The UAB virtual campus, an essential platform for a European environment of higher education

Ponència presentada al congrés Virtual Campus 2006, celebrat el 23-25 de març de 2006 a BarcelonaThe university is currently immersed - within Europe - in a process of coordinating higher education with the adaptation into the new ECTS European credits, which implies changing from a teacher-centred model (teacher conveys knowledge) to a learner-centred model, a real challenge. From 1996, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is carrying out the "Campus Virtual de la UAB" project. This platform fulfils several roles that aim at providing an answer to this challenge: - It provides support to face-to-face teaching - It encourages teaching innovation - It promotes the creation of learning materials - It fosters communication - It favours monitoring the learning process - It favours self-learning and self-assessment - It enables blended teaching experiences This article will focus on how to use the communication and discussion functionalities between teacher and students, and between students themselves, and on monitoring the students' learning proces

Physicochemical characterization and antimicrobial properties of rhamnolipids produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa 47T2 NCBIM 40044

7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables.-- PMID: 12474254 [PubMed].-- Available online Dec 3, 2002.Pseudomonas aeruginosa 47T2, grown in submerged culture with waste frying oil as a carbon source, produced a mixture of rhamnolipids with surface activity. Up to 11 rhamnolipid homologs (Rha-Rha-C8-C10; Rha-C10-C8/Rha-C8-C10;Rha-Rha-C8-C12:1; Rha-Rha-C10-C10; Rha-Rha-C10-C12:1; Rha-C10-C10; Rha-Rha-C10-C12/Rha-Rha-C12-C10; Rha-C10-C12:1/Rha-C12:1-C10; Rha-Rha-C12:1-C12; Rha-Rha-C10-C14:1; Rha-C10-C12/Rha-C12-C10) were isolated from cultures of P. aeruginosa 47T2 from waste frying oil and identified by HPLC-MS analysis. This article deals with the production, isolation, and chemical characterization of the rhamnolipid mixture RL47T2. The physicochemical and biological properties of RL47T2 as a new product were also studied. Its surface tension decreased to 32.8 mN/m; and the interfacial tension against kerosene to 1 mN/m. The critical micellar concentration for RL47T2 was 108.8 mg/mL. The product showed excellent antimicrobial properties. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated according to the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial agent that inhibits development of visible microbial growth. Low MIC values were found for bacteria Serratia marcescens (4 g/mL), Enterobacter aerogenes (8 g/mL), Klebsiella pneumoniae (0.5 g/mL), Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (32 g/mL), Bacillus subtilis (16 g/mL), and phytopathogenic fungal species: Chaetonium globosum (64 g/mL), Penicillium funiculosum (16 g/mL), Gliocadium virens (32 g/mL) and Fusarium solani (75 g/mL).Finnancial support by the CIRIT and CICYT; Grant Number: 199956R 00024, PPQ-2000-0105-P4-03, REN 2001-3224.Peer reviewe

Optimización de la producción de biotensioactivos por Pseudomonas aeruginosa 44T1

This work describes the experimental results carried out on the optimization of the fermentation media of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 44T1 which produces surface active products when grown on glucose as carbon source. Several parameters of the media have been found to be critical for the production of biosurfactants by this strain. The C/N ratio, the iron concentration and the incubation temperature cause a high increase of the CMC-1 values as a measure of surfactant production.En este trabajo se describen los resultados experimentales destinados a la optimización de la producción de biotensioactivos por Pseudomonas aeruginosa 44T1 en un medio mineral con glucosa como fuente de carbono. Se han ensayado diversos componentes del medio de cultivo y condiciones de incubación, siendo la relación C/N, la concentración de hierro así como la temperatura de incubación, los parámetros fundamentales que han incrementado los valores de CMC-1 como medida de la acumulación de tensioactivos

Effect of the presence of the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Chryseobacterium balustinum Aur9 and salt stress in the pattern of flavonoids exuded by soybean roots

In this work we studied how biotic and abiotic stresses can alter the pattern of flavonoids exuded by Osumi soybean roots. A routine method was developed for the detection and characterization of the flavonoids present in soybean root exudates using HPLC-MS/MS. Then, a systematic screening of the flavonoids exuded under biotic stress, the presence of a plant growth promoting rhizobacterium, and salt stress was carried out. Results obtained indicate that the presence of Chryseobacterium balustinum Aur9 or 50 mM NaCl changes qualitatively the pattern of flavonoids exuded when compared to control conditions. Thus, in the presence of C. balustinum Aur9, soybean roots did not exude quercetin and naringenin and, under salt stress, flavonoids daidzein and naringenin could not be detected. Soybean root exudates obtained under saline conditions showed a diminished capacity to induce the expression of the nodA gene in comparison to the exudates obtained in the absence of salt. Moreover, lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs) were not detected or weakly detected when Sinorhizobium fredii SMH12 was grown in the exudates obtained under salt stress conditions or under salt stress in the presence of C. balustinum Au9, respectively.Fil: Dardanelli, Marta Susana. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; España. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología Molecular. Sección Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Manyani, Hamid. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: González Barroso, Sergio. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Rodríguez Carvajal, Miguel A.. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Gil Serrano, Antonio M.. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Espuny, Maria R.. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: López Baena, Francisco Javier. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Bellogín, Ramon A.. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Megías, Manuel. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; EspañaFil: Ollero, Francisco J.. Universidad de Sevilla. Facultad de Farmacia; Españ

Sexual Health: The great forgotten of the educational scope

Introduction: Sexual education is a priority in the psychosocial development of people and there is a significant deficit both in the school and the Institutes and Universities, in the informative-preventive field, as in sexual counseling and in the intervention of Clinical Sexology and / or Sexual Medicine that are taught, already as indispensable subjects in the Faculties of Medicine of Europe, USA, Canada and Latin America. In Spain we have more than a decade with a Master of Sexology that is taught at universities (Almeria, Health Sciences (UAL, Seville, Extremadura) Other University as Camilo José Cela, (at the INCISEX, the Institute of Sexological Sciences ) has been teaching sexology for more than 4 decades, and today sex education occupies spaces in many schools and in many families.The physical and emotional need to touch us, to give us pleasure and intimacy, accompanies us from birth to We die, to all people, sexuality is reworked throughout a life. Objective: To value sexual education in our area. Method: Analysis of rights and duties in education applied to the sexual field in our country. The OMS. defines Sexual Health in 1975. The W.A.S. in the XIII World Congress of Sexology, (29.06.1997 establishes the Universal Declaration of Sexual Rights or Declaration of Valencia) and updates them in 2014. Results: There has been an increase in Spanish legislation in the field of sex education, however, an important deficit is still detected that logically limits the formation and development of people. For a National Sexual Health Plan, and implementation of the March 2010 Law. Organic Law 2/2010, of arch 3, on sexual and reproductive health and the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2010/BOE-A-2010-3514- consolidado.pdf Conclusions: Sexual education should be increased in schools, institutes and universities that facilitate the personal development of all people, from infancy to old age

The Ethyl Acetate Extract of Leaves of Ugni molinae Turcz. Improves Neuropathological Hallmarks of Alzheimer's Disease in Female APPswe/PS1dE9 Mice Fed with a High Fat Diet

The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by impairment in cognitive performance in aged individuals. Currently, there is no effective pharmacological treatment that cures the disease due to the lack of knowledge on the actual mechanisms involved in its pathogenesis. In the last decades, the amyloidogenic hypothesis has been the most studied theory trying to explain the origin of AD, yet it does not address all the concerns relating to its development. In the present study, a possible new preclinical treatment of AD was evaluated using the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of leaves of Ugni molinae Turcz. (synonym Myrtus ugni Molina Family Myrtacea). The effects were assessed on female transgenic mice from a preclinical model of familial AD (APPswe/PS1dE9) combined with a high fat diet. This preclinical model was selected due to the already available experimental and observational data proving the relationship between obesity, gender, metabolic stress, and cognitive dysfunction; related to characteristics of sporadic AD. According to chemical analyses, EAE would contain polyphenols such as tannins, flavonoid derivatives, and phenolic acids, as well as pentacyclic triterpenoids that exhibit neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. In addition, the treatment evidenced its capacity to prevent deterioration of memory capacity and reduction of progression speed of AD neuropathology

A global optimisation approach to range-restricted survey calibration

Survey calibration methods modify minimally unit-level sample weights to fit domain-level benchmark constraints (BC). This allows exploitation of auxiliary information, e.g. census totals, to improve the representativeness of sample data (addressing coverage limitations, non-response) and the quality of estimates of population parameters. Calibration methods may fail with samples presenting small/zero counts for some benchmark groups or when range restrictions (RR), such as positivity, are imposed to avoid unrealistic or extreme weights. User-defined modifications of BC/RR performed after encountering non-convergence allow little control on the solution, and penalization approaches modelling infeasibility may not guarantee convergence. Paradoxically, this has led to underuse in calibration of highly disaggregated information, when available. We present an always-convergent flexible two-step Global Optimisation (GO) survey calibration approach. The feasibility of the calibration problem is assessed, and automatically controlled minimum errors in BC or changes in RR are allowed to guarantee convergence in advance, while preserving the good properties of calibration estimators. Modelling alternatives under different scenarios, using various error/change and distance measures are formulated and discussed. The GO approach is validated by calibrating the weights of the 2012 Health Survey for England to a fine age-gender-region cross-tabulation (378 counts) from the 2011 Census in England and Wales

A global optimisation approach to range-restricted survey calibration

Survey calibration methods modify minimally unit-level sample weights to fit domain-level benchmark constraints (BC). This allows exploitation of auxiliary information, e.g. census totals, to improve the representativeness of sample data (addressing coverage limitations, non-response) and the quality of estimates of population parameters. Calibration methods may fail with samples presenting small/zero counts for some benchmark groups or when range restrictions (RR), such as positivity, are imposed to avoid unrealistic or extreme weights. User-defined modifications of BC/RR performed after encountering non-convergence allow little control on the solution, and penalization approaches modelling infeasibility may not guarantee convergence. Paradoxically, this has led to underuse in calibration of highly disaggregated information, when available. We present an always-convergent flexible two-step Global Optimisation (GO) survey calibration approach. The feasibility of the calibration problem is assessed, and automatically controlled minimum errors in BC or changes in RR are allowed to guarantee convergence in advance, while preserving the good properties of calibration estimators. Modelling alternatives under different scenarios, using various error/change and distance measures are formulated and discussed. The GO approach is validated by calibrating the weights of the 2012 Health Survey for England to a fine age-gender-region cross-tabulation (378 counts) from the 2011 Census in England and Wales