Multiple interacting cell death mechanisms in the mediation of excitotoxicity and ischemic brain damage: A challenge for neuroprotection.

There is currently no approved neuroprotective pharmacotherapy for acute conditions such as stroke and cerebral asphyxia. One of the reasons for this may be the multiplicity of cell death mechanisms, because inhibition of a particular mechanism leaves the brain vulnerable to alternative ones. It is therefore essential to understand the different cell death mechanisms and their interactions. We here review the multiple signaling pathways underlying each of the three main morphological types of cell death - apoptosis, autophagic cell death and necrosis - emphasizing their importance in the neuronal death that occurs during cerebral ischemia and hypoxia-ischemia, and we analyze the interactions between the different mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the implications of the multiplicity of cell death mechanisms for the design of neuroprotective strategies.

Pedagogical reflective practice of nursing undergraduates: the portfolio as an instrument

Objective Analyzing the narratives related to the pedagogical practice experienced during the Supervised Curricular Internship reported in the portfolios of Nursing undergraduate students, regarding the levels of reflection. Method This is a documentary descriptive exploratory study that examined two of the activities proposed for the portfolio preparation. Results Among the 28 analyzed portfolios, all showed the three levels of reflection (technical, critical and metacritical). Conclusion The students had the opportunity to experience the pedagogical practice and presented reflections at metacritical level, reflecting on their performance, the construction of their teaching identity, and about the importance of reflecting on the practice with the objective of transforming it and transforming themselves.

Mediation Fast, Free, Confidental, Everyone Wins

Booklet produced by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

The construction process of pedagogical knowledge among nursing professors

Didactic knowledge about contents is constructed through an idiosyncratic synthesis between knowledge about the subject area, students' general pedagogical knowledge and the teacher's biography. This study aimed to understand the construction process and the sources of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, as well as to analyze its manifestations and variations in interactive teaching by teachers whom the students considered competent. Data collection involved teachers from an undergraduate nursing program in the South of Brazil, through non-participant observation and semistructured interviews. Data analysis was submitted to the constant comparison method. The results disclose the need for initial education to cover pedagogical aspects for nurses; to assume permanent education as fundamental in view of the complexity of contents and teaching; to use mentoring/monitoring and the value learning with experienced teachers with a view to the development of quality teaching.

Direct Effect of Birth Weight on Childhood Blood Pressure: a Causal Mediation Analysis

Background: Numerous studies have shown a negative association between birth weight (BW) and blood pressure (BP) later in life. To estimate the direct effect of BW on BP, it is conventional to condition on current weight (CW). However, such conditioning can induce collider stratification bias in the estimate of the direct effect. Objective: To bound the potential bias due to U, an unmeasured common cause of CW and BP, on the estimate of the (controlled) direct effect of BW on BP. Methods: Data from a school based study in Switzerland were used (N = 4,005; 2,010 B/1,995 G; mean age: 12.3 yr [range: 10.1-14.9]). Measured common causes of BW-BP (SES, smoking, body weight, and hypertension status of the mother) and CW-BP (breastfeeding and child's physical activity and diet) were identified with DAGs. Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between BW and BP. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the potential effect of U on the association between BW and BP. U was assumed 1) to be a binary variable that affected BP by the same magnitude in low BWand in normal BW children and 2) to have a different prevalence in low BW children and in normal BW children for a given CW. Results: A small negative association was observed between BW and BP [beta: -0.3 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -0.9 to 0.3)]. The association was strengthened upon conditioning for CW [beta: -1.5 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.1 to -0.9)]. Upon further conditioning on common causes of BW-BP and CW-BP, the association did not change substantially [beta: -1.4 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.0 to -0.8)]. The negative association could be explained by U only if U was strongly associated with BP and if there was a large difference in the prevalence of U between low BWand normal BW children. Conclusion: The observed negative association between BW and BP upon adjustment for CW was not easily explained by an unmeasured common cause of CWand BP.

Re-writing and Its Pedagogical Value: A Case Study

Tenint en compte el temps i la energia que els mestres i professors dediquen a la correcció de redaccions i produccions escrites i el poc efecte que aquestes semblen tenir en altres produccions dels aprenents, es va dissenyar la recerca que es presenta en aquest article. Els resultats de l'estudi semblen suggerir que les correccions no faciliten l'aprenentatge. Com presentem aquesta activitat de retroalimentació a l'alumnat i la posició que li donem dins d'un enfocament basat en el procés de l'escriptura seran clau per fer que les correccions siguin facilitadores de l'aprenentatge de la producció escrita.

Adding Value to Message Mediation in Multioperator MMS Network Architecture

Mobiiliviestintään käytetystä lyhytsanomapalvelusta (Short Messaging Service, SMS) on tullut ilmiömäinen menestys. SMS-palvelulle on tulossa seuraaja, jota kutsutaan monimediaviestipalveluksi (Multimedia Messaging Service, MMS). MMS-viestit voivat sisältää useita erilaisia kuva-, ääni- ja videoformaatteja. Vaikka yhteensopimattomia SMS-keskuksia yhdistämään tarvitaan Intellitel Messaging Gatewayn kaltaisia sanomanvälitystuotteita, ei tällainen SMS-keskeinen lähestyminen sanomanvälitykseen ole MMS-kykyisen sanomanvälittimen kannalta järkevä ratkaisu. MMS-kykyisen sanomanvälittimen täytyy lisätä arvoa itse sanomanvälitysprosessiin, jotta tuotteesta tulisi menestyksekäs. Tässä työssä käsitellään MMS-sanomanvälityksen ongelmallisuuksia. Erityisesti painotetaan MMS-kykyisen sanomanvälittimen kehittämistä olemassaolevasta SMS-sanomanvälitintuotteesta, sekä selvitetään syitä arvonlisäyksen välttämättömyydelle. Työssä esitetään myös erilaisia arvonlisäystapoja MMS-sanomanvälitykseen. Eräitä esitetyistä arvonlisäystavoista käytetään käytännön osassa toteutetussa Nokian MMS-keskuksen MM7/VAS-rajapintaan kytkeytymään kykenevässä sanomanvälityskomponentissa.

The pedagogical value of games and songs : The perceptions of teachers

Aquest estudi intenta explorar i descobrir les actituds i creences d’alguns mestres de llengua anglesa de Catalunya sobre la naturalesa dels jocs i les cançons, així com el paper que juguen en les seves aules per ensenyar l’anglès als infants. Les opinions dels mestres de llengua anglesa van ser recollides mitjançant un qüestionari que contenia preguntes sobre els jocs i les cançons i els resultats s’analitzen i s’exposen en aquest estudi.

Identifying pedagogical, technological and organizational barriers in virtual learning environments

Virtual learning environments are online spaces where learners interact with other learners, teachers, resources and the environment in itself. Although technology is meant to enhance the learning process, there are important issues regarding pedagogical and organizational aspects that must be addressed. In this paper we review the barriers detected in a virtual university which exclusively uses Internet as the main channel of communication, with no face-to-face requirements exceptthose related to final evaluation.

A natureza pedagógica da experimentação: uma pesquisa na licenciatura em química

In this paper we discuss the characteristics of experimental activities described by teachers and students in a teaching credentials course in Chemistry. The research pointed out a set of characteristics that seem to favor the learning process: the bringing up of the student's knowledge; the mediation by peers; the dialogue to set out the student's knowledge; the debate; the validation of arguments; the discussion about the context. The authors argument that, because of the empirical view of Science present in Chemistry courses, the discussion about the nature of Science is important.

Simulerade skoldilemman : redskap för utveckling av reflektionsförmåga?

Syftet med avhandlingen är att studera lärarstuderandes samtal om simulerad skolverksamhet för att söka förstå möjligheter och begränsningar med simulerade dilemman som medierande redskap för reflektion över lärares arbete. Undersökningen är genomförd under seminarier i svensk och finländsk lärarutbildning. Forskningsprocessen består av tre faser; en konstruktionsfas, en prövningsfas och en undersökningsfas. Under konstruktionsfasen producerades simuleringar på basen av en narrativ analys av semistrukturerade intervjuer med nyutbildade lärare. Simuleringarna testades med lärare och lärarstuderande i prövningsfasen. I undersökningsfasen utarbetades reflektionsfrågor och studiens empiriska data samlades in genom videoobservation. Totalt femton samtal filmades vid fem seminarier och tre olika lärosäten, två i Sverige och ett i Svenskfinland. De studerande som förekommer i datamaterialet befann sig i början, mitten och i slutet av sin lärarutbildning. Analysen bygger på Schöns olika reflektionsbegrepp och ett sociokulturellt perspektiv som bygger på den ryska kulturhistoriska skolan. Resultaten visar att de studerande engagerade sig starkt i samtalen i de flesta fall och att engagemanget var relaterat till deras uppfattningar om simuleringens autenticitet. Simuleringarna och reflektionsfrågorna användes både som sekundära och tertiära artefakter. Bland simuleringarnas modaliteter framstod ljudet som den viktigaste för nyanser av förståelse och engagemang och reflektionsfrågorna fungerade som kommunikativt stöd och strukturell scaffolding. När de studerande använde simuleringen för dekontextualisering i en öppen dialog förekom en tertiär dialog, i vilken förhandling av ny mening ägde rum. Kreativ reflektion – att se dilemmat ur olika perspektiv och reciprok reflektion – öppen utmanande dialog förekom flitigt i vilka en didaktiskanalytisk praktikgemenskap skapades. Slutsatserna är att simulerade skoldilemman kan utgöra en potential för lärarstuderandes utveckling av reflektionsförmåga när de används i mindre samtalsgrupper och den didaktiska inramningen relateras till aktuellt kursinnehåll. Om simuleringens innehåll inte upplevs som autentiskt finns dock risk för att förutfattade meningar om lärares arbete förstärks om de inte utmanas av medstuderande eller lärarutbildare.