Rocío Serrano Rodríguez

Acute phase proteins in Andalusian horses infected with Theileria equi

Clinical and laboratory findings were determined in 23 Andalusian horses in southern Spain that were positive for Theileria equi by PCR, including 16 mares at pasture (group A1) and seven stabled stallions (group B1). Five healthy mares at pasture (group A2) and five stabled stallions (group B2), all of which were negative for T. equi in Giemsa stained blood smears and by PCR, were used as controls. The most frequent clinical signs were anorexia, anaemia, depression and icterus (group A1), along with loss of performance or failure to train and depression (group B1). Thrombocytopoenia was evident in 5/7 horses in group B1. Lower serum iron concentrations were observed in both diseased groups compared with their respective control groups. There were no significant differences in APP concentrations between diseased and control groups; all affected horses had APP concentrations within reference limits. Serum haptoglobin, serum amyloid A and plasma fibrinogen concentrations were higher than the reference limits in 5/23, 3/23 and 1/23 diseased horses, respectively. It was concluded that horses with theileriosis exhibited only a mild systemic inflammatory response.

Validation of an Instrument to Evaluate the Development of University Teaching Competences in Ecuador

This study is to design and validate an instrument to evaluate the level of development of teaching competences (academic, social, personal, and instrumental) of the university teachers. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses are applied to validate the theoretical model. The results confirm that the University Teaching Competence Scale is a valid instrument to evaluate this set of competences.

El uso de mapas mentales en la formación inicial docente / The use of mind maps in initial teacher training

El dominio y manejo de las Tecnologias de la Informacion y Comunicacion (TIC) en el ambito educativo es considerado una de las principales destrezas que debe desarrollar, hoy dia, el profesorado durante su proceso de formacion, en sintonia con el desarrollo de la metacognicion, entre otras. Con el objetivo de dar respuesta al desarrollo de tales aspectos hemos llevado a cabo un proyecto de innovacion docente donde los estudiantes de magisterio aprenden a realizar mapas mentales individuales y grupales, con ayuda del programa Microsoft Powerpoint. Este software resulta una herramienta potente para integrar de forma practica las TIC en el proceso educativo, ya que permite desarrollar una metodologia activa, en la que se fomenta el aprendizaje reflexivo y la capacidad metacognitiva. Una vez analizados los datos de la investigacion hemos observado que los futuros docentes valoran positivamente la dinamica de aprendizaje y los recursos empleados en esta experiencia, apreciando especialmente la utilidad de los Mapas Mentales como estrategia de aprendizaje y su facil elaboracion a traves del citado software Abstract Nowadays, specific capabilities and use of Information and Communication Technology (ITC) in education are considered a part of main skills to be developed by teachers during their training along with the development of metacognition. In order to achieve the development of these aspects, we have carried out a teaching innovation project where teaching students learn to elaborate individual and group mind maps with Microsoft PowerPoint software. This software is a powerful tool as a practical way to integrate ICT in the educational process because it helps in development of an active methodology that improves reflective learning and metacognitive ability. Once research data has been analyzed, we have observed that future teachers found valuable and positive this learning dynamic and resources used in this experience, especially appreciating the usefulness of Mind Mapping as a learning strategy and its creation through this software.