Search

Research on text comprehension in relation to the reading medium (paper or screen) has mainly involved undergraduate or high school students. To advance current knowledge on the effects of reading medium, this longitudinal study focused on beginner readers, specifically, the role of precursors in first graders’ comprehension of narrative and expository linear texts from reading on paper and computer screen. Working memory and inference skills as cognitive precursors and basic digital skills were measured at the end of preschool (T1); reading text comprehension and word reading, as a control variable, were measured at the end of the first grade (T2). Sixty-three children participated in total. The first graders read four texts, one narrative and one expository, on both paper and computer screen, in a counterbalanced order. Results showed no main effects of the reading medium or text genre, but the interactive effect of these variables was significant. At T2, the children had higher comprehension scores after reading narrative than descriptive texts from paper. In addition, reading from the screen was preferred at post-test, after all texts were presented. As precursors, working memory and inference skills predicted both printed and digital text comprehension. In contrast, basic digital skills predicted only digital text comprehension after controlling for medium, text genre, and word reading.

This study investigates the emotional experiences of undergraduate students when taking computer-based compared to traditional paper-based exams. The authors surveyed 144 students and conducted in-depth written interviews with 44 of them to gain a comprehensive understanding of their emotions and experiences. The findings revealed that students generally feel more positive emotions, such as enjoyment, hope, and pride during computer-based exams. Conversely, they experienced less anger, anxiety, and hopelessness compared to paper-based exams. However, they observed no significant differences in feelings of relief and shame between the two exam modes. The interview responses provided valuable insights into the reasons behind these emotions. Students found computer-based testing to be more efficient, user-friendly for language editing, and appreciated the auto-grading features. However, technical concerns were identified as a major challenge in this format. On the other hand, paper-based exams allowed students to avoid technical problems, draft their answers, and express ideas more effectively. Despite these advantages, students reported disliking the lengthiness of the written responses, the difficulty of editing, and the pressure of maintaining legible handwriting. Overall, this study sheds light on the emotional experiences of students in different exam formats, helping educators make informed decisions to optimize testing environments.

Introduction: Summative assessments play a major role in shaping the student’s learning. There is little literature available on validity of summative assessment question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology. This study analyses 30 question papers from 6 reputed universities for content validity. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional record-based observational study was conducted where 30 university summative question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology from 6 universities across India were evaluated for content validity. The learning domain assessed, the type of questions asked, and sampling of the content was compared and presented in the results. Results: From the results of the study, it was noted that 80% weightage was allotted to recall in most papers and only one paper tested for application. 70 to 80% of the marks were allotted to Forensic Pathology leading to disproportionate sampling. Core areas in Toxicology and Medical Jurisprudence were sparsely assessed. Conclusion: The content validity of the summative question papers in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology was unsatisfactory, emphasising the need for evaluation of the clarity and efficacy of the blueprints being used by the universities. Faculty training to motivate and influence a change in the mindset is necessary to bring about a course correction.

Medical postgraduates are the new force of scientific research groups in China. However, the limitation of their English language ability restricts their publication of high-level Science Citation Index (SCI) papers to a large extent. Measures to improve students’ SCI language ability from macro, intermediate and micro aspects were discussed through flipped classroom teaching mode, such as students’ reading papers before class, students’ practicing paper writing after class, and teacher’s making comments in class. The feedback from the questionnaire showed that 96.65% of the students were satisfied with the teaching mode and 93.57% of them had improved their confidence in SCI writing. For the problems mentioned in the feedback, it was suggested that colleges and universities should formulate policies to encourage teachers to engage in medical English teaching, meanwhile teachers should constantly improve their professional quality, so as to help students improve their SCI language ability rapidly.

This column is intended to address the kinds of knotty problems and dilemmas with which many scholars grapple in studying health professions education. In this article, the authors address the question of why papers may be desk rejected (rejected without going out for formal peer review) and describe simple steps for authors to optimize their work so it gets past the desk reject stage. Submitted/Accepted version

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of mLearning or mobile device practice on the attention and accuracy of student's use of math concepts, specifically, telling time. A single subject, alternating treatment design was used to compare mLearning to paper and pencil practice in four 3rd grade male students. Results were mixed; two children were observed to be more on-task during the mLearning practice, and two children were observed to perform similarly across both conditions. Additionally, two children performed similarly on correctly completed problems across both conditions, and two children performed better using paper and pencil practice. All students completed more math problems during the paper and pencil practice.

Postulating that academic papers can positively impact the actual teaching practices of science teachers, this study analysed the process of understanding and utilising academic papers by science teachers to teach scientific creativity in their schools. The 45–hour graduate course of three science teachers was explored to identify the difficulties teachers encountered in trying to understand academic papers and to discover how to solve these difficulties. Second, which aspects should be considered when developing teaching materials for scientific creativity to be used in schools were analysed. A transformation model of an academic paper was proposed to understand this process, and the results were organised accordingly. According to this model, it was emphasized to translate academic papers from a general and abstract state to a local and concrete state. Therefore, the role of science educators as knowledge translators was discussed for more practical and effective use of academic papers in school. This study is expected to contribute to research-based teaching by linking academic research with teaching practice. Keywords: case study, research-based teaching, scientific creativity, teacher’s learning process, teaching plan

It is unknown whether and to what extent cognitive individual differences may play different roles in paper versus computer-based second language (L2) writing. This exploratory study is a first attempt to explore this issue, focusing on the effects of working memory and language aptitude on the quality of paper versus computer-based L2 writing performance. Forty-two Spanish learners of L2 English performed a problem-solving task either digitally or on paper, took a working memory n-back test, and completed LLAMA tests to measure language aptitude. The quality of their L2 written texts was assessed in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) measures. The results indicated that the role of cognitive individual differences may vary depending on the writing environment.

Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) are a class of varied compounds that mimic the effects of natural cannabinoids found in cannabis. Because they have a wide range of diverse structures, they vary widely in their potency. The abuse of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in prisons was reported in many European countries and in the USA. In the present study, we have described the identification of SCRAs in 56 infused paper sheet samples, seized mainly in Brazilian prisons between 2016 and 2020. The materials were seized by local or federal law enforcement and analyzed by Sao Paulo State Police or Brazilian Federal Police using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry or nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. Most of these samples (87.5%) were seized in 2019–2020; seven different SCRAs were identified in samples, and the most frequently identified substances were MDMB-4en-PINACA (23.6%) and 5F-MDMB-PICA (36.4%), the newest SCRAs emerging recently. As observed in Europe and the USA, Brazil also shows the prevalence of indazole-3-carboxamides and indole-3-carboxamides among SCRAs seizures in the prison system. This phenomenon is spreading all over the world at this moment. These data on the prevalence could help to alert judicial authorities to shutting down the introduction of NPS, including SCRAs, into prisons to ensure safety and security for avoiding health risks of prisoners and staff, leading to positive effects in this population. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of SCRAs smuggling into prisons in Latin America.

BACKGROUND Medical and dental education is highly dependent on the development of students’ clinical skills in addition to their theoretical knowledge. The use of logbooks to monitor the clinical procedures performed by students provides a great advantage in the educational process. Because of the pandemic, utilisation of digital logbooks may prove to be more advantageous. This study aims to investigate the effective use of online progress records and as to whether they actually decrease the chance of error compared to the traditional paper-based logbooks. METHODS In this quasi-experimental study, 139 student logbooks were studied to compare online and paper-based clinical procedures. Logbook monitoring of undergraduate dental students reported by the students themselves vs. instructors was compared. Students filled mandatory individual paper-based logbooks, reporting the number of clinical procedures performed in that year. Additionally, they filled online log- sheets, and updated them regularly. Instructors proofread and signed the paper-based students’ logbooks. Instructors also separately submitted individual online forms recording each student’s clinical procedure performed in clinical sessions. A total of 556 logbook records was collected. The mean number of procedures recorded by the students and instructors (online and paper-based) were statistically compared. RESULTS The mean number of procedures recorded in student-reported online logbooks were significantly lower than that in all other logbooks. Paper-based and online instructorreported logbook data was identical to that of student reported paper-based logbooks. CONCLUSIONS Within the scope of the study, it was concluded that online tools are an asset and may be used as a substitute for paper-based monitoring of clinical activity for instructors. However, students’ compliance updating and uploading online forms is a factor, which is a matter of concern. KEY WORDS Undergraduate Dental Logbooks, Clinical Progress Records, Monitoring Methods, Monitoring Tools, Undergraduate Dental Monitoring, Undergraduate Clinical Procedures Records

The present special issue (SI) is a collection of position papers and empirical studies intended to advance disciplinary conversations on the learning and teaching of second or foreign language (L2) writing in instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) contexts. It does so by analyzing critically past research, providing new empirical insights obtained in controlled and classroom-based studies conducted in various educational settings with diverse populations, suggesting worthy avenues to be pursued in future research agendas, and drawing implications for practice.

This study compared the effects of computer-mediated (CM) versus pen-and-paper (P&P) writing on written accuracy and feedback processing in tasks written and rewritten collaboratively following a pedagogical treatment in two intact authentic classrooms. The study involved 32 secondary education low-proficiency English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners writing two descriptive texts collaboratively and receiving in-class training in the identification and correction of grammatical, lexical, and mechanical errors. Participants were provided with unfocused direct error correction (EC). Error logs were used to facilitate noticing of teacher corrections (i.e., feedback processing). Dyads were required to rewrite their texts for evidence of feedback uptake. Results indicate that writing collaboratively on the computer with the availability of the Internet contributes to increased grammatical and lexical accuracy. No differences were found between writing environments regarding feedback processing or accuracy of rewritten texts.

Allergo journal international 30(5), 155-168 (2021). doi:10.1007/s40629-021-00178-2, Published by Urban & Vogel, München

A part of the supply chain that is very important to Malaysia is the port sector. A high-risk work environment is leading to a rise in occupational stress among port terminal workers. It is necessary for an organisation to correctly diagnose the aspects of the working lifestyle conditions that are perceived as risks by workers and to investigate the consequences of these risks in order for the organisation to be successful in the prevention of occupational stress problems. The aim of this conceptual paper is to investigate the factors that influence the safety practitioner's perception of safety and health risk assessment at port terminal. Data on safety and health that were collected in the past were analysed. Misunderstanding over the definition of a hazard and how to interpret a risk assessment matrix were both factors. This paper will scrutinize those factors and accomplish suggestions for how research should be done in Malaysia in the future.

Human trafficking is a pandemic human rights violation with an emerging paradigm shift that reframes an issue traditionally seen through a criminal justice lens to that of a public health crisis, particularly for children. Children and adolescents who are trafficked or are at risk for trafficking should receive evidence-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care from trained health care providers (HCPs). The purpose of this article was to engage and equip pediatric HCPs to respond effectively to human trafficking in the clinical setting, improving health outcomes for affected and at-risk children. Pediatric HCPs are ideally positioned to intervene and advocate for children with health disparities and vulnerability to trafficking in a broad spectrum of care settings and to optimize equitable health outcomes.

This exploratory study compares how young people (ages 15–16) learn circuitry concepts and layout design principles important to electrical engineering using one of two educational circuitry toolkits: paper circuits and traditional solderless breadboards. Paper-based prototyping kits are representative of a trend that incorporates new materials and approaches to integrating arts into traditional STEM disciplines. Extending prior research on how non-traditional toolkits enhance learning of electrical engineering outcomes, including basic circuitry concepts (i.e., current flow, polarity, and connections), this study examines the material affordances and design choices of the kits that contribute to youth’s understanding of more advanced circuitry layout design principles, including space allocation, placement of electronic components, and routing. Results indicate that paper circuits better afford the learning of layout design principles for printed circuit boards (PCBs) with large effect sizes. This study illuminates how the materials of educational toolkits uniquely solicit body- and material-syntonic patterns of activity, and thus differentially engage learners’ powerful ideas around circuitry and design principles. This investigation encourages careful consideration of the material affordances of some toolkits over others for learning purposes.

This paper presents the case of an adjunct university professor to illustrate the dilemma of using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to grade student papers. The hypothetical case discusses the benefits of using a commercial AI service to grade student papers—including discretion, convenience, pedagogical merits of consistent feedback for students, and advances made in the field that yield high-quality work—all of which are achieved quickly. Arguments against using AI to grade student papers involve cost, privacy, legality, and ethics. The paper discusses career implications for faculty members in both situations and concludes with implications for researchers within the discourse on academic integrity.

Background Paediatric orthopaedics is a significant and difficult for undergraduate students to master. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we used the WeChat platform to combine the advantages offered by problem-based learning (PBL), case-based learning (CBL) and paper review teaching methods to establish a new blended online teaching model and demonstrated its feasibility and effectiveness. Objective This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a new blended pedagogical method that uses the WeChat platform and combines PBL, CBL and paper review. Methods We enrolled 22 students participating in the Department of Paediatric Orthopaedics. They participated in the WeChat blended pedagogy mode. Their departmental rotation examination scores were compared with those of 23 students who participated in the traditional teaching method. Moreover, an anonymous questionnaire was used to evaluate students’ perceptions and experiences. Results The total average scores of students who participated in the WeChat blended pedagogy mode and the traditional teaching method were 47.27 and 44.52, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the online teaching mode and the traditional teaching method in terms of possessing professional accomplishment, gaining knowledge and promoting interpersonal skills (P = 0.07, P = 0.12 and P = 0.65, respectively). In terms of independent clinical thinking, self-improving capability and improving clinical skills, the scores associated with the WeChat blended pedagogy mode were 8.00, 8.00 and 6.00, whereas those associated with the traditional teaching method were 6.70, 6.87 and 7.48. The overall satisfaction with the WeChat blended pedagogy mode reached 100%. A total of 64%, 86%, 68%, 64% and 59% of students chose very large or large in response to the items concerning professional accomplishment, knowledge absorption, independent clinical thinking skills, English reading and literature exploring capacity, as well as interpersonal skills, respectively. Fifteen participants claimed that the WeChat blended pedagogy mode was less helpful to them with regard to promoting the improvement of their clinical skills. Nine students claimed that the WeChat blended pedagogy mode was time-consuming. Conclusions Our study verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the WeChat blended pedagogy mode for undergraduate paediatric orthopaedics internships. Trial Registration Retrospectively registered.

Research shows active learning is an effective teaching method. However, few qualitative studies explore medical student perceptions of the active learning process. The present study explored what students thought about while completing paper puzzles, an active learning tool used at the University of Utah School of Medicine, to understand what and how medical students think while engaged in active learning.To investigate second-year medical students' attitudes toward these active learning exercises, three Zoom-based focused groups were held and recorded throughout the course. Recordings were transcribed and coded using thematic analysis.Students reported that peer interactions were of high value, and that while some interactions and thought processes were action-oriented, others were more metacognitive. Other benefits of the activity included promotion of learning, provision of structure, and designation of high-yield concepts. Challenges included feelings of confusion, problems with timing or difficulty of the tasks, and low utility without adequate preparation.These findings reflect student-acknowledged pros and cons of active learning described in education literature and add further insight into the thoughts and conversations students have during active learning activities. These include practicing metacognitive skills, triaging information, and learning from peers.These data further elucidate student perceptions of active learning activities in medical education. Though focused on a specific activity, the data can help medical educators understand what students appreciate about active learning and what they think about while engaged in such activities.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-022-01682-y.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the high school students' attitudes towards writing on paper and digital writing were affected by their personal characteristics and familial characteristics. Survey method was used to determine high school students' attitudes towards writing on paper and digital writing. The sample of the study was determined using convenience sampling. Accordingly, a total of 301 students studying at Kahramanmaraş Anatolian High School during the 2019-2020 academic year were included in the study. “Inventory of Attitudes Towards Writing on Paper and Digital Writing” was used to collect the research data. Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were used to analyse the data. Based on the findings of the research, it was concluded that high school students’ attitudes towards writing on paper and digital writing did not differ according to their personal characteristics or familial characteristics, except for one independent variable, that is the father's educational attainment.

Aim The purpose of the study was to evaluate the performance of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) as an alternative to paper points (PPs) for endodontic treatments. Methodology The paper points and the PVDF membrane were evaluated for endotoxin binding using Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay. New paper points and the PVDF membrane were evaluated for the presence of endotoxins. Results Absorbency and endotoxin removal with the 0.22µm PVDF membrane was significantly greater than any of the paper points tested. There was significantly more endotoxin found in new paper points compared to the PVDF membrane. Conclusion In conclusion, our study showed that the 0.22μm PVDF membrane was significantly more absorbent and removed more endotoxins than PPs.

Using a qualitative historical research approach, this paper examines the South African (SA) e-Education (referred to as White paper 7 (WP7)) policy formulation’s contextual influences and their possible impacts on the policy implementation. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was conducted on both the policy itself and data collected through semi-structured interviews (SSI) with purposefully selected participants. Findings of the study reveal tacit contradictions and tensions that depict a policy that is in contradiction with itself. That is from its textual, discourse and process perspectives. The study reveals that, from its textual perspective, WP7’s formulation was influenced by the post-apartheid’s government desire to make use of Education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as quick fixers in response to the dire socioeconomic situation of the majority of citizens. Yet, its discourse perspective points to the fact that its formulation’s motive was merely to coordinate donations in hardware, software and funding from interest groups (IGs). While the donations in question were premised by IGs’ ultimate aim of maximizing profit through an anticipated government funded massive rollout of ICT resources to schools. This resulted in the formulation of WP7 being excessively influenced by contextual factors that had little to do with the policy’s vision of transforming teaching and learning (TL) through ICT. This situation may have contributed to the policy’s failure to reach its set objectives by 2013 as envisaged, at least from the point of view of policy as text.

Scientific practices are still largely absent from undergraduate curricula. Incorporating primary scientific literature (PSL) and podcasting into course curricula is an engaging way to provide instruction in scientific practices to undergraduate students. We present an innovative class project for biology undergraduates where students read a piece of PSL, develop annotations to learn more about the research contained within the PSL, and develop and produce a podcast episode to share the research findings with a general audience. To understand student perceptions of the project, we conducted surveys to obtain qualitative responses along with measures of science identity and project ownership. We found that the students felt like the project belonged to them and that their work on the project would ultimately benefit the scientific community. Here, we include a project handbook, schedule, and materials that can be used by any instructor to carry out this project.

Introduction: Studies have shown that foot deformities such as claw foot, hammer toes can occur due to paralysis of intrinsic muscles of the feet which in turn pose a high risk for foot ulcerations, gait disturbances and falls alongside decreased sensations of the foot. Current guidelines for the screening of diabetic foot involves testing for sensations of the foot by the Semmes Weinstein Monofilament (SWM) test but testing for intrinsic muscle weakness is not done routinely. Based on available literature, onset of structural changes of the foot occurs earlier than loss of sensations hence this study was undertaken to identify intrinsic muscle weakness of the feet using a simple, test called Paper Grip test (PGT) in diabetics with normal sensations of the feet. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in JSS Hospital from November 2018 to September 2020 involving diabetic patients visiting Medicine OPD and admitted patients meeting inclusion criteria of this study. Necessary ethical clearance from the institutional ethics committee of JSS medical college was obtained. Functional status of intrinsic muscles of the foot was tested by PGT and the sensations of the sole of the foot was assessed by SWM.

Subject to various restrictive requirements on project application and completion, funded projects are often affected by funding policies for the selection of research objects. This study explored the impact of scientific research funding policies on the funding and research by comparing the topic distribution of awards and papers. A total of 1,870 awards and 16,491 papers of the National Social Science Foundation of China (NSSFC) in library and information science (LIS) were collected from a Chinese research project database. According to the results, the growth rate of awards on most topics is higher than that of papers, while the growth rate of papers on the relevant topics to users, technology, and metrology is higher than that of awards. It was found out in the study that the topics funded by NSSFC were imbalanced. NSSFC provides much more funding to traditional topics rather than emerging topics. As indicated by the funding provided to the projects on traditional topics for research on a large number of papers on emerging topics, however, the innovation and diversity of academic research have yet to be restricted. This study demonstrated that the effect of funding policies on the research topics in LIS is significant. Topic suggestions and funding structure of NSSFC have more impacts on award topics than on paper topics. The influence of NSSFC-recommended topics on paper topics is declining year by year. Additionally, awards with high funding intensity are more susceptible to topic suggestions.

Background: The idea of the paper is to identify trends and examine the characteristics of the top 100 cited papers on medicinal plants research. Methods: Web of Science citation database was queried to identify the citations of the top 100 most cited papers on medicinal plants research. R and Excel statistical software were employed to extract bibliographic data on various parameters such as number of authors, publication year, journal name, country of origin, research collaboration, trend of research etc. The top 100 cited papers were extracted for further statistical and visual analysed on various grounds. Results: 100 top-cited articles were identified where these papers published in 51 journals, led by Journal of Ethnopharmacology (36 papers) and other journals. All most cited papers were published during 1993 to 2020. The common areas of study were categorized as radical scavenging activities of medicinal plants, antioxidant behaviour of medicinal plants, antiviral and anti-bacterial application, use of medicinal plants in diagnosis and treatment of various diseases such diabetes and cancer etc. India and China emerged as leading nations performing medicinal plants research and greater author’s collaboration were witnessed in medicinal plants research with an overall collaboration index of 4.39.

Diagnostic and evidential static image, video clip, and sound multimedia are captured during routine clinical care in cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, pathology, physiatry, radiation oncology, radiology, endoscopic procedural specialties, and other medical disciplines. Providers typically describe the multimedia findings in contemporaneous electronic health record clinical notes or associate a textual interpretative report. Visual communication aids commonly used to connect, synthesize, and supplement multimedia and descriptive text outside medicine remain technically challenging to integrate into patient care. Such beneficial interactive elements may include hyperlinks between text, multimedia elements, alphanumeric and geometric annotations, tables, graphs, timelines, diagrams, anatomic maps, and hyperlinks to external educational references that patients or provider consumers may find valuable. This HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community workgroup white paper outlines the current and desired clinical future state of interactive multimedia reporting (IMR). The workgroup adopted a consensus definition of IMR as “interactive medical documentation that combines clinical images, videos, sound, imaging metadata, and/or image annotations with text, typographic emphases, tables, graphs, event timelines, anatomic maps, hyperlinks, and/or educational resources to optimize communication between medical professionals, and between medical professionals and their patients.” This white paper also serves as a precursor for future efforts toward solving technical issues impeding routine interactive multimedia report creation and ingestion into electronic health records.

The development of learning theories, present societal needs, and the positive empirical findings in the relevant literature support the thesis that inquiry-based learning (IBL) is promising for teaching and learning, which deserves further development. Few studies have been conducted on content analysis of IBL in science education at the international level. However, the overall trends of IBL in science education research trends in Ethiopia are not well known. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the nature and status of inquiry-based learning research in Ethiopia by employing a quantitative method. A total of 23 studies, including 14 theses, eight articles, and one dissertation were analyzed in terms of the methodological approaches used and the subjects studied. The most frequently investigated IBL science areas were biology (43.5%) and chemistry (34.75%). Guided inquiry (69.6%) (5E model = 65.2% and 7E model = 4.4%) studies were the most frequently investigated inquiry types. Teaching (47.8%) and learning (43.5%) were the most frequently focused subject matters of the studies reviewed, while cognitive elements (58.6%) were the most frequently used research elements in IBL studies, and quantitative studies with predominantly quasi-experimental methods (60.9%) were widely employed. The findings of this study indicated that IBL was found to be a new research area in Ethiopia where it has been practiced in science education at the primary level. This study is considered useful to develop an understanding of the nature and status of IBL research in Ethiopia and provide information on what could be done about IBL in the future.

Pakistan is among the countries with a high rate of fertility and maternal mortality, and it's in a contract with sustainable development goals (SDGs) to achieve its 5th goal (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). Remaining this rate high with the availability of evidence-based strategies for reducing maternal mortality and advances in medical technology in Pakistan, this study will attempt to explore the methodology of the Lahore Pregnancy Cohort Study (LPCS). The objectives of the study were to determine the nutritional status, environmental factors (socio-economic status and food insecurity) and psychological status (depression and anxiety) of pregnant women. Moreover, the study will be an ongoing two-year prospective cohort study of Pakistani pregnant women in their 2nd trimester from the outpatient department of Fatima Memorial Hospital Lahore, Pakistan. Meanwhile, during pregnancy, their interview was conducted three times in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy and postpartum.

AimTo discuss ethical issues related to a complex study (PROFID) involving the development of a new, partly artificial intelligence-based, prediction model to enable personalised decision-making about the implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in postmyocardial infarction patients, and a parallel non-inferiority and superiority trial to test decision-making informed by that model.MethodThe position expressed in this paper is based on an analysis of the PROFID trials using concepts from high-profile publications in the ethical literature.ResultsWe identify ethical issues related to the testing of the model in the treatment setting, and to both the superiority and the non-inferiority trial. We underline the need for ethical-empirical studies about these issues, also among patients, as a parallel to the actual trials. The number of ethics committees involved is an organisational, but also an ethical challenge.ConclusionThe PROFID trials, and probably other studies of similar scale and complexity, raise questions that deserve dedicated parallel ethics and social science research, but do not constitute a generic obstacle. A harmonisation procedure, comparable to the Voluntary Harmonization Procedure (VHP) for medication trials, could be needed for this type of trials.

In recent years, microbial techniques for wastewater degradation process optimization under laboratory circumstances have piqued the interest of many academics acress the word, prompting them to investigate practical, cost- effective and long-term wastewater treatment technologies. Some workers claim that certain metabolic compounds have mutagenic nature and endocrine disrupting properties. To confirm the degradation and identification of a variety of metabolic products that may have EDC properties, control and bacterial treated samples were analyzed with the help of HPLC and GC-MS.In this study, toxicity assessment (genotoxicity) were performed to confirm the load of various EDCs present in the RGP effluent.Glucose was the most abundant among the carbon sources used as it showed the greatest reduction in colour (61.93%) and COD (57.86%) at 96 hours of the incubation period. However, galactose and sucrose were also found to be very good, allowing 56% color and 48.4% COD reduction. Sodium nitrate, which is an inorganic nitrogen source, played an important role in pulp paper mill effluent decolorization as well as COD reduction. On the other hand, a negative contribution to the color reduction was shown by the inorganic nitrogen source ammonium nitrate.

Background and aims Children with autism spectrum condition often have specific difficulties with narrative comprehension, a skill which has a strong association with both concurrent and longitudinal reading comprehension. A better understanding of narrative comprehension skills in autism spectrum condition has the potential to provide insight into potential later reading comprehension difficulties and inform early targeted intervention. In the current study, the main objective was to investigate how differences in the medium of story presentation (paper-book vs. e-book) and differences in story narration (adult narration vs. in-app narration) would influence narrative comprehension in general, and between groups (autism spectrum condition and a receptive language-matched control group). We were also interested in how task engagement (visual attention and communication) differed between group and conditions and whether task engagement was related to narrative comprehension. Method Forty-two children with autism spectrum condition and 42 typically developing children were read a story either via a paper-book or an e-book with interactive and multimedia features. The e-book was either narrated by the experimenter (adult narrated iPad condition) or narrated by an in-app voiceover (e-book narrated iPad condition). Children’s behaviour during storybook reading was video recorded and coded for engagement (visual attention and communication). They then completed two measures of narrative comprehension: multiple-choice questions (measuring recall of literal information) and a picture ordering task (measuring global story structure). Results Contrary to predictions, we did not find any significant group or condition differences on either measure of narrative comprehension, and both groups demonstrated a similar level of narrative comprehension across the three conditions. We found differences in engagement between conditions for both groups, with greater visual attention in the e-book conditions compared to the paper-book condition. However, visual attention only significantly correlated with narrative comprehension for the typically developing group. Conclusion Overall, this study suggests that children with autism spectrum condition are just as able as language-matched peers to comprehend a narrative from storybooks. Presenting a story on an iPad e-book compared to a paper-book does not influence narrative comprehension, nor does adult narration of the story compared to in-app narration. However, on-task engagement is linked to narrative comprehension in typically developing children. Implications: Taken together, our findings suggest that e-books may be more successful than paper-based mediums at encouraging visual attention towards the story, but no better at supporting narrative comprehension and eliciting communication.

The study aims to investigate the effects of delivery modalities on psychometric characteristics and student performance on cognitive tests. A first study assessed the inductive reasoning ability of 715 students under the supervision of teachers. A second study examined 731 students’ performance on the application of the control-of variables strategy in basic physics but without teacher supervision due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rasch measurement showed that the online format fitted to the data better in the unidimensional model across two conditions. Under teacher supervision, paper-based testing was better than online testing in terms of reliability and total scores, but contradictory findings were found in turn without teacher supervision. Although measurement invariance was confirmed between two versions at item level, the differential bundle functioning analysis supported the online groups on the item bundles constructed of figure-related materials. Response time was also discussed as an advantage of technology-based assessment for test development.

The main purpose of the living technology curriculum is to cultivate students' interest in learning science and technology, and further to utilize their experience of learning instructions and develop their ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. In recent years, as countries have begun to emphasize the concept of interdisciplinary integration in the school education, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, STEM) focuses on cultivating interdisciplinary talents. With this, STEAM highlights the role of ART because other dimensions of STEM are expected to be effectively integrated through the cultivation of aesthetics; the purpose of this study is to design a STEAM curriculum for elementary school children and to explore the impact of STEAM education on the creativity. The content of this course is based on the PBL (Project-Based Learning) with the teaching activities combining with “Chinese Paper-cutting” and “BBC micro: bit”. The teaching process is used the strategy of creative thinking instruction. The research method adopts a one-group pretest–posttest design based on a purposive sampling of 21 students from one class in an elementary school. The research tools included the records of learning feedback and the creativity assessment. The empirical findings show that the project-based learning incorporating STEAM activity has a positive significant influence on students’ development of creative recognition. Since the empirical results are constricted by the short-term STEAM course, the STEAM course with the art-oriented still benefits the STEAM education and Learning effectiveness of elementary school students. The implication of interdisciplinary interactive Lamp of Paper Carving with Micro:Bit is expected to contribute to further development of STEAM course. Since the curriculum is only last for few weeks, it is too short to affect the emotional facet of creativity. Future researches are suggested to extend the teaching period and evaluate the long-term influence of PBL STEAM on students' learning attitude.

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) represents one of four well-defined areas of research. Historically, pharmacy institutions have failed to factor the SoTL into the promotion and tenure considerations of their faculty. Without acknowledgement or incentive for their efforts, faculty may be forced to abandon innovative teaching research to pursue research options more highly valued by their institution. This white paper investigates the SoTL definition described by colleges of pharmacy around the world, and the weight with which the SoTL is considered in the promotion of their faculty. The authors conclude there is considerable variability in the SoTL definition across institutions. Additionally, many institutions have not updated their policies to include the SoTL in promotion and tenure considerations. The authors recommend that all colleges of pharmacy adopt the SoTL as defined in this paper, and that all colleges update their promotion and tenure guidelines to include the SoTL in career advancement considerations.

This short article provides a critique of Dr. Ellis’ paper in a recent edition of the Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy (CJEAP), focusing on where future Canadian research in educational finance can have practical implications rather than simply offering transitory displays of polemical fireworks.

Both trade and production of graphic paper have decreased over the last three decades. While this general decrease can partially be attributed to increased prominence of information technology, the overall figure is devoid of context and thus of most of its meaning to global economy. In this study we aim to break this trend down across the geographical and temporal scope, across its supply-chain commodities and to find out what drives the global trade patterns. Econometric trade models focus on the trading countries and direct exports or imports but fail to consider the structural and the indirect trade relations. We take the approach of network analysis, where the emphasis is on the structure of trade and not on country-level descriptors. We focus on 1995–2017 period as within it this decrease can be observed and assess the entire graphic paper and pulp supply chain, consisting out of printing and writing paper, mechanical wood pulp, chemical wood pulp, semichemical wood pulp, pulp made from fiber other than wood, recovered paper and paperboard. We employ descriptive statistical and network analysis, grouping and role analysis, and end with an inferential logistic regression quadratic assignment procedure model. Results show that newsprint trade decline is mirrored in printing and writing paper and mechanical wood pulp. The trade network densities have remained generally stable throughout the observed period, but the topological proprieties of the individual product groups vary greatly. Although no stabile grouping of countries throughout the assessed period could be observed, role analysis shows that countries tend to trade within their continent, that European countries are at the core of the trade network, and that the structural shift of decline of the trade value is followed by increasing prominence of several Asian countries, such as China and Indonesia. The most important finding of the study is that internal trade effects such as reciprocity and transitivity are much more explanatory than classical effects used in trade models such as GDP per capita, geographical distance or forest endowment.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), a simple, highly sensitive, and fast analytical method can be used to detect corrosion components on the surface of bronze ware, a difficult problem. The silver mirror reaction is suggested for depositing precious metal nanoparticles on cellulose filter paper in order to create a quick, easy, and low-cost approach for creating SERS substrates. After an 8-minute deposition time, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a uniform dispersion of precious metals on cellulose filter paper. To examine the SERS characteristics of the substrate, copper chloride oxide, the main ingredient in the damaging rust of trace bronze ware, was used as the probe molecule. The findings show that cellulose filter paper with a uniform distribution of precious metals achieves the best SERS performance. The flexible substrate enables effective trace analysis of damaging rust on bronze surfaces.