Clinical utility of serum thyroglobulin in acute haemorrhage into the thyroid

Seven cases of suspected haemorrhage In pre-existing adenoma or cyst in the thyroid showed serum thyroglobulin (tg) levels phenomenonly elevated. The serum tg leveis reduced remarkably within one to three montha. During this period all patients were treated with thyroxin. It is concluded that serial serum thyroglobulin determinations may be useful in confirming the clinical suspicion of haemorrhage in the thyroid.     

Specific binding and magnetic concentration of CD8+ T-lymphocytes on electrowetting-on-dielectric platform

In the quest to create a low-power portable lab-on-a-chip system, we demonstrate the specific binding and concentration of human CD8+ T-lymphocytes on an electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD)-based digital microfluidic platform using antibody-conjugated magnetic beads (MB-Abs). By using a small quantity of nonionic surfactant, we enable the human cell-based assays with selective magnetic binding on the EWOD device in an air environment. High binding efficiency (～92%)of specific cells on MB-Abs is achieved due to the intimate contact between the cells and the magnetic beads (MBs) produced by the circulating flow within the small droplet. MBs have been used and cells manipulated in the droplets actuated by EWOD before; reported here is a cell assay of a clinical protocol on the EWOD device in air environment. The present technique can be further extended to capture other types of cells by suitable surface modification on the MBs.     

Quality assessment and institutional change: Experiences from 14 countries

The paper draws on an international study of theeffects of national and institutional quality management systems onhigher education institutions in 14 countries. The study wasundertaken by the authors on behalf of the programme forInstitutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) of theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Over the last decade, almost all European countries have establishednational systems for the assessment of quality in higher education. Similar developments can be found in many other parts of the world. In most countries, these developments have been largely sponsored bythe state even if the national quality agencies so formed generallyhave a significant degree of operational autonomy and mainly use aform of peer review as their primary assessment method.Drawing on the IMHE study, the paper presents a conceptual model ofthe relationships between quality management and institutionalchange in higher education which takes into account variations inthe national and institutional contexts in which quality managementand assessment takes place as well as differences in the methodsused. The impact of quality assessment is considered in terms ofrewards/incentives, policies/structures and cultures ofinstitutions.The paper argues that central to the establishment of qualitymanagement and assessment systems, whether national or institutionalare questions of power and values. One of the central questionswhich the paper explores is the extent to which quality management represents a challenge to the intrinsic value systems of the academicprofession and is a mechanism through which extrinsic values ofsociety and economy are given greater weight in academicinstitutional life. Changes in the balance of power within academic life between system, institutional, basic unit and individual levelsare explored as part of more general processes of institutionalchange.     

Universities and the knowledge-based economy: perceptions from a developing country

This paper considers the role of universities in the creation of a knowledge-based economy (KBE) in a developing country, Pakistan. Some developing countries have moved quickly to develop a KBE, but progress in Pakistan is much slower. Higher education plays a crucial role as part of the triple helix model for innovation. Based on the perceptions of university leaders and academic staff, the paper examines how the transformation towards a KBE in Pakistan is viewed within higher education and identifies some of the blockages and contradictions that hinder development. In particular, the paper suggests that a more integrated education system bringing together primary, secondary and tertiary education to work for a common purpose will be essential.     

Muslim learners in English schools: a challenge for school leaders

Faith identity is emerging as significant for Muslim students in the post 9/11 scenario, with implications for their education and wider social cohesion. This poses challenges to school leaders, raising issues not only linked to student achievement and performance, but also with regard to students’ identity constructions and their educational engagement. The paper draws on data collected from a small number of teachers and Muslim students from two secondary schools in England, looking at how Muslim students experience their identity in the school context and with what implications for their educational engagement. It also discusses the challenges for educational leaders/teachers in managing ‘Muslimness’ on educational sites. The data indicate that the increasing engagement with faith identity can be a response to experiences of discrimination, marginalisation and negative media. The paper highlights the need for communication and understanding across differences, underpinned by an equally pressing need for the recognition of religious and cultural diversity.     

Using learning analytics to assess student engagement and academic outcomes in open access enabling programmes

Curriculum design, teaching methods, assessments and range of academic support need to be inclusive in Open Access Enabling courses. The findings of this study confirm a correlation between student access to online learning materials and a positive impact on grades in science courses. More specifically, students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.     

Attitudes of Kuwaiti parents toward physical punishment of children

Objective: The major aim was to describe parental attitudes to physical punishments and examine their sociodemographic correlates. A related aim was to assess the association of parents’ own experience of physical punishment with attitudes to punishment of children.Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the second week of December, 1996 in five general clinics covering the major administrative areas of Kuwait: 337 Kuwaiti mothers and fathers with at least one living child were contacted; 95% were successfully interviewed using a structured questionnaire.Results: Eighty-six percent of parents agreed with physical punishment as a means of child disciplining. Agreement with punishment was higher in case of serious misbehaviors such as stealing (63%), sniffing glue and using drugs (77%). Multiple regression results showed that parent’s lower level of education and Bedouin ethnicity were positively associated with agreement on physical punishment. Larger percentages of parents who had experienced physical punishments themselves agreed with such punishment to discipline their children, but this was not statistically significant.Conclusions: In recent years education has become widespread for both sexes. An inverse association between educational level and agreement on physical beating suggest that attitudes to this form of child disciplining are changing. Those with a Bedouin ethnic background still adhere more strictly to the traditional forms of child disciplining including physical beating. There is a need for conducting research on the possible negative psychosocial impacts of physical punishment in view of findings from other countries.     

Mind the gap: global quality norms,national policy interpretations and local praxis in Timor-Leste

Increasingly, the imperative for improving educational quality in schooling systems throughout the developing world is harnessed to a particular set of teaching and learning practices, such as child-centred, child-friendly or learner-centred pedagogy (LCP). Such was the case in Timor-Leste where, after independence, LCP was heavily promoted as a panacea for an education system that was perceived to be irrelevant, outmoded and of poor quality. While LCP was readily adopted into policy discourse, less support and attention were given to the substantive incorporation of LCP into teacher practice. When strategically borrowed in such a fashion, the paper suggests little promise remains for LCP to meaningfully improve student learning processes or outcomes in Timorese classrooms.     

Discursive construction of Pakistan's national identity through curriculum textbook discourses in a Pakistani school in Dubai,the United Arab Emirates

This study investigates Pakistan's secondary school children's constructions of their national identity in a Pakistani school in Dubai by drawing on data collected from students and teachers from the case school and analysing national curriculum textbooks used in the school. Informed by Foucault's concepts, the article problematises how the curriculum textbooks are employed as a technology of power for inculcating national consciousness in the students. The findings suggest that Pakistan's national curriculum textbooks deploy a specific version of Islam as a major technology, which then influences other national identity signifiers in the textbooks for shaping students' national identity. The school affords a crucial space for the complex interplay of these technologies, which construct students' ethnocentric national identities, encouraging social polarisation. This has implications for Pakistan's national social cohesion as well as the potential for subverting international peaceful coexistence and working relationships, particularly in the selected overseas study context.