How is the European education area identified? Supranational speech and construction of European higher education area

Este ensayo quiere analizar los momentos principales por los que ha pasado la construcción del espacio europeo, poniendo en relevancia el papel atribuido a la universidad, los cambios que ha experimentado el concepto de educación superior y atendiendo particularmente al Proceso de Bolonia. De hecho, este último, nacido por iniciativa de algunos Gobiernos, no limitado por los límites políticos de la Unión Europea, ejemplifica bien la reciprocidad entre los distintos actores, un juego de referencias por el cual el Discurso Bolonia ha interactuado, y sigue interactuando, con el discurso propio de la política educativa europea. En la encrucijada de dichas presiones, los sistemas de enseñanza reaccionan mostrando una heterogénea capacidad de resistencia y de adaptación, y participan en esta compleja y mutante red de intercambios y relaciones. Intercambios y relaciones que implican posiciones institucionales, equilibrios de poder y la creación y difusión de discursos: una interacción de interés indudable que este ensayo quiere poner de relieve con la convicción de que el nexo global-local representa una prospectiva provechosa para comprender los sistemas de enseñanza.This article is devoted to analyse the main phases that have characterized the project for building the European space, giving particular attention to the role of university, to the changes that have affected the concept of higher education and, above all, to the Bologna Process. Due to the initiative of some Governments and no constrained by political borders of European Union, the Bologna Process exemplifies the reciprocity among the different actors, a network of relations for which the Bologna Discourse has interacted, and is interacting, with the educational European discourse. At the crossroads of these pressures, educational systems reaction showing an heterogeneous capacity of resistance and adaption and take part actively in this changing and complex network of influences and interrelations. Influences and interrelations that entail institutional positions, equilibrium of power and the creation and diffusion of discourses: an interaction that this article is devoted to put in evidence with the conviction that the global-local relations represents a useful perspective in order to comprehend educational system

Un confronto tra storiografia e retorica. La prospettiva della declamazione di carattere storico

This article explores the intricate and delicate relationship between manipulation and communication through the examination of declamatory production, a privileged observation point for understanding – during the persuasive process – both the delivery of speeches and audience’s perception. In fact, declamation as a scholastic exercise was an integral part of rhetorical apprenticeship, capable of setting a young man on the road to both a legal and political career. Furthermore, an in-depth study of the processes of manipulation is carried out, thanks to the analysis and comparison between declamations based on historical figures or events and historiography itself, used as a source by declaimers. During their declamations, rhetoricians rehash historical subjects with ease in order to develop fluent discourses. Therefore, several examples, predominantly in the Greek language, show the wide variety of manipulation phenomena according to different purposes and situations.Scopo del presente contributo è indagare l’intricato gioco di specchi tra la manipolazione della comunicazione e la sua percezione dal punto di osservazione privilegiato della produzione declamatoria. Parte integrante dell’apprendistato retorico, le declamazioni sono anche esercizi di scuola atti ad avviare i giovani alla carriera forense o politica. Lo studio del rapporto tra declamazioni incentrate su figure o eventi storici e le fonti storiografiche, cui i retori attingevano per svolgere l’esercizio, può proficuamente porre in luce gli intenti manipolatori sottesi al discorso. Attraverso un percorso di esempi icastici in lingua greca si mostra come tale manipolazione avvenga per scopi e occasioni differenti

Fiorucci, F. & Rodríguez, L. G. (Comp.) (2018). Intelectuales de la educación y el Estado: maestros, médicos y arquitectos. Bernal: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (269 páginas).

Este libro compilado por Flavia Fiorucci y Laura Rodríguez se compone de una selección de trabajos que fueron presentados en las Jornadas “Intelectuales de la educación y el Estado”, llevadas a cabo a fines del año 2015, en la sede del Centro de Historia Intelectual de la Universidad de Quilmes. Los capítulos tienen como denominador común el abordaje del pensamiento y la trayectoria de “actores” que ejercieron su actividad profesional en instituciones estatales siendo, al mismo tiempo, expertos e intelectuales. Se abocan al estudio de personalidades que, distantes geográfica y temporalmente, ejercieron el magisterio, la medicina y la arquitectura, habiéndose pronunciado con respecto al campo educativo desde esos diversos campos del saber

EL IMPUESTO PARA LA EDUCACIÓN TÉCNICA DURANTE LA ÚLTIMA DICTADURA CÍVICO MILITAR ARGENTINA (1976-1983)

En la historiografía de la educación argentina los análisis económicos constituyen un déficit. Este artículo pretende aportar a ese campo de conocimiento a través del estudio del derrotero del Impuesto para la educación técnica durante la última dictadura cívico militar. Se analizan las transformaciones del tributo, que formaba parte de los fondos presupuestados en el Consejo Nacional de Educación Técnica, y los límites que tuvieron las iniciativas de los funcionarios de educación frente a las disposiciones emanadas por el Ministerio de Economía. El análisis de fuentes documentales gubernamentales, legislativas y periodísticas permiten concluir que, las políticas que incidieron en el régimen de financiamiento de la educación técnica, fueron guiadas por intereses económicos y no pedagógicos, y que las contradicciones que existieron en las disposiciones implementadas sólo pueden comprenderse considerando la coyuntura de racionalización del aparato estatal

The alternate GNB3 splice variant, Gβ3s, exhibits an altered signalling response to EGF stimulation, which leads to enhanced cell migration

It has recently been reported that the duplication of the GNB3 gene has been shown to be directly linked to an obesity phenotype, both in humans and also in a humanised mouse model. Moreover, the common human GNB3 c.825C>T polymorphism (rs5443) causes this ubiquitously expressed gene to be aberrantly spliced approximately 50% of the time leading to the production of both a normal Gβ3 protein and a truncated, possibly less stable subunit, known as Gβ3s. The presence of the GNB3 825T allele has previously been shown to be associated with predisposition to hypertension, obesity, various cancers, Alzheimers, age related cognitive function, erectile dysfunction as well as a marker for pharmacogenetic drug action. Great controversy, however, currently exists as to whether these phenotypes associated with the 825T allele are a) mainly due to the presence of the smaller, possibly more active, Gβ3s subunit or b) merely down to the haploinsufficiency of the normal GNB3 transcript, due to its frequent aberrant splicing. In order to try and address these two conflicting hypothesis, we report on the identification and characterisation of signalling alterations unique to the presence of Gβ3s protein subunit. Moreover we also show the physiological consequences associated with altered signalling, directly induced by the Gβ3s subunit. For this, we used both an EBV transformed lymphoblast cell line homozygote for GNB3 825T/825T (TT) and a stable Gβ3s expressing recombinant COS-7 clone. In both of these cell lines that express the Gβ3s subunit, we found enhanced cytosolic calcium influx upon stimulation with EGF, TGFα and VEGF ligands, as compared to “normal” GNB3 controls with the 825C/825C (CC) genotype. This aberrant calcium influx also led to an increase in ERK, but not AKT1, phosphorylation. Despite the lack of AKT1 activation, we paradoxically observed a significant increase in phosphorylation of its downstream substrates, namely mTOR and p70S6k (KS6B2). Moreover we observed a decrease in phospho FoxO3a only in Gβ3s expressing cells, but not in the “normal” GNB3 (CC) control cell line. The presence of the Gβ3s subunit also appeared to alter the distinct localisation patterns of both Foxo3a and AKT1, while also increasing the colocalisation of mTOR and p70S6K. Subsequent growth factor stimulation studies revealed that EGF treatment, of Gβ3s expressing cells, appeared to cause a significant decrease in cAMP levels, which, in turn resulted in both enhanced caveolin-1a phosphorylation, and an increase in actin stress fibre formation. The identification of these distinct Gβ3s specific signalling alterations were indicative of a more aggressive migratory phenotype. This led us to further investigate and confirm that the presence of the Gβ3s subunit also appears to cause significantly enhanced migration and robust scratch wound healing kinetics, as compared to cells harbouring only the normal copy of the gene. These data therefore present convincing evidence that the Gβ3s subunit is stable, functional and its presence can significantly alter signalling pathways, in different cell types

Efficient embedded sleep wake classification for open-source actigraphy

This study presents a thorough analysis of sleep/wake detection algorithms for efficient on-device sleep tracking using wearable accelerometric devices. It develops a novel end-to-end algorithm using convolutional neural network applied to raw accelerometric signals recorded by an open-source wrist-worn actigraph. The aim of the study is to develop an automatic classifier that: (1) is highly generalizable to heterogenous subjects, (2) would not require manual features’ extraction, (3) is computationally lightweight, embeddable on a sleep tracking device, and (4) is suitable for a wide assortment of actigraphs. Hereby, authors analyze sleep parameters, such as total sleep time, waking after sleep onset and sleep efficiency, by comparing the outcomes of the proposed algorithm to the gold standard polysomnographic concurrent recordings. The relatively substantial agreement (Cohen’s kappa coefficient, median, equal to 0.78 ± 0.07) and the low-computational cost (2727 floating-point operations) make this solution suitable for an on-board sleep-detection approach

Antimicrobial properties of rosin acids-loaded nanoparticles against antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens

Rosin acids (RA) from coniferous trees are used in folk medicine for healing various skin infections. Despite the antimicrobial potential of RA, their poor solubility in aqueous media may limit their use. In this work RA-loaded polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (RA-NPs) with enhanced antimicrobial properties against foodborne bacterial pathogens were produced. RA-NPs were prepared by solvent displacement technique and characterized for relevant colloidal features by dynamic light scattering, laser Doppler anemometry and transmission electron microscopy. Association of RA to NPs occurred with high yields (86% w/w). RA and RA-NPs (~130 nm) were strongly active against antibiotic-sensitive Gram + pathogens, i.e. Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes and antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. However, both failed in inhibiting the growth of Gram – pathogens (Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica). Association to NPs enhanced the antimicrobial activity of RA. MIC, IC 50 , IC 90 , and MBC values of RA-NPs were ten-times lower than RA. RA-NPs did not change the intrinsic toxicity potential of RA. This is the first study on the enhancement of the antimicrobial activity of RA when associated to nanocarriers. This approach may be an effective strategy to produce aqueous-based RA solutions with enhanced antimicrobial activity against antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant Gram + pathogens.The authors thank Prof. Filip Van Immerseel for providing the C. perfringens CP56 strains and ADRIA d_eveloppement for providing the strains indicated with the letters AD in this study. The authors also thank NFT S.r.l. for providing purified rosinic acids, and the i3S Scientific Platform Biointerfaces and Nanotechnology (BN) for assistance in DLS/LDAmeasurements

The role of geological origin of smectites and of their physico-chemical properties on aflatoxin adsorption

Since 2013, bentonite in the form of dioctahedral smectite is an additive authorised in the EU as a substance for the reduction of the contamination of feed by aflatoxins. Several studies indicate a big difference in the effectiveness of smectites in sequestering aflatoxins. A clear correlation between mineralogical and physico-chemical properties of smectites and aflatoxin adsorption has not been well established. In the effort to identify the most critical mineralogical, chemical, and physical properties that affect aflatoxin adsorption by smectites, 29 samples of bentonites obtained from different sources around the world were evaluated. “As received” samples were divided into two main groups, i.e. hydrothermal (n=14) and sedimentary (n=15) bentonites depending on their geological origin. The characterization studies showed that all samples contained dioctahedral smectite as major mineral; a moderate CEC value (60-116 cmol/kg); the presence of iron; a small organic matter content; a near-neutral pH; and a fine and uniform particle size (<45μm). They differed substantially in their sodium, calcium and magnesium contents, and in the swelling properties depending on the geological origin. Several in vitro adsorption studies showed that they also differed in a significant manner in adsorbing aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). A correlation between geological origin and AFB1 adsorption capacity was found (p<0.001), being sedimentary smectites significantly more effective than hydrothermal ones in adsorbing the toxin at different pH values. The extent of AFB1 adsorption by all samples was negatively and linearly correlated to the extent of desorption, and sedimentary smectites were significantly more effective than hydrothermal smectites in keeping bound the adsorbed fraction of the toxin (p < 0.001). In addition, correlation studies using the Pearson statistical method showed a significant relationship among some physico-chemical properties of smectites and the amounts of adsorbed toxin. In particular, AFB1 adsorption by smectites correlated positively with sodium content and swell index, but negatively with d001-value, magnesium and calcium contents. In conclusion, it seems that the geological origin of smectite is a useful guide for the selection of bentonites for AFB1 detoxification. Sedimentary bentonites containing sodium/swelling-smectite should be preferred to hydrothermal samples as potential aflatoxin binders. Taking into account the geographical origin of our samples, this approach should be applicable to bentonites worldwide

A supplement with ribes nigrum, boswellia serrata, bromelain and vitamin D to stop local inflammation in chronic sinusitis: a case-control study

Although chronic sinusitis widely affects the adult population, the treatments currently used did not always satisfactorily solve the symptoms. Traditional therapy with steroids and antibiotics presents risks and benefits and the new drugs, i.e., monoclonal antibody, are valid solutions despite being quite expensive. Natural molecules could be a valid treatment that combines good efficacy and low price. We conducted a case -control study to evaluate the benefit of an oral supplement with Ribes nigrum, Boswellia serrata, Bromelain and Vitamin D on chronic sinusitis symptoms. 60 patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: control using nasal steroids only, treatment 1 using nasal steroid and 1 dose of the oral supplement for 30 days and treatment 2 in which patients used nasal steroid and two oral supplement doses daily for 15 days. Conditions of the nasal mucosa and a blood sample (WBC, IgE and CRP) were analyzed at T0, T1 (15 days after treatment) and T2 (30 days after treatment. Patients treated with the supplement improved their nasal findings (hyperemia of mucosa and rhinorrhea) with statistically significant differences from the control. Our preliminary data suggest that the addition of supplement containing Ribes nigrum, Boswellia serrata, Vitamin D and Bromelain to the traditional local therapy (nasal spray with cortisone) can be a supporting therapy to modulate the local inflammation in the nose in patients affected by chronic sinusitis

Las Otras: historias de vida de mujeres

Es una tesis de producción que consta de un libro de crónicas en el que narramos historias agrupadas bajo un mismo denominador común: historias de vidas de mujeres cuyas voces y realidades son invisibilizadas y no tienen lugar en los medios de comunicación, los cuales reproducen modelos estereotipados del ser mujer. Mediante los relatos de vida de cinco mujeres, situadas en diferentes contextos y situaciones, y cada una con una historia particular, buscamos reflejar la alteridad y la diversidad de vivencias que existen y se desarrollan por fuera de los modelos de mujer que los medios de comunicación muestran habitualmente; modelos que fueron creados e impuestos por una sociedad culturalmente machista y patriarcal que, históricamente, ha violentado a las mujeres de distintas formas. Por eso, la visibilización de estas historias permitirá también dar cuenta de las problemáticas de violencia y estigmatización que afrontan las mujeres en distintas circunstancias de su vida, sucesos y realidades que, al leerlas y reconocerlas, originan una identificación con las protagonistas.Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Socia