Musical revitalisation of the schoolyard: results of a service-learning project

This research presents and discusses the results of a Service-Learning project developed by student teachers of Primary Education at the University of Valladolid during the academic years 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, and 2019/20. The project aimed to revitalize recess through musical activities for children aged 6 to 12 in seven schools in Segovia (Spain). The results of the qualitative analysis show that the project has promoted the musical development of the children through singing, the experience of rhythm, and expression through movement, using a selected repertoire of popular children folk songs. In the university students, it helped foster commitment to primary school students through the promotion of co-education and socio-cultural diversity—values which have fostered the development of social and civic competences. The student teachers also achieved professional growth by obtaining through this project skills typical of Music Education teachers

Condiciones necesarias y suficientes de no oscilación absoluta para una clase de intervalos de matrices de tercer orden

Mediante la solución de un problema de optimización paramétrica se obtienen condiciones necesarias y suficientes para la no oscilación de una clase de intervalos de matrices de tercer orden, expresadas mediante un número finito de desigualdades algebraicas entre sus parámetros

Condiciones necesarias y suficientes de no oscilación absoluta para una clase de intervalos de matrices de tercer orden

Mediante la solución de un problema de optimización paramétrica se obtienen condiciones necesarias y suficientes para la no oscilación de una clase de intervalos de matrices de tercer orden, expresadas mediante un número finito de desigualdades algebraicas entre sus parámetros

Network Analysis of Differential Expression for the Identification of Disease-Causing Genes

Genetic studies (in particular linkage and association studies) identify chromosomal regions involved in a disease or phenotype of interest, but those regions often contain many candidate genes, only a few of which can be followed-up for biological validation. Recently, computational methods to identify (prioritize) the most promising candidates within a region have been proposed, but they are usually not applicable to cases where little is known about the phenotype (no or few confirmed disease genes, fragmentary understanding of the biological cascades involved). We seek to overcome this limitation by replacing knowledge about the biological process by experimental data on differential gene expression between affected and healthy individuals. Considering the problem from the perspective of a gene/protein network, we assess a candidate gene by considering the level of differential expression in its neighborhood under the assumption that strong candidates will tend to be surrounded by differentially expressed neighbors. We define a notion of soft neighborhood where each gene is given a contributing weight, which decreases with the distance from the candidate gene on the protein network. To account for multiple paths between genes, we define the distance using the Laplacian exponential diffusion kernel. We score candidates by aggregating the differential expression of neighbors weighted as a function of distance. Through a randomization procedure, we rank candidates by p-values. We illustrate our approach on four monogenic diseases and successfully prioritize the known disease causing genes

CSVS, a crowdsourcing database of the Spanish population genetic variability

The knowledge of the genetic variability of the local population is of utmost importance in personalized medicine and has been revealed as a critical factor for the discovery of new disease variants. Here, we present the Collaborative Spanish Variability Server (CSVS), which currently contains more than 2000 genomes and exomes of unrelated Spanish individuals. This database has been generated in a collaborative crowdsourcing effort collecting sequencing data produced by local genomic projects and for other purposes. Sequences have been grouped by ICD10 upper categories. A web interface allows querying the database removing one or more ICD10 categories. In this way, aggregated counts of allele frequencies of the pseudo-control Spanish population can be obtained for diseases belonging to the category removed. Interestingly, in addition to pseudo-control studies, some population studies can be made, as, for example, prevalence of pharmacogenomic variants, etc. In addition, this genomic data has been used to define the first Spanish Genome Reference Panel (SGRP1.0) for imputation. This is the first local repository of variability entirely produced by a crowdsourcing effort and constitutes an example for future initiatives to characterize local variabilityworldwide. CSVS is also part of the GA4GH Beacon network.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness SAF2017-88908-R PT17/0009/0006 PI19/00321 CIBERER ACCI-06/07/0036 PI14-948 PI171659Regional Government of Madrid, RAREGenomicsCM B2017/BMD3721 B2017/BMD-3721European Union (EU)European Union (EU) 676559University Chair UAM-IIS-FJD of Genomic MedicineRamon Areces Foundatio

A crowdsourcing database for the copy-number variation of the spanish population

Background: Despite being a very common type of genetic variation, the distribution of copy-number variations (CNVs) in the population is still poorly understood. The knowledge of the genetic variability, especially at the level of the local population, is a critical factor for distinguishing pathogenic from non-pathogenic variation in the discovery of new disease variants. Results: Here, we present the SPAnish Copy Number Alterations Collaborative Server (SPACNACS), which currently contains copy number variation profiles obtained from more than 400 genomes and exomes of unrelated Spanish individuals. By means of a collaborative crowdsourcing effort whole genome and whole exome sequencing data, produced by local genomic projects and for other purposes, is continuously collected. Once checked both, the Spanish ancestry and the lack of kinship with other individuals in the SPACNACS, the CNVs are inferred for these sequences and they are used to populate the database. A web interface allows querying the database with different filters that include ICD10 upper categories. This allows discarding samples from the disease under study and obtaining pseudo-control CNV profiles from the local population. We also show here additional studies on the local impact of CNVs in some phenotypes and on pharmacogenomic variants. SPACNACS can be accessed at: http://csvs.clinbioinfosspa.es/spacnacs/. Conclusion: SPACNACS facilitates disease gene discovery by providing detailed information of the local variability of the population and exemplifies how to reuse genomic data produced for other purposes to build a local reference database.This work is supported by Grants PID2020-117979RB-I00 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; by the Institute of Health Carlos III (project IMPaCT-Data, exp. IMP/00019, IMP/00009 and PI20/01305), co-funded by the European Union, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, “A way to make Europe”)

Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Electrogenic Bacterium, Dietzia sp. RNV-4.

Electrogenic bacteria are organisms that can transfer electrons to extracellular electron acceptors and have the potential to be used in devices such as bioelectrochemical systems (BES). In this study, Dietzia sp. RNV-4 bacterium has been isolated and identified based on its biochemical, physiological and morphological characteristics, as well as by its 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Furthermore, the current density production and electron transfer mechanisms were investigated using bioelectrochemical methods. The chronoamperometric data showed that the biofilm of Dietzia sp. RNV-4 grew as the current increased with time, reaching a maximum of 176.6 ± 66.1 mA/m2 at the end of the experiment (7 d); this highly suggests that the current was generated by the biofilm. The main electron transfer mechanism, indicated by the cyclic voltammograms, was due to secreted redox mediators. By high performance liquid chromatography, canthaxanthin was identified as the main compound involved in charge transfer between the bacteria and the solid electrodes. Dietzia sp. RNV-4 was used as biological material in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and the current density production was 299.4 ± 40.2 mA/m2. This is the first time that Dietzia sp. RNV-4 has been electrochemically characterized and identified as a new electrogenic strain

Electrochemical experiments performed with <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4, in the BES set-up.

<p>(A) Chronoamperometry after the inoculation. The medium change is indicated as MC and the addition of lactate as L (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0169955#sec002" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a>, section Assembly and operation of the BES). The star indicates the time when the CV experiments were done. (B) CVs at different stages of growth day 0 (just before inoculation, black), day 2 (red), day 5 (blue), and day 7 (green) of growth in the BES, indicated with star in A. Scan rate 1 mV/s.</p

Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Electrogenic Bacterium, <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4

<div><p>Electrogenic bacteria are organisms that can transfer electrons to extracellular electron acceptors and have the potential to be used in devices such as bioelectrochemical systems (BES). In this study, <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4 bacterium has been isolated and identified based on its biochemical, physiological and morphological characteristics, as well as by its 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Furthermore, the current density production and electron transfer mechanisms were investigated using bioelectrochemical methods. The chronoamperometric data showed that the biofilm of <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4 grew as the current increased with time, reaching a maximum of 176.6 ± 66.1 mA/m² at the end of the experiment (7 d); this highly suggests that the current was generated by the biofilm. The main electron transfer mechanism, indicated by the cyclic voltammograms, was due to secreted redox mediators. By high performance liquid chromatography, canthaxanthin was identified as the main compound involved in charge transfer between the bacteria and the solid electrodes. <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4 was used as biological material in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and the current density production was 299.4 ± 40.2 mA/m². This is the first time that <i>Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4 has been electrochemically characterized and identified as a new electrogenic strain.</p></div

MFC experiments and bacterial strain comparison.

<p>(A) Current density vs. time measured from a MFC_S (<i>S</i>. <i>oneidensis</i> MR-1, closed squares) and from a MFC_D <i>(Dietzia</i> sp. RNV-4 (opened squares).n = 3, R_L = 4.68 kΩ. (B) Power density curves from the MFC_S (closed simbols squares) and MFC_D (opened squares) made after 1 (solid line) and 4 (dash line) days incubation. (C) Comparison of polarization curves from the MFC_S (closed squares) and MFC_D (opened squares) made after 1 (solid line) and 4 (dash line) days incubation.</p