The escape room as evaluation method: A qualitative study of nursing students’ experiences

Purpose: Gamification or learning using game elements is a process that seeks to capture students’ interest. One of the most popular games in recent years is the Escape Room, but the study of its use in education and with health professionals is still limited. The aim of this study was to find out the perceptions and experiences of final year nursing students in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) by means of an Escape Room. Methods: In January 2019, 9 focus groups (FG) were held, with a total of 95 final year nursing students. We applied a qualitative content analysis approach and ATLAS.ti version 8 was used for data analysis. Results: The data revealed 3 main themes and 8 sub-themes. The three main themes, which were mapped to the conceptual framework, were student learning outcomes, emotional impact on students and conclusions on the serious games experience. Both the main themes and the sub-themes were illustrated using representative quotes from the participants. Conclusions: These results can help to apply these methodologies, such as the Escape Room, alongside other pre-existing ones, complementing the way in which students are assessed and the development of important nursing skills, such as teamwork and communication

Escape Rooms as a Clinical Evaluation Method for Nursing Students

Background: There are currently no studies available about the possible use of gamification in the evaluation of nursing students’ clinical skills. The purpose of this study was to understand the gameful experience and satisfaction of nursing students in the evaluation of their clinical skills using an escape room. Methods: A quasiexperimental study was carried out. The participants were divided into an experimental group (escape room) and a control group. Results: The experimental group had higher than average scores in all dimensions of the gameful experience scale, except in the dimension of negative effects. Conclusions: Escape rooms are a useful tool for the evaluation of nursing students compared with using the objective structured clinical evaluation

Discards from a deep-sea shrimp fishery in Angolan waters (SW Africa)

A programme of observers on board Spanish shrimp trawlers in Angola was initiated by IEO in 2018 in order to improve the scientific information required by Sustainable Management of External Fishing Fleets (SMEFF Regulation of the EU). In this context, discard studies are considered very relevant, both for assessment purposes and for obtaining information on adverse ecological impacts in marine ecosystems. Most fishing hauls performed during the observed period November 2018 to December 2019 were carried out at depths between 384 and 649 m, with classic bottom otter trawl targeting the striped red shrimp Aristeus varidens. Discards accounted for 60% of the total catch during the analysed period. The estimated global discard rate for 2019 (2.2 discard/retained catch) indicates that 1915 tonnes of retained catch produced 4213 tonnes of discards, of which a small amount is of commercial species, as A. varidens (3.8 tonnes) and Merluccius polli (153 tonnes). A total of 131 discarded species were identified, with the highest group contribution being fish (70%), followed by crustaceans (20%). The most abundant species in discard weight were Ariomma melanum, Lamprogrammus exutus, Chaunax pictus, Centroscymnus owstonii, Hoplostethus cadenati, Lophius vaillanti, Yarrella blackfordi and Ariomma bondi (all together accounting for 55% of discards). The most frequent species were H. cadenati and L. exutus, discarded in 95% of the analysed fishing hauls. Discards estimations of commercial species obtained through a long-term observers program might result in improving the assessments of main commercial species from Angolan deep sea waters

Growth of the deep water rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris in Mauritanian waters (NW Africa)

The deep water rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris is the main target species of a Spanish fleet of shrimp bottom trawlers operating in the Mauritanian EEZ. The life history of this species is well known in north eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, while the information is quite limited for the eastern central Atlantic. Biological samplings of the species were conducted by scientific observers onboard this fleet, from catches obtained during 17 fishing trips performed between March 2014 and June 2019. The carapace lengths (CL) of 91662 specimens (54% females and 46% males) were grouped in 33 monthly length frequency distributions. For the study of the length–age relationship, the Von Bertalanffy Growth Function (VBGF) was fit to the monthly length distributions by using the ELEFAN I routine followed by separating the frequency histograms into normal components through the Bhattacharya’s method and the NORMSEP routine. These analyses were carried out separately for males, females, and combined sexes, using the FISAT II automatic calculation program. CL of females and males ranged from 11.6 to 39.2 mm and 10.5 to 30.5 mm, respectively. Three and five modal components (annual cohorts) were identified for females and males, respectively. The growth function estimated parameters were CL∞=41.74, k=0.51 for combined sexes, CL∞= 41.67, k= 0.51 for females and CL∞= 32.24, k=0.84 for males. Estimated growth performance indices were around 2.95 for combined sexes, females and males. The estimated parameters may be used as input to test length-based methodologies for the assessment of this data-limited stock, for which only production models have been used so far

Modelado del Tratamiento de Efluentes Lácteos por Electrofloculación mediante Aplicación del Método de Taguchi Residuales

Los efluentes industriales en la actualidad poseen una matriz constitutiva de gran complejidad y el tratamiento de los mismos plantea un problema medioambiental y económico para las industrias lácteas. La electrofloculación es una alternativa atractiva debido a los numerosos beneficios que presenta. En este trabajo se estudia el empleo de esta tecnología en el tratamiento de un efluente lácteo sintético, con el fin de disminuir la demanda química de oxígeno. Se aplica un diseño experimental de Taguchi para evaluar la influencia de parámetros del proceso, como voltaje, tiempo, conductividad y composición del efluente. Se analizan los efectos de estos factores y se desarrolla un modelo predictivo para el proceso.De los factores considerados, se determinó que la composición del efluente es la más significativa seguida por el voltaje aplicado, mientras que los demás factores tienen efectos similares. Se plantea la ampliación del espacio del diseño para futuros ensayos

Autoantibodies against EPCR are found in antiphospholipid syndrome and are a risk factor for fetal death

The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is associated with thrombosis and fetal death but the pathologic mechanisms are poorly understood. Since endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) plays a role in the anticoagulant system and in placental development, we hypothesized that anti-EPCR autoantibodies may be involved in clinical manifestations of APS and in fetal loss. The levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG anti-EPCR autoantibodies were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 43 patients with APS and 43 controls. Anti-EPCR levels were higher in APS patients than in controls. Interestingly, one of the IgM anti-EPCR autoantibodies inhibited the generation of activated protein C on endothelium. Since markedly high anti-EPCR levels were found in women with fetal death, 87 patients with a first episode of unexplained fetal death were subsequently analyzed and their anti-EPCR levels were compared with 87 matched controls. We found that anti-EPCR autoantibodies constitute an independent risk factor for a first fetal death episode: the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for anti-EPCR autoantibodies above the 95th percentile were 23.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-266.3) for IgM and 6.8 (95% CI, 1.2-38.4) for IgG. Anti-EPCR autoantibodies can be detected in APS patients and are independent risk factors for fetal death

Hospital-based proton therapy implementation during the COVID pandemic: early clinical and research experience in a European academic institution

Introduction A rapid deploy of unexpected early impact of the COVID pandemic in Spain was described in 2020. Oncology practice was revised to facilitate decision-making regarding multimodal therapy for prevalent cancer types amenable to multidisciplinary treatment in which the radiotherapy component searched more efcient options in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, minimizing the risks to patients whilst aiming to guarantee cancer outcomes. Methods A novel Proton Beam Therapy (PBT), Unit activity was analyzed in the period of March 2020 to March 2021. Institutional urgent, strict and mandatory clinical care standards for early diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 infection were stablished in the hospital following national health-authorities’ recommendations. The temporary trends of patients care and research projects proposals were registered. Results 3 out of 14 members of the professional staf involved in the PBR intra-hospital process had a positive test for COVID infection. Also, 4 out of 100 patients had positive tests before initiating PBT, and 7 out of 100 developed positive tests along the weekly mandatory special checkup performed during PBT to all patients. An update of clinical performance at the PBT Unit at CUN Madrid in the initial 500 patients treated with PBT in the period from March 2020 to November 2022 registers a distribution of 131 (26%) pediatric patients, 63 (12%) head and neck cancer and central nervous system neoplasms and 123 (24%) re-irradiation indications. In November 2022, the activity reached a plateau in terms of patients under treatment and the impact of COVID pandemic became sporadic and controlled by minor medical actions. At present, the clinical data are consistent with an academic practice prospectively (NCT05151952). Research projects and scientifc production was adapted to the pandemic evolution and its infuence upon professional time availability. Seven research projects based in public funding were activated in this period and preliminary data on molecular imaging guided proton therapy in brain tumors and post-irradiation patterns of blood biomarkers are reported. Conclusions Hospital-based PBT in European academic institutions was impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, although clinical and research activities were developed and sustained. In the post-pandemic era, the benefts of online learning will shape the future of proton therapy education

Longitudinal association of changes in diet with changes in body weight and waist circumference in subjects at high cardiovascular risk: the PREDIMED trial

Background: Consumption of certain foods is associated with long-term weight gains and abdominal fat accumulation in healthy, middle-aged and young, non-obese participants. Whether the same foods might be associated with changes in adiposity in elderly population at high cardiovascular risk is less known. Objective: Using yearly repeated measurements of both food habits and adiposity parameters, we aimed to investigate how changes in the consumption of specific foods were associated with concurrent changes in weight or waist circumference (WC) in the PREDIMED trial. Design: We followed-up 7009 participants aged 55-70 years at high cardiovascular risk for a median time of 4.8 years. A validated 137-item semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire was used for dietary assessment with yearly repeated measurements. We longitudinally assessed associations between yearly changes in food consumption (serving/d) and concurrent changes in weight (kg) or WC (cm). Results: Yearly increments in weight were observed with increased consumption (kg per each additional increase in 1 serving/d) for refined grains (0.32 kg/serving/d), red meat (0.24), potatoes (0.23), alcoholic beverages (0.18), processed meat (0.15), white bread (0.07) and sweets (0.04); whereas inverse associations were detected for increased consumption of low-fat yogurt (- 0.18), and low-fat milk (- 0.06). Annual WC gain (cm per each additional increase in 1 serving/d) occurred with increased consumption of snacks, fast-foods and pre-prepared dishes (0.28), processed meat (0.18), alcoholic beverages (0.13), and sweets (0.08); whereas increased consumption of vegetables (- 0.23), and nuts (- 0.17), were associated with reductions in WC. Conclusions: In this assessment conducted in high-risk subjects using yearly repeated measurements of food habits and adiposity, some ultra-processed foods, refined carbohydrates (including white bread), potatoes, red meats and alcohol were associated with higher weight and WC gain, whereas increases in consumption of low-fat dairy products and plant foods were associated with less gain in weight and WC

Sterile neutrino portal to Dark Matter I: the U(1) B−L case

In this paper we explore the possibility that the sterile neutrino and Dark Matter sectors in the Universe have a common origin. We study the consequences of this assumption in the simple case of coupling the dark sector to the Standard Model via a global U(1)B−L, broken down spontaneously by a dark scalar. This dark scalar provides masses to the dark fermions and communicates with the Higgs via a Higgs portal coupling. We find an interesting interplay between Dark Matter annihilation to dark scalars — the CP-even that mixes with the Higgs and the CP-odd which becomes a Goldstone boson, the Majoron — and heavy neutrinos, as well as collider probes via the coupling to the Higgs. Moreover, Dark Matter annihilation into sterile neutrinos and its subsequent decay to gauge bosons and quarks, charged leptons or neutrinos lead to indirect detection signatures which are close to current bounds on the gamma ray flux from the galactic center and dwarf galaxies