Genetic analysis of haematological and plasma biochemical parameters in the Spanish purebred horse exercised on a treadmill

The novel aim of this study was to describe the reference values of different haematological and biochemical parameters in the Spanish purebred horse (Andalusian, SPB) in each of the stages of a programmed exercise on a treadmill system, and to establish heritability and genetic correlations for these haematological and biochemical parameters. For this, 94 young SPB male horses (4.22 6 2.27 years old) were used. An increasing intensity exercise test at 4, 5, 6 and 7 m/s was carried out on a treadmill (6% inclination). Total red blood cells, total white blood cells, neutrophils and lymphocytes counts; haematocrit, haemoglobin, lactate, uric acid, creatinine and total plasma proteins concentrations and aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine-quinase activities were determined. To conclude: (i) the reference values for each parameter were determined for each of the exercise test stages (ii) all the parameters analysed manifested a medium-high heritability and a high repeatability. These results will, in the near future, determine the measuring guidelines for improving the SPB horse’s athletic ability on an objective treadmill system and for selecting these animals in response to those parameters.FEDER 1FD97-089

El role playing como metodología docente en la asignatura de Enfermería del Niño y del Adolescente

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524Introducción: El seminario sobre “Problemas de salud en la edad pediátrica” que se realiza en la asignatura, se trata de una actividad formativa que consiste en el trabajo activo de los estudiantes en grupos reducidos. Se basa en la simulación, mediante la técnica del role playing, de diferentes problemas de salud. Con esta actividad se pretende que el estudiante adquiera competencias en la identificación, planificación y resolución de situaciones clínicas. El grupo (90 estudiantes) se divide en cuatro subgrupos de unos 20 estudiantes. Estos a su vez se agrupan en grupos de 4-5 estudiantes, y a cada grupo el profesorado le asigna un problema de salud para su preparación y presentación el resto del grupo. Esta actividad se evalúa por parte del profesora (50%), por los otros subgrupos (25%) y mediante autoevaluación (25%) Objetivos: Determinar el grado de satisfacción de los estudiantes en la utilización del role playing en la asignatura..

Morphosyntactic profiles of Spanish-speaking children with Down Syndrome in a sentence repetition task

Down Syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder that is characterized by language delay that is not directly related to the child´s non-verbal cognitive development. Morphology and syntax are the areas that are most affected. The goal of this presentation is to illustrate the morphosyntactic development of Spanish-speaking children with DS by means of a sentence repetition test. Participants were 50 children adolescents with DS compared to 50 typically developing (TD) mental age controls. Mental age (MA) of both groups was between 3 and 5;7 years determined by the Merrill-Palmer scales. Chronological age of the DS group ranged from 3;7 to 18;10 years and for the TD group between 3;3 and 6;7. Groups were matched by sex and MA. Observations were based on a Spanish version of the Devescovi & Caselli (2007) sentence repetition test. It consists of 27 simple phrases (between 3 and 7 words) with different structures and levels of complexity. The test was scored for number of complete sentences produced, MLU and number of omissions and errors (substitutions, additions, etc.) Similar to previous studies in other languages, the children with DS had inferior scores on all measures compared to TD peers. Still, accuracy does increase with age and this suggests that morphosyntactic abilities develop over time in children with DS. Moreover, results highlight that sentence repetition test is an useful measure of linguistic abilities in DS. These results are also discussed compared to the other groups of children presented in the symposium.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Genetic parameters of biokinematic variables of the trot in Spanish Purebred horses under experimental treadmill conditions

The purpose of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters of biokinematic variables in Spanish Purebred (SPB) horses in order to select those of sufficient interest to be measured in the pre-selection of the animals for possible inclusion in the breeding programme. Kinematic analysis of 130 SPB horses 4.6 ± 1.5 years old were recorded at the trot (4 m/s) on a treadmill. Genetic parameters were estimated using VCE software and a bivariate mixed animal model including age and stud as fixed effects and animal additive genetic effect and residual error as random effects. In general, heritabilities were high (0.33–0.88). The angular variables presented the lowest heritabilities, whereas the maximum height of the fore-hoof and the duration of swing phase in the hindlimb gave the highest scores. Genetic correlations were also very high, so it was possible to reduce the number of breeding programme characteristics to stride duration, hindlimb swing phase duration, range of stifle and elbow angles, minimal angle of carpus, and minimal retraction-protraction angle of the hindlimb.Unión Europea 1FD97-089

The potential implications of reclaimed wastewater reuse for irrigation on the agricultural environment: the knowns and unknowns of the fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes – a review

The use of reclaimed wastewater (RWW) for the irrigation of crops may result in the continuous exposure of the agricultural environment to antibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In recent years, certain evidence indicate that antibiotics and resistance genes may become disseminated in agricultural soils as a result of the amendment with manure and biosolids and irrigation with RWW. Antibiotic residues and other contaminants may undergo sorption/desorption and transformation processes (both biotic and abiotic), and have the potential to affect the soil microbiota. Antibiotics found in the soil pore water (bioavailable fraction) as a result of RWW irrigation may be taken up by crop plants, bioaccumulate within plant tissues and subsequently enter the food webs; potentially resulting in detrimental public health implications. It can be also hypothesized that ARGs can spread among soil and plant-associated bacteria, a fact that may have serious human health implications. The majority of studies dealing with these environmental and social challenges related with the use of RWW for irrigation were conducted under laboratory or using, somehow, controlled conditions. This critical review discusses the state of the art on the fate of antibiotics, ARB and ARGs in agricultural environment where RWW is applied for irrigation. The implications associated with the uptake of antibiotics by plants (uptake mechanisms) and the potential risks to public health are highlighted. Additionally, knowledge gaps as well as challenges and opportunities are addressed, with the aim of boosting future research towards an enhanced understanding of the fate and implications of these contaminants of emerging concern in the agricultural environment. These are key issues in a world where the increasing water scarcity and the continuous appeal of circular economy demand answers for a long-term safe use of RWW for irrigation