Разказването като дидактически инструмент за изучаване на ценности чрез използване на социална роботика

Learning is an activity and a skill that, in best cases, is retained during all the duration of one’s life. However, when we refer to teaching it usually refers to the more traditional structure of lectures, which is not always suitable, particularly in the when learning values and other complex concepts. Fortunately, technology offers new opportunities and scenarios to play out in the classroom. This new aids, like social robots, give teachers the freedom to try new or previously not viable options like personalized storytelling which combines traditional narrative, technology and emotions. This form of teaching-learning process helps the students relate and can help them develop active listening, stimulate their creativity and encourage their motivation through the narration of the experiences of the protagonist of the story, as well as achieve a more relaxed and participatory atmosphere in the classroom while working on his linguistics and digital skills, developing his critical spirit, and learning to organize information.This work has been partially supported by the Project No KP-06-N42/4 of the Bulgarian Research Fund

Robotics as a didactic tool for students with autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review

Este artículo describe los resultados cuantitativos y cualitativos de un estudio cuyo objetivo es identificar las tendencias y oportunidades de innovación en el campo de la robótica socioeducativa, utilizada como herramienta didáctica, con el fin de desarrollar las diferentes habilidades, destrezas y competencias de los estudiantes con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo escolarizados; estudiantes con trastornos del espectro del autismo específicamente. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión sistemática de la literatura, mediante una estrategia de búsqueda rigurosamente definida. Los resultados obtenidos permiten identificar los avances en cuanto a modelos didácticos basados en el uso de la robótica como herramienta educativa, actividades pedagógicas y recursos didácticos; criterios, estrategias e instrumentos de evaluación y experiencias de aplicación en contextos escolares reales.  This article describes the quantitative and qualitative results of a study that aimed to identify the trends and innovation opportunities in the field of socio-educational robotics used as a didactic tool, in order to develop the different skills, abilities and competencies of students with specific educational support needs which attend to mainstream school classes; students with autism spectrum disorders specifically. A systematic review of the literature was carried out, through a rigorously defined search strategy. The results obtained allow us to identify the advances in terms of didactic models based on the use of robotics as an educational tool, pedagogical activities and didactic resources; evaluation criteria, strategies and instruments, and experiences of application in real school contexts.&nbsp

La robótica como herramienta didáctica para personas con desórdenes en el espectro del autismo: Una revisión sistemática

 This article describes the quantitative and qualitative results of a study that aimed to identify the trends and innovation opportunities in the field of socio-educational robotics used as a didactic tool, in order to develop the different skills, abilities and competencies of students with specific educational support needs which attend to mainstream school classes; students with autism spectrum disorders specifically. A systematic review of the literature was carried out, through a rigorously defined search strategy. The results obtained allow us to identify the advances in terms of didactic models based on the use of robotics as an educational tool, pedagogical activities and didactic resources; evaluation criteria, strategies and instruments, and experiences of application in real school contexts. Este artículo describe los resultados cuantitativos y cualitativos de un estudio cuyo objetivo es identificar las tendencias y oportunidades de innovación en el campo de la robótica socioeducativa, utilizada como herramienta didáctica, con el fin de desarrollar las diferentes habilidades, destrezas y competencias de los estudiantes con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo escolarizados; estudiantes con trastornos del espectro del autismo específicamente. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión sistemática de la literatura, mediante una estrategia de búsqueda rigurosamente definida. Los resultados obtenidos permiten identificar los avances en cuanto a modelos didácticos basados en el uso de la robótica como herramienta educativa, actividades pedagógicas y recursos didácticos; criterios, estrategias e instrumentos de evaluación y experiencias de aplicación en contextos escolares reales.

Therapeutic Potential of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) has established anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but there is increasing evidence of its role in other inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions, like diabetes mellitus (DM). AAT activity is altered in both developing and established type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) as well in established type 2 DM (T2DM). Augmentation therapy with AAT appears to favorably impact T1DM development in mice models and to affect β-cell function and inflammation in humans with T1DM. The role of AAT in T2DM is less clear, but AAT activity appears to be reduced in T2DM. This article reviews these associations and emerging therapeutic strategies using AAT to treat DM

Mechanisms Linking COPD to Type 1 and 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Is There a Relationship between Diabetes and COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients frequently suffer from multiple comorbidities, resulting in poor outcomes for these patients. Diabetes is observed at a higher frequency in COPD patients than in the general population. Both type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus are associated with pulmonary complications, and similar therapeutic strategies are proposed to treat these conditions. Epidemiological studies and disease models have increased our knowledge of these clinical associations. Several recent genome-wide association studies have identified positive genetic correlations between lung function and obesity, possibly due to alterations in genes linked to cell proliferation; embryo, skeletal, and tissue development; and regulation of gene expression. These studies suggest that genetic predisposition, in addition to weight gain, can influence lung function. Cigarette smoke exposure can also influence the differential methylation of CpG sites in genes linked to diabetes and COPD, and smoke-related single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with resting heart rate and coronary artery disease. Despite the vast literature on clinical disease association, little direct mechanistic evidence is currently available demonstrating that either disease influences the progression of the other, but common pharmacological approaches could slow the progression of these diseases. Here, we review the clinical and scientific literature to discuss whether mechanisms beyond preexisting conditions, lifestyle, and weight gain contribute to the development of COPD associated with diabetes. Specifically, we outline environmental and genetic confounders linked with these diseases

Comprehensive genomic screens identify a role for PLZF-RAR alpha as a positive regulator of cell proliferation via direct regulation of c-MYC

The t(11;17)(q23;q21) translocation is associated with a retinoic acid (RA)–insensitive form of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), involving the production of reciprocal fusion proteins, promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger–retinoic acid receptor α (PLZF-RARα) and RARα-PLZF. Using a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation promotor arrays (ChIP-chip) and gene expression profiling, we identify novel, direct target genes of PLZF-RARα that tend to be repressed in APL compared with other myeloid leukemias, supporting the role of PLZF-RARα as an aberrant repressor in APL. In primary murine hematopoietic progenitors, PLZF-RARα promotes cell growth, and represses Dusp6 and Cdkn2d, while inducing c-Myc expression, consistent with its role in leukemogenesis. PLZF-RARα binds to a region of the c-MYC promoter overlapping a functional PLZF site and antagonizes PLZF-mediated repression, suggesting that PLZF-RARα may act as a dominant-negative version of PLZF by affecting the regulation of shared targets. RA induced the differentiation of PLZF-RARα–transformed murine hematopoietic cells and reduced the frequency of clonogenic progenitors, concomitant with c-Myc down-regulation. Surviving RA-treated cells retained the ability to be replated and this was associated with sustained c-Myc expression and repression of Dusp6, suggesting a role for these genes in maintaining a self-renewal pathway triggered by PLZF-RARα