Las matemáticas en el bachillerato a distancia: restricciones epistemológicas y pedagógicas

El mundo está experimentando una verdadera revolución en la difusión del conocimiento y en la mejora de la instrucción a través del avance de las tecnologías de la comunicación y la información. Esta es la tercera revolución en el aprendizaje, siendo la primera la invención del lenguaje escrito y la segunda el desarrollo de la imprenta y los libros. En la actualidad podemos encontrar enseñanza virtual en todos los niveles de enseñanza, es por ello que los sistemas educativos se enfrentan a grandes desafíos en la cada vez más demanda educación a distancia, con el propósito de proporcionar todo el espectro de servicios de educación para todos, en cualquier lugar y en cualquier momento con un enfoque centrado en un aprendizaje efectivo. A pesar de este gran desarrollo de la educación a distancia, no existen muchos estudios al respecto. La finalidad de este trabajo es estudiar las restricciones de orden epistemológico y pedagógico que puede presentar la enseñanza de las matemáticas en el bachillerato a distancia

Are digital twins improving urban-water systems efficiency and sustainable development goals?

The use of these new interaction tool implies the improvement of the awareness of the whole system and it lies in improving the sustainability and efficiency of the water systems with the integration of measurements. The research proposed a methodology, which enables improvement in the accuracy and reliability of data and it increases the performance of water systems. This study proposes a pressure-reduction strategy and the implementation of pumps as turbines (PATs), applicable in Sta Cruz, Madeira water system. The use of the developed digital twin model assures a decrease of 3.3 hm3 in water-demand volume, increasing renewable generation by micro-hydropower up to 1.2 GWh. These actions would result in savings above 1.5 M€, decreasing around 530 tons of CO2 emissions each year. The consideration of these values implies the improvement of different indicators, which allows the evaluation of different targets linked to sustainable development goals (SDGs). A digital twin is a tool, which enables a real-time simulation of the water systems and therefore, the water managers can make a decision in the management of the water system over time. The use of these new interaction tool implies the improvement of the awareness of the whole system and it lies in improving the sustainability and efficiency of the water systems with the integration of measurements. The research proposed a methodology to integrate GIS and water models, being the main goal the integration of social, economic, environmental and technical issues. This integration enables improvement in the accuracy and reliability of data and it increases the performance of water systems. This study proposes a pressure-reduction strategy and the implementation of pumps as turbines (PATs), applicable in Sta Cruz, Madeira water system. The use of the developed digital twin model assures a decrease of 3.3 hm3 in water-demand volume, increasing renewable generation by micro-hydropower up to 1.2 GWh. These actions would result in savings above 1.5 M€, decreasing around 530 tons of CO2 emissions each year. The consideration of these values implies the improvement of different indicators, which allows the evaluation of different targets linked to sustainable development goals (SDGs). © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Phenotype-loci associations in networks of patients with rare disorders: application to assist in the diagnosis of novel clinical cases

Copy number variations (CNVs) are genomic structural variations (deletions, duplications, or translocations) that represent the 4.8–9.5% of human genome variation in healthy individuals. In some cases, CNVs can also lead to disease, being the etiology of many known rare genetic/genomic disorders. Despite the last advances in genomic sequencing and diagnosis, the pathological effects of many rare genetic variations remain unresolved, largely due to the low number of patients available for these cases, making it difficult to identify consistent patterns of genotype–phenotype relationships. We aimed to improve the identification of statistically consistent genotype–phenotype relationships by integrating all the genetic and clinical data of thousands of patients with rare genomic disorders (obtained from the DECIPHER database) into a phenotype–patient–genotype tripartite network. Then we assessed how our network approach could help in the characterization and diagnosis of novel cases in clinical genetics. The systematic approach implemented in this work is able to better define the relationships between phenotypes and specific loci, by exploiting large-scale association networks of phenotypes and genotypes in thousands of rare disease patients. The application of the described methodology facilitated the diagnosis of novel clinical cases, ranking phenotypes by locus specificity and reporting putative new clinical features that may suggest additional clinical follow-ups. In this work, the proof of concept developed over a set of novel clinical cases demonstrates that this network-based methodology might help improve the precision of patient clinical records and the characterization of rare syndromes

Proteomic Characterization of Host-Pathogen Interactions during Bovine Trophoblast Cell Line Infection by

Despite the importance of bovine neosporosis, relevant knowledge gaps remain concerning the pathogenic mechanisms of . Infection of the placenta is a crucial event in the pathogenesis of the disease; however, very little is known about the relation of the parasite with this target organ. Recent studies have shown that isolates with important variations in virulence also show different interactions with the bovine trophoblast cell line F3 in terms of proliferative capacity and transcriptome host cell modulation. Herein, we used the same model of infection to study the interaction of with these target cells at the proteomic level using LC-MS/MS over the course of the parasite lytic cycle. We also analysed the proteome differences between high- (Nc-Spain7) and low-virulence (Nc-Spain1H) isolates. The results showed that mitochondrial processes and metabolism were the main points of -host interactions. Interestingly, Nc-Spain1H infection showed a higher level of influence on the host cell proteome than Nc-Spain7 infection

Unleashing the Diagnostic, Prognostic and Therapeutic Potential of the Neuronostatin/GPR107 System in Prostate Cancer

Certain components of the somatostatin-system play relevant roles in Prostate Cancer (PCa), whose most aggressive phenotype (Castration-Resistant-PCa (CRPC)) remains lethal nowadays. However, neuronostatin and the G protein-coupled receptor 107 (GPR107), two novel members of the somatostatin-system, have not been explored yet in PCa. Consequently, we investigated the pathophysiological role of NST/GPR107-system in PCa. GPR107 expression was analyzed in well-characterized PCa patient′s cohorts, and functional/mechanistic assays were performed in response to GPR107-silencing and NST-treatment in PCa cells (androgen-dependent (AD: LNCaP) and androgen-independent (AI: 22Rv1/PC-3), which are cell models of hormone-sensitive and CRPC, respectively), and normal prostate cells (RWPE-1 cell-line). GPR107 was overexpressed in PCa and associated with key clinical parameters (e.g., advance stage of PCa, presence of vascular invasion and metastasis). Furthermore, GPR107-silencing inhibited proliferation/migration rates in AI-PCa-cells and altered key genes and oncogenic signaling-pathways involved in PCa aggressiveness (i.e., KI67/CDKN2D/MMP9/PRPF40A, SST5TMD4/AR-v7/In1-ghrelin/EZH2 splicing-variants and AKT-signaling). Interestingly, NST treatment inhibited proliferation/migration only in AI-PCa cells and evoked an identical molecular response than GPR107-silencing. Finally, NST decreased GPR107 expression exclusively in AI-PCa-cells, suggesting that part of the specific antitumor effects of NST could be mediated through a GPR107-downregulation. Altogether, NST/GPR107-system could represent a valuable diagnostic and prognostic tool and a promising novel therapeutic target for PCa and CRPC

Reliability and external validity of a questionnaire to assess the knowledge about risk and cardiovascular disease and in patients attending Spanish community pharmacies

© 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. Objectives To determine the test-retest reliability of a questionnaire, with a validation preliminary, to assess knowledge of cardiovascular risk (CVR) and cardiovascular disease in patients attending community pharmacies in Spain. To complement the external validity, establishing the relationship between an educational activity and the increase in knowledge about CVR and cardiovascular disease. Design Sub-analysis of a controlled clinical study, EMDADER-CV, in which a questionnaire about knowledge concerning CVR was applied at 4 different times. Location Spanish Community Pharmacies. Participants There were 323 patients in the control group, from the 640 who completed the study. Main measurements Intraclass correlation coefficient to assess the reliability in 3 comparisons (post-educational activity with week 16, post-educational activity with week 32, and week 16 with week 32); and the non-parametric Friedman test to establish the relationship between an oral and written educational activity with increasing knowledge. Results For the 323 patients in the 3 comparisons, the intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.624; 0.608 and 0.801, respectively (fair-good to excellent reliability). So, the Friedman test showed a statistically significant relationship between educational activity and increased knowledge (p < .0001). Conclusions According to the intraclass correlation coefficient, the questionnaire aimed at assessing the knowledge on CVR and cardiovascular disease has a reliability between acceptable and excellent, which added to the previous validation, shows that the instrument meets the criteria of validity and reliability. Furthermore, the questionnaire showed the ability to relate an increase in knowledge with an educational intervention, feature that complements its external validity

Cryo-EM and single-particle analysis with Scipion

Cryo-electron microscopy has become one of the most important tools in biological research to reveal the structural information of macromolecules at near-atomic resolution. In single-particle analysis, the vitrified sample is imaged by an electron beam and the detectors at the end of the microscope column produce movies of that sample. These movies contain thousands of images of identical particles in random orientations. The data need to go through an image processing workflow with multiple steps to obtain the final 3D reconstructed volume. The goal of the image processing workflow is to identify the acquisition parameters to be able to reconstruct the specimen under study. Scipion provides all the tools to create this workflow using several image processing packages in an integrative framework, also allowing the traceability of the results. In this article the whole image processing workflow in Scipion is presented and discussed with data coming from a real test case, giving all the details necessary to go from the movies obtained by the microscope to a high resolution final 3D reconstruction. Also, the power of using consensus tools that allow combining methods, and confirming results along every step of the workflow, improving the accuracy of the obtained results, is discussed

Medium-resolution Isaac Newton Telescope library of empirical spectra - II. The stellar atmospheric parameters

We present a homogeneous set of stellar atmospheric parameters (T-eff, log g, [Fe/H]) for MILES, a new spectral stellar library covering the range lambda lambda 3525-7500 angstrom at 2.3 angstrom (FWHM) spectral resolution. The library consists of 985 stars spanning a large range in atmospheric parameters, from super-metal-rich, cool stars to hot, metal-poor stars. The spectral resolution, spectral type coverage and number of stars represent a substantial improvement over previous libraries used in population synthesis models. The atmospheric parameters that we present here are the result of a previous, extensive compilation from the literature. In order to construct a homogeneous data set of atmospheric parameters we have taken the sample of stars of Soubiran, Katz & Cayrel, which has very well determined fundamental parameters, as the standard reference system for our field stars, and have calibrated and bootstrapped the data from other papers against it. The atmospheric parameters for our cluster stars have also been revised and updated according to recent metallicity scales, colour-temperature relations and improved set of isochrones

Waterborne outbreak of tularemia associated with crayfish fishing.

In 1997, an outbreak of human tularemia associated with hare-hunting in central Spain affected 585 patients. We describe the identification of Francisella tularensis biovar palaearctica in a second outbreak of ulceroglandular tularemia associated with crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) fishing in a contaminated freshwater stream distant from the hare-associated outbreak. The second outbreak occurred 1 year after the first

Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species’ distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and FEDER (project CGL2009-11316/BOS