A survey towards an integration of big data analytics to big insights for value-creation

Big Data Analytics (BDA) is increasingly becoming a trending practice that generates an enormous amount of data and provides a new opportunity that is helpful in relevant decision-making. The developments in Big Data Analytics provide a new paradigm and solutions for big data sources, storage, and advanced analytics. The BDA provide a nuanced view of big data development, and insights on how it can truly create value for firm and customer. This article presents a comprehensive, well-informed examination, and realistic analysis of deploying big data analytics successfully in companies. It provides an overview of the architecture of BDA including six components, namely: (i) data generation, (ii) data acquisition, (iii) data storage, (iv) advanced data analytics, (v) data visualization, and (vi) decision-making for value-creation. In this paper, seven V's characteristics of BDA namely Volume, Velocity, Variety, Valence, Veracity, Variability, and Value are explored. The various big data analytics tools, techniques and technologies have been described. Furthermore, it presents a methodical analysis for the usage of Big Data Analytics in various applications such as agriculture, healthcare, cyber security, and smart city. This paper also highlights the previous research, challenges, current status, and future directions of big data analytics for various application platforms. This overview highlights three issues, namely (i) concepts, characteristics and processing paradigms of Big Data Analytics; (ii) the state-of-the-art framework for decision-making in BDA for companies to insight value-creation; and (iii) the current challenges of Big Data Analytics as well as possible future directions.     

The design and development of a dyscalculia checklist based on a focus group interview

This article aims to explore the symptoms and characteristics of dyscalculia. This is a qualitative study. Five experts in the field of special education took part in a focus group interview. Each expert had more than ten years of experience in their area of expertise. To determine the content validity of the protocol, three experts in special education, language and qualitative research evaluated each of the eight items. Cohen's kappa analysis was used to assess inter-rater reliability. The findings of this study indicate that 59 items have been developed, based on six constructs in the dyscalculia checklist. The six constructs were subitising, estimating, Arabic numerals, verbal numbers, arithmetic facts and calculating processes. Following the focus group interview, a new construct emerged: math anxiety. The study implies that teachers might utilise this checklist to carry out early detection of students with dyscalculia in primary schools. This will enable appropriate intervention, resulting in significant benefits for the Ministry of Education, for educators and teachers, and for the students themselves. Although this study was based in Malaysia, the results have wider implications because dyscalculia is present everywhere.     

Real-time,evidence-based medicine instruction: a randomized controlled trial in a neonatal intensive care unit

Purpose: The study assesses potential for improving residents'' evidence-based medicine searching skills in MEDLINE through real-time librarian instruction.Subjects: Ten residents on a rotation in a neonatal intensive care unit participated.Methodology: Residents were randomized into an instruction and a non-instruction group. Residents generated questions from rounds and searched MEDLINE for answers. Data were collected through observation, search strategy analysis, and surveys. Librarians observed searches and collected data on questions, searching skills, search problems, and the test group''s instruction topics. Participants performed standardized searches before, after, and six-months after intervention and were scored using a search strategy analysis tool (1 representing highest score and 5 representing lowest score). Residents completed pre- and post-intervention surveys to measure opinions about MEDLINE and search satisfaction.Results: Post-intervention, the test group formulated better questions, used limits more effectively, and reported greater confidence in using MEDLINE. The control group expressed less satisfaction with retrieval and demonstrated more errors when limiting. The test and control groups had the following average search scores respectively: 3.0 and 3.5 (pre-intervention), 3.3 and 3.4 (post-intervention), and 2.0 and 3.8 (six-month post-intervention).Conclusion: Data suggest that measurable learning outcomes were achieved. Residents receiving instruction improved and retained searching skills six-months after intervention.     

Librarian integration in a four-year medical school curriculum: a timeline

The Taubman Health Sciences Library (THL) is integrated in all four years of the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) curriculum. Information resources are introduced at strategic points throughout the curriculum so that students receive training at times when they are most likely to need the resource. Most of the core instruction sessions are taught in teams that consist of librarians and UMMS faculty, which provides unique learning opportunities for students. This article describes each THL instruction activity in the four-year undergraduate UMMS curriculum and provides commentary on the overall effectiveness of this integrated approach to instruction.     

Thyroid Disorders in Patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The study was planned to assess the prevalence of thyroid disorders in type 2 diabetes in North Indian population and to correlate the serum insulin and glycosylated haemoglobin levels with thyroid hormones. It is a case control study. One hundred and twenty patients of type 2 diabetes were included in the study along with 117 adults of the same age group and normal glucose levels as controls. All blood samples were taken from subjects who fasted for at least 12 h before the blood collection. Glycosylated hemoglobin was determined by ion exchange chromatography and serum insulin and thyroid hormones were assessed through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Fasting blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin levels were significantly higher in diabetics showing a poor glucose control. Serum tri-iodothyronine values were significantly lower in diabetics. There was a significant correlation between glycosylated haemoglobin and thyroid hormones. There was no correlation between serum insulin and thyroid hormones.     

Oxidative Stress and Its Relationship With Adenosine Deaminase Activity in Various Stages of Breast Cancer

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause damage to the DNA producing mutations and formation of tumours such as carcinoma of breast. Tumour cells are known to produce ROS at a greater pace than the non-transformed cells. The increased production of reactive oxygen species causes oxidative stress leading to cell proliferation and hence increased inflammatory conditions. The present study was aimed to investigate the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Females suffering from breast cancer had significantly decreased Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in comparison to normal females. The compromised antioxidant defence system produces the oxidative stress which in turn creates the inflammatory response shown by concomitant increased adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity in female patients. ADA diminishes the protective molecule adenosine. There were significant variations (p < 0.01) in ADA activity with different clinical stages (stage 1–4) of breast cancer suggesting thereby that estimation of ADA activity can be used as a diagnostic tool to detect the stage of cancer along with cytological studies. Mastectomy was performed and post-operatively serum SOD and ADA activity and plasma GSH levels were estimated. There was a statistically significant increase in activity of SOD and levels of GSH while serum ADA activity decreased significantly, suggesting thereby that oxidative stress is responsible for increased cell proliferation and hence the inflammatory conditions in CA breast that got ameliorated post-operatively.     

Equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education

This essay presents a review on the theme of equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education based on articles published in TATE since its inception. It is a part of an initiative started by the current editors of TATE to “encourage us all to look backward to deepen our understandings of how earlier research has shaped our current research and the ways we can see the reverberations across the temporal span” (Clandinin & Hamilton, 2011, P. 2).