School Play Activities: Assessment of Educators’ Knowledgeability of Physical, Creative and Cognitive Development of Basic Education Children

The purpose of the research study was to assess the educators’ knowledgeability regarding children’s physical, creative and cognitive development through play activities in Basic Education schools in Uyo Urban of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. It was assumed that the findings of the study would help educators to have an understanding that pupils’ play activities should not be regarded as time for children to expend excess energy while the teachers take rest. A 5-point structured questionnaire with 30 item-statements based on the fundamental principle of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) was used to elicit opinion from the respondents. A sample of 180 educators randomly drawn from 18 Basic Education schools in Uyo Urban was surveyed. The reliability index of the instrument was 0.78 determined through Cronbach Alpha method. The data collected were analysed using frequency, percentage and the rank order statistics. The findings of the study showed that educators implementing the Basic Education programme are quite knowledgeable of children’s physical, creative and cognitive development through school play activities but the highest ranking goes for the physical development. This seems to suggest that the goals of play activities are not mutually exclusive, hence, children’s development should be considered wholistically through play activities. Keywords: Play activities, knowledgeability, DAP, physical, creative and cognitive development. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-15-19 Publication date:May 31st 2019

Geochemistry of Ekenkpon and Nkporo shales, Calabar flank, SE Nigeria: implications for provenance, transportation history and depositional environment

The Cretaceous Nkporo and Ekenkpon Shales within the Calabar Flank were investigated using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) to deduce the provenance, transportation history and depositional environment. The results show the dominance of SiO2 (45.27 – 46.45%; 44.50 – 54.83%), Al2O3 (22.27 – 23.57%; 19.20 – 20.20%) and Fe2O3 (8.30 – 9.04%; 5.64 – 7.30%) constituting the bulk major oxides of Nkporo and Ekenkpon Shales respectively. The Index of Chemical Variation (ICV) ranges from 0.42 – 0.56 and 0.57– 0.68 for Nkporo and Ekenkpon Shales respectively, suggesting moderate and high degree of weathering. The enrichment of Sr (124 – 350ppm; Nkporo Shale and 176 – 856ppm; Ekenkpon Shale) compared to Post Australian Archean Shale (PAAS; 14.6ppm) could be attributed to feldspars in the source area, and is easily incorporated in the clay minerals of the shales. Also the values of Th and U which are 15.00 – 17.20ppm; 14.6- 23.2ppm and 3.5-4.2ppm; 1.9-6.2ppm respectively in Nkporo and Ekenkpon sediments show enrichment compared to PAAS of 14.6ppm and 3.1ppm for respective values of Th and U. The Eu anomaly of 0.04 to 0.07 suggests felsic source rocks for both formations while plots of TiO2 vs. Al2O3 indicate an intermediate to dominantly felsic granodiorite source for both shales, with little input from felsic volcanic provenance plus traces of quartzose sedimentary rocks. The mobility of Na, Ca, and K due to progressive weathering of the shales is evident in the bivariate plots of Na2O wt% vs. PIA, CaOwt% vs. PIA and K2O vs. PIA. Values of Th/U ratios range from 3.37 – 4.91(Nkporo) and 3.10 – 7.68 (Ekenkpon), indicating moderate to high weathering and reworking of sediments. It is envisaged that the area is associated with passive to active continental margin tectonics, where sediments were mainly sourced from felsic rocks of the adjoining terrain and deposited in oxic, continental to transitional marine environment based on Al2O3– K2O +CaO+MgO-Fe2O3+MgO; AKF plot.KEYWORDS: Cretaceous, Calabar Flank, provenance, transportation history, depositional environment

Proximity effects and Andreev reflection in mesoscopic SNS junction with perfect NS interfaces

Low temperature transport measurements on superconducting film - normal metal wire - superconducting film (SNS) junctions fabricated on the basis of 6 nm thick superconducting polycrystalline PtSi films are reported. The structures with the normal metal wires of two different lengths L=1.5 $\mu$m and L=6$\mu$m and the same widths W=0.3$\mu$m are studied. Zero bias resistance dip related to pair current proximity effect is observed for all junctions whereas the subharmonic energy gap structure originating from phase coherent multiple Andreev reflections have occurs only in the SNS junctions with short wires.Comment: ReVTex, 4 pages, 4 eps figures include

The harm of anticoagulation in patients with low-risk by CHADS2 and reclassified as high-risk by CHA2DS2VASc: inferences from TRAF cohort.

OBJECTIVE: There is a gap in the knowledge concerning oral anticoagulation (OAC) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with a non-high risk of stroke. CHA2DS2VASc and CHADS2 scores generated imprecise risk estimates for low risk patients. We aimed to assess OAC in patients with low risk by CHADS2 and reclassified as high-risk by CHA2DS2VASc. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, retrospective nationwide population-based study, data were obtained from the Turkish claims and utilization management system. Patients with non-valvular AF (n=451,113) between 2007 and 2012 sub-divided into those with a CHA2DS2VASc≥1 and CHADS2=0 (n=41,273) who were off-warfarin (n=29,448) and on-warfarin (n=11,825). Stroke and systemic embolism, major bleeding, all-cause mortality, net clinical benefit (NCB) and ultimate NCB (UNCB) were assessed. RESULTS: Of the total cohort (mean age 66.1 ± 14.1 years, 56.1% female), CHA2DS2VASc improved the net reclassification index of observed 5-year composite thromboembolic endpoint by 6.9% (p<0.05). CHA2DS2VASc reclassified 9.7% low risk patients as high risk. Among reclassified-high-risk category (patients with a CHA2DS2VASc score of ≥1 and CHADS2 score of 0), major bleeding for that prescribed warfarin was 3% and higher than the rate of thromboembolism among those off-warfarin. NCB (-0.035) and UNCB (-0.021) were negative. Death and hospitalization at 1 year were significantly higher for on-warfarin group. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical outcomes, net clinical benefit indices are negative; rates of death and hospitalization were significantly higher for OAC in reclassified category. This emphasizes the importance of greater attention to balancing the risks and benefits of OAC in patients with low risk by CHADS2 and reclassified as high-risk by CHA2DS2VASc

The European Network for Translational Research in Atrial Fibrillation (EUTRAF): objectives and initial results.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in the general population. As an age-related arrhythmia AF is becoming a huge socio-economic burden for European healthcare systems. Despite significant progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology of AF, therapeutic strategies for AF have not changed substantially and the major challenges in the management of AF are still unmet. This lack of progress may be related to the multifactorial pathogenesis of atrial remodelling and AF that hampers the identification of causative pathophysiological alterations in individual patients. Also, again new mechanisms have been identified and the relative contribution of these mechanisms still has to be established. In November 2010, the European Union launched the large collaborative project EUTRAF (European Network of Translational Research in Atrial Fibrillation) to address these challenges. The main aims of EUTRAF are to study the main mechanisms of initiation and perpetuation of AF, to identify the molecular alterations underlying atrial remodelling, to develop markers allowing to monitor this processes, and suggest strategies to treat AF based on insights in newly defined disease mechanisms. This article reports on the objectives, the structure, and initial results of this network

Transcript of The Dory Derby Accident

This story is an excerpt from a longer interview that was collected as part of the Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City project. In this story, Don Grotjohn recounts an accident that occurred during a Dory Derby competition

Chest computed tomography of a patient revealing severe hypoxia due to amniotic fluid embolism: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Amniotic fluid embolism is one of the most severe complications in the peripartum period. Because its onset is abrupt and fulminant, it is unlikely that there will be time to examine the condition using thoracic computed tomography (CT). We report a case of life-threatening amniotic fluid embolism, where chest CT in the acute phase was obtained.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 22-year-old Asian Japanese primiparous woman was suspected of having an amniotic fluid embolism. After a Cesarean section for cephalopelvic disproportion, her respiratory condition deteriorated. Her chest CT images were examined. CT findings revealed diffuse homogeneous ground-glass shadow in her bilateral peripheral lung fields. She was therefore transferred to our hospital. On admission to our hospital's intensive care unit, she was found to have severe hypoxemia, with SpO₂of 50% with a reservoir mask of 15 L/min oxygen. She was intubated with the support of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. She was successfully extubated on the sixth day, and discharged from the hospital on the twentieth day.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first case report describing amniotic fluid embolism in which CT revealed an acute respiratory distress syndrome-like shadow.</p

Separately contacted edge states: A new spectroscopic tool for the investigation of the quantum Hall effect

Using an innovative combination of a quasi-Corbino sample geometry and the cross-gate technique, we have developed a method that enables us to separately contact single edge channels in the quantum Hall regime and investigate equilibration among them. Performing 4-point resistance measurements, we directly obtain information on the energetic and geometric structure of the edge region and the equilibration-length for current transport across the Landau- as well as the spin-gap. Based on an almost free choice in the number of participating edge channels and their interaction-length a systematic investigation of the parameter-space becomes possible.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Peri‐ictal responsiveness to the social environment is greater in psychogenic nonepileptic than epileptic seizures

Objective To look for evidence of peri‐ictal social interaction in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and epileptic seizures exploring the notion of PNES as a form of nonverbal communication. Methods Video recordings of typical seizures experienced by patients with epilepsy and PNES were obtained in a naturalistic social setting (residential epilepsy monitoring unit). Video analysis by three nonexpert clinicians identified 18 predefined semiological and interactional features indicative of apparent impairment of consciousness or of peri‐ictal responsiveness to the social environment with assessment of interrater reliability using Fleiss κ. Features were compared between epileptic seizures and PNES. Results One hundred eighty‐nine seizures from 50 participants (24 epilepsy, 18 PNES, eight combined) were analyzed. At least fair (κ > 0.20) interrater agreement was achieved for 14 features. The PNES and epileptic seizures compared were of similar severity in terms of ictal impairment of consciousness (κ = 0.34, odds ratio [OR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62‐1.96) and responsiveness (κ = 0.52, OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.55‐1.86). PNES were more likely to be preceded by attempts to alert others (κ = 0.52, OR = 12.4, 95% CI = 3.2‐47.7, P < .001), to show intensity affected by the presence of others (κ = 0.44, OR = 199.4, 95% CI = 12.0‐3309.9, P < .001), and to display postictal behavior affected by the presence of others (κ = 0.35, OR = 91.1, 95% CI = 17.2‐482.1, P < .001). Significance Nonexpert raters can, with fair to moderate reliability, rate features characterizing ictal impairment of consciousness and responsivity in video recordings of seizures. PNES are associated with greater peri‐ictal responsiveness to the social environment than epileptic seizures. These findings are consistent with a potential communicative function of PNES and could be of differential diagnostic significance