Executive functions program to promote citizenship skills in basic primary education

The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention program in executive functions to promote the citizenship skills of elementary school students. The research was quasi-experimental with pre and post measurement of "k" intact groups and double randomly assigned. The sample consisted of 392 students from two public schools in the cities of Barranquilla and Bogotá from first to fifth grade randomly distributed into two groups: Experimental (n = 197) and Control (n = 195). For the evaluation of citizenship competencies, Moral Dilemmas Instrument was used, and for the intervention, the FeJINCOC program, was used, validated by expert judges with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.98. The results obtained from the students show significant changes (McNemar <.000) toward the development of their citizenship skills in a cognitive manner in order to recognize the effect of one's behavior on others compared to the control group.El propósito de este estudio fue diseñar, aplicar y evaluar el efecto de un programa de intervención en funciones ejecutivas para promover las competencias ciudadanas de estudiantes de básica primaria. La investigación fue cuasiexperimental con medición pre y post, de “k” grupos intactos con asignación aleatoria y doble. La muestra fueron 392 estudiantes pertenecientes a dos colegios públicos de las ciudades de Barranquilla y Bogotá de primero a quinto grado distribuidos de manera aleatoria en dos grupos experimental (n=197) y control (n=195). Para la evaluación de las competencias ciudadanas se usó un instrumento de dilemas morales, y para la intervención se aplicó el programa FEJINCOC, validado por jueces expertos con un Alfa de Cronbach de .98. Los resultados obtenidos en los estudiantes intervenidos muestran cambios significativos (McNemar <.000) hacia el desarrollo de sus competencias ciudadanas de tipo cognitivas relacionadas con reconocer el efecto de la propia conducta en los demás en comparación con el grupo control

Executive functions and performance academic in primary education from the colombian coast

Introduction. The Executive Functions (EF) are a set of supramodal functions that favor cognitive, emotional and social skills. In early childhood, EFs influence the performance of academic skills. The present research determined the relationship between executive functions and academic performance in an educational context. Method. A correlational study was conducted involving 195 students between 6 and 12 years of age, randomly selected from primary grades (from 1 to 5). The executive functions measured were: verbal fluency (phonological and semantic), selective attention, cognitive flexibility, planning and inhibition; for which, the Neuropsychological Evaluation of the executive functions in children (ENFEN) was used and the academic performance was evaluated from the cumulative academic average in the year. Results. According to Spearman's correlation analysis, the results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between academic performance and the components of executive functions: phonological fluency (p = .01) and cognitive flexibility (p = .01). On the other hand, the logistic regression showed that semantic fluency and inhibition are predictive factors for academic performance in 76.4%. Discussion or Conclusion. Which suggests that executive functions are associated and in turn predict academic performance in elementary school students, especially if this is low.Introducción. Las Funciones Ejecutivas (FE) son un conjunto de funciones supramodales que favorecen a las habilidades cognitivas, emocionales y sociales. En la primera infancia las FE influyen en el rendimiento de las habilidades académicas. La presente investigación determinó la relación entre las funciones ejecutivas y el rendimiento académico en un contexto educativo. Método. Se realizó un estudio correlacional donde participaron 195 estudiantes entre 6 y 12 años de edad, seleccionados al azar de los grados de básica primaria (de 1° a 5°). Las funciones ejecutivas medidas fueron: fluidez verbal (fonológica y semántica), atención selectiva, flexibilidad cognitiva, planificación e inhibición; para lo cual, se empleó la Evaluación Neuropsicológica de las funciones ejecutivas en niños (ENFEN) y el rendimiento académico se evaluó a partir del promedio académico acumulativo en el año. Resultados. De acuerdo con el análisis de correlación de Spearman, los resultados arrojados señalan que existe una relación estadísticamente significativa entre rendimiento académico y los componentes de las funciones ejecutivas: fluidez fonológica (p=.01) y flexibilidad cognitiva (p=.01). Por otro lado, la regresión logística arrojó que la fluidez semántica y la inhibición son factores predictivos para el rendimiento académico en un 76.4%. Discusión y conclusiones. Se sugiere que las funciones ejecutivas se asocian y a su vez predicen el rendimiento académico en estudiantes de básica primaria, en especial si este es bajo

Anti-Spike antibodies 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine booster dose in patients on hemodialysis: the prospective SENCOVAC study

Background: Patients on hemodialysis are at high-risk for complications derived from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present analysis evaluated the impact of a booster vaccine dose and breakthrough severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections on humoral immunity 3 months after the booster dose. Methods: This is a multicentric and prospective study assessing immunoglobulin G anti-Spike antibodies 6 and 9 months after initial SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients on hemodialysis that had also received a booster dose before the 6-month assessment (early booster) or between the 6- and 9-month assessments (late booster). The impact of breakthrough infections, type of vaccine, time from the booster and clinical variables were assessed. Results: A total of 711 patients [67% male, median age (range) 67 (20-89) years] were included. Of these, 545 (77%) received an early booster and the rest a late booster. At 6 months, 64 (9%) patients had negative anti-Spike antibody titers (3% of early booster and 29% of late booster patients, P =. 001). At 9 months, 91% of patients with 6-month negative response had seroconverted and there were no differences in residual prevalence of negative humoral response between early and late booster patients (0.9% vs 0.6%, P =. 693). During follow-up, 35 patients (5%) developed breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibody titers at 9 months were independently associated with mRNA-1273 booster (P =. 001), lower time from booster (P =. 043) and past breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection (P <. 001). Conclusions: In hemodialysis patients, higher titers of anti-Spike antibodies at 9 months were associated with mRNA-1273 booster, lower time from booster and past breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infectionThe present project has been supported by Fresenius Medical Care, Diaverum, Vifor Pharma, Vircell, Fundación Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo and ISCIII FEDER funds RICORS2040 (RD21/0005

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

PROGRAMA EN FUNCIONES EJECUTIVAS PARA PROMOVER LAS COMPETENCIAS CIUDADANAS EN EDUCACIÓN BÁSICA PRIMARIA

El prop&oacute;sito de este estudio fue dise&ntilde;ar, aplicar y evaluar el efecto de un programa de intervenci&oacute;n en funciones ejecutivas para promover las competencias ciudadanas de estudiantes de b&aacute;sica primaria. La investigaci&oacute;n fue cuasiexperimentalcon medici&oacute;n pre y post, de &ldquo;k&rdquo; grupos intactos con asignaci&oacute;n aleatoria y doble. La muestra fueron 392 estudiantes pertenecientes a dos colegios p&uacute;blicos de las ciudadesde Barranquilla y Bogot&aacute; de primero a quinto grado distribuidos de manera aleatoria en dos grupos experimental (n=197) y control (n=195). Para la evaluaci&oacute;n de las competencias ciudadanas se us&oacute; un instrumento de dilemas morales, y para la intervenci&oacute;n se aplic&oacute; el programa FEJINCOC, validado por jueces expertos con un Alfa de Cronbach de .98. Los resultados obtenidos en los estudiantes intervenidos muestran cambios significativos (McNemar &lt;.000) hacia el desarrollo de sus competencias ciudadanas de tipo cognitivas relacionadas con reconocer el efecto de la propia conducta en los dem&aacute;s en comparaci&oacute;n con el grupo control

Ansiedad, autoestima e imagen corporal en niñas con diagnóstico de pubertad precoz

Currently, the age of onset for pubertal changes is decreasing, especially in girls, which may have an impact on psychosocial factors such as anxiety, self-esteem and body image. The aim of the present study is to compare these variables in two groups: a group of 15 girls with precocious puberty and a group of 16 girls of the same age without precocious puberty. A non-experimental descriptive design was used and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to measure variables. Significant differences were found in Anxiety and Body Image levels between groups, but there were no differences in Self-Esteem levels. In conclusion, the findings show girls with early onset pubertal changes present high anxiety levels and negative body image compared to girls who start pubertal changes at the normal time