¿Qué resultados de aprendizaje alcanzan los futuros maestros de Infantil cuando planifican unidades didácticas de ciencias?

En este trabajo se analizan los resultados de aprendizaje respecto a las ciencias, que alcanzan los futuros maestros y maestras de educación infantil cuando preparan unidades didácticas. Para ello, se ha construido un instrumento de análisis a partir de los resultados de aprendizaje que cabría esperar teniendo en cuenta las competencias que, para nuestra área de conocimiento, aparecen en la memoria de título de Grado de Maestro/a en Educación Infantil de la Universidad de Valencia. Tres investigadores independientes, haciendo uso de dicho instrumento, han analizado 19 unidades didácticas elaboradas por 76 alumnos del 4º curso durante dos cursos académicos consecutivos, cuando cursan la materia propia de Didáctica de las Ciencias. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que, según aumenta la especificidad de los resultados de aprendizaje en el área de didáctica de las ciencias, menos consolidados están, lo que plantea una necesaria revisión tanto de los contenidos didácticos planteados, como de su desarrollo en los planes de estudio universitarios, con el fin de mejorar la formación inicial de maestros de educación infantil en el ámbito de la enseñanza de las ciencias. In this paper we analyze the learning results with regard to science that future teachers of early childhood education hope to obtain when they prepare teaching units while studying 'Teaching Science Education' as part of their Pre-school Education degree at the Valencia University. In order to carry out this objective, an analytical tool has been created, based on expected learning results, as regards the professional competencies specified by the accredited degree program for our area of knowledge. This tool has been used by three independent researchers to analyze 19 teaching units, prepared by 76 students during the last year of their degree during two academic years, when they studied the subject of Teaching Science. The results show that, as the specificity of expected learning results in the area of science increases, they become the less consolidated, which raises the necessity for a revision of teaching contents and their development in university curricula to improve the training of early childhood teachers in the field of teaching of science

Student understanding of the Special Theory of Relativity and design for a guided visit to a science museum

The present paper describes the design of teaching materials that are used as learning tools in school visits to a science museum. An exhibition on 'A century of the Special Theory of Relativity', in the Kutxaespacio Science Museum, in San Sebastian, Spain, was used to design a visit for first- year engineering students at the university and assess the learning that was achieved. The first part of the paper presents the teaching sequence that was designed to build a bridge between formal teaching and the exhibition visit. The second part analyses the potential of the exhibition and the aforementioned teaching sequence to influence the students' knowledge of three aspects of the Special Theory of Relativity. The results obtained show that the design of the visit, with both pre- visit and follow-up activities, was effective as a means of increasing students' understanding and stimulating their ability to argue scientifically

Application of a self-learning methodology for the enhancement of the oral communication student outcome in International Business studies

Effective oral communication is one of the most demanded student outcomes in the labour market, especially for degree students on International Business. Although this outcome is usually evaluated in several subjects along the curriculum, it is barely worked neither inside nor outside the classroom, mainly due to lack of time and to unavailability of proper learning methodologies. The PIMECOE project, an innovation and educational improvement project on this matter, has developed a self-learning methodology on the Effective Oral Communication student outcome, in which auto-diagnosis tests, selflearning tools and peer assessments are conveniently combined to enhance the proficiency level of the students in an autonomous way. As part of this project, and after some previous successful pilot studies, we have run this methodology with International Bussiness' students within the "Learning instruments and techniques" subject during the first semester of the 2018/2019 academic year at the Universitat de València. After carrying out a quantitative analysis of the results, we have found generalised improvements on the proficiency level of the oral communication outcome of the participant students. Satisfaction surveys suggest that the application of this methodology has really helped the student to become conscious of unrealised weaknesses and therefore to boost their oral skills

Activation of mGlu3 Receptors Stimulates the Production of GDNF in Striatal Neurons

Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors have been considered potential targets for the therapy of experimental parkinsonism. One hypothetical advantage associated with the use of mGlu receptor ligands is the lack of the adverse effects typically induced by ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists, such as sedation, ataxia, and severe learning impairment. Low doses of the mGlu2/3 metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist, LY379268 (0.25–3 mg/kg, i.p.) increased glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) mRNA and protein levels in the mouse brain, as assessed by in situ hybridization, real-time PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. This increase was prominent in the striatum, but was also observed in the cerebral cortex. GDNF mRNA levels peaked at 3 h and declined afterwards, whereas GDNF protein levels progressively increased from 24 to 72 h following LY379268 injection. The action of LY379268 was abrogated by the mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist, LY341495 (1 mg/kg, i.p.), and was lost in mGlu3 receptor knockout mice, but not in mGlu2 receptor knockout mice. In pure cultures of striatal neurons, the increase in GDNF induced by LY379268 required the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathways, as shown by the use of specific inhibitors of the two pathways. Both in vivo and in vitro studies led to the conclusion that neurons were the only source of GDNF in response to mGlu3 receptor activation. Remarkably, acute or repeated injections of LY379268 at doses that enhanced striatal GDNF levels (0.25 or 3 mg/kg, i.p.) were highly protective against nigro-striatal damage induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine in mice, as assessed by stereological counting of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. We speculate that selective mGlu3 receptor agonists or enhancers are potential candidates as neuroprotective agents in Parkinson's disease, and their use might circumvent the limitations associated with the administration of exogenous GDNF

Abrogated Inflammatory Response Promotes Neurogenesis in a Murine Model of Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) induces neuroinflammation with typical features of viral encephalitis, including inflammatory cell infiltration, activation of microglia, and neuronal degeneration. The detrimental effects of inflammation on neurogenesis have been reported in various models of acute and chronic inflammation. We investigated whether JEV-induced inflammation has similar adverse effects on neurogenesis and whether those effects can be reversed using an anti-inflammatory compound minocycline.Here, using in vitro studies and mouse models, we observed that an acute inflammatory milieu is created in the subventricular neurogenic niche following Japanese encephalitis (JE) and a resultant impairment in neurogenesis occurs, which can be reversed with minocycline treatment. Immunohistological studies showed that proliferating cells were replenished and the population of migrating neuroblasts was restored in the niche following minocycline treatment. In vitro, we checked for the efficacy of minocycline as an anti-inflammatory compound and cytokine bead array showed that production of cyto/chemokines decreased in JEV-activated BV2 cells. Furthermore, mouse neurospheres grown in the conditioned media from JEV-activated microglia exhibit arrest in both proliferation and differentiation of the spheres compared to conditioned media from control microglia. These effects were completely reversed when conditioned media from JEV-activated and minocycline treated microglia was used.This study provides conclusive evidence that JEV-activated microglia and the resultant inflammatory molecules are anti-proliferative and anti-neurogenic for NSPCs growth and development, and therefore contribute to the viral neuropathogenesis. The role of minocycline in restoring neurogenesis may implicate enhanced neuronal repair and attenuation of the neuropsychiatric sequelae in JE survivors

Nos2 Inactivation Promotes the Development of Medulloblastoma in Ptch1+/− Mice by Deregulation of Gap43–Dependent Granule Cell Precursor Migration

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. A subset of medulloblastoma originates from granule cell precursors (GCPs) of the developing cerebellum and demonstrates aberrant hedgehog signaling, typically due to inactivating mutations in the receptor PTCH1, a pathomechanism recapitulated in Ptch1+/− mice. As nitric oxide may regulate GCP proliferation and differentiation, we crossed Ptch1+/− mice with mice lacking inducible nitric oxide synthase (Nos2) to investigate a possible influence on tumorigenesis. We observed a two-fold higher medulloblastoma rate in Ptch1+/− Nos2−/− mice compared to Ptch1+/− Nos2+/+ mice. To identify the molecular mechanisms underlying this finding, we performed gene expression profiling of medulloblastomas from both genotypes, as well as normal cerebellar tissue samples of different developmental stages and genotypes. Downregulation of hedgehog target genes was observed in postnatal cerebellum from Ptch1+/+ Nos2−/− mice but not from Ptch1+/− Nos2−/− mice. The most consistent effect of Nos2 deficiency was downregulation of growth-associated protein 43 (Gap43). Functional studies in neuronal progenitor cells demonstrated nitric oxide dependence of Gap43 expression and impaired migration upon Gap43 knock-down. Both effects were confirmed in situ by immunofluorescence analyses on tissue sections of the developing cerebellum. Finally, the number of proliferating GCPs at the cerebellar periphery was decreased in Ptch1+/+ Nos2−/− mice but increased in Ptch1+/− Nos2−/− mice relative to Ptch1+/− Nos2+/+ mice. Taken together, these results indicate that Nos2 deficiency promotes medulloblastoma development in Ptch1+/− mice through retention of proliferating GCPs in the external granular layer due to reduced Gap43 expression. This study illustrates a new role of nitric oxide signaling in cerebellar development and demonstrates that the localization of pre-neoplastic cells during morphogenesis is crucial for their malignant progression

Quality control in the meat industry application of the HACCP in the manufacturing line of canned meat

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Tacalcitol in the Treatment of Acquired Perforating Collagenosis

Acquired perforating collagenosis (APC) is a rare perforating dermatosis characterized by transepidermal collagen elimination. We describe a 65-year-old patient, with long-standing type 2 diabetes mellitus and a 2-year history of itchy hyperkeratotic nodules situated on the back, who was subsequently diagnosed with APC. Treatment included topical corticosteroids and antihistamines, without improvement of the lesions. However, therapy with topical tacalcitol administered for 2 months produced a significant response leading to complete remission of APC