Understanding cultural barriers and opportunities for developing new apprenticeship programmes

There is increasing interest in many countries in training models that are practice-oriented and correspond to the needs of the labour market. The new Spanish dual system of apprenticeship (FP Dual) for teaching and learning was first implemented in the Valencia Community in 2012. Although FP Dual enjoys considerable support from institutions and from politicians who believe it has the potential to reduce youth unemployment, the dual system is still in a pilot stage. This report is based on research based in Valencia, to explore the cultural and organisational norms and the barriers and opportunities these afford to introducing apprenticeship. The research included interviews with different stakeholders. The findings reported here are seen as the precursor to a longer-term study. Existe hoy en muchos países un interés creciente por modelos de formación que estén orientados por la práctica y respondan a las necesidades del mercado de trabajo. El nuevo sistema de Aprendizaje Dual (FP Dual) para enseñar y aprender, se implantó en la Comunidad Valenciana en 2012. Si bien la FP Dual goza de considerable apoyo por parte de instituciones y de políticos que creen en su potencial para reducir el desempleo juvenil, el hecho es que se encuentra todavía en una fase piloto. Este informe se basa en la investigación llevada a cabo en Valencia (2016/2017) con objeto de explorar las normas culturales y organizacionales y las barreras y las oportunidades que pueden afectar y/o contribuir a su introducción. La investigación, fase inicial de proyecto más amplio, incluye entrevistas con las diferentes partes interesadas. Existeix avui en molts països un interès creixent per models de formació que estiguin orientats cap a la pràctica i responguin a les necessitats del mercat de treball. El nou sistema d'Aprenentatge Dual (FP Dual) per a ensenyar i aprendre, es va implantar a la Comunitat Valenciana en 2012. Si bé la FPdual gaudeix de considerable suport  per institucions i per polítics que creuen en el seu potencial per reduir la desocupació juvenil, el fet es que es troba encara en una fase pilot. El present informe es basa i dóna compter de la investigació realitzada a València (2016-2017) al objecte d?explorar les normes culturals i organitzacionals  així com les barreres i les oportunitats que puguen afectar i/o contribuir a la seva introducció, La investigació, fase inicial de projecte més ampli,  inclou entrevistes amb les diferents parts interessades

A genomic approach highlights common and diverse effects and determinants of susceptibility on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae exposed to distinct antimicrobial peptides

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) was initially correlated with peptide membrane permeation properties. However, recent evidences indicate that action of a number of AMP is more complex and involves specific interactions at cell envelopes or with intracellular targets. In this study, a genomic approach was undertaken on the model yeast <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>to characterize the antifungal effect of two unrelated AMP.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two differentiated peptides were used: the synthetic cell-penetrating PAF26 and the natural cytolytic melittin. Transcriptomic analyses demonstrated distinctive gene expression changes for each peptide. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed differential expression of selected genes. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation of differential gene lists showed that the unique significant terms shared by treatment with both peptides were related to the cell wall (CW). Assays with mutants lacking CW-related genes including those of MAPK signaling pathways revealed genes having influence on sensitivity to peptides. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry demonstrated PAF26 interaction with cells and internalization that correlated with cell killing in sensitive CW-defective mutants such as Δ<it>ecm33 </it>or Δ<it>ssd1</it>. GO annotation also showed differential responses between peptides, which included ribosomal biogenesis, <it>ARG </it>genes from the metabolism of amino groups (specifically induced by PAF26), or the reaction to unfolded protein stress. Susceptibility of deletion mutants confirmed the involvement of these processes. Specifically, mutants lacking <it>ARG </it>genes from the metabolism of arginine pathway were markedly more resistant to PAF26 and had a functional CW. In the deletant in the arginosuccinate synthetase (<it>ARG1</it>) gene, PAF26 interaction occurred normally, thus uncoupling peptide interaction from cell killing. The previously described involvement of the glycosphingolipid gene <it>IPT1 </it>was extended to the peptides studied here.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Reinforcement of CW is a general response common after exposure to distinct AMP, and likely contributes to shield cells from peptide interaction. However, a weakened CW is not necessarily indicative of a higher sensitivity to AMP. Additional processes modulate susceptibility to specific peptides, exemplified in the involvement of the metabolism of amino groups in the case of PAF26. The relevance of the response to unfolded protein stress or the sphingolipid biosynthesis, previously reported for other unrelated AMP, was also independently confirmed.</p

Non-standard connections in classical mechanics

In the jet-bundle description of first-order classical field theories there are some elements, such as the lagrangian energy and the construction of the hamiltonian formalism, which require the prior choice of a connection. Bearing these facts in mind, we analyze the situation in the jet-bundle description of time-dependent classical mechanics. So we prove that this connection-dependence also occurs in this case, although it is usually hidden by the use of the ``natural'' connection given by the trivial bundle structure of the phase spaces in consideration. However, we also prove that this dependence is dynamically irrelevant, except where the dynamical variation of the energy is concerned. In addition, the relationship between first integrals and connections is shown for a large enough class of lagrangians.Comment: 17 pages, Latex fil

Towards a more complete description of nucleon distortion in lepton-induced single-pion production at low-Q2Q^2

Theoretical predictions for lepton-induced single-pion production (SPP) on $^{12}$C are revisited in order to assess the effect of different treatments of the current operator. On one hand we have the asymptotic approximation, which consists in replacing the particle four-vectors that enter in the operator by their asymptotic values, i.e., their values out of the nucleus. On the other hand we have the full calculation, which is a more accurate approach to the problem. We also compare with results in which the final nucleon is described by a relativistic plane wave, to rate the effect of the nucleon distortion. The study is performed for several lepton kinematics, reproducing inclusive and semi-inclusive cross sections belonging to the low-$Q^2$ region (between 0.05 and 1 GeV$^2$), which is of special interest in charged-current (CC) neutrino-nucleus 1$\pi$ production. Inclusive electron results are compared with experimental data. We find non-trivial corrections comparable in size with the effect of the nucleon distortion, namely, corrections up to 6\%, either increasing or diminishing the asymptotic prediction, and a shift of the distributions towards higher energy transfer. For the semi-inclusive cross sections, we observe the correction to be prominent mainly at low values of the outgoing nucleon kinetic energy. Finally, for CC neutrino-induced 1$\pi^+$ production, we find a reduction at low-$Q^2$ with respect to both the plane-wave approach and the asymptotic case

Study of tyrosine and dopa enantiomers as tyrosinase substrates initiating L‐ and D‐melanogenesis pathways

Tyrosinase starts melanogenesis and determines its course, catalyzing the oxidation by molecular oxygen of tyrosine to dopa, and that of dopa to dopaquinone. Then, nonenzymatic coupling reactions lead to dopachrome, which evolves toward melanin. Recently, it has been reported that d‐tyrosine acts as tyrosinase inhibitor and depigmenting agent. The action of tyrosinase on the enantiomers of tyrosine (l‐tyrosine and d‐tyrosine) and dopa (l‐dopa and d‐dopa) was studied for the first time focusing on quantitative transient phase kinetics. Post‐steady‐state transient phase studies revealed that l‐dopachrome is formed more rapidly than d‐dopachrome. This is due to the lower values of Michaelis constants for l‐enantiomers than for d‐enantiomers, although the maximum rates are equal for both enantiomers. A deeper analysis of the inter‐steady‐state transient phase of monophenols demonstrated that the enantiomer d‐tyrosine causes a longer lag period and a lower steady‐state rate, than l‐tyrosine at the same concentration. Therefore, d‐melanogenesis from d‐tyrosine occurs more slowly than does l‐melanogenesis from l‐tyrosine, which suggests the apparent inhibition of melanin biosynthesis by d‐tyrosine. As conclusion, d‐tyrosine acts as a real substrate of tyrosinase, with low catalytic efficiency and, therefore, delays the formation of d‐melanin

A Multi-Criteria Meta-Fuzzy-Scheduler for Independent Tasks in Grid Computing

The paradigm of distributed computation in heterogeneous resources, grid computing, has given rise to a large amount of research on resource scheduling. This paper presents a Meta-Scheduler for grid computing that does not need any given information about tasks length or tasks arrival time unlike traditional dynamic heuristics. Our Meta-Scheduler is of multi-criteria type, because it solves two conflicting objectives: minimize the makespan of a set of tasks and distribute these tasks in a balanced way among the resources of the Grid. Experimental results using fuzzy scheduler show that, through our proposal, we achieve these two objectives and improve dynamic heuristics presented in prior literature

Ab initio evaluation of the charge-ordering in α′NaV2O5\alpha^\prime NaV_2O_5

We report {\it ab initio} calculations of the charge ordering in $\alpha^\prime NaV_2O_5$ using large configurations interaction methods on embedded fragments. Our major result is that the $2p_y$ electrons of the bridging oxygen of the rungs present a very strong magnetic character and should thus be explicitly considered in any relevant effective model. The most striking consequence of this result is that the spin and charge ordering differ substantially, as differ the experimental results depending on whether they are sensitive to the spin or charge density.Comment: 4 page

The effect of glass ionomer and adhesive cements on substance P expression in human dental pulp

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of glass ionomer and adhesive cements on SP expression in healthy human dental pulp. Study Design: Forty pulp samples were obtained from healthy premolars where extraction was indicated for orthodontic reasons. In thirty of these premolars a Class V cavity preparation was performed and teeth were equally divided in three groups: Experimental Group I: Glass Ionomer cement was placed in the cavity. Experimental Group II: Adhesive Cement was placed in the cavity. Positive control group: Class V cavities only. The remaining ten healthy premolars where extracted without treatment and served as a negative control group. All pulp samples were processed and SP was measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: Greater SP expression was found in the adhesive cement group, followed by the glass ionomer and the positive control groups. The lower SP values were for the negative control group. ANOVA showed statistically significant differences between groups (p<0.0001). Tukey HSD post hoc tests showed statistically significant differences in SP expression between negative control group and the 3 other groups (p<0.01). Differences between the cavity-only group and the two experimental groups were also statistically significant (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively). There is also a statistically significant difference between the two experimental groups (p<0.01). Conclusions: These findings suggest that adhesive cements provoke a greater SP expression when compared with glass ionomer

Morphometric and microstructural characteristics of hippocampal subfields in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and their correlates with mnemonic discrimination.

Pattern separation (PS) is a fundamental aspect of memory creation that defines the ability to transform similar memory representations into distinct ones, so they do not overlap when storing and retrieving them. Experimental evidence in animal models and the study of other human pathologies have demonstrated the role of the hippocampus in PS, in particular of the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3. Patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HE) commonly report mnemonic deficits that have been associated with failures in PS. However, the link between these impairments and the integrity of the hippocampal subfields in these patients has not yet been determined. The aim of this work is to explore the association between the ability to perform mnemonic functions and the integrity of hippocampal CA1, CA3, and DG in patients with unilateral MTLE-HE. To reach this goal we evaluated the memory of patients with an improved object mnemonic similarity test. We then analyzed the hippocampal complex structural and microstructural integrity using diffusion weighted imaging. Our results indicate that patients with unilateral MTLE-HE present alterations in both volume and microstructural properties at the level of the hippocampal subfields DG, CA1, CA3, and the subiculum, that sometimes depend on the lateralization of their epileptic focus. However, none of the specific changes was found to be directly related to the performance of the patients in a pattern separation task, which might indicate a contribution of various alterations to the mnemonic deficits or the key contribution of other structures to the function. we established for the first time the alterations in both the volume and the microstructure at the level of the hippocampal subfields in a group of unilateral MTLE patients. We observed that these changes are greater in the DG and CA1 at the macrostructural level, and in CA3 and CA1 in the microstructural level. None of these changes had a direct relation to the performance of the patients in a pattern separation task, which suggests a contribution of various alterations to the loss of function