The curricular content of primary education in developing countries

This paper examines the curriculum policies for primary schools in a wide range of developing countries in the 1980s and, to a lesser extent, the 1960s. The research covers what subjects are taught, what percentage of instructional time is allocated to each subject, and how much instructional time is available overall in primary education. The results indicate that there is little international debate about primary school curricula. The curricula of mass education systems are increasingly alike all over the world, with surprisingly little regional and national variation. Almost all national educational systems emphasize certain core subjects: language (35%), math (18%), science (8%), and social science (9%).Curriculum&Instruction,Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Gender and Education,ICT Policy and Strategies

A participação dos países em desenvolvimento nas avaliações de aprendizagem, 1960-2009

This paper examines annual changes in the participation of developing countries in different kinds of learning assessments over the past three decades. It specifically highlights, and provides initial explanations for, the worldwide spread of national and regional assessments since the mid-1990s. The paper argues that national learning assessments —namely, non-standardized, context-sensitive and non-comparable learning assessments— have become a preferred tool of educational policy makers in many developing countries. The increasing demand for accountability and the relative advantages of national regional assessments, should amplify this trend in coming years, although much depends on the policies of international agencies, NGOs and regional associations that advise and financially support country participation in learning assessments.Este trabajo analiza los cambios anuales en la participación de países en vías de desarrollo en diferentes tipos de evaluaciones de aprendizaje durante las últimas tres décadas. Asimismo, este estudio pone especial énfasis y provee explicaciones iniciales sobre la expansión global de evaluaciones regionales y nacionales desde mediados de los años noventa. El trabajo sostiene que las evaluaciones nacionales de aprendizaje -tales como las evaluaciones no-estandarizadas, sensibles al contexto y no-comparables- se han convertido en la herramienta preferida de los diseñadores de políticas educativas en muchos países en vías de desarrollo. La creciente demanda de agentes educativos por mecanismos de rendición de cuentas y las ventajas relativas de las evaluaciones regionales nacionales probablemente agudizaran esta tendencia en los próximos años, aunque mucho dependerá de las políticas adoptadas por organismos internacionales, ONGs y asociaciones regionales que asesoran y financian la participación de los países en evaluaciones de aprendizaje. Este artigo analisa as mudanças anuais na participação dos países em desenvolvimento em diferentes tipos de avaliação da aprendizagem ao longo das últimas três décadas. Ele destaca especificamente, e fornece explicações iniciais para a disseminação mundial de avaliações nacionais e regionais a partir de meados da década de 1990. O artigo argumenta que as avaliações nacionais de tornaram-se uma ferramenta preferida dos formuladores de políticas educacionais em muitos países em desenvolvimento. A crescente demanda por prestação de contas e as vantagens relativas de avaliações regionais e nacionais, devem ampliar essa tendência nos próximos anos, embora muito depende das políticas dos organismos internacionais, ONGs e associações regionais que orientam e suportam financeiramente a participação dos países nas avaliações de aprendizagem

The Grizzly, December 15, 1986

Letters: Appeal for Artists; Use Common Sense in Regard to Smoke Alarms; Abortion Issue Spawns Another Challenge • Weeding Out the Weak at Musser • After a Prosperous Decade as President, Richter Reflects on his Life at Ursinus • Wrestling Wraps Up Winter With Albright White-Washing • Swimmin\u27 Women get a Trimmin\u27 • Varsity Hoopsters Even Season • All-American Avenue: Football\u27s Odgers; Field Hockey\u27s Johnson; Volleyball\u27s Kraszewski • Gymnastics Team Scores High in Season Opener • Letters: Court Conditions Cause Day\u27s Resignation; Coaching Cited as B-ball\u27s Achilles Heel • Students Able to Create Their Own Courses by Way of College Scholars Program • Going From Bare Douglas Fir to Santa\u27s Showplace • Tumarkin Gives Personal View of his Aggressive Couple • Ursinus\u27 Oldest Symbol • Kutztown Edges Lady-Bears • Weisel Given Peace Prize for Reminding World of the Nazi Horrors • David Marx Tells of Life Under Apartheid • Cub & Key / Sororities\u27 Phonathons • Promoting International Education at Ursinushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1178/thumbnail.jp

Science and the Liberal Arts at Ursinus College

Science trend: Moving beyond industrialism • Founders\u27 Day address: Small colleges nurture young scientists well • Physics mentor changed a life • Complex world a challenge for scientists • In government, chemist finds his niche • Ursinus helps non standard student bloom • Ursinus let him explore inner space • Finding the problem is scientist\u27s hardest task • Most wanted: Insatiable curiosity • Real research: Practical or esoteric? • Flexibility is a matter of degree • Liberal arts education prepares minds • The way to encourage young scientistshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/founders_programs/1053/thumbnail.jp

Opening options for material transfer.

UNLABELLED: The Open Material Transfer Agreement is a material-transfer agreement that enables broader sharing and use of biological materials by biotechnology practitioners working within the practical realities of technology transfer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (doi:10.1038/nbt.4263) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Key challenges in bringing CRISPR-mediated somatic cell therapy into the clinic.

Genome editing using clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins offers the potential to facilitate safe and effective treatment of genetic diseases refractory to other types of intervention. Here, we identify some of the major challenges for clinicians, regulators, and human research ethics committees in the clinical translation of CRISPR-mediated somatic cell therapy

Association of the OPRM1 Variant rs1799971 (A118G) with Non-Specific Liability to Substance Dependence in a Collaborative de novo Meta-Analysis of European-Ancestry Cohorts

Peer reviewe

Organosulfates as Tracers for Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Formation from 2-Methyl-3-Buten-2-ol (MBO) in the Atmosphere

2-Methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBO) is an important biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emitted by pine trees and a potential precursor of atmospheric secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in forested regions. In the present study, hydroxyl radical (OH)-initiated oxidation of MBO was examined in smog chambers under varied initial nitric oxide (NO) and aerosol acidity levels. Results indicate measurable SOA from MBO under low-NO conditions. Moreover, increasing aerosol acidity was found to enhance MBO SOA. Chemical characterization of laboratory-generated MBO SOA reveals that an organosulfate species (C5H12O6S, MW 200) formed and was substantially enhanced with elevated aerosol acidity. Ambient fine aerosol (PM2.5) samples collected from the BEARPEX campaign during 2007 and 2009, as well as from the BEACHON-RoMBAS campaign during 2011, were also analyzed. The MBO-derived organosulfate characterized from laboratory-generated aerosol was observed in PM2.5 collected from these campaigns, demonstrating that it is a molecular tracer for MBO-initiated SOA in the atmosphere. Furthermore, mass concentrations of the MBO-derived organosulfate are well correlated with MBO mixing ratio, temperature, and acidity in the field campaigns. Importantly, this compound accounted for an average of 0.25% and as high as 1% of the total organic aerosol mass during BEARPEX 2009. An epoxide intermediate generated under low-NO conditions is tentatively proposed to produce MBO SOA

Mind the gap: The interplay between external and internal actions in the case of corporate social responsibility

Research summary: We explore the effect of the interplay between a firm's external and internal actions on market value in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, drawing from the neo-institutional theory, we distinguish between external and internal CSR actions and argue that they jointly contribute to the accumulation of intangible firm resources and are therefore associated with better market value. Importantly, though, we find that, on average, firms undertake more internal than external CSR actions, and we theorize that a wider gap between external and internal actions is negatively associated with market value. We confirm our hypotheses empirically, using the market-value equation and a sample comprising 1,492 firms in 33 countries from 2002 to 2008. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and practice. Managerial summary: Companies often accumulate intangible assets by taking internally and externally oriented CSR actions. Contrary to popular beliefs, the data show that they undertake more internal than external ones: firms do more and communicate less. How does a potential gap (i.e., a misalignment) between internal and external CSR actions affect a firm's market value? We find that although together (the sum of) internal and external actions are positively associated with market value, a wider gap has negative implications. In other words, firms do not realize the full benefits of their internal actions when such actions are not externally communicated to key stakeholders, and to the investment community in particular. This negative association with market value is particularly salient in CSR-intensive and the natural resources and extractives industries

P2RX7 Purinoceptor: A Therapeutic Target for Ameliorating the Symptoms of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

open access articleDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common inherited muscle disease, leading to severe disability and death in young men. Death is caused by the progressive degeneration of striated muscles aggravated by sterile inflammation. The pleiotropic effects of the mutant gene also include cognitive and behavioral impairments and low bone density. Current interventions in DMD are palliative only as no treatment improves the long-term outcome. Therefore, approaches with a translational potential should be investigated, and key abnormalities downstream from the absence of the DMD product, dystrophin, appear to be strong therapeutic targets. We and others have demonstrated that DMD mutations alter ATP signaling and have identified P2RX7 purinoceptor up-regulation as being responsible for the death of muscles in the mdx mouse model of DMD and human DMD lymphoblasts. Moreover, the ATP–P2RX7 axis, being a crucial activator of innate immune responses, can contribute to DMD pathology by stimulating chronic inflammation. We investigated whether ablation of P2RX7 attenuates the DMD model mouse phenotype to assess receptor suitability as a therapeutic target