Social economy and equal opportunities in rural areas. An analysis applied to Autonomous Region of Castilla and León

Nº 105 - MONOGRÁFICO: La economía social y la igualdad de géneroLas desigualdades socioeconómicas por razón de sexo son mayores en las áreas rurales que en otros ámbitos más poblados. Sin embargo, se considera al colectivo de mujeres como un grupo prioritario para promover la activación económica de los territorios rurales, como así reconocen las distintas políticas públicas puestas en marcha para el desarrollo económico y social de esos espacios. Teniendo en cuenta esta apreciación, es posible establecer una relación estrecha entre los fines perseguidos por las políticas de igualdad de oportunidades y los valores y principios que preconizan las entidades que forman el sector de la economía social. En consecuencia, el objetivo de este trabajo se concreta en analizar la participación y situación laboral de las mujeres que se encuentran ocupadas en las empresas del sector de la economía social dentro del medio rural de Castilla y León, como forma organizativa generadora de empleos para este colectivo, bajo los principios de cooperación, solidaridad y equidad.Socioeconomic inequalities based on sex are higher in rural areas than in other type of areas more populated. However, women are considered as a priority group of people to turn on the economy of rural areas, as it is well recognized in all the policies applied to those territories in favour of their social and economic development. Taking this consideration into account, it is possible to find out a close relationship between the goals pursued by the policies of equal opportunity, on one hand, and the values and principles advocated by the social economy organizations, on the other. The aim of this paper is to analyze the labour participation and current situation of women who are engaged in the firms of the social economy sector within the rural areas of Castilla and Leon, as a particular type of organizations which generates employment for this group of people considering the principles of cooperation, solidarity and equity.Escuela de Estudios CooperativosFac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesTRUEpu

La contribución de la mujer en la economía rural de Castilla y León

[EN] Women's participation in the socio-economic activities of rural areas has been frequently underestimated. However, in recent years there is a clear awareness of public authorities that women’s inclusion in strategies for the economic revitalisation of the rural world is essential to fix population and generate income and employment in this territory. The objective of this paper focuses on determining the economic contribution of women to the development of rural areas of the Spanish region of Castilla y León. It analyses the relationship between the degree of development of rural communities and the socioeconomic characteristics of women who live in those territories. The analysis follows a methodology based on three types of multivariate techniques: the principal component analysis, the multiple regression analysis and the analysis of clusters. The results show that the economic and social participation of women in rural areas is a precondition to achieve a higher level of welfare and development in these areas.[ES] La participación de la mujer en el tejido socioeconómico de las zonas rurales se ha visto frecuentemente infravalorada. Sin embargo, desde hace pocos años existe una clara conciencia por parte de los poderes públicos de que la inclusión de la mujer en las estrategias de dinamización socioeconómica del mundo rural es fundamental para fijar población y generar renta y empleo. El objetivo de este trabajo se centra en determinar la contribución económica de la mujer en el desarrollo del medio rural de la Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León. Para ello, se ha analizado la relación existente entre el grado de desarrollo de los municipios rurales y las características socioeconómicas de las mujeres que los habitan. Para alcanzar tal fin, se han empleado tres tipos de técnicas multivariantes: el análisis de componentes principales, la regresión múltiple y el análisis de conglomerados. Los resultados alcanzados permiten afirmar que la participación económica y social de la mujer en el medio rural de Castilla y León se configura como una condición indispensable para alcanzar un mayor bienestar y nivel de desarrollo en esas zonas.Rico-González, M.; Gómez García, JM. (2011). Women contribution to the rural economy of Castilla y León. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 9(2):51-77. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2009.02.03SWORD51779

Diagnostic and assessment of specific and transversal competences in Chemistry studies in a distance education program

[EN] The current socioeconomic conditions require highly educated professional with new curricula requirements and new skills, professionals with initiative and abilities able to be adapted to different situations and contexts. Consequently, the university education system must ensure that students achieve competences that involve the combination of knowledge, attitudes and values that enable a qualified person to undertake the resolution of problems or able to evolve in a new professional or social context. To achieve this goal, universities must find and use the most suitable tools to adapt and create higher education programs to respond to the needs of today’s society, tuning academic and professional profiles. On the other hand, there is a significant growth of enrolling students in distance education universities and several distance education programs are available in most universities. Thus, the aim of this communication is to share the results obtained during the development of a teaching innovation project, which assessed interdisciplinary, specific and transversal competences, by means of a post-task objective test, in the Chemistry undergraduate studies at the National University of Distance Education, (UNED) of Spain. The results of this study have allowed to the professors board to analyse and assess the competences acquired by the students, pointing out the main deficiencies to be solved by re-designing the teaching activities and methodologies to ensure a complete success.González-Gómez, D.; Gallego-Picó, A.; Garcinuño, RM.; Morcillo, MJ.; Durand, J.; Fernández, P. (2015). Diagnostic and assessment of specific and transversal competences in Chemistry studies in a distance education program. En 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION ADVANCES (HEAD' 15). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 576-580. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.31157658

Durum and Bread Wheat Flours. Preliminary Mineral Characterization and Its Potential Health Claims

Wheat is one of the most important cereals in terms of its role in the human diet. The distribution of the nutrients in wheat grains depends largely on their morphology, the bran fraction being the richest in minerals, thus developing important functions related to human health. The main purpose of this study was to point out the potential nutritional and health claims related to the mineral composition based on the current European legislation in order to valorize the interesting wheat varieties traditionally consumed in Spain. The mineral composition (microelements: Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn; and macrolements: Ca, Mg, Na, and K) were evaluated in different milling fractions (white flour, whole grain flour, and bran fraction) of 4 wheat varieties of durum (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum Linnaeus) and bread (Triticum aestivum Linnaeus) wheat. As expected, the mineral concentration was higher in the case of bran and whole grain flour, K and Mg being the principal minerals found. A difference between wheat genotype and harvesting year have been found. Moreover, regarding these preliminary results, some samples analysed in the present study met the conditions of use of different approved health claims that could support the possibility to consider wheat flours, especially whole grain flour and bran fraction as functional foods, but some did not.Depto. de Nutrición y Ciencia de los AlimentosFac. de FarmaciaTRUESpanish Ministry of Science and Technology (project reference AGL2012-38345)ALIMNOVA research group (UCM 252/2017)pu

Review of Professionals Accreditation Systems and their relation to Higher Education Studies in the branch of Engineering

[EN] This paper aims to analyze and compare the accreditation systems of people applying to higher education professionals independently of the area of accreditation to which they belong. To do this, we will analyze five certification systems: Project Management Institute (PMI), Registration and Certification Center of People (CERPER), General Council of Industrial Engineering (COGITI), Association of Naval Architects and Ocean (COIN) and National Qualifications Authority (INCUAL) based on eleven indicators derived from the study of different sources of information. This comparative allows us to analyze and evidence the similarities and differences of existing accreditation systems of people.Lama Ruiz, JR.; Martín Gómez, AM.; Ávila Gutiérrez, MJ.; Aguayo González, F. (2014). Review of Professionals Accreditation Systems and their relation to Higher Education Studies in the branch of Engineering. Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences. 1(1):101-120. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/muse.2014.2197.SWORD10112011Cardoza, A. (2011). Comparación de cuatro sistemas de certificación del ámbito de la dirección de proyectos. XV Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de Proyectos, 1(1), 411-428.CGA-ENAC (2009). Criterios Generales de Acreditación. Competencia Técnica de las Entidades de Certificación de Personas. Entidad Nacional de Acreditación.DCP (2011). Normativa de acreditación de la formación continua y la experiencia profesional (DPC) de ingenieros técnicos industriales e ingenieros de grado de la rama industrial en Espa-a, COGITI.Lomo, L. (2011). COIN Plan de futuro de las instituciones. Madrid, Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Navales.PMBOK (2013). Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 5ª Ed, Pennsylvania, Project Management Body of Knowledge. CERPER (2011). AEC Proceso de certificación de personas. Asociación Espa-ola para la Calidad.Rodríguez, R. (2012). INCUAL Catálogo Nacional de Cualificaciones Profesionales. Instituto Nacional de las Cualificaciones.Torres, F. and Abud, I. (2004). Análisis mediante categorías universales de las competencias exigidas al Ingeniero Industrial por los organismos internacionales de acreditación. XII Congreso Universitario de Innovación Educativa en las Ense-anzas Técnicas, 1(1), 1048-1059

Assessment of global DNA methylation in peripheral blood cell subpopulations of early rheumatoid arthritis before and after methotrexate

INTRODUCTION: DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism regulating gene expression that has been insufficiently studied in the blood of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, as only T cells and total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with established RA have been studied and with conflicting results. METHOD: Five major blood cell subpopulations: T, B and NK cells, monocytes, and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, were isolated from 19 early RA patients and 17 healthy controls. Patient samples were taken before and 1 month after the start of treatment with methotrexate (MTX). Analysis included DNA methylation with high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry-selected reaction monitoring (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS-SRM) and expression levels of seven methylation-specific enzymes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). RESULTS: Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive early RA patients showed global DNA hypomethylation in T cells and monocytes, together with a lower expression of DNA methyltrasnferase 1 (DNMT1), the maintenance DNA methyltransferase, which was also decreased in B cells. Furthermore, significantly increased expression of ten-eleven translocation1 (TET1), TET2 and TET3, enzymes involved in demethylation, was found in monocytes and of TET2 in T cells. There was also modest decreased expression of DNMT3A in B cells and of growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible protein 45A (GADD45A) in T and B cells. Treatment with MTX reverted hypomethylation in T cells and monocytes, which were no longer different from controls, and increased global methylation in B cells. In addition, DNMT1 and DNMT3A showed a trend to reversion of their decreased expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm global DNA hypomethylation in patients with RA with specificity for some blood cell subpopulations and their reversal with methotrexate treatment. These changes are accompanied by parallel changes in the levels of enzymes involved in methylation, suggesting the possibility of regulation at this level

Investigating the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict the quality of Mediterranean permanent grasslands in open woodlands

The assessment of pasture quality in permanent grasslands is essential for their conservation and management, as it can contribute to making real-time decisions for livestock management. In this study, we assessed the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict forage quality in high diverse Mediterranean permanent grasslands of open woodlands. We evaluated the performance of Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS) models to predict crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and enzyme digestibility of organic matter (EDOM) by using three different reflectance datasets: (i) laboratory measurements of reflectance of dry and ground pasture samples re-sampled to Sentinel-2 configuration (Spec-lab) (ii) field in-situ measurements of grasslands canopy reflectance resampled to Sentinel-2 configuration (Spec-field); (iii) and Bottom Of Atmosphere Sentinel-2 imagery. For the three reflectance datasets, the models to predict CP content showed moderate performance and predictive ability. Mean R2test = 0.68 were obtained using Spec-lab data, mean R2test decreased by 0.11 with Spec-field and by 0.18 when Sentinel-2 reflectance was used. Statistics for NDF showed worse predictions than those obtained for CP: predictions produced with Spec-lab showed mean R2test = 0.64 and mean RPDtest = 1.73. The mean values of R2test = 0.50 and RPDtest = 1.54 using Sentinel-2 BOA reflectance were marginally better than the values obtained with Spec-field (mean R2test = 0.48, mean RPDtest = 1.43). For ADF and EDOM, only predictions made with Spec-lab produced acceptable results. Bands from the red-edge region, especially band 5, and the SWIR regions showed the highest contribution to estimating CP and NDF. Bands 2, blue and 4, red also seem to be important. The implementation of field spectroscopy in combination with Sentinel-2 imagery proved to be feasible to produce forage quality maps and to develop larger datasets. This study contributes to increasing knowledge of the potential and applicability of Sentinel-2 to predict the quality of Mediterranean permanent grasslands in open woodlands

Determining the influence of N-acetylation on water sorption in chitosan films

Water absorption in chitosan rapidly increases when the deacetylation degree decreases between 85 and 45%. This seems to contradict the fact that water absorption in chitin is much lower than that of chitosan. The aim of this paper is to understand this feature by measuring the main parameters affecting equilibrium water content. Since swelling capacity depends on the water–polymer interaction, the Flory Huggins interaction parameter was evaluated, finding small or null dependence on the deacetylation degree. Other factor influencing elastic energy is chain stiffness related to the elastic modulus that was measured as a function of deacetylation degree. Besides, crystalline structure was measured by X-ray diffraction patterns as a characteristic of cross-linking density. These observations led us to conclude that the instability of crystals during the swelling process increases with decreasing deacetylation degree, explaining the high equilibrium water content of low deacetylation chitosans.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the MAT2013-46467-C4-1-R project, including FEDER funds. CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund.Gámiz González, MA.; Piskin, AE.; Pandis, C.; Chatzimanolis-Moustakas, C.; Kyritsis, A.; Marí Soucase, B.; Gómez Ribelles, JL.... (2015). Determining the influence of N-acetylation on water sorption in chitosan films. Carbohydrate Polymers. 133:110-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.07.02011011613

Propuesta de intervención para la enseñanza de las propiedades de la materia en educación primaria

En este trabajo se plantea una intervención didáctica para el aprendizaje de las mezclas y algunas propiedades de la materia con alumnos de de 2º de Educación Primaria. La intervención consistió en una actividad práctica donde se realizaron cuatro talleres sobre los temas de estudio. En primer lugar se indagó sobre las ideas previas que presentaban los alumnos sobre las mezclas y las propiedades de la materia, utilizando un cuestionario. Seguidamente se realizó la intervención y al finalizar se pasó el mismo cuestionario, pero incluyendo preguntas sobre aspectos relacionados con la realización de la práctica. Los resultados obtenidos después de la intervención muestran que aumentó el número de alumnos que identificaron correctamente las propiedades de la materia y además se han sentido motivados con esta forma de trabajo porque han aprendido de una manera distinta a la habitual y han valorado trabajar en grupo