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PALABRAS CLAVE:-Educación Médica ABSTRACT Online teaching collaboration allows the creation of virtual communities. Virtual tools in a networked team allow creating virtual classes in different geographic locations. These environments allow knowledge transfer between students and faculty, including synchronous and asynchronous activities.In this article, we describe our experience with online teaching collaboration using virtual tools in university education. The software packages were Skype, an application for voice over Internet (VoIP) and LAN, a virtual digital class available at http://www.cevap.unesp.br/abertura.htm

Pathological processes like cancer, chronic inflammation and autoimmune phenomena, all of which involve massive cell death, are associated with significant increases in circulating DNA. In order to clarify whether massive apoptosis occurring under physiological circumstances also causes DNA release into the circulation, we correlated the time-course of dexamethasone-induced intra thymic cell apoptosis with plasma DNA dynamics in rats. Animals were given 10 mg/l dexamethasone in their drinking water for up to 7 days. Sequential plasma samples were obtained during the treatment and DNA was quantitated by a micro fluorometric assay. Thymus and spleen weight as well as apoptotic cell levels were assessed at different times. Seven days of glucocorticoid treatment reduced thymic and spleen mass by 82 and 31%, respectively. Intra thymic apoptosis was maximal 24 h after the beginning of glucocorticoid treatment, declining markedly by 48 h. Very little apoptosis was observed in the spleen. Plasma DNA increased steadily during the first 4 days of glucocorticoid treatment (11.8 +/- 1.2 microg/ml on day 0; 24.2 +/- 1.6 microg/ml on day 4) beginning to decline afterward. Thymectomy but not splenectomy, drastically reduced the glucocorticoid-induced increase in plasma DNA. It is concluded that hormone-induced massive intra thymic cell death is followed by a delayed release of nucleosomal DNA into the circulation.

Human platelets in the presence of sera from humans with chronic Chagas' disease display cytotoxic activity against Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) trypomastigotes. Adsorption of IgE from those sera decrease the cytotoxic effect and IgG purified from the same sera revealed a cytotoxic action similar to the whole sera. Morphological studies suggest that chagasic serum promotes adhesion between parasites and platelets. On the basis of these results it is postulated that platelets may represent a defensive mechanism in South American trypanosomiasis by killing circulating forms of the parasite and that both IgG and IgE are relevant for that action.

With the rapid development of Information and communication technologies and the widespread use of the Internet and smartphones, the QR codes (stands for quick response code) are becoming a promising tool for connecting offline and online services. This article is the first in a series of two articles that aim to contextualize the use of QR codes in health education. This will allow the educators to develop the skills necessary for its creation and use in medical education. Successful implementation of the QR Code in health education requires a knowledge of certain basic information about both the QR Code itself and the necessary requirements for the use of this type of symbology. This first article presents an overview of the current state of the art of the QR codes and discusses in brief the structure, symbology, versions, properties and the requirements for the use of this type of symbology. In the second part of this series we will describe the main aspects related to: custom QR Code with Logo, static and dynamic codes, and the different tools and applications necessary to generate and decode a QR code as well as how to apply it in different educational contexts of Augmented Reality. The final purpose of these two articles is to ensure that all educators feel familiar with this technology and can incorporate it into the educational material used in the teaching-learning process, both traditional classroom and online courses.