“Post-it mapping”: analogical disruption in the classroom

[ES] Educators need to prepare students for an increasingly complex and interconnected world, and traditional teaching methods can fail to help students develop some of the needed skills. We set up to combine flipped-calssroom strategies and mapping techniques with the aim to encourage creativity and adaptability while ensuring deep learning of complex theoretical concepts. A simple analogical disruption was added, in the shape of post-it notes used to build concept maps, to disturb an otherwise heavy technology-based course. Our teaching innovation has been pilot tested in a range of groups and theoretical concepts with preliminary positive feedback being reported by students.They have described the innovation as “an entertaining change”, but also referring to improvements on their information searching and critical thinking skills. Students also found that the analogical mapping activity through post-it notes encouraged participation and an active attitude in class. Overall, they reported an improved understading of complex concepts and to their independent learning skills, which appears to support the literature linking visual representations and summary exercises with high student satisfaction and improvements in meaningful learning.Buil, T.; Delgado, J.; Pinar, JV.; Liste, G. (2020). “Post-it mapping”: analogical disruption in the classroom. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):317-324. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11048OCS31732430-05-202

A comparison of the growth performance between cattle reared in conventional systems and in feral condition

Feral and conventional growth performances were compared using Marismeña cattle as a model. Marismeña calves are commonly reared under feral conditions in one of the most important reserves of Europe (Doñana National Park, Spain). Data recording in these natural conditions faces compromises as animals are only handled once per year. This fact has to be saved to obtain efficient estimations for the biological growth curve of cattle reared under feral conditions. On the one hand, we assessed the inference of the theoretical influence of human management on cattle growth. On the other hand, we studied the fitness of the best growth curve, in both feral and conventional systems to use the physiological meaning of the parameters obtained from their study as selection criteria related to the adaptability of potential breeding males and females. Fitting of Brody's, von Bertalanffy, Verhulst, logistic, Gompertz and Richards’ models was tested as these models are the most representative ones for cattle growth. In general, Brody's and Richards’ models presented the best fitting values for the biological curve. According to the biological curve parameters, males and females presented asymptotic weights of 641.71 kg and 403.55 kg, respectively. As expected, the results of the commercial growth curve severely differed from those of the biological curve. The best fitting biological curve was not representative for cattle reared under commercial conditions. The logistic model was the best fitting one for feral females, Gompertz model for feral males, and Verhulst for intensive males and females, respectively. Seasonal oscillations in feeding may be responsible for the earlier achievement of the best performance in feral cattle (7 and 10 months for males and females, respectively), while such best performances were reached at 11 months in intensive calves, what becomes relevant for management and slaughtering decision-making. The study of the biological curve in Marismeña feral breed is very illustrative as this is the first time that feral cattle's growth is approached. Knowledge on the biological growth curve parameters could be used to interpret the strong relation between feral animals and their environment. This research could infer a model to quantify the effects of human management on livestock development, as feral resources offer unique opportunities to study domestic livestock without any human influence.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Endozoochorus seed dispersal by goats: recovery, germinability and emergence of five Mediterranean shrub species

Herbivores can play an important role as seed dispersal vectors, ungulates constituting potential seed dispersal agents of Mediterranean grasses and shrubs. We evaluated the role of domestic goats as seed dispersers of five representative Mediterranean forage shrub species [Cistus albidus L., Phillyrea angustifolia L., Calicotome villosa (Poir.) Link., Rhamnus lycioides L. and Atriplex halimus L.]. Following seed ingestion by goats, total faeces were collected at 24-h intervals for five days. The total number of seeds recovered varied among species, with R. lycioides showing the minimum recovery percentage (1.3%) and C. albidus (35.8%), the maximum. Seed recovery was significantly related to seed hardness and length. In most species, the maximum amount of seeds recovered occurred 48-72 h after ingestion. The passage through the goat gut significantly depressed seed germination in C. albidus, C. villosa and A. halimus; inhibited it in R. lycioides and increased it in P. angustifolia. Seedling emergence was significantly lower in intact dung pellets than in broken-down ones, and both significantly lower than in uneaten seeds (control). The results of this study show that goats can potentially favor or inhibit seed dispersal of browsed Mediterranean shrub species. Therefore, goat grazing could be a potential management tool for expanding target shrub species populations or preventing shrub encroachment in undesired areas

Las vicisitudes histórico-jurídicas del Consejo de la Juventud de España. Desde su Ley de creación hasta el Informe CORA

Esta obra se enmarca dentro del Proyecto de Investigación titulado «La participación juvenil como herramienta de desarrollo social, económico, político y cultural en el espacio transfronterizo (España-Portugal)», con ref. IB16097, financiado por la Junta de Extremadura y por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional – «Una manera de hacer Europa».Sus autores explican la propuesta de supresión del Consejo de la Juventud de España formulada por la Comisión para la reforma de las Administraciones Públicas en su célebre Informe de 2013. Tan drástica medida, nunca se llevó a la práctica. Muy probablemente por los errores de diagnóstico sobre la situación real de este organismo público que contenía el Informe CORA y por los terribles efectos secundarios que hubiese tenido su implementación para los intereses generales de España. Estos errores son puestos de manifiesto de manera detallada pro los profesores Juan Francisco Mestre Delgado y Vicente Álvarez García, tras efectuar un profundo estudio del marco jurídico en el que se desenvuelve la participación juvenil tanto dentro como más allá de nuestras fronteras, prestando, en este contexto, una especial atención al desarrollo político-normativo de esta actividad en el seno de la Unión Europea y en el ámbito del Consejo de Europa.Its authors explain the suppression proposal of the Youth Council of Spain made by the Commission for the Reform of Public Administrations in its famous 2013 Report. Such a drastic measure was never put into practice. Most likely due to diagnostic errors regarding the real situation of this public body that contained the CORA Report and the terrible side effects that its implementation would have had for the general interests of Spain. These errors are revealed in detail by professors Juan Francisco Mestre Delgado and Vicente Álvarez García, after conducting a thorough study of the legal framework in which youth participation takes place both within and beyond our borders, providing, in this context, special attention to the political-normative development of this activity within the European Union and within the scope of the Council of Europe.Junta de Extremadura y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regiona

Scaling between viscosity and hydrodynamic/magnetic forces in magnetic fluids

The aim of this work is the investigation of the magnetorheological behavior, under both simple steady- and oscillatory-shear flow regimes, of fluids composed by micron-sized iron particles (average diameter 930 ± 330 nm) dispersed in silicone oil. Magnetic fields ranging from 279 A/m (0.35 mT) to 1727 A/m (2.17 mT) were applied to the suspensions. The effect of silica nanoparticles as stabilizer of the suspensions has also been considered. The study has been made by the scaling between the viscosity of the suspension and the ratio of hydrodynamic to magnetic forces acting on the dispersed particles, given by the dimensionless Mason number (Mn), and interpreted in terms of the chainlike model taken from the theory of Martin and Anderson (J. Chem. Phys. 104 (1996) 4814-4827). The model is quite well accomplished for iron suspensions of different (20 % and 30 %) volume fraction without any stabilizing agent. The presence of added silica nanoparticles in the suspension hinders the formation of regular iron structures induced by the magnetic field, especially at the lowest applied magnetic fields. Thus the model becomes not applicable to these cases. Viscometry has been shown to be more adequate than oscillometry for scaling the viscous properties of magnetorheological suspensions with microscopic interparticle forces in terms of Mn number.Financial support from MEC (Spain) and FEDER funds (EU) (Project MAT2005-07746-C02-01) and Junta de Andalucía, Spain (PE-FQM-410) are gratefully acknowledged

Bio-inspired hydrogel composed of hyaluronic acid and alginate as a potential bioink for 3D bioprinting of articular cartilage engineering constructs

Bioprinting is a promising tool to fabricate well-organized cell-laden constructs for repair and regener- ation of articular cartilage. The selection of a suitable bioink, in terms of composition and mechanical properties, is crucial for the development of viable cartilage substitutes. In this study, we focused on the use of one of the main cartilage components, hyaluronic acid (HA), to design and formulate a new bioink for cartilage tissue 3D bioprinting. Major characteristics required for this application such as printabil- ity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability were analyzed. To produce cartilage constructs with optimal mechanical properties, HA-based bioink was co-printed with polylactic acid (PLA). HA-based bioink was found to improve cell functionality by an increase in the expression of chondrogenic gene markers and specific matrix deposition and, therefore, tissue formation. These results indicate that it is a promising bioink candidate for cartilage tissue engineering based in 3D bioprinting.This work was partially supported by MINECO MAT2016-78778-R and PCIN-2015-051 projects (Spain), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), by the Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad de la Junta de Andalucía and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ref. SOMM17/6109/UGR and by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad ( FEDER funds, project RTC-2016-5451-1 ) (to JA.M and P.G-M)

Consumo de alimentos y calidad de la dieta en estudiantes universitarios: Proyecto uniHcos

Antecedentes/Objetivos: La etapa universitaria se caracteriza por cambios en estilos de vida y, la alimentación es uno de los de mayor variación, especialmente en los primeros cursos. El objetivo de este estudio es describir la frecuencia de consumo de alimentos y la calidad de la dieta de los universitarios españoles. Métodos: Estudio observacional, descriptivo, transversal, multicéntrico de estudiantes universitarios de primer año participantes en el proyecto uniHcos. Población de 1363 estudiantes, 72,6% mujeres y 27,4% hombres de 6 universidades españolas. Los participantes respondieron un cuestionario online de frecuencia de consumo de alimentos: A diario; 3-4 veces/semana pero no diario; 1-2 veces/semana; < 1 vez/semana; Nunca/casi-nunca. Para interpretar los resultados los alimentos se categorizaron según guías-dietéticas SENC-2004 en consumo: diario (pasta, pan-cereales, fruta, verduras, lácteos); semanal (carnes, huevos, pescado, legumbres) y ocasional (embutidos, dulces, refrescos con azúcar. A partir de estos datos se calculó el Índice de Alimentación Saludable (IASE) para determinar la calidad de la dieta. Se clasificó en saludable, necesita cambios y poco saludable. Se realizaron estadísticos descriptivos mediante el software estadístico SPSS 20.0. Resultados: El 38,1% de los universitarios consumen frutas a diario, 21,4% verduras, 74,5% lácteos, 60% pan-cereales y 15% pasta. Semanalmente, el 55,3% consumen carne 3-4 veces/semana, 20,7% huevos, 22,2% pescado y 25,5% legumbres. Además, el 13,3%, 22,2% y 10,2% de los universitarios declaran consumir a diario embutido, dulces y refrescos con azúcar respectivamente. Estos resultados van en concomitancia con los del IASE estadísticamente significativos (p-valor < 0,001), donde se muestra que 6,5% de los universitarios se alimentan saludablemente (mujer: 6,9%; hombre: 5,3%), frente a 78% que necesitan cambios (mujer: 76,7%; hombre: 81,3%) y 15,6% que presentan una alimentación poco saludable, siendo mayor en mujeres (16,4%) que en hombres (13,4%). Conclusiones: La alimentación de los universitarios españoles sigue siendo poco saludable y necesitando cambios, como muestran otros estudios en población universitaria. Los patrones alimentarios de consumo semanal de embutidos, dulces, como el de frutas, verduras y pasta, muestra una inversión de la alimentación saludable y, por tanto un problema de salud pública que requiere de atención por ser población que inicia su camino universitario.Plan Nacional Sobre Drogas (2010I145)

Conditioning factors of linearized wood's function lactation curve shape parameters, milk yield, fat and protein content in murciano-granadina primiparous does

Research Areas: Agriculture ; Veterinary Sciences ; ZoologyA total of 137,927 controls of 22,932 Murciano-Granadina first lactation goats (measured between 1996–2016) were evaluated to determine the influence of the number of kids, season, year and farm on total milk yield, daily milk yield, lactation length, total production of fat and protein and percentages of fat and protein. All factors analyzed had a significant effect on the variables studied, except for the influence of the number of kids on the percentages of fat and protein, where the variation was very small. Goats with two offspring produced nearly 15% more milk, fat and protein per lactation compared to goats with simple kids. Kiddings occurring in summer–autumn resulted in average milk, fat and protein yields nearly 14, 19 and 23% higher when compared to winter–spring kiddings. Lactation curves were evaluated to determine the effects of the number of kids and season, using the linearized version of the model of Wood in random regression analyses. Peak Yield increased by about 0.3 kg per additional offspring at kidding, but persistence was higher in goats with single offspring. The kidding season significantly influenced the lactation curve shape. Hence summer-kidding goats were more productive, and peak occurred earlier, while a higher persistence was observed in goats kidding during autumn.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio