Open University of Catalonia

About: Open University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Collaborative learning & Educational technology. The organization has 1943 authors who have published 4646 publications receiving 64200 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya & UOC.

Unravelling local adaptive capacity to climate change in the Bolivian Amazon: the interlinkages between assets, conservation and markets

Abstract: This paper examines household adaptive capacity to deal with climatic change among the Tsimane’, an indigenous society of the Bolivian Amazon, and explores how exposure to conservation policies and access to markets shape such capacity. We surveyed Tsimane’ adults (77 men and 34 women) living in four communities with different accessibility to the regional markets. The four communities were located in indigenous territories, but two of them overlapped with a co-managed biosphere reserve. We compared households’ capacity for adaptation through indicators of access to social, financial and natural assets, entrepreneurial skills and human resources. We also assessed how conservation and markets condition such capacity. Our results show that, across communities, households clustered in four groups with differentiated adaptive capacity profiles: commoners typically participating in community meetings, vulnerable characterized by low shares of adaptive capacity indicators, leaders typically holding community positions, and subsidized mostly relying in government remittances. Overlap with the biosphere reserve was significantly associated with the adaptive capacity profile of vulnerable households. In contrast, access to markets does not seem to be related to household adaptive capacity. We discuss relevant behavioral and structural factors for current adaptation to climatic changes and priority measures to foster local adaptive capacity in indigenous territories overlapping with protected areas.

Las nuevas culturas de aprendizaje y su incidencia en la educación superior

Abstract: AnnA EscofEt Roig / iolAndA gARciA gonz AlEz / B Egon A gRos sAlv At Resumen: El objetivo fundamental de este articulo es analizar los cambios que ha favorecido la creciente influencia de Internet en la cultura academica y el aprendizaje de los estudiantes universitarios, asi como el impacto de estos cambios en la formacion universitaria. Describimos el papel de la cultura digital entre los jovenes, analiza mos las caracteristicas de estos “aprendices del nuevo milenio” y discutimos hasta que punto esta generacion aprende de forma distinta a las anteriores y como la educacion superior debe adaptarse a ella.

Cognitive aptitudes and l2 speaking proficiency: links between llama and hi-lab

Abstract: This study investigated the underlying structure of a set of eight cognitive tests from the two most recent language aptitude test batteries: the LLAMA (Meara, 2005) and the Hi-LAB (Linck et al., 2013) to see whether they had any underlying constructs in common. The study also examined whether any of the observed constructs could predict L2 speaking proficiency in terms of complexity, accuracy, or fluency. Participants were 135 college-level students learning Spanish as an L2 in the United States. Results showed that the LLAMA and the Hi-LAB include tests that tap the same constructs. Specifically, the tests from the two batteries loaded onto three different factors, interpreted as “Explicit Aptitude,” “Implicit Memory Ability,” and “Implicit Learning Ability.” The results further showed that Implicit Memory Ability was a significant predictor of L2 speed fluency and interacted with Implicit Learning Ability as a predictor of lexical complexity. This finding suggested that L2 learners with greater Implicit Memory Ability may be better at accessing and retrieving previously learned or known information effortlessly. In the case of lexical complexity, the effect of Implicit Memory Ability depended on the level of Implicit Learning Ability.

Targeted clearance of senescent cells using an antibody-drug conjugate against a specific membrane marker

Abstract: A wide range of diseases have been shown to be influenced by the accumulation of senescent cells, from fibrosis to diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other age-related pathologies. Consistent with this, clearance of senescent cells can prolong healthspan and lifespan in in vivo models. This provided a rationale for developing a new class of drugs, called senolytics, designed to selectively eliminate senescent cells in human tissues. The senolytics tested so far lack specificity and have significant off-target effects, suggesting that a targeted approach could be more clinically relevant. Here, we propose to use an extracellular epitope of B2M, a recently identified membrane marker of senescence, as a target for the specific delivery of toxic drugs into senescent cells. We show that an antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) against B2M clears senescent cells by releasing duocarmycin into them, while an isotype control ADC was not toxic for these cells. This effect was dependent on p53 expression and therefore more evident in stress-induced senescence. Non-senescent cells were not affected by either antibody, confirming the specificity of the treatment. Our results provide a proof-of-principle assessment of a novel approach for the specific elimination of senescent cells using a second generation targeted senolytic against proteins of their surfaceome, which could have clinical applications in pathological ageing and associated diseases.