four available specialties in the Professional Doctorate including; Clinical Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, Quality Assurance of pharmaceuticals and Management of Pharmaceutical Services. The programme is flexible so that candidates with a master degree, fellowship or even a Bachelor’s degree can be admitted, with differences in study period, for example, those with a Bachelor’s degree may gain the full professional doctorate within four years. Assessments include theoretical knowledge, practical skills and research. The professional doctorate development team at Khartoum University feel that regional and international collaboration is needed in order to overcome obstacles characteristic to developing countries, for example in terms of academic recognition or a professional doctorate (where the PhD is the single most popular doctoral degree)

Exploring the functional domain and the target of the tetanus toxin light chain in neurohypophysial terminals

The tetanus toxin light chain blocks calcium induced vasopressin release from neurohypophysial nerve terminals. Here we show that histidine residue 233 within the putative zinc binding motif of the tetanus toxin light chain is essential for the inhibition of exocytosis, in the rat. The zinc chelating agent dipicolinic acid as well as captopril, an inhibitor of zinc-dependent peptidases, counteract the effect of the neurotoxin. Synthetic peptides, the sequences of which correspond to motifs present in the cytoplasmic domain of the synaptic vesicle membrane protein synaptobrevin 1 and 2, prevent the effect of the tetanus toxin light chain. Our results indicate that zinc bound to the zinc binding motif constitutes the active site of the tetanus toxin light chain. Moreover they suggest that cleavage of synaptobrevin by the neurotoxin causes the inhibition of exocytotic release of vasopressin from secretory granules

Next Generation Cosmology: Constraints from the Euclid Galaxy Cluster Survey

We study the characteristics of the galaxy cluster samples expected from the European Space Agency's Euclid satellite and forecast constraints on cosmological parameters describing a variety of cosmological models. The method used in this paper, based on the Fisher Matrix approach, is the same one used to provide the constraints presented in the Euclid Red Book (Laureijs et al.2011). We describe the analytical approach to compute the selection function of the photometric and spectroscopic cluster surveys. Based on the photometric selection function, we forecast the constraints on a number of cosmological parameter sets corresponding to different extensions of the standard LambdaCDM model. The dynamical evolution of dark energy will be constrained to Delta w_0=0.03 and Delta w_a=0.2 with free curvature Omega_k, resulting in a (w_0,w_a) Figure of Merit (FoM) of 291. Including the Planck CMB covariance matrix improves the constraints to Delta w_0=0.02, Delta w_a=0.07 and a FoM=802. The amplitude of primordial non-Gaussianity, parametrised by f_NL, will be constrained to \Delta f_NL ~ 6.6 for the local shape scenario, from Euclid clusters alone. Using only Euclid clusters, the growth factor parameter \gamma, which signals deviations from GR, will be constrained to Delta \gamma=0.02, and the neutrino density parameter to Delta Omega_\nu=0.0013 (or Delta \sum m_\nu=0.01). We emphasise that knowledge of the observable--mass scaling relation will be crucial to constrain cosmological parameters from a cluster catalogue. The Euclid mission will have a clear advantage in this respect, thanks to its imaging and spectroscopic capabilities that will enable internal mass calibration from weak lensing and the dynamics of cluster galaxies. This information will be further complemented by wide-area multi-wavelength external cluster surveys that will already be available when Euclid flies. [Abridged]Comment: submitted to MNRA

Discrimination, labour markets and the Labour Market Prospects of Older Workers: What Can a Legal Case Teach us?

As governments become increasingly concerned about the fiscal implications of the ageing population, labour market policies have sought to encourage mature workers to remain in the labour force. The ‘human capital’ discourses motivating these policies rest on the assumption that older workers armed with motivation and vocational skills will be able to return to fulfilling work. This paper uses the post-redundancy recruitment experiences of former Ansett Airlines flight attendants to develop a critique of these expectations. It suggests that policies to increase older workers’ labour market participation will not succeed while persistent socially constructed age- and gender- typing shape labour demand. The conclusion argues for policies sensitive to the institutional structures that shape employer preferences, the competitive rationality of discriminatory practices, and the irresolvable tension between workers’ human rights and employers’ property rights

Opportunities for future supernova studies of cosmic acceleration

We investigate the potential of a future supernova dataset, as might be obtained by the proposed SNAP satellite, to discriminate among different ``dark energy'' theories that describe an accelerating Universe. We find that many such models can be distinguished with a fit to the effective pressure-to-density ratio, $w$, of this energy. More models can be distinguished when the effective slope, $dw/dz$, of a changing $w$ is also fit, but only if our knowledge of the current mass density, $\Omega_m$, is improved. We investigate the use of ``fitting functions'' to interpret luminosity distance data from supernova searches, and argue in favor of a particular preferred method, which we use in our analysis.Comment: Four pages including figures. Final published version. No significant changes from v

Crystal growth, structural studies and superconducting properties of beta-pyrochlore KOs2O6

Single crystals of KOs2O6 have been grown in a sealed quartz ampoule. Detailed single crystal X-ray diffraction studies at room temperature show Bragg peaks that violate Fd-3m symmetry. With a comparative structure refinement the structure is identified as non-centrosymmetric (F-43m). Compared to the ideal beta-pyrochlore lattice (Fd-3m), both Os tetrahedral and O octahedral network exhibit breathing mode like volume changes accompanied by strong anisotropic character of the K channels. The crystals show metallic conductivity and a sharp transition to the superconducting state at Tc = 9.65 K. Superconducting properties have been investigated by magnetization measurements performed in a temperature range from 2 to 12 K and in magnetic fields from 0 to 60 kOe. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field Hc2(T) has been determined and the initial slope (dHc2/dT)Tc = -33.3 kOe/K has been obtained near Tc. The upper critical field at zero temperature was estimated to be Hc2(0) \cong 230 kOe, which is a value close to the Pauli paramagnetic limiting field Hp(0)\cong 250 kOe. Then, the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) coherence length xi GL(0) \approx 3.8 nm was calculated, and the Maki parameter alpha \approx \sqrt 2 was obtained, suggesting the possibility that KOs2O6 might behave unconventionally at low temperatures and high magnetic fields

Regulating Clothing Outwork: A Sceptic's View

By applying the strategies of international anti-sweatshop campaigns to the Australian context, recent regulations governing home-based clothing production hold retailers responsible for policing the wages and employment conditions of clothing outworkers who manufacture clothing on their behalf. This paper argues that the new approach oversimplifies the regulatory challenge by assuming (1) that Australian clothing production is organised in a hierarchical ‘buyer-led’ linear structure in which core retail firms have the capacity to control their suppliers’ behaviour; (2) that firms act as unitary moral agents; and (3) that interventions imported from other times and places are applicable to the contemporary Australian context. After considering some alternative regulatory approaches, the paper concludes that the new regulatory strategy effectively privatises responsibility for labour market conditions – a development that cries out for further debate

Are Labour Markets Necessarily Local? Spatiality, Segmentation and Scale

This paper draws on recent debates about scale to approach the geography of labour markets from a dynamic perspective sensitive to the spatiality and scale of labour market restructuring. Its exploration of labour market reconfigurations after the collapse of a major firm (Ansett Airlines) raises questions about geography’s faith in the inherently ‘local’ constitution of labour markets. Through an examination of the job reallocation process after redundancy, the paper suggests that multiple labour markets use and articulate scale in different ways. It argues that labour market rescaling processes are enacted at the critical moment of recruitment, where social networks, personal aspirations and employer preferences combine to shape workers’ destinations