Adequacy of existing circular economy assessment tools for higher education institutions

[EN] Circular economy (CE) has been identified as a key strategy to contribute to sustainable development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. In this context, organisations have started to demand methods to measure and monitor their level of circularity. To facilitate this task, several CE tools have been developed in recent years, which automatically measure, track and communicate the level of circularity of organisations based on answers to qualitative questions. In particular, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as organisations engaged in education, research and community services, play an important role in promoting sustainability and should be an example in the transition process towards CE. Therefore, they need approaches that allow them to measure and monitor their transition towards CE. The aim of this study is to analyse the adequacy of existing CE tools for HEIs, to check whether they consider the specificities of HEIs and to identify the required changes to make them suitable for HEIs. For this purpose, seven existing CE tools were applied to four Spanish HEIs, and were analysed and evaluated through interviews with the environmental managers of these HEIs. The results show that the existing CE tools need to be reformulated in order to make them suitable for assessing the level of circularity of HEIs and to make their outputs useful for decision-making. As a conclusion, it has been found that it is better to develop a specific CE tool for HEIs, in order to incorporate the specificities and peculiarities of such complex type of organisation, including the teaching, research and management areas.Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci ' on y Universidades (Spain) (FPU18/02816) for the financial support and to the respondents from the organisations for their participation in this study.Valls-Val, K.; Ibañez-Forés, V.; Lo-Iacono-Ferreira, VG.; Capuz-Rizo, SF.; Bovea, MD. (2023). Adequacy of existing circular economy assessment tools for higher education institutions. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 39:399-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2023.05.0113994133

How to promote the use of social networks as a marketing strategy in companies in the hospitality industry : the re-discovery of "Pinterest"

[EN] The traditional service marketing actions have undergone a revolution with the introduction of new technologies and especially with the widespread use of social networks. Users are influenced by the opinions that are presented on these networks when purchasing services online. The hospitality industry has also been influenced by social networks, but many hospitality companies have not detected the opportunities yet. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of social media as a component of the firms´ marketing strategy through a review of the state of the art. Results show that the social network Pinterest fits perfectly in the hospitality industry and its use is recommended for companies who want exposure and brand advertising with high quality visual content.[ES] Las acciones tradicionales del marketing de servicios han sufrido una revolución con la implantación de las nuevas tecnologías y, especialmente, con el uso generalizado de las redes sociales. Hoy en día, los usuarios están influenciados por las opiniones vertidas a través de estas redes a la hora de adquirir servicios por internet. El sector hostelero se ha visto influenciado también por las redes sociales, pero muchas de sus empresas no han detectado todavía las oportunidades que ofrecen. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar el empleo de las redes sociales como parte de la estrategia de marketing a través de una revisión del estado de la cuestión. Las conclusiones indican que la red social Pinterest encaja perfectamente en el sector hostelero y se recomienda su uso en aquellas empresas que deseen la exposición y publicidad de la marca, y que posean gran calidad de contenido visualGrandi Bustillos, CV.; González Ladrón De Guevara, FR.; Segarra Oña, MDV. (2014). ¿Cómo potenciar el uso de las redes sociales como estrategia de marketing en empresas del sector hostelero? El re-descubrimiento de Pinterest. TEC Empresarial. 8(3):7-18. doi:10.18845/te.v8i3.2076S7188

Long COVID in hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients in a large cohort in Northwest Spain, a prospective cohort study

Survivors to COVID-19 have described long-term symptoms after acute disease. These signs constitute a heterogeneous group named long COVID or persistent COVID. The aim of this study is to describe persisting symptoms 6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis in a prospective cohort in the Northwest Spain. This is a prospective cohort study performed in the COHVID-GS. This cohort includes patients in clinical follow-up in a health area of 569,534 inhabitants after SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 diagnosis. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics were collected during the follow up. A total of 248 patients completed 6 months follow-up, 176 (69.4%) required hospitalization and 29 (10.2%) of them needed critical care. At 6 months, 119 (48.0%) patients described one or more persisting symptoms. The most prevalent were: extra-thoracic symptoms (39.1%), chest symptoms (27%), dyspnoea (20.6%), and fatigue (16.1%). These symptoms were more common in hospitalized patients (52.3% vs. 38.2%) and in women (59.0% vs. 40.5%). The multivariate analysis identified COPD, women gender and tobacco consumption as risk factors for long COVID. Persisting symptoms are common after COVID-19 especially in hospitalized patients compared to outpatients (52.3% vs. 38.2%). Based on these findings, special attention and clinical follow-up after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection should be provided for hospitalized patients with previous lung diseases, tobacco consumption, and women

European Journalism Observatory- a platform for training and professional networks in the Faculty of Information Sciences

The launching of a Spanish platform within the Observatory will serve as a training laboratory for undergraduate and graduate students of the Faculty of Information Sciences at the same time as for establishing a professional media network in and outside Spain. The European Journalism Observatory (EJO) is a network of 14 non-profit media research institutes in 11 countries where Spain continue to be the missing element. All researchers in the EJO network actively strive to transfer their knowledge to the media industry as well as interested publics outside the scientific community, as a platform to enable online availability of at least a portion of many publications in several languages

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation

¿Cómo potenciar el uso de las redes sociales como estrategia de marketing en empresas del sector hostelero?: El re-descubrimiento de “Pinterest”

The traditional service marketing actions have undergone a revolution with the introduction of new technologies and especially with the widespread use of social networks. Users are influenced by the opinions that are presented on these networks when purchasing services online. The hospitality industry has also been influenced by social networks, but many hospitality companies have not detected the opportunities yet. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of social media as a component of the firms´ marketing strategy through a review of the state of the art. Results show that the social network Pinterest fits perfectly in the hospitality industry and its use is recommended for companies who want exposure and brand advertising with high quality visual content.Las acciones tradicionales del marketing de servicios han sufrido una revolución con la implantación de las nuevas tecnologías y, espe- cialmente, con el uso generalizado de las redes sociales. Hoy en día, los usuarios están influen- ciados por las opiniones vertidas a través de estas redes a la hora de adquirir servicios por internet. El sector hostelero se ha visto influenciado tam- bién por las redes sociales, pero muchas de sus empresas no han detectado todavía las oportu-nidades que ofrecen. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar el empleo de las redes sociales como parte de la estrategia de marketing a tra- vés de una revisión del estado de la cuestión. Las conclusiones indican que la red social Pinterest encaja perfectamente en el sector hostelero y se recomienda su uso en aquellas empresas que deseen la exposición y publicidad de la marca, y que posean gran calidad de contenido visual

Hyaluronic Acid Combined with Serum Rich in Growth Factors in Corneal Epithelial Defects

The aim of this study is to assess if an adhesive biopolymer, sodium hyaluronate (NaHA), has synergistic effects with s-PRGF (a serum derived from plasma rich in growth factors and a blood derivative that has already shown efficacy in corneal epithelial wound healing), to reduce time of healing or posology. In vitro proliferation and migration studies, both in human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells and in rabbit primary corneal epithelial (RPCE) cultures, were carried out. In addition, we performed studies of corneal wound healing in vivo in rabbits treated with s-PRGF, NaHA, or the combination of both. We performed immunohistochemistry techniques (CK3, CK15, Ki67, ß4 integrin, ZO-1, α-SMA) in rabbit corneas 7 and 30 days after a surgically induced epithelial defect. In vitro results show that the combination of NaHA and s-PRGF offers the worst proliferation rates in both HCE and RPCE cells. Addition of NaHA to s-PRGF diminishes the re-epithelializing capability of s-PRGF. In vivo, all treatments, given twice a day, showed equivalent efficacy in corneal epithelial healing. We conclude that the combined use of s-PRGF and HaNA as an adhesive biopolymer does not improve the efficacy of s-PRGF alone in the wound healing of corneal epithelial defects

Shotgun proteomics and schizophrenia: in the search of protein biomarkers in blood

Poster.-- VII Xornada de Investigación BIOINTEGRASAUDE 2019, Santiago de Compostela, 14 de maioSchizophrenia (SZ) is defined as a highly complex multifactorial neuropsychiatric disorder whose pathogenicity is the result of the sum of genetic and environmental risk factors. Currently, its diagnosis is made through clinical interviews and mental evaluations, which have a high reliability but that lack the support of biological tests that corroborate them. Therefore, the search for biomarkers is extremely important when the ultimate goal is to obtain a correct diagnosis, prognosis and/or theragnosis of the disease. In recent years, proteomics has contributed greatly to the identification of new protein biomarkers that identify this pathology. Within the set of techniques that they cover, the proteomic shotgun allows the identification of proteins from a peptide mixture, product of the enzymatic digestion of all the proteins present in a sample. For this, one of the methodologies used is liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in the system (LC-MS/MS), which allows the separation and subsequent analysis of all the peptides present in the sample. The objective of this study is the search for peripheral protein biomarkers present in the blood through the LC-MS/MS technology, which through a minimally invasive procedure such as a routine blood test, provide information in the clinic about this psychopathology. To do this, we will analyze the proteome of peripheral mononuclear cells - PBMCs (lymphocytes and monocytes) extracted from the blood samples of patients with SZ before and after treatment, as well as the individuals taken as controlPeer reviewe

Shotgun proteomics and schizophrenia in the search of protein biomarkers in blood

Poster.-- III Annual Meeting CINBIO: from bench to bedside: diagnosis, therapy & data analysis, 1st and 2nd of July 2019, VigoSchizophrenia (SZ) is defined as a highly complex multifactorial neuropsychiatric disorder whose pathogenicity is the result of the sum of genetic and environmental risk factors. Currently, its diagnosis is made through clinical interviews and mental evaluations, which have a high reliability but that lack the support of biological tests that corroborate them. Therefore, the search for biomarkers is extremely important when the ultimate goal is to obtain a correct diagnosis, prognosis and/or theragnosis of the disease. In recent years, proteomics has contributed greatly to the identification of new protein biomarkers that identify this pathology. Within the set of techniques that they cover, the proteomic shotgun allows the identification of proteins from a peptide mixture, product of the enzymatic digestion of all the proteins present in a sample. For this, one of the methodologies used is liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in the system (LCMS/MS), which allows the separation and subsequent analysis of all the peptides present in the sample. The objective of this study is the search for peripheral protein biomarkers present in the blood through the LC-MS/MS technology, which through a minimally invasive procedure such as a routine blood test, provide information in the clinic about this psychopathology. To do this, we will analyze the proteome of peripheral mononuclear cells - PBMCs (lymphocytes and monocytes) extracted from the blood samples of patients with SZ before and after treatment, as well as the individuals taken as controlPeer reviewe