Membrane interaction of polymyxin B and synthetic analogues studied in biomimetic systems: implications for antibacterial action

Membrane-active antimicrobial peptides, such as polymyxin B (PxB), are currently in the spotlight as potential candidates toovercome bacterial resistance. We have designed synthetic analogs ofPxB in order to determine the structural requirements for membraneaction. Since the mechanism of action of PxB involves interaction withboth the outer membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane of Gramnegative bacteria, we have used an approach based on mimicking theouter layers of these membranes using monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgettfilms and unilamelar vesicles, and applying a battery of biophysicalmethods in order to dissect the different events of membraneinteraction. Collectively, results indicate that the PxB analogues act inthe bacterial membrane by the same mechanism than PxB, and that cationic amphipathicity determines peptide activity.

Functional interaction between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-alpha and Mef-2C on human carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1beta (CPT1beta) gene activation

Muscle-type carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1β) is considered to be the gene that controls fatty acid mitochondrial β-oxidation. A functional peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) responsive element (PPRE) and a myocite-specific (MEF2) site that binds MEF2A and MEF2C in the promoter of this gene had been previously identified. We investigated the roles of the PPRE and the MEF2 binding sites and the potential interaction between PPARα and MEF2C regulating the CPT1β gene promoter. Mutation analysis indicated that the MEF2 site contributed to the activation of the CPT1β promoter by PPAR in C2C12 cells. The reporter construct containing the PPRE and the MEF2C site was synergistically activated by co-expression of PPAR, retinoid X receptor (RXR) and MEF2C in non-muscle cells. Moreover, protein-binding assays demonstrated that MEF2C and PPAR specifically bound to one another in vitro. Also for the synergistic activation of the CPT1β gene promoter by MEF2C and PPARα-RXRα, a precise arrangement of its binding sites was essential.

Membrane interaction of polymyxin B and synthetic analogues studied in biomimetic systems: implications for antibacterial action

Membrane-active antimicrobial peptides, such as polymyxin B (PxB), are currently in the spotlight as potential candidates toovercome bacterial resistance. We have designed synthetic analogs ofPxB in order to determine the structural requirements for membraneaction. Since the mechanism of action of PxB involves interaction withboth the outer membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane of Gramnegative bacteria, we have used an approach based on mimicking theouter layers of these membranes using monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgettfilms and unilamelar vesicles, and applying a battery of biophysicalmethods in order to dissect the different events of membraneinteraction. Collectively, results indicate that the PxB analogues act inthe bacterial membrane by the same mechanism than PxB, and that cationic amphipathicity determines peptide activity.

L' Aprenentatge cooperatiu a l'educació infantil com a eina inclusiva a l'escola rural

El treball cooperatiu és una bona eina per a la inclusió a l’aula. La investigació parteix de l’educació inclusiva per afirmar que l’estructura de l’activitat de forma cooperativa afavoreix les relacions entre iguals i millora la participació de tot l’alumnat, tot fomentant la oportunitat d’igualtats. L’estudi té com a objectiu valorar la incorporació del treball cooperatiu en una aula amb infants de cinc anys, en un context rural per així, observar i analitzar els efectes que es produeixen amb aquest. Les dades de la investigació s’han recollir a partir d’una graella d’observació i un diari de camp que han permès afirmar que les tècniques cooperatives milloren la participació equitativa i la interacció simultània i esdevé una eina inclusiva a l’aula.

Speaking in the CLIL classroom: to what extent do teachers and students use english in the classroom?

L'objectiu principal d'aquesta investigació va ser determinar els efectes del CLIL en els professors i estudiants en les seves produccions orals. El punt de partida de la meva investigació era de la teoria de Dalton-Puffer (2007), que estableix que la funció de parlar en les classes CLIL és mínima, la meva recerca s'ha basat en la recopilació recollir informació des de diferents fonts, amb la finalitat de veure si aquest fet també passa a les nostres escoles. Eventualment, he planejat algunes estratègies i activitats per incrementar la quantitat d’oportunitats per parlar en llengua anglesa els alumnes.

Intervenció psicopedagògica dels alumnes que presenten algun trastorn generalitzat del desenvolupament: anàlisi d'un cas

La principal idea que es planteja en el present Treball Final de Grau és conèixer com s’intervé en una aula amb un infant que pot presentar algun Trastorn Generalitzat del Desenvolupament (TGD). Concretament, a través de l’anàlisi d’un cas, on la hipòtesi diagnòstica actual és un retard cognitiu lleu, ja que no mostra un diagnòstic clar. No obstant, aquesta intervenció s’adequarà als símptomes i característiques de cada infant. Per tal de contemplar el desenvolupament de l’infant, s’han dut a terme diverses activitats referents a l’aprenentatge cooperatiu que han ajudat ha observar la interacció del nen amb els altres infants.

Estratègies educatives a través de l'expressió corporal per a la inclusió de l'alumnat amb risc d'exclusió social

Aquest document ens explica com afecta la crisi socioeconòmica del nostre país als infants que es troben en situació de risc social. En concret, la recerca es va centrar en una escola pública de Torelló on hi ha un predomini d’infants immigrants. La majoria d’aquests infants es troben en una situació precària i, a més, tenen dificultats per entendre la llengua del centre i per comunicar-se amb la mestra tutora de l’aula. Per concloure l’estudi es va elaborar un pla d’acció on es mostra que si es porten a terme estratègies educatives inclusives, com pot ser l’expressió corporal, dins l’aula ordinària els infants amb major risc social poden aprendre més amb la interacció.

L’educació intercultural. Un repte a l’aula de P4 d’una escola de la comarca de la Garrotxa

Des de l’educació intercultural es pretén aconseguir una societat més justa i igualitària capaç de respectar la diversitat cultural sense prejudicis, fomentant el diàleg i la convivència com una possibilitat per apropar les diferents cultures, on la participació dels diferents agents educatius és fonamental. Aquest treball mostra la investigació realitzada en una aula, d’infants de quatre anys d’una escola de la comarca de la Garrotxa, per valorar si la seva pràctica educativa segueix una línia intercultural. S’ha fet ús d’una metodologia qualitativa per mitjà de l’observació, l’entrevista i l’anàlisi de documents que ha posat de manifest la importància del professorat en tenir una actitud positiva cap a la comprensió i interacció entre diferents cultures per tal de caminar cap a la interculturalitat.

Do protein–protein interaction databases identify moonlighting proteins?

One of the most striking results of the human (and mammalian) genomes is the low number of protein-coding genes. To-date, the main molecular mechanism to increase the number of different protein isoforms and functions is alternative splicing. However, a less-known way to increase the number of protein functions is the existence of multifunctional, multitask, or ‘‘moonlighting’’, proteins. By and large, moonlighting proteins are experimentally disclosed by serendipity. Proteomics is becoming one of the very active areas of biomedical research, which permits researchers to identify previously unseen connections among proteins and pathways. In principle, protein–protein interaction (PPI) databases should contain information on moonlighting proteins and could provide suggestions to further analysis in order to prove the multifunctionality. As far as we know, nobody has verified whether PPI databases actually disclose moonlighting proteins. In the present work we check whether well-established moonlighting proteins present in PPI databases connect with their known partners and, therefore, a careful inspection of these databases could help to suggest their different functions. The results of our research suggest that PPI databases could be a valuable tool to suggest multifunctionality.

Gene Promoter Evolution Targets the Center of the Human Protein Interaction Network

Assessing the contribution of promoters and coding sequences to gene evolution is an important step toward discovering the major genetic determinants of human evolution. Many specific examples have revealed the evolutionary importance of cis-regulatory regions. However, the relative contribution of regulatory and coding regions to the evolutionary process and whether systemic factors differentially influence their evolution remains unclear. To address these questions, we carried out an analysis at the genome scale to identify signatures of positive selection in human proximal promoters. Next, we examined whether genes with positively selected promoters (Prom+ genes) show systemic differences with respect to a set of genes with positively selected protein-coding regions (Cod+ genes). We found that the number of genes in each set was not significantly different (8.1% and 8.5%, respectively). Furthermore, a functional analysis showed that, in both cases, positive selection affects almost all biological processes and only a few genes of each group are located in enriched categories, indicating that promoters and coding regions are not evolutionarily specialized with respect to gene function. On the other hand, we show that the topology of the human protein network has a different influence on the molecular evolution of proximal promoters and coding regions. Notably, Prom+ genes have an unexpectedly high centrality when compared with a reference distribution (P = 0.008, for Eigenvalue centrality). Moreover, the frequency of Prom+ genes increases from the periphery to the center of the protein network (P = 0.02, for the logistic regression coefficient). This means that gene centrality does not constrain the evolution of proximal promoters, unlike the case with coding regions, and further indicates that the evolution of proximal promoters is more efficient in the center of the protein network than in the periphery. These results show that proximal promoters have had a systemic contribution to human evolution by increasing the participation of central genes in the evolutionary process.

Orchestration signals in the classroom: managing the jigsaw collaborative learning flow

The orchestration of collaborative learning processes in face-to-facephysical settings, such as classrooms, requires teachers to coordinate students indicating them who belong to each group, which collaboration areas areassigned to each group, and how they should distribute the resources or roles within the group. In this paper we present an Orchestration Signal system,composed of wearable Personal Signal devices and an Orchestration Signal manager. Teachers can configure color signals in the manager so that they are transmitted to the wearable devices to indicate different orchestration aspects.In particular, the paper describes how the system has been used to carry out a Jigsaw collaborative learning flow in a classroom where students received signals indicating which documents they should read, in which group they were and in which area of the classroom they were expected to collaborate. The evaluation results show that the proposed system facilitates a dynamic, visual and flexible orchestration.

Interaction of Spiral Waves in the Complex Ginzburg-Landau Equation

Solutions of the general cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation comprising multiple spiral waves are considered, and laws of motion for the centers are derived. The direction of the motion changes from along the line of centers to perpendicular to the line of centers as the separation increases, with the strength of the interaction algebraic at small separations and exponentially small at large separations. The corresponding asymptotic wave number and frequency are also determined, which evolve slowly as the spirals move

Gestión de la actividad no presencial y autoevaluación de competencias = Management of student learning outside the classroom and the self-evaluation of competences

La asignatura troncal “Evaluación Psicológica” de los estudios de Psicología y delestudio de grado “Desarrollo humano en la sociedad de la información” de laUniversidad de Girona consta de 12 créditos según la Ley Orgánica de Universidades.Hasta el año académico 2004-05 el trabajo no presencial del alumno consistía en larealización de una evaluación psicológica que se entregaba por escrito a final de curso yde la cual el estudiante obtenía una calificación y revisión si se solicitaba. En el caminohacia el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, esta asignatura consta de 9 créditosque equivalen a un total de 255 horas de trabajo presencial y no presencial delestudiante. En los años académicos 2005-06 y 2006-07 se ha creado una guía de trabajopara la gestión de la actividad no presencial con el objetivo de alcanzar aprendizajes anivel de aplicación y solución de problemas/pensamiento crítico (Bloom, 1975)siguiendo las recomendaciones de la Agencia para la Calidad del Sistema Universitariode Cataluña (2005). La guía incorpora: los objetivos de aprendizaje, los criterios deevaluación, la descripción de las actividades, el cronograma semanal de trabajos paratodo el curso, la especificación de las tutorías programadas para la revisión de losdiversos pasos del proceso de evaluación psicológica y el uso del foro para elconocimiento, análisis y crítica constructiva de las evaluaciones realizadas por loscompañeros