Early childhood curriculum policies and practices in Singapore: The case of glocalisation

Globalisation has been transforming early childhood care and education worldwide since the turn of this millennium. The early childhood sector in Singapore is no exception. Its early childhood curriculum has inevitably been influenced by Eastern and Western cultures and has developed into a unique hybrid over the years. This special issue collects six articles covering topics on inclusive education, curriculum frameworks, infant–toddler care, curriculum-based teacher research, social-emotional learning, and bilingual language and literacy. A book review about early childhood curriculum in Chinese societies is also included. All these articles have jointly presented a snapshot of the ‘glocal’ situation of early childhood curriculum in Singapore, with a focus on the challenges and suggestions for policy and practical improvements

Effect of membrane performance including fouling on cost optimization in brackish water desalination process

Membrane selection is a crucial step that will affect the economic feasibility of the membrane water treatment process. A comprehensive evaluation consisting of Verberne Cost Model, assessment of membrane performance and fouling propensity, osmotic pressure differential (OPD) and specific energy consumption (SEC) was employed to determine the potential of nanofiltration (NF 270, NF 90 and TS 80) and low pressure reverse osmosis (XLE) membranes to be used in brackish water desalination process. The aim was to save costs by replacing the typical brackish water reverse osmosis (BW 30) membrane. Verberne Cost Model showed that higher flux NF membranes resulted in lower overall costs. However, after assessing the membrane performance, NF 270 and TS 80 were excluded due to their high fouling propensity and their failure to reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) in the solution. Instead, NF 90 membrane which produced water with acceptable TDS and has moderate permeability ended up to be more cost competitive compared to BW 30 membrane, with 17%-21% lower total costs and 13%-17% lower water costs. Apart from this, OPD and SEC were applied to justify the selection of optimal membrane recovery rate based on the water costs calculated. It was determined that the optimal recovery rate was 80% where the SEC and water costs were close to available water treatment plants. Overall, this study showed that the selection of membrane can be carried out by using Verberne Cost Model assisted by assessment of membrane performance and fouling propensity, OPD and SEC

Is Hepatorenal Syndrome a Diagnosis for the Emergency Physician

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Field Quality of the Short Superconducting Dipole Models for the LHC

A full characterization of the magnetic field in warm and cold conditions was performed as a part of the standard test on the LHC 1-m long superconducting dipole models. Furthermore, dedicated measurement campaigns addressed the effect of current cycles and quenches on field quality. Powering and quenches were found to generate characteristic instabilities in the geometric harmonics. Detailed results are presented on this phenomenon, as well as correlations between warm and cold measurements and field reconstructions

Space-charge-limited flows in the quantum regime

This paper reviews the recent developments of space-charge-limited (SCL) flow or Child-Langmuir (CL) law in the quantum regime. According to the classical CL law for planar diodes, the current density scales as 3/23∕2’s power of gap voltage and to the inverse squared power of gap spacing. When the electron de Broglie wavelength is comparable or larger than the gap spacing, the classical SCL current density is enhanced by a large factor due to electron tunneling and exchange-correlation effects, and there is a new quantum scaling for the current density, which is proportional to the 1/21∕2’s power of gap voltage, and to the inverse fourth-power of gap spacing. It is also found that the classical concepts of the SCL flow such as bipolar flow, transit time, beam-loaded capacitance, emitted charge density, and magnetic insulation are no longer valid in quantum regime. In the quantum regime, there exists a minimum transit time of the SCL flows, in contrast to the classical solution. By including the surface properties of the emitting surface, there is a threshold voltage that is required to obtain the quantum CL law. The implications of the Fowler-Nordheim-like field emission in the presence of intense space charge over the nanometer scale is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87757/2/056701_1.pd

Comparison of engagement and emotional responses of older and younger adults interacting with 3D cultural heritage artefacts on personal devices

The availability of advanced software and less expensive hardware allows museums to preserve and share artefacts digitally. As a result, museums are frequently making their collections accessible online as interactive, 3D models. This could lead to the unique situation of viewing the digital artefact before the physical artefact. Experiencing artefacts digitally outside of the museum on personal devices may affect the user's ability to emotionally connect to the artefacts. This study examines how two target populations of young adults (18–21 years) and the elderly (65 years and older) responded to seeing cultural heritage artefacts in three different modalities: augmented reality on a tablet, 3D models on a laptop, and then physical artefacts. Specifically, the time spent, enjoyment, and emotional responses were analysed. Results revealed that regardless of age, the digital modalities were enjoyable and encouraged emotional responses. Seeing the physical artefacts after the digital ones did not lessen their enjoyment or emotions felt. These findings aim to provide an insight into the effectiveness of 3D artefacts viewed on personal devices and artefacts shown outside of the museum for encouraging emotional responses from older and younger people

Trust as a mediator in the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and IL-6 level in adulthood

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been shown to predict the coupling of depression and inflammation in adulthood. Trust within intimate relationships, a core element in marital relations, has been shown to predict positive physical and mental health outcomes, but the mediating role of trust in partners in the association between CSA and inflammation in adulthood requires further study. The present study aimed to examine the impact of CSA on inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6 and IL-1β) in adults with depression and the mediating role of trust. A cross-sectional survey data set of adults presenting with mood and sleep disturbance was used in the analysis. CSA demonstrated a significant negative correlation with IL-6 level (r = -0.28, p<0. 01) in adults with clinically significant depression, while trust showed a significant positive correlation with IL-6 level (r = 0.36, p < .01). Sobel test and bootstrapping revealed a significant mediating role for trust between CSA and IL-6 level. CSA and trust in partners were revealed to have significant associations with IL-6 level in adulthood. Counterintuitively, the directions of association were not those expected. Trust played a mediating role between CSA and adulthood levels of IL-6. Plausible explanations for these counterintuitive findings are discussed

Towards energy transition: conjoint assessment of large-scale PV system performance and interconnection impacts in isolated microgrid

Environmental, energy security and electricity demand concerns stimulate solar-grid integration. However, intermittent, non-dispatchable PV characteristics may challenge passive grid operation. This paper contains the comprehensive planning and assessment of a 2 MWp CdTe-based PV system deployment proposed for hybrid operation in an isolated 11 kV 10-bus microgrid in Brunei. The presented approach combinedly assesses PV system performance and scenario-based interconnection impacts based on a detailed PV system model considering deployment conditions. Various interconnection points with multiple sets of feeder-specific measured load profiles are examined. Results show the PV system designed for maximum annual generation achieves performance ratio of 90.6%. While time-series power flow assessment reveals grid operation enhancement, there are concerns at times of generation-demand mismatch requiring proper genset sequencing and reactive power management. Meanwhile, faster relay operating time and reverse fault current are demonstrated in existing protection scheme. Dynamic grid stabilities are preserved in various generation intermittency and loss events, including the most challenging condition of further inertia and spinning reserve reduction reaching a frequency of 96.02%. Finally, optimal interconnection point fulfilling multi-objectives on losses, voltage profile and line reserve capacity is identified. The findings indicate a good prospect of the synergy for advancing energy transition. The analysis could facilitate RE planning and policymaking