30 research outputs found
Prognostic value of bioelectrical impedance analysis in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy: a VALOR® study
No full text© 2024 Prior-Sánchez, Herrera-Martínez, Zarco-Martín, Fernández-Jiménez, Gonzalo-Marín, Muñoz-Garach, Vilchez-López, Cayón-Blanco, Villarubia-Pozo, Muñoz-Jiménez, Zarco-Rodríguez, Rabat-Restrepo, Luengo-Pérez, Boughanem, Martínez-Ramírez and García-Almeida. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Introduction: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) serves as a method to estimate body composition. Parameters such as phase angle (PA), standardized phase angle (SPA), body mass cell (BCM), BCM index (BCMI), and fat-free mass (FFM) might significantly impact the prognosis of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. The present study aimed to investigate whether bioelectrical parameters can be used to predict survival in the HNC population and establish the optimal cutoff points for predictive accuracy. Methods: A multicenter observational study was performed across 12 tertiary hospitals in Andalusia (a region from the south of Spain). A total of 494 patients diagnosed with HNC between 2020 and 2022 at different stages were included in this study, with a minimum follow-up period of 12 months. The BIA assessment was carried out during the first 2 weeks of radical radiotherapy treatment with chemotherapy or other systemic treatments. A multivariate logistic regression analysis of overall survival, complications, hospital admission, and palliative care and its relationship with BIA nutritional assessment was performed. Results: Significant prognostic factors identified in the multivariable analysis encompassed phase angle (PA), standardized phase angle (SPA), body cell mass (BCM), and BCM index (BCMI). Lower PA and BCM values were significantly associated with adverse clinical outcomes. A BCM threshold above 17 kg/m2 was the most significant predictor for predicting survival within the overall HNC population. The PA values of <5.1° in male and <4.8° in female patients showed the best predictive potential for mortality. Increased PA (as a continuous variable) demonstrated a significantly reduced risk for mortality (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43–0.94; p < 0.05) and a decreased likelihood of hospital admission (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.52–1.07; p < 0.05). Higher BCM correlated with a lower risk of mortality (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.80–0.96; p < 0.01) and a diminished probability of hospital admission (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83–0.99; p < 0.05). Conclusion: BIA is a crucial tool in the nutritional assessment of HNC patients. BCM and PA are the main bioelectrical parameters used to predict clinical outcomes in this population. Future studies are needed to validate BIA variables in a large cohort to ensure whether early intensification of nutritional treatment would improve survival.This research was funded by FRESENEIUS KABI. The APC was funded by FRESENIUS KABI.Peer reviewe
Postrimerías: Valdés Leal desde la Facultad de Bellas Artes de Sevilla
No full textEste libro compila una serie de obras artísticas y textos de investigación que tiene como objetivo proyectar una nueva visión de Valdés Leal (Sevilla, 1622-1690) y de su tiempo con motivo del cuarto centenario del nacimiento del pintor. El volumen incluye las aportaciones realizadas por el profesorado de los grados de Bellas Artes y de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales y por estudiantes del Programa de Doctorado en Arte y Patrimonio de la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Sevilla que formaron parte de la exposición "Postrimerías", organizada en colaboración con el Hospital de la Santa Caridad. El nombre de la muestra hace alusión a las célebres pinturas conocidas como "Jeroglíficos de las Postrimerías", que Miguel Mañara encargó al pintor para el programa iconográfico que él mismo diseñó cuando fue nombrado Hermano Mayor del hospital en el año 1663, con sus simbólicos momentos de la muerte, el juicio, el castigo y la gloria. Exposición organizada por la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Sevilla, en la Sala de la Virgen, Hospital de la Caridad de Sevilla, del 14 de octubre al 9 de noviembre de 2022. Comisariada por Daniel Bilbao Peña, Enrique Valdivieso González, María Arjonilla Álvarez y Fernando Infante del Rosal Artistas participantes: 233, AAron, José Antonio Aguilar Galea, Alfredo Aguilar Gutiérrez, Lucía Álvarez-Borrajo, Carmen Andreu Lara, María Arjonilla Álvarez, Rocío Arregui, Raquel Barrionuevo Pérez, Miguel Ángel Bastante Recuerda, Antonio Bautista Durán, María del Mar Bernal, Daniel Bilbao Peña, Antonia Blanco Arroyo, Diego Blázquez Pacheco, Javier Bueno Vargas, Enrique Caetano, Manuel Caro, Manuel Castro Cobos, Manuel Cid Medrano, Gema Climent, Constantino Gañán Medina, Fernando García-García, José García Perera, Haalimah Gasea Ruiz, Juan José Gómez de la Torre, Joaquín González González, Mª Ángeles González Sánchez, Miguel Gutiérrez Villarrubia, Paul Edmund Herman, Helena Hernández Acuaviva, Patricia Hernández Rondán, Natalia Herrera Pombero, Susana Ibáñez Macías, Fernando Infante del Rosal, Miguel Ángel Jiménez Mateos, Salvador Jiménez-Donaire Martínez, Keiko KawabeLaforêt (Cristina Quintana Laforêt), Paco Lara-Barranco, Félix López de Silva, Manuel Fernando ManceraMartínez, Olegario Martín Sánchez, Guillermo Martínez Salazar, Manuel Mena Bravo, José Luis Molina González, Inés Molina Navea, Manuel Moreno Espina, Marina Mulero, Áurea Muñoz del Amo, José Naranjo Ferrari, Laura Nogaledo, Amalia Ortega Rodas, Inmaculada Otero-Carrasco, Bartolomé Palazón Cascales, Juan Palomo Reina, Inmaculada Peña Cáceres, Rafael Pérez Cortés, Fernando Javier Poyatos Jiménez, Sergio Cruz Pozuelo Cabezón, Guillermo Ramírez Torres, Guille Rodríguez, Carlos Rojas-Redondo, Elisabet Roldán-Rojo, David Romero Montero, Julio Romero-Noguera, MP&MP Rosado, Celia S. Morgado, Luz Marina Salas Acosta, Carmen Salazar Pera, Alfonso San José González, Triana Sánchez-Hevia, Isabel Sola, Carlos Spínola Romero, Juan Manuel Torrado Martínez, Miguel Torralba García, Marisa Vadillo Rodríguez, Elena Vázquez Jiménez
Moodle E-learning Platform as a Complementary Tool in ICLHE Contexts
No full textIntegrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) or EMI (English Medium Instruction) is a topic widely studied nowadays. There are some studies on the learning and teaching processes and beliefs (Author, 2013, Jiménez-Muñoz & Lahuerta-Martínez, 2019) but, as far as we know, no research involves the use of complementary e-learning platforms or Course Management Systems (CMS) (i.e., Moodle). Nowadays, teachers are interweaving different concepts and terms in the classroom, dealing with both digital and traditional genres that have been digitalized and shared through diverse channels to reach their prospective audience. The main concern of this study is to analyse how ICLHE teachers in business-related degrees use Moodle. As the research was in progress during the Coronavirus crisis, it has conditioned in some way the results obtained. We hypothesize that ICLHE teachers may not use the e-learning platform the same way they would do it if they were teaching in the students’ L1 (Spanish/Valencian). We have analyzed the Moodle platform of 5 subjects in business-related degrees (4 EMI and one English for Specific Purposes (ESP) subjects), following our own taxonomy to classify the different resources and activities in the platform, as well as their purpose and use during the course. By means of a triangulation with the subject teachers, we have observed how they use the Moodle platform considering that these subjects are taught in English as an additional language. The analysis has been complemented by interviews with the teachers.Integrar contenido y lengua en la educación superior o inglés como medio de enseñanza (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) o EMI (English Medium Instruction) en inglés) es un tema ampliamente estudiado en la actualidad. Existen algunos estudios sobre los procesos y las creencias de su enseñanza y aprendizaje (Autor, 2013, Jiménez-Muñoz & Lahuerta-Martínez, 2019) pero, hasta donde sabemos, ninguna investigación implica el uso de plataformas de educación online complementarias o Sistema de Gestión de Cursos. (SGC) (es decir, Moodle). Hoy en día, los docentes están combinando diferentes conceptos y términos en el aula, tratando tanto géneros digitales como tradicionales que han sido digitalizados y compartidos a través de diversos canales para llegar a su público potencial. El principal objetivo de este estudio es analizar cómo los docentes del lengua y contenido en carreras afines a la empresa utilizan Moodle. Como la investigación estaba en curso durante la crisis del Coronavirus, los resultados obtenidos se han visto condicionados de alguna manera. Nuestra hipótesis es que los docentes de lengua y contenido pueden no usar la plataforma de aprendizaje electrónico de la misma manera que lo harían si estuvieran enseñando en la L1 de los estudiantes (español/valenciano). Hemos analizado la plataforma Moodle de 5 asignaturas de titulaciones afines a la empresa (4 de contenido impartido en inglés y una asignatura de Inglés para Fines Específicos (IFE)), siguiendo nuestra propia taxonomía para clasificar los diferentes recursos y actividades de la plataforma, así como su finalidad y uso durante el curso. Mediante una triangulación con los profesores de las asignaturas, hemos observado cómo utilizan la plataforma Moodle teniendo en cuenta que estas asignaturas se imparten en inglés como idioma adicional. El análisis se ha complementado con entrevistas a los profesores
Monitoring of kinetics and exhaustion markers of circulating CAR-T cells as early predictive factors in patients with B-cell malignancies
No full text© 2023 García-Calderón, Sierro-Martínez, García-Guerrero, Sanoja-Flores, Muñoz-García, Ruiz-Maldonado, Jimenez-Leon, Delgado-Serrano, Molinos-Quintana, Guijarro-Albaladejo, Carrasco-Brocal, Lucena, García-Lozano, Blázquez-Goñi, Reguera-Ortega, González-Escribano, Reinoso-Segura, Briones, Pérez-Simón and Caballero-Velázquez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Purpose: CAR-T cell therapy has proven to be a disruptive treatment in the hematology field, however, less than 50% of patients maintain long-term response and early predictors of outcome are still inconsistently defined. Here, we aimed to optimize the detection of CD19 CAR-T cells in blood and to identify phenotypic features as early biomarkers associated with toxicity and outcomes.Experimental design: In this study, monitoring by flow cytometry and digital PCR (dPCR), and immunophenotypic characterization of circulating CAR-T cells from 48 patients treated with Tisa-cel or Axi-cel was performed.Results: Validation of the flow cytometry reagent for the detection of CAR-T cells in blood revealed CD19 protein conjugated with streptavidin as the optimal detection method. Kinetics of CAR-T cell expansion in blood confirmed median day of peak expansion at seven days post-infusion by both flow cytometry and digital PCR. Circulating CAR-T cells showed an activated, proliferative, and exhausted phenotype at the time of peak expansion. Patients with increased expansion showed more severe CRS and ICANs. Immunophenotypic characterization of CAR-T cells at the peak expansion identified the increased expression of co-inhibitory molecules PD1 and LAG3 and reduced levels of the cytotoxicity marker CD107a as predictors of a better long-term disease control.Conclusions: These data show the importance of CAR-T cells in vivo monitoring and identify the expression of PD1LAG3 and CD107a as early biomarkers of long-term disease control after CAR-T cell therapy.This work has been supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Project RD21/0017/0021, Red Española de Terapias Avanzadas TERAV funded by European Union-NextGenerationEU. “Plan de Recuperación Transformación y Resiliencia” and Consejería de Salud y Familia, Junta de Andalucía PECART-0185-2020-7, PECART-0185-2020 CSYF 2021 – Proyectos Fondos FEDER. Proyectos estratégicos en Investigación en CAR-T. “Monitorización inmune tras tratamiento con células CAR-T: búsqueda de biomarcadores y medición de la actividadmetabólica como predictores de respuesta”.Peer reviewe
Knowledge of COVID-19 and prevention measures among university workers. Identification of subgroups through cluster analysis
No full textINTRODUCTION: The knowledge of COVID-19 and the recommended preventive measures for controlling the disease have been widely studied in the general population, but little is known about whether the University workers as educators and transmitters of knowledge have appropriate knowledge and take preventive measures for COVID-19. This study aims to analyze the knowledge of COVID-19 and the recommended preventive measures in university workers, to identify groups according to the preventive practices they adopt, and to analyze the factors associated with these practices. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 677 university workers in the University of Cádiz, Spain. A questionnaire with sociodemographic variables, housing, health conditions, knowledge of COVID-19 and preventive measures were administered. The information was collected between 8th and 22nd April, 2020. A cluster analysis was performed to identify subgroups depending on the preventive measures. Associated factors were tested with binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Two groups were identified. Group 1 included 513 subjects who took preventive measures most frequently (means 2.59-4.83). Group 2 included 164 subjects who took preventive measures less frequently (means 1.59-4.22). Men (OR = 1.39), the Teaching and research personnel (OR = 1.49) and individuals with a chronic illness (OR = 1.60) were more likely to belong to the group 2. Those with more knowledge about isolation prevention (OR = 0.167) and early treatment (OR = 0.665) were more likely to belong to group 1. CONCLUSION: In order to reduce the transmission of the disease, it is necessary to promote the knowledge and use of preventive measures among the group of individuals identified as less engaged in preventive measures
Enhancement of carotenoids biosynthesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by nuclear transformation using a phytoene synthase gene isolated from Chlorella zofingiensis
No full textThe isolation and characterization of the phytoene synthase gene from the green microalga Chlorella zofingiensis (CzPSY), involved in the first step of the carotenoids biosynthetic pathway, have been performed. CzPSY gene encodes a polypeptide of 420 amino acids. A single copy of CzPSY has been found in C. zofingiensis by Southern blot analysis. Heterologous genetic complementation in Escherichia coli showed the ability of the predicted protein to catalyze the condensation of two molecules of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) to form phytoene. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the deduced protein forms a cluster with the rest of the phytoene synthases (PSY) of the chlorophycean microalgae studied, being very closely related to PSY of plants. This new isolated gene has been adequately inserted in a vector and expressed in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The overexpression of CzPSY in C. reinhardtii, by nuclear transformation, has led to an increase in the corresponding CzPSY transcript level as well as in the content of the carotenoids violaxanthin and lutein which were 2.0- and 2.2-fold higher than in untransformed cells. This is an example of manipulation of the carotenogenic pathway in eukaryotic microalgae, which can open up the possibility of enhancing the productivity of commercial carotenoids by molecular engineering. © 2011 The Author(s).This study was supported by a financial grant from Ministerio Español de Educación y Ciencia (AGL 2007-65303-CO2), and Junta de Andalucía, group BIO-299. The authors are grateful to Prof. F. Cunningham for providing pAC-85b plasmid. We also would like to thank Marco Mejías and Carlos Parejo for their excellent technical assistance. Finally, we would like to thank to Dr. Irina Obraztsova for her help in the design of some primers.Peer Reviewe
Metodología para el análisis del comportamiento y el desempeño de los estudiantes en un curso en línea
No full textAlthough many researchers have studied student performance prediction in online courses, they have primarily focused on courses with a linear structure, where students complete lessons and assessments sequentially. However, non-linear courses allow students to take lessons and assessments in any order, making performance prediction more challenging due to varying cumulative assessment percentages among students at any given time. This master's thesis aims to develop a data-driven method for early student performance prediction in non-linear courses.
We created a feature extractor and evaluated three types of features: engagement, behavior, and performance. The data comes from Moodle courses designed to prepare high school students for a public university entrance exam. Our method achieved early predictions at 20% of cumulative weight assessment with an F1-score of 0.73 for binary classification and an R² of 0.40 for regression. We also conducted a feature importance analysis, showing that performance and behavior features are the most significant predictors, with engagement features, such as time spent on educational resources, also contributing significantly.
In addition to predicting student performance, we performed a clustering analysis and identified four patterns that consistently appear across various cumulative weight assessments. These patterns significantly impact performance and can help educators provide better feedback and more personalized attention to students' needs.Aunque muchos investigadores han estudiado la predicción del rendimiento de los estudiantes en cursos en línea, se han centrado principalmente en cursos con una estructura lineal, en los que los estudiantes completan las lecciones y las evaluaciones de forma secuencial. Sin embargo, los cursos no lineales permiten a los estudiantes realizar las lecciones y evaluaciones en cualquier orden, lo que hace que la predicción del rendimiento sea más difícil debido a la variación de los porcentajes de evaluación acumulada entre los estudiantes en un momento dado. Esta tesis de máster tiene como objetivo desarrollar un método basado en datos para la predicción temprana del rendimiento de los estudiantes en cursos no lineales.
Creamos un extractor de características y evaluamos tres tipos de características: compromiso, comportamiento y rendimiento. Los datos proceden de cursos de Moodle diseñados para preparar a estudiantes de secundaria para un examen de acceso a una universidad pública. Nuestro método logró predicciones tempranas al 20% de la evaluación del peso acumulado con una puntuación F1 de 0.73 para la clasificación binaria y un R² de 0.40 para la regresión. También llevamos a cabo un análisis de la importancia de las características, mostrando que las características de rendimiento y comportamiento son los predictores más significativos, con características de compromiso, como el tiempo dedicado a los recursos educativos, que también contribuyen significativamente.
Además de predecir el rendimiento de los alumnos, realizamos un análisis de agrupación e identificamos cuatro patrones que aparecen de forma consistente en varias evaluaciones de peso acumulativo. Estos patrones influyen significativamente en el rendimiento y pueden ayudar a los educadores a proporcionar mejores comentarios y una atención más personalizada a los estudiantes.ModelamientoCOL0044448MaestríaMagíster en Ingeniería de Telecomunicacione
Analysis of the porosity and microhardness of glass ionomer cements
No full text© 2018 by the author(s) with the first publication right granted to the journal. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This document is the Published version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Materials Science. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.5755/j02.ms.28198Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are currently the first-choice materials in minimally invasive dentistry and are widely used in paediatric dentistry. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of viscosity and mixing on porosity and the relationship between the porosity and microhardness of GICs. Nine GICs were used: EQUIA® Forte Fil, Ionostar®Plus, 3MTMKetacTM Universal AplicapTM, Riva Light Cure HV®, Riva Silver®, Riva Protect®, VitremerTM, VitrebondTM Plus and Activa BioActive RestorativeTM. Samples were prepared from each material and images were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Using software, the number and diameter of pores, area, and percentage of area they occupied were measured. After SEM analysis, the samples were used to make surface microhardness (SMH) measurements. Ionostar® Plus, EQUIA® Forte Fil and Riva Light Cure HV® had the highest number of pores. Riva Protect® had the largest pores and the highest percentage of pore-occupied area, while Activa BioActive RestorativeTM and VitrebondTM Plus had a smaller pore size and a smaller percentage by area. Riva Silver® and EQUIA® Forte Fil showed the highest microhardness values and VitrebondTM Plus and VitremerTM the lowest. In conclusion, when the cement viscosity is low, the type of mixture determines the degree of porosity, but has less influence when viscosity is high. There was no correlation between microhardness and the porosity of GICs
Secukinumab does not impair the immunogenic response to the influenza vaccine in patients
No full textObjective: To evaluate whether immunological response to influenza vaccination is impaired in patients who are receiving secukinumab. Patients and methods: Subjects suffering from psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis who were receiving treatment with secukinumab and healthy volunteers were included.All participants received seasonal inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine recommended by the WHO in the 2017-2018 northern hemisphere influenza season, which contained an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus, an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus and a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus.Haemagglutination inhibition was used to evaluate basal antibody (Ab) titres against the three influenza vaccine virus strains just before vaccination and at least 4 weeks after the vaccine administration. Response to vaccine was considered as >4-fold increases in Ab titre. Results: Thirty subjects, 17 patients and 13 healthy controls, with a follow-up duration of 33±8 days, were analysed. There were no demographic differences between groups. Patients and controls achieved a median of 4.6-fold and 4.0-fold increases, respectively, for anti H1N1 and almost 4.0 (3.7) for patients and 5.3 for controls for anti-B Ab. Both groups presented a poor response against H3N2, with <1.5-fold increase. Seroconversion rates were similar in both groups. Secukinumab did not influence the response to the influenza vaccine (relative risk: 1.09 (95% CI 0.58 to 2.07) for H1N1, RR: 1.53 (95% CI 0.15 to 15.0) for H3N2 and RR: 0.72 (95% CI 0.32 to 1.83) for B strain). Conclusion: In our study, secukinumab has no effect on the immunogenic response to the influenza vaccine.The study was approved by La Paz University Hospital Ethic Committee. Approval ID: PI-3076. Data not published is available on request to the corresponding author, Dr PR.S
Author Correction: The genetic ancestry of American Creole cattle inferred from uniparental and autosomal genetic markers
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