e-Learning managements tools

El uso de plataformas e-Learning como apoyo a la docencia en las distintas universidades europeas ha experimentado un gran desarrollo en los últimos años. En estas universidades, y en muchas empresas se han venido utilizando indistintamente tanto plataformas de código abierto como comerciales. En concreto, en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, la plataforma comercial WebCT [11] convive en la actualidad con plataformas de código abierto como Moodle [1], Ilias [13] y Sakai [17]. Generalmente, los problemas surgen cuando un profesor decide, (o se ve obligado) a cambiar la plataforma donde tiene virtualizada una cierta asignatura/s. En ese momento el profesor teme perder todo el trabajo realizado con la anterior plataforma. Cuestionarios, exámenes, notas, temas, la perdida sería importante. Por eso es tan importante disponer de una herramienta que facilite todo este trabajo de migración de plataformas. Ésta es la idea principal a partir de la cual surge el proyecto e-Learning Management Tools, crear una aplicación que permita migrar los contenidos que un profesor tiene en una plataforma x a otra plataforma y. Concretamente la aplicación se centra en los ‘cuestionarios’ o ‘bancos de preguntas’ que forman parte de las asignaturas/cursos virtualizadas en alguna de las siguientes plataformas WebCT [11], Moodle [1], Ilias [13] y Sakai [17]. Cada plataforma permite importar y exportar dichos cuestionarios. Por tanto la aplicación que hemos diseñado, implementado y desarrollado contendrá una base de datos donde se almacenarán preguntas y respuestas de las distintas plataformas. El usuario de la aplicación deberá exportar desde la plataforma de origen las preguntas que quiera migrar. A continuación y desde nuestra aplicación podrá elegir qué tipo de fichero desea importar, eligiéndose el archivo generado en el paso anterior. La aplicación escaneará ese fichero y añadirá a la base de datos las preguntas que dicho fichero contenga. A continuación el usuario podrá exportar todas las preguntas de la base de datos a la plataforma que el desee, generándose un fichero que podrá ser utilizado desde las distintas plataformas para la importación de preguntas. De esta forma se consigue una migración de preguntas de una plataforma a otra, de una manera sencilla y rápida para el usuario. Por tanto gracias a esta herramienta se le X brinda al profesor la posibilidad de organizar y localizar las preguntas de cursos virtualizados en distintas plataformas en una misma aplicación, permitiéndose la modificación, borrado y exportación de esas preguntas, así como la creación de nuevas preguntas desde la propia aplicación. Dentro de estas plataformas es muy común el uso de imágenes en las distintas secciones que componen los cursos. Además los profesores suelen trabajar con una gran variedad de imágenes, que en múltiples ocasiones buscan en internet una y otra vez. Así surge la idea de otra de las herramientas que contiene e-Learning Management Tools, la referente al gestor de imágenes. La herramienta permite almacenar en una base de datos, imágenes permitiendo al profesor anotarlas con Temas o descripciones que el elija, así como asignar a las imágenes asignaturas, de forma que luego puedan filtrar imágenes por una asignatura o descripción concreta. Además se permite la exportación en un fichero comprimido de las imágenes que el usuario elija. La otra herramienta de e-Learning Management Tools nace a raíz de la gran variedad de plataformas existentes en el mercado y la dificultad que encuentran muchos profesores a la hora de decidir cual utilizar. Ésta consiste en un recomendador de plataformas de e-Learning basado en el árbol de decisión ID3 [19], que automatiza la elección de la plataforma, teniendo en cuenta las características y necesidades del usuario. Estos usuarios se ven desbordados ante la variedad de plataformas disponibles, y ante la escasez de conocimientos acerca de en qué casos es mejor utilizar una u otra plataforma. Para ello el recomendador se basa en un perfil, rellenado por el usuario o extraído de la base de datos, para obtener así la plataforma más acorde a sus necesidades. La aplicación ha sido desarrollada bajo Microsoft Windows, con tecnología .NET [2] y en el lenguaje C#, que ha tenido un gran auge en los últimos tiempos. [ABSTRACT] The use of e-Learning platforms to support teaching in European universities have experienced a great development in recent years. In these universities, and many companies there have been used indiscriminately open source platforms and commercial ones. Specifically in Complutense University of Madrid University the commercial platform WebCT [11] coexists with other open source platforms as Moodle [1], Ilias [13] or Sakai [17]. Generally, the problems emerge when a teacher decides, or is forced to change the platform where he has virtualized a certain subject, at this moment the following questions arise; will he loose all his quizzes, exams, etc. in the new platform? Or contrarily, will he be able to preserve all his work done with older platforms. This one is the principal idea from which the project e-Learning Management Tools arises, to create an application that allows to migrate the contents that a teacher has in a platform x to another platform y. Concretely the application centre’s on the questionnaires or banks of questions, that form a part of the subjects / courses virtualized in someone of XI the following platforms WebCT [11], Moodle [1], Ilias [13] and Sakai [17]. Every platform allows to import and to export the above mentioned questionnaires. Therefore the application that we have designed, implemented and developed will contain a database where there will be stored questions and answers of the different platforms. The user of the application will have to export from the platform of origin the questions that he wants to migrate. Later and from our application he will be able to choose what type of file wants to import, (he will select the file generated in previous step). The application will parse this file and it will add to the database the questions that the above mentioned file contains. Later the user will be able to export all the questions of the database to the platform that he wishes a file will be generated that could be used from the different platforms for questions import. So following the previous steps there is obtained a migration of questions of a platform to other one, in a simple and rapid way for the user. Therefore our tools lets the teacher the possibility of organizing and locating the questions of courses virtualized in different platforms in the same application, and also the modification deletion and export of these questions will be allowed, as well as the creation of new questions. Inside these platforms the use of images is very common in the different sections that compose the courses. In addition the teachers are in the habit of working with a great variety of images, which are in multiple occasions search in Internet. This way emerge another tool that e-Learning Management Tools contains, the relating one to the manager of images. The tool allows to store in a database, images allowing the teacher to annotate them with topics or descriptions that he chooses, as well as to assign to the images subjects, so that then they could select images for a concrete subject or description. In addition the export is allowed in a compressed file of the images that the user chooses. Another E-Learning Management's Tools component is born immediately after the great variety of existing platforms on the market and the difficulty that many teachers find at the moment of deciding which to use. This one consists of a recommender of platforms of e-Learning based on the tree of decision ID3 [19], which automates the choice of the platform, having in it counts the characteristics and needs of the user. These users meet exceeded before the variety of available platforms, and before the shortage of knowledge it brings over of in what cases it is better to use one or another platform. For it the recommender bases on a profile filled by the user or extracted from the database, to obtain this way the best platform for his needs. The application has been developed under Microsoft Windows, with technology .NET [2] and in the language C# that has had a great summit in the last times

Caracterización de zonas de alteración y fases intrusivas para el prospecto “Stock de Piedra Sentada” (Vereda Santa Lucía) Cauca, Colombia

The Santa Lucia porphyritic stock is located in Cauca department, in the western flank of the central cordillera, specifically in the Santa Lucia rural settlement of La Sierra municipality. It corresponds to a hypoabyssal body from the Miocene age which intrudes basalts form Barroso - Amaime complex; it is probably inclined in predominant northeast direction. This characterization is based on the log of 5 vertical drillings made and located by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in agreement to the reported geophysical anomalies for the area of study. The stock presents mineralogical and hydrothermal characteristics proper of porphyritic gold-copper deposits, and it is genetically related to the emplacement of 4 intrusive pulses of variable composition between dacite-andesite. They are contained in 2 intrusive phases: an early phase characterized by presenting dominant potassic- biotitic alteration and veinlet typical of high temperature (type M, A, EB, B) which presents the major economic interest in the system; and a postmineral phase with dominant propylitic alteration and typical veinlet (type B, D, CI+Ep) located in the interior part of the deposit. The porphyritic stock presents overprint of veinform systems in the south of the deposit; they correspond preliminarily to low-sulfidation epithermal features. Given the present characteristics in the deposit, its presence is  associated to the metallogenic miocene belt existing in the southwestern part of Colombia. El stock porfirítico de Santa Lucía se encuentra localizado en el Departamento del Cauca, en el flanco occidental de la cordillera central, específicamente en la vereda Santa Lucía, del municipio de La Sierra. Corresponde a un cuerpo hipoabisal de edad miocénica, que intruye basaltos del complejo Barroso - Amaime, y que probablemente se encuentra inclinado en dirección predominantemente NE. Esta caracterización se basa en el logueo de 5 sondeos verticales realizados y localizados por la Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), de acuerdo con las anomalías geofísicas reportadas para el área de estudio. El stock presenta características mineralógicas y de alteración hidrotermal propias de depósitos porfiríticos Au-Cu, y se encuentra relacionado genéticamente al emplazamiento de 4 pulsos intrusivos de composición variable entre dacita-andesita. Estos se agrupan en dos fases intrusivas: una fase temprana caracterizada por presentar alteración potásica-biotítica dominante y vetilleo típico de alta temperatura (tipo M, A, EB, B), que presenta el mayor interés económico en el sistema, y una fase postmineral con alteración propilítica dominante y vetilleo típico (tipo B, D, Cl+Ep) localizado hacia el interior del depósito. El Stock porfirítico presenta sobreimposición de sistemas vetiformes hacia el sur del depósito, que corresponden preliminarmente a rasgos epitermales de baja sulfuración. Dadas las características presentes en el depósito, se asocia su presencia con una faja metalogénica del mioceno presente hacia el suroccidente de Colombia

Plan estratégico para desarrollar la división de harinas en Gloria S.A

Este trabajo de investigación tiene como finalidad el desarrollo del plan estratégico para la implementación de la nueva división de harinas en la unidad de negocios de alimentos de la empresa Gloria S. A., del 2017 al 2021, de acuerdo con la estrategia de crecimiento a través del ingreso de nuevas categorías de alimentos. Se identificaron dos problemas principales: el primero es el enfoque en la producción y venta de un solo producto (panetones) y el segundo es la falta de aprovechamiento de la infraestructura en la planta panificadora. El macroentorno es favorable porque la nueva división de harinas puede responder por encima del promedio de las amenazas y oportunidades identificadas, entre las cuales figura la tendencia de consumo saludable y nuevos estilos de vida del cliente y consumidor que valora más el tiempo y busca alimentos de consumo práctico. El análisis del microentorno concluye que la industria es atractiva y según la matriz de perfil competitivo, esta división sería una de las más fuertes y competitivas de la industria. El análisis interno concluye que la nueva división de harinas tendrá una posición interna fuerte frente a la industria

Propuesta de mejoramiento en la metodología del trabajo en el taller de torno “Rodríguez Mendoza” ubicado en la Plaza Pedro Joaquín Chamarro, Masaya

La problemática de este tipo de taller radica en que comúnmente no utilizan una metodología adecuada ya que sus conocimientos son prácticos (empíricos), les hace falta apoyo técnico y profesional, esto provoca una serie de inconvenientes que conlleva a gastos innecesarios en materiales, capital y fuerza de trabajo, bajando los niveles de productividad. La organización de los materiales y herramienta de trabajo al igual que la distribución de las máquinas es de mucha importancia según el tipo de proceso, en el taller de torno “Rodríguez Mendoza” este es un problema que está presente ya que no cuentan con la distribución adecuada de sus equipos y materiales de trabajo

Principales causas de muertes y correlación Clínico-patológica en una unidad de cuidados intensivos

Se estudiaron 224 fallecidos con autopsias, en Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos del Hospital Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, en el  período del 2000 al 2002, con el propósito de precisar las principales causas básicas y directas de muertes, así como determinar el grado de correlación clínico-patológica; con  este fin, se utilizó la clasificación empleada en el Sistema Automatizado de  Registro y Control de Anatomía Patológica. La ateroesclerosis coronaria constituyó la principal causa básica de muerte, tanto por diagnóstico clínico como autópsico y el choque fue la causa directa más frecuente. La discrepancia diagnóstica  fue de 26.1%, en la causa básica de muerte, y de 29.9%, en la causa directa de muerte.  Palabras clave: Mortalidad, discrepancia diagnóstica, Sistema Automatizado de Registro y Control de Anatomía Patológica. <br /

Neuroaxial anesthesia caused paraplegia: a case report

Patients who undergo; anesthesia, neuraxial analgesia, or some type of neuraxial blockage are exposed to multiple complications. 33-year-old male patient, suffers a femur fracture with a long oblique trace causing pain and functional limitation for movements. Surgical resolution is determined using neuraxial block at L2-L3 level, and intravenous sedation. During his postoperative follow-up, a decrease in strength was confirmed in the lower limbs with 0/5 on the Daniels scale, 100% sensitivity without sphincter control, steroids were prescribed along with magnetic resonance imaging and a neurosurgical evaluation was requested. The MRI shows bulging of the fibrous annulus that obliterates the epidural fat and makes contact with the thecal sac in the L5-S1 intervertebral disc level. The neurosurgery service prescribes rehabilitation sessions at home, electrostimulation and neuropathic medications. Patient was discharged with rehabilitation sessions at home and medical treatment. In his last consultation, an evaluation from the psychiatry department was requested for ideas of disability, hopelessness, fantasies of death without a suicide plan related to limitations and loss of functionality. Patient does not return to external follow-up, cannot be located

Chronic venous insufficiency: a review

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) comprises a complete spectrum of morphological and functional abnormalities of the venous system1 including any long-term functional and morphological alteration. CVI accounts for several abnormalities of the venous system. It is a highly prevalent disease that causes serious economic consequences, a decrease in the quality of life and can lead to serious complications. An exhaustive review was performed with the available literature, using the PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Cochrane databases from 2004 to 2021. The search criteria were formulated to identify reports related to chronic venous insufficiency. The pathophysiology of chronic venous insufficiency begins with chronic venous hypertension and the dilation of the vessel, this leads to a series of pathological changes in the venous wall and surrounding tissues, in advanced stages of CVI, skin lesions are associated with an increased proliferation of skin capillaries and microcirculatory abnormalities that may be the result of an altered level of factors responsible for the angiogenic response, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and angiostatin. In this review, updates on pathophysiology, clinic, diagnosis, classification and treatment of this disease are analyzed, with special emphasis on therapeutic options. Chronic venous insufficiency is a disease that affects the patient at several levels, mainly diminishing his/her quality of life. Currently there are various treatments ranging from habit modifications, pharmacological, to endovenous and surgical treatment.

Financial Stability Report - September 2015

From this edition, the Financial Stability Report will have fewer pages with some changes in its structure. The purpose of this change is to present the most relevant facts of the financial system and their implications on the financial stability. This allows displaying the analysis more concisely and clearly, as it will focus on describing the evolution of the variables that have the greatest impact on the performance of the financial system, for estimating then the effect of a possible materialization of these risks on the financial health of the institutions. The changing dynamics of the risks faced by the financial system implies that the content of the Report adopts this new structure; therefore, some analyses and series that were regularly included will not necessarily be in each issue. However, the statistical annex that accompanies the publication of the Report will continue to present the series that were traditionally included, regardless of whether or not they are part of the content of the Report. In this way we expect to contribute in a more comprehensive way to the study and analysis of the stability of the Colombian financial system. Executive Summary During the first half of 2015, the main advanced economies showed a slow recovery on their growth, while emerging economies continued with their slowdown trend. Domestic demand in the United States allowed for stabilization on its average growth for the first half of the year, while other developed economies such as the United Kingdom, the euro zone, and Japan showed a more gradual recovery. On the other hand, the Chinese economy exhibited the lowest growth rate in five years, which has resulted in lower global dynamism. This has led to a fall in prices of the main export goods of some Latin American economies, especially oil, whose price has also responded to a larger global supply. The decrease in the terms of trade of the Latin American economies has had an impact on national income, domestic demand, and growth. This scenario has been reflected in increases in sovereign risk spreads, devaluations of stock indices, and depreciation of the exchange rates of most countries in the region. For Colombia, the fall in oil prices has also led to a decline in the terms of trade, resulting in pressure on the dynamics of national income. Additionally, the lower demand for exports helped to widen the current account deficit. This affected the prospects and economic growth of the country during the first half of 2015. This economic context could have an impact on the payment capacity of debtors and on the valuation of investments, affecting the soundness of the financial system. However, the results of the analysis featured in this edition of the Report show that, facing an adverse scenario, the vulnerability of the financial system in terms of solvency and liquidity is low. The analysis of the current situation of credit institutions (CI) shows that growth of the gross loan portfolio remained relatively stable, as well as the loan portfolio quality indicators, except for microcredit, which showed a decrease in these indicators. Regarding liabilities, traditional sources of funding have lost market share versus non-traditional ones (bonds, money market operations and in the interbank market), but still represent more than 70%. Moreover, the solvency indicator remained relatively stable. As for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the slowdown observed during the first six months of 2015 in the real annual growth of the assets total, both in the proprietary and third party position, stands out. The analysis of the main debtors of the financial system shows that indebtedness of the private corporate sector has increased in the last year, mostly driven by an increase in the debt balance with domestic and foreign financial institutions. However, the increase in this latter source of funding has been influenced by the depreciation of the Colombian peso vis-à-vis the US dollar since mid-2014. The financial indicators reflected a favorable behavior with respect to the historical average, except for the profitability indicators; although they were below the average, they have shown improvement in the last year. By economic sector, it is noted that the firms focused on farming, mining and transportation activities recorded the highest levels of risk perception by credit institutions, and the largest increases in default levels with respect to those observed in December 2014. Meanwhile, households have shown an increase in the financial burden, mainly due to growth in the consumer loan portfolio, in which the modalities of credit card, payroll deductible loan, revolving and vehicle loan are those that have reported greater increases in risk indicators. On the side of investments that could be affected by the devaluation in the portfolio of credit institutions and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the largest share of public debt securities, variable-yield securities and domestic private debt securities is highlighted. The value of these portfolios fell between February and August 2015, driven by the devaluation in the market of these investments throughout the year. Furthermore, the analysis of the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) shows that all intermediaries showed adequate levels and exhibit a stable behavior. Likewise, the fragility analysis of the financial system associated with the increase in the use of non-traditional funding sources does not evidence a greater exposure to liquidity risk. Stress tests assess the impact of the possible joint materialization of credit and market risks, and reveal that neither the aggregate solvency indicator, nor the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) of the system would be below the established legal limits. The entities that result more individually affected have a low share in the total assets of the credit institutions; therefore, a risk to the financial system as a whole is not observed. José Darío Uribe Governo

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis

[Background and purpose] Prognosis of myasthenia gravis (MG) in patients with thymoma is not well established. Moreover, it is not clear whether thymoma recurrence or unresectable lesions entail a worse prognosis of MG.[Methods] This multicenter study was based on data from a Spanish neurologist-driven MG registry. All patients were aged >18 years at onset and had anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies. We compared the clinical data of thymomatous and nonthymomatous patients. Prognosis of patients with recurrent or nonresectable thymomas was assessed.[Results] We included 964 patients from 15 hospitals; 148 (15.4%) had thymoma-associated MG. Median follow-up time was 4.6 years. At onset, thymoma-associated MG patients were younger (52.0 vs. 60.4 years, p < 0.001), had more generalized symptoms (odds ratio [OR]: 3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.95–4.68, p < 0.001) and more severe clinical forms according to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) scale (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.15–2.21, p = 0.005). Disease severity based on MGFA postintervention status (MGFA-PIS) was higher in thymomatous patients at 1 year, 5 years, and the end of follow-up. Treatment refractoriness and mortality were also higher (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.43–3.63, p = 0.001; hazard ratio: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.47–4.14, p = 0.001). Myasthenic symptoms worsened in 13 of 27 patients with recurrences, but differences in long-term severity were not significant. Fifteen thymomatous patients had nonresectable thymomas with worse MGFA-PIS and higher mortality at the end of follow-up.[Conclusions] Thymoma-associated MG patients had more severe myasthenic symptoms and worse prognosis. Thymoma recurrence was frequently associated with transient worsening of MG, but long-term prognosis did not differ from nonrecurrent thymoma. Patients with nonresectable thymoma tended to present severe forms of MG.This work is supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) grant FIS19/01774, Instituto de Salud Carlos III and cofunded by the European Union (ERDF/ESF, A Way to Make Europe/Investing in Your Future). Rodrigo Álvarez-Velasco was supported by a PhD for Medical Doctors grant from the Pla Estratègic de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (PERIS), Generalitat de Catalunya (SLT008/18/00207). Elena Cortés-Vicente was supported by a Juan Rodés grant (JR19/00037) from the Fondo de Investigación en Salud, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Health (Spain).Peer reviewe

¿Por qué implementar estudios de largo plazo en el bosque seco tropical del Caribe colombiano?

Dry forests represent almost half of the world’s tropical forests and they are the most threatened ecosystems by human activities. The growing a knowledge in preservation of the few remaining underlines the significance of establishing monitoring strategies for dry forests which would illustrate their role in the context of the tropical forests’ preservation. In 2001, we began to establish permanent monitoring parcels in the Caribe dry forest. Today, with the support of both, national and international institutions and local actors, a network of 11 widely spread across the region parcels has been established to cover the most important remnants of dry forest from the Caribbean coast, accounting all climatic gradients present. The results obtained by the network include: contents of carbon and forest diversity in relation with climatic variables, carbon fixation rates and population dynamics of important species for the restoration. However, the lack of institutional support at regional and national levels, with some important exceptions, puts at risk the continuity of this important project for the dry forest preservation in context of climatic change adaptation. Nowadays, other institutions have replied to this initiative and have made advances on their own, establishing new monitoring sites in the Caribbean forests. It is of high priority to work for the integration of these efforts in order to create a more ambitious strategy for monitoring the Caribbean forests. For this, interest and compromise from regional institutions and researchers are requiredLos ecosistemas secos ocupan casi la mitad del área total de franja tropical y están entre los más amenazados por las actividades humanas a escala global. El reconocimiento creciente de la importancia de conservar los pocos remanentes que quedan y de iniciar actividades de restauración, resalta la importancia de establecer programas de monitoreo del bosque seco. En 2001 se inició el establecimiento de parcelas permanentes de monitoreo del bosque seco Caribe, con el apoyo de instituciones nacionales e internacionales; a la fecha existen 11 ampliamente distribuidas en algunos de los remanentes de bosque seco más importantesnde la costa Caribe. Los resultados provenientes de la red incluyen el contenido de carbono y la diversidad del bosque en relaciónncon variables climáticas, tasas de fijación de carbono y dinámica de poblaciones de especies importantes para la restauración. No obstante, la falta de apoyo institucional a nivel nacional y regional, con algunas excepciones importantes, pone en peligro la continuidad de este proyecto de alta importancia para la conservación del bosque seco en el contexto de la adaptación al cambio climático. Actualmente, otras instituciones han replicado esta iniciativa y avanzado aisladamente en el establecimiento de nuevos sitios de monitoreo de los bosques del Caribe. Es altamente prioritario trabajar por la integración de estos esfuerzos ya que pueden ser la base para un programa de monitoreo más ambicioso de los bosques del Caribe. Para ello se requiere el interés y el compromiso de instituciones e investigadores de la región Caribe.