Assessing children’s empathy through a Spanish adaptation of the Basic Empathy Scale: parent’s and child’s report forms

The aim of the current research was to study cognitive and affective empathy in children aged 6–12 years old, and their associations with children’s family environment and social adjustment. For this purpose, we developed the Spanish version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), self- and parent-report forms. Factorial analyses confirmed a two-component model of empathy in both self- and parent-report forms. Concordance between parent–child measures of empathy was low for cognitive and affective factors. Analyses of variance on the cognitive and affective components brought a significant effect of age for self-reported cognitive empathy, with older children scoring higher than younger ones. Gender brought out a significant principal effect for self-reported affective empathy, with girls scoring higher than boys. No other main effects were found for age and gender for the rest of the factors analyzed. Children’s empathy was associated with socioeconomic status and other family socialization processes, as well as children’ social behaviors. Overall the new measures provided a coherent view of empathy in middle childhood and early adolescence when measured through self and parent reports, and illustrate the similarity of the validity of the BES in a European-Spanish culture

Influencia de las áreas del desarrollo de la psicoafectividad en el proceso de aprendizaje de niños y niñas de Preescolar Solidaridad del Sector N°20 de la Ciudad de Somoto

En años anteriores en Nicaragua no se tomaban en cuenta las áreas de la psicoafectividad en los procesos de aprendizajes en niños y niñas de Educación Inicial. En el nuevo modelo curricular se ha integrado estas áreas ya que según estudios realizados es importante que el niño y la niña en sus primeros años de vida desarrollen su creatividad, autoestima y sociabilidad para el fortalecimiento de sus aprendizajes posteriores. Por lo tanto en nuestra investigación nos proponemos promover el desarrollo de estas áreas en los procesos de aprendizajes. Como principales resultados en el proceso investigativo el 50% tiene desarrollada la sociabilidad y deben mejorar autoestima y creatividad, la docente domina el 50% de sociabilidad, autoestima y no domina la creatividad. No aplica estrategias innovadoras que promuevan la participación de los estudiantes, no está capacitada por el Ministerio de Educación en psicoafectividad. Se hace necesario mencionar que el Ministerio de Educación realiza una inadecuada organización para seleccionar las educadoras para atender la Educación Inicial, es por eso que algunas educadoras no están aplicando estrategias innovadoras ya que las que están capacitadas se encuentran en otras áreas de la educación

Conflictos sociales por el uso del agua del río Tlalmanalco: empresas y pueblos del distrito de Chalco, 1889-1925

The social affectation caused by the exploitation of River Tlalmanalco, State of Mexico, carried out by San Rafael paper mill between 1889 and 1925 is approached. It is explained how the factory channeled and piped water from creeks and streams to generate hydroelectric electricity and to industrially produce paper, causing a change in the landscape and polluting water, which complicated its utilization in other industrial activities, irrigation and domestic use, besides it severely damaged the health of the inhabitants of various communities and the local fauna as well.Se aborda la afectación social causada por la explotación del río Tlalmanalco, en el Estado de México, realizado por la fábrica de papel San Rafael entre 1889 y 1925. Se explica cómo la empresa canalizó y entubo el agua de arroyos y veneros para la generación de energía hidroeléctrica y para la producción industrial del papel, causando un cambio en el paisaje del lugar y contaminando el recurso, lo que complicó que pudiera utilizarse en otras actividades industriales, de riego y uso doméstico, además de provocar graves daños a la salud de los habitantes de varias comunidades y de la fauna del lugar

Exposure to Sodium Fluoride Produces Signs of Apoptosis in Rat Leukocytes

Fluoride is naturally present in the earth’s crust and can be found in rocks, coal, and clay; thus, it can be found in small quantities in water, air, plants, and animals. Therefore, humans are exposed to fluoride through food, drinking water, and in the air they breathe. Flouride is essential to maintain bone strength and to protect against dental decay, but if it is absorbed too frequently, it can cause tooth decay, osteoporosis, and damage to kidneys, bones, nerves, and muscles. Therefore, the present work was aimed at determining the effect of intake of sodium fluoride (NaF) as an apoptosis inducer in leukocytes of rats treated for eight weeks with 1 or 50 parts per million (ppm) NaF. Expression of p53, bcl-2, and caspade-3 were used as apoptotic and general metabolism indicators of leukocyte-like indicators of the (INT) oxidation system. Male rats were exposed to NaF (1 and 500 ppm) for eight weeks, and then sacrificed weekly to obtain blood samples. Expression of p53, bcl-2, and caspase-3 were determined in leukocytes by Western blot, and general metabolism of leukocytes was analyzed with a commercial kit. We found changes in the expression of the proteins described, especially when the animals received 50 ppm of NaF. These results indicate that NaF intoxication can be an apoptosis inducer in rat leukocytes treated with the compound for eight weeks

Detection of the Hmw adhesins in clinical Haemophilus influenzae isolates from bacteraemic patients and association with biofilm formation

Background: Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) forms part of the normal nasopharyngeal microbiota in humans, but it is also an opportunistic pathogen causing respiratory infections and bacteraemia. Recently, high molecular weight (HMW1) proteins have been identified as a key factor for cell invasion, a feature implicated in persistence during chronic infection(a). Our aims were to identify the different allelic variants of the HMW adhesin and, given the characteristics of these surface proteins on bacterial adhesion capacity, the second objective was to check if their presence could be related to biofilm formation. Materials/Methods: A collection of 89 strains isolated from patients with bacteraemia from Spain and Portugal in the 2013-2014 period were used in this study. Strains were genotyped by PFGE (SmaI) and analyzed with the FingerPrinting software (BioRad). The allelic variants of the hmw gene (Hi375 and Hi86-028NP) encoding the high molecular weight adhesins Hmw1/Hmw2 were identified by PCR amplification. Biofilm formation was performed in a static biofilm assay with crystal violet staining. Statistical analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism 5 software. Results: Forty-eight NTHi isolates (54%) were positive for the hmw gene. Only the allelic variants of the Hi375 strain could be identified, among them, one strain (1/48, 2%) had hmw-1A, 33 (69%) had hmw-2A and 14 (29%) had both allelic variants, hmw-1A and hmw-2A. Biofilm formation showed great diversity among the studied strains with OD¬570 values ranging between 0.06 and 1.4. Forty-three strains (48.3%) were classified as high biofilm formers and the remaining 46 strains (51.7%) were low biofilm formers. An inverse relationship was found between the presence of hmw genes and in vitro biofilm formation. The invasive NTHi clinical isolates presented high genetic diversity by PFGE, with no strain clustering observed linked to the presence of hmw genes or to biofilm formation. Conclusion: The allelic variants of the H. influenzae strain 375, especially the hmw-2A gene, were more commonly found among invasive NTHi clinical isolates, which despite having an important role on intracellular invasion, were not linked to in vitro biofilm formation. (a)Mell, JC et al. (2016). PLoS Pathogens 12: e1005576.N/

Computer-Based Cognitive Training Improves Brain Functional Connectivity in the Attentional Networks: A Study With Primary School-Aged Children

We have shown that a computer-based program that trains schoolchildren in cognitive tasks that mainly tap working memory (WM), implemented by teachers and integrated into school routine, improved cognitive and academic skills compared with an active control group. Concretely, improvements were observed in inhibition skills, non-verbal IQ, mathematics and reading skills. Here, we focus on a subsample from the overarching study who volunteered to be scanned using a resting state fMRI protocol before and 6-month after training. This sample reproduced the aforementioned behavioral effects, and brain functional connectivity changes were observed within the attentional networks (ATN), linked to improvements in inhibitory control. Findings showed stronger relationships between inhibitory control scores and functional connectivity in a right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) cluster in trained children compared to children from the control group. Seed-based analyses revealed that connectivity between the r-MFG and homolateral parietal and superior temporal areas were more strongly related to inhibitory control in trained children compared to the control group. These findings highlight the relevance of computer-based cognitive training, integrated in real-life school environments, in boosting cognitive/academic performance and brain functional connectivity

Response of Wheat Storage Proteins and Breadmaking Quality to Dimethylpyrazole-Based Nitrification Inhibitors under Different Nitrogen Fertilization Splitting Strategies

Improving fertilizer nitrogen (N) use efficiency is essential to increase crop productivity and avoid environmental damage. This study was conducted during four crop cycles of winter wheat under humid Mediterranean conditions (Araba, northern Spain). The effects of N-fertilization splitting and the application of the nitrification inhibitors (NIs) 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) and 2-(3,4-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl) succinic acid isomeric mixture (DMPSA) as strategies to improve grain quality were examined. The hypothesis of this study was to test if the partial ammonium nutrition and the reduction of fertilizer losses presumably induced by the application of NIs can modify the grain gliadin and glutenin protein contents and the breadmaking quality (dough rheological properties). Among both NIs assayed, only DMPP showed a slight effect of decreasing the omega gliadin fraction, following splitting either two or three times, although this effect was dependent on the year and was not reflected in terms of dough extensibility. The slight decreases observed in grain quality in terms of dough strength and glutenin content induced by DMPP suggest that DMPSA is more promising in terms of maintaining grain quality. Nonetheless, these poor effects exerted by NI application on grain quality parameters did not lead to changes in the quality parameters defining the flour aptitudes for breadmaking.This research was funded by the Basque Government (IT 932-16), by the Spanish Government (RTA2009 00028 C03 03, AGL2012 37815 C05 02 and AGL2015 64582 C3 2 R MINECO/FEDER) and by EuroChem Agro Iberia S.L.–UPV/EHU 2011.0051, 2012.0007, 2013.0001 and 2014.0002, Ximena Huérfano received a specialization fellowship for PhD researchers from the UPV/EHU

El uso de trabalenguas a través de tutoriales como estrategia didáctica para fortalecer la lectura y la expresión oral en los estudiantes de 3º grado del Colegio Maná de la hermandad ubicado en la comarca Buena vista, municipio de Nindirí, departamento de Masaya, durante el II semestre del año 2021

El presente trabajo investigativo tiene como objetivo: “Analizar las estrategias que utiliza el docente en la modalidad virtual para mejorar el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la expresión oral en los estudiantes de 3º grado “A” del centro educativo “Escuela Maná de la Hermandad” Comarca Buena Vista municipio de Nindirí, Departamento de Masaya, durante el segundo semestre del año 2021. El “Tutojáfora” es una propuesta de estrategia didáctica que tiene como fin fortalecer la expresión oral en los estudiantes mediante el uso de tutoriales con trabalenguas. La palabra Tutojáfora nace de una combinación de la palabra jitanjáfora y la palabra tutoriales; jitanjáfora significa manifestación de palabras o expresiones inventadas y carentes de significado, se crean con musicalidad y sonoridad de los fonemas por otro lado tutoriales es una lección educacional donde la información se transmite de forma fácil al usuario. El diseño metodológico del presente trabajo se fundamenta en un enfoque cualitativo; por basarse éste en la observación para la recolección de datos, y no necesitar medición numérica, lo que posibilitó el análisis de los resultados obtenidos. La población de la investigación fue de 25 estudiantes, tomándose una muestra de estudio de 15 estudiantes de tercer grado, utilizando la técnica de la entrevista y observación. El Tutojáfora se desarrolla en tres sesiones; en inicio, desarrollo y culminación, y tiene como objetivo: fortalecer el desarrollo del lenguaje oral en los estudiantes de tercer grado con el uso de trabalenguas a través de los tutoriales. Palabras claves: Estrategia didáctica, tutojáfora, tutorial, trabalenguas, expresión ora

15N Natural Abundance Evidences a Better Use of N Sources by Late Nitrogen Application in Bread Wheat

This work explores whether the natural abundance of N isotopes technique could be used to understand the movement of N within the plant during vegetative and grain filling phases in wheat crop (Triticum aestivum L) under different fertilizer management strategies. We focus on the effect of splitting the same N dose through a third late amendment at flag leaf stage (GS37) under humid Mediterranean conditions, where high spring precipitations can guarantee the incorporation of the lately applied N to the soil-plant system in an efficient way. The results are discussed in the context of agronomic parameters as N content, grain yield and quality, and show that further splitting the same N dose improves the wheat quality and induces a better nitrogen use efficiency. The nitrogen isotopic natural abundance technique shows that N remobilization is a discriminating process that leads to an impoverishment in N-15 of senescent leaves and grain itself. This technique also reflects the more efficient use of N resources (fertilizer and native soil-N) when plants receive a late N amendment.This research was supported by IT-932-16, RTA2005-00219-CO3-02 and RTA2013-00057-CO5-02

Dimethylpyrazole-based nitrification inhibitors have a dual role in N2O emissions mitigation in forage systems under Atlantic climate conditions

[EN]Nitrogen fertilization is the most important factor increasing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agriculture, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. These emissions are mainly produced by the soil microbial processes of nitrification and denitrification, and the application of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) together with an ammonium-based fertilizer has been proved as an efficient way to decrease them. In this work the NIs dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) and dimethylpyrazole succinic acid (DMPSA) were evaluated in a temperate grassland under environmental changing field conditions in terms of their efficiency reducing N2O emissions and their effect on the amount of nitrifying and denitrifying bacterial populations responsible of these emissions. The stimulation of nitrifying bacteria induced by the application of ammonium sulphate as fertilizer was efficiently avoided by the application of both DMPP and DMPSA whatever the soil water content. The denitrifying bacteria population capable of reducing N2O up to N-2 was also enhanced by both NIs provided that sufficiently high soil water conditions and low nitrate content were occurring. Therefore, both NIs showed the capacity to promote the denitrification process up to N-2 as a mechanism to mitigate N2O emissions. DMPSA proved to be a promising NI, since it showed a more significant effect than DMPP in decreasing N2O emissions and increasing ryegrass yield.This work was funded by the Spanish Government (AGL2015-64582-C3-2-R MINECO/FEDER and RTI2018-094623-B-C21 MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) , by the Basque Government (IT-932-16) and by EuroChem Agro Iberia S.L.-UPV/EHU 2015.0248 and 2016.0339. Ximena Huerfano was recipient of a specialization fellowship from the UPV/EHU for Ph.D. researchers