Aprendizaje basado en proyectos colaborativos. Una experiencia con estudiantes del Grado en Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio

El aprendizaje basado en proyectos colaborativos (ABPC) es una metodología educativa innovadora que facilita el aprendizaje significativo y que incrementa la relación entre teoría y práctica. En este trabajo se presenta una experiencia educativa desarrollada en la asignatura Técnicas Cualitativas del Grado en Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio. Se concluye que el ABPC se ha mostrado como una metodología que ha facilitado la obtención de las competencias de la materia y de un aprendizaje contextualizado, ha dado coherencia temática y estructura a una asignatura que por su naturaleza pudiera parecer desestructurada, ha incrementado la motivación y convertido al alumnado en el principal artífice de su proceso de aprendizaje; ha estimulado la vocación investigadora y generado sentimientos de participación y relevancia. La práctica desarrollada destaca la importancia de la tutorización, de la evaluación continua, de la coordinación docente y de la temporalización de tareas como elementos cruciales para el éxito

Dynamics of the planktonic food web in Colgada Lake (Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park)

In Colgada Lake, one of the 15 lakes belonging to Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park, the components of the lineal food chain (phytoplankton and metazooplankton) and the microbial loop phytoplankton, metazooplankton, ciliates, autotrophic picoplankton, and bacterioplankton) were studied from June 2003 to December 2004 with a monthly sampling frequency. This lake has monomictic and mesotrophic characteristics and a mean depth of 8 m. Sixty-two species of the phytoplankton community, 27 species of metazooplankton community, and 12 species of ciliates were identified. Phytoplankton and metazooplankton integrated biomass followed seasonal patterns with higher values in summer, up to 105 mg WW/m2 and 2 × 104 mg WW/m2, respectively. Autotrophic picoplankton did not exceed 500 mg WW/m2. Microbial loop components did not show seasonality, and its biomass concentration fluctuated between 500-2500 mg WW/m2 for ciliates and 100- 2000 mg WW/m2 for bacterioplankton. Centric Bacillariophyceae, Cryptophyceae, and Dinophyceae represented most of the phytoplanktonic biomass throughout the studied period, although an increase of cyanobacteria was also observed. Cladocerans and calanoid copepods dominated during summer stratification, rotifers and cyclopoid copepods were present during the winter mixing period. The microbial loop biomass in relation to total planktonic biomass was higher in winter and spring 2004. Interannual changes in the presence of planktonic groups were observed in the different periods of the year: i) the algal composition included larger and non-edible species (Cyanobacteria, Dinophyceae), ii) a reduction in the clearance function by cladocerans was produced, which were substituted by a cyclopoid predator that iii) can feed on rotifers and ciliates, favouring in this way bacterioplankton and autotrophic pico-nanoplankton. This interannual variation could be related to the ongoing eutrophication process in the Lake. All of this may change the way the lake looks: if spring primary production is not strongly controlled by herbivory, this could threaten the annual recruitment of submerged macrophytes that significantly contribute to improve the water quality of the lake.En la laguna Colgada, una de las 15 lagunas que componen el Parque Natural de Las lagunas de Ruidera, se han estudiado los componentes de la red trófica planctónica (fitoplancton, metazooplancton, ciliados, picoplancton autotrófico -PPA- y bacterioplancton), desde junio de 2003 a diciembre de 2004, con una frecuencia de muestreo mensual. Esta laguna posee un carácter monomíctico y mesotrófico y una profundidad media de 8 m. Se identificaron 62 especies de la comunidad fitoplanctónica, 27 especies de la comunidad de metazooplancton y 12 especies de ciliados. La biomasa integrada de fitoplancton y metazooplancton mostró un patrón estacional con valores más elevados en verano, hasta 105 mg PF/m2 y 2 × 104 mg PF/m2, respectivamente. El PPA no superó los 500 mg PF/m2. Bacterias y ciliados no presentaron estacionalidad, y su concentración fluctuó entre 500-2500 mg PF/m2 en el caso de los ciliados y 100-2000 mg PF/m2 en el bacterioplancton. Poblaciones de Bacillariophyceae de tipo centrales, Cryptophyceae y Dinophyceae constituyeron la mayor parte de la biomasa fitoplanctónica durante todo el periodo de estudio, aunque se observó un incremento de cianobacterias. Cladóceros y copépodos calanoides fueron dominantes durante la estratificación estival, rotíferos y copépodos ciclopoides estaban presentes en la mezcla invernal. La biomasa relativa del bucle microbiano frente al total de biomasa planctónica fue superior en inverno y primavera de 2004. Se han observado cambios interanuales en la presencia de los grupos planctónicos de los diferentes periodos del año: i) la composición algal incluye especies más grandes y menos comestibles (Cyanobacteria, Dinophyceae), ii) se produce una reducción de la función de aclarado de los cladóceros que son sustituidos por un depredador ciclopoide que iii) se pue de alimentar de rotíferos y ciliados, favoreciendo así a las bacterias y el pico-nanoplancton autotrófico. Esta variación interanual podría estar relacionada con el proceso de eutrofización que está sufriendo la laguna. Todo ello puede llegar a cambiar el aspecto de la laguna: si la producción primaria en primavera no está fuertemente controlada por la herbivoría, se puede impedir el reclutamiento anual de los macrófitos sumergidos que contribuyen significativamente a mejorar la calidad de la aguas de esta laguna

Implications of plant material origin, land use history and soil properties in the incidence of verticillium wilt in olive groves

8 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla.The increased presence of Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae Kleb.) in olive groves is often related to the use of infected propagation material and to the planting of new olive trees in contaminated soils. This study assessed the implications of plant propagation, land-use history and soil properties on disease prevalence in southern Spain, the most important olive-growing area worldwide. To this purpose, a large-scale sampling survey was carried out in this area, V. dahliae pathotypes were identified by PCR, and GIS was used to analyze soil properties and cropland-use history. Finally, multiple correspondence analysis was performed to show the statistical association between the variables taken into account. Results strongly indicated the potential risk of planting olive in valleys with irrigated cropland history, especially those that had hosted herbaceous crops, highlighted the importance of using pathogen-free certified planting material as a key component for a successful disease management, and confirmed the role played by saline, alkaline, and steep-slope soils in enhancing V. dahliae prevalence.The research was supported by Caja Rural Foundation.Peer reviewe

CCR5Δ32 variant and cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a cohort study

Introduction The aim of our study was to analyze the influence of the CCR5Δ32 polymorphism in the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events and subclinical atherosclerosis among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods A total of 645 patients fulfilling the American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised classification criteria for RA were studied. Patients were genotyped for the CCR5 rs333 polymorphism using predesigned TaqMan assays. Also, HLA DRB1 genotyping was performed using molecular-based methods. Carotid intima-media thickness, flow-mediated endothelium-dependent dilatation (FMD) and endothelium-independent vasodilatation, which were used as surrogate markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, were measured in a subgroup of patients with no clinical CV disease. Results A lower frequency of carriers of the CCR5Δ32 allele among patients with CV events (3.4% versus 11.3%, P = 0.025, odds ratio 0.28, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.06 to 0.89) was observed. However, after adjusting for gender, age at time of RA diagnosis, and the presence of shared epitope, rheumatoid factor and classic CV risk factors in the Cox regression analysis, this reduction of CV events in CCR5Δ32 allele carriers was slightly outside the range of significance (P = 0.097; hazard ratio 0.37 (95% CI 0.12 to 1.19)). Carriers of the CCR5Δ32 deletion also showed higher FMD values than the remaining patients (CCR5/CCR5Δ32 patients: 7.03% ± 6.61% versus CCR5/CCR5 patients: 5.51% ± 4.66%). This difference was statistically significant when analysis of covariance was performed (P = 0.024). Conclusions Our results show a potential influence of the CCR5Δ32 deletion on the risk of CV disease among patients with RA. This may be due to a protective effect of this allelic variant against the development of vascular endothelial dysfunction

Trade in services in the Baltic States: evolution and future prospects

Trade in services in the Baltic States has traditionally been overlooked. The main objective of this article is to assess the current situation and the future prospects of trade in those services used as intermediate inputs using data from the World Input-Output Database. Unlike previous works we do not only analyze direct trade but also indirect trade, that is, the trade in intermediate services contained in goods. The results show that although traditional services reported major shares in the total volume of intermediate services exports in the Baltic States, other categories of more knowledge-intensive services are gaining importance. First published online: 08 Jun 201

Contradiciendo la constitución de la ciudad. Un análisis de los programas habitacionales en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires en el período 2003-2013

El documento que se presenta a continuación nuclea resultados de investigación construidos de manera colectiva por investigadores del Área de Estudios Urbanos (AEU) del Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani (IIGG) preocupados por la producción social del hábitat y las políticas públicas que tienen por escenario la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se reconstruye, desde una perspectiva histórica, el impacto en el desarrollo urbano que tuvo la transformación neoliberal en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires y el rol que desempeñó el Estado en relación con la definición de su política habitacional en este derrotero. En la primera parte del trabajo, se ofrece una caracterización del déficit habitacional en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires,a partir de un análisis cuantitativo y una descripción del diseño institucional de la política habitacional de la ciudad entre los años 1984 2013, profundizando luego en el análisis de las orientaciones establecidas a partir de 2008. Esto se complementa con un análisis presupuestario para la serie de datos disponibles para el período 2005-2013 y el análisis de la ejecución de cada uno de los programas habitacionales de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, mostrando continuidades y variaciones entre los años 2001 y 2013. Finalmente, se presentan algunas reflexiones que tienden a aportar a una lectura integrada y tendencial de la política habitacional ejecutada en los últimos años en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires que aporta a la comprensión del crítico cuadro de emergencia habitacional que azota hoy a la urbe

Regulation of Gene Expression in Protozoa Parasites

Infections with protozoa parasites are associated with high burdens of morbidity and mortality across the developing world. Despite extensive efforts to control the transmission of these parasites, the spread of populations resistant to drugs and the lack of effective vaccines against them contribute to their persistence as major public health problems. Parasites should perform a strict control on the expression of genes involved in their pathogenicity, differentiation, immune evasion, or drug resistance, and the comprehension of the mechanisms implicated in that control could help to develop novel therapeutic strategies. However, until now these mechanisms are poorly understood in protozoa. Recent investigations into gene expression in protozoa parasites suggest that they possess many of the canonical machineries employed by higher eukaryotes for the control of gene expression at transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and epigenetic levels, but they also contain exclusive mechanisms. Here, we review the current understanding about the regulation of gene expression in Plasmodium sp., Trypanosomatids, Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis

Deconstructing corporate environmental, social, and governance performance: Heterogeneous stakeholder preferences in the food industry

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance assessment has emerged as a way to analyze corporate sustainability. However, the literature suggests that stakeholders are not satisfied with advisory firms' current assessment approaches since they do not consider stakeholders' sustainability preferences. Adopting the stakeholder perspective, this study proposes a new approach to assess ESG performance by developing a stakeholder-specific composite indicator that considers different stakeholder profiles. The proposed approach is empirically implemented to assess the ESG performance of European food firms, as the food industry plays an essential role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The results provide evidence of differences in individual stakeholders' preferences regarding ESG assessment, even within the same stakeholder group (e.g., investors, consumers, or non-governmental organizations). However, the results reveal that almost all the stakeholders sampled showed individual firm rankings similar to generic rankings provided by advisory firms. In any case, this evidence suggests the need to reconsider how ESG composite indicators are constructed, underlining the value of enhanced transparency and communication with stakeholders to provide more valuable and reliable composite indicators

Hallazgos endoscópicos en esófago y estómago en perros de la raza Bulldog Francés

El objetivo de este estudio retrospectivo es la descripción de los hallazgos clínicos y endoscópicos, en 15 perros de la raza Bulldog Francés, con un cuadro clínico de vómitos y/o regurgitaciones. La revisión de los informes de endoscopia emitidos por el Servicio de Gastroenterología y Endoscopia del Hospital Clínico Veterinario Complutense permitió la selección de los perros objeto de estudio: 12 machos y 3 hembras, de edades comprendidas entre los 7 meses y los 3 años (1,62±0,89). La presencia de signos clínicos fue descrita como de larga duración en 9 de los perros (60%). La exploración endoscópica del tracto digestivo superior mostró alteraciones en todos los perros: imagen compatible con esofagitis (11/15), incompetencia del esfínter gastroesofágico (9/15), dilatación esofágica (7/15), engrosamiento de los pliegues o presencia de múltiples pliegues alrededor del píloro (6/15), hernia de hiato (5/15) y reflujo gastroesofágico (4/15). Los resultados sugieren la utilidad de realizar de manera habitual una exploración endoscópica en perros jóvenes de la raza Bulldog Francés con vómitos y/o regurgitaciones, dada la alta frecuencia de presentación de múltiples alteraciones a nivel de su esófago y estómago