Detection of tubercular antibody and antigen in sera of bone and joint tuberculosis

Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) solubilized and DEAE fractionatedMycobacterium tuberculosis H₃₇Ra excretory-secretory (ES) antigen viz., Mtb EST DE1 and affinity purified goat antibodies to the TCA solubilized ES antigen (Mtb EST) were explored in detecting tubercular antibody and antigen respectively in sera of bone and joint tuberculosis by indirect and sandwich ELISA. Out of total 36 bone & joint tuberculosis cases, tubercular antibody was detected by indirect ELISA in 30 patients (sensitivity 83%), while circulating tubercular antigen was detected by sandwich ELISA in 27 patients (sensitivity 75%). Out of 34 non tubercular disease control cases, 10 patients showed positive reaction for antibody while only 4 patients showed positive reaction for antigen. In another group of 34 healthy subjects who were screened, 4 individuals showed positive reaction for tubercular antibody and 2 cases for antigen. This study shows that antigen detection assay using affinity purified anti Mtb EST antigen antibody is superior with overall specificity of 91% as compared to antibody detection assay with 75% specificity in bone & joint tuberculosis.     

Higher education in China

This paper discusses the system of higher education in China today. Eight years after the beginning of the upheaval known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, educational principles and practice are still considered experimental. New types of schools have been established, and old ones have been reoriented to conform to recent ideological imperatives. The administrative system has gone through a number of changes and is not yet standardized; innovative enrollment procedures, strongly influenced by social class considerations, are changing the complexion of the student body; teaching methods and curriculum combine teaching, productive labor and scientific research in an effort to relate higher education more closely to the economic and social needs envisioned by the Maoist leadership.The paper concludes that it is too early to make definitive judgments about the viability of the system, regardless of the criteria used, but suggests that assessments of the quality of higher education in China must start from a recognition of the fact that it is an integral part of the total effort to revolutionize society. CR China Reconstructs - JMJP Jen-min jih-pao (People's Daily) - KMJP Kuang-ming jih-pao (Kuang-ming Daily) - NCNA New China News Agency - PR Peking Review     

The relationship between learning disability and delinquency: a review and reappraisal

Data are presented on the prevalence of learning disabilities among populations of delinquents. Current hypotheses proposed to explain the relatively high prevalence rate are examined in the context of the research literature pertaining to the psychosocial characteristics of youngsters with learning disabilities and the research literature pertaining to delinquency. A multifactorial explanation is offered, according to which the probability of a youngster with a learning disability becoming delinquent is seen as a consequence of the interaction between specific elements of learning disabilities and specific psychosocial correlates of delinquency.