Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Objectives: The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Chapter <797> sets practice standards for personnel training, microbial contamination risk levels, and aseptic manipulation skills to help ensure that sterile preparations are of the highest quality. The purpose of this study was for pharmacy students enrolled in the College�s Hospital Pharmacy elective to recognize and assess compliance of required sterile preparation by pharmacies. Methods: A three page survey document was created by the authors to measure the impact of Chapter <797> standards on pharmacies. The survey was field tested by three hospital pharmacy managers. Assessors were instructed on the goals of Chapter <797> and the application of the survey. Results: Thirty three (33) pharmacies were visited and assessed in Louisiana (31), Mississippi (1), and Arkansas (1). The survey�s results included, but were not limited to the following: (a) all pharmacies were aware of USP Chapter <797>, (b) 85% of the pharmacies needed renovations to meet standards, (c) 76% estimated the total cost of renovations to be greater than $10,000, (d) 94% test their staff on theory of sterile preparations, and (e) 79% test on practical evaluation of aseptic technique using growth media. Conclusion: Student participation as assessors of USP Chapter <797> compliance provided on site knowledge and participation in the ever advancing professional standards required of pharmacists and pharmacies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The characterization of China’s rise in terms of economic and military strength has overshadowed another important trend on the international landscape; that of its growing “soft power”. This paper seeks to rectify this shortcoming by examining China’s recent acquisition of soft power resources and its ability to employ them. Drawing upon the concept of soft power as enunciated by political scientist Joseph Nye, we examine Beijing’s recent reinstitution of Confucianism domestically and abroad, providing a case study of China’s International Confucius Institute project. This work will show that China’s Confucian policies serve as a component of its recent mobilization towards the gain of soft power; Beijing’s major exercise of cultural diplomacy. We investigate the motivation behind China’s soft power accumulation, and evaluate China’s ability to effectively weld soft power. While the use of Confucianism may provide valuable soft power assets, there are also principles in Confucianism that contradict with or otherwise impede the position and actions of the Party. The CCP must find some way to resolve these problems, either by altering its own position or by attempting to selectively use certain strands of Confucian thought.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Fungi are an essential component of the ecosystem. With a rapid progress in technology our reliance on fungi is increasing day by day. We have become dependent on fungi for their ability to recycle a variety of wastes and to render services in biotechnology. However this group of miraculous organisms is suffering from the consequences of climate change. Many of the fungi have become locally extinct due to a rapid shift in the ecological niche of these microbes. To conserve the fungal biodiversity of Pakistan an initiative has been taken in terms of launching a project under the title of �First Fungal Culture Bank of Pakistan� at the Department of Mycology and Plant pathology,
University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. The bank has an honour to have over 700 local fungal accessions. The bank is also serving as a diagnostic plant pathology Lab. It is providing fungal cultures on request to teaching and research organizations of the country. Further more it has been holding training workshops for college teachers and young scientist for the identification of micromycetous fungi. The present paper presents an overview of activities of the very fist fungal culture collection and preservation centre in Pakistan.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Parties neither cease to exist nor cease to compete for office when the general election is over. Instead, a new round of competition begins, with legislators as voters and party leaders as candidates. The offices at stake are what we shall call mega-seats. We characterize the rules used in 57 democratic assemblies to elect three different types of mega-seat: cabinet portfolios, seats on directing boards, and permanent committee chairs. We then calculate, for each polity, how proportionally seats are translated into mega-seats. We find four main patterns, each related to a country�s length of experience with democratic governance and, hence, to the amount of time that office-seeking political parties in that country have had to adapt to, or change, the rules.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines the factors that contributed to the death of one of the country�s oldest prison newspapers, the seventy-six-year-old OPNews, which was produced by Ohio Penitentiary inmates. Although inmates struggled to keep the award-winning newspaper alive, it fell victim to repeated outbreaks of violence within the prison walls and an ongoing ideological battle between those advocating a rehabilitative form of corrections and those supporting a disciplinarian system.