Proposta de creació d'horts escolars amb hivernacle a Mallorca

[cat] Els horts escolars ja des de fa anys han esdevingut una eina educativa interessant dins els centres educatius. De cada cop més, hi ha la consciència d’educar als infants a partir d’experiències pràctiques i manipulatives per tal que els infants puguin desenvolupar les seves capacitats i el procés d’Ensenyament – Aprenentatge sigui significatiu. Dins aquest punt, l’hort escolar juga un paper clau dins els centres, ja que esdevé un recurs didàctic interdisciplinari. Per mitjà d’aquest podem treballar d’una forma enriquidora diferents continguts del Currículum d’Educació Primària. La tasca d’iniciar un projecte d’hort escolar pot parèixer una tasca senzilla, però no ho és en absolut si volem crear un espai útil i didàctic. La falta de formació, conjuntament amb el desconeixement i la manca de recursos, fan que la creació i el funcionament de l’hort escolar suposi tot un repte. Per això, en aquesta memòria, es una proposa la creació d’un hort escolar amb hivernacle, ja que aquest element és clau. Facilita poder treballar amb els infants aspectes que sense ell no podríem treballar. Aquesta proposta es realitzarà a partir d’una guia senzilla i detallada de tot el procés a tenir en compte en la creació, cultius possibles, activitats a realitzar amb els infants i els continguts curriculars que es poden treballar. A més, en aquesta memòria també s’ha realitzat una investigació i una posterior anàlisi per tal de comprendre en quina situació es trobava l’illa de Mallorca en matèria d’horts escolars.[eng] School gardens have become a fundamental educational tool within schools for years. Increasingly, there is an awareness of educating children through practical and manipulative experiences so that children can develop their abilities and the Teaching – Learning process is significant. Within this point, the school garden plays a key role within the centers, as it becomes an interdisciplinary didactic resource. Through this we can work in an enriching way different contents of the Curriculum of Primary Education. 3 The task of starting a school garden project may seem like a simple task, but it is not at all if we want to create a useful and didactic space. The lack of training, together with ignorance and lack of resources, make the creation and operation of the school garden a challenge. Therefore, in this memory, it is proposed the creation of a school garden with greenhouse, since this key element, makes it easier to work with children’s aspects that without him we could not work. This proposal will be made from a simple and detailed guide of the entire process to take into account in the creation, possible crops, activities to be carried out with the children and the curricular contents that can be worked on. In addition, this report also carried out research and subsequent analysis in order to understand the situation of the island of Mallorca in the field of school gardens

Development of advanced strategies for the prediction of toxicity endpoints in drug development

Safety concerns are one of the main causes of drug attrition. In these events, the moment at which the drug toxic effects are discovered changes dramatically the importance of the finding; discarding a valuable candidate at clinical testing stages means wasting years of efforts and huge economicinvestments. Even more dramatic is the discovery of toxic effect at post marketing stages, when the drug could have already produced severe side effects on a number of patients. For these reason there is a pushing need of developing methods able to assess the safety of drug candidates at early stages of development. Among these, in silico methods have many advantages, like not even requiring the availability of the compound, not wasting any quantity of it in case it has been already synthesized, being fast, cheap and make no use of animal testing. Unfortunately, in silico prediction methods of toxicity endpoints do not perform always as expected. The reasons are still under debate, but likely reasons are the complexity of the biological phenomena under study and the large structural diversity of the drug candidates, among others. The aim of this thesis is to improve currently used in silico prediction methods for their application to biological endpoints of interest in drug development, with a special emphasis to toxicological endpoints. Here, we report a novel general methodology called ADAN (Applicability Domain Analysis) for assessing the reliability of drug property predictions obtained by in silico methods. Furthermore, we proposed a unifying strategy for the use of in silico predictive methods in this field, defining rational criteria for the application of a whole spectrum of methods; from structural alerts to global QSAR models, including read across and local models. The usefulness of all the proposed methodologies is tested using a systematic analysis on representative datasets, obtaining good results that confirm their validity.La manca de seguretat és una de les raons principals per la qual els candidats a fàrmacs són descartats. La fase en què els possibles efectes tòxics són identificats és crítica: descartar un candidat en fase clínica implica la pèrdua d'anys d'esforços i enormes inversions econòmiques. Encara pitjor és identificar efectes tòxics un cop el fàrmac està comercialitzat, quan es poden haver produït greus efectes secundaris en pacients. Per aquestes raons hi ha la necessitat de desenvolupar mètodes capaços d'avaluar la seguretat dels candidats a fàrmacs en les primeres etapes. Entre aquests, els mètodes in silico tenen molts avantatges, com no requerir la disponibilitat del compost, no perdre cap quantitat en cas que ja s'hagi sintetitzat, ser ràpid, econòmic i no fer ús de l'experimentació amb animals. Per desgràcia, els mètodes de predicció in silico aplicats a criteris d'avaluació de toxicitat no produeixen els resultats adequats. Les raons són objecte de debat, però raons probables són la complexitat dels fenòmens biològics en estudi i la gran diversitat estructural els fàrmacs candidats, entre d'altres. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és millorar els mètodes de predicció in silico emprats en l’avaluació de criteris d'interès en el desenvolupament de fàrmacs amb especial èmfasi en els de toxicitat. Presentem una nova metodologia general anomenada ADAN (Applicability Domain Analysis) per avaluar la fiabilitat de les prediccions obtingudes amb mètodes in silico. A més, proposem una estratègia unificada de l’ús de mètodes de predicció in silico emprats en aquest camp; com alertes estructurals, read-across, QSAR local i global. La estratègia incorpora criteris racionals per la seva utilització. Els bons resultats obtinguts amb dades representatives confirmen la validesa de les metodologies

Diseño de un microinversor tipo Flyback conectado a red para aplicaciones fotovoltaicas

[ES] En el presente trabajo, se propone un sistema de inversor de corriente continua del tipo flyback. Esta topología de inversor está especialmente diseñada para aplicaciones fotovoltaicas de pequeña potencia con conexión a red. Este inversor se compone de una única etapa, por este motivo, presenta mejores prestaciones en cuanto a rendimiento y factor de potencia que los inversores convencionales en dos etapas. El micro-inversor absorbe la energía de un panel solar para inyectar corriente alterna a la red con factor de potencia unidad. Para la simulación, se ha utilizado el programa PSIM de manera que se visualicen todas las formas de onda del inversor además de las tensiones soportadas en los interruptores y como se reducen tras la implantación de una red de ayuda a la conmutación para reducir el voltaje en bornes de los mismos. En primer lugar, se explica el funcionamiento básico de los convertidores DC-DC, ya que el convertidor flyback es uno de ellos. Posteriormente, se detallan las modificaciones realizadas tanto en la circuitería como en el control para obtener el micro-inversor tipo flyback. A continuación, se visualizan las formas de onda de tensión y corriente y se diseña un filtro para que la corriente suministrada a la red presente un menor rizado de alta frecuencia y se encuentre en fase con la red. Finalmente, se seleccionan los semiconductores y se diseña el transformador en alta frecuencia. Estos micro-inversores presentan una sencillez de instalación enorme, además de un bajo coste y un elevado rendimiento. En definitiva, es un dispositivo en auge gracias al aumento de las instalaciones fotovoltaicas descentralizadas, es decir, pequeñas instalaciones fotovoltaicas particulares o de autoconsumo con pequeños volúmenes de energía producida, las cuales se abren paso cada vez más en la sociedad gracias a sus múltiples ventajas.[EN] In this paper, a flyback microinverter is proposed. This inverter topology is specially designed for small power photovoltaic applications with grid-connection. This inverter is composed of a single stage, for this reason, it presents better performance in terms of efficiency and power factor than conventional inverters in two stages. The microinverter absorbs the energy of a PV panel to inject altern current with unity power factor into grid. For the simulation, the PSIM program has been used so that all inverter waveforms are displayed in addition to the voltages supported in the switches and the implementation of a switching aid network to reduce the voltage at the ends of the switches. In the first place, the basic operation of the DC-DC converters is explained, since the flyback converter is one of them. Subsequently, the modifications made in both the circuitry and the control to obtain the flyback micro-inverter are detailed. Then, the voltage and current waveforms are visualized and a output filter is designed. Finally, semiconductors are selected and the high frequency transformer is designed. These microinverters present a huge installation facility, as well as low cost and high efficiency. In short, it is a booming device thanks to the increase of decentralized photovoltaic installations, that is, small private photovoltaic installations or self-consumption with small volumes of energy produced, which are opening up increasingly in society thanks to its many advantages.García De La Reina Carrió, P. (2018). Diseño de un microinversor tipo Flyback conectado a red para aplicaciones fotovoltaicas. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/107032TFG

A study of stress-induced whitening in glass fibre reinforced epoxy laminates

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX83019 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

eTOXlab, an open source modeling framework for implementing predictive models in production environments.

BACKGROUND: Computational models based in Quantitative-Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) methodologies are widely used tools for predicting the biological properties of new compounds. In many instances, such models are used as a routine in the industry (e.g. food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industry) for the early assessment of the biological properties of new compounds. However, most of the tools currently available for developing QSAR models are not well suited for supporting the whole QSAR model life cycle in production environments./nRESULTS: We have developed eTOXlab; an open source modeling framework designed to be used at the core of a self-contained virtual machine that can be easily deployed in production environments, providing predictions as web services. eTOXlab consists on a collection of object-oriented Python modules with methods mapping common tasks of standard modeling workflows. This framework allows building and validating QSAR models as well as predicting the properties of new compounds using either a command line interface or a graphic user interface (GUI). Simple models can be easily generated by setting a few parameters, while more complex models can be implemented by overriding pieces of the original source code. eTOXlab benefits from the object-oriented capabilities of Python for providing high flexibility: any model implemented using eTOXlab inherits the features implemented in the parent model, like common tools and services or the automatic exposure of the models as prediction web services. The particular eTOXlab architecture as a self-contained, portable prediction engine allows building models with confidential information within corporate facilities, which can be safely exported and used for prediction without disclosing the structures of the training series. CONCLUSIONS: The software presented here provides full support to the specific needs of users that want to develop, use and maintain predictive models in corporate environments. The technologies used by eTOXlab (web services, VM, object-oriented programming) provide an elegant solution to common practical issues; the system can be installed easily in heterogeneous environments and integrates well with other software. Moreover, the system provides a simple and safe solution for building models with confidential structures that can be shared without disclosing sensitive informationThe research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° 115002 (eTOX), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the/nEuropean Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution

Toward a unifying strategy for the structure-based prediction of toxicological endpoints

Most computational methods used for the prediction of toxicity endpoints are based on the assumption that similar compounds have similar biological properties. This principle can be exploited using computational methods like read across or quantitative structure-activity relationships. However, there is no general agreement about which method is the most appropriate for quantifying compound similarity neither for exploiting the similarity principle in order to obtain reliable estimations of the compound properties. Moreover, optimal similarity metrics and modeling methods might depend on the characteristics of the endpoints and training series used in each case. This study describes a comparative analysis of the predictive performance of diverse similarity metrics and modeling methods in toxicological applications. A collection of two quantitative (n = 660, n = 1114) and three qualitative (n = 447, n = 905, n = 1220) datasets representing very different endpoints of interest in drug safety evaluation and rigorous methods were used to estimate the external predictive ability in each case. The results confirm that no single approach produces the best results in all instances, and the best predictions were obtained using different tools in different situations. The trends observed in this study were exploited to propose a unifying strategy allowing the use of the most suitable method for every compound. A comparison of the quality of the predictions obtained by the unifying strategy with those obtained by standard prediction methods confirmed the usefulness of the proposed approach.The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking, under Grant Agreement No. 115002 (eTOX), resources of which are composed of a financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution

eTOXlab, an open source modeling framework for implementing predictive models in production environments.

BACKGROUND: Computational models based in Quantitative-Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) methodologies are widely used tools for predicting the biological properties of new compounds. In many instances, such models are used as a routine in the industry (e.g. food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industry) for the early assessment of the biological properties of new compounds. However, most of the tools currently available for developing QSAR models are not well suited for supporting the whole QSAR model life cycle in production environments./nRESULTS: We have developed eTOXlab; an open source modeling framework designed to be used at the core of a self-contained virtual machine that can be easily deployed in production environments, providing predictions as web services. eTOXlab consists on a collection of object-oriented Python modules with methods mapping common tasks of standard modeling workflows. This framework allows building and validating QSAR models as well as predicting the properties of new compounds using either a command line interface or a graphic user interface (GUI). Simple models can be easily generated by setting a few parameters, while more complex models can be implemented by overriding pieces of the original source code. eTOXlab benefits from the object-oriented capabilities of Python for providing high flexibility: any model implemented using eTOXlab inherits the features implemented in the parent model, like common tools and services or the automatic exposure of the models as prediction web services. The particular eTOXlab architecture as a self-contained, portable prediction engine allows building models with confidential information within corporate facilities, which can be safely exported and used for prediction without disclosing the structures of the training series. CONCLUSIONS: The software presented here provides full support to the specific needs of users that want to develop, use and maintain predictive models in corporate environments. The technologies used by eTOXlab (web services, VM, object-oriented programming) provide an elegant solution to common practical issues; the system can be installed easily in heterogeneous environments and integrates well with other software. Moreover, the system provides a simple and safe solution for building models with confidential structures that can be shared without disclosing sensitive informationThe research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n° 115002 (eTOX), resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the/nEuropean Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution

LdShake: learning design solutions sharing and co-edition

Two important challenges that teachers are currently facing are the sharing and the collaborative authoring of their learning design solutions, such as didactical units and learning materials. On the one hand, there are tools that can be used for the creation of design solutions and only some of them facilitate the co-edition. However, they do not incorporate mechanisms that support the sharing of the designs between teachers. On the other hand, there are tools that serve as repositories of educational resources but they do not enable the authoring of the designs. In this paper we present LdShake, a web tool whose novelty is focused on the combined support for the social sharing and co-edition of learning design solutions within communities of teachers. Teachers can create and share learning designs with other teachers using different access rights so that they can read, comment or co-edit the designs. Therefore, each design solution is associated to a group of teachers able to work on its definition, and another group that can only see the design. The tool is generic in that it allows the creation of designs based on any pedagogical approach. However, it can be particularized in instances providing pre-formatted designs structured according to a specific didactic method (such as Problem-Based Learning, PBL). A particularized LdShake instance has been used in the context of Human Biology studies where teams of teachers are required to work together in the design of PBL solutions. A controlled user study, that compares the use of a generic LdShake and a Moodle system, configured to enable the creation and sharing of designs, has been also carried out. The combined results of the real and controlled studies show that the social structure, and the commenting, co-edition and publishing features of LdShake provide a useful, effective and usable approach for facilitating teachers' teamwork

Fractal dimension as a measure of surface roughness of G protein-coupled receptors: implications for structure and function

Protein surface roughness is a structural property associated with ligand-protein and protein-protein binding interfaces. In this work we apply for the first time the concept of surface roughness, expressed as the fractal dimension, to address structure and function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) which are an important group of drug targets. We calculate the exposure ratio and the fractal dimension for helix-forming residues of the β(2) adrenergic receptor (β(2)AR), a model system in GPCR studies, in different conformational states: in complex with agonist, antagonist and partial inverse agonists. We show that both exposure ratio and roughness exhibit periodicity which results from the helical structure of GPCRs. The pattern of roughness and exposure ratio of a protein patch depends on its environment: the residues most exposed to membrane are in general most rough whereas parts of receptors mediating interhelical contacts in a monomer or protein complex are much smoother. We also find that intracellular ends (TM3, TM5, TM6 and TM7) which are relevant for G protein binding and thus receptor signaling, are exposed but smooth. Mapping the values of residual fractal dimension onto receptor 3D structures makes it possible to conclude that the binding sites of orthosteric ligands as well as of cholesterol are characterized with significantly higher roughness than the average for the whole protein. In summary, our study suggests that identification of specific patterns of roughness could be a novel approach to spot possible binding sites which could serve as original drug targets for GPCRs modulation