Use and access to ICT in students of public secondary schools in Chihuahua City, Mexico: inclusion in teaching and digital literacy

This paper addresses the issue of the digital divide in students of public secondary schools at Chihuahua City, Mexico. It seeks to identify potential inequality of opportunities with regards to subjects’ access to information, knowledge and education through the ICT (internet, mobile telephony, broadband and television). The study takes three schools as investigative stage, using the survey as a data collection instrument, identifying patterns of behavior regarding: general knowledge of them, access to computer equipment and internet, and characterization of their use. Other aspects of analysis are the identification of the educational level of parents and access to technology resources available for academic and non-academic purposes in various application areas (home, school and social environment). The proposal concludes, that it is through the recollection of alternatives suggested by the teachers themselves to incorporate ICT for teaching purposes in a systematic and planned fashion, whose greatest reflection manifests in better digital literacy indicators.

Programas iconográficos en "La piel que habito" (Almodóvar, 2011)

Como viene siendo habitual en las últimas películas de Pedro Almodóvar, las imágenes de La piel que habito (2011) se organizan en programas iconográficos que en este caso emanan de operaciones “trans” realizadas tanto en el cuerpo (transexualidad, transgénesis y trasplante), como en el texto (transtextualidad). El presente trabajo se ocupa de la genealogía y formalización de dichos programas así como de cuestiones teóricas surgidas a lo largo del desarrollo de este estudio –la relación entre cuerpo e identidad o el llamado muro de pantallas, entre otras–, de indudable calado en el filme.

Retroperitoneal Approach to Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Preserves Splanchnic Perfusion as Measured by Gastric Tonometry

Background: We investigated if minimizing bowel manipulation and mesenteric traction using the retroperitoneal approach in open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair preserves splanchnic perfusion, as measured by gastric tonometry, and reduces the systemic inflammatory response and dysfunction of the various organs.

Retroperitoneal Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Reduces Bowel Dysfunction

Objective: To assess the effect of intestinal manipulation and mesenteric traction on gastro-intestinal function and postoperative recovery in patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. Methods: Thirty-five patients undergoing AAA repair were randomised into 3 groups. Group I (n = II) had repair via retroperitoneal approach while Group II (n = 12) and Group III (n = 12) were repaired via transperitoneal approach with bowel packed within the peritoneal cavity or exteriorised in a bowel bag respectively. Gastric emptying was measured pre-operatively (day 0), day 1 and day 3 using paracetamol absorption test (PAT) and area under curve (P-AUC) was calculated. Intestinal permeability was measured using the Lactulose-Mannitol test. Results: Aneurysm size, operation time and PAT (on day 0 and day 3) were similar in the three groups. On day 1, the P-AUC was significantly higher in Group I, when compared with Group II and Group III (P = .02). Resumption of diet was also significantly earlier in Group I as compared to Group II and Group III. The intestinal permeability was significantly increased in Group II and Group III at day 1 when compared with day 0, with no significant increase in Group I. Retroperitoneal repair was also associated with significantly shorter intensive care unit (P = .04) and hospital stay (P = .047), when compared with the combined transperitoneal repair group (Group II and III). Conclusion: Retroperitoneal AAA repair minimises intestinal dysfunction and may lead to quicker patient recovery when compared to transperitoneal repair.

Extinction risk from climate change

Climate change over the past ,30 years has produced numerous shifts in the distributions and abundances of species1,2 and has been implicated in one species-level extinction3. Using projections of species’ distributions for future climate scenarios, we assess extinction risks for sample regions that cover some 20% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface. Exploring three approaches in which the estimated probability of extinction shows a powerlaw relationship with geographical range size, we predict, on the basis of mid-range climate-warming scenarios for 2050, that 15–37% of species in our sample of regions and taxa will be ‘committed to extinction’. When the average of the three methods and two dispersal scenarios is taken, minimal climate-warming scenarios produce lower projections of species committed to extinction (,18%) than mid-range (,24%) and maximum change (,35%) scenarios. These estimates show the importance of rapid implementation of technologies to decrease greenhouse

Mutational hotspot in Exon 20 of PIK3CA in breast cancer among Singapore Chinese

The recent identification of somatic mutations in the catalytic region of PIK3 (PIK3CA) in breast cancer and demonstration of their oncogenic function has implicated PIK3CA in mammary carcinogenesis. To investigate possible ethnic differences in patterns of PIK3CA mutations in Singaporean Chinese breast cancer and to characterize these in a panel of cell lines, we sequenced exons 9 and 20 in 80 primary tumors, 19 breast cancer cell lines and 7 normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs). Searching for novel hotspots of mutation, we sequenced additional exons ( 1, 2, 6, 7, 14 and 18) in 20 primary tumors and 6 breast cancer cell lines. We detected 33 point mutations in 31 of 80 (39%) breast cancers, and 11 mutations in 10 of 19 (53%) breast cancer cell lines. No mutations were detected in normal breast tissue adjacent to the tumor, or in the 6 normal HMECs. The exon 20 A3140G (H1047R) substitution was identified most frequently (22/31, 71%) and showed a significant association with patient age ( p = 0.043) and stage of the disease ( p = 0.025), but not with ER/PR status or histological grade of the tumor. The incidence of point mutations in PIK3CA, the A3140G substitution in particular, in Singapore breast cancers are among the most frequent reported to date for any gene in breast cancer. The results suggest that mutation of PIK3CA might contribute to development of early stage breast cancer and could provide a potent target for early diagnosis and therapy.