Material multimedia en español, valenciano e inglés para la clase práctica de Auscultación Cardíaca

En los últimos años, el uso de material multimedia se ha convertido en una práctica habitual en las aulas, ya que permite que los estudiantes mantengan y mejoren la atención en clase, así como una mayor comprensión de los conceptos adquiridos. Es por ello, que hemos llevado a cabo un vídeo en español, valenciano e inglés de la clase práctica de Auscultación Cardíaca en el Grado de Medicina y otros grados afines dentro de las Ciencias de la Salud. El vídeo se realizó en los tres idiomas utilizados (español, inglés y valenciano) en los grupos del Grado de Medicina. Se trata un procedimiento clínico de exploración física ampliamente utilizado en clínica, pero que al mismo tiempo presenta cierta dificultad para el estudiante. Los objetivos son aprender a localizar exactamente los focos de auscultación cardíaca (mitral, aórtico, tricuspídeo y pulmonar) y el reconocimiento de cada uno de los ruidos cardíacos. Este material multimedia permite que los estudiantes mantengan y mejoren la atención en clase y aumente su capacidad de aprendizaje, tal y como ha sido mostrado en las encuestas realizadas. Su uso en la actualidad supone una ayuda para los estudiantes que tengan que realizar esta práctica de modo no presencial

Safety of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral iron in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD: an analysis of the 1-year FIND-CKD trial.

Background: The evidence base regarding the safety of intravenous (IV) iron therapy in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is incomplete and largely based on small studies of relatively short duration. Methods: FIND-CKD (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00994318) was a 1-year, open-label, multicenter, prospective study of patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD, anemia and iron deficiency randomized (1:1:2) to IV ferric carboxymaltose (FCM), targeting higher (400-600 µg/L) or lower (100-200 µg/L) ferritin, or oral iron. A post hoc analysis of adverse event rates per 100 patient-years was performed to assess the safety of FCM versus oral iron over an extended period. Results: The safety population included 616 patients. The incidence of one or more adverse events was 91.0, 100.0 and 105.0 per 100 patient-years in the high ferritin FCM, low ferritin FCM and oral iron groups, respectively. The incidence of adverse events with a suspected relation to study drug was 15.9, 17.8 and 36.7 per 100 patient-years in the three groups; for serious adverse events, the incidence was 28.2, 27.9 and 24.3 per 100 patient-years. The incidence of cardiac disorders and infections was similar between groups. At least one ferritin level ≥800 µg/L occurred in 26.6% of high ferritin FCM patients, with no associated increase in adverse events. No patient with ferritin ≥800 µg/L discontinued the study drug due to adverse events. Estimated glomerular filtration rate remained the stable in all groups. Conclusions: These results further support the conclusion that correction of iron deficiency anemia with IV FCM is safe in patients with nondialysis-dependent CKD

Energy distributions of particles striking the cathode in a glow discharge

Charge-exchange collision in the cathode fall region of an abnormal glow discharge is assumed to be the mechanism which limits the energy of the ions and generates the energetic neutrals bombarding the cathode. The model used by W. D. Davis and T. A. Vanderslice Phys. Rev. 131 219 (1963) for the calculation of the ion distribution was not applied to calculate the distribution of neutrals. A transport formulation is proposed that allows the calculation of both the distributions of energetic ions and fast neutrals.This work is part of a research project under the auspices of the Spanish-CAICYT (Proyecto No. 599), in collaboration with the University of Salford (financially supported by The British Council and the Spanish MEC)

To Combine or Not Combine: Drug Interactions and Tools for Their Analysis. Reflections from the EORTC-PAMM Course on Preclinical and Early-phase Clinical Pharmacology

Combination therapies are used in the clinic to achieve cure, better efficacy and to circumvent resistant disease in patients. Initial assessment of the effect of such combinations, usually of two agents, is frequently performed using in vitro assays. In this review, we give a short summary of the types of analyses that were presented during the Preclinical and Early-phase Clinical Pharmacology Course of the Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms Group, European Organization for Research and Treatment on Cancer, that can be used to determine the efficacy of drug combinations. The effect of a combination treatment can be calculated using mathematical equations based on either the Loewe additivity or Bliss independence model, or a combination of both, such as Chou and Talalay's median-drug effect model. Interactions can be additive, synergistic (more than additive), or antagonistic (less than additive). Software packages CalcuSyn (also available as CompuSyn) and Combenefit are designed to calculate the extent of the combined effects. Interestingly, the application of machine-learning methods in the prediction of combination treatments, which can include pharmacogenomic, genetic, metabolomic and proteomic profiles, might contribute to further refinement of combination regimens. However, more research is needed to apply appropriate rules of machine learning methods to ensure correct predictive models