Academic achievement among university students: The role of causal attribution of academic success and failure

Previous studies have attempted to understand various motivational factors that affect academic achievement. One of the cognitive factors this study focuses on is the causal attribution of academic success and failure. Causal attribution refers to one’s perception of the factors that cause learning success and failure. These perceptions encompass three dimensions: locus of causality, stability, and personal control. This study aimed to determine whether causal attribution of academic success and failure predicts academic achievement. 156 students of Universitas HKBP Nommensen across batch years and majors participated in this study. An adapted version of the Causal Dimension Scale was employed as the research instrument. Academic performance was measured using the Grade Point Average (GPA). The simple linear regression analysis results highlight that causal attribution is a significant predictor of academic achievement. Differences in causal attribution between high performing and low performing students were identified. The results imply that personal control is the significant dimension of predicting student’s performance, which means that student’s beliefs about their capacity to control causal factors, will become a good predictor of their performance. Therefore the more higher students’ believe that they are able to control causal factors will enhacnce their academic achievement.  

Más de 140 años en la formación de profesionales

Fil: Rosito, Carlos A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaDesde 1870 en la Facultad se graduaron más de 30.000 ingenieros que han contribuido de manera\ncrucial en el desarrollo del país. Ellos han trabajado en prácticamente todas las ramas de la ingeniería\ny han formado otros ingenieros en numerosas universidades públicas y privadas. En la actualidad, el\ndesafío está puesto en responder a la enorme demanda de ingenieros que exige el crecimiento\nnacional

Basal adenosine modulates the functional properties of AMPA receptors in mouse hippocampal neurons through the activation of A1R A2AR and A3R

Adenosine is a widespread neuromodulator within the CNS and its extracellular level is increased during hypoxia or intense synaptic activity, modulating pre- and postsynaptic sites. We studied the neuromodulatory action of adenosine on glutamatergic currents in the hippocampus, showing that activation of multiple adenosine receptors (ARs) by basal adenosine impacts postsynaptic site. Specifically, the stimulation of both A1R and A3R reduces AMPA currents, while A2AR has an opposite potentiating effect. The effect of ARs stimulation on glutamatergic currents in hippocampal cultures was investigated using pharmacological and genetic approaches. A3R inhibition by MRS1523 increased GluR1-Ser845 phosphorylation and potentiated AMPA current amplitude, increasing the apparent affinity for the agonist. A similar effect was observed blocking A1R with DPCPX or by genetic deletion of either A3R or A1R. Conversely, impairment of A2AR reduced AMPA currents, and decreased agonist sensitivity. Consistently, in hippocampal slices, ARs activation by AR agonist NECA modulated glutamatergic current amplitude evoked by AMPA application or afferent fiber stimulation. Opposite effects of AR subtypes stimulation are likely associated to changes in GluR1 phosphorylation and represent a novel mechanism of physiological modulation of glutamatergic transmission by adenosine, likely acting in normal conditions in the brain, depending on the level of extracellular adenosine and the distribution of AR subtypes

Formación de profesionales que trabajan en escuelas primarias de la región semiárida brasileña: contribución a los estudios sobre alteridad en las políticas públicas Resumen Representaciones

Representações de docentes que atuam em escolas de educação básica localizadas na zona rural de uma cidade do semiárido nordestino do Brasil onde se desenvolveu por duas gestões uma política municipal de educação proclamada como de convivência com o semiárido, bem como a memória oral de outros protagonistas dessa experiência, constituem o objeto de estudo da investigação. O objetivo é identificar seus impactos e a presença da alteridade como condição para superação da dicotomia cidade/campo e garantia da educação como direito humano e do desenvolvimento científico, tecnológico e social do estado/região/país em favor do sujeito de direitos. A abordagem metodológica configura-se como pesquisa qualitativa que contemplou o estudo de caso e a biografização, ao lado dos registros escritos e relatos orais de outros protagonistas da política de convivência com o semiárido. Os resultados apontam para a não efetividade dessa política e para a premente necessidade de políticas públicas que assegurem uma rede escolar própria e de políticas de distribuição de riqueza e reconhecimento para o campo.The subject matter of the investigation is the representations of teachers working in basic education schools located in a rural town in the semiarid northeast of Brazil, where a municipal policy of education proclaimed as living with the semiarid and as the oral memory of the experience of the other was developed for two terms stakeholders.. The goal is to identify their impacts and the presence of otherness as a condition for overcoming the city and country dichotomy and the guarantee of education as a human right and of the scientific, technological and social state / region / country in favor of the subject of rights. The methodological approach appears as qualitative research that focused on case study and biographization, along with the written and oral reports of other protagonists of the policy of coexistence with the semiarid. The results show the ineffectiveness of this policy and not to the urgent need for public policies that assure a school network and its own policies of wealth distribution and recognition for the field.Representaciones de docentes que trabajan en escuelas primarias de la zona rural de la región semiárida del noreste brasileño y en la cual se desarrolló durante dos gestiones una política municipal de educación proclamada como de convivencia con lo semiárido y la memoria oral de otros protagonistas de esa experiencia constituyen el objeto de estudio de esta investigación. Poder identificar sus impactos y la presencia de la alteridad como condición para superar la dicotomía ciudad/campo y la garantía de la educación como derecho humano y también del desarrollo científico, tecnológico y social del estado/ región/país a favor del sujeto de derechos. El abordaje metodológico se configura como investigación cualitativa que contempla el estudio del caso y la biografización, junto con los registros escritos y los relatos orales de otros protagonistas de la política de convivencia con la región del semiárido. Los resultados se orientan hacia la no efectividad de esa política y hacia la urgente necesidad de políticas públicas que aseguren una red escolar propia y políticas de distribución de riqueza y reconocimiento para el campo

Microenvironmental influence on microtumour infiltration patterns: 3D-mathematical modelling supported by: In vitro studies

Mathematical modelling approaches have become increasingly abundant in cancer research. Tumour infiltration extent and its spatial organization depend both on the tumour type and stage and on the bio-physicochemical characteristics of the microenvironment. This sets a complex scenario that often requires a multidisciplinary and individually adjusted approach. The ultimate goal of this work is to present an experimental/numerical combined method for the development of a three-dimensional mathematical model with the ability to reproduce the growth and infiltration patterns of a given avascular microtumour in response to different microenvironmental conditions. The model is based on a diffusion-convection reaction equation that considers logistic proliferation, volumetric growth, a rim of proliferative cells at the tumour surface, and invasion with diffusive and convective components. The parameter values of the model were fitted to experimental results while radial velocity and diffusion coefficients were made spatially variable in a case-specific way through the introduction of a shape function and a diffusion-limited-aggregation (DLA)-derived fractal matrix, respectively, according to the infiltration pattern observed. The in vitro model consists of multicellular tumour spheroids (MTSs) of an epithelial mammary tumour cell line (LM3) immersed in a collagen I gel matrix with a standard culture medium ("naive" matrix) or a conditioned medium from adipocytes or preadipocytes ("conditioned" matrix). It was experimentally determined that both adipocyte and preadipocyte conditioned media had the ability to change the MTS infiltration pattern from collective and laminar to an individual and atomized one. Numerical simulations were able to adequately reproduce qualitatively and quantitatively both kinds of infiltration patterns, which were determined by area quantification, analysis of fractal dimensions and lacunarity, and Bland-Altman analysis. These results suggest that the combined approach presented here could be established as a new framework with interesting potential applications at both the basic and clinical levels in the oncology area.Fil: Luján, Emmanuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Simulación Computacional para Aplicaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Soto, Daniela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Rosito, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Soba, Alejandro. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; ArgentinaFil: Guerra, Liliana Noemi. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Calvo, Juan Carlos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Marshall, Guillermo Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; ArgentinaFil: Suárez, Cecilia Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; Argentin

3D bioprinted human cortical neural constructs derived from induced pluripotent stem cells

Bioprinting techniques use bioinks made of biocompatible non-living materials and cells to build 3D constructs in a controlled manner and with micrometric resolution. 3D bioprinted structures representative of several human tissues have been recently produced using cells derived by differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Human iPSCs can be differentiated in a wide range of neurons and glia, providing an ideal tool for modeling the human nervous system. Here we report a neural construct generated by 3D bioprinting of cortical neurons and glial precursors derived from human iPSCs. We show that the extrusion-based printing process does not impair cell viability in the short and long term. Bioprinted cells can be further differentiated within the construct and properly express neuronal and astrocytic markers. Functional analysis of 3D bioprinted cells highlights an early stage of maturation and the establishment of early network activity behaviors. This work lays the basis for generating more complex and faithful 3D models of the human nervous systems by bioprinting neural cells derived from iPSCs

Selection of binding targets in parasites using phage-display and aptamer libraries in vivo and in vitro

Parasite infections are largely dependent on interactions between pathogen and different host cell populations to guarantee a successful infectious process. This is particularly true for obligatory intracellular parasites as Plasmodium, Toxoplasrna, and Leishmania, to name a few. Adhesion to and entry into the cell are essential steps requiring specific parasite and host cell molecules. the large amount of possible involved molecules poses additional difficulties for their identification by the classical biochemical approaches. in this respect, the search for alternative techniques should be pursued. Among them two powerful methodologies can be employed, both relying upon the construction of highly diverse combinatorial libraries of peptides or oligonucleotides that randomly bind with high affinity to targets on the cell surface and are selectively displaced by putative ligands. These are, respectively, the peptide-based phage display and the oligonucleotide-based aptamer techniques. the phage display technique has been extensively employed for the identification of novel ligands in vitro and in vivo in different areas such as cancer, vaccine development, and epitope mapping. Particularly, phage display has been employed in the investigation of pathogen host interactions. Although this methodology has been used for some parasites with encouraging results, in trypanosomatids its use is, as yet, scanty. RNA and DNA aptamers, developed by the SELEX process (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment), were described over two decades ago and since then contributed to a large number of structured nucleic acids for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes or for the understanding of the cell biology. Similarly to the phage display technique scarce use of the SELEX process has been used in the probing of parasite host interaction. in this review, an overall survey on the use of both phage display and aptamer technologies in different pathogenic organisms will be discussed. Using these techniques, recent results on the interaction of Trypanosoma cruzi with the host will be highlighted focusing on members of the 85 kDa protein family, a subset of the gp85/TS superfamily.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Quim, Dept Bioquim, BR-05508900 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: FAPESP 2010/15042-2FAPESP: FAPESP 2009/52646-6Web of Scienc