Home‑based prehabilitation improves physical conditions measured by ergospirometry and 6MWT in colorectal cancer patients: a randomized controlled pilot study

Purpose/background Prehabilitation aims to improve physical condition in the preoperative period and, therefore, decrease the loss of cardiopulmonary capacity postoperatively, with the aim of reducing complications and promoting an early recovery. This study aims to evaluate the impact of home-based prehabilitation on the physical condition of patients treated surgically for colorectal cancer. Methods A prospective and randomized clinical study was conducted on 60 patients during two periods from October 2018 to February 2019 and from September 2019 to September 2020, in a single university hospital. Patients were randomized into two study groups (30 per group): prehabilitation vs. standard care. Changes in physical condition, measured at diagnosis, the day before surgery, and at 6–8 weeks after surgery using the cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were evaluated. Results Prehabilitation reduced postoperative complications (17.4% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.22) and hospital stay (5.74 vs. 6.67 days, p = 0.30). 6MWT showed a signifcant improvement in the prehabilitation group (+78.9 m). Six weeks after surgery, prehabilitation showed a signifcant improvement in the 6MWT (+68.9 m vs. −27.2 m, p = 0.01). Signifcant diferences were also observed in the ergospirometry between the diagnosis and postoperative study (+0.79 METs vs. −0.84 METs, p = 0.001). A strong correlation was observed between CPET and 6MWT (0.767 (p < 0.001)). Conclusion Home prehabilitation achieved lower overall postoperative complications than standard care and reached signifcant improvements in 6MWT and CET. A strong correlation was observed between CET and 6MWT, which allows validation of 6MWT as a valid and reliable measure of functional exercise capacity in colorectal patients when other, more specifc and expensive tests are not available

Innovació i investigació docent per millorar l’enginy i la creativitat dels alumnes d’Enginyeria i Arquitectura

El nou marc de l’EEES i l’experiència docent en las àrees de l’Enginyeria i l’Arquitectura, indueix a pensar en la introducció de noves metodologies docents motivades per la necessitat d’adaptar, en la mesura del possible, els coneixements que l’alumne adquireix a la Universidad al món professional de les empreses. L’ensenyament a Enginyeria i Arquitectura, s’ha ha basat, tradicionalment, en l’aplicació de models matemàtics. Així, els exercicis plantejats als alumnes es redueixen, la majoria de vegades, a aplicar aquest models matemàtics. La realitat professional és ben diferent, l’arquitecte i/o enginyer no tindrà sovint temps de fer anàlisis tant detallats com els que realitzava com alumne; és per això que sembla aconsellable variar el model d’ensenyança / aprenentatge.Peer Reviewe

Sméagol: un projecte de desenvolupament de programari per introduir el treball col.laboratiu entre els TIC de la UPC

Projecte presentat al 3r Premi a la Qualitat de la Gestió Universitària, convocat pel Consell Social de la UP

The RADMED monitoring program as a tool for MSFD implementation: toward an ecosystem based approach

In the western Mediterranean Sea, the RADMED monitoring programme is already conducting several of the evaluations required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The different aspects of the ecosystem that are regularly sampled under this monitoring programme are the physical environment and the chemical and biological variables of the water column, together with the planktonic communities, biomass and structure. Moreover, determinations of some anthropogenic stressors on the marine environment, such as contaminants and microplastics, are under development. Data are managed and stored at the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) Data Centre that works under the Sea- DataNet infrastructure, and are also stored in the IBAMar database. In combination with remote sensing data, they are used to address open questions on the ecosystems in the western Mediterranean Sea.Postprint2,293

Cultura urbana en televisión. Programa cultural realizado por profesores y alumnos de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Información

Con un enfoque para la docencia que plantea una universidad basada en el entusiasmo y en la participación a través de un modelo de aprendizaje que motive y sepa entusiasmar a los estudiantes, planteamos como proyecto de innovación para mejora de la calidad docente la creación de un programa de televisión sobre la cultura urbana vinculado a las asignaturas de: - "Producción y realización publicitaria" (Grado en Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas) - "Realización publicitaria" (Grado en Comunicación Audiovisual) - "Dirección cinematográfica" (Grado en Comunicación Audiovisual) - "Realización televisiva" (Grado en Comunicación Audiovisual) Y a los TFG relacionados con las áreas de conocimiento de realización y producción.Se crearían tres categorías en las que los alumnos podrían participar con sus trabajos: rodajes,reportajes audiovisuales y reportajes fotográficos y spots publicitarios. Los alumnos, tras haber pasado por alguna de las asignaturas o TFG propuestos, con sus respectivas prácticas, ya tienen un training que les capacita para sacar adelante un trabajo colaborativo, un proyecto y además les forma en las competencias profesionales necesarias para el trabajo en equipo. Además, el proyecto incluye la creación de una web y un laboratorio audiovisual (que ya está en marcha) para la difusión de los trabajos presentados y como herramienta para ampliar la proyección profesional y académica de los alumnos. El reto es poner Internet al servicio de la capacidad creativa y técnica de los estudiantes como fórmula para descubrir el nuevo talento, para poder experimentar con un nuevo medio al alcance de todos, y para conseguir una muy amplia difusión. Internet, lo interactivo, lo virtual y lo on-line serían las grandes herramientas para la realización de este proyecto. Es una experiencia de trabajo en el que varias asignaturas se unen y en el que la planificación y la nota final de cada una de las asignaturas se consolidan un proyecto real para dar a conocer el funcionamiento del mundo laboral. Es un proyecto de integración de varias asignaturas que suman un conjunto de experiencias en los que la innovación es la primera premisa

High efficacy of Sofosbuvir plus Simeprevir in a large cohort of Spanish cirrhotic patients infected with genotypes 1 and 4

[Abstract] Background and Aims. Hepatitis C (HCV) therapy with Sofosbuvir (SOF)/Simeprevir (SMV) in clinical trials and real‐world clinical practice, showed high rates of sustained virological response (SVR) in non‐cirrhotic genotype (GT)‐1 and GT‐4 patients. These results were slightly lower in cirrhotic patients. We investigated real‐life effectiveness and safety of SOF/SMV with or without ribavirin (RBV) in a large cohort of cirrhotic patients. Methods. This collaborative multicentre study included data from 968 patients with cirrhosis infected with HCV‐GT1 or 4, treated with SOF/SMV±RBV in 30 centres across Spain between January‐2014 and December‐2015. Demographic, clinical, virological and safety data were analysed. Results. Overall SVR was 92.3%; the majority of patients were treated with RBV (62%) for 12 weeks (92.4%). No significant differences in SVR were observed between genotypes (GT1a:94.3%; GT1b:91.7%; GT4:91.1%). Those patients with more advanced liver disease (Child B/C, MELD≥10) or portal hypertension (platelet count≤100×109/L, transient elastography≥21 Kpa) showed significantly lower SVR rates (84.4%‐91.9%) than patients with less advanced liver disease (93.8%‐95.9%, P<.01 in all cases). In the multivariate analysis, the use of RBV, female gender, baseline albumin≥35 g/L, MELD<10 and lack of exposure to a triple therapy regimen were independent predictors of SVR (P<.05). Serious adverse events (SAEs) and SAE‐associated discontinuation events occurred in 5.9% and 2.6%. Conclusions. In this large cohort of cirrhotic patients managed in the real‐world setting in Spain, SOF/SMV±RBV yielded to excellent SVR rates, especially in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. In addition, this combination showed to be safe, with low rates of SAEs and early discontinuations.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI15/0015

Protocolos RADMED (versión: 1.01 – 2014). Procedimientos a seguir en las campañas del proyecto RADMED

Los protocolos RADMED se pueden considerar como una guía de mar de las operaciones a realizar en el desarrollo de una campaña de ese proyecto, en donde figuran: el montaje del equipamiento científico, las secuencias de las diferentes operaciones y muestreos, la identificación de las estaciones, cómo rellenar los diferentes estadillos, las determinaciones de variables oceanográficas a bordo y el post-procesado de los datos hidrográficos. Detrás de todo ello está la intención de homogeneizar la información, para facilitar el post-procesado y el fiel tratamiento de las muestras y análisis.[Abstract] The RADMED protocols can be considered as a guide to work at the sea in the development of a campaign of this project and to conduct its different operations. They include: installation of scientific equipment, the sequences of the different operations and sampling, identification of stations, the filling of the various work sheets, determinations of oceanographic variables on board and the post processing of hydrographic data. All this pretend to standardize the information to facilitate post processing and accurate treatment of the samples and analysis

Short-term changes in klotho and FGF23 in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction—a substudy of the DAPA-VO2 study

The klotho and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) pathway is implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. This substudy aimed to assess the changes in klotho and FGF-23 levels 1-month after dapagliflozin in patients with stable heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The study included 29 patients (32.2% of the total), with 14 assigned to the placebo group and 15 to the dapagliflozin, as part of the double-blind, randomized clinical trial [DAPA-VO2 (NCT04197635)]. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 30 days, and Klotho and FGF-23 levels were measured using ELISA Kits. Between-treatment changes (raw data) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney test and expressed as median (p25%–p75%). Linear regression models were utilized to analyze changes in the logarithm (log) of klotho and FGF-23. The median age was 68.3 years (60.8–72.1), with 79.3% male and 81.5% classified as NYHA II. The baseline medians of left ventricular ejection fraction, glomerular filtration rate, NT-proBNP, klotho, and FGF-23 were 35.8% (30.5–37.8), 67.4 ml/min/1.73 m2 (50.7–82.8), 1,285 pg/ml (898–2,305), 623.4 pg/ml (533.5–736.6), and 72.6 RU/ml (62.6–96.1), respectively. The baseline mean peak oxygen uptake was 13.1 ± 4.0 ml/kg/min. Compared to placebo, patients on dapagliflozin showed a significant median increase of klotho [Δ+29.5, (12.9–37.2); p = 0.009] and a non-significant decrease of FGF-23 [Δ−4.6, (−1.7 to −5.4); p = 0.051]. A significant increase in log-klotho (p = 0.011) and a decrease in log-FGF-23 (p = 0.040) were found in the inferential analysis. In conclusion, in patients with stable HFrEF, dapagliflozin led to a short-term increase in klotho and a decrease in FGF-23

Biophysical network modeling of the dLGN circuit: Effects of cortical feedback on spatial response properties of relay cells

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