Communication skills training in oncology: it works!

While the previous chapter by L. Fallowfield and V. Jenkins focuses on different communication skills training (CST) concepts currently being utilized, this chapter reviews and comments the scientific evidence of the impact of CST on improving communication skills. The aim of this chapter is not to provide a complete review of the evidence-this has already been done in systematic reviews-but to discuss the scientific evidence and reflect on the available results and relevant topics for further investigations.

Ganho de peso e produtividade animal em capim-marandu sob pastejo rotativo e adubação nitrogenada

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar metas de manejo para capim-marandu (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu) submetido a pastejo rotativo e a doses de nitrogênio, de janeiro de 2009 a abril de 2010. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de duas frequências de pastejo (altura pré-pastejo de 25 e 35 cm) e de duas doses de fertilizante nitrogenado (50 e 200 kg ha-1 por ano) em delineamento de blocos ao acaso com arranjo fatorial 2x2 e quatro repetições. A altura de pós-pastejo estipulada foi de 15 cm. Maiores valores de ganho de peso médio por animal por dia (0,629 e 0,511 kg dia-1) e por hectare (886 e 674 kg ha-1), bem como de taxa de lotação (3,13 e 2,85 UA ha-1), foram observados nos pastos manejados com altura pré-pastejo de 25 cm. A aplicação de 200 kg ha-1 de N resultou em aumentos na percentagem de folhas na massa de forragem pós-pastejo, nas taxas de acúmulo de forragem, na taxa de lotação e no ganho de peso por área. A mais adequada estratégia de manejo corresponde à altura pré-pastejo de 25 cm, independentemente da dose de nitrogênio utilizada.

Maltraitance: une formation évaluée à dix ans: Une démarche originale [Abuse: training evaluated at 10 years: an original approach]

[Introduction (extrait)] Il existe de nombreuses formations destinées à prévenir la maltraitance envers les personnes âgées. A ce jour, leur efficacité n'est cependant pas prouvée, faute d'évaluation de leur impact sur les pratiques professionnelles. La formation PREMALPA, qui existe depuis 2003, a fait l'objet d'une évaluation en 2013.

A course on collaboration between social workers and general practitioners during their vocational training

The educational programme reported was an experiment in the vocational training scheme of the department of General Practice, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Holland, and is now part of the course. The programme focused on the training in team function (co-operation) given to trainee GPs and social workers. It became clear that both groups during their professional training develop markedly different attitudes and views about patient (client) care. These differences form a fundamental handicap in any discussion about teamwork. During the programme the students were made aware of this divergence of viewpoint and were taught how to handle these resulting handicaps and, if possible, to eliminate them.

Learning in the working place: the educational potential of a multihead microscope in pathology postgraduate training.

Training future pathologists is an important mission of many hospital anatomic pathology departments. Apprenticeship-a process in which learning and teaching tightly intertwine with daily work, is one of the main educational methods in use in postgraduate medical training. However, patient care, including pathological diagnosis, often comes first, diagnostic priorities prevailing over educational ones. Recognition of the unique educational opportunities is a prerequisite for enhancing the postgraduate learning experience. The aim of this paper is to draw attention of senior pathologists with a role as supervisor in postgraduate training on the potential educational value of a multihead microscope, a common setting in pathology departments. After reporting on an informal observation of senior and junior pathologists' meetings around the multihead microscope in our department, we review the literature on current theories of learning to provide support to the high potential educational value of these meetings for postgraduate training in pathology. We also draw from the literature on learner-centered teaching some recommendations to better support learning in this particular context. Finally, we propose clues for further studies and effective instruction during meetings around a multihead microscope.

Dual-purpose wheat grain and animal production under different grazing periods

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of different grazing periods on beef animal production and on wheat forage and grain yield. The experiment was carried out in Pato Branco, PR, Brazil. Six grazing periods were evaluated (0, 21, 42, 63, 84, and 105 days) on dual-purpose wheat cultivar BRS Tarumã. Purunã steers, with average live weight of 162 kg and ten months of age, were kept under continuous grazing using a variable stocking rate, in order to maintain the established sward height of 25 cm. Greater increases in total animal gain (TAG) occurred with longer grazing periods. However, there was little increase after 63 days (490 kg ha-1), and TAG decreased from 552 to 448 kg ha-1 between 84 and 105 days. Grain yield decreased from 2,830 to 610 kg ha-1 when the grazing period increased from 0 to 105 days, but there was little change after 63 days (750 kg ha-1). Cultivar BRS Tarumã shows excellent animal production potential, and the decision on how long wheat pastures should be grazed must be based on relative prices of grain and livestock.

Aptidões de genótipos de batata-doce para consumo humano, produção de etanol e alimentação animal

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar a aptidão de genótipos de batata-doce (Ipomoea batatas) para consumo humano, produção de etanol e alimentação animal, por meio de índices de aptidão. Os índices de aptidão corresponderam às médias dos valores das variáveis padronizadas para 16 características de interesse, ponderadas por pesos atribuídos a cada característica, conforme a aptidão avaliada. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com duas repetições e 39 genótipos: 36 acessos da coleção de germoplasma da Universidade Federal de Lavras e três cultivares comerciais (Palmas, Brazlândia-Branca e Brazlândia-Rosada). Oito genótipos foram considerados aptos à produção de etanol, 11 à alimentação animal e 11 ao consumo humano, incluindo as cultivares Palmas e Brazlândia-Branca. Os acessos UFLA07-12, UFLA07-31, UFLA07-43, UFLA07-49 e UFLA07-53 apresentaram aptidão para produção de etanol, alimentação animal e consumo humano. O índice de seleção é eficiente para estabelecer aptidões para genótipos de batata-doce.

Post coitum, animal triste : Animals tristos, de Jordi Puntí: una lectura

Aquest treball proposa un estudi del recull de contes de Jordi Puntí, Animals tristos, des d'una directriu bàsica: el plantejament teòric sobre la fragilitat dels vincles humans de la postmodernitat postulat pel sociòleg Zygmunt Bauman en la seva obra Amor líquido. Acerca de la fragilidad de los vínculos humanos. Així, l'objectiu de l'estudi és demostrar que els personatges d'Animals tristos són un reflex de la societat urbana actual i de la naturalesa canviant en les relacions de parella de principis del s. XXI que descriu Bauman. D'aquesta forma, l'anàlisi de l'obra de Puntí, especialment dels seus personatges, és realitzada a través d'un marc teòric de naturalesa sociològica.

Faculty-librarians collaboration in an e-learning experience : resources management and training in Open University of Catalonia (UOC)

The traditional model of learning based on knowledge transfer doesn't promote the acquisition of information-related competencies and development of autonomous learning. More needs to be done to embrace learner-centred approaches, based on constructivism, collaboration and co-operation. This new learning paradigm is aligned with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requirements. In this sense, a learning experience based in faculty' librarian collaboration was seen as the best option for promoting student engagement and also a way to increase information-related competences in Open University of Catalonia (UOC) academic context. This case study outlines the benefits of teacher-librarian collaboration in terms of pedagogy innovation, resources management and introduction of open educational resources (OER) in virtual classrooms, Information literacy (IL) training and use of 2.0 tools in teaching. Our faculty-librarian's collaboration aims to provide an example of technology-enhanced learning and demonstrate how working together improves the quality and relevance of educational resources in UOC's virtual classrooms. Under this new approach, while teachers change their role from instructors to facilitators of the learning process and extend their reach to students, libraries acquire an important presence in the academic learning communities.

Desempenho animal e características de pastos de capim-piatã submetidos a diferentes intensidades de pastejo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o valor nutritivo, a estrutura do dossel e a produção animal de novilhos em pastos de capim-piatã (Urochloa brizantha, cultivar Piatã), manejados a 15, 30 e 45 cm de altura, sob lotação contínua. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com duas repetições e três alturas. As alturas dos pastos foram monitoradas duas vezes por semana, e as taxas de lotação ajustadas. Mensalmente, os pastos foram amostrados e os animais foram pesados. Não houve diferença no valor nutritivo dos pastos manejados com diferentes alturas. Os ganhos médios diários de 650 g por novilho foram semelhantes entre as diferentes alturas de manejo. A taxa de lotação foi menor para o pasto com 45 cm (2,4 UA ha-1), intermediária para o de 30 cm (3,1 UA ha-1) e maior para o manejado com 15 cm (3,8 UA ha-1), o que resultou em maior ganho por área dos pastos manejados com 15 cm (1.050 kg ha-1) e 30 cm (910 kg ha-1) de altura, quando comparados ao manejado a 45 cm (635 kg ha-1). O capim-piatã apresenta grande flexibilidade de manejo sob lotação contínua e pode ser manejado entre 15 e 45 cm de altura.

Myocardial tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion injury, training intensity and cessation.

Training has been shown to induce cardioprotection. The mechanisms involved remain still poorly understood. Aims of the study were to examine the relevance of training intensity on myocardial protection against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, and to which extent the beneficial effects persist after training cessation in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats trained at either low (60% [Formula: see text]) or high (80% [Formula: see text]) intensity for 10 weeks. An additional group of highly trained rats was detrained for 4 weeks. Untrained rats served as controls. At the end of treatment, rats of all groups were split into two subgroups. In the former, rats underwent left anterior descending artery (LAD) ligature for 30 min, followed by 90-min reperfusion, with subsequent measurement of the infarct size. In the latter, biopsies were taken to measure heat-shock proteins (HSP) 70/72, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Training reduced infarct size proportionally to training intensity. With detraining, infarct size increased compared to highly trained rats, maintaining some cardioprotection with respect to controls. Cardioprotection was proportional to training intensity and related to HSP70/72 upregulation and Mn-SOD activity. The relationship with Mn-SOD was lost with detraining. VEGF protein expression was not affected by either training or detraining. Stress proteins and antioxidant defenses might be involved in the beneficial effects of long-term training as a function of training intensity, while HSP70 may be one of the factors accounting for the partial persistence of myocardial protection against I/R injury in detrained rats.

Digestibilidad aparente de ingredientes de origen vegetal y animal en la cachama

El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar los coeficientes de digestibilidad aparente de materia seca (MS), proteína y energía de alimentos de origen animal y vegetal, utilizados en raciones para cachama (Piaractus brachypomus). Fueron formuladas 15 dietas experimentales, compuestas por 69,5% de una dieta referencia semipurificada, 0,5% de óxido de cromo y 30% del ingrediente a evaluar. En cada experimento, fueron utilizados 90 peces que se alimentaron durante cinco días con la correspondiente dieta; al quinto día, los animales fueron trasladados a tanques cónicos para recolección de heces. Los coeficientes de digestibilidad aparente (CDA) de proteína variaron de 92,1 a 84,7% entre los ingredientes proteicos de origen vegetal, de 85,0 a 68,5% en los proteicos de origen animal, y de 83,7 a 57,6% entre los de origen vegetal con baja proteína. Los CDA de energía de torta de soya, gluten de maíz, harina de yuca integral y de todos los ingredientes de origen animal arrojaron valores superiores a 76%. Los máximos CDA de MS variaron entre 71 y 78% y fueron observados en gluten, harina de yuca y en los ingredientes de origen animal. La cachama tiene alta capacidad para aprovechar eficientemente ingredientes de origen animal y vegetal.

Evolution of Gait Performance and Fear of Falling after a 10-Week Program of Exercise Training in Community Dwelling Older People

A pilot study was conducted to determine the effect of a 10-week, low intensity, exercise training program on fear of falling and gait in fifty (mean age 78.1 years, 79% women) community-dwelling volunteers. Fear of falling (measured by falls self-efficacy) and gait performance were assessed at baseline and one week after program completion. At follow-up, participants modestly improved their falls self-efficacy and gait speed. To investigate whether this effect differed according to participants' fear of falling, secondary analyses stratified by subject's baseline falls efficacy were performed. Subjects with lower than average falls efficacy improved significantly their falls efficacy and gait performance, while no significant change occurred in the others. Small but significant improvements occurred after this pilot training program, particularly in subjects with low baseline falls efficacy. These results suggest that measures of falls efficacy might be useful for better targeting individuals most likely to benefit from similar training programs.