Universidad Rovira i Virgili
Recent publications
Given the importance of carbohydrates during pregnancy and the limited evidence on the impact of its excessive intake on offspring neurodevelopment, this study aimed to assess the associations between maternal glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) during early and late pregnancy and behavior problems in 4-year-old children, considering potential sex-related differences in susceptibility to maternal diet. This observational study included 188 mother–child pairs from the ECLIPSES study. GI and GL were estimated from a validated food frequency questionnaire. Offspring behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5–5. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the association between GI, GL, and child behavior. Children of mothers in the highest tertile of GL during the first trimester of pregnancy showed elevated scores of both internalizing (β = 5.77; 95% CI, 2.28–9.26) and externalizing (β = 3.95; 95% CI, 0.70–7.19) problems, including anxiety and depression problems, withdrawn, attention problems, aggressive behavior, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems, as well as total (β = 5.24; 95% CI, 1.71–8.77) and autism spectrum problems (β = 3.30; 95% CI, 1.11–5.50). Similarly, higher odd ratios were observed for internalizing (OR = 2.37; 95% CI, 1.09–5.18), externalizing (OR = 3.46; 95% CI, 1.49–8.00), and total problems (OR = 3.83; 95% CI, 1.68–8.71). These associations were more pronounced in girls. No associations were observed during the third trimester. Regarding GI, no associations were found for the evaluated outcomes in any of the trimesters. Conclusion: These findings indicated that elevated maternal GL during the early pregnancy, but not later stages, was associated with adverse behavioral outcomes in offspring. Trial registration: EUCTR-2012–005480-28, NCT03196882. What is Known: • Carbohydrate intake is important during pregnancy as glucose is the main energy source for an optimal fetal brain development. • Elevated prenatal glycemic index and glycemic load have been associated with adverse offspring outcomes but their impact on behavioral development remains insufficiently explored. What is New: • A high maternal glycemic load during pregnancy may increase the risk of behavioral impairments in preschool-aged offspring. • Female offspring may be more vulnerable to behavioral disturbances to elevated maternal glycemic load during gestation.
VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) applications are increasingly being implemented in the heritage and cultural tourism sector, generating immersive and engaging visitor experiences. Taking into account the gaps in the literature concerning the topic, the objective of this study is to compare the emotional impacts of VR and AR applications on the visitor experience in two heritage sites in the peripheral town of Ulldecona (Catalonia, Spain). Through a qualitative real-world study, combining participants’ self-reports and participant observation, the analysis will be conducted by examining visitors’ reactions across five dimensions of emotions identified in the literature (Soon et al. in Psychol Mark 40(11):2387–2412, 2023) and adapted to this context: the cognitive, affective, physiological, motivational and expressive dimensions. Both positive and negative effects are explored to provide a comprehensive understanding of the visitor experience. Results reveal that what visitors express does not always match their sensorial and physical behaviour during the experience. Additionally, VR and AR applications elicit different reactions among visitors due to their varying degree of immersivity. This research provides valuable insights to the literature on VR, AR and heritage tourism, emphasising the need for a mixed-method approach to further explore advanced technologies’ impacts on visitors at heritage sites.
The objective of the study was to evaluate infrared (IR) spectroscopy in combination with pattern recognition analysis as a rapid technique to quantify the percentage of insect lipid added into the chickpea-based dough as well as the dough’s fatty acid profile. Several chickpea-based doughs were prepared with a variable amount of Tenebrio molitor, Alphitobius diaperinus, and Acheta domesticus lipid fraction (0, 2.9%, 5.8%, 8.7%, and 11.6%) replacing the same amount of olive and sunflower oil. The raw dough was analyzed using portable Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) and handheld FT near (FT-NIR) spectrometers. The fatty acid profile was determined by using fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) methods. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) with cross-validation (leave-one-out) was used to build up a model to predict the percentage of insect lipid added showing a low standard error of cross-validation (SECV ≤ 0.71%), strong correlation (RCV ≥ 0.85), and great predictive ability (RPD, 5.21–5.53) with the external validation set. The saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids as well as the content of palmitic, oleic, and linoleic were correctly predicted with values of SECV ≤ 5.64% and an RCV ≥ 0.88. Nonetheless, the FT-MIR device tested showed higher performance to predict SFA, MUFA, PUFA, and fatty acids reaching values of 0.97 in coefficient of correlation (RP) and 2.81% in standard error in prediction (SEP).
The manipulation of human corpses started to become commonplace during the Upper Paleolithic. This well-documented behavior among Magdalenian peoples consists of perimortem manipulation and the removal of soft tissues and has been understood as forming part of the cultural repertoire of mortuary actions. The study of these practices has given rise to several interpretations with the consumption of human flesh (cannibalism) occupying a central position. The human assemblage of Maszycka Cave (18,000 cal. BP) is part of this ongoing debate. Although initial research in the 1990s suggested cannibalism, more recent studies challenge this interpretation arguing that the low incidence of human activity rule out the likelihood of processing for the purpose of consumption and proposing skull selection as a funerary practice. This study reviews the assemblage and presents previously unpublished postcranial skeletal specimens along with evidence of whole-body manipulation for consumption. This behavior is also observed in other chronologically and culturally similar assemblages throughout continental Europe, suggesting that cannibalism was integral practice within the cultural systems of these Magdalenian groups.
DNA detection via nanopore-based electrochemical biosensors is a promising approach for rapid pathogen identification and disease diagnosis. These sensors detect electrical current variations caused by DNA hybridization in a nanoporous...
Converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable heterocycles is of great synthetic value but is usually limited to five- and six-membered ring compounds. Here, we report a catalytic approach for transforming this carbon renewable into seven-membered heterocycles using a double-stage approach, combining a silver-catalyzed alkyne/CO2 coupling and a subsequent base-catalyzed ring-expansion. This methodology avoids the formation of thermodynamically more stable, smaller-ring by-products and has good functional group tolerance. The synthetic application of these larger-ring cyclic carbonates is further demonstrated by showing their unique ability to serve as synthons for the preparation of bicyclic oxazolidinone pharmacores through an intramolecular domino sequence that involves a transient ketimine group, and various other intermolecular transformations. The results described herein significantly expand on the use of CO2 as a cheap and versatile carbon feedstock generating elusive heterocycles and pharmaceutically relevant compounds.
This paper examines the performance of “clean,” “brown,” and “dirty” stocks in the S&P 500 from January 2010 to September 2022 using panel random effect estimation and factor models. It also uses cointegration analysis to assess the long‐term relationship between risk premiums and two carbon risk factors: “brown minus clean” and “dirty minus clean.” Finally, we use random walk tests to examine whether carbon risks are priced, and therefore, the S&P 500 market is weakly efficient. Findings indicate that the brown portfolio outperforms the clean portfolio in factor models, likely due to market trends where energy, driven by rising oil and gas prices, outperforms all other sectors. The results also show that the two carbon risks and the political risk have a negative and significant impact on the risk premium and that the excess return series do not follow random walks and are weak form inefficient.
Modeling human mobility is critical to address questions in urban planning, sustainability, public health, and economic development. However, our understanding and ability to model flows between urban areas are still incomplete. At one end of the modeling spectrum we have gravity models, which are easy to interpret but provide modestly accurate predictions of flows. At the other end, we have machine learning models, with tens of features and thousands of parameters, which predict mobility more accurately than gravity models but do not provide clear insights on human behavior. Here, we show that simple machine-learned, closed-form models of mobility can predict mobility flows as accurately as complex machine learning models, and extrapolate better. Moreover, these models are simple and gravity-like, and can be interpreted similarly to standard gravity models. These models work for different datasets and at different scales, suggesting that they may capture the fundamental universal features of human mobility.
Purpose Inadequate reporting of nutrition data can hinder the success of nutrition health policies. CONSORT provides guidance for reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and is required by most journals today, yet reporting of nutrition interventions may benefit from a more tailored approach. A Federation of European Nutrition Societies working group was created to improve quality and completeness of reporting of nutrition trials, and our work to date features a proposal for a CONSORT extension specific to nutrition RCTs. The present manuscript describes a Delphi survey conducted to gather opinion from a wider panel of nutrition and health experts and related interest-holders on our proposal. Methods We invited 138 potentially eligible participants to take part in the Delphi survey from a representative spread of expertise and geography. We employed a Likert scale with comments for our 32-item proposal in round 1, and a dichotomous scale with comments for our 29-item proposal in round 2. Threshold for agreement was set at ≥ 80% for both rounds. Results Forty-seven potentially eligible participants responded to our invitation, 38 completed the first round and 36 completed the second. N = 23 (72%) items achieved ≥ 80% in round 1, and 100% of items in round 2. Three items were dropped or merged following round 1. A third Delphi round was not required to obtain consensus. Conclusions This Delphi expert consensus proposes a 29-item checklist specific to the reporting of nutrition RCTs and will inform further development of guidance through forthcoming consensus meetings.
We report on the first deep-red europium planar waveguide laser. It employs 30-µm thick heavily-doped 11.5 at.% Eu:KY(WO4)2 layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy on undoped substrates using K2W2O7 as a solvent. When pumped with a green laser at 532 nm, the Eu-waveguide laser delivers a maximum output power of 7 mW at 704.7 nm with a slope efficiency of 9.5%, a laser threshold of 21 mW, and linear polarization. The waveguide propagation losses are as low as 0.05 dB/cm. The morphology, vibronic, and spectroscopic properties of the epitaxial layers are also studied. In the deep red, for the ⁵D0 → ⁷F4 transition, the stimulated-emission cross-section reaches 1.76 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² at 704.7 nm for light polarization E || Np, and the luminescence lifetime of the ⁵D0 manifold is 472 µs.
We present the first Kerr-lens mode-locked solid-state laser based on ytterbium-doped monoclinic magnesium monotungstate as an active medium. The diode-pumped Yb:MgWO4 laser delivers soliton pulses as short as 32 fs at 1079 nm with a pulse repetition rate of ∼68 MHz via soft-aperture Kerr-lens mode-locking. To the best of our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever achieved from any ytterbium-doped tungstate crystals.
Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with affecting children’s neurodevelopment, particularly increasing the risk of developing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current exploratory study aims to investigate potential associations between presence of 15 different heavy metals in urine and ADHD. A total of 190 urine samples of participants from clinical and non-clinical population (non-ADHD = 66; ADHD = 124) aged between 6 and 15 years from Barcelona and Tarragona (Spain) were analysed. Logistic regressions adjusted by sex, age, SES, BMI and diet quality were performed. Highest quartiles (3rd and 4th) of Pb (lead) (aOR 5.33; CI [1.89, 14.98]), Cd (cadmium) (aOR 3.69, CI [1.38, 9.83]), Cu (copper) (aOR 16.46, CI [4.66, 58.14]) and Sb (antimony) (aOR 3.04, CI [1.12, 8.23]) were significantly associated with increased odds of ADHD DSM-5 diagnosis. Additionally, Cu and Cd were associated with higher scores of inattention symptoms. Whereas, Cu and Sb were associated with hyperactivity-impulsivity severity. This exploratory study provides preliminary valuable evidence, suggesting potential associations between environmental factors, such as metal exposure, with ADHD in school-aged children. These findings highlight the importance of further research to support these associations and, if confirmed, explore strategies to mitigate the potential impacts of these toxicants on children’s health.
Renewable energy forecasting is crucial for pollution prevention, management, and long-term sustainability. In response to the challenges associated with energy forecasting, the simultaneous deployment of several data-processing approaches has been used in a variety of studies in order to improve the energy–time-series analysis, finding that, when combined with the wavelet analysis, deep learning techniques can achieve high accuracy in energy forecasting applications. Consequently, we investigate the implementation of various wavelets within the structure of a long short-term memory neural network (LSTM), resulting in the new LSTM wavelet (LSTMW) neural network. In addition, and as an improvement phase, we modeled the uncertainty and incorporated it into the forecast so that systemic biases and deviations could be accounted for (LSTMW with luster: LSTMWL). The models were evaluated using data from six renewable power generation plants in Chile. When compared to other approaches, experimental results show that our method provides a prediction error within an acceptable range, achieving a coefficient of determination (R2) between 0.73 and 0.98 across different test scenarios, and a consistent alignment between forecasted and observed values, particularly during the first 3 prediction steps.
Background & Aim Metabolic and cardiovascular health outcomes are strongly influenced by diet. Dietary habits established in early childhood may persist into adulthood. This study aimed to examine the association between dietary patterns at both 2 and 8 years of age, explaining the maximum variability of high- and low-quality fats, sugars, and fibre, and cardiometabolic markers at age 8 years. Methods This was a secondary analysis of the European Childhood Obesity Project, formerly a randomized clinical trial across five European countries performed in healthy term newborns. Children in the study were categorized at ages 2 and 8 years into two groups based on cluster analysis of dietary patterns (DP) derived from Reduction Rank Regression (RRR). A cross-sectional and prospective analysis was conducted to evaluate the associations between these DPs and cardiometabolic outcomes, including body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and biochemical markers. Triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) were also categorized as altered versus normal values. Asociations between dietary patterns and health outcomes were assessed using linear and logistic regression models, adjusting for covariates based on a step-wise approach. Results A total of 336 children were classified based on quality of nutrient intakes into either a “Poor-Quality dietary pattern” (PQ-DP) (48% and 66% of infants at 2 and 8 years, respectively) or the “Health-Conscious dietary pattern” (HC-DP) (52% and 34% of infants at 2 and 8 years, respectively). Following a PQ-DP at both ages 2 and 8 was associated with higher triglycerides (β = 0.061, p = 0.049), systolic and diastolic BP (β = 13.019, p < 0.001 & β = 7.612, p = 0.014, respectively) and altered levels of HOMA-IR (OR = 3.1, p = 0.037, 95% CI = 1.1–9.1) at 8 years, compared to children with an HC-DP at both ages, after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion Adherence to a dietary pattern with a poorer nutritional profile in early childhood and school age is associated with worse cardiometabolic risk markers at 8 years old.
The patient activation measure (PAM), a recognized measure of how active patients are in their care, is one of the most extensively used, widely translated, and tested instruments worldwide in measuring patient activation. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties and construct validity of the Italian version of the 13‐item Patient Activation Measure (PAM13‐I) among patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A multicenter study was conducted across 111 surgical units in Italy. This study involved the preoperative administration of the PAM questionnaire to 4532 patients. The psychometric properties of the PAM were evaluated using Rasch analysis. The PAM13‐I demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.95) and reliability indices. While fit statistics were acceptable, ceiling effects were observed. No significant differential item functioning was found. However, issues with targeting and local response dependency were identified. The Italian PAM‐13 showed promising psychometric properties among surgical patients, indicating its potential utility in assessing patient activation. However, concerns regarding ceiling effects and targeting suggest the need for further refinement and validation in surgical populations.
Nutritional quality of food for infants and young children (FIYC) is key to optimum development and health. To evaluate commercial FIYC products, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO-EURO) has defined a Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM). Although FIYC is commonly used in Malaysia, its quality is largely unknown. We evaluated the nutrient profiles and on-pack promotions of FIYC available in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, using the NPPM. Among the 285 products sampled from a range of retail outlets, none met all NPPM promotional recommendations; only 24% satisfied all relevant nutrition criteria. Several products failed on sugar (29%) and sodium (26%) criteria, with around half having added sugar. In addition, 3%, 6%, and 9% of FIYC failed relevant fat, protein, and energy requirements, respectively. Although 98% had inappropriate health claims, 36% missed appropriate breastfeeding statements. There is an urgent need to improve the quality of FIYC in Malaysia.
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Sergio Nasarre-Aznar
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Tarragona, Spain