Gutenberg for Newbies How to Handle the Upcoming WordPress 5.0 Update

With the upcoming WordPress 5.0 update, youll be working with the new Gutenberg editor  and have a ton more options for getting your posts to look the way you want them to. For webmasters, this means a customizable experience that doesnt require you to learn a lot of the code behind it. Itll simply be easier to do what you want to do. Heres Gutenberg for newbies:This is a guest contribution by Mika Epstein.If youre not quite ready for the update, its time to get there. Because this new post editor is going to change everything. Thankfully, its also pretty straightforward. You dont need to fear Gutenberg. For most users, itll even make using WordPress a better experience.What is Gutenberg, anyway?In case you dont know, Gutenberg is the new editing experience thats coming with WordPress 5.0. modern website builders of today.Gutenberg in action when creating a new blog post:Fixing the frustrationsRight now, WordPress editing can be a very frustrating process. Are you nodding your head in agreement right now? Its okay my father hates it to the point that he just emails me what he wants to post for his site and I post it. Clearly, theres a need for some significant changes.The current WordPress editor is a good editor, but your posts dont always end up looking the way youd envisioned them, and for a lot of users thats been a major source of frustration.For instance, you cant just copy and paste text into the WordPress editor from Microsoft Word documents, because it doesnt always behave. The formatting will be different, and, really, this is the core reason behind the Gutenberg editor in the WordPress 5.0 update.Just as managed WordPress hosting is making it easier than ever to handle the technical side of hosting a site, Gutenberg is making it much simpler to handle how your site looks when you write new posts. Youll have more control without a lot of the fuss. Youll be able to create blocks of content and move them around and see what they look like before you publish.Get ready for the Gutenberg rolloutBefore, youd rely on the text editor and a knowledge of HTML or plugins to get your posts to look a certain way. Youd type text into the post editor and then make adjustments to how it looks. Finding the right plugins and installing them, typing in the right shortcodes, youd hack your way gradually until you made it look right. With every small change, you would hit â€Å"preview† and hope for the best.What a pain! Theres a better way to handle this:The best thing re Gutenberg for newbies is that Gutenberg brings the editor more in line with a type of interface that people are accustomed to using. Its similar to, for example, Google Docs. You highlight a line and make it bold, say, with a hot pink background and dark-red text. Its easy.You can freely customize writing to make it look exactly like you want it to right there in the editor. And you do all of that without having to know any code. This is all done in â€Å"blocks† in Gutenspeak, those are the movable, customizable paragraphs that make layouts so much easier to work with. Really, you shouldnt need a developer to make these changes for you. Thats the biggest problem Gutenberg solves.Have a page builder you already like using, like Divi Builder or Elementor? A lot of these builders are now compatible with Gutenberg making it easy to work with Gutenberg for newbies.Not all plugins are 100% Guten-friendlyyetStill, for existing users, the WordPress 5.0 update means some things will look and feel a little different. There are going to be certain, very specific things that wont work well with Gutenberg. This is because not all plugins  have been updated yet to be compatible with the new Gutenberg editor.If you rely on specific plugins, you may run into problems until the plugins developer has a chance to release an update. For instance, I write a lot of posts where I show how to use code to accomplish something. I include the code examples right there in my posts. The plugin that does that doesnt work with Gutenberg.Another example, the popular plugins CMB2 and ACF may not work exactly the way you expect them to. These plugins both allow you to add extra features to your WordPress posts and they both do work with Gutenberg, but their interface isnt the same as it was before the WordPress update. The developers are working very hard to make sure these are compatible with Gutenberg, but using these plugins may be a different experience than youd typically see.For many people, though, this shouldnt be an issue. Its often more of an edge case. And more developers are modifying their plugins.Whats going to happen to my site?At this point, maybe youre wondering how the rollout will happen for you. If your site is hosted through a managed WordPress hosting service or even a shared hosting service, your host will probably take care of the WordPress 5.0 update for you.For security reasons, even shared hosting services often take car e of WordPress updates. Theyd rather its done safely and correctly. So, you probably wont have to do much of anything to get Gutenberg to your site once the WordPress 5.0 update is pushed through.That said, you might have to install some changes manually. But many hosts will install the update automatically unless you specifically instruct them otherwise, and youll be able to go in and make customizations if you want to.Gutenberg for newbies the bottom lineWith Gutenberg, you dont have to learn a ton of things to create a WordPress website and manage it.Gutenbergs blocks are easy to customize, and theyll make WordPress more friendly for more people.If you use WordPress to do a lot of writing and just want to focus on making your work available to the world, then Gutenberg will probably make that process a lot faster and easier for you.Personally, I really enjoy writing with Gutenberg. Its fun. I think youll enjoy it too.Have any questions about Gutenberg? Ask them in the comments b elow and well try to help you out. About the author:  As DreamHosts official WordPress guru, Mika Epstein troubleshoots any issue that comes up, offers top-notch support, and plays a key role in building and maintaining  DreamPress, the managed WordPress hosting solution DreamHost offers. When shes not working as a WordPress developer, shes racking up stamps in her passport to  speak at WordCamps  about coding and open source technology. She also writes about these topics and more on her personal WordPress website at halfelf.org.

buy custom Feudal Relationships and Mutual Obligations of Lords and Vassals essay

buy custom Feudal Relationships and Mutual Obligations of Lords and Vassals essay From the reading regarding Henry 1 of England from Ecclesiastical History, in Western Europe, kings were highly respected in the community. They acted as the overall judge on their land. The kings had the power to deliver judgment on their subjects (Burr, 1998). All subjects were supposed to show respect for their king, and in case an individual spoke badly about the king, the king had the power to punish such a person or send the person to exile. In addition, all subjects were supposed to respect the families from which the kings came from. The king would publicly summon an individual, who would be found guilty of speaking against his brothers or other members of his family. Such an individual would be required to confess his/her offenses publicly, and then, the king would deliver his judgment depending on the seriousness of the offense committed (Burr, 1998). In the reading regarding Henry 1 of England from Ecclesiastical History, King Henry had summoned Robert of Bellecircme, accusing him, of committing several offenses against him and his brother, the duke of Normandy. Robert did not respond to the kings summon. Instead, he flew away, were he formed his own castle and sought support from his allies and relatives to defend him against the king. After engaging in unsuccessful confrontations with the kings garrison, Robert finally surrendered to the king. Using his position as the final source of judgment on the land, King Henry 1 banished Robert from his kingdom(Burr, 1998). From The Lais of Marie de France, during the Age of Invasions in Western Europe, the society was divided into two categories: the lords and the vassals. The lords were those who owned riches and wealthy, while the vassals were those people who acted as slaves or servants to the lords. Both the lords and the vassals had mutual obligations toward each other. As illustrated in The Lais of Marie De France, vassals obligation to their lords was to provide advice whenever they were faced with difficult situations. For instance, when the wife of the other wealthy man gave birth to two daughters, her damsel advised her to abandon one the daughters in a church, instead of killing her. The damsel gave the advice to her master as a way of assisting her from suffering the shame of having given birth to two children at the same time (Le Fresne, n.d.). Vassals also had an obligation to protect their lords and their properties. From the reading regarding Henry 1 of England from Ecclesiastical History, the vassals always accompanied King Henry whenever he went out either to deliver judgment to offenders, or to look for offenders. In addition, the vassals had a mutual obligation of informing their lords about all matter, which they deemed important. For instance, when Robert of Bellecircme refused to honor the kings summon and opted to escape, it is stated that a royal servant was the one who informed him about Roberts disappearaance (Burr, 1998). On the other hand, one of the lords obligations to their vassals was to ensure continuity of their generation. This means that the lords had an obligation to get married, and have children. The lords children would become the heirs of their fathers land, hence providing continuity of the lords families (Burr, 1998). In The Lais of Marie De France, when Gurun took Le Fresne as his concubine, the vassals advised him to look for a wife to marry, so that he would have children who would become the heir of his land (Le Fresne, n.d.). In addition, the lords had an obligation to listen to the advice of their vassals. For instance in the reading regarding Henry I of England from Ecclesiastical History, when a group of earls and magnates allied to Robert went to the king asking him to consider reconciliation, a group of knights allied to the king shouted loudly to the king, asking him not to consider their plead. As his obligation to his vassals, the king took the advice, and sent the earls a nd magnates away (Burr, 1998). From The Lais of Marie De France, it is clear that the Western Europe society expected women to respect men. Women would always kneel before men or present themselves in a humble manner whenever they were in presence of men. For example, during the wedding night of Le Codre, her mother knelt before her husband to beg for forgiveness, after she discovered Le Fresne was her daughter. Buy custom Feudal Relationships and Mutual Obligations of Lords and Vassals essay

Business strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Business strategy - Assignment Example Objectives -The College aims at the provision of quality education to the whole computer interested fraternity. It also aims at creating competitive individuals in the society, who form the basis of computer development. Another objective is to be a first class university college that offers computer in the country. Lastly, the college has the objective of reaching out to the students through imparting skills that are beneficial and outstanding. Aims -The aim of the college is to increase the availability of the computer education to the growing generation of the computer era. The college also aims at growing to become a recognized institution in both Tripoli and other parts of the world. The running of the college will face many challenges from the external and the internal environment. The change in the landscape of higher education over the years is likely to cause detrimental effects to the college. The global economic crisis is exacerbating the effects of the external environment on the college. The income from the daily activities of the guardians of the potential students continues to deteriorate, causing the decrease in the number of students enrolled in the colleges. The impact of the economy on the family incomes and purported philanthropy has been detrimental over the current years. The families are unable to afford the tuition fees to aid in the education of their children. The philanthropists have also accrued higher expenses prompting them to cut on the endowment aimed towards the higher education. Competition for the available philanthropists has grown tremendously. This causes the reduction in funding the activities of higher learning. Another challenge is the crude alignment of the people towards art related subjects. Most students presume that the art subjects are easy and easy to work with. This causes them to abandon the science subjects such as computer science, and hence leading to inefficiency

Competition Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Competition Law - Essay Example 2 Competition is a fundamental economics theory and the supposed benefits to be derived from the working of competition in the market underlies the importance of competition law or policy. Classical theories of competition held that competition is a form of reciprocal rivalry in the market and government intervention in the market was frowned upon.3 The existence of competition, it is expected, should result in the lower prices, greater efficiency in markets, better products and services, and a broader choice of products and services for customers.4 It has been argued that the above mentioned benefits of competition cannot be attained in a monopolistic market.5 Where perfect competition exists, producers will produce more as long as the cost of each additional unit of production (i.e. marginal cost) will result in a profit. However, one's decision not to produce beyond what is profitable will not affect the market as there are other producers in the market. Consequently, the existence of competition will result in resources being allocated to produce goods at prices consumers are willing to pay and at prices that producers are also willing produce and able to make profit. This results in allocative efficiency.6 When competition is allowed to operate, it is also expected that it will promote productive efficiency. The reasoning is that, producers aim at producing at the lowest reasonable cost in order to win customers and stay in the market. Productive efficiency allows resources to be used efficiently and this maximises social welfare. Where a monopoly exists, the monopolists is not pressurised by competitive forces to be efficient in its production. The inefficiency of the monopolists is thus passed on to the consumer resulting in consumer having to pay more for less quality goods than they would have if competition was allowed to operate.7 Where monopoly persists, the monopolist can also create an artificial shortage of goods in order to raise prices. In such instances, allocative efficiency and productive efficiency would not exist and the welfare of society is undermined.8 Consequently, in order for society to benefit from these welfare advantages of competition, competition law is instituted to regulate the working of the market against monopolistic tendencies. Government intervention into the through laws, policies and institutions are thus justified to the extent to which it prevents market failure and allows competition to function effectively so as to achieve the social welfare benefits of competition. One of the most eminent economists of the 20th century, Frederich von Hayek, stated that: "The functioning of competition not only requires adequate organization of certain institutions like money, markets, and channels of information - some of which can never be adequately provided by private enterprise - but it depends above all on the existence of an appropriate legal system, a legal system designed both to preserve competition and to make it operate as beneficially as possible."9 Within the European Community (EC) competition law/policy is considered one of the important pillars for the functioning of the internal market. The Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) thus frown on any form of behaviour by undertakings that have as its cause of effect, the prevention of competition from operating. Article 81(1) EC thus prohibits: " all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of

Nuclear Armageddon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nuclear Armageddon - Essay Example As such, the preceding political and foreign ideologies were mostly controlled by this fear that had affected the entire globe. The competition between the west ideologies and communism was one of the major events that sparked fears of atomic weapons between the Soviet Union and the US. The cold war that emerged immediately after WWII was rapidly taking shape. In this case, the US and USSR were pulling sections of the South East Asia to either side, which was aggravated by China joining the Soviet Union as a strong ally against the west ideologies (Ringer, 320). The struggle over Korea fueled the cold war as the two super powers threatened to use any means possible to win the war. For instance, the coming to power of President Eisenhower in 1952 reintroduced the nuclear threats as a warning to the Soviet Union to desist from any form of aggression (Ringer, 321). Eisenhower had a new defense policy that deferred from Truman’s policies in that the new administration relied more on threatening to use nuclear weapons rather than conventional military weapons as a response to communist aggression during th e cold war (Ringer, 321). The pursuit of brinkmanship involved each side threatening to use nuclear weapons, though with no attempt to engage in any armed conflict. These threats increased fears of an imminent nuclear war across the globe. The formation of SEATO as counterpart to NATO in South East Asia fuelled the fears of nuclear weapons as the conflict took another dimension. Afterwards, the US rejected the USSR proposal to disband NATO and the Warsaw Pact (Ringer, 321). Moreover, the Society denied the possibility of having Eisenhower’s Open Skies ideology that sought to allow the reconnaissance of military empowerment on both sides. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an event pushed the fears of another nuclear confrontation to a new level as the world was on the brink of nuclear war. While the US gladly welcomed Castro’s revolution in 1959,

Impact Of Assessment For Learning

Impact Of Assessment For Learning This paper considers the impact of Assessment for Learning on childrens progress in a particular strand of the Primary Maths Curriculum. It does so firstly through a review of the relevant literature, and then employs some empirical examples to illustrate how the cycle had helped to secure learning points in a particular context. The specific strand under consideration is the solving of multi-step problems, and problems involving fractions, decimals and percentages; choose and use appropriate calculation strategies at each stage, including calculator use. (DCFS 2009). Literature Review Changes in the professional framework for the teaching and assessment of Primary maths have been reflected in a constantly expanding literature. This is now so expansive, that it can only really be reviewed here through some representative examples. There are two principal sub-genres which feature here: specifically, these are official publications, and range of commercially produced texts which may be characterised as critical, professional, or vocational self-help literature. It is also the case that some generic texts on the subject of Primary Assessment for Learning may be pertinent here, although they do not relate specifically to mathematics. The official literature emphasises the holistic nature of assessment by asserting that assessment of childrens achievements and progress should be based on the expected learning outcomes identified through the learning objectives. In mathematics, assessing childrens progress in a core strand of learning should be informed by the objectives in the strand. (DCFS 2009). The fruition of this process may be visualized in the motivation and empowerment of the learners themselves, supported by Constructive feedback that identifies how childrens work and responses have led to success this, it advises, should provide a shared understanding of the achievements on which to build to make further progress. It helps children to see how the next steps take account of this success and are attainable. (DCFS 2009). There is a sense in which this acknowledges that Assessment for Learning has an importance, over and above what is revealed in outcome-based results, i.e. those from standardised tests. In other words, the latter no longer implies that it can stand as proxy for other kinds of learning. (Campbell et al. 2004: p.119) The commercially published literature is constantly being updated by texts which engage with official policy and curriculum changes, interpreting them for practitioners and parents. However, the majority of these, although they make some reference to assessment, do not do so in the terms now prescribed by the DCFS, i.e., day-to-day and periodic assessment. This is possibly because these models have only been operating in the official discourse for a relatively short period. Overall, this genre may itself be split into sub-groups, the most significant of which are the reflective or critical genre, and the vocational or self-help group. One of the most prolific authorities within this group is Sharon Clarke, whose Targeting Assessment in the Primary Classroom: Strategies for Planning, Assessment, Pupil Feedback and Target Setting (1998), Unlocking Formative Assessment: Practical Strategies for Enhancing Pupils Learning in the Primary Classroom, (2001), and Active Learning Through Forma tive Assessment (2008) straddle successive developments in the teaching and assessment of Primary mathematics. Also helpful in these areas is Hansens Primary Mathematics: Extending Knowledge in Practice (Achieving QTS Extending Knowledge in Practice) (2008), and David Clarkes Constructive Assessment in Mathematics: Practical Steps for Classroom Teachers (Key Resources in Professional Development), (1999). As Shirley Clarke indicates, the sharing of a learning intention is more complex than simply repeating what is in the teachers plan. In order for the learning intention to be shared effectively, it needs to be clear and unambiguous, so that the teacher can explain it in a way which makes sense. (2001: p.20) This may be taken as supportive of the official position: it endorses the idea that planning should draw not only on the learning outcome, but also on the prior knowledge of the students in question. If they are expected to objectively assess their own progress, they must understand the frame of reference, and be able to envisage the learning outcome, even if they havent yet attained it. This idea is also implicit in the ideas of David Clarke: as he points out, earlier approaches to assessment focussed on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦measuring the extent to which students possess a set of tools andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the extent to which they can apply them. However, he further indicates that à ¢Ã¢â €š ¬Ã‚ ¦to be mathematically equipped, a student must also understand the nature of mathematical tools and be able to select the correct tool for a given problem-solving situation. (1999: p.11) This perspective is also endorsed in the reflections of Hansen, who argues that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is possible to help children to learn mathematical content through effectively integrating problem-solving, reasoning and communication into mathematics lessons. (Hansen 2008: p.5) Texts such as Gardners edited collection, , Assessment and Learning, (2006), Gipps and Murphys A Fair Test? Assessment, Achievement and Equity, (1994), and Tabers Classroom-based research and evidence-based practice, (2007), go some way to bridging the gap between the official and the educational literature, specifically by looking at how policy and curriculum matters are linked by research and ideology. These are, however, not specifically devoted to Primary mathematics, and neither are they wholly accepting of the orthodoxies which pervade the official literature. Gipps and Murphy make the point that evaluating assessment is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦not just a question of looking at the equity in the context of assessment but also within the curriculum, as the two are intimately related. (1994: p.3) As Taber points out, practitioners are at the end of a very long and often remote supply chain when it comes to weighing the evidence on what is best practice. As they put it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦teac hers are told what research has found out during their initial training, and are updatedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦through courses and staff development days, but largely through centralised official guidance. (2007: p.4) This is reinforced by commentators such as Rist, who argues that, We are well past the time when it is possible to argue that good research will, because it is good, influence the policy process. (2002: p.1002). These are academic but not unimportant points in terms of the overall discussion, even if they are not particularly prominent in the day to day responsibilities of the class teacher. The point is that, as reflective practitioners, we might all benefit from some awareness of what shapes the frameworks which inform our approach to teaching and learning. With regard to the current Assessment for Learning conventions, the ideas in Assessment for Learning, Beyond the black box (Assessment Reform Group, 1999), are acknowledged by the QCA to have been constructive of the whole approach. (QCA 2003: p.1). As the latter state, The study posed three questions: is there evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards?; is there evidence that there is room for improvement in the practice of assessment?; and is there evidence about how to improve formative assessment? This research evidence pointed to an unqualified yes as the answer to each of these questions. (QCA 2003: p.1). These are important points, as the teaching, learning and assessment frameworks which define contemporary practice are profoundly adaptive of them. Discussion/Example from Experience. A strand of the Primary curriculum where day to day and periodic assessment was found to be particularly important in the overall Assessment for Learning approach, was securing number facts, relationships and calculating. The examples used here are from Year 6 block E, especially Ma2, Written and calculator methods, and Ma2, solving numerical problems from Unit One, and focused on dealing with errors and misconceptions. One context where assessment was found to be particularly relevant was in dealing with upper school (i.e. Years 4, 5 and 6) learning of multiplication and division. The assessment process had to be multi-faceted, taking in all of the associated knowledge and skills, the errors and misconceptions which arose, and the modelling of questions to identify the origin of such problems. This may be illustrated by focusing on one example, taken from Year 6 Key Objective 2, Multiplying and dividing by powers of ten and the associative law, where commonly, the unprepared or conf used learner à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Misuses half understood rules about multiplying and dividing by powers of ten and the associative lawà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2009). The important thing about multiplication and division through successive addition or subtraction respectively, is that, once mastered, they can demonstrate to learners that the application of basic skills will enable them to break down seemingly complex problems into a manageable format. Multiplying or dividing a three digit number by a two digit number depends on the use of a number of skills: knowledge of number facts, i.e. times tables, place value, to quickly assess the viability of an answer, and organisational skills, i.e. being able to apply the correct steps in the appropriate order. It may also be useful to augment these with calculator use, in order to verify answers. The important point here is that day to day and periodic assessment and reflective feedback from the learners themselves was indispensable in the planning, pitching and delivery of this input. The interdependence of each step in these calculations meant that the failure to execute one step, often resulted in the failure to complete the overall objective. For example, if times tables and multiplication by 10 and 100 were not securely in place, the learner would get bogged down in the arithmetic. Conversely, the securing of one of the incremental skills involved in these calculations was a positive factor in the learners overall approach: i.e., if they knew their times tables facts, place value, or multiplication by 10 and 100 were in place, it gave them a starting point from which to analyse errors or problems. For some learners, this had the generic effect of making them realise that their long-term work in achieving these positions of strength had a positive outcome, rather than b eing an abstract, stand-alone process. This in turn made them more interested in acquiring other general mathematics skills. Looking beyond specific mathematics skills, this may also have the propensity to develop the students own capacities for self-realisation and self-motivation. As the QCA points out, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In many classrooms, pupils do not perceive the structure of the learning aims that give meaning to their work. Therefore they are unable to assess their own progress. (QCA 2003: p.3) Achievement in a multi-step process such as long multiplication or division might therefore enable them to map out where they are within the overall standards. However, it was only through a combination of day to day and periodic assessment that the practitioner could be confident of planning effectively with regard to these tasks. There was no point in assembling sessions which relied on a range of skills when they were not secure, either in individual learners, or sufficiently across the cohort as a whole. In mixed ability groups, this approach was obviously the key the necessary differentiation. The logical corollary to this is that discursive feedback from the learners themselves was also important in defining the next stage of planning, i.e. what worked, what didnt, who tried which method, were there any preferences etc. The appeal of this activity also lays in its fine balance of mental and pencil and paper methods, and the way in which estimation is the necessary accompaniment to concrete calculation. Overall, these experiences may be deemed supportive of the proposals of commentators such as Clarke and Hansen, (see above) in that th ey emphasize the need for the continuous reinforcement of planning with assessment. Summary, Analysis and Reflection: Implications for Future Teaching. In summary, the conclusion of this paper is that both the literature and practical experience discussed here are mutually supportive of the need for complimentary assessment and planning. Outcome orientated results can illustrate individual and whole school performance in certain contexts, but practitioners need to be aware of assessment in a holistic way, as a daily part of their approach to teaching and learning. As the QCA expresses it, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Teachers are experiencing an increased sense that pupils are working with them rather than for them. For example, pupils are asking for more questions or examples to practice applying their understanding of a topic or to repeat homework or tests if they have not met the standard and the objectives that they and the teacher have set. (QCA 2009: p.48). Whilst this dynamic sounds very positive, practitioners have new and different responsibilities within it. In terms of assessment, these can be itemised in the following waysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã ‚ ¦ Day to day: within this level of assessment, specific learning objectives should explicitly communicated, and augmented with both peer and self assessment as appropriate. Periodic: ideally, this should assemble a broader overview of progress across the subject for both learner and teacher. It is also an opportunity to interweave the national standards in a sensitive way with classroom practice. The practitioner can use the insights gained from this process to inform both long and medium term planning. Overall, it should be recognised that the ideal situation, i.e. of self-motivated, self-actuating learners, involved in their own self-assessment, is unlikely just to happen. Considered superficially, it might seem that the practitioners role in assessment has lessened, whilst the remainder has been taken up by the learners themselves. The reality is rather different: pupils will only become adequate and effective assessors of their own progress if they are provided with the appropriate support and guidance. In a sense, this facilitating role is a much more challenging and subtle one than that implied in a more top-down, didactic model. Also, there are obvious problems in considering the learner as a passive or generalised aspect of this approach: it is much more likely that there is a staggered and variegated uptake of the model, as different learners are engaged at their own pace and level. This in turn indicates that, as with all aspects of the curriculum, the social and emotional aspects of learning should be taken into consideration.

Lassa Fever: An Old World Arenavirus Essay -- essays research papers

Lassa Fever: An Old World Arenavirus ABSTRACT A brief summary of lassa fever, its history, pathology and effects on the indigenous populations. Also, lassa fever in the context of newly emerging diseases. LASSA FEVER On January 12, 1969, a missionary nun, working in the small town of Lassa, Nigeria, began complaining of a backache. Thinking she had merely pulled a muscle, she ignored the pain and went on about her business. After a week, however, the nurse had a throat so sore and so filled with ulcers, she couldn't swallow. Thinking she was suffering from one of the many bacterial diseases endemic to the area, her sisters administered every antibiotic they had on store in the town's Church of the Brethren Mission Hospital. But, the antibiotics did nothing. Her fever escalated, she was severely dehydrated and blotches, hemorrhages, were appearing on her skin. She began to swell and became delirious, so they shipped her to a larger hospital, where one day later she went into convulsions and died. After a nurse who was tending to the sister came down with the same symptoms and died, the doctors in the hospital began to suspect it was a disease heretofore unseen by any of them. Autopsy on the nurse showed significant damage to every organ in the body, the heart was stopped up, with loads of blood cells and platelets piled well into the arteries and veins. Fluids and blood filled the lungs. Dead cells and lipids clogged the liver and spleen. The kidneys were so congested with dead cells and free proteins they had ceased to function. Dissecting the lymph nodes, they discovered that they were completely empty; every white blood cell had been utilized in a futile attempt to stave off the unknown microbe. A few days later, a prominent western viral researcher contracted the unknown disease and the hunt for the microbe that caused lassa fever, began in earnest.(Garrett, 1994) Lassa fever is a virus belonging to the family Arenaviridae. Genus Arenavirus, although being around for about 60 years in the form of lymphocytic choriomeningitis, has recently been brought to the public's attention because of the large number of species known as "emerging viruses" in the genera. The genera consists mostly of new world viruses, among them the Junin, Machupo and Guanarito viruses, which cause, respective... ...verage is around 20%.(Sanford, 1992) To date there has been no intensive mapping of the extent of virulent Lassa distribution in Africa and there is no surveillance for spread or contraction of the established highly endemic zones.(Southern, 1996) It took a number of sick westerners to grab the attention of the developed nations before they began to investigate this illness. Now that we have discovered it and are convinced it is not an immediate danger, we have retreated to our own nations, without so much as a single rodent eradication program. As a result the disease has spread to a much larger endemic area. The feeling is that it could be controlled by proper hygienic and educational measures, but the developed world chooses to leave the dying and forgotten continent, Africa, to suffer yet another vicious and deadly disease. LITERATURE CITED Garrett, Laurie, 1994, "Into the Woods", The Coming Plague; Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance, 71 -99. Southern, Peter, 1996, "Arenaviridae: The Viruses and Their Replication", Fields Virology, 1505 -1520. Sanford, Jay, "Lassa Fever", The Merck Manual, 218 -219.