Aplicació de les metodologies “Aprenentatge basat en Equips” i “Aula invertida” per a la millora de l’aprenentatge en els Grups d’Intensificació de l’Estudi (GIE) de les assignatures de Teoria Econòmica

Projecte: 2014PID-UB/031La introducció de tècniques d'aprenentatge actiu a les aules implica un canvi en l'esquema de docència tradicional ja que és l'estudiant qui passa a exercir el paper protagonista en el procés d’aprenentatge, mentre que el professor queda relegat a un plànol secundari com a acompanyant o guia del mateix. Malgrat l’existència d’estudis que mostren l'eficàcia de la seva aplicació, cap estratègia s'havia centrat a avaluar la seva implementació en grups d'estudiants repetidors. Així, la metodologia proposada –basada en l’aplicació de l’aula invertida i l’aprenentatge basat en equips- pretenia omplir aquest buit i va ser implementada en alguns Grups d'Intensificació de l'Estudi (GIE) d’assignatures que imparteix la Secció de Teoria Econòmica a la Facultat d’Economia i Empresa. Després d’aplicar l’estratègia docent a diversos grups GIE es van analitzar els resultats fruit de la seva aplicació a un total de 610 estudiants distribuïts en 7 grups GIE de 4 assignatures, una del grau d'ADE i 3 del grau d'Economia durant els cursos acadèmics 2013/14 i 2014/15. L'anàlisi dels resultats va avalar la seva eficàcia i superioritat enfront de la metodologia tradicional. És especialment destacable: (1) l'augment en la taxa d'estudiants presentats a l'examen final i (2) el major rendiment acadèmic dels estudiants.Projecte d’Innovació Docent 2014PID_UB/03

Students' perception of team-based learning: Evidence in Economics

Today's new teaching and learning methodologies in higher education have moved the center from teacher to student and from teaching to learning. Since Team-Based Learning (TBL) is one of the most frequently used active learning methodologies that have emerged, the objective of this paper is to analyze and evaluate students' perception of this methodology. To that end, first we study the positive and negative aspects of TBL considered by students. Then, we define a synthetic indicator to evaluate the degree of satisfaction of students with this methodology and analyze it according to sociodemographic variables. Finally, we analyze whether there is any correlation between the degree of satisfaction of each student and their individual final grade in global terms. The analysis is performed using a database (which includes information of 657 students) created by merging two datasets: an online questionnaire answered by students, and academic and sociodemographic information of the students who participated in the questionnaire. The main results show that TBL is perceived as a positive methodology, with respect to improving teamwork abilities. Significant differences in several competences were found by age groups, between students with or without a paid job, and depending on the educational attainment of their parents. The students' perception of TBL regarding motivation and performance during the learning process gives information about the sociodemographic characteristics of the students who will show greater acceptance and appreciation of the introduction of TBL

Association between nutritional profiles of foods underlying Nutri-Score front-of-pack labels and mortality: EPIC cohort study in 10 European countries.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSAm-NPS), which grades the nutritional quality of food products and is used to derive the Nutri-Score front-of-packet label to guide consumers towards healthier food choices, is associated with mortality. DESIGN: Population based cohort study. SETTING: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort from 23 centres in 10 European countries. PARTICIPANTS: 521 324 adults; at recruitment, country specific and validated dietary questionnaires were used to assess their usual dietary intakes. A FSAm-NPS score was calculated for each food item per 100 g content of energy, sugars, saturated fatty acids, sodium, fibre, and protein, and of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. The FSAm-NPS dietary index was calculated for each participant as an energy weighted mean of the FSAm-NPS score of all foods consumed. The higher the score the lower the overall nutritional quality of the diet. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Associations between the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and mortality, assessed using multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: After exclusions, 501 594 adults (median follow-up 17.2 years, 8 162 730 person years) were included in the analyses. Those with a higher FSAm-NPS dietary index score (highest versus lowest fifth) showed an increased risk of all cause mortality (n=53 112 events from non-external causes; hazard ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.10, P<0.001 for trend) and mortality from cancer (1.08, 1.03 to 1.13, P<0.001 for trend) and diseases of the circulatory (1.04, 0.98 to 1.11, P=0.06 for trend), respiratory (1.39, 1.22 to 1.59, P<0.001), and digestive (1.22, 1.02 to 1.45, P=0.03 for trend) systems. The age standardised absolute rates for all cause mortality per 10 000 persons over 10 years were 760 (men=1237; women=563) for those in the highest fifth of the FSAm-NPS dietary index score and 661 (men=1008; women=518) for those in the lowest fifth. CONCLUSIONS: In this large multinational European cohort, consuming foods with a higher FSAm-NPS score (lower nutritional quality) was associated with a higher mortality for all causes and for cancer and diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems, supporting the relevance of FSAm-NPS to characterise healthier food choices in the context of public health policies (eg, the Nutri-Score) for European populations. This is important considering ongoing discussions about the potential implementation of a unique nutrition labelling system at the European Union level

Abstracts from the 8th International Conference on cGMP Generators, Effectors and Therapeutic Implications

This work was supported by a restricted research grant of Bayer AG

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

The predictability of real estate excess returns: an out-of-sample economic value analysis

We examine the predictability of private and public real estate returns using recursive, out-of-sample, linear and Markov switching models, employing a rich set of predictor variables. We find considerable improved predictive power compared to simple regression models, especially at the intermediate horizon. Next, we test whether such improved forecasting accuracy translates into a positive risk-adjusted out-of-sample performance by performing a recursive mean-variance portfolio allocation analysis. We observe significant improvements in realized Sharpe ratios and mean-variance utility scores, especially when employing Markov switching models and exploiting predictability at intermediate horizons. Furthermore, our results are robust to the inclusion of transaction costs

Investigation of the Ordering of Porous Anodic Alumina Formed by Anodization of Aluminum in Selenic Acid

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A study of the electron transfer inhibition on a charged self-assembled monolayer modified gold electrode by odd random phase multisine electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

The interest of self-assembled monolayers (SAM) comes from their wide range of very specific technolog-ical applications. The SAMs having a terminal charged group are of great importance as model surfaces forelectron transfer studies. The electron transfer for highly charged electroactive ions at a SAM modifiedelectrode involves an electrostatic interaction. The present work studies a negatively charged SAM of2-mercaptobenzimidazole-5-sulfonate (MBIS). The adsorption of the molecule on polycrystalline gold isdescribed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the reductive desorption of MBIS. The behaviorof the MBIS monolayer towards the electron transfer of the ferri/ferrocyanide reaction is investigated bycyclic voltammetry and odd random phase multisine electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (ORP-EIS).This technique ensures reliable experiments and enables a statistically founded modeling. The combinedelectrochemical and surface study allows the investigation of the characteristics and electrochemicalproperties of the MBIS monolayer formed on polycrystalline gold to provide a quantitative modeling,which is physically and statistically validated. The major contribution of this work is the use of ORP-EISand XPS to understand how the interaction between a charged SAM and electroactive ions affects theelectron transfer.SCOPUS: ar.jSCOPUS: ar.jSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Tunable nanoporous silicon oxide templates by swift heavy ion tracks technology

textcopyright 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd. Nanoporous silicon oxide templates formed by swift heavy ion tracks technology have been investigated. The influence of the heavy ion characteristics, such as type of ion, energy, stopping power and irradiation fluence on the pore properties of the silicon oxide templates, has been studied. Furthermore, the process of pore formation by chemical etching with hydrofluoric acid has been thoroughly investigated by assessing the effect of etchant concentration and etching time. The outcome of this investigation enables us to have precise control over the resulting geometry of nanopores arrays. As a result, guidelines for the creation of a-SiO 2 /Si templates with tunable parameters and general recommendations for their further application are presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe