The social role of pediatrics in the past and present times

Pediatrics and society are closely related. This link is as old as the history of Pediatrics, and dates to the second half of the eighteenth century. The vocation of the first European pediatric schools, indeed, was clinical and scientific, as well as social. The founding fathers of Pediatrics were scientists of great talent, and many of them benefactors and philanthropists. They spent their lives assisting the suffering childhood, and became promoters and organizers of social securities for the poorest and most vulnerable categories. The attention to the problems of abandonment was closely linked to study, prevention, and treatment of pathologies (especially infectious, deficiency and neurological ones). The profile and activity of pediatricians grew in the following decades after the birth of the first pediatric schools. The University institutions contributed to provide a further impulse to childcare as well as cultural authority, also thanks to the foundation of the first chairs and scientific journals of Pediatrics. The relevance and prestige of the studies performed rapidly spread throughout Europe, and also reached our country, contributing to a progressive and relevant improvement in the quality of children’s care, and in the meantime to the decrease of neonatal and infant mortality rates. Today’s pediatricians, as in the past, must spend his efforts to face the needs of children and their families, be their social receptor, interpreter if necessary, and credible and authoritative interlocutor beside institutions. The current coronavirus pandemic dramatically exposed social inequalities and inequities. In this new scenario, the pediatrician’s role of defender of all children becomes even more necessary and indispensable. Here we trace the historical steps which led to the birth and development of pediatrics, as independent medical discipline with ethical and social vocation. Its rise within the University institutions is analyzed, as well as the contribution of the greatest European and Italian masters. Finally, the role of today’s pediatrician is described, his responsibilities also in dealing with new health critical issues, related to the biological, cultural, and psychological changes of the patients of present days. He must have holistic competences, to effectively take care of all children. In addition, he must socially act to guarantee the best possible context for the well-being of the child

EvalCOMIX3.2: A web service for u-feedback and u-feedforward

The EVALfor research group has developed, in the past years, a series of projects based upon the principles of the Learning Oriented Assessment (Carlesset al, 2006) and sustainable assessment (Boud, 2000), co-financed by different Spanish public agencies and the European social Fund. One of the main products of this research is the web service EvalCOMIX (http://evalcomix.uca.es), specifically designed and developed by EVALforto aid teachers and students in implementing participative assessment activities for distance and semi-distance learning environments. EvalCOMIXachieves thisbyusing strategies such as self-assessment, peer-assessment and co-assessment.This workshop provides the necessary information and resources for the participants to use the EvalCOMIX web service. Once completed, participants will have acquiredthe following skills:Design and construction of assessment tools, such as: checklists, ratingscales, semantic differentials and rubrics.Design assessment tools that promote feedback and feedforward.Use of designed tools for teacher assessment processes, self-assessment, peer-assessment and co-assessment.Analyse results from the assessment tasks undertaken.The workshop has been designed as an essentially practical exercise in which participants design and develop their own assessment instruments for use in LMS. To this end, participants will initially be presented with the basic characteristics of the EvalCOMIX web service (design, management, import and export of assessment instruments). The first part will then conclude with a practical exercise in which each participant will develop at least one ratingscale and one simple rubric with EvalCOMIX. After that, a presentation will be given on ways to use the designed assessment instruments, in order to perform teacher assessment, self-assessment, peer-assessment and co-assessment.Finally, participants will be presented with the possibilities EvalCOMIX offers for analysis of results obtained from an assessment process, by means of analysis of the different graphs presented by EvalCOMIX.All the tools offered by EvalCOMIX can be used not only on a personal computer, but also on other more current devices such as smartphonesor tablets. EvalCOMIX thus transcends the limits of e-assessment and brings forward the beginning of ubiquitous assessment(u-assessment)

Esophageal atresia and Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome in one of the naturally conceived discordant newborn twins: first report

Recent studies report a high incidence of monozygotic twinning in Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome. A phenotypical discordance in monozygotic twins israre. Twinning and Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome show higher incidence inchildren born after assisted reproductive techniques. We report on the first observation of esophageal atresia and Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome in one of the naturally conceived discordant monozygotic twins

Neonatal ten-year retrospective study on neural tube defects in a second level University Hospital

Aim of this retrospective study was to describe clinical characteristics, diagnostic work-up, management and follow-up of newborns with neural tube defects (NTDs), admitted to the Mother and Child Department of the University Hospital of Palermo, in a ten years period

LARGE FOR GESTATIONAL AGE, MACROSOMIA, OVERGROWTH: AN UPDATE ON DEFINITIONS AND DETERMINANTS

Human growth and development, starting from conception, are characterized by a progressive increase in body and organ dimensions, as well as specific functional maturity, under the influence of genetic as well as environmental and epigenetic determinants. Beyond a possible normal familial trait, increased fetal growth resulting in a large for gestational age newborn, isolated macrosomia or that associated with congenital malformation, can be attributable to both maternal metabolic and genetic pathology. Overgrowth syndromes are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by excessive tissue development often concomitant to neurodevelopmental involvement. Recently, an increased risk of fetal overgrowth with Assisted Reproductive Technology has been reported. Thus, in pediatric practice, it is fundamental to monitor any patient who presents with increased growth parameters, variable malformations, neurodevelopmental delay, and distinctive features from birth, aiming to ensure as adequate a medical management as possible, and for some of the disorders, strict tumor monitoring is also necessary

Wiki-based e-assessment of competences

In the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) curricula are mainly organized around the development of competences where assessment plays a central role. Contents and processes have to produce a useful and factual knowledge about students’ competence level, recognising their needs and developing their competences (Dodero y col., 2009). In this context, students’ active participation in their own assessment is essential. Therefore, teachers need to plan this participation and introduce it into the teaching and learning process. Interactive and dialogical asynchronous contribution tools (IDACT), such as forums, blogs and wikis, are an exceptional resource to develop generic competences as communication, discussion and negotiation. They can also promote both students’ involvement in the assessment process and students’ interaction with instructors

Growth patterns and associated risk factors of congenital malformations in twins

The rate of twinning continues to increase due to the combined effect of a rise in parental age and increased use of assisted reproductive technology. The risk of congenital anomalies in twins is higher than in singletons, but it is less well reported in relation to growth patterns. We focused to the auxological outcome of twin pregnancies when one or both of twins are affected by one or more malformations

Student voice in learning assessment: a pathway not yet developed at university

During 2009/2010, the current research was conducted with the aim of analysing student and teaching staff on regarding student participation in assessment. A content analysis of 76 subject outlines was carried out, and then 40 member of the teaching staff and 614 university students were surveyed. The results of the content analysis prove there is a shortage of information about and programming for student participation in assessment

Cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome and gastrointestinal defects: report on a newborn with 19p13.3 deletion including the MAP 2K2 gene

Background: Cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome (CFCS) belongs to RASopathies, a group of conditions caused by mutations in genes encoding proteins of the rat sarcoma/mitogen-activated protein kinase (RAS/MAPK) pathway. It is a rare syndrome, with about 300 patients reported. Main clinical manifestations include facial dysmorphisms, growth failure, heart defects, developmental delay, and ectodermal abnormalities. Mutations (mainly missense) of four genes (BRAF, MAP 2 K1, MAP 2 K2, and KRAS) have been associated to CFCS. However, whole gene deletions/duplications and chromosomal microdeletions have been also reported. Specifcally, 19p13.3 deletion including MAP 2 K2 gene are responsible for cardio-facio-cutaneous microdeletion syndrome, whose afected subjects show more severe phenotype than CFCS general population. Case presentation: Hereby, we report on a female newborn with prenatal diagnosis of omphalocele, leading to further genetic investigations through amniocentesis. Among these, array comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH) identifed a 19p13.3 microdeletion, spanning 1.27Mb and including MAP 2 K2 gene. Clinical features at birth (coarse face with dysmorphic features, sparse and friable hair, cutaneous vascular malformations and hyperkeratotic lesions, interventricular septal defect, and omphalocele) were compatible with CFCS diagnosis, and further postnatal genetic investigations were not considered necessary. Soon after discharge, at around 1month of life, she was readmitted to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to repeated episodes of vomiting, subtending a hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) which was promptly identifed and treated. Conclusions: Our report supports the 19p13.3 microdeletion as a contiguous gene syndrome, in which the involvement of the genes contiguous to MAP 2 K2 may modify the patients’ phenotype. It highlights how CFCS afected subjects, including those with 19p13.3 deletions, may have associated gastrointestinal defects (e.g., omphalocele and HPS), providing further data on 19p13.3 microdeletion syndrome, and a better characterization of its genomic and phenotypic features. The complex clinical picture of such patients may be worsened by additional, and even precocious, life-threatening conditions like HPS. Clinicians must consider, anticipate and/or promptly treat possible medical and surgical complications, with the aim of reducing adverse outcomes. Extensive diagnostic work-up, and early, continuous, and multidisciplinary follow-up, as well as integrated care, are necessary for the longitudinal clinical evolution of any single patient

ActEval: a questionnaire for analysis and consideration of university teachers assessment activity

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del proceso de construcción y validación aparente y de contenido del instrumento “ActEval” (Autoinforme sobre la actividad evaluadora del profesorado universitario), enmarcado en un estudio a través del cual se pretendían como objetivos: a) determinar las principales tareas o actuaciones que debe realizar el profesorado universitario en referencia a la evaluación en la universidad; y b) crear y validar un instrumento de recogida de información que permita determinar la percepción del profesorado universitario sobre su actividad evaluadora. El método de investigación ha sido el de encuesta a través de la aplicación de cuestionarios. En la ejecución del mismo, se han seguido tres grandes fases. Una primera (estudio piloto), en la que se llevó a cabo una revisión bibliográfica en torno a las principales actuaciones que el profesorado universitario debe desarrollar en relación a la evaluación del aprendizaje en la educación superior. Se seleccionaron las actuaciones fundamentales y se elaboró la primera versión del autoinforme ActEval, aplicando el mismo a una muestra reducida de profesores universitarios. En una segunda fase se realizó una validación mediante jueces y, posteriormente, se procedió a un rediseño de la primera versión del autoinforme ActEval. En la tercera fase se llevó a cabo un segundo estudio piloto que nos permitió el diseño final del autoinforme ActEval. El estudio aquí presentado, por tanto, ha utilizado como informantes a un conjunto de tres muestras diferentes, teniendo todas ellas como aspecto común el ser docentes universitarios. El autoinforme que se presenta puede ser de gran utilidad para el análisis y la reflexión del profesorado universitario sobre su función evaluadora, así como para los responsables universitarios como medio para analizar necesidades y poder planificar y diseñar actividades formativas que redunden en la mejora de la evaluación puesta en práctica por el profesorado universitario.Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa de la Junta de Andalucía en su convocatoria de proyectos de excelencia. Proyecto de Investigación Re-Evalúa "Reingeniería de la e-Evaluación, tecnologías y desarrollo de competencias en profesores y estudiantes universitarios” (Ref. P08-SEJ-03502)