Zebrafish Beyond the Bench: The ‘Plataforma Zebrafish Open Doors’ Programme

2021 ◽  
pp. 026119292110578
Author(s):  
Geonildo Rodrigo Disner ◽  
Maria Alice Pimentel Falcão ◽  
Carla Lima ◽  
Monica Lopes-Ferreira

The Butantan Institute is a pioneering Brazilian health sciences institution, which also houses a large science park with museums that contribute to ongoing science education for schools and the wider community. In recent years, as part of Butantan Institute’s Plataforma Zebrafish™, zebrafish embryos have been used for the dissemination of scientific knowledge during on-site events and as part of outreach campaigns to non-scientific audiences, mostly children. The aim of this work is mainly to demystify the activities of the scientific researcher, highlight the role of science in the furthering of knowledge, and increase public interest and confidence in science. In this article, the Institute’s ‘Plataforma Zebrafish Open Doors’ programme is described, which offered guided tours of the laboratory facilities. The tours gave visitors the opportunity to observe zebrafish research and embryo development, and to use the knowledge gained from this experience as a framework for understanding fundamental ethical issues. During the 2-day event, around 800 visitors (most of them school-age children) attended. Together with the guided tours, our experience of outreach offered meaningful opportunities to bring children and members of the public closer to science and ‘real-life’ scientists, hopefully inspiring and encouraging the next generation of scientists. It also gave the scientists an opportunity to engage more closely with wider society. We believe that these activities also substantially contribute to the wider dissemination of relevant experimental results that have been obtained with public funding and that impact society in general.

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
T. Shirshova

Disorders of the musculoskeletal system in school-age children occupy 1-2 places in the structure of functional abnormalities. Cognitive impairment without organic damage to the central nervous system is detected in 30-56% of healthy school children. Along with the increase in the incidence rate, the demand for rehabilitation systems, which allow patients to return to normal life as soon as possible and maintain the motivation for the rehabilitation process, is also growing. Adaptation of rehabilitation techniques, ease of equipment management, availability of specially trained personnel and availability of technical support for complexes becomes important.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Goldstein

AbstractBackgroundThere is limited information about the role of different age groups, particularly subgroups of school-age children and younger adults in propagating influenza epidemics.MethodsFor a communicable disease outbreak, some subpopulations may play a disproportionate role during the ascent of the outbreak due to increased susceptibility and/or contact rates. Such subpopulations can be identified by considering the proportion that cases in a subpopulation represent among all cases in the population occurring before the epidemic peak (Bp), the corresponding proportion after the epidemic peak (Ap), to calculate the relative risk for a subpopulation, RR=Bp/Ap. We estimated RR for several age groups using data on reported influenza A cases in Germany between 2002-2017.ResultsChildren aged 14-17y had the highest RR estimates for 7 out of 15 influenza A epidemics in the data, including the 2009 pandemic, and the large 2016/17, 2008/09, and 2006/07 seasons. Children aged 10-13y had the highest RR estimates during 3 epidemics, including the large 2014/15 and 2004/05 seasons. Children aged 6-9y had the highest RR estimates during two epidemics, including the large 2012/13 season. Children aged 2-5y had the highest RR estimate during the moderate 2015/16 season; adults aged 18-24y had the highest RR estimate during the small 2005/06 season; adults aged 25-34y had the highest RR estimate during the large, 2002/03 season.ConclusionsOur results support the prominent role of all school-age children, particularly the oldest ones, in propagating influenza epidemics in the community. We note that national vaccination coverage levels among older school-age children were lower than among younger school-age children during the recent influenza seasons in the US, and influenza vaccination program in England has not been phased in yet for secondary school students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 318-329
Author(s):  
Marie Moore Channell ◽  
Rebekah Bosley

AbstractChildren with Down syndrome (DS) have both strengths and difficulties in speech, language, and social communication. Mental state language—the ability to discuss others' perspectives such as their thoughts, feelings, and intentions—represents a foundational social communicative skill that is delayed in many children with DS, even into the school-age years. The purpose of this article is to review the evidence base on mental state language development in school-age children with DS, focusing in particular on assessment and intervention. We discuss assessment procedures that are both age appropriate and developmentally appropriate for this population. We also present preliminary data highlighting the role of caregivers in supporting mental state language development in school-age children with DS through shared storytelling. We propose that interventions aimed at supporting mental state language development in DS should include a focus on caregiver–child shared storybook reading, even in the school-age years. Therefore, we discuss key considerations for clinicians when teaching caregivers strategies for supporting mental state language and social communication in children with DS.


Author(s):  
Idowu Biao

This chapter briefly describes the challenges faced by the Nigerian education system as from 1983 after it had performed well between 1960 and 1980. It follows this description with the discussion of the innovative and ingenious educational devise that kept about one third of the number of school age children and youths in school between 1990 and the early part of the 21st century. That innovative educational sub-system was known as non-formal education for the Girl-Child, the out-of-school boy and Quranic school learners and it was developed, nurtured and implemented by academic personnel drawn from the eight existing university departments of adult education in Nigeria at the time. The chapter finally discusses how these departments of adult education worked for the establishment of national structures of adult education which ultimately came to promote both the visibility and popularisation of the modern practice of adult education in Nigeria from the 1980s.


Author(s):  
Nkem Ekene Osuigwe

This chapter describes various readership promotion activities undertaken by a Nigerian State Public Library in partnership with schools, churches, and the state owned television house. Massive failures in O’ level national and regional examinations and the entrance examinations into the tertiary institutions have brought up the fact that the education sector in Nigeria is facing monumental challenges. This combined with a noticeable decline in user statistics, especially amongst school age children in Onitsha Public Library in South East Nigeria. This decline has long been associated with the school-boy drop-out syndrome. The State Public Library Board collaborated with agencies in its community to introduce intervention strategies to halt the trend. These were expected to increase usage of the public and school libraries, make reading attractive to children of school age, support school curriculum, and help students make better grades in examinations.


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