The impact of support services on students’ test anxiety and/or their ability to submit assignments: a focus on vision impairment and intellectual disability

This study investigated the influence of the support services on the test anxiety of students and/or their ability to submit assignments in each of the two disability groups, those with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Interviews were conducted with 14 students with vision impairment and 9 students with intellectual disability, as well as a total of 10 parents and 8 teachers. The findings unfolded that the support services were found to influence positively the test anxiety experienced by students with vision impairment and/or their ability to submit assignments, but appeared to help students with intellectual disability to a much smaller extent. These findings have implications for mainstream teachers and school support staff working with students with vision impairment and those with intellectual disability, to determine what type and kind of support works for these students and helps them to alleviate their test anxieties.     

A Case of Sanfillippo’s Disease Correlating Clinical and Biochemical Findings

The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are a heterogeneous group of rare inherited disorders caused by deficiency of lysosomal enzyme necessary to break down mucopolysaccharides or glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). We had combined clinical findings and ophthalmological features. Biochemical test for urine glycosaminoglycans was done for confirmation of diagnosis in the patient. The case of Sanfillippo’s disease was characterized by delayed development, hyperactivity with aggressive behaviour. Coarse facial feature, hirsutism and sleep disorder. Urine GAG tests for MPS was positive in the case. Based on clinical findings and biochemical tests for MPS, this case was diagnosed as a type III mucopolysaccharidoses. Urinary GAG’s electrophoresis is an important screening test for MPS suspected cases.     

Analysis of bulked segregants to identify molecular markers linked with cocoon weight and cocoon shell weight in the silkworm Bombyx mori L

Two silkworm strains viz, B20 A (high cocoon shell ratio) and C.Nichi (low cocoon shell ratio) were sib mated for 10 generations to determine the homozygosis. Both bulked segregant analysis(BSA) and near isogenic lines (NIL) studies were done to identify the RFLP markers closely linked to cocoon shell parameters. Three hundred and fifty-two random clones were identified as the low copy number sequence and used for identification of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphic (RFLP) marker linked to cocoon weight and cocoon shell character. In the bulk segregant analysis, DNA from the parents (B20 A, C.Nichi), F1 and F2 progeny of high shell ratio (HSR) and low shell ratio (LSR) were screened for hybridization with the random clones. Polymorphic banding pattern achieved through southern hybridization with different probes indicated the probable correlation of polymorphism with high and low cocoon shell character which are possible landmarks in identifying the putative marker(s) for the cocoon shell character. Out of the 100 probes tried with parents, F1, F2 and their bulks, 10 probes were found to be closely linked to cocoon shell characters.     

A tale of two studies: The Westinghouse-Ohio evaluation of project head start and the consortium for longitudinal studies report

In February 1981 as President Reagan and his Cabinet considered which programs to sustain and which to cut, Secretary Bell of the U.S. Department of Education Spoke out on behalf of Project Head Start. The program, he is reported to have said, is effective in preventing later school failure and is deserving of continuing support.The incident seems remarkable. Ten years earlier, the failure of Project Head Start was cited by another President at much the same juncture of his administration as part of the reason for dismantling the Office of Economic Opportunity. In a decade or less, it is not remarkable for a social service program to fall from favor to the abyss. Project Head Start may be, however, the only example if not of a resurrection, then at least of a salvation. For this reason, it may be instructive to examine what happened to Head Start, particularly the influence of two studies as distinctive as the fortunes of the program itself: the Westinghouse-Ohio and the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies evaluations.     

Tunnelling effects in chemistry

Most of the molecules react to form products by climbing a barrier. The energy involved in this climbing of the barrier is known as the activation energy of the reaction. Questions like how fast a reaction occurs can be answered by considering the height of the barrier. However, in some reactions, the reactants transform to products by directly tunnelling across the barrier instead of climbing over it. Such a purely quantum mechanical effect, which becomes more prominent for reactions at low temperatures can lead to interesting and even completely unexpected products. This effect and its consequences in representative examples are discussed.     

Analysis of bulked segregants to identify molecular markers linked with cocoon weight and cocoon shell weight in the silkworm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombyx mori</Emphasis> L

Two silkworm strains viz, B20 Λ (high cocoon shell ratio) and C. Nichi (low cocoon shell ratio) were sib mated for 10 generations to determine the homozygosis. Both bulked segregant analysis (BSA) and near isogenic lines (NIL) studies were done to identify the RFLP markers closely linked to cocoon shell parameters. Three hundred and fifty-two random clones were identified as the low copy number sequence and used for identification of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphic (RFLP) marker linked to cocoon weight and cocoon shell character. In the bulk segregant analysis>DNA from the parents (B20 Λ C. Nichi), F₁ and F₂ progeny of high shell ratio (HSR) and low shell ratio (LSR) were screened for hybridization with the random clones. Polymorphic banding pattern achieved through southern hybridization with different probes indicated the probable correlation of polymorphism with high and low cocoon shell character which are possible landmarks in identifying the putative marker(s) for the cocoon shell character. Out of the 100 probes tried with parents, F₁, F₂ and their bulks, 10 probes were found to be closely linked to cocoon shell characters.