Case profiles of gifted children: Identification of gifted children in Maths and Science in the Indian context (3-15 years). (NIAS Report No. R14-2013)

Previous commonly accepted IQ-based measures of giftedness have estimated the the top 3-5 per cent of the population to be gifted. For India, with a school-aged population of about 193 million (Mehta, 2007), this indicates a gifted child population of 6-10 million children, therefore creating a large-scale identification problem. The actual numbers, however, may be much larger, if we consider the current debates in the West regarding the limitations of IQ tests in identifying gifted children from minority and culturally-disadvantaged populations, and the need for alternative definitions and methods for identification

Novel ZnO hollow-nanocarriers containing paclitaxel targeting folate-receptors in a malignant pH-microenvironment for effective monitoring and promoting breast tumor regression

Low pH in the tumor micromilieu is a recognized pathological feature of cancer. This attribute of cancerous cells has been targeted herein for the controlled release of chemotherapeutics at the tumour site, while sparing healthy tissues. To this end, pH-sensitive, hollow ZnO-nanocarriers loaded with paclitaxel were synthesized and their efficacy studied in breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. The nanocarriers were surface functionalized with folate using click-chemistry to improve targeted uptake by the malignant cells that over-express folate-receptors. The nanocarriers released ~75% of the paclitaxel payload within six hours in acidic pH, which was accompanied by switching of fluorescence from blue to green and a 10-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence-switching phenomenon is due to structural collapse of the nanocarriers in the endolysosome. Energy dispersion X-ray mapping and whole animal fluorescent imaging studies were carried out to show that combined pH and folate-receptor targeting reduces off-target accumulation of the nanocarriers. Further, a dual cell-specific and pH-sensitive nanocarrier greatly improved the efficacy of paclitaxel to regress subcutaneous tumors in vivo. These nanocarriers could improve chemotherapy tolerance and increase anti-tumor efficacy, while also providing a novel diagnostic read-out through fluorescent switching that is proportional to drug release in malignant tissues

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Promises

Unpublishe

Teacher training module for identifying gifted children with the teacher nomination form for gifted children (ages 3-12): Developed as part of the project identification of gifted children age 3-15 years (with special focus on Maths and Science). (NIAS Report No. R16-2013)

This teacher training module was developed as part of the project "Identification of Gifted Children Age 3-15 Years (with special focus on Maths and Science)". The project was commissioned in 2010 by the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India. The National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, is anchoring the project. Our partners on the project are Delhi University and Agastya Foundation. The aims of the project are two-fold: 1. To develop tools for the identification of gifted children in India, and 2. To develop a framework for the nurturance education of gifted children in Indi