Philosophical Literacy: Dialogue on a Pedagogical Experiment

This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate in universities about literacy, the link between writing and academic success, and writing in specific disciplines. It reports the major phases in the design and implementation of a team-taught curriculum which integrated two half courses in writing and philosophy. The major objective was to develop philosophical literacy among students as a groundwork for future humanities courses. The unifying motif was "dialogue" which facilitated the negotiation between two members of faculty with different areas of expertise, the concept of philosophy as dialogue, and the student-teacher relationship as dialogue. Comments are made about some of the difficulties and uncertainties which students experienced initially, as well as certain modifications which were made to the curriculum. The successful completion of a wide range of differentiated tasks and the major assignment, a complex argumentative research paper, indicated the extent to which students had achieved the goal of philosophical literacy. The experiment raised a number of challenging theoretical and pedagogical questions, some of which are answered in the final section of the paper, while others still need to be researched.Cet article vise à prendre part à la discussion ec cours dans les universités sur le fait de savoir lire et écrire, le lien entre la rédaction et la réussite scolaire,ceci dans des disciplines particulières. Il rend compte des phases principales de la conception et de la mise en place d'un curriculum enseigné en équipe, auquel deux demi-cours en rédaction et en philosophie ont été intégrés. L'objectif principal était de développer chez les étudiants leur capacité philosophique en lecture et en rédaction en vue de leurs cours futurs en sciences humaines. Le facteur intégrateur était le "dialogue" — qui a facilité les négociations entre deux membres de la faculté de deux domaines de compétence différentes — ainsi que le concept de philosophie comme dialogue, et les relations entre l'étudiant et le professeur comme dialogue. Des remarques sont faites sur certaines difficultés et incertitudes rencontrées par les étudiants au début du cours, ainsi que sur des modifications apportées au curriculum. La réussite de diverses tâches différenciées et du devoir principal, une dissertation de recherche complexe et dialectique, indiquent dans quelle mesure les étudiants ont atteint la capacité philosophique de lire et d'écrire. L'expérience a soulevé un certain nombre de questions théoriques et pédagogiques assez difficiles, dont certaines trouvent une réponse dans la partie finale de l'article, alors que d'autres nécessitent des recherches plus approfondies

Social and educational issues in Jamaica: with reference to the use of Creole and Standard English in secondary schools.

As the argument of this thesis deals with the polarities of language\ud usage in Jamaica, Part One presents the historical context in which a\ud language 'continuum' came to exist in the society. Then it analyses the\ud systemic contrasts between Jamaican Creole (JC) and Standard English\ud (SE), and the language varieties between these two polar lects.\ud A case history of Elementary/Primary schools in the late nineteenth\ud and early twentieth._ centuries drew attention to the Creole-Standard\ud debate. Educational administrators misunderstood the nature of the\ud linguistic configuration - denying pupils' Creole the right to exist -\ud while teachers were singularly ill-equipped to help boys and girls\ud acquire English.\ud Part Two deals with the empirical investigation which centres on a\ud substantially representative sample of 530 Secondary pupils. The study\ud seeks to determine the extent to which the Secondary sector, which is\ud designed for the masses, can achieve two divergent linguistic goals laid\ud down by the Ministry of Education - 'appreciation of Creole' and 'a high\ud level of competence in English'.\ud The study probes in some depth the concept of 'linguistic focusing'\ud as it seeks to assess pupils' access to English through the printed word\ud and the media. Then it closely analyses their perspectives on language\ud use and attitudes to both languages. Finally, the assessment of two\ud written tasks provides evidence of pupils' productive abilities in\ud English. The data clearly reveal that they have not acquired English,\ud even after eight years of exposure to formal teaching. Indeed, the\ud majority leave school with negative attitudes to JC and a legacy of\ud linguistic insecurities.\ud The thesis concludes on a hopeful note, however, as it suggests how\ud a new political will, the insights of linguistic scholarship and new\ud vistas in teacher education could combine to resolve the Creole-Standard\ud debate

Periodontal lesions in slaughtered cattle in the west of Scotland

No abstract available

Hsp90 governs dispersion and drug resistance of fungal biofilms

Fungal biofilms are a major cause of human mortality and are recalcitrant to most treatments due to intrinsic drug resistance. These complex communities of multiple cell types form on indwelling medical devices and their eradication often requires surgical removal of infected devices. Here we implicate the molecular chaperone Hsp90 as a key regulator of biofilm dispersion and drug resistance. We previously established that in the leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, Hsp90 enables the emergence and maintenance of drug resistance in planktonic conditions by stabilizing the protein phosphatase calcineurin and MAPK Mkc1. Hsp90 also regulates temperature-dependent C. albicans morphogenesis through repression of cAMP-PKA signalling. Here we demonstrate that genetic depletion of Hsp90 reduced C. albicans biofilm growth and maturation in vitro and impaired dispersal of biofilm cells. Further, compromising Hsp90 function in vitro abrogated resistance of C. albicans biofilms to the most widely deployed class of antifungal drugs, the azoles. Depletion of Hsp90 led to reduction of calcineurin and Mkc1 in planktonic but not biofilm conditions, suggesting that Hsp90 regulates drug resistance through different mechanisms in these distinct cellular states. Reduction of Hsp90 levels led to a marked decrease in matrix glucan levels, providing a compelling mechanism through which Hsp90 might regulate biofilm azole resistance. Impairment of Hsp90 function genetically or pharmacologically transformed fluconazole from ineffectual to highly effective in eradicating biofilms in a rat venous catheter infection model. Finally, inhibition of Hsp90 reduced resistance of biofilms of the most lethal mould, Aspergillus fumigatus, to the newest class of antifungals to reach the clinic, the echinocandins. Thus, we establish a novel mechanism regulating biofilm drug resistance and dispersion and that targeting Hsp90 provides a much-needed strategy for improving clinical outcome in the treatment of biofilm infections

Sites of persistence of Fusobacterium necrophorum and Dichelobacter nodosus: a paradigm shift in understanding the epidemiology of footrot in sheep

Sites of persistence of bacterial pathogens contribute to disease dynamics of bacterial diseases. Footrot is a globally important bacterial disease that reduces health and productivity of sheep. It is caused by Dichelobacter nodosus, a pathogen apparently highly specialised for feet, while Fusobacterium necrophorum, a secondary pathogen in footrot is reportedly ubiquitous on pasture. Two prospective longitudinal studies were conducted to investigate the persistence of D. nodosus and F. necrophorum in sheep feet, mouths and faeces, and in soil. Molecular tools were used to detect species, strains and communities. In contrast to the existing paradigm, F. necrophorum persisted on footrot diseased feet, and in mouths and faeces; different strains were detected in feet and mouths. D. nodosus persisted in soil and on diseased, but not healthy, feet; similar strains were detected on both healthy and diseased feet of diseased sheep. We conclude that D. nodosus and F. necrophorum depend on sheep for persistence but use different strategies to persist and spread between sheep within and between flocks. Elimination of F. necrophorum would be challenging due to faecal shedding. In contrast D. nodosus could be eliminated if all footrot-affected sheep were removed and fade out of D. nodosus occurred in the environment before re-infection of a foot

Alveolar hypoxia, alveolar macrophages, and systemic inflammation

Diseases featuring abnormally low alveolar PO2 are frequently accompanied by systemic effects. The common presence of an underlying inflammatory component suggests that inflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of the systemic effects of alveolar hypoxia. While the role of alveolar macrophages in the immune and defense functions of the lung has been long known, recent evidence indicates that activation of alveolar macrophages causes inflammatory disturbances in the systemic microcirculation. The purpose of this review is to describe observations in experimental animals showing that alveolar macrophages initiate a systemic inflammatory response to alveolar hypoxia. Evidence obtained in intact animals and in primary cell cultures indicate that alveolar macrophages activated by hypoxia release a mediator(s) into the circulation. This mediator activates perivascular mast cells and initiates a widespread systemic inflammation. The inflammatory cascade includes activation of the local renin-angiotensin system and results in increased leukocyte-endothelial interactions in post-capillary venules, increased microvascular levels of reactive O2 species; and extravasation of albumin. Given the known extrapulmonary responses elicited by activation of alveolar macrophages, this novel phenomenon could contribute to some of the systemic effects of conditions featuring low alveolar PO2