International collaborative follow - up investigation of graduating high school students’ understandings of the nature of scientific inquiry: is progress Being made?

Understandings of the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI), as opposed to engaging students in inquiry learning experiences, are included in science education reform documents around the world. However, little is known about what students have learned about NOSI during their pre-college school years. The purpose of this large-scale follow-up international project (i.e. 32 countries and regions, spanning six continents and including 3917 students for the high school sample) was to collect data on what exiting high school students have learned about NOSI. Additionally, the study investigated changes in 12th grade students’ NOSI understandings compared to seventh grade (i.e. 20 countries and regions) students’ understandings from a prior investigation [Lederman et al. (2019). An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students’ understandings of scientific inquiry: Establishing a baseline. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(4), 486–515. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21512]. This study documents and discusses graduating high school students’ understandings and compares their understandings to seventh grade students’ understandings of the same aspects of scientific inquiry for each country. It is important to note that collecting data from each of the 130+ countries globally was not feasible. Similarly, it was not possible to collect data from every region of each country. A concerted effort was made, however, to provide a relatively representative picture of each country and the world

Performance of body mass index and percentage of body fat in predicting cardiometabolic risk factors in Thai adults

Somlak Vanavanan,1 Pornpen Srisawasdi,1 Mana Rochanawutanon,2 Nalinee Kumproa,1 Khanat Kruthkul,3 Martin H Kroll4 1Division of Clinical Chemistry, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; 2National Healthcare Systems, Bangkok, Thailand; 3Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; 4Quest Diagnostics, Madison, NJ, USA Background: Body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat (PBF) are used to measure obesity; however, their performance in identifying cardiometabolic risk in Southeast Asians is unclear. Generally, Asian women have higher PBF and lower BMI than do men and other ethnic populations. This study was conducted to address whether a discord exists between these measures in predicting obesity-related cardiometabolic risk in a Thai population and to test whether associations between the measures and risk factors for cardiovascular disease have a sex-specific inclination.Methods: A total of 234 (76 men and 158 women) outpatients were recruited. BMI obesity cutoff points were ≥25.0 and ≥27.0 kg/m2 and PBF cutoff points were ≥35.0% and ≥25.0% for women and men, respectively. Blood samples were analyzed for total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, lipoprotein subclasses, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B, glucose, hemoglobin A1c, insulin, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), adiponectin, leptin, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D.Results: Twenty-five percent of participants classified as normal-BMI had excessive fat, whereas 9% classified as normal-PBF had excessive BMI. Good relationships were found between BMI and PBF using sex stratification (R2 >0.5). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was markedly increased in overweight and/or excess body fat groups compared with lean group. Logistic regression analyses showed that BMI was the best predictor of hypertension. BMI was an independent predictor of insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hyperleptinemia in women, whereas PBF was for men. However, PBF proved to be a good indicator for atherogenic lipoprotein particles in both sexes. Notably, neither index predicted increased hsCRP or 25-hydroxyvitamin D insufficiency.Conclusion: Considerable sex-specific variations were observed between BMI and PBF in their associations with and predictability of numerous cardiometabolic biomarkers. No single measure provides a comprehensive risk predication as shown herein with the Thai population, and therefore both should be applied in screening activities. Keywords: obesity, body mass index, percentage of body fat, Southeast Asian population, cardiometabolic risk biomarkers, obesity-related metabolic disorder

Hyperprolactinemia in Thai children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder treated with risperidone

Yaowaluck Hongkaew,1,2 Nattawat Ngamsamut,3 Apichaya Puangpetch,1,2 Natchaya Vanwong,1,2 Pornpen Srisawasdi,4 Montri Chamnanphon,1,2 Bhunnada Chamkrachchangpada,3 Teerarat Tan-kam,3 Penkhae Limsila,3 Chonlaphat Sukasem1,2 1Division of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, 2Laboratory for Pharmacogenomics, Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center (SDMC), Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, 3Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital, Department of Mental Health Services, Ministry of Public Health, 4Division of Clinical Chemistry, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand Abstract: Hyperprolactinemia is a common adverse effect observed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during pharmacotherapy with risperidone. The main aim of this study was to investigate important clinical factors influencing the prolactin response in risperidone-treated Thai ASD. A total of 147 children and adolescents (127 males and 20 females) aged 3–19 years with ASD received risperidone treatment (0.10–6.00 mg/day) for up to 158 weeks. Prolactin levels were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. The clinical data of patients collected from medical records – age, weight, height, body mass index, dose of risperidone, duration of treatment, and drug-use pattern – were recorded. Hyperprolactinemia was observed in 66 of 147 (44.90%) subjects. Median prolactin level at the high doses (24.00, interquartile range [IQR] 14.30–29.20) of risperidone was significantly found to be higher than at the recommended (16.20, IQR 10.65–22.30) and low (11.70, IQR 7.51–16.50) doses of risperidone. There was no relationship between prolactin levels and duration of risperidone treatment. Dose-dependence is identified as a main factor associated with hyperprolactinemia in Thai children and adolescents with ASD treated with risperidone. This study suggests that risperidone treatment causes prolactin elevations and the effects of risperidone on prolactin are probably dose-related in pediatric patients. Keywords: prolactin level, risperidone, autism spectrum disorders, Thai, hyperprolactinemi