A multimodal analysis of british television commercials and their Influence in the audience

Abstract A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF BRITISH TELEVISION COMMERCIALS AND THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE AUDIENCE Advertising has been among us since ancient times; but since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution —middle of the XIX century— advertising grew at the same rate as the industrial activity did. Today, most people are constantly exposed to its messages and it is an activity for which companies spend large amounts of money. This shows that it has an impact on sales, making it a key activity in the capitalist machinery. One may wonder what makes advertising so effective. Hitherto, there have been a multitude of studies about what makes advertising such a skilful tool in convincing people. It is important to consider the particular characteristics of the language used in advertising. This tends to be brief and its message focuses on displaying the good features of the promoted product. In the advertising message, it becomes fundamental to achieve the goal of attracting the audience attention and make them prone to buy the advertised item. Nevertheless, it is quite puzzling that both the ideas transferred by ads and the language in them are rather simple. This investigation is about TV advertising, which uses both written and spoken speech, sounds and moving images. All these aspects make it an efficient   means of attracting people’s attention. In addition, TV advertising uses cinematographic means and technical elements not detected by our consciousness that may exert a decisive influence in our decisions. Despite all this, I believe that something is missing in most of the studies regarding the convincing power of ads. The elements coming from the sender are not the only fundamental consideration. In this communication act, it is also necessary to consider the receiver, that is, how people receive the messages in ads. This investigation tries to explain, through the Cognitive-experiential self-theory of personality, the ways in which audiences may be manipulated by ads. Key words: Advertising, Manipulation, Merchandise, Television, Multimodal Analysis; Cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST)   Resumen ANÁLISIS MULTIMODAL DE UN NÚMERO DE ANUNCIOS EMITIDOS POR LA TELEVISIÓN BRITÁNICA Y DE LA INFLUENCIA DE LOS MISMOS EN LA AUDIENCIA A LA QUE VAN DIRIGIDOS La publicidad ha estado entre nosotros desde la antigüedad; pero desde el comienzo de la Revolución Industrial —a mediados del siglo XIX— la primera creció al mismo ritmo que la actividad industrial. Hoy en día, la mayor parte de la población está constantemente expuesta a sus mensajes; a la vez que las empresas gastan enormes cantidades de dinero en ella. Esto último demuestra que tiene un impacto decisivo en las ventas, lo que la convierte en una actividad clave para la maquinaria capitalista. Uno puede preguntarse qué hace que la publicidad sea tan efectiva. Hasta ahora, ha habido multitud de estudios sobre qué hace que la publicidad sea una herramienta tan hábil para convencer a la gente. Es importante tener en cuenta las características particulares del lenguaje utilizado en la publicidad. Éste suele ser breve y su mensaje se centra en mostrar las buenas características del producto anunciado. En el mensaje publicitario, se vuelve fundamental atraer la atención del público al que dirige sus mensajes y convencer a éste para que adquiera el artículo publicitado. Sin embargo, es bastante desconcertante que tanto las ideas transferidas por los anuncios como el lenguaje usado en éstos sean bastante simples. Esta tesis trata sobre la publicidad televisiva, que utiliza tanto el habla hablada como escrita, los sonidos y las imágenes en movimiento. Todos estos aspectos la convierten en un medio eficaz para atraer la atención del público al que va dirigida. Pero además, la publicidad televisiva usa elementos cinematográficos y técnicos, no detectados por nuestra conciencia, los cuales pueden ejercer una influencia decisiva en nuestras decisiones. A pesar de todo esto, creo que falta algo en la mayoría de los estudios sobre el poder convincente de los anuncios. Los elementos provenientes del remitente no son la única consideración fundamental. En este acto de comunicación, es también necesario considerar al receptor; es decir, cómo las personas reciben los mensajes en los anuncios. Esta investigación intenta explicar, a través de la Teoría cognitiva-experiencial de la personalidad —cuyas siglas en inglés son CEST, las formas en que las audiencias pueden ser manipuladas por los anuncios. Conceptos Clave Anuncios, Manipulación, Productos, Televisión, Análisis Multimodal; Teoría cognitiva-experiencial de la personalidad (CEST

Teachers’ perception on the formative use of mobile phone

This study analyses the idea which Secondary School and Vocational Education teachers have of the educational use of smartphones in the classroom. Educational institutions must be aware of the especial influence of these gadgets in our current society and should strive to integrate and normalize these potential educational tools. The research has been raised by sending a questionnaire to teachers, getting a sample of 42 answers. We carried out an exploratory and descriptive study throughout the results obtained, applying a quantitative approach with univariate and bivariate statistical analysis in order to obtain the maximum information on the crossing of variables: The results show that the teachers have knowledge about some educational experiences using the mobile phone as well as show interest in learning how to carry out their educational integration in the classroom, being more flexible and receptive teachers the younger, who also show a higher level of ICT knowledge. Through this study we have tried to continue another one already started three years ago, therefore we have compared the current results with those obtained then, appreciating a positive evolution regarding the uses, attitudes and educational possibilities that teachers perceive on the mobile phone.Este trabajo de investigación analiza la visión que tienen los docentes de  Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y Formación Profesional, del uso educativo del teléfono móvil en el aula. Las instituciones educativas han de ser conscientes de que estamos ante un dispositivo que ha marcado especialmente la sociedad actual y deberían esforzarse por integrar y normalizar estas potenciales herramientas educativas. La investigación se ha planteado haciendo llegar un cuestionario a los docentes, consiguiendo una muestra de 42 respuestas. Con los resultados obtenidos, hemos realizado un estudio exploratorio y descriptivo con un enfoque cuantitativo, a través de un análisis estadístico univariado y bivariado para obtener la máxima información del cruce de variables. Los resultados muestran conocimiento, por parte de los docentes, de alguna experiencia educativa haciendo uso del teléfono móvil y además manifiestan interés en conocer cómo llevar a cabo su integración educativa en el aula, con mayor incidencia entre los docentes de menor edad, más flexibles y receptivos y que, a su vez, muestran un nivel más alto de conocimientos Mediante este estudio se ha pretendido continuar otro ya comenzado hace tres años, por lo que hemos comparado los resultados actuales con los obtenidos entonces, apreciando una evolución positiva en cuanto a los usos, actitudes y posibilidades educativas que ven los docentes al teléfono móvil. /n

The Role of Respiratory Viruses in Children with Ataxia-Telangiectasia

Background: The impact of respiratory virus infection in patients diagnosed with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) has not been well studied. Methods: A prospective case control study was performed at a National Reference Unit for Primary Immunodeficiency in Spain (from November 2018 to July 2019), including patients younger than 20 years. Symptom questionnaires and nasopharyngeal swabs from multiple respiratory viruses' polymerase chain reaction were collected monthly, and between visits in case of symptoms. Results: Twenty-two individuals were included (11 patients; 11 controls); 164 samples were obtained (81 patients; 84 controls). Patients presented respiratory symptoms more frequently compared with controls (26.5% vs. 3.5%; p < 0.01). Viral detection was observed in 23 (27.3%) episodes in patients and in 15 (17.8%) episodes in controls (p = 0.1). Rhinovirus was the most frequent virus in patients and controls (60% and 53.3%, respectively). Episodes with positive viral detection had associated symptoms in 54% of patients and 18% of controls (p = 0.07). However, patients with A-T presented a similar rate of symptoms during episodes with positive and negative viral detection (26% vs. 27%). The median points given for each questionnaire during symptomatic episodes with negative viral detection were 13/23 points, and during symptomatic positive detection, 7.5/23 points (p = 0.1). In the control group, all but two were asymptomatic during positive viral episodes (score: 2/23 and 3/23 points). Symptomatic episodes, with either positive or negative viral detection, were associated with lower IgA and higher IgM titers and higher CD8+ counts (p < 0.05), particularly when these episodes were moderate/severe. Conclusions: Patients with A-T more frequently present symptomatic viral infections than controls, especially those with lower IgA and higher IgM titers and higher CD8+ counts.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation—Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fondos FEDER of the EU, Grant No. PI18CIII/00372 (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias—Spanish Health Research Fund (ISCIII)).S

Real-world effectiveness of caplacizumab vs the standard of care in immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Effectiveness; Caplacizumab; Immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpuraEficàcia; Caplacizumab; Púrpura trombocitopènica trombòtica immunitàriaEficacia; Caplacizumab; Púrpura trombocitopénica trombótica inmunitariaImmune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a thrombotic microangiopathy caused by anti-ADAMTS13 antibodies. Caplacizumab is approved for adults with an acute episode of iTTP in conjunction with plasma exchange (PEX) and immunosuppression. The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the safety and efficacy of caplacizumab vs the standard of care and assess the effect of the concomitant use of rituximab. A retrospective study from the Spanish TTP Registry of patients treated with caplacizumab vs those who did not receive it was conducted. A total of 155 patients with iTTP (77 caplacizumab, 78 no caplacizumab) were included. Patients initially treated with caplacizumab had fewer exacerbations (4.5% vs 20.5%; P < .05) and less refractoriness (4.5% vs 14.1%; P < .05) than those who were not treated. Time to clinical response was shorter when caplacizumab was used as initial treatment vs caplacizumab used after refractoriness or exacerbation. The multivariate analysis showed that its use in the first 3 days after PEX was associated with a lower number of PEX (odds ratio, 7.5; CI, 2.3-12.7; P < .05) and days of hospitalization (odds ratio, 11.2; CI, 5.6-16.9; P < .001) compared with standard therapy. There was no difference in time to clinical remission in patients treated with caplacizumab compared with the use of rituximab. No severe adverse event was described in the caplacizumab group. In summary, caplacizumab reduced exacerbations and refractoriness compared with standard of care regimens. When administered within the first 3 days after PEX, it also provided a faster clinical response, reducing hospitalization time and the need for PEX

Heterotrophic Kinetic Study and Nitrogen Removal of a Membrane Bioreactor System Treating Real Urban Wastewater under a Pharmaceutical Compounds Shock: Effect of the Operative Variables

Numerous studies have analyzed the viability of the biodegradation and removal of different compounds of emerging concern in biological systems for wastewater treatment. However, the effect on the heterotrophic biomass of organic matter removal is sometimes missed. The aim of the present research was to study the effect of the addition of a mix of three pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, and ibuprofen) on the behavior of the biomass in two different membrane-based biological systems treating urban wastewater. The present research studied a membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant operating at a similar mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration (about 5.5 g/L). This system works as an MBR and is combined with a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR-MBR) to treat real urban wastewater at 6 and 10 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT) under three different shocks of pharmaceuticals with increasing concentrations. In all cases, the organic matter removal was, in average terms, higher than about 92% of biochemical oxygen demand on the fifth day (BOD5), 79% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and 85% of total organic carbon (TOC). Nevertheless, the removal is higher in the MBBR-MBR technology under the same HRT and the MLSS is similar. Moreover, the removal increased during the shock of pharmaceutical compounds, especially in the MBR technology. From a kinetic perspective, MBBR-MBR is more suitable for low HRT (6 h) and MBR is more effective for high HRT (10 h). This could be due to the fact that biofilm systems are less sensitive to hostile environments than the MBR systems. The removal of N-NH4 + decreased considerably when the pharmaceutical compounds mix was introduced into the system until no removal was detected in cycle 1, even when biofilm was present.This research was funded by EMASAGRA, project number C-4265-00

Efectividad de las intervenciones basadas en telemedicina sobre resultados en salud en pacientes con multimorbilidad en atención primaria: revisión sistemática

In Press.[EN]: [Objective] To evaluate the effectiveness of telemedicine interventions to improve health outcomes in patients with multiple morbidities in Primary Health Care. [Design] A systematic review. [Data sources] INAHTA, Health Guidelines, NICE, Cochrane Library, Medline/PubMed and EMBASE up to April 2018. [Study selection] Inclusion criteria: patients (adults with 2 or more chronic diseases or a Charlson index greater than three); intervention (telemedicine intervention developed entirely in Primary Health Care); comparator (usual care); health outcomes (mortality, hospital admissions, emergency department visits, health-related quality of life, and satisfaction); study design(clinical practice guideline, systematic review, meta-analysis, randomised controlled clinical trial),and quasi-experimental design). English and Spanish language publication. A total of236 references were located. [Data extraction] Duplicated articles were removed. Titles, abstracts, and full text of references identified were assessed using the selection criteria; methodological quality assessment; data extraction, and qualitative analysis. [Results] Five articles, corresponding to 3 studies, were included, with 2 randomised controlled clinical trials and one quasi-experimental design. No significant results were observed in reducing mortality or improving health-related quality of life. The effectiveness of telemedicine on the number of hospital admissions or emergency visits showed contradictory results. Satisfaction was not measured in the studies included. [Conclusions] The relatively small number of studies, heterogeneity characteristics, and methodological limitations did not confirm the effectiveness of telemedicine intervention on the improvement of mortality, number of hospital admissions, emergency department visits, and health-related quality of life, compared to usual care.[ES]: [Objetivo] Evaluar la efectividad de intervenciones basadas en telemedicina para mejorar resultados en salud en pacientes con multimorbilidad en atención primaria. [Diseño] Revisión sistemática. [Fuentes de datos] INAHTA, Guía Salud, NICE, Cochrane Library, Medline/PubMed y EMBASE hasta abril de 2018. [Selección de estudios] Criterios de inclusión: pacientes (adultos con 2 o más enfermedades crónicas o índice de Charlson mayor de 3); intervención (programa de telemedicina desarrollada en atención primaria); comparador (práctica habitual); resultados (mortalidad, ingresos hospitalarios, consultas a urgencias, calidad de vida relacionada con la salud y satisfacción); diseño (guía de práctica clínica, revisión sistemática, metaanálisis, ensayo clínico controlado aleatorizado o cuasiexperimental). Publicación en inglés o español. Se localizaron 236 referencias. [Extracción de datos] Exclusión de duplicados; valoración de criterios de selección sobre título, resumen y texto completo; valoración crítica; extracción y análisis cualitativo. Dos revisores y un tercero para discrepancias. [Resultados] Se incluyeron 5 artículos de 3 estudios, 2 ensayos clínicos controlados aleatorizados y un cuasiexperimental. No se observaron resultados significativos en la reducción de la mortalidad o mejora de la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud. La efectividad de la telemedicina sobre el número de ingresos hospitalarios o consultas a urgencias mostró resultados contradictorios. La satisfacción no fue medida en los estudios incluidos. [Conclusiones] El escaso número de estudios, la relativa heterogeneidad y limitaciones metodológicas no permiten confirmar la efectividad de las intervenciones basadas en telemedicina en pacientes con multimorbilidad en atención primaria, sobre la mejora de la mortalidad, el número de ingresos hospitalarios o consultas a urgencias y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud, respecto a la práctica habitual.Peer reviewe

BLENDLEDMER II: Una experiencia innovadora de blended learning en Derecho Mercantil

Depto. de Derecho Mercantil, Financiero y TributarioFac. de DerechoFALSEsubmitte

Herramientas Software para Enseñanzas Relacionadas con la Energía Solar Fotovoltaica

[EN] This paper describes different simulation tools developed in the Universidad de Alcalá in order to teach photovoltaic energy engineering. A web application is compared to other tools, such as spreadsheets and applications in Matlab environment, developed by the authors. In all the cases, the tools are focused on learning project engineering.[ES] En este trabajo, se describen diferentes herramientas de simulación empleadas en asignaturas de la Universidad de Alcalá para la enseñanza de la energía solar fotovoltaica. Se compara el uso de una aplicación web con otras herramientas como hojas de cálculo y aplicaciones en entorno Matlab. Todas las herramientas descritas han sido desarrolladas por los autores, haciendo especial énfasis en su enfoque didáctico, sin por ello perder todo el rigor y la funcionalidad necesarios en este tipo de simuladores.Peña Capilla, R.; García Díaz, M.; Alén Cordero, C.; Díaz Villar, P.; Mallol Poyato, R.; Díez-Pascual, A. (2017). Herramientas Software para Enseñanzas Relacionadas con la Energía Solar Fotovoltaica. En In-Red 2017. III Congreso Nacional de innovación educativa y de docencia en red. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1311-1321. https://doi.org/10.4995/INRED2017.2017.6862OCS1311132

Toll-like receptors in acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important health problem, affecting 13.3 million individuals/year. It is associated with increased mortality, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, where renal replacement therapy is limited. Moreover, survivors show adverse long-term outcomes, including increased risk of developing recurrent AKI bouts, cardiovascular events, and chronic kidney disease. However, there are no specific treatments to decrease the adverse consequences of AKI. Epidemiological and preclinical studies show the pathological role of inflammation in AKI, not only at the acute phase but also in the progression to chronic kidney disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key regulators of the inflammatory response and have been associated to many cellular processes activated during AKI. For that reason, a number of anti-inflammatory agents targeting TLRs have been analyzed in preclinical studies to decrease renal damage during AKI. In this review, we updated recent knowledge about the role of TLRs, mainly TLR4, in the initiation and development of AKI as well as novel compounds targeting these molecules to diminish kidney injury associated to this pathological conditionThe authors work has been supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, FIS-FEDER PI17/00130, PI17/01495, PI20/00375, PI20/00487), Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM) and Cardiovascular (CIBERCV), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RTI2018-099114-B-100, RTI2018-098788-B-100, DTS19/00093, RYC-2017-22369), and Spanish Societies of Cardiology (SEC), Nephrology (SEN) and Atherosclerosis (SEA). The “PFIS” and “Sara Borrell” training program of the ISCIII supported the salary of MGH (FI18/00310), SR-M (CD19/00021) and CH-B (CP16/00017). Córdoba University supported the salary of C.G.C