Los directores escolares frente al dilema de las reformas educativas en el caso de México

La frase “cambiar la escuela para cambiar la educación” encierra dos procesos de reforma complejos en sí mismos y por la relación entre ambos. Cambiar la escuela hace referencia al cambio en la gestión escolar, en tanto que cambiar la educación remite a la reforma pedagógica en su significado más profundo. La imbricación entre ambos procesos de reforma se requiere sin duda para mejorar la educación. No obstante, el grado de conciencia que se tenga de esta realidad varía en los distintos niveles de un sistema educativo y se observa que la reforma de la gestión institucional de la escuela y del sistema prevalece sobre la pedagógica. El director escolar se encuentra atrapado entre dos lógicas paralelas de reforma. En este artículo se discute la perspectiva de directores de escuelas primarias en México a la luz de la implementación del Programa Escuelas de Calidad

The phenotype, psychotype and genotype of bruxism

Abstract. Bruxism is a jaw muscle activity that involves physio-pathological, psycho-social, hereditary and genetic factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between self-reported bruxism, anxiety, and neuroticism personality trait with the rs6313 polymorphism in the gene HTR2A. A sample of 171 subjects of both sexes (14-53 years of age) was included. The control group (group 1, n=60) exhibited no signs or symptoms of bruxism. The case group had signs and symptoms of bruxism (n=112) and was subdivided into group 2, bruxism during sleep (n=22); group 3, awake bruxism (n=44); and group 4 combined bruxism (n=46). As diagnostic tools, the Self-Reported Bruxism Questionnaire (SBQ), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated (EPQR-A) were used. HTR2A (rs6313) SNPs were determined by qPCR for all the participants. The packages SPSS, maxLik and EPI-INFO were used for data analysis. The combined bruxism group reported higher scores in bruxism symptoms, mean = 32.21; anxiety symptoms, mean = 14.80; and neuroticism, mean = 3.26. Combined bruxism was associated with a higher degree of neuroticism (OR=15.0; CI 1.52-148.32) and anxiety in grade 3-moderate (OR=3.56; CI 1.27-10.03), and grade 4-severe (OR=8.40; CI 1.45-48.61), as determined using EPISODE computer software. Genotypic homogeneity analysis revealed no significant differences in allele frequency (P=0.612) among the four groups. The population was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (maxLik package). In conclusion, the three instruments confirm traits of bruxism, anxiety and neuroticism in individuals with bruxism. These data were ratified when the sample was divided by genotypic homogeneity. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the groups in the SNPs rs6313 from the HTR2A gene

Conductas antisociales y delictivas en estudiantes de secundaria de la ciudad de Chihuahua del norte de México y factores de riesgo asociados

Background: Since the school is a key setting during adolescence, it is crucial to detect deviant social behaviors of individuals in this environment to target corrective measures. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of antisocial and criminal behaviors of secondary school students in the city of Chihuahua, northern Mexico, and to explore associated factors. Methods: Cross-sectional survey with adolescents aged 13-16 years, randomly selected from public and private schools. The Mexican version of the validated antisocial and criminal behaviors questionnaire was applied to 430 students from 41 schools. Proportions and mean scores were computed. Results were stratified by individual and school characteristics. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the probability of reporting at least one criminal behavior. Results: Eating when not allowed (67.5%) and arriving late to school (51.7%) were the most frequent antisocial behaviors, while spending money gambling (17.2%) and damaging objects or property in public spaces (15.5%) were the most frequent criminal behaviors. Men had a higher criminal mean score (1.35 vs. 0.89; p<0.05), and 9th graders had higher mean than 7th and 8th graders for antisocial (7.05 vs. 5.39 and 4.97; p<0.05) and criminal (1.44 vs. 0.98 and 0.94; p<0.05) behaviors. Public schools had a lower antisocial mean than the private (5.52 vs. 6.61; p<0.05). High-income private schools had the highest mean for antisocial behavior (7.44), followed by tele-secondaries (7.06); for criminal behavior, public technical (1.71) and tele-secondaries (2.31) had the highest means. The schools’ lowest academic performance was associated with lower means, especially for criminal behavior. Male sex, higher school grade, low school performance, having failed a year, reporting family problems, and performing specific free-time activities (e.g., hanging out with friends) were associated with a higher adjusted odds ratios of reporting at least one criminal behavior. Conclusion: The most frequent behaviors were quantified, and specific risk groups and factors were identified in order to design and implement preventive programsAntecedentes: Dado que la escuela es un escenario clave durante la adolescencia, es crucial detectar conductas sociales desviadas en este entorno para guiar medidas correctivas. Objetivo: Estimar la prevalencia de conductas antisociales y delictivas en estudiantes de secundaria de la ciudad de Chihuahua, norte de México, y explorar factores de riesgo asociados. Métodos: Encuesta transversal con adolescentes de 13 a 16 años seleccionados aleatoriamente de escuelas públicas y privadas. La versión mexicana del cuestionario validado de conductas antisociales y delictivas fue aplicada a 430 estudiantes de 41 escuelas. Se calcularon proporciones y puntuaciones medias. Los resultados se estratificaron por características individuales y escolares. Se empleó regresión logística para identificar factores asociados a la probabilidad de reportar al menos una conducta delictiva. Resultados: Comer cuando no está permitido (67.5%) y llegar tarde a la escuela (51.7%) fueron las conductas antisociales más frecuentes, mientras que gastar dinero en juegos de azar (17.2%) y dañar objetos o propiedad pública (15.5%) fueron las conductas delictivas más frecuentes. Los hombres tuvieron puntuaciones medias delictivas más altas que las mujeres (1.35 vs. 0.89; p<0.05), y los alumnos de 9.° grado tuvieron una media más alta que los de 7.° y 8.° para conductas antisociales (7.05 vs. 5.39 y 4.97; p<0.05) y delictivas (1.44 vs. 0.98 y 0.94; p<0.05). Las escuelas públicas tuvieron una media antisocial más baja que las privadas (5.52 vs. 6.61; p<0.05). Las privadas de altos ingresos tuvieron la media más alta de conducta antisocial (7.44), seguidas de las telesecundarias (7.06); para conducta delictiva, las técnicas públicas (1.71) y las telesecundarias (2.31) mostraron las medias más altas. El rendimiento académico más bajo de las escuelas se asoció con promedios más bajos, especialmente para comportamiento delictivo. Sexo masculino, mayor grado escolar, pobre desempeño académico de la escuela, reprobación de un año escolar, referir de problemas familiares, y practicar actividades de tiempo libre específicas (p. ej. salir con amigos) se asociaron a mayores razones de momios ajustadas para reportar al menos una conducta delictiva. Conclusión: Se cuantificaron las conductas más frecuentes, y se identificaron grupos y factores de riesgo específicos para poder diseñar e implementar programas preventivo

Evaluation of in vivo pathogenicity of Candida parapsilosis, Candida orthopsilosis, and Candida metapsilosis with different enzymatic profiles in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis

Six isolates of the Candida parapsilosis complex with different enzymatic profiles were used to induce systemic infection in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. Fungal tissue burden was determined on days 2, 5, 10, and 15 post challenge. The highest fungal load irrespective of post-infection day was detected in the kidney, followed by the spleen, lung,andliver,withatendencyforthefungalburdentodecreasebyday15inallgroups. Significant differences among the strains were not detected, suggesting that the three species of the “psilosis” group possess a similar pathogenic potential in disseminated candidiasis regardless of their enzymatic profile

Evaluation of in vivo pathogenicity of Candida parapsilosis, Candida orthopsilosis, and Candida metapsilosis with different enzymatic profiles in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis

Six isolates of the Candida parapsilosis complex with different enzymatic profiles were used to induce systemic infection in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. Fungal tissue burden was determined on days 2, 5, 10, and 15 post challenge. The highest fungal load irrespective of post-infection day was detected in the kidney, followed by the spleen, lung,andliver,withatendencyforthefungalburdentodecreasebyday15inallgroups. Significant differences among the strains were not detected, suggesting that the three species of the “psilosis” group possess a similar pathogenic potential in disseminated candidiasis regardless of their enzymatic profile

Multivariate feature selection of image descriptors data for breast cancer with computer-assisted diagnosis

Breast cancer is an important global health problem, and the most common type of cancer among women. Late diagnosis significantly decreases the survival rate of the patient; however, using mammography for early detection has been demonstrated to be a very important tool increasing the survival rate. The purpose of this paper is to obtain a multivariate model to classify benign and malignant tumor lesions using a computer-assisted diagnosis with a genetic algorithm in training and test datasets from mammography image features. A multivariate search was conducted to obtain predictive models with different approaches, in order to compare and validate results. The multivariate models were constructed using: Random Forest, Nearest centroid, and K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) strategies as cost function in a genetic algorithm applied to the features in the BCDR public databases. Results suggest that the two texture descriptor features obtained in the multivariate model have a similar or better prediction capability to classify the data outcome compared with the multivariate model composed of all the features, according to their fitness value. This model can help to reduce the workload of radiologists and present a second opinion in the classification of tumor lesions

Multivariate feature selection of image descriptors data for breast cancer with computer-assisted diagnosis

Breast cancer is an important global health problem, and the most common type of cancer among women. Late diagnosis significantly decreases the survival rate of the patient; however, using mammography for early detection has been demonstrated to be a very important tool increasing the survival rate. The purpose of this paper is to obtain a multivariate model to classify benign and malignant tumor lesions using a computer-assisted diagnosis with a genetic algorithm in training and test datasets from mammography image features. A multivariate search was conducted to obtain predictive models with different approaches, in order to compare and validate results. The multivariate models were constructed using: Random Forest, Nearest centroid, and K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) strategies as cost function in a genetic algorithm applied to the features in the BCDR public databases. Results suggest that the two texture descriptor features obtained in the multivariate model have a similar or better prediction capability to classify the data outcome compared with the multivariate model composed of all the features, according to their fitness value. This model can help to reduce the workload of radiologists and present a second opinion in the classification of tumor lesions

A comparison of back propagation and Generalized Regression Neural Networks performance in neutron spectrometry

The process of unfolding the neutron energy spectrum has been subject of research for many years. Monte Carlo, iterative methods, the bayesian theory, the principle of maximum entropy are some of the methods used. The drawbacks associated with traditional unfolding procedures have motivated the research of complementary approaches. Back Propagation Neural Networks (BPNN), have been applied with success in neutron spectrometry and dosimetry domains, however, the structure and learning parameters are factors that highly impact in the networks performance. In ANN domain, Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) is one of the simplest neural networks in term of network architecture and learning algorithm. The learning is instantaneous, requiring no time for training. Opposite to BPNN, a GRNN would be formed instantly with just a 1-pass training on the development data. In the network development phase, the only hurdle is to optimize the hyper-parameter, which is known as sigma, governing the smoothness of the network. The aim of this work was to compare the performance of BPNN and GRNN in the solution of the neutron spectrometry problem. From results obtained it can be observed that despite the very similar results, GRNN performs better than BPNN

E-Cadherin gene expression in oral cancer : clinical and prospective data

Low protein expression of E-cadherin in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has been associated with clinical and histopathological traits such as metastases, recurrence, low survival and poor tumor differentiation, and it is considered a high-risk marker of malignancy. However, it is still unknown whether low expression of E-cadherin is also present at the mRNA level in OSCC cases. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare E-cadherin mRNA expression in OSCC patients and controls and to correlate the expression with clinical and prospective characteristics. Forty patients and 40 controls were enrolled. E-cadherin mRNA expression was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan probes. E-cadherin mRNA expression was significantly decreased in OSCC patients compared to that of controls (p<0.001). Whereas no significant association between clinical parameters and E-cadherin expression levels was observed, we noted lower E-cadherin expression levels in patients with positive lymph node metastasis. E-cadherin mRNA expression was markedly diminished in OSCC, in agreement with previous results that examined E-cadherin expression at the protein level. E-cadherin is downregulated in the early clinical stages of OSCC, and its mRNA levels do not change significantly in the advanced stages, suggesting that there is limited usefulness of this parameter for predicting disease progression