International Communication

COMMUNICATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD (Washington, D.C.: The Media Institute, 1983---two volumes, paper, price not given)

THE ABC OF COPYRIGHT (Paris: Unesco/New York: Unipub, 1981---paper, price not given)

MILITARY PROPAGANDA: PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE AND OPERATIONS by Ron D. McLaurin (New York: Praeger, 1982---price not given)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE YEAR 2000: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES edited by Indu B. Singh (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1983---$24.95)

THE EDUCATIONAL USE OF MASS MEDIA by Gloria Feliciano, et al. (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1981---$5.00, paper)

POWERS OF THE PRESS: TWELVE OF THE WORLD'S INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPERS by Martin Walker (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1983---price not given)

THE PHONOGRAM IN CULTURAL COMMUNICATION: REPORT ON A RESEARCH PROJECT UNDERTAKEN BY MEDICAULT, edited by K. Blaukopf (New York and Vienna: Springer-Verlag, 1982---$23.60, paper)     

Performativity and pedagogising knowledge: globalising educational policy formation,dissemination and enactment

Critical policy scholars have increasingly turned their attention to: (1) the work of policy actors engaged in globalised and globalising processes of policy formation, (2) the global flows or movements of education policies across multifaceted, hybrid networks of public–private agencies, and (3) the complex politics of global–national policy translation and enactment in local school contexts. Scholars have emphasised firstly, the economic turn in education reform policies, a shift from a social democratic education orientation and secondly, policy convergence towards a dominant neoliberal political agenda. This paper suggests that Bernstein’s concepts of the totally pedagogised society (TPS) and the pedagogic device, as the ensemble of rules for the production, recontextualisation and evaluation of pedagogic discourses may add to this corpus of critical policy scholarship. It does this by firstly reviewing the take up of Bernstein’s concept of the TPS in the critical policy sociology literature, arguing that this interpretation presents a largely dystopian account of globalising educational policies. In contrast, the paper argues for and presents an alternative open-ended reading and projection of Bernstein’s concept of the TPS and pedagogic device for thinking about globalised processes and devices of the pedagogic communication of knowledge(s).     

The health information seeking behaviour and needs of community health workers in Chandigarh in Northern India

This article represents two‐firsts for the feature – it is the first to report on a study outside the UK and the first to examine the health information needs of community health workers. Sonika Raj is pursuing PhD at the Centre for Public Health, Panjab University, Chandigarh, in India and she conducted her research in Chandigarh. The article outlines the important role that health workers at community level play in determining health outcomes in the developing world, including Chandigarh. It demonstrates that while those workers recognise their information needs, there are many issues affecting their ability to access health information effectively, not least their limited access to appropriate technology and training. AM     

Materials and techniques: Early Buddhist wall paintings and sculptures at Sumda Chun,Ladakh

An assemblage of Buddhist wall paintings and sculptures dating to the twelfth/early thirteenth century are found distributed over the interiors of the temple complex at Sumda Chun, Ladakh. Detailed investigations carried out as part of a conservation project shed light on their antiquity and production technology. The sculptures are constructed with fine mud mortar applied over a wooden armature and affixed to the walls without any support from the ground. In both the sculptures and wall paintings, the paint layer is applied over a thin gypsum ground that functions as a white colourant where unpainted. For the paint layer, azurite, vermilion, and orpiment are the dominant mineral pigments utilized. Minium (red lead) has been used for preparatory drawings and as paint. Highlighting of special areas was achieved using a laminate of tin–lead alloy and gold on relief. Overall the material and techniques employed in the execution of the wall paintings and sculptures are consistent with those reported for other early sites in the region.     

Copper and Zinc Status in Psoriasis: Correlation with Severity

Psoriasis is a common and an inflammatory skin disease. Trace elements play an important role in the skin metabolism such as keratinisation and melanin formation as well as immunological and inflammatory reactions. Henceforth, the present study was aimed to evaluate the essential metals with special reference to Cu and Zn. In this study, 72 psoriatic patients and 50 controls were enrolled. On the basis of PASI score psoriatic group comprising of 48 mild and 24 severe psoriatic patients were grouped. The serum trace elements analysis in the subjects revealed that serum Cu levels and Cu/Zn ratio was significantly higher in the psoriatic patients as compared to controls. Interestingly, severity of the psoriasis was well correlated with the serum Cu levels. Taking together, all these findings suggest that Cu may be a major culprit in the pathogenesis as well as in the severity of the disease.     

Effect of Resveratrol and Nicotine on PON1 Gene Expression: In Vitro Study

Dietary and lifestyle factors have been shown to have a profound effect on paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity. Cigarette smoke has been shown to inhibit its mass and activity where as resveratrol has been shown to enhance it. We exposed hepatoma derived cell line (HepG2) to resveratrol and nicotine in varying doses and measured PON1 enzymatic activity and PON1 gene expression. In addition, total protein content of HepG2 cells was also measured. Resveratrol in a dose of 15 μmol/l or above significantly increased the PON1 enzyme activity (p > 0.001) where as nicotine in a dose of 1 μmol/l or higher significantly reduced it (p < 0.05). The resveratrol in this dose also enhanced the PON1 gene expression whereas nicotine decreased it as compared to controls. However, the protein conent of cells was not changed suggesting that they were not cytotoxic in the doses used. Till date the antioxidant vitamins have shown disappointing results against LDL oxidation and cardiovascular protection. However, the effect of resveratrol on PON1 gene expression and activity was significant, suggesting increase in PON1 activity and enhanced gene expression may be its alternative mechanism for offering protection against cardiovascular disease and may be an potential pharmacological agent which can be used for this.     

Musculoskeletal Anatomy Knowledge Retention in the Macquarie University Chiropractic Program: A Cross-Sectional Study

Attrition of anatomy knowledge has been an area of concern in health professions curricula. To ensure safe and effective clinical practice, the study of chiropractic requires a good knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy. In this study, musculoskeletal limb knowledge retention was investigated among students in the 5-year chiropractic program at Macquarie University, Australia. A test of 20 multiple-choice questions, categorized into low-order (LO) and high-order (HO) cognitive ability according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, was developed. Students enrolled in the program were invited to participate with 257 of the 387 choosing to participate, (response rate ranging 56%–72% per year level). No attrition of knowledge across the years was observed, instead, a significant increase in knowledge, measured by total LO and HO scores (P < 0.0005), throughout the program. There were significant increases in both low and high cognitive scores which were not uniform, with high-order scores increasing significantly in the last two year levels. The increase of knowledge, may be explained, at least partially, by the vertical and horizontal integrated curriculum. Retrieval of knowledge, especially in clinically applied formats, may have led to an enhanced ability to apply anatomy knowledge and account for the increased scores in the high-order knowledge seen in the later clinical years. Evaluating anatomy knowledge retention at different cognitive levels seems to provide a better assessment and is worth considering in future anatomy educational research.     

Incidence of microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients

The prevalence of microalbuminuria was assessed in 174 albustix negative hypertensive patients by estimating albumin in the morning random urine samples by immunoturbidimetric method within four hours of voiding of urine. The urine samples were not stored and collected without any preservatives. The urinary albumin was calculated in terms of ratio with respect to urinary creatinine and expressed as albumin creatinine ratio (mg/g). Out of 174 albustix negative hypertensives, 58 (33.3%) patients were found to have microalbuminuria. The prevalence of microalbuminuria in males and females was found to be 34% and 30.7% respectively. No correlation was found between the Body Mass Index (BMI) and albumin excretion (r² = 0.0271) and between duration of hypertension and urinary albumin excretion (r² = 0.0042). Prevalence of microalbuminuria in nonsmokers and non-alcoholic hypertensives was 20%. The prevalence in alcoholics, smokers and both smokers and alcoholics was found to be 35%, 42% and 41% respectively. The high prevalence of microalbuminuria than the various reported studies on the subject demands establishment of a screening programme for microalbuminuria, implementation of specific intervention methods and education of hypertensive patients about the consequences of smoking and alcohol on possible involvement of renal system.