An exploratory Delphy study on Character Education in Latin-American countries: Argentina, Colombia and Mexico

En el proyecto Researching and Promoting Character Education in Latin American Secondary Schools, financiado por la Templeton World Charity Foundation, nos aproximamos a la percepción que de la Educación del Carácter se tiene en Argentina, Colombia y México. La Educación del Carácter integra las propuestas para promover la ciudadanía. Para el inicio de esta investigación elaboramos un estudio piloto basándonos en la metodología Dephi, con el objetivo de discernir cuáles son los temas más candentes alrededor de la Educación del Carácter en estos países. Esta metodología -rigurosa y de fácil manejo- permite la obtención de un conocimiento en profundidad sobre la problemática de la Educación del Carácter. Contamos con la participación de diferentes expertos del ámbito académico, escolar y administrativo. Durante el proceso realizamos tres interacciones con los expertos para alcanzar un mayor consenso en sus opiniones. Para ello aplicamos dos rondas de preguntas cerradas y abiertas con las que obtener una mayor riqueza y convergencia en los datos obtenidos. Como resultado constatamos que la Educación del Carácter no es un término habitual en el ámbito educativo de estos países. Además, en este tipo de educación incide la influencia y relación entre los agentes y el currículum explícito-oculto en la escuela

Reflections on an educational program on moral and civic virtues and values in secondary schools. A case study in Mexico.

The research we present is part of the project Researching and Promoting Character Education in Latin American Secondary Schools funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.In this research work we present a case study, focusing on the values program implemented in a Mexican public school in the central area of the country. Our exploration of the capacity of the school when implementing the values program is based on the analysis of documents provided by the school which are related with the project, semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, images and the participatory observation carried out in the school over a period of three weeks. The wealth of informants (principals, teachers, pupils and parents) allowed us to gather a broader variety of information on the reality of the values program applied

Microbial differences between dental plaque and historic dental calculus are related to oral biofilm maturation stage

Dental calculus, calcified oral plaque biofilm, contains microbial and host biomolecules that can be used to study historic microbiome communities and host responses. Dental calculus does not typically accumulate as much today as historically, and clinical oral microbiome research studies focus primarily on living dental plaque biofilm. However, plaque and calculus reflect different conditions of the oral biofilm, and the differences in microbial characteristics between the sample types have not yet been systematically explored. Here, we compare the microbial profiles of modern dental plaque, modern dental calculus, and historic dental calculus to establish expected differences between these substrates.- Background - Results -- Authentication of a preserved oral biofilm in calculus samples -- Dental calculus and plaque biofilm communities are distinct -- Health-associated communities of dental plaque and calculus are distinct -- Signatures of health and of disease are shared in modern and historic calculus samples -- Microbial community differences between health and disease in calculus are poorly resolved -- Absence of caries-specific microbial profiles in dental calculus -- Microbial co-exclusion patterns in plaque and calculus reflect biofilm maturity -- Microbial complexes in plaque and calculus -- Functional prediction in calculus is poorly predictive of health status -- Proteomic profiles of historic healthy site calculus -- Correlations between taxonomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profiles - Discussion - Conclusions - Materials and methods --Historic and modern calculus sample collection DNA extraction -- DNA library construction and high-throughput sequencing -- DNA sequence processing -- Genetic assessment of historic calculus sample preservation -- Genetic microbial taxonomic profiling -- Principal component analysis -- Assessment of differentially abundant taxa -- Sparse partial least squares-discriminant analysis -- Assessment of microbial co-exclusion patterns -- Gene functional categorization with SEED -- Proteomics -- Metabolomics -- Regularized canonical correlation analysi

The Role of Glypicans in Wnt Inhibitory Factor-1 Activity and the Structural Basis of Wif1's Effects on Wnt and Hedgehog Signaling

Proper assignment of cellular fates relies on correct interpretation of Wnt and Hedgehog (Hh) signals. Members of the Wnt Inhibitory Factor-1 (WIF1) family are secreted modulators of these extracellular signaling pathways. Vertebrate WIF1 binds Wnts and inhibits their signaling, but its Drosophila melanogaster ortholog Shifted (Shf) binds Hh and extends the range of Hh activity in the developing D. melanogaster wing. Shf activity is thought to depend on reinforcing interactions between Hh and glypican HSPGs. Using zebrafish embryos and the heterologous system provided by D. melanogaster wing, we report on the contribution of glypican HSPGs to the Wnt-inhibiting activity of zebrafish Wif1 and on the protein domains responsible for the differences in Wif1 and Shf specificity. We show that Wif1 strengthens interactions between Wnt and glypicans, modulating the biphasic action of glypicans towards Wnt inhibition; conversely, glypicans and the glypican-binding “EGF-like” domains of Wif1 are required for Wif1's full Wnt-inhibiting activity. Chimeric constructs between Wif1 and Shf were used to investigate their specificities for Wnt and Hh signaling. Full Wnt inhibition required the “WIF” domain of Wif1, and the HSPG-binding EGF-like domains of either Wif1 or Shf. Full promotion of Hh signaling requires both the EGF-like domains of Shf and the WIF domains of either Wif1 or Shf. That the Wif1 WIF domain can increase the Hh promoting activity of Shf's EGF domains suggests it is capable of interacting with Hh. In fact, full-length Wif1 affected distribution and signaling of Hh in D. melanogaster, albeit weakly, suggesting a possible role for Wif1 as a modulator of vertebrate Hh signaling

Questions and answers regarding character education in Latin-American countries (Mexico, Colombia and Argentina). An exploratory Delphi study.

Abstract: In the project Researching and Promoting Character Education in Latin Ameri-can Secondary Schools funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation,we address how Character Education is perceived in three Latin-American countries (Argentina, Colom-bia and Mexico). To carry out this research we produced a pilot study based on the Delphi method, in order to find the most relevant issues regarding the subject of Character Educa-tion in those Countries. This methodology offers us a rigorous and easily managed means of obtaining in-depth knowledge of the current problems of Character Education. For the Delphi study, we relied on the participation of various experts from the academic, school and administrative areas. During the process, we carried out three sessions with the experts in order to reach the highest possible consensus. Thus, we used two rounds of closed and open questions to obtain a good perspective of the situation. The result confirmed that Character Education is not a common term in the world of education in these countries. Moreover, this type of education is affected by the influence and relationship between the actors and the explicit-hidden curricula.En el proyecto Researching and Promoting Character Education in Latin American Secondary Schools, financiado por la Templeton World Charity Foundation, nos aproximamos a la percepción que de la Educación del Carácter se tiene en Argentina, Colombia y México. La Educación del Carácter nos interesó dado que integra algunas de las propuestas para promover la ciudadanía. Para el inicio de esta investigación elaboramos un estudio piloto basándonos en la metodología Delphi, con el objetivo de discernir cuáles son los temas más candentes alrededor de la Educación del Carácter en estos países. Esta metodología -rigurosa y de fácil manejo- permite la obtención de un conocimiento en profundidad sobre la problemática de la Educación del Carácter. Contamos con la participación de diferentes expertos del ámbito académico, escolar y administrativo. Durante el proceso realizamos tres interacciones con los expertos para alcanzar un mayor consenso en sus opiniones. Para ello aplicamos dos rondas de preguntas cerradas y abiertas con las que obtener una mayor riqueza y convergencia en los datos obtenidos. Como resultado, constatamos que la Educación del Carácter no es un término habitual en el ámbito educativo de estos países. Además, en este tipo de educación incide la influencia y relación entre los agentes y el currículum explícito-oculto en la escuela

El declive de la educación del carácter en Estados Unidos durante el siglo XX

El objetivo de este estudio es reflexionar sobre cinco factores que influyeron en el declive de la educación del carácter en Estados Unidos durante el siglo XX, con el ánimo de entender mejor la compleja situación actual de este enfoque educativo: 1) una relación mal entendida con el ámbito religioso que la excluye de la educación pública laica; 2) los paradigmas sociales del progreso y de la fragilidad de la infancia que contribuyen a desestimarla o considerarla inconveniente; 3) concebirla como mero adiestramiento en el que no se considera el desarrollo moral racional; 4) el relativismo moral; y, por último, 5) las críticas de la Psicología. Para finalizar, se ofrecen unas reflexiones que incluyen diversos testimonios recientes a favor de la educación del carácter y se sugiere la necesidad de integrar este ámbito en los sistemas educativos para enfrentar los retos morales y sociales del siglo XXI.The aim of this study is to reflect on five factors that influenced the decline of character education in the United States during the 20th century, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the current complex situation of this educational field: 1) a misunderstood relationship with the religious sphere that excludes it from public secular education; 2) the social paradigms of progress and childhood fragility that contribute to reject it, or consider it inconvenient; 3) conceiving it as mere training in which rational moral development is not considered; 4) moral relativism; and, finally, 5) the criticisms of Psychology. At last, several recent testimonies in favor of character education are included. Our final reflections suggest the need to integrate this area into education systems to face the moral and social challenges of the 21st century

Análise comparativa entre biodiesel filtrado e biodiesel destilado em trator agrícola

The scarcity of natural resources, in addition to the increasing concern about the environment, is forcing man kind to develop energy alternatives from renewable and biodegradable sources of a sustainable nature. In the search for such alternatives for motors with ignition by compression, biodiesel rises as a biofuel option derived from the reaction of plant oils with anhydrous alcohol. The objective of the present study was to compare the fuel consumption of an agricultural tractor functioning of alternate form with filtered and distilled biodiesel in a direct planting operation. A factorial scheme with fully randomized blocks was used as experimental design, combining seven mixture proportions (B0, B5, B15, B25, B50, B75 and B100) and two types of biodiesel (filtered and distilled). Hourly consumption as a volume unit (L h-1) and mass (kg h-1) and specific consumption (g kWh-1) were determined. The results showed no difference in the specific consumption when the tractor used filtered or distilled biodiesel.A escassez de recursos naturais, aliada à crescente preocupação ambiental, força o homem a desenvolver alternativas energéticas provenientes de fontes renováveis e biodegradáveis de caráter sustentável. Na busca de tais alternativas para o motor de ignição por compressão, o biodiesel destaca-se como opção de biocombustível produzido a partir da reação química de óleo vegetal e álcool anidro na presença de um catalizador. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar o consumo de combustível de um trator agrícola funcionando de maneira alternada com biodiesel filtrado e biodiesel destilado em operação de semeadura-direta. O experimento foi realizado em esquema fatorial, em blocos inteiramente casualizados, combinando-se sete proporções de mistura (B0, B5, B15, B25, B50, B75 e B100) e dois tipos de biodiesel (filtrado e destilado). Analisaram-se o consumo horário em unidade de volume (L h-1) e massa (kg h-1) e consumo específico (g kWh-1). Os resultados mostraram não haver diferença no consumo específico quando o trator utiliza biodiesel filtrado ou destilado

Disulphide Bridges of Phospholipase C of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Modulates Lipid Interaction and Dimer Stability

BACKGROUND: Phospholipase C (PLC) is an enzyme that plays pivotal role in a number of signaling cascades. These are active in the plasma membrane and triggers cellular responses by catalyzing the hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids and thereby generating the secondary messengers. Phosphatidylinositol-PLC (PI-PLC) specifically interacts with phosphoinositide and/or phosphoinositol and catalyzes specific cleavage of sn-3- phosphodiester bond. Several isoforms of PLC are known to form and function as dimer but very little is known about the molecular basis of the dimerization and its importance in the lipid interaction. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We herein report that, the disruption of disulphide bond of a novel PI-specific PLC of C. reinhardtii (CrPLC) can modulate its interaction affinity with a set of phospholipids and also the stability of its dimer. CrPLC was found to form a mixture of higher oligomeric states with monomer and dimer as major species. Dimer adduct of CrPLC disappeared in the presence of DTT, which suggested the involvement of disulphide bond(s) in CrPLC oligomerization. Dimer-monomer equilibrium studies with the isolated fractions of CrPLC monomer and dimer supported the involvement of covalent forces in the dimerization of CrPLC. A disulphide bridge was found to be responsible for the dimerization and Cys7 seems to be involved in the formation of the disulphide bond. This crucial disulphide bond also modulated the lipid affinity of CrPLC. Oligomers of CrPLC were also captured in in vivo condition. CrPLC was mainly found to be localized in the plasma membrane of the cell. The cell surface localization of CrPLC may have significant implication in the downstream regulatory function of CrPLC. SIGNIFICANCE: This study helps in establishing the role of CrPLC (or similar proteins) in the quaternary structure of the molecule its affinities during lipid interactions