Investigación en docencia por contenidos (español como segunda lengua) en el proceso de internacionalización de la Universidad de Alicante

Esta comunicación se enmarca en la reflexión sobre el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua por contenidos en el ámbito universitario, pero, a diferencia de lo que suele ser habitual, no se basa en la lengua inglesa, sino en la española, en la medida en que trabajamos con estudiantes de movilidad internacional que cursan sus asignaturas en una lengua adicional, el español. Presentamos, en un primer apartado, una introducción a los estudios de AICLE en español y a la investigación en Español Académico. Y mostramos, en el segundo, la labor de una Red de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria del Programa Redes del Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Alicante, cuyo objetivo es doble: recabar datos sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de contenido y de lengua en tal contexto, tanto por parte del alumnado como del profesorado implicado; y crear una guía para el alumnado extranjero con información estrictamente académica que contribuya a un mejor aprovechamiento de la estancia a nivel lingüístico y curricular. Las conclusiones muestran la oportunidad de realizar Cursos de Español Académico también con tal fin

TRUST IN SUPERIORS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORS : AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON BUDGETARY SLACK

Purpose: This paper analyzes trust in superiors as an informal control mechanism to reduce budgetary slack. We examine how relationships between trust of subordinates in their superiors and economic incentive reduce the tendency of subordinates to create budgetary slack.Methodology: An experiment was designed with participants who play the role of manager or executive alternativelyFindings: Results show that the introduction of an economic incentive does not affect the relationship between trust and budgetary slack.Implications/limitations: This study will let organizations to further the budgeting process by using informal mechanism, such as trust, as a complement to traditional mechanism (e.g. monetary/ economic incentives). This enhances the effectiveness of the organization’s actions and policies. Originality/Value: The findings of this study complement the results of previous studies on how trust is related to financial and non-financial performance criteria

Dibujo análisis e ideación gráfica 2 : Iniciación Proyectos Arquitectónicos. Memoria del curso 2012

Programación, enunciados y resultados del curso de Dibujo Análisis e Ideación Gráfica Arquitectónica-2 (DAI-2) asignatura que se encarga de la iniciación a Proyectos Arquitectónicos, a través de distintas herramientas . En la progamación se tiene en cuenta la necesidad de aproximar las experiencias de los estudiantes a los procesos productivo/creativos de la arquitectura. Se aplica una didáctica dialógica: arte/arquitectura/lugar/construcción/pensamiento. Un método pedagógico articulado en tres Bloques: Bloque1 Introducción: idear/construir/proyectar. Bloque 2: proyectar/planificar. Bloque 3: proyectar/ investiga

Environmental considerations of the animal production intensification

Este trabajo presenta la situación actual, a escala global y local, de los problemas ambientales que derivan de la intensificación de los sistemas de producción animal. Los residuos generados, fundamentalmente excretas, resultan los principales responsables de los impactos sobre el aire, el suelo y el agua porque se concentran en áreas reducidas y son la fuente principal de nutrientes, metales pesados, antibióticos y otras drogas veterinarias y patógenos. Como consecuencia de la intensificación, en Argentina se ha detectado una acumulación en suelos de más de 220 kg/ha de nitratos, de 2500 ppm de fósforo y de 261 kg/ha de cinc. Es frecuente que en el agua subterránea se detecte un exceso de nitratos (180 ppm) y contaminación microbiológica. De manera reciente también se registró fósforo (7 ppm) y hasta 90 ppb de cobre. En aguas superficiales, el escurrido de corrales ha incrementado los sedimentos casi 29 veces y también se registró resistencia a varios antibióticos (5 a 95% de cepas de Escherichia coli), y otros problemas emergentes como la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero (371 kg/ha de metano). En la escala local existen algunos vacíos de conocimiento sobre información fehaciente acerca de la cantidad de establecimientos de producción intensiva, del impacto sobre el suelo de las aplicaciones continuas de estiércol y de la cuantificación del impacto económico de los efectos de la polución existente y sus medidas de mitigación. Algunas de las medidas más urgentes que deberían implementarse con el esfuerzo combinado de distintos actores son el desarrollo de tecnologías apropiadas en relación con la generación de modelos de contaminación en la escala de predio, de cuenca y de regiones geográficas, la nutrición de precisión, el desarrollo de indicadores específicos para el monitoreo, y la difusión de técnicas y equipamiento para implementar la reutilización de estiércol y de efluentes.In this study, global and local environmental problems caused by animal production systems are presented. The residues generated by these systems, mainly composed by excreta, have a major responsibility for the impacts on air, soil and water since they are generally concentrated in small areas and constitute main source of nutrients, heavy metals, antibiotics and drugs for veterinary use and pathogens. As a consequence of intensification, the accumulation of more than 220 kg/ha of nitrates, 2500 ppm of phosphorus and 261 kg/ha Zn in soil has been detected. In groundwater, excess of nitrates (180 ppm) and microbiological contamination are frequent, and it has been recently encountered phosphorus up to 7 ppm and copper up to 90 ppb. In shallow water, sediments augmentation up to 28.5 times caused by pen's runoff and antibiotic resistance appearance, (5 to 95% of Escherichia coli strains) are emergent problems. About greenhouse gasses emission, 371 kg/ha of methane has been reported. At local scale some information gaps are pointed out, referring to the lack of precise information about number of intensive farms, impact of continuous applications of manure to the soil and quantification of economic impact of the actual pollution effects an their management measures for mitigation. Development of suitable technologies including contamination models at farm, basin and geographical level; precise nutrition; development of specific indicators to monitor intensive systems and their related ecosystems; transmission of novel techniques and equipment for the implementation of manure and effluent reuse, are some of the more urgent management measures that should be completed with the combined effort of different actors

Reproductive phenology of three species of Gelidiales (Rhodophyta) in two macroalgal communities from Tenerife (Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands, Spain)

The reproductive phenology of three species of Gelidiales, Gelidium canariense, Gelidium arbuscula and Pterocladiella capillacea, was analysed seasonally for a period of one year in two localities on the West coast of Tenerife (Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands, Spain). Considerations are provided on sex ratio, maximum length and branch order of uprights and on the length of the thalli for each sexual and asexual phase of the Canary Islands populations. The three species were characterized by a high percentage of tetrasporophytes, while female and male gametophytes have been observed only in little proportion. Only G. canariense showed gametophytes in all seasons while the occurrence of gametophytes in G. arbuscula and Pterocladiella capillacea demonstrated a clear seasonality.La fenología reproductiva de tres especies de Gelidiales, Gelidium canariense, Gelidium arbuscula y Pterocladiella capillacea, ha sido analizada estacionalmente por un periodo de un año en dos localidades de la costa este de Tenerife (Oceano Atlántico, Islas Canarias, España). Se realizan consideraciones sobre sex ratio, longitud máxima y orden de ramificación de los ramets y se aporta información sobre la longitud del talo por cada fase sexual y asexual de las poblaciones canarias. Las tres especies se caracterizan por presentar un elevado porcentaje de tetrasporofitos, mientras que los gametofitos masculinos y femeninos han sido observados en proporciones reducidas. Sólo G. canariense presenta gametofitos en todas las estaciones, mientras que en G. arbuscula y Pterocladiella capillacea demostraban una clara estacionalidad

Dynamic performance of biomass based carbons for CO2/CH4 separation. Approximation to a PSA process for biogas upgrading

Physical adsorption-based processes such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) constitute an alternative to selectively adsorb CO2 from biogas streams. There is abundant work regarding the equilibrium of adsorption of pure CH4 and CO2 on different adsorbents. However, to design an adsorption process with a selected adsorbent it is very important to account for its dynamic behavior in a packed-bed. Thus, the performance of two biomass-based activated carbons (CS-CO2 and CS-H2O) previously prepared in our laboratory to separate CO2/CH4 has been evaluated. Full adsorption–desorption cycles were conducted at 30 °C (isothermal conditions) and different pressures (1, 3, 5, and 10 bar) feeding binary CO2/CH4 (50/50 vol %) mixtures to a purpose-built fixed-bed setup. A commercial activated carbon, Calgon BPL, was also evaluated for reference purposes. CO2 equilibrium uptakes were obtained from dynamic breakthrough curves and proved to be maximum at 10 bar (5.14, 4.48, and 4.14 mol kg–1 for CS-CO2, CS-H2O, and Calgon BPL, respectively). However, the CO2/CH4 separation efficiency, according to the difference in breakthrough times between CH4 and CO2, is very limited at 10 bar. A combined analysis of the productivity and purity of CH4 along with CO2 working capacity derived from dynamic experiments indicates that our biomass-based activated carbons would be better candidate materials for the CO2/CH4 separation at a pressure of 5 bar than the commercial activated carbon Calgon BPL.This work has received financial support from the Spanish MINECO (Project ENE2011-23467), 437 co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and from the Gobierno del 438 Principado de Asturias (PCTI2013-2017, GRUPIN14-079).Peer reviewe

The effectiveness of a basic exercise intervention to improve strength and balance in women with osteoporosis

Objective: To determine the effects of a simple exercise program on the balance and strength of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Methods: This program was based on low intensity strength and balance exercises, and was carried out with simple, readily available equipment. Sixty five women were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (EG; n=33, age: 57.4+/-4.8 years) or the control group (CG; n=32, age: 58.8+/-4.5 years). Participants in the EG underwent balance and strength training for 60 min, three times/week for 6 months. Each session consisted of warm-up exercises (10 min), balance training (20 min), strength training (20 min), and cooldown (10 min). Participants from the CG were asked not to modify their usual habits during the course of the study. Static balance was evaluated using the blind monopodal stance static balance test. In contrast, dynamic balance was assessed using the "8-foot up and go" test, whereas the strength of the upper and lower limbs was measured using the "arm curl" and "30 s chair stand" tests, respectively. All these variables were assessed at baseline and upon program completion. Results: The EG showed significant improvements (P<0.001) in static balance (21%), dynamic balance (36%), and in the strength of the upper (80%) and lower (47%) limbs in comparison to the CG after the sixth month. Participants in the CG showed significantly lower values (P<0.001) in the four tests. In addition, a significant inverse relationship between static balance and the strength of the upper (r=-0.390; P=0.001) and lower (r=-0.317; P=0.01) limbs was found. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that a physical exercise program based on balance and strength exercises, carried out with simple and readily available equipment, is capable of significantly improving the strength and balance of women with osteoporosis.The authors would like to express their thanks to Dr JL Balenciaga for his help and collaboration in this study, as well as to all the participants for their commitment to facilitating the research. Acknowledgements are also due to the Basque Government for having provided a predoctoral grant to Izaro Esain, enabling her participation in the present study

Integración académica del alumnado universitario internacional de la UA: la perspectiva del profesorado

Es un hecho que la universidad tiende cada día más a la internacionalización, especialmente a través de los convenios que posibilitan el intercambio del alumnado y el profesorado. La integración académica de los estudiantes internacionales es imprescindible para sacar el máximo rendimiento a su estancia en nuestras aulas, para lo cual se han de cumplir unos requisitos que afectan a la competencia lingüística, al conocimiento de las materias y al de las rutinas académicas. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar la visión del profesorado acerca de la presencia de alumnado extranjero en sus clases y averiguar cuáles son los retos a los que se enfrenta, tanto en la comunicación con ellos como en la evaluación de su trabajo. Nuestros informantes han sido 23 profesores del Dpto. de Filología Española con alumnado internacional, de quienes hemos recabado información a través de cuestionarios. Analizamos con detalle los datos obtenidos en el apartado de resultados. Una de las conclusiones a las que llegamos es la conveniencia de llevar a la práctica una Guía académica para el alumnado extranjero con información específica sobre las asignaturas y la docencia, desde la perspectiva de un no nativo de la lengua vehicular en que se imparten

Health-related quality of life, handgrip strength and falls during detraining in elderly habitual exercisers

Background: The effects of regular exercise on physical functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have been thoroughly studied. In contrast, little is known about the changes which occur following cessation of activity (detraining). Here, we have investigated the effect of a 3 month detraining period on HRQOL and on handgrip strength in elderly people who had regularly exercised, and examined the association of these variables with falls. Methods: Thirty-eight women and 11 men (mean age, 75.5 +/- 5.7 years) took part in a supervised physical exercise program for 9 months, followed by a 3 month detraining period. Participants completed the SF-36 HRQOL questionnaire at the beginning of detraining (baseline) and 3 months later. Handgrip strength and number of falls were also recorded. Results: Participants had been exercising for 12.1 +/- 8.7 years. After the detraining period, we found a significant (p < 0.001--0.05) decline in all SF-36 dimensions, with the exception of handgrip strength. Women presented a larger decline (p < 0.05) in more items than men. During the detraining period, 18.4% participants had a fall incident. HRQOL declined in both fallers and non-fallers during detraining. Interestingly, fallers already had at baseline significantly lower values in physical functioning (p < 0.05), emotional role (p < 0.05) and mental health (p < 0.01), than non-fallers. Conclusions: An important decline was found in most items of the SF-36 following a 3 month detraining period, particularly in women. In contrast, strength of the upper limb was not affected by the detraining. The prior lower HRQOL values of those who will subsequently fall suggest that this criterion should be studied as a candidate risk factor for falls. Efforts should be made to encourage the elderly to continue with exercise activities and/or to shorten holiday break periods, in order to maintain their quality of life.Esain I was supported by a grant from the Basque Government (Pre_2014_1_137). This work was supported by the Basque Government (IT922-16)