Movil-Izate Project: promoting physical activity in school through mobile apps

El objetivo del estudio era dar a conocer una propuesta práctica desarrollada en el contexto educativo para fomentar los niveles de actividad física (AF) extraescolar y, a su vez, analizar el grado de utilidad y satisfacción de los participantes con el programa. Para ello, se contó con un total de 1043 alumnos (M = 14.93; DT = .88) de 3º y 4º de ESO pertenecientes a 22 centros diferentes. La intervención realizada estaba centrada en cuatro pilares fundamentales: 1) un taller con alumnos, encaminado a concienciar a los adolescentes sobre la importancia de crear estilos de vida saludables; 2) un taller práctico en el que se explicaba el funcionamiento de una App móvil destinada al registro de la AF; 3) un concurso cooperativo, con el que se pretendía fomentar la práctica de AF de forma autónoma; y 4) un taller con padres/madres, con el fin de exponerles una serie de estrategias para fomentar en sus hijos/as la práctica de AF extraescolar. Tras la realización del programa, tanto los alumnos como los profesores completaron un cuestionario encaminado a valorar la percepción de la propuesta, comprobándose con ello la idoneidad de este tipo de iniciativas para fomentar la práctica de AF en la población adolescente.The aim of the study was to provide a practical proposal developed in an educational context to promote extracurricular physical activity (PA) and, in turn, analyze the degree of usefulness and participant satisfaction with the program. To this aim, a total of 1043 students (M = 14.93, SD = .88) in secondary 3 and 4 from 22 high schools participated in the study. The intervention was focused on four points: 1) a workshop with students, aiming to educate teens about the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles; 2) a workshop in which the operation of a mobile app designed to record the PA was explained; 3) a cooperative competition, intended to encourage the practice of PA autonomously; and 4) a workshop with fathers/mothers,in order to present a series of strategies to encourage their children to engage in regular PA. After completion of the program, both students and teachers completed a questionnaire aimed at assessing the perception of the proposal, and thus at demonstrating the suitability of these type of initiatives to encourage the practice of PA in the adolescent population.peerReviewe

Fast and automated verification of multi-channel full time-domain EMI measurement systems

Recently, concern has been raised with regard to the adequacy of current verification practices carried out in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing laboratories. Bridging the gap in the scope and reliability of the verifications performed in EMC laboratories requires faster and simpler verification methods to be performed prior testing. This paper presents a verification method for Full Time Domain Electromagnetic Interference measurement systems (Full TDEMI) that is intended to be quick and automated in order to become practical under the “just-before-test” approach. The method comprises a four stage process for assessing: sine-wave voltage accuracy, response to pulses, selectivity and input impedance. The verification method has been implemented and executed on an oscilloscope-based Full TDEMI achieving a reduction of time and effort involved while ensuring the compliance with CISPR 16-1-1 applicable requirements. Finally, this verification method improves the statistical significance because of the large number of points and conditions checked by the measurement automation software.Postprint (published version

Motivation and physical activity: Differences between high school and university students in Spain

Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed first to examine differences in motivation for physical activity (PA) and habitual PA levels between adolescents and university students in Spain. The second aim was to examine differences in the degree of association between their intrinsic motivation and amotivation for PA and habitual PA levels in both samples. We studied 2,699 students (1,833 high school and 866 university; mean age = 18.83, standard deviation = 4.12 years) who completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form and two dimensions of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire. High school students, relative to university students, self-reported significantly higher intrinsic motivation and higher PA levels for each type of PA intensity (i.e., walk, moderate, and vigorous); high school students also self-reported significantly lower amotivation than university students. The degree of association between the total metabolic equivalents of task and intrinsic motivation was higher among high school (versus) university students. This study shows the need to design intervention strategies to enhance PA levels and intrinsic motivation in university students

Incidence of parental support and pressure on their children’s motivational processes towards sport practice regarding gender

Análisis basado en la autodeterminación y en la teoría de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) con el objetivo de examinar cómo el apoyo de los padres/presión podría influir en procesos motivacionales del deporte durante la infancia. También se analizaron los modelos de funcionamiento de las diferencias en cuanto al sexo. El tamaño de la muestra fue de 321 niños, cuyas edades van de los 10 a 16 años de edad, que fueron atletas de Extremadura; y 321 padres (incluido sólo el padre o la madre más involucradas con el deporte de su hijo o hija). 175 participantes eran hombres y 146 eran mujeres del individuo (n = 130), y los deportes de equipo (n=191). Se realizó un cuestionario para evaluar la percepción parental de apoyo/presión y otro cuestionario para medir la satisfacción de necesidades psicológicas, el tipo de motivación y disfrute/aburrimiento mostrado por sus hijos hacia la práctica deportiva. Los resultados revelaron que la presión de los padres predijo negativamente la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas. También apareció como un fuerte predictor positivo de motivación intrínseca y predictor negativo de motivación. Además, la motivación intrínseca emergió como predictor positivo de goce y como un predictor negativo de aburrimiento. Además, los resultados mostraron que hubo diferencias medias por sexo: los atletas masculinos perciben una mayor presión de los padres. Por lo tanto, es necesario disminuir la presión de los padres respecto de sus hijos en el deporte, con el objetivo de hacer que el deporte sea más motivador, de disfrute y generador de sensaciones positivas.Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, structural equation modeling (SEM) with the aim of examining how parental support/pressure could influence their children´s motivational processes in sport was conducted, as well as the models´ differences in operability regarding gender. The sample size was 321 children ranging in age from 10 to 16 years old who were athletes from Extremadura, and 321 parents (included only the father or mother more involved with the sport of his or her child). 175 participants were male and 146 were female from individual (n = 130), and team sports (n=191). A questionnaire was conducted to assess parental perception of support/pressure and another questionnaire was conducted to measure satisfaction of basic psychological needs, type of motivation and enjoyment/boredom showed by their children towards sport practice. Results revealed that parental pressure negatively predicted satisfaction of the basic psychological needs. It also emerged as a strong positive predictor of intrinsic motivation and negative predictor of amotivation. Moreover, intrinsic motivation emerged as positive predictor of enjoyment and a negative predictor of boredom, whereas amotivation positively predicted boredom and negatively predicted enjoyment. Furthermore, results showed there were mean differences by gender: male athletes perceived greater parental pressure. Hence, it is necessary to decrease parental pressure towards their children in sport, with the aim of making them more motivated and enjoy, promoting positive consequences.peerReviewe

Profiles of parental behavior in sport and its relationship with their children´ motivational processes

El principal objetivo del estudio fue examinar perfiles de padres respecto a la presión/implicación y apoyo a las necesidades psicológicas básicas (NPB) sobre la motivación y aburrimiento desarrollado por jóvenes deportistas. La muestra estuvo formada por 301 padres y sus respectivos 301 hijos (M = 13.92; DT = 2.04), quiénes pertenecían a deportes colectivos (n = 191) e individuales (n = 128). Se midieron en padres la percepción de implicación y presión, al igual que el apoyo a las NPB, mientras que la motivación autodeterminada y el aburrimiento en la práctica fueron variables valoradas en adolescentes. Los resultados muestran la existencia de dos perfiles (perfil adaptativo, que estaba compuesto por el apoyo a las NPB y bajos niveles de presión, y perfil desadaptativo, que estaba formado por altos niveles de presión y bajos valores de apoyo a las NPB), y una relación entre el perfil desataptativo de los padres y la motivación de los niños y su aburrimiento en la práctica. Asimismo, se demostró que los padres con un perfil adaptativo realizaban menos actividad física durante la semana. Para concluir, se destaca la importancia de que los padres generen bajos niveles de presión y alta implicación en la práctica deportiva de sus hijos, así como promover el apoyo a las NPB, así como incrementar sus niveles de actividad física, con el objetivo de mejorar la motivación de los jóvenes deportistas y descender los niveles de aburrimiento en la práctica.The main aim of the study was to examine parents´ profiles respecting pressure/involvement and support to the basic psychological needs (BPN) on motivation and boredom developed by youth participants in sport practice. The sample was formed by 301 parents and their respective 301 children (M = 13.92; SD = 2.04), who belonged to team sports (n = 191) and individual sports (n = 128). Perception of involvement and pressure, as well as support to the BPN were measure in parents, whereas selfdetermined motivation and boredom in the practice were variables assessed in adolescents. Results showed the existence of two profiles (adaptive profile, which was composed of support to the BPN and low levels of pressure, and maladaptive profile, which was formed by high level of pressure and low levels of support to the BPN), and a relationship between parents´ maladaptive profile and children´s motivation and boredom. Moreover, it was revealed that parents with a lower adaptive profile showed less physical activity during the week. To conclude, it is highlighted the importance to create a lower pressure and greater involvement in the adequate practice of their children, as well as promote support to the BPN, and increase their level of physical activity, with the aim to enhance youth athletes’ motivation and decrease their boredom levels in the practice.Trabajo financiado por: Consejo Superior de DeportespeerReviewe

Solvent-assisted in situ synthesis of cysteamine-capped silver nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles offer a huge potential for biomedical applications owing to their exceptional properties and small size. Specifically, cysteamine-capped silver nanoparticles could form the basis for new anticancer therapies combining the cytotoxic effect of the silver core with the inherent antitumor activity of cysteamine, which inhibit cancer cell proliferation and suppress invasion and metastasis. In addition, the capability of the cysteamine coating monolayer to couple a variety of active principles and targeting (bio)molecules of interest proves key to the tailoring of this platform in order to exploit the pathophysiology of specific tumor types. Nevertheless, the chain length and conformational flexibility of cysteamine, together with its ability to attach to the surface of silver nanoparticles via both the thiol and the amine group, have made the in situ synthesis of these particles an especially challenging task. Herein we report a solvent-assisted in situ synthesis method that solves this problem. The obtained nanoparticles have been fully characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction measurement, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy nanoanalysis, and dynamic light scattering measurement. Our synthesis method achieves extremely high yield and surface coating ratio, and colloidal stability over a wide range of pH values including physiological pH. Additionally, we have demonstrated that cysteamine-capped nanoparticles obtained by this method can be conjugated to an antibody for active targeting of the epidermal growth factor receptor, which plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of a wide variety of tumors, and induce cell death in human squamous carcinoma cells. We believe this method can be readily extended to combinations of noble metals and longer chain primary, secondary, ternary or even quaternary aminethiolsEspaña, Junta de Andalucía P10- FQM-6615España, Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad CTP2016-80206-

Una arquitectura para abordar la ejecución y mantenimiento de robots RPA potenciados por Inteligencia Artificial

La Automatización Robótica de Procesos (RPA) es un paradigma software en el que los robots son programas que imitan el comportamiento humano. Su objetivo principal es buscar una automatización integral, de manera que el humano no tenga que intervenir para que un proceso se lleve a cabo. El auge de RPA junto con los avances en inteligencia artificial (IA) han posibilitado automatizar tareas cognitivas. Los componentes que resuelven estas tareas son complejos y necesitan de conocimiento experto para construirlos y de un mantenimiento distinto una vez están en producción. En este contexto se desarrolla el proyecto AIRPA, una plataforma dirigida a potenciar soluciones RPA con componentes de IA. Sus dos objetivos son, abstraer al desarrollador RPA del conocimiento experto en IA, y controlar la ejecución y mantenimiento de los procesos que involucran estos componentes.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades PID2019-105455GB-C31Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial EXP00118029/IDI-20190524Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial P011-19/E0

Full Time Domain EMI Measurement system applied to Railway emissions according to IEC 62236-3-1/EN 50121-3-1 standards

© 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.This paper studies the advantages of applying time-domain based instrumentation to conduct electromagnetic interference emissions from rolling-stock. In IEC 62236-3-1 or EN 50121-3-1 standards, it is mandatory to measure the railway vehicle in static and in-motion conditions. When conventional frequency sweep instrumentation is employed, difficulties regarding ambient noise variation and the short-duration of worst-case emission modes take place. In Annex B of the standard, a test procedure is described to acquire the worst-case EMI, however, as it is explained at the paper the effective measured time at each frequency is only 0.08 ms in some frequency bands. Hence, multiple movements of the vehicle are needed increasing the uncertainty of the measured source and making difficult to distinguish vehicle EMI from background noise interference. To solve this problem, a Full-TDEMI measurement system is proposed with the availability to increase the effective measured time, reduced the ambient noise variation, the usage of multiple antennas at the same time and the possibility to discard transient interference that should not be evaluated. At the end of the paper, measurements carried out with the time-domain system are shown demonstrating the effectivity of the methodology. © 2018 IEEE.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

CODICE: Un nuevo enfoque metodológico para el Procesamiento Inteligente de Documentos

La automatización de los procesos organizativos suele implicar el tratamiento de documentos en los que se emplean distintas técnicas de procesamiento. La Inteligencia Artificial (IA) y la Automatización Robótica de Procesos (RPA) se usan cada vez más para mejorar este procesamiento. Para ello, existen diferentes metodologías y técnicas para resolver problemas relacionados con la integración y uso cohesionado de dichas tecnologías en el campo del procesamiento inteligente de documentos (IDP). Este trabajo presenta el proyecto CODICE, que aborda la necesidad de crear una metodología para pipelines IDP, definiendo cómo incorporar la asistencia de IA y RPA, y una arquitectura que de soporte a ésta.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades PID2019-105455GB-C31Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional FPU20/0598

Effect of a Virtual Reality Exercise on Patients Undergoing Haemodialysis: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial Research Protocol

High levels of inflammatory markers have been associated with a greater deterioration of renal function and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. For its part, physical exercise has been shown to be beneficial in improving the functional, psychological, and inflammatory states of patients with chronic kidney failure (CKF) undergoing haemodialysis (HD) treatment, improving their health-related quality of life. In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has been studied and described as an effective and safe tool that improves patients’ adherence to exercise programs. For these reasons, we propose to analyse the effect of VR exercise on the functional, psychological, and inflammatory states of patients on HD, as well as their levels of adherence to exercise, and compare them with static pedalling exercises. We will randomise 80 patients with CKF into two blind groups: an experimental group, which will carry out an intradialytic exercise program with non-immersive VR (n = 40), and a control group, which will exercise with a static pedal (n = 40). Functional capacity, inflammatory and phycological status, and exercise adherence will be analysed. Higher levels of adherence to exercise are expected in the VR group, which will have greater effects on the patients’ functional capacity and psychological and inflammatory status. Keywords: end-stage kidney disease; renal dialysis; inflammation; physical fitness; psychological wellness; physical activity; virtual realitySección Deptal. de Radiología, Rehabilitación y Fisioterapia (Enfermería)Fac. de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y PodologíaTRUEpu