sábado, 26 de marzo de 2011

Scrumblr: herramienta 2.0 para el trabajo colaborativo en línea


18 Mar, 2011

Scrumblr: herramienta 2.0 para el trabajo colaborativo en línea

Scrumblr es una aplicación Web 2.0 ideal para estimular –entre aprendices, compañeros de oficina, colegas, etc.-  el trabajo colaborativo en tiempo real.
Scrumblr simula una pizarra de notas como la mostrada en la figura 1.
Figura 1. Interfaz gráfica de scrumblr. Scrum significa: a crowd of people who are pushing each other (Oxford Dictionary)
Para acceder al demo de scrumblr haga clic en este enlace.

¿Cómo utilizar Scrumblr?

Siga los siguientes pasos:
1. Visite el enlace http://scrumblr.ca/ (Figura 2).

2. Escriba el nombre de la pizarra que desea generar. Por ejemplo, si escribe mi_pizarra será generada una pizarra que podrá acceder a través del enlace  http://scrumblr.ca/mi_pizarra (Figura 2)
Figura 2. Generando una pizarra de notas para situaciones de comunicación colaborativas.

3. Proponga la actividad y el propósito de su pizarra de notas y distribuya -entre los usuarios participantes- el enlace generadohttp://scrumblr.ca/mi_pizarra

La funcionalidad de scrumblr es bastante intuitiva. Siga las instrucciones mencionadas en las figuras 3, 4, 5 y 6.
.
Figura 3. Agregando y editando las notas de texto.

Figura 4. Agregando títulos a la pizarra de notas.

Figura 5. Asignando un nombre a la pizarra de notas.

Figura 6. Agregando puntos de atención a las notas de texto.

Observación

Aunque no parece claro por cuánto tiempo estará disponible el enlace generado las posibilidades educativas y de colaboración en línea son realmente intersantes.

Instalando scrumblr

Esta aplicación es distribuida en forma libre bajo la licencia GPL. Ha sido programada utilizando node.jsWebSockets (socket.io), CSS3 yjQuery bajo la conceptualización de Ali Asaria, fundador de Well.ca un sitio para la comercialización de productos de salud y belleza.
El código fuente puede ser descargado desde este enlace.
Los requerimientos de instalación han sido comentados en el enlace.

Recomendaciones

1. Utilice scrumblr para:
  • Estimular el intercambio de ideas.
  • Monitorear los avances de proyectos colaborativos y la toma de decisiones en grupos de trabajo.
  • Evaluar conceptos y definiciones en contextos de formación en línea.
  • Desarrollar actividades relacionadas con el aprendizaje de lenguas. Por ejemplo, la práctica de vocabulario.

2. Compare scrumblr con otras propuestas similares. Por ejemplo, listhings http://listhings.com/
3. Establezca ventajas y desventajas entre las aplicaciones Web 2.0 en contextos educativos.

Adolescentes, tabaco y mentol


Cell Phone Exposure May Cause Bone Weakening, Study Suggests


Cell Phone Exposure May Cause Bone Weakening, Study Suggests

Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics
Article Date: 25 Mar 2011 - 0:00 PDT



Electromagnetic radiation from cellular phones may adversely affect bone strength, suggests a study in the March Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Men who routinely wear their cell phone on their belt on the right side have reduced bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) in the right hip, according to the study by Dr. Fernando D. Sravi of National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. He writes, "The different patterns of right-left asymmetry in femoral bone mineral found in mobile cell phone users and nonusers are consistent with a nonthermal effect of electromagnetic radiofrequency waves not previously described."

Carrying Cell Phone on Belt Linked to Lower Hip Bone Density

Dr. Sravi measured BMC and BMD at the left and right hip in two groups of healthy men: 24 men who did not use cell phones and 24 men who carried their cell phone in a belt pouch, on the right side, for at least one year. Measured using a test called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, BMC and BMD are standard markers of bone strength.

Average hip BMC and BMD measurements were not significantly different between groups. However, men who did not use cell phones had higher BMC in the right femoral neck (near the top of the thigh bone): a normal left-right difference that was absent in cell phone users. Thus men who wore their cell phones on the right side had a relative reduction in femoral neck BMC in that hip.

The cell phone users also had reduced BMD and BMC at the right trochanter an area at the outside top of the thigh bone, close to where the phone would be worn on the belt. The difference between the left and right trochanters was significantly related to the estimated total hours spent carrying a cell phone.

There are concerns about several potential harmful effects of cellular phones. However, few studies have looked at whether electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones could affect bone mineralization. With the rapid growth in cell phone use, any significant effect on BMD could have a substantial effect on the osteoporosis rate in the population.

Although small, the new study raises the possibility that long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation from cell phones could adversely affect bone mineralization. Larger follow-up studies will be needed to confirm or disprove this hypothesis, according to Dr Sravi. He suggests that studies may be warranted in women, who have higher rates of osteoporosis; and children, who would have longer expected lifetime exposure to cell phones.

Source: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 

En este día...


ON THIS DAY

March 26

On March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.
On March 26, 1874, Robert Frost, the American writer who received three Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry, was born. Following his death on Jan. 29, 1963, his obituary appeared in The Times.

On This Date

1827Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria, at age 56.
1874Poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco.
1885The Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. of Rochester, N.Y., manufactured the first commercial motion picture film.
1892Poet Walt Whitman died at age 72.
1911Playwright Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Miss.
1917The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.
1964The musical "Funny Girl," starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway.
1971East Pakistan proclaimed its independence, taking the name Bangladesh.
1992A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.
1997The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who had committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
1999Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on "60 Minutes."
2000Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia.
2002Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal.
2003Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., died at age 76.

Current Birthdays

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., turns 71 years old today.
AP Photo/Harry Hamburg
James Caan, Actor
Actor James Caan turns 71 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1925Pierre Boulez, Conductor, composer, turns 86
1930Sandra Day O'Connor, Former Supreme Court justice, turns 81
1931Leonard Nimoy, Actor ("Star Trek"), turns 80
1934Alan Arkin, Actor, turns 77
1942Erica Jong, Author, turns 69
1943Bob Woodward, Journalist, turns 68
1944Diana Ross, Singer, turns 67
1948Steven Tyler, Rock singer (Aerosmith), turns 63
1949Vicki Lawrence, Singer, actress, turns 62
1950Martin Short, Actor, comedian, turns 61
1953Lincoln Chafee, Former U.S. senator, R-R.I., turns 58
1953Elaine Chao, Former secretary of labor, turns 58
1957Leeza Gibbons, TV personality, turns 54
1960Marcus Allen, Football Hall of Famer, turns 51
1960Jennifer Grey, Actress ("Dirty Dancing"), turns 51
1960Jon Huntsman Jr., Governor of Utah, turns 51
1962John Stockton, Basketball player, turns 49
1966Michael Imperioli, Actor ("The Sopranos"), turns 45
1968Kenny Chesney, Country singer, turns 43
1976Amy Smart, Actress, turns 35
1985Keira Knightley, Actress, turns 26

Historic Birthdays

88Herman Haupt 3/26/1817 - 12/14/1905
American civil engineer and inventor
48Edward Bellamy 3/26/1850 - 5/22/1898
American writer
77A. E. Housman 3/26/1859 - 4/30/1936
English scholar and poet
90Syngman Rhee 3/26/1875 - 7/19/1965
First president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
86Othmar Ammann 3/26/1879 - 9/22/1965
Swiss-born American engineer and designer of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
71Palmiro Togliatti 3/26/1893 - 8/21/1964
Italian politician who led the Italian Communist Party for nearly40 years
84James Conant 3/26/1893 - 2/11/1978
American educator and scientist
83Joseph Campbell 3/26/1904 - 10/31/1987
American editor and author of many works on mythology
71Tennessee Williams 3/26/1911 - 2/25/1983
American dramatist and author

La FDA aprueba la primera droga para extender la vida de los pacientes con melanoma


La FDA aprueba la primera droga para extender la vida de los pacientes con melanoma

La agencia estadounidense para el control de medicamentos aprobó una droga inyectable para combatir uno de las formas más letales del cáncer

por AP - 26/03/2011 - 16:21
Una revolución es lo que promete la comercialización en Estados Unidos del medicamento Yervoy, que será parte del tratamiento para prologar la vida de los enfermos con cáncer de piel avanzado. 

El producto, creado por el laboratorio Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., ha sido aprobado por la FDA a 13 años de la aparición del último de los dos tratamientos disponibles para tratar el melanoma avanzado. Ninguno de ellos había demostrado extender significativamente la vida de estos pacientes.

Conocida químicamente como Ipilimumab, la droga sólo ha funcionado en un pequeño segmento de pacientes estudiados, quienes llegaron a vivir 10 meses más que aquellos que habían recibido las medicinas disponibles hasta ahora. Pero a pesar de estos resultados, los expertos señalan que este adelanto es un hito en el tratamiento del melanoma, que suele no responder a la terapia.

La Ipilimumab es parte de un grupo de medicinas dirigidas al tratamiento del cáncer, que hace que el sistema inmune combata el cáncer en vez de tratar de contrarrestar la enfermedad con químicos externos, como los que usa la quimioterapia. La droga funciona bloqueando una molécula ligada al melanoma, llamada CTLA-4, que interfiere con la actividad protectora de los glóbulos blancos. Cuando la molécula está bloqueada, las células se comportan normalmente y ayudan a luchar contra el cáncer.

El precio del medicamento, según el mismo laboratorio, será revelado próximamente.