Reaching for the Holy Grail: insights from infection/cure models on the prospects for vaccines for Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Prevention of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mammals likely depends on either prevention of the invading trypomastigotes from infecting host cells or the rapid recognition and killing of the newly infected cells by T. cruzi-specific T cells. We show here that multiple rounds of infection and cure (by drug therapy) fails to protect mice from reinfection, despite the generation of potent T cell responses. This disappointing result is similar to that obtained with many other vaccine protocols used in attempts to protect animals from T. cruzi infection. We have previously shown that immune recognition of T. cruzi infection is significantly delayed both at the systemic level and at the level of the infected host cell. The systemic delay appears to be the result of a stealth infection process that fails to trigger substantial innate recognition mechanisms while the delay at the cellular level is related to the immunodominance of highly variable gene family proteins, in particular those of the trans-sialidase family. Here we discuss how these previous studies and the new findings herein impact our thoughts on the potential of prophylactic vaccination to serve a productive role in the prevention of T. cruzi infection and Chagas disease

El refugio del fénix : efectos del ejercicio de la escritura en personas, víctimas del conflicto armado en la ciudad de Medellín

RESUMEN: El presente trabajo se ocupa de los efectos del proceso de escritura llevada a cabo por mujeres de la ciudad de Medellín, participantes del taller “narrativas del desplazamiento para la construcción de identidad” desde un enfoque cualitativo fenomenológico-hermenéutico. Los resultados dan cuenta de efectos reparadores en las dimensiones personal, familiar, grupal, social y política de las participantes. En este sentido se evidencia el aporte de la escritura con victimas bajo una modalidad que va más allá del evento traumático, propiciando el encuentro con sus propias búsquedas estéticas y la re-significación de identidades individuales y colectivas.ABSTRACT: The present work deals with the effects of the writing process carried out by women from the city of Medellin-Colombia, participants of the workshop "Narratives of displacement for the construction of identity" from a phenomenological-hermeneutical qualitative approach. The results show reparative effects in the personal, family, group, social and political dimensions of the participants. In this sense the contribution of writing with victims under a modality that goes beyond the traumatic event is evidenced, favoring the encounter with their own aesthetic searches and the re-signification of individual and collective identities

Relation between executive functions and screen time exposure in under 6 year-olds: a meta-analysis

Some previous research works have reported potential benefits of screen media use in children aged under 6 years, and others have evidenced that screen media use might be particularly detrimental. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide the first meta-analytic synthesis of existing research on the relation between overall screen time use and EFs. To address this issue, the current meta-analysis aimed to review the relations between overall screen time and EF in infants, toddlers and preschoolers. A systematic search was done on Web of Science and EBSCO to identify the eligible studies published until January 2023. Fifteen manuscripts with 6922 participants aged 0–6 years were included, and yielded 44 effect sizes. Three-level models were carried out, and the following study characteristics were tested as potential moderators: mean age, percentage of females, EF type, and whether exposure was active or passive. There was no statistically significant association in the relation between overall time use and EF or in the chosen moderators. Nevertheless, the study highlights the need to consider other contextual-related and development-related factors to determine the overall screen time use effect on EF in children

Qualitative analyses of e-learning implementation and hybrid teaching during the covid-19 pandemic at Spanish universities

During the COVID-19 pandemic over the academic year 2020–2021, many universities and faculties had to deal with hybrid teaching by combining face-to-face and virtual teaching approaches. The main objective herein considered was to analyze the perceptions of students and teachers from Spanish universities regarding how e-learning has actually been adopted before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. We also wished to know their opinions about the usefulness and applicability of the e-learning and hybrid teaching methodologies regarding their impacts on the teaching–learning process in the university context. A thematic analysis was performed using three discussion groups (two made up of four teachers each, and another comprising five teachers with university management posts). Seventy-nine open questionnaires completed by students were also analyzed. The participants were from eight different Spanish universities: six public and two private. The obtained results revealed a preference for face-to-face teaching over virtual teaching, and the advantages offered by closer interpersonal relationships were stressed. However, the participants also indicated the potential of the e-learning and hybrid teaching methodologies, which they believed complemented one another and reinforced learning personalization. Thus, a specific need for training in the e-learning methodology and hybrid teaching format was apparent

A qualitative qnalysis of implementing e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown

The existing literature evidences the potential of the e-learning methodology, although some call it into question. Our study aimed to analyse the real scope of applying this methodology type to a lockdown situation like that caused by COVID-19. It could provide the scientific and educational community with useful novel information on e-learning and its real adequacy for schools in pre-university educational stages. This qualitative study was designed using questionnaires with open-ended questions for students and semistructured interviews for teachers, management board members, and families of students of Primary and Secondary Education. The scripts of data collection tools were made ad hoc. The thematic analysis was carried out in accordance with the study dimensions by relating the access and use of technological resources in classrooms, implementing the e-learning methodology during face-to-face teaching, and finally knowing the effects of its application during remote teaching in the lockdown situation. The results clearly show a need to adapt and adjust the implementation of this methodology by considering not only its specificities, but also a combination of e-learning and traditional teaching methodologies can help to introduce information and communication technologies (ICT) into classrooms. To conclude, including such a methodology in the educational context can be argued for, provided that specific training is received to allow the potential of both online and traditional teaching to be leveraged

Plaguicidas y salud de la población

Los plaguicidas son la forma dominante del combate a las plagas. Su empleo conlleva diversos riesgos, tanto para el ambiente como para la salud de los trabajadores expuestos y de la población en general. Los efectos a la salud de tipo agudo eran anteriormente los más considerados; sin embargo, en las dos últimas décadas han tomado importancia los efectos crónicos, tales como daños en el sistema nervioso central, teratogénesis, mutaciones, cáncer, entre otros. En este artículo se resumen los principales efectos a la salud reportados en la literatura mundial por la exposición a plaguicidas, particularmente los de tipo crónico en la población ocupacionalmente expuesta, concluyendo con las propuestas de investigación hechas en el área

Análisis de las actitudes del profesorado de centros públicos y concertados hacia la inclusión del ajedrez como herramienta de innovación educativa: evidencias iniciales

En la actualidad, uno de los recursos pedagógicos con más repercusión en los centros educativos se encuentra relacionado con un deporte como el ajedrez. El objetivo principal de esta investigación es analizar las actitudes de los docentes sobre la inclusión del ajedrez como una herramienta innovadora. También se analizó si existen diferencias entre la actitud entre los profesores de colegios públicos y concertados respecto a la implementación y uso del ajedrez en colegios. Este estudio se basa en la aplicación de una metodología selectiva, en la que administramos un cuestionario de 30 ítems a 83 profesores de Educación Infantil y Primaria de las Comunidades Autónomas de Aragón y Comunidad Valenciana (España). Los resultados mostraron que la actitud general de los docentes es positiva al considerar el ajedrez como una herramienta innovadora y, además, que pueden existir diferencias de actitud entre docentes según el tipo de centro educativo al que pertenecen. Currently, one of the pedagogical resources with the greatest impact in educational centers is related to sports such as chess. The main objective of this research is to analyze the attitudes of teachers about the inclusion of chess as an innovative tool. It was also analyzed if there are differences between the attitude among public and private school teachers regarding the implementation and use of chess in schools. This study is based on the application of a selective methodology, in which we administered a questionnaire of 30 items to 83 teachers of Early Childhood and Primary Education of the Autonomous Communities of Aragon and Valencia (Spain). The results show that the general attitude of teachers is positive when considering the type of innovative tool and, furthermore, that there may be differences in attitude among teachers according to the type of educational element to which they belong

Implementación de propuesta pedagógica que desde el arte promueva la de articulación curricular entre la educación inicial y básica primaria en las instituciones educativas del municipio de Luruaco

These investigations contemplate a critical look at the processes of the curricular articulation of the teaching practice and promote the implementation of a pedagogical proposal that through the arts the transition degrees and first grade in the 7 public schools of the Municipality of Luruaco of the Department of Atlantic, be strengthened and generate spaces for permanent reflection on the pedagogical practices of the 37 teachers of these grades who work there. for this purpose, a socio-critical type of research was carried out, where the participatory research technique was used to characterize the pedagogical action of the teachers, and based on the context, the construction of didactic instruments mediated by art and movement that complements and the teaching-learning processes in this municipality.Estas investigaciones contemplan una mirada crítica sobre los procesos la articulación curricular de la práctica docente y promueve la implementación de una propuesta pedagógica que a través de las artes los grados de transición y primero de primaria en las 7 escuelas públicas del Municipio de Luruaco del Departamento Del Atlántico, se fortalezca y genere espacios de reflexión permanente sobre las practicas pedagógicas de los 37 docentes de estos grados que allí laboran. para tal fin se realizó una investigación de tipo socio crítico, en donde se utilizó la técnica de investigación participativa para caracterizar la acción pedagógica de los docentes, y con base a el contexto realizar la construcción instrumentos didácticos mediados por el arte y el movimiento que complementen y los procesos enseñanza aprendizaje en este municipio

Combining H-FABP and GFAP increases the capacity to differentiate between CT-positive and CT-negative patients with mild traumatic brain injury

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients may have trauma-induced brain lesions detectable using CT scans. However, most patients will be CT-negative. There is thus a need for an additional tool to detect patients at risk. Single blood biomarkers, such as S100B and GFAP, have been widely studied in mTBI patients, but to date, none seems to perform well enough. In many different diseases, combining several biomarkers into panels has become increasingly interesting for diagnoses and to enhance classification performance. The present study evaluated 13 proteins individually—H-FABP, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9, VCAM, ICAM, SAA, CRP, GSTP, NKDA, PRDX1, DJ-1 and IL-10—for their capacity to differentiate between patients with and without a brain lesion according to CT results. The best performing proteins were then compared and combined with the S100B and GFAP proteins into a CT-scan triage panel. Patients diagnosed with mTBI, with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 and one additional clinical symptom were enrolled at three different European sites. A blood sample was collected at hospital admission, and a CT scan was performed. Patients were divided into two two-centre cohorts and further dichotomised into CT-positive and CT-negative groups for statistical analysis. Single markers and panels were evaluated using Cohort 1. Four proteins—H-FABP, IL-10, S100B and GFAP—showed significantly higher levels in CT-positive patients. The best-performing biomarker was H-FABP, with a specificity of 32% (95% CI 23–40) and sensitivity reaching 100%. The best-performing two-marker panel for Cohort 1, subsequently validated in Cohort 2, was a combination of H-FABP and GFAP, enhancing specificity to 46% (95% CI 36–55). When adding IL-10 to this panel, specificity reached 52% (95% CI 43–61) with 100% sensitivity. These results showed that proteins combined into panels could be used to efficiently classify CT-positive and CT-negative mTBI patients

Una herramienta matricial para el modelado en 2-d de algunos problemas de contacto elástico

En los contactos localizados, la búsqueda de las relaciones entre la carga, la geometría de los cuerpos, sus propiedades elásticas y la geometría de la zona de contacto, constituye un campo del conocimiento de alto impacto tecnológico. El conocimiento de estas relaciones permite entender mejor el comportamiento de los sistemas tribológicos para mejorar su diseño y desempeño. Este artículo busca dar a conocer una herramienta matricial útil para el modelado de problemas bidimiensionales de contactos elásticos. Basada en una generalización del problema de Flamant, dicha matriz constituye un vínculo entre los desplazamientos perpendiculares a la superficie que experimentan los puntos de ésta y la forma como se distribuye la carga en la zona de contacto, permitiendo encontrar una de estas variables en función de la otra. Esta es una herramienta sencilla y de gran utilidad para la solución de problemas complejos de este tipo. Para mostrar su utilidad, esta matriz fue empleada para resolver el problema del contacto elástico entre dos cilindros largos, problema inicialmente planteado por Hertz; los resultados encontrados son iguales a los obtenidos por Hertz en su solución analítica