Detecting Successful Student Profiles At An Open University: The Case Of The UNED (Spain)

At present, one of the major issues and most interesting discussions within the European Higher Education Area is the rate of success in university-level study, and therefore the adaptation of todays university education system to societys requirements. Moreover, we have seen significant growth in distance education throughout recent decades, as this type of education takes on a stronger leadership role in countries that are experiencing severe economic crises. Because the National Distance Education University (UNED) is the most important distance university in Spain, and the Economics Degree program has been offered by the School of Economics and Business for the first time, we have attempted to find a correlation between variables which describe student characteristics (age, gender, employment status, manner of admission, and nationality) and success rates in order to determine the influence that these variables have and achieve a better understanding of student success rates

Integration of Distributed Services and Hybrid Models Based on Process Choreography to Predict and Detect Type 2 Diabetes

[EN] Life expectancy is increasing and, so, the years that patients have to live with chronic diseases and co-morbidities. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, specifically linked to being overweight and ages over sixty. Recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of new strategies to delay and even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes by a combination of active and healthy lifestyle on cohorts of mid to high risk subjects. Prospective research has been driven on large groups of the population to build risk scores that aim to obtain a rule for the classification of patients according to the odds for developing the disease. Currently, there are more than two hundred models and risk scores for doing this, but a few have been properly evaluated in external groups and integrated into a clinical application for decision support. In this paper, we present a novel system architecture based on service choreography and hybrid modeling, which enables a distributed integration of clinical databases, statistical and mathematical engines and web interfaces to be deployed in a clinical setting. The system was assessed during an eight-week continuous period with eight endocrinologists of a hospital who evaluated up to 8080 patients with seven different type 2 diabetes risk models implemented in two mathematical engines. Throughput was assessed as a matter of technical key performance indicators, confirming the reliability and efficiency of the proposed architecture to integrate hybrid artificial intelligence tools into daily clinical routine to identify high risk subjects.The authors wish to acknowledge the consortium of the MOSAIC project (funded by the European Commission, Grant No. FP7-ICT 600914) for their commitment during concept development, which led to the development of the research reported in this manuscriptMartinez-Millana, A.; Bayo-Monton, JL.; Argente-Pla, M.; Fernández Llatas, C.; Merino-Torres, JF.; Traver Salcedo, V. (2018). Integration of Distributed Services and Hybrid Models Based on Process Choreography to Predict and Detect Type 2 Diabetes. Sensors. 18 (1)(79):1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18010079S12618 (1)79Thomas, C. C., & Philipson, L. H. (2015). Update on Diabetes Classification. Medical Clinics of North America, 99(1), 1-16. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2014.08.015Kahn, S. 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Genotype Score in Addition to Common Risk Factors for Prediction of Type 2 Diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(21), 2208-2219. doi:10.1056/nejmoa0804742Gillies, C. L., Abrams, K. R., Lambert, P. C., Cooper, N. J., Sutton, A. J., Hsu, R. T., & Khunti, K. (2007). Pharmacological and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 334(7588), 299. doi:10.1136/bmj.39063.689375.55Noble, D., Mathur, R., Dent, T., Meads, C., & Greenhalgh, T. (2011). Risk models and scores for type 2 diabetes: systematic review. BMJ, 343(nov28 1), d7163-d7163. doi:10.1136/bmj.d7163Collins, G. S., Reitsma, J. B., Altman, D. G., & Moons, K. G. M. (2015). Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD): The TRIPOD Statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 162(1), 55. doi:10.7326/m14-0697Steyerberg, E. W., Moons, K. G. M., van der Windt, D. A., Hayden, J. A., Perel, P., … Schroter, S. (2013). Prognosis Research Strategy (PROGRESS) 3: Prognostic Model Research. PLoS Medicine, 10(2), e1001381. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001381Collins, G. S., & Moons, K. G. M. (2012). Comparing risk prediction models. BMJ, 344(may24 2), e3186-e3186. doi:10.1136/bmj.e3186Riley, R. D., Ensor, J., Snell, K. I. E., Debray, T. P. A., Altman, D. G., Moons, K. G. M., & Collins, G. S. (2016). External validation of clinical prediction models using big datasets from e-health records or IPD meta-analysis: opportunities and challenges. BMJ, i3140. doi:10.1136/bmj.i3140Reilly, B. M., & Evans, A. T. (2006). Translating Clinical Research into Clinical Practice: Impact of Using Prediction Rules To Make Decisions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 144(3), 201. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-144-3-200602070-00009Altman, D. G., Vergouwe, Y., Royston, P., & Moons, K. G. M. (2009). Prognosis and prognostic research: validating a prognostic model. 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J., Kumari, M., … Humphries, S. E. (2010). Utility of genetic and non-genetic risk factors in prediction of type 2 diabetes: Whitehall II prospective cohort study. BMJ, 340(jan14 1), b4838-b4838. doi:10.1136/bmj.b4838Sackett, D. L. (1997). Evidence-based medicine. Seminars in Perinatology, 21(1), 3-5. doi:10.1016/s0146-0005(97)80013-4Segagni, D., Ferrazzi, F., Larizza, C., Tibollo, V., Napolitano, C., Priori, S. G., & Bellazzi, R. (2011). R Engine Cell: integrating R into the i2b2 software infrastructure. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 18(3), 314-317. doi:10.1136/jamia.2010.007914Semantic Webhttp://www.w3.org/2001/sw/Murphy, S. N., Weber, G., Mendis, M., Gainer, V., Chueh, H. C., Churchill, S., & Kohane, I. (2010). Serving the enterprise and beyond with informatics for integrating biology and the bedside (i2b2). Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 17(2), 124-130. doi:10.1136/jamia.2009.000893Murphy, S., Churchill, S., Bry, L., Chueh, H., Weiss, S., Lazarus, R., … Kohane, I. (2009). Instrumenting the health care enterprise for discovery research in the genomic era. Genome Research, 19(9), 1675-1681. doi:10.1101/gr.094615.109Lindstrom, J., & Tuomilehto, J. (2003). The Diabetes Risk Score: A practical tool to predict type 2 diabetes risk. Diabetes Care, 26(3), 725-731. doi:10.2337/diacare.26.3.725Alssema, M., Vistisen, D., Heymans, M. W., Nijpels, G., Glümer, C., … Dekker, J. M. (2010). The Evaluation of Screening and Early Detection Strategies for Type 2 Diabetes and Impaired Glucose Tolerance (DETECT-2) update of the Finnish diabetes risk score for prediction of incident type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia, 54(5), 1004-1012. doi:10.1007/s00125-010-1990-7Mann, D. M., Bertoni, A. G., Shimbo, D., Carnethon, M. R., Chen, H., Jenny, N. S., & Muntner, P. (2010). Comparative Validity of 3 Diabetes Mellitus Risk Prediction Scoring Models in a Multiethnic US Cohort: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171(9), 980-988. doi:10.1093/aje/kwq030Stern, M. P., Williams, K., & Haffner, S. M. (2002). Identification of Persons at High Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Do We Need the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test? Annals of Internal Medicine, 136(8), 575. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-136-8-200204160-00006Abdul-Ghani, M. A., Abdul-Ghani, T., Stern, M. P., Karavic, J., Tuomi, T., Bo, I., … Groop, L. (2011). Two-Step Approach for the Prediction of Future Type 2 Diabetes Risk. Diabetes Care, 34(9), 2108-2112. doi:10.2337/dc10-2201Rahman, M., Simmons, R. K., Harding, A.-H., Wareham, N. J., & Griffin, S. J. (2008). A simple risk score identifies individuals at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study. Family Practice, 25(3), 191-196. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmn024Guasch-Ferré, M., Bulló, M., Costa, B., Martínez-Gonzalez, M. Á., Ibarrola-Jurado, N., … Estruch, R. (2012). A Risk Score to Predict Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in an Elderly Spanish Mediterranean Population at High Cardiovascular Risk. PLoS ONE, 7(3), e33437. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033437Wilson, P. W. F. (2007). Prediction of Incident Diabetes Mellitus in Middle-aged Adults. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167(10), 1068. doi:10.1001/archinte.167.10.1068Franzin, A., Sambo, F., & Di Camillo, B. (2016). bnstruct: an R package for Bayesian Network structure learning in the presence of missing data. Bioinformatics, btw807. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btw807Rood, B., & Lewis, M. J. (2009). Grid Resource Availability Prediction-Based Scheduling and Task Replication. Journal of Grid Computing, 7(4), 479-500. doi:10.1007/s10723-009-9135-2Ramakrishnan, L., & Reed, D. A. (2009). 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A Large Multicenter Prospective Study of Community-Onset Healthcare Associated Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections in the Era of Multidrug Resistance: Even Worse than Hospital Acquired Infections?

Introduction: Healthcare-associated (HCA) infections represent a growing public health problem. The aim of this study was to compare community-onset healthcare associated (CO-HCA) bacteremic urinary tract infections (BUTI) and hospital-acquired (HA)-BUTI with special focus on multidrug resistances (MDR) and outcomes. Methods: ITUBRAS-project is a prospective multicenter cohort study of patients with HCA-BUTI. All consecutive hospitalized adult patients with CO-HCA-BUTI or HA-BUTI episode were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were: patients < 18 years old, non-hospitalized patients, bacteremia from another source or primary bacteremia, non-healthcare-related infections and infections caused by unusual pathogens of the urinary tract. The main outcome variable was 30-day all-cause mortality with day 1 as the first day of positive blood culture. Logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with clinical cure at hospital discharge and with receiving inappropriate initial antibiotic treatment. Cox regression was used to evaluate 30-day all-cause mortality. Results: Four hundred forty-three episodes were included, 223 CO-HCA-BUTI. Patients with CO-HCA-BUTI were older (p < 0.001) and had more underlying diseases (p = 0.029) than those with HA-BUTI. The severity of the acute illness (Pitt score) was also higher in CO-HCA-BUTI (p = 0.026). Overall, a very high rate of MDR profiles (271/443, 61.2%) was observed, with no statistical differences between groups. In multivariable analysis, inadequate empirical treatment was associated with MDR profile (aOR 3.35; 95% CI 1.77–6.35), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (aOR 2.86; 95% CI 1.27–6.44) and Charlson index (aOR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01–1.23). Mortality was not associated with the site of acquisition of the infection or the presence of MDR profile. However, in the logistic regression analyses patients with CO-HCA-BUTI (aOR 0.61; 95% CI 0.40–0.93) were less likely to present clinical cure. Conclusion: The rate of MDR infections was worryingly high in our study. No differences in MDR rates were found between CO-HCA-BUTI and HA-BUTI, in the probability of receiving inappropriate empirical treatment or in 30-day mortality. However, CO-HCA-BUTIs were associated with worse clinical cure. © 2021, The Author(s)

Grupo español de cirugía torácica asistida por videoimagen: método, auditoría y resultados iniciales de una cohorte nacional prospectiva de pacientes tratados con resecciones anatómicas del pulmón

Introduction: our study sought to know the current implementation of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for anatomical lung resections in Spain. We present our initial results and describe the auditing systems developed by the Spanish VATS Group (GEVATS). Methods: we conducted a prospective multicentre cohort study that included patients receiving anatomical lung resections between 12/20/2016 and 03/20/2018. The main quality controls consisted of determining the recruitment rate of each centre and the accuracy of the perioperative data collected based on six key variables. The implications of a low recruitment rate were analysed for '90-day mortality' and 'Grade IIIb-V complications'. Results: the series was composed of 3533 cases (1917 VATS; 54.3%) across 33 departments. The centres' median recruitment rate was 99% (25-75th:76-100%), with an overall recruitment rate of 83% and a data accuracy of 98%. We were unable to demonstrate a significant association between the recruitment rate and the risk of morbidity/mortality, but a trend was found in the unadjusted analysis for those centres with recruitment rates lower than 80% (centres with 95-100% rates as reference): grade IIIb-V OR=0.61 (p=0.081), 90-day mortality OR=0.46 (p=0.051). Conclusions: more than half of the anatomical lung resections in Spain are performed via VATS. According to our results, the centre's recruitment rate and its potential implications due to selection bias, should deserve further attention by the main voluntary multicentre studies of our speciality. The high representativeness as well as the reliability of the GEVATS data constitute a fundamental point of departure for this nationwide cohort

Ciencias de la Biología y Agronomía

Este volumen I contiene 17 capítulos arbitrados que se ocupan de estos asuntos en Tópicos Selectos de Ciencias de la Biología y Agronomía, elegidos de entre las contribuciones, reunimos algunos investigadores y estudiantes. Se presenta un Estudio Comparativo de los Recursos Hidrológico-Forestales de la Microcuenca de la Laguna de Epatlan, Pue. (1993 a 2014); la Situación Actual de la Mancha de Asfalto en Maíz (Zea mays L.) en los Municipios de Jiquipilas y Ocozocoautla, Chiapas, México; las poblaciones sobresalientes de maíz de la raza Zapalote Chico, en la Región Istmeña de Oaxaca; Se indica el índice de área foliar de cultivo de Chile Poblano mediante dos métodos en condiciones protegidas; Esquivel, Urzúa y Ramírez exploran el efecto de la biofertilización con Azospirillum en el crecimiento y producción de Jitomate; esbozan su artículo sobre la determinación del nivel de Heterosis en híbridos de Maíz para la Comarca Lagunera; una investigación sobre la estabilización de semilla de Solanum lycopersicum durante el almacenamiento y estimulación de la germinación; acotan sobre el CTAB como una nueva opción para la detección de Huanglongbing en cítricos, plantean su evaluación sobre el aluminio y cómo afecta la vida de florero de Heliconia psittacorum; indican sobre el impacto del H-564C, como un híbrido de maíz con alta calidad de proteina para el trópico húmedo de México; presetan su investigación sobre la producción de Piña Cayena Lisa y MD2 (Ananas comosus L.) en condiciones de Loma Bonita, en Oaxaca; acotan sobre el efecto de coberteras como control biológico por conservación contra áfidos en Nogal Pecanero; esbozan sobre la caracterización de cuatro genotipos de Frijol Negro en Martínez de la Torre, Veracruz, México; presentan una caracterización hidroecológica de la microcuenca de Arroyo Prieto, Yuriría, Gto., y alternativas para su restauración ambiental; presentan su investigación sobre el efecto del hongo Beauveria bassiana sobre solubilización de fosfatos y la disponibilidad de fósforo en el suelo; plantean su investigación sobre la Germinación y regeneración in vitro de Epidendrum falcatum LINDL; esbozan su artículo sobre genotipos de frijol negro y su tolerancia a sequía terminal en Veracruz, México

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p &lt; 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI