Good practices in school to educate critical citizens: the youth parliament programme from the perspective of secondary school teachers in training

ERPA International Congresses on Education 2018This paper refers to the European project Erasmus + ELEF (European Learning Environment Formats for Citizenship and Democracy, Reference number 580426). The aim of this project is to develop, implement, evaluate and replicate democratic and innovative learning environments (good practices) in both educational institutions and informal and community learning environments. In this context, over the course of a year, a number of experiences considered relevant have been selected, which constitute the sample of this research on good practices. This contribution presents the educational programme “Youth Parliament”. This is a project with a long history and whose main objective is to train responsible citizens, with the collaboration of various educational agents. The evaluation carried out by the Secondary Education teachers in training on the potentialities and limitations of the programme is shown, based on the experiences carried out in the participating educational centres during the academic year 2016-2017

Development of milk exosome-based probes for biomedical imaging

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles naturally secreted by living cells, intended for the exchange of information between them. Their physicochemical characteristics, featured by nanometric size and lipid bilayer structure, make them similar to the synthetic liposomes designed to be applied in the field of biomedicine. In addition, exosomes have associated an intrinsic biological role, which confers them natural tropism to certain tissues and pathological processes. Taken together, these characteristics suggest the potential use of exosomes as natural platforms to design new nanoprobes for molecular imaging, overcoming the limitations presented by nanoparticles traditionally used in this research field, generally associated with their toxicity and in vivo stability. As source of exosomes, milk stands out due to its high content of these nanovesicles, with proven functionality as carriers of molecules and drugs. The main goal of this thesis was to develop milk exosome-based probes for the detection of several pathologies by molecular imaging. To reach this aim, the project was divided in four specific objectives, as follows: i) establishing an optimal protocol for the isolation of exosomes from, in this case, commercial goat milk, according to the milk characteristics and the resources available in the research laboratory, ii) exploring alternative strategies for the radioactive and fluorescent labeling of exosomes, overcoming the limitations of current approaches, iii) determining the in vivo pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the exosome-based probes, to elucidate their natural behavior in healthy mice and iv) evaluating the capacity of the exosome-based probes to target inflammatory processes, as potential nanoplatforms for diagnosis. Thus, first contribution of this thesis is to describe for first time an isolation protocol based on the combination of physical and biological approaches to obtain pure and homogeneous milk exosome samples. By means of physicochemical, proteomic and biological characterization, the efficacy of the biophysical protocol was demonstrated, as well as the exosomal nature of the isolated vesicles and their non-toxicity in healthy mice. The second contribution of this thesis is based on the development of new chemical strategies for the labeling of exosomes with both radioisotopes and fluorophores. In the case of the radiochemical labeling, exosomes were labeled with Technetium-99, by the passive incorporation of this isotope into the nanovesicle structure. The main advantages of this straightforward approach is that it does not require a chelator for the coordination of the radiometal and employs mild conditions that avoid the chemical modification or degradation of the exosomes. The second chemical approach presented in this thesis is the fluorescent labeling of exosomes. Current methodologies for the fluorescent labeling of exosomes involve advanced knowledge of genetic engineering or result in unstable fluorescent probes that can lead to false positives. This thesis proposes a labeling strategy based on the covalent binding of commercial fluorophores to the functional groups available on the exosome surface. This strong chemical bond ensures the stability of the nanoprobe, preventing the release of the fluorophore. In both cases, physicochemical characterization of the resulting molecular probes showed that the original properties of the exosomes are not altered after the corresponding labeling. The third contribution of this work is the in vivo evaluation by nuclear and optical techniques of the natural behavior of labeled goat milk exosomes after exogenous administration in healthy mice. By means of SPECT/CT imaging and ex vivo evaluation, it was determined that the way of administering the exosome-based probe significantly alters their pharmacokinetic and biodistribution parameters. On the other hand, both optical and nuclear imaging revealed the high accumulation of the nanoprobes in liver after intravenous injection, due to its high uptake by hepatocytes and Kupffer cells. This finding could endorse their future used in the field of hepatic diseases. Last contribution of this thesis deals with the evaluation of the exosome-based probes for diagnostic of inflammatory pathologies. Based on the literature, goat milk exosomes are involved in the immune response and inflammation. For this reason, a fluorescent exosome-based probe developed in this thesis was evaluated in vitro against cells related to the inflammatory process and in vivo in a peritonitis mouse model, by different optical imaging techniques. Fluorescent exosomes demonstrated their ability to detect the inflammatory process underlying the disease, presenting particular uptake by the proinflammatory population of macrophages. In conclusion, this thesis provides novel methodologies to the labeling and characterization of milk exosomes for use as natural nanoprobes for molecular imaging. These approaches improve the current labeling protocols, enabling the development of stable molecular probes that do not alter the original properties of the exosomes. Pharmacokinetic and biodistribution evaluation of the developed nanoprobes highlight the importance of choosing the appropriate route of administration of exosomes according to their purpose, as well as their potential applicability in liver pathologies. Finally, studies performed in the in vivo model of peritonitis support their use as imaging probes for the detection of inflammatory response, enabling the evaluation of the process at cellular level as well as the in vivo localization of the inflammatory focus.The work developed in this PhD thesis was framed within several national and international research projects, supported by the following funding: - Instituto de Salud Carlos III, through the project “PI16/02037”, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way to make Europe” - Comunidad de Madrid, project “Y2018/NMT-4949 (NanoLiver-CM)” and “S2017/BMD-3867 (RENIM-CM)”, co-funded by European Structural and Investment Fund. During part of the pre-doctoral period (2022 – 2023), the author of this thesis has been also funded by Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Intramural Programme for the Promotion of R&D&I 2021, Sub-programme "Pre-doctoral training contract".Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Biomédica por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Carlos Pérez Medina.- Secretario: Benito Jorge Rubio Retama.- Vocal: Francisca Mulero Aniort

Emotional intelligence and hot and cool cognitive control ability

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. The EI construct has been organized following three main approaches: performance-based ability model, a self-report mixed model, and a self-report ability model. EI appears to be beneficial to the performance of “hot” (i.e., emotionally laden) cognitive tasks when using performance-based ability models but not when using self-report EI models. The aim of the present study is to analyze the relationship between the three models of EI and cognitive control ability during the performance of hot and “cool” (i.e., non-emotionally laden) “go/no-go” tasks. 187 undergraduate students participated in the experimental design. They completed the three EI tests of interest as well as go/no-go tasks; the stimuli used for the hot and cool cognitive task were faces and geometric figures, respectively. Results show that individuals with higher EI, measured through the performance-based ability test, perform better on a hot cognitive control task. Specifically, we provide evidence for negative associations between the “managing” branch of EI measured through the performance-based ability test of EI and the cognitive control index of the hot go/no-go task; when using the self-report EI instruments, no consistent findings were achieved. The study found no such results with the cool task. Findings in terms of the validity and different implications of the different EI models are discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The effects of the quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability on the happiness of introvert individuals

Previous research has shown that extraverts are happier than introverts and, although happy introverts exist, it is unclear under what conditions they can achieve happiness. The aim of the present study is to analyze the quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability as a possible factor for happiness in introvert individuals. 1006 adults (42% males) completed measures of extraversion, neuroticism, quality of social relationships, emotion regulation ability and happiness. Results shows that introverts have significantly lower happiness, quality of life, quality of social relationship and emotion regulation ability scores than extraverts. Besides, those individuals with high quality social relationships or high emotion regulation ability were happier. Introverts were happier when they had high scores for quality of social relationships and emotion regulation ability, however the effect size was small. These results suggest that emotion regulation and social relationships are important to understand the relationships between introversion and happiness.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Glissando : un corpus per a estudis prosòdics multidisciplinaris en espanyol i català

La bibliografia actual sobre prosòdia mostra l'absència de corpus de parla extensos en llengua catalana i castellana que possibilitin l'estudi empíric de l'entonació d'aquests idiomes. El corpus Glissando pretén precisament omplir aquest buit i posar a l'abast de tothom gravacions de veu que permetin caracteritzar l'entonació de cada llengua, establir diferències segons diversos criteris (gènere, estil, registre, etc.) i ajudar en tasques docents relacionades amb la lingüística, l'expressió oral i la comunicació.La bibliografía actual sobre prosodia revela la ausencia de corpus de habla extensos en lengua catalana y castellana que posibiliten el estudio empírico de la entonación de estos idiomas. El corpus Glissando pretende precisamente llenar ese vacío y poner al alcance de todos los públicos grabaciones de voz que permitan caracterizar la entonación de cada lengua, establecer diferencias según distintos criterios (género, estilo, registro, etc.) y ayudar en tareas docentes relacionadas con la lingüística, la expresión oral y la comunicación.A literature review on prosody studies reveals a lack of Catalan and Spanish corpora. Glissando is a Spanish and Catalan corpus which intends not only to fill this gap but furthermore show the capabilities of extensive speech corpora for the empirical study of prosody. With the aid of this corpus, it will be possible to analyse differences due to linguistic and sociolinguistic criteria such as genre, speech style, and voice register. Within this domain, the corpus has been proven to be a useful resource for teaching tasks related to linguistics, oral expression, and communication

Coupled models in dam engineering

Rock ll dams are certainly one of the most important engineering structures due to their economic advantages and exible design. Unfortunately their vulnerability to overtopping still remains their weakest point. For that reason, several research groups are interested in both the numerical and experimental analysis of this phenomenon. In this work we focused on the numerical analysis. The previous work developed in CIMNE on a coupled PFEM-Eulerian free surface Compu- tational Fluid Dynamic (CFD-PFEM) technique for the simulation of porous problems has been studied and extended in the present work. The Particle Finite Element second generation method (PFEM-2) has been used as an alter- native to the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM). Hence a new coupling strategy, called CFD-PFEM-2, has been developed. On one hand, the uid free surface problem outside and inside the rock ll slope is treated using a unique Eulerian xed mesh formulation. On the other hand, the structural dam response is analyzed using a mixed Eulerian--Lagrangian framework ( the PFEM-2 method). A comparison between the coupled strategies CFD-PFEM, and CFD-PFEM-2 has been performed. Additionally, all the numerical results are compared with experiments on prototype rock ll dams. The results obtained with the new strategy show a good agreement with both the experi- mental results and the CFD-PFEM code. Furthermore, the computational efficiency between the two numerical strategies was found to be almost identical. Given the similar accuracy and required computational power, it is concluded that the CFD-PFEM-2 is a competitive strategy to simulate the phenomenon

The relationship between the three models of emotional intelligence and psychopathy: a systematic review

Psychopaths are usually characterized as having numerous troubles with social and emotional facets in their daily. In addition, these individuals generate a series of harmful situations to society, such as violence and crime. Due to this, it is very important to find those variables that can reduce these behaviors. In this regard, Emotional Intelligence (EI) or the ability to perceive, use, understand and regulate emotions is a potentially useful variable. EI has been categorized according to three main approaches: performance-based ability, self-report ability and self-report mixed models. Several studies have analyzed the relationship between EI and psychopathy, however inconsistent results have been found. These inconsistencies may be due to the EI model employed to measure it. The objective of our study is to systematically review the previous literature about the relationship between the three models of EI and psychopathy, both in the clinical and total population.Scopus and Medline were searched for finding relevant articles. 29 eligible studies were identified. The results were divided according to the EI model and the population used.The results for both the total and clinical population differ according to the measure of EI employed. Specifically, through performance-based ability models, the majority of studies find a negative relationship between EI and psychopathy, and when EI is measured using self-reports, the results are inconsistent. In conclusion, the results suggest that higher EI abilities measured through performance-based ability models - but not through self-reports - are related to lower psychopathy deficits. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

What think the students graduated from the Faculty of Education of the University of Extremadura about his technological education?

En este artículo presentamos los resultados obtenidos en un estudio llevado a cabo con una muestra de estudiantes egresados de la Facultad de Educación de la UEx, con el propósito de conocer su opinión acerca de la formación recibida durante su paso por la universidad y su valoración acerca de sus conocimientos en tecnología educativa. Para ello, recogimos información a través de la diseminación de un cuestionario formado por preguntas cerradas y abiertas y el desarrollo de grupos de discusión con alumnado egresado e informantes clave. De la información generada se extraen conclusiones y propuestas, con el propósito de incidir en la elaboración de los nuevos planes de estudio de Maestro/a.In this article we present the results of a survey carried out with a sample of graduate students at the Faculty of Education at the University of Extremadura (Spain), with the aim of knowing their points of view regarding the received training during their education at the university and their assessment about their knowledge in educational technology. With that purpose, we collected information through the dissemination of a questionnaire which included closed and open questions and the development of focus groups with alumni and key informants. With the obtained data conclusions and proposals are made in order to give ideas in the design of New Syllabuses of Teacher Degree

Standardization Framework for Sustainability from Circular Economy 4.0

The circular economy (CE) is widely known as a way to implement and achieve sustainability, mainly due to its contribution towards the separation of biological and technical nutrients under cyclic industrial metabolism. The incorporation of the principles of the CE in the links of the value chain of the various sectors of the economy strives to ensure circularity, safety, and efficiency. The framework proposed is aligned with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development regarding the orientation towards the mitigation and regeneration of the metabolic rift by considering a double perspective. Firstly, it strives to conceptualize the CE as a paradigm of sustainability. Its principles are established, and its techniques and tools are organized into two frameworks oriented towards causes (cradle to cradle) and effects (life cycle assessment), and these are structured under the three pillars of sustainability, for their projection within the proposed framework. Secondly, a framework is established to facilitate the implementation of the CE with the use of standards, which constitute the requirements, tools, and indicators to control each life cycle phase, and of key enabling technologies (KETs) that add circular value 4.0 to the socio-ecological transition

Factores predisponentes y prevalencia de CPV-2 en la clínica veterinaria Zamudio Pet Company, Cali, Colombia (2011-2019)

El parvovirus canino (CPV-2) es un virus que se encuentra altamente distribuido a nivel mundial, afectando principalmente el sistema gastrointestinal de perros jóvenes, el objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar los factores predisponentes y su prevalencia en la clínica veterinaria Doctor Zamudio sede Sur en Cali, Colombia. A partir de una recolección de datos de 139 caninos sintomatológicos, positivos o no a CPV-2, se realizó un estudio analítico observacional del tipo casos y controles, por medio de la elaboración de tablas de contingencia 2x2, también se determinó las medidas de asociación (Odds ratio) y el factor de correlación lineal con respecto a la edad de presentación de la enfermedad. Los factores de riesgo a estudiar para la presentación del CPV fueron el sexo, la raza, la edad, estado vacunal y época del año. Entre los años 2011 y 2019 se encontró una prevalencia de 40% (56/139), 55% (76) fueron machos y 45% (63) hembras, 55% de los animales se encontraban vacunados y el 45% no lo estaban, El CPV-2 se presentó principalmente en las razas Pinscher (0,44 OR), Bull Terrier (0,88 OR) y Beagle (0,3 OR) más que en los mestizos. Se encontró una prevalencia en el primer y cuarto trimestre del año (44%) (enero, febrero, marzo, octubre, noviembre y diciembre), con una mayor incidencia en animales de 4 a 6 meses de edad (59%), el factor de ser puro o mestizo no fue un dato muy concluyente debido a la diferencia entre las muestras. Se concluyó entonces que los factores de riesgo con mayor impacto en la presentación del CPV fueron la no vacunación, la edad (4 a 6 meses) y el clima (meses de verano), siendo importante la continua realización de estudios epidemiológicos para su adecuada prevención y control