493 research outputs found
Author explores politics of education
A book review of Comparative political analysis, by Allen L. Larson
Richard A. Rossmiller: A Prophet Even in His Own Land - An Interview
In May 2004, Richard A. Rossmiller received the Alumni Achievement Award from the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison honoring him for his many accomplishments
Epidemiological data of falciparum malaria in Ado-Odo/Ota, Southwest Ogun State, Nigeria
In this data article, Blood and corresponding saliva samples from subjects presenting with fever and parasetaemia Z2000 were obtained from selected hospitals in Ado-Odo/Ota, Ogun State over a period of two years and analyzed using Polymerase chain reaction-Restriction fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR/Nested PCR-RFLP) to detect genetic mutations of Plasmodium falciparum
chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt), Plasmodium falciparum multidrugs resistance (Pfmdr1) and non-synonymous Pkelch (pk13) mutated genes. The study confirmed the presence of resistance genes in the blood and saliva samples collected from the study sit
Epidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum infection and drug resistance markers in Ota Area, Southwestern Nigeria
Purpose: Effective routine monitoring and surveillance of parasite genes is a necessary
strategy in the control of parasites’ resistance to antimalarial drugs, according to the WHO’s
recommendation. This cross-sectional study therefore aimed at carrying out an epidemiological analysis on malaria incidence in Ado-Odo/Ota, Ogun State.
Patients and methods: Blood and corresponding saliva samples were collected from
1,243 subjects of all ages and sex presenting with fever and a parasitemia level ≥2,000
between September 2016 and March 2018. Samples were collected from selected health
facilities in the study area of Ogun state to establish the prevalence of falciparum malaria and
determine resistance genes harbored by the parasites. The overall prevalence of falciparum
malaria in the study site by microscopic examination was 45.86%. The highest incidence of
57.42% was recorded among male subjects. Point mutations of K76T and N86Y in the
Pfcrt and pfmdr-1 genes, as well as non-synonymous mutations in Pfk13 genes, were
screened for and sequenced for further analysis.
Results: Pfcrt was detectable in 57.42% of blood and 51.02% of saliva samples, respectively. About 34.78% of the subjects that were confirmed microscopically harbored the
Pfmdr-1 mutated gene while 26.67% of the saliva samples revealed Pfmdr-1.
Epidemiological studies identified the presence of wild-type Pfk13 genes in 21.84% of
blood and 44.44% of saliva samples correspondingly. For each of the genes evaluated, saliva
portrayed great diagnostic performance when compared with blood.
Conclusion: Findings from this study have established the prevalence of malaria and the
resistance pattern of P. falciparum in the study area. The findings may help in formulating
drug policies and suggest the use of saliva as a noninvasive point-of-care method of
diagnosing malaria potentially deployable to rural endemic areas
Meaningful time for professional growth or a waste of time? A study in five countries on teachers’ experiences within master’s dissertation/thesis work
The relationship between master’s thesis work and teachers’ professional development has rarely been explored empirically, yet. Drawing upon a larger study, this paper investigates how teachers who were studying for or who have recently graduated from Master of Education programmes offered in five countries – Poland, Portugal, England, Latvia, Romania – perceive the usefulness of dissertation/thesis work for their professional development and how they attempt to use their MA research results in their (future) teaching practice. Results suggest that although most respondents recognized their MA dissertation/thesis work as having a positive impact on their professional development by enhancing their professionalism, personal development and growth, and understanding the relationship between research and practice, they were less confident about the use of MA research findings in their (future) workplaces. These results are discussed in the context of current challenges regarding master’s level education for teachers, national governments’ educational policies, and the relationship between research, teachers’ practices and professional development
Catalytic partial oxidation of methane on platinum investigated by spatial reactor profiles, spatially resolved spectroscopy, and microkinetic modeling
Spatially resolved profile measurements, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and microkinetic modeling have been used to study the catalytic partial oxidation of methane on Pt. The measured species profiles through Pt coated foam catalysts exhibit a two-zone structure: an abrupt change in reaction rates separates the fast exothermic oxidation chemistry at the entrance of the reactor from the slow endothermic reforming chemistry. Spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy confirm that the position of the mechanistic change could be correlated with Pt transportation and formation of carbonaceous deposits blocking the majority of active Pt sites in the reforming zone. The species profiles were simulated using a pseudo-2D heterogeneous model, which includes heat and mass transport limitations, and two state-of-the-art chemical kinetic mechanisms. Although both mechanisms are in quantitative agreement with the oxygen profiles, the two mechanisms differ substantially in their predictions of the branching ratio between partial and complete oxidation, as well as surface site coverages. The experimentally observed change in reaction rates is attributed to carbon formation, which the mechanisms are unable to reproduce, since they do not include carbon–carbon coupling reactions
String Matching and 1d Lattice Gases
We calculate the probability distributions for the number of occurrences
of a given letter word in a random string of letters. Analytical
expressions for the distribution are known for the asymptotic regimes (i) (Gaussian) and such that is finite
(Compound Poisson). However, it is known that these distributions do now work
well in the intermediate regime . We show that the
problem of calculating the string matching probability can be cast into a
determining the configurational partition function of a 1d lattice gas with
interacting particles so that the matching probability becomes the
grand-partition sum of the lattice gas, with the number of particles
corresponding to the number of matches. We perform a virial expansion of the
effective equation of state and obtain the probability distribution. Our result
reproduces the behavior of the distribution in all regimes. We are also able to
show analytically how the limiting distributions arise. Our analysis builds on
the fact that the effective interactions between the particles consist of a
relatively strong core of size , the word length, followed by a weak,
exponentially decaying tail. We find that the asymptotic regimes correspond to
the case where the tail of the interactions can be neglected, while in the
intermediate regime they need to be kept in the analysis. Our results are
readily generalized to the case where the random strings are generated by more
complicated stochastic processes such as a non-uniform letter probability
distribution or Markov chains. We show that in these cases the tails of the
effective interactions can be made even more dominant rendering thus the
asymptotic approximations less accurate in such a regime.Comment: 44 pages and 8 figures. Major revision of previous version. The
lattice gas analogy has been worked out in full, including virial expansion
and equation of state. This constitutes the main part of the paper now.
Connections with existing work is made and references should be up to date
now. To be submitted for publicatio
Antiplasmodial Activity shown by Secondary Metabolites Extracted from the Seeds ofPentaclethramacrophyllaBenth
Oil extracts from the African oil bean seed (PentaclethramacrophyllaBenth.) was
analyzed for its phytochemical and mineral content and proximate, physicochemical and antimicrobial
analyses were also performed. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of
tannins, saponins, quinones, terpenoids, phenols and coumarins in the oil sample. Mineral
determination of the cotyledon showed the presence of iron (Fe) (with the highest
concentration), Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr, Pb and Cd; while proximate analysis gave the following result:
moisture (14.2%), ash content (1.5%), crude fibre (4.9%), crude proteins (12.8%), oil contents
(4.9%), and carbohydrate (61.8%). GC-MS analysis of the partitioned petroleum ether and
chloroform fractions of the oil revealed the presence of 9-Octadecenoic acid, 9,12-
Octadecadienoic acid and their methyl esters,cis-9-Hexadecenal among the many components
of the oil extract. Physicochemical analysis of the oil indicateda saponification value (148.67
mg KOH/g), peroxide value(8.0 meq/g), iodine value (10.41 mg iodine/g) and free fatty acid
(8.98 mg KOH/g). The need for the development of new drugs for malaria led to our study of
the antiplasmodial activity of the oil from the seeds of Pentaclethramacrophylla. Toxicological
studies were carried out to determine the LD50with chloroquinediphosphate as positive control
and normal saline as negative control. Using the Peter’s 4 day suppressive test a parasite
inhibition rate of 47.72% (25 mg/kg), 63.63% (50 mg/kg) and 61.36% (100 mg/kg) on day 4
after treatment was recorded. A 95.45% chemo-suppression was observed for animals treated
with 10 mg/kg chloroquine. This resultis an indication that the extract had appreciable signs of
chemosuppression
A novel computer adaptive word list memory test optimized for remote assessment: Psychometric properties and associations with neurodegenerative biomarkers in older women without dementia
Introduction: This study established the psychometric properties and preliminary validity of the Stricker Learning Span (SLS), a novel computer adaptive word list memory test designed for remote assessment and optimized for smartphone use.
Methods: Women enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) were recruited via e-mail or phone to complete two remote cognitive testing sessions. Convergent validity was assessed through correlation with previously administered in-person neuropsychological tests (n = 96, ages 55-79) and criterion validity through associations with magnetic resonance imaging measures of neurodegeneration sensitive to Alzheimer\u27s disease (n = 47).
Results: SLS performance significantly correlated with the Auditory Verbal Learning Test and measures of neurodegeneration (temporal meta-regions of interest and entorhinal cortical thickness, adjusting for age and education). Test-retest reliabilities across two sessions were 0.71-0.76 (two-way mixed intraclass correlation coefficients).
Discussion: The SLS is a valid and reliable self-administered memory test that shows promise for remote assessment of aging and neurodegenerative disorders
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