Development and implementation of a virtual laboratory for training process improvement in the mechanics of continuous media

The project arises from the need to develop improved teaching methodologies in field of the mechanics of continuous media. The objective is to offer the student a learning process to acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills and the responsibility and autonomy to professional development in this area. Traditionally the teaching of the concepts of these subjects was performed through lectures and laboratory practice. During these lessons the students attitude was usually passive, and therefore their effectiveness was poor. The proposed methodology has already been successfully employed in universities like University Bochum, Germany, University the South Australia and aims to improve the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition through use by the student of a virtual laboratory. This laboratory allows to adapt the curricula and learning techniques to the European Higher Education and improve current learning processes in the University School of Public Works Engineers -EUITOP- of the Technical University of Madrid -UPM-, due there are not laboratories in this specialization. The virtual space is created using a software platform built on OpenSim, manages 3D virtual worlds, and, language LSL -Linden Scripting Language-, which imprints specific powers to objects. The student or user can access this virtual world through their avatar -your character in the virtual world- and can perform practices within the space created for the purpose, at any time, just with computer with internet access and viewfinder. The virtual laboratory has three partitions. The virtual meeting rooms, where the avatar can interact with peers, solve problems and exchange existing documentation in the virtual library. The interactive game room, where the avatar is has to resolve a number of issues in time. And the video room where students can watch instructional videos and receive group lessons. Each audiovisual interactive element is accompanied by explanations framing it within the area of knowledge and enables students to begin to acquire a vocabulary and practice of the profession for which they are being formed. Plane elasticity concepts are introduced from the tension and compression testing of test pieces of steel and concrete. The behavior of reticulated and articulated structures is reinforced by some interactive games and concepts of tension, compression, local and global buckling will by tests to break articulated structures. Pure bending concepts, simple and composite torsion will be studied by observing a flexible specimen. Earthquake resistant design of buildings will be checked by a laboratory test video

Neuroprotective Effects of Low-Dose Statins in the Retinal Ultrastructure of Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits

To evaluate the pleiotropic effects to statins, we analyze the qualitative and quantitative retinal changes in hypercholesterolemic rabbits after a low-dosage statin treatment. For this purpose, New Zealand rabbits were split into three groups: control (G0; n = 10), fed a standard diet; hypercholesterolemic (G1; n = 8), fed a 0.5% cholesterol-enriched diet for 8 months; and statins (G2; n = 8), fed a 0.5% cholesterol-enriched diet for 8 months, together with the administration of statin (pravastatin or fluvastatin sodium) at a dose of 2 mg / kg / day each diet. The retinas were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry (glial fibrillary acidic protein). The retinal thickness of nuclear and plexiform layers were quantified in semi-thin sections. The results revealed that the low-statin-treated rabbits in comparison with the hypercholesterolemic group showed: i) a more preserved structure in all retinal layers; ii) a significant reduction in retinal thickness; iii) a decrease in cell death in the nuclear-and ganglion-cell layers; iv) a reduction of hydropic degeneration in the plexiform and nerve-fiber layers; v) a preservation of astrocytes and of the retinal area occupied by them; and vi) a better-preserved retinal vascular structure. Our findings indicate that low doses of statins can prevent retinal degeneration, acting on retinal macroglia, neurons and retinal vessels, despite that hypercholesterolemia remained unchanged. Thus, the pleiotropic effects of the statins may help safeguard the retinal ultrastructure

Serum amyloid a1/toll-like receptor-4 Axis, an important link between inflammation and outcome of TBI patients

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability world-wide without any validated biomarker or set of biomarkers to help the diagnosis and evaluation of the evolution/prognosis of TBI patients. To achieve this aim, a deeper knowledge of the biochemical and pathophysiological processes triggered after the trauma is essential. Here, we identified the serum amyloid A1 protein-Toll-like receptor 4 (SAA1-TLR4) axis as an important link between inflammation and the outcome of TBI patients. Using serum and mRNA from white blood cells (WBC) of TBI patients, we found a positive correlation between serum SAA1 levels and injury severity, as well as with the 6-month outcome of TBI patients. SAA1 levels also correlate with the presence of TLR4 mRNA in WBC. In vitro, we found that SAA1 contributes to inflammation via TLR4 activation that releases inflammatory cytokines, which in turn increases SAA1 levels, establishing a positive proinflammatory loop. In vivo, post-TBI treatment with the TLR4-antagonist TAK242 reduces SAA1 levels, improves neurobehavioral outcome, and prevents blood–brain barrier disruption. Our data support further evaluation of (i) post-TBI treatment in the presence of TLR4 inhibition for limiting TBI-induced damage and (ii) SAA1-TLR4 as a biomarker of injury progression in TBI patientsThis work was supported by grants from Fundación Mutua Madrileña and Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) (ISCIII/FEDER) (Programa Miguel Servet CP14/00008; CPII19/00005; PI16/00735; PI19/00082) to JE, RYC2019-026870-I to JMR and PI18/01387 to A

Profundización en metodologías y espacios docentes innovadores

Fac. de FilologíaFALSEsubmitte

Tècniques i mètodes d'avaluació a la UPC. Incidència en els processos

En el presente proyecto, en primer lugar se ha estructurado y organizado el contenido del espacio virtual propio del Grupo de evaluación, GRAPA, dentro de la plataforma RIMA. Dicho entorno incluye desde aportaciones propias de los miembros del grupo, principalmente profesorado UPC, sobre sus experiencias en técnicas de evaluación, hasta bibliografía general y específica del ámbito. Además se ha traducido el contenido del entorno virtual a los dos idiomas oficiales de Cataluña para posibilitar su difusión al resto de España y así poder convertirse también en un referente nacional. Se ha ido actualizando el contenido para mantener al día toda la información de interés en el ámbito de la docencia y en especial de la evaluación. Con esta actuación se ha conseguido el principal resultado esperado del proyecto que era el de “Crear un espacio virtual propio en el ámbito de la evaluación de la práctica académica, que permita a toda la comunidad docente de la UPC, encontrar sistemas de evaluación sistematizados útiles para sus asignaturas, que aseguren la calidad del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje”. En segundo lugar y no por ello menos importante, la ayuda económica concedida en este proyecto ha permitido difundir y dar visibilidad a las iniciativas y los resultados obtenidos por el grupo GRAPA, a toda la comunidad universitaria, por un lado mediante la participación y asistencia a varios congresos nacionales del ámbito docente y por otro mediante la realización de reuniones y contactos con otros grupos de innovación nacionales. Uno de los resultados más importantes fruto de estos contactos ha sido la organización de varios talleres o cursos de formación en el ámbito de la evaluación, ofertados a toda la comunidad universitaria a través del ICE-UPC, Las diferentes Institut de Ciències de l’Educació – Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – octubre 2008 - 2 - actuaciones han favorecido la divulgación del grupo, posibilitando el aumento del número de miembros UPC de los 18 iniciales a los 36 actuales, todos ellos en mayor o menor medida activos en el grupo.Postprint (published version

Técnicas y métodos de evaluación en la UPC. Incidencia en los procesos

En el presente proyecto, en primer lugar se ha estructurado y organizado el contenido del espacio virtual propio del Grupo de evaluación, GRAPA, dentro de la plataforma RIMA. Dicho entorno incluye desde aportaciones propias de los miembros del grupo, principalmente profesorado UPC, sobre sus experiencias en técnicas de evaluación, hasta bibliografía general y específica del ámbito. Además se ha traducido el contenido del entorno virtual a los dos idiomas oficiales de Cataluña para posibilitar su difusión al resto de España y así poder convertirse también en un referente nacional. Se ha ido actualizando el contenido para mantener al día toda la información de interés en el ámbito de la docencia y en especial de la evaluación. Con esta actuación se ha conseguido el principal resultado esperado del proyecto que era el de “Crear un espacio virtual propio en el ámbito de la evaluación de la práctica académica, que permita a toda la comunidad docente de la UPC, encontrar sistemas de evaluación sistematizados útiles para sus asignaturas, que aseguren la calidad del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje”. En segundo lugar y no por ello menos importante, la ayuda económica concedida en este proyecto ha permitido difundir y dar visibilidad a las iniciativas y los resultados obtenidos por el grupo GRAPA, a toda la comunidad universitaria, por un lado mediante la participación y asistencia a varios congresos nacionales del ámbito docente y por otro mediante la realización de reuniones y contactos con otros grupos de innovación nacionales. Uno de los resultados más importantes fruto de estos contactos ha sido la organización de varios talleres o cursos de formación en el ámbito de la evaluación, ofertados a toda la comunidad universitaria a través del ICE-UPC. Las diferentes actuaciones han favorecido la divulgación del grupo, posibilitando el aumento del número de miembros UPC de los 18 iniciales a los 36 actuales, todos ellos en mayor o menor medida activos en el grupo.Peer Reviewe

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic