Cooperative learning and embodied accountability: an ethnographic analysis of classroom participation in an English school

Based on a school ethnography carried out in an English primary school in the last years of New Labour Government,  this paper examines the processes and dynamics involved in the introduction of a cooperative learning method as part of the Success for All Literacy Program, which was being implemented in the school for the first time. It discusses the difficulties and resistances showed by children’s interactions and teachers’ declarations during the development of the program as the sign of competing agendas within the school and within the educational policy as well. They also manifest the deep penetration of a model of participation and learning that suits the neoliberal educational policy embraced by the British governments since the Education Reform Act in 1988 up to the present time.  The establishment of a culture of performativity and accountability is revealed in children’s behavior during cooperative tasks as they tend to work in a competition rather than in a cooperation scheme and perceive their peers more as threats to their individual performance than as a support in their learning process. On the other side, teachers struggle to rely on a method more process-oriented than product-oriented as they feel that, with no individual and written tasks, they are not able to give account of children’s progress and therefore, of their work as teachers.  The paper shows that a conception of learning (as private achievement), of person (as individual) and of classroom participation (as competition) are at play within the accountability educational system.

Childhood abuse, resiliency, and psychiatric outcomes in a college sample of women: A model

In the proposed study it is hypothesized that resiliency will moderate the relationship between child abuse and psychiatric outcomes. Secondly, it is expected that shame will mediate the above mentioned relationship. Mediation and moderation effects will be tested via SPSS REGRESSION. Data was collected from 160 women at California State University, San Bernardino. The following measures were used to examine the hypothesis: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Brief Symptom Inventory, Experience of Shame Scale, Self-Esteem Inventory, the Life Orientation Test-Revised, and the Social Support Inventory

Analysis of PCA with georeferenced data. An application in tourism industry

Fil: Luna, Laura Isabel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas; Argentina.The spatial analysis of the tourism characteristic activities allows us to generate information about the structure of tourism industry, which is necessary for decision making. In this work, toursim characteristic activities in the departments of Córdoba were mapped. The methodological innovation lies in the generation of statistics for multidimensional spatial data. Multivariate methods with and without spatial restrictions were studied and compared in their performance in the application context. The comparison showed that the spatial principal components analysis (MULTISPATI-PCA) yielded a higher degree of spatial structuring of the components that summarize tourism activities than principal components analysis (PCA). The maps of the summarized variables showed a higher level of structure with MULTISPATI-PCA. Departments were classified according to the participation of tourism activities in the value added of tourism using the spatial principal components obtained as input of the cluster fuzzy k-means analysis. Finally, a mapping was performed based on the participation of the tourism value added in the gross regional product of the different departments and the variations in the participation of the different activities that make up the aggregate was analyzed for the period 2001-2014.Fil: Luna, Laura Isabel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas; Argentina.Economía, Econometrí

Inclusive education and democracy

In this article it is argued that inclusive education can be construed as a response to the crisis of modern democracy and its school project. Such a response consists, in part, in the production of a new school normativity, in the light of the ideals of participative democracy. The argument tackles the origins of schooling after the democratic revolutions that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries, presents the main features of participative democracy, and shows the connections between the latter and the inclusive project in education. These considerations are expected to clarify the concept of inclusive education, given the current lack of agreement about it.En este artículo se argumenta que la educación inclusiva puede entenderse como una respuesta a la crisis de la democracia moderna y su proyecto escolar. Dicha respuesta consiste, en parte, en la producción de una nueva normatividad escolar, alumbrada por los ideales de la democracia participativa. En el transcurso del argumento se aborda el origen político de la escuela tras las revoluciones democráticas de los siglos XVIII y XIX y se presentan las características principales de la democracia participativa, así como su conexión con el proyecto inclusivo en educación. Se espera además que estas consideraciones sirvan para clarificar el concepto mismo de educación inclusiva, sobre el cual hay bastante desacuerdo en la actualidad

Crystallographic studies of the Escherichia coli quinol-fumarate reductase with inhibitors bound to the quinol-binding site

The quinol-fumarate reductase (QFR) respiratory complex of Escherichia coli is a four-subunit integral-membrane complex that catalyzes the final step of anaerobic respiration when fumarate is the terminal electron acceptor. The membrane-soluble redox-active molecule menaquinol (MQH(2)) transfers electrons to QFR by binding directly to the membrane-spanning region. The crystal structure of QFR contains two quinone species, presumably MQH(2), bound to the transmembrane-spanning region. The binding sites for the two quinone molecules are termed Q(P) and Q(D), indicating their positions proximal Q(P)) or distal (Q(D)) to the site of fumarate reduction in the hydrophilic flavoprotein and iron-sulfur protein subunits. It has not been established whether both of these sites are mechanistically significant. Co-crystallization studies of the E. coli QFR with the known quinol-binding site inhibitors 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide and 2-[1-(p-chlorophenyl)ethyl] 4,6-dinitrophenol establish that both inhibitors block the binding of MQH(2) at the Q(P) site. In the structures with the inhibitor bound at Q(P), no density is observed at Q(D), which suggests that the occupancy of this site can vary and argues against a structurally obligatory role for quinol binding to Q(D). A comparison of the Q(P) site of the E. coli enzyme with quinone-binding sites in other respiratory enzymes shows that an acidic residue is structurally conserved. This acidic residue, Glu-C29, in the E. coli enzyme may act as a proton shuttle from the quinol during enzyme turnover

Mammals of late Pleistocene-early holocene of southeast of the province of Cordoba, and their paleoenvironmental implications for the center of Argentina

Paleontological exploration on the eastern plain of Córdoba Province is scarce, only referring to mammal assemblages from Mar Chiquita lake or San Francisco localities in the northeast of the Córdoba province, or specifi c discoveries in the centre and southeast of this province. In the present study is described a new faunistic assemblage from Isla Verde, in the southeast plain of Cordoba province. This assemblage is composed by Eutatus seguini Gervais, Zaedyus pichiy (Desmarest) Osgood, Tolypeutes sp., Neosclerocalyptus sp., N. paskoensis (Zurita) (Cingulata), Scelidotheriinae indet. (Tardigrada), Ctenomys sp., Lagostomus sp., Galea sp. (Rodentia), Macrauchenia sp. (Litopterna) and Equus (Amerhippus) sp. (Perissodactyla). This fauna is refered to Lujanian Stage (late Pleistocene-early Holocene) of the Pampean Region. The fossiliferous level is consistent with a semiarid and herbaceous steppe and refers to La Invernada Formation. From a paleoclimatic point of view, the record of these species suggests arid to semiarid conditions, between cold and warm. These conditions also agree with the interpretations realized studying morphological adaptations of some fossils.A exploração paleontológica na planície oriental da Província de Córdoba é escassa, com referências apenas das assembleias de mamíferos da laguna Mar Chiquita, localidades de San Francisco no nordeste e descobertas específi cas no centro e sudeste da província. Este artigo descreve uma nova assembleia da fauna da localidade de Isla Verde, nas planícies do sudeste de Córdoba, que é composta de Eutatus seguini Gervais, Zaedyus pichiy (Desmarest) Osgood, Tolypeutes sp., Neosclerocalyptus sp., N. paskoensis (Zurita) (Cingulata), Scelidotheriinae indet. (Tardigrada), Ctenomys sp., Lagostomus sp., Galea sp. (Rodentia), Macrauchenia sp. (Litopterna) e Equus (Amerhippus) sp. (Perissodactyla). Esta fauna é relacionada ao piso/idade Lujanense (Pleistoceno fi nal-Holoceno inicial) da região pampeana da Província de Buenos Aires. O nível fossilífero refere-se a Formação La Invernada e é consistente com uma estepe herbácea e semiárida. Do ponto de vista paleoclimático, o registro destas espécies sugere condições árida a semiárida, entre frio e quente, o que também está de acordo com as interpretações feitas estudando as adaptações morfológicas de alguns táxons.Fil: Luna, Carlos Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Museo de Paleontología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cruz, Laura Edith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Citrus psorosis virus movement protein contains an aspartic protease required for autocleavage and the formation of tubule-like structures at plasmodesmata

Plant virus cell-to-cell movement is an essential step in viral infections. This process is facilitated by specific virus-encoded movement proteins (MPs), which manipulate the cell wall channels between neighboring cells known as plasmodesmata (PD). Citrus psorosis virus (CPsV) infection in sweet orange involves the formation of tubule-like structures within PD, suggesting that CPsV belongs to "tubuleforming" viruses that encode MPs able to assemble a hollow tubule extending between cells to allow virus movement. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that the MP of CPsV (MPCPsV) indeed forms tubule-like structures at PD upon transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Tubule formation by MPCPsV depends on its cleavage capacity, mediated by a specific aspartic protease motif present in its primary sequence. A single amino acid mutation in this motif abolishes MPCPsV cleavage, alters the subcellular localization of the protein, and negatively affects its activity in facilitating virus movement. The amino-terminal 34-kDa cleavage product (34KCPsV), but not the 20-kDa fragment (20KCPsV), supports virus movement. Moreover, similar to tubule-forming MPs of other viruses, MPCPsV (and also the 34KCPsV cleavage product) can homooligomerize, interact with PD-located protein 1 (PDLP1), and assemble tubule-like structures at PD by a mechanism dependent on the secretory pathway. 20KCPsV retains the protease activity and is able to cleave a cleavage-deficient MPCPsV in trans. Altogether, these results demonstrate that CPsV movement depends on the autolytic cleavage of MPCPsV by an aspartic protease activity, which removes the 20KCPsV protease and thereby releases the 34KCPsV protein for PDLP1-dependent tubule formation at PD. IMPORTANCE Infection by citrus psorosis virus (CPsV) involves a self-cleaving aspartic protease activity within the viral movement protein (MP), which results in the production of two peptides, termed 34KCPsV and 20KCPsV, that carry the MP and viral protease activities, respectively. The underlying protease motif within the MP is also found in the MPs of other members of the Aspiviridae family, suggesting that protease-mediated protein processing represents a conserved mechanism of protein expression in this virus family. The results also demonstrate that CPsV and potentially other ophioviruses move by a tubule-guided mechanism. Although several viruses from different genera were shown to use this mechanism for cell-to-cell movement, our results also demonstrate that this mechanism is controlled by posttranslational protein cleavage. Moreover, given that tubule formation and virus movement could be inhibited by a mutation in the protease motif, targeting the protease activity for inactivation could represent an important approach for ophiovirus control.Fil: Robles Luna, Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Peña, Eduardo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Borniego, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Heinlein, Manfred. Université de Strasbourg; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Garcia, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin

Physiological responses of a halophytic shrub to salt stress by Na2SO4 and NaCl: oxidative damage and the role of polyphenols in antioxidant protection

Salt stress conditions lead to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells. Halophytes have the ability to reduce these toxic ROS by means of a powerful antioxidant system that includes enzymatic and non-enzymatic components. In this research, we used the halophytic shrub Prosopis strombulifera to investigate whether the ability of this species to grow under increasing salt concentrations and mixtures was related to the synthesis of polyphenolic compounds and to the maintenance of leaf pigment contents for an adequate photosynthetic activity. Seedlings of P. strombulifera were grown hydroponically in Hoagland's solution, gradually adding Na2SO4 and NaCl separately or in mixtures until reaching final osmotic potentials of −1, −1.9 and −2.6 MPa. Control plants were allowed to develop in Hoagland's solution without salt. Oxidative damage in tissues was determined by H2O2 and malondialdehyde content. Leaf pigment analysis was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet, and total phenols, total flavonoids, total flavan-3-ols, condensed tannins, tartaric acid esters and flavonols were spectrophotometrically assayed. Treatment with Na2SO4 increased H2O2 production and lipid peroxidation in tissues and induced a sharp increase in flavonoid compounds (mainly flavan-3-ols) and consequently in the antioxidant activity. Also, Na2SO4 treatment induced an increased carotenoid/chlorophyll ratio, which may represent a strategy to protect photosystems against photooxidation. NaCl treatment, however, did not affect H2O2 content, lipid peroxidation, pigments or polyphenols synthesis. The significant accumulation of flavonoids in tissues under Na2SO4 treatment and their powerful antioxidant activity indicates a role for these compounds in counteracting the oxidative damage induced by severe salt stress, particularly, ionic stress. We demonstrate that ionic interactions between different salts in salinized soils modify the biochemical and morpho-physiological responses of P. strombulifera plants to salinity.Fil: Reginato, Mariana Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Cátedra de Fisiología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Castagna, Antonella. Università degli Studi di Pisa; ItaliaFil: Furlan, Ana Laura. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Castro, Stella Maris. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Ranieri, Annamaria. Università degli Studi di Pisa; ItaliaFil: Luna, Maria Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Cátedra de Fisiología Vegetal; Argentin