University of Granada
  • Granada, Spain
Recent publications
Purpose To analyze the evolution of chronic neck and low back pain prevalence in the general Spanish population (≥ 15 years) from 2006 to 2020, examining differences by sex, age, social class, and the potential influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A repeated cross-sectional observational study was conducted based on data from six health surveys conducted in Spain between 2006 and 2020, with samples ranging from 21,007 to 29,478 subjects per survey, reported by the European Statistical System and the National Statistical Institute. Overall and specific prevalence rates were calculated, and linear trends were assessed over time. The potential influence of the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated using the Mann-Kendall test, along with prevalence forecasts up to 2020, derived from S-curve models. Results Between 2006 and 2020, the prevalence of chronic neck pain ranged from 23.64 to 12.3%, while chronic low back pain ranged from 24.01 to 14.73%. A decreasing trend was observed in both conditions, slightly more pronounced for neck pain. This trend persisted even when excluding 2020 data, which was potentially influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and was independent of health surveys. Forecasts indicated that the actual 2020 prevalence rates were lower (by 3.1–4.4%) than predicted. The prevalence was consistently higher among women, older individuals, and lower social classes, though all subgroups showed similar decreasing trends. Conclusion The prevalence of chronic neck and low back pain in the Spanish population declined between 2006 and 2020. Subgroup analyses revealed consistent decreases across sex, age, and social class. The COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the 2020 prevalence rates.
Metacommunity studies have been gaining in importance in recent decades due to their relevance when interpreting community dynamics. The elements of metacommunity structure (EMS), i.e. coherence, turnover and boundary clumping, are used to assess the assembly of metacommunities. In the present study we analysed the EMS of the Guadiana Hydrographic Demarcation, a prominant seasonal basin located in the southern Iberian Peninsula characterised by a Mediterranean climate, with dry reaches and disconnected pools frequent in streams during the summer. We studied the EMS of the four different taxocoenoses used to assess the ecological status of streams and rivers according to the European Water Framework Directive (diatoms, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and fishes), both independently of each other and taken together. These analyses were carried out using three different approaches: (1) using a gradient from reciprocal averaging analysis; (2) following a geographical gradient; and (3) following an environmental gradient. We found that the four groups of organisms analysed had either a Clementsian metacommunity structure or a similar structure. When all groups were considered together, the structure of the metacommunity was Clementsian or quasi-Clementsian. Thus, in the framework of the current global change scenario, communities in this basin may be vulnerable to increasing isolation due to more frequent and larger dry periods; consequently, management measures should be considered.
There are several methods to improve cancer patient survival rates by inducing hyperthermia in tumor tissues, which involves raising their temperature above 41 °C. These methods utilize different energy sources to deliver heat to the target region, including light, microwaves or radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. We have developed a new, magnetically responsive nanocarrier, consisting of liposomes loaded with magnetic nanoparticles and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (CDDP), commonly known as Cisplatin. The resulting magnetoliposome (ML) is rapidly internalized by lung and pancreas tumor cell lines, stored in intracellular vesicles, and capable of inducing hyperthermia under magnetic fields. The ML has no significant toxicity both in vitro and in vivo and, most importantly, enhances cell death by apoptosis after magnetic hyperthermia. Remarkably, mice bearing induced lung tumors, treated with CDDP-loaded nanocarriers and subjected to an applied electromagnetic field, showed an improved survival rate over those treated with either soluble CDDP or hyperthermia alone. Therefore, our approach of magnetic hyperthermia plus CDDP-ML significantly enhances in vitro cell death and in vivo survival of treated animals.
Parazoanthus axinellae Schmidt, 1862 (Anthozoa: Zoantharia) has been historically divided into different taxa at various levels (varieties, morphotypes, or subspecies) and is considered a species complex by some authors. This species has a wide distribution, is a key part of coralligenous habitats, and constitutes one of the main ecosystems in the Alboran and Mediterranean Seas. In this work, we propose the reclassification of one subspecies and a new species of Parazoanthus : Parazoanthus brevitentacularis stat. nov. and Parazoanthus franciscae sp. nov. The first was described as a morphotype (named “stocky”) and as the subspecies P. axinellae brevitentacularis , while the second is described here for the first time. An integrative approach, combining morphological, ecological, histological, and genetic analyses, allowed us to detect enough variability to establish this new species and led us to better understand the diversity of this group. Morphological and ecological analyses have been performed in situ by observing the main different features of the species. Histological examinations to propose the systematics of the species and the main diagnostic characters to identify them were performed based on the macro-anatomy, micro-anatomy, and the features of the cnidome. Genetic analyses were performed using common molecular markers ( COI and ITS ) and mitochondrial genome sequencing (MGS). The COI region was limited in establishing informative relationships within the species. MGS was a powerful tool to assess diversity, although somewhat limited due to the small number of genome sequences available, and the slow evolution of mitochondrial genomes in Anthozoa. Ribosomal ITS showed wider distances between taxa, resulting in the phylogenetic trees being most congruent with the ecological, morphological, and histological analyses.
The regional cohesion policies of the European Union, endowed with significant funding, are intended to reduce economic differences between regions and to improve general economic well-being. Among them, intelligent specialization was established as a strategy for territorial development, closely linked to innovation processes. The central question that is now approached is whether specialization strategies, in particular with regard to ICT-digital economy, are coherent and aligned with economic activity in those fields. To do so, data on bibliometric indicators of scientific production in this field were selected, in terms of both volume and quantity, collaboration, and data on economic activity from the field and its importance for GDP. The study involves data from 423 European universities with minimum production levels of ICT-digital economy over the past decade, with which a ranking of production may be established in this field and clusters of European universities identified on the basis of the bibliometric indicators. The degree of coherency between scientific production in ITC-digital economy of Spanish regions and their economic activity was analyzed, as well as the importance that one or another region may have with regard to the national total. Significant disparities between regions could be identified between their research and their economic activity, which in turn provided valuable information for reworking their specialization strategies.
The efficiency of any heat engine, defined as the ratio of average work output to heat input, is bounded by Carnot’s celebrated result. However, this measure is insufficient to characterize the properties of miniaturized heat engines carrying non-negligible fluctuations, and a study of higher-order statistics of their energy exchanges is required. Here, we generalize Carnot’s result for reversible cycles to arbitrary order moment of the work and heat fluctuations. Our results show that, in the quasistatic limit, higher-order statistics of a small engine’s energetics depend solely on the ratio between the temperatures of the thermal baths. We further prove that our result for the second moment gives universal bounds for the ratio between the variances of work and heat for quasistatic cycles. We test this theory with our previous experimental results of a Brownian Carnot engine and observe the consistency between them, even beyond the quasistatic regime. Our results can be exploited in the design of thermal nanomachines to reduce their fluctuations of work output without marginalizing its average value and efficiency.
The aim of this note is to prove that, given two superreflexive Banach spaces X and Y , then X^πYX\widehat{\otimes }_\pi Y X ⊗ ^ π Y is superreflexive if and only if either X or Y is finite-dimensional. In a similar way, we prove that X^εYX\widehat{\otimes }_\varepsilon Y X ⊗ ^ ε Y is superreflexive if and only if either X or Y is finite-dimensional.
This paper is concerned with the existence of normalized solutions to a class of (2, q )-Laplacian equations in all the possible cases with respect to the mass critical exponents 2(1 + 2/ N ), q (1 + 2/ N ). In the mass subcritical cases, we study a global minimization problem and obtain a ground state solution. While in the mass critical cases, we prove several nonexistence results. At last, we derive a ground state and infinitely many radial solutions in the mass supercritical case. Compared with the classical Schrödinger equation, the (2, q )-Laplacian equation possesses a quasi-linear term, which brings in some new difficulties and requires a more subtle analysis technique. Moreover, the vector field a ⃗ ( ξ ) = | ξ | q − 2 ξ a(ξ)=ξq2ξ \overrightarrow {a}\left(\xi \right)=\vert \xi {\vert }^{q-2}\xi corresponding to the q -Laplacian is not strictly monotone when q < 2, so we shall consider separately the case q < 2 and the case q > 2.
The genomic analysis of biological material from artworks can be used to guide curation, preservation, and restoration. Additionally, human DNA recovered from artworks may provide other insights. However, the recovery of biological samples from artworks is dependent on the sampling technique used and the media from which the biological materials are recovered. The ideal sampling method should be noninvasive, yet robust. We studied five artworks on paper and compared three sampling methods, each with increasing degrees of invasiveness. Minimally invasive swabbing techniques collect samples from the surface, whereas more aggressive techniques such as wet vacuuming were expected to yield more biological material from within the support media and more likely to produce authentic DNA from the artwork. We report a comparison of collection techniques to generate microbial DNA sequence data, the conserved human gene RNase P, and Y‐STRs from artworks on paper. We observed that wet vacuuming resulted in higher DNA recovery than double swabbing and core punches. Diverse microbial populations existed on the corners and centers of the five artworks studied, but the distribution of the total biomass was relatively even across the surfaces of the works sampled. Studies of peripheral regions, where sampling is less likely to cause alterations to the artwork, could thus yield useful results in microbiome and human DNA studies. These results provide a framework for sampling artworks on paper to obtain biological material. The methods described may provide microbiome identification to facilitate restoration and preservation, and might also contribute to the determination of provenance.
In this paper we analyse when every element of X^πYX{\widehat{\otimes }}_\pi Y X ⊗ ^ π Y attains its projective norm. We prove that this is the case if X is the dual of a subspace of a predual of an 1(I)\ell _1(I) ℓ 1 ( I ) space and Y is 1-complemented in its bidual under approximation property assumptions. This result allows us to provide some new examples where X is a Lipschitz-free space. We also prove that the set of norm-attaining elements is dense in X^πYX{\widehat{\otimes }}_\pi Y X ⊗ ^ π Y if, for instance, X=L1(μ)X=L_1(\mu ) X = L 1 ( μ ) and Y is any Banach space, or if X has the metric π\pi π -property and Y is a dual space with the RNP.
An international multicenter study was designed and carried out to evaluate the color vision screener (CVS) test for normal trichromats and congenital color deficients. Over 400 participants from nine international Colour Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) testing centers completed the CVS and the CAD test on calibrated visual displays. The CVS had a sensitivity and specificity [95% confidence intervals] of 1.00 [0.98–1.00] and 0.99 [0.97–1.00] with a positive and negative predictive index of 0.94 and 1.00 for an assumed prevalence of 8%. The CVS is quick, efficient, and easy to use, and its sensitivity is equivalent to the optimal published Ishihara protocol.
We have carried out a theoretical study into electron transport through molecular junctions based on dithiolated helicenes of varying lengths. We found that, for certain specific structural conditions, in which the orientation and the pitch of the helical structures are kept constant, the transmission at the Fermi level exhibits oscillations as a function of the molecular length, which approximately follow an odd–even pattern. Dispersive interactions alter this trend, however, ensuing a rather different quasi-periodic oscillating pattern with a sawtooth profile.
Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is an intestinal parasite of rodents with a worldwide distribution. Due to the similarities between its life cycle and that of the human hookworms Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, N. brasiliensis has been widely used as a model in experimental research. We provide new data on the embryonation and hatching processes of N. brasiliensis eggs, not in the soil, but in the large intestine of naturally infected Rattus norvegicus. The parasite was investigated in 109 rats trapped in urban and periurban areas of Valencia, Spain. Rats were preserved at − 20 °C. After thawing, all the rat organs were examined. The contents of the large intestine were analysed by the Midi-Parasep® technique. N. brasiliensis (adult prevalence 69.72%) was identified by morphological and molecular techniques. Parasite eggs were found in 88.16% of the sediments. In addition to unembryonated eggs, eggs in different stages of embryonation were encountered in 67 of the 76 contents (88.16%). Free larval stages (L1 and more developed larvae) were also found in 47 of the 76 (61.84%) sediments studied. Filariform larval stages of N. brasiliensis were also sporadically detected in the lungs of the infected rats. According to our results, the development of eggs and larvae in the intestine of naturally infected rats opens up the possibility of autoinfection in the natural life cycle of N. brasiliensis, which could explain the high burdens of adult stages frequently found in the small intestine of infected rats. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00436-025-08462-8.
BACKGROUND In the global socioeconomic context and the current climate change scenario, investigating the nutritional and bioactive characteristics of landraces can provide interesting profiles with technological applications and benefits for human health. The purpose of this work was to improve our knowledge regarding the nutritional and phenolic composition of several chickpea accessions preserved in a gene bank compared with widely consumed cultivars, as a first approach to establish their potential nutritional interest. CIELab colour, mineral content, protein, and amino acids were determined, as well as a comprehensive characterization of free and bound phenolic compounds by high‐performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. RESULTS The chickpea accessions displayed a superior macro‐mineral profile and higher levels of protein, arginine, and bound phenolic compounds than commercial cultivars did. The total phenolic content ranged from 307.55 to 940.46 μg g⁻¹ dry weight and clearly categorized the crops into desi or kabuli types. The ratio of free to bound phenolic compounds ranged between 2.8 and 50.2 in the kabuli seeds and 0.4–1.3 in the desi type. The most remarkable finding was the quantification of a total of 42 phenolic compounds, nine of them reported for the first time in chickpea seeds (methyl and dimethyl citric acids, glabranin, 3,4‐dihydroxy‐5‐methoxybenzoic acid, myricetin 3‐O‐rutinoside, dihydromyricetin, phlorizin, kaempferol 7‐(6″‐p‐succinylglucoside) and phloretin). CONCLUSIONS Despite variations in genetic backgrounds and specific agronomic conditions, this research unveils a sufficiently attractive nutritional and phenolic profile to justify further investigations aimed at exploring the future expansion and applications of these chickpea accessions. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.
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18,903 members
Fernando Blanco
  • Department of Social Psychology
Fernando Hernandez-Mateo
  • Department of Organic Chemistry
Salvador Gonzalez Garcia
  • Department of Electromagnetism and Matter Physics
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Granada, Spain
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Pilar Aranda Ramírez