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Copyright of Pedagogía Profesional is the property of Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas "Enrique Jose Varona" Facultad de Ciencias Tecnicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper describes a practical experience of adapting the teaching of a course in Computer Technology (CT) to the new demands of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). CT is a core course taught in the first year of the degree program Technical Engineering in Management Computing in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of A Coruna (UDC), Spain. The contents of this course are mainly devoted to the design of digital systems. The main purpose of the adaptation has been to focus more on students, clearly defining the abilities they will develop during the course and suggesting activities that facilitate the development of those abilities. The aim of this work is to describe how this adaptation was performed, the materials and activities prepared, the difficulties encountered, the goals achieved and the response of students and teachers to these changes. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

Copyright of Pedagogía Profesional is the property of Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas "Enrique Jose Varona" Facultad de Ciencias Tecnicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We reviewed the outcome of the 10 patients (13 eyes) with localized, biopsy-proven, low-grade lymphoma of the conjunctiva treated at our Department between 1988 and 1997. All patients were treated by β-ray brachytherapy using a bidirectional 90Sr–90Y ophthalmic applicator (Applicator SIA 2, Amersham plc).Total doses, prescribed at the surface of the applicator, varied between 40 Gy and 80 Gy. With a median follow-up of 78 months (range: 14 to 146 months), seven patients remained with no evidence of relapse (67.5% 10 year disease free survival). Local control was achieved in 10 out of 13 eyes (76.9%). Two of the three local relapses were marginal. One of these three patients also developed a metachronous lymphoma in the contralateral conjunctiva. These three patients underwent a second course of brachytherapy with 90Sr/90Y and remained free of second relapse 109, 68 and 33 months after salvage therapy. No cases of systemic relapse were observed. Late (LENT-SOMA) complications were of grade 2 in five eyes, of grade 3 in one eye and of grade 4 in one eye. Late complications of grade 2 or higher were observed in one out of five patients (20%) treated with doses lower or equal to 50 Gy and in six out of eight patients (75%) treated with doses higher than 50 Gy (P=0.086). Our data indicates that β-ray brachytherapy was ultimately able to control most conjunctival lymphomas but carried a risk of late complications and marginal relapses that was possibly higher than the rates reported for other radiotherapy techniques. Copyright 2002 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Previous studies suggest that specialty care is more costly but may produce improved outcomes for patients with acute cardiac illnesses.Objective: To determine whether patients with congestive heart failure who are cared for by cardiologists experienced differences in costs, care patterns, and survival compared with patients of generalists.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: 5 U.S. teaching hospitals between 1989 and 1994.Patients: 1298 patients hospitalized with an exacerbation of congestive heart failure.Measurements: Hospital costs; average daily Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) score; and survival censored at 30, 180, and 365 days and 31 December 1994.Results: Compared with patients of generalists, patients of cardiologists were younger (mean age, 63.3 and 71.4 years; P < 0.001) and had lower Acute Physiology Scores at the time of admission (35.1 and 36.7; P < 0.001) but were more likely to have a history of ventricular arrhythmias (21.0% and 10.2%; P < 0.001). At 6 months, 201 (27%) patients of cardiologists and 149 (27%) patients of generalists had died. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and severity of illness, patients of cardiologists incurred costs that were 42.9% (95% CI, 27.8% to 59.8%) higher and average daily TISS scores that were 2.83 points (CI, 1.96 to 3.68 points) higher than those of patients of generalists. Patients of cardiologists were more likely to undergo right-heart catheterization (adjusted odds ratio, 2.9 [CI, 1.7 to 4.9]) or cardiac catheterization (adjusted odds ratio, 3.9 [CI, 2.4 to 6.2]) and had higher odds for transfer to an intensive care unit and electrocardiographic monitoring. Adjusted survival did not differ significantly between groups at 30 days; however, there was a trend toward improved survival among patients of cardiologists at 1 year (adjusted relative hazard, 0.82 [CI, 0.65 to 1.04]) and at maximum follow-up (adjusted relative hazard, 0.80 [CI, 0.66 to 0.96]).Conclusions: In this observational study of patients hospitalized with congestive heart failure, cardiologist care was associated with greater costs and resource use and no difference in survival at 30 days of follow-up. Whether the trend toward better survival at longer follow-up represents differences in care or unadjusted illness severity is uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]