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‘Virtual’ head teachers benefit children in care
Posted by wideant in Social Sciences on March 12, 2010
New research from the School for Policy Studies shows that ‘virtual’ head teachers significantly raise the priority of education and outcomes for children in care, who are often less successful at school than other pupils.
This is due to a complex range of factors that might include an unstable family background, shortcomings in the care environment, low expectations and poor communication between social workers, carers and schools.
The ‘virtual school heads’ (VSH) initiative appointed a senior employee within a local authority with the responsibility of overseeing and co-ordinating educational services for children in care. Children in care attend a range of local schools but the role of the VSH was to improve educational standards as if they were attending a single school. Read the rest of this entry »
Toy recall of 2007 hurt innocent companies, shows research
The well-publicized toy recalls of 2007 took potentially harmful toys off the shelves and affected the companies that made them.
But a new study also shows that even companies not targeted by the recalls got hurt in the resulting consumer backlash, sometimes worse than the offenders. Meanwhile offending companies did not generally see other product categories affected.
In 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 276 toys and other children’s products – more than an 80% increase over the previous year. Almost all of the recalls involved toys made in China and many involved paint with elevated levels of lead.
The study looked at the effects that the recalls had on sales of Infant and Preschool toys during the subsequent Christmas season. The authors found that Christmas sales for similar products by manufacturers named in the recalls were down by about 30% compared to other products that these manufacturers sold. But, these manufacturers’ sales of toys that were sufficiently dissimilar to those named in the recalls did not seem to be affected. In other words, consumers did not “punish” offending manufacturer more generally. Read the rest of this entry »
A cell’s ‘cap’ of bundled fibers could yield clues to disease
Posted by wideant in Biotechnology on March 12, 2010
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Engineering in Oncology Center have shown that in healthy cells, a bundled “cap” of thread-like fibers holds the cell’s nucleus, its genetic storehouse, in its proper place. Understanding this cap’s influence on cell and nuclear shape, the researchers say, could provide clues to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer, muscular dystrophy and the age-accelerating condition known as progeria.
“Under a microscope, the nucleus of a sick cell appears to bulge toward the top, while the nucleus of a healthy cell appears as a flattened disk that clings to the base,” said principal investigator Denis Wirtz, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of the Engineering in Oncology Center. “If we can figure out how and why this shape-changing occurs, we may learn how to detect, treat or perhaps even prevent some serious medical disorders.” Read the rest of this entry »