Challenges and Proposals for new Spanish universities pre-entry exam: evaluating oral skills in foreign languages

[ES] El Ministerio de Educación ha publicado recientemente un nuevo Real Decreto que regula la Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad y contempla la incorporación de cambios en el examen de lengua extranjera, cuyo objetivo es valorar la comprensión oral y lectora, además de la expresión oral y escrita. Debido a que el hecho de examinar la comprensión y expresión oral del estudiante es un componente nuevo en este examen, los docentes de la enseñanza secundaria han mostrado sus dudas e inquietudes y han empezado a plantearse cómo tendrán que adaptar su metodología docente. Varios proyectos y estudios en la Comunidad Valenciana demuestran que es posible introducir la evaluación de las destrezas orales en la Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad. Este trabajo también presenta una serie de posibilidades para la puesta en práctica real de la evaluación de tales destrezas, considerada especialmente factible mediante sistemas informáticos. La comunicación concluye que los puntos favorables exceden a los negativos, y que los profesores cambian su forma de pensar y muestran actitudes positivas tras experimentar con las interfaces de exámenes orales asistidos por ordenador.[EN] The Spanish Ministry of Education has recently passed the new legislation that regulates the university entry exam and the introduction of a foreign language test which would include the evaluation of oral and written comprehension and production skills. The evaluation of oral skills is a new component in the foreign language university entry exam. Therefore, the education professionals are expressing their doubts and worries and are already thinking about the way in which these changes would affect or change their current educational methodology. Several projects and studies developed in the Region of Valencia confirm that the introduction of the evaluation of oral skills in the university entry examination (PAU) is possible. This paper presents a series of possibilities which would permit the evaluation of these skills, which is especially feasible through computer assisted systems. This article concludes by mentioning that the positive aspects exceed the negative ones and that teachers change their point of view and show a positive attitude after working with computer assisted exam interfaces.[FR] Le Ministère de l'Éducation espagnol a récemment publié un nouvel arrêté royal qui régit l'examen d'entrée à l'université et intègre les changements dans le test de langue étrangère, qui vise à évaluer l'écoute et la lecture en plus de l'expression orale et écrite. En raison du fait que la compréhension orale et l'expression de l'étudiant est un nouvel élément dans cet examen, les enseignants des écoles secondaires ont des doutes et des inquiétudes et ont commencé à réfléchir à la façon dont ils vont devoir adapter leurs méthodes d'enseignement. Plusieurs projets et études dans la Communauté de Valence montrent qu'il est possible d'introduire l'évaluation orale dans l'examen d'entrée à l'université. Ce document présente également un certain nombre de possibilités pour la mise en pratique réelle de l'évaluation de ces compétences, notamment considérée comme possible par des systèmes informatiques. La communication conclut l'idée que les points positifs prennent le dessus sur les points négatifs et que les enseignants changent leur façon de penser et montrent des attitudes positives après avoir expérimenté des interfaces d'examens oraux assistés par ordinateur.Desde 2008 se desarrolla la plataforma PAU-ER, dentro del proyecto PAULEX Universitas, subvencionado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (HUM2007-66479-C02-01), y del proyecto Selector, subvencionado por la Generalitat Valenciana (GV2007/189), para el estudio de la viabilidad de la prueba con profesores y alumnos de 2º de Bachillerato.Martínez Sáez, A.; Sevilla Pavón, AM.; García Laborda, J.; Enríquez Carrasco, EV. (2011). Retos y propuestas ante la inminente implantación de la evaluación de destrezas orales en el examen de lengua extranjera de la futura PAU. Didáctica. Lengua y Literatura. 23(1):321-329. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/29640S32132923

In-plate recapturing of a dual-tagged recombinant Fasciola antigen (FhLAP) by a monoclonal antibody (US9) prevents non-specific binding in ELISA

Recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli are frequently purified by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). By means of this technique, tagged proteins containing a polyhistidine sequence can be obtained up to 95% pure in a single step, but some host proteins also bind with great affinity to metal ions and contaminate the sample. A way to overcome this problem is to include a second tag that is recognized by a preexistent monoclonal antibody (mAb) in the gene encoding the target protein, allowing further purification. With this strategy, the recombinant protein can be directly used as target in capture ELISA using plates sensitized with the corresponding mAb. As a proof of concept, in this study we engineered a Trichinella-derived tag (MTFSVPIS, recognized by mAb US9) into a His-tagged recombinant Fasciola antigen (rFhLAP) to make a new chimeric recombinant protein (rUS9-FhLAP), and tested its specificity in capture and indirect ELISAs with sera from sheep and cattle. FhLAP was selected since it was previously reported to be immunogenic in ruminants and is expressed in soluble form in E. coli, which anticipates a higher contamination by host proteins than proteins expressed in inclusion bodies. Our results showed that a large number of sera from non-infected ruminants (mainly cattle) reacted in indirect ELISA with rUS9-FhLAP after single-step purification by IMAC, but that this reactivity disappeared testing the same antigen in capture ELISA with mAb US9. These results demonstrate that the 6XHis and US9 tags can be combined when double purification of recombinant proteins is required.This work was supported by: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) [grant number AGL2011-30563-C03 and AGL2014-57125R], Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (INIA, Spain) [grants numbers RTA2017-00010-C02-01 and RTA2017-00010-C02-02] and the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (Xunta de Galicia, Spain) [grant number ED431B 2017/18]. RAOM holds a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Programa de Formación de Personal Investigador). VMS is supported by a contract under the grant ED431B 2017/18. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.S

Multivariable clinical-genetic risk model for predicting venous thromboembolic events in patients with cancer

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of death among patients with cancer. Outpatients with cancer should be periodically assessed for VTE risk, for which the Khorana score is commonly recommended. However, it has been questioned whether this tool is sufficiently accurate at identifying patients who should receive thromboprophylaxis. The present work proposes a new index, TiC-Onco risk score to be calculated at the time of diagnosis of cancer, that examines patients' clinical and genetic risk factors for thrombosis. We included 391 outpatients with a recent diagnosis of cancer and candidates for systemic outpatient chemotherapy. All were treated according to standard guidelines. The study population was monitored for 6 months, and VTEs were recorded. The Khorana and the TiC-Onco scores were calculated for each patient and their VTE predictive accuracy VTEs was compared. We recorded 71 VTEs. The TiC-Onco risk score was significantly better at predicting VTE than the Khorana score (AUC 0.73 vs. 0.58, sensitivity 49 vs. 22%, specificity 81 vs. 82%, PPV 37 vs. 22%, and NPV 88 vs. 82%). TiC-Onco risk score performed significantly better than Khorana score at identifying cancer patients at high risk of VTE who would benefit from personalised thromboprophylaxis

Manual municipal sobre control de vertidos

El agua, como motor de desarrollo y fuente de riqueza, ha constituido uno de los pilares fundamentales para el progreso del hombre. La ordenación y gestión de los recursos hídricos, que ha sido desde siempre un objetivo prioritario para cualquier sociedad, se ha realizado históricamente bajo directrices orientadas a satisfacer la demanda en cantidades suficientes, bajo una perspectiva de política de oferta. El incremento de la oferta de agua como herramienta para el impulso económico, el mayor nivel de contaminación, irremisiblemente asociado a un mayor nivel de desarrollo, algunas características naturales (sequías prolongadas, inundaciones) y en definitiva una sobreexplotación de los recursos hídricos, han conducido a un deterioro importante de los mismos. El desarrollo de la Directiva Europea y Nacional respecto a control de vertido responsabiliza al Ayuntamiento directamente de los vertidos del municipio al exterior, y consecuentemente al Alcalde Presidente de cada Municipio. Por ello la Diputación de Sevilla, cumpliendo su labor de auxilio técnico al municipio ha encargado al Grupo TAR este manual municipal de control de vertidos para asesorar continuamente a todos los pueblos de la provincia de Sevilla, con la vocación de que sea una herramienta permanente de consulta que ayude a conseguir que la provincia lidere el cumplimiento de las normas y el desarrollo sostenible de todo su entorno. Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2001, de 20 de julio, por el que se aprueba el texto refundido de la Ley de Aguas de 1.985, junto con la nueva Directiva Marco europea para la política de agua suponen un cambio importante en los conceptos y criterios utilizados en la planificación hidrológica e introducen la calidad de las aguas y la protección de los recursos hídricos como puntos fundamentales para estructurar dicha planificación. El estado ecológico de un agua sería una expresión de la calidad de la estructura y del funcionamiento del ecosistema y cuyos criterios de clasificación (muy bueno, bueno y aceptable), en función del tipo de ecosistema acuático de que se trate, se recogen en los anexos de la directiva

Pregnancy Outcomes and SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Spanish Obstetric Emergency Group Study

Pregnant women who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are at an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes. With this study, we aimed to better understand the relationship between maternal infection and perinatal outcomes, especially preterm births, and the underlying medical and interventionist factors. This was a prospective observational study carried out in 78 centers (Spanish Obstetric Emergency Group) with a cohort of 1347 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive pregnant women registered consecutively between 26 February and 5 November 2020, and a concurrent sample of PCR-negative mothers. The patients' information was collected from their medical records, and the association of SARS-CoV-2 and perinatal outcomes was evaluated by univariable and multivariate analyses. The data from 1347 SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnancies were compared with those from 1607 SARS-CoV-2-negative pregnancies. Differences were observed between both groups in premature rupture of membranes (15.5% vs. 11.1%, p < 0.001); venous thrombotic events (1.5% vs. 0.2%, p < 0.001); and severe pre-eclampsia incidence (40.6 vs. 15.6%, p = 0.001), which could have been overestimated in the infected cohort due to the shared analytical signs between this hypertensive disorder and COVID-19. In addition, more preterm deliveries were observed in infected patients (11.1% vs. 5.8%, p < 0.001) mainly due to an increase in iatrogenic preterm births. The prematurity in SARS-CoV-2-affected pregnancies results from a predisposition to end the pregnancy because of maternal disease (pneumonia and pre-eclampsia, with or without COVID-19 symptoms)

Multiple myeloma and SARS-CoV-2 infection: clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of inpatient mortality

There is limited information on the characteristics, prognostic factors, and outcomes of patients with multiplemyeloma (MM) hospitalized with COVID-19. This retrospective case series investigated 167 patients reported from 73hospitals within the Spanish Myeloma Collaborative Group network in March and April, 2020. Outcomes werecompared with 167 randomly selected, contemporary, age-/sex-matched noncancer patients with COVID-19 admittedat six participating hospitals. Among MM and noncancer patients, median age was 71 years, and 57% of patients weremale; 75 and 77% of patients, respectively, had at least one comorbidity. COVID-19 clinical severity wasmoderate-severe in 77 and 89% of patients and critical in 8 and 4%, respectively. Supplemental oxygen was requiredby 47 and 55% of MM and noncancer patients, respectively, and 21%/9% vs 8%/6% required noninvasive/invasiveventilation. Inpatient mortality was 34 and 23% in MM and noncancer patients, respectively. Among MM patients,inpatient mortality was 41% in males, 42% in patients aged >65 years, 49% in patients with active/progressive MM athospitalization, and 59% in patients with comorbid renal disease at hospitalization, which were independentprognostic factors on adjusted multivariate analysis. This case series demonstrates the increased risk and identifiespredictors of inpatient mortality among MM patients hospitalized with COVID-19

Early myeloma-related death in elderly patients: development of a clinical prognostic score and evaluation of response sustainability role

Although survival of elderly myeloma patients has significantly improved there is still a subset of patients who, despite being fit and achieving optimal responses, will die within 2 years of diagnosis due to myeloma progression. The objective of this study was to define a scoring prognostic index to identify this group of patients. We have evaluated the outcome of 490 newly diagnosed elderly myeloma patients included in two Spanish trials (GEM2005-GEM2010). Sixty-eight patients (13.8%) died within 2 years of diagnosis (early deaths) due to myeloma progression. Our study shows that the use of simple scoring model based on 4 widely available markers (elevated LDH, ISS 3, high risk CA or >75 years) can contribute to identify up-front these patients. Moreover, unsustained response (<6 months duration) emerged as one important predictor of early myeloma-related mortality associated with a significant increase in the risk of death related to myeloma progression. The identification of these patients at high risk of early death is relevant for innovative trials aiming to maintain the depth of first response, since many of them will not receive subsequent lines of therapy.This study was supported by the Cooperative Research Thematic Networkgrants RD12/0036/0058 and RD12/0036/0046 of the Redde Cancer (Cancer Network of Excellence); Instituto deSalud Carlos III, Spain, Instituto de Salud Carlos III/SubdirecciónGeneral de Investigación Sanitaria part-financedby the European Regional Development Fund (FIS: PI12/01761; PI12/02311; PI13/01469; PI14/01867, G03/136;Sara Borrell: CD13/00340); Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (GCB120981SAN) and FEDER

MM, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and inpatient mortality

There is limited information on the characteristics, pre-admission prognostic factors, and outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This retrospective case series investigated characteristics and outcomes of 167 MM patients hospitalized with COVID-19 reported from 73 hospitals within the Spanish Myeloma Collaborative Group network in Spain between March 1 and April 30, 2020. Outcomes were compared with a randomly selected contemporary cohort of 167 age-/sex-matched non-cancer patients with COVID-19 admitted at 6 participating hospitals. Common demographic, clinical, laboratory, treatment, and outcome variables were collected; specific disease status and treatment data were collected for MM patients. Among the MM and non-cancer patients, median age was 71 years and 57% of patients were male in each series, and 75% and 77% of patients, respectively, had at least one comorbidity. COVID-19 clinical severity was moderate-severe in 77% and 89% of patients and critical in 8% and 4%, respectively. Supplemental oxygen was required by 47% and 55% of MM and non-cancer patients, respectively, and 21%/9% vs 8%/6% required non-invasive/invasive ventilation. Inpatient mortality was 34% and 23% in MM and non-cancer patients, respectively. Among MM patients, inpatient mortality was 41% in males, 42% in patients aged >65 years, 49% in patients with active/progressive MM at hospitalization, and 59% in patients with comorbid renal disease at hospitalization, which were independent prognostic factors of inpatient mortality on adjusted multivariate analysis. This case series demonstrates the increased risk and identifies predictors of inpatient mortality among MM patients hospitalized with COVID-19.This study was supported by PETHEMA FoundationN

Molecular profiling of immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangements unveils new potential prognostic markers for multiple myeloma patients

Multiple myeloma is a heterogeneous disease whose pathogenesis has not been completely elucidated. Although B-cell receptors play a crucial role in myeloma pathogenesis, the impact of clonal immunoglobulin heavy-chain features in the outcome has not been extensively explored. Here we present the characterization of complete heavy-chain gene rearrangements in 413 myeloma patients treated in Spanish trials, including 113 patients characterized by next-generation sequencing. Compared to the normal B-cell repertoire, gene selection was biased in myeloma, with significant overrepresentation of IGHV3, IGHD2 and IGHD3, as well as IGHJ4 gene groups. Hypermutation was high in our patients (median: 8.8%). Interestingly, regarding patients who are not candidates for transplantation, a high hypermutation rate (≥7%) and the use of IGHD2 and IGHD3 groups were associated with improved prognostic features and longer survival rates in the univariate analyses. Multivariate analysis revealed prolonged progression-free survival rates for patients using IGHD2/IGHD3 groups (HR: 0.552, 95% CI: 0.361−0.845, p = 0.006), as well as prolonged overall survival rates for patients with hypermutation ≥7% (HR: 0.291, 95% CI: 0.137−0.618, p = 0.001). Our results provide new insights into the molecular characterization of multiple myeloma, highlighting the need to evaluate some of these clonal rearrangement characteristics as new potential prognostic markers

Influence of obstructive sleep apnea on systemic inflammation in pregnancy

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent in pregnancy and it is associated with adverse pregnancy-related outcomes such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and low birth weight. Maternal systemic inflammation is proposed to be one of the main intermediate mechanisms. However, the effects of OSA on systemic inflammation are unknown in normal pregnancy. Methods: Women in the 3rd trimester underwent hospital polysomnography to evaluate whether OSA increases systemic inflammation in normal pregnancy and its potential association with adverse fetal outcomes. OSA was defined as an apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of = 5 h-1. Plasma cytokines levels (TNF-a, IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) were determined by multiple immunoassays. Results: We included 11 patients with OSA and 22 women with AHI &lt; 5 h-1, who were homogeneous in age, and body mass index (BMI). Women with OSA had significant higher levels of TNF-a, IL-1ß, IL-8, and IL-10. We found significant correlations between AHI during REM and TNF-a (r = 0.40), IL-1ß (r = 0.36), IL-6 (r = 0.52), IL-8 (r = 0.43), between obstructive apnea index and TNF-a (r = 0.46) and between AHI and IL-1ß (r = 0.43). We also found that CT90% was related to IL-8 (r = 0.37). There were no significant differences in neonatal characteristics; however, we found inverse correlations between TNF-a and IL-8 with birth weight (both r = -0.48), while IL-8 showed a significant inverse relationship with neonatal gestational age (r = -0.48). Conclusions: OSA in our normal pregnancy population was associated with higher systemic inflammation, which was related to obstructive events, especially during REM sleep. Moreover, systemic inflammation was inversely correlated with neonatal birth weight and age