Engaging Today’s Students: Current Topics 2.0

In this session we share a new version of a Current Topics assignment geared toward millennial students’ preferences for structure and hands-on learning. Participants will try-out the assignment by reading a short article and answering the three assignment prompts: 1) What are the main points of the article? 2) What points are the most interesting and/or useful to you? 3) What course concepts are illustrated in the article? Connections to student learning outcomes are discussed as well as ways to adapt this assignment. Article citations, grading practices and student feedback are shared

The Impact of Employee Engagement and a Positive Organizational Culture on an Individual’s Ability to Adapt to Organization Change

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between employee engagement, positive organizational psychology and an individual’s ability to adapt to ongoing organizational change. We review the literature on individual adaptability, positive organizational psychology, and employee engagement and propose a model that suggests that a positive work culture enhances employee engagement and in specific cases leads to increased adaptability. Suggestions for future research are provided with the intent to further the academic research in this area

População de referência no diagnóstico da composição nutricional (CND) em Mangueiras.

Resumo: A diagnose foliar teve início em meados do século 20; desde então, é objeto de muitas pesquisas e tem-se apresentado como a principal ferramenta para aumento da produtividade, pois permite um manejo eficiente da adubação, podendo dirimir limitações de um dado nutriente e adequar o balanço nutricional para uma determinada cultura. Objetivando contribuir com a diagnose nutricional da mangueira avaliou-se 221 talhões das variedades Palmer, Tommy Atkins e Espada, durante as safras agrícolas 2009/2010 e 2010/2011. Seguindo a proposição do Diagnóstico da Composição Nutricional (CND) e a exclusão dos dados aberrantes, foi possível definir que o ponto de inflexão que definiu as amostras com alto e baixo rendimento foi de 80,8 kg por planta. A distância de Mahalanobis foi eficiente em excluir os resultados aberrantes do banco de dados inicialmente proposto

Compositional analysis of phosphorus pools in Canadian Mollisols

During cultivation, the internal phosphorus cycle of Mollisols (Chernozems) of the Canadian Prairies is perturbed by crop sequences including wheat phases, tillage practices, and regular applications of fertilizers. To monitor these changes, a proximate sequential phosphorus (P) fractionation procedure was developed by Hedley et al. (1982) to extract inorganic and organic P fractions as very labile (resin-P), labile (NaHCO3-P), slowly available (NaOH-P), and very slowly available (HCl-P) pools. Models used so far to monitor P pools do not address the interactive behaviour of P fractions constrained to a closed compositional space. Compositional data analysis using isometric log ratio (ilr) coordinates is appropriate for modelling the interactive P pools using sequential binary partitions of P pools. Our objective was to model changes of P pools in Mollisols in response to management and time using ilr coordinates. We used a dataset with treatments and another where a Mollisol was analyzed at time zero and 4, 65, and 90 yr after sod breakup. Seven P fractions were assigned to P reactivity groups to compute six ilr coordinates. The ilr2 contrasting inorganic (geochemical) and organic (biological) P pools and ilr4 between the most readily available and less P bioavailable pools were the most sensitive to crop sequence and fertilization. Using composition at time zero as reference, the Aitchison distance reached a plateau after the 4th year in the Bm horizon compared to continuous change in the Ah horizon. Time changed the P balance of cultivated Mollisols primarily in the inorganic vs. organic P pools. The risks of yield loss and environmental damage can be minimized using soil tests that quantify the rapidly bioavailable inorganic P pools and crop management strategies that promote biological P pools

CURRENT THERAPEUTIC APPROACH OF THE WHITE SPONGE NAEVUS OF THE ORAL CAVITY.

We report a case of White Sponge Naevus of the tongue in a 50 years-old man. White Sponge Naevus of the oral cavity is a rare, benign and dominant autosomic inherited disorder, which presents in the form of a white, hyperplasic and verrucous or spongious lesion of the oral mucosa. Differential diagnosis is clinically difficult with more common white lesions of the oral cavity. Various therapeutic approaches have been proposed. Systemic antibiotics or local applications of retinoic acid provide limited benefits but are poorly effective. To our knowledge, CO2 Laser has never been tried to treat a White Sponge Naevus of the oral cavity. We performed a complete removal of the lesion with CO2 Laser, but complete recurrence occurred. Finally, a surgical resection was realized, which proved to be effective. Two years later, the patient is free of recurrence. This article proposes a review of the literature on what is known on White Sponge Naevus of the oral mucosa. We stress the importance of confrontation between anamnesis, clinical examination and pathologic findings to lead to the proper diagnosis of this rare disease

The Effect of Different Training Loads on the Lung Health of Competitive Youth Swimmers

International Journal of Exercise Science 11(6): 999-1018, 2018. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway inflammation, and respiratory symptoms are common in competitive swimmers, however it is unclear how volume and intensity of training exacerbate these problems. Thus, our purpose was to measure AHR, inflammation, and respiratory symptoms after low, moderate, and high training loads in swimmers. Competitive youth swimmers (n=8) completed nine weeks of training split into three blocks (Low, Moderate, and High intensity). Spirometry at rest and post-bronchial provocation [Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnea (EVH)] and Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) were completed at the end of each training block. A weekly self-report questionnaire determined respiratory symptoms. Session Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) quantified internal training loads. Internal load was significantly lower after Moderate training (4840 ± 971 AU) than after High training (5852 ± 737 AU) (p= 0.02, d= 1.17). Pre-EVH FEV1was significantly decreased after Moderate (4.52 ± 0.69 L) compared to Low (4.74 ± 0.63 L) (p= 0.025, d= 0.326), but not different from High load. Post-EVH FeNO after Moderate training was significantly decreased (9.4 ± 4.9 ppb) compared to Low training (15.4 ± 3.6 ppb) (p= 0.012, r= 0.884).Respiratory symptom frequency was significantly correlated with percent decrease in FEV120 minutes post-EVH after Low and Moderate loads (both ρ= -0.71, sig = 0.05), and after High load was significantly correlated with percent decrease in FEV1at 10 (ρ= -0.74, sig = 0.03), 15 (ρ= -0.91, sig = 0.00), and 20 minutes post (ρ= -0.75, sig = 0.03). In conclusion, Moderate load training resulted in the worst lung health results, suggesting there may be factors other than the total amount of stress within training blocks that influence lung health. Further research is needed to determine the effect of manipulating specific acute training load variables on the lung health of swimmers