La formazione professionale degli insegnanti: situazione alla luce della riforma degli ordinamenti didattici universitari

In this note, some aspects concerning the teacher’s formation, with reference to the changes of the university education, are investigated

Actualización del contenido curricular de la página web de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Panamá

El presente trabajo consiste en la actualización de la información curricular de la página Web de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. El objetivo principal es la creación de un disco interactivo que pueda ser usado como Guía Multimedia de Carreras tanto para profesores como estudiantes y que se pueda usar en el futuro, en la actualización de la página Web de esta facultad. Este trabajo se dividió en dos partes: La primera consistió en hacer una encuesta sobre el sitio Web de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación y, la segunda, en la creación de un disco interactivo con la información curricular. Se comenzó haciendo una encuesta de ocho preguntas a cien estudiantes en el salón de informática de la Facultad para conocer su opinión sobre su página Web. Después que se conectaron en internet, la mayoría contestó que era fácil llegar a la página Web, también que era la primera vez que la visitaban, porque no sabían de su existencia, que la información era buena pero que debía modificarse, Además, contestaron que estaban interesados que se ampliara la información. Con estos datos se hicieron tablas y gráficas circulares en Excel. A cada gráfica se le dio su interpretación. La segunda parte del trabajo consistió en la creación del disco interactivo. Para comenzar, se obtuvo de cada departamento de la Facultad los folletos que describen las carreras: datos generales, requisitos de ingreso y egreso, objetivos, plan de estudio y costos. Toda esta información se escribió de manera uniforme en Word y se envió por internet al diseñador gráfico. También se tomaron fotos de las instalaciones de la facultad que incluyeron, cafetería, auditorio, biblioteca, secretaría, estacionamientos, salón de fotocopias, salón de informática, y el aula virtual. La información en el disco interactivo se dividió en tres partes, Información general, Licenciaturas, Postgrados y Maestrías. Cada una de estas divisiones tenían a su vez otras divisiones para la elaboración del disco se usó el programa. Adobe Ilustrador 10 y Macromedia flas. La elaboración del disco interactivo de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación tomó siete meses

Entrevista a Rolando Murgas Torrazza

Terminando la serie de entrevistas que sobre materia laboral hemos venido presentando, ofrecemos en esta ocasión las esclarecedoras opiniones de don Rolando Murgas T.El Dr. Murgas ha sido Ministro de Trabajo de Panamá y, dentro del campo de su especialidad, se encuentra entre las más reputadas figuras del continente.En este sentido, contar con las apreciaciones de tan destacado especialista supone un verdadero honor para nuestra revista. Las labores de elaboración y edición correspondieron a Cecilia Blume, Mariana Cazarla, Marfa Teresa Quiñones, Juan José Ruda y Rosario Saco

El control constitucional de los actos electorales en Panamá

El derecho constitucional y el derecho electoral tienen una íntima conexión, porque ambas tienen como una de sus finalidades la protección de la democracia derivada de los procesos electorales El Tribunal Electoral de Panamá, es una autoridad autónoma y con competencia privativa en materia electoral, por tanto, debe encuadrar sus actuaciones a los lineamientos y principios constitucionales, razón por la cual pese a su autonomía, el respecto a la supremacía constitucional exige que sus actuaciones pueden ser objeto de control de constitucionalidad En el presente trabajo haremos referencias teóricas-doctrinales y jurisprudencia sobre el control de constitucionalidad de las actuaciones del Tribunal Electoral de Panamá

Enteric dysbiosis and fecal calprotectin expression in premature infants.

BackgroundPremature infants often develop enteric dysbiosis with a preponderance of Gammaproteobacteria, which has been related to adverse clinical outcomes. We investigated the relationship between increasing fecal Gammaproteobacteria and mucosal inflammation, measured by fecal calprotectin (FC).MethodsStool samples were collected from very-low-birth weight (VLBW) infants at ≤2, 3, and 4 weeks' postnatal age. Fecal microbiome was surveyed using polymerase chain reaction amplification of the V4 region of 16S ribosomal RNA, and FC was measured by enzyme immunoassay.ResultsWe enrolled 45 VLBW infants (gestation 27.9 ± 2.2 weeks, birth weight 1126 ± 208 g) and obtained stool samples at 9.9 ± 3, 20.7 ± 4.1, and 29.4 ± 4.9 days. FC was positively correlated with the genus Klebsiella (r = 0.207, p = 0.034) and its dominant amplicon sequence variant (r = 0.290, p = 0.003), but not with the relative abundance of total Gammaproteobacteria. Klebsiella colonized the gut in two distinct patterns: some infants started with low Klebsiella abundance and gained these bacteria over time, whereas others began with very high Klebsiella abundance.ConclusionIn premature infants, FC correlated with relative abundance of a specific pathobiont, Klebsiella, and not with that of the class Gammaproteobacteria. These findings indicate a need to define dysbiosis at genera or higher levels of resolution

Factors influencing gastrointestinal tract and microbiota immune interaction in preterm infants

The role of microbial colonization is indispensable for keeping a balanced immune response in life. However, the events that regulate the establishment of the microbiota, their timing, and the way in which they interact with the host are not yet fully understood. Factors such as gestational age, mode of delivery, environment, hygienic measures, and diet influence the establishment of microbiota in the perinatal period. Environmental microbes constitute the most important group of exogenous stimuli in this critical time frame. However, the settlement of a stable gut microbiota in preterm infants is delayed compared to term infants. Preterm infants have an immature gastrointestinal tract and immune system which predisposes to infectious morbidity. Neonatal microbial dynamics and alterations in early gut microbiota may precede and/or predispose to diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), late-onset sepsis or others. During this critical period, nutrition is the principal contributor for immunological and metabolic development, and microbiological programming. Breast milk is a known source of molecules that act synergistically to protect the gut barrier and enhance the maturation of the gut-related immune response. Host-microbe interactions in preterm infants and the protective role of diet focused on breast milk impact are beginning to be unveiled.M.C. acknowledges a “Rio Hortega” Research Fellowship Grant (CM13/0017) and M.V. acknowledges grants PI11/0313 and RD12/0026/0012 (Red SAMID) from the Instituto Carlos III (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity). M.C.C. and G.P-M. were supported by the grant AGL2013-47420-R from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Peer reviewe

Microbial Co-occurrence Relationships in the Human Microbiome

The healthy microbiota show remarkable variability within and among individuals. In addition to external exposures, ecological relationships (both oppositional and symbiotic) between microbial inhabitants are important contributors to this variation. It is thus of interest to assess what relationships might exist among microbes and determine their underlying reasons. The initial Human Microbiome Project (HMP) cohort, comprising 239 individuals and 18 different microbial habitats, provides an unprecedented resource to detect, catalog, and analyze such relationships. Here, we applied an ensemble method based on multiple similarity measures in combination with generalized boosted linear models (GBLMs) to taxonomic marker (16S rRNA gene) profiles of this cohort, resulting in a global network of 3,005 significant co-occurrence and co-exclusion relationships between 197 clades occurring throughout the human microbiome. This network revealed strong niche specialization, with most microbial associations occurring within body sites and a number of accompanying inter-body site relationships. Microbial communities within the oropharynx grouped into three distinct habitats, which themselves showed no direct influence on the composition of the gut microbiota. Conversely, niches such as the vagina demonstrated little to no decomposition into region-specific interactions. Diverse mechanisms underlay individual interactions, with some such as the co-exclusion of Porphyromonaceae family members and Streptococcus in the subgingival plaque supported by known biochemical dependencies. These differences varied among broad phylogenetic groups as well, with the Bacilli and Fusobacteria, for example, both enriched for exclusion of taxa from other clades. Comparing phylogenetic versus functional similarities among bacteria, we show that dominant commensal taxa (such as Prevotellaceae and Bacteroides in the gut) often compete, while potential pathogens (e.g. Treponema and Prevotella in the dental plaque) are more likely to co-occur in complementary niches. This approach thus serves to open new opportunities for future targeted mechanistic studies of the microbial ecology of the human microbiome.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant CA139193)Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – VlaanderenJuvenile Diabetes Research Foundation InternationalNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant NIH U54HG004969)Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of AmericaNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF DBI-1053486)United States. Army Research Office (ARO W911NF-11-1-0473)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant NIH 1R01HG005969

Reducing Viability Bias in Analysis of Gut Microbiota in Preterm Infants at Risk of NEC and Sepsis

Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) and sepsis are serious diseases of preterm infants that can result in feeding intolerance, the need for bowel resection, impaired physiological and neurological development, and high mortality rates. Neonatal healthcare improvements have allowed greater survival rates in preterm infants leading to increased numbers at risk of developing NEC and sepsis. Gut bacteria play a role in protection from or propensity to these conditions and have therefore, been studied extensively using targeted 16S rRNA gene sequencing methods. However, exact epidemiology of these conditions remain unknown and the role of the gut microbiota in NEC remains enigmatic. Many studies have confounding variables such as differing clinical intervention strategies or major methodological issues such as the inability of 16S rRNA gene sequencing methods to determine viable from non-viable taxa. Identification of viable community members is important to identify links between the microbiota and disease in the highly unstable preterm infant gut. This is especially important as remnant DNA is robust and persists in the sampling environment following cell death. Chelation of such DNA prevents downstream amplification and inclusion in microbiota characterisation. This study validates use of propidium monoazide (PMA), a DNA chelating agent that is excluded by an undamaged bacterial membrane, to reduce bias associated with 16S rRNA gene analysis of clinical stool samples. We aim to improve identification of the viable microbiota in order to increase the accuracy of clinical inferences made regarding the impact of the preterm gut microbiota on health and disease. Gut microbiota analysis was completed on stools from matched twins (n = 16) that received probiotics. Samples were treated with PMA, prior to bacterial DNA extraction. Meta-analysis highlighted a significant reduction in bacterial diversity in 68.8% of PMA treated samples as well as significantly reduced overall rare taxa abundance. Importantly, overall abundances of genera associated with protection from and propensity to NEC and sepsis such as: Bifidobacterium; Clostridium, and Staphylococcus sp. were significantly different following PMA-treatment. These results suggest non-viable cell exclusion by PMA-treatment reduces bias in gut microbiota analysis from which clinical inferences regarding patient susceptibility to NEC and sepsis are made

The Biochemical and Cellular Basis for Nutraceutical Strategies to Attenuate Neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s Disease

Future therapeutic intervention that could effectively decelerate the rate of degeneration within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) could add years of mobility and reduce morbidity associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Neurodegenerative decline associated with PD is distinguished by extensive damage to SNc dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons and decay of the striatal tract. While genetic mutations or environmental toxins can precipitate pathology, progressive degenerative succession involves a gradual decline in DA neurotransmission/synaptic uptake, impaired oxidative glucose consumption, a rise in striatal lactate and chronic inflammation. Nutraceuticals play a fundamental role in energy metabolism and signaling transduction pathways that control neurotransmission and inflammation. However, the use of nutritional supplements to slow the progression of PD has met with considerable challenge and has thus far proven unsuccessful. This review re-examines precipitating factors and insults involved in PD and how nutraceuticals can affect each of these biological targets. Discussed are disease dynamics (Sections 1 and 2) and natural substances, vitamins and minerals that could impact disease processes (Section 3). Topics include nutritional influences on α-synuclein aggregation, ubiquitin proteasome function, mTOR signaling/lysosomal-autophagy, energy failure, faulty catecholamine trafficking, DA oxidation, synthesis of toxic DA-quinones, o-semiquinones, benzothiazolines, hyperhomocyseinemia, methylation, inflammation and irreversible oxidation of neuromelanin. In summary, it is clear that future research will be required to consider the multi-faceted nature of this disease and re-examine how and why the use of nutritional multi-vitamin-mineral and plant-based combinations could be used to slow the progression of PD, if possible