Teaching English in Hong Kong Kindergartens: A Survey of Practices

The teaching of English to very young learners has become popular across the Asia Pacific region, and Hong Kong is no exception. This trend is believed to be driven by socio-economic forces rather than by educational research since there is a dearth of empirical research in this area. This paper draws on data from a questionnaire which was part of a larger study to portray systematically the school contexts in which the teaching of English took place. The principals of 38% (n=256) of the local registered kindergartens in Hong Kong responded to questions about English instruction time, teachers’ professional qualifications, curriculum activities and the school language environment. The results indicated that English was taught in most of the kindergartens as a specific subject, following a textbook-based approach. It was taught for an average of 64 minutes per week in programmes featuring half-day sessions. The teachers’ professional backgrounds, the allocation of instruction time, and the curriculum planning practices were diverse, implying that there was a large gap between the classroom instruction and the contextual support and guidelines. This gap should alert practitioners, parents, and policy makers to the fact that the perceived head start effect of teaching English early cannot be taken for granted. The intricate interaction between global forces, policy implementation and micro-level practices at the school level are also discussed and extrapolated.postprin

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF VALSARTAN FAST DISINTEGRATING TABLETS BY VACUUM DRYING TECHNIQUE

ABSTRACTObjective: The main objective present research work an attempt has been made to prepare fast dissolving tablets of Valsartan by using vacuumdrying technique. Camphor, Urea and Menthol are used as a sublimating agent. Valsartan is an oral antihypertensive agent, with problems of variablebioavailability and bioequivalence related to its poor water solubility. Valsartan is an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist indicated in thetreatment of hypertension. Methods: The prepared tablets Valsartan fast dissolving tablets were evaluated for various parameters like weight variation, hardness, friability,disintegration time, drug content, water absorption ratio, wetting time, in- vitro drug release, FTIR, DSC studies and short term stability studies. Theblend was examined for the pre-compressional and post-compressional parameter. Results and Discussions: The values of pre-compression parameters evaluated were within prescribed limits and indicated good free flowingproperty. All the post-compressional parameter are evaluated were prescribed limits and results were within IP acceptable limits. Based on the invitrodisintegrationtime and dissolution studies formulationsSC2 andSC3werefoundtobe promisingandshowedadisintegrationtime of 24secand16 secrespectively.FormulationSC3 containingcamphor showedhighestdrug release99.4% within10 min.IR spectralanalysisandDSC studyshowedthattherewasno drug interactionwith formulationadditivesofthetablet asthereis novariationand shift inthe position ofcharacteristicabsorptionbands it canbejustifiedthereis no interactionbetweendrug and polymer.Short termstability studieson the formulationsindicatedthatthereareno significant change in hardness,friability,drug contentand in-vitrodrug release(p<0.05). Conclusion: The results concluded that fast dissolving tablets of Valsartan showing enhanced dissolution may lead to improved bioavailabilityand effective therapy by using sublimation method.Keywords: Fast dissolving tablet, Valsartan, Crospovidone, Camphor, Urea, Disintegration time

Personality disorder: A mental health priority area

Personality disorders have received limited recognition as a public health priority, despite the publication of treatment guidelines and reviews showing effective treatments are available. Inclusive approaches to understanding and servicing personality disorder are required that integrate different service providers. This viewpoint paper identifies pertinent issues surrounding early intervention, treatment needs, consumer and carer experiences, and the need for accurate and representative data collection in personality disorder as starting points in mental health care reform

Validation study of the Chinese Early Development Instrument (CEDI)

published_or_final_versio

Sleep duration and patterns in Chinese older adults: A comprehensive meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the mean sleep duration and patterns in Chinese older adult population. A literature search was systematically conducted covering major English (PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO) and Chinese (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang and SinoMed) databases. Data in studies with the mean and standard deviation of sleep duration and/or the proportion of short and long sleep durations in Chinese older adults were extracted and pooled using random-effects models. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to gender, region, area, survey time and sample size. A total of 36 studies with 150,616 subjects were included for analyses. The pooled mean sleep duration of 21 studies with available data was 6.82 hours/day (95% CI: 6.59–7.05 hours/day). The estimated proportions of sleep duration \u3c5 hours/day, \u3c6 hours/day, \u3c7 hours/day were 18.8% (95% CI: 1.7%–35.9%), 26.7% (95% CI: 19.7%–33.7%) and 42.3% (95% CI: 34.8%–49.8%), respectively. The pooled proportions for long sleepers were 22.6% (95% CI: 13.9%–31.4%) (\u3e8 hours/day) and 17.6% (95% CI: 12.4%–22.9%) (\u3e9 hours/day). Given the adverse effects of unhealthy sleep patterns, health professionals should pay more attention to sleep patterns in this population in China

Crystal structure, superconductivity and magnetic properties of the superconducting ferromagnets Gd1.4-xDyxCe0.6Sr2RuCu2O10 (x=0 - 0.6)

The structural, electrical and magnetic properties of the superconducting ferromagnets, Gd1.4-xDyxCe0.6Sr2RuCu2O10 (x=0-0.6) are systematically investigated as a function of Dy doping and temperature. These compounds are characterised by high temperature superconductivity (Tc ranging from 20-40 K depending upon the Dy content) coexisting with weak ferromagnetism with two magnetic transitions (TM2 ranging from 95-106 K and TM1 around 120 K). Doping with Dy gives no significant structural changes except for a minor change in the c/a ratio. However the superconducting transition temperature is significantly suppressed and magnetic ordering temperature enhanced on Dy doping. These effects are described and discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Stochastic assembly in a subtropical forest chronosequence: evidence from contrasting changes of species, phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity over succession

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this recordDeterministic and stochastic processes jointly determine the community dynamics of forest succession. However, it has been widely held in previous studies that deterministic processes dominate forest succession. Furthermore, inference of mechanisms for community assembly may be misleading if based on a single axis of diversity alone. In this study, we evaluated the relative roles of deterministic and stochastic processes along a disturbance gradient by integrating species, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversity in a subtropical forest chronosequence in Southeastern China. We found a general pattern of increasing species turnover, but little-to-no change in phylogenetic and functional turnover over succession at two spatial scales. Meanwhile, the phylogenetic and functional beta diversity were not significantly different from random expectation. This result suggested a dominance of stochastic assembly, contrary to the general expectation that deterministic processes dominate forest succession. On the other hand, we found significant interactions of environment and disturbance and limited evidence for significant deviations of phylogenetic or functional turnover from random expectations for different size classes. This result provided weak evidence of deterministic processes over succession. Stochastic assembly of forest succession suggests that post-disturbance restoration may be largely unpredictable and difficult to control in subtropical forests.This study was supported financially by National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFC0500202) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170401), and the Earthwatch Institute program “Quantify and monitor carbon pools and fluxes to assess the impact of climate change on subtropical forests under different anthropogenic disturbances”. NGS was supported by two NSF USA-China Dimensions of Biodiversity Grants (DEB - 1046113; DEB - 1241136)

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SIMVASTATIN GASTRORETENTIVE TABLETS FOR CONTROLLED RELEASE

Simvastatin is a Hypolipidemic used to control elevated cholesterol or hypercholesterolemia. The primary uses of simvastatin are for the treatment of dyslipidemia and the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Gastroretentive Floating tablets of Simvastatin were developed by direct compression method using HPMC K15M, HPMC K100M, Carbopol, sodium CMC, xanthan gum, sodium alginate polymers used and the mixture of the sodium bicarbonate, citric acid anhydrous as gas generating agents. The results of Pre-compressional and post compression parameters were within IP prescribed limits. The formulation FC1, FC2, FC3, FC4, FC5, FC6, FC8 floated but the lag time was more and floating time is less. For the formulation FC7, the duration of buoyancy was more than 12 hrs, the floating capacity increased in these formulations and floated with less lag time due to the high concentration of gas generating agent sodium bicarbonate-induced CO2 generation in the pressure of dissolution medium (pH 1.2 0.1N HCL). The drug release from the formulations FC1-FC8 was found to be 78.612, 72.66, 87.22, 63.45, 67.26, 73.24, 98.93, and 81.27 in 12hrs. Among all the formulations FC7 floating lag time 7 min with 99% of drug release has better control release of the drug. DSC and FTIR studies revealed that there was no incompatibility of the drug with the excipients used. The stability study conducted as per the ICH guidelines and the formulations were found to be stable. From this study, it can be concluded that the formulation retained for longer periods of time in the stomach and provides controlled release of the drug and may improve bioavailability. Keywords: Controlled Gastroretentive tablets, Simvastatin, HPMC, Carbopol.Â