Historias y estereotipos.

Se analiza la estructura y organización de la narración en los medios de comunicación escritos y audiovisuales, presentando como elementos constitutivos el relato, el argumento, el personaje, la expresión y la audiencia. En una segunda parte se analiza la naturaleza y función de los estereotipos, tanto positivos como negativos, en la sociedad. En ambas partes, la información se estructura en una exposición teórica de la materia y actividades complementarias sobre la misma. Se adjuntan dos anexos sobre los estereotipos de los aborígenes australianos y de los gitanos en España.

Centros piloto : informe sobre sus características e implantación en Galicia.

Se intenta la elaboración de orientaciones técnicas detalladas para la organización pedagógica y la programación de actitudes educativas de dichos centros, a la luz de los principios de la Reforma educativa y de las adquisiciones más recientes de las Ciencias de la Educación, teniendo en cuenta su doble finalidad: investigación educativa y formación del profesorado. 50 centros gallegos de EGB y Bachillerato y centenares de profesionales de la educación así como alumnos. Visitas a los centros y conversaciones con inspectores, directores, profesores y alumnos. Análisis documental y una puesta en común, discusión e intercambio de ideas del equipo investigador. Recoge una serie de recomendaciones generales y otras específicas para cada nivel de enseñanza. Las referentes a la EGB comprenden: enseñanza de la lectura, estudios sociales, enseñanza de la escritura, educación personalizada, globalización, individualización, formación del profesorado, instalaciones escolares, Educación Preescolar, clases de recuperación, salud mental. Los de BUP se ocupan de: currículum, metodología instructiva, formación del profesorado, arquitectura, administración de centros piloto. También se recogen tópicos especiales: la Lengua gallega y la educación, creatividad en la escuela, materiales de instrucción, profesor asesor, evaluación, ocupaciones y servicios especiales de los alumnos en los centros piloto, investigación, aspectos financieros esenciales para el buen desenvolvimiento de los centros piloto. Termina con un informe específico del Centro Piloto Barrie de la Maza. Se señalan a lo largo de cada uno de los apartados.

Curso experimental pretecnológico.

Programar, durante el verano, una experiencia didáctico-pedagógica de carácter eminentemente práctico y pretecnológico, para completar el ciclo de escolaridad y dotar a los alumnos que finalizan de unos conocimientos y destrezas imprescindibles para poder defenderse. 32 alumnos de diferentes niveles, edades, problemas y características académicas y socio-familiares muy diferentes. Del Colegio Nacional Barrie de la Maza (Santa Comba de Xallas, Galicia). Se trata de dar un curso completo especial, intentando impartir conocimientos prácticos y utilitarios en las áreas de Lenguaje, Matemáticas, Ciencias Sociales, Naturales, Expresión Plástica y Dinámica, Costura y Cocina, Jardineria y Hortifruticultura. Todas las actividades estarán acorde con el entorno geográfico, social y económico de la zona de Xallas. Todas las áreas estarán interrelacionadas. Visitas estudio a fábricas y talleres artesanos de la zona. Estudio y rendimiento económico con posibilidades de mejora socioeconómica, laboral y sanitaria. Son niños, en general, con una escolarización deficiente. Pertenecen a familias económicamente débiles. Estas familias son en su mayoría analfabetas. Las aspiraciones familiares se centran en que el niño comience a trabajar lo antes posible. No les preocupa profundamente el nivel cultural que alcancen los hijos. La mayoría de los alumnos tienen ingentes problemas familiares. En base a estas características se elaboran diferentes programas, que se realizarán fuera del aula de clase. El esfuerzo estuvo encaminado a programar algo que sirva de base para futuras ediciones y a otros compañeros y colegios que vayan a trabajar en este campo didáctico.

Choice, chance or compulsion : the recruitment of career advisers into New Zealand Secondary Schools. 'Elección, azar o compulsión : la selección de orientadores para la carrera en Institutos de Educación Secundaria de Nueva Zelanda'.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Ghostly endings: the evolution of J.M. Barrie’s 'Farewell Miss Julie Logan'

This article critically examines the evolution of J.M. Barrie's final prose work, from working notes and manuscript to its two extant published versions.

An earth-system prediction initiative for the twenty-first century

The necessity and benefits for establishing the international Earth-system Prediction Initiative (EPI) are discussed by scientists associated with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), and natural-hazards and socioeconomic communities. The proposed initiative will provide research and services to accelerate advances in weather, climate, and Earth system prediction and the use of this information by global societies. It will build upon the WMO, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the International Council for Science (ICSU) to coordinate the effort across the weather, climate, Earth system, natural-hazards, and socioeconomic disciplines. It will require (i) advanced high-performance computing facilities, supporting a worldwide network of research and operational modeling centers, and early warning systems; (ii) science, technology, and education projects to enhance knowledge, awareness, and utilization of weather, climate, environmental, and socioeconomic information; (iii) investments in maintaining existing and developing new observational capabilities; and (iv) infrastructure to transition achievements into operational products and services.

Multi-Objective Pipe Smoothing Genetic Algorithm For Water Distribution Network Design

This paper describes the formulation of a Multi-objective Pipe Smoothing Genetic Algorithm (MOPSGA) and its application to the least cost water distribution network design problem. Evolutionary Algorithms have been widely utilised for the optimisation of both theoretical and real-world non-linear optimisation problems, including water system design and maintenance problems. In this work we present a pipe smoothing based approach to the creation and mutation of chromosomes which utilises engineering expertise with the view to increasing the performance of the algorithm whilst promoting engineering feasibility within the population of solutions. MOPSGA is based upon the standard Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) and incorporates a modified population initialiser and mutation operator which directly targets elements of a network with the aim to increase network smoothness (in terms of progression from one diameter to the next) using network element awareness and an elementary heuristic. The pipe smoothing heuristic used in this algorithm is based upon a fundamental principle employed by water system engineers when designing water distribution pipe networks where the diameter of any pipe is never greater than the sum of the diameters of the pipes directly upstream resulting in the transition from large to small diameters from source to the extremities of the network. MOPSGA is assessed on a number of water distribution network benchmarks from the literature including some real-world based, large scale systems. The performance of MOPSGA is directly compared to that of NSGA-II with regard to solution quality, engineering feasibility (network smoothness) and computational efficiency. MOPSGA is shown to promote both engineering and hydraulic feasibility whilst attaining good infrastructure costs compared to NSGA-II.

Increased clopidogrel response is associated with ABCC3 expression: A pilot study

Background: The aim of this study was investigate the relationship between ABCB1 and ABCC3 gene expressions in peripheral blood cells (PBC) and the response to clopidogrel in patients with coronary arterial disease (CAD). Methods: Twenty-six male CAD patients (50-70 years) under treatment with clopidogrel (75 mg/day) for at least 5 days were selected. Blood samples were obtained to evaluate platelet reactivity and ABCB1 and ABCC3 mRNA expression. Platelet reactivity was measured in P2Y12 Reaction Units (PRU) using VerifyNow. RNA was extracted from PBC and mRNA levels were measured by qPCR, using GAPD as a reference gene. Results: Platelet response to clopidogrel was categorized in to PRU quartiles. Individuals with PRU values within the first quartile (Q1, <151 units) were considered good responders, while those who had PRU within the fourth quartile (Q4. PRU>260) were considered non-responders. ABCC3 was 1.7 times more expressed in Q4 than in Q1 PRU group (p=0.048). Moreover, CAD patients with low ABCC3 expression (Qe1, <2.5x10(-3)) had higher probability to have a good response to clopidogrel (OR: 18.00, 95%CI: 1.90-169.99, p=0.001). Univariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that low ABCC3 mRNA expression contributed with a reduction of 73 PRU in relation to the patients with expression value higher than 2.5x10(-3) (p=0.027). Neither ABCB1 mRNA levels nor clinical variables studied influenced PRU values. Conclusions: Low ABCC3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood cells is associated with increased clopidogrel response, but further studies are needed to describe the functional relationship of clopidogrel with the ABCC3. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonlethal Screening of Bat-Wing Skin with the Use of Ultraviolet Fluorescence to Detect Lesions Indicative of White-Nose Syndrome

Definitive diagnosis of the bat disease white-nose syndrome (WNS) requires histologic analysis to identify the cutaneous erosions caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus [formerly Geomyces] destructans (Pd). Gross visual inspection does not distinguish bats with or without WNS, and no nonlethal, on-site, preliminary screening methods are available for WNS in bats. We demonstrate that long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light (wavelength 366-385 nm) elicits a distinct orange yellow fluorescence in bat-wing membranes (skin) that corresponds directly with the fungal cupping erosions in histologic sections of skin that are the current gold standard for diagnosis of WNS. Between March 2009 and April 2012, wing membranes from 168 North American bat carcasses submitted to the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center were examined with the use of both UV light and histology. Comparison of these techniques showed that 98.8% of the bats with foci of orange yellow wing fluorescence (n=80) were WNS-positive based on histologic diagnosis; bat wings that did not fluoresce under UV light (n=88) were all histologically negative for WNS lesions. Punch biopsy samples as small as 3 mm taken from areas of wing with UV fluorescence were effective for identifying lesions diagnostic for WNS by histopathology. In a nonlethal biopsy-based study of 62 bats sampled (4-mm diameter) in hibernacula of the Czech Republic during 2012, 95.5% of fluorescent (n=22) and 100% of nonfluorescent (n=40) wing samples were confirmed by histopathology to be WNS positive and negative, respectively. This evidence supports use of long-wave UV light as a nonlethal and field-applicable method to screen bats for lesions indicative of WNS. Further, UV fluorescence can be used to guide targeted, nonlethal biopsy sampling for follow-up molecular testing, fungal culture analysis, and histologic confirmation of WNS.