Implementing portfolio in postgraduate general practice training. Benefits and recommendations

This paper presents a review to explore the literature focusing on portfolio in postgraduate general practice [GP] training, and to examine the impact of implementation of portfolio on learning process, as well as proposing recommendations for its implementation in postgraduate GP training. An electronic search was carried out on several databases for studies addressing portfolio in postgraduate GP training. Six articles were included to address specifically the effectiveness of portfolio in postgraduate GP training. Five of them described successful experiences of portfolio-based learning implementation. Only one article addressed portfolio-based assessment in postgraduate GP training. The existing evidence provides various benefits of professional portfolio-based learning. It does appear to have advantages of stimulating reflective learning, promoting proactive learning, and bridging the hospital experiences of the learners to GP. Moreover, the challenges to implementation of portfolio-based learning are often based on orientation and training of stakeholders

Bioinsecticide production by the bacterium bacillus thuringiensis [patttern of cell growth, toxin production and by-product synthesis]

To develop a cost-effective process for the production of Bacillus thuringiensis based insecticide, it is important to cultivate the bacterial strain in rich medium to obtain the highest yields of spore-crystal complexes. It was found that cultivation of the bacterium in medium with high concentrations of glucose [50-90 g. l[-1]] resulted in much lower bacterial spores, crystal protein and their toxicity, when tested against Spodoptera littoralis and Anagasta kuehniella larvae. The best results was obtained with glucose concentration of 20.0 g.1[-1] as 7.1 x 10[11] spores/ml[-1] and 3.4 g/l of crystal protein were achieved with LC[50] of 40.1 and 50.2 mg/Kg mail against S. littoralis and A. kuehniella respectively. However, > 21% of the consumed glucose were diverted into by-product synthesis at the expense of spore-crystal protein mixture. Only 78.3% of consumed glucose was converted into spores and crystal protein. Among by-products formed, acetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid [PHB] that were produced during the phase of active growth and glutamic acid and succinic acid during the phase of active toxin production