Innovation and assessment in the EHEA: A pilot experience using Web 2.0 tools

RESUMEN. El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) fomenta el cambio en la metodología docente desde un modelo de instrucción hacia otro de aprendizaje. Este cambio promueve la enseñanza basada en el alumnado y el seguimiento continuo de su aprendizaje, medido a través de las habilidades y competencias alcanzadas por el estudiante, lo que ha supuesto la necesidad de introducir nuevas metodologías de enseñanza. El seguimiento continuo en una asignatura resulta una tarea compleja para el profesorado en la medida en que aumentan el número de pruebas y la cantidad de alumnos y alumnas, de manera que son necesarios procedimientos y herramientas que la faciliten. En este trabajo se muestra la experiencia piloto de mejora en la evaluación de la docencia para la adaptación a los criterios establecidos en el Plan Bolonia desarrollada en la Universidad de XXX con la asignatura de Contabilidad General y Analítica de 3º de la Licenciatura en Administración y Dirección de Empresas para el curso 2009/2010 con 262 alumnos y alumnas matriculados. En esta experiencia piloto, con la utilización de Herramientas Web 2.0 que posibilitan que los estudiantes interactúen, bases de datos y lectores de código de barras, se consiguió gestionar toda la información derivada del seguimiento diario del alumnado, y de la carga de trabajo distribuida entre clases magistrales, prácticas y ejercicios, tanto individuales como en grupo, y tanto dentro como fuera del aula. Toda esta información permite la evaluación y comparación de resultados con cursos anteriores, así como la valoración de la satisfacción del alumnado a partir de sus respuestas en el cuestionario de evaluación de la asignatura.ABSTRACT. The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) encourages the change in educational methodology from a teaching model to a learning one. This change stimulates a teaching model based on the student and on a continuous monitoring of their learning, measuring the skills and competences achieved by the student; which involves the need to introduce new teaching methodologies. Continuous monitoring in a subject, becomes a complex task for the lecturers as the number of test and students increases, so tools and procedures to make it easier are necessary. This paper shows the pilot experience of education assessment improvement to be adapted, during 2009/2010 in the University of XXX in the subject of General and Analytical Accounting in the third year of the Business Administration Degree that had 262 students, to the new criteria established in the Bologna Process. All this information allows us to evaluate and compare the results to prior years and assess the students� satisfaction from their responses in a questionnaire to evaluate the course. During the pilot experience, Web 2.0 tools, which allow students to interact, databases and barcode readers and were used to manage all theinformation derived from students� daily monitoring, and the workload was distributed between lectures, practices and exercises, both individually and in groups, and both within and outside the classroom

Factores explicativos de la implicación de los ERP en las PYMES: el caso de Cantabria.

RESUMEN. La situación económica actual ha potenciado los problemas para las empresas, en particular para las PYMES por ser más vulnerables. Esto ha hecho que la flexibilidad y la toma de decisiones rápida y efectiva sean aún más importantes, y por tanto, cualquier herramienta de apoyo para los directivos, como los ERP, resulta de vital importancia. En este contexto, planteamos el trabajo con el objetivo de identificar las características que determinan la propensión de las PYMES a implantar uno de estos sistemas. Para ello, se aplica la prueba Chi-cuadrado y la regresión logística sobre una muestra de 382 PYMES cántabras. Los resultados muestran una mayor tendencia a la implantación de estas herramientas entre las empresas de mayor tamaño, no familiares y con gerentes con educación superior. También la estrategia empresarial, el nivel tecnológico y la planificación estratégica tienen un efecto positivo sobre la probabilidad a implantar estos sistemas. Estos resultados suponen un avance en la investigación de las implantaciones de ERP en PYMES, a la vez que para estas empresas puede suponer un factor de benchmarking al identificar las soluciones utilizadas por aquellas empresas más innovadoras y líderes de sus mercados.ABSTRACT. The current economic situation has increased business problems, especially for SMEs because they are more vulnerable. In this sense, flexibility and efficient decision making have become more important, and therefore any tool to assist managers, as ERP, is vital. This context has led us to consider this paper with the aim of identifying the characteristics that determine the tendency to implement them. It has been applied the Chi-square test and the logistic regression on a sample of 382 Cantabrian SMEs. Results show that bigger businesses, not family ones, and managers with higher education are characteristics which increase the likelihood to implementation. Also business strategy, technological level and strategic planning have a positive effect on this implementation probability. These results mean an advance in SMEs and ERP implementations research, and at the same time could become a benchmarking tool for those enterprises with the identification of solutions used by leading ones

Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) as a modulator of microglial phenotypes in the context of Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging

The insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is an evolutionarily conserved zinc-dependent metallopeptidase highly expressed in the brain, where its specific functions remain poorly understood. Besides insulin, IDE is able to cleave many substrates in vitro, including amyloid beta peptides, making this enzyme a candidate pathophysiological link between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). These antecedents led us to address the impact of IDE absence in hippocampus and olfactory bulb. A specific induction of microgliosis was found in the hippocampus of IDE knockout (IDE-KO) mice, without any effects in neither hippocampal volume nor astrogliosis. Performance on hippocampal-dependent memory tests is influenced by IDE gene dose in 12-month-old mice. Furthermore, a comprehensive characterization of the impact of IDE haploinsufficiency and total deletion in metabolic, behavioral, and molecular parameters in the olfactory bulb, a site of high insulin receptor levels, reveals an unambiguous barcode for IDE-KO mice at that age. Using wildtype and IDE-KO primary microglial cultures, we performed a functional analysis at the cellular level. IDE absence alters microglial responses to environmental signals, resulting in impaired modulation of phenotypic states, with only transitory effects on amyloid-β management. Collectively, our results reveal previously unknown physiological functions for IDE in microglia that, due to cell-compartment topological reasons, cannot be explained by its enzymatic activity, but instead modulate their multidimensional response to various damaging conditions relevant to aging and AD conditions."Margarita Salas postdoctoral grant for the training of young doctors"/Ministerio de Universidades Predoctoral fellowship/Universidad de Valladolid PID2019-110496RB-C21/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-110911RB-I00/AEI/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación VA086G18/Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y Leó

Gestión universitaria del conocimiento y la innovación para el desarrollo local

Resultado de la vinculación de la sede universitaria municipal (SUM)-sede central-territorio del municipio de Aguada de Pasajeros, provincia de Cienfuegos, Cuba, se desarrollaron cinco proyectos en: energía, desarrollo agrario sostenible, aplicación de modelos y técnicas cuantitativas en gestión empresarial, gestión integrada de la actividad científica, tecnológica y medioambiental y gestión de la capacitación y el posgrado desde la SUM. Se partió del banco de problemas del municipio y de la solicitud de su Consejo de Administración municipal, con el objetivo de fundamentar científicamente la estrategia de desarrollo local Aguada por la Calidad de Vida, con sus 8 subproyectos. Se perfeccionó la gestión del conocimiento, la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación universitaria en condiciones de universalización. Se capacitó a actores locales en diferentes áreas del saber; se estudió la interrelación entre procesos de la economía local, gestión del conocimiento, innovación y desarrollo del patrimonio social comunitario; se promovieron alternativas para articular una estrategia de desarrollo local a partir del potencial de recursos humanos; se diagnosticaron recursos locales, potencialidades, demandas, limitaciones y problemas del desarrollo. Los resultados reafirmaron la importancia de la SUM en el territorio como institución innovadora y el valor del trabajo unido de varios organismos

Generation of periventricular reactive astrocytes overexpressing aquaporin 4 Is stimulated by mesenchymal stem cell therapy

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) plays a crucial role in brain water circulation and is considered a therapeutic target in hydrocephalus. Congenital hydrocephalus is associated with a reaction of astrocytes in the periventricular white matter both in experimental models and human cases. A previous report showed that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) transplanted into the lateral ventricles of hyh mice exhibiting severe congenital hydrocephalus are attracted by the periventricular astrocyte reaction, and the cerebral tissue displays recovery. The present investigation aimed to test the effect of BM-MSC treatment on astrocyte reaction formation. BM-MSCs were injected into the lateral ventricles of four-day-old hyh mice, and the periventricular reaction was detected two weeks later. A protein expression analysis of the cerebral tissue differentiated the BM-MSC-treated mice from the controls and revealed effects on neural development. In in vivo and in vitro experiments, BM-MSCs stimulated the generation of periventricular reactive astrocytes overexpressing AQP4 and its regulatory protein kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220). In the cerebral tissue, mRNA overexpression of nerve growth factor (NGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF1α), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) could be related to the regulation of the astrocyte reaction and AQP4 expression. In conclusion, BM-MSC treatment in hydrocephalus can stimulate a key developmental process such as the periventricular astrocyte reaction, where AQP4 overexpression could be implicated in tissue recovery.The present work was supported by grants PI15/00619 and PI19/00778 (to A.J.J. and P.P.-G.), PI21/000914 (to J.V.) and PI21/000915 (to A.G.) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain, co-financed by FEDER funds from the European Union; PI18-RT-2233 from Junta de Andalucía (to A.G.) co-financed by Programa Operativo FEDER 2014–2020; PID2020-115218RB-I00 to T.I., funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain) to J.V., T.I. and A.G.; FPU13/02906 to MG-B from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Spain; RYC-2014-16980 to P.P.-G. from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain; UMA18-FEDERJA-277 from Plan Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020 and Universidad de Málaga to P.P.-G.; Proyectos dirigidos por jóvenes investigadores from Universidad de Málaga to P.P.-G. The cost of this publication has been paid in art by “ERDF A way of making Europe” funds. Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Elderly Patients with Acute and Advanced Heart Failure: Palliative Care Needs—Analysis of the EPICTER Study

Introduction: There are studies that evaluate the association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) but there is little evidence regarding the prognosis of this comorbidity in older patients admitted for acute HF. In addition, little attention has been given to the extracardiac and extrapulmonary symptoms presented by patients with HF and COPD in more advanced stages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of COPD on mortality in elderly patients with acute and advanced HF and the clinical manifestations and management from a palliative point of view. Methods: The EPICTER study (Epidemiological survey of advanced heart failure) is a cross-sectional, multicenter project that consecutively collected patients admitted for HF in 74 Spanish hospitals. Demographic, clinical, treatment, organ-dependent terminal criteria (NYHA III-IV, LVEF <20%, intractable angina, HF despite optimal treatment), and general terminal criteria (estimated survival <6 months, patient/family acceptance of palliative approach, and one of the following: evidence of HF progression, multiple Emergency Room visits or admissions in the last six months, 10% weight loss in the last six months, and functional impairment) were collected. Terminal HF was considered if the patient met at least one organ-dependent criterion and all the general criteria. Both groups (HF with COPD and without COPD) were compared. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to evaluate the presence of COPD on the vital prognosis of patients with HF. Results: A total of 3100 patients were included of which 812 had COPD. In the COPD group, dyspnea and anxiety were more frequently observed (86.2% vs. 75.3%, p = 0.001 and 35.4% vs. 31.2%, p = 0.043, respectively). In patients with a history of COPD, presentation of HF was in the form of acute pulmonary edema (21% vs. 14.4% in patients without COPD, p = 0.0001). Patients with COPD more frequently suffered from advanced HF (28.9% vs. 19.4%; p < 0.001). Consultation with the hospital palliative care service during admission was more frequent when patients with HF presented with associated COPD (94% vs. 6.8%; p = 0.036). In-hospital and six-month follow-up mortality was 36.5% in patients with COPD vs. 30.7% in patients without COPD, p = 0.005. The mean number of hospital admissions during follow-up was higher in patients with HF and COPD than in those with isolated HF (0.63 +/- 0.98 vs. 0.51 +/- 0.84; p < 0.002). Survival analysis showed that patients with a history of COPD had fewer survival days during follow-up than those without COPD (log Rank chi-squared 4.895 and p = 0.027). Conclusions: patients with HF and COPD had more severe symptoms (dyspnea and anxiety) and also a worse prognosis than patients without COPD. However, the prognosis of patients admitted to our setting is poor and many patients with HF and COPD may not receive the assessment and palliative care support they need. Palliative care is necessary in chronic non-oncologic diseases, especially in multipathologic and symptom-intensive patients. This is a clinical care aspect to be improved and evaluated in future research studies

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization due to SARS-CoV-2: A test-negative design study based on Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) sentinel surveillance in Spain

Background: With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, influenza surveillance systems in Spain were transformed into a new syndromic sentinel surveillance system. The Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance System (SiVIRA in Spanish) is based on a sentinel network for acute respiratory infection (ARI) surveillance in primary care and a network of sentinel hospitals for severe ARI (SARI) surveillance in hospitals. Methods: Using a test-negative design and data from SARI admissions notified to SiVIRA between January 1 and October 3, 2021, we estimated COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against hospitalization, by age group, vaccine type, time since vaccination, and SARS-CoV-2 variant. Results: VE was 89% (95% CI: 83-93) against COVID-19 hospitalization overall in persons aged 20 years and older. VE was higher for mRNA vaccines, and lower for those aged 80 years and older, with a decrease in protection beyond 3 months of completing vaccination, and a further decrease after 5 months. We found no differences between periods with circulation of Alpha or Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants, although variant-specific VE was slightly higher against Alpha. Conclusions: The SiVIRA sentinel hospital surveillance network in Spain was able to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SARI hospitalizations and provide estimates of COVID-19 VE in the population under surveillance. Our estimates add to evidence of high effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against severe COVID-19 and waning of protection with time since vaccination in those aged 80 or older. No substantial differences were observed between SARS-CoV-2 variants (Alpha vs. Delta).The data of the study was originally collectedas part of the following projects run by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:“Establishing Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) surveillance and performing hospital-based COVID-19 transmission studies”, “Developing an infrastructure and performing vaccine effectiveness studies for COVID-19 vaccines in the EU/EEA”, and the “Vaccine Effectiveness, Burden and Impact Studies(VEBIS) of COVID-19 and Influenza".S

Sometidos a esclavitud: los africanos y sus descendientes en el Caribe Hispano

Con autorización de la editorial para este libro. La edición estuvo a cargo de Consuelo Naranjo Orovio.Sometidos a esclavitud: los africanos y sus descendientes en el Caribe hispano contribuye al estudio de la historia Atlántica en la que la esclavización de millones de africanos fue uno de principales factores que generaron e impulsaron el desarrollo del mundo moderno. La formación de redes comerciales, compañías mercantiles y negocios particulares contribuyeron a conectar mundos y a hacerlos interdependientes. Junto a las mercancías, individuos y productos, viajaron ideas y tradiciones que fueron tejiendo la historia atlántica. En ella, la esclavización, los esclavizados y los afrodescendientes fueron y son partes destacadas, como muestra su legado presente de las culturas americanas. Estos estudios de la obra se suman a investigaciones que, desde distintos países, proyectos, grupos de investigación y enfoques, se están realizando sobre un tema tan rico, diverso y complejo como es la esclavitud atlántica. El espacio temporal que recorren los capítulos se prolonga en el tiempo como lo hizo la trata y el sistema esclavista. Lo mismo ocurre con los territorios afectados por este fenómeno. Su cartografía es una larga sombra que se expande por el mundo atlántico desde el siglo XVI hasta las últimas décadas del siglo XIX. Distintos actores y puntos de África, Europa y América emergen como protagonistas del sometimiento, el comercio y la esclavización de más de doce millones y medio de africanos.Este libro se inserta en el proyecto europeo Connected Worlds: The Caribbean, Origin of Modern World. This project has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska Curie grant agreement Nº 823846. This project is directed by professor Consuelo Naranjo Orovio, Institute of History-CSIC.Peer reviewe