Science, religion, and constructivism: constructing and understanding reality     

Bhaskar Upadhyay 《Cultural Studies of Science Education》2010,5(1):41-46

There have been debates about the place of religion in science and in what ways knowledge that is produced through religion can aid in the learning and teaching of science. The discord between science and religion is mainly focused on whose knowledge is better in describing and explaining the reality. Constructivist epistemology seems to give some scholars hope in the possibility that the discord between science and religion can be ameliorated and that their expressions of reality can co-exist. In this forum contribution I present some Hindu perspectives to re-interpret how science and Hinduism explain reality. I have used only few Hindu perspectives based on selected Hindu writings, particularly Vedanta, to expand on objectivity and reality. Finally, I recommend that social constructivism may be a better framework in keeping science and religion discord at bay.  相似文献   

Association of Estrogen Receptor-α Gene &; Metallothionein-1 Gene Polymorphisms in Type 2 Diabetic Women of Andhra Pradesh     

Shilpa Reddy Ganasyam  Talluri Bhaskar Rao  Y. S. R. Murthy  Akka Jyothy  Madireddy Sujatha 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2012,27(1):69-73

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a multifactorial disease where both genetic and environmental factors contribute to its pathogenesis. Estrogen plays an important role in type 2 DM pathogenesis. A number of polymorphisms have been reported in the estrogen receptor (ESR1), including the XbaI and PvuII restriction enzyme polymorphisms of ESR1,which may be involved in disease pathogenesis. Metallothioneins (MT) act as potent antioxidants against various oxidative damages. Very few studies have indicated the association between Estrogen Receptor-α, MT1 gene polymorphisms with type2 DM. A total of 100 type 2 diabetic women and 100 age, sex matched controls were recruited. Using the PCR based RFLP method, the PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms of ESR1 and in MT1A (rs8052394 and rs11076161) gene polymorphisms were analysed. The genotype distribution and frequency of mutated allele showed no significant differences between diabetic and non-diabetic groups in PvuII (χ2 = 2.443; P = 0.1181) or XbaI (χ2 = 1.789; P = 0.1812) and rs8052394 (χ2 = 1.154; P = 0.2840) or rs11076161 (χ2 = 0.4141; P = 0.5199), polymorphisms. This is the first Indian study to conclude that ESR1 and MT1 gene polymorphisms are not associated with increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in Indian women.  相似文献   

Green and gold open access in India     

Bhaskar MUKHERJEE 《Learned Publishing》2014,27(1):21-32

This paper examines the characteristics of 462 open access (OA) journals being published in India under the green, gold and hybrid models. The sample of journals was selected from DOAJ, IndianJournal.com and Open J‐Gate. Journal characteristics were measured in terms of growth, subjects, publishers, and citations under each model. While characteristics such as growth, subject, and publisher have been identified by exploring the journal's website only, the citation count of these journals has been calculated by using Google Scholar and the Indian Citation Index. The gold road is now the most popular form of OA publishing in the subcontinent. There is a great variation in the size of OA journals and in their publishers. One publisher has more than 77 journals, but 264 publishers publish a single journal only. Overall, the OA journal landscape is greatly influenced by a few key publishers and journals. While 43% of journals charge publication fees and the fees vary from as low as US$10 to as high as US$400, the highest impact factor of the gold OA journals has been noted as 0.58. The data presented here suggest that publication fees are not a major barrier to authorship within the fields of computer science, pharmacy, and medicine.  相似文献   

Librarians’ perceptions of knowledge management in developing countries: A case with Indian academic libraries     

Mohammad Nazim  Bhaskar Mukherjee 《International Information and Library Review》2013,45(1-2):63-76

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine librarians' perceptions of knowledge management, including its concept, potential applications, benefits and major challenges of its applications in Indian academic libraries. A structured questionnaire, containing both open and close-ended questions, was sent by postal mail to 30 librarians of academic libraries in India of which 15 questionnaires were returned. Respondents were asked to define knowledge management and answer questions on its potential applications, benefits and major challenges of implementation in academic libraries. Respondents were also allowed to specify their own views on the subject. The findings of the study show that the levels of understanding of KM concepts among librarians are varied and most of them view KM as the management of information resources, services and systems using technology or specific processes for the capture and use of explicit knowledge, rather sharing and using tacit knowledge. They have positive attitudes towards the applications of knowledge management into academic library practice, and not only because this can bring academic libraries closer to their parent organization, but also because it may help them to survive in an increasingly challenging environment. Although, librarians in the present study acknowledged that they are involved in the practices of knowledge management but these were perceived as basic information management activities. Lack of understanding of knowledge management concepts and its benefits, knowledge sharing culture, top management commitment, incentives and rewards, financial resources and information technology infrastructure are perceived as the major barriers for incorporating knowledge management into academic library practice.  相似文献   

Teaching Science for Empowerment In an Urban Classroom: A Case Study of a Hmong Teacher     

Bhaskar Upadhyay 《Equity & Excellence in Education》2013,46(2):217-232

This is a case study of Lee, a Hmong teacher, who reflects on her own schooling experiences in order to develop a culturally sensitive pedagogy based on empowerment and funds of knowledge. The findings indicate that Lee teaches science effectively using culturally sensitive pedagogy—utilizing Hmong students' and parents' funds of knowledge in science teaching and learning. The findings further indicate that Lee negotiates challenges and tensions associated with her science instructions by partnering with parents and some teachers.  相似文献   

Call for submission: review essays in cultural studies of science education     

Bhaskar Upadhyay 《Cultural Studies of Science Education》2009,4(2):485-486

  相似文献   

Taking an active stance: How urban elementary students connect sociocultural experiences in learning science     

Bhaskar Upadhyay  Geoffrey Maruyama  Nancy Albrecht 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(18):2528-2547

ABSTRACT

In this interpretive case study, we draw from sociocultural theory of learning and culturally relevant pedagogy to understand how urban students from nondominant groups leverage their sociocultural experiences. These experiences allow them to gain an empowering voice in influencing science content and activities and to work towards self-determining the sciences that are personally meaningful. Furthermore, tying sociocultural experiences with science learning helps generate sociopolitical awareness among students. We collected interview and observation data in an urban elementary classroom over one academic year to understand the value of urban students’ sociocultural experiences in learning science and choosing science activities.  相似文献   

Making e-government work: Adopting the network approach     

Joydeep Guha  Bhaskar Chakrabarti 《Government Information Quarterly》2014

Much of what was promised has not been delivered by e-government. This necessitates a better understanding of the critical factors necessary for making e-government work. While a number of factors are known to cause e-government failure, this knowledge has not translated into greater success in e-government implementation. This suggests that other, more deep-rooted issues may have remained unaddressed. The nature of modern governance implies that e-government should be looked upon as a network. Application of network concepts like the politics of partner selection, achievement of network goals, institutionalisation processes, network structuring and incentive design can make e-government projects more realistic. We analyse three projects in India based on these issues and argue how a network approach could lead to success of such initiatives. In addition, we show that adoption of a process focus can help in identifying the appropriate partners and facilitate other network processes.  相似文献   

Theory stranded at the borders,or, Cultural Studies from the southern fringes     

Bhaskar Sarkar 《传播与批判/文化研究》2013,10(3):219-240

ABSTRACT

Isolating certain critical blind spots that one encounters in studying lifeworlds of the global South, this essay calls for: (1) a grasp of the irreducible singularity of each historical formation as an essential aspect of southern Cultural Studies, so that its lessons are not readily erased, dismissed as signs of failure, or bracketed as idiosyncratic exceptions to universalized standards; and (2) the recognition of volatile and illicit forms of popular agency—emerging in friction with the security-obsessed governmentality of the borderlands, the exclusionary institutions of civil society, and the normativities of citizenship—as legitimate heralds of a global political futurity.  相似文献   

PN codes versus chaotic codes: Performance comparison in a Gaussian approximated wideband CDMA system over Weibull fading channels     

Sangeetha Manoharan  Vidhyacharan Bhaskar 《Journal of The Franklin Institute》2014

The performance of a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) system using Pseudo Noise (PN) codes and chaotic codes in the presence of a Weibull fading channel is studied in this paper. The W-CDMA system modeled using Gaussian Approximation is analyzed on a Weibull fading channel which fades the amplitude of the transmitted signal randomly according to the Weibull distribution. Closed-form expressions for Bit Error Rate (BER) are derived and expressed in terms of Meijer?s-G function. Performance measures in terms of BER are plotted versus Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for various values of fading severity, average fading power, and channel memory using PN and chaotic codes. Performance comparison between PN codes and chaotic codes are also analyzed.  相似文献