The use of collaborative publishing tools in Didactics of Experimental Sciences in multicampus universities: The case of the University of Castilla-La Mancha

El uso de herramientas de publicación colaborativas, denominadas comúnmente como wikis, presenta numerosas ventajas en su aplicación a la docencia en Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, sobre todo en Universidades multicampus. Éste es el caso de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha y, en concreto, de la titulación de grado de Maestro en Educación Primaria, que se imparte en cuatro campus diferentes: Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca y Toledo. El uso de las mismas permitiría, por ejemplo, el trabajo de grupos formados por alumnos de diferentes campus, superando las barreras espacio-temporales. La realización de trabajos en grupos de estas características supondría dar un paso más en la unificación de los criterios formativos en aspectos como la preparación del material o el planteamiento de trabajos prácticos existentes dentro de la asignatura. Utilizar una herramienta colaborativa como es una wiki supone la posibilidad de impartir de un modo más coordinado las asignaturas del área de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, así como trabajar numerosas competencias transversales. Asimismo, las wikis permiten registrar cambios históricos en los documentos, con lo que no sólo se puede realizar una evaluación formativa del trabajo conjunto, sino también del trabajo individual. Hay que remarcar que, debido a su estructura, permite crear enlaces a espacios de trabajo de otras disciplinas, haciendo sencilla la realización de proyectos interdisciplinares. Este hecho favorece el que los alumnos no estudien de manera aislada las diferentes didácticas específicas, sino que trabajen directamente con la interrelación entre ellas. Por ello, no sólo podemos hablar de trabajar interdisciplinarmente dentro de la Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, sino también en la relación con otras áreas afines o relacionadas.The use of collaborative publishing tools, commonly called wikis, provide a wide number of advantages on its application to teaching in Didactics of Experimental Sciences, above all in multicampus Universities. This is the case of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and, in particular, of the Primary Education degree, that is imparted in four different campus: Ciudad Real, Toledo, Albacete and Cuenca. The use of wikis would allow to work, for example, in groups composed by students of different campus, getting through spatial and temporal barriers. Making collaborative works with these characteristics would improve the unification of the existing criteria in aspects like elaborating documentation or designing practical works for the different subjects. Using a collaborative tool like a wiki, implies the possibility of giving lessons of the subjects of the area of Didactics of Experimental Sciences in a more coordinated way, and also to work numerous transversal competences. Wikis also allow to register historical changes in the documents, so it is possible to make a formative assessment as well as an individual one. It is remarkable that the structure of a wiki allows to link these workspaces to others that belong to another disciplines, so it is easy to create multidisciplinary projects. As a result, students don’t study the specific didactics separately, but they work with its interrelationships. And it means not only to work interdisciplinarly in Didactics of Experimental Sciences, but also in other areas

A proposal of collaborative work in groups made up by students of the Faculty of the University of Castilla - La Mancha and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile : A proposal using collaborative publishing tools.

De la experiencia del trabajo con herramientas de publicación colaborativas - wikis - de uno de los autores en la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, nace el planteamiento de actividades en las que los alumnos de la Facultad de Educación de esta Universidad trabajen de manera colaborativa con alumnos de las Facultades de Educación de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha en el ámbito de la Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales. El hecho de trabajar en la misma área de conocimiento, desde una perspectiva diferente, amplía la capacidad de los futuros maestros para trabajar en contextos internacionales. Utilizar wikis en la Educación Superior como instrumento de trabajo colaborativo permite además trabajar competencias transversales como la multiculturalidad, el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, las habilidades interpersonales, el trabajo en equipo y la eliminación de barreras espacio-temporales. El trabajo colaborativo en contextos internacionales permite a los alumnos trabajar sobre la adaptación de los contenidos de la Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales al aula, contextualizándola en otro sistema educativo diferente y no limitándose a la legislación vigente en España y en Castilla-La Mancha. Por otro lado, en la Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, los ecosistemas constituyen un interesante recurso de trabajo, vertebrador que relaciona las diferentes disciplinas. Los trabajos colaborativos centrados en ecosistemas de ambos países suponen trasladar aquellos conocimientos relacionados con procesos observados en ecosistemas cercanos a otros estudiantes que no los conocen desde su experiencia directa. La importancia de estos aspectos en la formación de un futuro maestro es especialmente interesante actualmente cuando la capacidad de ejercer la profesión docente en el extranjero puede suponer una interesante salida laboral.Based on the work of one of the authors in the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile with collaborative publishing tools – wikis – there is a proposal for activities in which students of both universities, Castilla-La Mancha and Pontifical Catholic of Chile, can work collaboratively in the area of Didactics of Experimental Sciences. The fact of working in the same knowledge area, but from a different perspective, enhances the ability of the future teachers to work in international contexts. Using wikis in Universities as a tool for collaborative publishing, allows to develop transversal competences like multiculturality, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), interpersonal abilities, the group work and the removal of time and space barriers. Collaborative work in an international context allow students to work on the adaptation of the Didactics of Experimental Sciences contents to schools, making them sensitive to another educative system and not only applying these contents to the current legislation in Spain and in Castilla-La Mancha. Besides, ecosystems are a powerful tool that vertebrate the relationship between the Didactics of Experimental Sciences and other disciplines. Collaborative works focused on Spanish and Chilean ecosystems implies the transfer of knowledge related to processes observed in these nearby ecosystems to other students that don't know them from their direct experience. The importance of all these aspects in the education of future teachers is especially interesting nowadays, when the ability to work as a teacher in a foreign country may constitute a significant opportunit

Herramienta para la identificación y análisis de revistas depredadoras en ciencias biomédicas

Objective: Describe a tool developed by libraries to identify predatory journals in the biomedical field. Method: Potentially predatory journals in biomedicine, identified from blacklists and bibliographies, are included. Each journal is analysed for its inclusion in white lists, its membership of publishers’ associations, and other data useful for the study. Results: Fewer journals are found in the whitelists and more in the directories. The criterion most fulfilled is membership of publishers’ associations. Discussion: A weighting and a different level of vigilance for journals is proposed. The value of the predatory label when sources are not updated is discussed. Conclusions: Tool performs as a directory of suspect journals in biomedicine and as a data source for the analysis of these journals. Its value depends on its up-to-dateness.Objetivo: Describir una herramienta creada desde las bibliotecas para identificar y analizar revistas depredadoras en el ámbito biomédico. Método: Se incorporan revistas potencialmente depredadoras en biomedicina, identificadas a partir de listas negras y bibliografía. De cada revista se analizan su inclusión en listas blancas, su adhesión a las asociaciones de editores, y otros datos útiles para el estudio. Resultados: Se observa un número menor de revistas presentes en las listas blancas y mayor en los directorios. El criterio más cumplido es el de adhesión a las asociaciones de editores. Discusión: Se propone una ponderación y un distinto nivel de vigilancia para las revistas. Se discute el valor de la etiqueta de depredadora cuando las fuentes no se actualizan. Conclusiones: La herramienta funciona como directorio de revistas sospechosas en biomedicina y como fuente de datos para el análisis de estas revistas. Su valor depende de su actualización

A qualitative study

Aim To explore the barriers and facilitators perceived by home caregivers regarding their involvement in the home care of people with pressure injuries. Background Although home caregivers are key in the process of caring for people with pressure injuries, little is known about their perceptions regarding their involvement in the same. Methods A qualitative study based on grounded theory involving a theoretical sample of 15 home caregivers of people with pressure injuries within the health district of Puertollano, Spain. Results This study identified three barriers (feminization of care, necessary life adaptations as a home caregiver, and the organization of health services) and three facilitators (the perceived family duty for caring, willingness to provide care, and satisfaction with the care received on behalf of primary care services) associated with caregiver involvement in the home care of pressure injuries. Conclusions The care of a person with pressure injuries is perceived as a duty and requires important adaptations affecting the home caregiver’s personal, social and work life. The emotional closeness and trust that develops between a patient and the primary care staff equals an involvement which, in turn, also has positive results for both the home caregiver and the patient

Prediction of pig trade movements in different European production systems with exponential random graph models

In most European countries, data regarding movements of live animals are routinely collected and can greatly aid predictive epidemic modeling. However, the use of complete movements' dataset to conduct policy-relevant predictions has been so far limited by the massive amount of data that have to be processed (e.g., in intensive commercial systems) or the restricted availability of timely and updated records on animal movements (e.g., in areas where small-scale or extensive production is predominant). The aim of this study was to use exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to reproduce, understand, and predict pig trade networks in different European production systems. Three trade networks were built by aggregating movements of pig batches among premises (farms and trade operators) over 2011 in Bulgaria, Extremadura (Spain), and Côtes-d'Armor (France), where small-scale, extensive, and intensive pig production are predominant, respectively. Three ERGMs were fitted to each network with various demographic and geographic attributes of the nodes as well as six internal network configurations. Several statistical and graphical diagnostic methods were applied to assess the goodness of fit of the models. For all systems, both exogenous (attribute-based) and endogenous (network-based) processes appeared to govern the structure of pig trade network, and neither alone were capable of capturing all aspects of the network structure. Geographic mixing patterns strongly structured pig trade organization in the small-scale production system, whereas belonging to the same company or keeping pigs in the same housing system appeared to be key drivers of pig trade, in intensive and extensive production systems, respectively. Heterogeneous mixing between types of production also explained a part of network structure, whichever production system considered. Limited information is thus needed to capture most of the global structure of pig trade networks. Such findings will be useful to simplify trade networks analysis and better inform European policy makers on risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control against swine diseases such as African swine fever, classical swine fever, or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome

Oxygen-sensitivity and Pulmonary Selectivity of Vasodilators as Potential Drugs for Pulmonary Hypertension

Current approved therapies for pulmonary hypertension (PH) aim to restore the balance between endothelial mediators in the pulmonary circulation. These drugs may exert vasodilator effects on poorly oxygenated vessels. This may lead to the derivation of blood perfusion towards low ventilated alveoli, i.e., producing ventilation-perfusion mismatch, with detrimental effects on gas exchange. The aim of this study is to analyze the oxygen-sensitivity in vitro of 25 drugs currently used or potentially useful for PH. Additionally, the study analyses the effectiveness of these vasodilators in the pulmonary vs. the systemic vessels. Vasodilator responses were recorded in pulmonary arteries (PA) and mesenteric arteries (MA) from rats and in human PA in a wire myograph under different oxygen concentrations. None of the studied drugs showed oxygen selectivity, being equally or more effective as vasodilators under conditions of low oxygen as compared to high oxygen levels. The drugs studied showed low pulmonary selectivity, being equally or more effective as vasodilators in systemic than in PA. A similar behavior was observed for the members within each drug family. In conclusion, none of the drugs showed optimal vasodilator profile, which may limit their therapeutic efficacy in PH

Crosstalk between the serine/threonine kinase StkP and the response regulator ComE controls the stress response and intracellular survival of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic human bacterial pathogen that usually colonizes the upper respiratory tract, but the invasion and survival mechanism in respiratory epithelial cells remains elusive. Previously, we described that acidic stress-induced lysis (ASIL) and intracellular survival are controlled by ComE through a yet unknown activation mechanism under acidic conditions, which is independent of the ComD histidine kinase that activates this response regulator for competence development at pH 7.8. Here, we demonstrate that the serine/threonine kinase StkP is essential for ASIL, and show that StkP phosphorylates ComE at Thr128. Molecular dynamic simulations predicted that Thr128-phosphorylation induces conformational changes on ComE’s DNA-binding domain. Using nonphosphorylatable (ComET128A) and phosphomimetic (ComET128E) proteins, we confirmed that Thr128-phosphorylation increased the DNA-binding affinity of ComE. The non-phosphorylated form of ComE interacted more strongly with StkP than the phosphomimetic form at acidic pH, suggesting that pH facilitated crosstalk. To identify the ComE-regulated genes under acidic conditions, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed between the comET128Aand wt strains, and differential expression of 104 genes involved in different cellular processes was detected, suggesting that the StkP/ComE pathway induced global changes in response to acidic stress. In the comET128Amutant, the repression of spxB and sodA correlated with decreased H2O2production, whereas the reduced expression of murN correlated with an increased resistance to cell wall antibiotic-induced lysis, compatible with cell wall alterations. In the comET128Amutant, ASIL was blocked and acid tolerance response was higher compared to the wt strain. These phenotypes, accompanied with low H2O2production,are likely responsible for the increased survival in pneumocytes of the comET128Amutant. We propose that the StkP/ComE pathway controls the stress response, thus affecting the intracellular survival of S. pneumoniae in pneumocytes, one of the first barriers that this pathogen must cross to establish an infection.Fil: Piñas, German Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Reinoso Vizcaino, Nicolas Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Yandar Barahona, Nubia Yadira. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Cortes, Paulo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Duran, Rosario. Instituto Pasteur de Montevideo; Uruguay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Badapanda, Chandan. Xcelris Lab Limited; IndiaFil: Rathore, Ankita. Xcelris Lab Limited; IndiaFil: Bichara, Darío Román. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cian, Melina Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Olivero, Nadia Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Daniel R.. University of Georgia; Estados UnidosFil: Echenique, Jose Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentin

Sostenibilidad en la Ingeniería Civil. Una experiencia piloto de formación profesional y aprendizaje cooperativo

A Pilot Experience on Cooperative Learning was developed with vocational training students of Advanced Level in Building Construction and Civil Engineering of the Atenea Secondary School (Ciudad Real). The aim was to improve their professional skills in the field of sustainability and, in particular, wastewater treatment by planning, designing, projecting and building artificial wetlands; this a innovative and distinctive competence that will facilitate their employment in an environment with demand for skilled technicians in water purification systems that are more sustainable in both environmental, energy and economical terms. For this purpose, a transdisciplinary team of university professors was formed, who are specialized on building and civil engineering, environmental technology, ecology, ecological engineering, hydraulics, hydrology, geotechnics, geology, geomorphology, geography, territorial planning, teaching and pedagogy. The methodology used was Project Based Learning (PBL), that has been used for some of the team members since 1999 in the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). Students were asked to propose, design and project an artificial wetland to treat wastewater from a rural home, museum or restaurant that they had projected earlier to rehabilitate the ruins of a 19th century water-energy-industrial foundry known as Martinete de Los Pozuelos de Calatrava (Ciudad Real). The major milestones of the pilot experience were: i) Pre-assessment of students knowledge, ii) Lectures to provide new theoretical concepts essential to develop foreseen specific, iii) Independent student work supervised by teachers from closed scripts and supply of teaching materials and literature, iv) Classroom and field workshops, v) Continuous assessment of individual work in class (interest, participation, success in the resolution of the issues raised by the teacher), final evaluation in group through oral presentation and written report, and issuing diplomas for further recognition of free credits, vi) Evaluation of the pilot experience was done by surveying students about methodology, content and development of classes, results obtained and other comments that they wished to include, vii) Dissemination by opening an account in the facebook social network, writing a press release for publication in local media, and professional editing a CD with graphic and teaching materials. The most remarkable result of the pilot is that PBL methodology is a revolution for vocational training students, used to deal with tools and practicalities commonly based on closed standards and protocols; instead, cooperative learning requires facing real limitations, such as a relative lack of information, developing the project with this uncertainty, and making decisions on the level of complexity of the solutions to adopt. This has resulted in an overall very positive experience for the students (over 95%), who were especially pleased with the results (100%) and the content and development of educational activities (more than 95%)

The Transcriptional Regulator MucR, but Not Its Controlled Acid-Activated Chaperone HdeA, Is Essential for Virulence and Modulates Surface Architecture and Properties in Brucella ovis PA

[EN]Brucella ovis is a non-zoonotic bacterium causing contagious epididymitis and other genital lesions in rams and responsible for significant economic losses in sheep-breeding areas. It is a naturally rough (without O-chains in the lipopolysaccharide) Brucella species whose virulence mechanisms have been less explored than those of zoonotic smooth brucellae (bearing O-chains that mask other outer membrane molecules). Considering the rough nature of Brucella ovis, the influence of surface components other than O-chains on its biological properties may be greater than in smooth Brucella species. Here we describe the construction and characterization of the mucR deletion mutant of virulent B. ovis PA, which is defective in a transcriptional regulator, affecting surface properties and virulence in smooth brucellae. This mutant showed increased amounts of three proteins identified as HdeA (acid-activated chaperone), Omp25d (outer membrane protein undetectable in the parental strain), and BOV_A0299 (hypothetical protein of unknown function). This observation correlated with the enhanced transcription of the corresponding genes and constitutes the first report on this type of proteome alteration in Brucella ΔmucR mutants. The upstream regions of the three genes contained AT rich domains with T-A steps described as binding sites for MucR in the Brucella abortus 2308 babR promoter (gene also upregulated in B. ovis ΔmucR), which suggests that hdeA, omp25d, and BOV_A0299 expression could be repressed by MucR through a direct binding to their promoter regions. Relative quantification of transcripts of several other genes selected according to the transcriptome of smooth brucellae ΔmucR mutants revealed not only similarities but also relevant differences among strains, such as those detected in flagellar and virB genes. Periplasmic HdeA has been related to the resistance of B. abortus to acidic pH, conditions encountered by Brucella inside phagocytes, but the deletion of hdeA in B. ovis PA and the ΔmucR mutant did not modify any of the evaluated properties of these strains. The B. ovis PA ΔmucR and ΔmucRΔhdeA mutants had defective in vitro growth and altered surface properties and architecture, exemplified by detectable amounts of Omp25d. Moreover, they showed virulence attenuation but established persistent splenic infection in mice, which encourages their evaluation as specifical attenuated vaccines against B. ovis