328 research outputs found

    Conceptual Framework for the Use of Building Information Modeling in Engineering Education

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    The objective of this paper is to present a critical literature review of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodologyandtoanalyzewhetherBIMcanbeconsideredaVirtualLearningEnvironment.Aconceptualframeworkis proposed for using BIM in a university context. A search of documents was carried out in the Core Collection of Web of Science; it was restricted to the last five years (2013–2017). A total of 95 documents were analyzed; all documents were written in English and peer reviewed. BIM meets all the characteristics of Virtual Learning Environments. The proposed framework has three dimensions (competencies, pedagogical approach and level of integration).It allows for the planning and analysis of future experiences of teaching BIM in a university context.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and AEI/FEDER, UE Projects EDU2016-77007-RRegional Government of Extremadura (Spain) IB 16068Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain) GR1800

    The 15M Movement. Collective and volatile actions in the political arena

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    From data obtained in a survey conducted in May 2011 to identify some characteristics of the media impact of Spanish 15M Movement, this paper presents a critical reflection on the role of new media, especially social networks, in the generation of massive social actions. As a result of current information processes, social networks have been positioned in the imaginary as informative multiplication scenarios, and as spaces that generate immediate social mobilizations. However, the rapid spread, spontaneity, immediacy and volatility that characterize these movements contrast with the lack of lengthy movements, which arise from deliberative processes, necessarily built on institutionalized public spheres. The article shows the opposition between the change in media consumption habits and the reception of information by citizens and their permanent apathy to action-mobilization. Thus, changes in the forms of communication, individualization, connection and multipresence keep unchanged collective action spaces, and can even reduce these spaces if they are not utilized properly

    Reproducible science: What, why, how

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    Most scientific papers are not reproducible: it is really hard, if not impossible, to understand how results are derived from data, and being able to regenerate them in the future (even by the same researchers). However, traceability and reproducibility of results are indispensable elements of highquality science, and an increasing requirement of many journals and funding sources. Reproducible studies include code able to regenerate results from the original data. This practice not only provides a perfect record of the whole analysis but also reduces the probability of errors and facilitates code reuse, thus accelerating scientific progress. But doing reproducible science also brings many benefits to the individual researcher, including saving time and effort, improved collaborations, and higher quality and impact of final publications. In this article we introduce reproducible science, why it is important, and how we can improve the reproducibility of our work. We introduce principles and tools for data management, analysis, version control, and software management that help us achieve reproducible workflows in the context of ecology.Peer Reviewe

    Identification of an hepatitis delta virus-like ribozyme at the mRNA 5′-end of the L1Tc retrotransposon from Trypanosoma cruzi

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    L1Tc is a non-LTR LINE element from Trypanosoma cruzi that encodes its transposition machinery and bears an internal promoter. Herewith, we report the identification of an in vitro active hepatitis delta virus-like ribozyme located in the first 77 nt at the 5′-end of the L1Tc mRNA (L1TcRz). The data presented show that L1TcRz has a co-transcriptional function. Using gel-purified uncleaved RNA transcripts, the data presented indicate that the kinetics of the self-cleaving, in a magnesium-dependent reaction, fits to a two-phase decay curve. The cleavage point identified by primer extension takes place at +1 position of the element. The hydroxyl nature of the 5′-end of the 3′-fragment generated by the cleavage activity of L1TcRz was confirmed. Since we have previously described that the 77-nt long fragment located at the 5′-end of L1Tc has promoter activity, the existence of a ribozyme in L1Tc makes this element to be the first described non-LTR retroelement that has an internal promoter–ribozyme dual function. The L1Tc nucleotides located downstream of the ribozyme catalytic motif appear to inhibit its activity. This inhibition may be influenced by the existence of a specific L1Tc RNA conformation that is recognized by RNase P

    Ecoinformática: Nuevo grupo de trabajo de la asociación Española de ecología terrestre

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    Bayesian variable selection and survival modeling: assessing the Most important comorbidities that impact lung and colorectal cancer survival in Spain

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    Miguel Angel Luque-Fernandez is supported by a Miguel Servet I Investigator award (Grant CP17/00206) and a project grant EU-FEDER-FIS PI-18/01593 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. Danilo Alvares is supported by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT, Chile) grant number 11190018.Cancer survival represents one of the main indicators of interest in cancer epidemiology. However, the survival of cancer patients can be affected by several factors, such as comorbidities, that may interact with the cancer biology. Moreover, it is interesting to understand how different cancer sites and tumour stages are affected by different comorbidities. Identifying the comorbidities that affect cancer survival is thus of interest as it can be used to identify factors driving the survival of cancer patients. This information can also be used to identify vulnerable groups of patients with comorbidities that may lead to worst prognosis of cancer. We address these questions and propose a principled selection and evaluation of the effect of comorbidities on the overall survival of cancer patients. In the first step, we apply a Bayesian variable selection method that can be used to identify the comorbidities that predict overall survival. In the second step, we build a general Bayesian survival model that accounts for time-varying effects. In the third step, we derive several posterior predictive measures to quantify the effect of individual comorbidities on the population overall survival. We present applications to data on lung and colorectal cancers from two Spanish population-based cancer registries. The proposed methodology is implemented with a combination of the R-packages mombf and rstan. We provide the code for reproducibility at https://github.com/migariane/ BayesVarImpComorbiCancer.Miguel Servet I Investigator award CP17/00206 EU-FEDER-FIS PI-18/01593Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIComision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT 1119001

    Pr77 and L1TcRz: A dual system within the 5′-end of L1Tc retrotransposon, internal promoter and HDV-like ribozyme

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    The sequence corresponding to the first 77 nucleotides of the L1Tc and NARTc non-LTR retrotransposons from Trypanosoma cruzi is an internal promoter (Pr77) that generates abundant, although poorly translatable, un-spliced transcripts. It has been recently described that L1TcRz, an HDV-like ribozyme, resides within the 5′-end of the RNA from the L1Tc and NARTc retrotransposons. Remarkably, the same first 77 nucleotides of L1Tc/NARTc elements comprise both the Pr77 internal promoter and the HDV-like L1TcRz. The L1TcRz cleaves on the 5′-side of the +1 nucleotide of the L1Tc element insuring that the promoter and the ribozyme functions travel with the transposon during retrotransposition. The ribozyme activity would prevent the mobilization of upstream sequences and insure the individuality of the L1Tc/NARTc copies transcribed from associated tandems. The Pr77/L1TcRz sequence is also found in other trypanosomatid’s non-LTR retrotransposons and degenerated retroposons. The possible conservation of the ribozyme activity in a widely degenerated retrotransposon, as the Leishmania SIDERs, could indicate that the presence of this element and the catalytic activity could play some favorable genetic regulation. The functional implications of the Pr77/L1TcRz dual system in the regulation of the L1Tc/NARTc retrotransposons and in the gene expression of trypanosomatids are also discussed in this paper

    Exit for success. Gamifying science and technology for university students using escape-room. A preliminary approach

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    There is a growing tendency to incorporate gamification activities with the aim of improving student's motivation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. One of the strategies to apply gamification in the classroom is the use of the escape room. In this work different experiences of escape room in the context of formal university education are analysed. The analysis of students' opinions shows that such activities are well received regardless of background (engineering or education) or gender. The emotions that arise from the experience are mostly positive and the students state that they have developed both specific and transversal competencies. Finally, practical considerations are proposed based on the lessons learned from the developed experiences

    Estructura temporal i gestual del kinbol

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    L’objectiu d’aquest estudi és analitzar l’estructura temporal del kinbol i quantificar el nombre de cops, jugades, punts i els tipus de contacte utilitzats, en cada període i partit. S’han analitzat 13 partits, corresponents a la fase de grups, semifinals i final del VII Campionat d’Espanya de kinbol. És un esport caracteritzat per l’execució d’esforços intervàl·lics d’intensitat mitjana-alta i de curta durada. Un partit de kinbol té una durada mitjana de 46 min aproximadament, i el ràtio temps de treball i temps de descans és d’1:1,51 i la durada mitjana per punt és de 12,07 s. Així, un partit de kinbol té un volum de 73 punts amb un total de 390 cops. Els tipus de cops utilitzats determinen que és un esport defensiu. Totes aquestes anàlisis ajuden a tenir un major coneixement d’aquesta disciplina esportiva per part dels entrenadors i jugadors per tenir un entrenament més específic

    Efficient HIV-1 inhibition by a 16 nt-long RNA aptamer designed by combining in vitro selection and in silico optimisation strategies

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    The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) genome contains multiple, highly conserved structural RNA domains that play key roles in essential viral processes. Interference with the function of these RNA domains either by disrupting their structures or by blocking their interaction with viral or cellular factors may seriously compromise HIV-1 viability. RNA aptamers are amongst the most promising synthetic molecules able to interact with structural domains of viral genomes. However, aptamer shortening up to their minimal active domain is usually necessary for scaling up production, what requires very time-consuming, trial-and-error approaches. Here we report on the in vitro selection of 64 nt-long specific aptamers against the complete 5' -untranslated region of HIV-1 genome, which inhibit more than 75% of HIV-1 production in a human cell line. The analysis of the selected sequences and structures allowed for the identification of a highly conserved 16 nt-long stem-loop motif containing a common 8 nt-long apical loop. Based on this result, an in silico designed 16 nt-long RNA aptamer, termed RNApt16, was synthesized, with sequence 5'-CCCCGGCAAGGAGGGG-3-'. The HIV-1 inhibition efficiency of such an aptamer was close to 85%, thus constituting the shortest RNA molecule so far described that efficiently interferes with HIV-1 replication
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