Relationship between Cognitive Style and the Relative Preference for Discovery Learning and Expository Learning

Kajian ini menyiasat perhubungan di antara empat gaya kognitif (field independence-field dependence, gaya konsepan, gaya pembedaan konsep dan pemikiran bertumpu-bercapah) dan keutamaan relatif bagi pembelajaran penemuan bandingan dengan pembelajaran pendedahan. Keutamaan relatif ini dikaji daripada dua dimensi iaitu kesenangan/kesukaran dan keenakan/ kebencian. Cara melaksanakan kaedah pembelajaran ialah melalui modul-modul pengajaran sendiri. Subjek-subjek dengan gaya pembedaan konsepsan tinggi dan pemikiran divergen mengamati pembelajaran penemuan lebih sukar daripada pembelajaran pendedahan. Subjek-subjek 'field independent' dan pemikiran inferensi tinggi mengamati pembelajaran penemuan Iebih keenakan daripada pembelajaran pendedahan. Keputusan ini menunjukkan gaya kognitif juga boleh mempengaruhi ciri affektif berkaitan dengan pembelajaran di samping hasil kognitif yang kerapkali dilaporkan. Ini mengusulkan bahawa konsep 'sikap-bakat-interaksi' harus termasuk dalam penyelidikan gaya kognitif oleh sebab sikap pelajar terhadap sesuatu strategi pengajaran mungkin menjadi Iebih penting untuk pembelajaran berlaku daripada bakatnya

The Interaction Of Conceptualisation Styles On Discovery Learning

Kajian ini cuba meninjau perkaitan di antara satu gaya kognitif dan pembelajaran melalui pendekatan jumpaan (penemuan). Gaya kognitif yang dikaji adalah gaya pengkonsepan mod inferensial, mod perihalan (descriptive), mod berkait (relational). Pendekatan jumpaan yang digunakan dalam kajian ini terdiri daripada situasi di mana pelajar diberi sesuatu masalah tetapi cara penyelesaian dan jawapan tidak diberi kepadanya. Keputusan dari kajian ini menunjukkan seorang pelajar yang mempunyai kecenderungan tinggi untuk mod inferensial adalah lebih baik dalam situasi pembelajaran jumpaan

Impact of Project InSPIRE on Creative Thinking Among Rural Children in Malaysia

Kajian ini meninjau kesan Projek InSPIRE dalam perihal pemikiran kreatif di kalangan murid murid di luar bandar. Dalam kajian ini pemikiran kreatif murid-murid di sekolah Projek InSPIRE telah dibandingkan dengan pemikiran kreatif murid-murid di sekolah biasa menerusi dua ujian kreatif (ujian kegunaan tin kosong dan ujian bulatan). Kajian ini menunjukkan murid-murid Projek InSPIRE adalah lebih kreatif dalam tugas berbahasa (verbal), tetapi tidak ada perbezaan di antara kedua-dua kalangan murid dalam merajah (figural). Keputusan ini mencadangkan bahawa strategi strategi pengajaran-pembelajaran yang diamalkan dalam projek InSPIRE boleh mengembangkan pemikiran kreatif berbahasa

Rancangan Projek InSPIRE* Darjah (1-3) Dan Pengaruhnya Ke Atas Prestasi Murid-Murid Di Dalam Penilaian Darjah 5 (1985)

Improving the quality of education is possibly the greatest educational challenge faced by developing countries. Thus. with financial support from IDRC (Canada) and manpower resources from the Ministry of Education, a group of educationists based at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1977, embarked on a Research and Development project to test out an iintegrated strategy of programmed instruction to improve the quality of rural primary education. Although the project's work was overtaken by drastic reform of the national educational system. this paper examines whether the first three years of InSpire programme (from Std. 1 - 3) had any lasting carry-over effect which could be evaluated through the Std. 5 National Assessment Examination

On SD-Harmonious Labeling

A graph G is said to be SD-harmonious labeling if there exists an injection f: V(G) -> {0,1,2,...,q} such that the induced function f*: E(G) ->{0,2,...,2q-2} defined by f(uv)=S+D (mod 2q) is bijective, where S=f(u)+f(v) and D=|f(u)-f(v)|, for every edge uv in E(G). A graph which admits SD-harmonious labeling is called SD-harmonious graph. In this paper, we investigate SD-harmonious labeling of path related graphs, tree related graphs, star related graphs and disjoint union of graphs

Agronomic biofortification of calcium in cabbage (Brassica Oleracea var capitata) applied with different sources of liming in Ca deficient acidic soil of Coonoor, The Nilgiris (Typic Dystropept)

The human body needs calcium (Ca) to maintain strong bones and teeth and to build a strong structure, helping muscles contract and playing a crucial role in the structural and signalling process. However, low calcium consumption in the diet has related to a variety of disorders in humans, which can have long-term health repercussions. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the Ca biofortification capacity of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata) supplied with different Ca-supplying inorganic fertilizer sources at various fixed levels based on soil liming potential grown in open field conditions where four hybrids of cabbage grown in Ca deficient acidic soil. Ca applied as Limestone (CaCO3) (150% and 175% liming potential) and Dolomitic limestone [CaMg(CO3)2]150% liming potential yield high Ca content in cabbage head and foliage (61.3 mg 100 g-1), high glucosinolates content (53.12 mg 100 g-1) and lower oxalate(0.31 mg 100 g-1) that produced firmer head as compared with Ca untreated control which also promoted high market value for Ca biofortified ones. On the other hand, Ca addition leads to lower Fe and Mg content in the cabbage tissues due to an antagonistic effect. All four hybrids of cabbage studied using the agronomic method of biofortification significantly(p≤0.05) improved Ca enrichment (20% more compared to control) without showing any toxicity symptoms making possibility to obtain Ca biofortified cabbage in acidic soil of a hilly ecosystem by application of liming.

FLYWCH1, a novel suppressor of nuclear b-catenin, regulates migration and morphology in colorectal cancer

© 2018 American Association for Cancer Research. Wnt/b-catenin signaling plays a critical role during development of both normal and malignant colorectal cancer tissues. Phosphorylation of b-catenin protein alters its trafficking and function. Such conventional allosteric regulation usually involves a highly specialized set of molecular interactions, which may specifically turn on a particular cell phenotype. This study identifies a novel transcription modulator with an FLYWCH/Zn-finger DNA-binding domain, called "FLYWCH1." Using a modified yeast-2-hybrid based Ras-Recruitment system, it is demonstrated that FLYWCH1 directly binds to unphosphorylated (nuclear) b-catenin efficiently suppressing the transcriptional activity of Wnt/ b-catenin signaling that cannot be rescued by TCF4. FLYWCH1 rearranges the transcriptional activity of b-catenin/TCF4 to selectively block the expression of specific downstream genes associated with colorectal cancer cell migration and morphology, including ZEB1, EPHA4, and E-cadherin. Accordingly, overexpression of FLYWCH1 reduces cell motility and increases cell attachment. The expression of FLYWCH1 negatively correlates with the expression level of ZEB1 and EPHA4 in normal versus primary and metastatic colorectal cancer tissues in patients. Thus, FLYWCH1 antagonizes b-catenin/TCF4 signaling during cell polarity/migration in colorectal cancer. Implications: This study uncovers a new molecular mechanism by which FLYWCH1 with a possible tumor suppressive role represses b-catenin-induced ZEB1 and increases cadherin-mediated cell attachment preventing colorectal cancer metastasis

A blood gene expression marker of early Alzheimer's disease.

PublishedJournal ArticleResearch Support, N.I.H., ExtramuralResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tA marker of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that can accurately diagnose disease at the earliest stage would significantly support efforts to develop treatments for early intervention. We have sought to determine the sensitivity and specificity of peripheral blood gene expression as a diagnostic marker of AD using data generated on HT-12v3 BeadChips. We first developed an AD diagnostic classifier in a training cohort of 78 AD and 78 control blood samples and then tested its performance in a validation group of 26 AD and 26 control and 118 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects who were likely to have an AD-endpoint. A 48 gene classifier achieved an accuracy of 75% in the AD and control validation group. Comparisons were made with a classifier developed using structural MRI measures, where both measures were available in the same individuals. In AD and control subjects, the gene expression classifier achieved an accuracy of 70% compared to 85% using MRI. Bootstrapping validation produced expression and MRI classifiers with mean accuracies of 76% and 82%, respectively, demonstrating better concordance between these two classifiers than achieved in a single validation population. We conclude there is potential for blood expression to be a marker for AD. The classifier also predicts a large number of people with MCI, who are likely to develop AD, are more AD-like than normal with 76% of subjects classified as AD rather than control. Many of these people do not have overt brain atrophy, which is known to emerge around the time of AD diagnosis, suggesting the expression classifier may detect AD earlier in the prodromal phase. However, we accept these results could also represent a marker of diseases sharing common etiology.InnoMed, European Union of the Sixth Framework programAlzheimer’s Research UKJohn and Lucille van Geest FoundationNIHRBiomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation TrustInstitute of Psychiatry Kings College LondonNIA/NIH RC

Mitochondrial dysfunction and immune activation are detectable in early Alzheimer's disease blood.

PublishedJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tAlzheimer's disease (AD), like other dementias, is characterized by progressive neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in the brain. The peripheral leukocyte response occurring alongside these brain changes has not been extensively studied, but might inform therapeutic approaches and provide relevant disease biomarkers. Using microarrays, we assessed blood gene expression alterations occurring in people with AD and those with mild cognitive changes at increased risk of developing AD. Of the 2,908 differentially expressed probes identified between the three groups (p < 0.01), a quarter were altered in blood from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD subjects, relative to controls, suggesting a peripheral response to pathology may occur very early. There was strong evidence for mitochondrial dysfunction with decreased expression of many of the respiratory complex I-V genes and subunits of the core mitochondrial ribosome complex. This mirrors changes previously observed in AD brain. A number of genes encoding cell adhesion molecules were increased, along with other immune-related genes. These changes are consistent with leukocyte activation and their increased the transition from circulation into the brain. In addition to expression changes, we also found increased numbers of basophils in people with MCI and AD, and increased monocytes in people with an AD diagnosis. Taken together this study provides both an insight into the functional response of circulating leukocytes during neurodegeneration and also identifies potential targets such as the respiratory chain for designing and monitoring future therapeutic interventions using blood.InnoMed, European Union of the Sixth Framework programAlzheimer’s Research TrustJohn and Lucille van Geest FoundationNIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation TrustInstitute of Psychiatry Kings College Londo