Science Daily reports findings from a new study which suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, long before their first babble or coo, and are able to memorize sounds from the external world by the last trimester of pregnancy, with a particular sensitivity to melody contour in both music and language. Newborns prefer their mother's voice over other voices and perceive the emotional content of messages conveyed via intonation contours in maternal speech (a.k.a. 'motherese'). 'The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life, within the last trimester of gestation,' said Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzburg in Germany. Wermke's team recorded and analyzed the cries of 60 healthy newborns, 30 born into French-speaking families and 30 born into German-speaking families, when they were three to five days old. The recordings of 2,500 cries as mothers changed babies' diapers, readied babies for feeding or otherwise interacted with the youngsters show an extremely early impact of native language, with analysis revealing clear differences in the shape of the newborns' cry melodies, based on their mother tongue.
This is how the sperm meets an egg until it is fertilized as a healthy fetus in the mother’s womb.This is how the sperm meets an egg until it is fertilized as a healthy fetus in the... more
Teaching literacy is Bahrul Ulumiyah Suheb’s driving passion. Though Indonesia has a high rate of literacy, in Bahrul’s town several thousand people cannot write, read or count. Sixty percent of those are women, she adds.
A teacher by profession, Bahrul makes her living by teaching elementary school students and also gives a great deal of her time and energy as a volunteer with Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia—a non-profit organization that focuses on women’s empowerment. The organization coordinates several different programs for women, but abolishing illiteracy is one of its main activities.
Bahrul says there are four literacy groups running with about 40 women participating this year. She particularly likes seeing older women learn to read, “even if it’s just one word.” She says that the grandchildren of these women often accompany them to class and may help them learn. “I like this program very much because, as a teacher, I have to implement my skills and it fits with my background. I like to teach them spelling one by one of the alphabet.”
Bahrul is also clearly excited about her work with women’s clubs. Since 2006, her volunteer organization has established four such clubs (with about 200 women participating) and there are plans to have three additional ones for those women now involved in the literacy program. These clubs provide a vehicle to help women access information, which Bahrul believes is central to giving women more of a voice in Indonesia.
Bahrul Suheb, CEDPA GWIM graduate
Barhrul empowers the women in her community by teaching them how to read.
The women’s club members, who often meet in local homes, may participate in microcredit initiatives and also receive “hot news,” skills training, and small door prizes. She cited, for example, the information they disseminated for an upcoming governor’s election, such as “how to choose the best candidate with the best vision.”
Bahrul herself gained from the information sharing and interactions with others at CEDPA’s Summer 2008 Global Women in Management training program, which was supported through the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative. She says she has valued “know[ing] leaders from other countries, shar[ing] experience, and adapt[ing] experience for my organization.” Bahrul hopes to transfer the knowledge she gained at CEDPA’s training to the capacity building she is doing in local communities. “I have to transform my new knowledge to my members and to beneficiaries in some villages,” she says.
Most of Bahrul’s work as a volunteer is done on evenings and weekends. She often leaves home early and returns late, and is happy to report that her family supports her activities. In a family of seven siblings and with parents who are farmers, Bahrul is largely self-sufficient and had to pay her own way through college.
Bahrul says that most of the people in her village—about 20 km away from Tuban where the local office of Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia is based—are open-minded about what she does. But she says that being a single, working woman in Indonesia isn’t always easy, both because the culture there remains very male-dominated and women who have education are sometimes looked down upon.
It can be an ongoing challenge. Bahrul mentioned that “in villager’s meetings in Tuban, for example, almost all the participants are men. Women in the village are not represented in decision making.” So, she tries “to change the monopoly of men in public.” Bahrul teaches members of the women’s clubs in the villages to become as informed as the men so they can contribute ideas. She also says that “gender training can help change minds,” and mentioned annual gender trainings that her organization holds for college students, housewives and farmers “to increase awareness of women’s skills and equality.”
*continuesTeaching literacy is Bahrul Ulumiyah Suheb’s driving passion. Though Indonesia... more
Scientists have identified a possible cause of the painful womb condition endometriosis.
The team at the University of Liverpool believe over-production of an enzyme, telomerase, which plays a role in cell division may be responsible. Endometriosis results in patches of the womb's inner lining growing in other parts of the body. It is hoped the Human Reproduction study may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat the condition.
Endometriosis, which affects around two million women in the UK alone, can cause severe pain, heavy periods and infertility. However, the cause of the condition remains unknown.
Telomerase maintains the length of key structures called telomeres, which help determine how long a cell can keep dividing. Telomeres are essentially protective caps which stop the cell's chromosomes from fraying and coming apart when they divide. With every division, the telomeres become shorter, and eventually the cell is unable to divide any more.
Telomerase is usually produced at the start of a woman's menstrual cycle when cell division is important. But at the end of the cycle, when embryo implantation becomes the priority, telomerase production tends to fall off.
Read more...Scientists have identified a possible cause of the painful womb condition... more
