Resumen:La formación del profesorado en Educación Ambiental (EA) es fundamental para posibilitar la formación de una ciudadanía ambientalmente educada. En el presente artículo se describe el proceso seguido para el diseño y la validación de un instrumento con el que evaluar las competencias ambientales del alumnado del Grado de Maestro/a de Primaria. En una primera fase se analizaron y determinaron las competencias básicas que deben ser evaluadas entre este alumnado a partir del concepto de “alfabetización ambiental” y la literatura científica existente sobre el tema. Delimitadas dichas competencias, se definieron las variables de análisis y se elaboraron los ítems con los que se medirían cada una de estas competencias. Mediante el juicio y criterio de un panel de expertos/as en EA se validó el contenido del cuestionario. Para aplicar las pruebas de confiabilidad estadística se llevó a cabo una prueba piloto del instrumento. Como resultado se obtuvo un cuestionario validado y fiable conformado por 89 ítems con el que poder evaluar y determinar las competencias ambientales del profesorado de primaria en formación inicial -adaptable a otros colectivos de similares características. Abstract:Teacher training in Environmental Education (EE) is essential to ensure the development of an environmentally literate citizenry. In this article, we describe the process followed for the design and validation of an instrument to assess the environmental competencies of primary pre-service teachers. In a first phase the basic competencies that should be assessed among these students were determined according to the concept of "environmental literacy" and the existing scientific literature on the topic. Once delimited these competencies, the analysis variables were defined and the items that would be measured with each of these competencies were developed. Following the opinion and judgement by a panel of experts in EE the content of the questionnaire was validated. To apply statistical reliability testing, a pilot test was conducted. As a result, a validated and reliable questionnaire composed of 89 items with which to evaluate and determine the environmental competences of primary teachers in initial training -adaptable to other groups of similar characteristics- was obtained.

ABSTRACT:We studied the immune response of wild House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) experimentally challenged with different doses of inactivated Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vaccine. We evaluated within-individual cellmediated and humoral responses in birds kept in outdoor aviaries, over a 6-wk period. Nonbreeding adult House Sparrows developed a significant humoral response to NDV experimental vaccination within 1 wk postchallenge, as measured by hemagglutination inhibition assay; values increased until week 4 and persisted until week 6. Differences among treatments appeared by week 1, with individuals challenged with the highest dose (0.2 mL) eliciting a higher humoral response than the rest (n518). By week 4, all individuals vaccinated displayed an increased humoral response, with individuals challenged with the highest dose remaining significantly above responses of individuals vaccinated with the middle dose (0.1 mL, n514), but not the lowest dose (0.05 mL, n515). The middle and lowest dose responded similarly and significantly different from controls (n523). Differences persisted through week 6 postchallenge. Cellmediated responses were independent of the experimental treatment. All individuals experienced a rise in granulocyte concentration, whereas lymphocyte and monocyte concentrations decreased, most likely as a result of captivity. Adult wild House Sparrows immunochallenged with inactivated NDV vaccine developed a specific humoral response, highlighting the utility of this technique in immunologic and evolutionary ecology studies in wild birds.

Materials and MethodsAmong 12 aged postmenopausal females with primary hyperparathyroidism, 5 had no bone fracture and 7 had fractures. Both serum 1,25 (OH) 2 D levels and creatinine clearance values in patients with fracture were significantly lower than those without fracture (p < 0.025). In addition, significant positive correlation was observed between serum 1,25 (OH) 2 D levels and creatinine clearance values (p < 0.05). These data suggest that decreased serum 1,25 (OH) 2 D level due to renal dysfunction may causally correlate to bone fracture in postmenopausal primary hyperparathyroidism.

To the Editor, Oral food challenges (OFC) are the gold standard diagnostic for food allergy, but not without limitation. Administering incremental doses every 15-30min differs from a real-world exposure where ingestion occurs at a single episode. Blumchen et al. reported a median time to objective symptoms of 55min (range 5-210min) 1 ; ifThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.