Las Redes Sociales para la mejora de la capacidad de emprender y de autoempleo

Las Redes Sociales son hoy día una herramienta de enorme potencial dentro de un conjunto de aplicaciones diversas. Dentro de una sociedad globalizada y de la información como la actual, en la que se puede acceder a contenidos digitales desde cualquier terminal con acceso a Internet: móvil, tableta, portátil¿ debemos ser conscientes de las enormes posibilidades a las que se tiene acceso de una forma ágil y efectiva. ¿Conocen nuestros jóvenes universitarios las posibilidades de emprender proyectos comerciales propios? ¿Se sienten capacitados para en un futuro próximo afrontar el gran reto del autoempleo?El objetivo general del presente trabajo es la mejora por parte del alumnado en el uso de las redes sociales en el ámbito profesional por cuenta propia. Como objetivos específicos: la mejora de la capacidad de emprender, la mejora de la capacidad de autoempleo, la mejora de la capacidad creativa, la mejora de la capacidad de comunicación y el aprendizaje del uso de normas comunitarias en redes sociales, datos de privacidad, etc. Se han evaluado una serie de competencias educativas en la titulación de Ingeniería Civil antes y después de realizar la actividad en cuestión. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto una mejora en la percepción por parte de los estudiantes de sus capacidades iniciales relacionadas con el emprendimiento, el autoempleo o la difusión de futuras ideas de negocio.Artículo revisado por pare

Bioaccessibility and Pharmacokinetics of a Commercial Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) Extract

There are few studies about the pharmacokinetics of the low-molecular mass carotenoids crocetin or crocin isomers from saffron (Crocus sativus L.). None has been performed with a galenic preparation of a standardised saffron extract. The aim of the present research work was to study the effect of in vitro digestion process on the main bioactive components of saffron extract tablets and the corresponding pharmacokinetic parameters in humans. Pharmacokinetics were calculated collecting blood samples every 30 min during the first 3 h and at 24 h after administration of two different concentrations (56 and 84 mg of the saffron extract) to 13 healthy human volunteers. Additionally, an in vitro digestion process was performed in order to determine the bioaccessibility of saffron main bioactive compounds. Identification and quantification analysis were performed by HPLC-PAD/MS. Digestion resulted in 40% of bioaccesibility for crocin isomers, whereas, safranal content followed an opposite trend increasing about 2 folds its initial concentration after the digestion process. Crocetin in plasma was detected in a maximum concentration (Cmax) in blood between 60 and 90 min after oral consumption with dose-dependent response kinetics, showing that crocin isomers from galenic preparation of saffron extract are rapidly transformed into crocetin. The results showed that this tested galenic form is an efficient way to administer a saffron extract, since the observed crocetin Cmax was similar and more quickly bioavailable than those obtained by other studies with much higher concentrations of crocetinThe authors gratefully acknowledge the Pharmactive Biotech Products, SL Company, for funding the project and supplying affron®, LIPA Pharmaceuticals for manufacturing the tablets, and RDC Clinical for their management of the clinical tria

Introduction to the special issue on ‘‘hydro-meteorological time series analysis and their relation to climate change’’

Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Monthly Precipitation Forecasts Using Wavelet Neural Networks Models in a Semiarid Environment

Accurate forecast of hydrological data such as precipitation is critical in order to provide useful information for water resources management, playing a key role in different sectors. Traditional forecasting methods present many limitations due to the high-stochastic property of precipitation and its strong variability in time and space: not identifying non-linear dynamics or not solving the instability of local weather situations. In this work, several alternative models based on the combination of wavelet analysis (multiscalar decomposition) with artificial neural networks have been developed and evaluated at sixteen locations in Southern Spain (semiarid region of Andalusia), representative of different climatic and geographical conditions. Based on the capability of wavelets to describe non-linear signals, ten wavelet neural network models (WNN) have been applied to predict monthly precipitation by using short-term thermo-pluviometric time series. Overall, the forecasting results show differences between the ten models, although an effective performance (i.e., correlation coefficients ranged from 0.76 to 0.90 and Root Mean Square Error values ranged from 6.79 to 29.82 mm) was obtained at each of the locations assessed. The most appropriate input variables to obtain the best forecasts are analyzed, according to the geo-climatic characteristics of the sixteen sites studied

A simple scaling analysis of rainfall in Andalusia (Spain) under different precipitation regimes

A simple scaling analysis was performed in Andalusia (Spain) using daily records from 377 selected stations covering the temporal period between 1870 and 2018. Since Andalusia is a region of considerable climatic variety, with notably wet areas as well as extremely dry zones, this study is useful to investigate the relationship between the simple scaling parameter value and the characteristic rainfall regime of a place. Despite the great correspondence with the average annual precipitation (PRCPTOT), a clear dependence on rainfall irregularity was observed, revealed by the ratio of the maximum daily precipitation and PRCPTOT, as well the wet spells frequency index CWD. The spatial distribution of the simple scaling parameter captured the increasing influence of the Mediterranean Sea towards the East. The easternmost dry areas are clearly influenced by Mediterranean disturbances, with a high proportion of convective rainfall and an irregular rainfall pattern. Using a simple scaling parameter, the generalized equations of the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, of great hydrological interest were calculated for the eight Andalusian provincial capitals. Moreover, the temporal trends of this parameter in the four past decades were studied in the different areas with the aim of determining if changes in their rainfall patterns due to global warming could be detected.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A quality control procedure for long-term series of daily precipitation data in a semiarid environment

The availability of quality precipitation records in the current climate situation is of great importance in the scientifctechnical feld but also for the public institutions that manage the meteorological networks. This work has implemented a comprehensive spatial quality control procedure in the semiarid region of Andalusia (Southern Spain), using precipitation time series from 1947 stations from three meteorological networks: Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET), Agroclimatic Information Network of Andalusia (RIA), and Phytosanitary Information Alert Network (RAIF). The method consists of three consecutive steps: basic, absolute, and relative quality control processes. The latter step compares data from neighboring stations taking into account their proximity, height diference, and correlation, leading to a complete evaluation of each daily value. Finally, the quality of each year at each station can be declared as acceptable, good, or excellent. The automatic weather station networks RIA and RAIF gave absolute quality index Q above 85% for almost 87% of their stations, while only 57% of AEMET network reached this percentage. However, one of the longest AEMET datasets, San Fernando-Cádiz, obtained, except for 1 year, Q values over 90% in all available years for more than a century of measurements, since 1870 until 2000. From a total of more than 15 million daily records, almost 82% was fagged as correct. Despite the limitations of Andalusia region (low density of stations and its structural water defcit), the complete quality control procedure has been satisfactorily applied. Finally, related to the number of outliers, no temporal trend was found across the region.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The history of rainfall data time-resolution in a wide variety of geographical areas

Collected rainfall records by gauges lead to key forcings in most hydrological studies. Depending on sensor type and recording systems, such data are characterized by different time-resolutions (or temporal aggregations), ta. We present an historical analysis of the time-evolution of ta based on a large database of rain gauge networks operative in many study areas. Globally, ta data were collected for 25,423 rain gauge stations across 32 geographic areas, with larger contributions from Australia, USA, Italy and Spain. For very old networks early recordings were manual with coarse time-resolution, typically daily or sometimes monthly. With a few exceptions, mechanical recordings on paper rolls began in the first half of the 20th century, typically with ta of 1 h or 30 min. Digital registrations started only during the last three decades of the 20th century. This short period limits investigations that require long time-series of sub-daily rainfall data, e.g, analyses of the effects of climate change on short-duration (sub-hourly) heavy rainfall. In addition, in the areas with rainfall data characterized for many years by coarse time-resolutions, annual maximum rainfall depths of short duration can be potentially underestimated and their use would produce errors in the results of successive applications. Currently, only 50% of the stations provide useful data at any time-resolution, that practically means ta = 1 min. However, a significant reduction of these issues can be obtained through the information content of the present database. Finally, we suggest an integration of the database by including additional rain gauge networks to enhance its usefulness particularly in a comparative analysis of the effects of climate change on extreme rainfalls of short duration available in different locations

Hydrology and its role in water engineering

[ES] La Hidrología es una ciencia esencial en Ingeniería del Agua, la cual abarca un amplio abanico de temas de investigación que engloban los diversos estadios del agua en el ciclo Hidrológico, tanto en atmósfera, superficie y suelo. Con motivo del relanzamiento de la revista Ingeniería del Agua se presenta un breve artículo de carácter introductorio en el que se muestran algunas de la líneas de investigación actuales en Hidrología, dedicadas a lluvia, interceptación de agua por la vegetación, sensores en Hidrología, agua subterránea, entre otras. Dicha revisión no pretende ser exhaustiva, dado el tamaño limitado de este formato de publicación, sino motivar la publicación en Ingeniería del Agua de artículos dentro de la temática Hidrología.[EN] Hydrology is the basic science for water engineering, including a wide list of research topics ranging from atmospheric water and surface hydrology to groundwater hydraulics. To initiate the new publication period of the journal Ingeniería del Agua, we present here a brief review paper where the current state of research in many hydrologic fields is discussed. The aim of the paper is not to present a complete picture of current state-of-the-art research topics, but rather to provide a broad overview and stimulate new and innovative publication of Hydrology papers in the journal Ingeniería del Agua.García-Marín, A.; Roldán-Cañas, J.; Estévez, J.; Moreno-Pérez, F.; Serrat-Capdevila, A.; González, J.; Francés García, FR.... (2014). La hidrología y su papel en ingeniería del agua. Ingeniería del agua. 18(1):1-14. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2014.3048OJS11418

Ibrutinib in Combination With Rituximab for Indolent Clinical Forms of Mantle Cell Lymphoma (IMCL-2015): A Multicenter, Open-Label, Single-Arm, Phase II Trial

PURPOSE The need for an individualized management of indolent clinical forms in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is increasingly recognized. We hypothesized that a tailored treatment with ibrutinib in combination with rituximab (IR) could obtain significant responses in these patients. METHODS This is a multicenter single-arm, open-label, phase II study with a two-stage design conducted in 12 Spanish GELTAMO sites (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02682641). Previously untreated MCL patients with indolent clinical forms defined by the following criteria were eligible: no disease-related symptoms, nonblastoid variants, Ki-67 < 30%, and largest tumor diameter <= 3 cm. Both leukemic non-nodal and nodal subtypes were recruited. Patients received ibrutinib 560 mg once daily and a total of eight doses of rituximab 375 mg/m(2). Ibrutinib could be discontinued after 2 years in the case of sustained undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD). The primary end point was the complete response (CR) rate achieved after 12 cycles according to Lugano criteria. RESULTS Fifty patients with MCL (male 66%; median age 65 years) were enrolled. After 12 cycles of treatment, 42 (84%; 95% CI, 74 to 94) patients had an overall response, including 40 (80%; 95% CI, 69 to 91) with CR. Moreover, undetectable MRD in peripheral blood was achieved in 87% (95% CI, 77 to 97) of cases. At 2 years, 24 of 35 evaluable patients (69%) could discontinue ibrutinib because of undetectable MRD. Four patients had disease progression; three were non-nodal MCL and carried high genomic complexity and TP53 mutations at enrollment. No unexpected toxicity was seen except one patient with severe aplastic anemia. CONCLUSION Frontline IR combination achieves a high rate of CRs and undetectable MRD in indolent clinical forms of MCL. Discontinuation seems appropriate in cases with undetectable MRD, except for TP53-mutated cases

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