A micro-credentialing methodology for improved recognition of HE employability skills.

Increasingly, among international organizations concerned with unemployment rates and industry demands, there is an emphasis on the need to improve graduates' employability skills and the transparency of mechanisms for their recognition. This research presents the Employability Skills Micro-credentialing (ESMC) methodology, designed under the EPICA Horizon 2020 (H2020) project and tested at three East African universities, and shows how it fosters pedagogical innovation and promotes employability skills integration and visibility. The methodology, supported by a competency-based ePortfolio and a digital micro-credentialing system, was evaluated using a mixed-method design, combining descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis to capture complementary stakeholder perspectives. The study involved the participation of 13 lecturers, 169 students, and 24 employers. The results indicate that the ESMC methodology is a promising approach for supporting students in their transition from academia to the workplace. The implementation of the methodology and the involvement of employers entails rethinking educational practices and academic curricula to embed employability skills. It enables all actors to broaden their understanding of the relationship between higher education and the business sector and to sustain visibility, transparency, and reliability of the recognition process. These findings indicate that there are favourable conditions in the region for the adoption of the approach, which is a meaningful solution for the stakeholder community to address the skills gap.

Intermediate dose of imatinib in combination with chemotherapy followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation improves early outcome in paediatric Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL): results of the Spanish Cooperative Group SHOP studies ALL-94, ALL-99 and ALL-2005.

Philadelphia-chromosome acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ ALL) is a subgroup of ALL with very high risk of treatment failure. We report here the results of the Sociedad Española de Hematología y Oncología Pediátricas (SEHOP/SHOP) in paediatric Ph+ ALL treated with intermediate-dose imatinib concurrent with intensive chemotherapy. The toxicities and outcome of these patients were compared with historical controls not receiving imatinib. Patients with Ph+ ALL aged 1-18years were enrolled in three consecutive ALL/SHOP trials (SHOP-94/SHOP-99/SHOP-2005). In the SHOP-2005 trial, imatinib (260mg/m(2) per day) was given on day-15 of induction. Allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) from a matched related or unrelated donor was scheduled in first complete remission (CR1). Forty-three patients were evaluable (22 boys, median age 6·8years, range, 1·2-15). Sixteen received imatinib whereas 27 received similar chemotherapy without imatinib. Seventeen of 27 and 15 of 16 patients in the non-imatinib and imatinib cohort, respectively, underwent HSCT in CR1. With a median follow-up of 109 and 39months for the non-imatinib and imatinib cohorts, the 3-year event-free survival (EFS) was 29·6% and 78·7%, respectively (P=0·01). These results show that, compared to historical controls, intermediate dose of imatinib given concomitantly with chemotherapy and followed by allogeneic HSCT markedly improved early EFS in paediatric Ph+ ALL.

Teratoma retroperitoneal toracoabdominalneonatal: abordatge transdiafragmàtic / Transdiaphragmatic Approach for a Neonatal Retroperitoneal Thoracoabdominal Teratoma

Introduction. Teratomas comprise only 3.5% of germcell tumors. We report a case of a 1-month-old girl whowas diagnosed with a large retroperitoneal thoracoabdominalteratoma.Case report. Her presenting features included an expandingabdominal girth, failure to thrive and progressiverespiratory distress. An abdomen X-Ray showed calcifications,and alpha-fetoprotein levels were moderately elevated.Additional studies included abdomen US, CT and MRI,which showed a large abdominal mass adjacent to thegreat vessels with an hour-glass shaped intrathoracic extension,and an anteriorly displaced right hydronephrotickidney. The surgical intervention was performed using acombined abdominal and transdiaphragmatic approach.Pathology showed immature teratoma.Discussion. A transdiaphragmatic surgical approachmay be very useful in scenarios where the great vessels areinvolved and the mass extends into the chest. In our case,this approach was very successful, allowing for a completeresection without resulting in phrenic paralysis. The rightkidney, which was displaced and hydronephrotic at diagnosis,has remained with low function. The patient iscurrently being followed every three months with imagingstudies and alpha-fetoprotein levels (AU)

Introducció. Els teratomes retroperitoneals representennomés el 3.5% dels tumors de cèl·lules germinals. Presentemel cas d’una lactant d’un mes de vida amb un granteratoma retroperitoneal toracoabdominal dret.Cas clínic. Lactant que ingressa al mes de vida tramesapel seu pediatre per simptomatologia de distensió abdominalprogressiva, estancament pondoestatural, posiciód’opistòtons de cap i tronc i dificultat respiratòria. La radiografiad’abdomen mostra calcificacions. Els nivells d’alfafetoproteïnavan ser moderadament elevats per l’edatde la pacient. L’ecografia, la tomografia i la ressonànciamagnètica mostraven una gran massa abdominal en relacióamb els grans vasos i una hidronefrosi dreta d’un ronyóde localització anterior amb visualització d’una imatged’elevació del diafragma interpretada com a secundària ala compressió per la tumoració. La complicada reseccióquirúrgica es va dur a terme per abordatge abdominali transdiafragmàtic perquè la tumoració tenia un doblecomponent toracoabdominal en rellotge de sorra.Comentari. L’abordatge transdiafragmàtic pot ser útilen situacions especials quan hi estan implicats els grans vasosi, a la vegada, hi ha un component toràcic. No s’ha produïtparàlisi frènica. Només el ronyó dret que tenia una alteracióen la morfologia i la localització i una hidronefrosiimportant en la intervenció, persisteix amb una baixa funció.Com que es tractava d’un teratoma immadur, cada tresmesos es controlen estrictament els nivells d’alfafetoproteïnai es repeteixen les tècniques d’imatge ecogràfiques (AU)