RESUMEN
The acquisition of the death concept in children may influence how these children cope with the losses that they will confront throughout their lives. At the present time, there is a lack of psychometric instruments in Spanish-speaking countries in order to evaluate the components of the death concept in children. The aim of this study was to create and validate a scale (EsCoMu-Escala sobre el Concepto de Muerte) in order to provide insight about the concept of death in children. The sample was formed by 358 children from ages 6 to 13 years. The final EsCoMu version has 27 items which serve to evaluate universality, irreversibility, non-functionality and causality. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis show an adequate fit index for the four dimensions model, reliability (α = 83) and validity evidence, specifically based on the children's age. In conclusion, EsCoMu is an instrument that shows adequate reliability and validity indices in order to assess the concept of death and its four components among children. Due to its simplicity, this instrument can be very useful if applied to the field of neurodevelopmental disorders.
RESUMEN
Chitinases, the enzymes responsible for the biological degradation of chitin, are found in a wide range of organisms from bacteria to higher plants and animals. They participate in numerous physiological processes such as nutrition, parasitism, morphogenesis and immunity. Many organisms, in addition to chitinases, produce inactive chitinase-like lectins that despite lacking enzymatic activity are involved in several regulatory functions. Most known chitinases belong to families 18 and 19 of glycosyl hydrolases, however a few chitinases that belong to families 23 and 48 have also been identified in recent years. In this review, different aspects of chitinases and chi-lectins from bacteria, fungi, insects, plants and mammals are discussed.