La evaluación de la calidad docente en el nuevo marco del EEES : un estudio sobre la encuesta de opinión del Programa DOCENTIA-ANDALUCÍA

La adaptación de los Títulos al nuevo marco del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) requiere la optimización de la calidad de las actividades desarrolladas por el profesorado. La evaluación de la actividad docente se convierte así en un pilar fundamental en el ámbito de los nuevos Sistemas de Garantía de Calidad (SGC). Por ello, y en este contexto de cambios, la necesidad de emprender la evaluación de la labor docente de forma integral constituye una de las demandas más urgentes para las universidades españolas. A pesar de la importancia de contextualizar la evaluación, la utilización de indicadores específicos permite detectar problemáticas educativas e implementar medidas de mejora continua. Asimismo, posibilita el uso de un lenguaje común entre instituciones académicas, fortaleciéndose el sentido de la evaluación de la labor docente como sistema integral de calidad. En este sentido, el mantenimiento de indicadores depende de la implantación de procedimientos validados por la comunidad universitaria. Un ejemplo de ello es el uso de herramientas fiables como la Encuesta de Opinión de los Estudiantes sobre la Labor Docente del Profesorado Universitario, originaria del programa DOCENTIA-ANDALUCIA, y que representa una muestra de la utilidad de este tipo de instrumentos. El estudio que se presenta se enmarca en las nuevas formas de docencia universitaria y supone un cambio en la concepción de la evaluación docente._________________________________________Adjustment of Degrees to the new framework of the European Space for Higher Education needs optimization of the quality of the activities developed by the teaching staff. So, the assessment of the teaching activity becomes a mainstay in the field of new Quality Assurance Systems. In this context of changes, the need to undertake an integral evaluation of the academic job represents one of the most urgent demands for the Spanish universities. In spite of importance of the context of evaluation, utilization of specific indicators allows to detect educational problems and to implement measures of constant improvement. Likewise, it makes possible the use of a common language among academic institutions and it strengthens the sense of evaluation of the teaching labour as integral system of quality. In this respect, maintenance of indicators depends on implementation of validated procedures by the university community. An example of it is the use of trustworthy tools such as the Opinion polls of the Students about Teaching Activity of University Professor. This survey comes from program DOCENTIA-ANDALUCIA and it represents a sample of utility of this type of instruments. The study presented places in the new forms of university teaching and it means a change in the conception of the academic/educational/teaching process evaluation

Combined kinetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia, N-antigenemia and virus-specific antibodies in critically ill adult COVID-19 patients

Combined kinetic analysis of plasma SARS‐CoV‐2 RNAemia, Nucleocapsid (N)‐antigenemia and virus‐specific antibodies may help ascertain the role of antibodies in preventing virus dissemination in COVID‐19 patients. We performed this analysis in a cohort of 71 consecutive critically ill COVID‐19 patients (49 male; median age, 65 years) using RT‐PCR assay, lateral flow immunochromatography method and receptor binding domain (RBD) and N‐based immunoassays. A total of 338 plasma specimens collected at a median of 12 days after symptoms onset were available for analyses. SARS‐ CoV‐2 RNAemia and N‐antigenemia were detected in 37 and 43 specimens from 26 (36.5%) and 30 (42.2%) patients, respectively. Free RNA was the main biological form of SARS‐CoV‐2 found in plasma. The detection rate for both viral components was associated with viral load at the upper respiratory tract. Median time to SARS‐CoV‐2‐RBD antibody detection was 14 days (range, 4-38) from onset of symptoms. Decreasing antibody levels were observed in parallel to increasing levels of both RNAemia and N‐antigenemia, yet overall a fairly modest inverse correlation (Rho = −0.35; P < 0.001) was seen between virus RNAemia and SARS‐CoV‐2‐RBD antibody levels. The data cast doubts on a major involvement of antibodies in virus clearance from the bloodstream within the timeframe examined

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics

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Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

Fidelidad y compromiso en los servicios financieros

Las características que definen en la actualidad el marco en el que se mueve la banca en España llevan a estas entidades a poner un énfasis especial en el cliente, tratando de buscar su satisfacción y lealtad por encima de los incentivos que otras entidades puedan ofrecerle para su captación. Ante este panorama, la presencia de compromiso hacia la entidad financiera hace que las posibilidades de mantener relaciones más estables y duraderas con los clientes se amplíen, llegando a conseguir su lealtad. En este estudio se delimita y analiza el compromiso del cliente que han de buscar las empresas, aquél que conlleva el mantenimiento de relaciones estables y duraderas. Por otra parte, se estudia la relación que éste tiene con la lealtad, y se determinan las características que definen a los distintos clientes según el nivel de compromiso que presenta

Competencia intertipo entre supermercados e hipermercados

El sector de la distribución comercial en España ha experimentado profundos cambios a lo largo de los últimos 20 años. Podemos decir que esta evolución ha ido dirigida por un lado a la intensidad de la competencia a través de estrategias más agresivas y, por otro lado, hacia el desarrollo de la competencia intertipo e intratipo que ha producido aumentos en la eficiencia del canal desembocando en el desarrollo de nuevas formas comerciales

Private label strategies and differentiation on the European market

Due to the relevance of private labels strategies in the European market and the strengthen that these strategies have received from distribution groups, present paper analyses the evolution of private label strategy towards differentiation modes. So, after pointing out some details about relevance of private brands in Europe by sector, three differentiation strategies are identified. Each one of those is analized, collecting names under which the brands are known. Also, the paper includes actual data about the use of these strategies in different European countries and the way how these private brands are providing value