Nurturing the young shoots of talent: Using action research for exploration and theory building

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), 433-450, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1350293X.2011.623515.This paper reports the outcomes of a set of action research projects carried out by teacher researchers in 14 local education authorities in England, working collaboratively with university tutors, over a period of three years. The common aim of all the projects was to explore practical ways of nurturing the gifts and talents of children aged four–seven years. The project was funded by the Department of Education and Skills in England as part of the government's gifted and talented programme. The project teachers felt that their understanding of issues relating to nurturing the gifts and talents of younger children was enhanced through their engagement in the project. It was possible to map the findings of the projects to the English government's National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education which include: (1) identification; (2) effective provision in the classroom; (3) enabling curriculum entitlement and choice; (4) assessment for learning; (5) engaging with community, families and beyond. The findings are also analysed within the framework of good practice in educating children in the first years of schooling. Participating practitioners felt that action research offered them a suitable methodology to explore the complexity of the topic of giftedness through cycles of planning, action and reflection and personal theory building

Production of Metallic Iron from the Pudo Magnetite Ore using End-of-Life Rubber Tyre as Reductant: The Role of an Underlying Ankerite Ore as a Fluxing Agent on Productivity

This research work investigated the nature of a nonmagnetic ore from Pudo in the Upper West Region of Ghana and its fluxing effect on the extent of reduction of the Pudo titaniferous magnetite ore using pulverised samples of charred carbonaceous materials generated from end-of-life vehicle tyres (ELT) as reductants. Reduction studies were conducted on composite pellets of the Pudo titaniferous magnetite iron ore containing fixed amounts of charred ELT and varying amounts (0%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) of the nonmagnetic fluxing material in a domestic microwave oven and the extent of reduction was calculated after microwave irradiation for 40 minutes. Analyses by XRF, SEM/EDS and XRD of the nonmagnetic ore revealed an Ankerite type of ore of the form Ca0.95Fe0.95Mn0.1 (CO3)2. From the microwave reduction studies it was observed that premium grade metallic iron could be produced from appropriate blends of the Pudo iron ores using ELT as reductant, with a measured extent of reduction up to 103.8%. Further, the extent of reduction was observed to increase with an increase in the amount of the nonmagnetic fluxing material (Ankerite) that was added as fluxing agent.   Keywords: Ankerite, End-of-life Rubber Tyres, Fluxing Agent, Extent of Reductio

Evaluating the named nurse understanding of recovery in forensic mental health

This article describes a service evaluation carried out on a personality disorder admission ward in a high-secure hospital to evaluate nurses understanding of recovery approaches in mental health. The study used semi-structured questionnaires to determine the participant’s understanding of recovery. The findings highlight that further development is required in staff training and education on recovery. Theories underpinning recovery principles also need to be disseminated to help nurses understand the relevance of current policy developments, and thus improve care

Production of Iron Nuggets from the Akpafu-Todzi Iron Ore and Artisanal Ferrous Slag using Post Consumer Thermosets (Waste Electrical Sockets) as Reductants

AbstractPost-consumer thermosets are difficult to recycle because, unlike thermoplastics, they cannot be remoulded to create other items as a result of the extensive cross-linkages in their structure. The increased production of thermoset blends and composites in recent years has greatly increased the amount of waste materials. However, higher levels of carbon and hydrogen present in thermosets make them a potential reductant in the iron extractive industries. In this research work, postconsumer thermoset was transformed into carbon resource through a charring process. The resulting carbonaceous material from the thermoset was used as reductant in the production of metallic iron from the Akpafu-Todzi iron ore and artisanal slag using the microwave technology through the composite pellet approach at varying firing times. Analyses by XRF, XRD and SEM/EDS showed that the Akpafu Todzi iron ore is comprised of the iron oxides hematite (Fe2O3) and wustite (Fe0.942O), while the artisanal slag was predominantly fayalite (Fe2SiO4). Complete reduction of the ore was attained after 120 min reduction but the maximum extent of reduction was 78.84% for the slag, demonstrating the potential of postconsumer thermosets to function effectively as a reductant in the iron extractive industry. Keywords: Reduction; Akpafu-Todzi Iron Ore; Post Consumer Thermosets; Waste Electrical Socket

Unique Transcriptome Signature Distinguishes Patients With Heart Failure With Myopathy

Background People with chronic heart failure (CHF) experience severe skeletal muscle dysfunction, characterized by mitochondrial abnormalities, which exacerbates the primary symptom of exercise intolerance. However, the molecular triggers and characteristics underlying mitochondrial abnormalities caused by CHF remain poorly understood. Methods and Results We recruited 28 patients with CHF caused by reduced ejection fraction and 9 controls. We simultaneously biopsied skeletal muscle from the pectoralis major in the upper limb and from the vastus lateralis in the lower limb. We phenotyped mitochondrial function in permeabilized myofibers from both sites and followed this by complete RNA sequencing to identify novel molecular abnormalities in CHF skeletal muscle. Patients with CHF presented with upper and lower limb skeletal muscle impairments to mitochondrial function that were of a similar deficit and indicative of a myopathy. Mitochondrial abnormalities were strongly correlated to symptoms. Further RNA sequencing revealed a unique transcriptome signature in CHF skeletal muscle characterized by a novel triad of differentially expressed genes related to deficits in energy metabolism including adenosine monophosphate deaminase 3, pyridine nucleotide‐disulphide oxidoreductase domain 2, and lactate dehydrogenase C. Conclusions Our data suggest an upper and lower limb metabolic myopathy that is characterized by a unique transcriptome signature in skeletal muscle of humans with CHF

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and renal functions in children with a solitary kidney

The aim of this study is to investigate the blood pressure (BP) profile, microalbuminuria, renal functions, and relations with remaining normal kidney size in children with unilateral functioning solitary kidney (UFSK). Sixty-six children with UFSK were equally divided into three groups: unilateral renal agenesis (URA), unilateral atrophic kidney (UAK), and unilateral nephrectomy (UNP). Twenty-two age-, weight-, and height-matched healthy children were considered as a control group. The serum creatinine level and first-morning urine microalbumin and creatinine concentrations were determined by the standard methods. Also, the BP profile was determined by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). We found that the serum creatinine level was higher and creatinine clearance was lower in each patient groups compared to those of the control group (p < 0.05). Compared with the controls, each group of patients had mean office, 24-h, daytime, and night-time systolic and diastolic BP values similar to those of the controls (p > 0.05). An inverse correlation was found between the renal size standard deviation scores (SDS) of normal kidneys and 24-h systolic and diastolic BP load SDS in all of the patients (p < 0.05; r = −0.372, r = −0.295, respectively). The observed relationship between renal size SDS and 24-h mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic and diastolic BP load SDS suggests that children with UFSK should be evaluated by using ABPM for the risk of hypertension