La documentación como estrategia para generar conocimiento. Implantación de la metodología en Posgrado y Doctorado

Presenta la experiencia desarrollada, inicialmente, con buenos resultados en la enseñanza de Grado, aplicada en el presente curso académico, a los niveles de Posgrado y Doctorado, con unos rendimientos muy satisfactorios en el aprendizaje del alumno. Se basa en utilizar la documentación como herramienta esencial para adquirir conocimiento. Para ello plantea una metodología docente en la cual la documentación es protagonista y participa de forma activa en el aprendizaje del alumno. Como objetivo se persigue que el alumno aprenda a “aprender a aprender” a través de la documentación y, a su vez sea observador de su propio autoaprendizaje, permitiéndole controlar los avances conseguidos, así como integrar al profesor y al alumno en un nuevo procedimiento de enseñanza, en el que a través del recurso de la documentación, se crea un nexo de unión que facilita el autoaprendizaje. Ofrece un valor añadido, ya que permite al alumno adquirir destrezas y habilidades en búsquedas documentales y en el uso de las tecnologías de la información, herramienta de gran utilidad para su formación curricular académica y para el desarrollo de su actividad profesional en el futuro. Se señala la importancia que adquiere el conocimiento de búsquedas documentales, para acceder al conocimiento y el apoyo que presta para conocer temática determinada requerida en el desarrollo de la actividad académica y profesional

Use of algorithms for the differential diagnosis of digestive and respiratory infectious disorders of pigs

La utilidad de los algoritmos en las especialidades médicas ha sido ampliamente documentada, aunque su empleo en sanidad animal resulta poco frecuente. Para este estudio se ha creado un algoritmo que incluyó el diagnóstico diferencial de los procesos infecciosos respiratorios y digestivos en la especie porcina. A continuación, se realizó una práctica con alumnos de tercer curso del Grado en Veterinaria de la asignatura “Enfermedades Infecciosas”, a los que se les ha facilitado información y la posibilidad de solicitar hasta cuatro pruebas diagnósticas laboratoriales para identificar correctamente el agente etiológico. Tras un período para la resolución del caso, en la que solo algunos grupos identificaron correctamente la enfermedad, se les facilitó el algoritmo, lo que permitió que todos los alumnos acertaran el diagnóstico. Finalizada la práctica, a los alumnos se les pasó una encuesta acerca de su experiencia con los algoritmos y su grado de satisfacción. El uso de algoritmos ha demostrado ser útil para la resolución de casos en la asignatura de enfermedades infecciosas según el 100% de los alumnos, habiendo un 96,9% de los mismos que los consideran útiles en el ámbito profesional. La práctica ha sido evaluada con un elevado grado de satisfacción (8,72 de media).The use of algorithms in medical specialties has been well documented. However, its use in animal health is not frequent. For this study, an algorithm on differential diagnosis of porcine infectious digestive and respiratory disorders has been designed. Then, a practice was carried out with third year students of the Degree in Veterinary Science enrolled in the subject "Infectious Diseases". During this practice, information on the outbreak was provided to the students, which had the possibility to request until four laboratory tests in order to identify the etiological agent. After a time for the resolution of the case, in which only some groups determined correctly the cause of the outbreak, the algorithm was provided to the students, which allowed to all of them the correct diagnosis of the disorder. After the practice, the students made a survey about their experience with the algorithms and their satisfaction degree. The use of algorithms was useful for the resolution of cases in the subject of infectious diseases according to 100% of the students, with 96.9% of them considering them useful in the professional work. The practice has been evaluated with a high degree of satisfaction (8.72 on average)

1,4-Bis(alkylamino)benzo[g]phthalazines able to form dinuclear complexes of Cu(II) which as free ligands behave as SOD inhibitors and show efficient in vitro activity against Trypanosoma cruzi

The synthesis of a new series of 1,4-bis(alkylamino)benzo[g]phthalazines 1–3 is reported, and their ability to form dinuclear complexes with Cu(II) assayed. The geometry of the complexes is dependent on the nature of the electron-donor sites at the sidechains. Compounds 1 and 2, that contain sp3 or sp2 nitrogens at the end of the alkylamino groups, originate monopodal dinuclear complexes which seem to include endogenous OH bridges, and the sidechains seem to actively participate in complexation. However, the substitution of nitrogen by oxygen in 3 leads to a tripodal dinuclear complex in which the sidechains are not involved. The in vitro antiparasitic activity on Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes and amastigotes and the SOD activity inhibition have been evaluated for compounds 1–3, and, as expected, 1 and 2 show in all cases relevant results, whereas 3 is always the less active among the three substrates tested.The authors thank the Spanish Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia for the economical support given to this work (SAF99-0066)

Nuclear receptor NR5A2 and bone: gene expression and association with bone mineral density

ObjectiveThere is growing evidence for a link between energy and bone metabolism. The nuclear receptor subfamily 5 member A2 (NR5A2) is involved in lipid metabolism and modulates the expression of estrogen-related genes in some tissues. The objective of this study was to explore the influence of NR5A2 on bone cells and to determine whether its allelic variations are associated with bone mineral density (BMD).DesignAnalyses of gene expression by quantitative PCR and inhibition of NR5A2 expression by siRNAs were used to explore the effects of NR5A2 in osteoblasts. Femoral neck BMD and 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were first analyzed in 935 postmenopausal women and the association of NR5A2 genetic variants with BMD was explored in other 1284 women in replication cohorts.ResultsNR5A2 was highly expressed in bone. The inhibition of NR5A2 confirmed that it modulates the expression of osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin, and podoplanin in osteoblasts. Two SNPs were associated with BMD in the Spanish discovery cohort (rs6663479, P=0.0014, and rs2816948, P=0.0012). A similar trend was observed in another Spanish cohort, with statistically significant differences across genotypes in the combined analysis (P=0.03). However, the association in a cohort from the United States was rather weak. Electrophoretic mobility assays and studies with luciferase reporter vectors confirmed the existence of differences in the binding of nuclear proteins and the transcriptional activity of rs2816948 alleles.ConclusionsNR5A2 modulates gene expression in osteoblasts and some allelic variants are associated with bone mass in Spanish postmenopausal women

Pneumocystis jirovecii Transmission from Immunocompetent Carriers to Infant

We report a case of Pneumocystis jirovecii transmission from colonized grandparents to their infant granddaughter. Genotyping of P. jirovecii showed the same genotypes in samples from the infant and her grandparents. These findings support P. jirovecii transmission from immunocompetent carrier adults to a susceptible child

Development and validation of an HIV risk exposure and indicator conditions questionnaire to support targeted HIV screening

The aim of our study was to develop a Spanish-structured HIV risk of exposure and indicator conditions (RE&IC) questionnaire. People attending to an emergency room or to a primary clinical care center were offered to participate in a prospective, 1 arm, open label study, in which all enrolled patients filled out our developed questionnaire and were HIV tested. Questionnaire accuracy, feasibility, and reliability were evaluated. Valid paired 5329 HIV RE&IC questionnaire and rapid HIV tests were performed, 69.3% in the primary clinical care center, 49.6% women, median age 37 years old, 74.9% Spaniards, 20.1% Latin-Americans. Confirmed hidden HIV infection was detected in 4.1%, while HIV RE&IC questionnaire was positive in 51.2%. HIV RE&IC questionnaire sensitivity was 100% to predict HIV infection, with a 100% negative predictive value. When considered separately, RE or IC items sensitivity decreases to 86.4% or 91%, and similarly their negative predictive value to 99.9% for both of them. The majority of people studied, 90.8% self-completed HIV RE&IC questionnaire. Median time to complete was 3 minutes. Overall HIV RE&IC questionnaire test-retest Kappa agreement was 0.82 (almost perfect), likewise for IC items 0.89, while for RE items was lower 0.78 (substantial). A feasible and reliable Spanish HIV RE&IC self questionnaire accurately discriminated all non–HIV-infected people without missing any HIV diagnoses, in a low prevalence HIV infection area. The best accuracy and reliability were obtained when combining HIV RE&IC items

Development of skills and contents on wildlife within the Degree of Veterinary Medicine and Master's Degree of Animal Medicine, Healthcare and Improvement

El número y variedad de especies silvestres presentes en Andalucía hacen de esta Comunidad una de las regiones de mayor biodiversidad de Europa. Así mismo, los cambios en materia medioambiental producidos en la sociedad en las últimas décadas se han visto reflejados en una mayor integración y unificación de los distintos mecanismos de conservación y aprovechamiento de recursos naturales. Todo ello, implica una mayor demanda por parte de la sociedad de profesionales cualificados en materia de biología, gestión, sanidad y conservación de las especies silvestres. El objetivo principal del presente estudio fue proporcionar a los estudiantes de Grado en Veterinaria y Máster en Medicina, Sanidad y Mejora Animal de la Universidad de Córdoba (UCO; España), competencias, habilidades y destrezas necesarias para su desarrollo profesional en materia de biología, gestión, sanidad y conservación de las especies silvestres. Este estudio implicó la participación de un equipo multidisciplinar de profesores de diversas Áreas de conocimiento. En total, han participado 10 profesores y dos becarios de dos Departamentos y tres Áreas de conocimiento diferentes. Los resultados del estudio implicaron también el desarrollo de nuevas metodologías y material didáctico que se incorporó a la docencia teórico-práctica de cinco asignaturas del Grado en Veterinaria y del Máster Máster en Medicina, Sanidad y Mejora Animal. Un total de 105 alumnos matriculados en las asignaturas Enfermedades infecciosas en el Grado en Veterinaria y Enfermedades en animales silvestres y de zoológico en el Máster en Medicina, Sanidad y Mejora Animal de la UCO participaron en 28 salidas entre los meses de octubre de 2015 y junio de 2016. Las actividades realizadas permitieron a los estudiantes adquirir competencias básicas, transversales y específicas relacionadas con las principales funciones del veterinario que desarrolla su actividad profesional en el ámbito de la fauna silvestre y habilidades y destrezas relativas a la identifiación de especies silvestres, identificación de lesiones y técnicas de toma de muestras biológicas en estas especies. Además, los resultados de este estudio ha permitido elaborar material audiovisual y material biológico dirigidos a la asimilación de conceptos teóricos-prácticos de las diferentes asignaturas.The diversity of wildlife species present in Andalusia makes this community one of the most biodiverse within Europe. Furthermore, the environmental changes affecting the society over the last few decades show a greater integration and unification of conservation mechanisms and exploitation of natural resources. These factors implicate an higher demand of specialists in biology, management, healthcare and wildlife conservation. The main objective of this study was to provide undergraduates studying the Degree in Veterinary Medicine as well as postgraduates studying the Master's Degree in Animal Medicine, Health and Improvement at the University of Cordoba (Spain), the skills and abilities needed for their professional training, particularly across biology, management, health and wildlife conservation. This work involved the cooperation of a multidisciplinary team which included professors from different fields of knowledge. The present study was carried out by 10 professors and two PhD students from two departments and three fields of knowledge. New methodologies and teaching materials were developed and implemented as theoretical and practical teaching in at least four subjects of the Degree in Veterinary Medicine and another one in the Master's Degree in Animal Medicine, Healthcare and Improvement. A total of 105 students participated in 28 external fieldwork between October 2015 and June 2016. The activities enabled students to obtain basic, transversal and specif skills in the Degree in Veterinary Medicine related to the main functions of the wildlife vets, including species and diseases recognition and sampling methods in wildlife. Moreover, biological and audiovisual tools were developed in order to help the assimilation of theoretical-practical concepts of the differents subjets

Metodología Para La Evaluación Técnica De Proyectos De Infraestructura Educativa

This article describes a technical evaluation of studies or consultancies, using an adaptation of the methodology of multi-criteria analysis, usually applied in prioritization of programs and projects and evaluation of development projects. The methodology allows integration of the different criteria expressed by a group of professionals responsible for review and approval of consultancy studies used for the implementation of the country’s new Millennium Educational Units. The result of the technical evaluation of consulting with this methodology is quantitative, but qualitative variables complement our work

Clinical utility of urinary gluten immunogenic peptides in the follow-up of patients with coeliac disease

[Background] Gluten-free diet (GFD) is the only treatment for patients with coeliac disease (CD) and its compliance should be monitored to avoid cumulative damage.[Aims] To analyse gluten exposures of coeliac patients on GFD for at least 24 months using different monitoring tools and its impact on duodenal histology at 12-month follow-up and evaluate the interval of determination of urinary gluten immunogenic peptides (u-GIP) for the monitoring of GFD adherence.[Methods] Ninety-four patients with CD on a GFD for at least 24 months were prospectively included. Symptoms, serology, CDAT questionnaire, and u-GIP (three samples/visit) were analysed at inclusion, 3, 6, and 12 months. Duodenal biopsy was performed at inclusion and 12 months.[Results] At inclusion, 25.8% presented duodenal mucosal damage; at 12 months, this percentage reduced by half. This histological improvement was indicated by a reduction in u-GIP but did not correlate with the remaining tools. The determination of u-GIP detected a higher number of transgressions than serology, regardless of histological evolution type. The presence of >4 u-GIP-positive samples out of 12 collected during 12 months predicted histological lesion with a specificity of 93%. Most patients (94%) with negative u-GIP in ≥2 follow-up visits showed the absence of histological lesions (p < 0.05).[Conclusion] This study suggests that the frequency of recurrent gluten exposures, according to serial determination of u-GIP, could be related to the persistence of villous atrophy and that a more regular follow-up every 6 months, instead of annually, provides more useful data about the adequate adherence to GFD and mucosal healing.This study was funded in part by Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (PI-0427-2017 and PI-0053-2018).Peer reviewe