Educational Television: Moving from Instructional Television Fixed Service(ITFS) to Any Content, Any Device, Any Time and Any Where

This paper examines the recent advances in media technologies are deeply changed the Educational Television shift from Instructional Television Fixed Service to Any Content, Any Device, Any Time and Any Where Model. Television, which has an important place in mass communication, has a significant role in Education as Educational Television

Development of Satellite Television: A Perspective Study of SAARC Countries

In this paper, an attempt has been made to bring a brief summary of the television broadcasting systems of the SAARC region. The study explores the television program formats, which is a crucially important ingredient in the globalization of culture in South Asia. The production and transmission activities of the development television must answer; can Television play a role of change agent? can it transform society? The specific objectives of this study are to understand satellite television scenario in SAARC countries. Satellite television will bring diverse markets into bigger cultural markets to gain the economy of scale. The general trend bringing the foreign programmes for the viewers of the country by adopting cable television and DTH platforms than state owned television channels. Most analyses of broadcasting in SAARC countries focus on issues relating to politics and as well as questions of culture and identity. It is important, however, to also understand Technological development and will lead to the prosperity and development of the societies

Rationalising health care provision under market incentives: experimental evidence from south Africa

Unnecessary medical treatments place a significant burden on health systems striving for universal health coverage (UHC). This thesis studies inappropriate treatment incentives in the private sector in South Africa, where plans to implement a national health insurance system (NHI) foresee the contracting of private physicians to deliver publicly-funded health care. Private providers are increasingly recognized as necessary partners for UHC success in many low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC). However, aligning the incentives of these actors with UHC and public health goals requires a better understanding of incentive effects in these settings. I conduct two field experiments with incognito standardized patients (SPs), to both evaluate appropriate care provision and experimentally vary the treatment incentives facing private physicians. First, I run a within-subject experiment with 89 private primary care physicians (GPs) in Johannesburg, to investigate the causal impact of improving patients’ financial protection (insurance cover) on physicians’ quality of care delivery. The results suggest that more insured patients receive a higher level of visible clinical effort, but a lower level of technical care quality – including a higher likelihood of inappropriate antibiotic treatment. Second, I use data from the same experiment to evaluate the impact of patient insurance on the quantity and costs of care. I find that more insured patients are more likely to receive unnecessary diagnostic tests and treatment procedures, and receive more and more expensive branded drugs, resulting in significantly higher care costs. The results on antibiotic treatment and drug treatment quantity and costs occurred despite the absence of any financial incentives attached to drug prescribing for GPs, which suggests the presence of alternative motives for physicians’ treatment decisions that might vary with patient insurance – including intrinsic or altruistic motives. Third, I explore the scope for leveraging such intrinsic motivations to improve physicians’ treatment choices. I conduct a randomized (between-subject) experiment with 80 GPs, to evaluate the impact of intrinsic, informational incentives from private performance audit and feedback (A&F) on physicians’ antibiotic treatment choices and care costs. The findings suggest that private A&F can significantly reduce the likelihood of inappropriate antibiotic treatment for common viral infections that present in primary care, without simultaneously reducing appropriate antibiotic use for bacterial infections or increasing other inappropriate drug treatments. However, improved performance on antibiotic use does not coincide with significantly lower treatment costs or any improvements in measured diagnostic effort or accuracy. There is indicative evidence that prescribing norms and perceived patient expectations may play an important role in mediating private physicians’ treatment choices in all three empirical chapters

Pedagogic approaches and cultural scripts: The use of talk during shared literacy lessons in three primary two classrooms in Singapore

This study investigates the use and occurrence of talk during the implementation of the key approaches of Shared Book Reading and Class Dictated Story in three Primary Two classrooms in Singapore. These approaches are based on a constructive perspective of literacy where children make meaning from texts read with the teacher through joint exploration and connection with their respective background knowledge and experiences. Central to this joint exploration and meaning-making is the teacher-pupil talk. The occurrence and use of talk in the implementation of these approaches in three primary two classrooms was recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Teachers\u27 and pupils\u27 experiences and practices of talk at home were also obtained through interviews, pupil logs and observations and audio recordings of shared reading and shared writing done in the classroom and in some homes. These would show the teachers\u27 and pupils\u27 orientation to talking to learn and consequently, the cultural congruence of the two major approaches currently being used in the classroom. The theoretical rationale informing the study is a sociocultural perspective. The relationship between language and culture is emphasized because use the learning of English in Singapore has been based on the second language paradigm for a long time. Given the cultural heterogeneity in the classroom and the learning of English as a first language in Singapore, this paradigm needs to be replaced. The different cultural scripts that Singaporeans take with them into the classroom necessitate a change of paradigms and a shift towards a sociocultural perspective of literacy learning. The study found that the talk which occurred during the shared literacy lessons in the classrooms of the Chinese and Indian teachers was dominated by the teachers with the pupils participating only to answer teacher questions. Both the Chinese and Indian teachers also stated that pupil comprehension was their main concern during the Shared Book Reading and Class Dictated Story sessions. This seemed to match the home reading experiences of the Chinese and Indian children in this study. In the Malay teacher\u27s class there was pupil-initiated talk with the pupils initiating topic change as well as plane change and responding to teacher-questions spontaneously. The study argues that literacy is culturally loaded and therefore it is important to ensure the cultural fit of pedagogic approaches implemented in the classroom. It also argues the inadequacy of only a linguistic adaptation of pedagogic approaches originating in different cultural and linguistic contexts. Pre-service and in-service training of teachers need to transcend the imparting of procedural knowledge of the approaches and instead sensitize teachers to the cultural embeddedness of the approaches, Emphasizing the sociocultural perspective of literacy so that teachers perceive the Shared Book Reading and Class Dictated Story as necessitating and encouraging social dialogue would ensure that teachers and pupils with different cultural scripts and consequently engaging in reading and writing practices for different reasons and in different ways are not marginalized and disempowered. Attending to the cultural load of learning to read and write in English in Singapore has become urgent in view of the national call to create \u27\u27Thinking Schools, Learning Nation . Pedagogic approaches are culturally loaded. They cannot be viewed as being neutral. Recognizing the cultural situatedness of English language learning and teaching and the pedagogic approaches used in the process is necessary if the government\u27s vision is to become a reality

Investigation on Effect of Fiber and Orientation on the Properties of Bio-Fibre Reinforced Laminates

The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of fibre type and fibre orientation tensile and flexural shear properties of woven jute and bamboo fibre reinforced epoxy composites by experimentally. Laminates were fabricated by hand lay-up technique in a mould and cured under light pressure for 60 min followed by curing at room temperature for two days. Jute and bamboo laminates were made with a total of six piles by varying two orientation of fibre as to obtain four different samples. Specimen preparation and testing was carried out as per ASTM standards. The results shows the tensile strength and flexural strengths of the jute and bamboo laminates higher at 0/90? orientation and jute shows the highest in both tensile and bending strength

ANTIOXIDATIVE AND ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIALS OF FUNGAL ENDOPHYTES FROM JUSTICIA WYNAADENSIS HEYNE: AN ETHNOMEDICINAL RAIN FOREST SPECIES OF WESTERN GHATS

Objective: Endophytes, living within the medicinal plants, are recognized as an alternative source of bioactive components useful for human health. This study aims to isolate and identify the fungal endophytes from the ethnomedicinal rain forest plant Justicia wynaadensis and evaluation of their antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials. Methods: Endophytic fungi were isolated and identified by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer. The secondary metabolites were extracted with ethyl acetate and evaluated for the total phenolic, flavonoid, antioxidant, and antibacterial potentials. The antioxidative capacities were determined using different experimental models, viz., radical scavenging capacity, reducing power, and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. The antibacterial potential of extracts was determined through disc diffusion method and by evaluating minimum inhibitory concentration through microplate technique. Results: A total of nine fungal endophytes belonging to six genera were identified. The total phenolic content of the extracts ranged from 4.8±0.08 to 20.74±0.96 mg Gallic acid equivalent/g dry extract. Flavonoid was present in eight extracts in the range of 2.1±0.08 to 8.75±0.6 mg catechin equivalent/g dry extract. Fusarium incarnatum was found to have potentially high antioxidant capacity as well as broad spectrum antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Conclusion: This study reported various endophytic fungi from the plant J. wynaadensis. This is the first attempt to explore the treasure of endophytes and their bioactive potentiality from this plant. Hence, our findings encourage the exploration of these fungi and exploit them in search of potential drug discovery

Optimising surgical management of elderly cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Elderly population is on rise. It is an ethical dilemma how aggressive one should be when it comes to treat cancer in elderly. Presumed fear of increased postoperative morbidity and mortality has resulted in delivery of sub-optimal cancer surgery. METHODS: In this review article we visit physiology of the aged, tools available to assess surgical risks in oncogeriatric patients, and current practice in the management of common cancers encountered in surgical oncology, with the view of increasing awareness on optimising surgical management of senior patients with cancer. A pubmed search for cancer, surgery, elderly, was carried out. RESULTS: Cancer is on rise with increasing age predominantly affecting breast, gastrointestinal tract and lung. Increasingly more surgeons are offering surgery to elderly cancer patient but selection bias is prevalent. Available data reflect short and long-term outcome of cancer surgery in elderly is not greatly different to that of younger patient. Declining physiological reserve along with inability to respond adequately to physiological stress are salient age related changes. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is not tested in surgical patient. There is need for a tool to define individualised operative risk. Preoperative assessment of cancer in elderly is designed to offer this information based on functional status of an individual utilising currently available tools of risk assessment. CONCLUSION: All elderly cancer patients should be offered optimal treatment depending on their functional status not on chronological age. Oncogeriatric patient would benefit from dedicated multidisciplinary approach. Recruitment of elderly cancer patients to more clinical trials is needed to enhance our knowledge and to offer optimum treatment to this unique subgroup

Phyto-constituents, Pharmacological Properties and Biotechnological Approaches for Conservation of the Anti-diabetic Functional Food Medicinal Plant Salacia: A Review Note

Background and Objective: Genus Salacia L. (Celastraceae) is a woody climbing medicinal plant consisting of about 200 species with many endangered species located throughout the world’s tropical areas. Various parts of the plant as food, functional food additive and tea have been extensively used to treat a variety of ailments like diabetes and obesity as well as inflammatory and skin diseases. The present work reviews the phytochemical properties, pharmacological activities, biotechnological strategy for conservation and safety evaluation of this valuable genus.Results and Conclusion: More efforts are needed to isolate new phytoconstituents from this important medicinal plant. The  echanism of anti-diabetic action has not been done at molecular and cellular levels, thus the fundamental biological understanding is required for future applications. Though the safety of plant species has been well documented and has been confirmed by many toxicological studies, further toxicity research and clinical trials arerecommended. In order to sustain harvest and conservation, agronomic practices for cultivation have to be developed. Establishment of more efficient protocols for in vitro propagation is necessary too. Approaches like genetic manipulation, hairy root culture, media standardization, and use of inducers/precursors for elevation of secondary metabolite levels could also be attractive.Conflict of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest