La evaluación de las competencias educativas: De las pruebas estandarizadas al portafolios educativo

Since the beginning of this century, the development of key competences for lifelong learning has been an important political imperative for the Member States of the European Union. A time of substantial changes in the teaching and learning process where one of the main focuses in education was the inclusion of the term competences in the school curriculum, as well as its proper evaluation. In the present article, a tour is made of the most relevant results of the studies developed in the period 2007-2011 by the Group HUM-311 (A.R.D.I.P., Andalusian Research, Development and Innovation Plan): Rethinking education: Group of Research, Innovation and Evaluation of Andalusia, led by Professor Ángel I. Pérez Gómez, highlighting two research projects with a strong link between them. The first of them, focused on the analysis of PISA and the Diagnostic Tests of Andalusia, whose purpose was to analyse the potential of such external evaluations to estimate the degree of development of educational competences and their influence on the construct of ‘learning how to learn'. The second, focused on the study of educational portfolios as a privileged instrument to help develop competences and to evaluate the quality of their achievement. At this stage of major challenges with regard to the complex and novel concept of competences, the findings of the Research Group shed light on the widespread dissatisfaction of the educational community with traditional evaluation systems.Desde el inicio de este siglo, el desarrollo de competencias clave para el aprendizaje permanente ha sido un imperativo político importante para los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea. Una época de cambios sustanciales en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje donde uno de los temas que más focos acaparaba en educación era la inclusión del término competencias en el currículum escolar, así como su adecuada evaluación. En el presente artículo, se hace un recorrido por los resultados más relevantes de los estudios desarrollados en el periodo 2007-2011 por el Grupo HUM-311 (P.A.I.D.I., Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación): Repensar la educación, Grupo de Investigación, Innovación y Evaluación de Andalucía, dirigido por el profesor Ángel I. Pérez Gómez, destacando dos proyectos de investigación con un fuerte vínculo entre sí. El primero de ellos, centrado en el análisis de PISA y las Pruebas Diagnósticas de Andalucía, cuyo propósito consistía en analizar el potencial de dichas evaluaciones externas para estimar el grado de desarrollo de las competencias educativas y su influjo en el constructo de ‘aprender cómo aprender’. El segundo, enfocado al estudio del portafolios educativo como instrumento privilegiado para ayudar a desarrollar competencias y para evaluar la calidad de su consecución. En esta etapa de grandes desafíos respecto al complejo y novedoso concepto de competencias, los hallazgos del Grupo de Investigación arrojaron luz ante la insatisfacción generalizada de la comunidad educativa respecto a los tradicionales sistemas de evaluación

Hydrogeological characterization of heterogeneous volcanic aquifers in the Canary Islands using recession analysis of deep water gallery discharge

Aquifers constitute the main freshwater supply of oceanic islands. Maintaining groundwater quantity and quality is of critical concern as demographic and climatic changes place additional pressures on already fragile water resources systems. Islands with heterogeneous volcanic aquifers pose additional difficulties in assessing their water resources. This work proposes an approach for improving the hydrogeological characterization of heterogeneous volcanic aquifer systems by making use of recession coefficients from deep water gallery discharge. To demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, hydrographs and recession curves from groundwater discharge of 30 water galleries on La Palma (Canary Islands) were evaluated. This analysis allowed us to obtain the main hydrogeological parameters of a volcanic aquifer system, in terms of hydraulic diffusivity. A Maillet-Boussinesq model with an exponential decay law was adopted, according to field observations of drainage discharge. The alpha coefficients of recession values ranged between 10−3 and 4·10−4 day−1 and showed significant spatial correlation with insular geology. Additionally, hydraulic diffusivity values of island hydrogeological domains were obtained from recession coefficients using the Rorabaugh-Singh method. Weighted storage coefficients for volcanic materials were in the range of 3% to 7%, with an average transmissivity in the range of 15 to 150 m2·day−1. The methodology proposed has demonstrated its usefulness in coping with local uncertainty in hydraulic characterization of insular aquifers associated with volcanic heterogeneity. This is an improvement compared to standard pumping tests, thus providing hydraulic parameters prior to numerical analysis for water management planning.This research was partially supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101037424, project ARSINOE (Climate resilient regions through systemic solutions and innovations), and the Spanish Research Agency (project SAGE4CAN PID2020-114218RA-100)

Upgrading the Power Grid Functionalities with Broadband Power Line Communications: Basis, Applications, Current Trends and Challenges

This article reviews the basis and the main aspects of the recent evolution of Broadband Power Line Communications (BB-PLC or, more commonly, BPL) technologies. The article starts describing the organizations and alliances involved in the development and evolution of BPL systems, as well as the standardization institutions working on PLC technologies. Then, a short description of the technical foundation of the recent proposed technologies and a comparison of the main specifications are presented; the regulatory activities related to the limits of emissions and immunity are also addressed. Finally, some representative applications of BPL and some selected use cases enabled by these technologies are summarized, together with the main challenges to be faced.This work was financially supported in part by the Basque Government under the grants IT1426-22, PRE_2021_1_0006, and PRE_2021_1_0051, and by the Spanish Government under the grants PID2021-124706OB-I00 and RTI2018-099162-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”)

Antioxidants Bioaccessibility and Lactobacillus salivarius (CECT 4063) Survival Following the In Vitro Digestion of Vacuum Impregnated Apple Slices: Effect of the Drying Technique, the Addition of Trehalose, and High-Pressure Homogenization

[EN] To benefit the health of consumers, bioactive compounds must reach an adequate concentration at the end of the digestive process. This involves both an effective release from the food matrix where they are contained and a high resistance to exposure to gastrointestinal conditions. Accordingly, this study evaluates the impact of trehalose addition (10% w/w) and homogenization (100 MPa), together with the structural changes induced in vacuum impregnated apple slices (VI) by air-drying (AD) and freeze-drying (FD), on Lactobacillus salivarius spp. salivarius (CECT 4063) survival and the bioaccessibility of antioxidants during in vitro digestion. Vacuum impregnated apple slices conferred maximum protection to the lactobacillus strain during its passage through the gastrointestinal tract, whereas drying with air reduced the final content of the living cells to values below 10 cfu/g. The bioaccessibility of antioxidants also reached the highest values in the VI samples, in which the release of both the total phenols and total flavonoids to the liquid phase increased with in vitro digestion. The addition of trehalose and homogenization at 100 MPa increased the total bioaccessibility of antioxidants in FD and AD apples and the total bioaccessibility of flavonoids in the VI samples. Homogenizing at 100 MPa also increased the survival of L. salivarius during in vitro digestion in FD samples.This research was funded by Generalitat Valenciana, project reference GV/2015/066 entitled Mejora de la calidad funcional de un snack con efecto probiótico y antioxidante mediante la incorporación de trehalosa y la aplicación de altas presiones de homogeneización.Burca-Busaga, CG.; Betoret Valls, N.; Seguí Gil, L.; García Hernández, J.; Hernández Pérez, M.; Barrera Puigdollers, C. (2021). Antioxidants Bioaccessibility and Lactobacillus salivarius (CECT 4063) Survival Following the In Vitro Digestion of Vacuum Impregnated Apple Slices: Effect of the Drying Technique, the Addition of Trehalose, and High-Pressure Homogenization. Foods. 10(9):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10092155S11510

Excess of naturally occurring fluoride in groundwater discharge in Macaronesia: Brava Island, Cape Verde

A high concentration of fluoride in groundwater poses a risk to human health. One of the best-known problems related to excess fluoride in drinking water is dental fluorosis. The characteristic composition of volcanic rocks in oceanic islands tends to present high concentrations of fluoride in groundwater discharge in springs. This study investigates fluoride content in two springs (Encontro and Ferreiros) on the island of Brava (Cape Verde), with the objective of monitoring the operational control production and distribution of drinking water. Using a spectrophotometric method, the level of fluoride found in the water discharged from the Encontro spring was found to be in the range of 4.8 to 6.5 mg/L, whereas at the Ferreiros spring, it was 5.8 to 6.2 mg/L. These results are far above the threshold limit established in the decree No. 5 of 2017 of the Cape Verdean legislation, whose legal threshold value for fluoride is 1.5 mg/L, the same value established by the World Health Organization (WHO). Due to geological conditions and consequences for the health of the population, the water is not adequate for consumption without proper treatment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modeling ANXA2-overexpressing circulating tumor cells homing and high throughput screening for metastasis impairment in endometrial carcinomas

Cèl·lules tumorals circulants; Micrometàstasi; DaunorrubicinaCélulas tumorales circulantes; Micrometástasis; DaunorrubicinaCirculating tumor cells; Micrometastasis; DaunorubicinEndometrial cancer (EC) is the most common neoplasm of the female reproductive tract in the developed world. Patients usually are diagnosed in early stage having a good prognosis. However, up to 20–25% of patients are diagnosed in advanced stages and have a higher risk of recurrence, making the prognosis worse. Previously studies identified ANXA2 as a predictor of recurrent disease in EC even in low risk patients. Furthermore, Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) released from the primary tumor into the bloodstream, are plasticity entities responsible of the process of metastasis, becoming into an attractive clinical target. In this work we validated ANXA2 expression in CTC from high-risk EC patients. After that, we modelled in vitro and in vivo the tumor cell attachment of ANXA2-expressing CTC to the endothelium and the homing for the generation of micrometastasis. ANXA2 overexpression does not provide an advantage in the adhesion process of CTC, but it could be playing an important role in more advanced steps, conferring a greater homing capacity. We also performed a high-throughput screening (HTS) for compounds specifically targeting ANXA2, and selected Daunorubicin as candidate hit. Finally, we validated Daunorubicin in a 3D transendothelial migration system and also in a in vivo model of advanced EC, demonstrating the ability of Daunorubicin to inhibit the proliferation of ANXA2-overexpressing tumor cells.This work was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III ( ISCIII ), grant PI17/01919 and PI20/00969 , co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER); from Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), Grupos Clínicos Coordinados 2018; Xunta de Galicia ( ED431C 2018/21 ); Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (Innopharma Project) and from CIBERONC ( CB16/12/00328 ); Carolina Herrero is supported by a predoctoral i-PFIS fellowship from Instituto de Salud Carlos III ( IFI17/00047 )

Effects of the 2021 La Palma volcanic eruption on groundwater resources (part I): Hydraulic impacts

The 2021 volcanic eruption in the Cumbre Vieja mountain range on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain) raised concerns regarding the potential impact on groundwater resources. This study is the first part of a series of papers investigating those impacts, and focuses on the hydraulic impacts of the eruption, while subsequent papers will explore the geochemical consequences. Three boreholes equipped with sensors to measure hydraulic head, temperature, and electrical conductivity of groundwater were installed near the volcano. Monitoring started during the eruption and continued a year after it. Statistical analysis were performed to assess the relationship between the measured variables and real-time seismic-amplitude measurements (RSAM). In addition, the possibility of groundwater vaporization due to magma emergence was assessed with a groundwater flow numerical modelling of the island. Correlation coefficients were computed to assess the linear relationship between groundwater parameters and seismic signals, observing a statistically significant association, and suggesting near-instantaneous variations in parameters such as groundwater levels and EC. Different response patterns of groundwater levels were observed in recharging areas in highlands compared to discharge areas, showing an opposite correlation direction. Deduction of natural trends from the linear regression models of head and RSAM two months after the eruption revealed a more predictable impact on the groundwater system, as the hydrogeological system adjusts to the volcanic activity and its effects on the aquifer. The hydrogeological simulation of the "magma pumping effect" suggested that groundwater extraction was possible, but the absence of an appropriate groundwater monitoring network made it impossible to determine the amount of water extracted from the aquifer. The uncertainty analysis showed values up to 2000 m3·day−1. These findings have important implications for understanding the negative impacts of volcanic eruptions on groundwater resources, highlighting the need for regular monitoring and assessment by hydrogeologists and water management professionals

Water footprint of the water cycle of Gran Canaria and Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)

When it comes to exploiting natural resources, islands have limitations due to the quantity of these resources and the potential for harm to the ecosystem if exploitation is not done in a sustainable manner. This article presents a study of the water footprint of the different drinking water collection facilities and wastewater treatment facilities in the Canary Islands, in order to determine the blue, green, and grey water footprints in each case. The results show high percentages of drinking water losses, which raises the blue water footprint of the Canary Islands archipelago. The grey water footprint was studied in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5 ). The green water footprint was not considered because it is a dimension of the water footprint mainly calculated for agricultural crops. Of the facilities studied, the wells for extraction of drinking water from the aquifer and the distribution network have the largest blue water footprint for the years under study (2019 and 2020). Only the wastewater treatment plants have a gray water footprint in this study, with values between 79,000 and 108,000 m3 per year. As a general conclusion, the most important factor in reducing the water footprint of the water cycle in the Canary Islands is optimization of the water resource, improving existing infrastructures to minimize losses, and implementing a greater circular economy that reuses water on a regular basis. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This research was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement 101037424, project ARSINOE (climate-resilient regions through systemic solutions and innovations). : The development of this study has been possible thanks to the government of the Canary Islands, through the project “Analysis of the carbon and water footprint of the three main economic activities in the Canary Islands: Tourism, Agriculture and Integrated Water Cycle”, under grant agreement N◦ 20160026

The genesis of an extremely acidic perched aquifer within roasted pyrite waste in a fully urbanized area (Zaragoza, Spain)

Contaminated groundwater is a serious problem in developed countries. The abandonment of industrial waste may lead to acid drainage affecting groundwater and severely impacting the environment and urban infrastructure. We examined the hydrogeology and hydrochemistry of an urban area in Almozara (Zaragoza, Spain); built over an old industrial zone, with pyrite roasting waste deposits, there were acid drainage problems in underground car parks. Drilling and piezometer construction, and groundwater samples revealed the existence of a perched aquifer within old sulfide mill tailings, where the building basements interrupted groundwater flow, leading to a water stagnation zone that reached extreme acidity values (pH < 2). A groundwater flow reactive transport model was developed using PHAST to reproduce flow and groundwater chemistry, in order to be used as a predictive tool for guiding remediation actions. The model reproduced the measured groundwater chemistry by simulating the kinetically controlled pyrite and portlandite dissolution. The model predicts that an extreme acidity front (pH < 2), coincident with the Fe (III) pyrite oxidation mechanism taking dominance, is propagating by 30 m/year if constant flow is assumed. The incomplete dissolution of residual pyrite (up to 18 % dissolved) predicted by the model indicates that the acid drainage is limited by the flow regime rather than sulfide availability. The installation of additional water collectors between the recharge source and the stagnation zone has been proposed, together with periodic pumping of the stagnation zone. The study findings are expected to serve as a useful background for the assessment of acid drainage in urban areas, since urbanization of old industrial land is rapidly increasing worldwide