La utilización del portafolio discente interdisciplinar como metodología en la evaluación de la asignatura de meteorología, climatología y contaminación atmosférica de grado en ciencias ambientales

El portafolio discente interdisciplinar se ha empleado como metodología de evaluación formativa y sumativa en la asignatura Meteorología, Climatología y Contaminación atmosférica de tercer curso del Grado de Ciencias Ambientales de la Universidad de Alcalá.El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona esta metodología de trabajo, aparte de su significado básico (aportaciones de muy distinta índole que permiten al alumno y a los demás ver y valorar el esfuerzo, los logros, las dificultades), requiere y estimula de una manera peculiar la coordinación y planificación docente que permite intercambios y enriquecimiento didáctico en términos de estrategias docentes, flexibilidad y toma de decisiones de cada uno de los docentes implicados, proporcionando una visión integradora, plural, implicada, responsable, autodisciplinada y cooperativa del aprendizaje en Ciencias Ambientales.The interdisciplinary learner portfolio methodology has been used as formative and summative assessment in Meteorology, Climatology and Air Pollution third year course of the Bachelor of Environmental Science at University of Alcalá. The collection of various forms of evidence of achievement of learning outcomes provides apart from its basic meaning (learning outcomes that allow students and others to assess the efforts, achievements, difficulties,strengths and weaknesses) requires and strongly encourages the coordination and planning of teaching that allows exchanges and educational enrichment in terms of strategies, flexibility, assessment decision of each of the teachers involved, thus providing a comprehensive, plural, involved, responsible, selfdisciplined and cooperative learning view in Environmental Science

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum ?-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (< 0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 103 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status

Tendencias pedagógicas

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónMonográfico con el título: “El nuevo estudiante en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior”El portafolio discente interdisciplinar se ha empleado como metodología de evaluación formativa y sumativa en la asignatura Meteorología, Climatología y Contaminación atmosférica de tercer curso del Grado de Ciencias Ambientales de la Universidad de Alcalá. El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona la metodología de trabajo, aparte del significado básico (aportaciones de muy distinta índole que permiten al alumno y a los demás ver y valorar el esfuerzo, los logros, las dificultades), requiere y estimula de una manera peculiar la coordinación y planificación docente que permite intercambios y enriquecimiento didáctico en términos de estrategias docentes, flexibilidad y toma de decisiones de cada uno de los docentes implicados, proporcionando una visión integradora, plural, implicada, responsable, autodisciplinada y cooperativa del aprendizaje en Ciencias Ambientales.ES

A bacterium-based contact assay for evaluating the quality of solid samples. Results from an international ring-test.

The contact assay measuring the inhibition of Arthrobacter globiformis dehydrogenase activity as an endpoint to evaluate the toxicity of solid samples was tested in an international ring-test to validate its performance for ISO standardization (ISO/CD 18187). This work reports the results of the ring-test involving 9 laboratories from six countries. At least 8 valid data sets were obtained for each sample and more than three quarters of the participants attained the validity criteria defined in the standard. The coefficient of variation within (CVr) and between (CVR) laboratories was generally on average <15% and <30% for negative and positive controls, respectively. Regarding solid samples, the laboratories provided a similar ranking of the samples based on their toxicity, despite some variation in the LOEC values. The logarithmic within-lab standard deviation <0.50 for soils and <0.25 for wastes evidenced a good repeatability. The between-lab variability assessed by a CVR <30%, minimum-maximum factor <4 and a reproducibility standard deviation (SDR) <0.13 for a great part of the solid samples, confirmed the test reproducibility. Overall, this assay proved to be robust, sensitive and feasible for routine use towards the quality assessment of soils and wastes

A global multinational survey of cefotaxime-resistant coliforms in urban wastewater treatment plants

The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly