Kala Azar in Shensi Province of North China

535 cases of confirmed kala azar treated in Sian, Shensi are recorded, and the history, epidemiology, pathology, diagnosis, complications and treatment of the disease with the relevant literature are reviewed. The following opinions are expressed from observation of the cases. 1. That Shensi province is an endemic focus of kala azar, and that with war conditions the disease may be assuming epidemic proportions. 2. That immigrants into an endemic area of kala azar are probably more susceptible to the infection than the natives, especially when the former are undernourished refugees and soldiers. 3. That the dog may be a reservoir for leishmaniasis infection in Shensi and that phlebotomus is common in the area. 4. That cancrum oris, pneumonia, dysentery, and acute granulocytopoenia are the most important and fatal complications of kala azar in the area, and that the pathogenesis of cancrum oris may be closely related to that of acute granulocytopoenia. Three cases of acute granulocytopoenia, developing during the treatment of kala azar with neostam, are reported in detail. 5. That cases of kala azar which have been cured are not liable to reinfection. 6. That the finding of Leishman-Donovan bodies on completion of treatment does not necessarily mean that the case is not cured. 7. That the mortality of the series was 14.25% but only one fifth of these died of uncomplicated kala azar, and that the mortality could probably be reduced by earlier treatment. 8. That the presence of anaemia is a critical factor in prognosis. 9. That M & B '744' promises to be one of the most useful drugs for the treatment of kala azar, but that solustibosan or neostibosan are probably safer drugs to use for the initial stages of treatment in very ill children. 10. Finally, attention has been drawn to the importance of H. L. Chung's work on the epidemiology of kala azar in the Peiping area. The application of this knowledge, with an effective scheme of treatment and follow-up, shows the way to the possibility of effective kala azar control in the Shensi area

Molecular Beams

Contains research objectives, summary of research and reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E)Sloan Fund for Basic Research (M. I. T. Grant 249

Attenuated cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress is associated with greater visual dependency in postural control

Despite known anatomical links between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the vestibular system, there are no studies on the relationship between postural control and HPA axis function. Visual dependence in postural control, often measured by increased postural sway on exposure to visual motion, is an indication of altered visual-vestibular integration with greater weighting towards visual cues for balance. Visual dependence is more common in older age and a range of vestibular and non-vestibular health conditions. The relationship between visual dependence in postural control was investigated in relation to cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress (using the Trier Social Stress Test for groups: TSST-G), as an index of HPA axis function, in healthy young females. In those who exhibited a cortisol response (>2 nmol/l), a negative relationship between stress-induced cortisol reactivity and visual dependence in postural control was observed, since those with the largest cortisol response showed less visual motion induced postural sway (measured by force platform). This finding in healthy females indicates that subtle non-clinical differences in vestibular function are associated with dysregulated HPA axis activity as indicated by lower cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress. It adds to the growing body of evidence linking blunted cortisol reactivity to stress to poor homeostatic regulation and potential negative health and behavioural outcomes

Exercise increases the dynamics of diurnal cortisol secretion and executive functionin people wiht MCI

Summary: Regular physical activity is protective against and beneficial for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), dementia, and Alzheimer´s disease. The mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unknown although it has been suggested that exercise-induced changes in the circadian pattern of cortisol secretion may be implicated. Fitness, salivary cortisol levels (0 and 30 mins post awakening, midday, 5pm and 9pm) and cognitive function were determined in a group of amnestic MCI patients (n=39) before and after a three-month exercise program (n=19) or usual care (n=20). At base fitness measures were positively correlated with peak levels of cortisol and a greater fall in cortisol concentration from peak levels to midday. The exercise intervention successfully increased fitness and resulted in a greater fall in cortisol concentration from peak to midday, compared to the control group. The exercise intervention enhanced indices of executive function, although memory, mood, and functionality were not affected

The two-fluid model with superfluid entropy

The two-fluid model of liquid helium is generalized to the case that the superfluid fraction has a small entropy content. We present theoretical arguments in favour of such a small superfluid entropy. In the generalized two-fluid model various sound modes of He$\;$II are investigated. In a superleak carrying a persistent current the superfluid entropy leads to a new sound mode which we call sixth sound. The relation between the sixth sound and the superfluid entropy is discussed in detail.Comment: 22 pages, latex, published in Nuovo Cimento 16 D (1994) 37

Moving through MOOCS: pedagogy, learning design and patterns of engagement

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are part of the lifelong learning experience of people worldwide. Many of these learners participate fully. However, the high levels of dropout on most of these courses are a cause for concern. Previous studies have suggested that there are patterns of engagement within MOOCs that vary according to the pedagogy employed. The current paper builds on this work and examines MOOCs from different providers that have been offered on the FutureLearn platform. A cluster analysis of these MOOCs shows that engagement patterns are related to pedagogy and course duration. Learners did not work through a three-week MOOC in the same ways that learners work through the first three weeks of an eight-week MOOC

Designing citizen science tools for learning: lessons learnt from the iterative development of nQuire

This paper reports on a 4-year research and development case study about the design of citizen science tools for inquiry learning. It details the process of iterative pedagogy-led design and evaluation of the nQuire toolkit, a set of web-based and mobile tools scaffolding the creation of online citizen science investigations. The design involved an expert review of inquiry learning and citizen science, combined with user experience studies involving more than 200 users. These have informed a concept that we have termed ‘citizen inquiry’, which engages members of the public alongside scientists in setting up, running, managing or contributing to citizen science projects with a main aim of learning about the scientific method through doing science by interaction with others. A design-based research (DBR) methodology was adopted for the iterative design and evaluation of citizen science tools. DBR was focused on the refinement of a central concept, ‘citizen inquiry’, by exploring how it can be instantiated in educational technologies and interventions. The empirical evaluation and iteration of technologies involved three design experiments with end users, user interviews, and insights from pedagogy and user experience experts. Evidence from the iterative development of nQuire led to the production of a set of interaction design principles that aim to guide the development of online, learning-centred, citizen science projects. Eight design guidelines are proposed: users as producers of knowledge, topics before tools, mobile affordances, scaffolds to the process of scientific inquiry, learning by doing as key message, being part of a community as key message, every visit brings a reward, and value users and their time

Molecular Beams

Contains reports on two research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E)Sloan Fund for Basic Research (M.I.T. Grant 367