Hepatocellular carcinoma risk-stratification based on ASGR1 in circulating epithelial cells for cancer interception

Purpose: Lack of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma impedes stratifying patients based on their risk of developing cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of circulating epithelial cells (CECs) based on asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) and miR-122-5p expression as potential diagnostic and prognostic tools in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis (LC). Methods: Peripheral blood samples were extracted from LC and HCC patients at different disease stages. CECs were isolated using positive immunomagnetic selection. Genetic and phenotypic characterization was validated by double immunocytochemistry for cytokeratin (CK) and ASGR1 or by in situ hybridization with miR-122-5p and CECs were visualized by confocal microscopy. Results: The presence of CECs increased HCC risk by 2.58-fold, however, this was only significant for patients with previous LC (p = 0.028) and not for those without prior LC (p = 0.23). Furthermore, the number of CECs lacking ASGR1 expression correlated significantly with HCC incidence and absence of miR-122-5p expression (p = 0.014; r = 0.23). Finally, overall survival was significantly greater for patients at earlier cancer stages (p = 0.018), but this difference was only maintained in the group with the presence of CECs (p = 0.021) whereas progression-free survival was influenced by the absence of ASGR1 expression. Conclusion: Identification and characterization of CECs by ASGR1 and/or miR- 122-5p expression may be used as a risk-stratification tool in LC patients, as it was shown to be an independent prognostic and risk-stratification marker in LC and early disease stage HCC patients

Active methods in electricity and magnetism courses: Influence of degree, academic level and gender on student performance

[EN] The performance of first-year students in electromagnetism (E&M) courses of different engineering degrees at a Spanish public university was measured using the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA), a standard research-based instrument to assess students' understanding after attending introductory courses in electricity and magnetism. In all cases, Flipped classroom (FC) built on information and communications technology was used. The objective of this paper is to analyse if the gain in the BEMA pre and post-test results is influenced by several factors such as the degree, the students' academic grade, and gender. Moreover, as some studies have shown that the students' retention of the concepts was significantly stronger in active learning than in traditional approaches, a third BEMA test was performed by the students to analyse the long-term retention gain dependence on the same factors. Students from different engineering degree programs were asked to complete two BEMA tests during the course and a third one after a few months. ANOVA tests were used to analyse the existence of significant differences in gain between student degree programs, student academic level and student gender. Results have shown no differences in the BEMA performance by degree program, but significant differences were found by academic level and gender. Retention did not depend on the degree course but on the academic level. Mean gain value by academic level, and gender was obtained and concluded that the best students presented the best gain results and that gain depends on the students' gender: males outperformed females in the BEMA tests, although there were no significant differences in the course grades. It is thus necessary to understand these differences and to implement measures in daily teaching work to improve women's performance.Authors would like to thank the Instituto de Ciencias de la Educacion (ICE) in the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for their help, through the Innovation and Educational Quality Program and for supporting the team of the Innovacion en Metodologias Activas para el Aprendizaje de la Fisica (e-MACAFI) . This work has been supported by the UPV through the Project of Innovation and Educational Improvement Program (Projects PIME/18-19/76, PIME/18-19/88 and PIME/20-21/220 Convocatoria de Proyectos de Innovacion y Convergencia de la UPV) .Serrano, M.; Vidaurre, A.; Meseguer-Dueñas, JM.; Tort-Ausina, I.; Quiles Casado, SDLS.; Sabater I Serra, R.; García-Sanchez, T.... (2023). Active methods in electricity and magnetism courses: Influence of degree, academic level and gender on student performance. Heliyon. 9(10):1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e2049011591

Developing speaking competences in technical English for Spanish civil engineering students

[EN] Traditionally, Spanish schools of civil engineering provide their students a class on “Technical English” in order to develop their language skills. However, this class does not cover all the skills that the student would need in the labor market and mainly focuses in the reading and writing skills, and in a lower degree in the speaking and listening ones. This paper proposes a series of innovative and informal training activities (cine-forum on technical civil engineering topics and role playing on real professional situations) that allow Spanish civil engineering students to develop English skills that can rarely be worked in the classroom (i.e. speaking, negotiating and conversing), encouraging debate, participation, and fostering their self-confidence to speak about technical-English topics in public. Although the students’ level of English is much lower than expected, they all agree on the importance of technical English for their future career. The results also show the students’ lack in skills that are difficult to train in regular classes (speaking and talking). Consequently, this situation would require to provide complementary activities like the ones suggested in this project in order to develop these skills and increase the students’ demand for engineering classes taught in English.Romero De Ávila Serrano, V.; Diaz García, S.; Asensio Sánchez, L.; Lozano Galant, JA.; Moyano Enríquez De Salamanca, A.; Porras Soriano, R.; Poveda Bautista, E.... (2017). Developing speaking competences in technical English for Spanish civil engineering students. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1228-1236. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.55641228123

Developing Students’ Communication in Technical English with Project Based Learning Methodology

Technical communication is an extremely important soft skill for civil engineers at the workplace. Due to globalization trends this technical communication often should be performed in English. If we join the fact that undergraduate engineering programs in Spain have been taught exclusively in Spanish, with which in addition, in rare cases those programs provide intentionally placed discipline-specific technical communication experiences, this all amounts to a major problem, regarded as an obstacle that limit undergraduates’ opportunities to work abroad. Aware of this problem, some schools provide their students with a brief course on “Technical English”. However, this course does not cover all the skills that the student would need in the labour market, such as speaking and listening abilities. This paper promotes an innovative teaching methodology that allows Spanish Civil Engineering students to hone English communication skills through “Lunch&Movies” sessions. In each session a documentary about technical Civil Engineering topics is shown. After the screening, students work in small inter-cohort groups with a guiding lecturer. These groups debate on different questions related to the video, encouraging participation, and fostering their self-confidence to talk about technical English topics in public. Different surveys were developed to demonstrate the students’ interest in learning technical English, and to evaluate the benefit for the attendees and their achievements. The results show that the students are conscious of the importance of technical English for their future careers, and most of them improved their initial level as the sessions progressed and they gained confidence in the foreign language. Also, through a pilot subject in English, it was demonstrated that the participants of the “Lunch&Movies” sessions obtained better oral qualifications than those who did not participate. In fact, the overall results indicated that Lunch & Movie sessions can improve students' technical oral skills as well as their own perceptions of their abilities

Dental Health and Mortality in People With End-Stage Kidney Disease Treated With Hemodialysis: A Multinational Cohort Study

Background Dental disease is more extensive in adults with chronic kidney disease, but whether dental health and behaviors are associated with survival in the setting of hemodialysis is unknown. Study Design Prospective multinational cohort. Setting & Participants 4,205 adults treated with long-term hemodialysis, 2010 to 2012 (Oral Diseases in Hemodialysis [ORAL-D] Study). Predictors Dental health as assessed by a standardized dental examination using World Health Organization guidelines and personal oral care, including edentulousness; decayed, missing, and filled teeth index; teeth brushing and flossing; and dental health consultation. Outcomes All-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 12 months after dental assessment. Measurements Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models fitted with shared frailty to account for clustering of mortality risk within countries. Results During a mean follow-up of 22.1 months, 942 deaths occurred, including 477 cardiovascular deaths. Edentulousness (adjusted HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.10-1.51) and decayed, missing, or filled teeth score ≥ 14 (adjusted HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.33-2.17) were associated with early all-cause mortality, while dental flossing, using mouthwash, brushing teeth daily, spending at least 2 minutes on oral hygiene daily, changing a toothbrush at least every 3 months, and visiting a dentist within the past 6 months (adjusted HRs of 0.52 [95% CI, 0.32-0.85], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.64-0.97], 0.76 [95% CI, 0.58-0.99], 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.99], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.65-0.95], and 0.79 [95% CI, 0.65-0.96], respectively) were associated with better survival. Results for cardiovascular mortality were similar. Limitations Convenience sample of clinics. Conclusions In adults treated with hemodialysis, poorer dental health was associated with early death, whereas preventive dental health practices were associated with longer survival

Chiari malformation and central sleep apnea syndrome: efficacy of treatment with adaptive servo-ventilation

The Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) has been associated with sleep-disordered breathing, especially central sleep apnea syndrome. We report the case of a 44-year-old female with CM-I who was referred to our sleep laboratory for suspected sleep apnea. The patient had undergone decompressive surgery 3 years prior. An arterial blood gas analysis showed hypercapnia. Polysomnography showed a respiratory disturbance index of 108 events/h, and all were central apnea events. Treatment with adaptive servo-ventilation was initiated, and central apnea was resolved. This report demonstrates the efficacy of servo-ventilation in the treatment of central sleep apnea syndrome associated with alveolar hypoventilation in a CM-I patient with a history of decompressive surgery

Services adapted to older tourists

[EN] In the well-being society, as we grow older, have good purchasing power and free time, we seek to enjoy tourism services more frequently. The number of people in this situation is increasingly important and tourism companies must offer innovative services suited to their needs and preferences. The Instituto de Biomecanica de Valencia (IBV), together with UDP (representative union of older people), is offering SIMPLIT, a diagnostic and assessment service, to companies. The aim of this service is ¿to make it easy¿ for the client, therefore improving profitability, satisfaction and loyalty. Thermal resorts in Cofrentes, Montanejos and Chulilla are the first touristic companies in Spain obtaining the SIMPLIT mark. All of them are located in the Valencia Region.[ES] En el estado del bienestar, a medida que nos hacemos mayores, disponemos de buena capacidad adquisitiva, contamos con más tiempo libre y demandamos servicios turísticos con creciente intensidad. El número de personas que configura este segmento de clientes es enorme y el interés del sector turístico en ofrecerles servicios innovadores y diferenciadores adecuados a sus necesidades y preferencias es más que evidente. El Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), en colaboración con la Unión Democrática de Pensionistas y Jubilados de España (UDP), pone a disposición de las empresas turísticas el servicio SIMPLIT de diagnóstico y posterior asesoramiento para ¿hacerlo fácil¿ al cliente, mejorando al mismo tiempo la rentabilidad, la satisfacción y la fidelización.Las empresas turísticas pioneras en la obtención del distintivo SIMPLIT son los balnearios de Cofrentes, Montanejos y Chulilla, todas ellas radicadas en la Comunidad Valenciana.Proyecto cofinanciado por IMPIVA y Fondos FEDER, dentro del Programa Operativo FEDER de la Comunitat Valenciana 2007-2013. Proyecto IMPCND/2010/138 en el marco de la convocatoria 2010 del Plan de Competitividad de la Empresa Valenciana de IMPIVA. Programa Asesoramiento en Innovación. Agradecemos a la Unión democrática de Pensionistas y Jubilados de España (UDP) y a los clientes de los balnearios participantes su ilusión e implicación en el proyecto.López Vicente, MA.; Jiménez Bustos, C.; Serrano Ortiz, JF.; Sancho Mollá, M.; Peris Perez, P.; Marzo Rosello, R.; Poveda Puente, R.... (2011). Servicios adaptados a los turistas "mayores". Revista de biomecánica. (56):75-77. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/38289S75775