With the growth in popularity of video games in our society many teachers have worked to incorporate gaming into their classroom. It is generally agreed that by adding something fun to the learning ...process students become more engaged and, consequently, retain more knowledge. However, although the characteristics of video games facilitate the dynamics of the educational process it is necessary to plan a pedagogical project that includes delimitation of learning goals and profile of the addressees, the conditions of application of the educational project, and the methodologies of evaluation of the learning progress. This is how we can make a real difference between gamification and video game based learning. The paper addresses the design of an educational resource for special education needs (SEN) students that aims to help teach communicative skills related to prosody. The technological choices made to support the pedagogic issues that underlie the educational product, the strategies to convert learning content into playful material, and the methodology to obtain measures of its playability and effectiveness are described. The results of the motivation test certified that the video game is useful in encouraging the users to exercise their voice and the indicators of the degree of achievement of the learning goals serve to identify the most affected prosodic skills.
SUMMARY
Rhizobial phosphatidylcholine (PC) is thought to be a critical phospholipid for the symbiotic relationship between rhizobia and legume host plants. A PC‐deficient mutant of Sinorhizobium ...meliloti overproduces succinoglycan, is unable to swim, and lacks the ability to form nodules on alfalfa (Medicago sativa) host roots. Suppressor mutants had been obtained which did not overproduce succinoglycan and regained the ability to swim. Previously, we showed that point mutations leading to altered ExoS proteins can reverse the succinoglycan and swimming phenotypes of a PC‐deficient mutant. Here, we report that other point mutations leading to altered ExoS, ChvI, FabA, or RpoH1 proteins also revert the succinoglycan and swimming phenotypes of PC‐deficient mutants. Notably, the suppressor mutants also restore the ability to form nodule organs on alfalfa roots. However, nodules generated by these suppressor mutants express only low levels of an early nodulin, do not induce leghemoglobin transcript accumulation, thus remain white, and are unable to fix nitrogen. Among these suppressor mutants, we detected a reduced function mutant of the 3‐hydoxydecanoyl‐acyl carrier protein dehydratase FabA that produces reduced amounts of unsaturated and increased amounts of shorter chain fatty acids. This alteration of fatty acid composition probably affects lipid packing thereby partially compensating for the previous loss of PC and contributing to the restoration of membrane homeostasis.
Significance Statement
The membrane lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC) is crucial for the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti when generating nitrogen‐fixing nodules on the roots of their host plant. Although PC‐deficient mutants of S. meliloti cannot form any nodules on their host plant, suppressor mutants were isolated which partially recover the ability to trigger nodule formation. Among these suppressor mutants, we detected a reduced function mutant of FabA that produces reduced amounts of unsaturated and increased amounts of shorter chain fatty acids thereby probably affecting lipid packing.
Burkholderia strains are promising candidates for biotechnological applications. Unfortunately, most of these strains belong to species of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) involved in human ...infections, hampering potential applications. Novel diazotrophic Burkholderia species, phylogenetically distant from the Bcc species, have been discovered recently, but their environmental distribution and relevant features for agro-biotechnological applications are little known. In this work, the occurrence of N₂-fixing Burkholderia species in the rhizospheres and rhizoplanes of tomato plants field grown in Mexico was assessed. The results revealed a high level of diversity of diazotrophic Burkholderia species, including B. unamae, B. xenovorans, B. tropica, and two other unknown species, one of them phylogenetically closely related to B. kururiensis. These N₂-fixing Burkholderia species exhibited activities involved in bioremediation, plant growth promotion, or biological control in vitro. Remarkably, B. unamae and B. kururiensis grew with aromatic compounds (phenol and benzene) as carbon sources, and the presence of aromatic oxygenase genes was confirmed in both species. The rhizospheric and endophyte nature of B. unamae and its ability to degrade aromatic compounds suggest that it could be used in rhizoremediation and for improvement of phytoremediation. B. kururiensis and other Burkholderia sp. strains grew with toluene. B. unamae and B. xenovorans exhibited ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) deaminase activity, and the occurrence of acdS genes encoding ACC deaminase was confirmed. Mineral phosphate solubilization through organic acid production appears to be the mechanism used by most diazotrophic Burkholderia species, but in B. tropica, there presumably exists an additional unknown mechanism. Most of the diazotrophic Burkholderia species produced hydroxamate-type siderophores. Certainly, the N₂-fixing Burkholderia species associated with plants have great potential for agro-biotechnological applications.
Burkholderia
comprises more than 60 species of environmental, clinical, and agro-biotechnological relevance. Previous phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA,
recA
,
gyrB
,
rpoB
, and
acdS
gene sequences ...as well as genome sequence comparisons of different
Burkholderia
species have revealed two major species clusters. In this study, we undertook a multilocus sequence analysis of 77 type and reference strains of
Burkholderia
using
atpD
,
gltB
,
lepA
, and
recA
genes in combination with the 16S rRNA gene sequence and employed maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining criteria to test this further. The phylogenetic analysis revealed, with high supporting values, distinct lineages within the genus
Burkholderia
. The two large groups were named A and B, whereas the
B. rhizoxinica
/
B. endofungorum
, and
B. andropogonis
groups consisted of two and one species, respectively. The group A encompasses several plant-associated and saprophytic bacterial species. The group B comprises the
B. cepacia
complex (opportunistic human pathogens), the
B. pseudomallei
subgroup, which includes both human and animal pathogens, and an assemblage of plant pathogenic species. The distinct lineages present in
Burkholderia
suggest that each group might represent a different genus. However, it will be necessary to analyze the full set of
Burkholderia
species and explore whether enough phenotypic features exist among the different clusters to propose that these groups should be considered separate genera.
Summary
Sphingolipids are essential and common membrane components in eukaryotic organisms, participating in many important cellular functions. Only a few bacteria are thought to harbour ...sphingolipids in their membranes, among them the well‐studied α‐proteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus, a model organism for asymmetric cell division and cellular differentiation. Here, we report that C. crescentus wild type produces several molecular species of dihydroceramides, which are not produced in a mutant lacking the structural gene for serine palmitoyltransferase (spt). Whereas growth of a spt‐deficient mutant and wild type are indistinguishable during the exponential phase of growth, survival of the spt‐deficient mutant is much reduced, in comparison with wild type, during stationary phase of growth, especially at elevated temperatures. The structural gene for spt is located within a genomic cluster, comprising another 16 genes and which, like spt, are important for fitness of C. crescentus. Mutants deficient in genes linked to spt by high cofitness were unable to produce dihydroceramide or to survive in stationary phase of growth at elevated temperatures. At least five structural genes are required for dihydroceramide biosynthesis in C. crescentus and sphingolipid biosynthesis is needed for survival of this bacterium and the integrity of its outer membrane.
O objetivo deste trabalho é abordar a situação da filosofia da educação na pós-modernidade, para isto dividimos o trabalho levantando desafios epistemológicos e éticos, num segundo momento o papel da ...filosofia da educação para uma educação libertadora e por último o papel da estética para atingir o desafio ético da solidariedade. O trabalho justifica-se porque observa a crise atual da educação, depois da pandemia de COVID-19 através de manifestações de totalitarismo, intolerância e anticiência na população e o papel da filosofia da educação para poder fortalecer a democracia. A pesquisa é bibliográfico e tem como principais referenciais teóricos a Theodor Adorno (1998), Zygmunt Bauman (1997), Karl Popper (1972) e Richard Rorty (1992). Como resultados esperados acreditamos que este trabalho possa servir para refletir sobre a crise da educação e fomentar o diálogo, que nos leve a propor alternativas para aliviar a situação crítica da educação.
The objective of this work is to address the situation of philosophy of education in post-modernity, for this we divide the work raising epistemological and ethical challenges, in the second moment the role of philosophy of education for a liberating education and finally the role of aesthetics to achieve The ethical challenge of solidarity. The work is justified because it observes the current crisis in education, following the COVID-19 pandemic through manifestations of totalitarianism, intolerance and anticiência in the population and the role of educational philosophy in order to strengthen democracy. The research is bibliographic and the main theoretical references are to Theodor Adorno (1998), Zygmunt Bauman (1997), Karl Popper (1972) and Richard Rorty (1992). As expected results, we believe that this work may serve to reflect on the educational crisis and encourage dialogue, which will allow us to provide alternatives to alleviate the critical educational situation.
El objetivo de este trabajo es abordar la situación de la filosofía de la educación en la posmodernidad, para ello dividimos el trabajo planteando desafíos epistemológicos y éticos, en segundo lugar el papel de la filosofía de la educación para una educación liberadora y finalmente el papel de la estética para lograr El desafío ético de la solidaridad. El trabajo se justifica porque observa la crisis actual de la educación, luego de la pandemia de COVID-19 a través de manifestaciones de totalitarismo, intolerancia y anticiencia en la población y el papel de la filosofía de la educación en el fortalecimiento de la democracia. La investigación es bibliográfica y sus principales referentes teóricos son Theodor Adorno (1998), Zygmunt Bauman (1997), Karl Popper (1972) y Richard Rorty (1992). Como resultados esperados, creemos que este trabajo puede servir para reflexionar sobre la crisis educativa y fomentar el diálogo, lo que nos llevará a proponer alternativas para paliar la crítica situación de la educación.
This study analyze factors associated to cannabis use in pregnant women, its perceived availability, its risk perception and the relationship between prenatal exposure to cannabis and developmental ...and mental disorders.
We present a review of the literature on cannabis use among pregnant women. The objective is to analyze factors associated to cannabis use during pregnancy and assess the potential effects of prenatal exposure to cannabis on the development of the fetus and the mental health of those exposed.
Systematic review of studies on the maternal use of cannabis and the relationship between early exposure and the development of psychiatric disorders in the PubMed database until July 2018 in English and Spanish with the following keywords: Marijuana, Cannabinoids, Mental disorders, Pregnancy, Prenatal Cannabis Exposure, Risk factors.
The use of cannabis among pregnant women is frequent but it has not been extensively researched. Prenatal exposure to cannabis may be associated with affective symptoms and ADHD.
Mental healthcare professionals who treat women during their fertile life need to be able to explain the relationship between prenatal exposure to cannabis and the presence of developmental and mental disorders.
Sphingolipids are ubiquitous in membranes of eukaryotes and are associated with important cellular functions. Although sphingolipids occur scarcely in bacteria, for some of them they are essential ...and, in other bacteria, they contribute to fitness and stability of the outer membrane, such as in the well-studied α-proteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus . We previously defined five structural genes for ceramide synthesis in C . crescentus , among them the gene for serine palmitoyltransferase, the enzyme that catalyzes the committed step of sphingolipid biosynthesis. Other mutants affected in genes of this same genomic region show cofitness with a mutant deficient in serine palmitoyltransferase. Here we show that at least two phosphosphingolipids are produced in C . crescentus and that at least another six gene products are needed for the decoration of ceramide upon phosphosphingolipid formation. All eleven genes participating in phosphosphingolipid formation are also required in C . crescentus for membrane stability and for displaying sensitivity towards the antibiotic polymyxin B. The genes for the formation of complex phosphosphingolipids are also required for C . crescentus virulence on Galleria mellonella insect larvae.
Sinorhizobium meliloti
contains the negatively charged phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin as well as the zwitterionic phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) as major membrane ...phospholipids. In previous studies we had isolated
S. meliloti
mutants that lack PE or PC. Although mutants deficient in PE are able to form nitrogen-fixing nodules on alfalfa host plants, mutants lacking PC cannot sustain development of any nodules on host roots. Transcript profiles of mutants unable to form PE or PC are distinct; they differ from each other and they are different from the wild type profile. For example, a PC-deficient mutant of
S. meliloti
shows an increase of transcripts that encode enzymes required for succinoglycan biosynthesis and a decrease of transcripts required for flagellum formation. Indeed, a PC-deficient mutant is unable to swim and overproduces succinoglycan. Some suppressor mutants, that regain swimming and form normal levels of succinoglycan, are altered in the ExoS sensor. Our findings suggest that the lack of PC in the sinorhizobial membrane activates the ExoS/ChvI two-component regulatory system. ExoS/ChvI constitute a molecular switch in
S. meliloti
for changing from a free-living to a symbiotic life style. The periplasmic repressor protein ExoR controls ExoS/ChvI function and it is thought that proteolytic ExoR degradation would relieve repression of ExoS/ChvI thereby switching on this system. However, as ExoR levels are similar in wild type, PC-deficient mutant and suppressor mutants, we propose that lack of PC in the bacterial membrane provokes directly a conformational change of the ExoS sensor and thereby activation of the ExoS/ChvI two-component system.
PDF
