Ribera y las esculturas clásicas conservadas en Roma.

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Factors de creixement autòlegs aplicats a les ferides cròniques amb evolució tòrpida

Curs 2010-2011Les ferides cròniques, especialment les de lenta curació, suposen una carga important pels pacients i pels sistemes de salut. És imprescindible investigar en nous tractaments que redueixin el temps de curació d‟aquestes ferides. L‟objectiu d‟aquest projecte, és avaluar l‟eficàcia dels factors de creixement, obtinguts de plasma ric en plaquetes, en la curació o millora de les ferides cròniques. El projecte s‟ha dissenyat com un estudi d‟una sèrie de casos que compara el tractament convencional amb el tractament amb factors de creixement. La variable resultats és la curació o la disminució del àrea de l‟úlcera. El projecte pretén avaluar uns quants pacients consecutius atesos en l‟ unitat de ferides cròniques del nostre hospital. Els subjectes del estudi han de presentar una ferida de més de 3 mesos d‟evolució nul·la o escassa resposta als tractaments habituals. La tècnica de obtenció dels factors de creixement plaquetar no és complexa i es pot realitzar en l‟entorn d‟un hospital de dia. No s‟han comunicat en la literatura efectes secundaris majors de l‟aplicació dels factors de creixement en ferides cròniques.Chronic wounds, especially those of slow healing, are a major burden for patients and health systems. It is essential to investigate on new treatments that reduce the healing time of these injuries. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of growth factors derived from platelet-rich plasma, on the improvement or healing of chronic wounds. The project is designed as an case series study in which conventional treatment is compared with growth factors treatment. The outcome variable is the healing or decrease in ulcer area. In the project we evaluate several consecutive patients treated in the chronic wound unit of our hospital. Study subjects must be affected by chronic wound for a minimum period of 3 months with any or a poor response to common treatment. The technique procedure to obtain platelet growth factors is not complex and can be performed in a Day Hospital setting. In medical journals there is not reported any side effects concerning the application of growth factors in chronic wounds compared to those of the conventional treatment.Director/a: Jacint Altimires Rose

Desenvolupament d’un procés per netejar l’exterior de les ampolles d’injectables.

Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2015-2016, Tutors: Joan Llorens Llacuna i Eva Ulied BaumgartnerThe project presented below was generated from a real need of a pharmaceutical plant to improve the production of one of their products. The proposed improvement project affects the manufacture of injectable ampoules, exactly the external washing of them once been filled and sterilized. The external ampoule’s washing is necessary because they will pass through an inspection stage where it will be detected if there are any impurities inside the ampoules. If ampoules are not externally clean the inspection line cannot distinguish whether the product have internal impurities or external, therefore, all of this ampoules will be rejected due to they will be unfitted for consumption. This external dirt mainly result during the sterilization stage due to rising temperatures and especially the pressure some of the ampoules do not withstand these conditions and endlessly they breakdown. Until this moment, the company uses the autoclaves to carry out the ampoules external washing. In this project three different ideas for improving this process stage are proposed. The first two ideas, propose improving the ampoules external washing using elements and equipment the plant already have, meanwhile the third option proposes a totally innovative washing design. The first option studied was the possible modification and improvement of the autoclave cycle to ensure, as already known, that there is no possible way an autoclave would carry out a good external washing. Its use is unique and exclusive to perform sterilizations. The second option was proposed was to optimize the ampoules trays. They are used for transporting the ampoules between the different stages of the process. Trays are holoed stainless steel "boxes". Their holes allow draining any remaining water from sterilization, and until now, from the washing. Thus, their dimensions, material and even the pass area of water through it were studied, but this option presented limitations regarding its improvement as it was seen that all the were almost ideal for the process. Finally, the last option was to design an ampoule’s washing tunnel. Using the washing tunnel it was ensures a good external wash of the ampoules so they would pass through the inspection line without any problem. This last option was the one presenting more improvements related to cost savings and especially time spent for company’s workers hand-washing those ampoules detected for the inspection line one by one

Evaluating teaching and management innovations in an online university: the case of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is an online university that has innovation as a transversal feature in all its activities and processes. Therefore, innovation is present in the annual objectives of all the academic and management departments in order to increase student satisfaction. UOC stimulates innovation by funding strategic projects as well as organizing regular internal calls for small projects which brings about innovative academic and management proposals. In this paper we present the method for evaluating teaching and management innovations through internal calls (APLICA), by selecting which initiatives are suitable to become strategic innovative projects (INNOVA) or which features should compose any application available at the OpenApps platform. Besides, general indicators used by the Innovation Program to evaluate the activities carried out are also reported

Bifurcation diagram for saddle/source bimodal linear dynamical systems

We continue the study of the structural stability and the bifurcations of planar bimodal linear dynamical systems (BLDS) (that is, systems consisting of two linear dynamics acting on each side of a straight line, assuming continuity along the separating line). Here, we enlarge the study of the bifurcation diagram of saddle/spiral BLDS to saddle/source BLDS and in particular we study the position of the homoclinic bifurcation with regard to the new improper node bifurcationPostprint (published version

Towards personalized medicine in psychosis: the roles of social cognition and metacognition

[eng] People with psychosis experience a range of symptoms and impairments that significantly impact their lives and often concur with disability. The best predictors of functional outcome are social cognition and metacognition, which are often impaired in psychosis. Interventions to improve both domains are effective, but this efficacy does not always translate into better functioning. Delivering early, and targeted social cognitive or metacognitive interventions to patients with psychosis could be instrumental in preventing poor functional outcome and preventing relapse, but the grounds on how to personalize these interventions are unknown. Although it has been suggested that the approach should take sex differences, the refining of measurement instruments and the use of sophisticated statistical models, these have not been explored yet. Under this rationale, the present doctoral dissertation aims to: 1) validate a test of facial emotion recognition (Baron Cohen’s Face Test) in healthy population, with the aim of detecting whether it is an appropriate tool to use in clinical research, 2) detect whether patients with first episode psychosis have different, clinically meaningful profiles of performance in social cognition and metacognition, 3) explore the sociodemographic, clinical, and neurocognitive characteristics of each profile, 4) examine if males and females with first episode psychosis are similar in their heterogeneity in social cognition and metacognition, 5) explore the role of social cognition and sex in functional outcome in people with established psychosis (schizophrenia). This broad aim yielded four research articles. The main findings of this doctoral dissertation are a) Baron Cohen’s Face Test is an adequate and reliable instrument to measure facial emotion recognition in Spanish population but it presents a ceiling effect, b) People with first-episode psychosis have distinct profiles of social cognition and metacognition that have specific clinical and neurocognitive correlates. Having worse social cognition is associated with worse clinical presentation, even if metacognition is preserved, c) Men and women with first-episode psychosis have similar configurations of social cognition and metacognition. However, there are sex- specific profiles that should be considered when delivering treatment. Sex-specific profiles seem to be associated with more severity of the disorder than the common profiles. These results suggest that people with psychosis can receive social cognitive or metacognitive targeted treatment as early as after the first episode, but these should be chosen considering the profile of each individual and their biological sex. Thus, patients with psychosis should always be carefully assessed for social cognitive and metacognitive performance.[spa] Las personas con psicosis experimentan una serie de síntomas y déficits que afectan significativamente a sus vidas y que a menudo concurren con la discapacidad. Los mejores predictores de funcionamiento son la cognición social y la metacognición, que a menudo presentan deterioro en personas con psicosis. Diversas intervenciones para mejorar ambos dominios son eficaces, pero esto no siempre se traduce en un mejor funcionamiento. Para ello, se ha propuesto que intervenciones en cognición social y metacognición tempranas y dirigidas podrían maximizar su efecto sobre el funcionamiento y la prevención de recaídas. No obstante, se desconocen los fundamentos que debería guiar su personalización. Aunque se ha sugerido que el enfoque debería tener en cuenta las diferencias de sexo, el perfeccionamiento de los instrumentos de medida y el uso de modelos estadísticos sofisticados, éstos aún no se han explorado en la literatura. Bajo este razonamiento, la presente tesis doctoral pretende: 1) validar una prueba de reconocimiento facial de emociones (Test de Caras de Baron Cohen) en población sana, con el objetivo de detectar si es un instrumento adecuado para utilizar en la investigación clínica, 2) detectar si los pacientes con primer episodio de psicosis tienen perfiles diferentes y clínicamente significativos de rendimiento en cognición social y metacognición, 3) explorar las características sociodemográficas, clínicas y neurocognitivas de cada perfil, 4) examinar si los hombres y las mujeres con primer episodio psicótico son similares en su heterogeneidad en la cognición social y la metacognición, 5) explorar el papel de la cognición social y el sexo en el resultado funcional en personas con psicosis establecida (esquizofrenia). Este amplio objetivo dio lugar a cuatro artículos de investigación. Los principales hallazgos de esta tesis doctoral son: a) El Test de Caras de Baron Cohen es un instrumento adecuado y fiable para medir el reconocimiento de emociones faciales en población española, pero presenta un efecto techo, b) Las personas con primer episodio psicótico tienen perfiles distintos de cognición social y metacognición, con correlatos clínicos y neurocognitivos específicos asociados. Tener una peor cognición social se asocia con una peor presentación clínica, incluso si la metacognición está preservada, c) Los hombres y las mujeres con primer episodio psicótico tienen configuraciones similares de cognición social y metacognición. Sin embargo, existen perfiles específicos de cada sexo que deben tenerse en cuenta a la hora de aplicar el tratamiento, ya que éstos parecen estar asociados a una mayor gravedad del trastorno que los perfiles comunes. Estos resultados sugieren que las personas con psicosis pueden recibir tratamiento en cognición social o metacognición específico desde el primer episodio psicótico, pero éste debe elegirse teniendo en cuenta el perfil de cada individuo y su sexo biológico. Para ello, se pone de manifiesto la necesidad de una correcta evaluación de sus habilidades cognitivo-sociales y metacognitivas

Effect of the mood produced by virtual reality exposure on body image disturbances

Previous research suggests that negative mood increases body image disturbances. The aim of this study was to examine whether the mood produced by virtual reality exposure had any influence on such disturbances. As expected, dysphoric mood increased body image disturbances in patients with eating disorders

The use of virtual reality in the treatment of eating disorders

A high percentage of patients with eating disorders (ED) respond to treatments such as cognitive-behavioural therapy. However, some patients do not progress significantly with these treatments, or suffer relapses. The incorporation of new technologies may help to increase the efficacy of standard treatments. Virtual reality has been successfully used to treat body image disturbances in ED patients and seems a suitable technology for cue exposure therapy in this setting. We review the published literature and discuss the results