Promoting teacher competencies towards sustainability conducted through STEAM interventions in IndagaSTEAM Escuela Project.

Education improves constantly, so lifelong learning and continuing education/professional development are a way of being updated on almost every innovative knowledge approach and learning strategy. STEM education contributes to scaffold a holistic educational framework curriculum. In this line, to establish School Culture supporting STEM education is relevant to foster an education reform at all levels. Place-based learning STEM approach in real-life contexts provides school subjects meaningful elements either for teachers/professors or students. Furthermore, when implementing constructivist teaching-learning approach, problem-based learning, and connections with real world items in the classroom, STEM approach is very efficient, specially using inquiry-based strategies. However, STEM Education goal refers to a holistic integration of STEM areas across the curriculum, although it seems to lack specific scientific literature related to how STEM acronym (and disciplines) should be implemented, because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. IndagaSTEAM Escuela Project is an experience to promote transfer of learning for students during their teacher training at schools -for compulsory education- to develop students' key competencies, conducted through cooperation between schools and universities by mentoring interventions. The Project program considers the following points: a) Teacher/Student centered approach, b) A curricula reform, new organizational system and new teaching materials, c) HE & School projects implementing inquiry-based learning and place-based learning, d) Teaching and activities selection and design for Professionals and Students, and e) Activity impact evaluation to aim the goal. The program professional development of participants (teachers) is mainly focused on empowering and motivating learners to become active sustainability citizens, fostering critical thinking, and participating in shaping a sustainable future.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Ayudando a maestros en formación inicial a desarrollar indagaciones en la Educación Infantil

La indagación se presenta como un enfoque adecuado para iniciar la alfabetización científica en edades tempranas. La formación inicial de maestros se considera como un aspecto clave para llevar la indagación a las aulas de Educación Infantil. Sin embargo, son escasos los programas específicos de indagación que incluyen la transferencia a la práctica para formar a maestros de esta etapa educativa. Este trabajo presenta los fundamentos, principios de diseño y secuencia de actividades de un programa formativo centrado en la indagación para estudiantes del Grado en Educación Infantil que integra la formación académica y profesional. Se ha desarrollado en dos centros de formación distintos enmarcado en las asignaturas de Didáctica de las Ciencias de la Naturaleza, Practicum III y Trabajo Fin de Grado. El trabajo muestra la valoración que los participantes hacen del uso de la indagación en la Educación Infantil. El análisis de esta valoración nos permite hacer propuestas de mejora sobre el propio programa. Palabras clave: Indagación, formación inicial de maestros, Educación Infantil, formación académica y profesional, transferencia a la práctica. Helping pre-service teachers to develop inquiries in Early Childhood Education Abstract: Inquiry is presented as an appropriate approach to initiate scientific literacy at early ages. Initial teacher training is considered a key aspect of bring inquiry into Early Childhood classrooms. However, there are few specific inquiry programmes including transfer to practice in order to train teachers at this stage of education. This paper presents the foundations, the design principles and the sequence of activities of an inquiry-based training programme for Early Childhood pre-service teachers integrating academic and professional training. It has been developed in two different training centers framed in the subjects of Natural Science Education, Practicum III and Final Degree Project. The assessment that the participants make of the use of the inquiry in Early Childhood Education is presented in this paper. The analysis of this assessment allows us to make proposals in order to improve the programme. Keywords: Inquiry, initial teacher training, Early Childhood Education, academic and vocational training, transfer to practice.La indagación se presenta como un enfoque adecuado para iniciar la alfabetización científica en edades tempranas. La formación inicial de maestros se considera como un aspecto clave para llevar la indagación a las aulas de Educación Infantil. Sin embargo, son escasos los programas específicos de indagación que incluyen la transferencia a la práctica para formar a maestros de esta etapa educativa. Este trabajo presenta los fundamentos, principios de diseño y secuencia de actividades de un programa formativo centrado en la indagación para estudiantes del Grado en Educación Infantil que integra la formación académica y profesional. Se ha desarrollado en dos centros de formación distintos enmarcado en las asignaturas de Didáctica de las Ciencias de la Naturaleza, Practicum III y Trabajo Fin de Grado. El trabajo muestra la valoración que los participantes hacen del uso de la indagación en la Educación Infantil. El análisis de esta valoración nos permite hacer propuestas de mejora sobre el propio programa. Palabras clave: Indagación, formación inicial de maestros, Educación Infantil, formación académica y profesional, transferencia a la práctica. Helping pre-service teachers to develop inquiries in Early Childhood Education Abstract: Inquiry is presented as an appropriate approach to initiate scientific literacy at early ages. Initial teacher training is considered a key aspect of bring inquiry into Early Childhood classrooms. However, there are few specific inquiry programmes including transfer to practice in order to train teachers at this stage of education. This paper presents the foundations, the design principles and the sequence of activities of an inquiry-based training programme for Early Childhood pre-service teachers integrating academic and professional training. It has been developed in two different training centers framed in the subjects of Natural Science Education, Practicum III and Final Degree Project. The assessment that the participants make of the use of the inquiry in Early Childhood Education is presented in this paper. The analysis of this assessment allows us to make proposals in order to improve the programme. Keywords: Inquiry, initial teacher training, Early Childhood Education, academic and vocational training, transfer to practice

Transancestral mapping and genetic load in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with marked gender and ethnic disparities. We report a large transancestral association study of SLE using Immunochip genotype data from 27,574 individuals of European (EA), African (AA) and Hispanic Amerindian (HA) ancestry. We identify 58 distinct non-HLA regions in EA, 9 in AA and 16 in HA (B50% of these regions have multiple independent associations); these include 24 novel SLE regions (Po5 10 8), refined association signals in established regions, extended associations to additional ancestries, and a disentangled complex HLA multigenic effect. The risk allele count (genetic load) exhibits an accelerating pattern of SLE risk, leading us to posit a cumulative hit hypothesis for autoimmune disease. Comparing results across the three ancestries identifies both ancestry-dependent and ancestry-independent contributions to SLE risk. Our results are consistent with the unique and complex histories of the populations sampled, and collectively help clarify the genetic architecture and ethnic disparities in SL

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals

does participating in national and ethnic associations promote migrant integration a study with young first and second generation migrants

On arrival to a new country, migrants usually face language barriers, cultural barriers, discrimination, and other sources of unjust contextual conditions that lower their chances of a successful life (Handy and Greenspan, Nonprofit Volunt Sect Q 38:956–982, 2009). This scenario compromises their levels of well-being and supports a tendency toward social fragmentation in places of settlement (Garcia-Ramirez et al., Am J Community Psychol 47(1–2), 86–97, 2011). In response to this situation, migrants' engagement in civic life has been identified as an important element for developing both individual well-being and cohesive communities (Gilster, J Community Psychol 40(7), 769–784, 2012) (Stoll and Wong, Int Migr Rev 41(4), 880–908, 2007). Using a qualitative study, the present work explores the effects of activism on youth of sub-Saharan African origin, of the first and second generations, who are active in national and ethnic associations. The work aims to explore (1) through narratives the meaning that integration has for young migrants; (2) how integrated they feel; and (3) the role of the association, both national and ethnic, in the perception of integration of these young people

Análisis del diseño de un proyecto ABP STEAM para educación primaria sobre alimentación saludable

Este trabajo analiza el diseño de un proyecto sobre la alimentación saludable, siguiendo la metodología del ABP y un tratamiento interdisciplinar e integrador del currículo de Educación Primaria (EP), orientado a promover las competencias científicas mediante prácticas de indagación escolar. La propuesta fue diseñada por maestros del segundo ciclo en su iniciación formativa en estas metodologías, en una intervención educativa del proyecto IndagaSTEAM Escuela. El diseño realizado se ha valorado con la rúbrica ABPMap que analiza las componentes didácticas vinculadas a la competencia científica y el papel de la apertura de las actividades e interdisciplinariedad que conllevan. Los resultados muestran un nivel de desarrollo medio-bajo en las componentes analizadas. Así, contexto y contenido son las de mayor nivel de logro mientras que conflicto, discurso, grado de apertura e interdisciplinariedad, son manifiestamente mejorables. Se constata la necesidad de seguir profundizando en la formación docente para la transferencia de estas estrategias al aulaProyecto de Mejora y Coordinación docente Desarrollo de Competencias docentes en PFI de Ed. Infantil, Primaria y Secundaria, con la enseñanza de prácticas científicas de indagación y enfoques STEM en la educación científica, (Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Málaga) Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis.

Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals

Evaluation of imputation-based association in and around the integrin-?-M (ITGAM) gene and replication of robust association between a non-synonymous functional variant within ITGAM and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

We recently identified a novel non-synonymous variant, rs1143679, at exon 3 of the ITGAM gene associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility in European-Americans (EAs) and African-Americans. Using genome-wide association approach, three other studies also independently reported an association between SLE susceptibility and ITGAM or ITGAM-ITGAX region. The primary objectives of this study are to assess whether single or multiple causal variants from the same gene or any nearby gene(s) are involved in SLE susceptibility and to confirm a robust ITGAM association across nine independent data sets (n = 8211). First, we confirmed our previously reported association of rs1143679 (risk allele 'A') with SLE in EAs (P = 1.0 × 10-8) and Hispanic-Americans (P = 2.9 × 10-5). Secondly, using a comprehensive imputation-based association test, we found that ITGAM is one of the major non-human leukocyte antigen susceptibility genes for SLE, and the strongest association for EA is the same coding variant rs1143679 (log10Bayes factor=20, P = 6.17 × 10-24). Thirdly, we determined the robustness of rs1143679 association with SLE across three additional case-control samples, including UK (P = 6.2 × 10-8), Colombian (P = 3.6 × 10-7), Mexican (P = 0.002), as well as two independent sets of trios from UK (P TDT = 1.4 × 10-5) and Mexico (P TDT = 0.015). A meta-analysis combing all independent data sets greatly reinforces the association (P meta = 7.1 × 10-50, odds ratio = 1.83, 95% confidence interval = 1.69-1.98, n = 10 046). However, this ITGAM association was not observed in the Korean or Japanese samples, in which rs1143679 is monomorphic for the non-risk allele (G). Taken together along with our earlier findings, these results demonstrate that the coding variant, rs1143679, best explains the ITGAM- SLE association, especially in European- and African-derived populations, but not in Asian populations. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals