Effect of L-arginine or L-citrulline oral supplementation on blood pressure and right ventricular function in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction

Background: The effect of L-arginine and L-citrulline on blood pressure and right ventricular function in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is unknown. We have therefore evaluated, in a randomized clinical trial, the effect of these aminoacids in chronic outstanding and stable patients with HFpEF. Methods and results: All patients underwent an echocardiogram and radioisotopic ventriculography rest/exercise, and were randomized in a consecutive manner to the L-arginine group (n = 15; 8 g/day); and the citrulline malate group (n = 15; 3 g/day). The duration of follow-up was two months. The principal echocardiographic finding was a statistically significant decrease in pulmonary artery pressure in the L-arginine (56.3 &#177; 10 vs 44 &#177; 16.5 mm Hg, p < 0.05) and the citrulline (56.67 &#177; 7.96 vs 47.67 &#177; 8.59 mm Hg, p < 0.05) groups. Duration on treadmill and right ventricular ejection fraction post exercise increased, while diastolic and systolic artery pressure decreased significantly in both groups. There were no other statistically significant differences between the groups. Conclusions: Administration of L-arginine and citrulline to patients with HFpEF improved right ventricular function by increasing right ventricular ejection fraction, and probably decreasing systolic pulmonary artery pressure. (Cardiol J 2010; 17, 6: 612-618

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

Pasados y presente. Estudios para el profesor Ricardo García Cárcel

Ricardo García Cárcel (Requena, 1948) estudió Historia en Valencia bajo el magisterio de Joan Reglà, con quien formó parte del primer profesorado de historia moderna en la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. En esta universidad, desde hace prácticamente cincuenta años, ha desarrollado una extraordinaria labor docente y de investigación marcada por un sagaz instinto histórico, que le ha convertido en pionero de casi todo lo que ha estudiado: las Germanías, la historia de la Cataluña moderna, la Inquisición, las culturas del Siglo de Oro, la Leyenda Negra, Felipe II, Felipe V, Austrias y Borbones, la guerra de la Independencia, la historia cultural, los mitos de la historia de España... Muy pocos tienen su capacidad para reflexionar, ordenar, analizar, conceptualizar y proponer una visión amplia y llena de matices sobre el pasado y las interpretaciones historiográficas. A su laboriosidad inimitable se añade una dedicación sin límites en el asesoramiento de alumnos e investigadores e impulsando revistas, dosieres, seminarios o publicaciones colectivas. Una mínima correspondencia a su generosidad lo constituye este volumen a manera de ineludible agradecimiento

MEIoT 2D-CACSET: IoT Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit Align with Educational Mechatronics Framework

The educational sector has made extraordinary efforts to neutralize the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, forcing teachers, scholars, and academic personnel to change the way education is delivered by developing creative and technological solutions to improve the landscape for education. The Internet of Things (IoT) is crucial for the educational transition to digital and virtual environments. This paper presents the integration of IoT technology in the Two-Dimensional Cartesian Coordinate System Educational Toolkit (2D-CACSET), to transform it into MEIoT 2D-CACSET; which includes educational mechatronics and the IoT. The Educational Mechatronics Conceptual Framework (EMCF) is extended to consider the virtual environment, enabling knowledge construction in virtual concrete, virtual graphic, and virtual abstract levels. Hence, the students acquire this knowledge from a remote location to apply it further down their career path. Three instructional designs are designed for this work using the MEIoT 2D-CACSET to learn about coordinate axes, quadrants, and a point in the 2D Coordinate Cartesian System. This work is intended to provide an IoT educational technology to offer an adequate response to the educational system&rsquo;s current context

“Game (not) Over”: una Revisión Sistemática del Trastorno por Uso de Videojuegos en Adolescentes

This study aims to characterize video game use disorder in adolescents, identifying the particularities of those who present it, its effects at the brain level, related factors, and existing measurement instruments. A systematic review of the scientific publications available in Scopus was carried out, between the period 2014-2018 on video game use disorder in adolescents. Adolescents with this disorder are characterized by being mostly men, spending more time daily and weekly playing than adolescents without this disorder, showing diverse symptoms in the behavioral, affective, and cognitive areas. At brain level, it is referred that in this disorder there is an increase and decrease in the activation of specific areas of the brain. Likewise, the presence of some psychological disorder and impulsivity are considered factors that increase the risk of suffering from it. However, there are protective factors as school commitment and parental supervision, among others. How to cite: Rojas-Jara, C., Polanco-Carrasco, R., Navarro-Castillo, R., Faúndez-Castillo, F., &amp; Chamorro-Gallardo, M. (2022). “Game (not) Over”: A Systematic Review of Video Game Disorder in Adolescents. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 31(2), 45-64. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v31n2.90741Este estudio pretende caracterizar el trastorno por uso de videojuegos en adolescentes, identificando las particularidades de quienes lo presentan, sus efectos a nivel cerebral, los factores relacionados y los instrumentos de medición existentes. Para ello, se llevó a cabo una revisión sistemática de las publicaciones científicas disponibles en Scopus, entre el periodo 2014-2018, sobre el trastorno por uso de videojuegos en adolescentes. Sus resultados describen que adolescentes con este trastorno se caracterizan por ser en su mayoría hombres, dedicar más tiempo diario y semanal de juego que adolescentes sin este trastorno, mostrando diversos síntomas en el área conductual, afectiva y cognitiva. A nivel cerebral se refiere que en este trastorno se presenta una elevación y disminución en la activación de determinadas zonas específicas del cerebro. Asimismo, la presencia de algún trastorno psicológico y la impulsividad, son considerados factores que aumentan el riesgo de padecerlo. Sin embargo, existen factores protectores como el compromiso escolar y la supervisión parental, entre otros. Cómo citar: Rojas-Jara, C., Polanco-Carrasco, R., Navarro-Castillo, R., Faúndez-Castillo, F., &amp; Chamorro-Gallardo, M. (2022). “Game (not) Over”: A Systematic Review of Video Game Disorder in Adolescents. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 31(2), 45-64. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v31n2.9074

Educational Systematized Design Thinking Platform—Case of Study: Bus Stop

Due to the pandemic caused by the SARSCoV-2 virus, higher education institutions need to develop innovations to accelerate change adaptation and give way to new teaching–learning processes. Since design thinking is currently used in an inspirational way to find solutions to problems, this work presents the design of an Educational Systematized Design Thinking (ESDT) methodology based on a hybrid approach of Kano’s model and the minimum value product creation. Moreover, its implementation is carried out to generate the so-called ESDT platform, which is a tool that students, teachers, and educational researchers can use to work remotely. A case study to respond to a fundamental design problem in the community of a group of architecture students is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed work

Implementation of a MEIoT Weather Station with Exogenous Disturbance Input

Due to the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID 19), education systems in most countries have adapted and quickly changed their teaching strategy to online teaching. This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel Internet of Things (IoT) device, called MEIoT weather station, which incorporates an exogenous disturbance input, within the National Digital Observatory of Smart Environments (OBNiSE) architecture. The exogenous disturbance input involves a wind blower based on a DC brushless motor. It can be controlled, via Node-RED platform, manually through a sliding bar, or automatically via different predefined profile functions, modifying the wind speed and the wind vane sensor variables. An application to Engineering Education is presented with a case study that includes the instructional design for the least-squares regression topic for linear, quadratic, and cubic approximations within the Educational Mechatronics Conceptual Framework (EMCF) to show the relevance of this proposal. This work’s main contribution to the state-of-the-art is to turn a weather monitoring system into a hybrid hands-on learning approach thanks to the integrated exogenous disturbance input

Implementation of a MEIoT Weather Station with Exogenous Disturbance Input

Due to the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID 19), education systems in most countries have adapted and quickly changed their teaching strategy to online teaching. This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel Internet of Things (IoT) device, called MEIoT weather station, which incorporates an exogenous disturbance input, within the National Digital Observatory of Smart Environments (OBNiSE) architecture. The exogenous disturbance input involves a wind blower based on a DC brushless motor. It can be controlled, via Node-RED platform, manually through a sliding bar, or automatically via different predefined profile functions, modifying the wind speed and the wind vane sensor variables. An application to Engineering Education is presented with a case study that includes the instructional design for the least-squares regression topic for linear, quadratic, and cubic approximations within the Educational Mechatronics Conceptual Framework (EMCF) to show the relevance of this proposal. This work’s main contribution to the state-of-the-art is to turn a weather monitoring system into a hybrid hands-on learning approach thanks to the integrated exogenous disturbance input

Educational Mechatronics Training System Based on Computer Vision for Mobile Robots

Boosting by the world’s context, several efforts have been maiden toward the digital transformation of Education. Technology-based active learning has become pivotal in pursuing a more flexible education system. This work presents the development of an Educational Mechatronics (EM) training system based on computer vision that performs as a positioning system for mobile robots in the 2D plane. The results show that the obtained precision, exactitude, and resolution of the EM training system are suitable for robotics applications comprising position, velocity, and acceleration variables. Moreover, an instructional design aligned with the EM conceptual framework, using the EM training system and a LEGO mobile robot, is presented to construct the mechatronic concept: line segment

Programa de desarrollo académico y profesional para estudiantes del Grado en Enfermería

Este proyecto tiene como objetivo ofrecer asesoramiento a los futuros Graduados en Enfermería para potenciar su desarrollo académico y profesional y facilitar su inserción laboral. Dentro del EEES, en los últimos años está cobrando especial importancia la movilidad internacional y la empleabilidad de los titulados universitarios. En este nuevo paradigma, es imprescindible acercar la formación universitaria y la realidad laboral, y orientar sus estrategias curriculares tras finalizar sus estudios. Este proyecto, de enfoque transversal, aborda temas de gran interés y proyección, donde confluyen diversas materias impartidas en el Grado y se aportan nuevos contenidos indispensables como futuros profesionales sanitarios. El programa se ha desarrollado en la Facultad de Enfermería de la Universidad de Huelva, durante los días 19 y 20 de noviembre de 2013, con apoyo a través de la plataforma virtual Moodle. Han participado 85 estudiantes de cuarto curso en las sesiones presenciales y 125 en el seguimiento online, con una valoración muy positiva de la experiencia. Según la evaluación de los estudiantes, este programa les ha permitido conocer las distintas opciones de desarrollo en el ámbito académico-docente, gestor, clínico e investigador, y ha sido un refuerzo para planificar su futuro adecuadamente y optimizar sus oportunidades laborales a nivel nacional e internacional.SIN FINANCIACIÓNNo data 201