Quan l'activitat docent es trasllada fora de l'aula: rutes i viatges lingüístics i literaris

La comunicació que ací presente pretén exposar i valorar un seguit d’activitats extraescolars consistents en la realització de rutes i viatges amb un fil conductor lingüístic o literari, fruit de la pràctica personal docent duta a terme durant els últims setze anys a l’IES Campanar de València, amb diversos grups i generacions d’alumnes de batxillerat, tant de l’assignatura comuna “Valencià: llengua i literatura” com de l’optativa de literatura catalana (anomenada “Valencià: literatura” o “Literatura contemporània: Valencià”). Aquestes propostes d’activitats complementen la pràctica docent d’ensenyament de la llengua i la literatura, fent costat a unes seqüències didàctiques basades en la creativitat literària, concretament en els anomenats “tallers literaris” (una qüestió que he exposat a BATALLER, 2003) i en el treball de lectura i comentari d’obres literàries representatives de la història de la literatura catalana

Efecto de las nuevas tecnologías en el aprendizaje del inglés en primaria: un currículo compartido por colegios de Francia, Inglaterra y España

La primera justificación que se puede hacer para este trabajo es la necesidad que tienen los gobiernos europeos de fomentar el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras, especialmente a destacar el empeño del gobierno inglés por incluir el aprendizaje de éstas en los primeros niveles de la Educación Primaria o el interés de la Junta de Andalucía en el desarrollo del Plan de Plurilingüismo. En este sentido podemos destacar las iniciativas propuestas por la Unión Europea (Plan de acción 2004-2006 para el aprendizaje de lenguas y la diversidad lingüística, 2003, el Plan Bolonia, la Estrategia de Lisboa de 2000, etc.) y que han dado la importancia que requería el comienzo temprano del aprendizaje de otras lenguas distintas de la materna. Un énfasis cada vez mayor en el papel de las lenguas, una dimensión global del aprendizaje, la aparición del AICLE (CLIL) como un nuevo enfoque en la enseñanza de las lenguas han de ir, como no podría ser de otra manera, de la mano de las nuevas tecnologías

Planificación de la docencia en la implantación de materias en lengua extranjera: una experiencia pràctica

EL presente trabajo se centra en la enseñanza en inglés de una asignatura a los alumnos del Grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresas. Estos estudios son eminentemente prácticos y tienen por objeto formar profesionales capaces de dirigir y gestionar modernas organizaciones en entornos cambiantes. La selección de contenidos para la enseñanza en inglés de finanzas no puede hacerse de forma arbitraria, sino mediante el establecimiento de unos criterios que permitan configurar un corpus con el que conseguir los resultados que se pretenden, de acuerdo con los objetivos pedagógicos establecidos por el profesor y los intereses de los estudiantes. Para el diseño de la asignatura Financial Operations se llevó a cabo una adaptación tanto de la metodología pedagógica como de los contenidos con el fin de alcanzar el objetivo perseguido (adquirir una formación básica sobre el mundo de las finanzas) al mismo tiempo que adquirir unas competencias en el uso de un inglés para fines específicos, en este caso, el inglés financiero

Enhanced convolution approach for CAC in ATM networks, an analytical study and implementation

The characteristics of service independence and flexibility of ATM networks make the control problems of such networks very critical. One of the main challenges in ATM networks is to design traffic control mechanisms that enable both economically efficient use of the network resources and desired quality of service to higher layer applications. Window flow control mechanisms of traditional packet switched networks are not well suited to real time services, at the speeds envisaged for the future networks. In this work, the utilisation of the Probability of Congestion (PC) as a bandwidth decision parameter is presented. The validity of PC utilisation is compared with QOS parameters in buffer-less environments when only the cell loss ratio (CLR) parameter is relevant. The convolution algorithm is a good solution for CAC in ATM networks with small buffers. If the source characteristics are known, the actual CLR can be very well estimated. Furthermore, this estimation is always conservative, allowing the retention of the network performance guarantees. Several experiments have been carried out and investigated to explain the deviation between the proposed method and the simulation. Time parameters for burst length and different buffer sizes have been considered. Experiments to confine the limits of the burst length with respect to the buffer size conclude that a minimum buffer size is necessary to achieve adequate cell contention. Note that propagation delay is a no dismiss limit for long distance and interactive communications, then small buffer must be used in order to minimise delay. Under previous premises, the convolution approach is the most accurate method used in bandwidth allocation. This method gives enough accuracy in both homogeneous and heterogeneous networks. But, the convolution approach has a considerable computation cost and a high number of accumulated calculations. To overcome this drawbacks, a new method of evaluation is analysed: the Enhanced Convolution Approach (ECA). In ECA, traffic is grouped in classes of identical parameters. By using the multinomial distribution function instead of the formula-based convolution, a partial state corresponding to each class of traffic is obtained. Finally, the global state probabilities are evaluated by multi-convolution of the partial results. This method avoids accumulated calculations and saves storage requirements, specially in complex scenarios. Sorting is the dominant factor for the formula-based convolution, whereas cost evaluation is the dominant factor for the enhanced convolution. A set of cut-off mechanisms are introduced to reduce the complexity of the ECA evaluation. The ECA also computes the CLR for each j-class of traffic (CLRj), an expression for the CLRj evaluation is also presented. We can conclude that by combining the ECA method with cut-off mechanisms, utilisation of ECA in real-time CAC environments as a single level scheme is always possible.

Why language matters: insights and challenges in applying a social determination of health approach in a North-South collaborative research program

Focus on “social determinants of health” provides a welcome alternative to the bio-medical illness paradigm. However, the tendency to concentrate on the influence of “risk factors” related to living and working conditions of individuals, rather than to more broadly examine dynamics of the social processes that affect population health, has triggered critical reaction not only from the Global North but especially from voices the Global South where there is a long history of addressing questions of health equity. In this article, we elaborate on how focusing instead on the language of “social determination of health” has prompted us to attempt to apply a more equity-sensitive approaches to research and related policy and praxis.

Retrieval of effective ice crystal size in the infrared: sensitivity study and global measurements from TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder

The difference between cirrus emissivities at 8 and 11 μm is sensitive to the mean effective ice crystal size of the cirrus cloud, De. By using single scattering properties of ice crystals shaped as planar polycrystals, diameters of up to about 70 μm can be retrieved, instead of up to 45 μm assuming spheres or hexagonal columns. The method described in this article is used for a global determination of mean effective ice crystal sizes of cirrus clouds from TOVS satellite observations. A sensitivity study of the De retrieval to uncertainties in hypotheses on ice crystal shape, size distributions, and temperature profiles, as well as in vertical and horizontal cloud heterogeneities shows that uncertainties can be as large as 30%. However, the TOVS data set is one of few data sets which provides global and long-term coverage. Having analyzed the years 1987–1991, it was found that measured effective ice crystal diameters De are stable from year to year. For 1990 a global median De of 53.5 μm was determined. Averages distinguishing ocean/land, season, and latitude lie between 23 μm in winter over Northern Hemisphere midlatitude land and 64 μm in the tropics. In general, larger Des are found in regions with higher atmospheric water vapor and for cirrus with a smaller effective emissivity.

Safety evaluation of oligofructose: 13 Week rat study and in vitro mutagenicity

Oligofructose (OF), comprised of fructose oligomers with a terminal glucose unit, is a family Of oligosaccharides derived from the hydrolysis of inulin. Consumption of OF in animals and humans increases colonic bifidobacteria levels. The present study evaluates the safety of OF in both a 13 week rat feeding Study and Using in Vitro mutagenicity tests. Fecal bifidobacteria levels were also determined by in situ hybridization to assess a biological function of OF. Rats received either a control diet OF diets containing one of four doses of OF. Total, HDL, and LDL-cholesterol levels were significantly lower at several time points during the study in groups receiving OF compared to controls with the largest effects Occurring in the high dose male animals. Weight gain in the male high dose group was significantly lower at early time points compared to controls but]lot Significantly different at the end of study. As expected, cecal weights increased in a dose-related manner and fecal bifidobacteria levels also demonstrated a dose-related increase. There were no consistent differences in gross pathology or histopathology related to dietary OF. OF did not induce a positive response in the Ames test or chromosomal aberration test with CHO cells. These results demonstrate no adverse effects of OF. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.