The advice, the faculty's power and the voice of the pupil

El artículo analiza la progresiva pérdida de poder del profesorado asociada a ciertas tendencias de cambio, y localiza la falta de respuesta de éste en la peculiar concepción profesional del semiprofesional y en la cultura institucional de la dependencia. Para contribuir a revertir este proceso se propone recuperar la visión del asesoramiento como servicio indirecto. Mediante el asesoramiento comprometido, una perspectiva apropiada para dar voz a los grupos silenciados, se busca dar voz al alumnado para empoderar al profesorado.This article analyses the progressive disempowerment of teachers rooted in professional concepts, institutional culture and educational change processes and it speculates on the mission that school consultation could develop to support the reversal of this process. It proposes the recovery of advocacy school consultation to give voice to students in order to promote teacher empowerment.Grupo FORCE (HUM-386). Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar de la Universidad de Granada

Plasma and surface diagnostics of silicon nitride thin film coatings generated by SiH4+NH3 RF discharges.

Although plasma processing in low pressure electric discharge reactors has become an extensive and critical step in the fabrication of microelectronic devices, its development has been carried out mostly empirically so far, by changing external reactor parameters in order to develop the best achievable film properties, whereas the intrinsic state of the plasma has been largely unknown [1, 2]. In this work, silicon nitride (SiN) thin films have been grown on silicon samples and on AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PE-CVD). The SiN coatings have been produced in a RF discharge reactor, employing SiH4 and NH3 as precursors, at different electric powers and gas flow ratios. During depositions, the plasmas have been characterized by mass and time resolved quadrupole mass spectrometry, and the depletion ratios of parent gases have been observed. Afterwards, the refractive indexes and growth rates of the films have been analysed by ellipsometry, and their composition, by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The electrical characteristics and frequency responses of these films when deposited on HEMT (where they are just usually employed to passivate these devices against current collapses) have been studied too by means of DC, pulsed currents, and small signal RF measurements. The plasma characteristics for the different deposition conditions have been correlated with the subsequent changes in the properties of the films. A comparison with the results previously reported in the literature is addressed

Copper‐Catalyzed Selective Pyrrole Functionalization by Carbene Transfer Reaction

1H‐Pyrroles can be directly functionalized by means of the incorporation of carbene groups from diazo compounds, in a process catalyzed by TpxCu complexes (Tpx=hydrotrispyrazolylborate ligand). The reactions take place with a complete selectivity toward the formal insertion of the carbene into the Cα−H bond, leading to alkylated pyrroles, with no modification of the Cβ−H, N−H or C=C bonds of the pyrrole unit. Alkyl substituents at C‐ring as well as alkyl, aryl, allyl or alkyne substitution at N atom are tolerated, the strategy affording 20 new pyrrole derivatives. The observance of partial deuteration at the methylene group when the reaction is carried out with added D2O serves to discard the direct insertion of the carbene group into the Csp2−H bond, the alternative electrophilic attack to the pyrrole ring being feasible.Support for this work was provided by the MINECO (CTQ2017- 82893-C2-1-R and PO FEDER 2014-2020, UHU-1254043). AMR thanks MINECO for a FPU fellowship

Management of diversity in master classroom: an increasing challenge for science education in valencian universities

Comunicació presentada a INTED2018, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. (March 5-7, 2018, Valencia, Spain).Currently, many foreign students study a Master degree at the Valencian Universities. We can find students, which have immigrated to Spain in the recent years, and then have partially or fully follow the Spanish curricula (High School and/or Grade), and others which have come specifically to study the Master, attracted by the reputation of the Universities and the job and way-of-life offered by the country, and then have achieved their Grade in their countries. This has increased the diversity of the students in the classrooms, related to the ethnic origin, mother language, study practices, background and integration in the society. The present work gives an overview on how students and teacher manage the heterogeneity and diversity in a Master classroom related to chemistry. The term “diversity” is first detailed prior to discussing explicit studies. Different aspects of diversity are stated. The personal experience of the foreign students to adapt to the Spanish courses and environment was investigated. The actions taken by the lecturer to take advantage of diversity and minimize its negative effects were examined. A comparison between the academic results obtained by international and national students is given. Finally, the attention will be focused on language, study practices and background, since these dimensions are frequently discussed in the Valencian context. The implications and opportunities that offer diversity for national but also for international science research are presented

Design of the laboratory script by the students in chemistry practicals: Analysis of water

Comunicació presentada a INTED2018, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. (March 5-7, 2018, Valencia, Spain).The laboratory practices during the Degree in Chemistry are currently designed so that the student must learn and execute a fully developed experimental protocol, previously written up by the professor, which contains all the information and requirements for the correct development of each laboratory session. Under these conditions, students do not need to take any initiative and, consequently, they do not put enough effort in reaching practical abilities with a well-based scientific criterion and do not try to think over the purpose of each lab operation, as well as the reason to use each material and/or each reagent. Thus, with the aim to promote a more active role of the students in their learning process and to improve their autonomy, a new laboratory practices design has been developed in this work, which follows methodologies on project-based cooperative learning: the students have been requested to elaborate themselves the laboratory script by pairs. With this innovative design, we pursue to involve the students in both elaboration and execution steps of the laboratory practicals, and then to increase their attention on them. Besides, the required bibliographic research would improve their knowledge about the studied topic and all aspects about the work at the laboratory. The practicals to-be-developed were related to the study of the physico-chemical quality of natural water, which has a high social relevance

Pyrrole Functionalization by Copper‐Catalyzed Nitrene Transfer Reactions

The catalytic functionalization of pyrroles by incorporation of a nitrene group is reported. The Cα‐H bond of 1H‐pyrrole is amidated upon the formal insertion of the NTs (Ts=p‐toluenesulfonyl) group catalyzed by TpBr3Cu(NCMe) (TpBr3=hydrotris(3,4,5‐tribromo‐pyrazolyl)borate). N‐substituted pyrroles also verify the same transformation. The mechanism proposal is similar to that previously described for benzene amidation with the same catalyst and PhI=NTs, which takes place through aziridine formation, ring opening and 1,2‐hydrogen shift. A cascade reaction involving the coupling of 2,5‐dimethylfuran, 1,2,3‐trimethyl‐pyrrole and a nitrene NTs group is also described, leading to a 1,2‐dihydropyridine‐imine compound.Support for this work was provided by the MINECO (CTQ2017‐82893‐C2‐1‐R and PO FEDER 2014‐2020, UHU‐1254043). AMR and MRR thanks MEC for a FPU fellowships

Short-term oleoyl-estrone treatment affects capacity to manage lipids in rat adipose tissue

Background: Short-term OE (oleoyl-estrone) treatment causes significant decreases in rat weight mainly due to adipose tissue loss. The aim of this work was to determine if OE treatment affects the expression of genes that regulate lipid metabolism in white adipose tissue. Results: Gene expression in adipose tissue from female treated rats (48 hours) was analysed by hybridization to cDNA arrays and levels of specific mRNAs were determined by real-time PCR. Treatment with OE decreased the expression of 232 genes and up-regulated 75 other genes in mesenteric white adipose tissue. The use of real-time PCR validate that, in mesenteric white adipose tissue, mRNA levels for Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) were decreased by 52%, those of Fatty Acid Synthase (FAS) by 95%, those of Hormone Sensible Lipase (HSL) by 32%, those of Acetyl CoA Carboxylase (ACC) by 92%, those of Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1b (CPT1b) by 45%, and those of Fatty Acid Transport Protein 1 (FATP1) and Adipocyte Fatty Acid Binding Protein (FABP4) by 52% and 49%, respectively. Conversely, Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF¿) values showed overexpression (198%). Conclusion: Short-term treatment with OE affects adipose tissue capacity to extract fatty acids from lipoproteins and to deal with fatty acid transport and metabolism

An Innovative Project to Strengthen and Improve the Knowledge Acquisition in the Degree in Chemistry Using e-Learning Tools

Comunicació presentada a EDULEARN2018, 10th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (July 2-4, 2018, Palma, Mallorca, Spain).The subject "Chemistry II (QU910)" is taught at first academic year (second semester) of the Degree in Chemistry at the University Jaume I. Some of its specific and general competencies are selflearning and writing and oral communication, regarding the main chemical concepts: chemical reactions, elements of the periodic table and calculations of the concentrations of the formed products and the remaining reagents in acid/base, complex, precipitation and redox reactions. We have noticed that 65% of the students have not studied any chemistry subjects (or only one) in High School or Professional Training before undertaking the Degree in Chemistry. The present project aims firstly to help these students to overcome their lack of background, secondly to compare the academic results of the students with and without previous contact with chemistry and finally, to establish actions to solve this prejudicial situation. This objective was reached by the implementation of a zero course, a course including the basic content of chemistry taught in the last years of High School, the month before the beginning of the first academic year. After the first year, students having attended chemistry before university obtained only 0.75/10 points more than the others. The Virtual Classroom, the emails and tutorial played an important role in the achievement of this zero-course

Microbially-Mediated Fluorescent Organic Matter Transformations in the Deep Ocean. Do the chemical precursors matter?

Original research paperThe refractory nature of marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) increases while it travels from surface waters to the deep ocean. This resistant fraction is in part composed of fluorescent humic-like material, which is relatively difficult to metabolize by deep water prokaryotes, and it can also be generated by microbial activity. It has been recently argued that microbial production of new fluorescent DOM (FDOM) requires the presence of humic precursors in the surrounding environment. In order to experimentally test how the chemical quality of the available organic compounds influences the production of new FDOM, three experiments were performed with bathypelagic Atlantic waters. Microbial communities were incubated in three treatments which differed in the quality of the organic compounds added: (i) glucose and acetate; (ii) glucose, acetate, essential amino acids, and humic acids; and (iii) humic acids alone. The response of the prokaryotes and the production of FDOM were simultaneously monitored. Prokaryotic abundance was highest in treatments where labile compounds were added. The rate of humic-like fluorescence production, scaled to prokaryotic abundance, varied depending on the quality of the additions. The precursor compounds affected the generation of new humic-like FDOM, and the cell-specific production of this material was higher in the incubations amended with humic precursors. Furthermore, we observed that the protein-like fluorescence decreased only when fresh amino acids were added. These findings contribute to the understanding of FDOM variability in deep waters and provide valuable information for studies where fluorescent compounds are used in order to track water masses and/or microbial processes.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, CSIC, ESF and Danish Research Council for Independent ResearchVersión del edito

Introducing Fe and Mn as catalysts for the selective functionalization of Csp2-H bonds of arenes by carbene insertion

Título de la versión post-print: Introducing Fe and Mn as catalysts for the selective functionalization of Csp2-H bonds of arenes by carbene insertionThe first examples of the direct functionalization of non-activated aryl sp(2) C-H bonds with ethyl diazoacetate (N2CHCO2Et) catalyzed by Mn- or Fe-based complexes in a completely selective manner are reported, with no formation of the frequently observed cycloheptatriene derivatives through competing Buchner reaction. The best catalysts are Fe-II or Mn-II complexes bearing the tetradentate pytacn ligand (pytacn = 1-(2-pyridylmethyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane). When using alkylbenzenes, the alkylic C(sp(3))-H bonds of the substituents remained unmodified, thus the reaction being also selective toward functionalization of sp(2) C-H bonds.Support for this work was provided by the MINECO (CTQ2014-52769-C3-R-1, CTQ2014-62234-EXP, CTQ2015-70795-P, CTQ2014-54306-P, and CTQ2014-52525P), and the Junta de Andalucia (P10-FQM-06292). A.C. thanks Junta de Andalucia for a research contract. M.C. acknowledges an ICREA Academia Award, 2014 SGR 862 from Generalitat de Catalunya, and ERC-239910