Increasing evidence shows that puberty onset is largely dependent on body weight rather than chronological age. To investigate the mechanism involved in the energetic control of puberty onset, the present study examined effects of chronic food restriction during the prepubertal period and the resumption of ad libitum feeding for 24 and 48 h on estrous cyclicity, Kiss1 (kisspeptin gene), Tac3 (neurokinin B gene) and Pdyn (dynorphin A gene) expression in the hypothalamus, luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion and follicular development in female rats. When animals weighed 75 g, they were subjected to a restricted feeding to retard growth to 70-80 g by 49 days of age. Then, animals were subjected to ad libitum feeding or remained food-restricted. The growth-retarded rats did not show puberty onset associated with suppression of both Kiss1 and Pdyn expression in the arcuate nucleus (ARC). 24-h ad libitum feeding increased tonic LH secretion and the number of Graafian and non-Graafian tertiary follicles with an increase in the numbers of ARC Kiss1-and Pdyn-expressing cells. 48-h ad libitum feeding induced the vaginal proestrus and a surge-like LH increase with an increase in Kiss1-expressing cells in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV). These results suggest that the negative energy balance causes pubertal failure with suppression of ARC Kiss1 and Pdyn expression and then subsequent gonadotropin secretion and ovarian function, while the positive energetic cues trigger puberty onset via an increase in ARC Kiss1 and Pdyn expression and thus gonadotropin secretion and follicular development in female rats.

Feedback is perceived as single most influential educational factor and driver of students learning. Hence, the present study examined the effect of administering feedback on improving the acquisition of anatomy and physiology-specific terminologies among tenth grade high school students. Participants were randomly divided into three groups: a control group (N = 29), instructive feedback (IF) group (N = 29) and written feedback (WF) group (N = 29). A post-test was administered to determine if feedback had significant effect on the two treatment groups. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant difference among all the groups. Therefore, to compare the mean difference between the groups, a post hoc analysis, Dunn’s test, was performed. The result indicated significant difference between control versus (vs) IF, control vs WF and IF vs WF, respectively. Similarly, the results of feedback administration on specific anatomy and physiology-specific chapters showed that groups subjected to feedback intervention was statistically significant compared to control group. While there was no significant effect of feedback on gender in IF, we found that written feedback had significant effect on gender in WF group. Taken together, the present results suggest that administering feedback significantly enhanced learning of anatomy and physiology-specific terminologies. Accordingly, we recommend teachers to provide written feedback as it allows learners ample time for review and maximize its impact.

The present study developed and evaluated the content validity of a survey questionnaire titled, “Instrument to Assess Teachers’ Practice of Differentiated Instruction (IATPDI).” The items of IATPDI questionnaire were adapted from the pre-existing survey questionnaires and existing literatures on differentiated instruction. To quantify content validity of IATPDI questionnaire, a pre-developed survey questionnaire with 40 items was emailed to two established content experts to: (1) rate each item in terms of its clarity and relevancy to the measured domain; (2) evaluate which item should be deleted or revised; and (3) get recommendation about whether additional items are needed to adequately tap the domain of interest. The Delphi method was used to collect the data. Subsequently, two rounds of Delphi process culminated in a revised and refined IATPDI questionnaire with 40 simplified items divided into four sections. Content validity of IATPDI questionnaire was quantified by calculating content validity index (I-CVI and S-CVI) and modified kappa statistics, which indicated high content validity of the 40 items. Taken together, the results show that the IATPDI questionnaire is a content valid instrument.