Christian Higher Education in Europe: A Historical Overview

The history of Christian higher education in Europe may be analyzed in terms of seven eras. From their medieval origins in scholasticism and the practical needs of students and rulers, universities passed through Renaissance humanism to a period of decay, yet remained substantially Christian in intent. The Enlightenment exercised a partially secularizing influence, and the neohumanist reaction against it also tended to dilute the faith. The recent era of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has been associated with the rise of postmodernism and the involvement of the state in the quest for relevance. A Christian response to contemporary circumstances is to engage with the cultural currents of the present day and, in drawing on the thought of John Henry Newman and Sir Walter Moberly, to ensure the integration of Christianity into higher education so that discussion of ultimate questions is informed by the Christian faith

Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism during activity in the lizard Dipsosaurus dorsalis

1. Oxygen consumption and lactate content of the lizard Dipsosaurus dorsalis were determined under standard conditions and for a bout of maximal activity induced by a 2-min period of electrical stimulation. Observations were made between 25 ° and 45 °C.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47109/1/359_2004_Article_BF00693633.pd

Predicting fitness to practise events in international medical graduates who registered as UK doctors via the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) system: a national cohort study

Background International medical graduates working in the UK are more likely to be censured in relation to fitness to practise compared to home graduates. Performance on the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) tests and English fluency have previously been shown to predict later educational performance in this group of doctors. It is unknown whether the PLAB system is also a valid predictor of unprofessional behaviour and malpractice. The findings would have implications for regulatory policy. Methods This was an observational study linking data relating to fitness to practise events (referral or censure), PLAB performance, demographic variables and English language competence, as evaluated via the International English Language Test System (IELTS). Data from 27,330 international medical graduates registered with the GMC were analysed, including 210 doctors who had been sanctioned in relation to at least one fitness to practise issue. The main outcome was risk of eventual censure (including a warning). Results The significant univariable educational predictors of eventual censure (versus no censures or referrals) were lower PLAB part 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.98 to 1.00) and part 2 scores (HR, 0.94; 0.91 to 0.97) at first sitting, multiple attempts at both parts of the PLAB, lower IELTS reading (HR, 0.79; 0.65 to 0.94) and listening scores (HR, 0.76; 0.62 to 0.93) and higher IELTS speaking scores (HR, 1.28; 1.04 to 1.57). Multiple resits at either part of the PLAB and higher IELTS speaking score (HR, 1.49; 1.20 to 1.84) were also independent predictors of censure. We estimated that the proposed limit of four attempts at both parts of the PLAB would reduce the risk in this entire group by only approximately two censures per 5 years in this group of doctors. Conclusions Making the PLAB, or any replacement assessment, more stringent and raising the required standards of English reading and listening may result in fewer fitness to practice events in international medical graduates. However, the number of PLAB resits permitted would have to be further capped to meaningfully impact the risk of sanctions in this group of doctor

Living on the edge: precariousness and why it matters for health

The post-war period in Europe, between the late 1940s and the 1970s, was characterised by an expansion of the role of by the state, protecting its citizens from risks of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity. This security began to erode in the 1980s as a result of privatisation and deregulation. The withdrawal of the state further accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis, as countries began pursuing deep austerity. The result has been a rise in what has been termed ‘precariousness’. Here we review the development of the concept of precariousness and related phenomena of vulnerability and resilience, before reviewing evidence of growing precariousness in European countries. It describes a series of studies of the impact on precariousness on health in domains of employment, housing, and food, as well as natural experiments of policies that either alleviate or worsen these impacts. It concludes with a warning, drawn from the history of the 1930s, of the political consequences of increasing precariousness in Europe and North America

The Ontogenetic Osteohistology of Tenontosaurus tilletti

Tenontosaurus tilletti is an ornithopod dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Cloverly and Antlers formations of the Western United States. It is represented by a large number of specimens spanning a number of ontogenetic stages, and these specimens have been collected across a wide geographic range (from central Montana to southern Oklahoma). Here I describe the long bone histology of T. tilletti and discuss histological variation at the individual, ontogenetic and geographic levels. The ontogenetic pattern of bone histology in T. tilletti is similar to that of other dinosaurs, reflecting extremely rapid growth early in life, and sustained rapid growth through sub-adult ontogeny. But unlike other iguanodontians, this dinosaur shows an extended multi-year period of slow growth as skeletal maturity approached. Evidence of termination of growth (e.g., an external fundamental system) is observed in only the largest individuals, although other histological signals in only slightly smaller specimens suggest a substantial slowing of growth later in life. Histological differences in the amount of remodeling and the number of lines of arrested growth varied among elements within individuals, but bone histology was conservative across sampled individuals of the species, despite known paleoenvironmental differences between the Antlers and Cloverly formations. The bone histology of T. tilletti indicates a much slower growth trajectory than observed for other iguanodontians (e.g., hadrosaurids), suggesting that those taxa reached much larger sizes than Tenontosaurus in a shorter time

A Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the Biogeography of Neoceratopsia

Competing interests: Andrew A. Farke has read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Andrew A. Farke is a volunteer section editor and academic editor for PLOS ONE. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.Acknowledgments It is a pleasure to offer our most heartfelt thanks to Scott K. Madsen, who found OMNH 34557 and prepared it with consummate skill. We are grateful to James Taylor, Jack Owen, the Keebler family, and the Montana Bureau of Land Management for access to outcrops of the Cloverly Formation. We thank Xu Xing (IVPP) and Hai-Lu You (formerly CAGS-IG) for facilitating access to specimens, Mark Loewen, Joseph Frederickson, Darren Naish, and Leonardo Maiorino for productive discussion and comments, and Roger Burkhalter for assistance in photography. Gary Wisser, from the scientific visualization center at Western University of Health Sciences, is gratefully acknowledged for the high resolution scan of the cranium. Reviews by Peter Makovicky, Hai-Lu You, and editor Peter Wilf improved the manuscript.Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: AAF WDM RLC. Performed the experiments: AAF WDM RLC. Analyzed the data: AAF WDM RLC MJW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AAF WDM RLC MJW. Wrote the paper: AAF WDM RLC MJW.The fossil record for neoceratopsian (horned) dinosaurs in the Lower Cretaceous of North America primarily comprises isolated teeth and postcrania of limited taxonomic resolution, hampering previous efforts to reconstruct the early evolution of this group in North America. An associated cranium and lower jaw from the Cloverly Formation (?middle–late Albian, between 104 and 109 million years old) of southern Montana is designated as the holotype for Aquilops americanus gen. et sp. nov. Aquilops americanus is distinguished by several autapomorphies, including a strongly hooked rostral bone with a midline boss and an elongate and sharply pointed antorbital fossa. The skull in the only known specimen is comparatively small, measuring 84 mm between the tips of the rostral and jugal. The taxon is interpreted as a basal neoceratopsian closely related to Early Cretaceous Asian taxa, such as Liaoceratops and Auroraceratops. Biogeographically, A. americanus probably originated via a dispersal from Asia into North America; the exact route of this dispersal is ambiguous, although a Beringian rather than European route seems more likely in light of the absence of ceratopsians in the Early Cretaceous of Europe. Other amniote clades show similar biogeographic patterns, supporting an intercontinental migratory event between Asia and North America during the late Early Cretaceous. The temporal and geographic distribution of Upper Cretaceous neoceratopsians (leptoceratopsids and ceratopsoids) suggests at least intermittent connections between North America and Asia through the early Late Cretaceous, likely followed by an interval of isolation and finally reconnection during the latest Cretaceous.Funding was received from the National Science Foundation (DEB 9401094, 9870173, http://www.nsf.gov); National Geographic Society (5918-97, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/); and American Chemical Society (PRF #38572-AC8, http://www.acs.org). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee