Técnicas de innovación docente aplicadas al aprendizaje del desarrollo e implantación de sistemas de información empresarial

[Resumen] La materia de Sistemas de Información Empresarial (SIE) del Grado de Ingeniería Informática tiene como principal objetivo formar a los alumnos sobre la importancia de las características propias y diferenciación de estos sistemas respecto a cualquier otro sistema de información. Esto incluye que sus conocimientos al final de curso les faciliten seleccionar, diseñar y conocer las fases de implantación del SIE más adecuado atendiendo a la información integrada, mostrada y sus destinatarios dentro de la organización. Para facilitar el objetivo anterior, este curso se han introducido dos importantes innovaciones en proceso docente. En primer lugar, el método de caso al final de cada tema, de tal forma que el alumno seleccione un entorno empresarial de su interés o conocimiento y en él proponga y diseñe aquellos requisitos, módulos y funcionalidades que considere más adecuados atendiendo al SIE a estudiar en cada caso. La segunda ha sido el uso de Flipped Classroom para el trabajo grupal individual que el alumno debe de entregar y exponer al final del cuatrimestre. La elaboración del mismo es individual y se enmarca en el estado actual o comparativa de los SIE en diferentes sectores empresariales (un máximo de 3 alumnos pueden seleccionar el mismo tema). En el presente curso académico, una vez finalizado el trabajo, se les ofreció a los alumnos la oportunidad de realizar la exposición del mismo por parejas, de tal forma que cada uno de los miembros de la pareja tenía que analizar, estudiar, contrastar, debatir, sintetizar y evaluar la investigación realizada por su compañero. En el caso de existir dudas se resolvían en clase o tutorías. Ambos procesos han permitido ampliar y reforzar el aprendizaje, además la información recibida por parte del alumnado sobre el tema tratado ha sido más amplia, alcanzando un nivel superior en los conocimientos adquirido

Elaboración y defensa de trabajos en el entorno de producción audiovisual mediante tutorías grupales

[Resumen] Con el objetivo de formar profesionales con éxito en el entorno de la Comunicación Audiovisual, es fundamental que los alumnos, dispongan de tareas que faciliten la evolución de las destrezas de comunicación grupal. En la materia de Informática Audiovisual del Grado de Comunicación Audiovisual, se plantea a los alumnos que parte de la nota de su evaluación final dependa de un trabajo centrado en el desarrollo de un producto Audiovisual que deben elaborar durante todo el cuatrimestre y finalmente realizar una exposición oral a todos los alumnos de la materia. Ciertas restricciones son definidas con el fin de que el alumnado realice el trabajo progresivamente con temáticas preestablecidas por el profesorado –cada una de las etapas de trabajo tiene una frecuencia semanal– y están planificadas con la suficiente amplitud para que, si fuese necesario, pudiesen realizarse retroalimentaciones a fases anteriores (análisis, planificación de tareas, presupuesto económico, diseño, implementación, documentación, etc.). Cada sesión semanal de supervisión por parte del profesorado facilita detectar problemas comunes en los grupos, así como advertir dichos conflictos de forma instantánea al resto del alumnado y extrapolando dicha técnica. Se pueden plantear las mismas consultas a todos los grupos, de tal forma que pueda realizar un análisis y seguimiento paralelo de los grupos en cada una de las etapas de evolución y refinamiento del producto audiovisual. Se realiza un registro mediante diario de aprendizaje (semanal), tanto por parte del alumnado como del profesorado, que facilita el trabajo planteado para la siguiente sesión y ayuda a plantear el comienzo de la siguiente fecha programada. Es obligatoria la asistencia a dichas tutorías grupales y las mismas ayudan a comprender y evaluar el aprendizaje del alumnado, detectando aquellos puntos débiles, fortalezas y posibles acciones de mejoras en la metodología plantead

Traceability in Patient Healthcare through the Integration of RFID Technology in an ICU in a Hospital

[Abstract] Patient safety is a principal concern for health professionals in the care process and it is, therefore, necessary to provide information management systems to each unit of the hospital, capable of tracking patients and medication to reduce the occurrence of adverse events and therefore increase the quality of care received by patients during their stay in hospital. This work presents a tool for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a key service with special characteristics, which computerises and tracks admissions, care plans, vital monitoring, the prescription and medication administration process for patients in this service. To achieve this, it is essential that innovative and cutting-edge technologies are implemented such as Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which is now being implemented in diverse environments bringing a range of benefits to the tasks for which it is employedMinisterio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad; ESP2016-80079-C2-2-

The Integration of RFID Technology into Business Settings

[Abstract] At present, the term Internet of Things (IoT) is a key aspect in determining the sustainability, safety, quality and efficiency of the majority of the most important business sectors in society. The capacity to track processes that are undertaken, facilitates the recording of data of the professionals and clients involved. Identification technologies such as RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) when integrated into sectorial activities, can generate multiple benefits

The voice of birth families to improve visits in foster care

In foster care, contact visits with birth families play an important role in relation to the child’s wellbeing, and they may impact on placement outcomes. However, the views of birth parents with respect to such visits have largely been unexplored. This research is part of a project financed by the regional government of Andalusia (SEJ-7106) regarding contact visits in foster care. This study aims to give voice to parents and gather their views about contact visits, including how they might be improved. Participants were 23 birth families who had contact visits with 35 children in non-kinship foster care. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted in order to explore two key aspects: the parents’ opinions regarding the contact visits and the main areas they felt needed improving. The interviews were transcribed and the transcripts were examined using an inductive method of open coding to identify themes among participants’ responses. The main themes to emerge concerned their general view of contact visits and the organization of visits. The paper discusses the study’s implications of the findings for practice.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Bioethics in Critical Care Patients

Intensive care unit is a special medial environment for many reasons (the severity of the patients, the important technological advances). In recent years, the medicine has changed to a more focused practice on the patient, leaving behind the paternalistic medical approach, with a transparent new relationship with the patient and his family. The ethical principles-autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice-and the possibility of conflicts between them make decision-making very complex. The admission of these patients in our unit is justified based on a triangle-acute, severe, and recoverable disease-trying to optimize their treatment. Unfavorable later evolution is possible; a palliative management can often be considered, changing the patient’s approach from the cure of his illness to the relief of his symptoms. Decisions about patient’s future must be jointly made by the health care team, the patient and his family. We must look for documents about previous instructions and/or opinion of a substitute decision-maker. We must humanize our units, thinking about the best care for the sick person and his family, and improve the support to the family after his death. Therefore, the development of practice guidelines on palliative care should be promoted by the hospitals

Features of birth families with foster children in Andalusia

The aim of the presentation is to describe the personal features of biological families whose children are in non-kinship foster care and with whom they have face-to-face contact in Málaga, Granada and Jaén (provinces of Andalusia, Spain). This study was funded by the research project Application of a psychoeducational intervention program to improve visits between foster children and their biological families (Reference EDU2016 77094-P). SPSS v.21.0 was used to carry out the descriptive and frequency analysis of socio-demographic information collected by the Child File Summary Form designed for this study. The results show the difficulties experienced by birth families to deal with the responsibility of parenthood. There is a high percentage of unemployment (54.5% mothers, 46.4% fathers), and a low level of education (61.7% uneducated mothers, 68.8% uneducated fathers). Furthermore, it is necessary to consider their diverse personal problems which undermine their competences to bring up and educate their children: substance abuse, mental health issues, mental disability and prison. Finally, the lack of relation between Social Services and birth families is highlighted. Knowing the circumstances of families at psychosocial risk permits to develop social policies that match with their specific necessities, by providing them the support and resources required, in line with Recommendation Rec(2006)19 of the Committee of Ministers to member states. Moreover, children and families’ rights have to be respected, such as their right to have contact to maintain and strengthen their affective bonds as part of their identity. These findings will contribute to design: (a) family intervention programs which allow parents to acquire the necessary parental skills; (b) support and educational tools for the social workers; and (c) projects to contribute to children’s well-being.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Auranofin-loaded nanoparticles as a new therapeutic tool to fight streptococcal infections

Drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) can improve infection treatment by ensuring drug concentration at the right place within the therapeutic window. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs are able to enhance drug localization in target site and to sustainably release the entrapped molecule, reducing the secondary effects caused by systemic antibiotic administration. We have loaded auranofin, a gold compound traditionally used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,into PLGA NPs and their efficiency as antibacterial agent against two Gram-positive pathogens, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes was evaluated. Auranofin-PLGA NPs showed a strong bactericidal effect as cultures of multiresistant pneumococcal strains were practically sterilized after 6 h of treatment with such auranofin-NPs at 0.25 μM. Moreover, this potent bactericidal effect was also observed in S. pneumoniae and S. pyogenes biofilms, where the same concentration of auranofin-NPs was capable of decreasing the bacterial population about 4 logs more than free auranofin. These results were validated using zebrafish embryo model demonstrating that treatment with auranofin loaded into NPs achieved a noticeable survival against pneumococcal infections. All these approaches displayed a clear superiority of loaded auranofin PLGA nanocarriers compared to free administration of the drug, which supports their potential application for the treatment of streptococcal infections

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Advanced Heart Failure: Predictors of Response and Optimization of Therapy

Heart failure affects a high percentage of the population, especially older patients. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is indicated in some patients with advanced heart failure. However, 20–40% of patients with implanted resynchronization device have no clinical response. In this chapter, we review factors related with the absence of a clinical response, recent technological advances that can reduce the failure rate, and an algorithm for management of patients without a clinical response

Analysis of resolution in feedback signals for hardware-in-the-loop models of power converters

One of the main techniques for debugging power converters is hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), which is used for real-time emulation. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) are the most common design platforms due to their acceleration capability. In this case, the widths of the signals have to be carefully chosen to optimize the area and speed. For this purpose, fixed-point arithmetic is one of the best options because although the design time is high, it allows the personalization of the number of bits in every signal. The representation of state variables in power converters has been previously studied, however other signals, such as feedback signals, can also have a big influence because they transmit the value of one state variable to the rest, and vice versa. This paper presents an analysis of the number of bits in the feedback signals of a boost converter, but the conclusions can be extended to other power converters. The purpose of this work is to study how many bits are necessary in order to avoid the loss of information, but also without wasting bits. Errors of the state variables are obtained with di erent sizes of feedback signals. These show that the errors in each state variable have similar patterns. When the number of bits increases, the error decreases down to a certain number of bits, where an almost constant error appears. However, when the bits decrease, the error increases linearly. Furthermore, the results show that there is a direct relation between the number of bits in feedback signals and the inputs of the converter in the global error. Finally, a design criterion is given to choose the optimum width for each feedback signal, without wasting bit