A score methodology to assess concept maps in medical education in the context of pathophysiology teaching

The main objective of pathophysiology teaching is to facilitate the learning of mechanisms of diseases and the understanding of their expressions in patients (symptoms, signs and tests). This objective requires the application of basic biomedical science to explain the abnormalities expressed by the patients. The capacity to integrate this new organization of knowledge is essential to the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms, which explain expressions of specific diseases. Our group has a longstanding experience in the teaching of pathophysiology to medical students using problem-based learning (PBL) and concept mapping (CM). This semestral discipline has a yearly intake of 190 students, divided into 18 tutorial groups and supported by 14 tutors. The students’ learning progress is evaluated by their performance during the tutorial sessions and the CM methodology has been introduced as an additional tool to visualize the integration of knowledge and how it is displayed in the different pathophysiological mechanisms. Until now, the evaluation of CM has been qualitative and used as an additional assessment tool by the tutors. This study reports how we are changing this approach by training the tutors and developing a scoring methodology, which will be described in detail, together with a preliminary application in selected mapsFonseca, M.; Oliveira, B.; Carreiro-Martins, P.; Neuparth, N.; Rendas, A. (2020). A score methodology to assess concept maps in medical education in the context of pathophysiology teaching. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):867-874. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11163OCS86787430-05-202

A concept map template to be used by medical students for displaying pathophysiological mechanisms within clinical cases

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A scoping review comparing different mapping approaches pointing to the need for standardizing concept maps in medical education: A preliminary analysis

This study aims to analyze how visual tools, labeled as maps, are built, and used in medical education. Based on the educational model of concept maps (CMs), proposed by Novak and Cañas (2008), and adapted to medicine by Daley and Torre (2010), we are currently analyzing the results of a scoping review following the PRISMA extension methodology, specifically for these purposes. Other visual tools, such as knowledge maps (KMs) and mind maps (MMs), used in medical education, were also included. The search was made through the databases EBSCO, PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Eric, using the following items: “concept map*”, “knowledge map*”, “mind map*” and “medical education”. Only articles in English were considered and exclusively in medical education, from undergraduate to resident training. The analysis of selected articles included the following features: construction rules (if they followed Novakian instructions), teaching area, student level (undergraduate, postgraduate/residents), and use for assessment. Other features were the capacity to relate basic science knowledge to clinical concepts, the use of maps with other educational methods, such as problem-based learning (PBL), and providing feedback to students. From a quantitative perspective, the use of CMs is dominant in all phases of medical education. A failure to follow Novakian rules was found in around half of the articles labeled as CMs and KMs. As for MMs, which follow different rules for construction and use, they were considered relevant in helping students to summarize and retain information. Simultaneous use with other educational methods was only found with CMs

Alongamentos no tratamento de fascite plantar

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar se exercícios de alongamento em pacientes com fascite plantar são benéficos na melhoria da dor. Para isso foram pesquisados estudos controlados aleatorizados, publicados nos últimos 10 anos nas bases de dados PubMed, Cochrane e PEDro. Foi investigado o efeito de exercícios de alongamento em doentes com fascite plantar na dor comparado com outros tipos de intervenção ou sem intervenção. Os artigos foram avaliados quanto ao risco de viés pela RoB2, o nível de evidência e força de recomendação pela SORT. Desta pesquisa resultaram 87 artigos dos quais, após aplicação dos critérios de inclusão, resultaram 3 artigos, analisados em diante. Os exercícios de alongamento da fáscia plantar mostram-se mais eficazes que anti-inflamatório não esteroide oral e alongamentos do gastrocnémio e tão eficazes como palmilhas de silicone associadas a calor. No entanto, quando se comparam os alongamentos da fáscia plantar e tendão de Aquiles com proloterapia com lidocaína, a primeira intervenção evidencia resultados inferiores. Por outro, o uso de foam roller apresentou melhores resultados em 2 dos outcomes estudados, não havendo diferença estatisticamente significativa nos restantes.  Conclusões: Os alongamentos parecem ter lugar no tratamento da fascite plantar, existindo métodos que podem ser mais eficazes

Boas práticas na utilização do checklist de cirurgia segura por enfermeiros no período transoperatório

The aim was to analyze the use of the safe surgery checklist by nurses; describe results on the use of the safe surgery checklist presented in the literature from 2015 to 2020. It was a literature review, based on 20 articles, published between 2015 and 2020, and protocols from the Ministry of Health. Three sub-chapters emerged that responded to the proposed objectives, being described respectively as: - Adherence to Safe Surgeries; - Good practices to make Surgery Safe, and - Nursing and the Use of Checklist in Safe Surgery. Many studies have been noticed in the last two decades with the objective of restricting adverse events in surgeries, with great difficulty in the creation of a safety culture that contributes to the implementation of checklists. In this sense, Nursing is seen as having an important role for its validation and insertion, based on the scientific method, and anchored in the nursing process, to promote better practices and safer surgeries.Objetivou-se analisar a utilização do checklist de cirurgia segura por enfermeiros; descrever resultados sobre o uso do checklist de cirurgia segura apresentados na literatura de 2015 a 2020. Tratou-se de revisão de literatura, baseada em 20 artigos, publicados entre 2015 e 2020, e protocolos do Ministério da Saúde. Emergiram três subcapítulos que responderam aos objetivos propostos, sendo descritos respectivamente como: - Adesão às Cirurgias Seguras; - Boas práticas para tornar a Cirurgia Segura, e; - A enfermagem e a Utilização de Checklist em Cirurgia Segura. Percebeu-se muitos estudos nas duas últimas décadas com o objetivo de restringir eventos adversos em cirurgias, sendo identificada grande dificuldade na criação de uma cultura de segurança que contribua para a implantação dos checklists. Nesse sentido a Enfermagem é vista como detentora de um papel importante para sua validação e inserção, fundamentada no método científico e ancorada no processo de enfermagem, para promoção de melhores práticas e cirurgias mais seguras

Assessing the efficiency of protected areas to represent biodiversity : a small island case study

Protected areas (PAs) have been selected using either subjective or objective criteria applied to an extremely limited subset of biodiversity. Improved availability of species distribution data, better statistical tools to predict species distributions and algorithms to optimize spatial conservation planning allow many impediments to be overcome, particularly on small islands. This study analyses whether 219 species are adequately protected by PAs on Pico Island (theAzores, Portugal), and if they are as efficient as possible, maximizing species protection while minimizing costs. We performed distribution modelling of species’ potential distributions, proposed individual conservation targets (considering the context of each species in the archipelago and their current conservation status) to determine the efficiency of current PAs in meeting such targets and identify alternative or complementary areas relevant for conservation. Results showed that current PAs do not cover all taxa, leaving out important areas for conservation. We demonstrate that by using optimization algorithms it is possible to include most species groups in spatial conservation planning in the Azores with the current resources. With increasing availability of data and methods, this approach could be readily extended to other islands and regions with high endemism levels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analyzing the use of linking words in concept maps designed for pathophysiology learning in medicine

[EN] Pathophysiology at NOVA Medical School adopted the concept mapping methodology to promote the visual display of pathophysiological reasoning and learning, based on clinical vignettes. The objective of this project is to identify and label the linking words, in order to study their role in the structure and organization of the concept maps constructed by the students. We used an adopted classification of linking words, categorized in 5 groups: dynamic, static, illustrative, definition and clinical case information. At the end of the semester the concept maps related to the respiratory (mid-semester) and endocrine systems (end of semester) were analyzed and compared. We found linking words not included in any of the five categories, thus a group named “other” has been created. Statistically significant differences were found in dynamic and “other” categories (p=0,049 and p= 0,011, respectively; Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The dynamic words were the most commonly used, probably reflecting students’ need to better describe pathophysiological mechanisms, and the difference found was probably due an improvement in the learning process and concept maps building technic. It would be interesting next year to conduct a more detailed analysis, increasing the sample and ensuring a more robust dataset.Grateful thanks are due to the teaching staff of pathophysiology, tutors Manuel Almeida, Patrícia Santos, Diana Ferreira, Miguel Proença, Ana Rita Franco, Luísa Quaresma, Vasco Gaspar and António Mesquita, and the junior students Sofia Ribeiro, Pedro Vilão Silva, Joana Vigeant Gomes and Margarida Flores that acted as mentors during the tutorial sessions.Fonseca, M.; Oliveira, B.; Canha, I.; Dores, H.; Pinheiro Santos, M.; Lemos, V.; Verdasca, A.... (2021). Analyzing the use of linking words in concept maps designed for pathophysiology learning in medicine. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 95-102. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13036OCS9510

MAJOR GOAT MILK PROTEIN: SEPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION BY “LAB-ON-A-CHIP” MICROFLUIDIC ELECTROPHORES

This work presents the electrophoretic profile of goat and cow milk samples and their mixtures using microfluidic and conventional electrophoresis. The microfluidic method allowed the separation of the major caseins from milk, excepting the goat κ-casein.  Besides, the major whey proteins were separated with perfect distinction of A and B β-lactoglobulin variants. Comparing to SDS-PAGE, a variation in the molecular weight was observed in all milk proteins. However, A and B β-lactoglobulin variants could not be isolated using SDS-PAGE. Although urea-PAGE did not show high resolution among whey proteins, γ-, κ-, β-, and α-caseins were clearly identified. This method also showed a lower limit detection of cow milk in mixture samples than the "lab-on-a-chip" electrophoresis. In both methods, the highest linearity obtained from plotting total percentage against cow milk concentration was observed by using cow αs1-casein (R2 = 0.986 and R² = 0.973). This result indicates that microfluidic electrophoresis is an effective tool to detect the presence of some proteins in goat and cow milk, and in mixtures. Microfluidic chip technology might will complement the current methods for analyzing milk proteins, highlighting its speed amount of reagents and whey protein separation, which showed a better result than urea or SDS-PAG

Separation and quantification of milk proteins with the addition of cheese whey by lab-on-a-chip

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eletroforese com dispositivo de microfluidos, conhecida como técnica lab-on-a-chip, para detecção de adulteração de leite com soro de queijo, em comparação ao SDS-PAGE. Amostras de leite cru, pasteurizado, processado em temperatura ultra-alta (UHT) e em pó receberam adição de soro de queijo em concentrações crescentes (0, 1, 2,5, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50 e 100% v/v) e foram submetidas a eletroforese lab-on-a-chip e SDS-PAGE para detectar suas misturas. A metodologia lab-on-a-chip foi capaz de separar e quantificar as proteínas do leite. Além disso, a técnica lab-on-a-chip é fácil, rápida, sensível e pode detectar adição de soro de queijo no leite do nível mais baixo testado (1%) para as proteínas do leite α-caseína e β-caseína.The objective of this work was to evaluate microfluidic chip electrophoresis, known as lab-on-a-chip technique, for the detection of milk adulteration using cheese whey in comparison with SDS-PAGE. Raw, pasteurized, processed at an ultra-high temperature (UHT), and powdered milk samples received increasing concentrations of cheese whey (0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100% v/v), and were subjected to lab-on-a-chip electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE to detect their mixtures. The lab-on-a-chip methodology was able to separate and quantify milk proteins. In addition, the tested technique is easy, rapid, sensitive, and can detect the addition of cheese whey in milk from the lowest level tested (1%) for milk proteins α-casein and β-casein

Bactérias tolerantes a taninos obtidas de vacas mestiças Holandês x Zebu

The objective of this work was to isolate and characterize tannin-tolerant ruminal bacteria from crossbred Holstein x Zebu cows fed a chopped mixture of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), young stems of "angico-vermelho" (Parapiptadenia rigida), and banana tree (Musa sp.) leaves. A total of 117 bacteria strains were isolated from enrichment cultures of rumen microflora in medium containing tannin extracts. Of these, 11 isolates were able to tolerate up to 3 g L-1 of tannins. Classical characterization procedures indicated that different morphological and physiological groups were represented. Restriction fragments profiles using Alu1 and Taq1 of 1,450 bp PCR products from the 16S rRNA gene grouped the 11 isolates into types I to VI. Sequencing of 16S rRNA PCR products was used for identification. From the 11 strains studied, seven were not identifiable by the methods used in this work, two were strains of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, and two of Streptococcus bovis.O objetivo deste trabalho foi isolar e caracterizar bactérias ruminais tolerantes a taninos obtidas de vacas mestiças Holandês x Zebu alimentadas com dieta composta por capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum) picado com ramos novos de angico-vermelho (Parapiptadenia rigida) e folhas de bananeira (Musa sp.). Um total de 117 cepas bacterianas foram isoladas a partir de cultivos de enriquecimento da microbiota ruminal em meio contendo extrato de taninos. Destas, 11 foram capazes de tolerar até 3 g L-1 de taninos. Procedimentos clássicos de caracterização indicaram que diferentes grupos, morfológicos e fisiológicos, estavam representados. Perfis dos fragmentos de restrição com Alu1 e Taq1 dos produtos de PCR de 1.450 bp do gene 16S rRNA agruparam os 11 isolados nos tipos I a VI. O sequenciamento dos produtos PCR 16S rRNA foi utilizado para identificação. Das 11 estirpes estudadas, sete não foram identificáveis pelos métodos utilizados neste trabalho, duas eram estirpes de Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens e duas de Streptococcus bovis