Preschool teachers display a flexible pattern of pedagogical actions in promoting healthy habits in children

The school represents the optimal setting for promoting the physical, emotional, and social health of children, especially during the first years of life. Understanding the pedagogical actions of teachers to address health education is an important first step in promoting healthy behaviors in children. We inhere analyzed the pedagogical action patterns in the preschool teaching of healthy habits from a holistic health perspective. We used photography as a strategy for data collection and applied a Chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) classification tree, a data mining procedure, to generate a pattern model. We found that the school space and the learning playfulness strategies for the development of executive functions, classified according to the exercise, symbolic, assembly, rules (ESAR) model, were the main factors that influence the pedagogical actions fostering healthy habits. By contrast, the school and the pedagogical resources of the classroom are factors with a much smaller impact on working with healthy habits. This pedagogical action pattern is flexible, since teachers conduct a multiplicity of pedagogical actions through different strategies, in different school spaces, at any time. In conclusion, our results unmask the interdependent relationships between the different factors that determine the teacher's actions at the preschool. It also contributes to the understanding of the teacher's practices in fostering healthy habits in a healthy learning environment

La fitxa molecular: una eina d'autoaprenentatge i d'avaluació continuada de Biologia Molecular

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524Tradicionalment la principal font de nou coneixement en Biologia Molecular han estat els articles científics. Cada vegada més, però, una part important d’aquesta nova informació es troba dipositada en bases de dades. Amb l’objectiu de familiaritzar l’estudiant tant amb els articles científics com amb les bases de dades de Biologia Molecular hem dissenyat una activitat d’avaluació continuada, anomenada Fitxa Molecular, pels estudiants de “Biologia Molecular” del grau de Medicina i de “Bioquímica” del grau d’Enginyeria Biomèdica. El treball consisteix en trobar una sèrie de dades sobre DNA, mRNA, proteïna i funció d’un gen assignat. El treball progressa durant el curs paral·lelament als continguts de les classes teòriques mitjançant una sessió inicial de presentació, 4 sessions de seguiment i introducció de noves tasques i una sessió final d’avaluació. El treball es realitza en grups de 3-4 estudiants, la presentació es fa de forma oral i la qualificació obtinguda suposa un 20% de la nota final de l’assignatura. En l’activitat es treballen les bases de dades NCBI..

Neuron-microglia interactions in motor neuron degeneration. The inflammatory hypothesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis revisited.

Research into the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has obtainedd notable gene discoveries, although, to date, only progress with regard to treatment has been very modest. Currently ALS is considered a multifactorial disease that presents diverse clinical presentations, ranging from a monogenic inherited disease to an autoimmune pathology, and develops with misfolded protein aggregation and neuroinflammation. An important factor related to ALS pathogenesis is the microglial activation associated with degenerative motor neurons. This activation leads to changes in the expression of a wide range of genes related to phagocytosis and inflammation, and to profound modifications in the dynamic interactions between neurons and glial cells. Overactivation and deregulation of microglial activity causes deleterious effects and leads to neuronal death. However, the involvement of microglia in non-inflammatory functions challenges our concept of neuroinflammation and opens up new possibilities for the study of the pathophysiological mechanisms of ALS. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on the adaptive interactions between neurons and microglia in ALS. We also discuss the hypothesis that controlling the extent of microglial activation and neuroinflammation may have clinical and therapeutic benefits for the condition

Aprenentatge de bioquímica fent servir Viquipèdia en el grau de Medicina

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524El profesional de la medicina moderno ha de saber trabajar en grupo de forma colaborativa. Las wikis son excelentes herramientas de colaboración en línea y se están utilizando cada vez más para el trabajo en grupo de los estudiantes en la educación superior. Dado que Wikipedia es un excelente modelo de construcción de conocimiento dentro de una comunidad, en 2009 diseñamos una actividad de aprendizaje basada en Wikipedia para estudiantes de medicina en el primer año académico. La actividad ha implicado planificación de sesiones formativas del uso de Wikipedia y la tutorización de los alumnos en sesiones presenciales y utilizando el foro de la plataforma virtual de la asignatura. La evaluación de la actividad se ha hecho por parte de los profesores e implementando un sistema de evaluación anónima por pares. En los últimos seis cursos académicos, 1.084 alumnos (un promedio de 181 alumnos por año) han trabajado organizados en pequeños grupos para traducir, ampliar y generar nuevos artículos bioquímicos y moleculares en la Wikipedia catalana, española e inglesa. Eso significa 604 nuevas contribuciones a los artículos de Wikipedia. Además de los conocimientos bioquímicos adquiridos, la actividad con Wikipedia ha permitido trabajar competencias transversales como la gestión de la información y la integración de conocimientos, y también aspectos éticos como el respeto a la propiedad intelectual, el plagio, la difusión de los Principios de la Wikipedia y la sensibilización a la licencia Creative Commons dentro de los futuros profesionales de la medicina. En las Jornadas se presentará el trabajo realizado por el equipo docente, los resultados del sistema de evaluación, la evolución de la actividad a lo largo de los seis años de implementación de la actividad y las conclusiones del equipo

Factors of well-being of youth with complex medical conditions from the experience of hospitalization and convalescence: A pilot study

Well-being in children with a complex medical condition (CMC) impacts the way they view and communicate with their immediate environment as well as their development, and it is thus necessary to inquire about the contextual issues and different needs that a CMC car- ries. This pilot study aimed to identify factors of pediatric well-being from the experience of hospitalization and convalescence of youth with CMC and their caregivers, in a cross-sec- tional analysis using a selective methodology complemented by an indirect observational methodology. We analyzed the quality of life and well-being of youth with CMC using a vali- dated KINDLR questionnaire. We collected 35 surveys: 11 from youth with CMC and 24 from caregivers from Spain. We focused the analysis on sociodemographics, well-being perceptions, and coping strategies variables. The results show that children aged between 3 and 6 years and their caregivers scored physical well-being the lowest out of all dimen- sions of well-being, and they scored family well-being the highest. Moreover, youth between the ages of 7 and 17 years and their caregivers scored school-related well-being the lowest. Coping strategies to deal with stressful situations differ between children and caregivers. While children mainly engage in social withdrawal, caregivers engage in cognitive restruc- turing and expressing emotions. However, we did not find a relationship between coping strategies and well-being perceptions. These results highlight the need to facilitate commu- nication spaces with both families and health professionals where the voice of children is considered

Team Based Learning (TBL): una metodología de aprendizaje y evaluación continuada en Bioquímica

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524La estrategia de Aprendizaje Basado en Equipos (Team Based Learning, TBL) es una metodología estructurada de aprendizaje basada en el concepto de aula invertida. Los equipos están formados por 4-5 estudiantes agrupados al azar al inicio del curso. Los estudiantes trabajan los contenidos autónomamente y son evaluados en clase de forma individual (iRAT) y en equipo (tRAT) mediante pruebas de tipo test. El aprendizaje es aplicado a la resolución conjunta de problemas en equipo durante las clases. Al finalizar el curso los equipos se autoevalúan vía rúbrica. Esta estrategia de TBL se ha implementado en las asignaturas de Bioquímica (grado de Ingeniería Biomédica) y la asignatura optativa de Terapia personalizada y genómica (grados de Medicina y de Ciencias Biomédicas). Las actividades TBL han consistido en seminarios (visionado e interpretación de videos y en la resolución de dudas después de los bloques de teoría), en evaluación de contenidos de teoría (clases de repaso de conceptos adquiridos en otras asignaturas) y en la autoevaluación de los miembros del equipo respecto a los trabajos orales en grupo (ficha molecular, resolución de problemas clínicos). Estas actividades representan entre el 10 y el 20% de la nota final de las asignaturas. Esta nueva metodología TBL ha sido evaluada a través de una encuesta de satisfacción de los alumnos, siendo el resultado muy satisfactorio (7.7/10) y recomendado por la mayoría de los alumnos (60/64). Algunos aspectos remarcables de esta metodología son: • Participación activa de todos los alumnos resultando en clases más dinámicas. • Trabajo individual inicial con la posterior auto-revisión de conceptos por parte del equipo. • Mejores resultados en el aprendizaje por la acción del trabajo en equipo. • Autoevaluación y análisis crítico del trabajo realizado por los miembros del grupo. • Las actividades se adecuan al ritmo y objetivos de la evaluación continuada. Conclusión: Los resultados obtenidos y el interés del alumnado nos animan a mantener esta metodología de aprendizaje e intentar ampliarla a otras asignaturas

Microglia is an active player in how glibenclamide improves stroke outcome

The recent review article"Sulfonylurea receptor 1 in central nervous system injury: a focused review"1 is an extensive summary of the current knowledge of the role of the sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR-1) and SUR-1-regulated NCCa-ATP channels in acute brain injuries. The review also highlights the potential translational applicability of the use of glibenclamide in treating brain pathologies such as cerebral ischemia or traumatic brain injury......

Proceedings of the tenth international meeting on neuroacanthocytosis syndromes

The 10th International Meeting on Neuroacanthocytosis Syndromes was held online on March 10th12th, 2021. The COVID19 pandemic situation made our planned meeting in Barcelona on March 2020 to be suspended by one year, and finally took place online. The meeting followed the previous nine international symposia, the last of which was held in Dresden, Germany in March, 2018. The setting of the meeting encouraged interactions, exchange of ideas and networking opportunities among the high number of participants from around the globe, including scientists, neurologists and specially patients and caregivers. A total of 27 oral communications were distributed in 8 sessions with topics ranging from molecular and cellular functions of VPS13 genes and proteins, their involvement in Neuroacanthocytosis Syndromes and finally clinical aspects and patients care. In addition, 5 posters were presented. Altogether, scientists and neurologists discussed recent advances and set the bases for next steps, action points, and future studies in close collaboration with the patients associations, which are always actively involved in the whole process

KATP channel expression and genetic polymorphisms associated with progression and survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel directly regulates the microglia-mediated inflammatory response following CNS injury. To determine the putative role of the KATP channel in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathology, we investigated whether ALS induces changes in KATP channel expression in the spinal cord and motor cortex. We also characterized new functional variants of human ABCC8, ABCC9, KCNJ8, and KCNJ11 genes encoding for the KATP channel and analyzed their association with ALS risk, rate of progression, and survival in a Spanish ALS cohort. The expression of ABCC8 and KCNJ8 genes was enhanced in the spinal cord of ALS samples, and KCNJ11 increased in motor cortex of ALS samples, as determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. We then sequenced the exons and regulatory regions of KATP channel genes from a subset of 28 ALS patients and identified 50 new genetic variants. For the case-control association analysis, we genotyped five selected polymorphisms with predicted functional relevance in 185 Spanish ALS (134 spinal ALS and 51 bulbar ALS) patients and 493 controls. We found that bulbar ALS patients presenting the G/G genotype of the rs4148646 variant of ABCC8 and the T/T genotype of the rs5219 variant of KCNJ11 survived longer than other ALS patients presenting other genotypes. Also, the C/C genotype of the rs4148642 variant of ABCC8 and the T/C genotype of the rs148416760 variant of ABCC9 modified the progression rate in spinal ALS patients. Our results suggest that the KATP channel plays a role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of ALS

Glibenclamide enhances neurogenesis and improves long-term functional recovery after transient focal cerebral ischemia

Glibenclamide is neuroprotective against cerebral ischemia in rats. We studied whether glibenclamide enhances long-term brain repair and improves behavioral recovery after stroke. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 minutes. A low dose of glibenclamide (total 0.6mg) was administered intravenously 6, 12, and 24 hours after reperfusion. We assessed behavioral outcome during a 30-day follow-up and animals were perfused for histological evaluation. In vitro specific binding of glibenclamide to microglia increased after pro-inflammatory stimuli. In vivo glibenclamide was associated with increased migration of doublecortin-positive cells in the striatum toward the ischemic lesion 72 hours after MCAO, and reactive microglia expressed sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) and Kir6.2 in the medial striatum. One month after MCAO, glibenclamide was also associated with increased number of NeuN-positive and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine-positive neurons in the cortex and hippocampus, and enhanced angiogenesis in the hippocampus. Consequently, glibenclamide-treated MCAO rats showed improved performance in the limb-placing test on postoperative days 22 to 29, and in the cylinder and water-maze test on postoperative day 29. Therefore, acute blockade of SUR1 by glibenclamide enhanced long-term brain repair in MCAO rats, which was associated with improved behavioral outcome