La influencia de los videojuegos de contenido apocalíptico en los adolescentes

The aim of this study is the dissertation and analysis of the influence (sociological, psychological and cultural) exerted on adolescents by the concept of Apocalypse. Become a key thought of visual culture, the called doomsday theory achieves one of its highest expressions in video games, possibly the favorite entertainment for young people in their leisure time. The results obtained in this research represent a first approach to the subject through the selected samples, two secondary schools from the city of Seville with disparate locations and divergent socioeconomic backgrounds. To reinforce the comparative study, we have included issues related to parental control, principal gaming platforms used by respondents or the number of hours dedicated to this type of entertainment. The conclusions demonstrate an irremediable attraction from our youth towards apocalyptic universes, plotter consciously with leisure and entertainment as escape from their routine of everyday life.El objetivo del presente trabajo es la disertación y el análisis de la influencia (sociológica, psicológica y cultural) que ejerce en los adolescentes el concepto de Apocalipsis. Convertido en una noción clave de la cultura visual, la denominada teoría del fin del mundo alcanza una de sus mayores expresiones en los videojuegos, posiblemente el divertimento preferido por los jóvenes en sus ratos de ocio. Los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación suponen un primer acercamiento a la materia a través de las muestras seleccionadas, dos institutos de la ciudad de Sevilla con localizaciones dispares y situaciones socioeconómicas divergentes. Para fortalecer el estudio comparativo se han incluido cuestiones vinculadas con el control parental, las principales plataformas de juego utilizadas por los encuestados o el número de horas de dedicación a este tipo de entretenimientos. Las conclusiones demuestran una irremediable atracción de nuestros jóvenes hacia universos apocalípticos, urdidos de manera inconsciente con el ocio y el entretenimiento como vías de escape de su cotidianidad

Un acercamiento a la investigación de diseño a través de los experimentos de enseñanza

La Investigación de Diseño (Design Research) es un paradigma metodológico relativamente joven que está siendo de gran utilidad en el campo de la Didáctica de las Ciencias. En este trabajo aportamos una descripción general de dicho paradigma centrándonos en más detalle en la metodología concreta de los experimentos de enseñanza. Presentamos y ejemplificamos las principales características de este tipo de estudios, enriqueciendo la descripción aportada por la literatura con las conclusiones extraídas en nuestra experiencia en su puesta en práctica. Nuestro objetivo es contribuir a su divulgación y desarrollo, así como promover la reflexión y discusión sobre esta metodología

Effects of the Ketogenic Diet on Muscle Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men and Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Reviews focused on the ketogenic diet (KD) based on the increase in fat-free mass (FFM) have been carried out with pathological populations or, failing that, without population differentiation. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to verify whether a ketogenic diet without programmed energy restriction generates increases in fat-free mass (FFM) in resistance-trained participants. We evaluated the effect of the ketogenic diet, in conjunction with resistance training, on fat-free mass in trained participants. Boolean algorithms from various databases (PubMed, Scopus. and Web of Science) were used, and a total of five studies were located that related to both ketogenic diets and resistance-trained participants. In all, 111 athletes or resistance-trained participants (87 male and 24 female) were evaluated in the studies analyzed. We found no significant differences between groups in the FFM variables, and more research is needed to perform studies with similar ketogenic diets and control diet interventions. Ketogenic diets, taking into account the possible side effects, can be an alternative for increasing muscle mass as long as energy surplus is generated; however, their application for eight weeks or more without interruption does not seem to be the best option due to the satiety and lack of adherence generated.University of Malaga (Campus of International Excellence Andalucia Tech

Resistance acquisition after seven cycles of in vitro bleomycin exposure

Bleomycin is an antineoplastic drug that causes DNA damage by intra- and inter-strand crosslink and DNA strand breaks. This drug is used to treat several types of cancer. The aim of this work is to study the effect of Bleomycin on S. cerevisiae cells and select bleomycin-resistant cells to study the process of resistance acquisition to establish new protocols in in vitro drugs exposure.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Context-aware Assessment Using QR-codes

In this paper we present the implementation of a general mechanism to deliver tests based on mobile devices and matrix codes. The system is an extension of Siette, and has not been specifically developed for any subject matter. To evaluate the performance of the system and show some of its capabilities, we have developed a test for a second-year college course on Botany at the School of Forestry Engineering. Students were equipped with iPads and took an outdoor test on plant species identification. All students were able to take and complete the test in a reasonable time. Opinions expressed anonymously by the students in a survey about the usability of the system and the usefulness of the test were very favorable. We think that the application presented in this paper can broaden the applicability of automatic assessment techniques.The presentation of this work has been co-founded by the Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Selection of resistance to cisplatin in saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model for antineoplastic drugs studies

The budding yeast (S. cerevisiae) is an excellent eukaryotic model to study the antineoplastic drugs effects, due to the well-characterized metabolic and genetic characteristics and the conserved similarity in molecular mechanisms with other species including human cells. The aim of this work is to study the effect of cisplatin on S. cerevisiae cells and select cisplatin-resistant cells of this organism as a model of study of resistance to antineoplastic drugs.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Learning Bayesian Networks for Student Modeling

In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in using Bayesian Networks (BN) in the student modelling problem. This increased interest is probably due to the fact that BNs provide a sound methodology for this difficult task. In order to develop a Bayesian student model, it is necessary to define the structure (nodes and links) and the parameters. Usually the structure can be elicited with the help of human experts (teachers), but the difficulty of the problem of parameter specification is widely recognized in this and other domains. In the work presented here we have performed a set of experiments to compare the performance of two Bayesian Student Models, whose parameters have been specified by experts and learnt from data respectively. Results show that both models are able to provide reasonable estimations for knowledge variables in the student model, in spite of the small size of the dataset available for learning the parametersUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Pruning dominated policies in multiobjective Pareto Q-learning

The solution for a Multi-Objetive Reinforcement Learning problem is a set of Pareto optimal policies. MPQ-learning is a recent algorithm that approximates the whole set of all Pareto-optimal deterministic policies by directly generalizing Q-learning to the multiobjective setting. In this paper we present a modification of MPQ-learning that avoids useless cyclical policies and thus improves the number of training steps required for convergence.Supported by: the Spanish Government, Agencia Estatal de Investigaci´on (AEI) and European Union, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), grant TIN2016-80774-R (AEI/FEDER, UE); and Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Málaga - Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Fundamentals and Applications of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

When a molecule is adsorbed on some metallic nanostructured surfaces such as silver, copper or gold, it can undergo an enormous enhancement of the Raman signal giving rise to the so called Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). The high sensitivity of this effect allows an accurate structural study of adsorbates at very low concentrations. The SERS effect has historically been associated with the substrate roughness on two characteristic length scales. Surface roughness on the 10 to 100 nm length scale supports localized plasmon resonances which are considered as the dominant enhancement mechanism of SERS (Electromagnetic Enhancement Mechanism: SERS-EM). It is usually accepted that these electromagnetic resonances can increase the scattered intensity by an average factor of ca. 104 to 107. A secondary mechanism often thought to require atomic scale roughness is referred to as Charge Transfer (CT) Enhancement Mechanism (SERS-CT). This mechanism involves the photoinduced transfer of an electron from the metal to the adsorbate or vice versa and involves new electronic excited CT states which result from adsorbate–substrate chemical interactions. It is also estimated that such SERS-CT mechanism can enhance the scattering cross-section by a factor of ca. 10 to 102. These two mechanisms can operate simultaneously, depending on the particular systems and experimental conditions, making difficult to recognize each one and to estimate their relative magnitude in a particular spectrum.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech