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Subjective Cognitive Impairment and Physical Activity: Investigating Risk Factors and Correlations among Older Adults in Spain
No full textSubjective cognitive impairment in older persons has a substantial influence on their quality of life and can progress to serious illnesses such as dementia. Physical activity level can help prevent cognitive decline and improve cognitive performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between frequency of physical activity and subjective cognitive impairment in Spanish adults aged 65 and over, and to identify different risk factors. Using data from the EHSS20 survey, the study focused on 7082 participants who provided information on cognitive impairment and physical activity. Key predictor variables included age, gender, BMI, marital status, and education level. A significant relationship was found between BMI category and gender, with 66.5% of the population being overweight or obese. Men were more likely to be overweight than women. Socio-demographic factors such as educational level, marital status, and physical activity frequency showed dependent associations with sex. Women had a higher prevalence of subjective cognitive impairment than men. A strong association was found between frequency of physical activity and subjective cognitive impairment, with inactive older people having the highest prevalence of subjective cognitive impairment. Older women who engage in little physical exercise and have less education are at risk for subjective cognitive impairment. Furthermore, for both men and women, being overweight was associated with a more reduced risk than obesity. Significant relationships were also discovered between subjective cognitive impairment, frequency of physical exercise, gender, BMI, and degree of education. In conclusion, older, sedentary women with high BMI and less education are more likely to experience subjective cognitive impairment.The APC was funded by the Open Access Program of Universidad de Las AméricaspeerReviewe
Legitimacy' rhetoric and the common good in Lorenzo Valla's historical work
No full textLos Gesta Ferdinandi regis Aragonum de Lorenzo Valla son la única obra histórica de su autor y la primera monografía humanista de tema ibérico, lo que les confiere un singular interés. Con este trabajo continúo la línea de análisis retórico de los Gesta abierta por López Moreda. Para ello estudio las relaciones teóricas entre la historia y la preceptiva retórica en la obra y analizo el discurso empleado por Valla para legitimar la elección de Fernando de Trastámara como rey de Aragón. El argumento central del humanista, visible en los momentos clave de los Gesta, consiste en que Fernando I siempre actúa por el bien común a diferencia de sus adversarios, los cuales son movidos por sus intereses particulares.Gesta Ferdinandi regis Aragonum is the only historical work by its author and the first humanist monograph on Iberian themes, which makes it of particular interest. This work aims to continue the line of rhetorical analysis of the Gesta opened by López Moreda. To this end, I study the theoretical relations between history and rhetorical precepts in the work and analyze the discourse used by Valla to legitimize the election of Ferdinand of Trastamara as king of Aragon. The humanist's central argument, visible at key moments in the Gesta, is that
Ferdinand I is always motivated by the common good unlike his opponents, who are driven by their selfish interests.Proyecto de Investigación de Excelencia PID2021-123069NB-100peerReviewe
Projections of the Inventio in Nélida Piñon’s Fragmentary Writing
No full textUno de los motivos recurrentes en la reflexión metaliteraria de la escritora brasileña Nélida Piñon (Río de Janeiro, 1937 – Lisboa, 2022) es el lugar que, en el proceso de la inventio, ocupa la imaginación, que ella considera un factor esencial en el oficio de la escritura y asimismo una parte de la vida. Por ello, usa continuamente el término imaginación y otros afines, v. g., creatividad, invención, ficción, fantasía e ilusión, que la autora combina con los referentes a la realidad. Este artículo expone el valor histórico de los mencionados vocablos en el discurrir teórico general y el sentido que Piñon les confiere en su volumen reflexivo titulado Libro de horas y en abundantes testimonios. El análisis desvela matices de las relaciones que en la literatura entablan los conceptos de imaginación y conocimiento, verdad y ficción, pensamiento mítico y razón, palabra artística y terapia, ingenium y ars.One of the recurring motifs in the metaliterary reflection of Brazilian writer Nélida Piñon (Rio de Janeiro, 1937 – Lisbon, 2022) is imagination, which she considers an essential factor in the craft of writing and also a part of life. Therefore, she continually uses the term imagination and other related terms, such as creativity, invention, fiction, fantasy and illusion, which the author combines with references to reality. This article exposes the historical value of the mentioned terms in the general theoretical discourse and the meaning that Piñon confers on them in her reflective volume titled Book of Hours and in abundant testimonials. The analysis unveils nuances of the relationships that the concepts of imagination and knowledge, truth and fiction, mythical thought and reason, artistic word and therapy, ingeniumand ars, establish in literature.peerReviewe
Bibliometric analysis of production on public health nursing: Evidence of specialization and crucial role in the future of the health systems
No full textIn an increasingly globalized world, public health is a challenge in the future of health systems. Nursing is a fundamental profession in health systems and the purpose of the study is to quantify the scientific production in global public health carried out by nursing to demonstrate its competence, capacity and specialization in this subject. Methods: A bibliometric study was carried out to understand the scientific production of public health nursing in WoS. A total of 17,545 documents were analyzed using Bibliometrix software in version 4.0.5. Results: A notable increase in production is observed over time, a sign of specialization and capacity. The theme focuses on three stages: hygiene and sanitation, infectious diseases and quality, prevention and non-communicable diseases coinciding with the real social needs of each moment. Most of the production is in English and produced by countries with developed economies. Nursing is aligned with current public health needs. Conclusions: Bibliometrics is a good method to quantify scientific production. The results show extensive scientific production in public health nursing, which translates into extensive knowledge of public health by nursing. There is a growth in production in accordance with time as well as an adaptation to the most current themes in accordance with population needs. Public health is an area of concern to countries and nursing can actively participate in studies, planning and leadership of health systems. Public health nursing should not be considered relegated to medicine but independent and of crucial importance to the “Onehealth” concept. Public, private and educational administrations must promote and support nursing research in public health, and it is not advisable to reduce the teaching load of global public health in nursing studies, in favor of the family and community environment.peerReviewe
Communication and transversal competencies development in primary education students and its relationship with the 2030 Agenda goals
No full textLa universidad, como soporte para la Agenda 2030, ha de caminar a la vanguardia de las últimas tendencias pedagógicas, entre las que se encuentra el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa de los futuros profesionales de la educación como parte esencial en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). Esta investigación aborda esta temática desde un estudio de caso cualitativo en el programa bilingüe del Grado de Educación Primaria de la Universidad de Extremadura (UEx). Partiendo de la teoría fundamentada, se utilizaron grupos de discusión con profesorado, estudiantado y docentes de centros educativos extremeños. Tras un análisis con codificación abierta, axial y selectiva, la interpretación de los resultados indica que el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa se relaciona directamente con el 4º ODS. En el contexto del programa bilingüe analizado, promueve el desarrollo de una educación inclusiva, equitativa, sostenible y transversal, especialmente cuando se combinan diferentes lenguas.The latest pedagogical trends slide towards competency development of students at all educational levels. These current trends are consequently giving them more space to work on their personal and professional skills, as well as the ability to generate critical opinion, cope with problem solving or learning to learn, rather than limiting education to repetition and memorization. In this regard, universities must be at the forefront of these educational practices. Moreover, universities constitute one of the pillars providing support to the 2030 Agenda, which entails carrying out a global action plan for people, the planet, and prosperity. For that purpose, competency development in future education professionals is an essential part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework published by the United Nations (UN), especially in those aspects related to the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) roadmap, presented by UNESCO. These are the reasons why we set out to get to know how competences are represented in the primary education degree bilingual program at the University of Extremadura, from a dual perspective: educators and students, and how they converge with the goals proposed by the 2030 Agenda. The present study addresses this issue from a qualitative perspective, involving focus groups with faculty members and graduate students from the primary education degree bilingual program at the University of Extremadura. A total of 15 people participated in this study, including 9 faculty members organized into 3 focus groups, and 6 students in a sole focus group. Open debate has been the technique used for data collection, where participants have expressed their opinions about the competency development of students enrolled in the primary education degree bilingual program. The responses obtained are oriented towards the linguistic competence development, encompassed by the communicative competence, the exposure to specific degree competences, and the improvement of transversal competences, all of that covered by the development of socio-cultural competences. Therefore, all these competences are inexorably linked to the maturational process that all future education professionals should attain in order to properly develop their practice. Likewise, they are also related to the educational and professional environment in which they are immersed, as well as the context where everything takes place. Hence, it is fundamental to align the direction of this group of people with the direction proposed by the 2030 Agenda and its corresponding objectives. Our conclusion points to the significant role that universities play regarding the training of future professionals and their sensitiveness towards the planet. One way to pay attention to these problems or situations is providing educators with the opportunity to reflect upon the competences that they have acquired during their university degree, particularly communication competences and transversal competences. This way, they would be able to implement and develop proper methodologies in the classroom.peerReviewe
Diffusion approximation of critical controlled multi-type branching processes
No full textLos procesos de ramificación constituyen una familia importante de procesos estocásticos que han sido aplicados con éxito en muchos campos. En este artículo, centramos nuestra atención en los procesos de ramificación multitipo controlados (CMBPs, por sus siglas en inglés). Se deriva una aproximación por difusión tipo Feller para algunos CMBPs críticos. Específicamente, consideramos una sucesión de funciones escalonadas aleatorias, adecuadamente escaladas, formadas a partir de un CMBP crítico con distribuciones de control cuyas esperanzas satisfacen un tipo hipótesis de linealidad. Se demuestra que dicha sucesión converge débilmente hacia un proceso cuadrático de Bessel, soportado en una dirección determinada por un vector propio de una matriz relacionada con la matriz de medias de descendencia y las distribuciones de control del proceso de ramificación en cuestión. Como aplicaciones, entre otras, derivamos aproximaciones por difusión tipo Feller para procesos de ramificación multitipo críticos y primitivos con inmigración, así como para algunos procesos de ramificación de dos sexos. También describimos el comportamiento asintótico de las frecuencias relativas de los distintos tipos de individuos en los CMBPs críticos.Branching processes form an important family of stochastic processes that have been successfully applied inmany fields. In this paper, we focus our attention on controlledmulti-type branching processes (CMBPs). A Feller-type diffusion approximation is derived for some critical CMBPs. Namely, we consider a sequence of appropriately scaled random step functions formed from a critical CMBP with control distributions having expectations that satisfy a kind of linearity assumption. It is proved that such a sequence converges weakly toward a squared Bessel process supported by a ray determined by an eigenvector of amatrix related to
the offspring mean matrix and the control distributions of the branching process in question. As applications, among others, we derive Feller-type diffusion approximations of critical, primitive multi-type branching processes with immigration and some two-sex branching processes. We also describe the asymptotic behaviour of the relative frequencies of distinct types of individuals for critical CMBPs.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. Mátyás Barczywas supported by the project TKP2021-NVA-09. Project no. TKP2021-NVA-09 has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NVA funding scheme. Miguel González, Pedro Martín-Chávez and Inés del Puerto are supported by grant PID2019-108211GB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Pedro Martín-Chávez is also grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Universities for support from a predoctoral fellowship Grant no. FPU20/06588.peerReviewe
Application of Fermentation as a Strategy for the Transformation and Valorization of Vegetable Matrices
No full textEste artículo de revisión aborda la fermentación de vegetales desde un punto de vista microbiológico y tecnológico, con un énfasis particular en el potencial de las bacterias ácido-lácticas para llevar a cabo estas transformaciones. También cubre el espectro de alimentos vegetales fermentados tradicionales y emergentes. La fermentación con bacterias ácido-lácticas representa una estrategia accesible y adecuada para aumentar el consumo diario de legumbres y vegetales. A menudo, la fermentación láctica se realiza de manera espontánea siguiendo protocolos firmemente arraigados en la cultura y tradiciones de diferentes países del mundo. Los productos vegetales fermentados son microbiológicamente seguros, nutritivos y tienen características sensoriales agradables, y algunos de ellos pueden almacenarse durante largos períodos sin refrigeración. La fermentación controlada con bacterias ácido-lácticas seleccionadas es una alternativa prometedora para garantizar productos de alta calidad desde un punto de vista nutricional y organoléptico, con beneficios para la salud del consumidor. Los avances recientes en genómica y ecología microbiana molecular predicen un futuro prometedor para su aplicación en la fermentación de plantas. Sin embargo, es necesario promover enfoques moleculares para estudiar la composición de la microbiota, seleccionar iniciadores dirigidos a diferentes legumbres y vegetales, generar productos con propiedades nutricionales superiores a las actualmente disponibles e incorporar vegetales no tradicionales.This review paper addresses vegetable fermentation from a microbiological and technologi cal point of view, with particular emphasis on the potential of lactic acid bacteria to carry out these transformations. This review paper also covers the spectrum of traditional and emerging fermented plant foods. Fermentation with lactic acid bacteria represents an accessible and appropriate strategy to increase the daily consumption of legumes and vegetables. Often, lactic fermentation is carried out spontaneously following protocols firmly rooted in the culture and traditions of different countries worldwide. Fermented plant products are microbiologically safe, nutritious, and have pleasant sen sory characteristics, and some of them can be stored for long periods without refrigeration. Controlled fermentation with selected lactic acid bacteria is a promising alternative to guarantee high-quality products from a nutritional and organoleptic point of view and with benefits for the consumer’s health. Recent advances in genomics and molecular microbial ecology predict a bright future for
its application in plant fermentation. However, it is necessary to promote molecular approaches to study the microbiota composition, select starters aimed at different legumes and vegetables, gen erate products with nutritional properties superior to those currently available, and incorporate non-traditional vegetables.This research was funded by the University National of Agriculture (Honduras) with the International Development Research Center of Canada (IDRC) and the General Secretariat of the Council Central American University Superior (CSUCA) (Ref. C-DSIP-008-2023-UNAG)peerReviewe
Nómadas do século XXI: sobrevivência e sistema alimentar entre o povo Ati das Filipinas
No full textEste artículo describe las estrategias de obtención de alimentos llevadas a cabo por uno de los grupos indígenas marginales de Filipinas, el pueblo Ati de la provincia de Guimaras. Como grupo nómada en transición, es interesante identificar su forma tradicional de recolectar alimentos para encontrar la forma de ofrecerles una intervención significativa como personas con derecho a su propia identidad cultural. Al evaluar la viabilidad de sus mecanismos básicos de apoyo a su actividad de obtención de alimentos se pone de manifiesto la importancia de la tierra, el acceso a ríos y arroyos, junto con los reconocimientos y disposiciones legales necesarios para su modo de vida.This paper describes the selected food-getting strategies by one of the marginal indigenous groups in the Philippines, the Ati people in Guimaras province. As a nomadic group in transition, it is of interest to identify their traditional way of collecting food in order to find ways how to offer meaningful intervention to them as people rightful to their own cultural identity. By assessing the viability of their basic support mechanisms to their food-getting activity, it becomes apparent the importance of land, access to rivers and streams, along the necessary legal recognitions and provisions to their lifeways.peerReviewe
Habitat heterogeneity reduces abundance of invasive mealybugs in subtropical fruit crops
No full textLa simplificación de los paisajes agrícolas se ha asociado con un aumento de la presión de plagas. Mientras que los monocultivos aumentan los recursos disponibles para las plagas y pueden facilitar su dispersión, la falta de hábitats no cultivados puede reducir los recursos disponibles para los enemigos naturales de las plagas. En este estudio, probamos cuál de estas hipótesis, a saber, 'concentración de recursos' y 'enemigos naturales', puede explicar mejor la abundancia de plagas invasoras de cochinillas en dos cultivos frutales subtropicales. Con este objetivo, se muestrearon 17 huertos de caqui y 16 huertos de cítricos durante tres estaciones diferentes a lo largo de dos años consecutivos. Utilizando un enfoque de selección de modelos, evaluamos los efectos del paisaje circundante (proporción de cultivos focales y hábitats seminaturales a diferentes distancias) y la vegetación de cobertura entre hileras sobre la abundancia de cochinillas y sus enemigos naturales. La proporción de cultivos focales en el paisaje aumentó la abundancia de cochinillas que atacan ambos cultivos. Este efecto se encontró a distancias más cercanas (hasta ~600 m) en cítricos y a distancias tanto cercanas como lejanas (hasta 1250 m) en caqui. Los hábitats no cultivados, tanto los hábitats seminaturales circundantes como la vegetación de cobertura, disminuyeron la abundancia de cochinillas al aumentar la actividad de sus parasitoides en caqui. Por el contrario, los hábitats no cultivados no disminuyeron la abundancia de la principal especie de cochinilla que ataca a los cítricos, probablemente porque esta especie de cochinilla no fue atacada por parasitoides nativos o naturalizados.
Síntesis y aplicaciones. Nuestros modelos muestran que el aumento de la heterogeneidad del hábitat a escalas locales y de paisaje puede reducir la abundancia de cochinillas invasoras en cultivos subtropicales a través de los mecanismos de 'concentración de recursos' y 'enemigos naturales'. Por lo tanto, se deben considerar estrategias de diversificación del hábitat en el control biológico de conservación de cochinillas invasoras. Es importante destacar que nuestros hallazgos también muestran que la presencia de enemigos naturales eficientes es crítica para maximizar su control a través de la diversificación del hábitat.The simplification of agricultural landscapes has been associated with an increase in pest pressure. While monocultures increase the resources available for pests and may facilitate their dispersion, the lack of non-crop habitats may reduce the
resources available for pest natural enemies. Herein, we tested which of these hypotheses, namely ‘resource concentration’ and ‘natural enemies’, can better explain the abundance of invasive mealybug pests in two subtropical fruit crops. For this aim, 17 persimmon orchards and 16 citrus orchards were sampled during three different seasons across two consecutive years. Using a model selection approach, we assessed the effects of the surrounding landscape (proportion of focal crops and semi-natural habitats at different distances) and inter-row ground cover vegetation on the abundance of mealybugs and their natural enemies.The proportion of focal crop in the landscape increased the abundance of mealybugs attacking both crops. This effect was found at closer distances (up to ~600 m) in citrus and at both closer and further distances (up to 1250 m) in persimmon. Non-crop habitats, both surrounding semi-natural habitats and ground cover vegetation, decreased the abundance of mealybugs by increasing the activity of their parasitoids in persimmon. Conversely, non-crop habitats did not decrease the abundance of the main mealybug species attacking citrus, likely because this mealybug species was not attacked by native or naturalized parasitoids. Synthesis and applications. Our models show that the increase in habitat heterogeneity at local and landscape scales can reduce the abundance of invasive mealybugs in subtropical crops via ‘resource concentration’ and ‘natural enemies’ mechanisms. Therefore, habitat diversification strategies should be considered in the conservation biological control of invasive mealybugs. Importantly, our find ings also show that the presence of efficient natural enemies is critical to maximize their control through habitat diversification strategies.This research was supported by the national project RTA2017-00095, and Ángel Plata received the predoctoral grant PRE2018-083714 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.peerReviewe
Temporal analysis of bilateral index in bench press with different loads in male handball players
No full textObjetivo: Describir el índice bilateral (BI) en press banca para analizar la facilitación y déficit bilateral con diferentes cargas utilizando un análisis de series temporales. Método: Dieciocho jugadores de balonmano (22,1 ± 3,8 años; 84,5 ± 15,9 kg; 179,3 ± 7,6 cm e IMC 26,2 ± 4,1) realizaron press de banca utilizando dinamometría electromecánica funcional, de forma bilateral y unilateral, con miembro superior hábil e inhábil, utilizando cargas de 40%, 60% y 75% de la contracción isométrica máxima. Cien valores de fuerza durante la fase concéntrica se utilizaron para el cálculo de BI, se evaluó la tendencia mediante análisis gráfico y descriptivo de las series y se utilizó Dynamic Time Warping para reconocer patrones y agrupar aquellas de características similares. Resultados: Existen periodos de facilitación y déficit que varían en duración y magnitud con las diferentes cargas estudiadas. Conclusiones: Considerar las series temporales de fuerza en el tiempo durante el empuje del press de banca conducen a una interpretación diferente de BI a la obtenidas con Fmax. La agrupación de las series sugiere la existencia de un patrón predominante independiente de la carga con que se realice el ejercicio, donde ocurre BLF en la etapa final del ejercicio.Objetive: To describe the bilateral index (BI) during the push phase of the bench press exercise to analyze bilateral facilitation and deficit across different loads using time series analysis. Method: Eighteen handball players (22.1 ± 3.8 years; 84.5 ± 15.9 kg; 179.3 ± 7.6 cm and BMI 26.2 ± 4.1) performed bench press exercises using functional electromechanical dynamometry. The exercises were conducted bilaterally and unilaterally, with both skilled and unskilled upper limbs, using loads set at 40%, 60%, and 75% of maximum isometric contraction. Time series analysis was utilized to calculate the BI, with trend assessment conducted through graphical and descriptive analysis. Dynamic time warping was used to recognize patterns and group those with similar characteristics. Results: There are periods of facilitation and deficit that vary in duration and magnitude with the different loads studied. Conclusions: Considering the time series of force over time during the bench press push leads to a different interpretation of BI than that obtained with Fmax. The grouping of the series suggests the existence of a predominant pattern independent of the load with which the exercise is performed, where BLF occurs in the final stage of the exercise.peerReviewe