Social media in collaborative learning in higher education : a qualitative case study of teachers’ and students’ views

In this study, it was investigated how social media are used in collaborative learning in higher education and also how it can be better used in teaching and learning according to the students and teachers. The research questions of this study were: 1) How social media are used in collaborative learning by the teachers and students in higher education for educational purposes? 2) How could social media be used in collaborative learning process in higher education, according to the students and teachers? Qualitative interviews were conducted to collect the data from ten students and five teachers from the different faculties of University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences. In conclusion it was found that, social media were not much used in collaboration with teachers by the students of both institutions. In case of teachers, it was found that all of them were using social media in their collaborative ways of teaching design and they have found social media as useful tool to deliver their teaching. Most of the students and all the teachers found social media to be useful in their teaching and learning. But there were also some challenges faced and areas of improvements identified by them. Thus the higher educational institutions should understand the importance of using social media in teaching and learning and take initiatives to overcome the current challenges identified by the students and teachers

Effect of Hydrogen Peroxide Concentration on 100% Cotton Knit Fabric Bleaching

This paper focuses on the effect of different concentration of hydrogen peroxide (an oxidizing bleaching agent) on 100% single jersey cotton knit fabric. Five different concentrations (25%, 30%, 35%, 40% and 45%) of hydrogen peroxide solution (5% stock solution) were adopted for this experiment. For each individual concentration, bleaching was performed in three different quantities (6gm/L, 8gm/L and 10gm/L) at the same temperature (100˚C) and same time (60 minute) cycle. 5gm samples were taken where 1:10 material and liquor ratio was maintained in each operation. Spectrophotometer (data color 650) was used to test the reflectance of all bleached samples, and their bursting strengths were measured by an Auto burst instrument following ISO 13938-1 method. The effects of hydrogen peroxide concentration on various physical properties such as weight loss, absorbency, GSM, bursting strength, and whiteness was studied to minimize the cost of bleaching process by optimizing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. As majority of industries have concerned to alineate the production cost with maximum quality assurance which has been obtained through bleaching at 30% concentration

Biological activity of Mesua ferrea (Nageswar) seed extracts: An in vitro and in silico study

Overuse of antimicrobial drugs has led to selective resistance to existing antibiotics, necessitating the development of different and improved alternatives. Natural substances, particularly those derived from plants, are well-known for their therapeutic characteristics, including antibacterial and antifungal properties. Over the last decade, several pharmacological investigations on medicinal plants have been carried out based on their traditional uses in complementary therapies. In our current study, we have evaluated the pharmacological properties of Mesua ferrea seed ethanolic extract. To test their antioxidant properties, a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity test was performed. Using the agar well diffusion method, the antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extracts of M. ferra seed was investigated against four bacteria such as Salmonella typhi, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The ethanol extract of M. ferra seed was shown to be efficient against gram positive and gram-negative bacteria in this investigation, although Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli. Demonstrated resistance to this extract. The results revealed that gram positive bacteria were more sensitive than gram negative bacteria to the ethanolic extract of M. ferra seed at all concentrations utilized (from 20 μL to 100 μL). The lowest inhibition zone was produced by a dose of 20 μL with an inhibition zone equal to 11 mm and 14.33 mm, while the maximum inhibition zone was produced by a high concentration of 100 μL with an inhibition zone 19.33 mm and 18 mm against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) was performed to identify the compounds in the extract to determine their pharmacological effects and then we performed in-silico experiments to determine the biological activity of the compounds. We have concluded from the study that M. ferrea seed can be a potential source for lead compound development