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The digital transformation has become the fundamental axis to seek leadership in the market, organizations innovate production processes, but also in the provision of services always seeking to generate positive experiences, faced with this reality, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are also included. Universities adapt their management processes, not only in education, but also in applying new communication channels in the provision of services to students, who seek to streamline the relationship with their institution, optimizing resources and response times. It is the responsibility of the directors of HEIs, through their strategies, to move towards a digital culture in which the entire educational community can interact, leaving aside traditional structures applied in management towards students and the general public. The digital transformation in educational organizations is possible and necessary to begin as soon as possible and it will be viable if the teams that have to implement it know in detail the vision and strategy of the university, they know clearly where they want to go and what they want attain [1]. The main objective of this research is to determine the process of digital transformation in which the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (UTPL) is working, the changes obtained as a result of the adaptation of new attention and communication channels in the provision of academic-administrative services, mainly towards his students. The processed data correspond to the collection of information on the use of communication channels used by UTPL students and how the issue of the COVID 19 pandemic influenced the repowering of these relationship media, ratifying the student as the center of its operation.
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This article presents the analysis of the result of the application of the SERVPERF model that allows knowing the perception of the service of the users of the student attention management model of the Private Technical University of Loja. The method used is empirical through the use of a Likert scale, reliability and factorial analysis of the proposed items, which were collected through a survey of students. The results found allowed knowing the student's perception and the validity of the instrument used, which reflects the relationship with the results of other similar studies. The evaluation of the experience is the most relevant result according to the model and the least is found in response times.
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Background: On 2019, the FDA and later the EMA granted approval to polatuzumab vedotin-piiq, a CD79b-directed antibodydrug conjugate indicated in combination with bendamustine and rituximab (P-BR) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), not otherwise specified (NOS), after at least two prior therapies. P-BR has demonstrated (NCT02257567) better overall response rates (complete and partial responses) compared with BR alone (63% vs 25%) and response durations of at least 12 months in 48% of the patients. The most common adverse reactions with P-BR (incidence at least 20%) included cytopenias (most common reason for treatment discontinuation), peripheral neuropathy, fatigue, diarrhea, pyrexia, decreased appetite and pneumonia. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 64%, most often from infection. Aims: To analyze results in terms of efficacy and safety of the P-BR regimen in real life conditions. Methods: Observational, retrospective study in 3 academic centers. Adult patients (≥ 18 years old) diagnosed with DLBCL NOS R/R who received P-BR between July 2019 and December 2021 were included in the analysis. Results: 11 patients were treated with P-BR. The mean (SD) age was 70.1 (8.2) years (Range 57-81 years). Cell of origin was informed in 9/11 cases, 6 of them were activated B-cell (ABC) subtype. No double-/triple-hit lymphomas were confirmed. The median number of prior lines of therapy before P-BR was 2, with most patients (63%) refractory to the last treatment. All patients had received anti-CD20 (Rituximab) on prior treatments and only 2 (18%) Bendamustine. Baseline characteristics are shown in table 1. Efficacy Seven patients were evaluated by PET-CT after 3 cycles, 4 (57%) achieved CR and 3 PR (43%). Five patients achieved CR by PET-CT at the end of treatment. One of these patients is still in CR after 12 months of follow up and three of them after 24 months from the start of P-BR. One patient relapsed after 19 months. Of the patients achieving CR, all of them had responses >12 months. Only 3/5 completed the 6 cycles scheme, 1 patient received 5 cycles (treatment was interrupted due to an invasive fungal infection) and 1 patient received only 2 cycles as bridge therapy for and autoHCT and achieved CR after transplantation. 1 patient was refractory to treatment and progressed after 2 cycles. Toxicity: All patients were evaluated for toxicity. 63% (7/11) of them presented hematological toxicity, mainly neutropenia which required GCSF administration and 71% RBC transfusion. Two patients required hospital admission because of neutropenic fever. There were 3 documented cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Two patients had moderate disease with bilateral pneumonia (vaccinated) after the 2° cycle of treatment which is temporarily interrupted. One patient completed 6 cycles but died of severe SARS-CoV2 infection (unvaccinated) before being assessed for response at end of treatment. Two patients interrupted treatment definitely because of toxicity: severe cytopenia and invasive fungal infection. No other extra hematological toxicities were reported. Image: Summary/Conclusion: The P-BR regimen provides sustained good results for patients with R/R DLBCL who have failed treatment with prior therapies. Cytopenias were the most frequent form of toxicity and were easily addressed in most cases. In our experience, SARS-CoV2 infection has been a challenge due to delay in treatment and high morbidity and mortality.
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The digital transformation has become the fundamental axis to seek leadership in the market, organizations innovate production processes, but also in the provision of services always seeking to generate positive experiences, faced with this reality, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are also included. Universities adapt their management processes, not only in education, but also in applying new communication channels in the provision of services to students, who seek to streamline the relationship with their institution, optimizing resources and response times. It is the responsibility of the directors of HEIs, through their strategies, to move towards a digital culture in which the entire educational community can interact, leaving aside traditional structures applied in management towards students and the general public. The digital transformation in educational organizations is possible and necessary to begin as soon as possible and it will be viable if the teams that have to implement it know in detail the vision and strategy of the university, they know clearly where they want to go and what they want attain [1]. The main objective of this research is to determine the process of digital transformation in which the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL) is working, the changes obtained as a result of the adaptation of new attention and communication channels in the provision of academic-administrative services, mainly towards his students. The processed data correspond to the collection of information on the use of communication channels used by UTPL students and how the issue of the COVID 19 pandemic influenced the repowering of these relationship media, ratifying the student as the center of its operation. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.
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This article presents the analysis of the result of the application of the SERVPERF model that allows knowing the perception of the service of the users of the student attention management model of the Private Technical University of Loja. The method used is empirical through the use of a Likert scale, reliability and factorial analysis of the proposed items, which were collected through a survey of students. The results found allowed knowing the student's perception and the validity of the instrument used, which reflects the relationship with the results of other similar studies. The evaluation of the experience is the most relevant result according to the model and the least is found in response times. © 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.
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The health crisis resulting from the pandemic (COVID-19) led to a hasty adaptation of the university towards teaching methodologies based on online experiences. As a result, teaching and assessment methods were adapted according to different formulas. Teaching in Architecture, where drawing is a fundamental tool in communication, required a particular adaptation given the specificity of the competences and learning outcomes in this type of teaching. The aim of this communication is to analyse the students’ academic results after the pandemic period (academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21) with online and blended learning teaching and assessment respectively, and to contrast them with those of previous academic years, developed with traditional face-to-face teaching and assessment methodologies. The focus is on the basic courses of the Area of Architectural Graphic Expression of the Bachelor Degree in Fundamentals of Architecture at the School of Architecture and Building of the Technical University of Cartagena. The conclusions address statistical data relating to the student performance rate and provide an overview of the effect that virtual teaching and assessment have had on academic results. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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This article presents a selective literature review of Analytics Intelligent Decision Technologies Systems (Analytics IDTS) developed to support decision-making in business and public organizations, with a particular focus on the global COVID-19 pandemic. We select Analytics IDTS published in 2019-2020 and evaluate them with an Analytics IDTS Design and Evaluation Framework. We include the types of Analytics IDTS, their decisional services, architectural capabilities, and support for phases in the decision-making process. Results are shown for 33 articles in the general Analytics domain and 71 articles in the focused Public Health domain applied to COVID-19, including how these Analytics IDTS were architected and utilized for decision making. Research in descriptive and predictive models is evident in Public Health COVID-19 research reflecting the lak of knowledge about the disease, while predictive and prescriptive models are the primary focus of the general Analytics domain. IDTS in all disciplines rely on Algorithmic decision services and Heuristic Analysis services. Higher-level decisional Synthesis and Hybrid services such as design, explanations, discovery, and learning associated with human decision-making are missing in most types of decision support, indicating that research in Machine Learning and AI has many growth opportunities for future research.
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The modern business environment and global covid-19 pandemic effects have led to any relevant business organizational activity, like e-commerce, to rely on on-premise and cloud information technology (IT) services. To deliver high-quality IT services, plan-driven IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks and standards have been used in business organizations in the last two decades. Nowadays, new and claimed agile ITSM frameworks and standards have emerged but there is a scarcity of studies on their extent of agility coverage. This research addresses this knowledge gap. First, we elaborated a plausible Integrative Agile ITSM Framework of Tenets and Practices from a selective review of the main related SwE and ITSM literature. Second, we populated the integrative framework with all available evidence about the agile tenets and practices reported in the official publications of the new five ITSM frameworks and standards. Third, we explored its utilization with a Panel of ITSM Experts for ranking how much the new five ITSM frameworks and standards fit the integrative framework. Exploratory results revealed high concordance among experts to qualify ITIL v4 and VeriSM as agile, and FitSM, and the two ISO/IEC standards as lightweight but not agile. This research contributes to the ITSM literature with an Integrative Agile ITSM Framework of Tenets and Practices, and the ITSM practice with an exploratory evaluation from ITSM experts on the adherence to it from the new five ITSM frameworks and standards. Given the critical dependence of any business activity on IT services, further theoretical and empirical research is worthy to be pursued.
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Introduction: The global pandemic due to Covid-19 has constituded a challenge in the follow up and monitoring of cardiac rehabilitation's programs. The State of alarm declared last year in Spain, led to strict home confinement that could have had an impact in the progress of patients Aim: To analyze the effect of home confinement on the managment of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in patients included in phase III of a cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) and also to evaluate the self-care education received during CRP. Methods and materials: Descriptive, comparative and retrospective analysis of patients in phase III of a CRP. The sample was divided into two groups: Post-Covid group (consecutive CRP patients with follow up one year after the cardiac event from 6/21/2020 [date of end of home confinement in Spain] to 12/31/2020) and Group Pre-Covid (consecutive CRP patients with follow up one year after the cardiac event from 6/21/2019 to 12/31/2019). Demographic and CVRF data from end of phase II consultation were compared with those from the phase III consultation (one year after the event) for both groups. The SPSS statistics v23 program was used for statistical analysis. Results: 283 patients, 137 patients from the pre-Covid group and 146 patients from the post-Covid group. No statistically significant differences were found between the two populations (Table 1). No statistically significant differences were found in the achievement of the CVRF target values: systolic blood pressure <140mmHg (94 vs 107;p=0.216), diastolic blood pressure <90mmHg (121 vs 130, p=0.276), LDL-c <70 mg/dl (86 (71.7%) vs 89 (73.6%);p=0.743), LDL-c <55 mg/dl (41 (34.2%) Vs 47 (38.8%);p=0.451), HbA1c figure <7% (106 vs 111;p=0.478), baseline fasting blood glucose <110 mg/dl (103 vs 107;p=0.970). Regarding the variation of the CVRF figures between the final consultation of phase III and that of phase II, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups: difference in LDL-c figure for phase III consultation with respect to phase II (-0.5±20.3 mg/dl in pre- Covid group vs -5.3±24.4 mg/dl in post-Covid group;p=0.102), difference in HDL-c (4.6±26.1 mg/dl pre-Covid group vs -0.6±24.9 mg/dl post-Covid group;p=0.113), difference in total cholesterol level (4.6±26.1 mg/dl vs -0.6±24.9 mg/dl;p=0.113), difference in HbA1c (0.1±0.3% in pre-Covid group vs 0.1±0.6% in group post-Covid), Table 2. Conclusions: Home confinement has not contribute to a worsening in CVRF control in patients in a phase III of a CRP, in our study. The education given in a CRP concerning to the management of CVRF is the essential factor that grant an adequate patient control in extraordinary circumstances. (Figure Presented).
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Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has affected the whole world as a global health pandemic in 2020. A nationwide home confinement was declared in our country by beginning of March. Cardiac rehabilitation programs (CRP) had to adapt to new health requirements and the impact of these changes is unknown. Purpose: To analyse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in improvement of cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) with maximal oxygen consumption uptake (VO2max) and control of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with cardiovascular established disease (coronary heart disease, heart failure or cardiac surgery) included in the phase II of our centre CRP. Methods: 510 consecutive patients were evaluated. A maximal CPET was performed for each patient from the beginning and at the end of phase II of CRP. Enrolled patients were divided in two groups: from March 2019 to March 2020 (before Covid pandemic) and second one, from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 until February 2021. Results: 296 patients were studied in preCovid group and 214 patients were studied in Covid group. There were no statistically significant differences between these two groups in reference to cardiovascular risk factors and medical treatment (Figure 1). 82.7% of patients completed a hospital-based program in preCovid group vs 36% in Covid (p=0.001). Comparing the percentage of patients that accomplished the risk factors control targets between pre- and Covid group, statistically significant differences have been seen referring to systolic BP <140mmHg (85.1 vs 95.4%, p=0.001) and cLDL <70 mg/dl (67.2 vs 77.7%, p=0.003). However, in terms of glucose control (fasting blood glucose <110 mg/dl: 78.4 vs 82.2%, p=0.612;HbA1c <7%: 90.7 vs 92.7%, p=0.464) and weight control (BMI: 27.8±4.69 kg/m2 vs 27.3±4.07 kg/m2, p=0.299) this could not be established. There were no differences in psychological attention demand (27 vs 23.3%, p=0.695). Statistical differences between two groups were found in terms of VO2max at the beginning phase II CPET (22.7±7 vs 20±5 ml/min/kg, p=0.006) and ending phase II CPET (24±7 vs 21±6, p=0.001). Nevertheless, no differences were found in the final phase II CPET improvement between both groups (1.4±4.1 ml/kg/min vs 0.81±2.9 ml/kg/min;p=0.221) (Figure 2). Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 changed our practice from an in-hospital based phase II CRP to a home-based phase II CRP. COVID-19 pandemic had no negative impact in the control of risk factors in our phase II patients. In our experience, despite preCovid phase II patients have a better functional capacity in terms of VO2max, the improvement in VO2max after phase II CRP persists in the SARS-CoV-2 era. This might show that an accurate structure of home-based program could also have great results. (Figure Presented).
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This article shows the publications that we consider the most relevant on congenital heart disease in the last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to mark scientific activity in this period. There has been concerns about the risk of complications from COVID-19 among adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). Likewise, the involvement of children with CHD has been studied. This year, the European guidelines for the treatment of CHD have been published, the second edition after 10 years, that will be very useful in the treatment of these complex patients. Among the original publications, we highlight the contributions related to risk stratification in the primary prevention of ventricular arrhythmias, Fontan and liver disease, and the progress in percutaneous pulmonary valve implant techniques, the application of new drugs for advanced heart failure in complex CHD and in systemic right ventricle and long-term complications of young adults with transposition of the great arteries undergoing arterial switch surgery. © 2021
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Introduction: The COVID-19 brought physical isolation affecting the usual development of academic activities. The physiotherapy career took on a greater challenge, as many of its contents require a practical component of intercorporality. Thus, the objective of this article is to describe the pedagogical experience around project-based learning for clinical reasoning about spinal pain during quarantine in physiotherapy students from University of La Sabana. Methods: A Project was created in according to the health demands of people performing telework or virtual study, because of the risk of cervical-back-low back pain associated with the workplace and postural habits. The Project had 3 phases, a diagnosis, the second to develop educational material, a final of disclosure. Results: Faced with the COVID-19 quarantine, physiotherapy students had to adapt to different challenges in order to achieve meaningful learning from virtuality;this allowed the development of skills for clinical reasoning, based on the methodology of project-based learning through the formation of work teams that used ICTs to create dissemination materials related to spinal pain. Conclusion: Project-based learning mediated by ICTs for the clinical reasoning of spinal pain in physical therapy students resulted as a positive experience for development of academic content to acquire learning competencies. © 2021 Elsevier España, S.L.U.
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Purpose or Objective: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Spanish health system globally. We conducted a structured online survey among the Medical Physics departments in Spain. The primary objective of the work was to assess the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on our medical physics (MP) departments and evaluate how this situation affected their professional practices. Materials and Methods: We conducted a survey during the first half of July 2020. The survey was distributed to all members of the Spanish Society of Medical Physics. Although we built an anonymous survey, it was possible to aggregate the results by region, type of centre (public or private), and professional category. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 27 questions. We analysed changes in working conditions, the preventive measures adopted, and the extent to which the clinical and non-clinical tasks of the Spanish departments were affected during this period. Results: Seventy-five hospitals responded to the survey (17 private, 53 public, five unidentified). According to the data provided by the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology, 38% of the private centres and 78% of the public centres existing in our country responded. 83% of the respondents considered that their MP departments had adapted adequately to the new situation (88% of the departments distinguished between essential and secondary tasks). Figure 1 shows the respondents' perception about the degree of availability of both the personal protective equipment (PPE) and the PCR test, aggregated by region (the five with the most responses), and the distribution of surgical masks differentiating by public or private hospital. More than a third (37%) of the Spanish MP departments had at least one professional infected with COVID-19. Before the start of the pandemic, 95% of the MP departments did not telework. During the pandemic, 82% of the departments offered the option of working from home. As indicated in Figure 2, the quality of the tasks performed while working from home was not affected during this stage. Similarly, teleworking facilitated a better conciliation with private life (90%). (Figure Presented) Conclusion: Most Spanish MP departments were able to offer a high-quality healthcare service during the pandemic. To do this, they adapted their quality protocols and prioritized the essential tasks. Clinical tasks related to treatments were maintained throughout all Spanish MP departments. Although most professionals perceived that their centres provided enough PPE such as gloves, hydroalcoholic gel, and clothing, they considered there was a failure in providing surgical masks. The telework options minimized the detriment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in medical physics services. In a socially complicated situation, working from home facilitated conciliation with private life.
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This work was carried out as a result of the survey applied in which it was determined that most of the students do not have Internet or electronic devices to develop the teaching-learning process;therefore, we set the objective of implementing practical physical planning with scientific content that will allow the student to achieve learning in the face of the COVID-19 emergency. The methods used were inductive-deductive and techniques such as the survey. In this research there was a trilogy that was very well used to achieve good results in the field of education, on the one hand, there were the educational programs provided by the Ministry that were very well used to develop the plans and these were delivered to the students of the Educational Unit "Maria Luisa de Sotomayor" who did not have access to the Internet.
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Background: Passive immunotherapy has been widely used previously to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome, Influenza A and Ebola virus disease with encouraging results. The use of convalescent plasma against SARS-CoV-2 has been suggested as one of the treatments of patients with coronavirus disease9 (Covid-9), specially as an early intervention. Aims: We assess the security and efectivity of the treatment with CP in severe or potentially severe covid-19 disease. Methods: We collect the data of all patients with Covid-19 who were treated with covalescent plasma (CP) in our hospital from April 2020 to February 2021. First of all, we assess the security of CP transfusion and then, we assess the efectivity of the CP transfusion. We assess the mortality rate in this patients by precocity of plasma transfusión, sex and WHO Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement. Results: Between April 2020 and February 2021, a total of 44 patients with Covid-19 were treated with CP in our hospital. 77.27% (n=34) were male and 22.73% (n=10) were female with a median age of 65 (28-92). Mortality rate by sex was 32.35% (n=11) in male and 30% (n=3) in female. In terms of security one of the patiens developed a mild rash that was managed with antihistamine and had a complete resolution. In terms of precocity of CP administration we separated the patients into two different groups. The first one, with those patients who had an early CP transfusion (ten days or less after symptom onsent) and the second one, with patients who had a late CP transfusion (more than ten days after symptom onsent). 56.80% (n=25) had and early CP administration, while 43.20% (n=19) of the patients had a late one. Mortality rate in the first group was6% (n=4) and 52.63% (n=11) in the second one. According to the WHO Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement, patients with a score of 6 (intubated or mechanical ventilation) or higher were2;patients with a score of 5 (non-invasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen) were3, and patients with a score of 4 (oxygen by mask or nasal prongs) were9. In our center, the mortality rate of these groups of patients was 50% (n=6), 38% (n=5) and6% (n=3) respectively. Summary/Conclusion: In this 44 patients group, the administration of CP has had an adverse event rate very low, similar to non convalescent plasma trasfusion adverse event rate. In those patients who had an early CP transfusion, the mortality rate is much lower than those who had a late CP transfusion. Possibly the elapsed time from symtom onset is the most important factor to assess efectivity. Mortality rate by WHO Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement shows differences between groups. Those patients with a higher score present higher mortality rates, probably similar to patients with Covid-19 treated with other therapeutic options. The mortality rate by sex was similar in both groups as we can observe in other studies. An early CP administration could be a therapeutic option in severe patients with Covid-19 considering that is a safe procedure that can improve survival rates.
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OBJECTIVE: The study aims to describe characteristics and clinical outcome of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection that received siltuximab according to a protocol that aimed to early block the activity of IL-6 to avoid the progression of the inflammatory flare. METHODS: Retrospective review of the first 31 patients with SARS-CoV-2 treated with siltuximab, in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona or Hospital Universitario Salamanca, from March to April 2020 with positive polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) from a nasopharyngeal swab. RESULTS: The cohort included 31 cases that received siltuximab with a median (IQR) age of 62 (56-71) and 71% were males. The most frequent comorbidity was hypertension (48%). The median dose of siltuximab was 800 mg ranging between 785 and 900 mg. 7 patients received siltuximab as a salvage therapy after one dose of tocilizumab. At the end of the study, a total of 26 (83.9) patients had been discharged alive and the mortality rate was 16.1% but only 1 out of 24 that received siltuximab as a first line option (4%). CONCLUSIONS: Siltuximab is a well-tolerated alternative to tocilizumab when administered as a first line option in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia within the first 10 days from symptoms onset and high C-reactive protein.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use , COVID-19 Drug Treatment , Aged , Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/therapeutic use , C-Reactive Protein/analysis , COVID-19/mortality , Cytokine Release Syndrome/drug therapy , Cytokine Release Syndrome/etiology , Disease Progression , Female , Humans , Hypertension/complications , Interleukin-6/antagonists & inhibitors , Interleukin-6/blood , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Salvage Therapy , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
This special JDS issue is focused on highlighting the new and updated decisional concepts, frameworks, methods, and technologies needed to assist decision makers and policymakers in the context of a global pandemic. This introductory editorial contains a brief overview of the eleven research articles provided by the international community.