A study of the elongation of fibrils of the Alzheimer\u27s amyloid beta protein with a coarse-grained force field

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain disorder named after the German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer, who first described the disease in 1906. AD is a form of dementia, characterized by impairment of memory and other intellectual abilities, caused by the loss of neurons and synapses (the structures that permit communication between neurons) in certain regions of the brain. Although the mechanism by which neurons are affected is not yet well understood, research points to a small protein, the beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta), as the first suspect. Ab chains are present in the brains of healthy individuals, but in AD patients, they associate and form clumps that deposit outside neurons, and are believed to trigger the disease. In this dissertation, I use computational methods to study the behavior of the structures formed by Ab chains, when they associate with each other, and how these structures grow. The goal of this work is to use computational methods to complement experimental results by filling the gaps about structural and association mechanism that cannot be accessed by experiments

The influence of television stories on narrative abilities in children

This research explores the narrative abilities demonstrated by children aged between 8 and 12 in the production of television stories. The results reveal that not all television stories viewed by children foster the informal education process. One type of story, termed narrativizing, enables children to produce coherent stories which clearly articulate the causal, temporal and motivational relations, as well as the means-end structures, the proximal relations of the intrigue and the distal relations of the plot. Other television stories, denarrativizing stories, tend to induce disarrangements and incoherence at all structural levels of the stories produced by children. This in turn hampers the development of their narrative abilities, which are necessary to the correct development of narrative thought. These results indicate the need to exercise social control over this latter type of fictional television narrative, to which children are exposed throughout their development within the framework of informal education.University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), EHU 13/65 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), GIU 15/14 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), UFI 11/04 MINECO. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, BES-2015-071923 Fondo Social Europeo, BES-2015-07192

Obstáculos cognitivos en el aprendizaje de las matemáticas: el caso del concepto de límite

Este artículo presenta el proceso y algunos resultados de una investigación interpretativa y descriptiva en la que se analizan concepciones relativas al concepto de límite, manifestadas por estudiantes que se están formando para profesores de matemáticas, y se infieren factores que obstaculizan o favorecen su comprensión. Se desarrolló bajo un enfoque sistémico, mediante el cual se reconoce la complejidad de los fenómenos de enseñanza y aprendizaje del concepto de límite, desde las perspectivas epistemológica, didáctica y cognitiva. Se encontró que los estudiantes revelan concepciones espontáneas mezcladas con las inducidas por la enseñanza y modelos mentales no pertinentes, que causan diversos conflictos cognitivos. En los libros de texto predomina la concepción analítica-estática mientras que en los estudiantes y profesores prevalece la concepción algebraica finitista-estática

Determining Factors in Competitiveness Aimed at Generating Conditions in Cities to do Business: Bogotá and Santiago de Chile

El presente artículo de reflexión tiene como objetivo identificar los factores determinantes en competitividad encaminados a la generación de condiciones en ciudades para hacer negocios Bogotá y Santiago de chile, se desarrollara una metodología cualitativa con base a la extracción documental de fuentes primarias como las Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá y la Cámara Nacional de Chile y adicionalmente se toma fuentes secundarias de organizaciones promotoras a la inversión extranjera de las ciudades de estudio., de igual manera se validara la gestión de crecimiento y desarrollo empresarial de Bogotá y Santiago de Chile. Los resultados que se obtuvieron del presente artículo Bogotá y Santiago de Chile están encaminadas en fortalecer sus instituciones públicas y privadas con el fin de tener un nivel de competitividad asertivo y dinámico, basándose en los parámetros establecidos por aquellas entidades que regulan la competitividad en las regiones, países y ciudades. Como conclusión principal se evidencio en la investigación que la capital chilena es competitiva en el entorno de ciudad para hacer negocios ya que su marco político, social y económico está bien definido. Bogotá viene trabajando fuertemente en establecer políticas accesibles hacia la inversión extranjera de esa manera ser visa como una ciudad potencial para hacer negociosNingunoThis article aims to identify the determinant factors in competitiveness and to generate conditions in cities of the business Bogota and Santiago of Chile, to qualitative methodology will be developed Based on the documentary extraction of primary sources such as the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota and the National Chamber of Chile, and secondary sources of organizations promoting foreign investment in study cities are taken. The same way, the growth and business development of Bogota and Santiago de Chile will be validated. The results obtained from this article are aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Bogota and Santiago of Chile through their institutions, with the approval of local and municipal governments, in order to be assertive and dynamic towards the Possible changes, of course based on the parameters Established by those entities that regulate the level of competitiveness of regions, countries and cities

Understanding listening assessment in a Colombian EFL context

Even though listening research has come to the fore; from the cognitive, affective, and behavioral perspectives, there is still a lack of understanding of what indeed happens when assessing listening inside the classroom. Examining how listening is assessed and the influence of said practices on learners could be beneficial for the academic community. In this study, I aimed at analyzing the characteristics of the listening assessment used in B1 level classes at a private language institution. To do so, a total of fourteen tasks were analyzed. These tasks come from six tests, from the course curriculum testing package (CCTP) and from an external testing package (ETP). Three aspects were identified: the type of knowledge targeted in each listening task, the forms of listening assessment and the type of communicative listening activities students, as listeners, are exposed to in each test from the CCTP and the ETP. The findings indicate: a) CCTP and ETP assess different types of listening knowledge, b) the most recurrent type of knowledge assessed in the CCTP is the phonological knowledge while ETP focused on integrating not only the phonological but also the lexical, pragmatic and general knowledge, c) there is a lack of variety in the forms of listening assessment used in CCTP: 80% of the listening tasks in the tests are dictation tasks in audio media and recordings assessing mostly phonological knowledge. This study concluded that the inclusion of an external examination to the course curriculum examination does not seem to align to the holistic view of listening development proposed by the course curriculum. The results could inform curricular alignment and listening assessment literacy decisions for EFL teachers in the institution.MaestríaMagister en la Enseñanza del Ingle

Evolution Representation in Mexican Textbooks

La evolución es la base de toda la biología moderna. Uno de los aspectos más sobresalientes de los estudios actuales sobre la historia de la evolución es el interés creciente por explorar su papel y alcance en ámbitos no científicos, por ejemplo, en la educación. Algunos académicos han explorado la manera en que la teoría de la evolución fue introducida a los salones de clases; sin embargo, son pocos los estudios realizados específicamente sobre el escenario mexicano. Desde hace ya varias décadas, historiadores, filósofos, sociólogos y psicólogos han dirigido grandes esfuerzos hacia la comprensión de la naturaleza de las imágenes visuales y su papel en la generación de conocimiento y en el entendimiento de conceptos. El campo denominado “Estudios Sociales de Imágenes y Visualización Científica” (Scientific Imaging and Visualization) trata cuestiones enfocadas con la dimensión social y las implicaciones de las imágenes científicas y el conocimiento visual. En este trabajo buscamos responder, en el caso particular de la teoría de la evolución, qué ocurre cuándo las imágenes viajan fuera del contexto académico y se difunden en otros contextos.Evolution is the basis of all modern biology. One of the most outstanding aspects of current studies on evolution history is the growing interest for exploring its role and scope in non-scientific environments, for example, in education. Some scholars have explored the way in which the evolution theory was introduced to classrooms; however, there are few studies on the Mexican scenario. Since several decades ago, historians, philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists have made big efforts to understand the nature of visual images.and their role in knowledge generation and in concept understanding as well. The filed called “Scientific Imaging and Visualization 2 deals with subjects focused on the social dimension and implications of scientific images and visual knowledge. In this research, we we are searching for giving an answer – in the specific case of evolution theory- to what happens when images travel outside an academic context and penetrate other contexts

Evaluación del mecanismo de pago capitado en el seguro integral de salud del Perú: Assessment of the mechanism of payment capitated in the peruvian seguro integral de salud.

Objective:To Assess the impact of the capitated payment mechanism, implemented by the ComprehensiveHealth Insurance (SIS), in the execution of resources from the source of financing, donations and transfers,during the years 2012 to 2016, Peru. Methods:Assessment of the execution percentages of the regions, thenumber of preventive benefits versus the number of recuperative benefits and the impact on the increaseof preventive care in the pilot regions versus the counterfactual regions was measured. A retrospectivedescriptive study was carried out pre post and difference of differences between the pilot regionsApurímac, Amazonas, Ayacucho, Callao and Huancavelica compared with a counterfactual paired by theHuman Development Index; In addition, the regions of Moquegua, Loreto, Puno, Cajamarca and Huánucowere considered. Results:An increase in the average percentage of execution was observed, prior to thecapitated mechanism, from 68.5% in 2012 to 92.3% in 2016; likewise, the increase at the national levelof preventive benefits versus recuperative benefits, with the specific weight of preventive benefits beinginvested in favor of them and, using the difference in differences method, it was evident that the pilotregions had a positive difference of 1551 preventive benefits for every 10,000 insured persons versus thecounterfactual regions.Objetivo:Evaluar el impacto del mecanismo de pago capitado, implementado por el Seguro Integralde Salud (SIS), en la ejecución de los recursos provenientes de la fuente de financiamiento donacionesy transferencias, durante los años 2012 al 2016, Perú. Métodos:Se evaluó los porcentajes de ejecuciónde las regiones, el número de prestaciones preventivas versus el número de prestaciones recuperativasy se midió el impacto en el incremento de las atenciones preventivas en las regiones piloto versus lasregiones del contrafactual. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo pre post y diferencia dediferencias entre las regiones piloto Apurímac, Amazonas, Ayacucho, Callao y Huancavelica comparadoscon un contrafactual apareado por Índice de Desarrollo Humano; además, se consideró a las regiones deMoquegua, Loreto, Puno, Cajamarca y Huánuco. Resultados:Se observó un incremento del porcentajepromedio de ejecución, previo al mecanismo capitado, de 68,5% en el 2012 al 92.3% el 2016; asimismo,el incremento a nivel nacional de las prestaciones preventivas versus las prestaciones recuperativas,llegando invertirse el peso específico de las prestaciones preventivas a favor de las mismas y mediante elmétodo de diferencias en diferencias se evidenció que las regiones piloto tuvieron una diferencia positivade 1551 prestaciones preventivas por cada 10 000 asegurados sobre las regiones del contrafactual