Using seminars for comparing attitudes and performance in transversal skills in students across educative levels: Secondary and higher education

We describe a collaborative activity between the High School "Los Sauces" and the Faculty of Biology of the University of León in Spain. We apply the "seminar" activity in several courses of the Biology Degree at the University, not only to consolidate specific skills but also because it allows working on transversal skills such as teamwork, information search, scientific writing, presentation, discussion, and critical thinking. We split this activity into several tasks, so the students (organized in small groups) work on a topic, fetch relevant scientific information, discuss it with the teacher, produce a report, present it to the class and defend it. These tasks are interleaved with formative assessment such as producing individual and collective summaries, tests, polls, self-evaluations, and a final survey. Given the good results for eliciting work on transversal skills, we carried out a joint project with the Biology Department of "Los Sauces" (Benavente). In the first phase, we adapted the activity for the pre-university course, Secondary Education level. In the second phase, the High School teachers carried out the activity following a similar timeframe, with support from the University teachers (being present at presentations and dissertation). We assessed the attitudes of the students by observation through the experience, analyzing evaluations and scores and especially by the final survey. The data showed that the "seminar" activity was a challenge for the students in both degrees, precisely because of their lack of experience on many of the transversal skills they needed to use. Despite adapting the activity to the High School level, these students found it a bigger challenge, realizing a difference in skill development and adaptation between educative levels noticed by other authors. However, evaluation results and attitudes were similar between levels. When inquired, most students found the activity and the different tasks as positive for attaining the educational objectives, being slightly more critical at the University level (4 vs. 3.7, in a 0–5 score). There was a large dispersion on the preferences about the different tasks, reflecting a great between-subject variability, possibly due to personal preferences and goals. Written comments provided a wealth of comparative data, both because of content and style. University students produced more elaborate and critical comments, reflecting experience, which might have helped to a better understanding of the activity and to apprehend better the skills involved. Notably, we noticed that teamwork was a challenging skill for students at both levels, but also an important one for them to achieve. The students at the High School level found working in groups more problematic, mainly on communicating and coordinating effectively. Students at the University level used their previous experience to solve minor problems as they presented, and getting more output from the teamwork. In conclusion, we could perceive cognitive and emotional differences between these two educative levels when students were challenged to develop transversal skills, especially teamwork. The adaptation of the "seminar" activity from the University to the High School level was very promising. The information we have learned about the students in this pre-university level will allow us to adjust the activity to their educational needs better

First record of Sander lucioperca (Perciformes, Percidae) in the Alqueva reservoir, Guadiana basin (SW Iberian Peninsula)

Se hace referencia a la primera captura de la lucioperca Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) en el embalse de Alqueva (cuenca del Guadiana, suroeste de la Península Ibérica). Los ejemplares, de entre dos y tres años, fueron capturados entre agosto y octubre de 2008 con trasmallos. Se aportan datos morfométricos y merístcos de los mismos (n = 9)The pikeperch Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) is recorded for the first time in the Alqueva Reservoir (Guadiana River Basin, SW Iberian Peninsula). Fish were captured with trammel nets from August to October 2008. The age of specimens was comprised between two and three years old. Morphometric and meristic characteristics of specimens (n = 9) are reporte

Tailored semantic annotation for semantic search

This paper presents a novel method for semantic annotation and search of a target corpus using several knowledge resources (KRs). This method relies on a formal statistical framework in which KR concepts and corpus documents are homogeneously represented using statistical language models. Under this framework, we can perform all the necessary operations for an efficient and effective semantic annotation of the corpus. Firstly, we propose a coarse tailoring of the KRs w.r.t the target corpus with the main goal of reducing the ambiguity of the annotations and their computational overhead. Then, we propose the generation of concept profiles, which allow measuring the semantic overlap of the KRs as well as performing a finer tailoring of them. Finally, we propose how to semantically represent documents and queries in terms of the KRs concepts and the statistical framework to perform semantic search. Experiments have been carried out with a corpus about web resources which includes several Life Sciences catalogs and Wikipedia pages related to web resources in general (e.g., databases, tools, services, etc.). Results demonstrate that the proposed method is more effective and efficient than state-of-the-art methods relying on either context-free annotation or keyword-based search.We thank anonymous reviewers for their very useful comments and suggestions. The work was supported by the CICYT project TIN2011-24147 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO)

Maternal and Neonatal Hair Cortisol Levels Are Associated with Infant Neurodevelopment at Six Months of Age

Background: Maternal stress during pregnancy can affect fetal development during certain sensitive periods. Objective: To longitudinally assess maternal hair cortisol levels during pregnancy, and the postpartum along with neonatal hair cortisol levels that could be associated with infant neurodevelopment at six months of age. Methods: A sample of 41 pregnant women longitudinally assessed during the first, second, and third trimester and the postpartum, along with their 41 full-term neonates participated in this study. Hair cortisol levels were assessed from participants. Infant neurodevelopment was assessed by means of the Bayley Scale of Infants Development, Third Edition at age six months. Results: Maternal hair cortisol levels in the first and second trimester accounted for 24% and 23%, respectively, of variance of infant gross motor development (p < 0.05). Maternal hair cortisol levels during the postpartum accounted for 31% of variance of infant cognitive development (p < 0.05), and 25% of variance of infant gross motor development (p < 0.05). Neonatal hair cortisol levels accounted for 28% of variance of infant gross motor development (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The preconception and prenatal time are sensitive periods related to infant neurodevelopment along with the cortisol levels surrounding the fetus while in the womb. Pregnant women could be assessed for hair cortisol levels while attending a prenatal appointment.This work was supported by the I+D Project “PSI2015-63494-P” of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; co-supported by funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) a way to build Europe (MIPR). In addition, B.R.-G. has been awarded with an individual research grant (Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, FPI Program (research professional training Program), reference number BES-2016-077619)

Towards circular and sustainable restoration of a deeply polluted river basin: The Odiel River catchment (SW Spain)

The Ría de Huelva estuary located in SW Spain is heavily polluted by acid mine drainage leachates and phosphate fertilizer industry effluents. This study assesses the effectiveness of a solid waste rich in calcite originated during the remediation of industrial effluents using the passive dispersed alkaline substrate (DAS) technology, for the treatment of highly acid and polluted mine drainages. The research consists of flowing the mine leachates through a column loaded with a combination of an alkaline reagent (i.e., calcite-rich waste resulting from the treatment of industrial leachates) scattered in a non-reactive matrix (i.e., wood chips) to increase the pH of acidic water while decreasing the solubility of dissolved pollutants. The alkaline treatment achieved average removal percentages of 100 % for Al and Fe, and close to 90 % for Cu. However, the treatment was not effective for other metals present in mine drainages such as Co and Ni. These results are comparable to those achieved in the DAS treatment with commercial limestone. The precipitation of oxyhydroxysulfates (i.e., schwertmannite and basaluminite) and carbonates (i.e., malachite and hydrozincite) minerals could be controlling the solubility of pollutants during the treatment. The solid wastes from the DAS treatment were subjected to two standardized leaching tests (EN 12457-2 from the European Union and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) from the United States) in order to ensure suitable management and avoid potential environmental impacts. According to European Union legislation, the high mobility of Cu, Zn and SO4 confers some solid wastes from the DAS treatment the hazardous waste classification. However, according to United States regulation, these same solids are considered non-hazardous wastes. This research could help to improve the environmental sustainability of acid mine drainage treatment with DAS technology by replacing marketable limestone with a low-cost alkaline waste.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the research project TRAMPA (PID2020-119196RBC21). Jonatan Romero is financed by a FPU program of the Spanish Ministry of Education of Vocational Training (FPU20/04441). Raúl Moreno-González also thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish Research Agency and the European Union “nextGenerationEU” for the Postdoctoral Fellowship granted under application references FJC2021-047600-I. Ricardo Millán Becerro also acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Universities for the Margarita Salas Research Grant. We would also like to thank Dr. Damià Barceló (Co-Editor-in-Chief) and two anonymous reviewers for the support and comments that significantly improved the quality of the original paper.Departamento de Geologí

La perte de sûreté dans les lignes de remorquage par des problèmes de fatigue dans les tressages de fibres synthétiques

En las operaciones de remolque de buques existen situaciones críticas debido a que el control del movimiento del buque pasa por la integridad de la línea de remolque. En los puertos del Mediterráneo la composición de la línea de remolque viene dada por un cable de acero y un trenzado, de polipropileno habitualmente, más pequeño que actúa como amortiguador. En el momento del diseño de los diferentes elementos se utiliza el coeficiente de seguridad adecuado, pero dado a su uso dinámico y como demuestra nuestro estudio, con el tiempo el material se fatiga con la consiguiente pérdida de seguridad.During tow operations of ships, safety and control of movements of ships depend on towlines integrity. In the Mediterranean Sea, common towline elements are steel cables and ropes, usually of polypropilene, that perform as a shock absorber, due to its less stiffness. A static safety coefficient is defined in the design of the towline elements. In our study, we demonstrate that dynamical use of towline weakens the rope material and suffers fatigue. Hence a reduction of towline safety is reported.Dans les opérations de remorquage de bateaux i y a des situations critiques à cause de que le contrôle du mouvement du bateau passe par l'intégrité de la ligne de remorquage. Dans les ports de la Méditerranée la composition de la ligne de remorquage est un câble en acier et en tressage de polypropylène, habituellement plus petit qui agit comme amortisseur. Au moment du dessin de différents éléments le coefficient adéquat de sûreté est utilisé, mais étant donné son usage dynamique et comme notre étude démontre, avec le temps le matériel se fatigue avec la perte résultante de sûreté

Cumplimiento de llenado de las hojas de Historia Clínica Perinatal (HCP) de las pacientes atendidas en el Hospital Bertha Calderón Roque en el I Semestre 2012 y 2013

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar el cumplimiento del llenado de las Hojas de la Historia Clínica Perinatal (HCP) de las pacientes atendidas en el Hospital Bertha Calderón Roque, Managua en el I semestre del año 2012 y el I semestre del año 2013. El presente estudio es descriptivo y de corte transversal. El universo y la muestra lo constituyen 10,093 mujeres embarazadas registradas en el Sistema Informático Perinatal, SIP del Hospital Bertha Calderón Roque, en el periodo de estudio (5,134 en el primer semestre del 2012 y 4, 959 en el primer semestre del 2013) Para la obtención de la información se solicitó la base de datos del SIP, donde se registraron las Hojas de las Historias Clínicas Perinatales de las pacientes egresadas del servicio de maternidad en el periodo de estudio. Resultados: durante el 1er semestre de 2012 de 5134 HCP de 8 variables 3 clasifican con un buen llenado, 2 regular y 3 malas, donde la variable más llenada en este periodo fue datos del puerperio con 98.2% y la menos llenada fue gestación actual 42.6%, para el primer semestre de 2013 de 4959 HCP de las 8 variables 3 clasifican como buenas, 4 regular y 1 malas, donde la variable más llenada fue igualmente puerperio con 98.6% y la menos llenada fue igualmente gestación actual con 68.7%. Conclusiones. A nivel global la calidad del llenado de las HCPB en el I semestre del 2012 fue buena en más del 60.0% de los casos y en el mismo periodo 2013, mejoro a más del 70.0%. A nivel de los componentes de la HCPB, los que alcanzaron los mejores resultados fueron los de antecedentes y datos patronímicos, seguidos de los datos del parto aborto y recién nacidos en ambos semestres. Los peores resultados del llenado, fue para el componente de la gestación actual en el I semestre del 2012, aunque mejoro sustantivamente en el 2013. Se recomendó Instar al personal de salud a llenar completamente y a su debido momento la HCP, como estrategia importante para la posterior toma de decisiones de los otros facultativos que forman parte del equipo de salu

An approach to the application of shift-and-add algorithms on engineering and industrial processes

Different kinds of algorithms can be chosen so as to compute elementary functions. Among all of them, it is worthwhile mentioning the shift-and-add algorithms due to the fact that they have been specifically designed to be very simple and to save computer resources. In fact, almost the only operations usually involved with these methods are additions and shifts, which can be easily and efficiently performed by a digital processor. Shift-and-add algorithms allow fairly good precision with low cost iterations. The most famous algorithm belonging to this type is CORDIC. CORDIC has the capability of approximating a wide variety of functions with only the help of a slight change in their iterations. In this paper, we will analyze the requirements of some engineering and industrial problems in terms of type of operands and functions to approximate. Then, we will propose the application of shift-and-add algorithms based on CORDIC to these problems. We will make a comparison between the different methods applied in terms of the precision of the results and the number of iterations required.This research was supported by the Conselleria de Educacion of the Valencia Region Government under grant number GV/2011/043

Entender la economía a través del arte: un proyecto piloto

Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesFALSEsubmitte

Strategies for teaching professional ethics to IT engineering degree students and evaluating the result

Abstract This paper presents an experience in developing professional ethics by an approach that integrates knowledge, teaching methodologies and assessment coherently. It has been implemented for students in both the Software Engineering and Computer Engineering degree programs of the Technical University of Madrid, in which professional ethics is studied as a part of a required course. Our contribution of this paper is a model for formative assessment that clarifies the learning goals, enhances the results, simplifies the scoring and can be replicated in other contexts. A quasi-experimental study that involves many of the students of the required course has been developed. To test the effectiveness of the teaching process, the analysis of ethical dilemmas and the use of deontological codes have been integrated, and a scoring rubric has been designed. Currently, this model is also being used to develop skills related to social responsibility and sustainability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of diverse academic context