Cooperative or collaborative learning: Is there a difference in university students’ perceptions?

The hypothesis that the same educational objective, raised as cooperative or collaborative learning in university teaching does not affect students’ perceptions of the learning model, leads this study. It analyses the reflections of two students groups of engineering that shared the same educational goals implemented through two different methodological active learning strategies: Simulation as cooperative learning strategy and Problem-based Learning as a collaborative one. The different number of participants per group (eighty-five and sixty-five, respectively) as well as the use of two active learning strategies, either collaborative or cooperative, did not show differences in the results from a qualitative perspective.

Cost-effectiveness of zoledronic acid and strontium-89 as bone protecting treatments in addition to chemotherapy in patients with metastatic castrate-refractory prostate cancer: results from the TRAPEZE trial (ISRCTN 12808747)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of adding zoledronic acid or strontium-89 to standard docetaxel chemotherapy for patients with castrate-refractory prostate cancer (CRPC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data on resource use and quality of life for 707 patients collected prospectively in the TRAPEZE 2 × 2 factorial randomised trial (ISRCTN 12808747) were used to assess the cost-effectiveness of i) zoledronic acid versus no zoledronic acid (ZA vs. no ZA), and ii) strontium-89 versus no strontium-89 (Sr89 vs. no Sr89). Costs were estimated from the perspective of the National Health Service in the UK and included expenditures for trial treatments, concomitant medications, and use of related hospital and primary care services. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were calculated according to patients' responses to the generic EuroQol EQ-5D-3L instrument, which evaluates health status. Results are expressed as incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves.

RESULTS: The per-patient cost for ZA was £12 667, £251 higher than the equivalent cost in the no ZA group. Patients in the ZA group had on average 0.03 QALYs more than their counterparts in no ZA group. The ICER for this comparison was £8 005. Sr89 was associated with a cost of £13 230, £1365 higher than no Sr89, and a gain of 0.08 QALYs compared to no Sr89. The ICER for Sr89 was £16 884. The probabilities of ZA and Sr89 being cost-effective were 0.64 and 0.60, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The addition of bone-targeting treatments to standard chemotherapy led to a small improvement in QALYs for a modest increase in cost (or cost-savings). ZA and Sr89 resulted in ICERs below conventional willingness-to-pay per QALY thresholds, suggesting that their addition to chemotherapy may represent a cost-effective use of resources.

Ontogeny and nutritional programming of the hepatic growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-prolactin axis in the sheep

The liver is an important metabolic and endocrine organ in the fetus but the extent to which its hormone receptor (R) sensitivity is developmentally regulated in early life is not fully established. We, therefore, examined developmental changes in mRNA abundance for the growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) receptors (R) plus insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and –II and their receptors. Fetal and postnatal sheep were sampled at either 80, or 140 days gestation, 1, 30 days or six months of age. The effect of maternal nutrient restriction between early to mid (i.e. 28 to 80 days gestation, the time of early liver growth) gestation on gene expression was also examined in the fetus and juvenile offspring. Gene expression for the GHR, PRLR and IGF-IR increased through gestation peaking at birth, whereas IGF-I was maximal near to term. In contrast, IGF-II mRNA decreased between mid and late gestation to increase after birth whereas IGF-IIR remained unchanged. A substantial decline in mRNA abundance for GHR, PRLR and IGF-IR then occurred up to six months. Maternal nutrient restriction reduced GHR and IGF-IIR mRNA abundance in the fetus, but caused a precocious increase in the PRLR. Gene expression for IGF-I and –II were increased in juvenile offspring born to nutrient restricted mothers. In conclusion, there are marked differences in the developmental ontogeny and nutritional programming of specific hormones and their receptors involved in hepatic growth and development in the fetus. These could contribute to changes in liver function during adult life.

China Sea /

Relief shown by hachures. Depths shown by soundings.

Caracterización clínica de pacientes pediátricos con tumores cerebrales primarios en un hospital de Bogotá entre 2007-2014

Introducción: En la población pediátrica los tumores cerebrales son la segunda causa de cáncer, la dificultad en su identificación produce tardanza en su diagnóstico y pocos estudios de caracterización han sido realizados en Colombia. Se realizó un estudio para identificar las características en el curso de la enfermedad. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio observacional, descriptivo, de corte transversal con pacientes pediátricos con tumores cerebrales primarios en la clínica infantil Colsubsidio entre 2007-2014. Se revisaron sistemáticamente las historias clínicas de niños con este diagnóstico en patología y posteriormente se desarrolló un análisis univariado de estos. Resultados: 56 niños fueron incluidos, encontrando que el número de consultas previas al diagnóstico fueron más de 4 con un promedio de tiempo entre la evolución de los síntomas y el diagnóstico de 161,1 días. Para la clasificación de la OMS los más frecuentes fueron los embrionarios y astrocíticos, entre estos el meduloblastoma es el más común por histología (14,29%), 50% de los pacientes presentaron remisión y 29,41% fallecieron. Discusión: Los tumores cerebrales primarios son una patología frecuente y con alta morbimortalidad. Este estudio mostró datos epidemiológicos y clínicos similares a la literatura respecto al sexo, edad, tipo de tumor y amplios rangos de tiempo en la evolución de síntomas lo que muestra la naturaleza variable de la enfermedad; se evidencia el diagnóstico tardío en pacientes reconsultantes por el mismo síntoma lo que es frecuente en estos pacientes al igual que en otros estudios nacionales.

Bowslaugh Family fonds, 1860-1861, 1868, 1876-1877, 1880-1882, 1886-1890, 1892-1893, 1895, 1898-1899, n.d.

Edward W. Bowslaugh (1843-1923) was the son of Jacob and Anna (Beamer) Bowslaugh. Edward Bowslaugh married Mary Southward, and the couple had six children, Edgar Morley, Edward Freeman, twins Alfred Malcolm and Alice Mary, Annie Olivia, John Jacob and Mabel Florence. Edward W. Bowslaugh was a farmer, contractor and owner of the Grimsby Planing Mills in Grimsby, Ont. and Bowslaugh’s Planing Mill in Kingsville, Ont. The mills manufactured door and sash trim and other wood related products. Some customers contracted the firm to provide wood products for cottages being built at Grimsby Park, the Methodist camp ground. Some time before 1885 Edward Bowslaugh and his family moved to Kingsville, Ont. to open up a new planing mill and door and sash manufactory. He later sold the Grimsby Planing Mills to Daniel Marsh. The diaries and account books include many names of workers as well as friends and family members residing in the Grimsby and Kingsville areas. James M. Bowslaugh (1841-1882) was the son of Jacob and Anna (Beamer) Bowslaugh. James married first Anna Catharine Merritt and after her death in 1875 he married Mary Gee in 1877. James and Anna had three children, Eliza, James Herbert, George Hiram, all died very young. James and Mary Gee had one son, Charles Leopold Kenneth Frederich Bowslaugh, b. 1881. James Bowslaugh was a farmer and lumberman, much like his younger brother Edward. James’ early diaries often note the activities of himself and his brother Edward. Both Edward and James were heavily involved in the Methodist church, teaching or leading Sunday school and attending prayer meetings. Alfred M. Bowslaugh b. 1873 was the son of Edward W. Bowslaugh and his wife Mary Southward. The school notebook is from his days as a student in Kingsville, Ont.

The bibliography and extant portraits of Arthur Johnston, M.D., physician to James VI. and Charles I.

Mode of access: Internet.

The Sperm Of Hexagenia (pseudeatonica) Albivitta Walker (ephemeroptera: Fossoriae: Ephemeridae)

This study describes the sperm morphology of the mayfly Hexagenia (Pseudeatonica) albivitta (Ephemeroptera). Its spermatozoon measures approximately 30 μm of which 9 μm corresponds to the head. The head is composed of an approximately round acrosomal vesicle and a cylindrical nucleus. The nucleus has two concavities, one in the anterior tip, where the acrosomal vesicle is inserted and a deeper one at its base, where the flagellum components are inserted. The flagellum is composed of an axoneme, a mitochondrion and a dense rod adjacent to the mitochondrion. A centriolar adjunct is also observed surrounding the axoneme in the initial portion of the flagellum and extends along the flagellum for at least 2 μm, surrounding the axoneme in a half-moon shape. The axoneme is the longest component of the flagellum, and it follows the 9+9+0 pattern, with no central pair of microtubules. At the posterior region of the flagellum, the mitochondrion has a dumb-bell shape in cross sections that, together with the rectangular mitochondrial-associated rod, is responsible for the flattened shape of the flagellum. An internal membrane is observed surrounding both mitochondrion and its associated structure.

Protoptychus hatcheri Scott, 1895 : the mammalian faunas of the Washakie Formation, Eocene age, of southern Wyoming. William D. Turnbull --.

n.s. no.21(1991)