bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology’s Time of Need: COVID-19 Calls for Epidemic-Related Economics
Authors: Murray Eleanor J.
Published: November 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted scientific conversations and scientific divisions into the public consciousness. Epidemiology and economics have long operated in distinct silos, but the COVID-19 pandemic presents a complex and cross-disciplinary problem that impacts all facets of society. Many economists have recognized this and want to engage in efforts to mitigate and control the pandemic, but others seem more interested in attacking epidemiology than attacking the virus. As an epidemiologist, I call upon economists to join with us in combating COVID-19 and in preventing future pandemics. In this essay, I attempt to provide some insight for economists into how epidemiology works, where it doesn’t work, and the much-needed answers that economists can help us obtain. I hope this will spur economists towards an epidemic-related economics that can provide a blueprint for a healthy economy and population.
A simulation of a medical ventilator with a realistic lungs model
Authors: Yeshurun Tamir , Bar David Yoav , Herman Alon , Bar-Sheshet Stav , Zilberman Ronen , Bachar Gil , Liberzon Alexander , Segev Gideon
Published: November 2020

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity for accessible and affordable medical ventilators for healthcare providers. To meet this challenge, researchers and engineers world-wide have embarked on an effort to design simple medical ventilators that can be easily distributed. This study provides a simulation model of a simple one-sensor controlled, medical ventilator system including a realistic lungs model and the synchronization between a patient breathing and the ventilator. This model can assist in the design and optimization of these newly developed systems.

Methods: The model simulates the ventilator system suggested and built by the “Manshema” team which employs a positive-pressure controlled system, with air and oxygen inputs from a hospital external gas supply. The model was constructed using Simscape™ (MathWorks®) and guidelines for building an equivalent model in OpenModelica software are suggested. The model implements an autonomously breathing, realistic lung model, and was calibrated against the ventilator prototype, accurately simulating the ventilator operation.

Results: The model allows studying the expected gas flow and pressure in the patient’s lungs, testing various control schemes and their synchronization with the patient’s breathing. The model components, inputs, and outputs are described, an example for a simple, positive end expiratory pressure control mode is given, and the synchronization with healthy and ARDS patients is analyzed.

Conclusions: We provide a simulator of a medical ventilation including realistic, autonomously breathing lungs model.  The simulator allows testing different control schemes for the ventilator and its synchronization with a breathing patient. Implementation of this model may assist in efforts to develop simple and accessible medical ventilators to meet the global demand.
Hope and Appreciative Inquiry During a Pandemic
Authors: Houston Lola
Published: November 2020

Hope is something we often cling to when everything else is slipping away, when meaning is hard to find. Whatever the cause, coping with change is difficult. Is hope the best way to do this? Often, we move into our own past or imagine a wished-for future. Our life, though, is centered in the present moment. Can we have hope during a pandemic and at the same time be in the present moment?
Dialling Up the Energy with Collaborative Inquiry
Authors: Moore Lesley
Published: November 2020

This article tells the hopeful story of Collaborative Inquiry, a strengths-based approach to inquiring into child deaths to search for what works even when the worst happens. It looks, without blame, for the how and the why in the whole system which allowed, unwittingly and unknowingly, a series of errors to happen that led to catastrophe.
Written corrective feedback in English compositions: Teachers’ practices and students’ expectations
Authors: Wan Mohd Yunus Wan Noor Miza
Published: November 2020

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been the subject of many studies in the field of second language (L2) writing. This study sought to investigate: (1) teacher’s practices in marking students’ English language compositions, (2) students’ expectations of teacher’s WCF, and (3) compare whether students’ expectations correspond to teachers’ practices of WCF. Sixty-four students and three teachers of an upper secondary school in Malacca, Malaysia participated in this study. Teachers’ WCF practices and students’ preferences were elicited from two different sets of questionnaires. Findings revealed that both students and teachers generally believe that WCF is beneficial in improving students’ writing skills. It was also discovered that students prefer direct, specific, and comprehensive feedback over indirect feedback. However, the study showed some discrepancies between students’ preferences and teachers’ practices in composition classrooms in terms of the amount, type, and necessity of the feedback where most students were found to require more WCF than the amount their teacher was capable of giving. This misalignment calls for teachers’ and students’ adjustments to ensure the effectiveness of WCF strategies employed by teachers. Findings from this research also imply that the study of contextual factors and beliefs influencing preferences with regard to WCF may also be necessary.
Effect of metallic substrates and cavities on emission kinetics of dye-doped polymeric films
Authors: Koutsares S. , Petrosyan L. S. , Prayakarao S. , Courtwright D. , Bonner C. E. , Shahbazyan T. V. , Noginov M. A.
Published: November 2020

We have studied emission kinetics in dye-doped polymeric films
(HITC:PMMA), deposited on top of glass and silver and embedded in
Fabry–Perot cavities (metal-insulator-metal waveguides). For highly
doped films on glass, we observed strong concentration quenching, as
evidenced by a dramatic shortening of the emission kinetics,
consistent with our previous studies. However, for the same dye-doped
films on top of silver, slower emission kinetics were observed despite
the high decay rates of individual dye molecules near the metallic
surface. The concentration quenching rates in Fabry–Perot cavities
were nearly identical to those of HITC:PMMA films deposited on top of
silver. These findings are explained within a theoretical model for
the inhibition of Förster energy transfer near a metallic surface.
Furthermore, the emission kinetics of the dye-doped films on top of
silver were approximately single exponential—consistent with the
strong coupling of excited molecules with propagating
surface plasmons.
Planar focusing reflectors based on monolithic high contrast gratings: design procedure and comparison with parabolic mirrors
Authors: Komar Paulina , Gębski Marcin , Czyszanowski Tomasz , Dems Maciej , Wasiak Michał
Published: November 2020

Here, we describe in detail a procedure for the numerical design of planar focusing mirrors based on monolithic high contrast gratings. We put a special emphasis on the reconstruction of the hyperbolic phase of these mirrors and we conclude that the phase does not have to be perfectly mimicked to obtain a focusing reflector. We consider here the grating mirrors that focus light not in the air but in the GaAs substrate and we compare them with conventional parabolic reflectors of corresponding dimensions. The light intensity at the focal point of the focusing grating mirrors was found to be comparable to that of the parabolic reflector. Moreover, the reflectivity of the focusing grating mirrors is almost as high as that of parabolic mirrors covered with an additional reflecting structure, if the ratio of the reflector width to the focal length is less than 0.6. Planar focusing grating mirrors offer a good alternative to parabolic mirrors, especially considering the complexity of fabricating three-dimensional structures compared to planar structures.
Effects of rapid thermal annealing on aluminum nitride waveguides
Authors: Wu Xinyao , Feng Jijun , Liu Xiaoteng , Zeng Heping
Published: November 2020

The effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on aluminum nitride (AlN) waveguides were investigated. For the AlN prepared by the sputtering, high temperature annealing for too long time may deteriorate the device performance, while a 6-7 times RTA with a 60 s annealing at a temperature of 800 °C would result in a lowest waveguide loss of about 0.76 dB/cm. After annealing, self-pumped four-wave mixing was performed on an 800-nm-wide, 5.8-mm-long waveguide. With a pump beam launched into the waveguide, signal and idler sidebands can be generated, which shows that RTA assisted sputtering grown AlN can have a potential to be applied for optical frequency comb generation.
Using interactive digital notebooks for bioscience and informatics education
Authors: Davies Alan , Hooley Frances , Causey-Freeman Peter , Eleftheriou Iliada , Moulton Georgina
Published: November 2020

Interactive digital notebooks provide an opportunity for researchers and educators to carry out data analysis and report the results in a single digital format. Further to just being digital, the format allows for rich content to be created in order to interact with the code and data contained in such a notebook to form an educational narrative. This primer introduces some of the fundamental aspects involved in using Jupyter notebooks in an educational setting for teaching in the bio/health informatics disciplines. We also provide 2 case studies that detail how we used Jupyter notebooks to teach non-coders programming skills on a blended Master’s degree module for a Health Informatics programme and a fully online distance learning unit on Programming for a postgraduate certificate (PG Cert) in Clinical Bioinformatics with a more technical audience.
Strongyloides stercoralis disseminated infection in an HIV-infected adult
Authors: Le Pogam Ambroise , Lopinto Julien , Pecriaux Adrien , Fartoukh Muriel , Guitard Juliette , Voiriot Guillaume
Published: November 2020

In this visual case of Strongyloides stercoralis disseminated infection with Enterobacteriaceae-related invasive infection, we demonstrated the in-host S. stercoralis circulation with DNA found in different fluids and specimens, but also in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), supporting the role of migrant larvae in the Enterobacteriaceae-related invasive and central nervous system infection.
Predictive topology refinements in distributed stream processing system
Authors: Hanif Muhammad , Lee Choonhwa , Helal Sumi
Published: November 2020

Cloud computing has evolved the big data technologies to a consolidated paradigm with SPaaS (Streaming processing-as-a-service). With a number of enterprises offering cloud-based solutions to end-users and other small enterprises, there has been a boom in the volume of data, creating interest of both industry and academia in big data analytics, streaming applications, and social networking applications. With the companies shifting to cloud-based solutions as a service paradigm, the competition grows in the market. Good quality of service (QoS) is a must for the enterprises, as they strive to survive in a competitive environment. However, achieving reasonable QoS goals to meet SLA agreement cost-effectively is challenging due to variation in workload over time. This problem can be solved if the system has the ability to predict the workload for the near future. In this paper, we present a novel topology-refining scheme based on a workload prediction mechanism. Predictions are made through a model based on a combination of SVR, autoregressive, and moving average model with a feedback mechanism. Our streaming system is designed to increase the overall performance by making the topology refining robust to the incoming workload on the fly, while still being able to achieve QoS goals of SLA constraints. Apache Flink distributed processing engine is used as a testbed in the paper. The result shows that the prediction scheme works well for both workloads, i.e., synthetic as well as real traces of data.
Were domestic camelids present on the prehispanic South American agricultural frontier? An ancient DNA study
Authors: Abbona Cinthia Carolina , Adolfo Gustavo Neme , Johnson Jeff , Kim Tracy , Gil Adolfo Fabian , Wolverton Steve
Published: November 2020

The southern boundary of prehispanic farming in South America occurs in central Mendoza Province, Argentina at approximately 34 degrees south latitude. Archaeological evidence of farming includes the recovery of macrobotanical remains of cultigens and isotopic chemistry of human bone. Since the 1990s, archaeologists have also hypothesized that the llama (Lama glama), a domesticated South American camelid, was also herded near the southern boundary of prehispanic farming. The remains of a wild congeneric camelid, the guanaco (Lama guanicoe), however, are common in archaeological sites throughout Mendoza Province. It is difficult to distinguish bones of the domestic llama from wild guanaco in terms of osteological morphology, and therefore, claims that llama were in geographic areas where guanaco were also present based on osteometric analysis alone remain equivocal. A recent study, for example, claimed that twenty-five percent of the camelid remains from the high elevation Andes site of Laguna del Diamante S4 were identified based on osteometric evidence as domestic llama, but guanaco are also a likely candidate since the two species overlap in size. We test the hypothesis that domesticated camelids occurred in prehispanic, southern Mendoza through analysis of ancient DNA. We generated whole mitochondrial genome datasets from 41 samples from southern Mendoza late Holocene archaeological sites, located between 450 and 3400 meters above sea level (masl). All camelid samples from those sites were identified as guanaco; thus, we have no evidence to support the hypothesis that the domestic llama occurred in prehispanic southern Mendoza.
Ocular surface manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Aggarwal Kanika , Agarwal Aniruddha , Jaiswal Nishant , Dahiya Neha , Ahuja Alka , Mahajan Sarakshi , Tong Louis , Duggal Mona , Singh Meenu , Agrawal Rupesh , Gupta Vishali
Published: November 2020

Purpose

This study was performed to determine the occurrence of ocular surface manifestations in patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Methods

A systematic search of electronic databases i.e. PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, OVID and Google scholar was performed using a comprehensive search strategy. The searches were current through 31st May 2020. Pooled data from cross-sectional studies was used for meta-analysis and a narrative synthesis was conducted for studies where a meta-analysis was not feasible.

Results

A total of 16 studies reporting 2347 confirmed COVID-19 cases were included. Pooled data showed that 11.64% of COVID-19 patients had ocular surface manifestations. Ocular pain (31.2%), discharge (19.2%), redness (10.8%), and follicular conjunctivitis (7.7%) were the main features. 6.9% patients with ocular manifestations had severe pneumonia. Viral RNA was detected from the ocular specimens in 3.5% patients.

Conclusion

The most common reported ocular presentations of COVID-19 included ocular pain, redness, discharge, and follicular conjunctivitis. A small proportion of patients had viral RNA in their conjunctival/tear samples. The available studies show significant publication bias and heterogeneity. Prospective studies with methodical collection and data reporting are needed for evaluation of ocular involvement in COVID-19.
Evaluation of bioabsorbable calcium sulfate hemihydrate beads for local delivery of carboplatin
Authors: Traverson Marine , Stewart Connor E. , Papich Mark G.
Published: November 2020

The objectives of this study were to evaluate a novel kit of resorbable calcium sulfate beads marketed specifically for use in veterinary medicine and generally used for local delivery of antimicrobials as carboplatin-delivery system. The study characterized the elution of carboplatinin vitro, and investigated whether the initial dose and formulation of carboplatin, or the bead size significantly influences carboplatin elutionin vitro. Calcium sulfate hemihydrate beads of 3- and 5-mm diameter were prepared. Five doses and two formulations of carboplatin (20, 50, 100, and 500 mg carboplatin per kit in powder formulation; 20 mg in liquid formulation) were tested in triplicates for each diameter beads. Beads were placed in 37°C phosphate buffered saline for 72 hours. Carboplatin concentrations in the eluent were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography at 11 time points with a modified United States Pharmacopeia assay. Concentrations of carboplatin in the eluent proportionally increased with the initial dose and peaked between 13 and 52 hours, ranging from 42.1% to 79.3% of the incorporated load. Higher peak concentrations, percentages released, and elution rates were observed with the liquid formulation and with higher carboplatin doses. There was no significant difference in maximum carboplatin concentrations between 3- and 5-mm diameter beads, but 5-mm diameter beads had slower elution rates. The novel kit can be used for preparation of carboplatin-impregnated resorbable calcium sulfate beads at variable doses, sizes and formulations. Further study is warranted to define thein vivorequirements and effective carboplatin dose, spatial diffusion and desired duration of elution.
Soil C, N, P and K stoichiometry affected by vegetation restoration patterns in the alpine region of the Loess Plateau, Northwest China
Authors: Liu Ruosha , Wang Dongmei
Published: November 2020

The Grain-for-Green project is an important ecological restoration measure to address the degradation of alpine ecosystems in China, which has an important impact on the ecological stoichiometry of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). However, soil stoichiometry changes under different vegetation restoration patterns and at different soil depths remain poorly understood in the alpine region of the Loess Plateau. To clarify these soil stoichiometry changes, a 0–60 cm soil profile was sampled from two typical vegetation restoration patterns: grassland (GL) and forestland (FL), including Picea crassifolia (PC), Larix principis-rupprechtii (LR), Populus cathayana (PR) and Betula platyphylla (BP). The control was a wheat field (WF). In all soil layers, the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), soil available nitrogen and potassium (AN and AK, respectively) and C:P, C:K, N:P and N:K ratios of FL were higher than those of GL and WF. The TN content and N:P and N:K ratios of GL were higher than those of WF in each soil layer. Additionally, the soil nutrients (except TK) of all vegetation types and stoichiometry of PR and GL (except the N:P ratio of GL) were greater at 0–20 cm than at 20–60 cm. Moreover, the SOC and TN showed the strongest correlation with the soil stoichiometry (except P:K ratio); thus, C and N had the greatest effect on the soil stoichiometry. Furthermore, soil fertility was limited by N. Our results indicated that different vegetation restoration patterns and soil depths had significant effects on the soil nutrients and stoichiometry in the alpine region of the Loess Plateau. The recovery of farmland to forestland promoted better improvements of soil nutrients, and PR had the most significant positive effect on soil surface nutrients.
Quantifying the collective influence of social determinants of health using conditional and cluster modeling
Authors: Rethorn Zachary D. , Garcia Alessandra N. , Cook Chad E. , Gottfried Oren N.
Published: November 2020

Objectives

Our objective was to analyze the collective effect of social determinants of health (SDoH) on lumbar spine surgery outcomes utilizing two different statistical methods of combining variables.

Methods

This observational study analyzed data from the Quality Outcomes Database, a nationwide United States spine registry. Race/ethnicity, educational attainment, employment status, insurance payer, and gender were predictors of interest. We built two models to assess the collective influence of SDoH on outcomes following lumbar spine surgery—a stepwise model using each number of SDoH conditions present (0 of 5, 1 of 5, 2 of 5, etc) and a clustered subgroup model. Logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, multimorbidity, surgical indication, type of lumbar spine surgery, and surgical approach were performed to identify the odds of failing to demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements in disability, back pain, leg pain, quality of life, and patient satisfaction at 3- and 12-months following lumbar spine surgery.

Results

Stepwise modeling outperformed individual SDoH when 4 of 5 SDoH were present. Cluster modeling revealed 4 distinct subgroups. Disparities between the younger, minority, lower socioeconomic status and the younger, white, higher socioeconomic status subgroups were substantially wider compared to individual SDoH.

Discussion

Collective and cluster modeling of SDoH better predicted failure to demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements than individual SDoH in this cohort. Viewing social factors in aggregate rather than individually may offer more precise estimates of the impact of SDoH on outcomes.
Localized prediction of tissue outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients using diffusion- and perfusion-weighted MRI datasets
Authors: Grosser Malte , Gellißen Susanne , Borchert Patrick , Sedlacik Jan , Nawabi Jawed , Fiehler Jens , Forkert Nils D.
Published: November 2020

Background

An accurate prediction of tissue outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients is of high interest for treatment decision making. To date, various machine learning models have been proposed that combine multi-parametric imaging data for this purpose. However, most of these machine learning models were trained using voxel information extracted from the whole brain, without taking differences in susceptibility to ischemia into account that exist between brain regions. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a local tissue outcome prediction approach, which makes predictions using locally trained machine learning models and thus accounts for regional differences.

Material and methods

Multi-parametric MRI data from 99 acute ischemic stroke patients were used for the development and evaluation of the local tissue outcome prediction approach. Diffusion (ADC) and perfusion parameter maps (CBF, CBV, MTT, Tmax) and corresponding follow-up lesion masks for each patient were registered to the MNI brain atlas. Logistic regression (LR) and random forest (RF) models were trained employing a local approach, which makes predictions using models individually trained for each specific voxel position using the corresponding local data. A global approach, which uses a single model trained using all voxels of the brain, was used for comparison. Tissue outcome predictions resulting from the global and local RF and LR models, as well as a combined (hybrid) approach were quantitatively evaluated and compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC), the Dice coefficient, and the sensitivity and specificity metrics.

Results

Statistical analysis revealed the highest ROC AUC and Dice values for the hybrid approach. With 0.872 (ROC AUC; LR) and 0.353 (Dice; RF), these values were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than the values of the two other approaches. In addition, the local approach achieved the highest sensitivity of 0.448 (LR). Overall, the hybrid approach was only outperformed in sensitivity (LR) by the local approach and in specificity by both other approaches. However, in these cases the effect sizes were comparatively small.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that using locally trained machine learning models can lead to better lesion outcome prediction results compared to a single global machine learning model trained using all voxel information independent of the location in the brain.
Information and communication technologies and quality of life in home confinement: Development and validation of the TICO scale
Authors: García del Castillo-Rodríguez José Antonio , Ramos-Soler Irene , López-Sánchez Carmen , Quiles-Soler Carmen
Published: November 2020

The mandatory home confinement of the Spanish population, implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, presents a unique opportunity to study the use and influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in people’s perception of quality of life during this exceptional situation. This article adapts and validates a psychometric scale designed to identify and measure the main dimensions of the Quality of Life construct perceived through ICT use. To this end, an exploratory and transversal study has been carried out in Spain on a sample of 2,346 participants. Data processing has been carried out with SPSS and EQS. The results provide evidence of the reliability and psychometric quality on the scale, which exhibits adequate consistency that facilitates its application. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a hierarchical model of three correlated factors that account for the dimensions “Satisfaction with life”, “Emotional support” and “Social support”, which have enough correlation to measure the personal perception of quality of life associated with ICT use and are consistent with previous psychometric studies. The results of the TICO scale indicate that more than 70% of the sample feel ICT have united their family during home confinement and more than 45% experience happy feelings when they use ICT. In home confinement, ICT use has improved users’ quality of life, mainly their satisfaction with life and social and family support.
Sub-fecundity and associated factors among mothers with natural planned conception attending antenatal care service in Arba Minch Health Facilities
Authors: Feyisa Jira Wakoya , Hebo Sultan Hussen , Negash Firdawek Getahun , Sidamo Negussie Boti , Gergiso Kabtamu Tolosie , Shimbre Mulugeta Shegaze , Chekol Bitew Mekonnen
Published: November 2020

Background

Fecundity is a physiological ability to have children. The inability to get the desired child which was commonly caused by the prolonged time to conceive due to unwanted non-conception period increased from time to time. As a result, many couples are developing psychological, social, and economic problems and unstable life. However, information on fecundity status is limited in Ethiopia context. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the proportion of sub-fecundity and associated factors in Ethiopia context.

Methods

A health institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in Arba Minch health facilities from March 25 to April 25, 2020. By using a systematic sampling method, 539 mothers were selected for the study. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with the sub-fecundity. Variables with p-value <0.25 in the bi-variable logistic regression analysis were interred and checked for association in a multivariable logistic regression model. The level of statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05.

Result

The proportion of sub-fecundity was 17.8% with 95%CI (14.8%-21.3%). Mothers’ age ≥ 30 (AOR = 2.54, 95%CI; 1.18–5.48), partners’ age ≥ 35 (AOR = 2.20, 95%CI; 1.01–4.75), coffee consumption of ≥ 4 cups/day (AOR = 2.93, 95%CI; 1.14–7.53), menses irregularity (AOR = 3.79 95%CI; 2.01–7.14) and coital frequency of 1day/week (AOR = 3.65, 95%CI; 1.47–9.05) were significantly associated with the sub-fecundity.

Conclusion

This study found that a substantial proportion of mothers were sub-fecund. Factors that contributed to the sub-fecundity were pre-pregnancy; mothers’ age, partners’ age, coffee drinking of ≥ 4 cups/day, coital frequency of 1day/week, and menses irregularity. Thus, efforts to prevent sub-fecundity should focus on awareness creation as to plan to conceive at early age, reducing coffee consumption, increasing days of coital frequency per week, and investigating and treating mothers with irregular menses.
Color incompatibility in Wittgenstein and its relationship with Arithmetic
Authors: Bolender John
Published: November 2020

After Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein realized that elementary propositions may logically conflict with each other, due to the fact that the most elementary measurements may contradict each other. This led to the view that logic consists of various calculi. A calculus consists of measurement scales, each scale being a rule for the application of numbers. These scales determine logical relationships between elementary propositions by reason of arithmetical relations. Attempts to reject Wittgenstein's change in viewpoint, which ignore the relevance of measurement and arithmetic, are remiss. In this light, I discuss Sarah Moss’s criticism of intermediate Wittgenstein.
Evaluación de la universidad. Criterios de calidad
Authors: Vázquez Gómez Gonzalo , Colom Cañellas Antoni J. , Sarramona López Jaime
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: En este estudio se analizan tres cuestiones básicas: los precedentes y el modelo de la evaluación institucional de la universidad española y europea, una propuesta de evaluación de la calidad de la docencia del profesorado universitario y la evaluación de la productividad científica de los profesores de universidad. El conjunto del artículo responde a un enfoque sistèmico. Se pretende vincular la evaluación a la innovación y a la gestión de la calidad del conjunto de la organización universitaria.ABSTRACT: Three questions are analyzated in this study: the origins and the model of institutional evaluation of University in Spain and in Europe, a proposal of evaluation of quality of the university teaching, and the quality assessment of the scientific productivity of the university teachers. The study responds to a systemic approach of the quality in higher education. It proposes to connect the quality criteria with the innovation, and the management of quality inside of the university institution.
Sociedad del aprendizaje y tercera edad
Authors: Requejo Osorio Agustín
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: Desde hace tiempo se vienen analizando los fenómenos que acontecen en la denominada «sociedad cognitiva». Particularmente en Europa el tema cobra mayor interés a partir de la publicación: «Enseñary aprender: hacia la sociedad cognitiva».El presente artículo tiene como objetivo básico exponer los rasgos más importantes y las demandas de esta sociedad en relación con el grupo de personas cada vez más numeroso: las personas mayores o también denominadas de la «Tercera Edad».En este contexto se estudian las relaciones entre sociedad cognitiva y fenómeno demográfico que nos muestran un número cada vez más importante de personas mayores. Junto a este hecho sociológico se debate el problema de su formación a partir de los presupuestos de una educación permanente de carácter humanista y democrático frente a la visión neoliberal centrada en la propuesta unilateral del capital humano.Desde esta propuesta educativa se comentan los diversos programas que hoy existen para los mayores haciendo tanto un breve recorrido histórico de las distintas ofertas como un estudio de las más actuales que se realizan por parte de las universidades: universidades de la Tercera Edad, universidades de la Experiencia, «Cuartos Ciclos» universitarios para personas mayores.ABSTRACT: Analysis of the phenomena which occur in the so-called «cognitive society» has been going for a long time in education. Particulary in Europe, the issue of the «cognitive society» has gained interest since the publication of «Enseñar y aprender: hacia la sociedad cognitiva (Teaching and Learning: Aiming at the Cognitivy Society).The main purpose of this paper is to show the most relevant features and demands of this kind of society in relation to a group of people that is steadily growing in number: senior citizens (also named as the «Third Age»).Within this context, we having studied the relations between the cognitive society and the demography, it can be said that the number of elderly people in the community is indeed growing. Together with this sociological phenomenon, and based on the belief in the need for continuous formation we analyse the problem of this «life-long learning» formation process. Of course, our idea of formation throughout life has a humanistic and democratic character, which is very different from the neoliberal vision, based on the unilateral proposal of the human capital.With this educational proposal in mind, throughout the article we will comment on the various programmes created for the elderly that exist at present. We will run through a brief history of different programmes available, but we will also refer to the up-to-date offers given by universities, such as Universities for Senior Citizens (named in Spain as «Third Age Universities»), Universities of Experience, and «Fourth University Cicles» for the older generation.
Formación de actitudes interculturales en la educación secundaria: un programa de educación intercultural
Authors: García López Rafaela , Sales Ciges Auxiliadora
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: Esta investigación parte del análisis de los distintos modelos de educación intercultural y la necesidad de diseñar programas educativos estructurados para desarrollar actitudes interculturales en la escuela. Estos programas están centrados en estrategias educativas de Participación Activa, Aprendizaje Cooperativo y Comunicación Persuasiva. Hemos basado el diseño cuasi-experimental en la Teoría de la Acción Razonada de Fishbein y Ajzen. El análisis estadístico de los resultados confirma que las actitudes hacia la diversidad cultural mostradas por los alumnos que participaron en el programa mejoraron significativamente. La principal conclusión que extraemos señala la necesidad de enseñar actitudes interculturales en todas las escuela para prevenir las actitudes racistas y xenófobas que se desarrollan si no se interviene pedagógicamente. Los efectos positivos de nuestro programa pueden incrementarse si se desarrolla a lo largo de todo el curso escolar y se implica toda la comunidad educativa.ABSTRACT: This research starts from the analysis of the intercultural models and the need to design educational programmes to teach intercultural attitudes in Secondary Education. These programmes are focused on Active Participation, Cooperative Learning and Persuasive Communication strategies. We have based the quasi-experimeritai design in Reasoned Action Theory by Fishbein and Ajzen.The stadistical analysis of the results confirms that the attitudes towards cultural diversity showed by students who participated in the programme, improved significantly. Our main conclusion is the need of teaching intercultural attitudes in all the schools to prevent the racist attitudes which are developed if there is not a pedagogical intervention. The positive effects of our programme could increase if their implementation last the whole school year and all the teachers of each school were involved.
Impacto tecnológico y acción educativa: configuración social, antropológica y educativa
Authors: Requejo Osorio Agustín
Published: November 2020

El presente trabajo trata de presentar un breve estudio referido al impacto de las nuevas tecnologías sobre la acción educativa. Reconociendo la información como una tendencia básica de la sociedad actual se estudian sus repercusiones tanto a nivel social como antropológico. Finalmente se analizan y se proponen las pautas de acción derivadas de la influencia de las nuevas tecnologías sobre el sistema educativo.
Ámbitos de intervención en educación no formal. Una propuesta taxonómica
Authors: Pastor Homs María Inmaculada
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: Dado el dinamismo y rápido crecimiento del sector educativo no formal, se nos plantea el reto de definir y aplicar con rigor unos criterios taxonómicos suficientemente globalizadores que permitan una ordenación descriptiva de la situación actual y posibiliten, además, una clarificación y análisis de los grandes campos de intervención en ENF posibles y probables en el futuro. Tras la revisión de algunas de las principales clasificaciones elaboradas al respecto, planteamos una propuesta taxonómica fundamentada en el análisis de necesidades educativas orientadas al desarrollo individual y social en sus múltiples facetas.ABSTRACT: The dynamism and growth of non formal education activities bring about the challenge of defining and applying some comprehensive taxonomycal criteria that allow us to do a descriptive layout of the present situation and a clarification of non formal education's fields of action in the future. After a critical review of some classifications concerning this subject, we present a suggested taxonomy based on the analysis of educational needs related to individual and social development.
La inoculación del estrés: una técnica adecuada para aumentar la seguridad de los profesores debutantes ante situaciones potencialmente conflictivas
Authors: Esteve Zarazaga Jose Manuel
Published: November 2020

Dada la aparición de un declive en el relutamiento y de un aumento de las presiones para incluir cambios en el curriculum y en el gobierno de las escuelas, será particularmente difícil durante la próxima década mantener la moral y la compentecia de los cuerpos de profesores. Muchos profesores pueden encontrarse sometidos a una doble fuente de estrés.
Planes gerontológicos y proyectos de animación socioculturalpara las personas mayores
Authors: Requejo Osorio Agustín
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: En el contexto de una población cada vez más anciana, el presente trabajo analiza, en una primera parte, los diferentes planes gerontológicos del Estado español y de las diferentes regiones autonómicas que los han aprobado y aplicado en los últimos años.El interés por la multiplicidad y evolución de dichos planes está relacionado con el proyecto internacional de evaluación para el año 2001 del «Plan de Acción Internacional sobre el Envejecimiento» propuesto por Naciones Unidas a lo largo de la última década.Un aspecto particular de dichos planes —junto al tema de las pensiones, salud, asistencia sanitaria, servicios sociales y participación— se refiere a las cuestiones de cultura y tiempo libre.Por tal motivo esta cuestión es valorada en distintos planes gerontológicos y estudiada en el contexto de los procesos y planes de animación sociocultural con las personas mayores para transformar su ocio pasivo en ocio activo mediante programas y actividades que lo fomentan.Con carácter particular se estudian las características del ocio de las personas mayores en Galicia en algunos de estos programas (universidades populares, iv ciclo universitario) considerando su importancia para la mejor participación, desarrollo cultural y calidad de vida de las personas mayores. ABSTRACT: Within the context of a population increasingly older, the first part of this paper analyses the different gerontology plans of the Spanish State and its autonomous regions, which approved and applied them along the last few years.The interest for the great variety and evolution of said plans it is related to the international project on evaluation for the year 2001 of the «International Action Plan for Elderly People» proposed by the United Nations along the last decade.A particular aspect of said plans —together with the themes of pensions, health, health aids, social services and participation— refers to the issues of culture and leisure time. Therefore, this fact is greatly valued among the various gerontology plans and it is studied within the context of the processes and plans of «socio-cultural animation » for elderly in order to transform their passive leisure time into an active one by using the programmes and activities that promote it.Finally, and within some of these programmes [universidades populares («popular universities», or a specific type of adult education centres), «iv ciclo universitario» (4th university cycle, or university studies for elderly people)], the particular characteristics of the leisure time of Galician elderly are studied. The relevance of these programmes for a better participation, a better cultural development and a better quality of life for elderly people is considered.
Etnografía de los valores
Authors: Sanmartín Arce Ricardo
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN:Si se desea cambiar los valores a través de la educación, primero es necesario conocer cuáles son los valores reales de la gente. Los valores culturales deben estudiarse empíricamente, fundándose en las técnicas tradicionales que caracterizan el trabajo de campo antropológico: la observación participante y la entrevista. Ése es el mejor modo de apresar los valores culturales realmente sostenidos por la gente. Los valores son modelos culturales de principios morales lentamente construidos en la interacción social y la historia. Cuanto más implícitos o inconscientes son, más eficazmente condicionan el significado y sentido de la conducta social. Los trabajadores de campo intentan captar los valores culturales en acción, mientras están siendo sostenidos por los actores en la interacción social. El artículo explica cómo hacerlo y señala qué áreas y situaciones son más adecuadas para este tipo de investigación social que intenta inferir modelos culturales específicos a partir de la observación empírica.ABSTRACT: In order to change values through education, first is necessary to know which are the values actually held by people. Cultural values must be studied empirically, relying on the traditional research technics that characterize the anthropological fieldwork: participant observation and interview. This is the best way to apprehend those cultural values truly held by people. Values are cultural models of moral principles slowly built in social interaction and history. As more implicit or unconcious they are, more efficaciously condition the meaning and sense of social behaviour. Fieldworkers try to capture cultural values in action, while they are being held by the actors in social interaction. The article explains how to do so and shows which areas and situations are more suitables for this kind of social research that tries to infer specific cultural models from empirical observation.
Función y perfil profesional de los psicopedagogos. Una perspectiva desde Cataluña
Authors: Roca Casas Enric
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: En Cataluña, al igual que en otras comunidades autónomas, las funciones de los nuevos profesores de Psicología y Pedagogía de la Educación Secundaria se han ido regulando desde 1995 por medio de las denominadas «normativas de curso» que año tras año ha ido publicando el departamento de Educación del Gobierno autónomo.Se detecta un proceso de disminución de las funciones de asesoramiento y coordinación y un aumento de la dedicación a la docencia de grupos de alumnos con retraso escolar de las materias instrumentales. Eso supone, a nuestro entender, no optimizar las posibilidades profesionales de los psicopedagogos en los institutos de Secundaria. Sin embargo, gracias a la previsión de los denominados «planes estratégicos de centro» que quiere impulsar la Administración catalana, vemos ahora una oportunidad para, a partir de la iniciativa de los propios centros, diseñar específicamente el perfil profesional de su psicopedagogo y atribuirle aquellas funciones que puedan revertir en la mejora de la calidad del centro, superando ciertos prejuicios y resistencias corporativas de algunos sectores del profesorado y determinados equipos directivos con relación al trabajo pedagógico específico que estos nuevos profesionales, por su formación, deberían ejercer en los centros.ABSTRACT: Since 1995 onwards, in Catalonia and in other «comunidades autónomas», the responsibilities of the Secondary School new teachers of Psychology and Pedagogy, have become ruled by the called «course regulations». This rules has been published by the Catalan Government Educational Department.In the content of such responsibilities, there are first of all a decrease of the assessment and co-ordination aspects. Secondly, the responsibilities of the teachers are increasingly focused in the learning process of children groups with difficulties in instrumental subjects. Due to this, we believe that this evolution implies a low capabilities optimisation of such teachers in the Secondary School. However, «the strategic centre plans» that are being designed by the Catalan Administration could improve this low capabilities optimisation of such teachers. Through this plan each centre will be able to design its teacher of Psychology and Pedagogy requirements and responsibilities to improve its school quality. At the same time, prejudices of some managerial teams and those of some teachers involved in other educational areas will be overcome. The consequence is that the teachers in Psychology and Pedagogy will achieve their right place in schools.
Conocimiento de la educación y función pedagògica: el sentido de la competencia profesional
Authors: Touriñán López José Manuel
Published: November 2020

This article carrys out the axe of discussion about the development of education as a subject of knowledge. In fact, the content focusses three basic questions: a) The distintion between cultural matters and education as a subject of knowledge. (Knowing disciplines and knowing education). b) Arguments about educational knowledge such as specialized one. c) Teaching centres for Educational Specialists.
Educación y crisis del sujeto
Authors: Gil Cantero Fernando
Published: November 2020

RESUMEN: En este artículo se analizan las implicaciones educativas de la crisis de la idea de sujeto en el pensamiento contemporáneo actual. Se exponen las principales ideas en torno a la crisis de la idea de sujeto desde la filosofía de la razón, la filosofía del lenguaje y la filosofía de la moral. El autor detalla algunas de las implicaciones educativas más importantes: la sobrevaloración de la razón en los alumnos, desde un enfoque constructivista; la disminución del aprendizaje acumulativo de información; la excesiva utilización de los discursos educativos frente al valor formativo de las acciones; la confusión actual en el concepto de educación; la excesiva importancia dada a la educación informal; la identificación de la educación con la vida, etc. El artículo termina proponiendo la necesidad de elaborar una pedagogía de la resistencia creativa capaz de hacer frente a la crisis de la idea de sujeto.ABSTRACT: The paper analyses the educative implications of the crisis of the self in the current philosophy. The author revises the most important theories about the crisis of the self from the philosophy of the reason, the philosophy of the language and the philosophy of the moral points of view. The author note some of the more important educative implications: the overvaluation of the reason in the students from a constructivist approach; the decrease of the cumulative learning of information; the excessive use of the educative discourses in front of the formative valué of the actions; the present confusión about the concept of education; the extreme valué given to the informal education; the confusión between the education and life, etc. The paper ends proposing the necessity to do a peclagogy of the creative resistance to make possible confront the crisis of the subject.