Profiles on reading time and comprehension of printed and digital texts in university students

La literatura ha mostrado los efectos perjudiciales de la lectura digital frente a la tradicional impresa. No obstante, restan cuestiones subyacentes a la dificultad del texto y los perfiles de los lectores cuando estos poseen una preferencia por un texto en concreto. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo examinar los perfiles de los estudiantes Universitarios que prefieren textos digitales, en términos de tiempos de lectura, reconocimiento de palabras y comprensión lectora en soportes digitales e impresos. Se seleccionaron textos sencillos para una tarea de comprensión lectora, contrabalanceada entre soportes digitales e impresos. De este modo, se llevó a cabo un análisis por conglomerados para el desarrollo de perfiles sobre las variables anteriormente descritas.The literature has shown the detrimental effects of digital versus traditional print reading. However, there remain underlying issues of text difficulty and reader profiles when readers prefer a particular text. This research aims to examine the profiles of university students who prefer digital texts, in terms of reading times, word recognition and reading comprehension in digital and print media. Simple texts were selected for a reading comprehension task, counterbalanced between digital and print media. In this way, a cluster analysis was carried out to develop profiles on the variables described above.Ciencias Experimentale

Factores determinantes de la eficacia y seguridad del tratamiento radioquirúrgico con acelerador lineal de las malformaciones arteriovenosas intracraneales

El objetivo principal de este trabajo es conocer la eficacia y seguridad del tratamiento mediante radiocirugía con acelerador lineal (LINAC) de las MAV intracraneales, así como determinar los factores implicados en el resultado clínico y radiológico.Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Anatomía Patológica e Historia de la Cienci

PREPARACIÓN Y CARACTERIZACIÓN DE CAPAS FINAS DE SEMICONDUCTORES TERNARIOS DE ZnO MEDIANTE ELECTRODEPOSICIÓN

El objetivo de la presente tesis es la síntesis de materiales ternarios basados en óxido de zinc (ZnO), mediante la técnica de electrodeposición. Por primera vez, se han sintetizado electroquímicamente los compuestos Zn1-xCdxO, Zn1-xCoxO y Zn1-xMnxO en forma de capas finas mediante este procedimiento. Los materiales sintetizados presentan interesantes aplicaciones optoelectrónicas, fotovoltaicas y magnéticas. La electrodeposición se ha realizado en una celda electroquímica de tres electrodos. El electrolito empleado ha sido dimetilsulfóxido (DMSO) con una disolución de KClO4 0.1 M. Las condiciones óptimas definidas a partir del estudio voltamétrico son: 90ºC de temperatura y un potencial de -0.9V. Los precursores de la disolución fueron ZnCl2, CdCl2, CoCl2 y MnCl2 disueltos en presencia de óxigeno en saturación. Los materiales depositados se han estudiado mediante diversas técnicas de caracterización: " La difracción de rayos X y la espectroscopia de dispersión Raman para evaluar el tipo de estructura cristalina y la calidad de las muestras depositadas. " La espectroscopia de energía dispersiva EDS para identificar la composición química de las películas. " La microscopía electrónica de barrido para estudiar la morfología. " La microscopia de fuerza atómica para el estudio de las características de la superficie. También se han realizado diferentes medidas de caracterización óptica y magnética: " La transmitancia para estudiar las propiedades ópticas de las capas depositadas. " La susceptibilidad magnética para estudiar la respuesta magnética de los materiales. Los resultados muestran la síntesis de muestras de capas finas de los compuestos Zn1-xCdxO, Zn1-xCoxO y Zn1-xMnxO. En función de la concentración del segundo metal (Cd, Co, Mn) se observan modificaciones en la estructura cristalina. Para los tres compuestos, cuando la concentraciones de iones Cd+2, Co+2 y Mn+2 son pequeñas, se obtienen capas finas de compuesto donde se produce la sustitución de ionesTortosa Jorques, MD. (2011). PREPARACIÓN Y CARACTERIZACIÓN DE CAPAS FINAS DE SEMICONDUCTORES TERNARIOS DE ZnO MEDIANTE ELECTRODEPOSICIÓN [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/11037Palanci

A pilot screening for cognitive impairment through voice technology (WAY2AGE)

Voice technology has grown exponentially, offering an opportunity to different fields, such as the health area. Considering that language can be a sign of cognitive impairment and most screening tools are based on speech measures, these devices are of interest. The aim of this work was to examine a screening tool for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) through voice technology. For this reason, the WAY2AGE voice Bot was tested across Mini-Mental (MMSE) scores. The main results depict a strong relationship between MMSE and WAY2AGE scores, as well as a good AUC value to discriminate between no cognitive impairment (NCI) and MCI groups. However, a relationship between age and WAY2AGE scores, but not between age and MMSE scores, was found. This would indicate that, even if WAY2AGE seems sensitive to detect MCI, the voice tool is age-sensitive and not as robust as the traditional MMSE scale. Future lines of research should look more deeply into parameters that distinguish developmental changes. As a screening tool, these results are of interest for the health area and for at-risk older adults.This research was funded by the “Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital”, proyecto emergente number: CIGE/2021/051.Psicologí

p38α regulates actin cytoskeleton and cytokinesis in hepatocytes during development and aging

[Background]: Hepatocyte poliploidization is an age-dependent process, being cytokinesis failure the main mechanism of polyploid hepatocyte formation. Our aim was to study the role of p38α MAPK in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton and cytokinesis in hepatocytes during development and aging. [Methods]: Wild type and p38α liver-specific knock out mice at different ages (after weaning, adults and old) were used. [Results]: We show that p38α MAPK deficiency induces actin disassembly upon aging and also cytokinesis failure leading to enhanced binucleation. Although the steady state levels of cyclin D1 in wild type and p38α knock out old livers remained unaffected, cyclin B1- a marker for G2/M transition- was significantly overexpressed in p38α knock out mice. Our findings suggest that hepatocytes do enter into S phase but they do not complete cell division upon p38α deficiency leading to cytokinesis failure and binucleation. Moreover, old liver-specific p38α MAPK knock out mice exhibited reduced F-actin polymerization and a dramatic loss of actin cytoskeleton. This was associated with abnormal hyperactivation of RhoA and Cdc42 GTPases. Long-term p38α deficiency drives to inactivation of HSP27, which seems to account for the impairment in actin cytoskeleton as Hsp27-silencing decreased the number and length of actin filaments in isolated hepatocytes. [Conclusions]: p38α MAPK is essential for actin dynamics with age in hepatocytes.AMT was recipient of a fellowship from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. PR was recipient of a postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva (MINECO, Spain). This work was supported by Grants SAF 2015-71208-R with FEDER funds and CSD-2007-00020 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Spain, http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/) and GV PROMETEO II 2014-056 from Generalitat Valenciana to JS and RTV, and by Grant SAF 2015-65267-R (MINECO/FEDER) and by Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM, ISCIII, Spain) to AMV. ARN was funded by grants from MINECO (BFU2010-17850) and the European Commission (ERC 294665).Peer Reviewe

Psychometric Properties of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) and Its Invariance across Age Groups

Considering that a good sense of subjective cognitive decline seems to be crucial to prevent decline before clinical impairment, the interest in examining tools on this front were raised in the last decade. The aim of the present study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) across age in its Spanish adaptation. It should be noted that two constructs were proposed in this context: mnestic processes and executive function factors. For this reason, a sample of 750 individuals aged from 18 to 82 years participated in the study. They were divided into three different groups: young, middle, and older adults. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and invariance analysis were carried out. Moreover, a logistic regression was employed to address the role of age. The results support a good goodness of fit for both uni- and bifactorial models. The invariance analysis reached the structural covariances levels. Last, age did not predict the recognition of cognitive decline in the last two years, while the SCD-Q bifactorial model did. These results are of interest both on a theoretical level, to provide more information on models of cognitive impairment, and on a practical level, for screening

A pilot screening for cognitive impairment through voice technology (WAY2AGE)

Abstract Voice technology has grown exponentially, offering an opportunity to different fields, such as the health area. Considering that language can be a sign of cognitive impairment and most screening tools are based on speech measures, these devices are of interest. The aim of this work was to examine a screening tool for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) through voice technology. For this reason, the WAY2AGE voice Bot was tested across Mini-Mental (MMSE) scores. The main results depict a strong relationship between MMSE and WAY2AGE scores, as well as a good AUC value to discriminate between no cognitive impairment (NCI) and MCI groups. However, a relationship between age and WAY2AGE scores, but not between age and MMSE scores, was found. This would indicate that, even if WAY2AGE seems sensitive to detect MCI, the voice tool is age-sensitive and not as robust as the traditional MMSE scale. Future lines of research should look more deeply into parameters that distinguish developmental changes. As a screening tool, these results are of interest for the health area and for at-risk older adults

The Effect of Corrective Feedback in Basic Cognitive Tasks: A Study in Early Childhood

[EN] The aim of this study was to examine the effect of trial-by-trial corrective feedback in a go-no-go task for children. A sample of 40 preschool students, divided into 4- and 5-year-olds, participated in the study, as well as a group of 20 university students. All the groups performed the task in a counterbalanced design of blocks with and without corrective feedback. Reaction time and accuracy rate were measured as dependent variables. Moreover, reaction time was also analyzed through an ex-Gaussian fit. Children were slightly more accurate and slower under the presence of corrective feedback, suggesting a more conservative pattern. University students were faster, but corrective feedback did not reach the statistical level. Regarding reaction time components, a reduction of the distribution tails, depicted by the ¿ parameter, was found for both groups under the corrective feedback condition. This suggests that parameterization of reaction time can be considered as a strategy for a more detailed analysis to examine the effect of corrective feedback, even at early ages. In this way, corrective feedback depicted beneficial effects in the ¿ parameter at early ages, suggesting its use in basic cognitive tasks based on go-no-go but not for older groups.This research was supported by ayudas Internas de la Universidad Católica de Valencia SM (2021-198-002).Moret-Tatay, C.; Vaquer-Cardona, E.; Bernabé-Valero, G.; Blasco-Magraner, JS.; Saiz Mauleón, MB.; Jorques-Infante, MJ.; Iborra-Marmolejo, I.... (2022). The Effect of Corrective Feedback in Basic Cognitive Tasks: A Study in Early Childhood. Children. 9(2):1-7. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9020145179

Molecular mechanisms mediating the neuroprotective role of the selective estrogen receptor modulator, bazedoxifene, in acute ischemic stroke: A comparative study with 17β-estradiol

As the knowledge on the estrogenic system in the brain grows, the possibilities to modulate it in order to afford further neuroprotection in brain damaging disorders so do it. We have previously demonstrated the ability of the selective estrogen receptor modulator, bazedoxifene (BZA), to reduce experimental ischemic brain damage. The present study has been designed to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in such a neuroprotective action by investigating: 1) stroke-induced apoptotic cell death; 2) expression of estrogen receptors (ER) ERα, ERβ and the G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER); and 3) modulation of MAPK/ ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. For comparison, a parallel study was done with 17β-estradiol (E2)- treated animals. Male Wistar rats subject to transient right middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO, intraluminal thread technique, 60 min), were distributed in vehicle-, BZA- (20.7 ± 2.1 ng/mL in plasma) and E2- (45.6 ± 7.8 pg/mL in plasma) treated groups. At 24 h from the onset of tMCAO, RT-PCR, Western blot and histochemical analysis were performed on brain tissue samples. Ischemia-reperfusion per se increased apoptosis as assessed by both caspase-3 activity and TUNEL-positive cell counts, which were reversed by both BZA and E2. ERα and ERβ expression, but not that of GPER, was reduced by the ischemic insult. BZA and E2 had different effects: while BZA increased both ERα and ERβ expression, E2 increased ERα expression but did not change that of ERβ. Both MAPK/ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt pathways were stimulated under ischemic conditions. While BZA strongly reduced the increased p-ERK1/2 levels, E2 did not. Neither BZA nor E2 modified ischemia-induced increase in p-Akt levels. These results show that modulation of ERα and ERβ expression, as well as of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway accounts, at least in part, for the inhibitory effect of BZA on the stroke-induced apoptotic cell death. This lends mechanistic support to the consideration of BZA as a potential neuroprotective drug in acute ischemic stroke treatment.Supported in part by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (RETICS networks INVICTUS (RD12/0014/ 0004) and INVICTUS+ (RD16/0019/0008), as well as grant PI12/ 00145) and by Conselleria d' Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport – GVA (grant GV/2015/133).Peer reviewe