La Sociedad de Beneficencia de Señoras del Rosario: 160 años en manos de mujeres rosarinas (25 de junio de 1854-25 de junio 2014)

Las Señoras del Rosario inauguraron su Sociedad de Beneficencia el 25 de junio de 1854. El objetivo de las mujeres rosarinas fue garantizar la supervivencia de los enfermos y de las enfermas de la sociedad civil, y por ello decidieron crear un hospital en la zona más alejada del núcleo urbano, que hoy corresponde a la zona macrocéntrica de la ciudad. Esta Sociedad fue la primera de la República Argentina que se dedicó a la atención de la salud, y por ello en octubre del año siguiente las socias decidieron fundar el primer Hospital de Caridad de la ciudad destinado a los habitantes carentes de recursos y no militares de profesión.

Developmental and tissue-specific involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha in the control of mouse uncoupling protein-3 gene expression.

Uncoupling protein-3 (UCP3) is a member of the mitochondrial carrier family expressed preferentially in skeletal muscle and heart. It appears to be involved in metabolic handling of fatty acids in a way that minimizes excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Fatty acids are powerful regulators of UCP3 gene transcription. We have found that the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) on the control of UCP3 gene expression depends on the tissue and developmental stage. In adults, UCP3 mRNA expression is unaltered in skeletal muscle from PPARα-null mice both in basal conditions and under the stimulus of starvation. In contrast, UCP3 mRNA is down-regulated in adult heart both in fed and fasted PPARα-null mice. This occurs despite the increased levels of free fatty acids caused by fasting in PPARα-null mice. In neonates, PPARα-null mice show impaired UCP3 mRNA expression in skeletal muscle in response to milk intake, and this is not a result of reduced free fatty acid levels. The murine UCP3 promoter is activated by fatty acids through either PPARα or PPARδ but not by PPARγ or retinoid X receptor alone. PPARδ-dependent activation could be a potential compensatory mechanism to ensure appropriate expression of UCP3 gene in adult skeletal muscle in the absence of PPARα. However, among transcripts from other PPARα and PPARδ target genes, only those acutely induced by milk intake in wild-type neonates were altered in muscle or heart from PPARα-null neonates. Thus, PPARα-dependent regulation is required for appropriate gene regulation of UCP3 as part of the subset of fatty-acid-responsive genes in neonatal muscle and heart.

International journal of engineering education

This work presents an analysis of the assessment tools used by professors at the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya to assess the generic competencies introduced in the Bachelor’s Degrees in Engineering. In order to conduct this study, a survey was designed and administered anonymously to a sample of the professors most receptive to educational innovation at their own university. All total, 80 professors responded to this survey, of whom 26% turned out to be members of the university’s own evaluation innovation group (https://www.upc.edu/rima/grups/grapa), GRAPA. This percentage represents 47% of the total GRAPA membership, meaning that nearly half of the professors most concerned about evaluation at the university chose to participate. The analysis of the variables carried out using the statistical program SPSS v19 shows that for practically 49% of those surveyed, rubrics are the tools most commonly used to assess generic competencies integrated in more specific ones. Of those surveyed, 60% use them either frequently or always. The most frequently evaluated generic competencies were teamwork (28%), problem solving (26%), effective oral and written communication (24%) and autonomous learning (13%), all of which constitute commonly recognized competencies in the engineering profession. A two-dimensional crosstabs analysis with SPSS v19 shows a significant correlation (Asymp. Sig. 0.001) between the type of tool used and the competencies assessed. However, no significant correlation was found between the type of assessment tool used and the type of subject, type of evaluation (formative or summative), frequency of feedback given to the students or the degree of student satisfaction, and thus none of these variables can be considered to have an influence on the kind of assessment tool used. In addition, the results also indicate that there are no significant differences between the instructors belonging to GRAPA and the rest of those surveyed

Las riberas de los rios mediterraneos y su calidad: el uso del indice QBR

Se ha aplicado el QBR (índice de calidad del bosque de ribera) a 157 estaciones de muestreo localizadas en ríos pertenecientes a 12 cuencas diferentes del ámbito mediterráneo español. Los resultados indican que más del 34 % de las estaciones muestran valores de calidad buenos y muy buenos (QBR > 75), mientras que el 45 % presenta valores de mala y pésima calidad (QBR < 50). Según una tipología previa establecida para clasificar las estaciones de muestreo, los valores de mayor calidad de QBR se dan en estaciones de cabecera de cuencas calcáreas y en las zonas de karst. Los tipos denominados temporales y ramblas presentan los valores más bajos de calidad, o no tiene representantes de máxima calidad. La ausencia o escasez de bosques de riberas de máxima calidad en las cuencas del sur peninsular puede explicarse por el gradiente de aridez que se establece desde el norte hacia el sur. Además existe un evidente deterioro de las riberas desde las cabeceras a las desembocaduras de los ríos, de manera que ambos factores influyen en el estado actual de las riberas de los ríos mediterráneos ibéricos. Finalmente se discute la utilidad y limitaciones del QBR en ríos sometidos a situaciones de estrés hídrico o ambiental.