Las carreras políticas y el tránsito entre lo público y lo privado

En un país cuyo sector privado depende enormemente del favor político, el fenómeno de las llamadas puertas giratorias (es decir, el tránsito entre la esfera pública y la privada, de ida y vuelta) está a la orden día. Este tipo de prácticas suponen un daño contra el interés general y entrañan un riesgo para la calidad de la vida democrática y para la credibilidad de las instituciones

La estructura y los contrapesos internos de la Fiscalía General del Estado

La doctrina ha subrayado la falta de autonomía del Ministerio Fiscal respecto al Poder Ejecutivo, pero ha prestado escasa atención al asunto de la gobernanza interna del Ministerio Fiscal. En este estudio se muestra cómo la ausencia de contrapesos internos al poder del Fiscal General del Estado conduce a una falta de transparencia y de rendición de cuentas que lastra el funcionamiento de la institución. El estudio concluye proponiendo reformas para reforzar tanto la autonomía e independencia del Ministerio Fiscal respecto del Poder Ejecutivo como su mejor funcionamiento interno, estableciendo un eficaz sistema de contrapesos internos, incrementando la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas de acuerdo con las recomendaciones de distintos organismos europeos

Creación de un índice de citas de revistas españolas de Humanidades para el estudio de la actividad investigadora de los científicos de estas disciplinas

Los estudios bibliométricos basados en el análisis de citaciones han demostrado tener un gran interés, puesto que permiten evaluar la actividadcientífica desde distintas perspectivas. Sin embargo, su utilización entraña el problema del acceso a fuentes que proporcionen los datos necesarios sobre la bibliografía referenciada por los autores en sus trabajos, pues rara vezlos incluyen las bases de datos. El Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) es la única institución que produce bases de datos con las referencias bibliográficas de los documentos que indizan (Science Citation Index, SocialSciences Citation Index y Arts & Humanities Citation Index). Sin embargo,estas bases de datos tienen una escasa cobertura de las publicaciones editadas por países no anglosajones, especialmente en las áreas de humanidades.Por ello, un equipo multidisciplinar de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid emprendió un proyecto piloto dirigido a crear un índice de citas de revistas españolas de humanidades, concretamente en el área de Historia, con el fin de analizar distintos aspectos vinculados con la actividad científica en esta disciplina, como autores y fuentes más citadas, la tipología documental utilizada por este colectivo, la obsolescencia de la información, o su capacidad idiomática. Estos aspectos se analizaron a partir de la información obtenida de las casi 25.000 referencias bibliográficas de revistas de españolas de Historia seleccionadas, durante los años 1997 y 1998.Bibliometric studies based on the analysis of citations have proved interesting in the evaluation of scientific activity from different perspectives. Their use, however, depends on access to data on the bibliography referenced by authors in their papers, information that is rarely included in databases. In fact, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) is the only institution whose databases contain the bibliographic references cited in the papers indexed (Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index) and their coverage of scientific literature published outside Anglo-Saxon countries is limited, particularly in the area of humanities. For this reason, a multidisciplinary group at Madrid’s Carlos III University undertook a pilot project designed to create a citation index of Spanish humanities journals, specifically in the area of History, to analyse a number of aspects relating to scientific activity in this discipline, such as the authors and sources most often cited, typology of the documentation used, obsolescence of the information or their knowledge of languages. These issues were analysed based on nearly 25.000 bibliographic references cited in papers published by selected Spanish history journals in 1997 and 1998

Creacción de un índice de citas de revistas españolas de Humanidades para el estudio de la actividad investigadora de los científicos de estas disciplinas

Bibliometric studies based on the analysis of citations have proved interesting in the evaluation of scientific activity from different perspectives. Their use, however, depends on access to data on the bibliography referenced by authors in their papers, information that is rarely included in databases. In fact, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) is the only institution whose databases contain the bibliographic references cited in the papers indexed (Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index) and their coverage of scientific literature published outside Anglo-Saxon countries is limited, particularly in the area of humanities.For this reason, a multidisciplinary group at Madrid’s Carlos III University undertook a pilot project designed to create a citation index of Spanish humanities journals, specifically in the area of History, to analyse a number of aspects relating to scientific activity in this discipline, such as the authors and sources most often cited, typology of the documentation used, obsolescence of the information or their knowledge of languages. These issues were analysed based on nearly 25.000 bibliographic references cited in papers published by selected Spanish history journals in 1997 and 1998.Los estudios bibliométricos basados en el análisis de citaciones han demostrado tener un gran interés, puesto que permiten evaluar la actividad científica desde distintas perspectivas. Sin embargo, su utilización entraña el problema del acceso a fuentes que proporcionen los datos necesarios sobre la bibliografía referenciada por los autores en sus trabajos, pues rara vez los incluyen las bases de datos. El Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) es la unica institución que produce bases de datos con las referencias bibliograficas de los documentos que indizan (Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index y Arts & Humanities Citation Index). Sin embargo, estas bases de datos tienen una escasa cobertura de las publicaciones editadas por países no anglosajones, especialmente en las áreas de humanidades. Por ello, un equipo multidisciplinar de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid emprendió un proyecto piloto dirigido a crear un índice de citas de revistas españolas de humanidades, concretamente en el área de Historia, con el fin de analizar distintos aspectos vinculados con la actividad científica en esta disciplina, como autores y fuentes más citadas, la tipología documental utilizada por este colectivo, la obsolescencia de la información, o su capacidad idiomática. Estos aspectos se analizaron a partir de la información obtenida de las casi 25.000 referencias bibliográficas de revistas de españolas de Historia seleccionadas, durante los años 1997 y 1998

Characteristics and laboratory findings on admission to the emergency department among 2873 hospitalized patients with COVID-19: the impact of adjusted laboratory tests in multicenter studies. A multicenter study in Spain (BIOCOVID-Spain study).

Identification of predictors for severe disease progression is key for risk stratification in COVID-19 patients. We aimed to describe the main characteristics and identify the early predictors for severe outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Spain. This was an observational, retrospective cohort study (BIOCOVID-Spain study) including COVID-19 patients admitted to 32 Spanish hospitals. Demographics, comorbidities and laboratory tests were collected. Outcome was in-hospital mortality. For analysis, laboratory tests values were previously adjusted to assure the comparability of results among participants. Cox regression was performed to identify predictors. Study population included 2873 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Nine variables were independent predictors for in-hospital mortality, including creatinine (Hazard ratio [HR]:1.327; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.040-1.695, p = .023), troponin (HR: 2.150; 95% CI: 1.155-4.001; p = .016), platelet count (HR: 0.994; 95% CI: 0.989-0.998; p = .004) and C-reactive protein (HR: 1.037; 95% CI: 1.006-1.068; p = .019). This is the first multicenter study in which an effort was carried out to adjust the results of laboratory tests measured with different methodologies to guarantee their comparability. We reported a comprehensive information about characteristics in a large cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, focusing on the analytical features. Our findings may help to identify patients early at a higher risk for an adverse outcome

Cardiac troponin and COVID-19 severity: Results from BIOCOVID study.

Myocardial injury is a common finding in COVID-19 strongly associated with severity. We analysed the prevalence and prognostic utility of myocardial injury, characterized by elevated cardiac troponin, in a large population of COVID-19 patients, and further evaluated separately the role of troponin T and I. This is a multicentre, retrospective observational study enrolling patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who were hospitalized in 32 Spanish hospitals. Elevated troponin levels were defined as values above the sex-specific 99th percentile upper reference limit, as recommended by international guidelines. Thirty-day mortality was defined as endpoint. A total of 1280 COVID-19 patients were included in this study, of whom 187 (14.6%) died during the hospitalization. Using a nonspecific sex cut-off, elevated troponin levels were found in 344 patients (26.9%), increasing to 384 (30.0%) when a sex-specific cut-off was used. This prevalence was significantly higher (42.9% vs 21.9%; P  In this multicentre study, myocardial injury was a common finding in COVID-19 patients. Its prevalence increased when a sex-specific cut-off and cardiac troponin T were used. Elevated troponin was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality, irrespective of cardiac troponin assay and cut-offs to detect myocardial injury. Hence, the early measurement of cardiac troponin may be useful for risk stratification in COVID-19

Harmonized D-dimer levels upon admission for prognosis of COVID-19 severity: Results from a Spanish multicenter registry (BIOCOVID-Spain study).

Coagulopathy is a key feature of COVID-19 and D-dimer has been reported as a predictor of severity. However, because D-dimer test results vary considerably among assays, resolving harmonization issues is fundamental to translate findings into clinical practice. In this retrospective multicenter study (BIOCOVID study), we aimed to analyze the value of harmonized D-dimer levels upon admission for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. All-cause in-hospital mortality was defined as endpoint. For harmonization of D-dimer levels, we designed a model based on the transformation of method-specific regression lines to a reference regression line. The ability of D-dimer for prediction of death was explored by receiver operating characteristic curves analysis and the association with the endpoint by Cox regression analysis. Study population included 2663 patients. In-hospital mortality rate was 14.3%. Harmonized D-dimer upon admission yielded an area under the curve of 0.66, with an optimal cut-off value of 0.945 mg/L FEU. Patients with harmonized D-dimer ≥ 0.945 mg/L FEU had a higher mortality rate (22.4% vs. 9.2%; p