Pupil participation and curriculum relevance

Some results of formative research carried out in primary schools in rural India have been presented. The relationship between the lesson content and the participation of the pupils has been investigated. The spontaneous participation of pupils in teacher-directed classrooms is shown to be correlated with the time spent by the teacher in relating the content of the textbook to the natural experiences of the pupils. The use of an experiment or a teaching aid is also found to be useful in drawing participation from the pupils. The results of the study are relevant for teachers working in a traditional, teacher-dominated sytem of education.     

The Influence of Toy Design Activities on Middle School Students’ Understanding of the Engineering Design Processes

The societal demand for inspiring and engaging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and preparing our workforce for the emerging creative economy has necessitated developing students’ self-efficacy and understanding of engineering design processes from as early as elementary school levels. Hands-on engineering design activities have shown the potential to promote middle school students’ self-efficacy and understanding of engineering design processes. However, traditional classrooms often lack hands-on engineering design experiences, leaving students unprepared to solve real-world design problems. In this study, we introduce the framework of a toy design workshop and investigate the influence of the workshop activities on students’ understanding of and self-efficacy beliefs in engineering design. Using a mixed method approach, we conducted quantitative analyses to show changes in students’ engineering design self-efficacy and qualitative analyses to identify students’ understanding of the engineering design processes. Findings show that among the 24 participants, there is a significant increase in students’ self-efficacy beliefs after attending the workshop. We also identified major themes such as design goals and prototyping in students’ understanding of engineering design processes. This research provides insights into the key elements of middle school students’ engineering design learning and the benefits of engaging middle school students in hands-on toy design workshops.     

Primary Myoglobinuria: Differentiate Myoglobinuria from Hemoglobinuria

Myoglobin is dark red colour heme containing protein, stored in muscle. Change in permeability of myolemma causes myoglobin leak in plasma, which is cleared by kidney swiftly. Differentiating myoglobinuria from hemoglobinuria is important. Clinicians concern over myoglobinuria is to protect the patient from acute renal disease. We present a case of primary myoglobinuria, its clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.     

What causes peer review scams and how can they be prevented?

Key points

• Peer review, the cornerstone of academic publishing, has come under a lot of criticism for its flaws and has been manipulated by both authors and editors.
• Lack of review transparency is a contributing factor to peer review problems.
• Pressure to publish – among authors and journals – is adding to peer review problems.
• Technology can help maintain review integrity, although editorial vigilance remains key.

     

A Study of Microalbuminuria (MAU) and Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) Levels in Diabetic and Hypertensive Subjects

The prevalence of non-communicable diseases like diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) is growing worldwide. Both lead to nephropathy if not controlled effectively. Microalbuminuria (MAU) is recognized as an early predictor for nephropathy. Additionally, the timely detection of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is also considered to be an important prognostic factor for diabetic nephropathies. Hence, screening for the early detection of MAU and AGEs would be an useful and relatively inexpensive laboratory test for early clinical diagnosis for the incidence of nephropathy in these diseases. This study was conducted in DM, HTN and pregnancy induced hypertensive (PIH) subjects. MAU and N^ε-Carboxymethyllysine (CML) levels were estimated by in-house RIA kits in the patient groups and controls, while the total AGEs level in serum was determined by ELISA. The levels of MAU, CML and AGE-BSA were observed to be significantly higher in DM, HTN and PIH subjects compared to controls (p < 0.001). Increased serum CML and AGEs levels in DM, HTN and PIH subjects indicated ongoing glycemic damage and their susceptibility to develop renal complications.     

P.S.: I Survived: An Activism Project to Increase Student and Community Trauma Awareness

Social work students created a community activism project to raise awareness about trauma prevalence and impact. Trauma theory describes silencing as the mechanism that hinders individual and community healing. Therefore, students sought to create an interactive opportunity to heighten trauma visibility on campus. They created a physical mailbox and invited community members respond to the prompt, “I am a survivor because …” and to read others’ responses. Through the project, students were able to document participants’ trauma experiences, increase community trauma awareness, and enhance their own learning. Moreover, the authors believe that this assignment successfully fostered student integration of micro and macro social work skills.     

Rapid inertial solution exchange for enrichment and flow cytometric detection of microvesicles

Exosomes, nanosized membrane-bound vesicles released by cells, play roles in cell signaling, immunology, virology, and oncology. Their study, however, has been hampered by difficulty in isolation and quantification due to their size and the complexity of biological samples. Conventional approaches to improved isolation require specialized equipment and extensive sample preparation time. Therefore, isolation and detection methods of exosomes will benefit biological and clinical studies. Here, we report a microfluidic platform for inline exosome isolation and fluorescent detection using inertial manipulation of antibody-coated exosome capture beads from biological fluids.     

‘Rape’ in children

‘Rape’ as a sexual offence has been existing since time immemorial. In a country like India with her conservative and traditional society, sex is not discussed freely and a sexual offence particularly in childhood is hushed up, for fear of the victimised girl's future. Here an attempt is made to study the relavent factors responsible for ‘rape’ in children. These individual cases were followed up, rescued and rehabilitated whenever possible. This paper deals with a prospective study of 130 cases, between the ages of 6 months to 18 years from Bombay, over a period of 15 months. Over 77.68% oases were more than 4 years of age and 6.15% were between the ages of 6 months and 6 years. Shockingly, 2 young infants were of 6 months of age. Majority of these girls belonged to various slums of Bombay. 34.5% of girls were illiterate, and 79.23% had some knowledge about sex. Surprisingly 36.16% were willing victims and the criteria for including these cases under ‘rape’ was their under age i.e. less than 18 years. Of these 130 victims, 23 conceived, of which 6 delivered after full term. The remaining 17 cases were medically terminated. Of the accused, neighbours were responsible in 51.53% of cases, the remaining being contributed by employer, relative, friend and known hooligans from the same area. Some of these girls were rehabilitated and some are still in the remand home. Few girls, though minor, were married to the accused and were still keen on accepting them as their husbands against the wish of their parents.