Thursday, July 9, 2009

Free Textbooks from Bookboon

Bookboon.com is an online publisher of free books. It facilitate download of the books for free and without providing any personal details. The books are provided in PDF that are easy to print or read. It offers free textbooks in different subjects e.g. ACCOUNTING; BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING; BIOLOGY; CALCULUS; CAREER; CHEMISTRY; CIVIL ENGINEERING; COMPLEX FUNCTION THEORY; ECONOMICS; ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING; ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING;FINANCE; HRM; IT; MANAGEMENT; MARKETING; MATHEMATICS; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; NANOTECHNOLOGY; ORGANIZATION;  STATISTICS; STRATEGY

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

800th Anniversary Scholarships at Cambridge University for applicants from Pakistan

The Cambridge University has introduced a new scholarship scheme for applicants for undergraduate admission from Pakistan for 2010 entry onwards. The 800th Anniversary Scholarships have been created with funding from Cambridge Assessment, parent of Cambridge International Examinations who provide school exams throughout Pakistan.

The scholarships to be held at the University of Cambridge are for school-leavers from Pakistan who meet the usual examination qualifications for admission to Cambridge. Applicants for all courses except Medicine and Veterinary Medicine are eligible to apply.

The scholarships are not available if you already have a degree and are therefore applying to Cambridge as an Affiliated applicant.The scholarships will cover the cost of your tuition fees and College fees together with a grant towards maintenance and travel costs for each year of your course. The maintenance element of the scholarship will take account of your financial circumstances.

The scholarships are competitive and are conditional on a College offer of a place tostudy at Cambridge, including meeting any immigration and English language requirements. Continuation of the scholarship from year to year will be conditional on satisfactory examination performance.

If you meet the conditions above and wish to be considered for an 800th Anniversary Scholarship should complete a scholarship application form (which will be made available on the Undergraduate Admissions website in due course) and apply for a place at Cambridge in the usual way, submitting a UCAS application and a Cambridge Overseas Application Form (COAF) together with your scholarship application form by 20 September 2009. Applicants for the scholarships will be interviewed in Pakistan in October/November 2009.

Contact:
University of Cambridge

Cambridge Admissions Office
Fitzwilliam House
32 Trumpington Street
Cambridge CB2 1QY [Map]
Information provided by admissions@cam.ac.uk
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international/

Herbal tea gives hope to diabetics


[ABUJA] A tea made from the leaves of an indigenous African tree and bitter oranges is showing promise as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The tea, prepared by boiling leaves from theRauvolfia vomitoria tree — known as 'asofeyeje' in the West African Yoruba language — with fruit from the bitter orange tree, appears to regulate blood sugar levels, according to principal investigator Joan Iyabo Campbell-Tofte, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Type 2 — or adult-onset — diabetes is a life-threatening condition characterised by high levels of sugar in the blood. Often associated with obesity, the disease occurs when the body doesn't make enough — or doesn't properly use — the hormone insulin. Insulin moves sugar into cells, where it is needed for energy.

For the Danish study, 23 patients with type 2 diabetes drank 750 millilitres of asofeyeje tea every day while a control group drank a placebo. After four months, there was a reduction in blood sugar levels among asofeyeje tea drinkers. The results of the study have yet to be published.

Campbell-Tofte, who studied and later lectured at the University of Nigeria, says the tea seems to work differently from conventional diabetes treatments. Existing drugs aim to rapidly clear excess sugar from the bloodstream, while the tea appears to reduce blood sugar over time.

The researchers speculate that the tea works by improving the ability of polyunsaturated fatty acids in muscle fibres to transport sugar into cells.

Campbell-Tofte told SciDev.Net that she learnt about the tea from family and friends, who harvested 50 kilograms of leaves from the asofeyeje tree and 300 kilograms of bitter oranges for the research in the Nigerian state of Edo, where she grew up.

But though Campbell-Tofte is optimistic about the tea's therapeutic potential, she warns that any new treatment for diabetes would come "years from now".

The asofeyeje tree is native to Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. Traditional healers also use it as a purgative and a treatment for psychiatric conditions, leprosy and arthritis.

Sorce: SciDev Net

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Interview Guide

The interviewer hopes that YOU are the right person for the job. They are under pressure to fill the position so that they can get back to their own work. Therefore you are in a greater position of strength than you think. Concentrate on what you have to offer in the way of qualifications and experience instead of feeling intimidated.

An interviewer has 3 aims:
1) To learn if you are the right person for the job.
2) To assess your potential for promotion
3) To decide whether you will fit into the company environment.

The key to a successful job interview is in preparation 
Be prepared: For the types of interview questions you will be asked
Be prepared: To ask questions yourself
Be prepared: To research the company 
Be prepared: To look the part 
Be prepared: To turn up on time

Job interview questions you may be asked 
Q - How would you describe yourself? 
A - You should describe attributes that will enhance your suitability for the position. Have some ready in advance. 
Q - What are your long-term goals?
A - These should be career orientated. Make sure you have goals to discuss. 
Q - Why did you leave your last job? 
A - This could be for more responsibility; a better opportunity; increased income. Do not be detrimental to your previous employer. He could be the interviewer’s golfing partner. 
Q - Why do you want this job? 
A - Your answer should be: more responsibility or better opportunity or similar. Not: because it is closer to home or the gym. 
Q - What are your strengths? 
A - You should highlight accomplishments and experiences that relate to the position for which you are applying. Also, give examples of situations where your strengths have been demonstrated. 
Q - What are your weaknesses? 
A - This should not be a list of deficiencies. Don’t mention anything that could make the interviewer question your ability to do the job, for example “I am always late for everything.” Instead, discuss a weakness that could also be a strength such as “I am a workaholic!” 

Last but not the least!

You should show interest in all aspects of the job and the company especially if shown around the premises.
Do your homework on the company and the nature of its business.
Take care in how you dress for the interview. First impressions still count!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009