Critical thinking is often a desired competency for graduates of a technology program. Organizational members have uttered concern about students' inability to think critically. Although traditional pedagogical techniques, such as lectures and examinations, center on knowledge acquisition, debates in the technology classroom can effectively facilitate critical thinking. The purpose of this study was to gather via questionnaires the perceptions of technology students on the debate process used in the classroom to increase critical thinking. Ov erall, the students believed that the debate process was a useful learning activity. The results of the questionnaire revealed that students believed that the debates helped them understand the topic better, learn new knowledge, and gain an understanding of the debate process. In addition, students thought that the debates increased their critical thinking skills.

Nitrite consumption in ischemic rat heart catalyzed by distinct blood-borne and tissue factors. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 295: H2143-H2148, 2008. First published September 26, 2008 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00050.2008.-Nitric oxide (NO) may limit myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by slowing the mitochondrial metabolism. We examined whether rat heart contains catalysts potentially capable of reducing nitrite to NO during an episode of regional myocardial ischemia produced by temporary coronary artery occlusion. In intact Sprague-Dawley rats, a 15-min coronary occlusion lowered the nitrite concentration of the myocardial regions exhibiting ischemic glucose metabolism to ϳ50% that of nonischemic regions (185 Ϯ 223 vs. 420 Ϯ 203 nmol/l). Nitrite was rapidly repleted during subsequent reperfusion. The heart tissue tested in vitro acquired a substantial ability to consume nitrite when made hypoxic at neutral pH, and this ability was slightly enhanced by simultaneously lowering the pH to 5.5. More than 70% of this activity could be abolished by flushing the coronary circulation with crystalloid to remove trapped erythrocytes. Correspondingly, erythrocytes demonstrated the ability to reduce exogenous nitrite to NO under hypoxic conditions in vitro. In erythrocyte-free heart tissue, the nitrite consumption increased fivefold when the pH was lowered to 5.5. Approximately 40% of this pH-sensitive increase in nitrite consumption could be blocked by the xanthine oxidoreductase inhibitor allopurinol, whereas lowering the PO 2 sufficiently to desaturate myoglobin accelerated it further. We conclude that rat heart contains several factors capable of catalyzing ischemic nitrite reduction; the most potent is contained within erythrocytes and activated by hypoxia, whereas the remainder includes xanthine oxidoreductase and other pH-sensitive factors endogenous to heart tissue, including deoxymyoglobin. myocardial ischemia; nitric oxide; erythrocyte; xanthine oxidoreductase NITRIC OXIDE (NO), generated locally within the heart, regulates a large number of normal physiological processes (11). NO is also produced within regions of the heart damaged by ischemia or infarction, and its physiological role in this context has been controversial. Under some conditions ischemic NO appears to contribute to pathological injury (3, 22, 26), whereas under others it appears to limit myocardial injury by delaying the onset of the mitochondrial calcium permeability transition (1,4,8,10,12,20,25). Given the evanescent nature of NO in living tissues, a cytoprotective action would presumably require the formation of NO locally within the ischemic heart. Identifying mechanisms capable of generating NO within the ischemic heart may be an important step toward the development of new therapies to limit myocardial ischemic injury.Under aerobic conditions, the primary source of cardiac NO is thought to be NO synthases (NOS) expressed by the coronary endothelium and other cells resident within the myocardium. The requirement of NOS for physiological p...

Soil health is an emerging paradigm for which much research in row crop agriculture has been undertaken. Research involving grazing lands and soil health has not been as active, a feature partially attributed to (i) greater erosional rates in cropland, (ii) loss of soil organic matter and reduced soil structure attributed to annual tillage practices, (iii) cash flow from cropland is easier to visualize than the value-added nature of grazing lands, and (iv) there exists more competitive grant funding sources for croplands. Grazing lands do require soil quality augmentation and investment in soil health to optimize their ecosystem services potential. This manuscript, with an emphasis on beef cattle grazing in the central USA, attempts to survey the literature to (i) identify the influence of grazing on important ecosystem services provided by Mollisols and Alfisols, (ii) develop a listing of soil indicators that may be selected to quantify and credential soil quality, and (iii) develop guidelines that align soil indicators and changes in grazing management to support the restoration of ecosystem services.

She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. She is currently interested in using face to face, blended, and online course formats to increase student learning, problem solving, project management and teaming.

She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Her current teaching and research interests include telecommunications and computer networking, IP and overlay multicast, system design and analysis, and wireless ad hoc networks.