APPS for the inclusion of students with ASD in Early Childhood Education. A descriptive analysis

M. Isabel Vidal Esteve – Universitat de València - 0000-0002-3504-8114Melanie Sánchez Cruz – Universitat de València - 0000-0001-8439-0445Recepción: 26.09.2023 | Aceptado: 04.10.2023Correspondencia a través de ORCID: M. Isabel Vidal Esteve - 0000-0002-3504-8114Área o categoría del conocimiento: Educación InclusivaEn esta investigación se realiza un estudio cualitativo que pretende analizar las características técnicas, didácticas y de contenido de una muestra de siete aplicaciones móviles alojadas en Google Play en 2022 y cuyo público objetivo es el alumnado con Trastorno del Espectro del Autismo (TEA) de Educación Infantil. Además, se pretende indagar en las posibilidades que ofrecen para favorecer la inclusión educativa de tal alumnado. Para el análisis de las apps se construyó una ficha de evaluación dividida en tres dimensiones, que tomaba como referencia uno de los instrumentos del proyecto de investigación Infanci@ Digit@l (RTI2018-093397-B-100). Los resultados que se desprenden apuntan a que son numerosas las apps educativas y lúdicas que, con ciertas potencialidades, pretenden desarrollar áreas específicas del TEA como, por ejemplo, las habilidades comunicativas, la teoría de la mente o las rutinas, sin embargo, todavía siguen siendo escasas aquellas que verdaderamente contribuyen a la inclusión educativa.Abstract: This research is a qualitative study that aims to analyse the technical, pedagogical and content characteristics of a sample of seven mobile applications hosted on Google Play in 2022 and whose target audience is students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Early Childhood Education. In addition, the aim is to investigate the possibilities they offer to promote the educational inclusion of these students. For the analysis of the apps, an evaluation sheet divided into three dimensions was constructed, taking as a reference one of the instruments of the Infanci@ Digit@l research project (RTI2018-093397-B-100). The results suggest that there are numerous educational and recreational apps that, with certain potential, aim to develop specific areas of ASD such as, for example, communication skills, theory of mind or routines; however, there are still few apps that truly contribute to educational inclusion.Universitat de Valènci

Development of poly(lactic acid) films with propolis as a source of active compounds: biodegradability, physical, and functional properties

Active films (AFs) using poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a polymeric matrix containing various propolis concentrations (5, 8.5, and 13%) as the active agent (AA) were developed using a casting method. The purpose was to determine the effects of the incorporation of AA on the physical properties of the films and to evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Tensile strength and elastic modulus of the AFs decreased relative to the control (PLA without AA). Introducing the active substances from propolis into the PLA also affected its thermal properties (glass transition). Adding AAs to the polymer generated more opacity with a green-yellowish color compared to the control. In addition, AFs exhibited reduced water vapor permeability as the AA concentration increased. Biodegradation assay showed that the AFs degraded faster than the control. AFs exhibited antioxidant activity, which was measured as the ability to scavenge free radicals (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate)), due to the presence of bioactive compounds (phenolics). Antimicrobial activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli and showed a reduction over 4-log cycles. Therefore, incorporation of propolis is a useful strategy for the development of active packaging with antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, which increase the shelf life of food products. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47090.Direccion de Investigacion of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso [DI-037-362-14]University of Santiago de Chile [1555-Vridei O81771GL_CONT

Sparse deconvolution using support vector machines

Sparse deconvolution is a classical subject in digital signal processing, having many practical applications. Support vector machine (SVM) algorithms show a series of characteristics, such as sparse solutions and implicit regularization, which make them attractive for solving sparse deconvolution problems. Here, a sparse deconvolution algorithm based on the SVM framework for signal processing is presented and analyzed, including comparative evaluations of its performance from the points of view of estimation and detection capabilities, and of robustness with respect to non-Gaussian additive noise.Publicad

Trends in hypertension control among the older population of Spain from 2000 to 2001 to 2008 to 2010: Role of frequency and intensity of drug treatment

This is the prepint version of the following article: Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 8.1 (2015) , which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.114.001191Background—The use of antihypertensive medication and hypertension control has significantly increased during recent decades in some developed countries, but the impact of improved drug treatment on blood pressure (BP) control in the population is unknown. Methods and Results—Data were taken from 2 surveys representative of the population aged ≥60 years in Spain conducted with the same methodology in 2000 to 2001 and in 2008 to 2010. BP was measured 6×. The first BP reading was discarded, and the average of the remaining 3 to 5 BP readings was taken for analysis. Hypertension prevalence was 68.7% in 2000 to 2001 and 66.0% in 2008 to 2010. Between both time periods there was an improvement in hypertension awareness (63.6%–67.7%), drug treatment among those aware (84.5%–87.5%), and BP control among treated hypertensives (30.3%–42.9%). Overall, BP control among all hypertensives increased from 16.3% to 25.4%. After adjustment for age, sex, education, hypertension duration, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, sedentary behavior, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and visits to the physician through logistic regression, ≈7% of the improvement in BP control among all hypertensives was explained by higher hypertension awareness, and 36.2% was explained by a higher treatment rate. Among the treated hypertensives, 22.6% of the progress in BP control was because of the increase in the number of BP medications used in each patient. Conclusions—BP control among the older hypertensive population in Spain has improved from 2000 to 2001 to 2008 to 2010 because of a higher treatment rate and more intense antihypertensive drug treatmentThis work has been supported by Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS) grant PI13/02321 (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain) and “Cátedra Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) de Epidemiología y Control del Riesgo Cardiovascular”, Madrid, Spain

Interplay between SUMOylation and NEDDylation regulates RPL11 localization and function

The ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11) integrates different types of stress into a p53-mediated response. Here, we analyzed the impact of the ubiquitin-like protein SUMO on the RPL11-mouse double-minute 2 homolog-p53 signaling. We show that small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO)1 and SUMO2 covalently modify RPL11. We find that SUMO negatively modulates the conjugation of the ubiquitin-like protein neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated 8 (NEDD8) to RPL11 and promotes the translocation of the RP outside of the nucleoli. Moreover, the SUMO-conjugating enzyme, Ubc9, is required for RPL11-mediated activation of p53. SUMOylation of RPL11 is triggered by ribosomal stress, as well as by alternate reading frame protein upregulation. Collectively, our data identify SUMO protein conjugation to RPL11 as a new regulator of the p53-mediated cellular response to different types of stress and reveal a previously unknown SUMO-NEDD8 interplay.-El Motiam, A., Vidal, S., de la Cruz-Herrera, C. F., Da Silva-Alvarez, S., Baz-Martinez, M., Seoane, R., Vidal, A., Rodriguez, M. S., Xirodimas, D. P., Carvalho, A. S., Beck, H. C., Matthiesen, R., Collado, M., Rivas, C. Interplay between SUMOylation and NEDDylation regulates RPL11 localization and function

SUMOylation regulates AKT1 activity

Serine threonine kinase AKT has a central role in the cell, controlling survival, proliferation, metabolism and angiogenesis. Deregulation of its activity underlies a wide range of pathological situations, including cancer. Here we show that AKT is post-translationally modified by the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) protein. Interestingly, neither SUMO conjugation nor activation of SUMOylated AKT is regulated by the classical AKT targeting to the cell membrane or by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. We demonstrate that SUMO induces the activation of AKT, whereas, conversely, down-modulation of the SUMO machinery diminishes AKT activation and cell proliferation. Furthermore, an AKT SUMOylation mutant shows reduced activation, and decreased anti-apoptotic and pro-tumoral activities in comparison with the wild-type protein. These results identify SUMO as a novel key regulator of AKT phosphorylation and activity