Review:Importance of ticks and their chemical and immunological control in livestock

INTRODUCTION Parasitic diseases is a global problem and con-sidered as a major obstacle in the health and productperformance of animals. These may be due toendo-parasites that live inside the body, orecto-parasites such as ticks, mites, flies, fleas, midges,etc., which attack the body surface. Amongecto-parasites, ticks are very important and harmfulblood sucking external parasites of mammals, birdsand reptiles throughout the world (Furman and Loo-mis, 1984). The medical and economic im…     

Case Report:Diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytoma in urinary bladder

Objective: To study the diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytoma in urinary bladder. Methods: Six cases of bladder pheochromocytoma were studied. Four cases showed hypertension, 3 of which were paroxysmal hypertension during urination. Catecholamine (CA) was increased in a case, and vanillymandelic acid (VMA) was increased in 2 cases. Bladder sub- mucosal mass was detected by B-ultrasound in 5 cases (5/5), computerized tomography (CT) in 3 cases (3/3), cystoscopy in 5 cases (5/6). Four cases took α-receptor blocker for 2 weeks, 1 case took β-receptor blocker to decrease heart rate. All patients were treated with surgical operation including 4 partial cystectomies, 2 excavations. Results: Three cases had manifestations including headache, excessive perspiration and hypertension during cystoscopy. Four cases were confirmed before operation. Two cases showed hypertension during operation. All patients were pathologically diagnosed as pheochromocytoma post- operatively. In five cases followed up, blood pressure returned to normal. No patient had relapse and malignancy. Conclusions: Typical hypertension during urination comprised the main symptoms. We should highly suspect bladder pheochromocytoma if a submucosal mass was discovered with B-ultrasound, CT, 131I-MIBG (methyliodobenzylguanidine) and cystoscopy. The deter- mination of CA in urine is valuable for qualitative diagnosis. The preoperative management of controlling blood pressure and expansion of the blood volume are very important. Surgical operation is a good method for effective treatment. Postoperative long-time followed up is necessary.     

Theory of mind in dogs?: examining method and concept

In line with other research, Udell, Dorey, and Wynne’s (in press) finding that dogs and wolves pass on some trials of a putative theory-of-mind test and fail on others is as informative about the methods and concepts of the research as about the subjects. This commentary expands on these points. The intertrial differences in the target article demonstrate how critical the choice of cues is in experimental design; the intersubject-group differences demonstrate how life histories can interact with experimental design. Even the best-designed theory-of-mind tests have intractable logical problems. Finally, these and previous research results call for the introduction of an intermediate stage of ability, a rudimentary theory of mind, to describe subjects’ performance.     

Mentoring and target‐setting in a secondary school in England: an evaluation of aims and benefits

This paper reflects upon the nature of a target‐setting and mentoring scheme in an 11–16 school in England, through a series of retrospective interviews with students who continued into further education. It considers the extent to which the initiative impacted both upon students’ formal academic achievement at 16+ and upon the subsequent longer‐term aspirations of these students. Interviews with students who achieved considerable ‘value‐added’ in their GCSE examinations suggested that the impact of mentoring was strongest amongst those students who came from homes where there was less expectation of them participating in further and higher education, and that this effect was not differentiated according to gender. The paper suggests that longer‐term transformation of students’ aspirations, and the challenging of gendered course and career stereotypes, will only be achieved if schools adopt a more holistic and proactive approach to careers education and to widening participation for their students, and that the absence of such proactivity will limit the longer‐term gains initiated by successful mentoring activities.     

Teachers’ perceptions of and responses to student evaluation of teaching: purposes and uses in clinical education

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) only becomes an effective tool for improving teaching and learning when the relevant stakeholders seriously consider and plan appropriate actions according to student feedback. It is common practice in medical education to provide clinical teachers with student feedback. However, there is limited evidence about how teachers in higher education, and medical education in particular, systematically apply student feedback to improve the quality of their teaching practice. The focus of this case study was to examine clinical teachers’ perceptions of and responses to SET with respect to its purposes and uses for enhancing their teaching. An explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from the clinical coaches. These clinical coaches perceived the main purpose of student evaluation as quality assurance, and were moderately receptive to student feedback. Four key factors enabling or inhibiting their responses were revealed: institutional requirements, operational practices, personal biases and provision of support. Future research should further explore the interrelationships among the above factors as the core mechanism in influencing clinical teachers’ perceptions of and responses to student evaluation.     

Conservation and Exploitation of Manmalian in Guangdong and Hainan

WemadeasurveyofmammalianinGuangdongandHainanfrom1958,Theresults:3monographesand52paperswerepuplished.1Thesurveyofmammalianresources(1)ThesurveyofmammalianresourcesinHainanIsland.ThecontinuoussurveyofmammalianresourcesinHainanIslandwasmadefromMay,1960toDecember,1964.Theinvestigationswerecarriedoutandmorethan30surveysitesweresetupthere.755specimenofmammalianwerecollectedinthefield,whichrepresentedeightorder,24familiesand68species,ofwhichfivewerenewrecordsfromtheisland.ExcepttheDouelangur(Py…     

Relationships and learning: a review and investigation of narrative coherence in looked‐after children in primary school

This review and investigation draws on principles from attachment theory regarding the importance of early relationships and their impact on the coherence and organisation of psychological functions. Comparisons are made between the narrative coherence scores of an experimental group of 17 looked‐after children with problematic relationship histories in mainstream school and a matched control group of 17 of their peers. There were significant differences between the groups in the coherence of children's narratives, denial and avoidance in story play themes and in their use of intentionality. The paper considers the theory and discusses the results in terms of the implications for teaching, learning and intervention.     

Relations of power and knowledge: university–industry relations in business studies in Finland

In the globalized neoliberal economy, business schools and business science has become a dominant societal institution and discourse. However, this has not directly strengthened the position of business schools in the societal networks of power. This paper examines this paradox by depicting who are the actors in the field and how these actors seek to influence what passes as legitimate knowledge in the discipline of business studies. Informed by actor network theory (Latour in Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005) and drawing on the antenarrative analysis (Boje in Narrative methods for organizational and communication research. Sage Publications, London, 2001), the paper considers the understated dynamics of negotiation over the form and content of academic knowledge in a local context (cf. Alferoff and Knights in Br J Manag 20(1):125–142, 2009). The paper depicts the change that has occurred from the early 1990s till today. First, the potentially influential actors will be identified. Second, two maps of networks in different points of time will be traced. In the contemporary network, the gatekeeper role of business schools is undermined by new prominent actors. The paper shows how business schools, instead of gaining a high power position, are now more dependent on a variety of other actors, who increasingly define what passes as relevant and valid knowledge in business studies.     

Hearing-impaired pupils in mainstream education in Finland: teachers’ experiences of inclusion and support

Today, in Finland, the majority of hearing-impaired pupils attend regular schools. This is in line with inclusive policy. This study aims to investigate do these pupils receive support from teachers, what kind of support is given and how is inclusion functioning. A questionnaire was used with 109 Finnish teachers, with both closed- and open-ended questions. All teachers taught hearing-impaired pupils in mainstream education, at primary or at secondary stage. According to the results, the main support categories were pedagogical and technical support. However, 48% of teachers gave no support. Inclusion was successful according to teachers. Various forms of support and key areas of teaching are discussed.     

Typology of trust relationships: profiles of teachers’ trust in principal and their implications

This exploratory study is based on a multidimensional perspective of trust relationships proposed in the literature to classify the profiles of teachers’ trust in the principal. The main purpose of the present study was to examine the type and frequency of profiles of teachers’ trust in principal, and the implications of these profiles for teachers’ relational wellbeing and their organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB). Cluster analysis of a field survey data of 654 public primary school teachers in Israel was used to identify the profiles of teachers’ trust in the principal and the prevalence of various profiles. Analyses of variance show differences in teachers’ wellbeing and OCB as a function of trust profile. The findings and their implications are discussed.     

‘Freer’ Forms of Organization and Financing and the Effects of Inequality in Latin American Educational Systems: two countries in comparison

The introduction of ‘freer’ forms of organization and financing into the Latin American educational systems about 20 years ago parallels similar developments in the contexts of neo‐liberal policies in the USA, Great Britain and, more recently, in Eastern Europe. This article will highlight the effects of ‘school autonomy’, decentralization, and privatization in the Latin American educational systems. In so doing, I will focus on the analysis of educational policy development in Chile and Argentina, based in part on my own research results. The results demonstrate that ‘freer’ forms of organization and financing have not proven to be positive for the progressive distribution of education, democratization and the consideration of diversity—and also not for the (difficult to measure) categories of ‘quality’ and ‘efficiency’ of education. These findings contribute to question whether the neo‐liberal forms of organization and financing of educational systems in Latin America are important factors in the realization of these goals.     

Bridging the gap: needs assessment of science teacher in‐service education in Turkey and the effects of teacher and school demographics

Turkish science teachers' in‐service needs and the effects of teacher and school demographic variables on these needs are examined in this study. In addition, major barriers that prevented science teachers from attending in‐service programmes are investigated. The data for the research were gathered through a survey. This study shows that Turkish science teachers require more instructional materials, laboratory equipment, computers, and software and need in‐service education to integrate these instructional facilities into their lessons. This study also indicates that teacher and school demographic variables have little significance in predicting science teachers' needs.     

An analysis of efficiency in Senior Secondary Schools in the Gambia 2006 – 2008: Educational inputs and production of credits in English and Mathematics subjects

Abstract

This paper employs a stochastic production frontier model to assess the efficiency of the senior secondary schools in the Gambia. It examines their efficiency in using and mixing the educational inputs of average teacher salary, average teacher education, average teacher experience and students to teacher ratio in producing the number of students scoring credit and above in English and Mathematics. The schools are categorized into three types: the Government schools, the subsidized schools and the private schools. The paper finds no evidence that the private schools are different from the subsidized schools, but there is robust evidence that the private schools are significantly different from the Government schools. The average teacher salary is found to be irrelevant to the student performance, whereas high average teacher experience significantly improves student performance, and high student-to-teacher ratio significantly negates the student performance. Private schools appear to be the most efficient in 2006, but from 2007 to 2008, the performance of the schools in general is found to be highly volatile and unpredictable. Only one school emerges to consistently maintain a superior efficient performance throughout the three years studied.     

Educational practice in India and its foundations in Indian heritage: a synthesis of the East and West?

The paper examines education practice in India in terms of the division between indigenous cultures on the one hand, and the formal culture of learning and knowledge systems inherited from colonial times on the other. These ‘two Indias’ are still reflected in the modern educational system in India, seen in the vast differences between the formal school system, whose benefits reach only a minority of the population, and the millions of crafts-persons working in India's informal sector, many without education or training. The paper looks at reasons for these divisions within the culture and history of India's formal, non-formal and informal systems of education and training. The paper also throws light on the aspirations to unite these divided cultures of learning by looking at some of the writings of J.P. Naik, the famous educationist and secretary of the first Report of the Education Commission (1964–66) after India's independence. The analysis needs to be seen against the background of international educational thought which is improving the value, relevance and quality of non-formal and informal learning, as key pillars for building lifelong learning systems.     

Pakistani diaspora in Britain: intersections of multi-locationality and girls’ education

The South Asian diaspora and its impact on the lives of dispersed communities is a complex phenomenon finding expression in a range of issues and debates. However, the nature and scale of the challenges and issues vary in each case and context, and even over generations. These issues become more sensitive and poignant when underpinned by cultural and belief systems. This paper debates the impact of dominant discourses and values on schooling choices and the related concerns to explore issues linked to girls’ education among Pakistani diaspora in England, drawing on relevant literature and the evidence from a recent study of single-sex schooling. It argues that multiple emotional, social, cultural, historical, political, economic and other affiliations influence the patterns of behaviour and the terms of civic engagement in the adopted country leading to a struggle over meanings and competing positions over values and practices that are fluid and dynamic.