Overcoming People’s Perception of Education in a Community Learning Setting. Strategies to Help Learners Engage in Their Own Learning

The intent of this paper is to explore how to engage reluctant adult learners who may have barriers to education. These can include language barriers, past experience, family life, and not valuing education or themselves; all which can impact learning. Some learners expect courses to be based on traditional teaching methods, for example being teacher led, and presume it will be like school. Some are also surprised at the amount of paperwork that is required, from enrolment forms to learner journals and the formalities of Adult Community Learning (ACL). This paper includes two learner case studies that explore strategies researched through reading and techniques trialled in sessions. Key findings show tutors have to build a strong relationship in a safe environment. Guidance and suggestions for tutors can be found in the strategies sourced for this paper. Adjustments to teacher practice can be shown to have an impact on engaging learners. These include understanding the learners’ motivation, making learners feel safe, respected and valued, using their contexts as learning opportunities, getting to know learners personally, showing openly that the tutor learns from the learner, listening and acting on learners’ opinions, building bonds between learners, sharing emotions with them, and signposting for progression. Tutors and community courses can offer opportunities for reluctant learners to engage in education, helping to lower their barriers and build self-confidence. However, suitability of venues, courses offered, and the recruitment process can be reassessed to make further impact

Commercial Household Disinfectant Inactivation of Bacillus cereus Spores on Fruit and Vegetable Surfaces

Studies were conducted to test the efficacy of several common household products containing antimicrobial compounds for inactivating spores of Bacillus cereus, as a surrogate for B. anthracis, on fresh fruit or vegetables. Additionally, the effect of storage time on hypochlorite activity of household products was determined. Bacillus cereus ATCC 33018 and ATCC 49064 were used in a cocktail for all tests. Household disinfectant and/or cleaning products with potential for sanitization were purchased in a retail market and were selected based upon efficacy against B. cereus in previous tests in milk. The active components were NaOCl, HCl or H2O2. For produce, cantaloupe melons and spinach were obtained from a local retail market and rinsed with sterile deionized (DI) water. Cantaloupe rinds were removed, trimmed to remove the mesocarp, cut into 25 cm2 sections and placed in sterile Petri dishes. Sections of melon and spinach leaves were spot inoculated with 0.1 ml of B. cereus and allowed to dry for 30 min at 25oC. Sanitizing products were sprayed onto the surface of the produce and the produce was allowed to stand for various times. Produce was then placed in neutralizer buffer to arrest the activity of sanitizing compounds and survivors were enumerated on non-selective media. To determine the effect of product age on activity, three commercial NaOCl-containing products that were past, at and 6 mo from the expiration dates were evaluated. Spinach and cantaloupe were tested as described previously. For the cantaloupe melon rind the control population mean was 7.15 + 0.07 log CFU/cm2. The log reduction was \u3e 5.15 for undiluted NaOCl (Clorox®, 6.00% NaOCl) and inactivation took 120 min though the greatest reduction was observed in the first 10 min. For products containing 1.84%-2.40% NaOCl, log reductions were 2.75 to 3.40 over 180 min. For spinach, the control population mean was 7.37 + 0.01 log CFU/leaf. A \u3e 5.84 log reduction in B. cereus spores was found for both undiluted NaOCl (Clorox®) and HCl (The Works Drain Opener, 20.00% HCl). However, the former reduced the viable spore population to the lowest detection level in 10 to 60 min while the latter took approximately 3 h. A 4.23-4.60 log reduction occurred with the 1.84%-2.40% NaOCl-containing products after 180 min. Hydrogen peroxide had the least effective sporicidal capabilities of the solutions tested reducing the population by less than 1 log. With respect to effect of storage on sporicidal activity of HOCl-containing products, samples stored up to 1 year past expiration were compared with those stored for 6 months prior to expiration and purchased fresh. There was no significant difference in the in vitro inactivation of B. cereus spores among the products. B. cereus spores were inactivated to below detectable levels after 1 min in 50% and 25% commercial strength solutions (\u3e4.0 log CFU/ml). These findings were confirmed utilizing cantaloupe rind and spinach leaves treated with HOCl-containing products of the same storage times. B. cereus spores were inactivated to below the level of detection (\u3e5.84 log CFU/cm2, \u3e5.15 log CFU/cm2) in 10 min and 60 min for spinach and cantaloupe respectively, regardless of compound age

The role of the social foundations of education in programs of teacher preparation in Canada

This paper argues that the social foundations of education, and particularly the disciplines of history, philosophy and sociology of education, must continue to play an integral role in programs of teacher education. We report on the decline of the study of history of education within Faculties of Education in Canada as an example of the marginalization of the role of the social foundations in teacher education programs generally. In this context we furnish what we take to be some of the strongest reasons for the requirement for future teachers to engage with the social foundations—some of these arguments apply to all of the foundational areas, and some apply to specific foundational disciplines. Some of these arguments will be familiar, some new. We conclude that if a teacher education program in Canada is to be of a very high quality then it must include a strong social foundations component.Keywords: teacher education, sociology of education, history of education, philosophy of education, social foundations of educationCet article affirme que les fondements sociaux de l'éducation, et particulièrement les disciplines telles que l'histoire, la philosophie et la sociologie de l'éducation, doivent continuer à jouer un rôle intégral dans les programmes de formation des enseignants. Nous faisons rapport du le déclin de l'étude de l'histoire de l'éducation au sein de facultés d'éducation au Canada, comme un exemple de la marginalisation du rôle des fondements sociaux dans les programmes de formation des enseignants en général. Dans ce contexte, nous fournissons ce que nous pensons être parmi les plus fortes raisons, en tant qu'obligation pour les futurs enseignants, de se familiariser avec les fondements sociaux - Certains de ces arguments s'appliquent à l'ensemble des domaines fondamentaux, et certains s'appliquent seulement à des disciplines fondamentales spécifiques. Certains seront connus, d'autres nouveaux. Nous en concluons que si un programme de formation des enseignants au Canada se veut être un programme d'excellence, alors il doit inclure une composante importante sur les fondements sociaux.Mots clés: formation des enseignants, sociologie de l'éducation, histoire de l'éducation, philosophie de l'éducation, fondements sociaux de l'éducatio

CO2 CAPTURE PROJECT-AN INTEGRATED, COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR NEXT GENERATION CO2 SEPARATION, CAPTURE AND GEOLOGIC SEQUESTRATION

The CO{sub 2} Capture Project (CCP) is a joint industry project, funded by eight energy companies (BP, ChevronTexaco, EnCana, Eni, Norsk Hydro, Shell, Statoil, and Suncor) and three government agencies (European Union (DG Res & DG Tren), Norway (Klimatek) and the U.S.A. (Department of Energy)). The project objective is to develop new technologies, which could reduce the cost of CO{sub 2} capture and geologic storage by 50% for retrofit to existing plants and 75% for new-build plants. Technologies are to be developed to ''proof of concept'' stage by the end of 2003. The project budget is approximately $24 million over 3 years and the work program is divided into eight major activity areas: (1) Baseline Design and Cost Estimation--defined the uncontrolled emissions from each facility and estimate the cost of abatement in$/tonne CO{sub 2}. (2) Capture Technology, Post Combustion--technologies, which can remove CO{sub 2} from exhaust gases after combustion. (3) Capture Technology, Oxyfuel--where oxygen is separated from the air and then burned with hydrocarbons to produce an exhaust with wet high concentrations of CO{sub 2} for storage. (4) Capture Technology, Pre-Combustion--in which, natural gas and petroleum coke are converted to hydrogen and CO{sub 2} in a reformer/gasifier. (5) Common Economic Model/Technology Screening--analysis and evaluation of each technology applied to the scenarios to provide meaningful and consistent comparison. (6) New Technology Cost Estimation: on a consistent basis with the baseline above, to demonstrate cost reductions. (7) Geologic Storage, Monitoring and Verification (SMV)--providing assurance that CO{sub 2} can be safely stored in geologic formations over the long term. (8) Non-Technical: project management, communication of results and a review of current policies and incentives governing CO{sub 2} capture and storage. Technology development work dominated the past six months of the project. Numerous studies have completed their 2003 stagegate review and are reported here. Some will proceed to the next stagegate review in 2004. Some technologies are emerging as preferred over others. Pre-combustion De-carbonization (hydrogen fuel) technologies are showing excellent results and may be able to meet the CCP's aggressive cost reduction targets for new-build plants. The workscopes planned for the next key stagegates are under review before work begins based on the current economic assessment of their performance. Chemical looping to produce oxygen for oxyfuel combustion shows real promise. As expected, post-combustion technologies are emerging as higher cost options but even so some significant potential reductions in cost have been identified and will continue to be explored. Storage, measurement, and verification studies are moving rapidly forward and suggest that geologic sequestration can be a safe form of long-term CO{sub 2} storage. Hyper-spectral geo-botanical measurements may be an inexpensive and non-intrusive method for long-term monitoring. Modeling studies suggest that primary leakage routes from CO{sub 2} storage sites may be along old wellbores in areas disturbed by earlier oil and gas operations. This is good news because old wells are usually mapped and can be repaired during the site preparation process. Wells are also easy to monitor and intervention is possible if needed. The project will continue to evaluate and bring in novel studies and ideas within the project scope as requested by the DOE. The results to date are summarized in the attached report and presented in detail in the attached appendices

CO2 CAPTURE PROJECT - AN INTEGRATED, COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR NEXT GENERATION CO2 SEPARATION, CAPTURE AND GEOLOGIC SEQUESTRATION

The CO{sub 2} Capture Project (CCP) is a joint industry project, funded by eight energy companies (BP, ChevronTexaco, EnCana, Eni, Norsk Hydro, Shell, Statoil, and Suncor) and three government agencies (1) European Union (DG Res & DG Tren), (2) Norway (Klimatek) and (3) the U.S.A. (Department of Energy). The project objective is to develop new technologies, which could reduce the cost of CO{sub 2} capture and geologic storage by 50% for retrofit to existing plants and 75% for new-build plants. Technologies are to be developed to ''proof of concept'' stage by the end of 2003. The project budget is approximately $24 million over 3 years and the work program is divided into eight major activity areas: (1) Baseline Design and Cost Estimation--defined the uncontrolled emissions from each facility and estimate the cost of abatement in$/tonne CO{sub 2}. (2) Capture Technology, Post Combustion: technologies, which can remove CO{sub 2} from exhaust gases after combustion. (3) Capture Technology, Oxyfuel: where oxygen is separated from the air and then burned with hydrocarbons to produce an exhaust with high CO{sub 2} for storage. (4) Capture Technology, Pre -Combustion: in which, natural gas and petroleum coke are converted to hydrogen and CO{sub 2} in a reformer/gasifier. (5) Common Economic Model/Technology Screening: analysis and evaluation of each technology applied to the scenarios to provide meaningful and consistent comparison. (6) New Technology Cost Estimation: on a consistent basis with the baseline above, to demonstrate cost reductions. (7) Geologic Storage, Monitoring and Verification (SMV): providing assurance that CO{sub 2} can be safely stored in geologic formations over the long term. (8) Non-Technical: project management, communication of results and a review of current policies and incentives governing CO{sub 2} capture and storage. Technology development work dominated the past six months of the project. Numerous studies are making substantial progress towards their goals. Some technologies are emerging as preferred over others. Pre-combustion Decarbonization (hydrogen fuel) technologies are showing good progress and may be able to meet the CCP's aggressive cost reduction targets for new-build plants. Chemical looping to produce oxygen for oxyfuel combustion shows real promise. As expected, post-combustion technologies are emerging as higher cost options that may have niche roles. Storage, measurement, and verification studies are moving rapidly forward. Hyper-spectral geo-botanical measurements may be an inexpensive and non-intrusive method for long-term monitoring. Modeling studies suggest that primary leakage routes from CO{sub 2} storage sites may be along wellbores in areas disturbed by earlier oil and gas operations. This is good news because old wells are usually mapped and can be repaired during the site preparation process. Many studies are nearing completion or have been completed. Their preliminary results are summarized in the attached report and presented in detail in the attached appendices

Patient complaints as predictors of patient safety incidents

Patients remain an underused resource in efforts to improve quality and safety in healthcare, despite evidence that they can provide valuable insights into the care they receive. This study aimed to establish whether high-level patient safety incidents (HLIs) were predictable from preceding complaints, enabling complaints to be used to prevent HLIs. For this study complaints received from November 2011 through June 2012 and HLI incident reports from April through September 2012 were examined. Complaints and HLIs were categorised according to location or specialty and the themes they included. Data were analysed to look for correlations between number of complaints and HLIs in a given area. A qualitative analysis was carried out to determine whether any complaints contained information that, if acted upon earlier, could have prevented later HLIs. In the data a total of 52 complaints and 16 HLIs were included. No correlation was established between location of HLIs and complaints. Complaints commonly focused on staff attitude, diagnostic problems and delayed treatment. HLIs most often arose from failure to recognise a patient’s deterioration and escalate appropriately or incorrect patient identification. Most HLIs were not preceded by similar complaints. However, in two instances complaints did signpost future HLIs. Patient complaints can highlight specific risks to patient safety and act as an early warning system. There is a need to devise reliable means of identifying the minority of complaints that do precede serious incidents