Clinical features, diagnosis, and survival analysis of dogs with glioma

Background: Gliomas in dogs remain poorly understood. Objectives: To characterize the clinicopathologic findings, diagnostic imaging features and survival of a large sample of dogs with glioma using the Comparative Brain Tumor Consortium diagnostic classification. Animals: Ninety-one dogs with histopathological diagnosis of glioma. Methods: Multicentric retrospective case series. Signalment, clinicopathologic findings, diagnostic imaging characteristics, treatment, and outcome were used. Tumors were reclassified according to the new canine glioma diagnostic scheme. Results: No associations were found between clinicopathologic findings or survival and tumor type or grade. However, definitive treatments provided significantly (P = .03) improved median survival time (84 days; 95% confidence interval [CI], 45-190) compared to palliative treatment (26 days; 95% CI, 11-54). On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), oligodendrogliomas were associated with smooth margins and T1-weighted hypointensity compared to astrocytomas (odds ratio [OR], 42.5; 95% CI, 2.42-744.97; P = .04; OR, 45.5; 95% CI, 5.78-333.33; P < .001, respectively) and undefined gliomas (OR, 84; 95% CI, 3.43-999.99; P = .02; OR, 32.3; 95% CI, 2.51-500.00; P = .008, respectively) and were more commonly in contact with the ventricles than astrocytomas (OR, 7.47; 95% CI, 1.03-53.95; P = .049). Tumor spread to neighboring brain structures was associated with high-grade glioma (OR, 6.02; 95% CI, 1.06-34.48; P = .04). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Dogs with gliomas have poor outcomes, but risk factors identified in survival analysis inform prognosis and the newly identified MRI characteristics could refine diagnosis of tumor type and grade

Monitoring ecological change during rapid socio-economic and political transitions: Colombian ecosystems in the post-conflict era

After more than 50-years of armed conflict, Colombia is now transitioning to a more stable social and political climate due to a series of peace agreements between the government and different armed groups. Consequences of these socio-economic and political changes on ecosystems are largely uncertain, but there is growing concern about derived increases in environmental degradation. Here, we review the capacity of Colombia to monitor the state of its ecosystems and their rate of change over time. We found several important programs currently set in place by different institutions as well as by independent groups of scientists that address different aspects of environmental monitoring. However, most of the current initiatives could be improved in terms of data coverage, quality and access, and could be better articulated among each other. We propose a set of activities that would increase the capacity of Colombia to monitor its ecosystems, provide useful information to policy makers, and facilitate scientific research. These include: 1) the establishment of a national center for ecological synthesis that focuses on analyzing existing information; 2) the establishment of an ecological observatory system that collects new information, integrates remote sensing products, and produces near real-time products on key ecological variables; and 3) the creation of new platforms for dialog and action within existing scientific and policy groups

The drivers and impacts of Amazon forest degradation

Approximately 2.5 × 10 6 square kilometers of the Amazon forest are currently degraded by fire, edge effects, timber extraction, and/or extreme drought, representing 38% of all remaining forests in the region. Carbon emissions from this degradation total up to 0.2 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year −1 ), which is equivalent to, if not greater than, the emissions from Amazon deforestation (0.06 to 0.21 Pg C year −1 ). Amazon forest degradation can reduce dry-season evapotranspiration by up to 34% and cause as much biodiversity loss as deforestation in human-modified landscapes, generating uneven socioeconomic burdens, mainly to forest dwellers. Projections indicate that degradation will remain a dominant source of carbon emissions independent of deforestation rates. Policies to tackle degradation should be integrated with efforts to curb deforestation and complemented with innovative measures addressing the disturbances that degrade the Amazon forest

The drivers and impacts of Amazon forest degradation

BACKGROUND: Most analyses of land-use and land-cover change in the Amazon forest have focused on the causes and effects of deforestation. However, anthropogenic disturbances cause degradation of the remaining Amazon forest and threaten their future. Among such disturbances, the most important are edge effects (due to deforestation and the resulting habitat fragmentation), timber extraction, fire, and extreme droughts that have been intensified by human-induced climate change. We synthesize knowledge on these disturbances that lead to Amazon forest degradation, including their causes and impacts, possible future extents, and some of the interventions required to curb them. ADVANCES: Analysis of existing data on the extent of fire, edge effects, and timber extraction between 2001 and 2018 reveals that 0.36 ×106 km2 (5.5%) of the Amazon forest is under some form of degradation, which corresponds to 112% of the total area deforested in that period. Adding data on extreme droughts increases the estimate of total degraded area to 2.5 ×106 km2, or 38% of the remaining Amazonian forests. Estimated carbon loss from these forest disturbances ranges from 0.05 to 0.20 Pg C year−1 and is comparable to carbon loss from deforestation (0.06 to 0.21 Pg C year−1). Disturbances can bring about as much biodiversity loss as deforestation itself, and forests degraded by fire and timber extraction can have a 2 to 34% reduction in dry-season evapotranspiration. The underlying drivers of disturbances (e.g., agricultural expansion or demand for timber) generate material benefits for a restricted group of regional and global actors, whereas the burdens permeate across a broad range of scales and social groups ranging from nearby forest dwellers to urban residents of Andean countries. First-order 2050 projections indicate that the four main disturbances will remain a major threat and source of carbon fluxes to the atmosphere, independent of deforestation trajectories. OUTLOOK: Whereas some disturbances such as edge effects can be tackled by curbing deforestation, others, like constraining the increase in extreme droughts, require additional measures, including global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Curbing degradation will also require engaging with the diverse set of actors that promote it, operationalizing effective monitoring of different disturbances, and refining policy frameworks such as REDD+. These will all be supported by rapid and multidisciplinary advances in our socioenvironmental understanding of tropical forest degradation, providing a robust platform on which to co-construct appropriate policies and programs to curb it

The effectiveness of instructor personalised and formative feedback in an online setting: some unresolved issues

Formative feedback has great potential for teaching and learning in online undergraduate programmes. There is a large number of courses where the main source of feedback is provided by the instructor. This is particularly seen in subjects where assessments are designed based on specific activities which are the same for all students, and where the assessment is performed by the instructor, not by a peer. Additionally, in introductory or basically procedural courses, there is often a need for instructor feedback, as opposed to peer-feedback, as it demands high quality feedback both in the content and in the process in order not to mislead students. Therefore personalized feedback provided by instructor is an academic demand in the current educational models that have positioned the student at the center of the learning process. However in the present context of high student-staff ratio, it is not easy to extend the use of individual comments delivered by instructors among the academic community. This article focuses on the virtual higher education environment given its present and future potential as well as the amount of queries currently surrounding it. Literature on formative feedback in higher education has been reviewed for the period 2000 to 2014, in order to find answers as to which aspects are relevant to efficiently implement personalized feedback prepared by the teacher. Findings show that effective personalized feedback in an virtual environment requires a three-dimensional analysis: from the student perspective, from the instructor one and from the media perspective (written text, video recording or audio recording) , in order to find shared aspects that contribute to the enhancement in the use of personalized feedback performed by faculty.La retroalimentación formativa tiene un gran potencial para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en programas de pregrado en línea. Hay una gran cantidad de cursos donde el instructor proporciona la fuente principal de comentarios. Esto se ve particularmente en las asignaturas donde las evaluaciones se diseñan en base a actividades específicas que son las mismas para todos los estudiantes, y donde la evaluación es realizada por el instructor, no por un compañero. Además, en cursos introductorios o básicamente de procedimiento, a menudo existe la necesidad de retroalimentación del instructor, en oposición a la retroalimentación entre pares, ya que exige comentarios de alta calidad tanto en el contenido como en el proceso para no inducir a error a los alumnos. Por lo tanto, los comentarios personalizados proporcionados por el instructor son una demanda académica en los modelos educativos actuales que han posicionado al estudiante en el centro del proceso de aprendizaje. Sin embargo, en el contexto actual de alta proporción de estudiantes y personal, no es fácil extender el uso de comentarios individuales entregados por los instructores entre la comunidad académica. Este artículo se centra en el entorno virtual de educación superior dado su potencial presente y futuro, así como la cantidad de consultas que lo rodean actualmente. La literatura sobre la retroalimentación formativa en la educación superior se ha revisado para el período 2000 a 2014, con el fin de encontrar respuestas sobre qué aspectos son relevantes para implementar de manera eficiente los comentarios personalizados preparados por el docente. Los resultados muestran que la retroalimentación personalizada efectiva en un ambiente virtual requiere un análisis tridimensional: desde la perspectiva del estudiante, desde el instructor y desde la perspectiva de los medios (texto escrito, grabación de video o grabación de audio), para encontrar aspectos compartidos que contribuyan a la mejora en el uso de comentarios personalizados realizados por el profesorado.La retroalimentació formativa té un gran potencial per a l'ensenyament i l'aprenentatge en programes de pregrau en línia. Hi ha una gran quantitat de cursos on l'instructor proporciona la font principal de comentaris. Això es veu particularment en les assignatures on les avaluacions es dissenyen segons les activitats específiques que són les mateixes per a tots els estudiants, i on l'avaluació és realitzada per l'instructor, no per un company. A més, en cursos introductoris o bàsicament de procediment, sovint hi ha la necessitat de retroalimentació de l'instructor, en oposició a la retroalimentació entre parells, ja que exigeix ¿¿comentaris d'alta qualitat tant en el contingut com en el procés per no induir a error als alumnes. Per tant, els comentaris personalitzats proporcionats per l'instructor són una demanda acadèmica en els models educatius actuals que han posicionat l'estudiant en el centre del procés d'aprenentatge. No obstant això, en el context actual d'alta proporció d'estudiants i personal, no és fàcil estendre l'ús de comentaris individuals lliurats pels instructors entre la comunitat acadèmica. Aquest article se centra en l'entorn virtual d'educació superior donat el seu potencial present i futur, així com la quantitat de consultes que l'envolten actualment. La literatura sobre la retroalimentació formativa en l'educació superior s'ha revisat per al període 2000 a 2014, amb la finalitat de trobar respostes sobre quins aspectes són rellevants per implementar de manera eficient els comentaris personalitzats preparats pel docent. Els resultats mostren que la retroalimentació personalitzada efectiva en un ambient virtual requereix una anàlisi tridimensional: des de la perspectiva de l'estudiant, des del instructor i des de la perspectiva dels mitjans (text escrit, gravació de vídeo o gravació d'àudio), per trobar aspectes compartits que contribueixin a la millora en l'ús de comentaris personalitzats realitzats pel professorat

The effectiveness of instructor personalised and formative feedback in an online setting: some unresolved issues

Formative feedback has great potential for teaching and learning in online undergraduate programmes. There is a large number of courses where the main source of feedback is provided by the instructor. This is particularly seen in subjects where assessments are designed based on specific activities which are the same for all students, and where the assessment is performed by the instructor, not by a peer. Additionally, in introductory or basically procedural courses, there is often a need for instructor feedback, as opposed to peer-feedback, as it demands high quality feedback both in the content and in the process in order not to mislead students. Therefore personalized feedback provided by instructor is an academic demand in the current educational models that have positioned the student at the center of the learning process. However in the present context of high student-staff ratio, it is not easy to extend the use of individual comments delivered by instructors among the academic community. This article focuses on the virtual higher education environment given its present and future potential as well as the amount of queries currently surrounding it. Literature on formative feedback in higher education has been reviewed for the period 2000 to 2014, in order to find answers as to which aspects are relevant to efficiently implement personalized feedback prepared by the teacher. Findings show that effective personalized feedback in an virtual environment requires a three-dimensional analysis: from the student perspective, from the instructor one and from the media perspective (written text, video recording or audio recording) , in order to find shared aspects that contribute to the enhancement in the use of personalized feedback performed by faculty.La retroalimentación formativa tiene un gran potencial para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en programas de pregrado en línea. Hay una gran cantidad de cursos donde el instructor proporciona la fuente principal de comentarios. Esto se ve particularmente en las asignaturas donde las evaluaciones se diseñan en base a actividades específicas que son las mismas para todos los estudiantes, y donde la evaluación es realizada por el instructor, no por un compañero. Además, en cursos introductorios o básicamente de procedimiento, a menudo existe la necesidad de retroalimentación del instructor, en oposición a la retroalimentación entre pares, ya que exige comentarios de alta calidad tanto en el contenido como en el proceso para no inducir a error a los alumnos. Por lo tanto, los comentarios personalizados proporcionados por el instructor son una demanda académica en los modelos educativos actuales que han posicionado al estudiante en el centro del proceso de aprendizaje. Sin embargo, en el contexto actual de alta proporción de estudiantes y personal, no es fácil extender el uso de comentarios individuales entregados por los instructores entre la comunidad académica. Este artículo se centra en el entorno virtual de educación superior dado su potencial presente y futuro, así como la cantidad de consultas que lo rodean actualmente. La literatura sobre la retroalimentación formativa en la educación superior se ha revisado para el período 2000 a 2014, con el fin de encontrar respuestas sobre qué aspectos son relevantes para implementar de manera eficiente los comentarios personalizados preparados por el docente. Los resultados muestran que la retroalimentación personalizada efectiva en un ambiente virtual requiere un análisis tridimensional: desde la perspectiva del estudiante, desde el instructor y desde la perspectiva de los medios (texto escrito, grabación de video o grabación de audio), para encontrar aspectos compartidos que contribuyan a la mejora en el uso de comentarios personalizados realizados por el profesorado.La retroalimentació formativa té un gran potencial per a l'ensenyament i l'aprenentatge en programes de pregrau en línia. Hi ha una gran quantitat de cursos on l'instructor proporciona la font principal de comentaris. Això es veu particularment en les assignatures on les avaluacions es dissenyen segons les activitats específiques que són les mateixes per a tots els estudiants, i on l'avaluació és realitzada per l'instructor, no per un company. A més, en cursos introductoris o bàsicament de procediment, sovint hi ha la necessitat de retroalimentació de l'instructor, en oposició a la retroalimentació entre parells, ja que exigeix ¿¿comentaris d'alta qualitat tant en el contingut com en el procés per no induir a error als alumnes. Per tant, els comentaris personalitzats proporcionats per l'instructor són una demanda acadèmica en els models educatius actuals que han posicionat l'estudiant en el centre del procés d'aprenentatge. No obstant això, en el context actual d'alta proporció d'estudiants i personal, no és fàcil estendre l'ús de comentaris individuals lliurats pels instructors entre la comunitat acadèmica. Aquest article se centra en l'entorn virtual d'educació superior donat el seu potencial present i futur, així com la quantitat de consultes que l'envolten actualment. La literatura sobre la retroalimentació formativa en l'educació superior s'ha revisat per al període 2000 a 2014, amb la finalitat de trobar respostes sobre quins aspectes són rellevants per implementar de manera eficient els comentaris personalitzats preparats pel docent. Els resultats mostren que la retroalimentació personalitzada efectiva en un ambient virtual requereix una anàlisi tridimensional: des de la perspectiva de l'estudiant, des del instructor i des de la perspectiva dels mitjans (text escrit, gravació de vídeo o gravació d'àudio), per trobar aspectes compartits que contribueixin a la millora en l'ús de comentaris personalitzats realitzats pel professorat

Dampening the signals transduced through hedgehog via microRNA miR-7 facilitates notch-induced tumourigenesis.

Fine-tuned Notch and Hedgehog signalling pathways via attenuators and dampers have long been recognized as important mechanisms to ensure the proper size and differentiation of many organs and tissues. This notion is further supported by identification of mutations in these pathways in human cancer cells. However, although it is common that the Notch and Hedgehog pathways influence growth and patterning within the same organ through the establishment of organizing regions, the cross-talk between these two pathways and how the distinct organizing activities are integrated during growth is poorly understood. Here, in an unbiased genetic screen in the Drosophila melanogaster eye, we found that tumour-like growth was provoked by cooperation between the microRNA miR-7 and the Notch pathway. Surprisingly, the molecular basis of this cooperation between miR-7 and Notch converged on the silencing of Hedgehog signalling. In mechanistic terms, miR-7 silenced the interference hedgehog (ihog) Hedgehog receptor, while Notch repressed expression of the brother of ihog (boi) Hedgehog receptor. Tumourigenesis was induced co-operatively following Notch activation and reduced Hedgehog signalling, either via overexpression of the microRNA or through specific down-regulation of ihog, hedgehog, smoothened, or cubitus interruptus or via overexpression of the cubitus interruptus repressor form. Conversely, increasing Hedgehog signalling prevented eye overgrowth induced by the microRNA and Notch pathway. Further, we show that blocking Hh signal transduction in clones of cells mutant for smoothened also enhance the organizing activity and growth by Delta-Notch signalling in the wing primordium. Together, these findings uncover a hitherto unsuspected tumour suppressor role for the Hedgehog signalling and reveal an unanticipated cooperative antagonism between two pathways extensively used in growth control and cancer

The position and function of the Notch-mediated eye growth organizer: the roles of JAK/STAT and four-jointed

In many animal systems, the local activation of patterning signals in spatially confined regions (organizers) is crucial for promoting the growth of developing organs. Nevertheless, how organizers are set up and how their activity influences global organ growth remains poorly understood. In the Drosophila eye, local Notch activation establishes a conserved dorsal–ventral organizer that promotes growth. The dorsal selector Iroquois complex defines the position of the organizer at the mid-first instar, and through its ligand, unpaired, the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducers and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway is thought to mediate global growth downstream of the organizer. However, here we show that the unpaired/JAK/STAT pathway is actually a fundamental element in the spatial control of the organizer, upstream from Notch activation. Furthermore, we identify four-jointed, a target of the Fat and Hippo tumour-suppressor pathways, as a mediator of the growth controlled by the organizer. These findings redefine the process of organizer formation and function, and they identify four-jointed as a regulatory node, integrating multiple growth-control pathways

Proposta d'integració de les competències informàtiques i informacionals (CI2) als estudis de grau i postgrau de la UB

Document elaborat per el grup de treball de Formació d'usuaris del CRAI amb la col·laboració del departament de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, el Servei d'Atenció a l'Estudiant de la UB i la Unitat de Serveis als Usuaris de l'Àrea de Tecnologies.El canvi de paradigma en la docència universitària impulsat per els Acords de Bolonya porta implícita, entre d'altres, la formació en competències informàtiques i informacionals als alumnes de Grau, Postgrau i Doctorat de les universitats. El personal bibliotecari del CRAI de la UB és expert en aquest tipus de formació ja que per una banda es tracta d'habilitats bàsiques en el desenvolupament de la seva professió i per l'altra compta amb molts anys d'experiència acumulada oferint i realitzant sessions de formació per als usuaris de la UB. És a partir del reconeixement d'aquestes condicions del personal de les biblioteques del CRAI que, d'acord amb el vicerectorat de Docència i Convergència Europea de la UB, es va crear un grup de treball, en el qual hi ha participat també el departament de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, el Servei d'Atenció a l'Estudiant (SAE) i la Unitat de Serveis als Usuaris de l'Àrea de Tecnologies, amb l'encàrrec d'elaborar una proposta per implementar la formació en competències informàtiques i informacionals als graus, postgraus i doctorats de la UB. La finalitat: dotar als usuaris de les habilitats necessàries per a la cerca, obtenció, avaluació, processament i comunicació de la informació en qualsevol suport i aconseguir un millor coneixement i per tant una millor utilització dels recursos d¿informació que s'ofereixen des de les biblioteques del CRAI de la UB