85 research outputs found

    Transforming students' attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions.

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    Previous research shows that there is a correlation between attitudes and academic achievement. In this article, we analyze for the first time the impact of interactive groups (IG) and dialogic literary gatherings (DLG) on the attitudes that students show towards learning. A quantitative approach has been performed using attitude tests validated by previous research. The data suggest that in both cases, the participants show positive attitudes. The social context has an important influence on students' attitudes. The items with higher correlations include group work, mutual support, and distributed cognition. In the case of IGs, group work is much more appreciated, while in the case of DLGs, self-image and self-confidence are the two most clearly valued attitudes. The positive impact of IGs and DLGs on students' attitudes may have potential for teachers in transforming their practices and decision-making within the classroom

    Transforming students' attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions

    Get PDF
    Previous research shows that there is a correlation between attitudes and academic achievement. In this article, we analyze for the first time the impact of interactive groups (IG) and dialogic literary gatherings (DLG) on the attitudes that students show towards learning. A quantitative approach has been performed using attitude tests validated by previous research. The data suggest that in both cases, the participants show positive attitudes. The social context has an important influence on students' attitudes. The items with higher correlations include group work, mutual support, and distributed cognition. In the case of IGs, group work is much more appreciated, while in the case of DLGs, self-image and self-confidence are the two most clearly valued attitudes. The positive impact of IGs and DLGs on students' attitudes may have potential for teachers in transforming their practices and decision-making within the classroom

    Clinical Characteristics and Long-term outcomes of patients undergoing combined heart-kidney transplantation: a single-center experience

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    [Abstract] Background. The purpose of the study was to describe clinical characteristics and long-term survival of patients undergoing combined heart-kidney transplant in a single center. Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 22 consecutive patients who underwent combined heart-kidney transplant at our institution between 1995 and 2013. Long-term outcomes were analyzed by means of the Kaplan-Meier method. Results. Four patients underwent re-do transplant (2 cardiac re-transplants, 1 kidney re-transplant, and 1 combined heart-kidney re-transplant). Most frequent underlying cardiac conditions were coronary artery disease (54%), dilated cardiomyopathy (23%), and chronic rejection of a previous heart graft (18%). Known causes of chronic renal dysfunction were nephroangioesclerosis (23%), drug-related toxicity (14%), and Wegener granulomatosis (5%). Non-specified chronic renal dysfunction was present in 50% patients. In-hospital postoperative mortality rate was 5 of 22 (23%). Causes of early death were directly related to kidney transplant surgery in 4 of 5 (80%) patients. Among the remaining 17 patients who surmounted the postoperative period, long-term survival rates 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years after HKT were 88%, 82%, and 65%, respectively. Over a mean follow-up of 6.7 ± 6.4 years, cumulative incidences of cytomegalovirus infection, coronary allograft vasculopathy, malignancy, and acute cardiac graft rejection were 41%, 6%, 24%, and 41%, respectively. There was no episode of acute renal graft rejection. At the end of follow-up, all survivors (n = 11) were in functional New York Heart Association class I. Mean creatinine serum level was 1.68 mg/dL. Conclusions. In our experience, combined heart-kidney transplant is a feasible therapeutic option that yielded favorable long-term outcomes, with a low cumulative incidence of cardiac graft dysfunction. These results were obtained at the expense of a significant risk of early postoperative mortality, which was mainly related to complications of kidney transplant surgery

    MicroRNA-200 Family Modulation in Distinct Breast Cancer Phenotypes

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    The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis in a variety of cancer types. In human breast cancer, gene expression studies have determined that basal-B/claudin-low and metaplastic cancers exhibit EMT-related characteristics, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this observation are unknown. As the family of miR-200 microRNAs has been shown to regulate EMT in normal tissues and cancer, here we evaluated whether the expression of the miR-200 family (miR-200f) and their epigenetic state correlate with EMT features in human breast carcinomas. We analyzed by qRT-PCR the expression of miR-200f members and various EMT-transcriptional inducers in a series of 70 breast cancers comprising an array of phenotypic subtypes: estrogen receptor positive (ER+), HER2 positive (HER2+), and triple negative (TN), including a subset of metaplastic breast carcinomas (MBCs) with sarcomatous (homologous or heterologous) differentiation. No MBCs with squamous differentiation were included. The DNA methylation status of miR-200f loci in tumor samples were inspected using Sequenom MassArray¼ MALDI-TOF platform. We also used two non-tumorigenic breast basal cell lines that spontaneously undergo EMT to study the modulation of miR-200f expression during EMT in vitro. We demonstrate that miR-200f is strongly decreased in MBCs compared with other cancer types. TN and HER2+ breast cancers also exhibited lower miR-200f expression than ER+ tumors. Significantly, the decreased miR-200f expression found in MBCs is accompanied by an increase in the expression levels of EMT-transcriptional inducers, and hypermethylation of the miR-200c-141 locus. Similar to tumor samples, we demonstrated that downregulation of miR-200f and hypermethylation of the miR-200c-141 locus, together with upregulation of EMT-transcriptional inducers also occur in an in vitro cellular model of spontaneous EMT. Thus, the expression and methylation status of miR-200f could be used as hypothetical biomarkers to assess the occurrence of EMT in breast cancer. © 2012 Castilla et al.This work was supported by grants from: the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII; Grant Nos PI07/90324 and PI080971) and the Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciĂłn (MCINN), co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund, “A way to achieve Europe” EDRF (Grant No. RD06/0020/0013); the Junta de AndalucĂ­a (ConsejerĂ­a de Salud, Grant No.PI-0384/2007, PI0581/2009); the ConsejerĂ­a de InnovaciĂłn (Proyecto de Excelencia, Grant No. P07-CVI-03100); and Sandra Ibarra Foundation (Grant No. 2011/088) to JP. MAC and JDM are PhD researchers funded by the ISCIII (Grant No. RD06/0020/0013) and the ConsejerĂ­a de Salud, Junta de AndalucĂ­a (PI0581/2009), respectively. DS was funded by an EU Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (PIEF-GA-2008-221083) and by Breakthrough Breast Cancer. LRP is a PhD student recipient of a PFIS fellowship (Grant No. F109/00193). MB is a researcher funded by the ISCIII-Red de Biobancos RD09/0076/00085. SR works as a lab technician supported by the ISCIII (PI080971). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer Reviewe

    Central exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

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    Measurements are reported of the central exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Backgrounds are significantly reduced compared to previous measurements made at lower energies through the use of new forward shower counters. The products of the cross-sections and the branching fractions for the decays to dimuons, where both muons are within the pseudorapidity range 2.0 < η < 4.5, are measured to be σJ/ψ→Ό+Ό−=435±18±11±17 pbσψ(2S)→Ό+Ό−=11.1±1.1±0.3±0.4 pb. The first uncertainties are statistical, the second are systematic, and the third are due to the luminosity determination. The cross-sections are also measured differentially for meson rapidities between 2.0 and 4.5. Good agreement is observed with theoretical predictions. Photoproduction cross-sections are derived and compared to previous experiments, and a deviation from a pure power-law extrapolation of lower energy data is observed.S

    Measurement of forward Z → e+e− production s√s=8 TeV

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    A measurement of the cross-section for Z-boson production in the forward region of pp collisions at 8 TeV centre-of-mass energy is presented. The measurement is based on a sample of Z → e+e− decays reconstructed using the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb−1. The acceptance is defined by the requirements 2.0 20 GeV for the pseudorapidities and transverse momenta of the leptons. Their invariant mass is required to lie in the range 60-120 GeV. The cross-section is determined to beS

    Measurement of indirect CP asymmetries in D0 → K−K+ and D0 → π−π+ decays using semileptonic B decays

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    Time-dependent CP asymmetries in the decay rates of the singly Cabibbo-suppressed decays D0 → K−K+ and D0 → π−π+ are measured in pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment. The D0 mesons are produced in semileptonic b-hadron decays, where the charge of the accompanying muon is used to determine the initial state as D0 or DÂŻ0. The asymmetries in effective lifetimes between D0 and DÂŻ0 decays, which are sensitive to indirect CP violation, are determined to be AΓ(K−K+)=(−0.134±0.077−0.026−0.034)%,AΓ(π−π+)=(−0.092±0.145−0.025−0.033)%, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. This result is in agreement with previous measurements and with the hypothesis of no indirect CP violation in D0 decays.S

    Precise measurements of the properties of the B1(5721)0,+ and B *2(5747)0,+ states and observation of B+,0π−,+ mass structures

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    Invariant mass distributions of B+π− and B0π+ combinations are investigated in order to study excited B mesons. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to 3.0 fb−1 of pp collision data, recorded by the LHCb detector at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. Precise measurements of the masses and widths of the B1(5721)0,+ and B2(5747)0,+ states are reported. Clear enhancements, particularly prominent at high pion transverse momentum, are seen over background in the mass range 5850-6000 MeV in both B+π− and B0π+ combinations. The structures are consistent with the presence of four excited B mesons, labelled B J (5840)0,+ and B J (5960)0,+, whose masses and widths are obtained under different hypotheses for their quantum numbersS

    Measurement of D ±s production asymmetry in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV

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    The inclusive D ±s production asymmetry is measured in pp collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of √s=7 and 8 TeV. Promptly produced D ±s mesons are used, which decay as D ±s → ϕπ±, with ϕ → K+K−. The measurement is performed in bins of transverse momentum, pT, and rapidity, y, covering the range 2.5 < pT < 25.0 GeV/c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. No kinematic dependence is observed. Evidence of nonzero D ±s production asymmetry is found with a significance of 3.3 standard deviations.S
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