Analysis on the lack of motivation and dropout in engineering students in Spain

The dropout rate of engineering students is a concerning problem at the present time in many countries, resulting in difficulties to follow the demand of professionals in certain technological sectors as well as an associated negative economic impact. This study identifies a number of factors affecting the motivation degree of current electrical and computer engineering students, as well as the main reasons behind the dropout. A survey was completed by 624 students belonging to 8 different Spanish universities, rating the factors that could influence them to abandon their studies and those affecting their motivation to continue studying. Non-parametric analyses were performed in order to test the association of motivation as well as self-reported likelihood of dropping out with several variables. According to the research results, 23 of the 40 analyzed factors are correlated with the degree of motivation and 14 factors are correlated with the self-reported probability of dropping out. About 46% of the students declared to have thought about dropping out at some point in the past. Difficulty, followed by bad academic performance and negative relationships with professors are the main reasons for dropping out given by the students. Lack of vocation and distance to their home address were less frequent reasons.Universidad de Alcal

Efficient Technique for the Analysis of Electromagnetic Problems Involving Antenna Trajectories in Complex Scenarios

This letter presents an efficient approach for the electromagnetic analysis of complex scenarios involving transmitting antennas moving along predetermined trajectories. In order to efficiently reduce the size of the problem for each position of the antenna, we propose a technique based on macro basis functions that are dynamically generated using a ray-tracing analysis. The multilevel fast multipole algorithm is also included in order to reduce the memory consumption and speed up the solution process. Some representative test cases serve to validate the efficiency and performance of the proposed approach.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Manch, University of Alcal

Full-Wave Computation of Monostatic RCS Using Ray-Tracing and Adaptive Macro-Basis Functions

This article presents a technique for the computation of the monostatic radar cross section of complex objects based on a combination of macro-basis functions (MBFs) and the multilevel fast multipole algorithm. An initial pool of excitation-independent MBFs is first obtained, generating the corresponding reduced coupling matrix as well as the multipole data. For each excitation, ray-tracing processing is performed, extracting a number of critical points that are used to obtain a mask that allows to dynamically select the basis functions to be considered in the analysis. This strategy allows a noticeable reduction in the size of the problems with minimal CPU-time preprocessing overhead.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and European Unio

Efficient computation of the reduced matrix of MLFMA-CBFM for electrically large blocks

In recent years, the characteristic basis function method has been developed as an efficient approach for the solution of large electromagnetic radiation or scattering problems. According to this technique, the currents over the scenario under analysis are defined using a set of pre-computed characteristic basis functions, associated with a number of blocks into which the geometry is partitioned. This involves some computational advantages due to the reduction of the number of unknowns compared to conventional approaches. However, additional pre-processing time is introduced due to the computation of the CBFs and the reduced coupling matrix. A novel strategy is presented in this study in order to accelerate the generation of the reduced matrix, based on the application of the multilevel fast multipole algorithm.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Project, Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Mancha and Universidad de Alcal

Prospective associations between a priori dietary patterns adherence and kidney function in an elderly Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk

Purpose To assess the association between three different a priori dietary patterns adherence (17-item energy reduced-Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet), Trichopoulou-MedDiet and Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH)), as well as the Protein Diet Score and kidney function decline after one year of follow-up in elderly individuals with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods We prospectively analyzed 5675 participants (55-75 years) from the PREDIMED-Plus study. At baseline and at one year, we evaluated the creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and food-frequency questionnaires-derived dietary scores. Associations between four categories (decrease/maintenance and tertiles of increase) of each dietary pattern and changes in eGFR (ml/min/1.73m(2)) or >= 10% eGFR decline were assessed by fitting multivariable linear or logistic regression models, as appropriate. Results Participants in the highest tertile of increase in 17-item erMedDiet Score showed higher upward changes in eGFR (beta: 1.87 ml/min/1.73m(2); 95% CI: 1.00-2.73) and had lower odds of >= 10% eGFR decline (OR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.47-0.82) compared to individuals in the decrease/maintenance category, while Trichopoulou-MedDiet and DASH Scores were not associated with any renal outcomes. Those in the highest tertile of increase in Protein Diet Score had greater downward changes in eGFR (beta: - 0.87 ml/min/1.73m(2); 95% CI: - 1.73 to - 0.01) and 32% higher odds of eGFR decline (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.00-1.75). Conclusions Among elderly individuals with overweight/obesity and MetS, only higher upward change in the 17-item erMedDiet score adherence was associated with better kidney function after one year. However, increasing Protein Diet Score appeared to have an adverse impact on kidney health. Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN89898870 (Data of registration: 2014).Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by the official Spanish Institutions for funding scientific biomedical research, CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigacion para la Salud (FIS), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (six coordinated FIS projects leaded by JS-S and JVi, including the following projects: PI13/00673, PI13/00492, PI13/00272, PI13/01123, PI13/00462, PI13/00233, PI13/02184, PI13/00728, PI13/01090, PI13/01056, PI14/01722, PI14/00636, PI14/00618, PI14/00696, PI14/01206, PI14/01919, PI14/00853, PI14/01374, PI14/00972, PI14/00728, PI14/01471, PI16/00473, PI16/00662, PI16/01873, PI16/01094, PI16/00501, PI16/00533, PI16/00381, PI16/00366, PI16/01522, PI16/01120, PI17/00764, PI17/01183, PI17/00855, PI17/01347, PI17/00525, PI17/01827, PI17/00532, PI17/00215, PI17/01441, PI17/00508, PI17/01732, PI17/00926, PI19/00957, PI19/00386, PI19/00309, PI19/01032, PI19/00576, PI19/00017, PI19/01226, PI19/00781, PI19/01560, PI19/01332, PI20/01802, PI20/00138, PI20/01532, PI20/00456, PI20/00339, PI20/00557, PI20/00886, PI20/01158); the Especial Action Project entitled: Implementacion y evaluacion de una intervencion intensiva sobre la actividad fisica Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus grant to JS-S; the European Research Council (Advanced Research Grant 2014-2019; agreement #340918) granted to MAMG.; the Recercaixa (number 2013ACUP00194) grant to JS-S; grants from the Consejeria de Salud de la Junta de Andalucia (PI0458/2013, PS0358/2016, PI0137/2018); the PROMETEO/2017/017 and the PROMETEO 21/2021 grant from the Generalitat Valenciana; the SEMERGEN grant; the Boosting young talent call grant program for the development of IISPV research projects 2019-2021 (Ref.: 2019/IISPV/03 grant to AD-L); the Societat Catalana d'Endocrinologia i Nutricio (SCEN) Clinical-Research Grant 2019 (IPs: JS-S and AD-L). Collaborative Nutrition and/or Obesity Project for Young Researchers 2019 supported by CIBEROBN entitled: Lifestyle Interventions and Chronic Kidney Disease: Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Metabolomic Profile (LIKIDI study) grant to AD-L. Jordi Salas-Salvado, gratefully acknowledges the financial support by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme. M.R.-G., is supported by the Ministry of Education of Spain (FPU17/06488). None of the funding sources took part in the design, collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, or writing the report, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication

Admission, discharge and triage guidelines for paediatric intensive care units in Spain

La unidad de cuidados intensivos pediátricos (UCIP) es una unidad física asistencial hospitalaria independiente especialmente diseñada para el tratamiento de pacientes pediátricos quienes debido su gravedad o condiciones potencialmente letales requieren observación y asistencia médica intensiva integral y continua por un equipo médico que haya obtenido competencia especial en medicina intensiva pediátrica. La aplicación oportuna de terapia intensiva a los pacientes críticos reduce la mortalidad, el tiempo de estancia y los costes asistenciales. Con los objetivos de respetar el derecho del niño al disfrute del más alto nivel posible de salud y a servicios para el tratamiento de las enfermedades y la rehabilitación de la salud y de garantizar la calidad asistencial y la seguridad de los pacientes pediátricos críticos, la Asociación Española de Pediatría (AEP), la Sociedad Española de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos (SECIP) y la Sociedad Española de Medicina Intensiva, Crítica y Unidades Coronarias (SEMICYUC) han desarrollado y aprobado las guías de ingreso, alta y triage para las UCIP en España. Mediante la aplicación de estas guías se puede optimizar el uso de las UCIP españolas de forma que los pacientes pediátricos reciban el nivel de cuidados médicos más apropiado para su situación clínicaA paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a separate physical facility or unit specifically designed for the treatment of paediatric patients who, because of the severity of illness or other life-threatening conditions, require comprehensive and continuous inten-sive care by a medical team with special skills in paediatric intensive care medicine. Timely and personal intervention in intensive care reduces mortality, reduces length of stay, and decreases cost of care. With the aim of defending the right of the child to receive the highest attainable standard of health and the facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation, as well as ensuring the quality of care and the safety of critically ill paediatric patients, the Spanish Association of Paediatrics (AEP), Spanish Society of Paediatric Intensive Care (SECIP) and Spanish Society of Critical Care (SEMICYUC) have approved the guidelines for the admission, discharge and triage for Spanish PICUs. By using these guidelines, the performance of Spanish paediatric intensive care units can be optimised and paediatric patients can receive the appropriate level of care for their clinical conditio