Publication of students’ research papers for educational purposes

Los proyectos de innovación docente apoyan y promueven la innovación y mejora de la docencia y el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. El presente proyecto fue desarrollado con estudiantes de 4º año de Grado de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio de la ULL del curso 2014-15. Tuvo entre sus objetivos consolidar en los alumnos su autoestima y sus aptitudes, mediante una publicación elaborada de forma colaborativa. Esta publicación no responde a las exigencias de artículos científicos, pero sí a una publicación académicaestudiantil. Se trabajó a lo largo de un año en grupos y en sesión plenaria, donde se debatió y se tomaron todas las decisiones relativas a este proyecto, utilizando metodología de aprendizaje colaborativo. Su principal resultado es la publicación de un libro digital, con cuatro ensayos que abordan asuntos de la arena internacional, investigados como parte de la asignatura de Geopolítica. Este proyecto ha contribuido con éxito a la consolidación de habilidades y conocimientos adquiridos en la titulación, al desarrollo de aptitudes para el trabajo en equipo, de la autonomía y de la autoestima, superando la autolimitación de la realización de una publicaciónProjects concerning teaching innovation support and promote renewal and improvement both of the teacher’s labour and of the teaching/learning process. This project has been conducted with fourth-year students of Geography and Territorial Planning at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain) during the academic year 2014-15. Among its goals was to consolidate students’ self-esteem and skills through the publication of papers written in a cooperative manner. If the material published does not meet the standards of actual scientific articles, it certainly satisfies the requirements of an undergraduate academic publication. For one year the students worked in both small-group and plenary sessions during which debates were held and all decisions related to the project were made using the methodology of cooperative learning. The main outcome of this project has been the publication of a digital book containing four essays which address issues from the international arena, the research thereon having been conducted as part of the subject of Geopolitics. This project has successfully contributed not only to the consolidation of skills and knowledge acquired during the studies but also to the enhancement of the students’ capacity for teamwork, autonomy and self-esteem, reaching far beyond the limited scope of an academic publicatio

Le Patrimoine agraire de la Grande Canarie au travers de son vocabulaire spécifique rural

In this paper, we focus upon rural structures, land use and agricultural traditions in the Great Canary Island as they are expressed and even thought today through a specific set of words built over centuries, differing semantically from those used in other Hispanic countries and islands. These terms reflect the way land use and property, as well as hydraulic systems were implemented both as outcomes and indices of the successive layers of social and economic structures

Réponses culturelles aux changements rapides de la nature

Au vu du changement climatique auquel nos sociétés devront faire face dans un futur proche, les questions relatives à la vulnérabilité et à la résilience sont devenues d’une importance capitale. Jusqu’à présent, les efforts pour fortifier la résilience ont été centrés au niveau des réformes des infrastructures matérielles et sociales. Des idées sur l’amélioration des structures physiques, comme des protections contre les inondations par les fleuves à grande crue et contre la mer en cas de fortes tempêtes, sont en train d’être développées. Également sont en cours des réflexions sur les changements des structures sociales nécessaires pour faire face aux effets sociaux, tels qu’une importance accrue des migrations provoquées par des événements catastrophiques comme les grandes sécheresses, symptomatiques dans certaines régions des changements climatiques. Il est clair qu’il est essentiel de commencer à planifier des changements conséquents dans les divers secteurs de la société comme la santé publique, l’économie, les finances, les assurances, etc. Néanmoins, il reste  à considérer une perspective plus générale sur l’adaptation aux évènements naturels catastrophiques qui aille au-delà des approches qui se limitent aux réformes des infrastructures matérielles et sociales concernées. Dans cet article, il s’agit d’aborder une perspective différente de la vision commune dans nos sociétés. Dans les sociétés dites occidentales, les initiatives de prévention visent généralement à réformer les structures existantes dans un cadre culturel « moderne », qui considère les phénomènes naturels ou bien comme de simples ressources ou bien comme des obstacles pour le bonheur humain. Jusqu’à ce jour tout au moins, la question du rôle des facteurs culturels face à la vulnérabilité en relation au changement climatique reste assez peu traitée. En particulier, il faudrait clarifier la manière selon laquelle les croyances, les valeurs, les pratiques et les habitudes, ainsi que les techniques et les éléments matériaux des cultures, sont en interaction avec les comportements des individus et des groupes sociaux qui affrontent les défis posés par les effets du changement climatique. Il est proposé ici que l’éclaircissement des facteurs culturels qui contribuent à la vulnérabilité et à la résilience des sociétés pourrait nous fournir des approches supplémentaires significatives pour consolider la capacité des populations à faire face aux difficultés prévisibles sous l’effet du changement climatique. Les changements climatiques et les perturbations sévères du climat qui induisent des modifications de la fréquence ou de l’intensité des tempêtes, des inondations, des sécheresses, etc., ne sont pas des phénomènes nouveaux dans l’expérience humaine. Il y a de plus en plus d’études sur les réponses humaines, en divers endroits de la planète en périodes historiques et préhistoriques, aux effets des changements et aux variabilités extrêmes du climat. Dans le cadre de cet article, nécessairement limité, sont apportées quelques réflexions sur un modèle de réponse particulière aux évènements naturels avec des effets potentiellement catastrophiques, prenant comme exemple les perspectives culturelles de plusieurs peuples indigènes du nord-ouest de l’Amérique du Nord. Les anthropologues ont déterminé que les activités de ces peuples, en relation aux phénomènes naturels, étaient guidées par certains principes de respect et de responsabilité qui sont généralement ignorées dans nos sociétés modernes. Selon ces principes, on devrait donner une place aux phénomènes naturels qui peuvent affecter drastiquement les activités humaines. Même si, au premier abord leurs conceptions peuvent sembler un peu insolites, on soutient que, en pratique, ce type d’approche alternative peut mener à des politiques utiles, capables de renforcer la résilience des populations confrontées aux évènements naturels problématiques pour les humains. En résumé, on propose que la réflexion sur la dimension culturelle des réponses aux phénomènes naturels puisse nous donner une nouvelle perspective, avec des répercussions pratiques importantes pour nos sociétés modernes occidentales.In view of the changes in climate that our society will face in the near future, issues related to vulnerability and resilience have become of paramount importance. Until now, efforts to enhance resilience have focused on the strengthening of physical and social infrastructures. The improvement of physical structures, such as dikes to protect areas against flooding from rivers and storm surges from the sea, is under development. There also are ongoing discussions about changes in social structures necessary in order to address social consequences of climate change, such as increases in migration flows provoked by disastrous events due to severe droughts and flooding, symptomatic of climate change in some geographical areas. Clearly, it is of crucial importance to start planning for consequent changes in various sectors of society, such as public health, economics, finance, insurance, and so on. Nonetheless, there is reason to consider a more general perspective on adaptation to disastrous natural events, which goes beyond approaches limited to the reform of specific physical and social infrastructures. In this paper I propose to address a different perspective from the one that is common in our societies. Within the so-called Western societies, initiatives aimed at prevention of threats to society generally are aimed to reform existing structures within a “modern” cultural framework, which sees natural phenomena either as simple resources or, alternatively, as obstacles, to human happiness. At least up to the present, the question of the role of cultural factors in the face of vulnerability to climate change remains fairly little discussed. In particular, there is a need to clarify how beliefs, values, practices and habits, as well as technology and other aspects of material culture, interact with the behaviour of individuals and social groups who face the challenges posed by the consequences of climate change. It is proposed here that the clarification of the cultural factors that contribute to vulnerability, as well as to the resilience, of our societies can generate valuable additional approaches to strengthen people's ability to cope with the foreseeable difficulties resulting from climate change. Changes and severe disturbances in climate that change the frequency or intensity of storms, floods, droughts, and so on, are not a new phenomenon in human experience. The human responses to changes, and to extremes in variability, of climate, as manifested in various parts of the globe and throughout both historical and prehistoric periods, are increasingly a topic of research. Within the necessarily limited framework of this paper, we introduce some considerations about a particular way of responding to potentially disastrous natural events, taking as our example the cultural perspectives of certain indigenous people from North America’s northwestern region. Anthropological research has determined that the activities of these people in relation to natural phenomena were guided by certain principles of respect and responsibility, generally disregarded in our modern societies. According to these principles, we should leave a space for the expression of natural phenomena that can drastically affect human activities. While these ideas may perhaps appear outlandish at first, it is argued here that, in practice, this kind of alternative approach can lead to useful policy, capable of strengthening the resilience of people confronted with natural events problematic for humans. In summary, we propose that reflecting on the cultural dimension of responses to natural phenomena can give us a new perspective, with important practical implications for our modern Western societies

Hábitos alimentarios en adolescentes escolarizados de un municipio de Gran Canaria

Eating habits in adolescence have a direct bearing on an individual's future quality of life as an adult. These habits are linked to cultural, social and religious aspects of communities and are therefore subject to geographic variation, although currently there seems to be a general tendency towards homogenization. This research sets out to analyze patterns in eating habits of adolescents with a view to identifying possible correlations between these patterns and family circumstances (parents' educational level and profession). The sample comprises 268 students in the 3rd and 4th grade of a state high school in Gran Canaria. The information was collected by means of questionnaires and analyzed through an observational, descriptive and transversal study. The scrutiny of the data has revealed a considerable influence of the families' sociodemographic profile and socioeconomic conditions in their children's eating habits, especially with regard to breakfast. Among the conclusions drawn, it is worth highlighting that breakfast is still the meal that students most frequently skip, as approximately 3 out of 10 never or hardly ever have breakfast. Also, although more factors other than finances are to be considered, there seems to be evidence of a direct relation between breakfast and parents' income (their educational level being the least influential factor).Los hábitos alimentarios durante la adolescencia tienen una gran trascendencia en la proyección de la calidad de vida cuando se llega a la edad adulta. Estos hábitos se corresponden con aspectos culturales, sociales y religiosos de las poblaciones, diferenciándose por tanto de un lugar a otro. Actualmente se puede observar una tendencia a la homogeneización de dichos hábitos. El estudio tiene como objetivo analizar los patrones de consumo alimentario de los adolescentes, a fin de identificar las posibles correlaciones entre la situación familiar (nivel educativo y ocupación de sus progenitores) y los citados patrones. La metodología aplicada toma como muestra 268 estudiantes de 3º y 4º de la ESO, en un centro público de enseñanza secundaria en Gran Canaria. La información se recaba mediante encuesta y se realiza un estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal. Del análisis de los datos procesados se puede inferir la influencia del perfil sociodemográfico de las familias, así como de las condiciones socioeconómicas sobre los hábitos alimentarios, en mayor medida en el caso del desayuno. Entre las conclusiones hay que destacar que el desayuno continúa siendo la asignatura pendiente de nuestros estudiantes, aproximadamente 3 de cada 10 no desayunan nunca o casi nunca. También que, aunque no puede plantearse que es solamente por factores económicos, sí se ha demostrado la relación directa entre el desayuno y los ingresos de los padres (influyendo en menor medida el nivel de instrucción)

Characterisation of TLR7/8 in equine pulmonary alveolar macrophages

Purpose of the study: In both human and equine athletes, viral infections are common causes of respiratory diseases and of a sudden deterioration of expected performances. In both species, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear, and an involvement of Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs), a fundamental link between innate and adaptive immunity, has been advocated. Our objectives were to verify the presence of TLR7 and TLR8, responsible for the early anti-viral response in mammals, in equine pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAMs) and to assess their function through specific stimulation. Methods used: Equine PAMs were collected by broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL), isolated by adherence and stimulated with specific TLR7/8 ligands (an imidazoquinoline compound and single-stranded RNA), mimicking a viral attack. The expression of TLR7/8 was evaluated by rt-PCR and the ligand-induced production of cytokines (type I-IFNs and TNF-α) was assessed via ELISA. Summary of results: Our study demonstrated the expression of TLR7/8 in equine PAMs. QPCR analyses showed a high relative expression of genes coding for TLR7 and TLR8 on equine PAM. Stimulation with specific TLR7/8 ligands resulted in significantly up-regulated production of IFN-β and TNF-α, thereby confirming that TLR7/8 are functional in equine PAMs and that they play a role in the early pulmonary antiviral response. Conclusions: This study shows that TLR7 and TLR8 are present and functional in equine PAM and that they could play a role in the early pulmonary antiviral response. In terms of future perspectives, it is interesting to suggest that the extensively demonstrated efficacy of TLR7 and TLR8 synthetic ligands in the treatment of viral diseases in human medicine could motivate the pursuit of clinical trials in the equine patient for the therapeutic management or prevention of viral respiratory infections