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Purpose: This paper aims to report on a case study concerning the development of sustainable energy partnerships involving engineering faculty and undergraduate students at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Design/methodology/approach: Faculty were motivated to seek partnerships with public and private entities in the local area for the purposes of realising mutually beneficial outcomes. The educational programmes of future engineers, when sustainability is considered, are analysed. Education for sustainable development has to include multidisciplinary active learning as a desirable competence. Active learning can be obtained when problems are based on real life because they are most motivating for students. Constructive alignment component is obtained because learning objectives are linked with learning activities related to the needs of public and private entities. Findings: Through the provision of technical expertise, the adoption and success of renewable energy projects was facilitated on the one hand, while final year undergraduate students benefited in terms of hands-on experience in helping to bring these projects to life, drawing on the knowledge and skills they had acquired throughout their degree programmes. These works are addressed to students by faculty members with the aim of developing and promoting renewable energies. Outcomes from partnerships surpassed expectations; not only were different benefits realised as were initially hoped for, but this success led to partnerships being sustained over time. Originality/value: Fossil fuel-based energy systems are associated with a myriad of negative environmental and social externalities. It is difficult to overstate the importance of transitioning towards alternative low carbon energy sources for climate change mitigation which are less centralised compared to the status-quo for energy security and energy independence. By actively facilitating the development of decentralised renewable energy sources in Catalonia, the projects reported herein are of significant value in social environmental and educational terms.

Abstract: The concept of earth quake vulnerability is used in this work to predict the average damage that buildings are likely to experience on a large scale with the occurrence [...]

The purpose of this project was to develop a Spanish version of the Psychological Screening Inventory for use with Costa Rican adolescents and to assess its psychometric equivalence to the English version and its external validity. In Study 1, norms were generated on 600 male and 600 female high school students who were stratified on age and socioeconomic level and were geographically representative. Comparisons with the PSI English version were made for means, scale reliabilities, scale intercorrelations, and item endorsement frequencies. Study II compared the PSI Spanish version scores of students who did and did not request counseling. The Spanish version showed reasonable psychometric equivalence to the English version and was also shown to possess preliminary external validity. Its potential utility for use with U.S. Spanish-speaking populations is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers brief information on a patient with a history of coronary artery disease and currently having the heart disorder severe mitral regurgitation.

Objective: Haemangiopericytoma is an uncommon perivascular tumor that occurs more frequently in soft tissues and is extremely rare in the kidney., Methods: We report two cases: The first one is the case of a 57-year-old man with bilateral metastatic renal haemangiopericytoma which appeared 18 years after removal of a meningeal haemangiopericytoma. The second is a 29-year-old woman with a primary kidney haemangiopericytoma that was casually found in a nephrectomy piece., Results: In the first case, radical left nephrectomy and right renal mass radiofrequency ablation were performed. The patient had an uneventful postoperatory recovery. He remained disease-free 22 months after surgery but two new lesions appeared that were treated with radiofrequency ablation. The second case was a casual finding, a small tumor that had been totally resected., Conclusions: Haemangiopericytoma is a rare tumor with an uncertain clinical behaviour. Long-term follow up is important as local recurrences and metastases can develop years after initial treatment.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) before pregnancy, in the third trimester and postpartum. To analyze its influence on quality of life and associated potential risk factors and the efficacy of pelvic floor exercises., Methods: Prospective study in 413 pregnant women. The modified ICIQ-SF incontinence questionnaire was given to the pregnant women at the end of the third quarter. This questionnaire was administered by telephone at 3 and 6 months postpartum. The influence of several risk factors for UI in pregnancy and postpartum were analyzed. Patients with persistent UI at 6 months postpartum were trained to do pelvic floor exercises., Results: Patients with UI before pregnancy were excluded from the study. UI in the third trimester was 31%. Analyzed risk factors did not condition a higher percentage of UI. Prevalence of UI was 11.3% at 3 months postpartum and 6.9% at 6 months. 70% of the incontinent patients already had it during pregnancy and it appeared de novo post-delivery in 30% of the patients. Prevalence of UI after delivery was higher in women with UI in pregnancy and lower in caesarean cases. Most women improved with pelvic floor exercises., Conclusions: Analysed risk factors did not significantly increase UI in pregnancy. Prevalence of UI after delivery is higher in women with UI in pregnancy and lower in caesarean cases. Postpartum pelvic floor exercises for three months in patients with persistent stress UI at 6 months postpartum clearly improved the degree of continence.

Objective: To report one case of advanced fibrous pseudotumour., Methods: A 34-year-old patient presented with a painless lump on the right side of the scrotum. Examination revealed a hard tissue thickening attached to the tail and body of the right epididymis. The results of the ultrasound study were not clear and multiple differential diagnosis were considered. The lesion was surgically removed by partial right epididymectomy and resection of the affected tunica vaginalis and ductus deferens for anatomopathological study., Results: The histopathological study revealed an evolved fibrous pseudotumour with bone metaplasia., Conclusion: Fibrous pseudotumour is a benign paratesticular lesion that grows slowly and painlessly. It is usually diagnosed by chance or in associated processes such as hydrocele. Differential diagnosis with malignant tumors avoids unnecessary radical treatment.

Objectives: Testicular cancer represents about 1% of malignant tumors in men. Of these tumors 95% are germ cell tumors (GCTs), which have a maximum incidence between the second and third decades of life. Our objective was to carry out a retrospective analysis of testicular tumor cases that had been diagnosed in our Health Area between the years 2000 and 2010., Methods: We performed a retrospective descriptive study between the years 2000 and 2010 analyzing 43 patients treated for testicular cancer, including in the analysis tumor incidence, the patient's age, clinic attended, patient's time until appointment, presence of tumor markers, patient's time before treatment, use of testicular prostheses, histological type and their typical characteristics, oncological treatment, tumor progression and mortality rate., Results: We found an incidence of 4-5 cases/100,000 population/year in our Health Area. Two-thirds of the cases were detected in Stage I, and 100% of these cases showed complete remission. Among those with higher stage tumors, two out of three patients were cured after chemotherapy. For the remaining one-third, rescue treatments managed to achieve a remission rate of 66%. Mortality was low and was linked to lymphoma or metastatic dissemination., Conclusion: The trend towards early diagnosis with detection during the initial cancer stages, together with current chemotherapy protocols, enables a high cure rate for testicular cancer. Mortality in our series was associated with primary or secondary lymphomas.