Effects of Early Training and Nicotine Treatment on the Performance of Male NMRI Mice in the Water Maze

This research aimed to evaluate the effect of nicotine treatment and prior training on a spatial learning task in differently aged NMRI male mice. In a longitudinal study, mice were randomly assigned to one of 14 experimental groups receiving different combinations of chronically injected nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) administered for 10 days (5 days before and during 5 days acquisition of task) or control treatments and training in the water maze at different ages. The mice displayed shorter escape latencies when evaluated at 6 and 10 months than when tested in this task at 2 months for the first time, demonstrating that early training preserves performance in the water maze up to 8 months after the initial experience. Nicotine treatment did not significantly change performance in the water maze at any age tested. Early practice in a spatial reference memory task appears to have lasting consequences and can potentially contribute to preventing some age-related spatial learning deficits

Perfil económico-financiero de las empresas de la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja en función de su nivel de rentabilidad

Durante las últimas décadas, el análisis sobre el éxito empresarial ha sido objeto de estudio por una gran parte de investigadores, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar los factores explicativos a nivel de rentabilidad que diferencia a las empresas más rentables de las menos rentables en el sector vitivinícola de la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja. Para ello, se realiza un análisis económico-financiero que define a las empresas más rentables y menos rentables, empleando las Cuentas Anuales de las empresas del sector para los años 2010 a 2014 obtenidas de la base de datos SABI. Dicho análisis se realiza para el periodo de los cinco años consecutivos anteriormente citados mediante dos estudios, uno de tipo descriptivo y otro de tipo empírico llevando a cabo diferentes técnicas, el test de Mann Whitney y una regresión logística binaria. Los resultados obtenidos indican que existen diferencias significativas entre las empresas más y menos rentables, las cuales vienen determinadas por el ratio de liquidez, el ratio de solvencia, el de rotación de activos, la tesorería, el periodo medio de cobro, las ventas medias por empleado y el número de empleados. Por tanto, estos resultados corroboran la existencia de perfiles característicos vinculados con diferentes niveles de rentabilidad

Tieliikennemelun mittaus ympäristötekniikan opetuksessa

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on kehittää Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulun Riihimäen yksikössä toimivan liikennealan koulutusohjelman opetusta. Lähtökohtana on valmistuvien liikenneinsinöörien (AMK) asiantuntijuuden kehittymisen voimistaminen. Asiantuntijuuden kehittymistä ja sen keskeisiä elementtejä on tarkasteltu integratiivisen pedagogiikan viitekehyksessä. Työelämässä tarvittavan asiantuntijuuden syntymistä voidaan edesauttaa luomalla oppimisympäristöjä ja -tehtäviä, joissa teoreettinen aines on yhdistettävissä käytännölliseen ongelmanratkaisuun. Oppimisympäristöt ja harjoitustehtävät on suunniteltava mahdollisimman aidoiksi eli työelämässä esiintyvien tehtävien kaltaisiksi. Asiantuntijuus koostuu teoreettisista, käytännöllisistä ja sosiokulttuurisista elementeistä sekä itsesäätelytiedosta eli oman toiminnan ohjaa-miseen liittyvästä havainnoinnista. Integratiivinen pedagogiikka on kehitetty apuvälineeksi sellaisten pedagogisten ratkaisujen luomiseen, joiden avulla kehitetään työelämässä tarvittavaa asiantuntijuutta. Opinnäytetyössä luodaan pohja maastotutkimusten työskentelymallille ja sen avulla käynnistetään konkreettisten, kokemuksellisten osien käyttö liikennealan opetuksessa. Maastossa voidaan kerätä monenlaista tietoa lii-kennevirran ominaisuuksista ja tarkastella niitä kartta- ja muilla analyyseillä sekä reflektoida ja keskustella työskentelytavoista ja tuloksista. Työssä haastateltiin kolmea oppilaitoksen ja kolmea työelämän edustajaa ja kerättiin kokemuksia laboratorio- ja maastotutkimusten käytöstä työelämässä ja opetuksessa. Kokemuksista keskusteltiin ja löydettiin uusia yhteistyömuotoja. Tässä työssä suunniteltiin tieliikennemelun mittaus oppimistehtäväksi ympäristötekniikan opintojaksolle ja tehtiin ehdotuksia muiden maastotutkimusten käytöstä opetuksessa. Seuraavana tehtävänä suunnitellaan nopeusmittaus ja tutkitaan paikkatiedon hyödyntämismahdollisuudet

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Aprendizaje espacial y laberinto de agua: metodología y aplicaciones

El objetivo del presente trabajo es explicar la diferente metodología del laberinto de agua y las diversas aplicaciones que de este modelo se han realizado en la investigación sobre los mecanismos neurobiológicos del aprendizaje espacial. Inicialmente se plantean los distintos procedimientos experimentales, considerando las observaciones metodológicas a tener en cuenta cuando se utiliza este paradigma conductual. Posteriormente, se analizan los hallazgos más relevantes obtenidos mediante esta prueba en distintas áreas de estudio. Se exponen datos experimentales sobre las bases neuroanatómicas y neuroquímicas del aprendizaje espacial, así como la influencia que en este aprendizaje puede tener el envejecimiento, la experiencia previa u otras variables intrínsecas y extrínsecas al sujeto. Se concluye que la conducta de los animales en el laberinto de agua es sensible a numerosos factores conductuales, farmacológicos o incluso sociales, lo que hace que sea un paradigma muy útil para la investigación sobre los procesos neurobiológicos del aprendizaje espacial

“I wish I could have helped him in some way or put the family on notice”: An exploration of teachers’ perceived strengths and deficits in overall knowledge of suicide

his article examined teachers’ capacity to identify suicide myths and explored their perceived strengths and deficits in overall knowledge of suicide. One hundred twenty-nine teachers from 41 schools in Spain participated. Teachers showed moderately low suicide myth identification, holding misconceptions related to suicide verbalizations. They felt poorly informed, but acknowledged their strategic role and wanted relevant information. Training initiatives should address communicative abilities, apart from information on suicide risk factors and protective factors associated with youth, warning signs of imminent risk of suicide and basic guidelines for first intervention in students’ suicide ideation, plan, or attempt.Preprin

Does living close to a petrochemical complex increase the adverse psychological effects of the COVID-19 lockdown?

The petrochemical industry has made the economic development of many local communities possible, increasing employment opportunities and generating a complex network of closely-related secondary industries. However, it is known that petrochemical industries emit air pollutants, which have been related to different negative effects on mental health. In addition, many people around the world are being exposed to highly stressful situations deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns adopted by national and regional governments. The present study aims to analyse the possible differential effects on various psychological outcomes (stress, anxiety, depression and emotional regulation strategies) stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown experienced by individuals living near an important petrochemical complex and subjects living in other areas, nonexposed to the characteristic environmental pollutants emitted by these kinds of complex. The sample consisted of 1607 subjects who answered an ad hoc questionnaire on lockdown conditions, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). The results indicate that people living closer to petrochemical complexes reported greater risk perception [K = 73.42, p < 0.001, with a medium size effect (η2 = 0.061)]. However, no significant relationship between psychological variables and proximity to the focus was detected when comparing people living near to or far away from a chemical/petrochemical complex. Regarding the adverse psychological effects of the first lockdown due to COVID-19 on the general population in Catalonia, we can conclude that the conditions included in this survey were mainly related to changes in the participants' impulsivity levels, with different total impulsivity scores being obtained if they had minors in their care (p<0.001), if they had lost their jobs, if they were working (p<0.001), if they were not telecommuting (p<0.001), if they went out to work (p<0.001) or if they established routines (p = 0.009). However, we can also be fairly certain that the economic effects are going to be worse than those initially detected in this study. More research will be necessary to corroborate our results

A Systematic Review of Instruments for Early Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Only a small percentage of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders are diagnosed before they are three years old, although earlier detection and intervention would reduce the disabilities associated with the disorder. In addition, as children get older, treatments are more costly and difficult and the results less satisfactory. Considering the importance of detecting autism early, the objective of this study is to identify the instruments that can be used to detect signs of autism before children are 2 years old, and which of these instruments have been validated in the Spanish population. By searching in several research databases, we compared the existing instruments and their main characteristics. We found that some instruments can be used to assess a possible autism spectrum disorder before children are 2 years old, with acceptable sensitivity, specificity and reliability indexes. However, only a few instruments have been validated for the Spanish population, some of which have not been specifically designed for early detection. For this reason, a tool needs to be developed to detect the warning signs of autism spectrum disorders before the age of 2 which can be applied as part of the protocol for pediatric check-ups

The POMONA-ESP project methodology: Collecting data on health indicators for people with intellectual developmental disorders

People with intellectual developmental disorders have significant health disparities and a lack of proper attention to their health needs. They have been underrepresented in scientific research, and very few studies have been carried out using a representative randomized sample. The aim of this study was to describe the methods used in the POMONA‐ESP project to recruit a representative and randomized sample of participants with intellectual developmental disorders.The POMONA-ESP project was funded by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS) (PI12/01237) (2013–2016) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)—Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the State General Administration, Spain; and partially funded by Fundació Port Aventura