Higher education research in South Africa: Achievements, conditions and new challenges

This paper provides a historical overview of the development of higher education research in South Africa by focusing on past achievements and conditions, and present and future challenges. An attempt is made to point out the changes in both the context and paradigm of higher education research. The authors illustrate how research foci and methods were shaped by the political agenda of the old South Africa, and highlight the issues which higher education currently and in the future will have to address as part of the transformation process of not only higher education, but of South African society as a whole.     

The "Little Five": Exploring the Nomological Network of the Five-Factor Model of Personality in Adolescent Boys

The California Child Q-set (CCQ) was used to explore the structure of personality in early adolescence and to develop scales to measure the "Big Five" dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Mothers provided Q-sorts of 350 ethnically diverse boys between 12 and 13 years old. Analyses of the construct validity of the scales provided a nomological network relating the Big Five to theoretically and socially important criterion variables, such as juvenile delinquency, Externalizing and Internalizing disorders of childhood psychopathology, school performance, IQ, SES, and race. These effects were obtained using diverse methods, including self-reports from the boys, ratings by their mothers and their teachers, and objective-test data. In addition to the Big Five, analyses also suggested 2 possibly age-specific dimensions of personality in early adolescence. Discussion is focused on the changing manifestations of personality traits throughout development.     

Enhancement of myeloperoxidase activity in WBCS in oral cancer patients treated with Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF)—A pilot study

In a pilot study with five oral cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) three were given Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) as a protective agent to reduce the mucosal inflammation during radiotherapy. The myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme activity in WBC was quantitated. The three patients showed a significant increase in the MPO activity when compared with two untreated controls indicating the efficacy of GM-CSF as a protective agent. It is suggested that further detailed studies with larger number of patients would be useful.     

Deaf clubs today: do they still have a role to play? The cases of Cyprus and Greece

The present study investigated the current functions of Deaf clubs in Cyprus and in Greece. The researchers conducted in-depth semistructured interviews with 24 Cypriot and 22 Greek deaf individuals ages 19-54 years. The researchers found that the Deaf clubs in both countries provide a gathering place for deaf people, organize social and sport activities, and promote their demands through legislation. In addition, Deaf clubs maintain and transmit Deaf culture and history to future generations, offer Deaf role models to young deaf children and their families, and provide Deaf awareness to hearing people (e.g., through sign languages classes). The study participants also stressed the role of Deaf clubs in deaf people's lives, unity, and prospects for future progress.     

Exploring Attribution of Responsibility in a Cross-National Study of TV News Coverage of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

This study investigates how prime-time television news portrayed attributions of responsibility for climate change policy issues in the United States, China, and Canada. In analyzing news coverage of the 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen, we distinguish between causal and treatment responsibility. Additionally, we develop frames to test Cerutti's conceptualization of responsibility attribution (2010). The results suggest that television news in the 3 countries portrayed treatment responsibility differently. The prominence of morality, global justice, and national efficacy frames varied across countries, and these conditions were associated with the treatment responsibility frame, partially lending support to the validity of Cerutti's conceptualization.     

The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students' Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election

This study looks at student Facebook groups supporting the 2008 presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, from largest land-grant universities in seven battleground states. The findings of a content analysis of wall posts show that students are using Facebook to facilitate dialog and civic political involvement. In opposition to pro-McCain groups, pro-Obama groups have wider time frame coverage and demonstrate substantively higher site activity. Political discussions related to the political civic process, policy issues, campaign information, candidate issues, and acquisition of campaign products dominate across groups and election seasons. An examination of the content of wall posts based on the four categories of the Michigan Model of voting behavior (partisanship, group affiliation, candidate image, and political/campaign issues) reveals that in the primary season, pro-Obama groups focus mostly on short-term topics (candidate image and campaign issues), whereas pro-McCain groups focus mostly on long-term topics (partisanship and group affiliation). The overall findings of this study suggest that youth online communities actively follow campaigns and post comments that foster the political dialog and civic engagement.     

Unique Correlation Between Mutated Citrullinated Vimentine IgG Autoantibodies and Markers of Systemic Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory systemic autoimmune disease, primarily affecting the peripheral joints. Anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin autoantibodies (anti-MCV) of IgG isotype were shown to be a useful diagnostic marker of RA especially in RA patients who were anti-cyclic citrullinated protein autoantibodies (anti-CCP) negative. Nevertheless, published data correlates rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-CCP or anti-MCV antibodies with either erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or serum C-reactive protein (CRP) as markers of disease activity, not investigated the possible correlations of RA autoantibodies towards ESR and CRP in comparison. Herein, we aim to evaluate the usefulness of anti-MCV as a dependable marker in established RA compared with anti-CCP and RF antibodies and to examine correlations between RF, anti-CCP and anti-MCV antibodies towards ESR and serum CRP. Serum RF-IgA, RF-IgM, anti-CCP and anti-MCV levels were measured in 30 patients with RA and 40 patients with other autoimmune diseases (non-RA) compared with 20 normal subjects. Specificity, sensitivity and AUC for RF antibodies, anti-CCP and anti-MCV were calculated towards RA diagnosis. Our results showed that ESR and CRP had significantly higher values in both RA and non-RA patients compared with our healthy controls with observed significant increment in RA patients compared with non-RA patients. An important finding from our study is that 33.3 % of RA patients were anti-CCP negative but being positive towards anti-MCV. Also, in-between 36.7 up to 40 % of RA patients were RF-IgA and RF-IgM negative while being anti-MCV positive. Anti-MCV antibodies showed the highest specificity and sensitivity (97.5 and 86.6 %, respectively) towards RA diagnosis with the highest AUC value (0.920) compared with anti-CCP and RF antibodies. Correlation analyses revealed that there was no significant correlation between ESR along with CRP towards RF-IgA, RF-IgM and anti-CCP while profound highly significant correlation exhibited between ESR and CRP towards anti-MCV data (r = 0.879 and 0.994, respectively). Thus, our data suggest that the assessment of serum anti-MCV autoantibodies along with ESR and CRP considered as a simple laboratory regime for monitoring RA patients to assess and follow-up disease activity. The addition of anti-MCV autoantibodies to serologic markers in the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA will add points for patients with negative anti-CCP and RF antibodies.     

THE EVALUATION SYSTEM AT THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAASTRICHT

The extensive scheme for both formative and summative assessment of medical students established at a new new medical school is described and discussed. The establishment of multi‐disciplinary project groups and the involvement of educationalists and psychometricians are unique features of the project. The wide range of testing procedures, including self‐assessment units, indicate the complexity of an evaluation program which attempts to cover ALL the competency domains relevant to medicine. The revelation of the incongruence of the program with the educational philosophy of the school shows the necessity for involvement of “consumers” in such programs.     

A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Social and Emotional Learning Interventions on Teachers’ Burnout Symptoms

Educational Psychology Review - Over the last decades, extensive research has given considerable attention to teachers’ burnout. Owing to its negative personal, organizational, and social...