Hydrogels of the so-called smart polymers or environment-sensitive polymers are important modern biomaterials. Herein, we describe a hands-on activity to explore the pH-responsive characteristics of hydrogels using a commercially available ionic soft contact lens that is a hydrogel of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-"co"-methacrylic…

This paper describes a laboratory exercise that provides students enrolled in introductory nanotechnology courses with an opportunity to synthesize polymer structures with micro- and nanoscale dimensions. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) films deposited on corrugated PDMS stamps using student-built spin coaters were transferred to clean, dry substrates…

Purpose: The adenoids, or pharyngeal tonsils, consist of a pad of lymphoid tissue, located on the posterior pharyngeal wall of the nasopharynx. During childhood, the adenoid pad serves as a contact site for the soft palate to assist with velopharyngeal closure during oral speech. During adenoidal involution, most children are able to maintain…

Faculty encourage students to participate in internships to gain major-specific knowledge and make contacts in their field. Internships are becoming more popular with students over the past 5 years, with an uptick in the number of students who participate in this kind of experiential learning. While students do learn technical training in an…

Contribution: This work identifies some attributes of a prescriptive high contact-hour engineering curriculum that could be limiting the development of core skills among engineering students. The findings are put together to develop a guideline for curriculum review that optimizes characteristic student academic hours for in- and out-of-class…

Long before babies understand words, they understand touch. The first experience of compassion infants receive is gentle, caring touch, which gives a strong message, especially when accompanied by eye contact and a soft tone of voice. The kind of relationship a compassionate caregiver strives to develop with an infant creates attachment, an…

Universities are coming under increasing pressure to re-invent the way that engineering is taught in order to produce graduates that are capable of meeting the skills needs of the country's industries. This paper described an active project where Design Thinking (DT) methodology is being applied in a novel way to Engineering Curriculum…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace and how they are related to workplace learning and development opportunities. Two research questions guided the inquiry: (1) What are the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace? and (2) How does staff cohesiveness…

In the present article, the educational needs of Iranian rural librarians are investigated. The rural libraries are the only cultural centers of rural communities, and the librarians of these libraries have limited contact with other librarians as well as professional communities. On the other hand, the rural library is one of the few institutions…

It is possible for a relatively small force, applied to one end of a rope, to support a much larger force if the rope is merely wrapped a few times around a post. This setup, called a "capstan", has been discussed in a number of papers in this journal and elsewhere. If we wrap a cord around a rough curved surface, T[subscript 1] and T[subscript 2]…

Distance learning institutions allow access to many students who do not enjoy the luxury of studying fulltime at contact-based universities by providing flexibility in terms of time, space and finances. Globally, accountants are vital for the economy and it is important that higher education institutions empower them with the necessary skills to…

The South Asia is at the focus of Post 2015 developmental agenda primarily because of the largest concentration of poor population. Though the region is growing at the rate of 6% during past 20 years the inequalities are on rise. It is a major impediment in the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The glaring socioeconomically…

Our study uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to interrogate the affinity disciplines hypothesis through students' perceptions of faculty use of six of Chickering and Gamson's ("AAHE Bull" 39(7):3-7, 1987) principles of good practice for undergraduate education. We created a proportional scale based on…

The design and fabrication of functional scientific instrumentation allows students to forge a link between commonly reported numbers and physical material properties. Here, a two-point and four-point probe station for measuring electrical properties of solid materials is fabricated via 3D printing utilizing an inexpensive benchtop…

Double-exposure holographic interferometry is applied to measure the "linear" or "longitudinal" magnetostriction constant of a soft-ferrite rod. This high-accuracy measurement is done indirectly, by measuring the small rotations of a lever in contact with the rod using double-exposure holographic interferometry implemented with a robust…