Spanish Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of Neck Bournemouth Questionnaire (NBQ) for Neck Pain Patients

Background: Neck pain is highly prevalent and one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions. Instruments that measure the factors involved in neck pain accurately are needed for clinical assessment. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are reliable, cost-effective, and specific tools for the assessment of musculoskeletal problems at different moments. The Neck Bournemouth Questionnaire (NBQ) assesses pain, function, disability, and psychological and social variables in patients with cervical pathologies. The aim of this study was to perform an adaptation and validation into Spanish of the NBQ (NBQ-Sp). Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was carried out through translation, adaptation, and validation. A total of 129 patients with neck pain, of Spanish nationality, and over 18 years of age were included. Results: The NBQ-Sp showed excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach’s of 0.897, test–retest reliability with interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.866, and standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimum detectable change (MDC) values were 1.302 and 3.038, respectively. A Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin value of 0.857 was obtained, and Bartlett’s test yielded p < 0.001, finding one factor in the factor analysis. Conclusion: The NBQ-Sp has proven to be a valid and reliable tool for clinicians and researchers to measure neck pain in the Spanish population.Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (FPU17/01109

Retos para la inclusión digital : propuestas de futuro

Los días 22 a 25 de septiembre de 2004 se celebró en Murcia el III Congreso Nacional de Tecnología, Diversidad y Educación (Tecnoneet 2004), un foro de encuentro y discusión de carácter pluridisciplinar y abierto a profesionales, usuarios y familias que trabajan, investigan o utilizan las nuevas tecnologías en el campo de la discapacidad y las necesidades educativas específicas. Con motivo de dicho evento, los Comités Científico y Organizador elaboraron un documento de conclusiones del que ofrecemos un extracto. Se puede consultar íntegro en http://www.tecnoneet.or

Exercise for People with Acquired Brain Injury: An ICF Perspective.

Exercise is an important element in the process of recovery from an acquired brain injury (ABI). However, specific guidance for exercise prescription and interventions in this population are missed. The aim of this study was to establish the key parameters to design and implement exercise programs based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) domains. A panel of experts that consisted of 13 professionals from neuro-rehabilitation centers evaluated the key parameters of this original proposal. The Heinemann methodology was used for all qualitative analyses. Additionally, Cronbach’s alpha was applied to the statistical analyses. According to the results, Cronbach’s alpha (0.97) indicated excellent internal consistency, and the experts perceptions ratified the proposed criteria to develop exercise programs for people with ABI. The proposed key parameters for the development of exercise programs for people with ABI based in ICF domains (body functions, activity—participation and environmental factors) bring a new, solid, and innovative tool for methodological design of these programs in sub-acute and chronic rehabilitation settings.pre-print1011 K

Systematic literature review: Quantum machine learning and its applications

Quantum physics has changed the way we understand our environment, and one of its branches, quantum mechanics, has demonstrated accurate and consistent theoretical results. Quantum computing is the process of performing calculations using quantum mechanics. This field studies the quantum behavior of certain subatomic particles (photons, electrons, etc.) for subsequent use in performing calculations, as well as for large-scale information processing. These advantages are achieved through the use of quantum features, such as entanglement or superposition. These capabilities can give quantum computers an advantage in terms of computational time and cost over classical computers. Nowadays, scientific challenges are impossible to perform by classical computation due to computational complexity (more bytes than atoms in the observable universe) or the time it would take (thousands of years), and quantum computation is the only known answer. However, current quantum devices do not have yet the necessary qubits and are not fault-tolerant enough to achieve these goals. Nonetheless, there are other fields like machine learning, finance, or chemistry where quantum computation could be useful with current quantum devices. This manuscript aims to present a review of the literature published between 2017 and 2023 to identify, analyze, and classify the different types of algorithms used in quantum machine learning and their applications. The methodology follows the guidelines related to Systematic Literature Review methods, such as the one proposed by Kitchenham and other authors in the software engineering field. Consequently, this study identified 94 articles that used quantum machine learning techniques and algorithms and shows their implementation using computational quantum circuits or ansatzs. The main types of found algorithms are quantum implementations of classical machine learning algorithms, such as support vector machines or the k-nearest neighbor model, and classical deep learning algorithms, like quantum neural networks. One of the most relevant applications in the machine learning field is image classification. Many articles, especially within the classification, try to solve problems currently answered by classical machine learning but using quantum devices and algorithms. Even though results are promising, quantum machine learning is far from achieving its full potential. An improvement in quantum hardware is required for this potential to be achieved since the existing quantum computers lack enough quality, speed, and scale to allow quantum computing to achieve its full potential

DC-Voltage-Ratio Control Strategy for Multilevel Cascaded Converters Fed With a Single DC Source

Recently, a multilevel cascaded converter fed with a single DC source has been presented. An analysis of the steady-state working limits of this type of converter is presented in this paper. Limits of the maximum output voltage and the minimum and maximum loading conditions for stable operation of the converter are addressed. In this paper, a way to achieve any DC voltage ratio (inside the stable operation area of the converter) between the H-bridges of the single-DC-source cascaded H-bridge converter is presented. The proposed DC-voltage-ratio control is based on a time-domain modulation strategy that avoids the use of inappropriate states to achieve the DC-voltage-ratio control. The proposed technique is a feedforward-modulation technique which takes into account the actual DC voltage of each H-bridge of the converter, leading to output waveforms with low distortion. In this way, the dc voltage of the floating H-bridge can be controlled while the output voltage has low distortion independently of the desired DC voltage ratio. Experimental results from a two-cell cascaded converter are presented in order to validate the proposed DC-voltage-ratio control strategy and the introduced concepts.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TEC2006-03863Junta de Andalucía EXC/2005/TIC-117

Public sector wage gaps in Spanish regions

This paper provides an approximation to the measurement of public sector wage gaps in Spanish regions. By using data from the European Community Household Panel, it is shown that the balance between what private firms pay in the local market and what the public sector pays, differs substantially in different areas of the country. Public sector wage differences among Spanish regions are mostly due to differences in returns, not to differences in characteristics or to selection effects, and are not constant across gender, educational levels, or occupations. Moreover, in those regions where Regional Governments have a higher weight in public employment, public wage gaps are higher and public employers pay higher returns. There also seems to be a cross regional positive correlation between public wage gaps and unemployment, and a negative one between labour productivity and public wage gaps. Hence, a tentative conclusion is that the incentives to select into the public sector are higher in the low productivity regions, precisely those where scarcity of human capital in the private sector may be the most important factor for explaining economic backwardness

Non-dimensional analysis of experimental pressure drop and energy dissipation measurements in Oscillatory Baffled Reactors

An experimental study is performed to characterize the pressure drop and the power consumption in Oscillatory Baffled Reactors, using dimensionless numbers: the oscillatory Fanning friction factor (f osc ) and the Power number (Po), respectively. Two baffle geometries (one-orifice and three orifices) are tested, for different fluids and oscillating amplitudes. The range of oscillatory Reynolds numbers (Reosc ) tested is 10–1000. Data reduction based on the statistical fitting and the FFT of the pressure drop and velocity signals is introduced to assess the maximum pressure drop and the phase lag between both signals. The new set of experimental data proves the limitations of the conventional models available in the open literature. f osc and Po provide consistent dimensionless results for the different working fluids tested and their trends are clearly related to different flow behaviours: laminar or chaotic flow. Correlations for f osc and Po as a function of Reosc and dimensionless amplitude are obtained.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the project DPI2015-66493-P by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

European inequalities and similarities in officially recognized dental specialties

Background Although the European Economic Space usually acts in a united and organized way, several main differences are found regarding the type and number of dental specialties all around this group of member states. The aim of the study is to analyse the inequalities and similarities existing between 21 European countries, highlighting the number and types of recognized dental specialties. Methods Available official documents and webpages from 20 out of the 30 countries of which the European Economic Space is comprised plus the United Kingdom (UK), were analysed to obtain reliable data referred to dental specialties. Differences were tested with the Lorentz curve and Gini test. Additionally, a Cluster analysis was performed to obtain groups of countries with a similar pattern in the number and type of dental specialties. Results Up to a total of 15 different specialties are officially recognized in all the analysed countries. Orthodontics (90%) and Oral Surgery (81%) are the two most frequently recognized specialties. The total global degree of inequality of the analysed countries was 40.2%. Cluster analysis differentiated three different main groups of countries according to the number and type of dental specialties. Conclusions The situation of dental specialties in the area of the EES plus the UK exhibits an unequal organization. Cluster analysis showed 3 main clusters of countries with a similar pattern of dental specialties

It Is Premature to Use Postmortem Sperm for Reproductive Purposes: a Data-Driven Opinion

Postmortem sperm retrieval for reproductive purposes is an assisted reproduction procedure that offers women an opportunity to have a child using sperm retrieved from their deceased partners. The ethical issues of this procedure have been discussed in previous works. However, an assessment of the procedure using a scientific perspective is still lacking. Here, we aim to ascertain, using a biological standpoint, whether postmortem sperm should be rescued for reproductive purposes. Data suggest that it is premature to use postmortem sperm for reproductive purposes. This procedure should not be clinically applied until appropriate and comprehensive analyses have been completed. Such analyses should be focused not only on fertilization, embryo development, and pregnancy outcomes, but also on potential postmortem alterations of sperm DNA, RNAs, and proteins. In addition, genetic and epigenetic analyses of sperm, pre-implantation embryos, and newborns, as well as mental and physical health follow-up of the resulting offspring during a whole life cycle, using appropriate non-human mammalian models, are warranted

Deriving the full-reducing Krivine machine from the small-step operational semantics of normal order

We derive by program transformation Pierre Crégut s full-reducing Krivine machine KN from the structural operational semantics of the normal order reduction strategy in a closure-converted pure lambda calculus. We thus establish the correspondence between the strategy and the machine, and showcase our technique for deriving full-reducing abstract machines. Actually, the machine we obtain is a slightly optimised version that can work with open terms and may be used in implementations of proof assistants