Gamificación como complemento para el aprendizaje en Química Orgánica

En este trabajo se recogen los resultados más relevantes de la aplicación de la técnica de gamificación como un complemento en el aprendizaje de la asignatura de Química Inorgánica y Orgánica que se imparte en el cuarto semestre (segundo curso) del grado en Ingeniería Química en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial (E.T.S.I.D.I.). En concreto, la metodología de aprendizaje basada en gamificación que se ha empleado consiste en la realización de cuestionarios con el fin de que los estudiantes adquieran los conocimientos necesarios de Química Orgánica. Los cuestionarios fueron colgados en la plataforma Moodle y servían de apoyo a los estudiantes. La experiencia se repitió en dos ocasiones: el primer cuestionario se realizó antes del primer examen y el segundo cuestionario se realizó antes del tercer y último examen de la evaluación continua. Gracias a la utilización de esta herramienta, muchos de los estudiantes han superado el curso con éxito y la valoración que ellos han hecho sobre la misma ha resultado altamente satisfactoria

Desarrollo y aplicación de un escape room sobre la tabla periódica

En este trabajo, se describe la implementación y puesta en marcha de un juego de escape (escape room), diseñado para conmemorar el Año Internacional de la Tabla Periódica de los Elementos Químicos y destinado a estudiantes de primeros cursos universitarios en carreras técnicas, así como a estudiantes de cursos inferiores. Se pretende que, a través del juego, los participantes adquieran competencias específicas básicas de Química y competencias transversales como trabajo en grupo y creatividad y, al mismo tiempo, comprendan la dificultad que conlleva un descubrimiento científico de la magnitud de la Tabla Periódica de Mendeléyev. El escape room se ha probado con varios grupos de alumnos de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid con éxito, aunque se espera su implementación más masiva durante los primeros meses del curso 2019-20. También se describen de forma cualitativa los resultados de la implementación preliminar realizada

Gamificación en la asignatura de Química

En este trabajo se recogen los resultados más relevantes de la aplicación de la técnica de gamificación como un complemento en el aprendizaje de la asignatura de Química que se imparte en el primer semestre (primer curso) de todos los grados impartidos en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial (ETSIDI). Esta metodología se ha implementado durante la realización de las Acciones Cooperativas, que todos los estudiantes realizan durante el curso, en el caso de que decidan cursar la asignatura mediante evaluación continua. La metodología ha estado basada principalmente en la realización de diferentes tipos de cuestionarios resueltos en grupos de 5-6 estudiantes, con el fin de comprobar si habían entendido los conceptos tratados hasta la fecha. Las herramientas empleadas para llevar a cabo esta metodología se han desarrollado con un alto grado de participación y han sido altamente valoradas por los estudiantes. Hay que destacar, que los estudiantes que participaron en esta experiencia superaron el curso de manera satisfactoria

Effect of synthesis parameters on the performance of alkali-activated non-conformant EN 450 pulverised fuel ash

The fly ash reported in this paper is coarser than conventional pulverised fuel ash (PFA), with loss on ignition (LOI) exceeding 10.8%. Consequently, it is precluded from being used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) according to EN 450 and disposed in landfills. Alkali-activation of such PFAs is considered here. Three concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were separately blended with water glass at different ratios to modify the silica modulus. Heat of reaction, setting time, compressive strength and drying shrinkage were investigated as a function of activator composition. Specimens were either cured at room temperature or hydro-thermally treated at 75 °C for five hours. The results show that by optimizing the activator composition, a binder with a 28 day compressive strength of 25 MPa can be synthesised from such PFAs even at room temperature. Among the activator parameters, the alkali content was observed to be most influential

Multivalent Tryptophan- and Tyrosine-Containing [60]Fullerene Hexa-Adducts as Dual HIV and Enterovirus A71 Entry Inhibitors

Unprecedented 3D hexa-adducts of [60]fullerene peripherally decorated with twelve tryptophan (Trp) or tyrosine (Tyr) residues have been synthesized. Studies on the antiviral activity of these novel compounds against HIV and EV71 reveal that they are much more potent against HIV and equally active against EV71 than the previously described dendrimer prototypes AL-385 and AL-463, which possess the same number of Trp/Tyr residues on the periphery but attached to a smaller and more flexible pentaerythritol core. These results demonstrate the relevance of the globular 3D presentation of the peripheral groups (Trp/Tyr) as well as the length of the spacer connecting them to the central core to interact with the viral envelopes, particularly in the case of HIV, and support the hypothesis that [60]fullerene can be an alternative and attractive biocompatible carbon-based scaffold for this type of highly symmetrical dendrimers. In addition, the functionalized fullerenes here described, which display twelve peripheral negatively charged indole moieties on their globular surface, define a new and versatile class of compounds with a promising potential in biomedical applications.status: publishe

Estudo comparativo da análise de ciclo de vida de concretos geopoliméricos e de concretos à base de cimento Portland composto (CP II)

A Análise de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) é um método que inclui a compilação e avaliação das entradas, saídas e dos impactos de um produto ao longo do seu ciclo de vida. Os resultados desta análise são utilizados para escolher alternativas favoráveis para uma aplicação específica. Este artigo utilizou as ferramentas de ACV, apoiada pelo software Umberto, para comparar o processo de obtenção de concretos de cimento Portland com o de concretos geopoliméricos, obtidos da ativação alcalina de aluminossilicatos. O impacto ambiental foi avaliado considerando 1 m³ de cada concreto, sendo (i) as emissões de CO2 (kg CO2/ m³) e (ii) a demanda energética (MJ/m³) as variáveis para determinar o potencial sustentável de ambos materiais. O objetivo principal foi avaliar se os concretos geopoliméricos são mais sustentáveis do que os concretos tradicionais. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o consumo energético é reduzido em 45,8% na produção do concreto geopolimérico, quando comparado à produção do concreto de cimento Portland de desempenho mecânico equivalente. Com relação às emissões de CO2, o concreto geopolimérico reduz as emissões em 72,4%, em comparação ao concreto tradicional de cimento Portland CPII. Assim, o primeiro se mostra uma alternativa a ser considerada, na produção de materiais de construção de menor impacto ambiental

Comparison of hydrocarbon-and lactam-bridged cyclic peptides as dimerization inhibitors of Leishmania infantum trypanothione reductase

All-hydrocarbon and lactam-bridged staples linking amino acid side-chains have been used to stabilize the α-helical motif in short 13-mer peptides that target critical protein-protein interactions at the dimerization interface of Leishmania infantum trypanothione reductase (Li-TryR). The design of the best positions for covalent hydrocarbon closure relied on a theoretical prediction of the degree of helicity of the corresponding cyclic peptides in water. Selected (i, i + 4) and (i, i + 7) hydrocarbon-stapled peptides were prepared by using solid-phase synthesis protocols and optimized ring-closing metathesis reactions under microwave conditions. Structural analysis by NMR spectroscopy confirmed high helical contents in aqueous TFE solutions for both types of helix-constrained cyclic peptides. Remarkably, the ability to prevent Li-TryR dimerization was reduced in both (i, i + 4) and (i, i + 7) hydrocarbon stapled peptides but was retained in the corresponding (i, i + 4) Glu-Lys lactam-bridged analogue, which also showed a higher resistance to proteolytic degradation by proteinase K relative to the linear peptide prototype. In silico studies indicated that the introduction of a hydrocarbon staple vs. a lactam bridge likely perturbs critical interactions required for proper binding of the peptide to the Li-TryR monomer.PASM, MAT and HL thank the Spanish MEC/MICINN for their FPI fellowships. Financial support from the Spanish MINECO (Projects SAF2012-39760-C02 and CTQ2011-22514), Comunidad de Madrid (S-2010/BMD-2457; BIPEDD-2) and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha (Project POII10-0180-7897) is gratefully acknowledged.Peer Reviewe

Trypanothione reductase inhibition and anti-leishmanial activity of all-hydrocarbon stapled α-helical peptides with improved proteolytic stability

Trypanothione reductase (TryR) is a well-established target in the search for novel antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial agents. We have previously identified linear and lactam-bridged 13-residue peptides derived from an α-helical region making up part of the dimeric interface of Leishmania infantum TryR (Li-TryR) which prevent trypanothione reduction by disrupting enzyme dimerization. We now show that i,i + 4 side-chain cross-linking with an all-hydrocarbon staple stabilizes the helical structure of these peptides and significantly improves their resistance to protease cleavage relative to previous linear and cyclic lactam analogues. Interestingly, replacement of the amide bridge by the hydrocarbon staple at the same cyclization positions generates derivatives (2 and 3) that similarly inhibit oxidoreductase activity of the enzyme but unexpectedly stabilize the TryR homodimer. The most proteolytically stable peptide 2 covalently linked to oligoarginines displayed potent in vitro leishmanicidal activity against L. infantum parasites.We thank the Spanish Government (MINECO/FEDER Projects SAF2015-64629-C2; CTQ2014-52633P and CTQ2017-84371-P) and Comunidad de Madrid (BIPEDD-2-CM ref. S-2010/BMD-2457) for financial support. We thank Dr. M. A. Trevi~no, at the IQFR-CSIC, for his help in recording circular dichroism experimentsPeer Reviewe