Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system

This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 Primary Education Degrees, 2 Pedagogy Degrees and 1 Social Education Degree. The results obtained suggest that sustainability is present in all Degrees, but not uniformly so. A great disparity is observed in the number of subjects that develop sustainability, with an average of 22.63 subjects per Degree. The competency most present is the ‘ Application of ethical principles related to the values of sustainability in personal and professional behaviors, ’ while the least present is ‘ Sustainable use of resources and prevention of negative impacts on the natural and social environment. ’Sustainability is not developed uniformly in the different universities either. Three universities (UAM, UCA and UIC) develop sustainability competencies at 100%, while others such as the USAL do so at only 50

Impact of COVID-19 on liver disease: From the experimental to the clinic perspective.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic unprecedented in over a century. Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a predominantly respiratory infection, various degrees of liver function abnormalities have been reported. Pre-existing liver disease in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection has not been comprehensively evaluated in most studies, but it can critically compromise survival and trigger hepatic decompensation. The collapse of the healthcare services has negatively impacted the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of liver diseases in non-COVID-19 patients. In this review, we aim to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on liver disease from the experimental to the clinic perspective. Gato S, Lucena-Valera A, Muñoz-Hernández R, Sousa JM, Romero-Gómez M, Ampuero J. Impact of COVID-19 on liver disease: From the experimental to the clinic perspective. World J Virol 2021; 10(6): 301-311 [PMID: 34909404 DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v10.i6.301

Determinación de la difusividad térmica en sólidos mediante el análisis de la amplitud de la señal fotoacústica en configuración de transmisión de calor.

En este trabajo, presentamos el desarrollo teórico en configuración de transmisión de calor en la celda fotoacústica, el cual es usado para la determinación experimental de la difusividad térmica de sólidos, dicho estudio se presenta tomando como base el del modelo de Rosencwaig y Gersho (RG), el cual utiliza el mecanismo de difusión térmico como el principal generador de la señal fotoacústica (FA). El aporte de este trabajo es la presentación de la expresión para la amplitud de la señal FA en función de la frecuencia de modulación de la radiación incidente, en la configuración de transmisión de calor, la cual es utilizada para ajustar los datos experimentales y así obtener la difusividad térmica de los materiales a estudiar. También se presenta la aproximación para el régimen térmicamente grueso y se reportan los rangos de validez de esta aproximación en función de la frecuencia de corte o característica de cada material.Palabras claves: difusividad térmica, transferencia de calor, técnicas fototérmicas. 

Assessing competences in sustainability in teaching degrees and post-degrees: a proposal of a tool

Este estudio presenta una revisión de competencias genéricas en sostenibilidad (CS) en Educación Superior y proporciona una compilación de estas CS mediante una rúbrica que sirve como instrumento para evaluar el nivel de adquisición de las CS de los estudiantes universitarios en el campo de la educación. La rúbrica ha sido diseñada, analizada y contrastada por un grupo de investigadores de diferentes universidades vinculados al campo de la educación. Ha sido adaptada a los grados y posgrados de educación de ocho universidades y está estructurada en tres niveles de dominio en la adquisición de las competencias. Esta rúbrica puede ser un instrumento útil para la evaluación de la CS en los grados de educación del sistema universitario español.This study presents a review on the generic competences in sustainability (CS) at higher education and provides a compilation of these CS through a rubric that serves as a tool to assess the level of CS acquisition among university students of teacher training. The rubric has been designed, analysed and contrasted by a group of researchers from different universities linked to teacher training courses. It has been adapted to different undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs at eight universities. It is structured in three levels of competency acquisition. This rubric can be a useful instrument for the assessment of CS in the degrees of education in the Spanish university system

Development and Validation of a Clinical-Genetic Risk Score to Predict Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis

[Introduction] We aimed to define the impact of the genetic background on overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in patients with liver cirrhosis by developing a combined clinical-genetic risk score.[Methods] Patients suffering from liver cirrhosis from the outpatient clinics of 4 hospitals (n = 600) were included and followed up for at least 5 years until HE bouts, liver transplant, or death. Patients were genotyped for 60 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms together with the microsatellite in the promoter region of the gene GLS.[Results] Single nucleotide polymorphisms rs601338 (FUT2), rs5743836 (TRL9), rs2562582 (SLC1A3), rs313853 (SLC1A5), and GLS microsatellite did predict independently the incidence and severity of overt HE and were included as genetic score. Competing risk analysis revealed that bilirubin (subhazard ratio [sHR] 1.30 [1.15–1.48], P < 0.001), albumin (sHR 0.90 [0.86–0.93], P < 0.001), genetic score (sHR 1.90 [1.57–2.30], P < 0.001), and previous episodes of overt HE (sHR 2.60 [1.57–4.29], P < 0.001) were independently associated to HE bouts during the follow-up with an internal (C-index 0.83) and external validation (C-index 0.74). Patients in the low-risk group had 5% and 12% risk of HE at 1 (log-rank 92.1; P < 0.001) and 5 (log-rank 124.1; P < 0.001) years, respectively, whereas 36% and 48% in the high-risk group.[Discussion] The genetic background influenced overt HE risk and severity. The clinical-genetic HE Risk score, which combined genetic background together with albumin, bilirubin, and previous episodes of overt HE, could be a useful tool to predict overt HE in patients with cirrhosis.Peer reviewe

Born too early and too small: higher order cognitive function and brain at risk at ages 8–16

Prematurity presents a risk for higher order cognitive functions. Some of these deficits manifest later in development, when these functions are expected to mature. However, the causes and consequences of prematurity are still unclear. We conducted a longitudinal study to first identify clinical predictors of ultrasound brain abnormalities in 196 children born very preterm (VP; gestational age 32 weeks) and with very low birth weight (VLBW; birth weight 1500 g). At ages 8–16, the subset of VP-VLBW children without neurological findings (124) were invited for a neuropsychological assessment and an MRI scan (41 accepted). Of these, 29 met a rigorous criterion for MRI quality and an age, and gender-matched control group (n = 14) was included in this study. The key findings in the VP-VLBW neonates were: (a) 37% of the VP-VLBW neonates had ultrasound brain abnormalities; (b) gestational age and birth weight collectively with hospital course (i.e., days in hospital, neonatal intensive care, mechanical ventilation and with oxygen therapy, surgeries, and retinopathy of prematurity) predicted ultrasound brain abnormalities. At ages 8–16, VP-VLBW children showed: a) lower intelligent quotient (IQ) and executive function; b) decreased gray and white matter (WM) integrity; (c) IQ correlated negatively with cortical thickness in higher order processing cortical areas. In conclusion, our data indicate that facets of executive function and IQ are the most affected in VP-VLBW children likely due to altered higher order cortical areas and underlying WMThis study was supported by the Spanish Government Institute Carlos III (FIS Pl11/02860), Spanish Ministry of Health to MM-L, and the University of Castilla-La Mancha mobility Grant VA1381500149

Feasibility and safety of an immersive virtual reality-based vestibular rehabilitation programme in people with multiple sclerosis experiencing vestibular impairment: a protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Vestibular system damage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may have a central and/or peripheral origin. Subsequent vestibular impairments may contribute to dizziness, balance disorders and fatigue in this population. Vestibular rehabilitation targeting vestibular impairments may improve these symptoms. Furthermore, as a successful tool in neurological rehabilitation, immersive virtual reality (VRi) could also be implemented within a vestibular rehabilitation intervention. Methods and analysis: This protocol describes a parallel-arm, pilot randomised controlled trial, with blinded assessments, in 30 patients with MS with vestibular impairment (Dizziness Handicap Inventory ≥16). The experimental group will receive a VRi vestibular rehabilitation intervention based on the conventional Cawthorne-Cooksey protocol; the control group will perform the conventional protocol. The duration of the intervention in both groups will be 7 weeks (20 sessions, 3 sessions/week). The primary outcomes are the feasibility and safety of the vestibular VRi intervention in patients with MS. Secondary outcome measures are dizziness symptoms, balance performance, fatigue and quality of life. Quantitative assessment will be carried out at baseline (T0), immediately after intervention (T1), and after a follow-up period of 3 and 6 months (T2 and T3). Additionally, in order to further examine the feasibility of the intervention, a qualitative assessment will be performed at T1. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the Andalusian Review Board and Ethics Committee, Virgen Macarena-Virgen del Rocio Hospitals (ID 2148-N-19, 25 March 2020). Informed consent will be collected from participants who wish to participate in the research. The results of this research will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals

Global monitoring of soil multifunctionality in drylands using satellite imagery and field data

Models derived from satellite image data are needed to monitor the status of terrestrial ecosystems across large spatial scales. However, a remote sensing-based approach to quantify soil multifunctionality at the global scale is missing despite significant research efforts on this topic. A major constraint for doing so is the availability of suitable global-scale field data to calibrate remote sensing indicators (RSI) and, to a lesser extent, the sensitivity of spectral data of available satellite sensors to soil background and atmospheric conditions. Here, we aimed to develop a soil multifunctionality model to monitor global drylands coupling ground data on 14 soil functions of 222 dryland areas from six continents to 18 RSI derived from a time series (2006–2013) Landsat dataset. Among the RSI evaluated, the chlorophyll absorption ratio index was the best predictor of soil multifunctionality in single-variable-based models (r = 0.66, P < 0.01, NMRSE = 0.17). However, a multi-variable RSI model combining the chlorophyll absorption ratio index, the global environment monitoring index and the canopy-air temperature difference improved the accuracy of quantifying soil multifunctionality (r = 0.73, P < 0.01, NMRSE = 0.15). Furthermore, the correlation between RSI and soil variables shows a wide range of accuracy with upper and lower values obtained for AMI (r = 0.889, NMRSE = 0.05) and BGL (r = 0.685, NMRSE = 0.18) respectively. Our results provide new insights on assessing soil multifunctionality using RSI that may help to monitor temporal changes in the functioning of global drylands effectively.Field data were obtained with the support of the European Research Council (ERC) grant agreement 242658 (BIOCOM). Hernández-Clemente R was supported by the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC2020-029187-I) and the State Plan for Scientific and Subprogram for Knowledge Generation (PID2021-124058OA-I00) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC2020-029187-I). Maestre FT acknowledges support from Generalitat Valenciana (CIDEGENT/2018/041) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (EUR2022-134048)

Hepatitis C Virus Clearance by Direct-Acting Antivirals Agents Improves Endothelial Dysfunction and Subclinical Atherosclerosis: HEPCAR Study

© 2020 The Author(s).[INTRODUCTION]: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been related to increased cardiovascular (CV) risk. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of sustained virological response (SVR) on endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with hepatitis C virus treated with direct-acting antiviral agents. [METHODS]: A total of 114 patients were prospectively recruited and underwent CV risk assessment including (i) endothelial dysfunction determined through laser Doppler flowmetry and (ii) subclinical atherosclerosis, elucidated by the ankle-brachial index (ABI). Atherogenic lipid profile (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides); markers of oxidative stress (oxidized low-density lipoprotein antibodies [OLAbs]), soluble markers of adhesion (vascular cell adhesion molecule [VCAM], e-selectin, and soluble markers of angiogenesis; and vascular endothelial growth factor, endothelial [EMPs] and platelet [PMPs] apoptotic microparticles, and cell-free DNA [cfDNA]) were measured. All determinations were performed at baseline, 12 weeks (SVR time), and 1 year after treatment. [RESULTS]: In patients with endothelial dysfunction, area of hyperemia improved after virus clearance (P = 0.013) and was related to significant decrease in VCAM, e-selectin (P < 0.001), and cfDNA (P = 0.017) and to increased OLAb levels (P = 0.001). In patients with subclinical atherosclerosis at baseline, a significantly improved ABI was seen after HCV clearance (P < 0.001). Levels of both EMPs and PMPs also decreased after SVR and at follow-up (P = 0.006 and P = 0.002, respectively). [DISCUSSION]: HCV clearance improved not only liver function but also endothelial dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis promoted by decrease in levels of VCAM, e-selectin, cfDNA, and PMPs and EMPs.Postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Government (Juan de la Cierva fellowship FJC1-2014-21675). Instituto de Salud Carlos III Project GLD17/00203