Supporting Early Childhood Social-Emotional Well Being: The Building Blocks for Early Learning and School Success

The period of early childhood sets the stage for how well children view themselves, each other, and their world. Shared positive emotional experiences between caregivers and children serve as building blocks for the development of social and emotional well-being in infants and toddlers. Incorporating the three principles of promotion, prevention, and intervention within a systems framework (child–parent–environment) will enable early childhood practitioners to foster the emotional health and well-being of all children and families, especially those individual children who are more vulnerable due to the presence of multiple risk factors. The primary intent of the authors of this paper is to discuss the importance of attending to the social and emotional well being of very young children as a primary focus of early learning and school success.     

Comparison of Urinary Total Proteins by Four Different Methods

The total proteins in human urine have been compared by sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods with pyrogallol red molybdate method as there are no studies found quantifying imprecision and bias components. Fresh urine of 36 patients was analyzed by four methods. Imprecision and inaccuracy were determined by repeated analysis and method comparison studies using correlation plots, Bland and Altman, and Passing and Bablok regression analyses respectively. The coefficient of variation was 5.07 % for pyrogallol red molybdate; 6.84 % for sulfosalicylic acid; 3.97 % for sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and 5.93 % for trichloroacetic acid methods. Bland and Altman analysis showed a bias of 5.8, 1.7 and ?5.4 for pyrogallol red molybdate versus sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods respectively. Passing and Bablok regression revealed a constant bias for pyrogallol red molybdate versus all turbidimetric methods but a proportional bias only with trichloroacetic acid method. Sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate method is preferred to sulfosalicylic acid and trichloroacetic acid methods.     

The effect on students' attitudes of the computer as a teaching aid

The effect on students' attitudes of using a microcomputer as a demonstration aid was investigated in an intermediate algebra class. The subjects were 110 college students, 51 of whom participated in an experimental instructional strategy that involved a microcomputer as an aid in teaching mathematical concepts. The results suggest a significant treatment effect on students' attitude favoring the microcomputer treatment group.     

Disturbing Reading: J.M. Coetzee's ‘The Problem of Evil’

A literary representation can give us grief. J.M. Coetzee's ‘The Problem of Evil’ follows the crisis of reading of his main character Elizabeth Costello as she struggles to comprehend discursive images of evil. Costello's trouble with reading is not attributed to a cognitive deficiency in her ability to read the text but to a psychical disturbance she experiences while reading. Thinking through our ‘disturbances’ while and after reading gives readers an opportunity to rethink reading as affected by the thoughts and words of others.     

Cheating in e-exams and paper exams: the perceptions of engineering students and teachers in Norway

Abstract

A concern that has been raised with the transition from pen and paper examinations to electronic examinations is whether this will make cheating easier. This article investigates how teachers and students perceive the differences in ease of cheating during three types of written examination: paper exams, bring your own device e-exams and e-exams using university-owned devices. It also investigates perceptions about the effectiveness of some typical countermeasures towards cheating across these examination types. A mixed-method approach was used, combining questionnaires and interviews with students and teachers in the authors’ own university. A total of 212 students and 162 teachers participated in the questionnaire survey, and then, a more limited number were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of the results. Six-different cheating practices were considered – impersonation, forbidden aids, peeking, peer collaboration, outside assistance and student–staff collusion and seven different countermeasures were considered – proctors, biometry, mingling, shuffling, random drawing, sequencing and broadcasting. Both students and teachers perceived cheating as easier with e-exams, and especially with bring your own device. They also thought some countermeasures would be easier to implement with e-exams.     

IN A DIMENSION OF HEIGHT: ETHICS IN THE EDUCATION OF OTHERS

A bstract .  Ethics penetrates every aspect of Western education. Many of its dominant narratives — education as salvation, as progress, as panacea, and as liberation, for example — are infused with the ethical. Educators are compelled by ethical callings; in fact, education as the call of the ethical informs the singular and collective identities of educators. In this essay, Aparna Mishra Tarc troubles the role of the ethics in Western education using Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's deconstruction of the ethical in philosophy. Spivak's deconstruction reveals how an ethics based in one's idea of what the Other is and should be violates the uniqueness of Others. Spivak challenges educators to examine vigilantly the ethico-political assumptions and discourses underlying ethical acts in the classroom. Drawing on the writings of Emmanuel Levinas, mediated by the thinking of Jacques Derrida, Spivak re-imagines ethics apart from — and as a part of — its metaphysical heritage. Tarc discusses aspects of Spivak's vision for an education borne out of ethical singularity as hearing and responding to the Other's call. Finally, she explores its implications for how one might begin to respond justly to the conditions of others within and alongside of one's own intellectual and pedagogical engagements.     

Correlation Between Proinflammatory Serum Markers: High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein,Interleukin-6 with Disability Score in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Stroke being the third leading cause of death and foremost cause of disability, if potential diagnostic utility of blood borne protein biomarkers in predicting acute stroke is established, it would be a substantial adjunct to computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging which have their own limitations. This study was done to correlate serum Interleukin 6, high sensitivity C reactive protein at the time of admission with neurological worsening assessed by NIHSS at the time of admission and 7 days after admission. 46 Patients admitted in neurology department SAIMS, Indore with first ever ischemic stroke within 72 h of onset were included in the study. All patients with history of stroke of more than 72 h onset, Infection & peripartum stroke were excluded from the study. Disability scoring was done by NIHSS and their serum samples assayed for hsCRP, IL6 by commercially available quantitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay kits. Serum samples of 50 control cases which included healthy volunteers and staff from SAIMS were also analyzed for hsCRP, IL6 for comparative study. A significant correlation was observed between NIHSS scoring and serum hsCRP and IL6 at the time of admission. Patients with initial high serum IL6 and hsCRP also showed significant clinical deterioration as assessed by NIHSS scoring 7 days after admission. Elevated hsCRP and IL6 within 72 h of admission strongly correlated with functional disability in study population in India and may serve as useful adjunct to CT Scan in emergency setting.     

Predictors of Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Complications in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in an Eastern Indian Population

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive values of central obesity and hyperandrogenemia in development of insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients in our region. Differences of fasting blood glucose level, insulin resistance index HOMA-IR, lipid parameters, waist hip ratio (WHR), body mass index, LH/FSH ratio and testosterone levels between 45 PCOS cases and 35 age matched controls were obtained. Strength of association between different parameters in the case group was assayed by Pearson’s correlation analysis. Dependence of insulin resistance and WHR on different predictors was assessed by multiple linear regression assay. Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, LH, FSH, LH/FSH ratio, WHR and insulin resistance were significantly higher in the case group (p < 0.05). Serum testosterone showed strong correlation with insulin resistance and LH/FSH ratio (r = 0.432 and 0.747, p = 0.01 and 0.001 respectively) in the PCOS patients while WHR and serum testosterone level stood out to be most significant predictors for the insulin resistance (β = 0.361 and 0.498; p = 0.048 and 0.049 respectively). Hyperandrogenemia and central obesity were the major factors predicting development of insulin resistance and its related metabolic and cardiovascular complications in our PCOS patients. We suggest early monitoring for androgen level and WHR in these patients for predicting an ensuing insulin resistance and modulating the treatment procedure accordingly to minimise future cardiovascular risks.     

Xanthine oxidase as a marker of myocardial infarction

In the present communication, we report remarkably elevated levels of xanthine oxidase activity in the blood of the patients with myocardial infarction when compared to age and sex matched healthy persons. Highly significant increase of malondialdehyde, serving as an index of lipid peroxidation and thus free radical mediated damage, has also been found in the patients. We propose the measurement of the blood levels of xanthine oxidase, a very simple, reliable and less time consuming method as an indicator of myocardial infarction.