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With the goal of ultimate control over the light propagation, photonic crystals currently represent the primary building blocks for novel nanophotonic devices. Bloch surface waves (BSWs) in periodic dielectric multilayer structures with a surface defect is a well-known phenomenon, which implies new opportunities for controlling the light propagation and has many applications in the physical and biological science. However, most of the reported structures based on BSWs require depositing a large number of alternating layers or exploiting a large refractive index (RI) contrast between the materials constituting the multilayer structure, thereby increasing the complexity and costs of manufacturing. The combination of fiber–optic-based platforms with nanotechnology is opening the opportunity for the development of high-performance photonic devices that enhance the light-matter interaction in a strong way compared to other optical platforms. Here, we report a BSW-supporting platform that uses geometrically modified commercial optical fibers such as D-shaped optical fibers, where a few-layer structure is deposited on its flat surface using metal oxides with a moderate difference in RI. In this novel fiber optic platform, BSWs are excited through the evanescent field of the core-guided fundamental mode, which indicates that the structure proposed here can be used as a sensing probe, along with other intrinsic properties of fiber optic sensors, as lightness, multiplexing capacity and easiness of integration in an optical network. As a demonstration, fiber optic BSW excitation is shown to be suitable for measuring RI variations. The designed structure is easy to manufacture and could be adapted to a wide range of applications in the fields of telecommunications, environment, health, and material characterization. Fundación para la Promoción de la Investigación y la Tecnología-Banco de la República of Colombia (Contract 202103); Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Hermes code 46509); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (TEC2016-78047-R and PID2019-106231RB-I00). E.G.V. acknowledges the support of COLCIENCIAS through the Doctoral Scholarship program.

In this work, a novel optical fiber sensor capable of measuring both the liquid level and its refractive index is designed, manufactured and demonstrated through simulations and experimentally. For this, a silica capillary hollow-core fiber is used. The fiber, with a sensing length of 1.55 mm, has been processed with a femtosecond laser, so that it incorporates four holes in its structure. In this way, the liquid enters the air core, and it is possible to perform the sensing through the Fabry-Perot cavities that the liquid generates. The detection mode is in reflection. With a resolution of 4 μm (liquid level), it is in the state of the art of this type of sensor. The system is designed so that in the future it will be capable of measuring the level of immiscible liquids, that is, liquids that form stratified layers. It can be useful to determine the presence of impurities in tanks. This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (TEC2016-76021-C2-1-R and TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R), the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-107270RB-C21 and PID2019-107270RB-C22), the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain (PhD grant FPU2018/02797), and Projects for young researches UPNA 2019. The authors also thank the INESC-Porto colleagues for the fiber sample used in the experiments.

Highlights • Higher vigorous-intensity physical activity seems to be negatively related to adiposity and cardiometabolic risk score among children and adolescents later in life. • Higher vigorous-intensity physical activity is positively related to cardiorespiratory fitness and total body bone mineral density among children and adolescents later in life. • The present results support the need to further strengthen vigorous-intensity physical activity recommendations for children and adolescents., Objective This study sought to analyze the prospective association between vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) and health-related outcomes in children and adolescents. Methods Studies reporting associations between device-measured VPA and health-related factors in children and adolescents aged 3–18 years were identified through database searches (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SPORTDiscus). Correlation coefficients were pooled if outcomes were reported by at least 3 studies, using DerSimonian-Laird random effects models. Results Data from 23 studies including 13,674 participants were pooled using random effects models. Significant associations were found between VPA at baseline and overall adiposity (r = −0.09, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): –0.15 to –0.03; p = 0.002; I2 = 89.8%), cardiometabolic risk score (r = –0.13, 95%CI: –0.24 to –0.02, p = 0.020; I2 = 69.6%), cardiorespiratory fitness (r = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.15−0.35; p < 0.001; I2 = 57.2%), and total body bone mineral density (r = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.06 to 0.25; p = 0.001; I2 = 0%). Conclusion VPA seems to be negatively related to adiposity and cardiometabolic risk score and positively related to cardiorespiratory fitness and total body bone mineral density among children and adolescents at follow-up. Therefore, our findings support the need to strengthen physical activity recommendations regarding VPA due to its health benefits in children and adolescents., Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract

Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III grant PI13/01393 (to JRR), Retos de la Sociedad grant DEP2016-79512-R (to JRR), and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF); Spanish Ministry of Education grant FPU13/04365 (to GS-D); the Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición (to JRR); Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa grant Red SAMID RD16/0022 (to AG); the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation; the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016—Excellence actions:Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (to JRR)—and Plan Propio de Investigación 2018—Programa Contratos-Puente (to GS-D); and Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidadesgrant SOMM17/6107/UGR (to JRR) via the ERDF., Background: Several studies have explored the role of human brown adipose tissue (BAT) in energy expenditure. However, the link between BAT and appetite regulation needs to be more rigorously examined. Objective: We aimed to investigate the associations of BAT volume and 18F-fluordeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake after a personalized cold exposure with energy intake and appetite-related sensations in young healthy humans. Methods: A total of 102 young adults (65 women; age: 22.08 ± 2.17 y; BMI: 25.05 ± 4.93 kg/m 2) took part in this cross-sectional study. BAT volume, BAT 18F-FDG uptake, and skeletal muscle 18FFDG uptake were assessed by means of static 18F-FDG positronemission tomography and computed tomography scans after a 2-h personalized exposure to cold. Energy intake was estimated via an objectively measured ad libitum meal and three nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls. Appetite-related sensations (i.e., hunger and fullness) were recorded by visual analog scales before and after a standardized breakfast (energy content = 50% of basal metabolic rate) and the ad libitum meal. Body composition was assessed by a whole-body DXA scan. Results: BAT volume and 18F-FDG uptake were not associated with quantified ad libitum energy intake (all P > 0.088), nor with habitual energy intake estimated from the 24-h dietary recalls (all P > 0.683). Lean mass was positively associated with both the energy intake from the ad libitum meal (β: 17.612, R2 = 0.213; P < 0.001) and the habitual energy intake (β: 16.052, R2 = 0.123; P = 0.001). Neither the interaction BAT volume × time elapsed after meal consumption nor that of BAT 18F-FDG uptake × time elapsed after meal consumption had any significant influence on appetite-related sensations after breakfast or after meal consumption (all P > 0.3). Conclusions: Neither BAT volume, nor BAT 18F-FDG uptake after cold stimulation, are related to appetite regulation in young adults. These results suggest BAT plays no important role in the regulation of energy intake in humans. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02365129., Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III grant PI13/01393 (to JRR), Retos de la Sociedad grant DEP2016-79512-R (to JRR), Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa grant Red SAMID RD16/0022 (to AG), Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidadesgrant SOMM17/6107/UGR (to JRR) via the ERDF.

Natural plant extracts have emerged as a potential alternative to sulphites in minimally processed potatoes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory capacity of various plant extracts on potato polyphenol oxidase (pPPO) and to optimize the extraction conditions for preventing browning in fresh-cut potatoes (cv. Monalisa). Fifteen aqueous plant extracts were characterized by their total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity (AA) and their pPPO. Clove extract showed the highest TPC and AA among all plant extracts. Garlic, green tea and wheat bran and, clove and marjoram have a pPPO inhibition >50% at the lowest (1–25 g GAE L−1 extract) and highest (200–350 g GAE L1 extract) range of TPC, respectively. The green tea extract was selected for further evaluation due to its high capacity to inhibit pPPO activity regardless of the solution concentration. The optimum extraction conditions and treatment concentration were 55 °C, 7 min and 50 mL L1 of original extract solution. These conditions guaranteed the conservation of fresh-cut potato colour mainly preventing the reduction of luminosity parameter. Green tea extract controlled browning in fresh-cut potatoes (cv. Monalisa) for 14 days when stored at 4 °C. Gloria Bobo is grateful to the Educational Department of the Government of Navarre (Spain) for the PhD Scholarship. This material is based upon research supported by the Public University of Navarre (Spain).

Checkpoint with forkhead-associated and ring finger domains (CHFR) has been proposed as a predictive and prognosis biomarker for different tumor types, but its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was two-pronged: to review the role of CHFR in PDAC and evaluating CHFR as a potential predictive biomarker in this disease. For this purpose, we first explored the CHFR messenger (m)RNA expression and promoter methylation through the TCGA database. Secondly, the CHFR expression and promoter methylation were prospectively evaluated in a cohort of patients diagnosed with borderline (n = 19) or resectable (n = 16) PDAC by immunohistochemistry (IHC), methylation specific-PCR (MSP), and pyrosequencing. The results from the TCGA database showed significant differences in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) based on the CHFR mRNA expression, which was likely independent from the promoter methylation. Importantly, our results showed that in primarily resected patients and also the entire cohort, a higher CHFR expression as indicated by the higher IHC staining intensity might identify patients with longer disease-free survival (DFS) and OS, respectively. Similarly, in the same cohorts, patients with lower methylation levels by pyrosequencing showed significantly longer OS than patients without this pattern. Both, the CHFR expression intensity and its promoter methylation were established as independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS in the entire cohort. In contrast, no significant differences were found between different methylation patterns for CHFR and the response to taxane-based neoadjuvant treatment. These results suggest the potential role of the higher expression of CHFR and the methylation pattern of its promoter as potential prognostic biomarkers in PDAC, thus warranting further comprehensive studies to extend and confirm our preliminary findings., This work was funded by grants from the Department of Health from the Government of Navarra (Ref. 008-2018), REFBIO II Pyrenees Biomedical Network from Programa INTERREG V-A España-Francia-Andorra (Ref. BMK_PANC) and Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica (SEOM) to AV. IG-B was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Department of Economic Development Government of Navarre Ayudas para la contratación de doctorandos y doctorandas por empresas y organismos de investigación y difusión de conocimientos: doctorados industriales 2018–2020. Intensification Programme Navarrabiomed 2017-2021 Obra Social La Caixa Fundación Caja Navarra. This work has also been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy [MINECO; BFU2016-80360-R (to JC)] and the Ministry of Science and Innovation [MICINN; PID2019- 105201RB-I00 (to JC)]. Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-funded by European Union (ERDF/ESF, Investing in your future) [Predoctoral contract FI17/00282 (to EA-P)]. Junta de Andalucía (BIO-0139); GETNE2016 and GETNE2019 Research grants (to JC); and CIBERobn.

Strain degeneration has been defined as a decrease or loss in the yield of important commercial traits resulting from subsequent culture, which ultimately leads to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production. Pleurotus ostreatus is a lignin-producing nematophagous edible mushroom. Mycelia for mushroom production are usually maintained in subsequent culture in solid media and frequently show symptoms of strain degeneration. The dikaryotic strain P. ostreatus (DkN001) has been used in our lab as a model organism for different purposes. Hence, different tools have been developed to uncover genetic and molecular aspects of this fungus. In this work, strain degeneration was studied in a full-sib monokaryotic progeny of the DkN001 strain with fast (F) and slow (S) growth rates by using different experimental approaches (light microscopy, malondialdehyde levels, whole-genome transcriptome analysis, and chitosan effect on monokaryotic mycelia). The results obtained showed that: (i) strain degeneration in P. ostreatus is linked to oxidative stress, (ii) the oxidative stress response in monokaryons is genotype dependent, (iii) stress and detoxifying genes are highly expressed in S monokaryons with symptoms of strain degeneration, (iv) chitosan addition to F and S monokaryons uncovered the constitutive expression of both oxidative stress and cellular detoxifying genes in S monokaryon strains which suggest their adaptation to oxidative stress, and (v) the overexpression of the cell wall genes, Uap1 and Cda1, in S monokaryons with strain degeneration phenotype indicates cell wall reshaping and the activation of High Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) and Cell Wall Integrity (CWI) pathways. These results could constitute a hallmark for mushroom producers to distinguish strain degeneration in commercial mushrooms. This research was funded by Research Projects RTI2018-099371-B-I00 (MCIU, AEI, FEDER/UE) and AGL2015-66833-R (MINECO) of the Spanish National Research Programme, H2020 MUSA 727624 (EU), and by funds of the Public University of Navarre (UPNA).

This study sheds light on the adsorption process for the removal of nitrate ions from synthetic aqueous solutions. This contaminant pose a potential risk to the environment and can cause health effects including cancers and methemoglobinemia in infants. When the adsorption process is carried out, the effect by the several operating parameters such as initial nitrate concentration, pH, mass of activated carbon, and contact time becomes apparent. The essential process variables are optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) experiments. For this purpose 31 experimental results are required to determine the optimum conditions. The optimum conditions for the removal of nitrates is found to be: initial nitrate concentration = 15 mg/L; initial pH 4.0; mass of activated carbon = 25 mg, and contact time = 70 min. At these optimized conditions, the maximum removal of nitrates is found to be 96.59%. The authors are grateful to the MOROCCAN MESRSFC. Financial Support from University Hassan II of Casablanca is also acknowledged. AG thanks Santander Bank for funding through the Research Intensification Program.

Multi-parameter detection is key in the domain of sensors. Here it is demonstrated that an indium tin oxide (ITO) nanocoating can be used to generate multiple lossy mode resonances (LMRs) in the optical spectrum. To achieve this, a nanocoating with a gradient in thickness is generated on the surface of a planar waveguide, permitting broadening of the LMR because the position of an LMR in the optical spectrum is directly related to the nanocoating thickness. The nanocoating with a gradient in thickness contributes multiple LMRs, each one centred at a different wavelength. With a further etching or deposition using a mask, a pattern of deposited and non-deposited regions can be created, resulting in isolation of the LMRs by preventing LMR overlap. This enables tracking of each central wavelength separately, which can be tuned through control of the gradient or nanocoating pattern. The array of LMR-based sensors is a photonics analogue to the interdigital concept in electronics, enabling multiple resonances to be used for multiparameter sensing. The authors would like to acknowledge the partial support to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness TEC2016-79367-C2-2-R and PID2019-106231RB-I00 research fund, the STARDUST project (European Commission) and the pre-doctoral research grants of the Public University of Navarra.

Matching the antenna’s impedance to the RF-front-end of a wireless communications system is challenging as the impedance varies with its surround environment. Autonomously matching the antenna to the RF-front-end is therefore essential to optimize power transfer and thereby maintain the antenna’s radiation efficiency. This paper presents a theoretical technique for automatically tuning an LC impedance matching network that compensates antenna mismatch presented to the RF-front-end. The proposed technique converges to a matching point without the need of complex mathematical modelling of the system comprising of non-linear control elements. Digital circuitry is used to implement the required matching circuit. Reliable convergence is achieved within the tuning range of the LC-network using control-loops that can independently control the LC impedance. An algorithm based on the proposed technique was used to verify its effectiveness with various antenna loads. Mismatch error of the technique is less than 0.2%. The technique enables speedy convergence (< 5 µs) and is highly accurate for autonomous adaptive antenna matching networks. This work is partially supported by RTI2018-095499-B-C31, Funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE), and innovation programme under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424 and the financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E022936/1.

Thanks to Dr. Herman Pontzer (Duke University) for his valuable feedback. We also thank the following agencies for their funding: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (11180361 to R.F.-V.); Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/04059 to J.M.A.A.; FPU15/02645 to J.H.M.; FPU14/04172 to F.J.A.-G.); University of Granada (Plan Propio de Investigación 2019 [Programa Contratos-Puente] to F.J.A.-G.; Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 [Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health UCEES]); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ACTIBATE study; ACTIVEBRAINS study); Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393 to ACTIBATE study); Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades and European Regional Development Funds (FEDER: ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR to ACTIBATE study); Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022 to ACTIBATE study); EXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health in Special Populations (DEP2005-00046/ACTI); Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición (ACTIBATE study); AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation (ACTIBATE study); PTA 12264-I to FIT-AGEING study., Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1038/s41598-021-91750-x., The constrained total energy expenditure (TEE) model posits that progressive increases in physical activity (PA) lead to increases in TEE; but after certain PA threshold, TEE plateaus. Then, a compensatory reduction in the expenditure of non-essential activities constrains the TEE. We hypothesized that high PA levels as locomotion associate with a compensatory attenuation in arm movements. We included 209 adults (64% females, mean [SD] age 32.1 [15.0] years) and 105 children (40% females, age 10.0 [1.1] years). Subjects wore, simultaneously, one accelerometer in the non-dominant wrist and another in the hip for ≥ 4 days. We analyzed the association between wrist-measured (arm movements plus locomotion) and hip-measured PA (locomotion). We also analyzed how the capacity to dissociate arm movements from locomotion influences total PA. In adults, the association between wrist-measured and hip-measured PA was better described by a quadratic than a linear model (Quadratic-R2 = 0.54 vs. Linear-R2 = 0.52; P = 0.003). Above the 80th percentile of hip-measured PA, wrist-measured PA plateaued. In children, there was no evidence that a quadratic model fitted the association between wrist-measured and hip-measured PA better than a linear model (R2 = 0.58 in both models, P = 0.25). In adults and children, those with the highest capacity to dissociate arm movements from locomotion—i.e. higher arm movements for a given locomotion—reached the highest total PA. We conclude that, in adults, elevated locomotion associates with a compensatory reduction in arm movements (probably non-essential fidgeting) that partially explains the constrained TEE model. Subjects with the lowest arm compensation reach the highest total PA., AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation PTA 12264-I, EXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health in Special Populations DEP2005-00046/ACTI, Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico 11180361 FONDECYT, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MINECO, Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI13/01393 ISCIII, Universidad de Granada UGR, European Regional Development Fund RD16/0022,SOMM17/6107/UGR ERDF, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía, Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia, Universidad de Granada Health [UCEES]),Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 (Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise,Plan Propio de Investigación 2019 (Programa Contratos-Puente)

This paper presents the results of a study on developing an effective technique to increase the performance characteristics of antenna arrays for sub-THz integrated circuit applications. This is essential to compensate the limited power available from sub-THz sources. Although conventional array structures can provide a solution to enhance the radiation-gain performance however in the case of small-sized array structures the radiation properties can be adversely affected by mutual coupling that exists between the radiating elements. It is demonstrated here the effectiveness of using SIW technology to suppress surface wave propagations and near field mutual coupling effects. Prototype of 2 × 3 antenna arrays were designed and constructed on a polyimide dielectric substrate with thickness of 125 mum for operation across 0.19-0.20 THz. The dimensions of the array were 20 × 13.5 × 0.125 mm3. Metallization of the antenna was coated with 500 nm layer of Graphene. With the proposed technique the isolation between the radiating elements was improved on average by 22.5 dB compared to a reference array antenna with no SIW isolation. The performance of the array was enhanced by transforming the patch to exhibit metamaterial characteristics. This was achieved by embedding the patch antennas in the array with sub-wavelength slots. Compared to the reference array the metamaterial inspired structure exhibits improvement in isolation, radiation gain and efficiency on average by 28 dB, 6.3 dBi, and 34%, respectively. These results show the viability of proposed approach in developing antenna arrays for application in sub-THz integrated circuits. This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) under Grant RTI2018-095499-B-C31, in part by the Innovation Programme under Grant H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424, and in part by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under Grant EP/E022936/1.

Aims: to identify all cardiovascular disease risk prediction models developed in patients with type 2 diabetes or in the general population with diabetes as a covariate updating previous studies, describing model performance and analysing both their risk of bias and their applicability. Methods: a systematic search for predictive models of cardiovascular risk was performed in PubMed. The CHARMS and PROBAST guidelines for data extraction and for the assessment of risk of bias and applicability were followed. Google Scholar citations of the selected articles were reviewed to identify studies that conducted external validations. Results: the titles of 10,556 references were extracted to ultimately identify 19 studies with models developed in a population with diabetes and 46 studies in the general population. Within models developed in a population with diabetes, only six were classified as having a low risk of bias, 17 had a favourable assessment of applicability, 11 reported complete model information, and also 11 were externally validated. Conclusions: there exists an overabundance of cardiovascular risk prediction models applicable to patients with diabetes, but many have a high risk of bias due to methodological shortcomings and independent validations are scarce. We recommend following the existing guidelines to facilitate their applicability. This work has received funding from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain through grant PI15/02196 and via CONCEPT Project (grants PI19/00154, PI19/00306, PI19/00381, PI19/00056, PI20/00783). It has also received funding from the Research Network on Health Services in Chronic Diseases-REDISSEC grant RD16/0001/0014, a Spanish Network supported by Carlos III Health Institute and the European Regional Development Funding (FEDER).

The aim of this study was to determine whether handgrip strength attenuates the negative relationship between age and olfactory function in a representative US population sample 40 years old and over. A cross-sectional study was performed with 2861 adults from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES (2013–2014). An 8-item odor identification test was applied to determine olfactory function. Muscle strength was determined through a handgrip dynamometer (defined as the sum of the largest handgrip strength reading from right and left hands). Moderation analysis was performed to test whether the association between age and olfactory impairment was moderated by handgrip strength. Moderation analysis highlighted two regions of significance: the first region was found at < 56.6 kg, indicating that the adverse influence of age on olfactory function may be greater for the participants in this area; the second region was found at ≥ 56.6 kg, indicating that the negative impact of age on olfactory function disappeared for adults who were above this estimate point. In conclusion, handgrip strength, a general indicator of muscle strength, moderates the relationship between age and olfactory ability in a US adult population aged 40 years and older. Our findings are clinically relevant, since they emphasize the importance of muscular fitness in adulthood and old age by diminishing the deleterious effect of aging on olfactory performance. A.G.-H. is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FSE – CP18/0150). R.R.-V. is funded in part by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Resolution ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra.

Childhood obesity is a worldwide epidemic. Mediterranean diet (MD) is inversely associated with childhood obesity, but the interaction with other environmental factors, such screen time, might influence the health benefits of a highMD adherence in adolescents. The aimof the present studywas to assess whether an association between MD and screen time exists in European adolescents. Moreover, we also explored whether sedentary time has a modulatory effect on the association between MD and adiposity. Adherence to the MD (24 h recalls), screen time (questionnaire), pubertal development, body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI) and waist circumference (WC) were evaluated in 2053 adolescents (54.7% females), aged 12.5–17.5 years. In females, MD adherence was associated with lower BMI and FMI only when they were exposed to less than 338 min/day of screen time (81.8% of females);MD adherence was also associated with lowerWC only when females were exposed to less than 143 min/day of screen time (31.5% of females). No significantMD-screen time interaction was observed in males. In conclusion, screen-time-based sedentary behaviours had a modulatory effect in the association between MD adherence and adiposity in European female adolescents., Iberus Talent Pre-doctoral fellowships 2018, under the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant 801586, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, CIBERObn ISCIII-CB15/00043, European Commission FOOD-CT-2005-007034, HELENA project, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness RYC-2010-05957 RYC-2011-09011, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn)

Brain Computer Interface technologies are popular methods of communication between the human brain and external devices. One of the most popular approaches to BCI is Motor Imagery. In BCI applications, the ElectroEncephaloGraphy is a very popular measurement for brain dynamics because of its non-invasive nature. Although there is a high interest in the BCI topic, the performance of existing systems is still far from ideal, due to the difficulty of performing pattern recognition tasks in EEG signals. BCI systems are composed of a wide range of components that perform signal pre-processing, feature extraction and decision making. In this paper, we define a BCI Framework, named Enhanced Fusion Framework, where we propose three different ideas to improve the existing MI-based BCI frameworks. Firstly, we include aan additional pre-processing step of the signal: a differentiation of the EEG signal that makes it time-invariant. Secondly, we add an additional frequency band as feature for the system and we show its effect on the performance of the system. Finally, we make a profound study of how to make the final decision in the system. We propose the usage of both up to six types of different classifiers and a wide range of aggregation functions (including classical aggregations, Choquet and Sugeno integrals and their extensions and overlap functions) to fuse the information given by the considered classifiers. We have tested this new system on a dataset of 20 volunteers performing motor imagery-based brain-computer interface experiments. On this dataset, the new system achieved a 88.80% of accuracy. We also propose an optimized version of our system that is able to obtain up to 90,76%. Furthermore, we find that the pair Choquet/Sugeno integrals and overlap functions are the ones providing the best results., IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics (2021)

Road transportation constitutes a key sector in developed countries, as an essential catalyst for economic and social activities. Nevertheless, it is relevant to emphasize the negative impacts of this activity identified in Economics as negative externalities. At the European Union, road transportation is the main cause of the air pollution impact on the population. Thus, this study explores the factors that influence the willingness to pay (WTP) on behalf of the citizens to reduce air pollution generated by road transport. In doing so, we propose two fundamental theoretical frameworks to explain individual behavior towards the environment actions: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) models. A questionnaire survey with 1,612 residents was used to collect data in 65 localities located in the Spanish Pyrenees and performing a statistical analysis with the resulting data relied on application of Structural Equation Models (SEM). Moreover, the survey results highlight the importance of psychological aspects as predictors of proenvironmental behaviors. Our empirical results provide a novel contribution about how governments and educational policies can enhance the positive attitude towards environmental actions, unifying the struggle in favor of environmental protection from early childhood. This work has been partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (TRA2010-21644-C03-01, TRA2013-48180-C3-P, TRA2015-71883-REDT and ECO2017-86305-C4-4-R (AEI /FEDER, EU), and the Ibero-American Program for Science and Technology for Development (CYTED2014-515RT0489). We also want to acknowledge the support received from the CAN Foundation in Navarre, Spain (Grant ID 903 100010434 under the agreement LCF/PR/PR15/51100007).

[EN] It is known that the human visual system performs a hierarchical information process in which early vision cues (or primitives) are fused in the visual cortex to compose complex shapes and descriptors. While different aspects of the process have been extensively stud- ied, such as lens adaptation or feature detection, some other aspects, such as feature fusion, have been mostly left aside. In this work, we elaborate on the fusion of early vision prim- itives using generalizations of the Choquet integral, and novel aggregation operators that have been extensively studied in recent years. We propose to use generalizations of the Choquet integral to sensibly fuse elementary edge cues, in an attempt to model the behaviour of neurons in the early visual cortex. Our proposal leads to a fully-framed edge detection algorithm whose performance is put to the test in state-of-the-art edge detection datasets., The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (project PID2019-108392GB-I00 (AEI/10.13039/501100011033), the Research Services of Universidad Pública de Navarra, CNPq (307781/2016-0, 301618/2019-4), FAPERGS (19/2551-0001660) and PNPD/CAPES (464880/2019-00).

Aluminum (Al) hydroxide is an effective adjuvant used in sheep vaccines. However, Al-adjuvants have been implicated as potential contributors to a severe wasting syndrome in sheep&mdash, the so-called ovine autoimmune-inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA syndrome). This work aimed to characterize the effects of the repetitive injection of Al-hydroxide containing products in lambs. Four flocks (Flocks 1&ndash, 4, n = 21 each) kept under different conditions were studied. Three groups of seven lambs (Vaccine, Adjuvant-only, and Control) were established in each flock. Mild differences in average daily gain and fattening index were observed, indicating a reduced growth performance in Vaccine groups, likely related to short-term episodes of pyrexia and decreased daily intake. Clinical and hematological parameters remained within normal limits. Histology showed no significant differences between groups, although there was a tendency to present a higher frequency of hyperchromatic, shrunken neurons in the lumbar spinal cord in the Adjuvant-only group. Although Al-hydroxide was linked to granulomas at the injection site and behavioral changes in sheep, the results of the present experimental work indicate that injected Al-hydroxide is not enough to fully reproduce the wasting presentation of the ASIA syndrome. Other factors such as sex, breed, age, production system, diet or climate conditions could play a role.

Many thriving applications where isolation is required, such as traction and EV fast charging, implement solid-state transformers (SST). Half-cycle discontinuous-conduction-mode series resonant converters (HC-DCM-SRC) are suitable for these applications. The focus of this paper is to perform a comprehensive approach to HC-DCM-SRC and provide straight-forward requirements in order to ensure zero-loss switching (ZLS) of semiconductors. In addition, these requirements can be expressed as design boundaries for the transformer. Finally, the paper shows that, due to ZLS, silicon devices may have larger power capability than silicon-carbide switches. Therefore, IGBTs can be used instead of SiC MOSFETs, resulting in a significant cost reduction of the converter. This work was supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) under grant PID2019-110956RB-I00 and by the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) under a PhD scholarship

This study is the first to propose the use of aluminum saline slag as aluminum source in the synthesis of alumina pillared clays (Al-PILC). Aluminum was extracted from this waste using both alkaline and acid solutions and both were compared for preparation of the intercalation solutions used for the synthesis of Al-PILC. Variations in parameters such as [OH–]/[Al3+], Al/clay (mmol/g), clay/volume solution ratios and temperature were studied in the synthesis processes. The solids obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption at −196 °C, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), which confirmed that the pillaring process was successful. PILC obtained from both acid (Al-PILCAE) and alkaline (Al-PILCBE) extracts were evaluated as adsorbents for three organic pollutants, namely bisphenol A (BPA), 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6DCP) and triclosan (TCS), in batch mode. The resulting adsorption capacities were compared with montmorillonite (Mt) and an Al-PILC prepared by the conventional method, namely, dropwise addition of an NaOH solution into an aluminum chloride solution (Al-PILCCM). In all cases, the effect of factors such as pH, initial concentration of pollutant, adsorbent dosages and contact time was studied. The kinetic and equilibrium results obtained were evaluated using both pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetics, and Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips equation isotherms for the equilibrium. The kinetic study showed that the time needed to reach equilibrium was 30, 900 and 510 min for BPA, 2,6DCP and TCS, respectively. Moreover, adsorption data showed that the Al-PILCAE and Al-PILCBE synthesized have excellent potential as adsorbents for 2,6DCP and TCS, removing 98.46% and 98.47% of these compounds, respectively. YC thanks the Universidad Pública de Navarra for a pre-doctoral grant (IberusTalent, European Union's H2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement N° 801586). AG also thanks Santander Bank for funding via the Research Intensification Program.

Monocytic and granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells together with tumor-infiltrating macrophages constitute the main tumor-infiltrating immunosuppressive myeloid populations. Due to the phenotypic resemblance to conventional myeloid cells, their identification and purification from within the tumors is technically difficult and makes their study a challenge. We differentiated myeloid cells modeling the three main tumor-infiltrating types together with uncommitted macrophages, using ex vivo differentiation methods resembling the tumor microenvironment. The phenotype and proteome of these cells was compared to identify linage-dependent relationships and cancer-specific interactome expression modules. The relationships between monocytic MDSCs and TAMs, monocytic MDSCs and granulocytic MDSCs, and hierarchical relationships of expression networks and transcription factors due to lineage and cancer polarization were mapped. Highly purified immunosuppressive myeloid cell populations that model tumor-infiltrating counterparts were systematically analyzed by quantitative proteomics. Full functional interactome maps have been generated to characterize at high resolution the relationships between the three main myeloid tumor-infiltrating cell types. Our data highlights the biological processes related to each cell type, and uncover novel shared and differential molecular targets. Moreover, the high numbers and fidelity of ex vivo-generated subsets to their natu-ral tumor-shaped counterparts enable their use for validation of new treatments in high-throughput experiments. The Oncoimmunology Group is funded by the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC, PROYE16001ESCO); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)-FEDER Project Grants FIS PI17/02119, FIS PI20/00010; COV20/00000, and TRANSPOCART ICI19/00069; Biomedicine Project Grant from the Department of Health of the Government of Navarre-FEDER funds (BMED 050-2019); strategic projects from the Department of Industry, Government of Navarre (AGATA, Ref. 0011-1411-2020-000013; LINTERNA, Ref. 0011-1411-2020-000033; DESCARTHES, 0011-1411-2019-000058); European Project Horizon 2020 Improved Vaccination for Older Adults (ISOLDA; ID: 848166).

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtype and lacks targeted treatment. It is diagnosed by the absence of immunohistochemical expression of several biomarkers, but this method still displays some interlaboratory variability. DNA methylome aberrations are common in BC, thereby methylation profiling could provide the identification of accurate TNBC diagnosis biomarkers. Here, we generated a signature of differentially methylated probes with class prediction ability between 5 non-neoplastic breast and 7 TNBC tissues (error rate = 0.083). The robustness of this signature was corroborated in larger cohorts of additional 58 non-neoplastic breast, 93 TNBC, and 150 BC samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus repository, where it yielded an error rate of 0.006. Furthermore, we validated by pyrosequencing the hypo-methylation of three out of 34 selected probes (FLJ43663, PBX Homeobox 1 (PBX1), and RAS P21 protein activator 3 (RASA3) in 51 TNBC, even at early stages of the disease. Finally, we found significantly lower methylation levels of FLJ43663 in cell free-DNA from the plasma of six TNBC patients than in 15 healthy donors. In conclusion, we report a novel DNA methylation signature with potential predictive value for TNBC diagnosis. This research was funded by a competitive call of the Interreg Sudoe European Regional Development Fund (ONCONET, GT 1.2.) and by the Breast Cancer Patients’ Association of Navarre (SARAY). E.M.-S. received a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PTA2015-11895-I). S.M. was supported by a postdoctoral grant from Public University of Navarre (UPNA).

Purpose To perform a post hoc analysis of patient-incurred costs in a randomized controlled clinical trial comparing prostatic artery embolization (PAE) and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Materials and Methods Patients older than 60 years with indication of TURP were randomized to PAE or TURP procedure. After intervention and hospital discharge, patients were follow-up during 12 months The associated patient costs were categorized according to the study period: pre-intervention, intervention, hospitalization, and follow-up. Several items for both groups were analyzed within each study period. Results The mean total costs per patient were lower for PAE (€ 3,192.87) than for TURP (€ 3,974.57), with this difference of € 781.70 being significant (p = 0.026). For most evaluated items, the mean costs were significantly higher for TURP. No significant differences were observed in the mean costs of PAE (€ 1,468.00) and TURP (€ 1,684.25) procedures (p = 0.061). However, the histopathology analysis, recovery room stay, and intraoperative laboratory analysis increased the interventional costs for TURP (€ 1,999.70) compared with PAE (€ 1,468.00) (p p = 0.605). None of patients required a repeat intervention during the study period. Conclusions Considering the short-term follow-up, PAE was associated with significantly lower costs compared with TURP. Future investigations in the context of routine clinical practice should be aimed at comparing the long-term effectiveness of both procedures and determining their cost-effectiveness. Level of evidence: Level 1 (a-c)

The distribution of lip, oral cavity, and pharynx (LOCP) cancer mortality rates in small domains (defined as the combination of province, age group, and gender) remains unknown in Spain. As many of the LOCP risk factors are preventable, specific prevention programmes could be implemented but this requires a clear specification of the target population. This paper provides an in-depth description of LOCP mortality rates by province, age group and gender, giving a complete overview of the disease. This study also presents a methodological challenge. As the number of LOCP cancer cases in small domains (province, age groups and gender) is scarce, univariate spatial models do not provide reliable results or are even impossible to fit. In view of the close link between LOCP and lung cancer, we consider analyzing them jointly by using shared component models. These models allow information-borrowing among diseases, ultimately providing the analysis of cancer sites with few cases at a very disaggregated level. Results show that males have higher mortality rates than females and these rates increase with age. Regions located in the north of Spain show the highest LOCP cancer mortality rates. The work was supported by Project MTM2017-82553-R (AEI, UE), Project PID2020-113125RB-I00/MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Proyecto Jóvenes Investigadores PJUPNA2018-11.

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to appraise the acute effects of exercise training on inflammatory parameters in hospitalized older adults. We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Web of Science, Medline and PubMed were searched for studies published until August 2020. The review included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated and compared the effect of exercise versus usual care on inflammatory parameters in acutely hospitalized older adults. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies. The quality of all the included studies was assessed using the DerSimonian–Laird random-effects inverse-variance model. Five studies (275 participants) met the inclusion criteria. The exercise interventions included resistance or multicomponent intervention programs. The results indicate that, compared with usual care, exercise interventions have a positive impact on overall inflammatory parameters, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) (Hedge's g = −0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.33 to −0.04, p = 0.011, I2 = 0%). However, analyses of individual inflammatory parameters revealed a non-significant trend for reductions in CRP (Hedge's g = −0.20, 95% CI −0.47 to 0.07, p = 0.151, I2 = 31.2%) and IGF-I (Hedge's g = −0.34, 95% CI −0.79 to 0.11, p = 0.138, I2 = 0%). On the basis of this review, we conclude that exercise during acute hospitalization offers a mild improvement in the inflammatory profile over usual care in older patients. Nevertheless, due to limited number of RCTs, our findings must be interpreted with caution and confirmed in future studies. M.I. is funded in part by a research grant PI17/01814 from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria, y Competitividad (ISCIII, FEDER). R.R.-V. is funded in part by a Postdoctotal fellowship (grant ID 420/2019) of the Universidad Pública de Navarra, Spain. N.M.-V. is funded in part by a research grant from the Gobierno de Navarra: 'Project prevención de deterioro funcional del ancianofrágil con cáncer de pulmón mediante un programa de ejercicio tras valoración geriátrica integral'(Expediente 43/18), promoted by the Department of Health, as well as Fundacion Caja Navarra and Fundacion La Caixa. A.G.H. is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III—CP18/0150).

In this work, an experimental analysis of the performance of different types of quasi-randomly distributed reflectors inscribed into a single-mode fiber as a sensing mirror is presented. These artificially-controlled backscattering fiber reflectors are used in short linear cavity fiber lasers. In particular, laser emission and sensor application features are analyzed when employing optical tapered fibers, micro-drilled optical fibers and 50 μm-waist or 100 μm-waist micro-drilled tapered fibers (MDTF). Single-wavelength laser with an output power level of about 8.2 dBm and an optical signal-to-noise ratio of 45 dB were measured when employing a 50 μm-waist micro-drilled tapered optical fiber. The achieved temperature sensitivities were similar to those of FBGs; however, the strain sensitivity improved more than one order of magnitude in comparison with FBG sensors, attaining slope sensitivities as good as 18.1 pm/με when using a 50 μm-waist MDTF as distributed reflector. This work is part of the project PID2019-107270RB, funded by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER 'A way to make Europe', the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte of Spain (PhD grant FPU2018/02797), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 838143, the Beatriz Galindo BEAGAL18/00116 fellowship, the 'Fundación Caja Navarra' and 'Fundación la Caixa' with the proyect LCF/PR/PR13/51080004 and Projects for young researchers UPNA 2019.

Objectives. We investigated the association between physical fitness and cognitive status. Further, we examined whether physical fitness mediates the association between cognitive functioning and aging. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Urban and rural Colombian older adults. Methods. 4416 participants from the SABE study were included in the current analysis. Physical fitness was assessed with the handgrip test and the usual gait speed test. Cognitive status was evaluated through the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination. A parallel mediation path was used to test the possible mediator role of physical fitness between aging and cognitive functioning. Results. Older adults with lower handgrip strength (HGS) were more likely to have mild-cognitive status than older adults with healthy HGS (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.15, 2.02). In addition, older adults with a slower gait speed were more likely to have mild cognitive impairment (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.54, 2.78). Age had an inverse relationship with cognitive function (&beta, = &minus, 0.110, 95% CI = &minus, 0.130, &minus, 0.100) and it was also inversely associated with HGS (&beta, 0.003, 95% CI = &minus, 0.005, 0.002) and gait speed (&beta, 0.010, 95% CI = &minus, 0.011, 0.009). The indirect effects, which indicate that the effect of age on cognitive function is transmitted through mediators, showed that both gait speed (&beta, 0.028, 95% CI = &minus, 0.036, 0.020) and HGS (&beta, 0.014, 95% CI = &minus, 0.024, 0.005) were independent mediators of the detrimental effect of aging on cognitive function. Conclusions. Physical fitness mediates the effects of aging on cognitive functioning. Our findings suggest that physical activity can be a key factor to prevent cognitive deterioration during aging process.

The present study evaluated the effect of breed, Jaca Navarra (JN) vs. Burguete (BU), and finishing diet, conventional concentrate—diet 1 (D1) vs. silage and organic feed—diet 2 (D2), on the fatty acid composition and volatile profile of longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle from forty-six foals. For this, foals were reared under a semi-extensive system and slaughtered at about 21 months of age. The outcomes showed that breed and finishing regime had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the lipid and volatile profile of foal meat. In particular, JN foals reported higher polyunsaturated fatty acid contents and better nutritional indices in line with the health guidelines; whereas, BU and D1 groups generated higher amounts of total volatile compounds. However, it was the diet to occupy a central role in this study. Indeed, diet 2, due to its 'ingredients' and composition, not only ameliorated the lipid profile of foal meat, but also reduced the generation of volatile compounds associated with lipid oxidation and minimized off-flavors. Thus, this diet could give an added value to the aromatic perception of meat and improve its sensorial acceptability. This research was funded by Interreg V SUDOE, through the OPEN2PRESERVE project, Grant No. SOE2/P5/E0804. Acknowledgements to the Universidad Pública de Navarra for granting A.C. with a predoctoral scholarship (Resolution 787/2019). Thanks to GAIN (Axencia Galega de Innovación) for supporting this study (grant number IN607A2019/01).

The current study focuses on yield and nutritional quality changes of wheat grain over the last 166 years. It is based on wheat grain quality analyses carried out on samples collected between 1850 and 2016. Samples were obtained from the Broadbalk Continuous Wheat Experiment (UK) and from herbaria from 16 different countries around the world. Our study showed that, together with an increase in carbohydrate content, an impoverishment of mineral composition and protein content occurred. The imbalance in carbohydrate/protein content was specially marked after the 1960’s, coinciding with strong increases in ambient [CO2] and temperature and the introduction of progressively shorter straw varieties. The implications of altered crop physiology are discussed., This work was supported by the Spanish Innovation and Universities Ministry (AGL2016-79868-R; PCIN-2017-007), BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme grants, Designing Future Wheat (BB/P016855/1) and Soil to Nutrition (S2N, BBS/E/C/00I0310), the Long-term Experiments National Capability grant (BBS/E/C/000J0300), the Lawes Agricultural Trust and the Basque Country Government consolidated group programme (IT‐932‐16).

Development of miRNA optical biosensors for disease diagnosis and monitoring has acquired relevance in recent years, due to the clinical importance of miRNA and the inherent advantages of optical sensors. Here, we present the utilization of a fiber optic sensor based on Lossy Mode Resonance (LMR) for the detection of miRNA hsa-miR-223, a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This research was funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (PID2019-106231RB-I00), the Public University of Navarra (PJUPNA26), and the Spanish Ministry of Universities (FPU18/03087). In addition, this project has received funding from the ATTRACT call financed by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 777222.

Incluye material complementario Regular exercise training is a recognized lifestyle strategy to lower resting blood pressure (BP), but little is known about substrate metabolism in population with high BP. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 16-weeks of HIIT on body composition, BP, cardiorespiratory fitness by (Formula presented.) O2max, and substrate utilization during exercise among prehypertensive and hypertensive patients with excessive adiposity. We also aimed to test the potential association between changes in cardiorespiratory fitness, substrate utilization during exercise and BP. Forty-two physically inactive overweight/obese participants participated in 16-weeks of HIIT intervention. The HIIT frequency was three times a week (work ratio 1:2:10, for interval cycling: rest period: repeated times; 80–100% of the maximum heart rate). Groups were distributed based on their baseline BP: HIIT-hypertensive (H-HTN: age 47.7 ± 12.0 years; body mass index [BMI] 30.3 ± 5.5 kg/m2; systolic [SBP]/diastolic BP [DBP] 151.6 ± 10/81.9 ± 4.2 mmHg), HIIT-pre-hypertensive (H-PreHTN: age 37.6 ± 12.0 years; BMI 31.9 ± 5.3 kg/m2; SBP/DBP 134.4 ± 3.2/74.9 ± 7.0 mmHg), and a normotensive control group (H-CG: age 40.7 ± 11.0 years; BMI 29.5 ± 4.2 kg/m2; SBP/DBP 117.0 ± 6.2/72.4 ± 4.1 mmHg). Anthropometry/body composition, BP, and metabolic substrate utilization during exercise (fat [FATox], carbohydrate [CHOox] oxidation, respiratory exchange ratio [RER], and (Formula presented.) O2max), were measured before and after the 16-week HIIT intervention. Adjusted mixed linear models revealed a significant improved in (Formula presented.) O2max were + 3.34 in the H-CG, + 3.63 in the H-PreHTN, and + 5.92 mL⋅kg–1⋅min–1, in the H-HTN group, however, the Time × Group interaction were not significant (p = 0.083). All the exercise types induced similar decreases on SBP (−8.70) in the H-HTN, (−7.14) in the H-CG, and (−5.11) mmHg in the H-PreHTN, as well as DBP levels (−5.43) mmHg in H-CG group (p = 0.032 vs. H-HTN group). At 16-week, no significant correlations were noted for the changes of blood pressure, cardiorespiratory fitness or exercise metabolism substrates outcomes. In conclusion, our results suggest that a 16-week HIIT-intervention improved (Formula presented.) O2max and blood pressure BP, but these changes are independent of substrate utilization during exercise in normotensive and hypertensive participants with excessive adiposity. PD-F was funded by the Universidad de La Frontera. CÁ was funded by private funds and by the Universidad de Los Lagos. MI is also funded in part by a research grant PI17/01814 of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (ISCIII, FEDER). RR-V is funded in part by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Resolution ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra. DCA was supported by Vicerrectoria de Investigación throguh proyecto puente PEP I-2019050.

The aim of this article is to present the research protocol for a study that will evaluate the feasibility of implementation of Health Arcade prototype multidomain intervention based on physical and cognitive training using gamification technologies at improving care for older people hospitalized with an acute illness. A total of 40 older people will be recruited in a tertiary public hospital at Pamplona, Spain. The intervention duration will be four to nine consecutive days. Additionally, the patients will receive encouragement for maintaining active during hospital stay and for reducing sedentary time. Primary implementation-related outcomes will be the adherence to treatment (i.e., number of games and days completed during the intervention period), reaction or response time, and number of success and failures in each game per day. Secondary implementation-related outcomes will be self-perceived grade of difficulty, satisfaction, enjoyment per game and session, and self-perceived difficulties in handling the prototype hardware. Other health-related outcomes will also be assessed such as functional capacity in activities of daily living, mood status, quality of life, handgrip strength, physical activity levels, and mobility. The current study will provide additional evidence to support the implementation of multidomain interventions designed to target older persons with an acute illness based on friendly technology. The proposed intervention will increase accessibility of in-clinical geriatrics services, improve function, promote recovery of the health, and reduce economic costs. This study has been funded by a Gobierno de Navarra project grant (Resolucion 81E/2019, de 19 de junio). Expediente: 0011-1365-2019-000139; Sistema piloto de entrenamiento fisico multicomponente basado en tecnologias de gamificacion para la prevencion del deterioro funcional en ancianos hospitalizados 'HEALTH ARCADE'. N.M.-V. received funding from 'la Caixa' Foundation (ID 100010434), under agreement LCF/PR/PR15/51100006. R.R.-V. is funded in part by a Postdoctotal fellowship grant ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Publica de Navarra, Spain. A.G.-H. is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III -FSE, CP18/0150).

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic characterized by excessive fat accumulation, associated with multiple comorbidities and complications. Emerging evidence points to gut microbiome as a driving force in the pathogenesis of obesity. Vinegar intake, a traditional remedy source of exogenous acetate, has been shown to improve glycemic control and to have anti-obesity effects. New functional foods may be developed by supplementing traditional food with probiotics. B. coagulans is a suitable choice because of its resistance to high temperatures. To analyze the possible synergic effect of Vinegar and B. coagulans against the metabolic alterations induced by a high fat diet (HFD), we fed twelve-week-old C57BL/6 mice with HFD for 5 weeks after 2 weeks of acclimation on a normal diet. Then, food intake, body weight, blood biochemical parameters, histology and liver inflammatory markers were analyzed. Although vinegar drink, either alone or supplemented with B. coagulans, reduced food intake, attenuated body weight gain and enhanced glucose tolerance, only the supplemented drink improved the lipid serum profile and prevented hepatic HFD-induced overexpression of CD36, IL-1&beta, IL-6, LXR and SREBP, thus reducing lipid deposition in the liver. The beneficial properties of the B. coagulans-supplemented vinegar appear to be mediated by a reduction in insulin and leptin circulating levels.

The objectives of this secondary analysis are (1) to investigate the di erential e ects of exercise training modalities–high-intensity interval training (HIIT), resistance training (RT), combined training (CT = HIIT + RT), and/or nutritional guidance (NG) alone–on local fat/lean mass indexes in adults with excess of adiposity; (2) to identify the individual patterns of response based on either a clinical criterion of weight loss ( 5%) and/or technical error (TE) of measurement of local fat/lean mass indexes; and (3) to assess the individual change for body composition parameters assigned either to HIIT, RT, CT, and/or NG groups utilizing a TE. A 12-week trial was conducted in 55 participants randomized to one of the four interventions. The primary outcome was clinical change in body weight (i.e., weight loss of 5%). Secondary outcomes included change in ratio of android and gynoid fat mass, as well as local fat and lean mass indexes (arms, trunk, and legs), before and after intervention. The main findings from the current analysis revealed that (i) after 12 weeks of follow-up, significant decreases in several body composition indexes were found including body weight, arm, trunk, and legs fat mass, and android and gynecoid fat mass were observed in HIIT, RT, and CT groups (p < 0.05); (ii) a significant proportion of individuals showed a positive response following 12 weeks of training, led by the HIIT group with 44% and followed by RT with 39% in 9 indexes; (iii) the HIIT group showed lowest rates of adverse responders with (6%); and (iv) the individual patterns of response utilizing clinically meaningful weight loss were not necessarily associated with the corresponding individual training-induced changes in body composition indexes in adults with excess of adiposity. Overall, the study suggests that HIIT has an important ability to reduce the prevalence of non-response to improve body composition indexes., Universidad Publica de Navarra (UPNA) 420

Background: We studied the frequency of physician visits in the native and immigrant populations in Spain before and after implementation of a governmental measure to restrict the use of public healthcare services by undocumented immigrants beginning in 2012. Methods: Data were taken from the 2009 and 2014 European Health Surveys carried out in Spain. We investigated any physician consultation in the last 4 weeks before the interview, as well as visits to a family physician, public specialist physician and private specialist physician. We estimated the frequency of visits in 2009 and in 2014 in the native and immigrant populations and the difference in the frequency between the two populations, by calculating the percentage ratio estimated by binomial regression and adjusted for different confounders that are indicators of the need for assistance. Results: The percentage of persons who consulted any physician in 2009 and 2014 was 31.7 and 32.9% in the native population, and 25.6 and 30.1% in the immigrant population, respectively. In the immigrant population, the frequency of visits to the general practitioner and public specialist physician increased, whereas in the native population only public specialist physician visits increased. The frequency of private specialist visits remained stable in both populations. After adjusting for the indicators of need for healthcare, no significant differences between the immigrant and native populations were seen in the frequency of visits, except for private specialist consultations, which were less frequent among immigrants. Conclusion: The restriction of universal healthcare coverage in Spain did not reduce the frequency of physician visits between 2009 and 2014, as the frequency of these consultations was seen to increase in both the native and immigrant populations. This study was supported by a grant from the 'Plan Estatal de I + D', Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (no. CSO2017–83180-P). This study was supported by a grant from the “Plan Estatal de I + D, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (no. CSO2017–83180-P).

Results from several studies show that only obese, unfit subjects, but not obese, fit subjects, are at higher mortality risk than are normal-weight fit subjects. The aim of the study was two-fold: (1) to examine the differences in C-reactive protein levels across different metabolic phenotypes (healthy and unhealthy) of weight status and (2) ascertain whether high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) attenuate the association of C-reactive protein and metabolic phenotypes of weight status. This was a pooled study, which included data from three cross-sectional projects (1706 youth (921 girls) aged 12–18 years). We used a Shuttle run test to assess CRF. Adolescents were classified into six metabolic phenotypes (healthy and unhealthy) of weight status (non-overweight, overweight and obese), based on age- and sex-specific cutoff points for triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, glucose and body mass index. High-sensitivity assays were used to obtain the C-reactive protein as inflammatory biomarker. After adjustment for potential confounders (age, sex, pubertal stage and country), the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) shows that C-reactive protein is directly associated with metabolic phenotypes of weight status. Subjects with obesity, regardless of their metabolic profile, had higher levels of C-reactive protein Z-score. In addition, (after adjustments for potential confounders) a two-way ANCOVA showed that high levels of CRF attenuated the associations of C-reactive protein levels in metabolic healthy non-overweight and in adolescents with obesity. In conclusion, higher CRF levels may attenuate the detrimental association between obesity and C-reactive protein independently of metabolic phenotype. Findings from this study are important for prevention, clinical practice on issues associated with adiposity and metabolic disorders., The Research Centre on Physical Activity Health and Leisure (CIAFEL) is supported by UID/DTP/00617/2013 (FCT). R.S. has a Discovery Early Career Research Award from the Australian Research Council (DE150101921). The FUPRECOL Study was carried out with the financial support of Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología “Francisco José de Caldas” COLCIENCIAS (Contract Nº 671-2014 Code 122265743978). The authors are grateful to the Bogota District Education Secretary for the data used in this study. The authors also thank the participating Bogota District students, teachers, schools and staff. This study was funded by the Department of Education (Grand number: CENEDUCA1/2019) of the Government of Navarra (Spain). A.G.-H. is a Miguel Servet Fellow (Instituto de Salud Carlos III—CP18/0150). R.R.-V. is funded in part by a Postdoctoral Fellowship Resolution ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra.

The adverse effects of fat mass on functional dependence might be attenuated or worsened, depending on the level of muscular strength. The aim of this study was to determine (i) the detrimental effect of excess adiposity on dependence in activities of daily living (ADL), and (ii) whether relative handgrip strength (HGS) moderates the adverse effect of excess adiposity on dependence, and to provide the threshold of relative HGS from which the adverse effect could be improved or worsened. A total of 4169 participants (69.3 &plusmn, 7.0 years old) from 244 municipalities were selected following a multistage area probability sampling design. Measurements included anthropometric/adiposity markers (weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR)), HGS, sarcopenia &ldquo, proxy&rdquo, (calf circumference), and ADL (Barthel Index scale). Moderation analyses were performed to identify associations between the independent variable (relative HGS) and outcomes (dependence), as well as to determine whether relative HGS moderates the relationship between excess adiposity and dependence. The present study demonstrated that (i) the adverse effect of having a higher WHtR level on dependence in ADL was moderated by relative HGS, and (ii) two moderation thresholds of relative HGS were estimated: 0.35, below which the adverse effect of WHtR levels on dependency is aggravated, and 0.62, above which the adverse effect of fat on dependency could be improved. Because muscular strength represents a critically important and modifiable predictor of ADL, and the increase in adiposity is inherent in aging, our results underscore the importance of an optimal level of relative HGS in the older adult population.

Normal-weight obesity (NWO) syndrome has been shown to be associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction. However, little is known regarding this potential relationship in Latin American children and adolescents. The aim of this study was two-fold: (i) to investigate whether Colombian youth with NWO syndrome have a poorer cardiometabolic profile and physical fitness performance than normal-weight lean (NWL) peers, and (ii) to determine if physical fitness levels are related to prevalence of normal-weight obesity in youth. This was an analytical cross-sectional study of 1919 youths (9&ndash, 179 years old, 53.0% girls) in the capital area of Colombia. NWO was defined as a body mass index &lt, 25 kg/m2 and a validated body fat percentage above the sex-age-specific 90th percentile for Colombian children and adolescents. Body fat was estimated using bioelectrical impedance analysis, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was estimated using the 20-meter shuttle run test, and muscular fitness with the handgrip test. Biochemical profile blood samples were collected for cardiometabolic risk factors. After adjusting for chronological age, pubertal stage, and Mediterranean diet adherence, the NWO group (boys and girls) had significantly higher values for cardiometabolic risk factors, and waist circumference (WC) than the NWL group. The prevalence of NWO was lower in youth classified with healthy CRF (boys, odds ratio (OR) = 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37 to 0.78, girls, OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.50), p &lt, 0.001. Our findings indicate that using only body mass index for the assessment of cardiometabolic risk likely misrepresents true adiposity and suggest the need to include the assessment of body fat in the routine clinical evaluation of individuals during childhood and adolescence.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia are highly prevalent worldwide. People who suffer from these disorders often receive in-home care and assistance from family members, who must dedicate a considerable amount of time to the care recipient. The study of family caregivers' psychosocial adjustment to the degenerative processes of both conditions is of interest due to the implications for the quality of life of both the care receiver and the caregiver, as well as other family members. This study compares the psychosocial adjustment of family members who care for people with dementia and Parkinson's disease and identifies the main sociodemographic variables that affect the processes of adjustment to both conditions. To this end, the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS-SR) and a sociodemographic form were administered to 157 family caregivers in Navarre, Spain. The results show that adjustment to the disease in family caregivers of people with Parkinson's disease and dementia is, in general, satisfactory and related to variables such as place of residence, income, and employment status. The illness itself (Parkinson's or dementia), however, is found to be the most influential variable in the level of psychosocial adjustment., Ignacio García and José Moler acknowledge the financial support received from the project MTM2016-77015-R.

Normal-weight obesity (NWO) has been shown to be associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction. However, little is known regarding this potential relationship in early adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between NWO and cardiometabolic risk factors in a large population of Colombian young adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1354 subjects (61% women), aged from 18 to 30. Anthropometric data, including body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), were estimated, and the percentage of fat mass was measured through bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Muscular fitness was determined by using a handgrip strength test and normalized grip strength (NGS = handgrip (kg)/body mass (kg)). A cardiometabolic risk Z-score was derived by assessing WC, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) cholesterol, fasting glucose, and systolic blood pressure. NWO was defined by the combination of excess %BF (over 25.5% for men and 38.9% for women) and a BMI &lt, 25 kg/m2. The overall prevalence of NWO was 39.1%. Subjects with NWO have an increased risk of cardiometabolic risk compared to the normal-weight lean group (OR = 3.10). Moreover, NWO was associated with an increased risk of presenting low HDL-C (OR = 2.34), high abdominal obesity (OR = 7.27), and low NGS (OR = 3.30), p &lt, 0.001. There is a high prevalence of NWO in American Latin young adults and this condition is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk, high blood pressure, low HDL-C, high abdominal obesity, and low muscular strength early in life. Screening for adiposity in subjects with a normal BMI could help to identify young adults at a high risk of cardiometabolic abnormalities.

Digital educational games research tends to lack ecological validity by not adequately taking into account the views and perspectives of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In technology applications for autism there is also a focus mostly on learning of social communication rather than academic subjects. This paper is a pilot study that explores the potential of including the views and perspectives of people with autism by analysing an academic-based educational game that was co-designed with and for young people with ASD. The serious game aims to help the players learn Geography-specific knowledge and integrates several strategic features so that users can collaborate together against the computer or compete against each other. The educational game was evaluated over five sessions by three peer teams from two different special educational institutions, involving a total of six students with ASD. The participants were positive about their enjoyment and motivation as well as social engagement. The results showed that the players’ level of competitiveness not only influenced the experience within the game but also the interaction within the peer teams. The game mechanisms did help the participants with ASD increase their knowledge in Geography content. The main conclusion is that there are considerable benefits of including children with ASD in the design process and future research should explore more fully how their involvement can enhance curriculum-based learning as well as social engagement within the classroom.

Video game companies are increasingly diversifying their profit models. Rather than relying exclusively on the sale of video game titles or the subscription model, video game companies are maximising the revenues and extending the lifecycle of their games by means of a strategy based on the sale of in-game goods. This study contributes to the theory on ingame goods purchases by explaining why and how video game players purchase different types of in-game goods. We used an inductive approach involving qualitative data analysis based on grounded theory. Six types of in-game goods are grouped into three categories: functional-based goods, probability-based goods, and ornamental-based goods. After acknowledging the heterogeneity of the categories, a conceptual framework is developed by conducting 21 in-depth interviews, from which it emerges that players purchase functional- based goods, probability-based goods, and ornamental-based goods for different motives and through the different behavioural processes. First, the purchase of functionalbased goods is a strategy for entering the flow experience. Second, the purchase of probability- based goods is a compromise for purchase restrictions. Third, the purchase of ornamental goods is driven by the synergism of intrinsic motivations and exposure in the virtual world. Therefore, video game researchers should not treat in-game goods as a homogeneous concept. The findings also suggest that it is critically important for video game developers to strike a balance between the challenges of the gameplay and the skills of players because excessively raising (or lowering) the level of difficulty could pose a threat to the company¿s sustainable profit. Spanish Ministry of Education and Science [Project number: ECO2015-65393-R and PID2019-108554RB-I00] and the Public University of Navarre.

Salmonellosis is the second most common food-borne zoonosis in the European Union, with pigs being a major reservoir of this pathogen. Salmonella control in pig production requires multiple measures amongst which vaccination may be used to reduce subclinical carriage and shedding of prevalent serovars, such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Live attenuated vaccine strains offer advantages in terms of enhancing cell mediated immunity and allowing inoculation by the oral route. However, main failures of these vaccines are the limited cross-protection achieved against heterologous serovars and interference with serological monitoring for infection. We have recently shown that an attenuated S. Enteritidis strain (ΔXIII) is protective against S. Typhimurium in a murine infection model. ΔXIII strain harbours 13 chromosomal deletions that make it unable to produce the sigma factor RpoS and synthesize cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP). In this study, our objectives were to test the protective effects of ΔXIII strain in swine and to investigate if the use of ΔXIII permits the discrimination of vaccinated from infected pigs. Results show that oral vaccination of pre-weaned piglets with ΔXIII cross-protected against a challenge with S. Typhimurium by reducing faecal shedding and ileocaecal lymph nodes colonization, both at the time of weaning and slaughter. Vaccinated pigs showed neither faecal shedding nor tissue persistence of the vaccine strain at weaning, ensuring the absence of ΔXIII strain by the time of slaughter. Moreover, lack of the SEN4316 protein in ΔXIII strain allowed the development of a serological test that enabled the differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). SB was supported by a predoctoral contract from the Public University of Navarra. CG, ME and BG were recipients of postdoctoral contracts under Grant BIO2014-53530-R. This research was supported by grant IIM 13329.RI1 from the Departamento de Innovación, Empresa y Empleo, Government of Navarra and grants BIO2014-53530-R and BIO2017-83035-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Agencia Española de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, European Union).

Incluye material complementario The Human Proteome Project (HPP) consortium aims to functionally characterize the dark proteome. On the basis of the relevance of olfaction in early neurodegeneration, we have analyzed the dark proteome using data mining in public resources and omics data sets derived from the human olfactory system. Multiple dark proteins localize at synaptic terminals and may be involved in amyloidopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have characterized the dark PITH domain-containing protein 1 (PITHD1) in olfactory metabolism using bioinformatics, proteomics, in vitro and in vivo studies, and neuropathology. PITHD1-/- mice exhibit olfactory bulb (OB) proteome changes related to synaptic transmission, cognition, and memory. OB PITHD1 expression increases with age in wild-type (WT) mice and decreases in Tg2576 AD mice at late stages. The analysis across 6 neurological disorders reveals that olfactory tract (OT) PITHD1 is specifically upregulated in human AD. Stimulation of olfactory neuroepithelial (ON) cells with PITHD1 alters the ON phosphoproteome, modifies the proliferation rate, and induces a pro-inflammatory phenotype. This workflow applied by the Spanish C-HPP and Human Brain Proteome Project (HBPP) teams across the ON-OB-OT axis can be adapted as a guidance to decipher functional features of dark proteins. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifiers PXD018784 and PXD021634. This work was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science Innovation and Universities (ref. PID2019-110356RB-I00 to JFI and ES) and Department of Economic and Business Development from Government of Navarra (ref. 0011-1411-2020-000028) to ES and from MEXT-JSPS 17K08884 and Takeda Science Foundation to IO. The Proteomics Unit of Navarrabiomed is a member of Proteored (PRB3-ISCIII) and is supported by grant PT17/0019/009 to JFI, of the PE I+D+I 2013–2016 funded by ISCIII and FEDER. MLM was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Public University of Navarra (UPNA).

Incluye material complementario Background: Our aim was to investigate the association of macroeconomic, human development, and demographic factors with different domains of physical activity and sitting time among South American adults. Methods: We used data from nationally representative samples in Argentina (n = 26,932), Brazil (n = 52,490), Chile (n = 3866), Colombia (n = 14,208), Ecuador (n = 19,883), Peru (n = 8820), and Uruguay (n = 2403). Our outcomes included leisure time (≥150 min/week), transport (≥10 min/week), occupational (≥10 min/week), and total (≥150 min/week) physical activity, as well as sitting time (≥4 h/day), which were collected through self-reported questionnaires. As exposures, gross domestic product, total population, population density, and human development index indicators from the most updated national census of each country were used. Age and education were used as covariates. Multilevel logistic regressions with harmonized random effect meta-analyses were conducted, comparing highest vs. lowest (reference) tertiles. Results: Higher odds for transport physical activity were observed among the highest tertiles of total population (ORmen: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.23–1.62), ORwomen: 1.51; 95% CI:1.32–1.73), population density (ORmen: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.18–1.57, ORwomen: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.30–1.70), and gross domestic product (ORmen: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.00–1.35, ORwomen: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.20–1.61). For leisure physical activity, women living in departments with higher human development index presented 18% higher odds for being active, and for total physical activity a similar estimate in both sexes was observed among those who live in more populated areas. No consistent associations were found for occupational physical activity and sitting time. Conclusion: Macroeconomic, demographic and human development indicators are associated with different domains of physical activity in the South American context, which can in turn guide policies to promote physical activity in the region. AW is funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) with a PhD scholarship (FAPESP process: 2019/24124–7). RR-V is funded in part by a Postdoctotal fellowship grant ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra, Spain. JJM acknowledges having received support from the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (HQHSR1206660), the Bernard Lown Scholars in Cardiovascular Health Program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (BLSCHP-1902), Bloomberg Philanthropies (via University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health), FONDECYT via CIENCIACTIVA/CONCYTEC, British Council, British Embassy and the Newton-Paulet Fund (223–2018, 224–2018), DFID/MRC/Wellcome Global Health Trials (MR/M007405/1), Fogarty International Center (R21TW009982, D71TW010877), Grand Challenges Canada (0335–04), International Development Research Center Canada (IDRC 106887, 108167), Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI CRN3036), Medical Research Council (MR/P008984/1, MR/P024408/1, MR/P02386X/1), National Cancer Institute (1P20CA217231), National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (HHSN268200900033C, 5U01HL114180, 1UM1HL134590), National Institute of Mental Health (1U19MH098780), Swiss National Science Foundation (40P740–160366), Wellcome (074833/Z/04/Z, 093541/Z/10/Z, 103994/Z/14/Z, 107435/Z/15/Z, 205177/Z/16/Z, 214185/Z/18/Z, 218743/Z/19/Z) and the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF15–1224).

This article analyzes the relationship between family policies focused on childcare for children under the age of three and fertility levels. In the current context of very low European fertility, it is important to understand whether public support for families can help increase fertility or if, on the contrary, existing fertility levels are the exact reflection of the reproductive desires of families, regardless of the family-support of the policies that may exist in each country. This analysis was carried out through a stochastic dynamic mathematical model that incorporates both demographic variables and family policy variables. A sensitivity analysis was carried out on Spain and Norway, two countries that have very different models of family policies. This sensitivity analysis allows establishing a relationship between the existing family policies and the total fertility rate and also the expected evolution of fertility rates in the future, if the current family policies remain constant. The results showed that the models which lead to an increase in fertility are those which are most generous and which also incorporate a gender perspective, so they allow the identification of good practices and maximum levels of policy efficiency in regards to different objectives such as increase fertility and advances towards gender equality. By contrast, models with erratic and insufficient support clearly contribute to maintaining fertility at very low levels and perpetuate unequal gender relationships. There is, therefore, space for state agency to develop more effective public policies in both dimensions. This study was conducted under two competitive research projects: Ecuaciones en Derivadas Parciales Singulares (MTM2017-85449-P) and Childcare Practices among Families in Spain: Agents, Practices and Satisfaction (CSO2017-84634-R), funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. It was also supported by the I-Communitas Research Institute—Institute for Advanced Social Research of the Public University of Navarra and the Department of Social Analysis of the Carlos III University of Madrid.

To investigate the infuence of exercise on inflammatory signalling, it was performed cytokine array profiling in human serum to identify inflammatory cytokines produced after a 3 day in-hospital intervention including individualized moderate-intensity resistance, balance, and walking exercises vs. medical usual-care for acute hospitalization in very elderly patients. This study was funded by a Gobierno de Navarra project Resolución grant 2186/2014, and acknowledged with the 'Beca Ortiz de Landazuri' for the best research clinical project in 2014, as well as by a research grant PI17/01814 of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (ISCIII, FEDER). The Proteomics Unit of Navarrabiomed is a member of Proteored (PRB3‐ISCIII) and is supported by grant PT17/0019/009 to J.F.‐I, of the PE I+D+I 2013‐2016 funded by ISCIII and FEDER.R.R.‐V. is funded in part by a postdoctotal fellowship grant ID 420/2019 of the Universidad Pública de Navarra, Spain.

Background Ovarian cancer is a silent and largely asymptomatic cancer, leading to late diagnosis and worse prognosis. The late-stage detection and low survival rates, makes the study of the space-time evolution of ovarian cancer particularly relevant. In addition, research of this cancer in small areas (like provinces or counties) is still scarce. Methods The study presented here covers all ovarian cancer deaths for women over 50 years of age in the provinces of Spain during the period 1989-2015. Spatio-temporal models have been fitted to smooth ovarian cancer mortality rates in age groups [50,60), [60,70), [70,80), and [80,+), borrowing information from spatial and temporal neighbours. Model fitting and inference has been carried out using the Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) technique. Results Large differences in ovarian cancer mortality among the age groups have been found, with higher mortality rates in the older age groups. Striking differences are observed between northern and southern Spain. The global temporal trends (by age group) reveal that the evolution of ovarian cancer over the whole of Spain has remained nearly constant since the early 2000s. Conclusion Differences in ovarian cancer mortality exist among the Spanish provinces, years, and age groups. As the exact causes of ovarian cancer remain unknown, spatio-temporal analyses by age groups are essential to discover inequalities in ovarian cancer mortality. Women over 60 years of age should be the focus of follow-up studies as the mortality rates remain constant since 2002. High-mortality provinces should also be monitored to look for specific risk factors.