Applying Recommendations to Align Competences, Methodology, and Assessment in Telematics, Computing, and Electronic Engineering Courses

The alignment between competences, teachinglearning methodologies, and assessment is a key element of European higher education. This paper presents the efforts carried out by six telematics, computer science and electronic engineering education teachers toward achieving this alignment in their subjects. In a joint work with pedagogues, a set of recommended actions are identified. A selection of these actions are applied and evaluated in the six subjects. The cross analysis of the results indicates that the actions allow students to better understand the methodologies and assessments planned for the subjects, facilitate (self-) regulation, and increase students’ involvement in the subjects

The dominant seagrass herbivore Sarpa salpa shifts its shoaling and feeding strategies as they grow

The relative benefits of group foraging change as animals grow. Metabolic requirements, competitive abilities and predation risk are often allometric and influenced by group size. How individuals optimise costs and benefits as they grow can strongly influence consumption patterns. The shoaling fish Sarpa salpa is the principal herbivore of temperate Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows. We used in-situ observations to describe how ontogeny influenced S. salpa individual feeding behaviour, shoaling behaviour and group foraging strategies, and its potential consequences to seagrass meadows. Shoaling was strongly influenced by body length: shoals were highly length-assorted and there was a clear positive relationship between body length and shoal size. Foraging strategies changed dramatically with shoal size. Small shoals foraged simultaneously and scattered over large areas. In contrast, larger shoals (made of larger individuals) employed a potentially cooperative strategy where individuals fed rotationally and focused in smaller areas for longer times (spot feeding). Thus, as individuals grew, they increased their potential impact as well, not merely because they consumed more, but because they formed larger shoals capable of considerably concentrating their grazing within the landscape. Our results indicate that ontogenetic shifts in group foraging strategies can have large ecosystem-wide consequences when the species is an important ecosystem modifier

Toward Quantum Superposition of Living Organisms

The most striking feature of quantum mechanics is the existence of superposition states, where an object appears to be in different situations at the same time. The existence of such states has been tested with small objects, like atoms, ions, electrons and photons, and even with molecules. More recently, it has been possible to create superpositions of collections of photons, atoms, or Cooper pairs. Current progress in optomechanical systems may soon allow us to create superpositions of even larger objects, like micro-sized mirrors or cantilevers, and thus to test quantum mechanical phenomena at larger scales. Here we propose a method to cool down and create quantum superpositions of the motion of sub-wavelength, arbitrarily shaped dielectric objects trapped inside a high--finesse cavity at a very low pressure. Our method is ideally suited for the smallest living organisms, such as viruses, which survive under low vacuum pressures, and optically behave as dielectric objects. This opens up the possibility of testing the quantum nature of living organisms by creating quantum superposition states in very much the same spirit as the original Schr\"odinger's cat "gedanken" paradigm. We anticipate our essay to be a starting point to experimentally address fundamental questions, such as the role of life and consciousness in quantum mechanics.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, published versio

Unidad hospitalaria de patología dual grave: un año de experiencia

Se trata de un estudio observacional, descriptivo, transversal en el que se incluyeron los pacientes ingresados en la Unidad de Hospitalización del Programa de Patología Dual Grave (UHPPDG) durante un año. Los datos sociodemográficos, clínicos y farmacológicos se obtuvieron mediante hojas de recogida de datos diseñadas al efecto. El total de pacientes ingresados fue de 82 en cuyo perfil prevalecen los varones con una edad media de 36,7 años, derivados del subprograma ambulatorio del propio Programa de Patología Dual Grave (PPDG) y con ingreso de tipo involuntario. El diagnóstico psiquiátrico más frecuente fue el trastorno psicótico, especialmente la Esquizofrenia Paranoide. Las sustancias tóxicas más consumidas fueron: alcohol (33 %), cocaína (26 %) y el cannabis (20 %). Dentro de las técnicas psicoterápicas destaca la Terapia Psicoeducativa Motivacional Breve-Dual (TPMB-D), de formato grupal, en la que participaron alrededor de 2/3 de los pacientes. El grupo de fármacos más utilizados fueron los antipsicóticos (quetiapina [60%] y la risperidona inyectable de larga duración (RILD). En el grupo de pacientes con Dependencia/Abuso de Alcohol, los antipsicóticos más utilizados fueron la quetiapina y la tiaprida (43%). Los antidepresivos se utilizaron en el 37% de los casos, especialmente la duloxetina. En el grupo con Dependencia/ Abuso de Cocaína, la Esquizofrenia es el trastorno comórbido más prevalente (75%), y los antipsicóticos el grupo farmacológico más prescrito, en especial la RILD (91%). Entre los pacientes multi-dependientes la asociación más frecuente fue la Dependencia de Opiáceos y Cocaína (56%). El diagnóstico comórbido más frecuente en este grupo fue la Esquizofrenia

Factors related to late stage diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Aims: To identify factors related to advanced-stage diagnosis of oral cancer to disclose high-risk groups and facilitate early detection strategies. Study design: An ambispective cohort study on 88 consecutive patients treated from January 1998 to December 2003. Inclusion criteria: pathological diagnosis of OSCC (primary tumour) at any oral site and suffering from a tumour at any TNM stage. Variables considered: age, gender, smoking history, alcohol usage, tumour site, macroscopic pattern of the lesion, co-existing precancerous lesion, degree of differentiation, diagnostic delay and TNM stage. Results: A total of 88 patients (mean age 60±11.3; 65.9% males) entered the study. Most patients (54.5%) suffered no delayed diagnosis and 45.5% of the carcinomas were diagnosed at early stages (I-II). The most frequent clinical lesions were ulcers (70.5%). Most cases were well- and moderately-differentiated (91%). Univariate analyses revealed strong associations between advanced stages and moderate-poor differentiation (OR=4.2; 95%CI=1.6-10.9) or tumour site (floor of the mouth (OR=3.6; 95%CI=1.2-11.1); gingivae (OR=8.8; 95%CI=2.0-38.2); and retromolar trigone (OR=8.8; 95%CI=1.5-49.1)). Regression analysis recognised the site of the tumour and the degree of differentiation as significantly associated to high risk of late-stage diagnosis. Conclusions: Screening programmes designed to detect asymptomatic oral cancers should be prioritized. Educational interventions on the population and on the professionals should include a sound knowledge of the disease presentation, specifically on sites like floor of the mouth, gingivae and retromolar trigone. More studies are needed in order to analyse the part of tumour biology on the extension of the disease at the time of diagnosis. © Medicina Oral S. L