MENÉNDEZ BUEYES, Luis R., Medicina, enfermedad y muerte en la España tardoantigua. Un acercamiento histórico a las patologías de las poblaciones de la época tardorromana e hispanovisigoda (siglos iv-viii)

Acta Salmanticensia, Estudios Históricos y Geográficos 153, Ediciones Universidad Salamanca, Salamanca, 2013, 175 p., 14 tablas, ISBN: 978-84-9012-126-

Weakening the C – C bond: On the behavior of glyoxylic acid on Pt(111) and its vicinal surfaces

Adsorption and oxidation of glyoxylic acid (GA) on platinum single crystals were investigated by spectroelectrochemical techniques. Among basal planes, Pt(111) is taken as a model surface for reactivity studies in order to point out the Csingle bondC bond breaking. For a standard GA concentration (0.1 M), self-poisoning by adsorbed CO (COads) is the main process dominating the positive-going sweep. The presence of (110) steps on (111) terraces contribute in the Csingle bondC bond cleavage, leading to CO formation, while (100) steps do not show a significant effect. Poison stripping allows GA oxidation in a lower potential range in the negative-going sweep. By working with different GA concentrations (10− 5–0.1 M), surface blockage is hindered, pointing out an alternative reaction pathway, where GA is oxidized in a poison-free surface. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) experiments allowed the identification of CO2, formic (FA) and oxalic acid (OA) as main products of GA oxidation. We highlight an activity peak at 0.01 M GA, concomitant to the presence of CO2 absorption bands at lower potentials (0.2 V). The formation of CO2 at potentials where CO cannot be oxidized suggests a change in the preferential reaction pathway, where GA is completely oxidized through an active intermediate distinct to COads.This work was carried out under financial support of MICINN (project no. CTQ2013-44083-P). R.M.H. acknowledges support from Generalitat Valenciana under Santiago Grisolia Program (GRISOLIA/2013/008)

Flujo de trabajo para la experimentación colaborativa en Ingeniería del Software guiada por búsqueda

La Ingeniería del Software Guiada por Búsqueda persigue reformular problemas de Ingeniería del Software que a menudo comprenden objetivos en conflicto, como problemas de optimización. Así, las técnicas que se aplican en esta disciplina buscan una o un conjunto de soluciones casi-óptimas en un espacio de soluciones candidatas con la ayuda de una función de aptitud que les permita distinguir las mejores soluciones. La naturaleza estocástica de los algoritmos de optimización requiere de la repetición de las búsquedas para mitigar los efectos de la aleatoriedad. A la hora de comparar algoritmos, el investigador comparará los resultados con mejor calidad (mejores valores en la función de aptitud, en indicadores de calidad y rendimiento) devueltos en las búsquedas, lo que conlleva un trabajo adicional por parte del investigador. La sobrecarga que implica esta actividad puede aminorarse si la experimentación se enfoca de manera colaborativa. Este artículo propone un flujo de trabajo para la experimentación colaborativa basado en resultados e indicadores de calidad y rendimiento

Impacto de las métricas CK en la refactorización

Las métricas CK a nivel de diseño orientado a objetos, son las que alcanzan un mayor consenso sobre la identificación de la necesidad de una refactorización. Para estimar el impacto de estas métricas de calidad en la refactorización en este trabajo nos basamos en la reducción de la entropía. Para ellos se parte de los datos validados de refactorizaciones y de métricas de código de varios proyectos open source. Las valoraciones obtenidas se combinan para ordenar las métricas y proponemos un método para medir su influencia incluso en aquellas situaciones en las que no todas las métricas puedan ser valoradas o cuando esta valoración no alcance unas tasas suficientemente representativas. Los resultados obtenidos están en la misma línea de trabajos previos de otros autores, siendo de mayor influencia las medidas de complejidad y acoplamiento y de menor aquellas m etricas relativas a la herencia y la cohesión

Fascicular Topography of the Human Median Nerve for Neuroprosthetic Surgery

One of the most sought-after applications of neuroengineering is the communication between the arm and an artificial prosthetic device for the replacement of an amputated hand or the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries. For that, an electrode is placed around or inside the median nerve to serve as interface for recording and stimulation of nerve signals coming from the fascicles that innervate the muscles responsible for hand movements. Due to the lack of a standard procedure, the electrode implantation by the surgeon is strongly based on intuition, which may result in poor performance of the neuroprosthesis because of the suboptimal location of the neural interface. To provide morphological data that can aid the neuroprosthetic surgeon with this procedure, we investigated the fascicular topography of the human median nerve along the forearm and upper arm. We first performed a description of the fascicular content and branching patterns along the length of the arm. Next we built a 3D reconstruction of the median nerve so we could analyze the fascicle morphological features in relation to the arm level. Finally, we characterized the motor content of the median nerve fascicles in the upper arm. Collectively, these results indicate that fascicular organization occurs in a short segment distal to the epicondyles and remains unaltered until the muscular branches leave the main trunk. Based on our results, overall recommendations based on electrode type and implant location can be drawn to help and aid the neuroprosthetic procedure. Invasive interfaces would be more convenient for the upper arm and the most proximal third of the forearm. Epineural electrodes seem to be most suitable for the forearm segment after fascicles have been divided from the main trunk

“Me gustó mucho estar en contacto con mi profe”: comunicación áulica en clases de biología virtuales de primer año

Durante el primer semestre de 2020 se desarrollaron prácticas docentes en el espacio curricular de Biología de primer año, en el marco de la materia Prácticas de la Enseñanza de la carrera de Profesorado en Ciencias Biológicas de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. En el contexto de la pandemia por el Covid19, las prácticas tuvieron una modalidad virtual y la unidad didáctica trabajada fue Fotosíntesis y su importancia para la vida en el planeta, con un enfoque de educación ambiental. Teniendo en consideración que la finalidad del proceso educativo es que les estudiantes puedan trascenderse a sí mismos y que lo hagan de manera deseada (Masschelein y Simons, 2014), se llevaron a cabo actividades atractivas, desafiantes y que pretendieron ser un acontecimiento para elles. En el contexto de la pandemia y para que las actividades fueran llevadas a cabo con éxito se consideró clave promover una comunicación activa que logró generar un espacio de confianza, un espacio de certidumbre en un contexto de incertidumbre (Mazza, 2020). En este sentido se acompañó el desarrollo de las actividades favoreciendo conversaciones proactivas, progresivas, de andamiaje y reflexivas (Anijovich, 2019). El acompañamiento docente, la relación que se generó con les estudiantes y el trabajo de temas relevantes, movilizadores y con gran trascendencia social favoreció a que les alumnes sean protagonistas de su propio aprendizaje y que este sea significativo.publishedVersionFil: Arán, Daniela Silvina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Enseñanza de la Ciencia y la Tecnología; Argentina.Fil: Martínez, Guillermo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Enseñanza de la Ciencia y la Tecnología; Argentina.Fil: Biber, Priscila Ariadna. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Enseñanza de la Ciencia y la Tecnología; Argentina

Comparing neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder using the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry Scale

The purpose of this study was to compare the psychometric properties of the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP) when applied to patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 126) or bipolar I disorder (n = 76), and also to compare the cognitive impairment in both samples of patients and a control group (n = 83) using the SCIP and a complete neuropsychological battery. The SCIP is a scale intended to quickly and easily assess cognitive impairment in patients with severe psychiatric disorders. The results showed firstly that, in terms of internal consistency, temporal stability, dimensional structure, and criterionreferenced validity, the SCIP provides reliable and valid scores at an equivalent level in both schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder samples. Secondly, it showed that differential cognitive impairment between the two patient groups occurs only in verbal memory, although the effectThe statistical analysis of this work was funded by Pfizer, S.L.U. Data collection in the original study source for the analysis included here was funded by Pfizer, SLU, and also received grants from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (PSI2012-32275), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERSAM and the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo: Plan Nacional de Drogas (2008/I/30) and Gobierno de Navarra (GON 55/200). Editorial support was funded by project 2009SGR0822 (J. Gómez-Benito y G. Guilera) and 2009SGR1022 (E. Vieta y A. Martínez-Arán) from Departament d’Universitats, Recerca i Societat de la Informació de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Grammatical review was carried out by Sharon Grevet and was funded by Pfizer, SLU. Javier Rejas is employ of Pfizer, SLU. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest as a consequence of this work

Improving Functioning, Quality of Life, and Well-being in Patients With Bipolar Disorder

People with bipolar disorder frequently experience persistent residual symptoms, problems in psychosocial functioning, cognitive impairment, and poor quality of life. In the last decade, the treatment target in clinical and research settings has focused not only on clinical remission, but also on functional recovery and, more lately, in personal recovery, taking into account patients' well-being and quality of life. Hence, the trend in psychiatry and psychology is to treat bipolar disorder in an integrative and holistic manner. This literature review offers an overview regarding psychosocial functioning in bipolar disorder. First, a brief summary is provided regarding the definition of psychosocial functioning and the tools to measure it. Then, the most reported variables influencing the functional outcome in patients with bipolar disorder are listed. Thereafter, we include a section discussing therapies with proven efficacy at enhancing functional outcomes. Other possible therapies that could be useful to prevent functional decline and improve functioning are presented in another section. Finally, in the last part of this review, different interventions directed to improve patients' well-being, quality of life, and personal recovery are briefly described

Motor speed predicts stability of cognitive deficits in both schizophrenic and bipolar I patients at one-year follow-up

Background We examined whether motor speed assessed by the finger tapping test predicts generalized and specific stable deficits because of a common patho-genic process in bipolar and schizophrenic patients. Methods: One hundred and two patients underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests. Patients with a score of less than one standard deviation from their siblings' sample in two assessments with an interval of one year were defined as suffering from stable deficits because of a common pathogenic process. In addition to univariate analyses, factor analyses, ordinal logistic regression, and multiple linear regressions were used. A general score was also calculated. Results: No differences were found between schizophrenic and bipolar patients in the deficits of verbal fluency, shift reasoning ability and executive attention. Schizophrenic patients had greater persistent cognitive deficit because of a common pathogenic factor in the verbal memory dimension than bipolar patients. Motor speed predicted the specific deficits of verbal fluency, shift reasoning, executive attention and the general deficit of both bipolar I and schizophrenic patients. Bipolar patients suffered a lesser specific deficit in the verbal memory dimension than schizophrenic patients did, this domain not being predicted by motor speed. Motor speed predicted the generalized deficit and the specific dimensions in which schizophrenic and bipolar patients showed no differences. Conclusions: These results suggest the presence of general and specific stable cognitive deficits because of a common pathogenic factor related to psychomotor slowness. Motor speed seems to be suitable endophenocognitype for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder