El Nanocirco: un diseño interdisciplinario para la divulgación y enseñanza de la Nanociencia y la Nanotecnología

Resumen: La nanociencia y la nanotecnología forman parte del desarrollo científico-tecnológico que contemplamos en la actualidad. Para educar en sus conceptos y diseminarlos en la sociedad se requiere de la creación de nuevas estrategias educativas. En este artículo describimos la investigación-acción realizada para la planificación, diseño y desarrollo de la obra el Nanocirco, en la que se integraron el circo y el teatro con la ciencia, para ofrecer una experiencia de comunicación científica no formal, motivar a las personas a la ciencia y enseñar cuatro conceptos de nanociencia y nanotecnología. Los hallazgos presentados son en su mayoría de carácter cualitativo, con algunos datos cuantitativos en términos de porcentajes. Estos fueron recopilados a partir de las reflexiones de los participantes del equipo de desarrollo Nanocirco, la evaluación de las funciones por parte de los espectadores y una preprueba y posprueba para evaluar el cambio en los estereotipos de los científicos. Los resultados sugieren el Nanocirco como un espectáculo interdisciplinario, motivador y generador de diversidad de instrumentos de enseñanza y comunicación, para los aprendizajes tanto del equipo desarrollador, como para los espectadores. Palabras clave: Comunicación de la ciencia; Artes escénicas; Interdisciplinariedad; Estereotipos del científico; Diversidad de aprendizajes. The Nanocircus: An interdisciplinary design for the dissemination and teaching of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Abstract: Nanoscience and nanotechnology are part of the scientific-technological development that we contemplate today. To educate in their concepts and disseminate them in society, it requires the creation of new educational strategies. In this article, we describe the action research carried out for the planning, design, and development of the play The Nanocircus (El Nanocirco) in which the disciplines of circus and the theater were integrated with science to offer a non-formal scientific communication experience, to motivate the people to Science and teach four concepts of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The findings presented are mostly of a qualitative nature, with some quantitative data in terms of percentages. These findings were compiled from the reflections of the participants of El Nanocirco development team, the evaluation of the functions by the spectators and a pre-test and post-test to evaluate the change in the stereotypes of the scientists. The results suggest El Nanocirco as an interdisciplinary show, motivating and generating a diversity of teaching and communication instruments for the learning of both, the development team and the audience. Keywords: Science communication; Scenic arts; Interdisciplinarity; Scientists stereotypes; Diversity of learnings

The Nanocircus: An interdisciplinary design for the dissemination and teaching of nanoscience and nanotechnology .

La n anociencia y la n anote cnología forman parte del desarrollo científico-tecnológico que contemplamos en la actualidad. Para educar en sus conceptos y diseminarlos en la sociedad se requiere de la creación de nuevas estrategias educativas. En este artículo describimos la investigación-acción realizada para la planificación, diseño y desarrollo de la obra el Nanocirco, en la que se integr aron e l c irco y el t eatro con la c iencia, para ofrecer una experiencia de comunicación científica no formal, motivar a las personas a la c iencia y enseñar cuatro conceptos de n anociencia y n anotecnología. Los hallazgos presentados son en su mayoría de carácter cualitativo, con algunos datos cuantitativos en términos de porcentajes. Esto s fueron recopilados a partir de las reflexiones de los participantes del equipo de desarrollo Nanocirco, la evaluación de las funciones por parte de los espectadores y una preprueba y posprueba para evaluar el cambio en los estereotipos de los científicos. Los resultados sugieren el Nanocirco como un espectáculo interdisciplinario, motivador y generador de diversidad de instrumentos de enseñanza y comunicación, para los aprendizajes tanto del equipo desarrollador, como para los espectadores.Nanoscience and n anotechnology are part of the scientific-technological development that we contemplate today. To educate in their concepts and disseminate them in society, it requires the creation of new educational strategies. In this article, we describe the action research carried out for the planning, design, and development of the play The Nanocircus ( El Nanocirco) in which t he disciplines of circus and the theater were integrated with science to offer a non-formal scientific communication experience, to motivate the people to Science and teach four concepts of n anoscience and n anotechnology. The findings presented are mostly of a qualitative nature, with some quantitative data in terms of percentages. These findings were compiled from the reflections of the participants of El Nanocirco development team, the evaluation of the functions by the spectators and a pre-test and post-test to evaluate the change in the stereotypes of the scientists. The results suggest El Nanocirco as an interdisciplinary show, motivating and generating a diversity of teaching and communication instruments for the learning of both, the development team and the audience

An Investigative, Cooperative Learning Approach for General Chemistry Laboratories

The integration of research and education is an essential component of our university’s teaching philosophy. Recently, we made a curricular revision to facilitate such an approach in the General Chemistry Laboratory, to teach students that investigative approaches are at the core of sciences. The curriculum revision included new interdisciplinary experiments and a research project. Investigative, peer review, and cooperative learning strategies were introduced to enhance student learning and engagement. An environment in which students can analyze results within a laboratory session and reach comprehensive and quantitative conclusions was encouraged. To assess our results, students completed questionnaires, evaluated their peers and themselves. Instructors evaluated students through written reports, oral presentations, pre- and post test, a practical exam and a final exam. Assessments of the learning outcomes were performed to determine the level of research skills development, the improvement in laboratory techniques, and depth in analysis of concepts. The experimental designs, implementation of results, and comparisons of student performances using traditional approaches are presented

Comparison of chemical compounds associated with sclerites from healthy and diseased sea fan corals (Gorgonia ventalina)

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PeerJ 5 (2017): e3677, doi:10.7717/peerj.3677.The roles of gorgonian sclerites as structural components and predator deterrents have been widely studied. Yet their role as barriers against microbes has only recently been investigated, and even less is known about the diversity and roles of the chemical compounds associated with sclerites. Here, we examine the semi-volatile organic compound fraction (SVOCs) associated with sclerites from healthy and diseased Gorgonia ventalina sea fan corals to understand their possible role as a stress response or in defense of infection. We also measured the oxidative potential of compounds from diseased and healthy G. ventalina colonies. The results showed that sclerites harbor a great diversity of SVOCs. Overall, 70 compounds were identified, the majority of which are novel with unknown biological roles. The majority of SVOCs identified exhibit multiple immune-related roles including antimicrobial and radical scavenging functions. The free radical activity assays further confirmed the anti-oxidative potential of some these compounds. The anti-oxidative activity was, nonetheless, similar across sclerites regardless of the health condition of the colony, although sclerites from diseased sea fans display slightly higher anti-oxidative activity than the healthy ones. Sclerites harbor great SVOCs diversity, the majority of which are novel to sea fans or any other corals. Yet the scientific literature consulted showed that the roles of compounds found in sclerites vary from antioxidant to antimicrobial compounds. However, this study fell short in determine the origin of the SVOCs identified, undermining our capacity to determine the biological roles of the SVOCs on sclerites and sea fans.This work was supported by the Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience (PRCEN) through an NSF Centers of Research Excellent in Science and Technology (CREST) award, number HRD-1137725

El Nanocirco: un diseño interdisciplinario para la divulgación y enseñanza de la nanociencia y la nanotecnología

La nanociencia y la nanotecnología forman parte del desarrollo científico-tecnológico que contemplamos en la actualidad. Para educar en sus conceptos y diseminarlos en la sociedad se requiere de la creación de nuevas estrategias educativas. En este artículo describimos la investigación-acción realizada para la planificación, diseño y desarrollo de la obra el Nanocirco, en la que se integraron el circo y el teatro con la ciencia, para ofrecer una experiencia de comunicación científica no formal, motivar a las personas a la ciencia y enseñar cuatro conceptos de nanociencia y nanotecnología. Los hallazgos presentados son en su mayoría de carácter cualitativo, con algunos datos cuantitativos en términos de porcentajes. Estos fueron recopilados a partir de las reflexiones de los participantes del equipo de desarrollo Nanocirco, la evaluación de las funciones por parte de los espectadores y una preprueba y posprueba para evaluar el cambio en los estereotipos de los científicos. Los resultados sugieren el Nanocirco como un espectáculo interdisciplinario, motivador y generador de diversidad de instrumentos de enseñanza y comunicación, para los aprendizajes tanto del equipo desarrollador, como para los espectadores

Switching TNF antagonists in patients with chronic arthritis: An observational study of 488 patients over a four-year period

The objective of this work is to analyze the survival of infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab in patients who have switched among tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists for the treatment of chronic arthritis. BIOBADASER is a national registry of patients with different forms of chronic arthritis who are treated with biologics. Using this registry, we have analyzed patient switching of TNF antagonists. The cumulative discontinuation rate was calculated using the actuarial method. The log-rank test was used to compare survival curves, and Cox regression models were used to assess independent factors associated with discontinuing medication. Between February 2000 and September 2004, 4,706 patients were registered in BIOBADASER, of whom 68% had rheumatoid arthritis, 11% ankylosing spondylitis, 10% psoriatic arthritis, and 11% other forms of chronic arthritis. One- and two-year drug survival rates of the TNF antagonist were 0.83 and 0.75, respectively. There were 488 patients treated with more than one TNF antagonist. In this situation, survival of the second TNF antagonist decreased to 0.68 and 0.60 at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Survival was better in patients replacing the first TNF antagonist because of adverse events (hazard ratio (HR) for discontinuation 0.55 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.84)), and worse in patients older than 60 years (HR 1.10 (95% CI 0.97-2.49)) or who were treated with infliximab (HR 3.22 (95% CI 2.13-4.87)). In summary, in patients who require continuous therapy and have failed to respond to a TNF antagonist, replacement with a different TNF antagonist may be of use under certain situations. This issue will deserve continuous reassessment with the arrival of new medications. © 2006 Gomez-Reino and Loreto Carmona; licensee BioMed Central Ltd