Enrichment of live unlabelled cardiomyocytes from heterogeneous cell populations using manipulation of cell settling velocity by magnetic field

The majority of available cardiomyocyte markers are intercellular proteins, limiting our ability to enrich live cardiomyocytes from heterogeneous cell preparations in the absence of genetic labeling. Here, we describe enrichment of live cardiomyocytes from the hearts of adult mice in a label-free microfluidic approach. The separation device consisted of a vertical column (15 mm long, 700 μm diameter), placed between permanent magnets resulting in a field strength of 1.23 T. To concentrate the field at the column wall, the column was wrapped with 69 μm diameter nickel wire. Before passing the cells through the column, the cardiomyocytes in the cell suspension had been rendered paramagnetic by treatment of the adult mouse heart cell preparation with sodium nitrite (2.5 mM) for 20 min on ice. The cell suspension was loaded into the vertical column from the top and upon settling, the non-myocytes were removed by the upward flow from the column. The cardiomyocytes were then collected from the column by applying a higher flow rate (144 μl/min). We found that by applying a separation flow rate of 4.2 μl/min in the first step, we can enrich live adult cardiomyocytes to 93% ± 2% in a label-free manner. The cardiomyocytes maintained viability immediately after separation and upon 24 h in culture.     

STEM colonization: Applying hard sciences' socio-organisational patterns and evaluation procedures to the soft sciences in Croatia

Academic systems are undergoing changes in which the social organisation of research as well as patterns of scientific productivity in the humanities and social sciences progressively resemble those in hard sciences. The hard and soft sciences are increasingly converging. This development can be observed in (a) publishing patterns, (b) the division of research, and (c) the internationalisation of research. This study explored the extent to which these changes occurring in academic systems in terms of a transformation of disciplinary practices are also becoming a trend in transitional post-socialist countries. We used Croatia as a case of a post socialist transitional context and compared it to Slovenia, a country with a similar past but somewhat different science policies and strategies. The results point to increasing convergence in some soft disciplines, visible in projectification and internationalisation of academic work as well as a significant change in the publishing patterns.     

Education policymaking in Serbia through the eyes of teachers,counselors, and principals

Numerous educational reforms have been initiated in Serbia since 2000. The aim of this study was to examine education policymaking in Serbia in order to provide policymakers and stakeholders with recommendations on how to minimize pitfalls and increase success of future educational endeavors. In the study, we utilized the education policy cycle heuristic to analyze formation, implementation, and evaluation of three major education policies in Serbia: in-service training of teachers (INSET), school development planning (SDP), and inclusive education (IE). Examining three reforms simultaneously enabled us to identify major characteristics of Serbian policymaking, regardless of the reform content. We also relied on educational change literature, so that we could assess complex contexts of reforms. Finally, considering the importance of school staff during implementation, we examined education policymaking in Serbia through the eyes of over 1,800 teachers, counselors, and principals. The results point out to dissatisfaction of school staff with all aspects of the policymaking in Serbia and with the social and education context. Reforms appear to be undertaken in a similar pattern across different reforms. The findings imply that a thorough examination of both the policymaking in Serbia and communication, organization, and administration within the education system itself is in order.     

The methodological illumination of a blind spot: information and communication technology and international research team dynamics in a higher education research program

This self-ethnography complements the other articles in this special issue by spotlighting a set of key challenges facing international research teams. The study is focused on the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT)-based collaboration and research team dynamics. Our diverse team, drawn from researchers in five countries and three projects, argues that an ironic casualty of the powerful, global phenomena we study, is a lack of insight into what happens to generic research team dynamics, when groups are ‘stretched’ in terms of geographical distance, generations, cultural beliefs, values and norms, as well as disciplinary/specialist traditions. Good intentions are not sufficient to cope with these challenges. This is because of the emerging complexity inherent in many types of international, interdisciplinary fields of study and the complexity of the career trajectories needed to make these studies a reality. Our study underlines that there are no beliefs, values, norms and practices linked to research team dynamics, that hold across the current territory, generations, disciplines, cultures, organizations and individuals leading and conducting comparative studies—and even less reflection on the implications of this fact. Compounding this lack of awareness is a less-than-perfect understanding of the way in which ICT-based collaboration bears on research team dynamics. We assert that a holistic, critical, long-term approach to emerging insights into the global division of academic labor, serves our field better than folk psychology or the methodological parochialism that sustains convention at the expense of creativity. Careful consideration of emergent processes, relationships and linkages that explain how short-term cooperation—within projects—begins to make sense—over careers—illuminates key focal points, which, in turn qualitatively illuminates the way forward concerning conceptualization and problematization of our practice; and novel methodological routes available for those interested in attaining better outcomes, over the long term.     

Investigating the impact of organizational climate,motivational drivers,and empowering leadership on knowledge sharing

This paper presents a research model aimed to investigate the impact of organizational climate, motivational drivers, and empowering leadership on behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing. A research model has been developed by integrating several knowledge management studies having in-focus behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing. The hypotheses are tested on data collected from 873 employees from public and private sector organizations from Serbia’s province of Vojvodina, using partial least square structural modeling technique and SmartPLS software. Findings suggest that organizational climate with prominent dimensions of fairness, innovativeness and affiliation, empowering leadership, sense of self-worth, and altruism significantly influence individuals’ knowledge-sharing attitude, intention, and behavior thus confirming the theory of reasoned action. Results obtained in this research expand and deepen findings reported in previous studies and enable a comprehensive framework for understanding the influence of some organizational variables on employees’ tendencies to be engaged in knowledge sharing.     

A Comparative Study of Information Literacy Skill Performance of Students in Agricultural Sciences

The aim was to assess the information literacy (IL) of 310 first- and second-year students enrolled in nine different study programs at the School of Agriculture (Faculty of Agriculture), Novi Sad, Serbia, using an adapted version of a validated IL test (ILT) in an e-environment. Because the school does not provide systematic IL education, another purpose was to raise awareness of the importance of such instruction. ILT results were assessed according to five ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) standards, as well as three cognitive levels adapted from Bloom's taxonomy. The mean ILT score was 46.35%. Students were most successful in information evaluation and information need identification, and least successful in legal/ethical issues and information use. As expected, IL skills increase from the first to second year of study. Cognitive skills also increase, except for the highest level (applying knowledge), where all student groups are weak. Different study programs attract students with disparate knowledge/skill levels gained during secondary education, where some groups of first-year students may outperform second-year students in both IL and cognitive abilities. It is thus important to offer IL education to all students in order to provide a basis for more balanced academic progress.     

Yugoslavia: other modernities,other histories

The Non-Aligned Movement was a transnational political project, a coalition of small and middle-sized states, mostly former colonies and developing countries, from the global south or the Third World. It was formed in 1961 in Yugoslavia at the Belgrade summit. The NAM represented the first major disruption in the Cold World map, a quest for alternative political alliances, for “alternative mundialization.” Culture was accorded particular importance in the NAM, despite the fact that it never took center-stage at summits and conferences. However, NAM’s cultural politics strongly condemned cultural imperialism and epistemic colonialism. Western (European) cultural heritage was to be understood in terms of “juxtaposition”; this heritage would be interwoven with and into the living culture of the colonized, and would not simply be repeated under new (political) circumstances. Consequently art and culture in the NAM were largely about politics and history, or to put it differently, they were a way of staking a claim to history. It seems the movement was somehow aware of the fact that this was the only way it could enter the world’s (cultural) space on an equal footing. There existed a heterogeneous artistic production, a variety of cultural politics and extensive cultural networks which enriched the cultural landscape of the NAM and enabled discussions about the meaning of art outside the Western canon.