La fábula en Educación Primaria. El caso de La cigarra y la hormiga

[CASTELLANO] Desde su lejano origen, la fábula siempre se ha relacionado con la enseñanza debido a su intención moralizante, por lo que siempre se ha clasificado entre los géneros didácticos. El análisis y comparación de las diferentes versiones que se han llevado a cabo de la fábula La cigarra y la hormiga han permitido comprobar la evolución que ha tenido tanto la fábula en sí misma, como el mensaje que se transmite en ella, el cual se transforma dependiendo del contexto histórico en el que esté escrita. Además, ciertas características de la fábula posibilitan su uso como instrumento didáctico en Educación Primaria con el fin de lograr diferentes objetivos.

Ikasle ijitoak eskolan: Hezkuntza Inklusiborako bidean

Umeen garapen psikologikoan bi oinarrizko faktorek eragiten dute, besteak beste: familia eta eskola. Hortaz, familia hain garrantzitsua izanda, horren kulturak lehen mailako papera hartzen du garapen horretan. Kultura ijitoa ikerketaren oinarri bezala hartuta, beharrezkoa da ume horien egoera behatzea. Hori dela eta, lan honek objektibo bikoitza dauka: kultura ijitoaren ohiturak zein eskolarekiko duen harremana ezagutzea eta eskolaratze arrakastatsuaren klabeak lortzea. Eskola, gizartearen ordezkari bezala, pertsona guztien eskubideak betetzen dituen berdintasunezko gizarteak sortzeko oinarrizko eta erantzukizunezko bidea da.

Lipid Nanoparticles as Carriers for RNAi against Viral Infections: Current Status and Future Perspectives

The efforts made to develop RNAi-based therapies have led to productive research in the field of infections in humans, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), herpetic keratitis, human papillomavirus, or influenza virus. Naked RNAi molecules are rapidly digested by nucleases in the serum, and due to their negative surface charge, entry into the cell cytoplasm is also hampered, which makes necessary the use of delivery systems to exploit the full potential of RNAi therapeutics. Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) represent one of the most widely used delivery systems for in vivo application of RNAi due to their relative safety and simplicity of production, joint with the enhanced payload and protection of encapsulated RNAs. Moreover, LNP may be functionalized to reach target cells, and they may be used to combine RNAi molecules with conventional drug substances to reduce resistance or improve efficiency. This review features the current application of LNP in RNAi mediated therapy against viral infections and aims to explore possible future lines of action in this field.

Etymological notes on Aleut (III). With methodological notes on (Eskimo-Aleut) historical linguistics

[EN] The goal of this contribution is twofold: on the one hand, to review two relatively recent contributions in the field of Eskimo-Aleut historical linguistics in which it is proposed that Eskimo-Aleut languages are related genealogically to Wakashan (Holst 2004) and?/or Nostratic (Krougly-Enke 2008). These contributions can be characterized by saying that their authors have taken little care to be diligent and responsible in the application of the comparative method, and that their familiarity with the languages involved is insufficient. Eskimo-Aleut languages belong to a very exclusive group of language families that have been (and still are) used, sometimes compulsively, in the business of so-called “long-range comparisons”. Those carrying out such studies are very often unaware of the most basic facts regarding the philological and linguistic traditions of those languages, as a result of what mountains of very low quality works with almost no-relevancy for the specialist grow every year to the desperation of the scientific community, whose attitude toward them ranges from the most profound indifference to the toughest (and most explicit) critical tone. Since Basque also belongs to this group of “compare-with-everything-you-come- across” languages, it is my intention to provide the Basque readership with a sort of “pedagogical case” to show that little known languages, far from underrepresented in the field, already have a very long tradition in historical and comparative linguistics, i.e. nobody can approach them without previous acquaintance with the materials. Studies dealing with the methodological inappropriateness of the Moscow School’s Nostratic hypothesis or the incorrectness of many of the proposed new taxonomic Amerindian subfamilies (several of them involving the aforementioned Wakashan languages), that is to say, the frameworks on which Krougly-Enke and Holst work, respectively, are plenty (i.a. Campbell 1997: 260-329, Campbell & Poser 2008: 234-96), therefore there is no reason to insist once more on the very same point. This is the reason why I will not discuss per se Eskimo-Aleut–Wakashan or Eskimo-Aleut–Nostratic. On the contrary, I will focus attention upon very concrete aspects of Krougly-Enke and Holst´s proposals, i.e. when they work on “less ambitious” problems, for example, dealing with the minutiae of internal facts or analyzing certain words from the sole perspective of Eskimo-Aleut materials (in other words, those cases in which even they do not invoke the ad hoc help of Nostratic stuff). I will try to explain why some of their proposals are wrong, demonstrate where the problem lies, and fix it if possible. In doing so, I will propose new etymologies in an attempt at showing how we may proceed. The main difference between this and handbook examples lies in the reality of what we are doing: this is a pure etymological exercise from beginning to end. I will try to throw a bit of light on a couple of problematic questions regarding Aleut historical phonology, demonstrating how much work should be done at the lowest level of the Eskimo-Aleut pyramid; it is technically impossible to reach the peak of the pyramid without having completed the base. As far as Aleut is regarded, I will mainly profit not only from the use of the traditional philological analysis of Aleut (and, eventually, of Eskimo) materials, but also of diachronic typology, bringing into discussion what in my opinion seems useful, and in some cases I think decisive, parallels. It is worth noting that this paper makes up yet another part of a series of exploratory works dealing with etymological aspects of the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo-Aleut, with special emphasis on Aleut (vid. i.a. Alonso de la Fuente 2006/2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2010a), whose main goal is to become the solid basis for an etymological dictionary of the Aleut language, currently in progress.

Detection of particles with a cloud chamber

Cloud chambers were essential devices in early nuclear and particle physics research. Superseded by more modern detectors in actual research, they still remain very interesting pedagogical apparatus. This thesis attempts to give a global view on this topic. To do so, a review of the physical foundations of the diffusion cloud chamber, in which an alcohol is supersaturated by cooling it with a thermal reservoir, is carried out. Its main results are then applied to analyse the working conditions inside the chamber. The analysis remarks the importance of using an appropriate alcohol, such as isopropanol, as well as a strong cooling system, which for isopropanol needs to reach −40ºC. That theoretical study is complemented with experimental tests that were performed with what is the usual design of a home-made cloud chamber. An effective setup is established, which highlights details such as a grazing illumination, a direct contact with the cooling reservoir through a wide metal plate, or the importance of avoiding vapour removal. Apart from that, video results of different phenomena that cloud chamber allow to observe are also presented. Overall, it is aimed to present a physical insight that pedagogical papers usually lack.

Quironómidos (Díptera) de las instalaciones de la E.D.A.R. de Galindo

[ES] La finalidad de este trabajo es la identificación taxonómica de algunos de los quironómidos (Diptera) presentes en el entorno de la Estación Depuradora de Aguas Residuales de Galindo. La captura de los insectos se llevó a cabo mediante dos metodologías distintas, en los clarificadores de Decantación Secundaria de la E.D.A.R. La identificación taxonómica se ha realizado con la consulta de guías de identificación de machos adultos, los cuales presentan características morfológicas diferenciadoras más útiles y complejas. La identificación llevó al establecimiento de cuatro morfotipos, que agrupan a los individuos observados según características morfológicas comunes. En cada morfotipo se incluyen los taxones correspondientes de acuerdo con su identificación taxonómica. Sin embargo, en algunos casos, la identificación no ha alcanzado el nivel de especie.