DESGRANAMIENTO UNIVERSITARIO: PERSPECTIVA ESTUDIANTIL EN INGENIERÍA

El análisis sobre desgranamiento universitario se enfoca tanto en el desempeño académico y las tasas de reinscripción y grado de avance de las carreras, como en las diferentes percepciones, ya se en la visión del docente o del estudiante, que dan cuenta de la impronta curricular y de la dinámica del aula. El propósito de nuestro trabajo consiste en analizar los factores que inciden en el grado de avance de los estudiantes de la carrera de Ingeniería Industrial de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata pertenecientes a las cohortes 2003 – 2006, cuyo plan de estudios incorpora prácticas profesionales supervisadas, asesorías y tutorías. Se realizó un estudio cuantitativo por medio de cuestionarios aplicados a los estudiantes de la carrera, con resultados centrados en los factores de entrada –características de los estudiantes- y de proceso, relacionados con la interacción de docentes y alumnos en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje según las dificultades percibidas por el estudiante en relación con los espacios curriculares cursados. Las primeras conclusiones centran las dificultades en la formación previa, en la dinámica de la clase, en la dedicación al estudio y en la asimetría existente entre lo que se dicta y lo que se evalúa

Hábitos de consumo de drogas en adolescentes de 15 a 18 años en el medio rural

Con la investigación sobre "Hábitos de consumo de drogas en adolescentes de 15 a 18 años en el medio rural" pretendemos conocer cuáles son los hábitos de consumo de drogas, la sustancia más consumida entre estos jóvenes, la frecuencia temporal con la que se hace uso de sustancias tóxicas, así como el entorno en el que se lleva a cabo. Para ello hemos cogido una muestra representativa de 100 alumnos/as que estudian 4º ESO y 1º Bachillerato en el I.E.S Gallicum de la villa de Zuera, a los cuales se les pasó una encuesta. Además también se ha entrevistado a 6 alumnos/as que estaban cursando 2ª Bachillerato. Hemos escogido este tema porque consideramos que en la actualidad ha aumentado el número de jóvenes que consumen este tipo de sustancias y la edad de inicio cada vez es más baja. Además pensamos que hay una cierta facilidad para conseguir ciertas sustancias, como por ejemplo el alcohol y el tabaco, y todo debido a su legalidad. Se ha realizado un análisis e interpretación de los datos recogidos mediante las encuestas y las entrevistas y después hemos sacado las conclusiones generales de la investigación

Fluorescence multi-scale endoscopy and its applications in the study and diagnosis of gastro-intestinal diseases: set-up design and software implementation

Proceedings of: IPA 2015 / SPIE Biophotonics South America. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22-26 May, 2015Endoscopy is frequently used in the diagnosis of several gastro-intestinal pathologies as Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis or colorectal cancer. It has great potential as a non-invasive screening technique capable of detecting suspicious alterations in the intestinal mucosa, such as inflammatory processes. However, these early lesions usually cannot be detected with conventional endoscopes, due to lack of cellular detail and the absence of specific markers. Due to this lack of specificity, the development of new endoscopy technologies, which are able to show microscopic changes in the mucosa structure, are necessary. We here present a confocal endomicroscope, which in combination with a wide field fluorescence endoscope offers fast and specific macroscopic information through the use of activatable probes and a detailed analysis at cellular level of the possible altered tissue areas. This multi-modal and multi-scale imaging module, compatible with commercial endoscopes, combines near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) measurements (enabling specific imaging of markers of disease and prognosis) and confocal endomicroscopy making use of a fiber bundle, providing a cellular level resolution. The system will be used in animal models exhibiting gastro-intestinal diseases in order to analyze the use of potential diagnostic markers in colorectal cancer. In this work, we present in detail the set-up design and the software implementation in order to obtain simultaneous RGB/NIRF measurements and short confocal scanning times.The authors acknowledge support from EC FP7 IMI project PREDICT-TB, the EC FP7 CIG grant HIGH-THROUGHPUT TOMO, the Spanish MINECO project grant FIS2013-41802-R MESO-IMAGING, and TOPUS S2013/MIT-3024 project from the regional government of MadridPublicad

The effects of sildenafil citrate on the fetoplacental development and hemodynamics in a rabbit model of intrauterina growth restriction

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of sildenafil citrate (SC) to improve placental and fetal growth in a diet-induced rabbit model of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Pregnant rabbits were fed either ad libitum (Group C) or restricted to 50% of dietary requirements (Group R) or restricted and treated with SC (Group SC). The treatment with SC improved placental development by increasing vascularity and vessel hypertrophy in the decidua. The assessment of feto–placental haemodynamics showed higher resistance and pulsatility indices at the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in fetuses treated with SC when compared with Group R, which had increased systolic peak and time-averaged mean velocities at the MCA. Furthermore, fetuses in the SC group had significantly higher biparietal and thoracic diameters and longer crown–rump lengths than fetuses in Group R. Hence, the SC group had a reduced IUGR rate and a higher kit size at birth compared with Group R. In conclusion, SC may provide potential benefits in pregnancies with placental insufficiency and IUGR, partially counteracting the negative effects of food restriction on placental development and fetal growth. However, the present study also found evidence of a possible blood overflow in the brain that warrants further investigation

Characterization of the Metabolic Profile of Olive Tissues (Roots, Stems and Leaves): Relationship with Cultivars’ Resistance/Susceptibility to the Soil Fungus Verticillium dahliae

Verticillium wilt of olive (VWO) is one of the most widespread and devastating olive diseases in the world. Harnessing host resistance to the causative agent is considered one of the most important measures within an integrated control strategy of the disease. Aiming to understand the mechanisms underlying olive resistance to VWO, the metabolic profiles of olive leaves, stems and roots from 10 different cultivars with varying levels of susceptibility to this disease were investigated by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The distribution of 56 metabolites among the three olive tissues was quantitatively assessed and the possible relationship between the tissues’ metabolic profiles and resistance to VWO was evaluated by applying unsupervised and supervised multivariate analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the data, and separate clustering of highly resistant and extremely susceptible cultivars was observed. Moreover, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were built to differentiate samples of highly resistant, intermediate susceptible/resistant, and extremely susceptible cultivars. Root models showed the lowest classification capability, but metabolites from leaf and stem were able to satisfactorily discriminate samples according to the level of susceptibility. Some typical compositional patterns of highly resistant and extremely susceptible cultivars were described, and some potential resistance/susceptibility metabolic markers were pointed out.FEDER/Junta de Andalucía-Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades (Proyecto P20_00263)FEDER/Junta de Andalucía-Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento (Proyecto B-AGR-416-UGR18)Grant RYC2021-032996-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR” (L.O.-G.)Grant FPU19/00700 from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (I.S.-G.

Creación de un programa de enseñanza activa y participativa para estudiantes de Parasitología

Memoria ID-190. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2018-2019

Breast cancer biomarker detection through the photoluminescence of epitaxial monolayer MoS2 fakes

The following article appeared in Scientific Reports 10 (2020): 16039 and may be found at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73029-9In this work we report on the characterization and biological functionalization of 2D MoS2 fakes, epitaxially grown on sapphire, to develop an optical biosensor for the breast cancer biomarker miRNA21. The MoS2 fakes were modifed with a thiolated DNA probe complementary to the target biomarker. Based on the photoluminescence of MoS2, the hybridization events were analyzed for the target (miRNA21c) and the control non-complementary sequence (miRNA21nc). A specifc redshift was observed for the hybridization with miRNA21c, but not for the control, demonstrating the biomarker recognition via PL. The homogeneity of these MoS2 platforms was verifed with microscopic maps. The detailed spectroscopic analysis of the spectra reveals changes in the trion to excitation ratio, being the redshift after the hybridization ascribed to both peaks. The results demonstrate the benefts of optical biosensors based on MoS2 monolayer for future commercial devicesThe research is supported by the MINECO (CTQ2017-84309-C2-2-R, CTQ2017-84309-C2-1-R, ELECTROBIONET, RED2018-102412-T) and Comunidad de Madrid (TRANSNANOAVANSENS, P2018/NMT4349) projects. ARC acknowledges Ramón y Cajal program (under contract number RYC-2015-18047

Rapid and simple viral protein detection by functionalized 2D MoS2/graphene electrochemiluminescence aptasensor

In this work we present the development of an electrochemiluminescence aptasensor based on electrografting molybdenum disulphide nanosheets functionalized with diazonium salt (MoS2–N2+) upon screen-printed electrodes of graphene (SPEs GPH) for viral proteins detection. In brief, this aptasensor consists of SPEs GPH electrografted with MoS2–N2+ and modified with a thiolated aptamer, which can specifically recognize the target protein analyte. In this case, we have used SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as model protein. Electrochemiluminescence detection was performed by using the [Ru(bpy)3]2+/TPRA (tripropylamine) system, which allows the specific detection of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein easily and rapidly with a detection limit of 9.74 fg/mL and a linear range from 32.5 fg/mL to 50.0 pg/mL. Moreover, the applicability of the aptasensor has been confirmed by the detection of the protein directly in human saliva samples. Comparing our device with a traditional saliva antigen test, our aptasensor can detect the spike protein even when the saliva antigen test gives a negative resultCEX2020-001039-

Pathogen sensing device based on 2D MoS2/graphene heterostructure

In this work we propose a new methodology for selective and sensitive pathogen detection based on a 2D layered heterostructured biosensing platform. As a proof of concept, we have chosen SARS-CoV-2 virus because the availability of new methods to detect this virus is still a great deal of interest. The prepared platform is based on the covalent immobilization of molybdenum disulphide functionalized with a diazonium salt (f-MoS2) onto graphene screen-printed electrodes (GPH SPE) by electrografting of the diazonium salt. This chemistry-based method generates an improved heterostructured biosensing platform for aptamer immobilization and aptasensor development. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to obtain the signal response of the device, proving the ability of the sensor platform to detect the virus. SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD recombinant protein (SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein) has been detected and quantified with a low detection limit of 2.10 fg/mL. The selectivity of the developed biosensor has been confirmed after detecting the S1 protein even in presence of other interfering proteins. Moreover, the ability of the device to detect SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein has been also tested in nasopharyngeal swab samplesThis work has been financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PID2020-116728RB-I00, PID2020- 116661RB-I00, CTQ2015-71955-REDT (ELECTROBIONET)) and Community of Madrid (TRANSNANOAVANSENS, S2018/NMT-4349, and PhotoArt P2018/NMT-4367). E. Enebral thank the financial support of “Nanotecnología para detección del SARS-CoV-2 y sus variantes. NANOCOV” project. IMDEA Nanociencia receives support from the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant CEX2020-001039-S). We also thank the Spanish Ministry of Universities for supporting Laura Gutiérrez-Galvez with the Formación del Profesorado Universitario (FPU) grant (FPU19/06309