ABSTRACT
Resumo: Introdução: O conceito de estilo de aprendizagem deriva de teorias que consideram que as pessoas aprendem de maneiras diversas e que esse processo é melhor quando as estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem adotadas no ambiente escolar são mais compatíveis com algumas das suas características. Objetivo: Este estudo teve como objetivos determinar, em estudantes ingressantes na mesma instituição de ensino superior, em vários cursos de graduação na área da saúde, a frequência dos diferentes estilos de aprendizagem, categorizados segundo as quatro dimensões do referencial de Felder e Soloman (FS), e detectar eventuais diferenças associadas ao tipo de curso e ao gênero. Método: A população de estudo (N = 283; 190 mulheres) foi composta por ingressantes dos cursos de Medicina, Ciências Biomédicas, Fisioterapia, Fonoaudiologia, Nutrição e Metabolismo e Terapia Ocupacional, com 68,2% deles com idade entre 18 e 20 anos. Os estudantes responderam a um questionário de caracterização sociodemográfica e ao Inventário de Estilos de Aprendizagem (ILS) de FS, que permitiu determinar as frequências dos vários estilos de aprendizagem e as suas relações com o tipo de curso de graduação e o gênero. Resultado: No conjunto de estudantes, houve predomínio dos estilos de aprendizagem "sensorial", "visual", "reflexivo" e "sequencial" nas dimensões "percepção", "entrada", "processamento" e "compreensão" da informação, respectivamente. Não houve, em nenhuma das dimensões, diferença estatisticamente significativa quanto aos estilos de aprendizagem que pudesse ser associada ao tipo de curso e ao gênero, embora as mulheres tenham apresentado significativo predomínio do estilo "reflexivo" na dimensão do "processamento". Conclusão: Não foi possível estabelecer diferenças significativas entre os vários cursos de graduação das profissões da saúde, nem entre homens e mulheres, quanto aos estilos de aprendizagem predominantes nos estudantes, embora as mulheres tenham apresentado frequência significativamente maior do estilo reflexivo. Esses achados devem ser levados em consideração no planejamento das atividades de aprendizagem e, principalmente, no apoio pedagógico, dando oportunidade aos estudantes de conhecer os seus estilos de aprendizagem e ajudando-os a se adaptar melhor às estratégias empregadas em cada instituição.
Abstract: Introduction: The concept of "learning styles" derives from theories postulating that students learn by following diverse pathways and that learning is more effective when the adopted teaching strategies more closely match specific student characteristics and learning preferences. Objectives: To determine, in first-year students attending different undergraduate courses in the health area at the same higher education institution, the frequency of different learning styles, categorized according to the four dimensions of Felder & Soloman (FS) model, and to detect any differences associated with the type of course and gender. Method: The study population (N=283; 190 women) consisted of first-year students attending the Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Physical Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Nutrition and Metabolism, and Occupational Therapy courses, with 68.2% of them aged between 18 and 20 years. The students answered a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire and the FS Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire, which allowed determining the frequencies of the different learning styles and their associations with the type of undergraduate course and gender. Results: the student group showed a predominance of "Sensory", "Visual", "Reflective" and "Sequential", learning styles, in the "Perception", "Input", "Processing" and "Understanding" dimensions of learning, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of learning styles, in any of the dimensions, that could be associated with the type of course and gender, although women showed a significant predominance of the "Reflective" style in the "Processing" dimension. Conclusion: It was not possible to establish significant differences between the different undergraduate courses in the health area, or between men and women, regarding the students' predominant learning styles, although women showed a significantly higher frequency of the Reflective style. These findings must be considered when planning learning activities and, mainly, in pedagogical support, giving students the opportunity to learn about their learning styles and helping them to better adapt to the strategies employed in each institution.
ABSTRACT
Aging is a complex biological process, resulting in gradual and progressive decline in structure and function in many organ systems. Our objective is to determine if structural changes produced by aging vary with sex in a stressful situation such as dehydration. The expression of Slc12a3 mRNA in the renal cortex, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and fibronectin was evaluated in male and female rats, aged 3 and 18 months, submitted and not submitted to water deprivation (WD) for 48 h, respectively. When comparing ages, 18-month-old males showed a lower expression of Slc12a3 mRNA than 3-month-old males, and control and WD 18-month-old male and female rats exhibited a higher expression of α-SMA than the respective 3-month-old rats. Fibronectin was higher in both control and WD 18-month-old males than the respective 3-month-old males. In females, only the control 18-month-old rats showed higher fibronectin than the control 3-month-old rats. When we compared sex, control and WD 3-month-old female rats had a lower expression of Slc12a3 mRNA than the respective males. The WD 18-month-old male rats presented a higher expression of fibronectin and α-SMA than the WD 18-month-old female rats. When we compared hydric conditions, the WD 18-month-old males displayed a lower relative expression of Slc12a3 mRNA and higher α-SMA expression than the control 18-month-old males. Aging, sex, and dehydration lead to alterations in kidney structure.
Subject(s)
Dehydration , Fibronectins , Kidney , Animals , Female , Male , Rats , Aging/genetics , Dehydration/genetics , Fibronectins/genetics , Kidney/pathology , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Water DeprivationABSTRACT
NEW FINDINGS: What is the central question of this study? What is the effect of an obesogenic diet on the control of hydromineral balance in rats? What is the main finding and its importance? The results showed that, when dehydrated, rats fed a high-fat diet drink less water than their control-diet-fed counterparts. Changes in aquaporin-7 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α expression in the white adipose tissue might be involved. ABSTRACT: High-fat diet (HFD) increases fat accumulation, glycaemia and blood triglycerides and is used as a model to study obesity. Besides the metabolic changes, obesity likely affects water intake. We assessed the effects of HFD on behavioural and hormonal responses to water deprivation. Additionally, we measured if the adipose tissue is differentially affected by water deprivation in control and HFD-fed rats. HFD rats showed a decreased basal water intake when compared to control-fed rats. When subjected to 48 h of water deprivation, as expected, both control and HFD rats drank more water than the hydrated rats. However, the increase in water intake was lessened in HFD dehydrated rats. Similarly, the increase in haematocrit in dehydrated rats was less pronounced in HFD dehydrated rats. These results suggest that HFD diminishes drinking behaviour. White adipose tissue weight, glycaemia and plasma glycerol concentration were increased in HFD rats; however, after 48 h of water deprivation, these parameters were significantly decreased in dehydrated HFD rats, when compared to controls. The increase in adipose tissue caused by HFD may mitigate the effects of dehydration, possibly through the increased production of metabolic water caused by lipolysis in the adipocytes. Oxytocin possibly mediates the lipolytic response, since both its secretion and receptor expression are affected by dehydration in both control and HFD rats, which suggests that oxytocin signalling is maintained in these conditions. Changes in mediators of lipolysis, such as aquaporin-7 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, might contribute to the different effects observed in control and HFD rats.
Subject(s)
Dehydration , Diet, High-Fat , Rats , Male , Animals , Rats, Wistar , Water Deprivation , PPAR alpha , Oxytocin , Obesity/metabolism , WaterABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has been extensively implicated in the regulation of body weight, food intake, and energy expenditure. The role of PTP1B appears to be cell and brain region dependent. RESULTS: Herein, we demonstrated that chronic high-fat feeding enhanced PTP1B expression in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) of rats compared to rats on chow. Knocking down PTP1B with oligonucleotide antisense (ASO) decreased its expression and was sufficient to improve the anorexigenic effect of insulin through IR/Akt signaling in the CeA. ASO treatment reduces body weight, fat mass, serum leptin levels, and food intake and also increases energy expenditure, without altering ambulatory activity. These changes were explained, at least in part, by the improvement of insulin sensitivity in the CeA, decreasing NPY and enhancing oxytocin expression. There was a slight decline in fasting blood glucose and serum insulin levels possibly due to leanness in rats treated with ASO. Surprisingly, the elevated plus maze test revealed an anxiolytic behavior after reduction of PTP1B in the CeA. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the present study highlights the deleterious role that the amygdalar PTP1B has on energy homeostasis in obesity states. The reduction of PTP1B in the CeA may be a strategy for the treatment of obesity, insulin resistance and anxiety disorders.
