ENSEÑANZA DE LAS CIENCIAS NATURALES EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA A TRAVÉS DE CUENTOS Y PREGUNTAS MEDIADORAS

El libro de texto se ha convertido en el principal recurso para la enseñanza en Educación Primaria. Sus formatos generalmente fomentan un aprendizaje memorístico de tipo fáctico, donde las actividades se responden generalmente de forma reproductiva. Por ello los maestros tratan de incorporar otras herramientas de evaluación que las complementen, aunque resulta difícil encontrar actividades que propongan un enfoque diferente.Nuestro trabajo muestra los resultados obtenidos de una experiencia de aula en la que se complementó la enseñanza de las Ciencias naturales (los ecosistemas) con cuentos y preguntas mediadoras que fomentan y dirigen el debate.Tras su realización concluimos que resulta una experiencia enriquecedora que relaciona las asignaturas de Lengua castellana y de Plástica con las Ciencias naturales, generando una visión transversal que potencia el interés por las ciencias, además de permitir la integración de los contenidos a través de preguntas de proceso que complementan al libro de texto

Emergent communication enhances foraging behaviour in evolved swarms controlled by Spiking Neural Networks

Social insects such as ants communicate via pheromones which allows them to coordinate their activity and solve complex tasks as a swarm, e.g. foraging for food. This behavior was shaped through evolutionary processes. In computational models, self-coordination in swarms has been implemented using probabilistic or simple action rules to shape the decision of each agent and the collective behavior. However, manual tuned decision rules may limit the behavior of the swarm. In this work we investigate the emergence of self-coordination and communication in evolved swarms without defining any explicit rule. We evolve a swarm of agents representing an ant colony. We use an evolutionary algorithm to optimize a spiking neural network (SNN) which serves as an artificial brain to control the behavior of each agent. The goal of the evolved colony is to find optimal ways to forage for food and return it to the nest in the shortest amount of time. In the evolutionary phase, the ants are able to learn to collaborate by depositing pheromone near food piles and near the nest to guide other ants. The pheromone usage is not manually encoded into the network; instead, this behavior is established through the optimization procedure. We observe that pheromone-based communication enables the ants to perform better in comparison to colonies where communication via pheromone did not emerge. We assess the foraging performance by comparing the SNN based model to a rule based system. Our results show that the SNN based model can efficiently complete the foraging task in a short amount of time. Our approach illustrates self coordination via pheromone emerges as a result of the network optimization. This work serves as a proof of concept for the possibility of creating complex applications utilizing SNNs as underlying architectures for multi-agent interactions where communication and self-coordination is desired.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure

Social transfer policies and child poverty in European countries: Evaluating policy alternatives through a multiobjective programming model

Child poverty remains a significant concern across Europe and citizens regard policy interventions that effec- tively address this issue to be of utmost importance. In this work, we analyse the potential of social transfer policy alternatives to alleviate child and overall poverty simultaneously in European countries. Using a logistic regression to define the objective functions and constraints, we rely on multiobjective programming to assess key features of national social transfer systems that can minimize child and overall poverty and tend to equal both levels downwards. Taking into account the starting levels of each country, the results underline the importance of finding an adequate combination of pro-child and pro-poor targeting of social transfer policies. For most Eu- ropean countries, an increase in the level of cash benefits for children is advisable – particularly universal benefits – except in Croatia, the Netherlands, and Norway. Nonetheless, in France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain, the recommended proportion of GDP allocated to universal cash benefits is lower than the proportion allocated to means-tested benefits. In this regard, our research provides an innovative approach for policymakers to optimize poverty reduction strategies by contributing valuable insights for the design and implementation of effective social transfer policies to combat child and overall poverty in European countries.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBU

Tailoring magnetic anisotropy at will in 3d interconnected nanowire networks

The control of magnetic anisotropy has been the driving force for the development of magnetic applications in a wide range of technological fields from sensing to spintronics. In recent years, the possibility of tailoring the magnetic properties goes together with a need for new 3D materials to expand the applications to a new generation of devices. Herein, the possibility of designing the magnetic anisotropy of 3D magnetic nanowire networks is shown just by modifying the geometry of the structure or by composition. It is also shown that this is possible when the magnetic properties of the structure are governed by magnetostatic anisotropy. The present approach can guide systematic tuning of the magnetic easy axis and coercivity in the desired direction at the nanoscale. Importantly, this can be achieved on virtually any magnetic material, alloy, or multilayers that can be prepared inside porous alumina. These results are promising for engineering novel magnetic devices that exploit tailored magnetic anisotropy using metamaterials concept

D-SAV360: A Dataset of Gaze Scanpaths on 360° Ambisonic Videos

Understanding human visual behavior within virtual reality environments is crucial to fully leverage their potential. While previous research has provided rich visual data from human observers, existing gaze datasets often suffer from the absence of multimodal stimuli. Moreover, no dataset has yet gathered eye gaze trajectories (i.e., scanpaths) for dynamic content with directional ambisonic sound, which is a critical aspect of sound perception by humans. To address this gap, we introduce D-SAV360, a dataset of 4,609 head and eye scanpaths for 360° videos with first-order ambisonics. This dataset enables a more comprehensive study of multimodal interaction on visual behavior in virtual reality environments. We analyze our collected scanpaths from a total of 87 participants viewing 85 different videos and show that various factors such as viewing mode, content type, and gender significantly impact eye movement statistics. We demonstrate the potential of D-SAV360 as a benchmarking resource for state-of-the-art attention prediction models and discuss its possible applications in further research. By providing a comprehensive dataset of eye movement data for dynamic, multimodal virtual environments, our work can facilitate future investigations of visual behavior and attention in virtual reality

Compuestos neurogénicos basados en melatonina y su uso en el tratamiento de enfermedades del sistema nervioso

La presente invención, que se incluye en el campo de la investigación e industria farmacéutica, se refiere a nuevas entidades químicas derivadas de melatonina con propiedades neurogénicas, moduladoras de los receptores de melatonina y/o serotonina, antioxidantes y/o colinérgicas. También se refiere a los procedimientos para la preparación de estos nuevos compuestos, a las composiciones farmacéuticas que los contienen y a su uso para la fabricación de un medicamento para el tratamiento de enfermedades del sistema nervioso relacionadas con degeneración neuronal, depresión, trastornos psiquiátricos y cognitivos, trauma o lesión celular, u otro trastorno neurológico relacionado, tratamiento de fatiga diurna, trastornos del sueño, pérdida de eficacia mental, debilidad e irritabilidad y síntomas relacionados con la descompensación horaria (efecto jet-lag o síndrome transoceánico).Peer reviewedConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad Autónoma de MadridB1 Patente sin examen previ

Experiencia piloto de “micro flipped teaching” (clase invertida) en la asignatura “Células madre de la Médula Ósea: características biológicas y su posible papel en el desarrollo de neoplasias”

Memoria ID2019/067. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2019-2020

Splice donor site sgRNAs enhance CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout efficiency

[EN]CRISPR/Cas9 allows the generation of knockout cell lines and null zygotes by inducing site-specific double-stranded breaks. In most cases the DSB is repaired by non-homologous end joining, resulting in small nucleotide insertions or deletions that can be used to construct knockout alleles. However, these mutations do not produce the desired null result in all cases, but instead generate a similar, functionally active protein. This effect could limit the therapeutic efficiency of gene therapy strategies based on abrogating oncogene expression, and therefore needs to be considered carefully. If there is an acceptable degree of efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery to cells, the key step for success lies in the effectiveness of a specific sgRNA at knocking out the oncogene, when only one sgRNA can be used. This study shows that the null effect could be increased with an sgRNA targeting the splice donor site (SDS) of the chosen exon. Following this strategy, the generation of null alleles would be facilitated in two independent ways: the probability of producing a frameshift mutation and the probability of interrupting the canonical mechanism of pre-mRNA splicing. In these contexts, we propose to improve the loss-of-function yield driving the CRISPR system at the SDS of critical exons

OncomiRs miR-106a and miR-17 negatively regulate the nucleoside-derived drug transporter hCNT1

High-afnity uptake of natural nucleosides as well as nucleoside derivatives used in anticancer therapies is mediated by human concentrative nucleoside transporters (hCNTs). hCNT1, the hCNT family member that specifcally transports pyrimidines, is also a transceptor involved in tumor progression. In particular, oncogenesis appears to be associated with hCNT1 downregulation in some cancers, although the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we sought to address changes in colorectal and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma both of which are important digestive cancers in the context of treatment with fuoropyrimidine derivatives. An analysis of cancer samples and matching non-tumoral adjacent tissues revealed downregulation of hCNT1 protein in both types of tumor. Further exploration of the putative regulation of hCNT1 by microRNAs (miRNAs), which are highly deregulated in these cancers, revealed a direct relationship between the oncomiRs miR-106a and miR-17 and the loss of hCNT1. Collectively, our fndings provide the frst demonstration that hCNT1 inhibition by these oncomiRs could contribute to chemoresistance to fuoropyrimidine-based treatments in colorectal and pancreatic cancer

Una causa infrecuente de abdomen agudo: reporte de un caso de gastritis enfisematosa

Emphysematous or phlegmonous gastritis is a rare and life-threatening bacterial infection caused by gas-producing bacteria that infiltrate the mucosa of the digestive tract. We present the case of a 90 years old man who was admitted with gut-origin sepsis, and a physical examination revealed an acute abdomen. Broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment is started, not being a candidate for surgery, with an unfavourable clinical response. This description aims to illustrate a poorly documented disease to improve the management of patients with this diagnosis.La gastritis enfisematosa o flemonosa es una infección bacteriana infrecuente y potencialmente mortal, causada por bacterias productoras de gas que infiltran la mucosa del tubo digestivo. Se presenta el caso de un varón de 90 años que ingresa con sepsis de origen gastrointestinal y exploración física compatible con abdomen agudo. Se inicia tratamiento antibiótico de amplio espectro, no siendo subsidiario de cirugía, con respuesta clínica desfavorable. El objeto de esta descripción es ilustrar una enfermedad poco documentada para mejorar el manejo de los pacientes con este diagnóstico