Capacity building of a district education system: insights from Kenya

Both (a) in-school factors such as over-focus on academic performance, absence of uniform, and corporal punishment, and (b) out-of school factors such as caring for ailing parents, child labour, etc., hinder participation of orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) in Free Primary Education (FPE) system in Nyanza Province, Kenya. In this context Concern Worldwide Kenya undertook an appreciative capacity building approach and appropriately positioned District Education Office (DEO) of the Ministry of Education and local civil society organisations (CSOs) to address in-school and out-of-school factors, respectively, to ensure quality education for OVC. The outcome of the programme is promising and has demonstrated the need for greater cooperation between CSOs and the government to develop creative strategies in overcoming the causes of marginalisation within the contexts of the growing AIDS pandemic and poverty in Kenya.     

Meaning making: What reflective essays reveal about biology students’ conceptions about natural selection

The process of reflective writing can play a central role in making meaning as learners process new information and connect it to prior knowledge. An examination of the written discourse can therefore be revealing of learners’ cognitive understanding and affective (beliefs, feelings, motivation to learn) responses to concepts. Despite reflective writing being an important learning tool, the role of this genre in upper-division college biology courses has not been well studied. This paper examines how nineteen physiological ecology students wrote about their understanding of natural selection and adaptations in ten reflective essays and describes how a model of student meaning making was developed. Qualitative essay analysis (through a triangulation of data: class observations; essays; and transcribed interviews) revealed that students could be classified into four categories of writers: subjective (personal, affective connections); objective (conceptual, cognitive connections); authentic (both affective and cognitive connections); and superficial (no supportive connections or claims). In-depth case studies illustrating these four categories are presented. Implications for college science instruction are discussed.     

To Establish the Reference Intervals of Lipid Profile in Punjab

Overnight fasting samples of 1,031 apparently healthy people of Punjab visiting the hospital over a period of 3 years were tested for serum lipid profile. The mean ± SD of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol in mg/dl were 182.2 ± 33.9, 122.4 ± 33.4, 44.1 ± 6.8, 113.9 ± 32.0, 24.6 ± 7.1 respectively. When these subjects were grouped according to age and sex, no appreciable difference was observed between most of the groups. Serum triglycerides were found to be low and HDL-C was high in females when compared with males of similar age and vice versa. With advancing age, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were found to be higher in women. The present study suggests that the obtained lipid values should be taken into consideration during clinical evaluation.     

Effect of yoga training on plasma lipid profile,R.B.C. membrane lipid peroxidation and Na+K+ ATPase activity in patients of essential hypertension

We conducted a controlled study on effect of selected yoga practive in the control and management of 50 cases of essential hypertension and equal number of healthy (nonhypertensive) controls. Free radical cellular damage is considered to be the underlying common biological factor in essential hypertension. We, therefore, investigated lipid profile lipid peroxidation and Na⁺K⁺ ATPase activities of plasma membrane of subjects with essential hypertension. It was found that hypertensive subjects had an elevated lipid peroxidation and decreased Na⁺K⁺ ATPase activity in plasma membrane as compared to normotensive healthy controls, the specific yoga training protocol which was administered not only helped to decrease blood pressure but also retard the progression of ceellular damage due to free radicals.     

Genetic Variation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">CD166</Emphasis> Gene and Its Association with Bladder Cancer Risk in North Indian Population

Adhesion molecules play a key role in cancer progression and tumorigenesis. Genetic polymorphism of adhesion molecules may alter the normal functioning thereby leading to bladder cancer susceptibility. Hence we aimed to evaluate three SNPs of CD166 gene (CD166rs6437585 C/T, CD166rs10511244 C/T, and CD166rs1157 A/G) in bladder cancer patients and normal controls of North Indian population. A total of 270 healthy controls and 240 confirmed bladder cancer patients were recruited for this study. Three SNPs of CD166 gene viz. CD166rs6437585 C/T, CD166rs10511244 C/T, and CD166rs1157 A/G were selected for this study. CD166rs6437585 C/T and CD166rs10511244 C/T were genotyped by Taqman allelic discrimination assay and CD166rs1157 A/G was genotyped by PCR–RFLP. The statistical analysis was done using the SPSS software, version 16.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL), and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Haplotypic analysis was done by using SNP analyzer version 1.2A. CD166rs6437585 C/T and CD166rs10511244 C/T showed significant association with reduced risk in bladder cancer while CD166rs1157 A/G showed significant high risk along with association at genotypic and allelic levels. Haplotypic analysis showed 1.8-folds risk in CCG combination, whereas CTA and TCG showed significant association with reduced risk. Further stratification on the basis of smoking, tumor grade/stage and BGC therapy revealed no association of these three polymorphic sites of CD166. Our study suggests that CD166rs6437585 C/T and CD166rs10511244 C/T are predictive for the reduced risk of bladder cancer, whereas CD166rs1157 A/G had shown significant association with high risk of bladder cancer in North Indians. This somehow suggests that CD166rs1157 A/G can be used as a marker for risk prediction of bladder cancer.     

Incidence,type and intensity of abuse in street children in India

ObjectiveThe aims of this cross-sectional survey were to examine the prevalence, type and intensity of abuse in street children in Jaipur city, India.MethodBased on purposive random sampling, 200 street children, inclusive of equal number of boys and girls, were selected from the streets of Jaipur city, India, and administered an in-depth interview schedule which included five areas of abuse, namely, “general abuse,” “health abuse,” “verbal abuse,” “physical abuse,” and “psychological abuse.” Data was interpreted using percentages, t-test and correlations.ResultsStreet children reported experiences of abuse in all the five areas under study. Larger numbers of children (61.8%) scored in the “moderate” category of abuse while 36.6% children indicated abuse in “severe” and “very severe” categories on the intensity of abuse. Highest mean scores were obtained on the “verbal” and “psychological” area of abuse. Gender differences were significant in health and overall abuse, indicating boys to be significantly more abused than girls. There were significant positive correlations of abuse with increasing “age” and “income” of street children; and the occurrence of “multi-type” maltreatment and neglect in street children was clearly present.ConclusionDifferent forms of abuse are prevalent in street children in India. This area of study needs attention both by the researchers and the social workers.Practice implicationschildren who are identified in severe and very severe categories of abuse should be worked with in a follow up study with the help of governmental and nongovernmental agencies working in the field for child welfare.     

Two dimensional potential mapping-Monte Carlo simulation

A very useful experiment of two dimensional potential mapping, namely electrolytic tank model, for graduate and post graduate level physics students is given here. Laplace's equation is solved for the above and the results are compared with the experiment. The agreement is so good that this is extended to complex problems. Monte Carlo simulation, an alternative to the above experiment, is developed for these complex problems and compared with the experimental results of electrolytic tank model.