Aprendizaje de la lectura en la Francia del Antiguo Régimen.

Los métodos de aprendizaje de la lectura en la Francia del Antiguo Régimen varían de unos lugares a otros. Es conveniente pues, examinar el efecto real de los métodos utilizados y medir su difusión a partir de los testimonios que se han conservado, y también, analizar las condiciones de elaboración de los métodos nuevos. En primer lugar, se presenta el método de lectura tradicional y que perdura hasta mucho después de la Revolución. A continuación, se trata la introducción de innovaciones en los procedimientos de aprendizaje por parte de las escuelas de beneficiencia. Por último, se insiste en el papel esencial desempeñado por la capital como laboratorio especialmente activo en la elaboración de experiencias nuevas. Se destaca que todos los métodos son fieles a la progresión tradicional del aprendizaje de la lectura al aprendizaje de la escritura.

Emblemas gestuales españoles y brasileños : estudio comparativo.

Trabajo de investigación basado en la tesis doctoral: Emblemas gestuales españoles y brasileños: estudio comparativo (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 2007. Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Elaboración de un marco de desarrollo de materias no troncales : líneas de actuación para el diseño de materias comunes

Se diseñan unas estrategias para armonizar las materias no troncales entre titulaciones análogas de diferentes universidades europeas para contribuir al proceso de implantación al Sistema Europeo de Transferencia de Créditos (ECTS). Se expone el extracto de los listados de materias en vigor en el estudio de las lenguas modernas y sus literaturas en las diferentes universidades. Se realiza una planificación curricular contextualizada para la puesta en práctica de un plan razonado y articulado, considerando al profesor universitario como agente curricular que participa en el diseño de planes formativos y, miembro del equipo docente que lo lleva a cabo. El proyecto va más allá de los cambios normativos, ya que introduce prácticas que refuerzan el sistema de calidad. Los beneficiarios directos son los estudiantes, debido a las ventajas que representa para su formación e integración laboral.

La enseñanza de los marcadores no verbales para aprendices brasileños de ELE.

Se pone de relieve la importancia de introducir información y actividades acerca de los marcadores no verbales en los manuales de ELE de los niveles avanzado y superior, destinados a aprendices brasileños de ELE, puesto que la enseñanza-aprendizaje de estos elementos contribuye significativamente al desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa del aprendiz de este idioma. En este sentido, se presentan los resultados de una investigación llevada a cabo en diez manuales de ELE del nivel B2 y cinco del nivel C1 utilizados en Brasil para la enseñanza del español en las principales academias, institutos y facultades. Se trata de un análisis que permite observar cómo estos manuales introducen los elementos no verbales en sus unidades didácticas. Además se presentan algunos ejemplos de propuestas de actividades didácticas que servirán de botón de muestra para que el profesor pueda orientarse a la hora de enseñar algunos gestos característicos de las culturas española y brasileña, sobre todo, los que pudieran resultar problemáticos y que son susceptibles de provocar malentendidos en un contacto intercultural.

Rankings internacionales : metodolog??a y posicionamiento de las universidades espa??olas

Se analiza un grupo de rankings internacionales, los denominados League Tables (ARWU, THE, QS); un segundo grupo de rankings centrados en resultados de investigaci??n (CWTS, HEEACT, SCIMAGO Institutions Ranking, URAP); y un tercer grupo de rankings internacionales basados en varios indicadores sin intenci??n de crear tablas ordenadas de instituciones (CHE, UMultirank, U-Ranking).

An??lisis de los datos de las universidades espa??olas en los rankings internacionales

Se analiza la informaci??n con la que los rankings globales ( Arwu, THE y QS, SCIMAGO; CWTS, HEEACT y CHE; U-Multirank y U-Ranking.) elaboran sus indicadores as?? como las puntuaciones y posiciones resultantes obtenidas por las universidades espa??olas. A partir de una solicitud de participaci??n canalizada desde el Ministerio de Educaci??n, Cultura y Deporte a las 72 universidades espa??olas, p??blicas y privadas que presentan datos de investigaci??n en el Observatorio IUNE, se obtienen y analizan los cuestionarios e informes de datos para la participaci??n en los rankings de 2013 de 19 universidades. A continuaci??n, se describen los datos solicitados a las universidades por los tres rankings, que est??n referidos a profesorado, estudiantes, t??tulos y datos econ??micos. Por ??ltimo, se detallan los datos que cada universidad participante en el estudio aporta a los rankings y con los que ??stos obtienen sus indicadores, mostr??ndose los perfiles de cada una de ellas. Tambi??n se muestra el nivel de concordancia entre los datos solicitados y los aportados.

As tecnologias da informação e comunicação e o professor de fisioterapia: interações para a construção de práticas pedagógicas

A preocupação central desta pesquisa foi avaliar a utilização das tecnologias da informação e comunicação na prática pedagógica de professores dos cursos de Bacharelado em Fisioterapia de Instituições de Ensino Superior da cidade do Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil. A pesquisa foi conduzida com 100 professores fisioterapeutas que lecionam em quatro instituições de ensino da referida cidade, e com quatro coordenadores dos cursos de Fisioterapia das mesmas instituições. Procedeu-se à aplicação de um questionário validado e adaptado aos professores e uma entrevista semi-estruturada aos coordenadores de curso. A análise dos dados quantitativos foi realizada por meio do programa SPSS 18.0; enquanto a análise dos dados qualitativos foi orientada pela análise de discurso. Os resultados demonstraram a falta de formação profissional dos docentes fisioterapeutas para a utilização das novas tecnologias no ensino da Fisioterapia, visto que, apesar de a maioria dos professores ter acesso aos recursos tecnológicos, poucos fazem uso destas ferramentas em contexto educativo. Assim, sugere-se que muito se tem a evoluir para que toda a potencialidade dos recursos tecnológicos possa ser utilizada a favor do ensino da Fisioterapia, tanto para construção das práticas pedagógicas de seus docentes quanto para a facilitação do processo de ensino-aprendizagem com os alunos.

Developments in near infrared spectroscopy

Vibrational spectroscopy at high excitation is an important research frontier for two reasons. Firstly, the near infrared is proving to be an important area for the analytical applications of spectroscopy, and we would therefore like to understand how the spectra we observe relate to the molecular structure of the absorbing species. Secondly, there is a fundamental interest in understanding molecular dynamics and energy flow within a polyatomic molecule at high excitation, because this is the boundary between spectroscopy and chemistry through which we try to understand the details of a chemical reaction. In this presentation I shall survey recent progress in this field.

Using continuous ground-based radar and lidar measurements for evaluating the representation of clouds in four operational models

The ability of four operational weather forecast models [ECMWF, Action de Recherche Petite Echelle Grande Echelle model (ARPEGE), Regional Atmospheric Climate Model (RACMO), and Met Office] to generate a cloud at the right location and time (the cloud frequency of occurrence) is assessed in the present paper using a two-year time series of observations collected by profiling ground-based active remote sensors (cloud radar and lidar) located at three different sites in western Europe (Cabauw. Netherlands; Chilbolton, United Kingdom; and Palaiseau, France). Particular attention is given to potential biases that may arise from instrumentation differences (especially sensitivity) from one site to another and intermittent sampling. In a second step the statistical properties of the cloud variables involved in most advanced cloud schemes of numerical weather forecast models (ice water content and cloud fraction) are characterized and compared with their counterparts in the models. The two years of observations are first considered as a whole in order to evaluate the accuracy of the statistical representation of the cloud variables in each model. It is shown that all models tend to produce too many high-level clouds, with too-high cloud fraction and ice water content. The midlevel and low-level cloud occurrence is also generally overestimated, with too-low cloud fraction but a correct ice water content. The dataset is then divided into seasons to evaluate the potential of the models to generate different cloud situations in response to different large-scale forcings. Strong variations in cloud occurrence are found in the observations from one season to the same season the following year as well as in the seasonal cycle. Overall, the model biases observed using the whole dataset are still found at seasonal scale, but the models generally manage to well reproduce the observed seasonal variations in cloud occurrence. Overall, models do not generate the same cloud fraction distributions and these distributions do not agree with the observations. Another general conclusion is that the use of continuous ground-based radar and lidar observations is definitely a powerful tool for evaluating model cloud schemes and for a responsive assessment of the benefit achieved by changing or tuning a model cloud

Diurnal and seasonal cycles of cloud occurrences, types and radiative impact over West Africa

This study focuses on the occurrence and type of clouds observed in West Africa, a subject which has neither been much documented nor quantified. It takes advantage of data collected above Niamey in 2006 with the ARM mobile facility. A survey of cloud characteristics inferred from ground measurements is presented with a focus on their seasonal evolution and diurnal cycle. Four types of clouds are distinguished: high-level clouds, deep convective clouds, shallow convective clouds and mid-level clouds. A frequent occurrence of the latter clouds located at the top of the Saharan Air Layer is highlighted. High-level clouds are ubiquitous throughout the period whereas shallow convective clouds are mainly noticeable during the core of the monsoon. The diurnal cycle of each cloud category and its seasonal evolution is investigated. CloudSat and CALIPSO data are used in order to demonstrate that these four cloud types (in addition to stratocumulus clouds over the ocean) are not a particularity of the Niamey region and that mid-level clouds are present over the Sahara during most of the Monsoon season. Moreover, using complementary data sets, the radiative impact of each type of clouds at the surface level has been quantified in the shortwave and longwave domain. Mid-level clouds and anvil clouds have the largest impact respectively in longwave (about 15 W m−2) and the shortwave (about 150 W m−2). Furthermore, mid-level clouds exert a strong radiative forcing in Spring at a time when the other cloud types are less numerous.

DC-SIGN increases the affinity of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein interaction with CD4

Mannose-binding C-type lectin receptors, expressed on Langerhans cells and subepithelial dendritic cells (DCs) of cervico-vaginal tissues, play an important role in HIV-1 capture and subsequent dissemination to lymph nodes. DC-SIGN has been implicated in both productive infection of DCs and the DC-mediated trans infection of CD4(+) T cells that occurs in the absence of replication. However, the molecular events that underlie this efficient transmission have not been fully defined. In this study, we have examined the effect of the extracellular domains of DC-SIGN and Langerin on the stability of the interaction of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein with CD4 and also on replication in permissive cells. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that DC-SIGN increases the binding affinity of trimeric gp140 envelope glycoproteins to CD4. In contrast, Langerin had no effect on the stability of the gp140:CD4 complex. In vitro infection experiments to compare DC-SIGN enhancement of CD4-dependent and CD4-independent strains demonstrated significantly lower enhancement of the CD4-independent strain. In addition DC-SIGN increased the relative rate of infection of the CD4-dependent strain but had no effect on the CD4-independent strain. DC-SIGN binding to the HIV envelope protein effectively increases exposure of the CD4 binding site, which in turn contributes to enhancement of infection.