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In the pediatric population, epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders that often results in cognitive dysfunction. It affects patients' life quality by limiting academic performance and self-esteem and increasing social rejection. There are several interventions for the neurohabilitation of cognitive impairment, including LEGO®-based therapy (LEGO® B-T), which promotes neuronal connectivity and cortical plasticity through the use of assembly sets and robotic programming. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effect of LEGO® B-T on cognitive processes in pediatric patients with epilepsy. Eligible patients were identified; in the treatment group, an initial evaluation was performed with the NEUROPSI and BANFE-2 neuropsychological tests. Then, the interventions were performed once a week, and a final test was performed. In the control group, after the initial evaluation, the final evaluation was performed. An overall improvement was observed in the LEGO® B-T patients, with a significant increase in BANFE-2 scores in the orbitomedial, anterior prefrontal, and dorsolateral areas. In addition, in the gain score analysis, the orbitomedial and memory scores were significantly different from the control group. LEGO® B-T neurohabilitation is a remarkable option for epilepsy patients, who are motivated when they observe improvements.

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Resumo A psicologia do ego é reconhecida como uma releitura norte-americana da psicanálise, e teve Ernst Kris - que foi próximo de Freud - como um de seus fundadores. Apesar deste autor utilizar-se de textos freudianos para firmar os fundamentos de sua teoria, sustenta-se que a psicologia do ego mais se distancia do que se aproxima da obra de Freud. Este estudo visa demonstrar de que forma isso ocorre. Para isso, situa-se brevemente quem foi Ernst Kris e quais são as críticas já existentes à psicologia do ego. Num segundo momento, analisa-se o artigo "Ego Psychology and Interpretation in Psychoanalytic Therapy", de Kris, em confronto com a teoria de Freud. Por último, expõe-se a crítica de Lacan. Destaca-se que a crítica lacaniana remete a questões referentes à ética da psicanálise e ao lugar do analista na direção do tratamento.

Abstract Ego Psychology is a North-American re-reading of psychoanalysis and had Ernst Kris - a man who was close to Freud - as one of its founders. Despite using Freudian texts to establish its foundations, Ego Psychology distances itself from Freud's psychoanalysis. This study demonstrates how this occurs by briefly discussing who Ernst Kris was and the existing criticisms of Ego Psychology. Secondly, it analyzes Ernst Kris's article "Ego Psychology and Interpretation in Psychoanalytic Therapy" against Freud's theory, to finally present Lacan's critique, which refers to issues related to the ethics of psychoanalysis and the analyst's role in directing treatment.

Resumen La Psicología del Yo se considera como una relectura estadounidense del psicoanálisis y tuvo a Ernst Kris -quien era cercano a Freud- como uno de sus fundadores. A pesar de que Ernst Kris utiliza textos freudianos para establecer los fundamentos de su teoría, se sostiene que la Psicología del Yo se aleja más de la obra de Freud que se acerca a ella. Este estudio tiene como objetivo demostrar cómo ocurre esto. Para ello, se sitúa brevemente quién es Ernst Kris y cuáles son las críticas ya existentes a la Psicología del Yo. En segundo lugar, se analiza el artículo "Ego Psychology and interpretation in psychoanalytic therapy", de Ernst Kris, en confrontación con la teoría de Freud. Y, por último, se expone la crítica de Lacan. Se destaca que la crítica lacaniana remite a cuestiones relacionadas con la ética del psicoanálisis y el lugar del analista en la dirección del tratamiento.

Résumé La psychologie de l'égo est une relecture nord-américaine de la psychanalyse dont Ernst Kris, un homme proche de Freud, est l'un des fondateurs. Bien qu'elle utilise des textes freudiens pour établir ses fondements, la psychologie de l'égo s'éloigne de la pensée freudienne. Pour démontrer cet écart, cette étude aborde la figure de Ernst Kris et des critiques existantes à l'égard de la psychologie de l'égo. Ensuite, elle analyse l'article « Ego Psychology and interpretation in psychoanalytic therapy ¼ par rapport à la théorie de Freud, pour enfin présenter la critique de Lacan, qui se réfère à des questions liées à l'éthique de la psychanalyse et au rôle de l'analyste dans la direction du traitement.

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Congenital heart disease is defined as an abnormality in the cardiocirculatory structure or function. Various studies have shown that patients with this condition may present cognitive deficits. To compensate for this, several therapeutic strategies have been developed, among them, the LEGO® Education sets, which use the pedagogic enginery to modify cognitive function by didactic material based on mechanics and robotics principles. Accordingly, the goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of cognitive habilitation by using LEGO®-based therapy in pediatric congenital heart disease patients. This was a quasi-experimental study; eligible patients were identified, and their general data were obtained. In the treatment group, an initial evaluation with the neuropsychological BANFE-2 test was applied; then, once a week, the interventions were performed, with a final test at the end of the interventions. In the control group, after the initial evaluation, a second appointment was scheduled for the final evaluation. Our results show that >50% of children presented cognitive impairment; nevertheless, there was an overall improvement in treatment patients, showing a significant increase in BANFE scores in areas related to executive functions. LEGO®-based therapy may be useful to improve cognitive abilities; however, future research should be performed to strengthen the data.

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The use of LEGO® bricks in the higher education classroom has increased in the last two decades. This is no different in the STEM classroom and several disciplines, including physics, chemistry, and biology, have all made use of LEGO® bricks in some way to create models for active learning activities. Currently, the discipline to make the greatest use of LEGO® bricks is chemistry; only limited examples exist in biochemistry and the molecular life sciences. Here, we present the use of a LEGO® brick modelling activity in the introductory biochemistry classroom during the teaching of metabolism. We present student comments on the activity and the models that were generated by the students. Additionally, we focus on other instructor and project student-designed models for the teaching of ATP synthesis, gene regulation and restriction digestion. Interestingly, both the gene regulation and restriction digest activities were generated with the help of undergraduate students or recent graduates, by applying a backward design approach. This case study seeks to encourage more molecular life science educators to adopt the use of LEGO® bricks in their classrooms to engage in more active learning.

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The lack of interest of children at school is one of the biggest problems that Mexican education faces. Two important factors causing this lack of interest are the predominant methodology used in Mexican schools and the technology as a barrier for attention. The methodology that institutions have followed has become an issue because of its very traditional approach, with the professor giving all the theoretical material to the students while they listen and memorize the contents, and, if we add the issue of the growing access to technological devices for students, children carrying a phone are more likely to be distracted. This study aims to integrate technology through assistive robots as a beneficial tool for educators, in order to improve the attention span of students by making the learning process in multiple areas of the Mexican curriculum more dynamic, therefore obtaining better results. To prove this, four different approaches were implemented; three in elementary schools and one in higher education: the LEGO® robotic kit and the NAO robot for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching, the NAO robot for physical education (PE), and the PhantomX Hexapod, respectively. Each of these technological approaches was applied by considering both control and experimental groups, in order to compare the data and provide conclusions. Finally, this study proves that the attention span is indeed improved as a result of implementing robotic platforms during the teaching process, allowing the children to become more motivated during their PE class and become more proactive and retain more information during their STEM classes.

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Las cardiopatías congénitas se consideran una de las anomalías que alteran la irrigación y el intercambio de oxigenación adecuado a las principales venas y arterias. Esto puede generar consecuencias en el desarrollo neurológico que se puede traducir en retraso psicomotor, déficits de aprendizaje, dificultades académicas y problemas de integración social. Para mejorar los trastornos cognitivos, se propone la habilitación cognitiva basada en los principios de mecánica y robótica de LEGO® Education. El objetivo de este estudio fue medir el efecto de un programa de intervención, basado en el uso de ensamblado y programación robótica con LEGO® Education, sobre las funciones frontales básicas como primera aproximación a un modelo propuesto en pacientes cardiópatas congénitos que han sido sometidos a cirugía cardiovascular. Se trató de un estudio de serie de casos, en el que finalizaron el tratamiento una niña y dos niños con cardiopatías congénitas con RACHS 2 y 3. Se aplicaron sub-escalas BANFE-2 y el cuestionario neuropsicológico de daño frontal antes y después del tratamiento; así como una escala para medir el nivel de ejecución por intervención, durante las ocho sesiones. Los resultados muestran en la escala BANFE2, cambios en las medias de las funciones frontales básicas, de daño leve-moderado y normal a normal alto, principalmente en memoria de trabajo y fluidez verbal. En esta primera aproximación, el método LEGO® Education mostró ser una buena herramienta para la habilitación neuropsicológica de estos pacientes.

Congenital heart diseases are considered to be an anomaly which alter the irrigation and the adequate exchange of oxygenation to the main veins and arteries. They can have neurodevelopmental consequences that could translate into psychomotor retardation, learning deficits, academic difficulties, and social integration problems. Cognitive empowerment based on the mechanics and robotics principles of LEGO® Education is proposed to improve cognitive disorders. In this study, the objective was to measure the effect of an intervention program, based on the use of assembly and robotic programming with LEGO® Education, upon basic frontal functions as a first approach to a proposed model in congenital heart disease patients who have undergone cardiovascular surgery. This was a case-series study, in which a girl and two boys with congenital heart disease with RACHS 2 and 3, completed the treatment. BANFE-2 subscales and the neuropsychological questionnaire of frontal damage were applied before and after the treatment; as well as a scale to measure the level of performance per intervention, through all the eight sessions. The BANFE-2 scale showed changes in the means of frontal functions, from mild-moderate damage and normal to high normal, mainly in working memory and verbal fluency. In this first approach, LEGO® Education method proved to be a useful tool for the neuropsychological empowerment of these patients.

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Introducción: el nivel de conocimiento en legos y personal médico incide en la calidad y eficacia de la Reanimación Cardiopulmonar (RCP). Objetivo: comparar el nivel de conocimiento y técnicas de RCP en legos y personal médico de una universidad y un hospital de Santo Domingo, República Dominicana, durante el período febrero-abril 2015. Material y métodos: fue un estudio prospectivo, experimental y de corte longitudinal en el que se evaluaron 30 legos de una universidad de Santo Domingo y 17 residentes de emergenciología de un hospital de la misma ciudad. Resultados: sin ninguna intervención 12 de 30 legos evaluados (40 %), tuvieron dominio del conocimiento básico de RCP. 12 de 17 (70.58 %), tuvieron un conocimiento básico de RCP. Por otra parte, tanto el 100 % de los residentes como de los legos presentaron un conocimiento acertado de RCP luego de la intervención. Conclusiones: el nivel de conocimiento en una población estudiantil antes de una intervención presentó valores menores en relación con un personal médico ya entrenado. Sin embargo, estos valores sufrieron un cambio luego de la intervención realizada a la población estudiantil provocando un aumento de los valores en la comparación con legos y personal médico

Introduction: The level of knowledge in laymen and medical personnel affects the quality and efficacy of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Objective: Is to compare the level of knowledge and techniques of CPR in laymen and medical personnel of a university and a hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the period February-April 2015. Material and Methods: This was a prospective, experimental and longitudinal cutting study in which 30 laymen from a university in Santo Domingo and 17 emergency residents from a hospital were evaluated. Results: Without intervention, 12 of 30 laypersons (40 %) had basic knowledge of CPR. 12 of 17 (70.58 %) had a basic understanding of CPR. On the other hand, both 100 % of the residents and the laymen, presented an accurate knowledge of CPR after the intervention. Conclusions: The level of knowledge in a student population before an intervention presented lower values in relation to a medical staff already trained. However, these values underwent a change after the intervention made to the student population causing an increase in the values in comparison with laymen and medical personnel

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This work presents the physicochemical and pasting characterization of isolated mafafa starch and mafafa flour (Xanthosoma robustum). According to SEM images of mafafa starches in the tuber, these starches form Lego-like shaped structures with diameters between 8 and 35 µm conformed by several starch granules of wedge shape that range from 2 to 7 µm. The isolated mafafa starch is characterized by its low contents of protein, fat, and ash. The starch content in isolated starch was found to be 88.58% while the amylose content obtained was 35.43%. X-ray diffraction studies confirm that isolated starch is composed mainly by amylopectin. These results were confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry and thermo gravimetric analysis. This is the first report of the molecular parameters for mafafa starch: molar mass that ranged between 2×10(8) and 4×10(8) g/mol, size (Rg) value between 279 and 295 nm, and molecular density value between 9.2 and 9.7 g/(mol nm(3)). This study indicates that mafafa starch shows long chains of amylopectin this fact contributes to higher viscosity development and higher gel stability. The obtained gel phase is transparent in the UV-vis region. The viscosity, gel stability and optical properties suggest that there is potential for mafafa starch applications in the food industry.

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Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo explorar el conocimiento lego de estudiantes de una universidad privada de Asunción sobre la madurez psicológica, a través de las creencias y las características más resaltantes de una persona madura e inmadura, evaluadas por el “Cuestionario de Creencias sobre la Madurez” (CCM-2). Se utilizó un diseño descriptivo exploratorio y comparativo con una muestra obtenida por selección de criterio previo y autoseleccionada, compuesta por 123 estudiantes de Psicología y 101 de Contador Público de ambos sexos. Se efectuó un análisis de datos cuantitativo, utilizando técnicas de la estadística descriptiva e inferencial, a nivel intra e intersujeto. Se observó un amplio acuerdo con la Teoría Humanista-constructivista (M=5.96) y un menor acuerdo con la Teoría Evolutivo-normativa (M=3.81), según la muestra total (n=224). Las características más resaltantes de una persona madura compartidas por los universitarios, son: “Cumple con sus responsabilidades”, “Tiene metas en su vida” y “Piensa antes de actuar”; y la de una persona inmadura, es “Irresponsable”.

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