Rediseño de asignaturas para su impartición en formato semipresencial o a distancia.

Esta comunicación presenta un conjunto de proyectos coordinados de innovación educativa cuyo objetivo principal es la generación y adaptación de materiales didácticos con el fin de implantar una docencia con seguimiento mixto por parte de los alumnos, sustituyendo gran parte de las clases en aula convencionales, o aplicar modelos completamente a distancia, empleando, para ello, objetos de aprendizaje, que favorecen la estructuración y secuenciación de contenidos y actividades, y proporcionan una guía al alumno en su estudio. Se muestran enfoques diferentes que conducen a soluciones y al uso de herramientas adaptadas a cada caso concreto (diseño de páginas web, uso de plataformas de teleformación, diversas formas de presentación de contenidos y apoyo al aprendizaje según el curso en el que está encuadrada la materia)

Aqueous humor neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin levels in patients with idiopathic acute anterior uveitis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in the aqueous humor in eyes with idiopathic acute anterior uveitis (AAU). Methods: A comparative control study. Aqueous humor was collected from 20 eyes of 20 patients with idiopathic AAU. The control group included 20 aqueous samples from 20 patients about to undergo cataract surgery and without any other ocular or systemic diseases. The level of NGAL was determined with a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: The concentration of NGAL in aqueous humor was markedly higher in patients with idiopathic AAU than in control subjects (Mann–Whitney U test, p<0.001). The level of NGAL was 139,197.38±183,426.36 (mean±SD) pg/ml in eyes with AAU and 3,169.96±1,595.78 pg/ml in the eyes of the control group. Conclusions: The aqueous humor NGAL level is increased in eyes with idiopathic AAU. These results imply that NGAL is associated with the regulation of inflammation in patients with AAU and could be used as a biomarker of ocular inflammation and immunomodulatory treatment response.Medicin

An expert patient program to improve the empowerment and quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis: protocol for a multicenter pre-post intervention study

Health education; Multiple sclerosis; Quality of lifeEducación para la salud; Esclerosis múltiple; Calidad de vidaEducació sanitaria; Esclerosi múltiple; Qualitat de vidaIntroduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes a progressive disability, which substantially impacts the quality of life (QoL). Health interventions that meet the needs and demands of people with MS are essential to minimize QoL impairment. Expert patient programs (EPPs) facilitate health-related empowerment through peer learning. Based on a previous focus group study, we designed an EPP for MS coordinated by nursing professionals for implementation in the different MS reference units of Catalonia (Southwestern Europe). This study aims to evaluate the effects on quality of life, disease-related knowledge, and self-management related to the health process of the participants of the Expert Patient Program Catalonia™ for people with multiple sclerosis (EPPC-MS). Methods: Pre-post intervention multicenter clinical study involving 12 groups of 12 participants: six groups including relapsing and six groups including progressive MS patients, with 144 participants from 7 MS reference units from all over Catalonia, organized in six teams. The intervention will consist of nine telematic learning peer-led sessions (one weekly session). The expert patient (EP) leading the sessions will be an individual with MS with disease-related knowledge, who will be further trained by nurses to lead the sessions. Study variables will be measured before and immediately after the intervention and 6 and 12 months after the end of the sessions and will include: QoL, emotional impact, activation of the person, MS-related knowledge, fatigue, habits and lifestyles, health services use, and program-related experience. Baseline characteristics considered will be sociodemographic data, date of MS diagnosis and type, family history, and treatment characteristics. Variables related to disease follow-up will be new relapses and characteristics and changes in the ongoing treatment. The number of sessions attended will also be collected. Study variables will be analyzed using a pre-post comparison. Discussion: Peer-led learning programs led by EP help empower people with chronic conditions and offer them tools to improve their autonomy and QoL. This study’s intervention will be performed remotely, offering advantages both for people with chronic conditions and the healthcare system regarding the facilitation of family and work conciliation, saving time, simplifying attendance to meetings, lowering costs, and using fewer material resources.This study was promoted by the MS unit at Vall d’Hebron Hospital Campus and had no external sponsor. The PhD candidate/first author was supported through the Strategic Plan for Research and Innovation in Health 2016–2020 (PERIS) (ref. BDNS 542793) funded by the Health Department of Catalonia. This study had been partially funded by the Official College of Nurses of Barcelona (www.coib.cat) as part of the Nurse Research Projects Grants (PRN-475/2021). None of the funders were involved in the design of the study, manuscript writing or data collection, and will not be involved in data analysis or interpretation and manuscript writing in the future. The only funders’ requirement is that any publications associate with this study must be open access and deposited in an institutional repository

Remoción del colorante azul marino directo sobre borra de café modificada

The presence of dyes in water bodies inhibits the penetration of light, affecting the flora and fauna of these ecosystems, which is why, greater efforts are made to eliminate them before being poured. This study allowed the removal of the direct navy-blue dye (DNB), using activated carbon prepared from coffee beans and H3PO4. The experimental methodology began with the preparation of three types of activated carbon by varying the concentration of H3PO4 (20, 40 and 60% m/v). Texture properties were evaluated by adsorption-desorption isotherms with N2 to 77 K, the identification and quantification of organic functional groups, mainly acids, with FTIR and the Boehm method, respectively. Batch adsorption experiments were performed by varying the initial dye concentration (5, 10, 50, 75, 100 and 200 mg/dm3) to 25 °C and, the adsorption kinetics was determined. Both coffee beans and activated carbons have an acidic nature with surface area development between 519 and 771 m2/g. With respect to the batch study, a monolayer and multilayer growth was observed on a heterogeneous surface. Activated carbon prepared with 20% of H3PO4 recorded the highest removal capacity with a value of 25.8 mg/g. The kinetic model of pseudo second order was the one that best fit to the experimental data (R2 > 0.98). It can be concluded that the coffee bean treated with H3PO4 is an efficient adsorbent to remove DNB from aqueous solutions.La presencia de colorantes en los cuerpos de agua inhibe la penetración de la luz, afectando la flora y la fauna de estos ecosistemas, razón por la cual se hacen cada vez esfuerzos mayores para eliminarlos antes de ser vertidos. Este estudio permitió remover el colorante azul marino directo (AMD), empleando carbón activado preparado a partir de la borra de café y H3PO4. La metodología experimental inició con la preparación de tres tipos de carbón activado, variando la concentración de H3PO4 (20, 40 y 60% m/v). Las propiedades de textura se evaluaron mediante isotermas de adsorción-desorción con N2 a 77 K; la identificación y cuantificación de grupos funcionales orgánicos, en especial ácidos, con FTIR, y el método de Boehm, respectivamente. Se realizaron experimentos de adsorción por lote, variando la concentración inicial del colorante (5, 10, 50, 75, 100 y 200 mg/dm3) a 25 °C y se determinó la cinética de adsorción. Tanto la borra de café como los carbones activados tienen naturaleza ácida con desarrollo de áreas superficiales entre 519 y 771 m2/g. Con respecto al estudio por lote, se observó un crecimiento en monocapa y multicapa sobre una superficie heterogénea. El carbón activado preparado con 20% de H3PO4 registró la mayor capacidad de remoción, con un valor de 25.8 mg/g. El modelo cinético de pseudo segundo orden fue el que mejor se ajustó a los datos experimentales (R2 > 0.98). Se puede concluir que la borra de café tratada con H3PO4 es un adsorbente eficiente para eliminar AMD de soluciones acuosas

Transición de docencia presencial a no presencial o semipresencial en un escenario heterogéneo.

En esta comunicación se presenta una experiencia conjunta llevada a cabo por varios profesores de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, que ha consistido en el rediseño de asignaturas para adaptar su impartición de forma progresiva a formato semi-presencial o completamente a distancia, utilizando una metodología basada en el uso de objetos de aprendizaje. La originalidad del trabajo planteado reside precisamente en la diversidad de las asignaturas, no sólo por su temática, sino en otros aspectos de gran importancia práctica como la diferencia en número y procedencia de los alumnos que las cursan, nivel en el que se encuadran en el Plan de Estudios, etc., lo que conforma un escenario heterogéneo de planteamientos diversos que aporta a la experiencia el valor añadido

New direct alcohol and hydrogen fuel cells for naval and aeronautical applications (PILCONAER)

In the current context of demand for reliable, low cost and low environmental impact energy sources, many countries and companies are mostly focused on fuel cells (FC) in fields as transportation and stationary power generation and portable devices. Lately, FCs have begun to be applied in naval and aeronautical systems due to its high efficiency, low noise and environmental advantages. These applications could range from propulsion systems to auxiliary power units(APU). The main problems associated with the use of FCs in these areas are the current high cost due to the materials used, i.e. Nafion and Pt, the lack of durability testing in these specific conditions, security issues to flammability and high H2 pressures and low availability as a fuel, or the toxicity of methanol used as a fuel, and specific parameters such as weight in aircraft applications and volume in marine applications. Currently it is working on each of these issues, and at this point the ethanol as direct fuel is considered crucial. The use of ethanol as fuel has the advantage of easy transportation, storage and refueling, and is nontoxic. Bioethanol is a promising energy source, produced from raw materials containing sugar or starch. These raw materials exists in all parts of the world and is renewable, which involves the use of local energy sources contributing to the diversification of energy supply, reducing import dependence, increasing security of supply and generating new opportunities for agriculture. The main objective of the project is the development of low power stacks (stacks) fed with methanol (DMFC)and ethanol (DEFC) based on the development of new catalysts and membranes. PILCONAER aims contributing to the development of a sustainable use technology, further commitment to the restoration of the natural environment and biodiversity conservation

Adaptación a los cambios ambientales y territoriales

En este libro se abordan temáticas que destacan la adaptación de los distintos sectores de población a los cambios ambientales y territoriales, la cual muestra las respuestas a la incidencia de los estímulos del entorno, económico, social y ambiental. Así, se destaca la exposición de la población a los efectos destructivos de las amenazas y peligros naturales, lo que ha despertado interés en conocer sus causas, prevenir y mitigar el daño. A través de la revisión de estudios se induce la aprehensión de un tema que adquiere importancia en el contexto de los impactos globales, regionales y locales que se producen como consecuencia de la vulnerabilidad estructural característica de los países en desarrollo.En este libro se proponen estrategias de prevención ante la ocurrencia periódica de inundación en San Mateo Atenco, Estado de México y se analizan los factores sociales que inciden en el deterioro del bosque templado en San Lorenzo Huitzitzilapan. También se exponen soluciones para que se mejoren la condición del bosque y la calidad de vida de la población.Proyecto realizado con financiamiento de la Secretaría de Educación Pública-Subsecretaría de Educación Superior-Dirección General de Educación Superior Universitaria. Número del convenio con la SEP: 2017-15-001-017

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types

Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species

Estimates of extinction risk for Amazonian plant and animal species are rare and not often incorporated into land-use policy and conservation planning. We overlay spatial distribution models with historical and projected deforestation to show that at least 36% and up to 57% of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. If confirmed, these results would increase the number of threatened plant species on Earth by 22%. We show that the trends observed in Amazonia apply to trees throughout the tropics, and we predict thatmost of the world’s >40,000 tropical tree species now qualify as globally threatened. A gap analysis suggests that existing Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories will protect viable populations of most threatened species if these areas suffer no further degradation, highlighting the key roles that protected areas, indigenous peoples, and improved governance can play in preventing large-scale extinctions in the tropics in this century