The Indian patent system and indigenous R&D

This paper examines some of the theoretical assumptions governing a model patent system and highlights the features of the new Indian Patent Act compared to these assumptions. An attempt has also been made to analyze and project data on foreign patent registrations in India both prior to and after the passing of the new Act. A tentative inference is that the new Act has not significantly affected the number of foreign patents seeking protection in India. A case has also been made out justifying the use of patent statistics in R & D programme formulation both at the macro- and micro-levels.     

CHARTING THE OUTCOMES OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SUMMER INSTITUTE ON GERONTOLOGY

The multiple and complex needs of the elderly require interdisciplinary collaboration among many different professionals to provide comprehensive care. As a result, educators must develop interdisciplinary programs and learning experiences that address educational needs and facilitate a better understanding of the various roles and expertise of providers from many fields. Using the framework of a program evaluation model, the Charting the Outcomes of Educational and Clinical Approaches model, this article addresses the outcomes and effects of an interdisciplinary approach to continuing gerontological education used by one summer institute on gerontology. Over its 12‐year history, this institute has attracted more than 2,600 participants from many professions and occupations. The interdisciplinary approach of the Summer Institute has been evident in its planning committees, the delivery of diversified programs by a variety of providers, the facilitation of informal networking among registrants, and the organization of group discussions that bring together professionals and learners from different disciplines to communicate and collaborate on mutual concerns regarding aging issues. One theme on case management, which addressed policy and practical issues related to service delivery for the elderly, was presented by representatives from academia, government, the nonprofit service sector, and consumers to an audience of providers from various fields including business, gerontology, health promotion, nursing, occupational therapy, psychology, recreation, social work, and sociology. Thesue cess of the interdisciplinary approach to gerontological education used by the institute has helped to establish McMaster University as a Canadian leader in this field of continuing education.     

Spelling performance of English consonants among students whose first language is Arabic

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of some aspects of the Arabic phonological system on spelling English words. In Study 1, the spelling performance of Arabic students from grades four and six was compared with English students in cognate phoneme pairs which exist across both languages (/d/ and /t/), and pairs in which only one of the phonemes exists in Arabic (/b/ and /p/, /f/ and /v/) using a spelling test which contained words with the target phonemes. The findings showed that the Arabic participants performed similarly to the English participants on the phonemes /t/ and /d/, but they tended to spell the phonemes /b/, /p/, /f/, and /v/ using their cognate pairs more often than the English participants did. In Study 2, the spelling performance of Arabic students was compared across grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 for the same target phonemes. The analyses showed no difference between the Arabic participants in how often they confused the target phonemes with their cognate pairs across the different grade levels, except for the phonemes /p/ and /v/, for which the effect size was small. The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of phonology in spelling, as well as the influence of the first language on spelling in a second language. They also indicate that Arabic students continue to be dependent on phonological processes when spelling English words even as they grow older.     

Hardy-weinberg equilibrium and the foundations of evolutionary genetics 3. Incorporating Mutation and Migration

The year 2008 marked the 150th anniversary of the debut of the concept of natural selection as a mechanism of adaptive evolution through the reading of papers by Darwin and Wallace to the Linnaean Society. It also marked the 100th anniversary of the enunciation of the principle defining the inertial state of populations from a genetic viewpoint through the independent publication of papers on the topic by G H Hardy and W Weinberg. In this series, we examine the significance of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium as a basic model of population genetics that forms the foundation for evolutionary genetics. In Part 3 of this series, we begin to relax some of the assumptions of the basic model underlying the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, and analyse the situations where either mutation or migration occur in an otherwise ideal large population.     

Componential Model of Reading (CMR): Validation Studies

The three current models of identifying learning disabilities: discrepancy model, RtI, and Componential Model of reading are discussed in terms of their utility.