Fleshing Out Vulnerability

In the literature on medical ethics, it is generally admitted that vulnerable persons or groups deserve special attention, care or protection. One can define vulnerable persons as those having a greater likelihood of being wronged – that is, of being denied adequate satisfaction of certain legitimate claims. The conjunction of these two points entails what we call the Special Protection Thesis. It asserts that persons with a greater likelihood of being denied adequate satisfaction of their legitimate claims deserve special attention, care or protection. Such a thesis remains vague, however, as long as we do not know what legitimate claims are. This article aims at dispelling this vagueness by exploring what claims we have in relation to health care – thus fleshing out a claim‐based conception of vulnerability. We argue that the Special Protection Thesis must be enriched as follows: If individual or group X has a greater likelihood of being denied adequate satisfaction of some of their legitimate claims to (i) physical integrity, (ii) autonomy, (iii) freedom, (iv) social provision, (v) impartial quality of government, (vi) social bases of self‐respect or (vii) communal belonging, then X deserves special attention, care or protection. With this improved understanding of vulnerability, vulnerability talk in healthcare ethics can escape vagueness and serve as an adequate basis for practice.     

A generic curriculum development model for the biomedical physics component of the educational and training programmes of the non-physics healthcare professions

The objective of the study was the construction of a generic curriculum development model for the use of biomedical physics (BMP) educators teaching the non-physics healthcare professions (HCP) in Europe. A comprehensive, qualitative cross-sectional Europe-wide survey of the curricula delivered by BMP in Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) was carried out. Curricular content was collected from faculty web-sites, curricular documents and textbooks. The survey data was supplemented with semi-structured interviews and direct observation during onsite visits. The number of faculties studied was 118 from 67 universities spread all over Europe, whilst the number of onsite visits/interviews was 15 (geographically distributed as follows: Eastern Europe 6, North Western Europe 5, and South Western Europe 4). EU legislation, recommendations by European national medical councils, educational benchmark statements by higher education quality assurance agencies, research journals concerning HCP education and other documents relevant to standards in clinical practice and undergraduate education were also analyzed. Best practices and BMP learning outcomes were elicited from the curricular materials, interviews and documentation and these were subsequently used to construct the curriculum development model. A structured, comprehensive BMP learning outcomes inventory was designed in the format required by the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The structures of the inventory and curriculum development model make them ideally suited for use by BMP involved in European curriculum development initiatives for the HCP.     

Fieldwork in UK secondary schools: influences and provision

The paper describes a national survey of biology teachers visiting Field Studies Council (FSC) centres in England and Wales. It provides data on levels of biology fieldwork at ages 11–16 (Years 7–11), and factors affecting A-level biology fieldwork provision at ages 16–19 (Years 12 and 13). The results are compared with similar data from geography teachers. Clear differences are demonstrated: in levels of ower-secondary provision; in teachers' perception of factors affecting fieldwork provision; and in the periodicity and timing of fieldwork. Recommendations are made towards improving the status and level of provision of A-level biology fieldwork.     

Plant nutrition in Spanish secondary textbooks

In this paper, the authors analyse the conceptual contents related to plant nutrition in the widely-used school texts of six Spanish publishers. An analysis dossier was elaborated based on the epistemological and pedagogical study of this subject. The publishers deal with the issue of plant nutrition at three different levels (multicellular, cellular and ecosystem) and they establish a conceptual progression. Furthermore, they include a great number of concepts which they deal with in the texts. However, not all of the texts promote the development of a global conception of plant nutrition.     

成果导向教育理念(OBE)下的环境工程微生物学课程教学改革与实践

环境工程微生物学是环境类专业的学科基础课,该课程对学生的知识架构以及应用技能的培养起到了重要支撑作用。为了实现该课程定位目标,达到课程的学习预期,我们将成果导向教育理念(Outcomes-based education,OBE)引入到环境工程微生物学课程教学改革实践中,提出在环境工程微生物学课程教学中实施逆向设计、正向实施的原则,即根据课程定位制定环境工程微生物学的预期学习产出,在预期学习产出的基础上优化教学过程,如对教学内容进行取舍,增强环境工程微生物学与其他课程的协调性,在教学实施中强化学生的主体地位,通过教学方法的改革促成预期学习产出,构建合理的学习评价体系。尽管将OBE理念引入到教学实施中取得了一些成效,但该体系的建设还有待于进一步完善。     

微生物学综合性设计实验教学中存在的问题与探索

"微生物学实验"是高校生物学相关专业的重要基础实践课程之一,是生物学人才必须掌握的基本技能。随着高校教学改革工程的不断推进,各高校纷纷开发综合性设计实验以期提高学生的综合素质和创新能力,提升教学质量。然而,在实际实验教学过程中仍然存在学生参与性不强、实验操作技能低、实验题目固定及考核方式单一等诸多问题,不但没有达到预期效果,甚至丧失了开设该实验的初衷。本文总结了微生物学实验教学模式的特点,分析了其在教学运行中存在的问题,在总结前人教学经验的基础上,从变换学生的地位、合理安排实验、增加科研型实验项目及教师配备、完善考核方式等方面进行改革探索,以期为教学管理部门和授课教师提供参考依据。     

Which is the most preventive measure against tail damage in finisher pigs: tail docking,straw provision or lowered stocking density?

One challenge of intensive pig production is tail damage caused by tail biting, and farmers often decrease the prevalence of tail damage through tail docking. However, tail docking is not an optimal preventive measure against tail damage and thus, it would be preferable to replace it. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relative effect of three possible preventive measures against tail damage. The study included 112 pens with 1624 finisher pigs divided between four batches. Pens were randomly assigned to one level of each of three treatments: (1) tail-docked (n=60 pens) v. undocked (n=52 pens), (2) 150 g of straw provided per pig per day on the solid floor (n=56 pens) v. no straw provided (n=56 pens), (3) stocking density of 1.21 m²/pig (11 pig/pen; n=56 pens) v. 0.73 m²/pig (18 pigs/pen; n=56 pens). Tail damage was recorded three times per week throughout the finisher period by scoring the tail of each individual pig. A pen was recorded as a tail damage pen and no longer included in the study if at least one pig in a pen had a bleeding tail wound; thus, only the first incidence of tail damage on pen level was recorded. Data were analysed by a Cox regression for survival analysis assuming proportional hazards. Results are presented as hazards, and a higher hazard means that a pen has a higher risk of tail damage and of it happening earlier in the finisher period. Pens with undocked pigs had a 4.32-fold higher hazard of tail damage compared with pens with docked pigs (P<0.001). Pens with no straw provided had a 2.22-fold higher hazard of tail damage compared with pens with straw provided (P<0.01). No interactions was seen between the treatments, but the effect of tail docking was higher than the effect of straw provision (P<0.001). Stocking density did not have a significant effect on the hazard of tail damage (hazard rate ratios (HRR)=1.67; P=0.064). However, a combination of straw provision and lowered stocking density showed a similar hazard of tail damage as seen with only tail docking (HRR=1.58; P=0.39). In conclusion, tail docking and straw provision were preventive measures against tail damage, and tail docking reduced the risk more than straw provision. A combination of other preventive measures is necessary to reduce the risk of tail damage in undocked pigs to the same level as in docked pigs.     

Nectar provision attracts hummingbirds and connects interaction networks across habitats

Many ecosystems have been modified by humans, creating novel habitats that include human-provided resources. Gardens adjacent to native habitats may affect plant–pollinator interactions by altering the determinants of interactions and species specialization. Here, we characterized a network comprising plants and hummingbirds interacting in a birdwatching garden with human-provided resources (nectar feeders and exotic plants) and adjacent Andean cloud forest in Colombia. Specifically, we investigated the proportion of hummingbirds visiting feeders and native/exotic plants to evaluate the connection between the habitats and the ecological determinants of the interaction network. Hummingbirds relied heavily on artificial nectar feeders in the garden, leaving the natural cloud forest for resources. Morphological matching was the single most important predictor of the observed pairwise interactions, for both hummingbirds and plants. At the species level, longer flowering phenology and a higher amount of sugar in nectar led to a higher degree for plants (i.e. the number of visiting hummingbird species). In contrast, a longer floral corolla was associated with lower specialization. Abundance was the best predictor of the number of partners for hummingbirds. The garden created for birdwatching attracted most, but not all, hummingbird species beyond their natural cloud forest habitat. Interestingly, the most frequently visited plants in the garden were native, especially the endemic and endangered tree Zygia lehmannii (Fabaceae). Our results show that some ecological mechanisms determining interactions in natural communities still hold in intensively modified habitats. Furthermore, a compromise between conservation and hummingbirds’ attraction to birding lodges/gardens is possible, for instance by favouring native and endemic plant species that are highly attractive for pollinators.     

Analysing the impact of communication and public participation on the acceptability of Germany’s Black Forest National Park

For successful management and development of protected areas in general, and national parks (NPs) more specifically, a high acceptance by local residents, interest groups, and policy makers is needed. Communication and participation as influencing factors of acceptability have mostly been analysed for already established NPs. Until today, there is little evidence as to whether communication and participation are relevant factors for gaining acceptance of NPs in their establishing phase. Using survey data regarding Black Forest NP (Germany), our aim is to ascertain how the NP administration’s communication and the participatory opportunities it provided affected the NP’s acceptability before its establishment in 2014, and how acceptability changed thereafter. The main results are: In 2014, half of the local population accepted Black Forest NP; and over the course of five years, this number increased only slightly. Regarding the information provided by the NP administration through different means of communication, almost half of the respondents felt (very) well-informed at both queried times. The public participation process accompanying the NP’s establishing phase was rated as good or very good by roughly one third of the respondents; while another third evaluated it as bad or very bad. The general participation efforts by the NP administration were evaluated mostly critically. However, respondents who showed a positive attitude towards the NP in 2019 were those who felt well-informed, rated the material as informative, the NP’s communication as honest, and the participation process as positive. Respondents were more likely to report a positive change within acceptability if they felt well-informed, had a positive impression of the NP rangers, and rated the general participation efforts as positive. These results are an important step toward better understanding the complexity of attitude formation, and they provide statistical evidence that communication and participation can influence the acceptability of protected areas from their early beginnings. Beyond our results regarding Black Forest NP, we also draw conclusions and recommendation of broader relevance.     

临床微生物学检验课程创新性教学设计与思考

临床微生物学检验是医学检验技术专业核心课程之一,在医学检验人才培养中具有重要地位。本课程存在内容多、课时少的矛盾,为了系统而又重点突出地讲授本学科的基础理论和发展动态,有必要构建符合实际的课程体系,重组并优化课程设计。本文从教学定位分析、教学实施设计以及教学评价设计三个方面探讨本课程创新性教学设计的实践经验与认识,并深入解析其课程体系建设意义,为今后临床微生物学检验的教学方法改革提供思路,以达到"厚基础、强能力、高素质、重应用"的人才培养目标,并为培养能够主动获取知识及富有创新能力的高素质的医学检验人才奠定基础。