Cultural and Intercultural Education: Experiences of Ethnoeducational Teachers in Colombia.

This article focuses on the analysis of the pedagogical component of ethno-educational experiences developed in different departments of Colombia. A qualitative methodology that integrated a systemic explanatory analysis model was chosen for this study together with a content analysis of these experiences from a systemic point of view, in order to consider those educational practices as the expression of interests, struggles, relationships and social dynamics. The text includes a fragment on the emergence of ethno-educational processes in Latin America and examines the conceptualization of the term, the objectives, the emphasis given in literature to political empowerment, the struggle for preserving culture, and the debates concerning the need to focus on the pedagogical component of the ethno-educational experience. The results of this analysis confirm the importance that struggles of Afro-descendant and indigenous peoples have had in strengthening pedagogical processes in the ethno-educational proposal in Colombia

InContext: A mobile application for the improvement of learning strategies at University // InContext: Una aplicación móvil para mejorar las estrategias de aprendizaje en la Universidad

InContext is a custom-designed mobile application for writing assignments intended for university students in journalism and research methodology courses. In these disciplines, it has been observed that there is a need for an educational and technological tool to guide the writing of text using preloaded templates in which students can input text and multimedia material to create articles or write research reports. Besides its ease of use, the app was intended to improve metacognitive thinking. This led to the establishment of six working hypotheses in an exploratory study. For the study, a random sample of students enrolled in the aforementioned courses was selected during the August-December 2019 semester at a private university in Mexico. They took a pre-test using the “Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire” (MSLQ) that had been translated into Spanish and already validated in Mexico. Subsequently, the students used the application and then answered the same questionnaire as a post-test. The study aimed to compare the results of the tests to see whether there was an improvement in cognitive skills. The results showed an increase in four skills: critical thinking, data search, cognitive self-regulation, and regulation of effort. The research results did indicate metacognitive development that would benefit the academic and professional work of future graduates

InContext: A mobile application for the improvement of learning strategies at University

InContext es una aplicación móvil, diseñada a medida, para elaborar trabajos de redacción para estudiantes universitarios de los cursos de periodismo y de metodología de la investigación. En estas disciplinas se observó que había una necesidad de contar con una herramienta educativa y tecnológica que guiara la redacción utilizando plantillas precargadas en las cuales los estudiantes pudieran agregar texto y material multimedia para con ello construir artículos periodísticos o reportes de investigación. Además de la facilidad de uso, se esperaba que la app mejorara el pensamiento metacognitivo, por lo cual se establecieron seis hipótesis de trabajo en un estudio exploratorio. Para la investigación se seleccionó una muestra aleatoria de estudiantes inscritos en los cursos durante el semestre agosto-diciembre 2019 en una universidad privada de México. Los alumnos realizaron un pretest utilizando el cuestionario Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) traducido al español y ya validado en México; posteriormente utilizaron la aplicación y contestaron el mismo cuestionario a manera de postest, con el objetivo de comparar si había una mejora en las habilidades cognitivas. Los resultados indican que existe un aumento en cuatro habilidades: pensamiento crítico, búsqueda de datos, autorregulación cognitiva y regulación del esfuerzo, pero no lo hubo en organización ni en búsqueda de ayuda. Estos resultados indican un desarrollo metacognitivo que beneficia el trabajo académico y profesional de los futuros egresadosInContext is a custom-designed mobile application for writing assignments intended for university students in journalism and research methodology courses. In these disciplines, it has been observed that there is a need for an educational and technological tool to guide the writing of text using preloaded templates in which students can input text and multimedia material to create articles or write research reports. Besides its ease of use, the app was intended to improve metacognitive thinking. This led to the establishment of six working hypotheses in an exploratory study. For the study, a random sample of students enrolled in the aforementioned courses was selected during the August-December 2019 semester at a private university in Mexico. They took a pre-test using the “Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire” (MSLQ) that had been translated into Spanish and already validated in Mexico. Subsequently, the students used the application and then answered the same questionnaire as a post-test. The study aimed to compare the results of the tests to see whether there was an improvement in cognitive skills. The results showed an increase in four skills: critical thinking, data search, cognitive self-regulation, and regulation of effort. The research results did indicate metacognitive development that would benefit the academic and professional work of future graduate

Ecosistema con creatividad, investigación e innovación basado en las competencias transversales frente a las exigencias profesionales del siglo XXI

The objective of the research was to determine if the Ecosystem with creativity, research and innovation, based on transversal competences, responds to the professional demands of the 21st century. For the study, the questionnaire of transversal competences, of the Tuning Project, was applied, aimed at 30 university students, in which case the achievement in their training was investigated, while, in the case of the 30 employers, it was to know the importance of assigned to the competencies that new professionals should possess. After testing the normality of the data distribution, the Student's t hypothesis test statistic was applied for independent samples, obtaining a highly significant value, with respect to the fact that the competences included in the Ecosystem with creativity, research and innovation, They are different, between what has been achieved by students and what is demanded of new professionals by the employers of 21st century organizations. It is recommended to reduce the gap between transversal skills, achieved by university students and those required by employers, through frequent updating of the study curriculum according to the demands of the labor market.El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar si el Ecosistema con creatividad, investigación e innovación, basado en las competencias transversales, responde a las exigencias profesionales del siglo XXI. Para el estudio se aplicó el cuestionario de competencias transversales, del Proyecto Tuning, dirigido a 30 estudiantes universitarios, en cuyo caso se indagó sobre el logro en su formación, mientras que, en el caso de los 30 empleadores, fue conocer la importancia que le asignan a las competencias que deben poseer los nuevos profesionales. Luego de probar la normalidad de la distribución de los datos, se aplicó el estadístico de prueba de hipótesis T de Student para muestras independientes, obteniendo un valor altamente significativo, con respecto a que las competencias comprendidas en el Ecosistema con creatividad, investigación e innovación, son distintas, entre lo logrado por los estudiantes y lo exigido a los nuevos profesionales por los empleadores de las organizaciones del siglo XXI.  Se recomienda disminuir la brecha entre las competencias transversales, logradas por los universitarios y las exigidas por los empleadores, mediante la actualización frecuente del currículo de estudio acorde a las demandas del mercado laboral

Peripheral giant cells granuloma as a rare early manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism

Primary hyperparathyroidism occurs due to parathyroid adenoma, which as initial presentation in most cases includes recurrent nephrolithiasis (10-25%). Giant cell tumors (GDD) also called osteoclastomas or brown tumors affect the second decade of life and are currently a rare manifestation of primary hyperthyroidism. The incidence of lesion appearance in the maxillary bones is 4.5%. We presented the case of a 36 year old female patient with history of hypertension, who developed an increase in volume in the right maxillary region of 4×3 cm, with incapability of complete occlusion of dental arch, solid dysphagia, biopsy was performed with peripheral giant cells granuloma as a result, PTH serum levels were requested, with result of 1175 pg/ml and serum calcium of 13.24 mg/dl. Parathyroid gammagram was performed with hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue. Patient underwent a selective parathyroidectomy. She had an adequate postoperative evolution and was discharged without complications. The patient had adequate follow up by head and neck surgery in external consultation, serum calcium 7.66 mg/dl, decrease of volume in right maxillary region to 3×3 cm; pathology report with parathyroid adenoma. Surgical treatment of brown tumor is still pending by the maxillofacial surgery department

Detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core-specific antibody suggests occult HCV infection among blood donors

Background: Blood transfusion safety is based on reliable donor screening for transmissible infections such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Study design and methods: A novel HCV core-specific antibody was assayed on random single donations from 2007 first-time blood donors who tested negative for anti-HCV and HCV RNA on routine screening. Sample collection broke the code between donations and donors for ethical reasons. Results: Forty-two donations (2.1%) displayed reactivity in the novel test. The specificity of the reactivity was evaluated by a peptide inhibition assay, and testing against additional nonoverlapping HCV core peptide epitopes and other HCV antigens was performed on these samples. Six donations (14.3%; 0.30% from the total) were considered to contain anti-HCV after such supplemental testing. HCV RNA detection was also performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) and serum or plasma samples from reactive donors after virus concentration by ultracentrifugation. HCV RNA tested negative in all PBMNCs samples, and a very low amount of viral genome was detected in serum or plasma concentrates from three anti-HCV core-reactive donors (7.1%) but not among concentrates from 100 randomly selected nonreactive donors. Sequencing of these polymerase chain reaction products revealed differences between the isolates that excluded partially sample contamination from a common source. Conclusion: These findings argue in favor of an ongoing occult HCV infection among these blood donors and account for some rather low, but perhaps not negligible, infection risk for such donations. Future studies involving larger samples of donations from traceable donors would enlighten the significance of these findings for the viral safety of the blood supply.This work was supported by research grants from DIATERS.A., Madrid, Spain.S