Critical Thinking: Creating Job-Proof Skills for the Future of Work.

In this study, we explore the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market and argue for the growing importance of critical thinking skills in the face of job automation and changing work dynamics. Advancements in AI have the potential to disrupt various professions, including, for example, programming, legal work, and radiology. However, solely relying on AI systems can lead to errors and misjudgments, emphasizing the need for human oversight. The concept of "job-proof skills" is introduced, highlighting the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving, empathy, ethics, and other human attributes that machines cannot replicate with the same standards and agility. We maintain that critical thinking can be taught and learned through appropriate classroom instruction and transfer-focused approaches. The need for critical thinking skills is further reinforced by the influx of information and the spread of misinformation in the age of social media. Moreover, employers increasingly value critical thinking skills in their workforce, yet there exists a gap between the demand for these skills and the preparedness of college graduates. Critical thinking is not only essential for the future of work, but also for informed citizenship in an increasingly complex world. The potential impact of AI on job disruption, wages, and employment polarization is discussed, highlighting the correlation between jobs requiring critical thinking skills and their resistance to automation. We conclude by discussing collaborative efforts between universities and labor market organizations to adapt curricula and promote the development of critical thinking skills, drawing on examples from European initiatives. The need to prioritize critical thinking skills in education and address the evolving demands of the labor market is emphasized as a crucial step for navigating the future of work and opportunities for workers.

THE ABILITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO SELF-REGULATE EMOTIONS AS MENTAL HEALTH SIGN

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To determine the differences in the ability of young people with low and high economic statuses towards emotional self-regulation, and characterize their frame of mind by analyzing functional and dysfunctional emotions in healthy and unhealthy states. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: Theoretical - analysis, generalization, interpretation of the collected data; a set of empirical methods - "Attitude to health" by Berezovskaya, the scale "Quality of life" in the adaptation by Vodopyanova, self-assessment income scale and validated questionnaire "Subjective economic well-being" by Khashchenko. The author has applied Pearson's chi-squared test, Student's t-test, and Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: Results: The affective component of health manifests in the predominance of happiness (t=0.3, p≤0.01) and peace (t=1.7, p≤0.1) as components of a positive frame of mind among young people with high economic status. Such emo≤ions such as fear (t=2.1, p≤0.03), anxiety (t=2, p≤0.04) and irritability (t=1.8, at p≤0.07) are more common among young people with low economic status. Young people who have high economic status show stronger ability to emotional self-regulation in comparison to the ones with low economic status (χ² = 11.9, p≤0.001). CONCLUSION: Conclusions: In this research, we have found a statistically significant difference in the ability towards emotional self-regulation between young people with low and high economic status: the latter group is able to control dysfunctional emotions such as anger and resentment more when communicating with others; they are more likely to find internal psychological resources. When the health deteriorates, the young people with high economic status are prone to show independence, and manage their own time and life, which is a sign of stable mental health.

Invasive Treatment Options for Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease.

Reflux disease continues to be one of the most common pathologies in the world. There is much discussion regarding the mechanism of developing and the variety of possible symptoms. In recent years, the use of new technologies, like high-resolution manometry and pH impedance, brought new insights into this disease. Also, there are emerging therapies that are covering the gap between the patients treated with proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and those who benefit the most from laparoscopic treatment (hiatal hernia, complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Also, most of them are less invasive than a laparoscopic fundoplication. We present a short review of the treatment options in patients who need more than lifestyle changes and PPI therapy.

The HEXACO Model of Personality and Risky Driving Behavior.

This research tested the association between the HEXACO personality model and risky driving behavior as well as the predictive power of the HEXACO model in explaining risky driving behavior compared with the Big Five model. In Sample 1, 227 undergraduate students completed measures of the HEXACO personality model, the Big Five model, and driving aggression. In Sample 2, 244 community respondents completed measures of the HEXACO personality model, the Big Five model, and driving styles. Results showed that the Honesty-Humility factor is an important addition to personality models that aim to explain risky driving behavior as being related to all forms of driving aggression as well as to maladaptive and adaptive driving styles and having incremental validity in predicting verbally aggressive expression, risky driving, high-velocity driving, and careful driving. Moreover, compared with the Big Five model, the HEXACO model had better predictive power of aggressive driving.

Detecting primitive hematopoietic stem cells in total nucleated and mononuclear cell fractions from umbilical cord blood segments and units.

BACKGROUND: Rare hematopoietic stem cell populations are responsible for the transplantation engraftment process. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is usually processed to the total nucleated cell (TNC), but not to the mononuclear cell (MNC) fraction. TNC counts are used to determine UCB unit storage, release for transplantation and correlation with time to engraftment. However, the TNC fraction contains varying concentrations of red blood cells, granulocytes, platelets and other cells that dilute and mask the stem cells from being detected. This does not allow the quality and potency of the stem cells to be reliably measured. METHODS: 63 UCB segments and 10 UCB units plus segments were analyzed for the response of both primitive lympho-hematopoietic and primitive hematopoietic stem cells in both the TNC and MNC fractions. The samples were analyzed using a highly sensitive, standardized and validated adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence stem cell proliferation assay verified against the colony-forming unit (CFU) assay. Dye exclusion and metabolic viability were also determined. RESULTS: Regardless of whether the cells were derived from a segment or unit, the TNC fraction always produced a significantly lower and more variable stem cell response than that derived from the MNC fraction. Routine dye exclusion cell viability did not correspond with metabolic viability and stem cell response. Paired UCB segments produced highly variable results, and the UCB segment did not produce similar results to the unit. DISCUSSION: The TNC fraction underestimates the ability and capacity of the stem cells in both the UCB segment and unit and therefore provides an erroneous interpretation of the of the results. Dye exclusion viability can result in false positive values, when in fact the stem cells may be dead or incapable of proliferation. The difference in response between the segment and unit calls into question the ability to use the segment as a representative sample of the UCB unit. It is apparent that present UCB processing and testing methods are inadequate to properly determine the quality and potency of the unit for release and use in a patient.

Identification of clinically relevant mosaicism in type I hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

BACKGROUND: Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder affecting the vascular system, characterised by epistaxis, arteriovenous malformations and mucocutaneous and gastrointestinal telangiectases. Mutations in two genes, ENG and ACVRL1, account for the majority of cases. Almost all cases of HHT show a family history of HHT-associated symptoms; few cases are de novo. Mutational mosaicism is the presence of two populations of cells, with both mutant and normal genotypes in one individual and generally occurs through de novo mutation events in embryogenesis. Some isolated cases of HHT with no detectable ENG or ACVRL1 mutation may be caused by a mosaic ENG or ACVRL1 mutation that is present at levels below the limit of detection of current molecular screening methods. OBJECTIVE: To identify clinically relevant mosaicism in type I HHT. METHODS: Sequencing, quantitative multiplex-PCR and marker analysis were used to identify three HHT families with founders who showed mosaicism for endoglin mutations. Where available, mosaicism was verified by testing different sampling sites, including blood, hair and buccal swabs. RESULTS: All three mosaic samples exhibited the mutation in an estimated ≤ 25% of the DNA. Two of the mosaic patients had clinically confirmed HHT by the Curaçao criteria and the other showed symptoms of HHT. In each case the heterozygous mutation had already been identified in another family member before detection in the mosaic founder. CONCLUSIONS: The results show the importance of investigating patients without prior family history for the presence of mutational mosaicism, as detecting this would enable appropriate genetic screening and targeted medical care for at-risk children of mosaic patients.

Bone marrow iron, iron indices, and the response to intravenous iron in patients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD.

BACKGROUND: Information about iron stores and their relationship with transferrin saturation (TSAT), serum ferritin, and the erythropoietic response to iron therapy is scarce in anemic non-dialysis-dependent patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We examined the diagnostic utility of peripheral-iron indices and the erythropoietic response to intravenous iron as indices of iron store depletion using bone marrow iron as a reference test in anemic non-dialysis-dependent patients with CKD. STUDY DESIGN: Diagnostic test study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: 100 anemic (hemoglobin <11 g/dL) patients with CKD stages 3-5, not receiving epoetin and iron. INDEX TESTS: TSAT index and serum ferritin level at baseline and increase in hemoglobin level 1 month after 200 mg of iron sucrose daily for 5 days. REFERENCE TEST: Bone marrow iron (assessed using aspiration and Perls' stain), depleted versus replete, at baseline. MEASUREMENTS: Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), sensitivity, and specificity of peripheral-iron indices and erythropoietic response to describe bone marrow iron stores. RESULTS: Bone marrow iron stores were depleted in 48% of patients at baseline. In iron-depleted versus -replete subjects, mean hemoglobin level, median TSAT index, median serum ferritin level, and hemoglobin level increase after iron sucrose administration were 8.74 +/- 1.1 (SD) versus 9.22 +/- 0.9 g/dL (P = 0.02), 19% (interquartile range [IQR], 15%) versus 28% (IQR, 12%; P < 0.001), 100 (IQR, 131) versus 220 ng/mL (IQR, 213; P < 0.001), and 1.2 +/- 0.4 versus 0.8 +/- 0.3 g/dL (P < 0.001), respectively. TSAT, ferritin level, and increase in hemoglobin level AUROCs were similar: 0.75 (95% CI, 0.66-0.85), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.66-0.85), and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.65-0.84), respectively. LIMITATIONS: Bone marrow iron as the index of iron stores. CONCLUSIONS: Half the anemic patients with CKD stages 3-5 had depleted iron stores. Peripheral-iron indices and erythropoietic response had equivalent, but limited, utility in identifying depletion of bone marrow iron stores. Use of these indices to indicate depletion of iron stores should be reconsidered.

The endovaginal ultrasound finding of a thin and regular endometrium is uncommon in endometrial cancer.

AIM: To present the clinical and ultrasound features in patients with endometrial cancer in whom the endometrial thickness was less that 5 mm. METHOD: Retrospective study on 263 patients with endometrial carcinoma in whom the ultrasound evaluation of the endometrium was performed. The features noticed in the patients with endometrial thickness below 5 mm are presented. RESULTS: In 249 (94.68%) of our patients with endometrial carcinoma the mean endometrial thickness was 15 mm. In 14 patients (5.32%), in whom biopsy was performed prior to ultrasound examination, endometrial thickness was less than 5 mm. CONCLUSIONS: A thin and regular endometrium (below 5 mm) rules out an endometrial carcinoma provided that no biopsy has been performed within 3 months before ultrasound examination.

Endoscopic mucosal resection for early esophageal cancer. A case report.

With the rapid progress of the diagnostic techniques, especially endoscopy, the discovery rate of early superficial cancer of the esophagus has increased markedly. Relatively recently introduced, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is now widely used in the treatment of early stage cancer of the esophagus. We used EMR in the case of a patient who was incidentally diagnosed with a type IIa early esophageal cancer using a band-ligating device. We had no serious complications. At the histopathological examination we noticed that the carcinoma involved the upper third of the submucosal layer. For this reason the patient was given additional therapy (radiotherapy), too. A month after the EMR, at the histological examination we found no local signs of recurrent disease.