The triad-iodine deficiency,hyperlipidaemia, high coronary risk— in a ‘maternal-neonate’ population of rural Africa

In order to see the pattern of changes in differential serum lipid and lipoprotein fractions as a risk marker of coronary complication in paired ‘maternal—neonate’ blood samples in an iodine deficient zone, 26 pregnant women and their corresponding new born infants at term delivery from the iodine deficient Bassa region of Plateau state, Nigeria were assessed and the results were compared with those seen in a similar 44 group of women and their newborns assessed in non lodine deficient region of Jos. The serum thyroid function and lipid and lipoprotein profiles were determined by ‘ELISA’ and ‘enzymatic’ methods respectively. Urinary iodide excretion level was also measured in 14 pregnant women in Bassa, 23 pregnant women in Jos and 16 non pregnant control from Jos. Results indicate that the pregnant women assessed in Bassa were iodine deficient (P<0.01) and their thyroid status was strikingly reduced as reflected by a drop in serum level of T4/TBG ratio (P<0.01) and a rise in TSH (P<0.005) in comparison to that seen in Jos. There was marked hypertriglyceridaemia and total hypercholesterolaemia (P<0.005), with differential significant rise in LDL cholestotol fraction (P<0.005) in the women assessed in Bassa as compared to Jos. The HDL cholesterol however dropped less significantly in the group (P<0.05) with a concurrent marked rise (P<0.001) in the serum ratio of LDL cholesterol/HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol and triglycerides/HDL cholesterol in the lodine deficient group. A similar pattern of changes were seen in the corresponding neonates in the Bassa group as compared to Jos group. It is concluded that the pregnant women and their newborn offsprings living in a longstanding environmental iodine deficiency run a higher risk of developing coronary complications than those living in non endemic region. It is striking that such newborns surrounded by a continued state of lodine deficient may at a later adult-period of life develop marked risk of coronary complication and other features of hyperlipidaemias associated with varying thyroid insufficiency and accompanied iodine deficiency disorders. Prophylaxis measures as intervention has been highlighted.     

Positivism,Prejudice and Progress in the Sociology of Education: who's afraid of values?

This article is a response to Hammersley's allegations that my discussion of positivism and differentiation‐polarisation theory (d‐p), previously published in this journal, was misguided, incoherent and prejudiced against positivism. I refute those allegations by demonstrating that Hammersley has either misunderstood or misrepresented my position. Furthermore, by revealing inconsistencies in Hammersley's arguments about positivism and d‐p I expose his incoherencies and prejudices regarding the role of political values in social research. Finally and constructively, I suggest that the ‘enlightenment’ aspect of the ‘political arithmetic’ tradition has much to recommend it as a framework for progress in sociology of education.     

Relationships between formal-operational thought and conceptual difficulties in genetics problem solving

Seventy-one college general biology students were taught a unit in Mendelian genetics by the traditional lecture method. Emphasis was placed on meiotic formation of gametes, the Law of Segregation, and the Law of Independent Assortment. The Punnett-square model was used for all practice problems. Eight weeks later, a content-validated retention test was given to evaluate the students' retention of problem-solving skills. The test required students to use proportional reasoning (identifying ratios from the Punnett squares), combinatorial reasoning (identifying combinations of gametes from parental genotypes), and probabilistic reasoning (estimating gamete or offspring probabilities). Each of the 71 students was also given three Piagetian interview tasks to evaluate intellectual development in the areas of reasoning under question. The balance-beam task, the electronic switch-box task, and colored squares and diamonds were used to test for proportional reasoning, combinatorial reasoning, and probabilistic reasoning, respectively. Pearson correlations and factor analysis failed to show direct relationships among Piagetian tasks for the three kinds of reasoning and their corresponding occurrence in genetics problems. Some correlations were higher between different reasoning types than between similar types. Analysis of variance showed significant differences for all three reasoning types among concrete-operational, transitional, and formal-operational students with the retention test. Post-hoc analysis of ANOVAs indicated that formal-operational students had significantly more success in the three reasoning areas than transitional students, and transitional students had significantly more success than concrete-operational students.     

Professional Development of Multi-experienced Educators through a Book Study: Fostering Mentoring Relationships

A mentorship professional development model was provided to a group of educators at various stages in their career paths, ranging from pre-service teachers to in-service teachers to teacher leaders. We were interested in exploring how participants’ interactions during a book study influenced their perceptions of practice, with a specific aim at understanding what they noticed from these interactions and how they conceptualized their thoughts from the mentorship experience. Findings indicated that participants situated themselves with a receiver, neutral, or giver perspective, which influenced how they interacted with others. In the process, participants valued the security fostered from the relationships, generated new relationships with others with varying experiences, engaged in reflective practice, and considered exposure to other perspectives to be beneficial.     

Comparison of the Rogers Test and the City College of New York Physical Proficiency Test as Bases for Classifying Students for Activity in Physical Education

Forty-one high competition trait-anxious and 42 low competition trait-anxious fifth- and sixth-grade boys were tested to assess the effects of success-failure competition outcomes on the perception of threat to self and the response to threat in terms of self-protective behavior. Three groups including success, moderate-success, and failure were established by manipulating win percentage. State anxiety was used as the indicant of perceived threat and self-protective behavior was assessed by causal attribution, opponent preference, and preference for social comparison others. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance, analysis of variance, and chi square techniques. The findings strongly indicate that success-failure is an important variable affecting the perception of threat to self in a competitive situation. Further, examination of both the results and the existing paradigmatic differences lead to greater insight regarding the conditions under which self-protective behavior is evoked.     

Neuromuscular Control Mechanisms and Strategy in Arm Movements of Attempted Supranormal Speed

Abstract

Rapid, goal-directed elbow flexion movements were examined under interacting conditions of inertial loading and resistance to movement initiation. The resistance ceased when movement began, resulting in quick release movements. Inertial load slowed the movement and lengthened the agonist and antagonist electromyographic (EMG) burst durations. The quick release resulted in larger accelerations but only minimal changes in peak velocity. Most aspects of the triphasic EMG pattern were little affected by the quick release, but the build up of agonist EMG and the corresponding rate of static force development differed markedly between load and quick release conditions. These and other data suggest that the specific pattern of agonist muscle activation is set according to neuromuscular constraints of the antagonist muscle and the expectation of movement dynamics.     

Patterns of Lower Limb Muscle Activity in Young Boys during a One Foot Static Balance Task

Abstract

Activity patterns of four major muscles were studied in the support leg during a standard one foot balance test. Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the tibialis anterior (TA), peroneus longus (PL), gluteus medius (GM), and adductor magnus (AM) was recorded from 10 boys (aged 7-9 yr) during 30 s balance trials. Rectified, low-pass filtered EMG data, converted to percentages of maximum contractions, were used to establish muscle activation patterns. The results showed that lateral shifts in balance were primarily mediated by the ankle musculature, while the hip muscles appeared to stabilize the pelvis. Immediately prior to lateral shifts of the center of pressure (COP), the activity of each ankle muscle was similar to the activity of the following pose. The hip muscles, however, were not consistently linked to ankle activity. Thus, the control of one-legged lateral balance does not rely on fixed hip-ankle synergies.     

The European Journal of Science Education: Its Aims and Structure

Summaries

English

There are doubts as to whether minor, but nevertheless creative, curriculum projects and programmes in developing countries get a fair chance of being studied for their intrinsic value. Existing directories of science education curricula supply valuable information, but not always in sufficient detail. This is true especially for analysis of the curricula's content areas, the education approaches and the degree of integration. This article describes a co‐operative effort made to create a representative, international network of centres for integrated science education and an instrument to describe integrated science education programmes so that they can become availableto more potential users and adaptators. Some of the problems encountered in the development of the instrument are discussed. In the appendix the Integrated Science CurriculumInformation Form (ISCIF) is given in full. The authors suggest that ISCIF should be tested under varying conditions and that feedback shouldbe used to improvethe instrument further.