The Impact of Secondary Education Choices on Mathematical Performance in University: The Role of Non-Cognitive Skills

[EN] (1) Background: this study evaluates the most relevant factors affecting the performance in mathematics of university undergraduates. Precisely, the mathematical background of students. Spanish secondary education provides an opportunity to develop this analysis since students can choose between two secondary education tracks with different mathematical content and depth. (2) Methods: a survey was conducted covering personal characteristics, socioeconomic status, academic choices and academic achievement as well as a set of questions aimed to uncover attitudes towards mathematics. Students that show preferences regarding mathematics are prone to choose the track with more mathematical content, creating a potential confusion between training and attitudes towards mathematics. We propose an index of non- cognitive skills related to mathematics to account for this problem. (3) Results: prior background in mathematics plays a role in mathematical performance at university even after correcting for non-cognitive skills related to mathematics. The effects are heterogeneous with respect to gender. (4) Conclusions: choosing a more mathematicaloriented itinerary in secondary education seems to give an edge to students. Our results shed light on the implications associated with the decision of secondary school track choice made by students. Furthermore, they are meant to serve as a guide to improve the design of remedial courses.S

Propuesta de un sistema de tareas para gestionar el conocimiento matemático en las carreras de ingeniería

La Educación Superior enfrenta en este siglo XXI, el reto de preparar profesionales cada vez más competentes, capaces de dar solución de forma creativa a los nuevos problemas que se presenten en su esfera de actuación. El propósito de este trabajo, es presentar un sistema de tareas que por medio de las cuales el estudiante de ingeniería tenga una participación más activa en el proceso de gestión del conocimiento matemático, donde bajo la dirección y orientación del profesor, el estudiante gestione el conocimiento de una manera responsable, crítica y reflexiva para la solución de diversos problemas. Estas tareas están diseñadas para potenciar en el estudiante, el desarrollo de las habilidades relacionadas con la gestión del conocimiento matemático. Se realiza la ejemplificación en la asignatura Matemática para las carreras de ingeniería

The State-of-the-Art of Phase II/III Clinical Trials for Targeted Pancreatic Cancer Therapies

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with very poor prognosis. Currently, surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy represents the only curative option which, unfortunately, is only available for a small group of patients. The majority of pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced or metastatic stage when surgical resection is not possible and treatment options are limited. Thus, novel and more effective therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Molecular profiling together with targeted therapies against key hallmarks of pancreatic cancer appear as a promising approach that could overcome the limitations of conventional chemo- and radio-therapy. In this review, we focus on the latest personalised and multimodal targeted therapies currently undergoing phase II or III clinical trials. We discuss the most promising findings of agents targeting surface receptors, angiogenesis, DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, key signalling pathways, immunotherapies, and the tumour microenvironment

Biliary Strictures and Cholangiocarcinoma - Untangling a Diagnostic Conundrum

Cholangiocarcinoma is an uncommon and highly aggressive biliary tract malignancy with few manifestations until late disease stages. Diagnosis is currently achieved through a combination of clinical, biochemical, radiological and histological techniques. A number of reported cancer biomarkers have the potential to be incorporated into diagnostic pathways, but all lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity limiting their possible use in screening and early diagnosis. The limitations of standard serum markers such as CA19-9, CA125 and CEA have driven researchers to identify multiple novel biomarkers, yet their clinical translation has been slow with a general requirement for further validation in larger patient cohorts. We review recent advances in the diagnostic pathway for suspected CCA as well as emerging diagnostic biomarkers for early detection, with a particular focus on non-invasive approaches

Smart Nanoparticles as Advanced Anti-Akt Kinase Delivery Systems for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers partly due to late diagnosis, poor drug delivery to the target site, and acquired resistance to therapy. Therefore, more effective therapies are urgently needed to improve the outcome of patients. In this work, we have tested self-assembling genetically engineered polymeric nanoparticles formed by elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs), carrying a small peptide inhibitor of the protein kinase Akt, in both PANC-1 and patient-derived pancreatic cancer cells (PDX models). Nanoparticle cell uptake was measured by flow cytometry, and subcellular localization was determined by confocal microscopy, which showed a lysosomal localization of these nanoparticles. Furthermore, metabolic activity and cell viability were significantly reduced after incubation with nanoparticles carrying the Akt inhibitor in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. Self-assembling 73 ± 3.2 nm size nanoparticles inhibited phosphorylation and consequent activation of Akt protein, blocked the NF-κB signaling pathway, and triggered caspase 3-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, in vivo assays showed that ELR-based nanoparticles were suitable devices for drug delivery purposes with long circulating time and minimum toxicity. Hence, the use of these smart nanoparticles could lead to the development of more effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer based on the inhibition of Akt

“Estudio del liderazgo participativo y la comunicación interna de los colaboradores en las Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito Ltda., del cantón La Maná provincia de Cotopaxi, año 2022”.

The purpose of this research is to carry out a study of participative leadership and internal communication of the collaborators in the 13 Cooperatives of Savings and Credit Ltda., from La Maná, which allows to clearly determine the climate and environment work, internal communication, teamwork, motivation and job satisfaction and quality service within the same as the work functions are developed; it is widely related to the administrative process such as planning, management and control to form whose purpose is to achieve the proposed objectives. In the field research it is diagnosed that data and information were obtained through the application of the surveys directed to the 13 agency chiefs or managers and to the 120 collaborators, whose results allowed us to know that there was a high level of ignorance of the participative leadership. The Cooperatives in which the research study was carried out are: COAC Futuro Lamanense, COAC Occidental, COAC 9 de Octubre, COAC Virgen del Cisne, COAC Cámara de comercio, COAC Innovación andina, COAC Sierra Centro, COAC Sumak Kawsay, COAC Andina, COAC Cacpeco, COAC Coorcotopaxi, COAC Finanzas Corporativas, COAC Vencedores Tungurahua. In the context of participatory leadership, the term participation can be defined as the influence that results from a person taking an active part in the decision making process and where knowledge, experiences and good practices are shared in the service of their work activities, thus developing new outstanding leaders rights, with transparency and recognition of all in their natural roles participate in within the financial institution. The present research proposal was given by an action plan on participatory leadership as an alternative to improve the work climate and performance of the functions of the collaborators to publicize in the savings and credit cooperatives Ltda., from La Maná.La presente investigación tiene como finalidad de realizar un estudio del liderazgo participativo y la comunicación interna de los colaboradores en las 13 Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito Ltda., del cantón La Maná, que permite determinar con claridad el clima y entorno laboral, la comunicación interna, el trabajo en equipo, motivación y satisfacción laboral y servicio de calidad dentro de la misma cómo se desarrolla las funciones laborales; está ampliamente relacionado con el proceso administrativo como la planeación, dirección y el control para formar cuya finalidad para conseguir los objetivos propuestos. En la investigación de campo se diagnóstica que se obtuvo datos e información mediante la aplicación de las encuestas dirigidas a los 13 jefes de agencia o gerentes y a los 120 colaboradores, cuyos resultados nos permitieron conocer que existió un alto nivel de desconocimiento del liderazgo participativo. En Las Cooperativas en descripción que se realizó la investigación de estudio son: COAC Futuro Lamanense, COAC Occidental, COAC 9 de Octubre, COAC Virgen del Cisne, COAC Cámara de comercio, COAC Innovación andina, COAC Sierra Centro, COAC Sumak Kawsay, COAC Andina, COAC Cacpeco, COAC Coorcotopaxi, COAC Finanzas Corporativas, COAC Vencedores Tungurahua. En el contexto del liderazgo participativo, es el término participación puede definirse como la influencia que resulta de que una persona tome parte activa en el proceso de toma de decisiones y donde se comparten conocimientos, experiencias y buenas prácticas al servicio laboral de sus actividades, desarrollando así nuevos líderes sobresalientes derechos, con transparencia y reconocimiento de todos en sus roles naturales participar en dentro de la institución financiera. La presente propuesta de investigación estuvo dada por un plan de acción sobre el liderazgo participativo como alternativa para mejorar el clima laboral y desempeño de las funciones de los colaboradores para dar a conocer en las Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito Ltda., del cantón La Maná

Combination light-based therapies to treat pancreatic cancer: A proof of concept

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma remains one of the worst types of cancers mainly due to its late diagnosis, lack of effective therapies for advance disease and high chemoresistance. Novel therapeutic options that could improve patient quality of life and overall survival are therefore imperative. In this study, we describe the use of an original strategy based on photochemical internalisation (PCI) technology for pancreatic cancer treatment. Subcellular localisation of the photosensitiser meso-tetraphenylporphine-disulfonate (TPPS2a) was performed in PANC-1 cells, showing its preferential accumulation in lysosomes. Treatments with increasing concentrations of the ribosome-inactivating protein saporin or TPPS2a alone were compared with PCI-saporin. Metabolic activity and cell viability of PANC-1 cells were determined 96h post-illumination by MTT and trypan blue assays, respectively. Our results show that PCI using the photosensitiser TPPS2a, synergistically enhances the cytotoxic effects of saporin in PANC-1 cells and could offer more effective treatment options for pancreatic cancer

Micellar Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Coated with Anti-Tumor Glycosides

The synthesis procedure of nanoparticles based on thermal degradation produces organic solvent dispersible iron oxide nanoparticles (OA-IONP) with oleic acid coating and unique physicochemical properties of the core. Some glycosides with hydrophilic sugar moieties bound to oleyl hydrophobic chains have antimitotic activity on cancer cells but reduced in vivo applications because of the intrinsic low solubility in physiological media, and are prone to enzymatic hydrolysis. In this manuscript, we have synthetized and characterized OA-IONP-based micelles encapsulated within amphiphilic bioactive glycosides. The glycoside-coated IONP micelles were tested as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agents as well as antimitotics on rat glioma (C6) and human lung carcinoma (A549) cell lines. Micelle antimitotic activity was compared with the activity of the corresponding free glycosides. In general, all OA-IONP-based micellar formulations of these glycosides maintained their anti-tumor effects, and, in one case, showed an unusual therapeutic improvement. Finally, the micelles presented optimal relaxometric properties for their use as T2-weighed MRI contrast agents. Our results suggest that these bioactive hydrophilic nano-formulations are theranostic agents with synergistic properties obtained from two entities, which separately are not ready for in vivo applications, and strengthen the possibility of using biomolecules as both a coating for OA-IONP micellar stabilization and as drugs for therapy.This research was funded by FP7 Marie Curie Pulmonary imaging network (PINET) and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad MAT2015-65184-C2-2-R; SAF2016-79593-P; SAF2017-84494-C2-1-R). This work was partially funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (DTS16/00059), CNIC (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares), and Comunidad de Madrid (B2017-BMD3731 and B2017-BMD3875). We thank Ligue contre le cancer, comite Charentes Maritimes which allows to free up some time to complete the redaction of this manuscript during a grant-not dedicated on this work-agreed to LIENSs, UMR CNRS 7266, La Rochelle.S

L’Artritis reumatoide

Treballs d'Educació Farmacètica als ciutadans. Unitat Docent d'Estades en Pràctiques Tutelades. Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2014/2015, Tutors: David Berlana Martin, Ignasi Cardona Pascual i Marian March Pujol.L’artritis reumatoide és una malaltia autoimmunitària que afecta a tots els grups poblacionals, i que cursa amb inflamació de les articulacions. La seva etiologia és encara desconeguda, fet que provoca que sigui un camp d’interès actual d’investigació. El tractament de primera línia consisteix en l’administració d’antiinflamatoris, analgèsics i/o corticoides, per tal de calmar el dolor i controlar la inflamació. A més s’afegeix FAME’s per alentir la progressió de la malaltia. Si amb aquest tractament no és suficient per mantenir un control, es passa al de segona línia que consisteix en l’administració d’anticossos monoclonals (teràpia biològica). Amb l’elaboració d’aquest treball i la realització de les activitats proposades, hem aplicat el rol de farmacèutic en l’educació ciutadana, proporcionant informació als malalts d’artritis per tal de promoure la seva salut. Cal destacar la importància que no només el pacient, sinó també el seu entorn familiar coneguin les característiques i evolució de la malaltia, amb l’objectiu de millorar la qualitat de vida dels malalts