Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation

Background: Science curricula and teachers should emphasize evolution in a mannercommensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science. The concept of adaptationrepresents a first step to understand the results of natural selection. We settled an experimentalproject of alternative didactic to improve knowledge of organism adaptation. Students wereinvolved and stimulated in learning processes by creative activities. To set adaptation in a historicframe, fossil records as evidence of past life and evolution were considered.Results: The experimental project is schematized in nine phases: review of previous knowledge;lesson on fossils; lesson on fantastic animals; planning an imaginary world; creation of an imaginaryanimal; revision of the imaginary animals; adaptations of real animals; adaptations of fossil animals;and public exposition. A rubric to evaluate the student's performances is reported. The projectinvolved professors and students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the "G.Marconi" Secondary School of First Degree (Modena, Italy).Conclusion: The educational objectives of the project are in line with the National Indications ofthe Italian Ministry of Public Instruction: knowledge of the characteristics of living beings, themeanings of the term "adaptation", the meaning of fossils, the definition of ecosystem, and theparticularity of the different biomes. At the end of the project, students will be able to graspparticular adaptations of real organisms and to deduce information about the environment in whichthe organism evolved. This project allows students to review previous knowledge and to form theirpersonalities

Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation-0

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Fantastic animals as an experimental model to teach animal adaptation"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/S2/S13</p><p>BMC Evolutionary Biology 2007;7(Suppl 2):S13-S13.</p><p>Published online 16 Aug 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1963482.</p><p></p> drawing a map and a list of characteristics (e.g. temperature, day length, water availability, gravity, atmosphere composition, mountains, vegetation) of the imaginary world/environment. Posters were hung in the classroom for the gallery tour. A. The "Wild World" planet is characterized by mountains (covering the 75% of planet), rivers and active volcanoes. The climate is temperate. B. The "SEAM" planet has low gravity and it is characterized by two large islands with almost opposite environmental characteristics. The "Cold Island" with ice desert, tundra and taiga; the "Warm Island" with mountains and sandy dunes, covered by Mediterranean macchia-grassland

Development of a Nephrotic Syndrome in a Patient with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor during a Long-Time Treatment with Sunitinib

A patient with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) receiving second-line treatment with sunitinib developed edema, increase of the serum creatinine, weight gain, nephrotic syndrome with proteinuria of 12 g/24 h, dyslipidemia, hypoalbuminemia and also presented with hypertension. A kidney biopsy showed an immunocomplex glomerulonephritis. Steroid treatment was started, but the clinical conditions and laboratory values did not improve. So in the hypothesis that the nephrotic syndrome was induced by sunitinib, sunitinib was temporarily discontinued with a subsequent reduction of proteinuria and improvement in blood pressure control. In the last years, the introduction of sunitinib has modified the natural history of advanced GIST. However, due to chronic and prolonged intake of this drug, there is increasingly frequent detection of late and unknown toxicities in clinical practice. In particular, the late renal toxicity from sunitinib may be the primary clinical problem with this drug in the case of prolonged treatment. Monitoring of kidney function and blood pressure should be performed for early detection of side effects such as hypertension and kidney dysfunction in advanced GIST patients receiving long-term treatment with sunitinib. A clinical collaboration between oncologists and nephrologists could be useful with the objective to optimize the management of sunitinib

Gestione del trauma grave

Descrizione del libro Il titolo del libro \u201cLinee Guida\u2026\u201d \ue8 certamente fuori luogo. Le Linee Guida odierne sono il risultato di processi sistematici di analisi della letteratura e del grado di evidenza di ogni dato. Noi partiamo dal lavoro svolto da altri, gli esperti dei diversi settori, ma siamo alla terza edizione e per almeno due di noi sar\ue0, sicuramente, l\u2019ultima, per cui non ce la siamo sentita di cambiare il titolo in \u201cConsigli e Suggerimenti\u201d come sarebbe stato, forse, pi\uf9 opportuno

Hairy cell leukemias with unmutated IGHV genes define the minor subset refractory to single-agent cladribine and with more aggressive behavior

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is generally responsive to single-agent cladribine, and only a minority of patients are refractory and with poor prognosis. HCLs generally express mutated (M) and, in a minority, unmutated (UM) IGHV. In a multicenter clinical trial in newly diagnosed HCL, we prospectively investigated clinical and molecular parameters predicting response and event-free survival after single-agent cladribine. Of 58 HCLs, 6 expressed UM-IGHV (UM-HCL) and 52 M-IGHV (M-HCL). Beneficial responses were obtained in 53 of 58 patients (91%), whereas treatment failures were observed in 5 of 58 patients (9%). Failures were associated significantly with UM-IGHV (5 of 5 failures vs 1 of 53 beneficial responses had UM-IGHV, P &lt; .001), leukocytosis (3 of 5 vs 3 of 53, P = .006), and bulky spleen (4 of 5 vs 4 of 53, P &lt; .001). The UM-HCL not benefiting from cladribine characteristically had bulky spleen (4 of 5, 80%), leukocytosis (3 of 5, 60%), and TP53 defects (2 of 5, 40%), and progressed rapidly after first treatment (median event-free survival, 7.5 months). Our data suggest that UM-HCLs identify the minor subgroup failing cladribine treatment and with more aggressive disease. High incidence of TP53 dysfunction indicates a potential mechanism of resistance to cladribine in the UM-HCL group. Overall, our data provide new molecular elements relevant for treatment concerns in HCL