Literacy achievement in India: A demographic evaluation

This article evaluates the progress in literacy among the Indian states, from an age-cohort perspective. It argues that age-cohort analysis offers a robust understanding of the dynamics of literacy progress. The article clearly brings out the fact that, despite the accomplishment of universal elementary education, achieving the goal of full literacy is quite difficult, owing to the existence of an out-of-school-age illiterate population. Thus, the study suggests provision of an effective adult-literacy programme along with universal elementary education in order to realize the goal of full literacy. Further, it argues that comparisons based on the average literacy rate have led to a computation of a “literacy deprivation index” adjusted with age structure—and that such adjustment leads us to view the literacy gap across all the states as wider, given that it assumes lower values. This minimal standardization, along with the age structure of the population, offers a valid comparison of this commonly used indicator. Its prospect of progress, too, is largely dependent upon the emerging age structure of the population as a result of the unfolding demographic transition.     

Open educational resources: removing barriers from within

Enthusiasts and evangelists of open educational resources (OER) see these resources as a panacea for all of the problems of education. However, despite its promises, their adoption in educational institutions is slow. There are many barriers to the adoption of OER, and many are from within the community of OER advocates. This commentary calls for a wider discussion to remove these barriers to mainstreaming OER in teaching and learning and argues for a rethinking of the idea of ‘open’ to make it more inclusive by redefining the concept. It reminds us of the original thinking behind OER – which was to create universally available educational resources that can improve the quality of teaching and learning. This commentary posits arguments against conflating OER and open education, questions the narrow definitions of OER, and raises issues around how to be more flexible and open to mainstreaming OER and removing barriers from within the OER movement.     

Investigating the effectiveness of gamification on supply chain operations knowledge and practice

The use of gamification to enhance learning in education has been well documented. However, little is known about whether gamification can impact supply chain management knowledge and behaviors among healthcare professionals. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a simulation app (ShipShape) designed and developed to gamify the fundamental concepts of supply chain management. We field tested the effectiveness of the app to impact knowledge gain and supply chain practice by asking healthcare professionals to use the app in their day-to-day operations. We collected longitudinal data spanning the period before and after the introduction of the app. The analysis and results of different types of data collected provide support for the positive impact of the app on both supply chain knowledge and practice among healthcare professionals.     

Stress and women

Stress-tension-pain occur more often in health disorders of women than anywhere in the entire spectrum of human illness. No where is the effect of rapid change more apparent than in the changing role of today's women who are subjected to pressures from all sides. Now a days women virtually take part occupy positions, in day to day activities similar to their male counterparts. An outline of conceptual consideration, biochemical overview of stress and intricacies of coping mechanisms are delineated from the point of view of stress situations in female (during reproductive life span) peculiar to them only viz menarche, menstrual cycle, pregnancy-eventualities of pregnancy-labour-delivery, purperium, postpartum psychosis, abortions-induced, spontaneous, menopause. Lipid profile and oxidative stress status as biochemical responses in these stresses were investigated. As expected observed maximal/minimal biochemical responses well correlated with peak time and at termination of stress. Present day emphasis is on menstrual regulation by intake of oral contraceptive to improve health if women prefer not to bleed every month and hormone replacement therapy for elderly women to improve post menopausal quality of life and avoiding menstrual problems at the same time.     

Getting Students Outside: Using Technology as a Way to Stimulate Engagement

Informal environments provide students with unique experiences that allow them to actively participate in activities while promoting a positive attitude toward and an increased interest in science. One way to enhance informal science experiences is through the integration of mobile technologies. This integration is particularly useful in engaging underrepresented students in learning science. Our informal environmental science program engages underrepresented, fifth-grade students in an informal learning environment supplemented with mobile tablet technology (iPads). The purpose of this study was to explore how fifth-grade students interacted with nature using mobile technology during a nature hike series. Participants included 55 fifth-grade students from two low-income schools. We found that students used the mobile technology to explore nature and stay engaged throughout the hike. The iPads were used as references, data collectors, and engagement tools. Students had an intense desire in returning to the site and responded positively toward interacting with nature. Prior research has indicated that students in this age group are likely to lose interest in science and the incorporation of field-friendly technology that engages students with nature, not technology alone, is a useful tool for keeping students interested in science.     

A Study of Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease shares many features of metabolic syndrome and its presence could signify a substantial cardiovascular risk above and beyond that conferred by individual risk factors. This study is an attempt to investigate the association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with carotid intima-media thickness and plaque as surrogate measures of increased cardiovascular risk. The study was conducted on 645 non diabetic, non alcoholic subjects in the age range of 20–60 years. Metabolic syndrome was assessed by using ATP III and ADA (2005) criteria. Anthropometric factors—waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. Fasting serum samples were analyzed for glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol and its fractions, insulin, alanine and aspartate transaminases, gamma glutamyl transferase and free fatty acids. Insulin resistance and secretion were calculated by homeostasis model and insulin sensitivity by QUICKI index. Liver ultrasonographic scanning was used for assessing fatty liver. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by B-mode ultrasonography of common carotid artery and internal carotid artery. The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was 15.6 % in non alcoholic population and 68.5 % of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had metabolic syndrome, which was associated with hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, insulin insensitivity along with elevated levels of waist circumference, blood pressure, triglyceride, FFA and decreased HDL cholesterol. NAFLD patients had markedly greater carotid intima media thickness than non NAFLD subjects with MCIMT of 591.6 ± 108 and 489.5 ± 132.4 μm (P < 0.001) and plaque prevalence of 19.2 and 2.2 %, respectively, thus the carotid intima media thickness is associated with NAFLD.