Cartographies of scholarship: Stephen Heimans talks to Parlo Singh about teaching,research, and the intellectual terrain of feminist scholarship with/after Bernstein

ABSTRACT

Parlo Singh is a leading contemporary sociologist of education and world-renowned “Bernstein” scholar. In this interview with Stephen Heimans, Parlo discusses important aspects of her teaching and research journey. She highlights the interconnections between these and discusses her relationship with Basil Bernstein’s oeuvre and the work she has undertaken both that builds on and is separate from it.     

Performance of mentally retarded children on a hierarchically sequenced introductory mathematics curriculum∗

Sixteen severely and moderately retarded children were given diagnostic tests to assess their understanding of number concepts. One group of eight children (experimental) were then given training on a hierarchically sequenced introductory mathematics curriculum and the other group of eight children (control) were given training on the same objectives but through traditional techniques. Results at the end of 12 months showed that the experimental group mastered an average of 32 objectives while the control group averaged 15.5 These results suggest that hierarchically sequenced mathematics curriculum may provide an effective approach to the teaching of number concepts to the severely and moderately retarded.

     

Effect of feeding Carica papaya (Papita) fruits on blood lipid profile of albino rabbits

Effect of feeding ripe and unripe papaya fruit pulps were investigated on blood lipid profile of normal male adult albino rabbits by giving them pulps separately at the dose of 15 and 30g per day along with standard diet over a period of six weeks. As compared to controls both fruit pulps resulted in highly significant (p<0.001) and consistent lowering of serum cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides and elevation in phospholipids and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels at 1,3 and 6 weeks of fruit pulp feeding indicating a dose dependent effect. Observations clearly support medicinal value ofC. Papaya in the management of atherosclerosis, fatty liver, ischaemic changes and consequential myocardial infarction.     

Effect of l-Arginine on Nitric Oxide Levels in Intrauterine Growth Restriction and its Correlation with Fetal Outcome

The current management of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) being empirical and aimed at selecting a safe time for delivery. Acknowledging the beneficial effects of l-arginine on endothelial vasculature the present study was designed to evaluate efficacy of l-arginine on bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) with respect to fetal outcome. With l-arginine supplementation, mean NO levels were significantly increased and a significant mild reduction in systolic/end-diastolic velocity ratio (S/D ratio) was observed on doppler blood flow study, also neonatal outcome improved and incidences of complications were lowered. A deficiency in NO may play an important role in the causation of asymmetric fetal growth restriction. l-Arginine can be used to increase maternal NO levels, enhancing birth weight and decreasing neonatal morbidity. The ideal candidate for arginine therapy according to our study would be IUGR cases with S/D ratio less than 4.96 ± 0.49 and NO levels below 33 μmol/L with minimum of 3 weeks duration of arginine supplementation.     

Association of Resistin with Insulin Resistance and Factors of Metabolic Syndrome in North Indians

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of interrelated common clinical disorders. The role of resistin in insulin sensitivity and MetS is controversial till date. So, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of plasma resistin levels with markers of the MetS in Indian subjects. In a case control study, total 528 subjects were selected for the study. 265 (194 male and 71 female) were cases (with MetS) and 263 (164 male and 99 female) were controls (without MetS). Required anthropometric measurements and calculations were carried out accordingly. All the Biochemical estimations were carried out according to standard protocol. Resistin level was measured by the standard protocol (By ELISA i.e. enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) as illustrated in the kit. Insulin level was also measured by the standard protocol as illustrated in the kit and insulin resistance was calculated by the standard procedures. Plasma resistin levels were significantly higher in cases compared with controls (male = 13.05 ± 4.31 vs. 7.04 ± 2.09 ng/ml; p ≤ 0.001 and female = 13.53 ± 4.14 vs. 7.42 ± 2.30 ng/ml; p ≤ 0.001). Plasma resistin levels were well correlated with waist circumference, glucose, triglycerides, waist/hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, serum low density lipoprotein, serum very low density lipoprotein, insulin and insulin resistance. Plasma resistin levels were elevated in presence of the MetS and were associated with increased metabolic risk factors.     

Urinary Organic Acids Quantitated in a Healthy North Indian Pediatric Population

Human urine gives evidence of the metabolism in the body and contains numerous organic acids and other compounds at a variety of concentration. The concentration of organic acids in urine varies from population to population due to genotype, food habits and other epigenetic and environmental influences. Knowledge of the reference values for urinary organic acids in a healthy pediatric population is very important for critical evaluation. This study was designed to quantify 16 organic acids in a healthy north Indian pediatric population. Early morning urine samples from healthy pediatric subjects of age 1 day to 16 years who did not have symptoms of any disease were analyzed for organic acid content. The children were not on any supplemental vitamins or drugs and were on a free and unrestricted diet. The creatinine concentration of each sample was determined before organic acid analysis. Organic acids were extracted from urine with ethyl acetate, extracted residue was air dried, converted into trimethylsilyl derivatives and analysed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Here we reported the age wise mean values and standard deviations for each compound, adjusted for creatinine content (mmol/mol of creatinine). We found the concentration of most of the metabolites are higher in our population in comparison to other populations. Such data may help to provide a basis for diagnosing metabolic abnormalities in patients in a specific ethnicity.     

TESOL professional standards in the “Asian century”: dilemmas facing Australian TESOL teacher education

Australian teacher education programmes that prepare teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are confronting the nexus of two facets of globalization: transformations in the Asian region, captured in the notion of the “Asian century”, and shifting conceptions of professionalism in TESOL in non-compulsory education. In booming Asian economies, English language learning is integral to the demand for high-quality education. This has produced increases in TESOL Teacher Education Programme (TTEP) enrolments of both domestic Australian students and international students from Asia. Growth in demand for TTEPs has necessitated that they cater to student diversity, and the intended contexts of practice. This demand has coincided with a concurrent movement towards professional standards for TESOL that, we argue, confronts complexities around quality, accountability, and professional identity and achieving conceptual and contextual coherence. Drawing on discourses of managerialism and performativity, this paper explores tensions between increased student demands for TTEPs, professional standards discourses which are part of the global policy discourses on teacher quality, and the achievement of programmatic conceptual and contextual coherence from the perspective of Australian TTEPs.     

Association between insulin resistance and hypothyroidism in females attending a tertiary care hospital

The effect of thyroid status on insulin sensitivity is of great interest but despite various studies there is conflicting data on this subject. The study group comprised of 25 female subjects each with subclinical hypothyroidism, overt hypothyroidism and euthyroid controls. Serum samples of all the patients were assayed for thyroid profile, Insulin and lipid profile. Homeostasis model of assessment (HOMA-IR) was employed to assess the level of insulin resistance. Patients with hypothyroidism demonstrated insulin resistance and dyslipidemia as observed by the higher HOMA-IR and cholesterol and triglyceride levels respectively as compared to the controls. A significantly positive correlation between TSH and HOMA-IR level was also observed in the hypothyroidism group. Thyroid dysfunction leads to alterations in glucose and lipid metabolism which is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The dyslipidemia and insulin resistance should be managed aggressively to reduce the impending risk.