Good practices, innovation or scientific research in education? A conceptual reflection

In this work a conceptual delimitation of "good teaching practices", "educational innovation" and "educational research" is proposed, based on both the experimental design and the quality of the evidence provided by these studies. This terminological clarification should help teachers to recognize the scientific research specific to pedagogy, in order to distinguish them from studies that do not have enough elements to be considered fully scientific although, occasionally, they may work for some teachers. Thus, in a near future, an educational science should be established in which teachers can trust.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The infochemical core

Vocalizations, and less often gestures, have been the object of linguistic research for decades. However, the development of a general theory of communication with human language as a particular case requires a clear understanding of the organization of communication through other means. Infochemicals are chemical compounds that carry information and are employed by small organisms that cannot emit acoustic signals of an optimal frequency to achieve successful communication. Here, we investigate the distribution of infochemicals across species when they are ranked by their degree or the number of species with which they are associated (because they produce them or are sensitive to them). We evaluate the quality of the fit of different functions to the dependency between degree and rank by means of a penalty for the number of parameters of the function. Surprisingly, a double Zipf (a Zipf distribution with two regimes, each with a different exponent) is the model yielding the best fit although it is the function with the largest number of parameters. This suggests that the worldwide repertoire of infochemicals contains a core which is shared by many species and is reminiscent of the core vocabularies found for human language in dictionaries or large corpora.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Hydrazones as Singular Reagents in Asymmetric Organocatalysis

This Minireview summarizes strategies and developments regarding the use of hydrazones as reagents in asymmetric organocatalysis, their distinct roles in nucleophile–electrophile, cycloaddition, and cyclization reactions. The key structural elements governing the reactivity of these reagents in a preferred pathway will be discussed, as well as their different interactions with organocatalysts, leading to diverse activation modes. Along these studies, the synthetic equivalence of N-monoalkyl, N,N-dialkyl, and N-acyl hydrazones with several synthons is also highlighted. Emphasis is also put on the mechanistic studies performed to understand the observed reactivities. Finally, the functional group transformations performed from the available products has also been analyzed, highlighting the synthetic value of these methodologies, which served to access numerous families of valuable multifunctional compounds and nitrogen-containing heterocycles.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTQ2013-48164-C2-1-P, CTQ201348164-C2-2-PEuropean FEDER fundsJunta de Andalucía 2012/FQM 107

ePatients on YouTube: analysis of four experiences from the patient's perspective

Background: Many patients share their personal experiences and opinions using online video platforms. These videos are watched by millions of health consumers and health care professionals. Although it has become a popular phenomenon, little is known about patients who share videos online and why they do so. Objective: We aimed to explore the motivations and challenges faced by patients who share videos about their health and experiences on YouTube. As part of a conference discussion, we asked several patients actively engaged on YouTube to make a video explaining their motivations. This paper discusses these videos. Methods: In this qualitative study, we performed an analysis of the videos created by 4 patients about their self-reported motivations and challenges they face as YouTube users. First, two judges compared the transcriptions and decided the exact wording when confusing content was found. Second, two judges categorized the content of the videos to identify the major themes. Results: Four main categories emerged: (1) the origin or cause for making the first video, (2) the objectives that they achieve by continuing to make videos, (3) the perception of community, and (4) the negative consequences of the experience. Conclusions: The main reason for making videos was to bridge the gap between traditional health information about their diseases and everyday life. The first consequence of sharing their life on YouTube was a loss of privacy. However, they also experienced the positive effects of expressing their feelings, being part of a large community of peers, and helping others to deal with a chronic condition

Teatro inédito atribuido a Quevedo

La historia de un autor consagrado puede ser reescrita, porque los documentos literarios que han logrado sobrevivir a los estragos del tiempo no permanecen estáticos. Para ampliar el corpus dramático de Quevedo y aportar inéditos fue conveniente trazar un recorrido por aquellas bibliotecas que aparecían mencionadas en catálogos posteriores a la edición de José Manuel Blecua (1981). En la Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa había consultado el catálogo de Miranda, Manuscritos quevedianos en las bibliotecas portuguesas (1988), que fue una magnífica guía. La autora lamentaba que los hispanistas del Siglo de Oro apenas hubieran aprovechado el filón de las bibliotecas lusitanas, nación que en vida de Quevedo estuvo anexionada a España. También me fue sumamente útil el Catálogo de los manuscritos de Francisco de Quevedo en la Biblioteca Nacional de Isabel Pérez Cuenca (1997). Asimismo, creí conveniente explorar el fondo Sedó del Institut del teatre de Barcelona, que cuenta con una nutrida colección de documentos teatrales y que en los años ochenta todavía formaba parte de una biblioteca privada