Licensure examination performance and academic achievement of teacher education graduates

Teacher education institutions (TEIs) in the Philippines establish their brand of educational quality through their graduates’ performance in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). It is, therefore, necessary for TEIs to align instructional delivery with the competencies in the LET. Thus, this study was undertaken to correlate academic achievement and licensure examination performance of teacher education graduates. Academic achievement is the graduates’ grade weighted average in college and pre-board examination results. The respondents were 1,017 graduates of Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor of Elementary Education in a state university in Cagayan Province, Philippines. The study revealed a significant and strong correlation between the graduates’ grade weighted average in college and LET performance. This is an indication of the effective evaluation procedure of the university since the teachers’ assessment concurs with the graduates’ performance in the LET. A significant relationship was also established between the graduates’ performance in the pre board examination and LET albeit with a weak correlation. This study recommends the development of mechanisms in improving the conduct of pre-board examination review programs in the university. Further validation of the assessment tools used in the pre-board examination is likewise suggested

Micronutrient synergy—a new tool in effective control of metastasis and other key mechanisms of cancer

Consumption of a plant-based diet has been associated with prevention of the development and progression of cancer. We have developed strategies to inhibit cancer development and its spread by targeting common mechanisms used by all types of cancer cells that decrease stability and integrity of connective tissue. Strengthening of collagen and connective tissue can be achieved naturally through the synergistic effects of selected nutrients, such as lysine, proline, ascorbic acid and green tea extract (NM). This micronutrient mixture has exhibited a potent anticancer activity in vivo and in vitro in a few dozen cancer cell lines. Its anti-cancer effects include inhibition of metastasis, tumor growth, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secretion, invasion, angiogenesis, and cell growth as well as induction of apoptosis. Many cancers are often diagnosed at later stages, when metastasis has occurred, which standard treatment has been unable to control. Our studies on NM effects on hepatic and pulmonary metastasis demonstrated profound, significant suppression of metastasis in a murine model. Evaluation of effects of NM on xenografts in murine models demonstrated significant reduction in tumor size and tumor burden in all human cancer cell lines tested. In vitro studies demonstrated that NM was very effective in inhibition of cell proliferation (by MTT assay), MMP secretion (by gelatinase zymography), cell invasion (through Matrigel), cell migration (by scratch test), induction of apoptosis (by live green caspase) and induction of pro-apoptotic genes in many diverse cancer cell lines. Furthermore, in vivo and in vitro studies of effects of individual micronutrients compared to their specific combination demonstrated synergistic effects resulting in improved anticancer potency

Poor nutritional status of schoolchildren in urban and peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malnutrition is still highly prevalent in developing countries. Schoolchildren may also be at high nutritional risk, not only under-five children. However, their nutritional status is poorly documented, particularly in urban areas. The paucity of information hinders the development of relevant nutrition programs for schoolchildren. The aim of this study carried out in Ouagadougou was to assess the nutritional status of schoolchildren attending public and private schools.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out to provide baseline data for the implementation and evaluation of the Nutrition Friendly School Initiative of WHO. Six intervention schools and six matched control schools were selected and a sample of 649 schoolchildren (48% boys) aged 7-14 years old from 8 public and 4 private schools were studied. Anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements, along with thyroid palpation, were performed. Serum retinol was measured in a random sub-sample of children (N = 173). WHO criteria were used to assess nutritional status. Chi square and independent t-test were used for proportions and mean comparisons between groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean age of the children (48% boys) was 11.5 ± 1.2 years. Micronutrient malnutrition was highly prevalent, with 38.7% low serum retinol and 40.4% anaemia. The prevalence of stunting was 8.8% and that of thinness, 13.7%. The prevalence of anaemia (p = 0.001) and vitamin A deficiency (p < 0.001) was significantly higher in public than private schools. Goitre was not detected. Overweight/obesity was low (2.3%) and affected significantly more children in private schools (p = 0.009) and younger children (7-9 y) (p < 0.05). Thinness and stunting were significantly higher in peri-urban compared to urban schools (p < 0.05 and p = 0.004 respectively). Almost 15% of the children presented at least two nutritional deficiencies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study shows that malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are also widely prevalent in schoolchildren in cities, and it underlines the need for nutrition interventions to target them.</p

Organizational Health of Philippine Colleges of Nursing Cited as Centers of Excellence and Its Relationship to Perceived Organizational Effectiveness and School Performance

This study investigated the organizational health of nursing schools in the Philippines cited as Centers of Excellence in nursing education and explored the relationships among organizational health, perceived organizational effectiveness and school performance in the nursing licensure examinations. The sample was composed of 123 fulltime faculty members. Organizational health was measured through the faculty members\u27 responses on the Organizational Health Inventory (OHI) while the Index of Perceived Organizational Effectiveness (IPOE) measured organizational effectiveness. Data analysis indicated that the Centers of Excellence have average overall index of health. Correlation analysis indicated a significant positive relationship between organizational health and effectiveness. Three dimensions of health notably academic emphasis, initiating structure, and institutional integrity significantly correlated with effectiveness. Academic emphasis was found to be the only significant predictor of effectiveness

Error and the erotic vandal: A collection of five short stories

The project is a collection of five (5) short stories in English that reflects the transformations undergone by the woman-protagonists as they yield to their sexuality on outward explorations of experience that push each of them deeper into an internal journey that has its own dangers. Each sexual experience in the collection grants each protagonist a sexual realization wherein lust for the body is coupled with a lust for understanding. The collection moves along a narrative arc, similar to Luce Irigaray\u27s Speculum in illustrating her feminist theory. The author calls it the cunt narrative , in which the relationship of the concepts, love and lust, and how they are played out in each individual story, are illustrated in a diagram. The project is aimed to contribute to the erotic literature by women in the Philippines by reviving that time in Philippine history when women spoke of sex without guilt or censorship, giving voice to the erotic spirit of a modern-day Philippine woman and how she copes with the painful/pleasurable intricacies of a woman\u27s condition through her sexuality and sex. In order to locate the project in the context of Philippine literature, the author first traced the emergence of erotic writing in the Philippines during pre-colonial times as embodied by the baylans, and followed it through repression and censorship under Spanish colonial rule, until its current manifestation in contemporary anthologies and fiction by women. The author then proceeded to discuss the constraints of anthologizing, as well as the problem of a historicity observed in the anthology, Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotic (1992) edited by Tina Cuyugan and differentiated the terms, erotica and erotic writing in that the former is a Western genre or tradition in literature while the latter is a body of writing that is closely knit to a country\u27s folk literature. The author\u27s coming into being both as a person and as a writer was likewise traced, parallel to the history of eroticism in the Philippines, in a narration of important life events that reflect the author\u27s worldview and outlook on writing and the erotic, and how these were discovered, repressed, and rekindled in the author\u27s personal struggles with her relationships with men: father, friends, lovers, strangers and her relationship with her self. The author\u27s artistic influences, creative process, and biases were delineated, followed by the author\u27s differentiation of erotic and pornography, as well as how the author applies the politics of erotic writing, and not pornography, in her short stories. As the result of the author\u27s journey of coming into being, the concept of the erotic vandal, the assassin of love, is conceived in relation to Octavio Paz\u27s litertine. The author concluded her poetics with a definition of erotic vandalism as the use of one\u27s own body, as well as the violator\u27s desire for it, as weapons to punish the violator for a wrongdoing caused by his very desire. In effect, the revenge done by the victim through erotic means becomes the mirror that deflects the sexual violator\u27s wrongdoing, turning the violator into the victim (of his own lust). The original victim then, becomes the erotic vandal, who is both woman and writer

Screening of some local plants of the Itawes of Cagayan for antimicrobial activities

Twenty-five local plants of the Itawes of Cagayan were tested for the presence of antimicrobial properties against the gram-positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, against the gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi and against the fungi: Candida albicans and Geotrichum candidum. The fresh young leaves of the plants were extracted using five solvents namely: ether, ethyl alcohol, acetone, chloroform, and distilled water and were tested against the six test microorganisms using the filter paper disc-diffusion method of assay. Of the twenty-five plants tested, 16 or 64 percent exhibited zones of inhibition of different diameters. The plants whose extracts showed inhibiting activities against Staphylococcus aureus were Amorphophallus campanulatus (Roxb.) Blume, Citrus aurantifolia (Christm,) Swingle, Triphasia trifolia (Burm.f.) P. Wills., and Cardiospermum halicacabum Linn. against Candida albicans were Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir., Allaeanthus luzonicus (Blanco) F. Vill., Streblus asper Lour., Ficus fiskei Elm., Ficus septica Burm.f., Alocasia macrorrhiza (Linn.) Schott, Amorphophallus campanulatus (Roxb.) Blume, Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle, Cardiospermum halicacabum Linn., Adonida merrilli (Becc.), Cordia dichotoma Forst.f. and Passiflora foetida Linn. and against Geotrichum candidum were Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. and Ficus septica Burm.f. None of the extracts tested had any antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi. Ethyl alcohol was the best extracting solvent among those tested followed by chloroform, ether, acetone and distilled water in that order