38 research outputs found
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Minority ethnic students and science participation: a qualitative mapping of achievement, aspiration, interest and capital
In the UK, the āleaky pipelineā metaphor has been used to describe the relationship between ethnicity and science participation. Fewer minority ethnic students continue with science in post-compulsory education, and little is known about the ways in which they participate and identify with science, particularly in the secondary school context. Drawing on an exploratory study of 46 interviews and 22 h of classroom observations with British students (aged 11ā14) from Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian and Chinese ethnic backgrounds, this paper identified five ātypesā of science participation among minority ethnic students. The five types of science participation emerged from an analysis of studentsā science achievement, science aspiration, science interest and science capital. The characteristics of the five types are as follows: Science adverse students have no aspirations towards science and lacked interest, achievement and capital in science. Science intrinsic students have high science aspirations, interest and capital but low science attainment. Students who are science intermediate have some aspirations, interest and capital in science, with average science grades. Science extrinsic students achieve highly in science, have some science capital but lacked science aspirations and/or interest. Science prominent students are high science achievers with science aspirations, high levels of interest and capital in science. The findings highlight that minority ethnic students participate in science in diverse ways. Policy implications are suggested for each type as this paper provides empirical evidence to counter against public (and even some academic) discourses of minority ethnic students as a homogeneous group
Predicted binding site information improves model ranking in protein docking using experimental and computer-generated target structures
BACKGROUND: Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) mediate the vast majority of biological processes, therefore, significant efforts have been directed to investigate PPIs to fully comprehend cellular functions. Predicting complex structures is critical to reveal molecular mechanisms by which proteins operate. Despite recent advances in the development of new methods to model macromolecular assemblies, most current methodologies are designed to work with experimentally determined protein structures. However, because only computer-generated models are available for a large number of proteins in a given genome, computational tools should tolerate structural inaccuracies in order to perform the genome-wide modeling of PPIs. RESULTS: To address this problem, we developed eRank(PPI), an algorithm for the identification of near-native conformations generated by protein docking using experimental structures as well as protein models. The scoring function implemented in eRank(PPI) employs multiple features including interface probability estimates calculated by eFindSite(PPI) and a novel contact-based symmetry score. In comparative benchmarks using representative datasets of homo- and hetero-complexes, we show that eRank(PPI) consistently outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms improving the success rate by ~10Ā %. CONCLUSIONS: eRank(PPI) was designed to bridge the gap between the volume of sequence data, the evidence of binary interactions, and the atomic details of pharmacologically relevant protein complexes. Tolerating structure imperfections in computer-generated models opens up a possibility to conduct the exhaustive structure-based reconstruction of PPI networks across proteomes. The methods and datasets used in this study are available at www.brylinski.org/erankppi
Development and Evaluation of a SYBR Green-Based Real-Time Multiplex RT-PCR Assay for Simultaneous Detection and Serotyping of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses
10.1016/j.jmoldx.2015.06.008Journal of Molecular Diagnostics176722-728AfghanistanComplete
Parental involvement in primary school education: its relationship with childrenās academic performance and psychosocial competence through engaging children with school
The benefits of parental involvement in childrenās education have been well established but increasing evidence suggests that overparenting may have adverse effects on children. The question of whether excessive parental involvement hinders childrenās academic and psychosocial development warrants further investigations. This study examined the associations of parental educational involvement at home and in school with academic performance and psychological health of 507 Chinese Grade 3 schoolchildren in Hong Kong. Parents reported on their level of involvement in childrenās schooling and their childrenās psychosocial issues. Children were surveyed to determine their school engagement, and their Chinese language and mathematics attainment was assessed. We also explored the underlying mechanism by testing childrenās engagement with school as a mediator of the relationships. Our results showed that home-based parental educational involvement was positively associated with childrenās language competence and psychosocial wellbeing, and the associations were linked through engaging children with school. However, the benefits reached a plateau at higher level of parental involvement in childrenās learning at home. School-based parental involvement had an indirect effect on childrenās prosocial behavior through school engagement. These findings highlight the significance of optimal level of parental involvement in childrenās education at home for childrenās development