The National Education Policy document published in 2009 in Pakistan emphasised that one of the wider goals for teaching and learning at all levels is the need to encourage and develop critical thinking skills. In the literature, these have been conceptualised in terms of a variety of skills many of which relate to evaluation. These skills imply the ability and willingness to ask productive questions related to the material that is being presented. The Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, worked with a team from the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) Teacher Education Project to develop and implement the curricula for a new BEd Honours/ADE (Associate Degree in Education) programme. This has been offered in 22 Universities and 75 Elementary colleges in Pakistan since 2012. Critical thinking is specifically listed as a goal in the generic course outlines as well as in the objectives for the revised BEd/ADE degree. The development and implementation of these planned new approaches to teaching and learning offered an opportunity to explore critical thinking at policy, course development and implementation levels. The revised Functional English course was chosen for this study because it was a compulsory course in BEd/ADE degree, giving access to the entire student teacher cohort. Based on the literature, the working definition of critical thinking adopted for this study is conceptualised as purposeful thinking which is to be seen in skills like analysis and evaluation, weighing arguments, judging the quality of evidence and the credibility of sources. The central feature is the skill and willingness to ask productive questions. Using the working definition as a point of reference, this study explored how undergraduate students and teachers perceived the nature of critical thinking as a concept as well as the set of skills that exemplify critical thinking. The study also examined the likely facilitators and barriers in the development of critical thinking as perceived by students and teachers involved in the course. Another theme that was explored was how the course guidelines were being followed in the context of the development of critical thinking. This study was carried out in two Phases. Phase-I (at the start of the Functional English course) investigated the teaching and learning experiences of the participants in their previous English courses along with their expectations from the Functional English course in the context of critical thinking. Phase-II (at the completion of the Functional English course) explored the participants overall experience of studying Functional English including the extent to which this course met their expectations in terms of learning and their perceptions towards critical thinking skills. The study used a mixed method approach involving questionnaires, student teacher focus groups, teacher interviews in both phases and observation of classes during the course. 140 undergraduates (the entire cohort following the course in Hazara Region) studying Functional English in BEd/ADE and 7 English teachers were involved, across five institutions (2 universities and 3 colleges). The data were analysed using SPSS and NVivo. The findings from Phase-I revealed that both students and teacher had little understanding of critical thinking as seen in the literature but, on the completion of the course (Phase-II), both conceptualised critical thinking as skills involving analysis, evaluation, synthesis, weighing best options, all underpinned by productive questioning. Both students and teachers identified the key role of questioning. However, they were unable to identify the specific kind of questioning involved. Nonetheless, observation of the classes did indicate that questioning of a productive nature was taking place. In terms of facilitators and barriers, both teachers and student teachers identified similar factors including student academic and social background, the role of the teacher, the classroom environment, potential peer mockery, lack of confidence, lack of teacher training and the issues related to policy and practice. The study revealed that the course had been well received by student teachers and teachers and was being delivered in line with the intentions of the course documentation. After five observation sessions, the lasting impression was gained of enormous student involvement, vibrant activity and vigorous discussion. It was evident that teachers used the course guidelines with flexibility and considerable imagination. Comparisons of Phase-I and II revealed that, with the emphasis on wider educational outcomes, there was a marked move among both teachers and students away for the dominant emphasis on memorisation and recall. The evidence points to the simple principle that the way to encourage the development of critical thinking is to place learners regularly in situations where critical thinking skills are not only encouraged but are perceived to be valuable by the learners. In the Functional English course, this has been encouraged through interactions between learners working in groups or peer discussion, an approach that is broadly Vygotskian. Classroom observation as well as student teacher and teacher responses in focus groups and interviews respectively indicated that the more student-centred learning approach was providing opportunities for productive discussion and questioning through the range of different activities undertaken. With critical thinking seen as a curriculum goal, the study also suggests that there are no barriers intrinsic to either teachers or students in achieving this goal. Students value it. Given the guidelines, teachers enthusiastically encourage it. This suggests that the development of students as critical thinkers is facilitated by students gaining the confidence to ask questions of each other and their teachers. The study concludes by reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches employed as well as suggesting areas where future work might build on the findings of the study.

Resumo: Introdução: A cicatrização do trato gastrintestinal é de grande importância na história da cirurgia, buscando-se tipos de fios e pontos apropriados e os diversos fatores que a influenciam. O uso de fitoterápicos como aceleradores da cicatrização tem sido usado por muitos anos sendo objetivo atual de pesquisas para a comprovação científica dessas propriedades terapêuticas. Objetivo: avaliar o uso do extrato bruto de Jatropha gossypiifolia L. na cicatrização de gastrorrafias em ratos. Material e Método: Foram utilizados 40 ratos wistar, machos, divididos em 02 grupos de 20, denominados de grupos controle e Jatropha. Dez animais de cada grupo foram mortos no 3o dia pós-operatório e denominados subgrupos controle e Jatropha do 3o dia e os 10 restantes de cada grupo foram mortos no 7o dia com a mesma denominação do 7o dia. Em cada animal foi realizado gastrotomia e gastrorrafia em plano único com fio polipropileno 6-0 (prolene®). Os animais do grupo Jatropha receberam dose única de 200mg/Kg do extrato bruto de Jatropha gossypiifolia L via intraperitoneal no dia do procedimento e os do grupo controle a mesma quantidade em mililitros (ml) de solução salina (cloreto de sódio à 0,9%). Foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros: 1) alterações macroscópicas; 2) a resistência à insuflação de ar atmosférico (pressão de ruptura) da sutura; 3) características histológicas. Resultados: Não houve morte dos animais na evolução clínica, havendo boa cicatrização da parede abdominal, na ausência de sinais de infecção, deiscência, abscessos ou peritonites. A cicatrização da superfície serosa foi considerada boa em todos os animais, não ocorrendo fístulas, porém, as aderências intra-peritoneais ocorreram em 7 ratos do subgrupo controle e 9 do subgrupo Jatropha do 3o dia pós-operatório e em 9 do subgrupo controle e 8 do subgrupo Jatropha do 7o dia, não havendo diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre os grupos. A cicatrização da superfície mucosa foi classificada como boa em todos os animais. A resistência das gastrorrafias à insuflação de ar atmosférico demonstrou aumento estatisticamente significante da pressão de ruptura no grupo Jatropha do 3o dia de observação. A avaliação histológica demonstrou diferenças estatisticamente significantes, quanto aos critérios, reação inflamatória aguda menor e coaptação das bordas maior no subgrupo Jatropha do 7o dia pós-operatório em relação ao grupo controle do mesmo período. Conclusão: Concluiu-se que o extrato bruto de Jatropha gossypiifolia L. favorece a cicatrização no 3o dia pós-operatório, em relação, a maior resistência das gastrorrafias à pressão de ruptura e no 7o dia com melhor coaptação das bordas e reduzindo reação inflamatória aguda à microscópica. Palavras-chave: ratos, gastrorrafias, Jatropha gossypiifolia L, cicatrização, teste de resistência à insuflação de ar atmosférico.

A radioterapia é amplamente empregada no tratamento de tumores abdominais. Entretanto, o seu emprego provoca danos indesejáveis ao tecido sadio, especialmente o intestinal, refletidos por meio de manifestações clínicas e histológicas. Buscando minimizar esses efeitos colaterais, inúmeras alternativas vêm sendo estudadas, dentre elas a suplementação dietética com aminoácidos. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar o efeito da suplementação dietética com os aminoácidos L-glutamina, L-arginina e glicina nas camadas submucosa e muscular do íleo de ratos submetidos a irradiação abdominal. Cinqüenta ratos Wistar machos adultos foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em cinco grupos: I Controle não irradiado e sem suplementação de aminoácidos; II Controle irradiado e sem suplementação de aminoácidos; III irradiado e suplementado com L-glutamina; IV irradiado e suplementado com glicina; V irradiado e suplementado com L-arginina. O período de suplementação dietética foi de 14 dias, com a irradiação ocorrendo no 8. dia do experimento. A irradiação provocou diminuição da espessura da camada submucosa dos animais do grupo II, como também do conteúdo de colágeno, em comparação ao grupo controle não irradiado. A suplementação com L-arginina e glicina provocou aumento expressivo da espessura da camada submucosa, enquanto a suplementação com L-glutamina manteve a espessura dessa camada similar à observada nos animais não irradiados. Os animais com dieta suplementada com L-arginina e glicina também apresentaram aumento da espessura da camada muscular circular interna, em comparação aos ratos dos grupos I, não se observando diferenças no que se refere à camada muscular longitudinal externa. A suplementação com aminoácidos levou a aumento na intensidade de imunomarcação de colágeno tipo I nos animais do grupo IV, menos marcante no grupo III, e o grupo V foi o que mais se assemelhou ao observado nos animais não-irradiados. No tocante ao colágeno tipo III, a imunomarcação foi mais intensa no grupo IV, menos marcante no grupo V, e no grupo de ratos suplementado com L-glutamina, foi similar à encontrada nos animais não-irradiados. Os resultados sugerem que a suplementação dietética com glicina e L-arginina leva a aumento da quantidade de colágeno na parede ileal de ratos submetidos a radioterapia abdominal, eventualmente predispondo ao surgimento de fibrose intestinal, enquanto que a suplementação com L-glutamina propicia a manutenção da espessura da camada submucosa e pode contribuir para a atenuação dos efeitos colaterais decorrentes da irradiação. / Radiotherapy is widely employed in the treatment of abdominal tumors. Nevertheless, its use damages healthy tissue, especially intestinal tissue, with consequent clinical and histological manifestations. In order to minimize these side effects, several alternatives are being studied, including dietary supplementation with amino acids. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with L-glutamine, L-arginine, and glycine on the submucosal and muscular layers of the ileum of rats submitted to abdominal radiation. Fifty male Wistar rats weighing 255 to 325 g were randomly divided into five groups: I Control not irradiated and not supplemented with amino acids; II Control irradiated but not supplemented with amino acids; III irradiated and supplemented with L-glutamine; IV irradiated and supplemented with glycine; V irradiated and supplemented with L-arginine. The period of dietary supplementation lasted 14 days, with radiation taking place on the 8th day of the experiment. Radiation determined a decrease in the thickness and in the collagen content of the submucosal layer in group II animals compared to the non-irradiated group. Supplementation with L-arginine and glycine induced a marked increase in the thickness of the submucosal layer, while supplementation with L-glutamine caused no changes compared to non-irradiated animals. The animals receiving a diet supplemented with L-arginine and glycine also showed increased thickness of the internal circular muscle layer compared to group I rats, with no difference in the external longitudinal muscle layer. Supplementation with amino acids led to increased immunostaining of type 1 collagen in group IV animals, with less intense staining in group III and no difference in group V compared to non-irradiated animals. Regarding type III collagen, immunostaining was more intense in group IV and less intense in group V, while in rats supplemented with L-glutamine there was no difference compared to non-irradiated animals. These results suggest that dietary supplementation with glycine and L-arginine induces an increase in the collagen content of the ileal wall of rats submitted to abdominal radiotherapy, eventually predisposing it to intestinal fibrosis, while supplementation with L-glutamine favors the maintenance of the submucosal layer thickness and can contribute to attenuating the side effects of radiation.

Os aminoácidos L-arginina e L-glutamina foram analisados como protetores dos tecidos erétil do pênis contra os danos induzidos pela radiação. Grupos de ratos Wistar foram tratadas com: nenhuma intervenção, radiação pélvica e sacrifício 7 (RAD7) ou 15 (RAD15) dias; e radiação pélvica, a suplementação diária com L-arginina (A) ou L-glutamina (G), e sacrifício 7 (RAD7 + A, RAD7 + G) ou 15 (RAD15 + A, RAD15 + G) dias após irradiação. componentes estruturais do corpo cavernoso (CC), túnica albugínea do corpo esponjoso (TAC), e urotélio do pênis foram analisados através de métodos estereológicos e imuno-histoquímico. Os resultados mostraram que, no CC, o tecido conjuntivo foi maior nos RAD15 (p <0,04), mas essa mudança foi parcialmente revertido em RAD15 + G (p <0,05) e RAD15 + A (p <0,04). A matriz fibrosa das trabéculas CC estava manchada de colágeno tipo I. Nos RAD15, a intensidade da marcação foi aumentada, enquanto que em RAD15 + G + A e RAD15 a coloração era semelhante à dos controles. Nenhuma alteração de coloração foram observadas nos grupos que foram sacrificados sete dias após a radiação. Cavernosa teor de fibras elásticas na RAD15 foi aumentada (p <0,004), e este foi impedido de RAD15 + A (p <0,004), mas não em RAD15 + G. No TAC, os aminoácidos protegidos (p <0,02) contra o aumento da radiação induzida em fibras elásticas, mas apenas em RAD15. Densidade das células do urotélio e espessura urothellial, foram reduzidos em RAD15 (p <0,004), mas houve efeitos protetores dos dois aminoácidos. Em conclusão, a radiação induzida por alterações nas estruturas penianas tendem a ser mais pronunciado 15 dias após a sessão de radiação. Tanto A e G têm efeitos protetores contra estas alterações, sendo o primeiro um pouco mais eficaz. / We investigated whether arginine and glutamine protect penile tissues against radiation-induced damage. Groups of Wistar rats were treated with: no intervention; pelvic radiation, and sacrifice 7 (RAD7) or 15 (RAD15) days later; and pelvic radiation, daily supplementation with L-arginine (A) or L-glutamine (G), and sacrifice 7 (RAD7+A, RAD7+G) or 15 (RAD15+A, RAD15+G) days after radiation. Structural components in the corpus cavernosum (CC), tunica albuginea of the corpus spongiosum (TACS), and urothelium of the penis were analyzed using stereological and immunohistochemical methods. The results showed that in the CC, connective tissue was increased in RAD15 (p<0.04), but this change was partially prevented in RAD15+G (p<0.05) and RAD15+A (p<0.04). The fibrous matrix of the CC trabeculae was stained for collagen type I. In RAD15, the intensity of the labeling was increased, whereas in RAD15+G and RAD15+A the staining was similar to that of the controls. No staining changes were seen in the groups that were sacrificed seven days after radiation. Cavernosal elastic fiber content in RAD15 was increased (p<0.004), and this was prevented in RAD15+A (p<0.004), but not in RAD15+G. In TACS, the aminoacids protected (p<0.02) against radiation-induced increase in elastic fiber content, but only in RAD15. Cell density in the urothelium, and urothellial thickness, were reduced in RAD15 (p<0.004), but there were protective effects of both aminoacids. In conclusion, radiation-induced alterations in penile structures tend to be more pronounced 15 days after radiation session. Both A and G have protective effects against these changes, with the former being slightly more effective.

This thesis examined the experiences of women academics in relation to their family contribution, educational experiences and, factors that motivated them towards academia, while highlighting strategies that they have employed to reach their present professional and academic ranks. In addition, any challenges experienced by the women academics were explored. The study is a contribution to knowledge and the extant literature on women academics’ career experiences which has been under-researched, especially in Kenya. It claims to have made a contribution to a wider understanding of women academics’ experiences, exposing a significant impact of culture, family, work tensions, gender role expectations, male-dominated university cultures, and a lack of role models and mentors, which contribute to the slow progress of women academics’ careers in Kenyan universities. Using a qualitative research approach, the researcher used a face- to- face in- depth interviewing technique with sixteen women academics from three universities in Kenya while drawing from a feminist perspective. My aim was to create a dialogue on the lived experiences while at the same time using theory to inform and reflect on those experiences. With the use of thematic analysis, the data generated five themes; family socialisation, educational attributes, motivational factors, challenges and strategies. The findings of this research demonstrated that very few women have progressed into senior academic and professional ranks and that, the pace is slow. They continue to be hampered by socio-cultural attitudes towards women and their roles in Kenyan society. This is not the full story as some of the women interviewed reported that they had to put off marriage for career and likewise, others put on hold or postponed career for family responsibilities. To maintain their positions or climb the professional ladder, they therefore, had to employ a range of strategies such as; working hard, focusing on research and publication for promotion purposes. The wider implications of these findings are discussed.

This thesis explores the concept of socialisation through the experiences of nurse educators within a United Kingdom context in one higher education institution in the Northwest of England. Built upon the assumption that nurse educators‘ practices and dispositions are shaped and affected by the sociocultural field in which they occur, attention is paid to identifying these influences reflected through an understanding of their curriculum practices. A micro-ethnographic philosophy is adopted where semi-structured interviews are the key data source from a volunteer group of twenty nurse educators‘ informant accounts, inter-woven with observations and my reflections as a nurse educator, and therefore written in the first person. As I also claim a pertinent professional cultural heritage all data are collected and analysed from an insider-researcher position. Pierre Bourdieu‘s relational concepts of field, capital and habitus are applied as a template through which the accounts of nurse educators are filtered and interpreted. In this thesis I will argue that nurse educators experience difficult transitions in and between the fields in which they practise and that their dominant, but hidden, values contribute to their perceived marginalisation within the academic community and field of higher education. Nurse educators appear to adopt practices that reflect their practitioner habitus which contradicts the popular perspectives of academic roles and identity, referred to as an academic habitus. This negatively affects the development of academic identity and contributes to difficulties experienced in accruing academic capital. Specifically, curriculum practices are affected by the hegemonic values of nurse educators where practice-bred values conflict with academic world values.

This thesis reports the findings of an essentially phenomenographic research study into nurse teachers’ Conceptions of Student-Centred Teaching and Student-Centred Approaches to Teaching. The focus on the experience of student-centred aspects of teaching is a departure from previous research from this perspective in Higher Education that has focused upon teachers’ experience of teaching. The approach and focus of this study is also a departure from research into student-centred teaching in nurse education. Previous research in Higher Education has identified and reported qualitative variation in conceptions of teaching and qualitative variation in approaches to teaching and these have been categorised as either teacher-centred or student-centred. However, the interpretation and separation of conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching has been largely as a result of the researchers’ interpretation of what it means to be teacher-centred or student-centred in teaching. This study aimed at identifying the qualitative variation that exists in conceptions of student-centred teaching and student-centred approaches to teaching from the perspectives of those nurse teachers who claimed to adopt student-centred methods in their teaching practice. The findings of this study indicate that there are significant qualitative differences in nurse teachers’ conceptions of student-centred teaching and their approaches to student-centred teaching than has hitherto been identified. In both cases a limited number of qualitatively different categories of description were identified (5 in each case) ranging from approaches to teaching that result in the reproduction of expert knowledge and skills to students developing their professional attitudes and values (affective components), and acquisition of disciplinary concepts and skills to student self-empowerment conceptions of student-centred teaching. This study also reports that the relations between conceptions of student-centred teaching and student-centred approaches to teaching are significantly different from previous research in this area, and suggests that some teachers holding student development conceptions of student- centred teaching adopt a similar sophisticated approach to student-centred teaching despite the existence of qualitative variation in their conceptions of student-centred teaching. This research extends our awareness of the experience of student-centred teaching. Finally, the implications of these findings for teacher development are discussed.

This action research project focussed on the key components of the construct mathematical resilience and how mathematical resilience can be developed in learners who are working towards their GCSE in mathematics. Split-screen lesson objectives, one related to a mathematical skill and the other related to a learning skill, were used to focus the learner’s attention onto each skill. These learning skills were chosen to encourage a particular group of learners to gain the confidence, persistence and perseverance to allow them to work inside the Growth Zone. The overall aim of this action research project was to improve the attainment of learners in their GCSE mathematics examination.

This thesis is an investigation of the reasons why and ways in which teachers in English Further Education practise critical pedagogy within a neoliberal policy context. It presents new findings in terms of how and why teachers engage in critical pedagogy; it also presents an original contribution to the field by offering a hermeneutical tool, drawn from Slavko Splichal’s work in communications studies, for understanding the operation of neoliberal hegemony in education and elsewhere. This analytic tool illuminates potential practical and theoretical approaches which may be helpful in the development of counter-hegemonic resistance to neoliberalism. The thesis argues that neoliberalism has become hegemonic through a reversal of Enlightenment values and priorities and that it is therefore possible to combat the neoliberal advance by a return to the Enlightenment emphasis upon the use of critical reason in public life, but with an added recognition of the impact of power relations shaping both public and private spheres. The approach is interpretivist and critical and has both theoretical and practical aims and outcomes. It is based on ten semi-structured interviews with teachers in a range of professional contexts in English Further Education. In terms of practice, the thesis resulted in the establishment of a collaborative group of critical educators in the north of England, as well as the founding of a new sixth form college as a site where critical approaches are welcome and encouraged.

O gênero Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae) é composto por mais de 520 espécies, classificadas em quatro subgêneros: Astrophea, Decaloba, Deidamioides e Passiflora. Embora algumas análises filogenéticas tenham sido realizadas nos últimos anos, sua classificação infra-subgenérica permanece em aberto. Com o objetivo de auxiliar na elucidação destas questões e caracterizar novos marcadores filogenéticos para o gênero Passiflora, análises com seqüências do gene plastidial que codifica a maior subunidade da enzima RNA-polimerase de cloroplasto (rpoC1), dos espaçadores internos transcritos do DNA ribossomal nuclear (ITS1 e ITS2) e do íntron b-c do gene nad1 do genoma mitocondrial, foram desenvolvidas para 121 espécies de Passiflora. As análises foram realizadas usando métodos de distância, máxima parcimônia, máxima verossimilhança e inferência bayesiana para cada subgênero em separado e para o conjunto total de dados. A monofilia dos subgêneros Astrophea, Decaloba e Passiflora foi confirmada, embora a monofilia do subgênero Deidamioides permaneça em aberto. Os resultados suportam, ainda, a existência de um quinto subgênero, Tryphostemmatoides. Análises realizadas para cada subgênero em separado demonstraram que esta estratégia é um método eficiente para a análise de marcadores com alta variabilidade entre os grupos, como é o caso dos subgêneros de Passiflora. ITS1 e ITS2 foram os marcadores moleculares mais informativos. Em geral, as superseções, seções e séries dos quatro subgêneros foram não-monofiléticas, sugerindo a necessidade de uma revisão cuidadosa dos caracteres morfológicos tipicamente usados em sua delimitação. / The Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae) genus is composed of more than 520 species, classified in four subgenera: Astrophea, Decaloba, Deidamioides and Passiflora. Although some molecular phylogenetic analyses have been carried out in the last years, its infrasubgeneric classification remains open. With the intent to help to elucidate these issues and to characterize new phylogenetic markers for the Passiflora genus, analyses with sequences of the plastidial gene that codifies the biggest subunit of the RNA-polymerase enzyme of chloroplast (rpoC1), the internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS1 and ITS2), and nad1 b-c intron of the mitochondrial genome have been carried out in 121 Passiflora’s species. The analyses have been conduced using distance, parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods for each subgenus separately and for the whole data. The Astrophea, Decaloba and Passiflora subgenera monophyly were confirmed, although the Deidamioides monophyly remains open. The results also support the existence of a fifth subgenus, Tryphostemmatoides. Separated analyses for each subgenus demonstrated to be an efficient method for analysis of markers with high variability between groups, as it is the case of the Passiflora’s subgenera. The ITS1 and ITS2 have been the more informative molecular markers. In general, the supersections, sections and series of the four subgenera were found non-monophyletic, suggesting the need of a careful revision of the morphologic characters typically used for their delimitation.