The use of digital escape rooms in nursing education.

Negative attitudes and prejudices towards people with a mental disorder are common across cultures and societies. The stigma associated with mental illness leads to a lower quality of life, given the discrimination and social exclusion suffered by people with this type of disorder. In the field of health, research has shown that doctors and nurses also manifest these types of stigmatizing behaviors and attitudes. The present study aims to create and apply an educational escape room for the purpose of training nursing students in mental health, promoting positive attitudes towards people who have a mental disorder. To do so, a pre-post study was conducted with an experimental group and a control group to determine whether the escape room was effective for the modification of stigmatizing behaviors compared to transmissive lecture class, and a third measurement was made at 6 months only to the experimental group to evaluate whether the changes produced by the escape room were maintained in the long term. The results indicate that the students participating in the study obtained better scores in sensitization and these remain better over time. It is concluded that the escape room used is suitable for the training and sensitization of future nursing professionals in the field of mental health, facilitating the learning of knowledge and positive attitudes towards severe mental disorder.

Melatonin increases intracellular calcium in the liver, muscle, white adipose tissues and pancreas of diabetic obese rats.

Melatonin, a widespread substance with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has been found to act as an antidiabetic agent in animal models, regulating the release and action of insulin. However, the molecular bases of this antidiabetic action are unknown, limiting its application in humans. Several studies have recently shown that melatonin can modify calcium (Ca(2+)) in diabetic animals, and Ca(2+) has been reported to be involved in glucose homeostasis. The objective of the present study was to assess whether the antidiabetic effect of chronic melatonin at pharmacological doses is established via Ca(2+) regulation in different tissues in an animal model of obesity-related type 2 diabetes, using Zücker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats and their lean littermates, Zücker lean (ZL) rats. After the treatments, flame atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine Ca(2+) levels in the liver, muscle, main types of internal white adipose tissue, subcutaneous lumbar fat, pancreas, brain, and plasma. This study reports for the first time that chronic melatonin administration (10 mg per kg body weight per day for 6 weeks) increases Ca(2+) levels in muscle, liver, different adipose tissues, and pancreas in ZDF rats, although there were no significant changes in their brain or plasma Ca(2+) levels. We propose that this additional peripheral dual action mechanism underlies the improvement in insulin sensitivity and secretion previously documented in samples from the same animals. According to these results, indoleamine may be a potential candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with obesity.

[Effects of contrast, eccentricity and position in the detection of visual stimuli in humans]. / Efectos del contraste, excentricidad y posicion en la deteccion de estimulos visuales en humanos.

INTRODUCTION: Contrast, eccentricity and position of stimuli used on research of attention in human vision strongly vary among studies. AIM. To study how contrast, eccentricity and position affects detection of stimuli in humans. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In adults with normal vision, we measured response times to stimuli (gray circles of 0.5 masculine of diameter) presented at random at eight polar coordinates, in three eccentricities with respect of fixation point (2.15, 3.83 and 5.53 masculine) and with three levels of contrast (6, 16 and 78%). RESULTS: Stimuli with eccentricity of 5.38 masculine and 6% of contrast showed the longest response times. In all eccentricities studied, longer response times were found with stimuli of 6% of contrast. Response times of stimuli of 16% and 78% of contrast showed similar response times in all eccentricities studied. Response times founded at eight polar coordinates were heterogeneous at eccentricities of 2.15 and 5.53 masculine, but not at 3.83 masculine. CONCLUSIONS: Contrast is the factor that most influence detection of visual stimuli used in this study, particularly at the biggest eccentricity employed. Response times among polar coordinates are also affected by eccentricities of 2.15 and 5.53 masculine, suggesting that distance of stimuli to fixation point is critical for visual detection of stimuli.

Efectos del contraste, excentricidad y posición en la detección de estímulos visuales en humanos / Effects of contrast, eccentricity and position in the detection of visual stimuli in humans

Introducción. Los estudios en humanos sobre percepción visual espacial tienen en común proyectar estímulos en laretina central, pero difieren notablemente en cuanto a su contraste, excentricidad y posición en el campo visual. Objetivo. Estudiar los efectos del contraste, excentricidad y posición en la detección de estímulos visuales presentados en la retina central humana. Sujetos y métodos. Se estudiaron los tiempos de respuesta, en personas con visión normal, a la presentación de estímulos (círculos grises de 0,5º de diámetro) presentados al azar en ocho coordenadas polares, con tres excentricidades (2,15,3,83 y 5,53º) y tres niveles de contraste (6, 16 y 78%). Resultados. Los estímulos presentados a 5,53º de excentricidad y contraste del 6% mostraron los tiempos de respuesta más elevados. Con este contraste, los tiempos de respuesta fueron mayores en todaslas excentricidades estudiadas. Por el contrario, con contrastes del 16 y 78%, los tiempos de respuesta fueron similares en las tres excentricidades. Para las ocho coordenadas polares, los tiempos de respuesta fueron homogéneos en la excentricidad de 3,83º y mostraron mayor variabilidad en las excentricidades de 2,15 y 5,53º. Conclusiones. De los tres factores analizados,el contraste es determinante en la detección de estímulos, especialmente en la excentricidad mayor. La posición también influye cuando los estímulos se presentan con excentricidades pequeñas o grandes, lo que sugiere que la distancia de los estímulos respecto al punto de fijación es crítica en la detección visual en este tipo de estudios

Introduction. Contrast, eccentricity and position of stimuli used on research of attention in human vision strongly vary among studies. Aim. To study how contrast, eccentricity and position affects detection of stimuli in humans. Subjects and methods. In adults with normal vision, we measured response times to stimuli (gray circles of 0.5º of diameter) presented at random at eight polar coordinates, in three eccentricities with respect of fixation point (2.15, 3.83 and 5.53º) and with three levels of contrast (6, 16 and 78%). Results. Stimuli with eccentricity of 5.38º and 6% of contrast showed the longest response times. In all eccentricities studied, longer response times were found with stimuli of 6% of contrast. Response times of stimuliof 16% and 78% of contrast showed similar response times in all eccentricities studied. Response times founded at eight polar coordinates were heterogeneous at eccentricities of 2.15 and 5.53º, but not at 3.83º. Conclusions. Contrast is the factor thatmost influence detection of visual stimuli used in this study, particularly at the biggest eccentricity employed. Response times among polar coordinates are also affected by eccentricities of 2.15 and 5.53º, suggesting that distance of stimuli to fixationpoint is critical for visual detection of stimuli