Lexical and reading comprehension processes in Secondary School students

La comprensión lectora es un proceso complejo que requiere tanto la “construcción” como la “integración” de la información, siendo por tanto un proceso interactivo en el que intervienen una gran cantidad de procesos mentales. Este hecho conlleva que exista una gran heterogeneidad de dificultades en la comprensión. El objetivo del presente estudio consiste en analizar las posibles diferencias en cuanto al acceso al léxico y los procesos de comprensión entre un grupo de alumnos con dificultades en la comprensión (DCL) y otro grupo de alumnos sin DCL. Participaron 84 adolescentes (42 con DCL y 42 sin DCL) de 12 a 16 años escolarizados en la etapa de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que ambos grupos presentan un procesamiento de la información diferenciado. Las principales diferencias obtenidas se encuentran en los diferentes procesos léxicos, además de la captación de ideas explícitas y la elaboración de inferencias anafóricas. La finalidad de este trabajo consiste en poder diseñar intervenciones que se ajusten a las necesidades de los alumnos con dificultades.Reading comprehension is a complex process that requires both the “construction” and the “integration” of information, making it an interactive process that involves a wide variety of mental processes. This fact implies a great heterogeneity of difficulties in reading comprehension. The aim of this study consists of analyzing the possible differences in lexical and reading comprehension processes among a group of students with reading comprehension difficulties and another group of students without these difficulties. The participants of this study were 84 adolescents (42 with reading comprehension difficulties and 42 without them) from 12 to 16 years of age enrolled in the stage of compulsory secondary education. The results show that the information is processed differently in both groups. The main differences are obtained in lexical processes as well as understanding explicit ideas and making anaphoric inferences. The purpose of this paper is to design interventions that meet the needs of students with reading comprehension difficulties.peerReviewe

Reading and oral comprehension: relations with iq, gender and academic performance of Primary School students

El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar las relaciones entre la comprensión de textos y la comprensión oral de alumnos de 2º y 3º ciclo de Educación Primaria según su coeficiente intelectual, su género, y su rendimiento académico. Los alumnos estaban escolarizados en un colegio público de la provincia de Valencia donde hay diferentes programas lingüísticos, conocidos como líneas PIP y PIL. Se suministraron el test de matrices progresivas de Raven y la prueba de comprensión de textos y comprensión oral del Prolec-R. Igualmente se analizó el rendimiento académico de los alumnos en el último trimestre en las áreas de Matemáticas, Lengua Castellana y Ciencias. Los resultados mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el rendimiento de comprensión lectora y oral según el CI, descartando diferencias entre el género, la edad y la línea lingüística del aula. Se explican también las diferentes correlaciones entre estas variables y el rendimiento académico. Estos resultados reafirman la relación entre el CI y la comprensión lectora y oral, y muestran otras relaciones a tener en cuenta en futuros estudios.The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading and oral comprehension of primary school students, considering their IQ, their gender, and their academic performance. The students were enrolled in a state school located in the Valencian community where there are different linguistics programs, known as PIP and PIL. The Raven Test and the reading and oral comprehension Prolec-R tasks were provided. The academic performance of the students was also tested in the last term regarding the areas of Mathematics, Spanish and Science. The results showed statistically significant differences between the performance of reading and oral comprehension considering the IQ, and discarding differences between gender, age and the main language of the classroom. The different correlations between these variables and academic performance are also explained. These results reaffirm the relationship between IQ, reading and oral comprehension, and show other relationships to be considered in future studies.peerReviewe

Environmental Enrichment During Adulthood Reduces Sucrose Binge-Like Intake in a High Drinking in the Dark Phenotype (HD) in C57BL/6J Mice

Repetitive binge episodes favor transition to binge-eating disorders. Experimental evidence points to positive influence of environmental enrichment (EE) on drug/food addiction, although far less is known regarding EE effects over binge-like consumption. Here, we evaluate the following: (1) whether switching from nonenriched standard environment (SE) to EE housing conditions during adulthood alters a stable pattern of voluntary sucrose (10% w/v) binge-like intake in high (HD) vs. low (LD) drinking phenotypes under a drinking in the dark (DID) schedule; and (2) sucrose binge-like intake in a DID task in response to a pharmacological challenge with an OXr1 antagonist in HD/LD subpopulations after long-term exposure to SE or EE conditions. Adolescent (postnatal day 21; PND21) mice were housed in SE conditions. At PND65, all animals were long-term exposed to sucrose DID. On the first episode of DID (PND65), animals were divided into HD vs. LD subpopulations according to their sucrose intake. On PND85, an OXr1 antagonist test was conducted on HD and LD mice with SB-334867 (SB) administration. On PND95, HD and LD subpopulations were again randomly allocated into two subgroups, resulting in the following experimental conditions: HD-SE, HD-EE, LD-SE and LD-EE. Sucrose binge-like intake continued until PND116, when a second SB test was conducted. The main findings are: (1) a single 2 h episode of sucrose binge drinking in a DID procedure consistently segregates two behavioral subpopulations, HD and LD; (2) when adult mice in standard conditions and long-term exposed to sucrose DID were switched to EE conditions, an immediate reduction in sucrose binge-like intake was observed in HD mice, pointing to a therapeutic role of EE exposure; and (3) administration of the OXr1 antagonist caused an acute reduction in sucrose binge-like intake in HD and LD mice exposed to SE conditions. Importantly, exposure to EE conditions blunted the inhibitory effect of SB on sucrose binge consumption in both behavioral phenotypes, indirectly suggesting a potential EE/OXr1 signaling interaction. We propose the hypothesis that EE might regulate OX-dependent anxiety/compulsivity brain systems, which might secondarily modulate sucrose binge-like intake

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Small Renal Masses

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) competes with radiofrequency and cryotherapy for the treatment of small renal masses as a third option among ablative approaches. As an emerging technique, its possible percutaneous or laparoscopic application, low discomfort to the patient and the absence of complications make this technology attractive for the management of small renal masses. This manuscript will focus on the principles, basic research and clinical applications of HIFU in small renal masses, reviewing the present literature. Therapeutic results are controversial and from an clinical view, HIFU must be considered a technique under investigation at present time. Further research is needed to settle its real indications in the management of small renal masses; maybe technical improvements will certainly facilitate its use in the management of small renal masses in the near future

Cord blood-derived CD34+ hematopoietic cells with low mitochondrial mass are enriched in hematopoietic repopulating stem cell function

This work was funded by the CICE/FEDER (P08-CTS-3678) de la Junta de Andalucia with a grant to PM, the FIS/FEDER (PI10/00449 to PM and PI11/00119 to CB), the MICINN (Fondo Especial del Estado para Dinamizacion de la Economia y Empleo/PLE-2009-0111) with a grant to PM, and the Foundation "Spanish Association Against Cancer"/Junta Provincial de Albacete (CI110023 to PM). DRM (PFIS scholarship FI11/0511), RM and CB (CP07/0059) are supported by the ISCIII. ON-M was supported by the Health of Department of the Junta de Andalucia.The homeostasis of the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell pool relies on a fine-tuned balance between self-renewal, differentiation and proliferation. Recent studies have proposed that mitochondria regulate these processes. Although recent work has contributed to understanding the role of mitochondria during stem cell differentiation, it remains unclear whether the mitochondrial content/function affects human hematopoietic stem versus progenitor function. We found that mitochondrial mass correlates strongly with mitochondrial membrane potential in CD34(+) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. We, therefore, sorted cord blood CD34(+) cells on the basis of their mitochondrial mass and analyzed the in vitro homeostasis and clonogenic potential as well as the in vivo repopulating potential of CD34(+) cells with high (CD34(+) Mito(High)) versus low (CD34(+) Mito(Low)) mitochondrial mass. The CD34(+) Mito(Low) fraction contained 6-fold more CD34(+)CD38(-) primitive cells and was enriched in hematopoietic stem cell function, as demonstrated by its significantly greater hematopoietic reconstitution potential in immuno deficient mice. In contrast, the CD34(+) Mito(High) fraction was more enriched in hematopoietic progenitor function with higher in vitro clonogenic capacity. In vitro differentiation of CD34(+) Mito(Low) cells was significantly delayed as compared to that of CD34(+) Mito(High) cells. The eventual complete differentiation of CD34(+) Mito(Low) cells, which coincided with a robust expansion of the CD34(-) differentiated progeny, was accompanied by mitochondrial adaptation, as shown by significant increases in ATP production and expression of the mitochondrial genes ND1 and COX2. In conclusion, cord blood CD34(+) cells with low levels of mitochondrial mass are enriched in hematopoietic repopulating stem cell function whereas high levels of mitochondrial mass identify hematopoietic progenitors. A mitochondrial response underlies hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation of lineage-committed CD34(-) cells.Junta de Andalucia P08-CTS-3678European Union (EU) Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI10/00449 PI11/00119MICINN (Fondo Especial del Estado para Dinamizacion de la Economia y Empleo) PLE-2009-0111Foundation "Spanish Association Against Cancer"/Junta Provincial de Albacete CI110023Instituto de Salud Carlos III FI11/0511 CP07/0059ICRE

Nucleus Accumbens MC4-R Stimulation Reduces Food and Ethanol Intake in Adult Rats Regardless of Binge-Like Ethanol Exposure during Adolescence

The melanocortin (MC) system regulates feeding and ethanol consumption. Recent evidence shows that melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4-R) stimulation within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) elicits anorectic responses and reduces ethanol consumption and ethanol palatability in adult rats. Ethanol exposure during adolescence causes long-lasting changes in neural pathways critically involved in neurobehavioral responses to ethanol. In this regard, binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence reduces basal alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and alters the levels of agouti-related peptide (AgRP) in hypothalamic and limbic areas. Given the protective role of MC against excessive ethanol consumption, disturbances in the MC system induced by binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence might contribute to excessive ethanol consumption during adulthood. In the present study, we evaluated whether binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence leads to elevated ethanol intake and/or eating disturbance during adulthood. Toward that aim, Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with ethanol (3 g/kg i.p.; BEP group) or saline (SP group) for 14 days (PND 25 to PND 38). On PND73, all the groups were given access to 20% ethanol on an intermittent schedule. Our results showed that adult rats given intermittent access (IAE) to 20% ethanol achieved high spontaneous ethanol intake that was not significantly enhanced by binge-like ethanol pretreatment during adolescence. However, BEP group exhibited an increase in food intake without a parallel increase in body weight (BW) relative to SP group suggesting caloric efficiency disturbance. Additionally, we evaluated whether binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence alters the expected reduction in feeding and ethanol consumption following NAc shell administration of a selective MC4-R agonist in adult rats showing high rates of ethanol consumption. For that, animals in each pretreatment condition (SP and BEP) were divided into three subgroups and given bilateral NAc infusions of the selective MC4-R agonist cyclo(NH-CH2-CH2-CO-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Glu)-NH2 (0, 0.75 or 1.5 μg). Results revealed that MC4-R stimulation within the NAc reduced feeding and ethanol intake in high ethanol-drinking adult rats, regardless of previous binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence, which adds new evidence regarding the dual ability of MC compounds to control excessive ethanol and food intake

Immune synapse formation promotes lipid peroxidation and MHC-I upregulation in licensed dendritic cells for efficient priming of CD8+ T cells

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grants PID2020-120412RB-I00, PDC2021-121797-I00, PGC2018- 097019-BI00, PID2021-122348NB-I00, PLEC2022-009235, PLEC2022- 009298, PID2021-125415OB-I00, and PID2019-105761RB-I00); Comunidad de Madrid (INTEGRAMUNE, P2022/BMD7209 and IMMUNO-VAR, P2022/BMD-7333); Ramón Areces Foundation “Ciencias de la Vida y la Salud” (XIX Concurso-2018); “la Caixa” Banking Foundation (grants HR17-00016, HR17-00247, and HR22-00253); ProteoRed from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PT17/0019/0003- ISCIII-SGEFI / ERDF); CIBER Cardiovascular (CB16/11/00272, CB16/11/00277); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI); Fondo de Investigació n Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III; co-funding by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); and European Research Council Starting Grant SYNVIVO 853179. D.C.-F. is supported by an INPhINIT Retaining Fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (LCF/BQ/DR19/11740010). S.I. is supported by a RYC-2016- 19463 fellowship. E.H. is supported by an FPI fellowship (PRE2019- 087509). We thank Miguel Vicente-Manzanares for critically reading the manuscript. The CNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (grant CEX2020-001041-S funded by MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). The QIAGEN IPA software was used to create Figs. 3a and 5a.S

Estrategias Docentes Colaborativas para el Desarrollo de la Competencia Transversal de Innovación, Creatividad y Emprendimiento [Collaborative Teaching Strategies to Develop Skills in Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship]

Una de las competencias transversales que entraña mayor grado de dificultad en su implementación, adquisición a todos los niveles, y evaluación es la de “Innovación, creatividad y emprendimiento”. La innovación se entiende como la capacidad de dar respuesta satisfactoria a las necesidades personales, organizativas y sociales, modificando procesos y/o resultados para generar nuevo valor. La innovación necesita ir acompañada de la creatividad para generar ideas y del emprendimiento para transformar las ideas en un producto de valor. En este trabajo se describe el diseño de estrategias docentes integradas en el marco de la corriente de educación emprendedora, centradas en el aprendizaje basado en problemas y colaborativo, para desarrollar dicha competencia. La acción se lleva a cabo en diferentes asignaturas de primer curso en distintos títulos de Grado en la Universitat Politècnica de València. Se describen las acciones realizadas, se analizan los resultados obtenidos y se valora la transferibilidad a otros contextos, tras la implementación del plan de trabajo para cada asignatura. Se concluye que las acciones llevadas a cabo han contribuido a desarrollar la competencia indicada y a que los estudiantes experimenten el valor del aprendizaje activo y del trabajo colaborativo. [One of the most difficult transversal competences to implement, acquire at all levels and evaluate, is that of "Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship". Innovation is understood as the ability to satisfy personal, organizational and social needs, modifying processes and/or results to generate new value. Innovation needs to be accompanied by creativity to generate ideas and by entrepreneurship to transform ideas into a valuable product. This paper describes the design of teaching strategies integrated within the framework of entrepreneurship education, focused on problem-based and collaborative learning, to develop this competence. The experiences are carried out in different first year subjects from different degrees offered by the Universitat Politècncia de València. After the implementation of the work plan for each subject, actions performed are described and results obtained are analysed in order to assess the transferability to other contexts. It is concluded that the actions carried out contributed to develop the indicated skill and allowed students to experience the value of active learning and collaborative work.

Adolescent binge-like ethanol exposure reduces basal α-MSH expression in the hypothalamus and the amygdala of adult rats

Melanocortins (MC) are central peptides that have been implicated in the modulation of ethanol consumption. There is experimental evidence that chronic ethanol exposure reduces α-MSH expression in limbic and hypothalamic brain regions and alters central pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA activity in adult rats. Adolescence is a critical developmental period of high vulnerability in which ethanol exposure alters corticotropin releasing factor, neuropeptide Y, substance P and neurokinin neuropeptide activities, all of which have key roles in ethanol consumption. Given the involvement of MC and the endogenous inverse agonist AgRP in ethanol drinking, here we evaluate whether a binge-like pattern of ethanol treatment during adolescence has a relevant impact on basal and/or ethanol-stimulated α-MSH and AgRP activities during adulthood. To this end, adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats (beginning at PND25) were pre-treated with either saline (SP group) or binge-like ethanol exposure (BEP group; 3.0 g/kg given in intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections) of one injection per day over two consecutive days, followed by 2 days without injections, repeated for a total of 8 injections. Following 25 ethanol-free days, we evaluated α-MSH and AgRP immunoreactivity (IR) in the limbic and hypothalamic nuclei of adult rats (PND63) in response to ethanol (1.5 or 3.0 g/kg i.p.) and saline. We found that binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence significantly reduced basal α-MSH IR in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), the arcuate nucleus (Arc) and the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) during adulthood. Additionally, acute ethanol elicited AgRP IR in the Arc. Rats given the adolescent ethanol treatment required higher doses of ethanol than saline-treated rats to express AgRP. In light of previous evidence that endogenous MC and AgRP regulate ethanol intake through MC-receptor signaling, we speculate that the α-MSH and AgRP disturbances induced by binge-like ethanol exposure during adolescence may contribute to excessive ethanol consumption during adulthood

Incidencia de la dislexia en ecuador: relación con el ci, lateralidad, sexo y tipo de escuela

The present study reviews the incidence of dyslexia in 207 primary school students, from 8 to 13 years of age, who attend public and private institutions in the city of Cuenca (Ecuador). A percentage of 26.57% of subjects was found of whom 36% had superficial dyslexia, 33% phonological dyslexia and 31% mixed dyslexia. Subsequently, variables such as sex, laterality, IQ and type of school are compared, the latter two being those that show significant differences. The circumstances that report such a high incidence in this investigation are discussed.El presente estudio revisa la incidencia de la dislexia en 207 estudiantes de primaria, de 8 a 13 años de edad, que asisten a instituciones públicas y privadas en la ciudad de Cuenca (Ecuador). Se encontró un porcentaje de 26.57% de sujetos de los cuales el 36% presentó dislexia superficial, el 33% dislexia fonológica y el 31% dislexia mixta. Posteriormente se comparan variables como sexo, lateralidad, CI y tipo de escuela, siendo estas dos últimas las que evidencian diferencias significativas. Se discuten las circunstancias que reportan una incidencia tan elevada en esta investigación