Validation of questions-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for Elementary School Teacher Education

This study was to validate questions based STEM for elementary school education students, they are categorized as quantitative descriptive. The product of this research was aimed at class 2019 elementary school education students of Universitas PGRI Ronggolawe Tuban (UNIROW). The research time was started from April 2020 to July 2020. These products have not been tested extensively because they have been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The questions based STEM developed were essay questions consisting of pretest questions, practice questions, and posttest questions. Each question shows one of the STEM ability profiles. The validation results show that all aspects of the assessment have very good criteria. The aspect that got the highest percentage score was the content suitability aspect with a score percentage of 84.38%. While the aspect that got the lowest score percentage was the graphic aspect with a score percentage of 82.14%. The language aspect got a score percentage of 82.50%

Association between mother's work status and child stunting in urban slums: a cross-sectional assessment of 346 child-mother dyads in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020)

Background A growing literature highlights the increased risk of stunting among children growing up in informal or slum settlements. Despite relatively high rates of female labor force participation in slums, there is limited evidence on relationship between mother's work participation and nutritional outcomes of children in these settings. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in two large slums (Korail and Tongi) of Dhaka and Gazipur, Bangladesh to assess the association between maternal work and childhood stunting in a low-income urban context. Logistic regression models estimated unconditional and conditional associations between maternal work status and 1) child stunting, 2) child morbidity and dietary intake, and 3) health and hygiene behaviors. Subgroup analyses were done by type of child care support available. Results After adjusting for variations in individual and household level characteristics, we found that children of working mothers had nearly twice the odds of being stunted than children of non-working mothers (OR 1.84, 95%CI 1.05-3.23). Large differences in stunting were found by available care support: compared to children of non-working mothers, children of working mothers with nuclear-type family support had 4.5 times increased odds of stunting (OR 4.49, 95%CI 1.81-11.12), while no odds differential was found for children of working mothers with an extended-type family support (OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.30-1.59). Conclusions Maternal employment is associated with a substantial increase in the odds of child stunting in the slum areas studied. Given that these effects only appear to arise in the absence of adequate family support, integrating appropriate childcare support measures for low-income urban working mothers might be an effective strategy to help reduce the prevalence of chronic undernutrition among slum children

Procedures of commencing a civil suit : a comparative analysis between Malaysia and India

Generally, the civil suit is when Plaintiff can seek to hold Defendant liable for a few types of harm or wrongful act. Before commencing a civil suit or advising the client on filing a civil suit, there are five factors that need to be considered. The five factors include cause of action, limitation period, parties to the suit, jurisdiction and mode of commencement. Next, there are two modes of commencement of civil suits in Malaysia. The modes are the Writ and Originating Summons. The Writ must be filed by the Plaintiff either by their Solicitor or personally in court. This is the first step in commencing a civil proceeding. Writ is one of the examples in the originating process and a formal document that will be addressed to the defendant, which serves to notify them of the proceedings. It is a letter of demand in setting out the claims against the recipient. Next, the Originating Summons is suitable for the Plaintiff or Applicant who intends to make an application under statutory provisions. There are a few differences between the mode of commencement by Writ and Originating Summons. The objective of the article is to understand the procedures for commencing a civil suit. Hence, qualitative writing is based on primary and secondary sources. A comparative analysis has been conducted to compare the procedures for commencing a civil suit between Malaysia and India. The comparative analysis compares and highlights the mode of commencement in Malaysia and India and recommends ways to improvise the mode of commencement in Malaysia. Hence, this paper suggests that more comprehensive and detailed modes of commencement must be included in Malaysia

Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing conservation in the iron and steel industry in South Africa

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The iron and steel industry in South Africa has been identified as one of the highest risk industries in terms of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). The National Institute for Occupational Health was commissioned by the Department of Labour to audit the current noise exposure levels and hearing conservation practices in eight major producers of iron and steel, and to make recommendations regarding prevention strategies. METHODS: The audit was conducted in two parts: the noise exposure levels and hearing conservation practices were assessed by the occupational hygiene department. The occupational medicine department assessed the hearing conservation policies and procedures, reviewed employees’ medical records to ascertain the number of NIHL cases, and conducted verification of audiograms on a sample of employees working in noise zones. RESULTS: Area noise levels exceeding 105 dB(A) were measured in four of the eight workplaces. The estimated average annual incidence of NIHL varied from 0.7 - 8.3/1000/year. All companies did baseline, periodic and exit audiometric testing, but there were notable discrepancies between companies and verification audiograms and differences of more than 20 dB(A) were found. Although information and training on noise was reportedly done in all worksites, a high proportion of workers could not demonstrate correct fitting of hearing protection devices or recall when last they were trained. CONCLUSION: A detailed standard operating procedure should be implemented for medical surveillance for NIHL with action timelines that initiate remedial processes prior to employee developing compensable disease. Aggregated audiometric testing results should be communicated to managers and health and safety teams to provide guidance to prioritise areas for control measures. A quality assurance programme for audiometric testing must be implemented. An evaluation tool to measure the effectiveness of the noise and hearing conservation training provided to employees, including contracted employees, should be adopted.http://www.occhealth.co.zaam201

Central Coherence in Eating Disorders: A Synthesis of Studies Using the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test

Background: Large variability in tests and differences in scoring systems used to study central coherence in eating disorders may lead to different interpretations, inconsistent findings and between study discrepancies. This study aimed to address inconsistencies by collating data from several studies from the same research group that used the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (Rey Figure) in order to produce norms to provide benchmark data for future studies. Method: Data was collated from 984 participants in total. Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, recovered Anorexia Nervosa, unaffected family members and healthy controls were compared using the Rey Figure. Results: Poor global processing was observed across all current eating disorder sub-groups and in unaffected relatives. There was no difference in performance between recovered AN and HC groups. Conclusions: This is the largest dataset reported in the literature and supports previous studies implicating poor global processing across eating disorders using the Rey Figure. It provides robust normative data useful for future studies

An Empirical Comparison of Consumer Innovation Adoption Models: Implications for Subsistence Marketplaces

So called “pro-poor” innovations may improve consumer wellbeing in subsistence marketplaces. However, there is little research that integrates the area with the vast literature on innovation adoption. Using a questionnaire where respondents were asked to provide their evaluations about a mobile banking innovation, this research fills this gap by providing empirical evidence of the applicability of existing innovation adoption models in subsistence marketplaces. The study was conducted in Bangladesh among a geographically dispersed sample. The data collected allowed an empirical comparison of models in a subsistence context. The research reveals the most useful models in this context to be the Value Based Adoption Model and the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model. In light of these findings and further examination of the model comparison results the research also shows that consumers in subsistence marketplaces are not just motivated by functionality and economic needs. If organizations cannot enhance the hedonic attributes of a pro-poor innovation, and reduce the internal/external constraints related to adoption of that pro-poor innovation, then adoption intention by consumers will be lower