Exploring the need for a responsive school curriculum to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan

PROSPECTS - The article investigates the response of the Pakistani curriculum to the Covid-19 outbreak. It also looks into the development of a curriculum that addresses the specificities of...     

Information and Communication Technologies for Development: The Bottom of the Pyramid Model in Practice

The currently influential model for information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) is based on increasing the well-being of the poor through market-based solutions, and by using low-cost but advanced technologies. Using ethnographic methods, we chart out the contradictions that could arise when such a development-through-entrepreneurship model is implemented. We examine the Akshaya project, a franchise of computer-service kiosks in Kerala, India, which strives simultaneously for social development through access to computers and financial viability through cost recovery and entrepreneurship. We show that tensions within the state and among entrepreneurs and perceptions of public versus private among consumers make it challenging to meet the twin goals of commercial profitability and social development.     

Antinuclear Antibody Profiling in Patients of a Tertiary Care Centre in Central India

The incidence of autoimmune disorders that includes the connective tissue diseases has seen a rise in India in recent times. Antinuclear antibodies, the telltale sign of systemic autoimmune response, thus can be used as a screening tool and also to support the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune disease. The present retrospective cross- sectional analysis aimed to study the antinuclear antibodies profile (patterns and specific antibody reactivity) amongst suspected cases of auto-immune disorders at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The study retrieved and reviewed reports of 644 patients sent for ANA testing by indirect immunofluorescence assay over a period of 1 year by different specialty departments. Positive samples were further processed for anti-ds-DNA antibody and antibodies to extractable nuclear antigen. Data collected was statistically analysed. ANA pattern positivity was observed in 31% of cases and a positive antibody reactivity was seen in 66% of them. Female predominance (82%) was noted in both pattern positivity and antibody reactivity. High levels of pattern positivity and antibody reactivity was found in the young adults (45.9%). Amongst the ANA patterns, the nuclear homogenous pattern was found the commonest. The common antibodies associated with this pattern were anti-dsDNA and U1 Sm/RNP antibodies. A stronger fluorescence intensity on initial screening showed a higher confirmation rate for specific antibodies on immunoassay. High occurrence of positive ANA patterns in autoimmune disorders suggests its utilization as a screening tool for them and would also play an adjuvant to the diagnosis. Early knowledge about future autoimmunity will earn better prognostic achievements through better treatment interventions.     

A study of the power associated with testing factor mean differences under violations of factorial invariance

We examine the power associated with the test of factor mean differences when the assumption of factorial invariance is violated. Utilizing the Wald test for obtaining power, issues of model size, sample size, and total versus partial noninvariance are considered along with variation of actual factor mean differences. Results of a population study show that power is profoundly affected by true factor mean differences but is relatively unaffected by the degree of factor loading noninvariance. Inequality of sample size has a profound effect on power probabilities with power decreasing as sample sizes become increasingly disparate. Sample size variations operate such that power is uniformly lower when the group with the smaller generalized variance is associated with the smaller sample size. An increase in the number of variables yields uniformly larger power probabilities. No substantial differences are found between total and partial noninvariance. Results are related to work in the area of robustness of Hotelling's T ² statistic and discussed in terms of asymptotic covariability of factor means and factor loadings. Implications for practice are considered.     

Affect graphing: leveraging graphical representations in the study of students’ affect in mathematics

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Affect (e.g., beliefs, attitudes, emotions) plays a crucial role in mathematics learning, but reliance on verbal and written responses (from surveys,...     

The Tendential Theory of Sporting Prowess

The results of sport would not interest us if either they were necessitated or they were a matter of pure chance. And if either case were true, the playing of sport would seem to make no sense either. This poses a dilemma. But there is something between these two options, namely the dispositional modality. Sporting prowess can be understood as a disposition towards victory and sporting liabilities a disposition towards defeat. The sporting contest then pits these net prowesses against each other. The stronger will tend to beat the weaker but no more than tend. This makes sense of the sporting contest in which the weaker knows they still can win. The stronger team can lose though they do not tend to do so. The dilemma is thus escaped.