La comunicación en las sedes webs de las universidades a distancia españolas

Esta investigación analiza la comunicación de las universidades españolas a distancia en sus sedes webs. En los últimos años este tipo de universidades se han multiplicado por cuatro. Hoy en día, las sedes webs de las universidades españolas online se ha convertido en una herramienta primordial para comunicar y atraer a públicos potenciales. Es más, en este tipo de universidades la sede web es el medio por el que los alumnos conocen y establecen una relación con la universidad. El fin de este estudio es profundizar en la forma en que las universidades a distancia se comunican a través de sus sedes webs. Para ello, este trabajo ha utilizado el análisis de contenidos con el fin de estudiar las sedes webs de las universidades españolas a distancia.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

El piojo harinoso (Phenacoccus sp.) de la yuca; una de las plagas agricolas mas importantes en el mundo

Cassava mealybugs constitute one of the major production problems of cassava in Africa and the Americas. The species already identified that attack cassava in the Americas include Phenacoccus manihoti, P. herreni, P. gossypii, and P. grenadensis. Since its introduction into Africa, P. manihoti has caused considerable yield losses in some regions, especially Zaire. In the Americas, severe outbreaks of P. herreni have been reported in several areas of Brazil, Colombia, and the Guianas. These 2 species are similar taxonomically and in plant damage symptoms but differ biologically. The initial and most severe attack of both species occurs on the growing point of the cassava plant shoots. Plant reaction consists of a rosetting effect on the apical leaves which results in a cabbage-like appearance of the shoot. High mealybug populations, together with the stress caused by drought, cause defoliation, deformation of the shoots, shortening of internodes, and distortion of stems. The bionomics of both species differ in that P. herreni is bisexual and P. manihoti reproduces parthenogenetically. Biological studies on P. herreni show that the female passesthrough 3 instars before the adult stage. The complete life cycle from egg to adult lasts 49.5 days. Males pass through 4 instars before the adult stage, in which the adult male is winged. The whole cycle lasts 29.5 days. The cassava mealybug has numerous natural enemies. Biological control combined with resistance offers a healthy and economical control of the pest. Tables are included on the life cycle of P. herreni and P. gossypii on plants of cassava var. M Col 113 under lab. conditions, size and size increase of P. herreni on cassava under greenhouse conditions, hyperparasites of Phenacoccus spp. in Latin America, populations of natural enemies of the cassava mealybug in the field, and natural enemies of P. gossypii and P. herreni in Latin America and the Caribbean. (AS

Differentiation of lactotrope precursor GHFT cells in response to Fibroblast Growth Factor-2

The mechanisms that control the emergence of different anterior pituitary cells from a common stem cell population are largely unknown. The immortalized GHFT cells derived from targeted expression of SV40 T antigen to mouse pituitary display characteristics of somatolactotropic progenitors in that they express the transcription factor GHF-1 (Pit-1) but not growth hormone (GH) or prolactin (PRL). We searched for factors capable of inducing lactotropic differentiation of GHFT cells. PRL gene expression was not observed in cells subjected to a variety of stimuli, which induce PRL gene expression in mature lactotropes. Only fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) was able to initiate the transcription, synthesis, and release of PRL in GHFT cells. However, induction of PRL expression was incomplete in FGF-2-treated cells, suggesting that additional factors are necessary to attain high levels of PRL transcription in fully differentiated lactotropes. We also show that the FGF-2 response element is located in the proximal PRL promoter. Stimulation of PRL expression by FGF-2 requires endogenous Ets factors and these factors as well as GHF-1 are expressed at low levels in the committed precursor, suggesting that these low levels are limiting for full PRL expression. Moreover, FGF-2 effect on lactotrope differentiation is mediated, at least partially, by stimulation of the Ras-signaling pathway. Our results suggest that, indeed, GHFT cells represent a valid model for studying lactotropic differentiation and that FGF-2 could play a key role both in initiating lactotrope differentiation and maintaining PRL expression

Thermo-photo degradation of 2-propanol using a composite ceria-titania catalyst: Physico-chemical interpretation from a kinetic model

This work describes a study carried out to construct and determine a kinetic formalism for the gas-phase degradation of 2-propanol using a combined thermo-photo based process. Outstanding catalytic performance was observed for a composite ceria-titania system with respect its parent ceria and titania reference systems. Thermo-photo as well as parallel photo- and thermal-alone experiments were carried out to interpret catalytic behavior. The kinetic experiments were conducted using a continuous flow reactor free of internal and external mass-heat transfer and designed using a Box-Behnken formalism. The kinetic expression developed for the thermo-photo degradation process explicitly includes the effect of the photon absorption in the reaction rate and leads to a mathematical formula with two components having different physico-chemical nature. This fact is used to settle down a fitting procedure using two steps (two separated experimental sets of data concerning temperature, light intensity, oxygen, water and/or 2-propanol concentrations) with, respectively, four and three parameters. The kinetic formalism was validated by fitting the experimental data from these two independent experiments, rendering a good agreement with the model predictions. The parameters coming from the kinetic modelling allow an interpretation of the catalytic properties of the ceria-titania catalyst, quantifying separately its enhanced performance (with respect to its parent systems) in the photonic and thermal components for the process. The procedure is applicable to a wide variety of thermo-photo processes in order to contribute to the understanding of their physical roots

Vacuum-Deposited Multication Tin-Lead Perovskite Solar Cells

The use of a combination of tin and lead is the most promising approach to fabricate narrow bandgap metal halide perovskites. This work presents the development of reproducible tin and lead perovskites by vacuum codeposition of the precursors, a solvent-free technique which can be easily implemented to form complex stacks. Crystallographic and optical characterization reveal the optimal film composition based on cesium and methylammonium monovalent cations. Device optimization makes use of the intrinsically additive nature of vacuum deposition, resulting in solar cells with 8.89% photovoltaic efficiency. The study of the devices by impedance spectroscopy identifies bulk recombination as one of the performance limiting factors

Association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.

Association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Busto-Garrido, M.; Gutierrez-Castillo, D; Navas- Gonzalez, JR; Gutierrez-Bedmar, M; Gutierrez-Casares, JR; Martin-Lunar, MT; Rodríguez-Rosado, A; Pena-Andreu, JM. European Psychiatry 415(2017) 5221.Chronic irritability is the most frequently reported symptom in child and adolescent depression. The association of both has been linked with high rates of chronicity, comorbility and impairment. Objectives To study the association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Methods We have studied 857 participants recruited from the only Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinic in a catchment area of 122968 people under 18 (2004-2010). A sample of 677 participants (57 controls and 620 patients) was included to carry out a cross-sectional study. Chronic irritability was measured by a Visual Analog Scale (VAS irritability) -scored from 0 to 10-, and depressive symptoms by the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The participants were categorized into controls and patients, and according to their chronic irritability (≤4 [I],5 [II] and ≥6 [III]). The mean of CDI score was calculated for each of the groups, adjusted by sex and age, and analyzed by ANCOVA. Results The following means were obtained from the controls: 13,71 (group I), 9,82 (group II) and 17,45 (group III). Regarding to the patients: 13,92 (group I), 11,54 (group II) and 15,64 (group III). A quadratic association (p <0,0015) was found between VAS irritability score and CDI score. Conclussions There is not a lineal association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescent. High rates of depressive symptoms were associated both with high and low rates of irritability. Several questions remain unexplained about the status of irritability in psychiatry as Stringaris group has been pointed out. Disclosure statement I have no potential conflict of interest to discloseUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Mobile Application Development Skills Set Aligned with the E-Cf Framework and Industry Needs

The number of mobile apps is continuously growing but development organisations are not sure of the good alignment of the skills of application developers with what the industry needs. A precise definition of the professional profile of the Mobile Application Developer (MAD) can help to better understand the needs of software development teams. This cooperation of several European organisations for analysing professional profile of MAD has led to a study of skills and competences resulting in a conceptual model with relevant characteristics: a) based on literature review, b) framed within the European standard e-Competence Framework, e-CF (EN16234) and the ESCO official labour classification and c) empirically validated with qualitative and quantitative data from many stakeholders in the field. This analysis might help to add homogeneity to talent management overcoming possible barriers for international mobility within EU as the concepts are taken from the EU reference models

Primer design for the amplification of the ammonium transporter genes from the uncultured haptophyte algal species symbiotic with the marine nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium UCYN-A1

The multiple symbiotic partnerships between closely related species of the haptophyte algae Braarudosphaera bigelowii and the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium thalassa (UCYN-A) contribute importantly to the nitrogen and carbon cycles in vast areas of the ocean. The diversity of the eukaryotic 18S rDNA phylogenetic gene marker has helped to identify some of these symbiotic haptophyte species, yet we still lack a genetic marker to assess its diversity at a finer scale. One of such genes is the ammonium transporter (amt) gene, which encodes the protein that might be involved in the uptake of ammonium from UCYN-A in these symbiotic haptophytes. Here, we designed three specific PCR primer sets targeting the amt gene of the haptophyte species (A1-Host) symbiotic with the open ocean UCYN-A1 sublineage, and tested them in samples collected from open ocean and near-shore environments. Regardless of the primer pair used at Station ALOHA, which is where UCYN-A1 is the pre-dominant UCYN-A sublineage, the most abundant amt amplicon sequence variant (ASV) was taxonomically classified as A1-Host. In addition, two out of the three PCR primer sets revealed the existence of closely-related divergent haptophyte amt ASVs (&gt;95% nucleotide identity). These divergent amt ASVs had higher relative abundances than the haptophyte typically associated with UCYN-A1 in the Bering Sea, or co-occurred with the previously identified A1-Host in the Coral Sea, suggesting the presence of new diversity of closely-related A1-Hosts in polar and temperate waters. Therefore, our study reveals an overlooked diversity of haptophytes species with distinct biogeographic distributions partnering with UCYN-A, and provides new primers that will help to gain new knowledge of the UCYN-A/haptophyte symbiosis