YouTubers' social functions and their influence on pre-adolescence

This study focuses on the relationship between preadolescents and youtubers, with the objective of observing how tweens integrate youtubers as referents of a teen digital culture. From a socio-psychological and communicological perspective, a mixed methodological design was applied to carry out the audience study, which was divided into two parts: a quantitative analysis of the audience via a survey administered to 1,406 eleven-twelve year old students of Catalan Secondary Schools, and a qualitative analysis of the preadolescence audience using three focus groups. The quantitative data was analysed with SPSS and the qualitative data with the help of the Atlas.ti software. The results demonstrate that tweens consider youtubers as referents for entertainment and for closeness to a teen digital culture, but not really as a role models or bearers of values as influencers. Also, preadolescents show some dimensions of Media Literacy, since they recognise youtubers’ commercial strategies and their role as actors and professionals. The study notes gender bias in some aspects, and is an introduction to observation of the social functions of youtubers amongst teenagers, individuals who are in the process of constructing their identity and on the point of becoming young adults

Cinc experiències i reflexions metodològiques sobre l'Aprenentatge Basat en Projectes a les Ciències

L'Aprenentatge Basat en Projectes (ABP) és un enfoc didàctic plural que respon a les necessitats educatives d'una educació científica més competencial i transferible. En aquest article es descriuen 5 activitats aplicades en matèries científiques en 5 instituts diferents, al voltant de la nutrició, l'energia, la contaminació, la taula periòdica i la connexió de models científics als contextos reals (publicitat, ciència en el dia a dia,...). Les experiències han estat desenvolupades i valorades en el marc del grup de Treball EduWikiLab. Es valo-ra la seva aplicació en base a les observacions del professorat i una enquesta a l'alumnat i es proposen orientacions per al desenvolupament d'activitats similars.The Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a plural didactic approach in response to education needs which pursues a more competencial and transferible science education. In this arti-cle, we describe 5 activities which were applied in scientific subjects in 5 different high-schools, about nutrition, energy, contamination, periodic table and the connection between scientific models and real contexts (advertisement, day-to-day science...). These experi-ences were developed and evaluated by the EduWikiLab work group. We evaluate the achievement of these activities based on the teacher's observations and a survey conduc-ted to students and we propose some orientations for the development of similar activities

YouTubers' social functions and their influence on pre-adolescence

This study focuses on the relationship between preadolescents and youtubers, with the objective of observing how tweens integrate youtubers as referents of a teen digital culture. From a socio-psychological and communicological perspective, a mixed methodological design was applied to carry out the audience study, which was divided into two parts: a quantitative analysis of the audience via a survey administered to 1,406 eleven-twelve year old students of Catalan Secondary Schools, and a qualitative analysis of the preadolescence audience using three focus groups. The quantitative data was analysed with SPSS and the qualitative data with the help of the Atlas.ti software. The results demonstrate that tweens consider youtubers as referents for entertainment and for closeness to a teen digital culture, but not really as a role models or bearers of values as influencers. Also, preadolescents show some dimensions of Media Literacy, since they recognise youtubers’ commercial strategies and their role as actors and professionals. The study notes gender bias in some aspects, and is an introduction to observation of the social functions of youtubers amongst teenagers, individuals who are in the process of constructing their identity and on the point of becoming young adults

Los espacios públicos urbanos y el deporte como generadores de redes sociales. El caso de la ciudad de Barcelona

El artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio realizado en la ciudad de Barcelona sobre los espacios públicos urbanos y el deporte como generadores de redes sociales. Se observaron cinco espacios de la ciudad, a la vez que se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a personas usuarias y a responsables de su mantenimiento. Los resultados principales son: a) es imprescindible que los espacios y los deportes que se realizan tengan determinadas características para que sean generadores de redes sociales; b) las redes son homogéneas socialmente; se han detectado de los tipos siguientes: familiares, de amistades, de inmigración, de wellness y postmodernas, y c) las relaciones entre las redes tienden a ser de tolerancia y de respeto hacia unas normas pactadas

Els espais públics urbans i l’esport com a generadors de xarxes socials. El cas de la ciutat de Barcelona

L’article presenta els resultats d’una recerca realitzada a la ciutat de Barcelona sobre els espais públics urbans i l’esport com a generadors de xarxes socials. Han estat observats cinc espais de la ciutat, alhora que s’han fet entrevistes en profunditat a persones usuàries i a responsables del manteniment. Els resultats principals són: a) Cal que els espais i els esports que s’hi realitzen tinguin determinades característiques perquè siguin generadors de xarxes socials; b) Les xarxes són homogènies socialment; se n’han detectat dels tipus següents: familiars, d’amistats, d’immigració, de wellness i postmodernes, i c) Les relacions entre les xarxes tendeixen a ser de tolerància i de respecte envers unes normes pactades

Barcelona Rocks, A mobile App to learn Geology in your city.

Barcelona Rocks is an application for personal mobile devices suitable for secondary and high school students as well as the general public without a solid background in Earth Sciences

BCN Rocks: aprendiendo geología urbana a través de una aplicación App interactiva.

Barcelona Rocks (BCN Rocks) es una aplicación (App) para dispositivos móviles personales (con versiones para Android y iOS) apta para ser utilizada por estudiantes de Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) y Bachillerato, y para el público en general, con el objetivo de aprender geología a partir de recursos didácticos proporcionados por las rocas de las fachadas y pavimentos de dos zonas emblemáticas y céntricas de la ciudad de Barcelona como son el Passeig de Gràcia y el Barri Gòtic. La aplicación presenta tres grandes apartados "ELEMENTOS", "EXPLORA" y "LABORATORIO" que pretenden satisfacer diversas facetas del usuario. En el apartado Elementos, el usuario encontrará el conjunto de edificios que contiene la aplicación, toda la información sobre las rocas que los forman, así como una breve explicación sobre la historia y arquitectura de cada uno de ellos. Con el apartado Explora, se pretende despertar la curiosidad o la parte más expedicionaria del usuario. Para ello se proponen una serie de rutas que pueden realizarse siguiendo, bien el criterio de posición geográfica de los edificios incluidos en la App, bien teniendo en cuenta la antigüedad de las construcciones (desde la Barcino romana hasta la Barcelona actual). Finalmente, el partado Laboratorio, permite al usuario investigar distintos aspectos geológicos mediante experimentos interactivos

The metabolic co-regulator PGC1α suppresses prostate cancer metastasis

Cellular transformation and cancer progression is accompanied by changes in the metabolic landscape. Master co-regulators of metabolism orchestrate the modulation of multiple metabolic pathways through transcriptional programs, and hence constitute a probabilistically parsimonious mechanism for general metabolic rewiring. Here we show that the transcriptional co-activator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1α (PGC1α) suppresses prostate cancer progression and metastasis. A metabolic co-regulator data mining analysis unveiled that PGC1α is downregulated in prostate cancer and associated with disease progression. Using genetically engineered mouse models and xenografts, we demonstrated that PGC1α opposes prostate cancer progression and metastasis. Mechanistically, the use of integrative metabolomics and transcriptomics revealed that PGC1α activates an oestrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRα)-dependent transcriptional program to elicit a catabolic state and metastasis suppression. Importantly, a signature based on the PGC1α–ERRα pathway exhibited prognostic potential in prostate cancer, thus uncovering the relevance of monitoring and manipulating this pathway for prostate cancer stratification and treatment

A mechanically active heterotypic E-cadherin/N-cadherin adhesion enables fibroblasts to drive cancer cell invasion

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote tumour invasion and metastasis. We show that CAFs exert a physical force on cancer cells that enables their collective invasion. Force transmission is mediated by a heterophilic adhesion involving N-cadherin at the CAF membrane and E-cadherin at the cancer cell membrane. This adhesion is mechanically active; when subjected to force it triggers β-catenin recruitment and adhesion reinforcement dependent on α-catenin/vinculin interaction. Impairment of E-cadherin/N-cadherin adhesion abrogates the ability of CAFs to guide collective cell migration and blocks cancer cell invasion. N-cadherin also mediates repolarization of the CAFs away from the cancer cells. In parallel, nectins and afadin are recruited to the cancer cell/CAF interface and CAF repolarization is afadin dependent. Heterotypic junctions between CAFs and cancer cells are observed in patient-derived material. Together, our findings show that a mechanically active heterophilic adhesion between CAFs and cancer cells enables cooperative tumour invasion