A commentary on the impacts of metals and metalloids in the environment upon the metabolism of drugs and chemicals

The salient feature of metals is that unlike organic compounds they do not degrade in the environment and barely move from one environmental matrix to another. Human interventions take these compounds from their stable and non-bioavailable geological matrix into situations of biological accessibility. Studies in the 1970s and the 1980s of metal bioavailability and impacts of metals and metalloids were driven by the process of abatement of lead in the environment. Humans have clear and identifiable sources of exposure from fuels, food and leaded water pipes to lead. Interventions started at that time have dramatically lowered human lead exposure. Attention has now shifted to other metals, in particular, cadmium, which has seen increasing use. It is generally accepted that food crops grown on cadmium containing soils or soils naturally rich in this metal are the major source of exposure to humans other than exposure from smoking of cigarettes. This mini-review gives a summary and commentary on early studies on effects of lead on haem metabolism that provide us the clue to why investigations of the impacts of other toxic heavy metals and metalloids such as cadmium and arsenic on different human cytochrome P450 forms have become of great interest at the current time. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detecting multipartite entanglement

We discuss the problem of determining whether the state of several quantum mechanical subsystems is entangled. As in previous work on two subsystems we introduce a procedure for checking separability that is based on finding state extensions with appropriate properties and may be implemented as a semidefinite program. The main result of this work is to show that there is a series of tests of this kind such that if a multiparty state is entangled this will eventually be detected by one of the tests. The procedure also provides a means of constructing entanglement witnesses that could in principle be measured in order to demonstrate that the state is entangled.

The role of the learning community in the development of discipline knowledge and generic graduate outcomes

In this paper we describe a study of learning outcomes at a research-intensive Australian university. Three graduate outcome variables (discipline knowledge and skills, communication and problem solving, and ethical and social sensitivity) are analysed separately using OLS regression and comparisons are made of the patterns of unique contributions from four independent variables (the CEQ Good Teaching and Learning Communities Scales, and two new, independent, scales for measuring Teaching and Program Quality). Further comparisons of these patterns are made across the Schools of the university. Results support the view that teaching and program quality are not the only important determinants of students' learning outcomes. It is concluded that, whilst it continues to be appropriate for universities to be concerned with the quality of their teaching and programs, the interactive, social and collaborative aspects of students' learning experiences, captured in the notion of the Learning Community, are also very important determinants of graduate outcomes, and so should be included in the focus of attempts at enhancing the quality of student learning.

Fast-tracking middle schooling reform: A model for the integrated curriculum

To participate effectively in the post-industrial information societies and knowledge/service economies of the 21st century, individuals must be better-informed, have greater thinking and problem-solving abilities, be self-motivated; have a capacity for cooperative interaction; possess varied and specialised skills; and be more resourceful and adaptable than ever before. This paper reports on one outcome from a national project funded by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment Training and Youth Affairs, which investigated what practices, processes, strategies and structures best promote lifelong learning and the development of lifelong learners in the middle years of schooling. The investigation linked lifelong learning with middle schooling because there were indications that middle schooling reform practices also lead to the development of lifelong learning attributes, which is regarded as a desirable outcome of schooling in Australia. While this larger project provides depth around these questions, this paper specifically reports on the development of a three-phase model that can guide the sequence in which schools undertaking middle schooling reform attend to particular core component changes. The model is developed from the extensive analysis of 25 innovative schools around the nation, and provides a unique insight into the desirable sequences and time spent achieving reforms, along with typical pitfalls that lead to a regression in the reform process. Importantly, the model confirms that schooling reform takes much more time than planners typically expect or allocate, and there are predictable and identifiable inhibitors to achieving it.

ENSINO DE SUSTENTABILIDADE NO CURSO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO: A PERSPECTIVA DO EGRESSO

O objetivo desse trabalho foi investigar a contribuição do curso de Administração na formação de uma visão sistêmica das relações sociais, econômicas e ambientais dos seus egressos na visão dos mesmos. A tomada de decisões no ambiente corporativo requer que se considerem os interesses sociais e ambientais, além do econômico; devido, em particular, à atual crise civilizatória em que vivemos. A metodologia utilizada é a qualitativa, por meio da pesquisa exploratória, bibliográfica e de campo. O trabalho buscou aliar o suporte teórico, por meio das contribuições de Elkington (1994), Sachs (2006), Porrit (2007), Aligleri (2009), Barbierri (2010), Fazenda (2001,2008) Freire (1981,1987,1996), Leff (2009), Leonard (1997), Kleiton (2012), Tilbury e Wortman (2004), Freeman (1984), Savage (1991), Mitchell (1997), Katz (1990), Martinelli (1997), ao campo empírico, tendo sido aplicadas entrevistas em profundidade com egressos do curso bacharelado em Administração que cursaram a disciplina de sustentabilidade. De acordo com a pesquisa realizada, identificou-se que os egressos não consideram que a disciplina de sustentabilidade tenha contribuído para o desenvolvimento de competências profissionais significativas para um administrador com uma visão sistêmica, entretanto quando o tema foi abordado de forma interdisciplinar houve maior aproveitamento por parte dos egressos.

Mapping teaching, learning and assessment in the MPharm in UK schools of pharmacy

Aim To undertake a national study of teaching, learning and assessment in UK schools of pharmacy. Design Triangulation of course documentation, 24 semi-structured interviews undertaken with 29 representatives from the schools and a survey of all final year students (n=1,847) in the 15 schools within the UK during 2003–04. Subjects and setting All established UK pharmacy schools and final year MPharm students. Outcome measures Data were combined and analysed under the topics of curriculum, teaching and learning, assessment, multi-professional teaching and learning, placement education and research projects. Results Professional accreditation was the main driver for curriculum design but links to preregistration training were poor. Curricula were consistent but offered little student choice. On average half the curriculum was science-based. Staff supported the science content but students less so. Courses were didactic but schools were experimenting with new methods of learning. Examinations were the principal form of assessment but the contribution of practice to the final degree ranged considerably (21–63%). Most students considered the assessment load to be about right but with too much emphasis upon knowledge. Assessment of professional competence was focused upon dispensing and pharmacy law. All schools undertook placement teaching in hospitals but there was little in community/primary care. There was little inter-professional education. Resources and logistics were the major limiters. Conclusions There is a need for an integrated review of the accreditation process for the MPharm and preregistration training and redefinition of professional competence at an undergraduate level.

Managing people and performance:An evidence based framework applied to health service organizations

People and their performance are key to an organization's effectiveness. This review describes an evidence-based framework of the links between some key organizational influences and staff performance, health and well-being. This preliminary framework integrates management and psychological approaches, with the aim of assisting future explanation, prediction and organizational change. Health care is taken as the focus of this review, as there are concerns internationally about health care effectiveness. The framework considers empirical evidence for links between the following organizational levels: 1. Context (organizational culture and inter-group relations; resources, including staffing; physical environment) 2. People management (HRM practices and strategies; job design, workload and teamwork; employee involvement and control over work; leadership and support) 3. Psychological consequences for employees (health and stress; satisfaction and commitment; knowledge, skills and motivation) 4. Employee behaviour (absenteeism and turnover; task and contextual performance; errors and near misses) 5. Organizational performance; patient care. This review contributes to an evidence base for policies and practices of people management and performance management. Its usefulness will depend on future empirical research, using appropriate research designs, sufficient study power and measures that are reliable and valid.

Action research in a collective organisation:Developing an education programme in a pressure group

The aim of this project was to develop the education work of an environmental pressure group. The research devised and implemented a project to produce multi-media teaching packs on the urban environment. Whilst this involved understanding environmental education it was necessary to research beyond this to include the various structural and dynamic constraints on change in the field. This presented a number of methodological difficulties; from the resolution of which a model of the research process involved in this project has been developed. It is argued that research oriented towards practical change requires the insights of an experienced practitioner to be combined with the rigours of controlled systematic enquiry. Together these function as a model-building process encompassing intuition, induction and deduction. Model testing is carried out through repeated intervention in the field; thus an interplay between researcher and client ensues such that the project develops in a mutually acceptable direction. In practice, this development will be both unpredictable and erratic. Although the conclusions reached here are based on a single case study they address general methodological issues likely to be encountered in different field settings concerned with different practical problems.

Heritage and innovative learning approaches:an alternative approach to engineering education

Over recent years, the role of engineering in promoting a sustainable society has received much public attention [1] with particular emphasis given to the need to promote the future prosperity and security of society through the recruitment and education of more engineers [2,3]. From an employment perspective, the Leitch Review [4] suggested that ‘generic’ transferable employability skills development should constitute a more substantial part of university education. This paper argues that the global drivers impacting engineering education [5] correlate strongly to those underpinning the Leitch review, therefore the question of how to promote transferable employability skills within the wider engineering curriculum is increasingly relevant. By exploring the use of heritage in the engineering curriculum as a way to promote learning and engage students, a less familiar approach to study is discussed. This approach moves away from stereotypical notions of the use of information technology as representing the pinnacle of innovation in education. Taking the student experience as its starting point, the paper draws upon the findings of an exploratory study critically analysing the pedagogical value of using heritage in engineering education. It discusses a teaching approach in which engineering students are taken out of their ‘comfort zone’ - away from the classroom, laboratory and computer, to a heritage site some 100 miles away from the university. The primary learning objective underpinning this approach is to develop students’ transferable skills by encouraging them to consider how to apply theoretical concepts to a previously unexplored situation. By reflecting upon students’ perceptions of the value of this approach, and by identifying how heritage may be utilised as an innovative learning and teaching approach in engineering education, this paper makes a notable contribution to current pedagogical debates in the discipline.

Strategies for public engagement on environmental matters:you can lead a horse to water, but can you make it drink?

With no tangible evidence of widespread public engagement in the UK on matters relating to the environment, this article assesses the benefits of adopting the principles of key theoretical models on learning (e.g., Kolb's Experiential Model) in environmental campaigns. In addition, in order to facilitate the transition from environmental knowledge/awareness, to the adoption of proenvironmental behavior, the article reviews some of the key internal and external drivers to achieving sustained behavioral change.