Sensitivity and specificity of isolated antigen fromPlasmodium falciparum culture supernatant

Immunological sensitivity and specificity properties of isolated Plasmodium falciparum (GPL) antigen from culture supernatant have been measured and compared with malarial antigens and non malarial filtered paper blood sera for potency and efficacy. Latex bead coded GPL, Pf and RESA antigens immunoreaction properties of human filter paper blood samples (FPB) were studied by laser light scattering immunoassay (LIA) and Enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) techniques. Results of GP. antigen sensitivity study by LIA method showed a very high malaria antibody binding response (MABR) i.e. 6% compared with 78% with RESA and 88% Pf antigens. Malaria detection by ELISA method also found similar results. Specificity study of GPL antigen for different non malarial filter paper blood sera (NMFS) showed no immunoreaction however Pf and RESA antigen showed few positive immunological responses. These results suggest that sensitivity and specificity properties of isolated GPL antigen is better than other antigens.     

Quick chip assay using locked nucleic acid modified epithelial cell adhesion molecule and nucleolin aptamers for the capture of circulating tumor cells

The role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in disease diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring of the therapeutic efficacy, and clinical decision making is immense and has attracted tremendous focus in the last decade. We designed and fabricated simple, flat channel microfluidic devices polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS based) functionalized with locked nucleic acid (LNA) modified aptamers (targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and nucleolin expression) for quick and efficient capture of CTCs and cancer cells. With optimized flow rates (10 μl/min), it was revealed that the aptamer modified devices offered reusability for up to six times while retaining optimal capture efficiency (>90%) and specificity. High capture sensitivity (92%) and specificity (100%) was observed in whole blood samples spiked with Caco-2 cells (10–100 cells/ml). Analysis of blood samples obtained from 25 head and neck cancer patients on the EpCAM LNA aptamer functionalized chip revealed that an average count of 5 ± 3 CTCs/ml of blood were captured from 22/25 samples (88%). EpCAM intracellular domain (EpICD) immunohistochemistry on 9 oral squamous cell carcinomas showed the EpICD positivity in the tumor cells, confirming the EpCAM expression in CTCs from head and neck cancers. These microfluidic devices also maintained viability for in vitro culture and characterization. Use of LNA modified aptamers provided added benefits in terms of cost effectiveness due to increased reusability and sustainability of the devices. Our results present a robust, quick, and efficient CTC capture platform with the use of simple PDMS based devices that are easy to fabricate at low cost and have an immense potential in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic planning.     

Schools and communities: An experience in rural India

When India became independent, primary education in the state of Rajasthan was made the responsibility of the Panchayats (Village Councils), and a number of village schools were opened. However they only drew around 40 per cent of the 6–11 age group, and the curricula, text books, and even the teachers themselves, recruited from the cities, were out of touch with the needs of the rural communities. A study conducted in 1974 showed that, to improve the situation, it would be necessary to make the school more relevant to village life, to involve the parents in planning, and to run it at times when the children could be spared from domestic or farm work; to select the teachers from village residents; and to adapt the curricula and teaching methods to the environment. An appropriate programme was worked out and introduced in three villages in 1975. It provided for morning classes for the regular pupils and evening school for children who worked during the day. The emphasis in the curricula was to be on agriculture and animal husbandry, and teaching methods were to be closely in keeping with the life of the village. Suitable local people were found and trained as teachers. The author describes the implementation of this programme in detail. It proved a success and has now been extended to ten villages with a total attendance at the schools of more than five hundred children.

---

Zusammenfassung Als Indien unabhängig wurde, übertrug man im Staat Rajasthan die Grundschulbildung der Verantwortung den Panchayats (Dorf-Räten) und eine Reihe von Dorfschulen wurde eröffnet. Aber diese erfaßten nur etwa 40% der Altersgruppe von 6–11 Jahren, und die Lehrpläne, die Textbücher, ja sogar die aus den Städten rekrutierten Lehrer selbst hatten keinerlei Berührung mit den Bedürfnissen der ländlichen Gemeinwesen. Aus einer 1974 durchgeführten Untersuchung ergab sich, daß es zur Verbesserung der Lage notwendig sein würde, der Schule mehr Bedeutung für das dörfliche Leben zu verleihen; die Eltern in die Planung einzubeziehen; zu den Zeiten Schule zu halten, da die Kinder bei der häuslichen und bäuerlichen Arbeit entbehrt werden konnten; die Lehrer unter den Dorfbewohnern auszuwählen, sowie Lehrpläne und Unterrichtsmethoden der Umwelt anzupassen. Nach Ausarbeitung eines geeigneten Programms wurde dieses 1975 in drei Dörfern eingeführt. Den regulären Schülern bot es Vormittagsunterricht und den tagsüber arbeitenden Kindern eine Abendschule. In den Curricula sollte das Hauptgewicht auf Landwirtschaft und Viehzucht liegen, und die Unterrichtsmethoden sollten genau auf das Leben des Dorfes abgestimmt werden. Geeignete Einheimische wurden gefunden und zu Lehrern ausgebildet. Der Verfasser beschreibt im einzelnen die Einführung dieses Programms. Es erwies sich als wirksam und wurde nun auf zehn Dörfer übertragen, so daß jetzt ingesamt mehr als fünfhundert Kinder die Schulen besuchen.

---

Résumé Lorsque l'Inde est devenue indépendante, l'enseignement primaire, dans l'état de Rajasthan, a été placé sous la responsabilité des Panchayats (Conseils de village), et un grand nombre d'écoles ont été ouvertes dans les villages. Toutefois, elles ne furent fréquentées que par 40% environ des enfants appartenant au groupe d'âge de 6 à 11 ans, car les curricula, les manuels scolaires et même les enseignants qui étaient recrutés dans les villes, ne tenaient pas compte des besoins des communautés rurales. Une enquête menée en 1974 a montré que pour améliorer la situation il faudrait que l'école ait davantage de rapports avec la vie du village, qu'elle fasse participer les parents à la planification et que les classes fonctionnent quand les parents peuvent se passer de l'aide des enfants pour les travaux domestiques ou ceux de la ferme. L'enquête a révélé également qu'il fallait choisir les enseignants parmi les habitants du village; enfin que les curricula et les méthodes d'enseignement soient adaptés à l'environnement. Un programme approprié a alors été élaboré et appliqué expérimentalement dans trois villages en 1975. Ce programme assurait des classes matinales pour les élèves réguliers et des classes vespérales pour les enfants travaillant dans la journée. L'accent des curricula était mis sur l'agriculture et l'élevage, et les méthodes d'enseignement étaient en harmonie avec la vie du village. Des gens du cru, répondant à certains critères, étaient formés pour devenir des enseignants. L'auteur décrit en détail la mise en application de ce programme qui s'est révélé un succès. Il est maintenant étendu à dix villages et plus de cinq cents enfants fréquentent l'école.

     

Let them eat Shakespeare: prescribed authors and the National Curriculum

In this article, we examine the debate that surrounds prescribed reading lists in the English National Curriculum. In particular, we attempt to locate the role which ideas about heritage and social and moral values have played in constructing this debate. We begin by examining the English National Curriculum's origin in the 1980s as a conservative exercise in stemming cultural crisis, and the discourse about literature's role in the curriculum which this helped construct. We then examine how this discourse has influenced, and continues to influence, the educational policy of prescribing a list of authors and consider the assumptions that are embedded in this policy. Finally, we reflect upon how the material conditions of the classroom provide a site of resistance, or difficulty, for the officially sanctioned discourse concerning literature's role in the curriculum.     

American Association for Health,Physical Education,and Recreation

Abstract

Utilizing canonical correlation analysis, the multivariate relationship between selected measures of motor performance and intellectual achievement was studied on 91 high school pupils. The students involved in the study were culturally deprived students who had been achieving well below their expected capacity. A significant relationship was found between the intellectual achievement domain and the motor performance domain. Also, significant relationships were found between the intellectual achievement domain and both of the sub-domains of fitness and coordination. The results in the present investigation were compared with the univariate analyses in a previous study. It was concluded that when the degree of relationship between two domains is desired, canonical correlation analysis may be of more value than the usual univariate procedures.     

PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS�� INITIAL CONCEPTIONS ABOUT PUPILS�� DIFFICULTIES IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS: A POTENTIAL RESOURCE IN TEACHER EDUCATION

A crucial issue for prospective teachers (PTs) in their education is to develop pedagogical content knowledge (PCK; i.e. how to make a topic comprehensible to pupils). However, research has shown that PTs may have tacit ideas about teaching that act as filters preventing consideration of unfamiliar and discrepant ideas. These ideas must be elicited and taken into consideration in order to be modified. Therefore, PTs’ explicit conceptions may constitute a valuable resource in teacher education. The aim of this study was to investigate PTs’ ideas about pupils’ difficulties, at a topic-specific level, upon beginning the teacher education programme. The “Lesson Preparation Method” was used in four case studies to elicit the conceptions of 32 PTs regarding pupils’ difficulties in four specific science and mathematics topics: plant growth, gases, equations and heat and temperature. In all four topic groups (n = 5 – 11), there was a variety of initial conceptions about pupils’ difficulties, which were categorised into two to five topic-specific categories. Although, initially, PTs may not have expressed any notions about pupils’ difficulties, conceptions were elicited by using the Lesson Preparation Method. Furthermore, we found that the initial ideas corresponded with earlier research on pupils’ difficulties, which could provide a potential resource when creating a scaffolding context in teacher education programmes where PCK development is stimulated.     

Cartoon embellishments in informative presentations

What effect does the inclusion of cartoon embellishments have on printed and audiovisual presentations? College students read, listened to, or viewed a presentation about the library. Some presentations included cartoons. The results suggest that if comprehension is the only goal, the printed text without cartoons is just as effective as cartoons or audiovisual presentations. If enjoyment is a factor, cartoons or audiovisual presentations should be considered.     

The 2003 Benjamin Franklin medal in electrical engineering presented to Bishnu S. Atal

Dr. Atal was chosen for his fundamental contributions to speech coding in digital cellular telephony—specifically for pioneering work in linear predictive coding (LPC) and use of analysis-by-synthesis leading to multi-pulse excited linear predictive coding and code excited linear predictive coding (CELP). These are the basis of time-division and code-division cellular systems (TDMA & CDMA), the Nextel system, and the global system for mobile communications (GSM).