Identification of students' mental models about the milk transformation in yogurt

A review of the scientific literature reveals that there are still few researches on the conceptions of secondary school students about chemical reactions involving microorganisms, especially those related to the mental models that students use in their explanations. This paper describes a study concerning the different mental models related to the milk transformation into yogurt with 83 students from a Spanish secondary school of 8th and 9th grade (13-16 years) developed in the framework of a research that intends to use the elaboration of this product as a context for the teaching and learning of chemical reactions through modeling approaches. In order to identify the mental models of the students, in this paper we consider the milk transformation into yogurt as a process in which its main components are: the entities involved (milk and bacteria), the interaction between them and the result (yogurt). A simplified school model of this process would involve students considering that bacteria use the sugar in milk to transform it into lactic acid through a chemical reaction to obtain the necessary energy. Using this scheme in interaction with the students' answers, the underlying mental models were identified. Although almost half of the students showed great difficulties explaining the process, five models have been identified. Students often consider the milk transformation into yogurt primarily as a physical process of agglutination or change of state. These models are far from a school model of reference in which the bacteria have a fundamental role in the transformation of milk into yogurt by a chemical reaction.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Integrating the scientific practices of argumentation, inquiry and modelling in a context of daily life. Secondary students’ assessments

Este trabajo se enmarca en una línea de investigación que pretende la integración del desarrollo de prácticas científicas (argumentación, indagación y modelización) en el contexto de problemas o situaciones de la vida diaria. Se ha diseñado, implementado y evaluado una secuencia de enseñanza-aprendizaje cuya finalidad es el desarrollo de dichas prácticas científicas utilizando como contexto la elaboración de yogur. En concreto, este trabajo analiza las valoraciones sobre esta secuencia de estudiantes de 4º ESO de dos centros utilizando diferentes instrumentos en distintos momentos de la secuencia. Destaca el alto grado de implicación del alumnado y su percepción de la secuencia como innovadora e interesante. Sin embargo, no todas las tareas son percibidas de igual forma, siendo las relacionadas con indagación y modelización las más y menos valoradas respectivamente. Los resultados obtenidos apuntan a que desde la perspectiva de los estudiantes la integración de estas prácticas científicas es viable, dando lugar a secuencias de enseñanza-aprendizaje que sean de su interés y en las que se impliquen.This paper is part of a research line that aims to integrate the development of scientific practices (argumentation, inquiry and modelling) in the context of problems or situations of daily life. A teaching-learning sequence has been designed, implemented and evaluated of such scientific practices using yogurt production as a context. Specifically, this work analyzes the evaluations of this sequence in high school students from two schools using different instruments at various moments in the teaching sequence. Among the conclusions obtained, the high degree of involvement of the students and their perception of the sequence as innovative and interesting stand out. However, not all scientific practices are perceived in the same way, with inquiry and modelling being the most and least valued practices respectively. The results obtained suggest that the integration of these scientific practices is possible from the perspective of the students, giving rise to teaching-learning sequences that are interesting and in which they are involved

Secondary students’ mental models about milk transformation into yogurt

Los modelos mentales de los estudiantes proporcionan información valiosa sobre sus marcos conceptuales, es decir, sus estructuras de conocimiento subyacentes que pueden ayudar a mejorar el diseño de actividades de aprendizaje en el aula. Este trabajo investiga los modelos mentales de 153 estudiantes de secundaria obligatoria de entre 13 y 15 años sobre la transformación de la leche en yogur y propone un modelo escolar. Los datos se recogieron con dos tareas que demandaban explicar esta transformación a través de respuestas verbales y dibujos. A partir de las respuestas de los alumnos se identificaron siete modelos mentales, de los cuales cuatro (la fermentación es un proceso mecánico, implica un aumento en el número de bacterias, consiste en una mezcla macroscópica, y las bacterias como aglutinante de moléculas) deben considerarse como una aportación de este trabajo, al no haber sido identificados en estudios previos en esta etapa educativa. No obstante, los modelos están aún muy alejados del modelo escolar de fermentación láctica, por lo que se plantea la necesidad de recurrir a nuevas estrategias didácticas para avanzar en su progresión.The students’ mental models provide valuable information about their conceptual frameworks, that is, their underlying structures of knowledge that can help improve the design of the learning activities in class. This paper investigates the mental models of 153 secondary students aged 13 to 15, on the milk transformation into yogurt and a teaching model is proposed. The data were collected with two tasks that demanded to explain this transformation through verbal answers and drawings. Based on the students’ responses, seven different mental models were identified, of which four (the fermentation is a mechanical process, implies an increase in the number of bacteria, it consists of a mixture, and the bacteria as a binder of molecules) must be regarded as a contribution of this work to not have been identified in previous studies in this educational stage. However, the models are still very far from the lactic fermentation school model, and new didactic strategies should be tried to move forward in their progression

a cross-sectional international study

OBJECTIVE: To know what hospital managers and safety leaders in Ibero-American countries are doing to respond effectively to the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) with serious consequences for patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional international study. SETTING: Public and private hospitals in Ibero-American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and Spain). PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of hospital managers and safety leaders from eight Ibero-American countries. A minimum of 25 managers/leaders from each country were surveyed. INTERVENTIONS: A selection of 37 actions for the effective management of AEs was explored. These were related to the safety culture, existence of a crisis plan, communication and transparency processes with the patients and their families, attention to second victims and institutional communication. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Degree of implementation of the actions studied. RESULTS: A total of 190 managers/leaders from 126 (66.3%) public hospitals and 64 (33.7%) private hospitals participated. Reporting systems, in-depth analysis of incidents and non-punitive approaches were the most implemented interventions, while patient information and care for second victims after an AE were the least frequent interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of these hospitals have not protocolized how to act after an AE. For this reason, it is urgent to develop and apply a strategic action plan to respond to this imperative safety challenge. This is the first study to identify areas of work and future research questions in Ibero-American countries.publishersversionpublishe

In Silico Study to Identify New Antituberculosis Molecules from Natural Sources by Hierarchical Virtual Screening and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The authors acknowledge the Graduate Program in Biotechnology/UEFS for academic support.Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for 1.5 million documented deaths in 2016. The increase in reported cases of M. tuberculosis resistance to the main drugs show the need for the development of new and efficient drugs for better TB control. Based on these facts, this work aimed to use combined in silico techniques for the discovery of potential inhibitors to β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase (MtKasA). Initially compounds from natural sources present in the ZINC database were selected, then filters were sequentially applied by virtual screening, initially with pharmacophoric modeling, and later the selected compounds (based on QFIT scores) were submitted to the DOCK 6.5 program. After recategorization of the variables (QFIT score and GRID score), compounds ZINC35465970 and ZINC31170017 were selected. These compounds showed great hydrophobic contributions and for each established system 100 ns of molecular dynamics simulations were performed and the binding free energy was calculated. ZINC35465970 demonstrated a greater capacity for the KasA enzyme inhibition, with a ΔGbind = −30.90 kcal/mol and ZINC31170017 presented a ΔGbind = −27.49 kcal/mol. These data can be used in other studies that aim at the inhibition of the same biological targets through drugs with a dual action

Anales del III Congreso Internacional de Vivienda y Ciudad "Debate en torno a la nueva agenda urbana"

Acta de congresoEl III Congreso Internacional de Vivienda y Ciudad “Debates en torno a la NUEVa Agenda Urbana”, ha sido una apuesta de alto compromiso por acercar los debates centrales y urgentes que tensionan el pleno ejercicio del derecho a la ciudad. Para ello las instituciones organizadoras (INVIHAB –Instituto de Investigación de Vivienda y Hábitat y MGyDH-Maestría en Gestión y Desarrollo Habitacional-1), hemos convidado un espacio que se concretó con potencia en un debate transdisciplinario. Convocó a intelectuales de prestigio internacional, investigadores, académicos y gestores estatales, y en una metodología de innovación articuló las voces académicas con las de las organizaciones sociales y/o barriales en el Foro de las Organizaciones Sociales que tuvo su espacio propio para dar voz a quienes están trabajando en los desafíos para garantizar los derechos a la vivienda y los bienes urbanos en nuestras ciudades del Siglo XXI

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Inquiring and modeling about biochemical reactions

Este trabajo muestra algunas actividades implementadas con estudiantes de 4º de ESO para estudiar mediante prácticas científicas las reacciones químicas implicadas en la elaboración de yogur casero y en la formación de la caries, en las que el papel de las bacterias es esencial. Se ilustra cómo ayudarles a comprender cómo ocurren estas reacciones, realizando dibujos que expliquen la interacción entre los reactivos implicados (modelización), y diseñando y llevando a cabo la reacción química en distintas condiciones (indagación).palabras clave: Reacciones bioquímicas, indagación, modelización, prácticas científicas, educación secundaria.This paper shows some activities implemented with grade 10 students to study through scientific practices the chemical reactions involved in the preparation of homemade yogurt and in the tooth decay, in which the role of bacteria is essential. It is illustrated how to help students understand how these reactions occur, making drawings that explain the interaction between the reagents involved (modeling), and designing and carrying out the chemical reaction under different conditions (inquiry).keywords: Biochemical reactions; inquiry; modeling; scientific practices; secondary education