Structural properties of various sodium thiogermanate glasses through DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations

We present a study of the structural properties of (x)Na$_2$S-(1-x)GeS$_2$ glasses through DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations, at different sodium concentrations ($0<x<0.5$). We computed the radial pair correlation functions as well as the total and partial structure factors. We also analyzed the evolution of the corner- and edge-sharing intertetrahedral links with the sodium concentration and show that the sodium ions exclusively destroy the former. With the increase of the sodium concentration the ``standard'' FSDP disappears and a new pre-peak appears in the structure factor which can be traced back in the Na-Na partial structure factor. This self organization of the sodium ions is coherent with Na-rich zones that we find at high modifier concentration.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev.

Direct Electron Transfer of Human Hemoglobin Molecules on Glass/Tin-Doped Indium Oxide

Interfacial electron transfer kinetics of the haem (FeIII/FeII) group in human hemoglobin molecules were investigated on glass/tin-doped indium oxide electrodes. Factors such as surface roughness, crystallinity, hydrophilicity and partial polarization of the working electrode played an important role to provide a more compatible microenvironment for protein adsorption. Results suggested that direct electron transfer from electrode to haem (FeIII)-H2O intermediate is coupled to proton at near physiological pH (I = 0.035, pH = 7.2)

Validation of a measurement scale for the relationship between the orientation to corporate social responsibility and other business strategic variables

The importance of Social Responsibility (SR) is higher if this business variable is related with other ones of strategic nature in business activity (competitive success that the company achieved, performance that the firms develop and innovations that they carries out). The hypothesis is that organizations that focus on SR are those who get higher outputs and innovate more, achieving greater competitive success. A scale for measuring the orientation to SR has defined in order to determine the degree of relationship between above elements. This instrument is original because previous scales do not exist in the literature which could measure, on the one hand, the three classics sub-constructs theoretically accepted that SR is made up and, on the other hand, the relationship between SR and the other variables. As a result of causal relationships analysis we conclude with a scale of 21 indicators, validated scale with a sample of firms belonging to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and it is the first empirical validation of these dimensions we know so far, in this context

Cross-disciplinary skills in the European Higher Education Area: the importance and dominance of a foreign language

La adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) conlleva el fomento de la movilidad de docentes y estudiantes. A los profesores les corresponde el importante papel de incentivar a los futuros graduados hacia el dominio de otras lenguas europeas con el fin de que puedan aumentar su competitividad en el mundo laboral. La literatura y la evidencia práctica indican que el nivel de nuestros estudiantes en competencias idiomáticas no alcanza los estándares adecuados para competir. Así, nuestro objetivo ha sido conocer su opinión sobre el dominio que actualmente tienen de una o más lenguas extranjeras así como la importancia que le atribuyen al hecho de conocerla y dominarla. La metodología seguida ha supuesto la realización de varias experiencias y la triangulación de los resultados obtenidos de las mismas, las cuales han consistido en: 1º. Sensibilización a través de una conferencia sobre la importancia del dominio de otras lenguas y su relevancia para la empleabilidad del egresado; 2º. Acercamiento a las impresiones del estudiante que recibe una clase en inglés con un focus group; y, 3º. Análisis de un cuestionario de percepciones sobre dominio e importancia de los idiomas que analiza la opinión del estudiante sobre estos aspectos. Precisamente la evidencia empírica de este estudio proviene de la opinión de los estudiantes de las titulaciones que se impartían en la Facultad de CC.EE.EE. de nuestra Universidad contando con una muestra final de 540 cuestionarios. Los resultados muestran una brecha entre dominio e importancia atribuida que se refuerza cuando se analizan los datos según la movilidad del estudiante. El estudio lleva, finalmente, a realizar un análisis DAFO de debilidades y fortalezas internas, y amenazas y oportunidades externas que determine qué medidas se podrían adoptar para acercar el grado de importancia al grado de dominio.Adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) implies the promotion of mobility of teachers and students. The teachers have an important role to encourage future graduates to the mastery of other European languages so that they can increase their competitiveness in the workplace. Literature and practical evidence show that the level of our students in language skills does not achieve the appropriate standards to compete. Thus, our goal has been to know their opinion on the domain that they have about of one or more foreign languages and the importance attributed to the fact of knowing and mastering them. The methodology used has supposed to carry out several experiences and the triangulation of the obtained results of such ones that have consisted of: 1º. Awareness through a conference on the importance of mastering other languages and their relevance for employability of graduates; 2º. Approach of the student's impressions receiving a class in English with a focus group; and, 3º. A questionnaire analysis of students’ opinions about the dominance and importance of languages. In fact, the empiric evidence of this study comes from the opinion of the students from all degree programs that were given in the Faculty of Economic and Business of our University. We have worked with a final sample of 540 questionnaires. The results show a gap between domain and attributed importance that it is reinforced when the data are analyzed according to the student's mobility. The study takes, finally, to carry out a SWOT analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities, to determine what measures could be taken to bring the level of importance to the degree of dominance. The teaching experience has shown that this active methodology involves a continuous workflow, and the development of teaching strategies of constant interaction between teacher and students. Therefore, despite the acceptance that had this teaching innovation, the load in terms of working time was the main problem highlighted

The virtual tour of the architectural artistic heritage as an educational resource in the subjects of graphic expression

Este artículo plantea las posibilidades que ofrece el uso de la visita virtual del patrimonio artístico arquitectónico como recurso educativo en las asignaturas de Expresión Gráfica. Pone de manifiesto el protagonismo que han adquirido las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en el ámbito educativo, y el cambio que ha significado, en la representación de la realidad, la aparición de nuevas herramientas de software, que permiten un grado de fidelidad y de realismo ciertamente impactante. Al limitarse la propuesta docente que aquí se hace al patrimonio artístico arquitectónico, solo se analizan las potencialidades educativas de dos tipos de visitas virtuales: la visita virtual de las representaciones del patrimonio existente y la visita de las reconstrucciones virtuales del patrimonio desaparecido

Effects of Dolphin-assisted Therapy on the Social and Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although several studies have shown that dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) may be beneficial for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), most of these studies have methodological weaknesses. This study tested the effectiveness of DAT in improving the social and communicative skills of children with ASD. We used a pretest- posttest design with a control group. The 48 participants were selected according to the following inclusion criteria: age between 4 and 5 years, diagnosis of ASD, and clear impairment in communication. Participants were randomly assigned to the groups: DAT and Therapy Without Dolphins (TWD). The research lasted 10 weeks. The intervention phase lasted 6 weeks and consisted of three weekly 45-min sessions, with a total of 18 sessions per participant. Therapy sessions for both groups, DAT and TWD, were conducted by a dolphin trainer and a health professional in the same facilities and under the same conditions, except for the use of the interaction with the dolphin as support for the activities. Three instruments were used to assess communicative and social skills: The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic, the Reynell Developmental Language scales, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior scales. Significant improvements were observed between the pretests and posttests in both groups, DAT and TWD, on the total scores of all the scales, except for the Social Interaction Domain of the ADOS-G. These improvements were significantly greater for the DAT group on only two items of the Language and Communication Domain, ADOS-G: "frequency of vocalizations toward others" and "gestures" (η2 = 0.11, p < 0.05) in both cases. In conclusion, we found some evidence that DAT is a useful therapeutic intervention to foster the social and communication skills of children with ASD and that dolphins specifically can enhance the improvement of some communication-related aspects

Teaching proposal to working sciences in childhood education

El presente artículo tiene como finalidad el análisis y diseño de propuestas para la enseñanza del medio natural en la etapa de educación infantil, centrado en el tema de los gusanos de seda. Se parte de un método adecuado de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias en educación infantil. Con la elaboración de una propuesta de enseñanza, se pretende acercar a los alumnos al conocimiento de su entorno natural y construcción del modelo de ser vivo, con métodos de investigación como son la experimentación y la observación, y mediante la comprensión de diversas actividades englobadas en diferentes secuencias de enseñanza.The present article has as objective to design and analyze proposals to teaching of the natural environment in early childhood education, focusing on the issue of silkworms. It is part of a proper method of teaching-learning to teach science in early childhood education. The teaching proposal intend to bring students to the knowledge of their natural environment and construction of the living model, with methods of research such as experimentation and observation, and by understanding the various activities within different teaching sequences

Use contemporary art in the classroom of Early Childhood Education as an encouragement of creativity

El presente artículo tiene como finalidad saber si “se utiliza el arte contemporáneo en el aula de Educación infantil como fomento de la creatividad”. Nuestra experiencia en el aula de Educación Infantil nos muestra que realmente los docentes, en su gran mayoría, no le sacamos todo el partido posible al arte contemporáneo. Y yendo más allá, que las escasas veces que lo trabajamos lo hacemos a través de materiales y técnicas poco innovadoras y obsoletas por lo cual no incitan a fomentar la creatividad.The present article has as objective to determine if “Contemporary Art is used to promote the creativity in nursery education”. Our experiences among nursery education classes show us that in reality, the majority of the teachers do not make the most of contemporary art and go further on. Actually, the few times when they actually work with it, they do it through materials and techniques that are poorly innovative and obsolete and therefore they do not tend to encourage and stimulate creativity

The Importance of Children's Movement

Debemos ser conscientes de la gran importancia que tiene el movimiento en los niños, desde su nacimiento. A través de este, son capaces de observar, explorar, experimentar y descubrir el mundo que les rodea, así como, sus posibilidades en él. Por ello, en la escuela debemos de fomentar el movimiento, como parte del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. En consecuencia, hemos desarrollado una sesión de Psicomotricidad, en la cual se trabajarán, aspectos fundamentales del movimiento, así como contenidos curriculares. Todo ello desarrollado de forma integral y desde una perspectiva globalizadora.We must be aware of the great importance of the movement in children since they are born. Through this, they are able to observe, explore, experience and discover the world around them, as well as their possibilities in it. Therefore, in school we must foster the movement, as part of the teaching and learning process. Consequently, we have developed a session of Psychomotricity, in which we will work, fundamental aspects of the movement, as well as curricular contents. All this developed in an integral way and from a globalizing perspective

Aumento de la incidencia de gastrosquisis en un hospital de alta especialidad al norte de México.

Objetivo: Revisar la incidencia de casos de gastrosquisis en el Hospital Universitario Dr. José E. González (HU) y analizar las posibles determinantes genéticas o ambientales. Métodos: Se revisó el archivo hospitalario de 1998 a 2008. La edad materna y paterna, evolución postnatal, asociación con otras malformaciones, exposición a teratógenos y otros parámetros fueron registrados de los expedientes localizados. Resultados: De enero de 1998 a diciembre del 2008 el promedio de nacimientos en el HU fue de 4500 por año, con un incremento significativo de madres adolescentes en los últimos cinco años. Durante este período se presentaron 46 casos de gastrosquisis. La tasa de incidencia fue de 11.1/10,000 RNV en el 2004 y 23/10,000 RNV en el 2008. La mortalidad fue del 35%. Solo se obtuvo acceso a 26 expedientes. La edad paterna promedio fue 27.65 (17-49) y la materna de 21.2 años (15 a 40), 61.5% eran adolescentes. Fueron primigestas 65%; cinco refirieron consumo de alcohol y cuatro además tabaco. El 77% tomó ácido fólico preconcepcional. La edad gestacional promedio fue de 37 semanas (32 a 40) y 19% de los neonatos fueron prematuros. Se presentaron malformaciones mayores y menores en el 30% de los casos. El cariotipo en dos casos fue anormal: 46, XY, ins (10) (q11.2) y 46, XX, dup(X) (p22.1) este último presentaba además comunicación interauricular. Conclusiones: La frecuencia de gastrosquisis se ha venido incrementando en el HU (Monterrey, México), lo cual pudiera ser explicado por el aumento de nacimientos de madres adolescentes. Las aberraciones cromosómicas encontradas no habían sido informadas