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This paper presents the process of co-design, co-production, piloting, evaluation and revision of an Integrated Digital Literacy and Language Toolkit for Vulnerable Migrant Students (VMs) in Higher Education (HE). The language element focuses on academic language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking required for effective involvement in both the host society and HE learning; the acquisition and improvement of digital literacy skills enable VMs to successfully participate in, and contribute to, university and societal collaboration, creativity and content curation. The Toolkit resulted from the co -operation and collaboration of five EU universities and was based on the ASSURE instructional design model. The Toolkit offers a self- access, self- paced, non-linear, fully online set of ten stand-alone units which offer a range of materials and activities to develop those skills pertinent to VM academic language and digital literacy needs. Evaluation by a group of VMs resident in EU countries highlight the positive impact of the Toolkit and validates the instrument as fit for purpose. Noteworthy aspects include its usefulness in supporting student autonomy, improving digital capabilities and academic language mastery,a positive experience of a flexible learning experience along with access to open resources of international scope and dissemination under the Creative Commons licence.

The consumption of raw or smoked fish entails significant microbiological risks, including contamination by pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause severe foodborne illnesses. This study explores the preservative use of piscicolin CM22, a novel bacteriocin derived from the psychrotolerant strain Carnobacterium maltaromaticum CM22, in two types of edible coatings (EC): chitosan-based and fish gelatin-based. An initial in vitro characterization of the technological and antimicrobial properties of these ECs with and without bacteriocin was conducted. The efficacy of the edible coatings was subsequently evaluated through shelf life and challenge tests against L. monocytogenes in raw and smoked fish products. The results demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity, with the chitosan-based coating containing piscicolin CM22 being the most effective in reducing microbial counts and maintaining pH and color stability. Furthermore, in the challenge test studies, both ECs effectively controlled L. monocytogenes, showing significant reductions in bacterial counts compared to the controls in fresh tuna, salmon, and smoked salmon. The ECs containing piscicolin CM22 reduced Listeria counts by up to 4 log CFU/g in raw and smoked fish samples, with effective control in smoked salmon for up to 15 days at refrigeration temperature. While further research is required to fully assess their preservation potential, these findings strongly indicate that piscicolin CM22-functionalized edible coatings hold significant potential for improving the quality and safety of fish products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of one-to-one mobile programs in elementary schools as a resource to substitute the textbook has become popular worldwide. However, findings of studies that seek to enable understanding of how the daily use of these mobile devices affects student's engagement in the classroom are heterogeneous. The authors utilized and adapted a self-system model of motivational development in order to better understand the mechanisms behind the promotion of academic engagement in one-to-one iPad programs. For this, an analysis using structural equations was conducted on data collected from a network of 20 elementary schools and 1,011 5th and 6th grade students in Spain, who used iPads daily in their Language and Mathematics courses. The results showed that certain activities--according to the course--with the iPad influenced the students' engagement, while promoting authentic learning and satisfying their needs. The study contributes with a comprehensive approach and knowledge about the reasons behind the success or failure of these types of programs on learner engagement.

Background Methods Results Conclusions The selection of patients who are going to be admitted to an emergency department observation unit (EDOU) is essential for the good management of these units, intended fundamentally to avoid unnecessary hospitalization of patients. This is especially important when dealing with older patients. It would be important to know what factors are associated with discharge home and to have a clinical predictive scale that appropriately selects older patients who are going to be admitted to an EDOU.A retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted of all patients ≥65 years of age assisted in 48 Spanish Emergency Departments for 7 consecutive days and were admitted to the EDOU. Demographics‐functional, vital signs data and initial laboratory results were analyzed to investigate its association with discharge home and develop and validate a prediction model for discharge home from EDOU. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to develop a prediction model, and a scoring system was created.Among 5457 patients admitted to the EDOU from the emergency room, 2508 (46%) patients were discharged home, and 2949 (54%) were admitted to the hospital. Five variables were strongly associated with discharge home: the absence of fever (adjusted OR: 3.61, 95% CI:1.53–8.54), Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 points (2.80, 1.63–4.82), absence of tachypnea (2.51, 1.74–3.64) or leukocytosis (2.07, 1.70–2.52) and oxygen saturation >94% (2.00, 1.64–2.43). The final model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.648 (IC95% = 0.627–0.668) in the development cohort and 0.635 (0.614–0.656) in the validation cohort.There are factors associated with a greater probability of discharge home of older patients admitted to EDOUs. Prediction at the individual level remains elusive, as the best model obtained in this study did not have sufficient validity to be applied in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Sofosbuvir, velpatasvir and voxilaprevir (SOF/VEL/VOX) is the recommended rescue therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C infection who fail direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs). Data are limited on the effectiveness of this treatment after the current first‐line therapies. Our aim was to analyse the effectiveness and safety of SOF/VEL/VOX among patients failing sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) or glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB). Methods: Retrospective multicentre study (26 Spanish hospitals), including chronic hepatitis C patients unsuccessfully treated with SOF/VEL or GLE/PIB, and retreated with SOF/VEL/VOX ± ribavirin for 12 weeks between December 2017 and December 2022. Results: In total, 142 patients included: 100 (70.4%) had failed SOF/VEL and 42 (29.6%) GLE/PIB. Patients were mainly men (84.5%), White (93.9%), with hepatitis C virus genotype (GT) 3 (49.6%) and 47.2% had liver cirrhosis. Sustained virological response (SVR) was evaluated in 132 patients who completed SOF/VEL/VOX and were followed 12 weeks after end of treatment; 117 (88.6%) achieved SVR. There were no significant differences in SVR rates according to initial DAA treatment (SOF/VEL 87.9% vs. GLE/PIB 90.2%, p = 0.8), cirrhosis (no cirrhosis 90% vs. cirrhosis 87.1%, p = 0.6) or GT3 infection (non‐GT3 91.9% vs. GT3 85.5%, p = 0.3). However, when considering the concurrent presence of SOF/VEL treatment, cirrhosis and GT3 infection, SVR rates dropped to 82.8%. Ribavirin was added in 8 (6%) patients, all achieved SVR. Conclusion: SOF/VEL/VOX is an effective rescue therapy for failures to SOF/VEL or GLE/PIB, with an SVR of 88.6%. Factors previously linked to lower SVR rates, such as GT3 infection, cirrhosis and first‐line therapy with SOF/VEL were not associated with lower SVRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Rhabdoid meningiomas are a rare subtype of (per definition) grade 3 meningiomas of unknown cause, with a heterogeneous clinical course and higher recurrence rates, even among tumors undergoing complete surgical removal, for whom early postoperative radiotherapy may favor local control of the disease and prolonged survival. Here, we compared the clinical, biological and genetic features (at diagnosis and in sequential tumor recurrences) of recurrent vs. non-recurrent rhabdoid meningiomas in a retrospective series of 15 patients with a long follow-up. Recurrent RM showed a higher genetic instability at diagnosis associated with multiple chromosomal losses involving chromosomes 1p, 14q, 18 and 22. Non-recurrent RM were genetically less complex tumors which more frequently showed extensive losses at chromosome 19p and/or 19q, together with gains of chromosomes 20 and 21. Comparison of paired primary vs. recurrent tumor samples of recurrent RM revealed additional losses of chromosomes 16q and 19p, together with gains of chromosomes 1q and 17q. Of note, focal chromosome gains at 17q22 were exclusively found in women with recurrent RM who died, although survival differences did not reach statistical significance. Rhabdoid meningiomas (RM) are a rare meningioma subtype with a heterogeneous clinical course which is more frequently associated with recurrence, even among tumors undergoing-complete surgical removal. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical-histopathological and cytogenetic features of 29 tumors, from patients with recurrent (seven primary and 14 recurrent tumors) vs. non-recurrent RM (n = 8). Recurrent RM showed one (29%), two (29%) or three (42%) recurrences. BAP1 loss of expression was found in one third of all RM at diagnosis and increased to 100% in subsequent tumor recurrences. Despite both recurrent and non-recurrent RM shared chromosome 22 losses, non-recurrent tumors more frequently displayed extensive losses of chromosome 19p (62%) and/or 19q (50%), together with gains of chromosomes 20 and 21 (38%, respectively), whereas recurrent RM (at diagnosis) displayed more complex genotypic profiles with extensive losses of chromosomes 1p, 14q, 18p, 18q (67% each) and 21p (50%), together with focal gains at chromosome 17q22 (67%). Compared to paired primary tumors, recurrent RM samples revealed additional losses at chromosomes 16q and 19p (50% each), together with gains at chromosomes 1q and 17q in most recurrent tumors (67%, each). All deceased recurrent RM patients corresponded to women with chromosome 17q gains, although no statistical significant differences were found vs. the other RM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the presence of the concept digital semiotics in scientific literature with the aim of constituting a corpus of study that would allow to identify its goals and fields of interest. We undertook a systematic review of the term in the most important academic databases. We obtained 389 records and analyzed each of them in terms of publication date, type, content, and synthesis of contributions that develop distinct lines of investigation in digital semiotics. The results show a reduced number of first level publications that approach in detail this object of inquiry while establishing multimodal semiotics and social semiotics as the most consolidated branches. However, we found an increasing amount of gray literature that paves the way towards a deeper semiotic research tradition in the 21st century. We conclude by calling for a revision of semiotics, understood as a field of study that brings together interdisciplinary relationships and methodological solutions that interrogate the digital culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]