解决童工问题的策略

法律的干预和无形的市场之手双管齐下，有望解决童工这个世界性难题。     

Unusual changes in colostrum composition in lactating Indian women having medical complications during pregnancy—A pilot study

Colostrum, the mammary secretion during first 2–4 days of lactation, provides all the essential components of nutrition and passive immunity required by the newborn. Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), glucose intolerance and anaemia are common medical complications observed during pregnancy in Indian women and their effects were studied on the composition of colostrum collected within 24 hours of delivery from lactating women included in the study. PIH during pregnancy significantly decreased colostrum IgA and total proteins, but showed a significant increase in K⁺ levels, where as women with glucose intolerance showed a significant decrease in total lipids and lactose and an increase in Na⁺ levels in colostrum compared to normal controls. The group with anaemia also showed a significant decrease in colostrum IgA and total protein levels when compared with the control group. Awareness about the changes that occur in the composition of colostrum during complicated pregnancies can be an important and useful tool for preventive and protective paediatrics.     

Strength and deformation characteristics of steel fibrous concrete beams

INTRODUCTION Finite Element (FE) procedures are at present widely used in engineering modelling and analysis and employed extensively in the analysis of solids and structures and heat transfer and fluids (Bathe, 1996). The essence of FE solution of an engineering problem is that a set of governing algebraic equations is es-tablished which are then solved with the help of a digital computer. The first practical FE procedures were employed in linear analysis of solids and struc-tures (B…     

Hyperinsulinemia and Hypoadiponectinemia are Associated with Increased Risk for Occurrence of Ovarian Cancer in Non-diabetic Women of North Indian Population

Ovarian cancer has been emerged as a most common and lethal gynecological malignancy in India. High serum insulin and low adiponectin have been associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer. But their role in development of ovarian cancer is conflicting and little evidence is available. We aimed to evaluate blood levels of insulin and adiponectin in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and their association with the risk to develop EOC. The study included following three groups; Group 1: fifty cases of cytohistopathologically confirmed cases of EOC, Group 2: fifty age matched cases of benign ovarian conditions and Group 3: fifty ages matched healthy controls with no evidence of any benign or malignant ovarian pathology as ruled out by clinical examination and relevant investigations. Cytohistopathologically confirmed and newly diagnosed cases of EOC and benign ovarian cancer were included in this study. The median value of fasting serum insulin was significantly high (15.0 µlU/ml, P = 0.02) and adiponectin were significantly low (5.1 µg/ml, P < 0.001) in ovarian cancer patients compared to benign ovarian tumors and healthy controls group. A significant increase risk of ovarian cancer was found in high tertile (≥ 18.7 µlU/ml) of serum insulin level (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.00–6.67, P = 0.04) and lower tertile (≤ 5.45 µg/ml) of adiponectin level (OR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.10–9.71, P = 0.03). High serum insulin level and low adiponectin levels were significantly associated with increased risk for development of ovarian cancer.     

A Case of Light Chain Deposition Disease (LCDD) in a Young Patient

Light chain disease is a variant of multiple myeloma in which the malignant population of marrow cells produces free monoclonal light chains but no heavy chain or complete immunoglobulin. The monoclonal light chains are small enough to be freely filtered by the kidneys and become Bence–Jones protein. Light chain disease comprises about 18% of multiple myeloma patients. Here we present a case report of a 38-year-old man who initially presented with complaints of pain in back and low grade fever off and on. He was found to have collapse of D9 and D12 vertebrae along with ascites and right pleural effusion and massive proteinuria. Multiple myeloma was considered as a differential diagnosis based on the investigations but eventually the patient was lost to follow up. This case is reported here as the light chain variant of multiple myeloma leading to deposition disease is less commonly reported and presents considerable difficulties in diagnosis.     

A closer look at the Mulliken-Barker test

Qualitative analysis of unknown organic compounds is an essential part of the core curriculum for BSc and MSc students in chemistry. The functional group detection is a significant component of qualitative analysis. The present work describes the reason for the failure of Mulliken-Barker test for nitro compounds having carboxylic acid functionality and suggests a possible remedy.     

Governance structure and standard setting in educational assessment

ABSTRACT

Seldom have comparative studies of educational assessment systems been undertaken, especially regarding their standard setting procedures. This study examines the effects of governance structures on the power relations in standard setting in the dominant school-leaving or university-entrance examinations. We present acritical analysis of the published research and policy documents, including sense-checking with senior assessment practitioners from 22 jurisdictions. The nature of standard setting systems in three cases of Ireland, the USA and India are described in detail to showcase the differences between the following three models of governance systems: nationalised, commercial market and quasi-market. The contribution of this article, then, is to describe the three models of governance systems, to classify the 22 jurisdictions using the three models, and to generate propositions inductively. Thus, the article provides aconceptual basis for extension of this work to other cases to advance the literature cumulatively by theory-building.     

The potential of Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs) for conflict-ridden countries and regions: Lessons learned from an experience in Iraq

International Review of Education - Accelerated learning programmes (ALPs) provide a fast-track second-chance opportunity to complete formal education, enabling disadvantaged children and youth to...     

Microfluidic device for trapping and monitoring three dimensional multicell spheroids using electrical impedance spectroscopy

In this paper, we report the design, fabrication, and testing of a lab-on-a-chip based microfluidic device for application of trapping and measuring the dielectric properties of microtumors over time using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) techniques were used to embed opposing electrodes onto the top and bottom surfaces of a microfluidic channel fabricated using Pyrex substrate, chrome gold, SU-8, and polydimethylsiloxane. Differing concentrations of cell culture medium, differing sized polystyrene beads, and MCF-7 microtumor spheroids were used to validate the designs ability to detect background conductivity changes and dielectric particle diameter changes between electrodes. The observed changes in cell medium concentrations demonstrated a linear relation to extracted solution resistance (Rs), while polystyrene beads and multicell spheroids induced changes in magnitude consistent with diameter increase. This design permits optical correlation between electrical measurements and EIS spectra.     

Alteration of Micronutrient Status in Compensated and Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis

Decompensation followed by death is the most serious outcome in patients suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. Alteration of trace elements may play a vital role in the process of decompensation. To examine the change in status of trace elements during the decompensation process, we analysed the zinc, copper, iron, magnesium, bilirubin and albumin levels in the serum of compensated (n = 34) and decompensated (n = 31) liver cirrhosis patients and compared them with healthy control group (n = 36) by post hoc ANOVA. We observed significant alteration in the selected micronutrients in the diseased group relative to healthy controls (P < 0.05). Moreover, mean serum zinc and iron levels were significantly lower with a higher level of serum copper in decompensated cirrhosis group than in compensated group (P < 0.05). However, no significant decrease of serum magnesium was found between the two diseased groups. Our findings imply that the trace elements like zinc, copper and iron might exert important contributory roles in decompensation process in liver cirrhosis and hence, may be utilized as important biomarkers for these patients. Furthermore, we propose that replacements of those micronutrients at an early stage can delay or prevent the severe outcomes like hepatic encephalopathy, gastrointestinal bleeding, severe jaundice or ascites in these patients.