A Healthcare Ethics Curriculum for MaineHealth Clinical Ethics Committees

Healthcare professionals who sit on ethics committees have widely varying experience and understanding of hospital ethics consultation resources. A curriculum for ethics committee members should provide a range of depth, breadth and flexibility to meet the needs of all ethics committee members.https://knowledgeconnection.mainehealth.org/mite/1003/thumbnail.jp

Diversité et caractérisation morphologique des variétés d’ananas (Ananas comosus (L.) Merrill) cultivées au Bénin

Objectifs : Au Bénin, une faible proportion de l’ananas produit pour l’exportation parvient à franchir le marché international. En effet, plus de 80% des fruits produits sont déclassés en raison de leur hétérogénéité. Le but cette étude a été d’inventorier et de caractériser les variétés d’ananas cultivées au Bénin en vue d’une épuration variétale.Méthodologie et Résultats : Les données ont été collectées au sud et au centre du Bénin dans 11 plantations d’ananas qui sont de deux types : les plantations conventionnelles et celles traditionnelles. Les variétés et morphotypes ont été identifiés et dénombrés à l’intérieur de 5 placeaux de 4 m2 dans chaque plantation. Les variétés d’ananas recensées sont au nombre de 5, à savoir : Cayenne lisse, Pain de sucre, Queen, Red Spanish et Perolera. Elles renferment 16 morphotypes dont 4 pour la Cayenne lisse, 10 pour le Pain de sucre et 2 pour le Queen. Le nombre de variétés par plantation varie de 1 à 3, avec une moyenne de 1,91 ± 0,94. L’indice de diversité de Shannon varie de 0 à 1,05 bit. L’équitabilité de Piélou est comprise entre 0 et 1. Les plantations traditionnelles sont les plus diversifiées. Les variétés ou cultivars sont désignés, par la population, par 2 mots dont le premier signifie Ananas comosus et le second est un adjectif portant sur un caractère propre à la variété.Conclusion et application des résultats : Le mélange des cultivars observé dans les plantations conventionnelles exige alors l’accompagnement scientifique des producteurs afin de les aider à obtenir les cultivars purs et répondant à leurs attentes.Mots clés : ananas, variété, morphotypes, diversité, caractères morphologique

DBE/SBE Training Calendar, Summer-Winter 2025

This Certified Disadvantaged & Small Business Enterprise (DBE/SBE) training calendar gives a listing of courses offered by the Division of Minority and Small Business Affairs. It includes dates, locations and descriptions of courses

Fiber optic Raman spectroscopy for the evaluation of disease state in Duchenne muscular dystrophy:An assessment using the mdx model and human muscle

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: Raman spectroscopy is an emerging technique for the evaluation of muscle disease. In this study we evaluate the ability of in vivo intramuscular Raman spectroscopy to detect the effects of voluntary running in the mdx model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We also compare mdx data with muscle spectra from human DMD patients. METHODS: Thirty 90‐day‐old mdx mice were randomly allocated to an exercised group (48‐hour access to a running wheel) and an unexercised group (n = 15 per group). In vivo Raman spectra were collected from both gastrocnemius muscles and histopathological assessment subsequently performed. Raman data were analyzed using principal component analysis–fed linear discriminant analysis (PCA‐LDA). Exercised and unexercised mdx muscle spectra were compared with human DMD samples using cosine similarity. RESULTS: Exercised mice ran an average of 6.5 km over 48 hours, which induced a significant increase in muscle necrosis (P = .03). PCA‐LDA scores were significantly different between the exercised and unexercised groups (P < .0001) and correlated significantly with distance run (P = .01). Raman spectra from exercised mice more closely resembled human spectra than those from unexercised mice. DISCUSSION: Raman spectroscopy provides a readout of the biochemical alterations in muscle in both the mdx mouse and human DMD muscle

Resisting the desire for the unambiguous: productive gaps in researcher, teacher and student interpretations of a number story task

This article offers reflections on task design in the context of a Grade R (reception year) in-service numeracy project in South Africa. The research explores under what conditions, and for what learning purpose, a task designed by someone else may be recast and how varying given task specifications may support or inhibit learning, as a result of that recasting. This question is situated within a two-pronged task design challenge as to emerging gaps between the task designer’s intentions and teacher’s actions and secondly between the teachers’ intentions and students’ actions. Through analysing two teachers and their respective Grade R students’ interpretations of a worksheet task, provided to teachers in the project, we illuminate the way explicit constraints, in the form of task specifications, can be both enabling and constraining of learning. In so doing we recast this ‘double gap’ as enabling productive learning spaces for teacher educators, teachers and students

Linguistic challenges faced by rural Tshivenda-speaking teachers when Grade 4 learners transition to English

The general complaint of teachers in rural monolingual communities is that teaching becomes problematic after learners are promoted to Grade 4. While the transition to a next academic phase places new cognitive demands on the learners, they must also adjust to being taught in English after 3 years of mother tongue education. This qualitative case study was underpinned by Krashen’s theory of second-language acquisition which emphasises the importance of exposure to and interaction in the target language. Six Grade 4 teachers who are mother tongue speakers of Tshivenda and two curriculum advisors participated in the study. Data were collected through individual interviews and classroom observations. Initially, it was assumed that the transition was problematic, because learners’ English proficiency was inadequate, but teachers too struggled to impart academic content to Grade 4 learners and relied heavily on code switching. This strategy contributed to learners’ understanding of content, but militated against any improvement in their English. The remoteness of this rural monolingual community implies a limited exposure to the target language, but ought not to be reckoned an excuse. Means to build teachers’ linguistic confidence and improve their oral proficiency during initial teacher preparation as well as greater in-service support should ameliorate the transition for learners. A revision of the mother tongue Foundation Phase curriculum and monitored implementation is advisable

A snapshot of early childhood care and education in South Africa: institutional offerings, challenges and recommendations

This article draws from a research report on the Project for Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education (PIECCE), which surveyed attitudes, training strategies, materials and entrance requirements across most relevant higher education institutions (HEIs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and technical and vocational education and training colleges (TVETs). The aim of this study was to identify what institutions were offering in terms of training teachers in the birth-to-four age group, to identify the challenges and provide recommendations based on the findings