326 research outputs found

    Desarrollo del pensamiento crítico linealidad y feedback en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje

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    Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524Introducción: El Trabajo que se presenta muestra el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la asignatura Fonaments històrics teòrics i metodològics, del Grado de Enfermería de la Universidad de Barcelona, en un grupo de tarde. Dicha asignatura es troncal, dispone de 12 créditos europeos y se imparte durante el primer curso académico; sitúa al estudiante y muestra las bases de la disciplina y la profesión. Alfaro, define el pensamiento crítico (PC) como el pensamiento informado, que tiene un objetivo y se centra en los resultados (Alfaro-LeFevre, 2009). Para iniciarse en el PC, desde una perspectiva disciplinar, es preciso centrarse en la persona que aprende y, partiendo de las competencias, desarrollar actividades de enseñanza aprendizaje que les sean útiles, que les conecten con la práctica y que se contemplen espacios de feedback, tanto colectivos como individuales (Blanco, 2008). Objetivo: describir la organización de la asignatura desde el planteamiento teórico, las actividades de enseñanza y aprendizaje, incluyendo la evaluación en rúbrica, con la perspectiva de cubrir la competencia transversal de PC y favorecer el feedback. Organización: se plantean las actividades de enseñanza aprendizaje a partir de trabajo presencial: sesiones teóricas participativas, seminarios, conferencias, exposiciones, entre otras. Trabajo autónomo: estudio y reflexión sobre el trabajo en el aula y presentación de Carpetas de aprendizaje (CA) individuales y una cooperativa. Para la evaluación de las CA se elaboró una rúbrica para el curso 2013-14 y haciendo una revisión y mejora para el curso 2014-15, en la que se contempla la evaluación de la reflexión crítica como exponente de la linealidad del PC, en todo el proceso. En la rúbrica se incluyen comentarios que permiten al estudiantado reflexionar sobre su aprendizaje y evaluación, evidenciando la linealidad o no de este proceso y la comunicación on-line o personal-presencial, cuando el alumnado lo requiere

    Toward a molecular profile of self-representation

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    Feeling embodiment over our body or body part has a major role in the understanding of the self and control of self-actions. Even though it is crucial in our daily life, embodiment is not an homogenous phenotype across population, as quantified by implicit and explicit measures (i.e., neuroimaging or self-reports). Studies have shown differences in neuropathological conditions compared to healthy controls, but also across healthy individuals. We discuss examples of self-perception differences, and the molecular origin of embodiment, focusing on clinical cases, during the first and second section. We then discuss two important questions in this molecular-to-embodiment relationship: (i) which are the molecular levels (and their associated techniques) that can be relevant to embodiment, and (ii) which are the most adequate experiments to correlate molecular profiles and embodiment quantification across individuals. Potential answers for both questions will be outlined during the third and fourth sections, respectively, in order to design a framework to study the molecular profile of body embodiment

    Cord blood cardiovascular biomarkers in left-sided congenital heart disease.

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    Fetal echocardiography has limited prognostic ability in the evaluation of left-sided congenital heart defects (left heart defects). Cord blood cardiovascular biomarkers could improve the prognostic evaluation of left heart defects. A multicenter prospective cohort (2013-2019) including fetuses with left heart defects (aortic coarctation, aortic stenosis, hypoplastic left heart, and multilevel obstruction (complex left heart defects) subdivided according to their outcome (favorable vs. poor), and control fetuses were evaluated in the third trimester of pregnancy at three referral centers in Spain. Poor outcome was defined as univentricular palliation, heart transplant, or death. Cord blood concentrations of N-terminal precursor of B-type natriuretic peptide, Troponin I, transforming growth factor β, placental growth factor, and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 were determined. A total of 45 fetuses with left heart defects (29 favorable and 16 poor outcomes) and 35 normal fetuses were included, with a median follow-up of 3.1 years (interquartile range 1.4-3.9). Left heart defects with favorable outcome showed markedly increased cord blood transforming growth factor β (normal heart median 15.5 ng/mL (6.8-21.4) vs. favorable outcome 51.7 ng/mL (13.8-73.9) vs. poor outcome 25.1 ng/mL (6.9-39.0), p = 0.001) and decreased placental growth factor concentrations (normal heart 17.9 pg/mL (13.8-23.9) vs. favorable outcome 12.8 pg/mL (11.7-13.6) vs. poor outcome 11.0 pg/mL (8.8-15.4), p < 0.001). Poor outcome left heart defects had higher N-terminal precursor of B-type natriuretic peptide (normal heart 508.0 pg/mL (287.5-776.3) vs. favorable outcome 617.0 pg/mL (389.8-1087.8) vs. poor outcome 1450.0 pg/mL (919.0-1645.0), p = 0.001) and drastically reduced soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 concentrations (normal heart 1929.7 pg/mL (1364.3-2715.8) vs. favorable outcome (1848.3 pg/mL (646.9-2313.6) vs. poor outcome 259.0 pg/mL (182.0-606.0), p < 0.001). Results showed that fetuses with left heart defects present a distinct cord blood biomarker profile according to their outcome

    Malaria mortality in Africa and Asia: evidence from INDEPTH health and demographic surveillance system sites.

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    BACKGROUND: Malaria continues to be a major cause of infectious disease mortality in tropical regions. However, deaths from malaria are most often not individually documented, and as a result overall understanding of malaria epidemiology is inadequate. INDEPTH Network members maintain population surveillance in Health and Demographic Surveillance System sites across Africa and Asia, in which individual deaths are followed up with verbal autopsies. OBJECTIVE: To present patterns of malaria mortality determined by verbal autopsy from INDEPTH sites across Africa and Asia, comparing these findings with other relevant information on malaria in the same regions. DESIGN: From a database covering 111,910 deaths over 12,204,043 person-years in 22 sites, in which verbal autopsy data were handled according to the WHO 2012 standard and processed using the InterVA-4 model, over 6,000 deaths were attributed to malaria. The overall period covered was 1992-2012, but two-thirds of the observations related to 2006-2012. These deaths were analysed by site, time period, age group and sex to investigate epidemiological differences in malaria mortality. RESULTS: Rates of malaria mortality varied by 1:10,000 across the sites, with generally low rates in Asia (one site recording no malaria deaths over 0.5 million person-years) and some of the highest rates in West Africa (Nouna, Burkina Faso: 2.47 per 1,000 person-years). Childhood malaria mortality rates were strongly correlated with Malaria Atlas Project estimates of Plasmodium falciparum parasite rates for the same locations. Adult malaria mortality rates, while lower than corresponding childhood rates, were strongly correlated with childhood rates at the site level. CONCLUSIONS: The wide variations observed in malaria mortality, which were nevertheless consistent with various other estimates, suggest that population-based registration of deaths using verbal autopsy is a useful approach to understanding the details of malaria epidemiology

    Adult non-communicable disease mortality in Africa and Asia: evidence from INDEPTH Health and Demographic Surveillance System sites.

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    BACKGROUND: Mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a major global issue, as other categories of mortality have diminished and life expectancy has increased. The World Health Organization's Member States have called for a 25% reduction in premature NCD mortality by 2025, which can only be achieved by substantial reductions in risk factors and improvements in the management of chronic conditions. A high burden of NCD mortality among much older people, who have survived other hazards, is inevitable. The INDEPTH Network collects detailed individual data within defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By registering deaths and carrying out verbal autopsies to determine cause of death across many such sites, using standardised methods, the Network seeks to generate population-based mortality statistics that are not otherwise available. OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of adult NCD mortality from INDEPTH Network sites across Africa and Asia, according to the WHO 2012 verbal autopsy (VA) cause categories, with separate consideration of premature (15-64 years) and older (65+ years) NCD mortality. DESIGN: All adult deaths at INDEPTH sites are routinely registered and followed up with VA interviews. For this study, VA archives were transformed into the WHO 2012 VA standard format and processed using the InterVA-4 model to assign cause of death. Routine surveillance data also provide person-time denominators for mortality rates. RESULTS: A total of 80,726 adult (over 15 years) deaths were documented over 7,423,497 person-years of observation. NCDs were attributed as the cause for 35.6% of these deaths. Slightly less than half of adult NCD deaths occurred in the 15-64 age group. Detailed results are presented by age and sex for leading causes of NCD mortality. Per-site rates of NCD mortality were significantly correlated with rates of HIV/AIDS-related mortality. CONCLUSIONS: These findings present important evidence on the distribution of NCD mortality across a wide range of African and Asian settings. This comes against a background of global concern about the burden of NCD mortality, especially among adults aged under 70, and provides an important baseline for future work

    CoVITEST: A Fast and Reliable Method to Monitor Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Specific T Cells From Whole Blood

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    Cellular and humoral immune responses are essential for COVID-19 recovery and protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. To date, the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 immune protection has mainly focused on antibody detection, generally disregarding the cellular response, or placing it in a secondary position. This phenomenon may be explained by the complex nature of the assays needed to analyze cellular immunity compared with the technically simple and automated detection of antibodies. Nevertheless, a large body of evidence supports the relevance of the T cell's role in protection against SARS-CoV-2, especially in vulnerable individuals with a weakened immune system (such as the population over 65 and patients with immunodeficiencies). Here we propose to use CoVITEST (Covid19 anti-Viral Immunity based on T cells for Evaluation in a Simple Test), a fast, affordable and accessible in-house assay that, together with a diagnostic matrix, allows us to determine those patients who might be protected with SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells. The method was established using healthy SARS-CoV-2-naïve donors pre- and post-vaccination (n=30), and further validated with convalescent COVID-19 donors (n=51) in a side-by-side comparison with the gold standard IFN-? ELISpot. We demonstrated that our CoVITEST presented reliable and comparable results to those obtained with the ELISpot technique in a considerably shorter time (less than 8 hours). In conclusion, we present a simple but reliable assay to determine cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 that can be used routinely during this pandemic to monitor the immune status in vulnerable patients and thereby adjust their therapeutic approaches. This method might indeed help to optimize and improve decision-making protocols for re-vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, at least for some population subsets.Copyright © 2022 Egri, Olivé, Hernández-Rodríguez, Castro, De Guzman, Heredia, Segura, Fernandez, de Moner, Torradeflot, Ballús, Martinez, Vazquez, Costa, Dobaño, Mazza, Mazzotti, Pascal, Juan, González-Navarro and Calderón

    New insights into the protein aggregation pathology in myotilinopathy by combined proteomic and immunolocalization analyses

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    Introduction: Myofibrillar myopathies are characterized by progressive muscle weakness and impressive abnormal protein aggregation in muscle fibers. In about 10 % of patients, the disease is caused by mutations in the MYOT gene encoding myotilin. The aim of our study was to decipher the composition of protein deposits in myotilinopathy to get new information about aggregate pathology. Results: Skeletal muscle samples from 15 myotilinopathy patients were included in the study. Aggregate and control samples were collected from muscle sections by laser microdissection and subsequently analyzed by a highly sensitive proteomic approach that enables a relative protein quantification. In total 1002 different proteins were detected. Seventy-six proteins showed a significant over-representation in aggregate samples including 66 newly identified aggregate proteins. Z-disc-associated proteins were the most abundant aggregate components, followed by sarcolemmal and extracellular matrix proteins, proteins involved in protein quality control and degradation, and proteins with a function in actin dynamics or cytoskeletal transport. Forty over-represented proteins were evaluated by immunolocalization studies. These analyses validated our mass spectrometric data and revealed different regions of protein accumulation in abnormal muscle fibers. Comparison of data from our proteomic analysis in myotilinopathy with findings in other myofibrillar myopathy subtypes indicates a characteristic basic pattern of aggregate composition and resulted in identification of a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic marker for myotilinopathy. Conclusions: Our findings i) indicate that main protein components of aggregates belong to a network of interacting proteins, ii) provide new insights into the complex regulation of protein degradation in myotilinopathy that may be relevant for new treatment strategies, iii) imply a combination of a toxic gain-of-function leading to myotilin-positive protein aggregates and a loss-of-function caused by a shift in subcellular distribution with a deficiency of myotilin at Z-discs that impairs the integrity of myofibrils, and iv) demonstrate that proteomic analysis can be helpful in differential diagnosis of protein aggregate myopathies

    Establishing research strategies, methodologies and technologies to link genomics and proteomics to seagrass productivity, community metabolism, and ecosystem carbon fluxes

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    A complete understanding of the mechanistic basis of marine ecosystem functioning is only possible through integrative and interdisciplinary research. This enables the prediction of change and possibly the mitigation of the consequences of anthropogenic impacts. One major aim of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ES0609 “Seagrasses productivity. From genes to ecosystem management,” is the calibration and synthesis of various methods and the development of innovative techniques and protocols for studying seagrass ecosystems. During 10 days, 20 researchers representing a range of disciplines (molecular biology, physiology, botany, ecology, oceanography, and underwater acoustics) gathered at The Station de Recherches Sous-marines et Océanographiques (STARESO, Corsica) to study together the nearby Posidonia oceanica meadow. STARESO is located in an oligotrophic area classified as “pristine site” where environmental disturbances caused by anthropogenic pressure are exceptionally low. The healthy P. oceanica meadow, which grows in front of the research station, colonizes the sea bottom from the surface to 37 m depth. During the study, genomic and proteomic approaches were integrated with ecophysiological and physical approaches with the aim of understanding changes in seagrass productivity and metabolism at different depths and along daily cycles. In this paper we report details on the approaches utilized and we forecast the potential of the data that will come from this synergistic approach not only for P. oceanica but for seagrasses in general

    Differential proteomic analysis of abnormal intramyoplasmic aggregates in desminopathy

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    Desminopathy is a subtype of myofibrillar myopathy caused by desmin mutations and characterized by protein aggregates accumulating in muscle fibers. The aim of this study was to assess the protein composition of these aggregates. Aggregates and intact myofiber sections were obtained from skeletal muscle biopsies of five desminopathy patients by laser microdissection and analyzed by a label-free spectral count-based proteomic approach. We identified 397 proteins with 22 showing significantly higher spectral indices in aggregates (ratio >1.8, p <0.05). Fifteen of these proteins not previously reported as specific aggregate components provide new insights regarding pathomechanisms of desminopathy. Results of proteomic analysis were supported by immunolocalization studies and parallel reaction monitoring. Three mutant desmin variants were detected directly on the protein level as components of the aggregates, suggesting their direct involvement in aggregate-formation and demonstrating for the first time that proteomic analysis can be used for direct identification of a disease-causing mutation in myofibrillar myopathy. Comparison of the proteomic results in desminopathy with our previous analysis of aggregate composition in filaminopathy, another myofibrillar myopathy subtype, allows to determine subtype-specific proteomic profile that facilitates identification of the specific disorder. Biological significance Our proteomic analysis provides essential new insights in the composition of pathological protein aggregates in skeletal muscle fibers of desminopathy patients. The results contribute to a better understanding of pathomechanisms in myofibrillar myopathies and provide the basis for hypothesis-driven studies. The detection of specific proteomic profiles in different myofibrillar myopathy subtypes indicates that proteomic analysis may become a useful tool in differential diagnosis of protein aggregate myopathies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: From Genome to Proteome: Open Innovations. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

    Relationship between damage and mortality in juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: Cluster analyses in a large cohort from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry (RELESSER)

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    Objectives: To identify patterns (clusters) of damage manifestation within a large cohort of juvenile SLE (jSLE) patients and evaluate their possible association with mortality. Methods: This is a multicentre, descriptive, cross-sectional study of a cohort of 345 jSLE patients from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry. Organ damage was ascertained using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Damage Index. Using cluster analysis, groups of patients with similar patterns of damage manifestation were identified and compared. Results: Mean age (years) ± S.D. at diagnosis was 14.2 ± 2.89; 88.7% were female and 93.4% were Caucasian. Mean SLICC/ACR DI ± S.D. was 1.27 ± 1.63. A total of 12 (3.5%) patients died. Three damage clusters were identified: Cluster 1 (72.7% of patients) presented a lower number of individuals with damage (22.3% vs. 100% in Clusters 2 and 3, P < 0.001); Cluster 2 (14.5% of patients) was characterized by renal damage in 60% of patients, significantly more than Clusters 1 and 3 (P < 0.001), in addition to increased more ocular, cardiovascular and gonadal damage; Cluster 3 (12.7%) was the only group with musculoskeletal damage (100%), significantly higher than in Clusters 1 and 2 (P < 0.001). The overall mortality rate in Cluster 2 was 2.2 times higher than that in Cluster 3 and 5 times higher than that in Cluster 1 (P < 0.017 for both comparisons). Conclusions: In a large cohort of jSLE patients, renal and musculoskeletal damage manifestations were the two dominant forms of damage by which patients were sorted into clinically meaningful clusters. We found two clusters of jSLE with important clinical damage that were associated with higher rates of mortality, especially for the cluster of patients with predominant renal damage. Physicians should be particularly vigilant to the early prevention of damage in this subset of jSLE patients with kidney involvement
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