Protectors or Shapers?

In the first issue of TEACH, Arthur N. Patrick issued a challenge to educators: grasp the opportunity to discuss the dynamic impact that Christian education has exerted and can continue to exert upon Australian society. This article is one response to that challenge

Exploring the relationship between attachment and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli from swine manure

Antibiotics are widely utilized in swine production for treatment and prevention of disease, growth promotion, and to improve the efficiency of feed. Antibiotic resistance has been present since the invention and subsequent use of antibiotics and bacteria have used antibiotic resistant mechanisms to overcome attacks in the environment. Under antibiotic pressure resistant mutants can spontaneously form and resistance genes can be passed between bacteria. Use of antibiotics at subtherapeutic levels is thought to add selective pressure for the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria both enteric and in the environment. However, there is still a large knowledge gap in understanding why some bacteria develop resistance rapidly and others remain susceptible. The ability to attach to surfaces has been shown to result in bacterial persistence in the environment. Presence of attachment factors, such as pili, could be linked to the persistence of uropathogenic E. coli in humans. Few studies have been completed investigating the mechanisms responsible for adhesion of bacteria in the environment, and even fewer still have been performed examining relationships between attachment and antibiotic resistance. Understanding these relationships might have an impact on the timing and methodology of manure application or the use of antibiotics utilized in both human and animal prophylaxis at subtherapuetic levels in feeding operations. The objectives of this study were to: 1) detect and quantify the fraction of bacteria isolated from manure collected from conventional and organic swine production facilities in Iowa showing preferential attachment to quartz; 2) quantify the levels of resistance (susceptible, intermediate, or resistant) of isolates collected from conventional and organic swine production facilities to amoxicillin (AMX), ampicillin (AMP), chloramphenicol (CMP), chlortetracycline (CTC), erythromycin (ERY), gentamycin (GEN), kanamycin (KAN), nalidixic acid (NAL), neomycin (NEO), tetracycline (TET), tylosin (TYL), streptomycin (STP), and sulfamethazine (SMZ); and, 3) statistically quantify any relationships between antibiotic resistance and attachment under different management practices (conventional and organic). E. coli isolates were enumerated from manure collected from six swine production facilities under two management systems—organic, with no antibiotics given and conventional, with antibiotics fed sub-therapeutically. Isolates were subjected to an attachment assay using quartz as a model for fine sand to assess presence of adhesion. A known quantity of each isolate (0.5 McFarland Standard) was added to a conical tube with adequate quartz surface for attachment of all bacteria, after mixing for 20 minutes and settling for five minutes, supernatant was sampled and the bacteria present were enumerated. Attachment was calculated as the difference between the input quantity of bacteria and the output quantity (i.e. the quantity of bacteria in the supernatant). Results show a significantly (p \u3c .0005) higher relationship between conventional swine management and attachment. Antibiotic resistance was quantified using 13 antibiotics at susceptible, intermediate, and resistant MIC concentrations. Results from this study found that E. coli isolated from manure produced under conventional management systems had statistically higher resistance to AMX, AMP, CTC, ERY, KAN, NEO, STP, TET, and TYL; interestingly, a higher level of susceptibility to NAL was found under this management system. A statistically significant relationship was not shown between antibiotic resistance levels and attachment of E. coli from conventional systems, but was for organic management systems. Further understanding of the relationship between antibiotic resistance and attachment under organic and conventional systems is critical to understanding and potentially preventing exposure of human populations to antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Frederick Griggs, Seventh-day Adventist Educator and Administrator

Problem. Frederick Griggs was a pivotal figure in the development of Seventh-day Adventist education. As an administrator he was influential in clarifying educational goals, defining the scope of the educational program, and building the structure and organization necessary to achieve and maintain an educational system. Despite his considerable contribution to Adventist education, there has been no comprehensive investigation of his life. Method. This study has investigated Grigg\u27s life from the perspective of his work as an educational administrator. A historical-documentary method of research has been used. Major sources have been collections of official correspondence; minutes of committees, boards, and faculties; official records of institutions; church periodicals; and miscellaneous archival materials. These sources have been reposited in the archives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Ellen G. White Estate, and the archives of the institutions with which Griggs was associated. Conclusions. Griggs served the Seventh-day Adventist church for fifty-nine years, thirty-five of which were in the field of educational administration. As an educational administrator he was principal of a preparatory school, academy principal, president of two colleges, and twice served terms as executive secretary of the General Conference Department of Education. As executive secretary of the Department of Education, Griggs led in the development of a comprehensive system of schools, elementary through college, accompanied by appropriate organizational structures for the governance and maintenance of the system. As academy and college administrator, Griggs translated goals into educational practice, stimulated growth in enrollments and campus facilities, encouraged the professional development of faculties, and molded the values and belief systems of students. In leadership style, Griggs was open, collegial, and democratic. As an administrator he demonstrated competency in such important administrative processes as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Likewise, he revealed skill in handling the technical, human-relations, and conceptual demands of his work. Griggs left a lasting impression upon Adventist education

Anchored instruction ITS: a novel approach to make learning programming interesting and effective

Learning programming is known to be troublesome to the students in the computer science department. The problem is originated in the students’ inability to understand the logic in developing the program. Many teachers advise the students to practice writing the program to improve the students’ skill. However, many students do not enthusiastically follow this advice due to the unattractive activity in writing the program as well as the lack of help when they have problems in writing the program. In this research, we proposed a system that increases the attractiveness of the program development activity and is able to provide help when the students have problems in it. These goals were performed by integrating an anchored instruction in an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). The attractiveness of the anchored instruction and the effectiveness of the Intelligent Tutoring System were analysed using a pre- and post-test, and a survey. From the tests and the survey, we found that the anchored instruction can increase the students’ interest in practicing programming; the Intelligent Tutoring System could help the students in writing the program and improve their knowledge in programming (24.67% improvement). The research showed that anchored instruction Intelligent Tutoring System can be used as an alternative approach to make learning programming interesting and effective

La editorial universitaria como centro de actividad estratégica

The present article analyzes the current definition of a university publishing house as a dependency whose main mission is to disseminate knowledge produced through research by diverse university actors. The article evaluates this activity as it has developed historically until the present and studies the possibilities that EDILUZ has for becoming a strategic activity center, that, starting from the concept of editorial effort as a business prepared to make profits, might be able to become a profitable company from a merchandising perspective that can not only sustain itself but also serve as a support for the institutional mission of encouraging knowledge production and reinforcing academics. The publishing house’s strengths are reviewed, as well as its technological and managerial weaknesses for entering the competitive market, the threats this market presents to its participants and the business opportunities that could be taken advantage of once a profitable business has been set up.El presente artículo aborda el análisis sobre la definición actual de la Editorial Universitaria como dependencia cuya misión central es la divulgación del conocimiento producido por los distintos actores de la Universidad a través de la investigación. Se intenta evaluar la actividad desarrollada históricamente hasta ahora a la luz de la misión impuesta, y se estudian las posibilidades que tiene EDILUZ de convertirse en un centro de actividad estratégica, que a partir de una concepción del esfuerzo editorial como negocio capacitado de producir beneficios, sea capaz de constituirse en empresa rental desde una perspectiva mercadotécnica que pueda no sólo autosustentarse sino además, servir de soporte a la misión institucional de apoyo a la producción de conocimiento y de fortalecimiento de la academia. Se revisan las fortalezas con las que cuenta la Editorial, sus debilidades, tecnológicas y gerenciales, para ingresar en el escenario de la competencia de mercado, las amenazas que éste mercado presenta a sus participantes y las oportunidades de negocio que puede aprovechar al constituirse en empresa rental