El reingrés dels estudiants al sistema universitari públic català

Aquest estudi, desenvolupat a partir d'informació d'estudiants universitaris catalans, ha detectat diversos perfils d'alumnes que abandonen els estudis i hi tornen més endavant. Els resultats apunten, entre altres, a la necessitat d'establir plans per a la transició a la universitat, l'acollida i l'acompanyament dels estudiants universitaris per evitar l'abandonament i el posterior canvi d'estudis. Cal, doncs, millorar el sistema d'orientació i accés a la universitat per tal de millorar el rendiment dels estudiants i la qualitat del sistema universitari.Este estudio, desarrollado a partir de información de estudiantes universitarios catalanes, ha detectado diversos perfiles de alumnos que abandonan los estudios y más adelante vuelven a matricularse. Los resultados apuntan, entre otras, a la necesidad de establecer planes para la transición a la universidad, la acogida y el acompañamiento de los estudiantes universitarios para evitar el abandono y el posterior cambio de estudios. Se debe, pues, mejorar el sistema de orientación y acceso a la universidad para mejorar el rendimiento de los estudiantes y la calidad del sistema universitario.This study based on information from Catalan university students has found several profiles of students who drop out of university and later return. The results suggest, among other things, the need to establish plans for the transition to college, and the reception and support of university students to avoid the abandonment and subsequent change of studies. It is therefore necessary to improve the system of guidance and access to the university to improve student performance and the quality of the university system

Personal Learning Environments: State of Situation in the School of Education at the University of Malaga

Este artículo está basado en un estudio realizado con el objetivo de conocer el papel que los entornos personales de aprendizaje (PLE) juegan en la formación del alumnado de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Málaga. Se ha estudiado cuáles son las aplicaciones y herramientas que más emplea el alumnado en su aprendizaje no formal. Se puede concluir que, en general, el alumnado no utiliza efectivamente los medios de los que disponen y los que lo hacen no asocian el empleo de los PLE con usos académicos.This article is based on a study aimed to know the role that personal learning environments (PLE) play in the training of students of the School of Education at the University of Malaga. The applications and tools that most students use in non-formal learning are studied. In conclusion, students do not effectively use the available media and do not associate the use of personal learning environments PLE with academic uses

Collaboration and use of ICT as factors of professional teacher development in the Uruguayan educational context. Analysis protocol for a multiple case-study

La colaboración entre docentes, con o sin uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), constituye un factor determinante en su desarrollo profesional y, en consecuencia, un elemento clave para el buen funcionamiento de los centros educativos y la calidad del sistema escolar. Por este motivo, y dada la escasez de investigaciones sobre el tema en Uruguay fueron exploradas las formas que adopta la colaboración con fines profesionales y los usos de las TIC con estos fines. El diseño del estudio siguió la estrategia de estudio de caso múltiple para el que se seleccionaron cuatro escuelas primarias y cuatro centros de enseñanza secundaria en el departamento de Colonia. En cada centro se aplicó una entrevista en profundidad al director y a dos docentes identificados por sus actitudes hacia la colaboración a partir de un grupo de discusión realizado entre docentes. Asimismo se recolectaron datos del contexto y se realizaron observaciones no participantes de la infraestructura y del ambiente escolar. Los datos fueron procesados según un protocolo de análisis por capas mediante el que se describieron dos casos en detalle. Luego se buscaron patrones entre dichos casos y temas transversales. Por último se organizaron los hallazgos en una meta-matriz para mostrar los vínculos entre qué se identifica como colaboración docente, cuáles son las formas más usuales de colaboración y cuál es el rol de las TIC en el trabajo colaborativo teniendo en cuenta el contexto particular de los casos descriptos. Las principales conclusiones están asociadas al uso de los espacios de socialización y reflexión sobre las prácticas en los centros estudiados y a la manera en que los docentes y la dirección pueden aprovechar esas instancias para el intercambio sobre aspectos ligados a lo pedagógico.Collaboration between teachers, with or without the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), is a determining factor in their professional development and, therefore, a key element for the proper functioning of educational centers and the quality of school system. For such reason, and given the paucity of research on the subject in Uruguay, the forms adopted by collaboration for professional purposes and the uses of ICT for said purposes were explored. The study design followed the multiple case-study strategy for which four primary schools and four secondary schools were selected in the department of Colonia. At each center, an in-depth interview was conducted with the principal and two teachers identified for their attitudes toward collaboration from a discussion group conducted by teachers. In addition, context data were collected and non-participant observations of infrastructure and school environment were carried out. The data were processed according to a layer analysis protocol, in which two cases were described in detail. Patterns between these cases and cross-cutting themes were then sought. Finally, the findings were organized in a meta-matrix in order to show the links between what is identified as teacher collaboration, which are the most common forms of collaboration and what is the role of ICT in collaborative work, taking into account the particular context of the cases described. The main conclusions are associated with the use of spaces for socialization and reflection on the practices in the centers studied, and the way in which teachers and management can take advantage of these instances for the exchange on pedagogical aspects

Social learning network. Digital networks in university education

Las redes sociales ofrecen grandes posibilidades de comunicación e interacción social en los nuevos ciudadanos del siglo XXI, pero lo hacen con propiedades y funcionalidades muy distintas. Desde la formación universitaria podemos recoger algunas de estas características para fortalecer la actividad de aprendizaje a través de una mejor o mayor comunicación. Pero no todas las redes son iguales ni todas sirven para el entorno educativo. Elementos referidos a la seguridad, la privacidad o el control de la actividad de los usuarios son fundamentales a la hora de plantearnos su integración como una herramienta académica formal. Las redes sociales de carácter vertical son una excelente herramienta de enseñanza-aprendizaje para las instituciones de educación superior, y veremos que algunas universidades ya las están poniendo en uso en sus planes de formación e investigación. En estas líneas presentaremos algunas de las ventajas que ofrecen en su integración formal a la vez que adelantaremos las dificultades que debemos salvar para alinear la actividad con la red y nuestros objetivos docentes.Social networks offer great potential for communication and social interaction in the new citizens of the XXI century, but social networks do it with different properties and functionalities. From university we can incorporate some of these features to strengthen the learning activity through a better communication. But not all networks are equal and not all networks can be used in educational environment. Items like security, privacy or activity control are fundamental to their integration as a formal academic tool. The vertical social networks are a great tool for teaching and learning in higher education institutions, and many universities use it for training and research programs. We will present some of the advantages they offer in formal training. At the same time we will advance the difficulties to align the social network activity with our teaching objectives

Entornos personales de aprendizaje: estado de la situación en la facultad de ciencias de la educación de la Universidad de Málaga

Este artículo está basado en un estudio realizado con el objetivo de conocer el papel que los entornos personales de aprendizaje (PLE) juegan en la formación del alumnado de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Málaga. Se ha estudiado cuáles son las aplicaciones y herramientas que más emplea el alumnado en su aprendizaje no formal. Se puede concluir que, en general, el alumnado no utiliza efectivamente los medios de los que disponen y los que lo hacen no asocian el empleo de los PLE con usos académicos.This article is based on a study aimed to know the role that personal learning environments (PLE) play in the training of students of the School of Education at the University of Malaga. The applications and tools that most students use in non-formal learning are studied. In conclusion, students do not effectively use the available media and do not associate the use of personal learning environments PLE with academic usesEste trabajo se enmarca dentro del Proyecto titulado Los entornos personales de aprendizaje (PLEs) para la adquisición de competencias en el marco del EEES. (Ref. PIE10-030), financiado por la Universidad de Málag

Application of communication technologies (ICT) within the tourism industry in the European Union

The information and communication technologies (ICT) are revolutionizing the tourism industry. This research note will make a brief diagnosis of the relationships between tourism and ICT in the European context by presenting an index to characterize the digitization of the tourism sector and its comparison with a reference index, which reflects the introduction of the ICT in every country. The proposed indicator will allow us to know the degree of integration of these ICT in EU countries when talking about tourism accommodation reservations. The results indicate divergent behavior patterns in digital accommodation management and in how ICTs are managed, as well as a different perception of trends between different geographical areas of the European Union. From the comparative analysis of the indicators, we can observe that in the South of Europe/Mediterranean area both the tourism integration and ICT are quite commonly below the European results. In other countries like Holland and Spain, the traditional channels are still used despite of their outstanding digitalization. These patterns provide relevant insights for the companies, especially for the tourism agencies, and allow establishing sector needs within the digital field

Potential Role of Seaweed Polyphenols in Cardiovascular-Associated Disorders

The beneficial effects of various polyphenols with plant origins on different cardiovascular-associated disorders, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2 and metabolic syndrome are well known. Recently, marine crude-drugs are emerging as potential treatments in many noncommunicable conditions, including those involving the cardiovascular system. Among the active compounds responsible for these activities, seaweed polyphenols seem to play a key role. The aim of the present review is to summarise the current knowledge about the beneficial effects reported for edible seaweed polyphenols in the amelioration of these prevalent conditions, focusing on both preclinical and clinical studies. This review will help to establish the basis for future studies in this promising field.This work was supported by the Junta de Andalucía (CTS 164) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2015-67995-C3-3-R) with funds from the European Union. The CIBER-EHD is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Numerical simulation of free surface flows in die casting injection processes

This paper presents a numerical study of the flow of molten metal in the shot sleeve of horizontal high-pressure die-casting machines during the injection process. The analysis of the wave of molten metal created by plunger motion can be of help in reducing porosity in manufactured parts caused by entrapment in the molten metal of a certain amount of the initial air in the die cavity and in the shot sleeve. The amount of trapped air can be reduced by selecting appropriate operating conditions during the injection process, which are mainly determined by the law of plunger motion, the initial shot sleeve filling fraction, and the geometrical characteristics of the shot sleeve. The proposed model, which considers the problem as two-dimensional, is based on the conservation equations of mass and momentum, and treats the free surface using a capturing method (Scalar Equation Method). Surface tension and solidification effects are neglected. Different approaches are considered to simulate plunger motion, in which either the plunger surface or the end wall of the sleeve moves and contracts a Cartesian grid. In the second case, a horizontal body force per unit mass is introduced and the plunger is assumed to be at rest. When numerical results for the wave profile were compared with those obtained using an analytical model based on the shallow-water approximation, and also with numerical results obtained from a CFD code specifically designed for free-surface flow modeling, a good degree of agreement was found.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) under grants TAP97-0489 and PB98-0007

Built-up AFM tips by metal nanoclusters engineering

The ability to probe tip-sample interactions by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has recently boosted our understanding of the matter at the atomic scale, enabling the study of properties of surfaces and adsorbates which were previously inaccessible. Nevertheless, this sensitivity to forces presents some drawbacks, as the requirement of a sharp tip apex to prevent the loss of spatial resolution due to the existence of long-range interactions. In this work, we have overcome this long-standing challenge by investigating the controlled extraction of single metallic nanoclusters, selectively grown on graphene. Our results show that the successive extraction of cluster allows to grow nanotips, which minimize the long-range tip-sample interactions and greatly enhance the topographic resolution. We have demonstrated that the created nanotips are very stable, which enables exchanging the sample and using the same nanotip to explore different surfaces without loss of resolution. Since metallic clusters of very different materials and sizes can be grown and selectively extracted by AFM, ours work paves also the way to the specific functionalization of AFM-tips to sense a large variety of interactionsFinancial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) under grants No. MAT2016-77852-C2-2-R and MAT2016-80907-P and by the Comunidad de Madrid NMAT2D-CM program under grant S2018/NMT-4511 is gratefully acknowledged. Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under grant Nº PID2019-106268GB-C31 is also gratefully acknowledged. We thank Rubén Pérez and Oscar Custance for helpful discussions and Antonio J. Martínez-Galera for helpful discussions and technical assistanc

Development of a prototype for submarine communications in shallow waters

The Telecommunications Marine Laboratory (TML) of the University of Cádiz takes part in a research project to study the intertidal sediments of the Bay of Cádiz. The collection of samples from the seabed and the transmission of data to the surface are performed by a Mini Profiler with four channels (MP4), which is supplied by UNISENSE. Each channel processes the samples collected by a single sensor. For power, control, and data transmission, a special wiring that connects the submerged subsystem with the surface subsystem is used. The tension transmitted by the cable to the MP4 structure makes its handling and positioning under water more difficult. This article explains the technological solution developed by the TML to replace some wiring from the MP4. For the prototype, two underwater acoustic modems have been used and an electronic system has been developed based on the Arduino platform, in order to multiplex, digitize, and transmit the data collected by the MP4 sensors, eliminating the need to use wiring. The submerged subsystem has an autonomous power supply by a battery.Peer Reviewe