Group interaction in the 'outdoor classroom' : the process of learning in outdoor education

This research is concerned with the educational process within an outdoor centre involving groups of primary school children. It studies group interaction between the participants in a natural setting by taking a holistic approach, giving an account of their outdoor learning experience in the context of a group. It appears that there is little focus on groups in the outdoors, even though most outdoor programmes involve groups. Most of the research done on groups is quantitative and laboratory based. Such traditional approaches have been challenged, as empirical limitations and theoretical problems have been identified. It is argued that a study of group interactions within a natural environment, such as the outdoor classroom, would allow for a more insightful understanding of the phenomena involved, and it could also shed light on the outdoor educational process, which has been neglected by research in outdoor education. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used as part of an ethnographic approach. This enabled the collection of varied data, which resulted in a thick description of the phenomena explored. The findings show that the concept of team building is central to the philosophy of the outdoor centre and of its staff. The activities, which are used as learning tools, are group orientated. Teamwork is seen as essential for the learning experience at the outdoor centre. The study also revealed that the different approaches of the participants influenced the way learning was constructed. The two main themes that have emerged were empowerment and control. The empowering approaches offered support and encouragement to the participants, allowing for collaboration and cooperation to exist between them, which enabled learning to be more effective. The controlling approaches were characterised by a lack of dialogue between the participants, which interfered with the learning experience, by not creating an environment where the participants could work together as a group. A social aspect of learning was thus identified, which emphasised the importance of viewing learning as a joint process. The research shows that a well-designed process does not always result in the participants achieving the ‘desired learning outcomes’. The teachers/facilitators need to be aware of the impact that their approach may have on the learning experience of the participants.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Probiotics in treating diseases – short review

In the last 20 years, probiotics have attracted specialists attention being conducted over 50 studies investigating the probiotics use in human diseases treatment. These studies revealed that the probiotics potential is ranging from constipation to hepatic encephalopathy. Probiotics are able to normalize the intestinal microbial ecosystem, to improve the gut barrier function, to inhibit potential pathogens and to modulate the immune and anti-inflammatory activities. Further studies need to clarify the optimal effective dosage for specific diseases, the most effective probiotic for distinctive diseases, to emphasize the interactions with food, and to determine if single-species probiotics would provide helth benefits

Natural Compounds for Wound Healing

Many plants or plant-derived compounds with high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial properties could be of great benefit for wound healing. Several studies have documented the use of plant extracts for the development of bioactive wound dressings. The purpose of this chapter is to give an update about the vegetal and bee products, which can be used as bioactive substances in wound dressings or in other formulations for wound healing. The adverse effects of plant and bee extracts, such as contact allergies, are also presented. In order to better exploit the huge reservoir of pharmacologically active plant-derived compounds and extracts, standardized methodology and clinical trials are necessary to give more concrete evidence supporting the use of traditional medicine in wound management

PAM-flexible genome editing with an engineered chimeric Cas9

CRISPR enzymes require a defined protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) flanking a guide RNA-programmed target site, limiting their sequence accessibility for robust genome editing applications. In this study, we recombine the PAM-interacting domain of SpRY, a broad-targeting Cas9 possessing an NRN > NYN (R = A or G, Y = C or T) PAM preference, with the N-terminus of Sc + +, a Cas9 with simultaneously broad, efficient, and accurate NNG editing capabilities, to generate a chimeric enzyme with highly flexible PAM preference: SpRYc. We demonstrate that SpRYc leverages properties of both enzymes to specifically edit diverse PAMs and disease-related loci for potential therapeutic applications. In total, the approaches to generate SpRYc, coupled with its robust flexibility, highlight the power of integrative protein design for Cas9 engineering and motivate downstream editing applications that require precise genomic positioning

Italian Guidelines in diagnosis and treatment of alopecia areata

Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder that targets anagen phase hair follicles. The course is unpredictable and current available treatments have variable efficacy. Nowadays, there is relatively little evidence on treatment of AA from well-designed clinical trials. Moreover, none of the treatments or devices commonly used to treat AA are specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Italian Study Group for Cutaneous Annexial Disease of the Italian Society of dermatology proposes these Italian guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Alopecia Areata deeming useful for the daily management of the disease. This article summarizes evidence-based treatment associated with expert-based recommendations

Revalorisation des rituels ancestraux amérindiens du Canada dans la musique de Murray Schafer / Revalorization of Canadian Amerindian Rituals in Murray Schafer's Music

The Canadian post-modern composer Murray Schafer is one of the most consistent composers in his original project, and his entire work is governed by the same key ideas. As a pedagogue, by giving courses in Ear Cleaning, as a musicologist, by writing articles about The Musical Soundscape, as a composer, by inventing works in which musicians, actors, spectators and even nature participate together in the artistic act (the cycle Patria), Schafer transmits everywhere the same exuberance and passion. It is with this innovative thought that he brings the music out of the concert halls and moves it to wild places to return to its ancestral sources

The impact of medicines shortages on pharmaceutical practice

Access to medicines is a fundamental human right and is a vital element of health care. Over the last 10 years, there has been a tendency for the global discontinuation of drug supply to become a major problem, with an increasing exacerbation of this phenomenon in the European Union, with a potential negative impact on patient health care due to multiple causes (manufacturing problems, drug pricing policy, parallel export etc.). National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Romania (NAMMDR) argues, in full agreement with European Medicines Agency, that in this situation effective collaboration between the various stakeholders and regulators is required, and also a good communication between manufacturers, distributors and authorities. It is a point of view that NAMMDR supported in the working meetings with the representatives of the marketing authorization holders/ manufacturers, wholesale distribution, patient associations. According to pharmacists, situations have been reported in which patients tend to stock up on medicines, and this puts additional pressure on existing stocks. In this work, we intended to draw attention to the medicine shortages issue which has a huge impact on national health systems, on patients′ safety, on public health and healthcare professionals

Simulation regarding the forward part of underwater remotely operated vehicle designed for research in maritime and river districts

Over the last few decades, underwater mechanical system became a necessity for ocean research and exploration. The necessity of this type of equipment provides a new type of marine platforms in different areas of oceanographic research. Until this moment, the underwater vehicles have developed in different shapes, sizes and means of propulsion. Take into consideration these characteristics, we could determinate the type and mission of the vehicle. In this paper we investigate the problem regarding the pressure exerted of remotely operated vehicle. The remotely operated vehicle is designed in order to achieve different mission regarding the surveillance in lakes, harbors and maritime environment. This mission can take place through a remote control system placed onshore or on seaborne platforms. To improve the endurance of remotely operated vehicle, we performed a simulation study during which we compare the drag forces acts on the underwater vehicle according to its shape. Using SolidWorks program to create the body simulation vehicle and Ansys CFX to realise the simulation, this paper present the result simulated for the forward part of the vehicle