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Background/purpose: This study aims at identifying differences in the level of critical thinking dispositions according to the sociodemographic (gender, age) and academic characteristics (study field) of undergraduate students in Portugal. Materials/methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study with a convenience random sample of 1017 students. Most of the participants were female (76.8%) and the average age of respondents was 21.8 ± 4.22. For data collection, we used the Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale (CTDS), consisting of 35 questions, validated for the Portuguese population. In the statistical analysis, we used the T-student, ANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression model. Results: The students showed an average positive disposition for critical thinking (the average score in the CTDS was 279.1 ± 27.1). The results demonstrated that gender, age and field of study influenced the dispositions for critical thinking. Older girls, attending courses in the field of Biomedicine were the ones with higher disposition to think critically. Conclusion: Female students generally show higher critical thinking scores dispositions regardless the study field.

Even though Critical Thinking (CT) is an important goal for higher education institutions and labour market professionals, studies dealing with employers' perceptions on CT meaning and envisioning in the workplace are scarce. Intended to tackle this gap, the current study provides an overview of the need for and practical application of CT in the workplace from the employers' views. Adopting a qualitative research methodology, five focus group interviews were carried out, enrolling 28 representatives of different Portuguese Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), public and private companies, in four different professional fields: Biomedicine, STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Social Sciences, and Humanities. Using Facione's framework for data analysis, results suggest that CT is broadly recognized by employers as a set of interdependent skills and dispositions that are needed in new graduates, presenting slight differences in their practical application across professional fields. This paper also discusses and outlines implications to support universities in the promotion of students' CT skills and dispositions.

This review intends to reveal the current status of the instructional practices used to enhance Critical Thinking (CrT), Clinical Reasoning and Clinical Judgement (CJ) skills and dispositions in Health Sciences Higher Education programmes. After a three-step filtering process, 28 empirical studies on the effectiveness of the instructional strategies were analysed, following PICOS methodology. The analysis tackled the type of strategy, methods and outcomes, the research design, and assessment tools used. Diverse instructional designs, different in length, were used with variable success when compared with traditional lecturing. Several limitations were found, such as insufficient information regarding the intervention design and the alignment between learning outcomes and the assessment instruments. Due to the variability in sample sizes and research designs, it is difficult to conclude on the effectiveness of particular instructional strategies. Researchers ought to recognize the concerns herein discussed when designing, implementing and assessing future interventions.

The cattle in the Pantanal region show a notable influence from Bos indicus breeds and their crossbreeds. However, a comprehensive biometric assessment of the reproductive system in these animals is currently lacking. This study evaluated the effects of breed, age, carcass weight, and estrous cycle phase on female reproductive system morphometry. A total of 124 healthy, non-pregnant reproductive tracts (83 Nelore and 41 Crossbred) were collected at a slaughterhouse. Neither the volume and weight of the ovaries nor the majority of uterine dimensions were affected by breed. Compared to heifers, cows showed longer uterine horns, a larger external caudal diameter of the uterine horns and body, and a greater external cranial diameter and internal caudal diameter of the cervix. The carcass weight (below vs. within commercial weight) affected the length of the uterine horns, uterine body, and cervix. Ovaries with a corpus luteum presented higher volume and weight than those with only follicles. Although the uterine measurements in the luteal phase were increased, the cycle stage did not affect the uterine morphometry. The average number of cervical rings was 5.0, independent of weight or breed. Crossbred animals presented a higher first cervical ring. Age didn´t influence the number, height, or distance between cervical rings. Deviation from the normal alignment of the cervix was recorded in 14.29 % of the animals, with a higher occurrence among Nelore cattle; deviation from the median axis was the most common (30%). This study emphasizes various parameters influencing the morphometry of the female reproductive system in Nelore cattle and their crosses, which could be crucial for implementing reproductive biotechnology techniques better suited to the morphological characteristics of zebu breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This article focuses on the season effect on testicular morphometry and meat quality from outdoor-reared Bísaro pigs. Bísaro, an autochthonous Portuguese breed, is raised for long periods in outdoor pens after puberty and slaughtered around one year old for high-quality meat products. A total of 20 Bísaro boars, aged 13 months at the time of slaughter, were distributed into two groups according to the season at slaughter: Wi (winter) with 9 participants and Su (summer) with 11 participants. Surprisingly, while testicular volume in the Su group suggested lower functionality, boar taint compound analysis showed no significant differences. However, the panelists detected a more pronounced aroma and flavor of boar taint in the summer group. The meat quality traits presented no marked differences, although the fatty acid profile was higher in Wi than in Su. This study suggests the existence of reproductive seasonality in male Bísaro pigs, hinting at a dynamic variation of boar taint compounds throughout the year. Traditional outdoor pig farming is renowned for its emphasis on animal welfare and the production of highly valued, quality meat. While seasonality is known to impact certain animals, particularly those raised outdoors, there is a lack of research on Bísaro boars, a native Portuguese breed. This research study was conducted on a total of 20 male entire Bísaro pigs, reared in outdoor pens from 4 to 13 months old, and subsequently slaughtered. The animals were divided into two groups: one slaughtered in winter (Wi, n = 9), and the other in summer (Su, n = 11). The objective was to evaluate testicular morphometry, boar taint compounds, and meat quality traits, including sensory analysis and fatty acid profile. Testicles from the Su group exhibited reduced volume, indicating diminished functionality during that season. While no significant differences were observed in the boar taint compound analysis, panelists could discern a more intense aroma and flavor of boar taint in the Su meat. Other meat quality traits showed no significant variations, but the fatty acid profile displayed higher values in the Wi group. This study reveals that Bísaro boars experience reproductive seasonality, leading to variations in boar taint compounds across the seasons. This information is crucial for farm planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the results of research on the benefits and difficulties of peer review, this paper describes how teaching faculty, interested in endorsing the acquisition of communication and critical thinking (CT) skills among engineering students, has been implementing a learning methodology throughout online peer review activities. While introducing a new methodology, it is important to weight the advantages found and the conditions that might have restrained the activity outcomes, thereby modulating its overall efficiency. Our results show that several factors are decisive for the success of the methodology: the use of specific and detailed orientation guidelines for CT skills, the students' training on how to deliver a meaningful feedback, the opportunity to counter-argument, the selection of good assignments' examples, and the constant teacher's monitoring of the activity. Results also tackle other aspects of the methodology such as the thinking skills evaluation tools (grades and tests) that most suit our reality. An improved methodology is proposed taking in account the encountered limitations, thus offering the possibility to other interested institutions to use/test and/or improve it.

There is a consensus that employers, when recruiting, look for future employees to have a certain required profile. This profile consists of a set of skills that are considered crucial for the correct performance of the tasks that the employees will be performing. It is usually easy to identify which hard skills employers require, but it is not so easy to find out which soft skills employees should have. In addition to this difficulty, there is the possibility that higher education institutions may not be preparing students to align with employers' envisioned skill sets. As part of the European Project "Think4Jobs" (2020-1-EL01-KA203-078797), an exploratory study was conducted to understand whether higher education institutions develop, and employers demand, individuals with the same profiles and to characterise these profiles. For this purpose, eight directors of different higher education programmes and six employers were interviewed. The information from the interviews was processed using the content analysis technique with the support of the NVivo data analysis software. The findings indicate that both educators and employers acknowledge the significance of soft skills, assigning them higher importance than hard skills, and the necessity of coordination between the two skill sets. Respondents also emphasised the importance of training, with course directors focusing more on initial training, while employers highlighted in-job training. Motivation, creativity, interpersonal relationships, communication, initiative and critical thinking were the skills identified by both groups as essential to an employee's profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of multi-joint resistance exercises (MJRE) with blood flow restriction on hormonal responses. Ten men participated in the study and underwent two experimental protocols in random order: four sets (30, 15, 15, and 15 reps, respectively) of MJRE (half squat and horizontal chest press) were performed with 20% of 1RM and a rest time between sets of 30 s, combined with intermittent blood flow restriction (LI + BFR protocol); and four sets (8, 8, 8, 20 reps, respectively) of the same MJRE performed with 75% of 1RM load (HI protocol), with a 90 s rest between the first three sets and 30 s between the third to the fourth set. Blood samples were collected before (PRE), immediately after (POST), and 15 min after the performance of MJRE (POST15). A time effect was observed for growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like-growth-factor-1-binding-protein-3 (IGFPB-3), but no protocol effects or interactions between protocol and times were observed (p > 0.05). There was no effect of either protocol or time (p > 0.05) on total testosterone, free testosterone, or cortisol concentrations. However, significant (p < 0.05) increases were observed in the GH serum concentrations of 2072.73% and 2278.5%, HI, and LI + BFR protocols, respectively, from the PRE to POST15 test. In addition, there was an increase of 15.30% and 13.29% in the IGFPB-3 concentrations (p < 0.05) from PRE to POST0 times for HI and LI + BFR protocols, respectively. Furthermore, there was a decrease of −6.17% and −11.54%, p = 0.00, between the times POST0 to POST15 in the IGFPB-3 for the HI and LI + BFR protocols, respectively. It is concluded that multi-joint resistance exercises combined with intermittent blood flow restriction seemed to promote acute hormonal responses in a manner similar to traditional exercise with high loads. Future studies may investigate whether chronic use of LI + BFR with MJRE may promote muscle hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]