Quest for the Grail? : Searching for Critical Thinking in Adult Education

The concept of critical thinking is explored from the perspective of an adult education graduate student. The paper argues that critical thinking, as presently constituted, lacks both clarity and depth. These problems need to be addressed before critical thinking can become viable and useful

Grounded Practice: Exploring Criticalities In A Job Re-Education Setting

The author uses an interpretive ethnographic method to study criticality as a classroom phenomenon within a job-reeducation program. Two central ideas used include criticality as multiple, intertwined criticalities and the notion of working in spaces. Focusing on critical reflection and ideology critique, the author examines spaces in which criticality can be fostered, forms it might take, and pedagogies that reflected classroom practices. Finally, she discusses the challenges involved with working in an institution, ethics, and the strategic nature of teaching for criticality

Influencia de la fertilización inorgánica sobre la actividad microbiana del suelo

Las mediciones se llevaron a cabo en la campaña 2010/11 en un ensayo en el establecimiento Balducchi, ubicado en la localidad de Teodelina (Santa Fe), que forma parte de la Red de Nutrición CREA Sur de Santa Fe (CREA-IPNI-ASP). En ese ensayo, bajo rotación maíz-trigo/soja, se evalúan, anualmente desde la campaña 2000/01, fertilizaciones con N, P, S y micronutrientes en las siguientes combinaciones: PS, NS, NP, NPS, NPS+Micronutrientes, y Testigo (sin adición de fertilizante) en 3 repeticiones siguiendo un diseño en bloques completos al azar.Según la información obtenida, la actividad microbiana del suelo, medida por la cuantificación del consumo de diversas fuentes de C, fue influenciada por la fertilización inorgánica. De acuerdo al ACP, el tratamiento con nutrición más balanceada (NPS+Micros) registró mayor consumo de sustratos carbonados, que los restantes tratamientos. Según algunos autores, los fertilizantes inorgánicos afectan los parámetros biológicos debido al incremento del contenido de C orgánico del suelo, que determina el crecimiento de los microorganismos, siendo el P un factor clave en el aumento de la diversidad microbiana y fertilidad del suelo. Finalmente, el rendimiento del cultivo también se incrementó en respuesta a la fertilización, en comparación con el Testigo. Existe una compleja interacción entre el nivel óptimo de fertilización, la disponibilidad de nutrientes para el crecimiento de los microorganismos y el buen desarrollo de las plantas. Esto demuestra que son necesarios más estudios para profundizar el conocimiento acerca del efecto de la fertilización inorgánica sobre las funciones metabólicas de la microbiota del suelo.Fil: Conforto, C.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Patología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Correa, Olga Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Rovea, A.. Grupo Crea Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Boxler, M.. Grupo Crea Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez Grastorf, S.. Grupo Crea Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Minteguiaga, J.. Grupo Crea Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Meriles, Jose Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Vargas Gil, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Patología Vegetal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Horn Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) - Biology, Management, and Future Research Directions

The horn fly, Haematobia irritans irritans (L.), is one of the most important external parasites of cattle in North America and elsewhere. Horn fly adults have an intimate association with cattle, their primary host. With their often-high numbers and by feeding up to 38 times per day per fly, horn flies stress cattle. The resulting productivity loss is valued at more than 2.3 billion USD in the United States. Insecticides are commonly used to mitigate direct injury from feeding and indirect injury from disease transmission. This paper discusses horn fly biology, distribution, and management. Emphasis is on promising new approaches in novel insecticides, repellents, biological control, vaccines, animal genetics, and sterile insect technology that will lead to effective preventative tactics and the integration of smart technologies with horn fly management. We conclude with a discussion of research needs necessary to shift horn fly integrated pest management to an emphasis on preventative tactics and the precision use of reactive techniques

Focal HIFU therapy for anterior compared to posterior prostate cancer lesions.

OBJECTIVE To compare cancer control in anterior compared to posterior prostate cancer lesions treated with a focal HIFU therapy approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a prospectively maintained national database, 598 patients underwent focal HIFU (Sonablate®500) (March/2007-November/2016). Follow-up occurred with 3-monthly clinic visits and PSA testing in the first year with PSA, every 6-12 months with mpMRI with biopsy for MRI-suspicion of recurrence. Treatment failure was any secondary treatment (ADT/chemotherapy, cryotherapy, EBRT, RRP, or re-HIFU), tumour recurrence with Gleason ≥ 3 + 4 on prostate biopsy without further treatment or metastases/prostate cancer-related mortality. Cases with anterior cancer were compared to those with posterior disease. RESULTS 267 patients were analysed following eligibility criteria. 45 had an anterior focal-HIFU and 222 had a posterior focal-HIFU. Median age was 64 years and 66 years, respectively, with similar PSA level of 7.5 ng/ml and 6.92 ng/ml. 84% and 82%, respectively, had Gleason 3 + 4, 16% in both groups had Gleason 4 + 3, 0% and 2% had Gleason 4 + 4. Prostate volume was similar (33 ml vs. 36 ml, p = 0.315); median number of positive cores in biopsies was different in anterior and posterior tumours (7 vs. 5, p = 0.009), while medium cancer core length, and maximal cancer percentage of core were comparable. 17/45 (37.8%) anterior focal-HIFU patients compared to 45/222 (20.3%) posterior focal-HIFU patients required further treatment (p = 0.019). CONCLUSION Treating anterior prostate cancer lesions with focal HIFU may be less effective compared to posterior tumours

MRI-targeted or standard biopsy for prostate-cancer diagnosis

Background Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with or without targeted biopsy, is an alternative to standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy for prostate-cancer detection in men with a raised prostate-specific antigen level who have not undergone biopsy. However, comparative evidence is limited. Methods In a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial, we assigned men with a clinical suspicion of prostate cancer who had not undergone biopsy previously to undergo MRI, with or without targeted biopsy, or standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy. Men in the MRI-targeted biopsy group underwent a targeted biopsy (without standard biopsy cores) if the MRI was suggestive of prostate cancer; men whose MRI results were not suggestive of prostate cancer were not offered biopsy. Standard biopsy was a 10-to-12-core, transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy. The primary outcome was the proportion of men who received a diagnosis of clinically significant cancer. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of men who received a diagnosis of clinically insignificant cancer. Results A total of 500 men underwent randomization. In the MRI-targeted biopsy group, 71 of 252 men (28%) had MRI results that were not suggestive of prostate cancer, so they did not undergo biopsy. Clinically significant cancer was detected in 95 men (38%) in the MRI-targeted biopsy group, as compared with 64 of 248 (26%) in the standard-biopsy group (adjusted difference, 12 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4 to 20; P=0.005). MRI, with or without targeted biopsy, was noninferior to standard biopsy, and the 95% confidence interval indicated the superiority of this strategy over standard biopsy. Fewer men in the MRI-targeted biopsy group than in the standard-biopsy group received a diagnosis of clinically insignificant cancer (adjusted difference, -13 percentage points; 95% CI, -19 to -7; P<0.001). Conclusions The use of risk assessment with MRI before biopsy and MRI-targeted biopsy was superior to standard transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy in men at clinical risk for prostate cancer who had not undergone biopsy previously. (Funded by the National Institute for Health Research and the European Association of Urology Research Foundation; PRECISION ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02380027 .)

Better than DEET Repellent Compounds Derived from Coconut Oil

Hematophagous arthropods are capable of transmitting human and animal pathogens worldwide. Vector-borne diseases account for 17% of all infectious diseases resulting in 700,000 human deaths annually. Repellents are a primary tool for reducing the impact of biting arthropods on humans and animals. N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), the most effective and long-lasting repellent currently available commercially, has long been considered the gold standard in insect repellents, but with reported human health issues, particularly for infants and pregnant women. In the present study, we report fatty acids derived from coconut oil which are novel, inexpensive and highly efficacious repellant compounds. These coconut fatty acids are active against a broad array of blood-sucking arthropods including biting flies, ticks, bed bugs and mosquitoes. The medium-chain length fatty acids from C8:0 to C12:0 were found to exhibit the predominant repellent activity. In laboratory bioassays, these fatty acids repelled biting flies and bed bugs for two weeks after application, and ticks for one week. Repellency was stronger and with longer residual activity than that of DEET. In addition, repellency was also found against mosquitoes. An aqueous starch-based formulation containing natural coconut fatty acids was also prepared and shown to protect pastured cattle from biting flies up to 96-hours in the hot summer, which, to our knowledge, is the longest protection provided by a natural repellent product studied to date

Can Monkeys Choose Optimally When Faced with Noisy Stimuli and Unequal Rewards?

We review the leaky competing accumulator model for two-alternative forced-choice decisions with cued responses, and propose extensions to account for the influence of unequal rewards. Assuming that stimulus information is integrated until the cue to respond arrives and that firing rates of stimulus-selective neurons remain well within physiological bounds, the model reduces to an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process that yields explicit expressions for the psychometric function that describes accuracy. From these we compute strategies that optimize the rewards expected over blocks of trials administered with mixed difficulty and reward contingencies. The psychometric function is characterized by two parameters: its midpoint slope, which quantifies a subject's ability to extract signal from noise, and its shift, which measures the bias applied to account for unequal rewards. We fit these to data from two monkeys performing the moving dots task with mixed coherences and reward schedules. We find that their behaviors averaged over multiple sessions are close to optimal, with shifts erring in the direction of smaller penalties. We propose two methods for biasing the OU process to produce such shifts

Harnableitung beim älteren Patienten

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Das Blasenkarzinom ist eine der 10 häufigsten Krebserkrankungen mit weltweit über 400.000Neuerkrankungen/Jahr. Patienten mit muskelinvasiven Blasentumoren sterben ohne Behandlung in 80 % der Fälle innerhalb von 2Jahren. Methode: Die Zystektomie stellt die Therapie der Wahl dar. Das mediane Alter der neu diagnostizierten Patienten liegt bei 70Jahren und somit sind eher ältere Patienten davon betroffen. Demographisch bedingt wird die Anzahl Zystektomien von älteren Patienten in den nächsten Jahren zunehmen. Die Wahl der Harnableitung stellt bezüglich perioperativer Morbidität und nachfolgender Lebensqualität einen entscheidenden Faktor dar. Am häufigsten werden bei älteren Patienten inkontinente Harnableitungen angelegt. Schlussfolgerung: Das Alter allein stellt keine Kontraindikation für die orthotope ileale Ersatzblase oder einen katheterisierbaren Pouch dar. Der Patientenselektion und einer nervenschonenden Operationstechnik kommt beim älteren Patienten beiderlei Geschlechts eine entscheidende Bedeutung zu, um exzellenten funktionelle Ergebnissen zu erzielen