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Women's specifications to design a smartphone app to provide psychological care during reproductive treatments: Qualitative study with patients and professionals
No full textInternet-based interventions may help reduce the emotional burden of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) although some concerns regarding its use need to be addressed (i.e., the high dropout rates found in self-administered psychological interventions). It has been suggested that the development of online interventions that consider women needs and preferences may help to reduce some of these issues. The aim of this study is to explore the opinion, preferences and recommendations of women undergoing ART and professionals who care for them about how to turn a face-to-face preventive psychosocial program based on the Unified Protocol into a mobile application (m-Health). Six patients and twelve professionals were involved in two semi-structured focus group before the development of the m-Health solution. After the transcription, two independent researchers coded the information in order to extract Areas, Subcategories, and Categories discussed during focus groups. Analyses of the content indicated that both patients and professionals agree that preventive m-Health solutions should be developed by professionals, ensure data protection, combine online and face-to-face sessions, connect women with peers, offer the inclusion of the partner or a relative, include a variety of educational content, provide personalized content adapted to women's needs and provide fast responses and immediate feedback. These results may help to guide the development of m-Health programs. Exploring opinions and preferences of simultaneous stakeholders, women undergoing ART and professionals is important because patient-centered care may help to increase users' satisfaction with preventive psychosocial interventions and, therefore, improve adherence rates and treatment effectivenes
Earnings Manipulation in Times of COVID-19: Evidence from European Union Countries
Get PDFThe coronavirus pandemic has caused the world’s worst crisis. No other situation in recent history has had such a negative impact on the global economy. Consequently, companies have been forced to adapt to the new circumstances and strive in this drastically changing world.
The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings management practices in the context of European Union countries. We applied accruals-based methodology, and to estimate discretionary part of accruals we used Dechow, Sloan, and Sweeney model.
Our results confirm that companies reduced earnings management activities during COVID compared to pre-pandemic. This reduction is influenced by the economic situation of the country and companies, as well as by whether or not they are listed on the stock markets. In particular, we observed that the impact of COVID-19 on the change in manipulation is lower in countries with higher GDP, as well as in listed companies and those with negative results.
Our findings have both theoretical and practical implications for the practices of earnings management in European Union countries in times of pandemic. We contribute to the literature by improving understanding of the quality of corporate financial reporting during the COVID-19 period, one of the most important crisis occurred in recent history
Systematics, diversity and paleoecology of cyrtocrinids (Crinoidea, Echinodermata) from the Oxfordian sponge meadows of northeast Spain (Tosos, Zaragoza)
Get PDFJurassic cyrtocrinids from Spain are first documented here as representing relatively diverse assemblages from the western Tethys. The species Ascidicrinus pentagonus, Eugeniacrinites cariophilites, Gammarocrinites compressus, Pilocrinus moussoni, Sclerocrinus cf. S. strambergensis, and Tetracrinus moniliformis are described from Oxfordian marl levels belonging to the Yátova Formation, around Tosos (Zaragoza, NE Spain). Although based on partially disarticulated material, these fossils preserve cups, stem columnals, attachment structures, and brachial plates. Based on the sedimentology and associated invertebrate fauna, cyrtocrinids from this area lived below storm wave action but eventually were affected by storms, as opposed to their modern counterparts that occupy deep water environments. Some specimens preserve traces of interactions with other organisms, such as predation marks or epibiontic colonization during life and post-mortem. Attachment structures suggest cyrtocrinids mostly attached on sponges. We note that diversity of cyrtocrinids changed in step with the abundance of sponge reefs in the Jurassic, suggesting that both groups probably had an important link in that period related with similar ecological requirements
Progress in integrated photo-rechargeable battery technologies
Get PDFIntegrated photo-rechargeable battery systems represent a significant advancement in sustainable energy storage and conversion by combining photovoltaic energy harvesting with direct energy storage in a compact design. Although initially studied in the 1970s, interest in this field has surged in recent years. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of this topic, researchers from diverse backgrounds approach it with varying methodologies, resulting in highly diverse cell designs and inconsistent performance metrics. These variations complicate the comparison and evaluation of system efficiency and functionality. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the field's development and current state, from early photoelectrochemical approaches to modern integrated designs. Additionally, it addresses the challenge of performance evaluation by compiling current approaches to performance measurement and proposing standardized evaluation parameters under defined conditions. This dual focus on field overview and metrics standardization aims to provide both a thorough understanding of solar electrochemical energy storage technologies and a framework for their consistent evaluation, which is critical for advancing these technologies
Hallux limitus: Exploring the variability in lower limb symmetry and its connection to gait parameters—a case–control study
Get PDFHallux limitus pathology is defined as a limitation of the dorsiflexion movement of the first toe without degenerative involvement of the first metatarsophalangeal joint, which produces pain and generates functional impairment, especially in the propulsive phase of gait. It is very common to find this pathology in adulthood accompanied by other compensations at a biomechanical level as a consequence of blockage of the main pivot in the sagittal plane. The aim was to determine the symmetry index that occurs in dynamics affiliated with other gait parameters in subjects with and without hallux limitus. A total of 70 subjects were part of the sample, and these were separated into two groups, each consisting of 35 subjects, depending on whether they had bilateral hallux limitus or if they were healthy subjects. In this study, a platform was used to assess the load symmetry index and walking phases. The results showed significant differences in the symmetry index for lateral load (p = 0.023), the initial contact phase (p = 0.003), and the flatfoot phase (p < 0.001). The adults who had bilateral hallux limitus exhibited changes in the symmetry index during the lateral load as well as in the initial contact and flatfoot contact phases, demonstrating increased instability when compared to individuals with normal feet
Weak nuclear decays deep-underground as a probe of axion dark matter
Get PDFWe investigate the time modulation of weak nuclear decays as a method to probe axion dark matter. To this end, we develop a theoretical framework to compute the θ dependence of weak nuclear decays, including electron capture and β decay, which enables us to predict the time variation of weak radioactivity in response to an oscillating axion dark matter background. As an application, we recast old datasets, from the weak nuclear decays of K40 and Cs137 taken at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory, in order to set constraints on the axion decay constant, specifically in the axion mass range from few 10−23 up to 10−19 eV. We finally propose a new measurement at the Gran Sasso Laboratory, based on the weak nuclear decay of K40 via electron capture, in order to explore even shorter timescales, thus reaching sensitivities to axion masses up to 10−9 eV
Improving Physically Unclonable Functions’ Performance Using Second-Order Compensated Measurement
Get PDFIn this paper, we study the performance of second-order compensated measurement to generate a multi-bit response in physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The proposed technique is based on a novel second-order compensated measurement generating multiple bits instead of a single bit provided by the conventional compensated measurement. A PUF based on this technique has been proposed and implemented in 40 Artix-7 FPGAs, and its uniqueness and reproducibility have been compared to those of another PUF using the compensated measurement technique. In addition, we demonstrate that the best trade-off between identifiability and computation time performance is obtained when using only two bits. At the same time, the good performance of the technique has been demonstrated, improving the identifiability of a ring oscillator PUF (RO-PUF) between 70 and 90% compared to a RO-PUF that uses conventional compensated measurement. In particular, equal error rates (EER) of the order of EER∼10−16 can be achieved by combining the sign bit with another bit extracted using the proposed technique; and up to EER∼10−19 by using one more extra bit. In addition, the high reliability of the responses generated by this technique against possible temperature and voltage variations has been proved. These results show how this new technique improves the performance of the PUF in terms of identifiability, so it can be effectively used for device identification purposes
Development of Didactic Analysis Competence in Prospective Mathematics Teachers
Get PDFIn this article, we describe the implementation and results of a formative experience with prospective mathematics teachers, focused on developing the competence for didactic-mathematical analysis of curriculum materials, specifically student workbooks related to probability. The research design follows a methodological approach typical of design-based research, utilizing content analysis to examine participants' responses. The study was conducted with 16 Peruvian students preparing to become mathematics teachers at the National University of the Altiplano. The responses from the prospective teachers revealed deficiencies in their common content knowledge. They also encountered difficulties in distinguishing mathematical practices and recognizing the mathematical objects involved in the study process, especially propositions and their respective arguments. Furthermore, they struggled to differentiate between intuitive, classical, and frequentist meanings of probability. To improve these outcomes, it is necessary to reinforce didactic-mathematical knowledge regarding probability
Kahoot básico para la enseñanza: interacción, revisión y evaluación
Get PDFEn estas páginas veremos cómo usar Kahoot! en el ámbito universitario. Kahoot! es una plataforma de aprendizaje lanzada en agosto de 2013 y basada en juegos. Permite a los docentes crear cuestionarios interactivos para evaluar y fomentar el aprendizaje de sus estudiantes. Es una herramienta que puede hacer las clases universitarias más dinámicas y participativas con sus encuestas, cuestionarios y juegos educativos personalizados, que denominamos coloquialmente "kahoots"
Jaume Plensa a través de su relación con Joan Brossa: tres cartas del escultor al poeta
Get PDFEl presente estudio forma parte de una investigación más amplia sobre la relevancia de la literatura para los proyectos de arte del escultor Jaume Plensa en el espacio público internacional, con especial atención al papel esencial que juega la poesía en su escultura en términos de identidad y representación. Así, teniendo en cuenta el papel precursor del poeta visual Joan Brossa a la hora de llevar la poesía a la ciudad de forma duradera con sus intervenciones urbanas, hemos querido aquí indagar en la breve, pero fundamental relación que ambos artistas mantuvieron a través de tres cartas inéditas del escultor al poeta, escritas entre septiembre de 1979 y noviembre de 1982.
De la profunda afinidad entre los dos artistas que se desprende de la lectura de dicha correspondencia, así como de las referencias compartidas al contexto político-cultural de la Transición española en que fueron escritas, extraeremos algunos de los presupuestos ideológicos y constantescreativas más relevantes en Plensa. Entre aquellos, destaca el valor otorgado a la Cultura sobre la política para el progreso de la sociedad y entre estas, la relación que la poesía y el arte tienen en
Plensa con lo desconocido y su capacidad, como decía Brossa, para acercarnos a nuestros orígenes e identidad, así como también la presencia del agua como imagen y elemento integrador en su discurso y planteamiento artístico. Junto a los textos propuestos, analizaremos asimismo en profundidad dos obras iniciales del artista que nos permitirán concretar en estrategias estéticas los principios definitorios hallados en sus misivas a Brossa. Todo ello dará pie a establecer importantes conexiones entre los inicios de su carrera y su producción posterior, muy especialmente con algunas de las obras que le han situado en el panorama internacional de la escultura urbana, revelándose así una extraordinaria coherencia en la trayectoria del escultor. La lectura actual de estos textos pone además de manifiesto la actualidad de Brossa y la relevancia de la propuesta de Plensa, subrayando la apuesta de ambos artistas por dos de los valores más esenciales para nuestra sociedad: la defensa de la diferencia y el reconocimiento de una realidad plural, dos aspectos indispensables para preservar la esencia del espacio público como lugar de relación y centrales a las intervenciones del escultor en el corazón de nuestras ciudades