Beyond simulation: collaborative redaction of I.S.U.D. in Cabanyal-Canyamelar-Cap de França (Valencia)

El barrio del Cabanyal-Canyamelar-Cap de França es uno de los conjuntos urbanos más destacables de la ciudad de Valencia. Un Plan parcial urbanístico promovido por el Ayuntamiento a finales de los noventa preveía alterar notablemente su morfología, ante la posición contraria de un vecindario que se movilizó y consiguió atenuar parte del impacto del plan. En una nueva etapa, el Ayuntamiento encarga una estrategia sostenible para el barrio que respete el patrimonio e incluya el punto de vista de los ciudadanos. Esa estrategia deberá intentar recabar fondos europeos a través de la convocatoria EDUSI del Ministerio de Fomento. El equipo Va Cabanyal gana el concurso para diseñar esa estrategia otorgando un peso importante a las técnicas dialécticas. En esta nota metodológica se relata el proceso desarrollado en un tiempo limitado y con el corsé de las directrices de una convocatoria de la UE. Al mismo tiempo, se apunta el tipo de participación deseable una vez estén disponibles los fondos y se ponga en marcha la estrategia

Holocene hydrography evolution in the Alboran Sea: a multi-record and multiproxy comparison

A new high-resolution deglacial and Holocene sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction is presented for the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean), based on Mg=Ca ratios measured in the planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides. This new record is evaluated by comparison with other Mg=Ca SST records and previously published alkenone SST reconstructions from the same region for both the Holocene and glacial periods. In all cases there is a high degree of coherence between the different Mg=Ca SST records but strong discrepancies when compared to the alkenone SST records. We argue that these discrepancies are due to differences in the proxy response during deglaciation which we hypothesize to reflect a resilience strategy of G. bulloides, changing its main growth season, and consequently Mg=Ca records a shorter deglacial warming than alkenones. In contrast, short-term Holocene SST variability is larger in the Mg=Ca SST than in the alkenone SST records. We propose that the larger Mg=Ca SST variability is a result of spring temperatures variability, while the smoothed alkenone SST variability represents averaged annual temperatures. The Mg=Ca SST record differentiates the Holocene into three periods: (1) the warmest SST values occurred during the Early Holocene (11.7-9 cal. kyr BP), (2) a continuous cooling trend occurred during the Middle Holocene that culminated in the coldest Holocene SST having a double cold peak structure centred at around 4.2 cal. kyr BP, and (3) the Late Holocene (4.2 cal. kyr BP to present) did not follow any clear cooling/warming trend although millennial-scale oscillations were enhanced. This SST evolution is discussed in the context of the changing properties in the Atlantic inflow water associated with North Atlantic circulation conditions and also with local hydrographical and atmospheric changes. We propose that a tight link between North Atlantic circulation patterns and the inflow of surface waters into the Mediterranean played a major role in controlling Holocene climatic variability of this region

Marrow aplasia during high dose mebendazole treatment

A patient with chronic liver disease was treated with large doses of mebendazole for a hepatic hydatid cyst. Eighteen days after beginning treatment he developed marrow aplasia which reverted to normal after the drug was stopped. This is the sixth patient described as developing marrow aplasia when treated with large doses of mebendazole. We suggest that the aplasia is related to the dose of the drug, and that the patient's chronic liver disease was an important factor in its genesis. Patients treated with large doses of mebendazole should have their blood counts monitored during treatment

Marrow aplasia during high dose mebendazole treatment

A patient with chronic liver disease was treated with large doses of mebendazole for a hepatic hydatid cyst. Eighteen days after beginning treatment he developed marrow aplasia which reverted to normal after the drug was stopped. This is the sixth patient described as developing marrow aplasia when treated with large doses of mebendazole. We suggest that the aplasia is related to the dose of the drug, and that the patient's chronic liver disease was an important factor in its genesis. Patients treated with large doses of mebendazole should have their blood counts monitored during treatment

Persistent warm Mediterranean surface waters during the Roman period

Reconstruction of last millennia Sea Surface Temperature (SST) evolution is challenging due to the difficulty retrieving good resolution marine records and to the several uncertainties in the available proxy tools. In this regard, the Roman Period (1 CE to 500 CE) was particularly relevant in the socio-cultural development of the Mediterranean region while its climatic characteristics remain uncertain. Here we present a new SST reconstruction from the Sicily Channel based in Mg/Ca ratios measured on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber. This new record is framed in the context of other previously published Mediterranean SST records from the Alboran Sea, Minorca Basin and Aegean Sea and also compared to a north Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. The most solid image that emerges of this trans-Mediterranean comparison is the persistent regional occurrence of a distinct warm phase during the Roman Period. This record comparison consistently shows the Roman as the warmest period of the last 2 kyr, about 2 °C warmer than average values for the late centuries for the Sicily and Western Mediterranean regions. After the Roman Period a general cooling trend developed in the region with several minor oscillations. We hypothesis the potential link between this Roman Climatic Optimum and the expansion and subsequent decline of the Roman Empire

Aprender colaborando: estrategias de aprendizaje colaborativo integradas en el aula universitaria

El aprendizaje tradicional se caracteriza por ser autónomo, individual, altamente teórico y por la utilización de la lección magistral como método principal de enseñanza. Sin embargo, optar por una metodología activa en la que se fomente el aprendizaje colaborativo tal y como se presenta en este artículo, contrarresta el carácter pasivo de las/os alumnas/os otorgándoles protagonismo, los anima a comprometerse y a responsabilizarse de su aprendizaje. Para preparar este artículo se elaboró una encuesta para los estudiantes de la Licenciatura en Filología Inglesa, en concreto de los matriculados en la asignatura troncal Lengua Inglesa IV durante el curso 2011-2012. Analizar los resultados de la encuesta tiene como finalidad conocer las opiniones del alumnado sobre el desarrollo y la organización de actividades cooperativas que fomenten la participación activa en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Los resultados obtenidos sobre el aprendizaje colaborativo han sido satisfactorios; el alumnado lo valora de forma positiva no sólo para el aprendizaje teórico de conceptos, sino también como simulación de actividades que le sirvan para su incorporación al mercado laboral. Este trabajo explica no sólo las ventajas, sino también las dificultades que presenta este tipo de aprendizaje en el alumnado e igualmente en los docentes

Surveillance of Daughter Micronodule Formation Is a Key Factor for Vaccine Evaluation Using Experimental Infection Models of Tuberculosis in Macaques

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major worldwide health problem and models using non-human primates (NHP) provide the most relevant approach for vaccine testing. In this study, we analysed CT images collected from cynomolgus and rhesus macaques following exposure to ultra-low dose Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) aerosols, and monitored them for 16 weeks to evaluate the impact of prior intradermal or inhaled BCG vaccination on the progression of lung disease. All lesions found (2553) were classified according to their size and we subclassified small micronodules (<4.4 mm) as 'isolated', or as 'daughter', when they were in contact with consolidation (described as lesions ≥ 4.5 mm). Our data link the higher capacity to contain Mtb infection in cynomolgus with the reduced incidence of daughter micronodules, thus avoiding the development of consolidated lesions and their consequent enlargement and evolution to cavitation. In the case of rhesus, intradermal vaccination has a higher capacity to reduce the formation of daughter micronodules. This study supports the 'Bubble Model' defined with the C3HBe/FeJ mice and proposes a new method to evaluate outcomes in experimental models of TB in NHP based on CT images, which would fit a future machine learning approach to evaluate new vaccines

Hydroclimate variability during the last 2700 years based on stalagmite multi-proxy records in the central-western Mediterranean

This study presents the first high-resolution speleothem-based hydrological reconstruction for much of the last 2.7 kyr in the central-western Mediterranean. The paleohydrological information comes from a combination of five U-Th dated stalagmites from two Mallorca island caves. Interpretations are based on high-resolution records of d18O, d13C and trace element analyses combined with information from mineralogical X-ray diffraction, fabrics and morphological features, and cave monitoring data. None of the studied stalagmites cover the whole 2.7 kyr period but they provide sufficient overlap to replicate most of the discussed climatic intervals with the exception of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), which is represented by a hiatus. Taking into account the results of five years farmed calcite collected in glass plates and cave environmental parameters, we argue that main patterns in the stalagmite geochemical records are mostly controlled by changing rates of prior calcite precipitation (PCP) that respond to hydrological changes in the region. We apply a principal component analysis to the stalagmite geochemical data set and a composite d18O record to obtain a robust regional hydrological record. This record supports wet conditions for the early Roman Period (RP), the first half of the Early Middle Ages (EMA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA), and drier conditions for the late RP, the late EMA and the entire MCA. These results are discussed in the context of other climatic and oceanographic records from the region including paleo North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) records. This ocean-atmosphere approach suggests complex non-stationary climate patterns for the last 2.7 kyr, including the occurrence of both wetwarm and wet-cold intervals and underlying the complex interaction of factors controlling climate evolution in the region. Overall, positive (negative) NAO phases appear coincident with drier (wetter) conditions for all the examined period at decadal time-scale

Holocene humidity changes in southern Iberia inferred from the geochemical signature of marine sediments

The Mediterranean region is particularly sensitive to global climate variability that critically reflects on its hydrological conditions. A recently published high resolution reconstruction of Holocene Sea Surface Temperature (SST) based on Globigerina bulloides Mg/Ca ratios, set the basis to explore, within a warm climatic period, the impact of North Atlantic oceanographic conditions shaping the properties of the inflowing waters into the Mediterranean Sea. Here we go a step further in establishing the potential links between these oceanographical changes with the hydrological conditions on the southern Iberian Peninsula.This study combines XRF-core-scanner analyses with the radiogenic isotopes characterization (Sr, Nd and Pb) of the terrigenous fraction in core ALB-2 from the Alboran Sea. Results indicate that the most humid conditions developed during the early to middle Holocene with a transition towards drier conditions and colder SST that occurred by the late Holocene. The radiogenic Sr, Nd and Pb records do not show any covariance with the millennial scale oscillations shown in the Zr and K XRF records interpreted as humidity changes. This could suggest that inputs of African dust are not the main controlling factor in the XRF records. In contrast, the Sr isotope record shows a significant transition around the middle Holocene while SSTs show a cooling trend. For an accurate interpretation of that feature, this study also targets a novel approach by characterizing the radiogenic isotope composition of settling particles recovered by moored sediment traps under well characterized meteorological conditions