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

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

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

Identificação e perfil de sensibilidade a antimicrobianos de bactérias isoladas na biodigestão anaeróbia de dejetos suínos e bovinos / Identification and profile of antimicrobial sensitivity of bacteria isolated in anaerobic biodigestion of swine and bovine waste

Os dejetos animais podem ser utilizados em biodigestores anaeróbicos com intuito de produzir biogás e biofertilizante. Entretanto, a identificação e o conhecimento do perfil de resistência a antimicrobianos da microbiota presente no composto se faz necessário. Microrganismos presentes nas amostras foram identificados genotipicamente pelo sequenciamento do rRNA 16S. O perfil de susceptibilidade a antimicrobianos foi determinado pelo método de disco-difusão. Os grupos microbianos encontrados foram os Bacilos Gram Negativos da família Enterobacteriaceae e cocos Gram positivos. Quanto a susceptibilidade aos antimicrobianos, para os isolados do gênero Staphylococcus a penicilina foi a droga que apresentou o maior índice de resistência (78,9%), seguida da oxacilina (57,9%), sendo a maioria dos isolados (94,7%) sensíveis à combinação de ampicilina-sulbactam e ao levofloxacino (78,9%). Para os isolados do gênero Enterococcus os maiores índices de resistência foram detectados para a rifamicina (48%) e eritromicina (32%), com elevada sensibilidade ao levofloxacino (88%) e à vancomicina (80%). As linhagens de Escherichia coli avaliadas apresentaram uma alta sensibilidade à amicacina (85,7%) e a maior resistência se deu para o antimicrobiano ampicilina (42,8%). A utilização do biofertilizante gerado deve ser criteriosa devido à persistência de espécies potencialmente patogênicas no efluente final, onde algumas das quais apresentam relevante resistência a antimicrobianos

Comprehensive genomic profiling of cell-free circulating tumor DNA detects response to Ribociclib plus Letrozole in a patient with metastatic breast cancer

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Analysis of cell-free circulating tumor DNA obtained by liquid biopsy is a non-invasive approach that may provide clinically actionable information when conventional tissue biopsy is inaccessible or infeasible. Here, we followed a patient with hormone receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2-negative breast cancer who developed bone metastases seven years after mastectomy. We analyzed circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) extracted from plasma using high-depth massively parallel sequencing targeting 468 cancer-associated genes, and we identified a clonal hotspot missense mutation in the PIK3CA gene (3:178952085, A > G, H1047R) and amplification of the CCND1 gene. Whole-exome sequencing revealed that both alterations were present in the primary tumor. After treatment with ribociclib plus letrozole, the genetic abnormalities were no longer detected in cfDNA. These results underscore the clinical utility of combining liquid biopsy and comprehensive genomic profiling to monitor treatment response in patients with metastasized breast cancer.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, Portugal, through Fundos do Orçamento de Estado to Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (LA/P/0082/2020), and FCT/FEDER/POR Lisboa 2020, Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, PORTUGAL 2020 (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-016394), and FEDER/POR Lisboa 2020-Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, PORTUGAL 2020 (Infogene, 045300). C.S. was a recipient of a FCT fellowship (SFRH/BDE/110544/2015). This work was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748; MSK). J.S.R-F. and B.W. are funded in part by the NIH/NCI P50 CA247749 01 grant and a Breast Cancer Research Foundation grant. J.S.R.-F. is also funded in part by a Susan G Komen leadership grant, and B.W. by a Cycle for Survival grant.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio