La reorganització dels temps de la vida quotidiana a les llars catalanes amb fills i filles adolescents

En les darreres dècades, a Catalunya la institució familiar ha patit una mutació extraordinària. Aquest canvi afecta dimensions múltiples, tant estructurals com de relació amb les dinàmiques quotidianes de la vida familiar. Com no podia ser d'una altra manera, aquestes tendències de canvi finalment repercuteixen, d'una manera o altra, sobre els projectes vitals de les persones membres i, en particular, sobre aquelles la biografia de les quals inicia el seu camí en el si de les famílies. Com a resultat d'aquestes transformacions, una de les preocupacions que les famílies amb fills i filles menors d'edat (o altres persones dependents) expressen més sovint són les dificultats que tenen per organitzar i coordinar de manera satisfactòria els espais i els temps en què es desenvolupa la seva vida quotidiana (treball remunerat i treball familiar de les persones adultes, escola dels infants, ús de transports, manteniment d'atencions als ascendents amb qui es viu o que viuen en una altra llar, manteniment de la llar, subministrament d'aliments i arranjaments domèstics, compres, visites mèdiques, ús d'altres serveis necessaris, necessitats de lleure i associació, etc.). Les seves vides són una cursa contínua contra el temps per poder organitzar i compartir temps i espais

Identificación y caracterización de genes implicados en la maduración y la calidad de la fresa

Ripening is a critical step for the development of flavor quality in fruits. This character has significantly declined in many fleshy fruits over recent decades. This is particularly significant in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa), where current cultivars are derived from a narrow germplasm collection. Improving fruit quality requires two important breakthroughs: 1) a precise understanding of the fruit ripening process that will allow the targeting of relevant genes, and 2) the identification of novel alleles responsible for fruit quality traits. In our project (TRANSFR-Q, Starting Grant-ERC), we aim at the identification and characterization of key transcription factors involved in fruit ripening regulation and their target genes, in order to infer the Gene Regulatory Network controlling this process. On the other hand, we are carrying out a Genome-Wide Association Study using a germplasm collection of the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) in order to identify loci involved in important traits such as aroma, fruit size, and resistance to pathogens. Finally, we have implemented the use of the genome-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 in the cultivated strawberry, which we expect to open opportunities for engineering this species to improve traits of economic importance.ERC Starting Grant ERC-2014-StG 63813

Transcriptional regulatory network controlling strawberry fruit ripening and quality

Ripening is a critical step for the development of flavor quality in fruits. This character has significantly declined in many fleshy fruits over recent decades. This is particularly significant in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa), where current cultivars are derived from a narrow germplasm collection. Improving fruit quality requires two important breakthroughs: 1) a precise understanding of the fruit ripening process that will allow the targeting of relevant genes, and 2) the identification of novel alleles responsible for fruit quality traits. In our project, we aim at the identification and characterization of key transcription factors involved in fruit ripening regulation and their target genes, in order to infer the Gene Regulatory Network controlling this process. On the other hand, we are carrying out a Genome-Wide Association Study using a germplasm collection of the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) in order to identify loci involved in important traits such as aroma, fruit size or resistance to pathogens. Finally, we have implemented the use of the genome-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 in the cultivated strawberry, which we expect it might open opportunities for engineering this species to improve traits of economic importance.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Identification and functional validation of methyl ketone synthase 2 in woodland strawberry

Methyl ketones are compounds with demonstrated insect repellent effects. They are highly abundant in the glandular trichomes of wild tomato (Solanum habrochaites), where their pathway was first described, but not in the cultivated species (S. lycopersicum). Their synthesis derives from fatty acids in a two-step process mediated by a thioesterase (ShMKS2) and a decarboxylase (ShMKS1). Higher diversity and quantity of methyl ketones are present in the volatilome of woodland strawberry ripe fruits than in those of F. × ananassa. The aim of this study is to reveal the genetic basis of methyl ketone production in strawberry fruit. We quantified methyl ketones (2-heptanone, 2-nonanone, 2-undecanone), their secondary alcohols (2-heptanol, 2-nonanol, 2-undecanol) and the methyl esters of their fatty acid precursors (methyl octanoate, methyl decanoate, methyl dodecanoate) by GC-MS in a natural collection of European woodland strawberry, that comprises 199 accessions fully genotyped with >1.8 M SNPs representing the continental diversity. Conducting a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS), we identified a candidate region linked to methyl ketones accumulation harbouring three homologues of ShMKS2: FvMKS2A, FvMKS2B and FvMKS2C. Interestingly, FvMKS2A, which presented two alleles in the European collection (FvMKS2A-1 and FvMKS2A-2), is the only FvMKS2 paralog expressed in woodland strawberry fruit, being up-regulated during ripening. Functional validation of all candidate genes and alleles by transient over-expression and silencing in both Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and F. vesca fruits has revealed that FvMKS2A and FvMKS2B, but not FvMKS2C, are capable of synthesizing methyl ketones, and point to a single SNP in FvMKS2A as responsible for the enzymatic substrate specificity, supporting FvMKS2A as the main MKS2 paralog responsible for methyl ketones in woodland strawberries.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Study of Transcriptional Regulatory Network Controlling Strawberry Fruit Ripening and Quality

Ripening is a critical step for the development of flavor quality in fruits. This character has significantly declined in many fleshy fruits over recent decades. This is particularly significant in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa), where current cultivars are derived from a narrow germplasm collection. Improving fruit quality requires two important breakthroughs: 1) a precise understanding of the fruit ripening process that will allow the targeting of relevant genes, and 2) the identification of novel alleles responsible for fruit quality traits. In our project we aim at the identification and characterization of key transcription factors involved in fruit ripening regulation and their target genes, in order to infer the Gene Regulatory Network controlling this process. On the other hand, we are carrying out a Genome-Wide Association Study using a germplasm collection of the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) in order to identify loci involved in important traits such as aroma, fruit size, and resistance to pathogens. Finally, we have implemented the use of the genome-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 in the cultivated strawberry, which we expect to open opportunities for engineering this species to improve traits of economic importance.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Psychometric characteristics of the Spanish version of instruments to measure neck pain disability

[EN] Background. The NDI, COM and NPQ are evaluation instruments for disability due to NP. There was no Spanish version of NDI or COM for which psychometric characteristics were known. The objectives of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the Spanish version of the Neck Disability Index Questionnaire (NDI), and the Core Outcome Measure (COM), to validate its use in Spanish speaking patients with non-specific neck pain (NP), and to compare their psychometric characteristics with those of the Spanish version of the Northwick Pain Questionnaire (NPQ). Methods. Translation/re-translation of the English versions of the NDI and the COM was done blindly and independently by a multidisciplinary team. The study was done in 9 primary care Centers and 12 specialty services from 9 regions in Spain, with 221 acute, subacute and chronic patients who visited their physician for NP: 54 in the pilot phase and 167 in the validation phase. Neck pain (VAS), referred pain (VAS), disability (NDI, COM and NPQ), catastrophizing (CSQ) and quality of life (SF-12) were measured on their first visit and 14 days later. Patients' self-assessment was used as the external criterion for pain and disability. In the pilot phase, patients' understanding of each item in the NDI and COM was assessed, and on day 1 test-retest reliability was estimated by giving a second NDI and COM in which the name of the questionnaires and the order of the items had been changed. Results. Comprehensibility of NDI and COM were good. Minutes needed to fill out the questionnaires [median, (P25, P75)]: NDI. 4 (2.2, 10.0), COM: 2.1 (1.0, 4.9). Reliability: [ICC, (95%CI)]: NDI: 0.88 (0.80, 0.93). COM: 0.85 (0.75,0.91). Sensitivity to change: Effect size for patients having worsened, not changed and improved between days 1 and 15, according to the external criterion for disability: NDI: -0.24, 0.15, 0.66; NPQ: -0.14, 0.06, 0.67; COM: 0.05, 0.19, 0.92. Validity: Results of NDI, NPQ and COM were consistent with the external criterion for disability, whereas only those from NDI were consistent with the one for pain. Correlations with VAS, CSQ and SF-12 were similar for NDI and NPQ (absolute values between 0.36 and 0.50 on day 1, between 0.38 and 0.70 on day 15), and slightly lower for COM (between 0.36 and 0.48 on day 1, and between 0.33 and 0.61 on day 15). Correlation between NDI and NPQ: r = 0.84 on day 1, r = 0.91 on day 15. Correlation between COM and NPQ: r = 0.63 on day 1, r = 0.71 on day 15. Conclusion. Although most psychometric characteristics of NDI, NPQ and COM are similar, those from the latter one are worse and its use may lead to patients' evolution seeming more positive than it actually is. NDI seems to be the best instrument for measuring NP-related disability, since its results are the most consistent with patient's assessment of their own clinical status and evolution. It takes two more minutes to answer the NDI than to answer the COM, but it can be reliably filled out by the patient without assistanceS

La adquisición del lenguaje matemático: un difícil equilibrio entre el rigor y la significación

El pensamiento y el lenguaje matemático se caracterizan por su autonomía con respecto a lo real. Frente a la ambigüedad propia de los lenguajes naturales, la potencia generalizadora y el rigor del lenguaje formal proviene de la exclusión del contenido metafórico. No obstante, tan importante como dominar el significado formal de las expresiones matemáticas es reconocer su significado referencial. Sin embargo, para la mayoría de los alumnos los simbolismos matemáticos se reducen a una mera sintaxis desprovista de cualquier significado referencial. El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar que el contenido referencial juega un papel esencial en la construcción de los simbolismos matemáticos. Estos tienen su origen en la experiencia social y la comunicación, y van transformando su significación a través de un proceso que se desarrolla en estrecha vinculación con sus referentes conceptuales y situacionales y que se apoya en la utilización, junto a los símbolos propiamente matemáticos, de códigos no formales, como el dibujo, los esquemas o el lenguaje natural

Estudio evolutivo de las conductas de clasificación en el niño: aspectos lingüísticos y perceptivos

Piaget and Inhelder�s (1959) basic ideas are first analysed and work on classification and inclusion are then reviwed, both from linguistic and perceptual points of view. An experiment verifies the importance of the use of specific linguistic cues for 4;6 to 8;6 year old children. Results show that; 1) the conjunction �that� in inclusion tasks contributes to child success up to 6;6 years of age with respect to the disjunctive �or�; 2) similarly, the presence of the adverb �more� is more adequate than �less� up to 6;6 years of age; 3) finally, the verb �to have� seems to make the inclusion task easier from 6;6 years of age. The second experiment carried out with children from 4;0 to 8;0 years of age shows the importance of the expressiveness of classification criteria, mainly for older children, which gives way to two styles of categorization, one applied to dimensions, and the other to perceptive configurations. It also shows that inclusion reasoning is generally facilitated, while the cardinals of the subclasses which form the correspondent superordinate class differ.Se analizan primeramente las ideas básicas de la clásica obra de Piaget e Inhelder (1959), revisando después la literatura posterior en torno a la clasificación e inclusión, desde la doble vertiente lingüística y perceptiva. Un primer experimento verifica la importancia del uso de determinadas claves lingüísticas en niños de 4;6 a 8:6 años, encontrando entre otros datos: 1) la conjunción en tareas de inclusión facilita el éxito infantil hasta los 6;6 años con respecto a la disyuntiva ; 2) igualmente, la presencia del adverbio resulta más adecuada que hasta los 6;6 años; 3) finalmente, el verbo parece simplificar la tarea inclusiva a partir de los 6;6 años. El experimento II, con niños de 4;0 a 8;0 años resalta la importancia de la expresividad de los criterios clasificatorios, sobre todo para niños mayores, dando lugar a dos estilos de categorización: bien por dimensiones, bien por configuraciones perceptivas. Además muestra que el razonamiento inclusivo se facilita en general a medida que discrepan los cardinales de las subclases que componen la clase supraordenada correspondiente

La representación gráfica de la multiplicación aritmética: una experiencia de aprendizaje

Multiplication, graphic representation, generalization, code construction.La teoría de Piaget abre grandes posibilidades a la educación, pero su aplicación en el aula requiere una investigación rigurosa que nos muestre las significaciones que el alumno atribuye a los contenidos concretos que debe aprender. En esta línea se presenta una experiencia de aprendizaje de la representación gráfica de la multiplicación aritmética con un grupo reducido de alumnos de 3.º de EGB. Se analizan los procesos de generalización que se producen al cambiar de un contexto (manipulativo) a otro (gráfico), así como las características del proceso de construcción de un código en su doble vertiente cognitiva y social