Voices of teachers with dyslexia in Finnish and English further and higher educational settings

This paper sheds light onto a poorly presented group of professionals – teachers with dyslexia in Finnish and English further and higher educational settings. The purpose of this qualitative study was, firstly, to discover what teachers with dyslexia could tell us about the manifestation of dyslexia and the challenges they face in the practice of teaching, and secondly, to find out what these professionals feel about being a dyslexic teacher. The data were gathered through the narrative interviews of six teachers and was analysed using thematic narrative analysis. Teachers’ narratives revealed that they had accepted their difficulties but also discovered their own strengths to overcome them. The data also indicated that these teachers appreciate their educator’s role, acknowledging the importance of empathy and understanding towards their students. Teachers with dyslexia can be successful and useful in training fellow practitioners to be more aware of students’ difficulties with dyslexia, hence having the potential to broaden capacity for inclusion and social equality in educational establishments.     

Electrospinning jets and nanofibrous structures

Electrospinning is a process that creates nanofibers through an electrically charged jet of polymer solution or melt. This technique is applicable to virtually every soluble or fusible polymer and is capable of spinning fibers in a variety of shapes and sizes with a wide range of properties to be used in a broad range of biomedical and industrial applications. Electrospinning requires a very simple and economical setup but is an intricate process that depends on several molecular, processing, and technical parameters. This article reviews information on the three stages of the electrospinning process (i.e., jet initiation, elongation, and solidification). Some of the unique properties of the electrospun structures have also been highlighted. This article also illustrates some recent innovations to modify the electrospinning process. The use of electrospun scaffolds in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has also been described.     

Bibliometrics of global malaria vaccine research

Objectives: This study evaluates malaria vaccine research carried out in different parts of the world during 1972–2004 using different bibliometric indicators. Method: Data have been downloaded from PubMed for the period 1972–2004 using the keywords (malaria* or plasmodium or falciparum) and (vaccine*) in the title and abstract fields. The study examined the pattern of growth of the output, its geographical distribution, profile of different countries in different subfields and pattern of citations using GOOGLE Scholar. Results: Malaria vaccine research output is gradually increasing. The USA, followed by the UK and Australia contributed the highest number of papers. Publication activity has decreased in Switzerland and Sweden, but has increased in Brazil and China. The majority of the countries have focused on the development of asexual blood stage malaria. Citations per paper and incidence of high‐quality papers for the USA, the UK, Papua New Guinea and Denmark are more than the average. The majority of the prolific institutions are located in the USA, the UK, France and Australia. Conclusion: The last two decades have witnessed considerable growth in research output in this field, while a successful malaria vaccine still remains elusive. Interestingly, the countries like the USA, the UK and Australia that lead in the quantity, quality and citation of this output are often not those directly affected by malaria.     

Antioxidants: Basis concepts in relation to the eye

Antioxidants are a small group of substances that protect living cells from the destructive consequences of powerful oxidizing intermediates that can be formed from oxygen. Situations in which pro-oxidant mechanisms within the body are more active than the antioxidant mechanisms (oxidative stress) predispose and contribute to the pathogenesis of several ailments in various organs of the body. In the eye, pro-oxidant factors have been blamed for the causation of diseases such as age related macular degeneration and senile cataract. The role of pro-oxidants in the genesis of certain diseases is well established however, the effectivity of antioxidants provided to the body by dietary supplementation is inconclusive. In this article we provide a review on the basic concepts of antioxidant-pro-oxidant interaction in relation to its effects on the eye.     

Blood lipid peroxidation products and antioxidants in senile cataract

Lipid peroxidation products and antioxidants were estimated in either blood, serum or erythrocytes of 25 cases of early and 25 of advanced senile (50–60 years) cataract and 30 persons of age matched healthy controls. Serum lipid peroxidation products (as malondialdehyde) were significantly higher in patients with early senile (0.25±0.05 μm/dl, P<0.05) and advanced senile cataract (0.29±0.05 μm/dl, P<0.001) as compared to healthy controls (0.22±0.07 μm/dl). Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase levels were lower in patients with early senile (730±60.5 units/gm Hb) and significantly lower in advanced senile (712±50.2 units/gm Hb, P<0.05) cataract than those in healthy controls (767±59.5 units/gm Hb). Serum α-tocopherol was significantly lower (P<0.05) in only advanced senile cataract (0.69±0.08 mg/dl) but not in early senile cataract (0.75±0.08 mg/dl) when compared with healthy controls (0.75±0.09 mg/dl). There was no significant difference in the erythrocyte concentration of reduced glutathione and serum levels of total proteins, β-carotene, vitamin A, ascorbic acid, calcium, magnesium and zinc.     

Pure and bitter spaces: gender,identity and territory in Northern Irish youth transitions

This paper examines young people’s narratives of space and territory and the ways in which they are gender specific. Drawing upon data from two ESRC funded research projects beginning in 1996, the paper focuses upon the ways in which boundaries are perceived, constructed and managed in the everyday lives of young women and men growing up in one area of Northern Ireland. The paper considers how the territorial boundaries that young people adhere to create ‘pure’ and ‘bitter’ spaces which serve to reinforce their own sense of cultural and ethnic differences. It also looks at the experiences of those who travel beyond these boundaries, the impact of gender and the implications that traversing boundaries has on young people’s lives. Finally, the paper suggests that young women appear more willing and able to cross boundaries by seizing opportunities presented by cosmopolitanism and changing patterns of leisure. In so doing, young women challenge the legacy of ‘bitterness’ inherent in pure spaces.     

Vocabulary Development and Trajectories of Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties Via Academic Ability and Peer Problems

This study investigates associations between trajectories of children's vocabulary development and subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties via two potential mediating mechanisms; literacy and peer problems. Nationally representative data from 4,983 Australian children were used to examine trajectories of receptive vocabulary (4–5, 6–7, and 8–9 years) and hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms (8–9, 10–11, 12–13, 14–15 years), and literacy and peer problems (8–9 years). Lower growth in vocabulary was related to trajectories of hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms. Literacy was a key mediator explaining these associations. Results were consistent for children below the 50th percentile for vocabulary at 4–5 years compared to the full sample. These findings suggest that early literacy-based interventions may alleviate declining academic, emotional and behavioral functioning in adolescence.     

Experiences in MOOCs: The Perspective of Students

The aim of this article was to examine the experiences of students who have participated in massive open online courses (MOOCs). The results of an initial Google blog search were narrowed down to a sample of twenty-one blog posts, each of which was written by a MOOC participant. Content analysis was applied to identify and classify blog comments into emergent themes (e.g., the relevance of type and length of course, student demographics, instruction/instructor interactive styles, and factors that impacted on the learning process) to develop a picture of their experiences. Overall, mixed feelings were expressed. Results provided a glimpse of the student experiences, including why students take such courses, what elements of their experience are positive, and what can be improved from the student point of view.     

Infants as Others: uncertainties,difficulties and (im)possibilities in researching infants’ lives

Increasingly, researchers are trying to understand what daily life is like for infants in non-parental care from the perspectives of the infants themselves. In this article, we argue that it is profoundly difficult, if not impossible, to know how infants experience their worlds with any certainty and, indeed, whether they do or do not possess well-worked out ‘perspectives’ on their experiences. Three key difficulties are discussed: firstly, the difficulty of interpreting non-verbal expressions and behaviour; secondly, the difficulty of knowing whether researchers’ constructions of the ‘infant’s perspective’ align with the infant’s experiences of their world; and, thirdly, the difficulty of providing opportunities for infants to disrupt researchers’ predetermined categories of understanding, meanings and expectations. Because of these difficulties, we argue that research endeavours to understand infants’ experiences in non-parental care should be seen as sites of ethical rather than epistemological practice.     

Blockchain-based online education content ranking

Education and Information Technologies - Nowadays, internet technology plays a vital role in all the fields of our daily lives ranging from the world economy, professional careers, higher...