Exploring Key Factors Leading to Low Performance in Mathematics of J & K Students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA): A Rational Analysis

Mathematics is one of the core subjects in the curriculum at national and international levelas the direct implication on fostering various important qualities such as creativity, logicaland abstract thinking, problem solving, originality and curiosity among the learners, by thesubject Mathematics. However, it is quite disheartening to note that the low performance ofIndian students at international assessment in Mathematics as reported by PISA 2009, Indianstudents ranked second last among 73 countries. Kumar & Karimi (2010) found that theanxiety in Mathematics has a negative effect with Mathematics performance and achievementthough it has also been found that a degree of cognitive anxiety (worry and concern) maymotivate students to try harder. Also, (Guin, 2018) observed that Phobia in Mathematics isnot genetic but highly contagious. Every negative comment to the subject like it is hard,boring, abstract, useless etc. puts a negative image about Mathematics among the children. Inthe present study, the author has critically reasoned out the key factors leading to lowperformance of the students such as emphasis on rote memory than competency skills likecritical, collaborative and creative thinking, connection the school knowledge to real lifesetting, rigidity in problem solving, shortage of qualified professional Mathematics teachers,more emphasis on completion of syllabus rather than meaningful learning of Mathematicsconcepts, inadequate Mathematics laboratories, improper teaching methods, system ofassessment, student’s understanding of conceptual and procedural knowledge in themain operations, rigidity in problem solving, etc. The present paper also highlighted thepedagogical factors, administration factors, institutional factors and evaluation factors inorder to reason out the present status of mathematics learning in specific context to Indianschools. The paper has also been supported with the inferences drawn through an empiricallyconducted pilot study by the investigator on teachers and students with the purpose to identifythe factors affecting the performance of students in Mathematics. The study has also includedsome concrete suggestions and recommendations to be employed at micro (Classroom level)and macro level (Administration/Institutional level) so as to improve performance of thelearners in Mathematics

An Automated Solution to Training and Placement Cell Activities

The paper is aimed at developing an application as an ?An Automated Solution To Training And Placement Cell Activities. It can be accessed and effectively used throughout the organization with proper login enabled. This application can be used for the Placement Officers in the college to manage the student information with regard to placement. Student logging should be able to upload their personal and educational information in the form of a resume. The key feature of this project is that it is one time registration enabled. Our project provides the facility of maintaining the details of the students. The management of Training and Placement is supported by databases, spreadsheets and E-mail communications. It also provides a requested list of candidates to recruit the students based on given query. Administrator logging may also search any information put up by the students. It intends to help fast access procedures in placement related activities and ensures to maintain the details of the students

Bibliometric Survey on Effect of Socio-Economic Factors on Spread of Corona virus (COVID-19)

The Novel Coronavirus disease has been rapidly spreading all around the globe, from the time when it was first reported in the Wuhan city of China. The primary focus of this bibliometric survey is to distinguish the documents which have hypothesized and expanded on the effects of various socio-economic factors when it comes to the spread of the Coronavirus. This survey does the evaluation on the 480 documents found. The United Kingdom of the Great Britain and United States have contributed the largest number of publications in this field of research followed closely by India and Italy. The survey includes analysis based on geographical regional, analysis of network, analysis on the basis of type of publication, dialect in which the document is written in. We have also considered the universities, institutes and authors that have contributed in this research area. This bibliometric survey concludes that the highest number publications of “Socio-Economic factors affecting the spread of COVID-19” are from articles, review papers associated with agriculture and biological sciences. The documents that were analyzed are considered from the time period of 2020 to 2021

Lipoma of Guyon’s canal causing ulnar neuropathy

Lipoma is a benign soft tissue tumor which rarely causes neuropathy. In closed compartments such as Guyon’s canal, even small volume loss can lead to compression of nerve. Hence in such areas, even innocuous tumors such as lipomas can cause neuropathy and warrant surgery. We present one such case of ulnar neuropathy caused by lipoma of Guyon’s canal

Determinants of rapid weight gain during infancy: baseline results from the NOURISH randomised controlled trial

Background: Rapid weight gain in infancy is an important predictor of obesity in later childhood. Our aim was to determine which modifiable variables are associated with rapid weight gain in early life.Methods: Subjects were healthy infants enrolled in NOURISH, a randomised, controlled trial evaluating an intervention to promote positive early feeding practices. This analysis used the birth and baseline data for NOURISH. Birthweight was collected from hospital records and infants were also weighed at baseline assessment when they were aged 4-7 months and before randomisation. Infant feeding practices and demographic variables were collected from the mother using a self administered questionnaire. Rapid weight gain was defined as an increase in weight-for-age Z-score (using WHO standards) above 0.67 SD from birth to baseline assessment, which is interpreted clinically as crossing centile lines on a growth chart. Variables associated with rapid weight gain were evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression model.Results: Complete data were available for 612 infants (88% of the total sample recruited) with a mean (SD) age of 4.3 (1.0) months at baseline assessment. After adjusting for mother's age, smoking in pregnancy, BMI, and education and infant birthweight, age, gender and introduction of solid foods, the only two modifiable factors associated with rapid weight gain to attain statistical significance were formula feeding [OR = 1.72 (95%CI 1.01-2.94), P = 0.047] and feeding on schedule [OR = 2.29 (95%CI 1.14-4.61), P = 0.020]. Male gender and lower birthweight were non-modifiable factors associated with rapid weight gain.Conclusions: This analysis supports the contention that there is an association between formula feeding, feeding to schedule and weight gain in the first months of life. Mechanisms may include the actual content of formula milk (e.g. higher protein intake) or differences in feeding styles, such as feeding to schedule, which increase the risk of overfeeding.Trial Registration: Australian Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12608000056392

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Determining PTEN Functional Status by Network Component Deduced Transcription Factor Activities

PTEN-controlled PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway represents one of the most deregulated signaling pathways in human cancers. With many small molecule inhibitors that target PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway being exploited clinically, sensitive and reliable ways of stratifying patients according to their PTEN functional status and determining treatment outcomes are urgently needed. Heterogeneous loss of PTEN is commonly associated with human cancers and yet PTEN can also be regulated on epigenetic, transcriptional or post-translational levels, which makes the use of simple protein or gene expression-based analyses in determining PTEN status less accurate. In this study, we used network component analysis to identify 20 transcription factors (TFs) whose activities deduced from their target gene expressions were immediately altered upon the re-expression of PTEN in a PTEN-inducible system. Interestingly, PTEN controls the activities (TFA) rather than the expression levels of majority of these TFs and these PTEN-controlled TFAs are substantially altered in prostate cancer mouse models. Importantly, the activities of these TFs can be used to predict PTEN status in human prostate, breast and brain tumor samples with enhanced reliability when compared to straightforward IHC-based or expression-based analysis. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that unique sets of PTEN-controlled TFAs significantly contribute to specific tumor types. Together, our findings reveal that TFAs may be used as “signatures” for predicting PTEN functional status and elucidate the transcriptional architectures underlying human cancers caused by PTEN loss