Whole language approach and multilingual pedagogy in schools

A few days ago, I visited the Union LPS (Lower Primary School) Thrikkanarvattom in Ernakulam Town along with two experts from NCERT, Professor Indrani Bhaduri and Dr.Vijayan. We saw that the students were fully involved and engaged in learning. After visiting the school, I thought how true the ancient Chinese proverb, “Tell me, I forget/Show me, I remember/Involve me, I understand”, was. The students of Union LPS Thrikkanarvattom were really amazing. They could read Malayalam with comprehension, do basic operations in Mathematics and read and communicate in English and Hindi, and of course enjoyed singing songs in their mother tongue. Here is what Professor Indrani Bhaduri, Head of Educational Survey Division of NCERT wrote in the School Visitor's Book

Physical phenomena in containerless glass processing

Experiments were conducted on bubble migration in rotating liquid bodies contained in a sphere. Experiments were initiated on the migration of a drop in a slightly less dense continuous phase contained in a rotating sphere. A refined apparatus for the study of thermocapillar flow in a glass melt was built, and data were acquired on surface velocities in the melt. Similar data also were obtained from an ambient temperature fluid model. The data were analyzed and correlated with the aid of theory. Data were obtained on flow velocities in a pendant drop heated from above. The motion in this system was driven principally by thermocapillarity. An apparatus was designed for the study of volatilization from a glass melt

Studies on Alum as Milk Coagulating Agent in the Manufacture of Paneer – An Indian Cottage Cheese

Alum is a white crystalline double sulphate of aluminum and potassium that is commonly used as an astringent. Utilising its protein binding property, alum was studied as coagulating agent of milk in the preparation of paneer. Paneer is a soft variety of cottage cheese very popular in Indian sub-continent, used in various culinary dishes. Its   preparation essentially involves acid coagulation of hot milk and pressing of the hot coagulum to form a compact block which is then cooled by immersing in chilled water. Citric acid and vinegar are commonly used as coagulating agents of milk during paneer manufacture. However, when alum was used as a coagulating agent, it was observed that most of the proteins were amalgamated during coagulation process resulting in enhanced yield of paneer. It also resulted in reduced solids losses in whey. However, use of alum resulted in a slight astringency in paneer, hence it was recommended to be used in combination with common coagulant i.e. citric acid. The solids content (losses) in whey were 6.62, 6.08, and 6.32 %, respectively for citric acid, alum and citric acid + alum mixture used as coagulating agents. Similarly, the yields of paneer were 16.42, 19.04 and 16.99 %. The alum coagulated paneer looked glossy and attractive which was indicated by reflectance values of 83.75% as against 79% for control paneer sample. The paneer made by alum coagulation had slightly brittle texture

Tripe palm: a paraneoplastic manifestation of carcinoma stomach

Usually gastrointestinal malignancies present with low SAAG ascites. But when there is diffuse liver infiltration following malignancy, high SAAG ascites can occur. So liver infiltration can masquerade as cirrhosis. Malignant acanthosis and tripe palm are the paraneoplastic manifestations seen in GI malignancies. We are reporting a case which was initially managed as a  straightforward case of cirrhosis ,but later turned out to be a case with tripe palms, malignant acanthosis and carcinoma stomach as primary with diffuse liver infiltration having high SAAG ascites

Liver fluke vaccines: Vaccination Against Fasciolosis by a Multivalent Vaccine of Recombinant Stage-Specific Antigens

Fasciola\u27s excretory-secretory material comprises chiefly cathepsin B and cathepsin L. These cysteine proteases are proposed as major mediators of parasitism, and are considered targets for vaccination. In order to assess the vaccine efficacy of these enzymes, single and multivalent recombinant protein vaccinations of adult-stage F. hepatica cathepsin L5, metacercarial-stage F. gigantica cathepsin L1 g and juvenile-stage F. hepatica cathepsin B were analysed in rats against F. hepatica challenge infection. The protective efficacy of anti-fluke vaccines was evaluated in terms of parasitological parameters (recovered fluke burden, fluke body size and wet weight) and pathological changes (liver damage score) in rats. The rats vaccinated with recombinant proteins were shown to have significantly fewer and smaller flukes than the control rats. A maximum protection of 83% was seen in the group vaccinated with a combination of cathepsin B and cathepsin L5

Domain matched epitaxial growth of Bi1.5Zn1Nb1.5O7 thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Bi1.5Zn1Nb1.5O7 (BZN) epitaxial thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on Al2O3 with a double ZnO buffer layer through domain matching epitaxy (DME) mechanism. The pole figure analysis and reciprocal space mapping revealed the single crystalline nature of the thin film. The pole figure analysis also shows a 60º twinning for the (222) oriented crystals. Sharp intense spots in the SAED pattern also indicate the high crystalline nature of BZN thin film. The Fourier filtered HRTEM images of the BZN-ZnO interface confirms the domain matched epitaxy of BZN with ZnO buffer. An electric field dependent dielectric tunability of 68% was obtained for the BZN thin films with inter digital capacitors patterned over the film

Observation of room temperature photoluminescence from asymmetric CuGaO2/ZnO/ZnMgO multiple quantum well structures

Asymmetric (CuGaO2/ZnO/ZnMgO) and symmetric (ZnMgO/ZnO/ZnMgO) multiple quantum well (MQW) structures were successfully fabricated using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and their comparison were made. Efficient room temperature photoluminescent (PL) emission was observed from these MQWs and temperature dependent luminescence of asymmetric and symmetric MQWs can be explained using the existing theories. A systematic blue shift was observed in both MQWs with decrease in the confinement layer thickness which could be attributed to the quantum confinement effects. The PL emission from asymmetric and symmetric MQW structures were blue shifted compared to 150 nm thick ZnO thin film grown by PLD due to quantum confinement effects

Propranolol in the treatment of infantile haemangiomas:lessons from the European Propranolol In the Treatment of Complicated Haemangiomas (PITCH) Taskforce survey

Oral propranolol is widely prescribed as first line treatment for infantile haemangiomas (IHs) and anecdotally prescribing practice differs widely between centres