1,009 results match your criteria: "Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.[Affiliation]"

Background: Adolescence is a crucial phase for developing healthy eating habits with lifelong health implications. Digital interventions, such as smartphone apps and web platforms, have emerged as promising strategies to promote healthy eating habits among adolescents by using behavior change techniques (BCTs). This study aims to systematically review internet-based dietary interventions targeting adolescents, focusing on the analysis of BCTs employed, their delivery modes, and their impact on adolescents' adherence and engagement.

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The embodied approach to language meaning suggests that negation with action verbs decreases activation of the negated concept, reflected in reduced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This study aims to explore how action negation influences inhibitory and facilitatory mechanisms within the primary motor cortex (M1) using paired-pulse TMS (ppTMS). We evaluated corticospinal excitability (CSE), short intracortical inhibition (SICI), indexing GABAA activity, and intracortical facilitation (ICF), related to glutamatergic activity.

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Well-designed effective interventions promoting sustainable diets are urgently needed to benefit both human and planetary health. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a pilot blended digital intervention aimed at promoting sustainable diets. We conducted a series of ABA n-of-1 trials with baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases over the course of a year, involving twelve participants.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic greatly challenged health systems worldwide. The adoption and application of mHealth technology emerged as a critical response. However, the permanent implementation and use of such technology faces several barriers, which vary by each country's innovation level and specific health policies.

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Explaining cognitive function in multiple sclerosis through networks of grey and white matter features: a joint independent component analysis.

J Neurol

January 2025

NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.

Cognitive impairment (CI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is only partially explained by whole-brain volume measures, but independent component analysis (ICA) can extract regional patterns of damage in grey matter (GM) or white matter (WM) that have proven more closely associated with CI. Pathology in GM and WM occurs in parallel, and so patterns can span both. This study assessed whether joint-ICA of GM and WM features better explained cognitive function compared to single-tissue ICA.

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To ensure the fairness and trustworthiness of machine learning (ML) systems, recent legislative initiatives and relevant research in the ML community have pointed out the need to document the data used to train ML models. Besides, data-sharing practices in many scientific domains have evolved in recent years for reproducibility purposes. In this sense, academic institutions' adoption of these practices has encouraged researchers to publish their data and technical documentation in peer-reviewed publications such as data papers.

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Bilingual language control is a dynamic cognitive system that enables individuals to effectively manage language use and prevent interference when switching between languages. Research indicates that certain neurodegenerative conditions may influence language-switching abilities or hinder the suppression of cross-language interference. However, it remains uncertain whether neurodegeneration primarily affecting mesial temporal structures, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), impacts lexical retrieval in dual-language naming conditions.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how personalized dietary approaches using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) can effectively manage post-prandial glucose response (PPGR) in older adults with prediabetes or early type 2 diabetes.
  • Data collected over two weeks indicated that measures like the mean amplitude of glucose excursions (MAGE) and fasting glucose levels were strong predictors of glucose response during meals and oral glucose tolerance tests.
  • The findings suggest CGM-based strategies could enhance personalized nutrition and medical interventions for better controlling glucose levels in this demographic.
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Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a generalized, widespread chronic pain disorder affecting 2.7% of the general population. In recent years, different studies have observed a strong association between FM and psychological trauma.

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More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Disrupted Core Periphery of Multiplex Brain Networks in Multiple Sclerosis.

Hum Brain Mapp

January 2025

Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.

Disruptions to brain networks, measured using structural (sMRI), diffusion (dMRI), or functional (fMRI) MRI, have been shown in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), highlighting the relevance of regions in the core of the connectome but yielding mixed results depending on the studied connectivity domain. Using a multilayer network approach, we integrated these three modalities to portray an enriched representation of the brain's core-periphery organization and explore its alterations in PwMS. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we selected PwMS and healthy controls with complete multimodal brain MRI acquisitions from 13 European centers within the MAGNIMS network.

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Introduction: In Spain, legislation protecting women during the menopausal transition and postmenopause is still in its early stages. For public policies to be effective, it is essential that their design, implementation, and evaluation actively involve women going through this stage. Only from their experience and perspective can the impact of measures be maximized and ensure that they truly respond to their needs and realities.

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Empowerment among breast cancer survivors using an online peer support community.

Support Care Cancer

December 2024

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute IDIBELL, Psychooncology and Digital Health Group, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.

Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) impacts the patients' quality of life. Peer support can provide emotional understanding and enhances access to information, social support, coping strategies, and empowerment. Comunitats is an online peer support community app for BC survivors that involves healthcare professionals.

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The disadvantaged populations eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) epidemiology (DEGREE) study was designed to gain insight into the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of undetermined cause (CKDu) using standard protocols to estimate the general-population prevalence of low eGFR internationally. Therefore, we estimated the age-standardized prevalence of eGFR under 60 ml/min per 1.73m in adults aged 18-60, excluding participants with commonly known causes of CKD; an ACR (albumin/creatinine ratio) over 300 mg/g or equivalent, or self-reported or measured (HT) hypertension or (DM) diabetes mellitus, stratified by sex and location.

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Association of critically short telomeres with brain and blood markers of ageing and Alzheimer's disease in older adults.

Alzheimers Res Ther

December 2024

Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND "Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders", NeuroPresage Team, Cyceron, Boulevard Henri Becquerel, BP 5229, 14074, Caen Cedex, France.

Background: Accumulation of critically short telomeres (CST) is implicated in decreased tissular regenerative capacity and increased susceptibility to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Telomere shortening has also been associated with age-related brain changes. However, it remains unclear whether CST accumulation is directly associated with AD markers or instead amplifies age-related effects, potentially increasing susceptibility of developing AD in cognitively healthy older adults.

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Sexual boredom in women is associated with various levels and dimensions of sexual desire, as well as lower sexual and relationship satisfaction. However, the directionality of these relationships remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether sexual boredom mediates the relationship between partner and attractive-other sexual desire and sexual and relationship satisfaction in a sample of 1155 Portuguese women in long-term monogamous relationships.

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Vascular risk factors are associated with grey matter atrophy in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Eur J Neurol

January 2025

Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.

Background: Comorbidities including vascular risk factors can be associated with whole and regional brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS). This has been examined in mixed MS cohorts in prospective or observational studies; however, the association between vascular comorbidities (VCM) in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and brain atrophy has been less well studied. The aim was to investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between VCM, comorbidity burden and brain atrophy in SPMS.

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Article Synopsis
  • The article discusses the evolution of practice-based evidence in psychological therapies, emphasizing the need for assessments in routine care to support clinical decisions and gather valuable data for researchers.
  • A European initiative aims to create a consortium capable of collecting extensive patient data each year to enhance understanding and implementation of psychological therapies.
  • Challenges include a wide variety of existing measures, with efforts underway to standardize these using a proposed single-item measure, the Emotional and Psychological Outcome (EPO-1), which is being translated into multiple languages for broader use.
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Purpose: The present study aims to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a novel multi-tiered narrative intervention program-the multimodal narrative (MMN) program-in Catalan that was co-created to boost preschool children's narrative and pragmatic skills.

Method: First, we describe here in detail the novel program, which consisted of a set of interventions oriented around the retelling of a narrative in a multimodal fashion, that is, with an abundant use of appropriate gesture and facial expression and careful attention to the pragmatic aspects of communication. We then describe the results of a self-reported feasibility study (Study 1) after this program was trial-implemented by 31 preschool teachers and speech-language therapists in their respective professional contexts.

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Evaluating multiple sclerosis severity loci 30 years after a clinically isolated syndrome.

Brain Commun

December 2024

NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3BG, UK.

The first genome-wide significant multiple sclerosis severity locus, rs10191329, has been pathologically linked to cortical lesion load and brain atrophy. However, observational cohorts such as MSBase have not replicated associations with disability outcomes, instead finding other loci. We evaluated rs10191329 and MSBase loci in a unique cohort of 53 people followed for 30 years after a clinically isolated syndrome, with deep clinical phenotyping and MRI measures of inflammation and neurodegeneration.

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Polygenic risk and subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic middle-aged individuals. The ILERVAS study.

Clin Investig Arterioscler

December 2024

Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, España; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de la Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, España; Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona, España. Electronic address:

Introduction And Objectives: More than 50% of first cardiovascular events (CVE) occur in populations identified as at low or intermediate risk by the risk equations, so the inclusion of additional variables, such as polygenic risk scores (PRS), has been proposed to improve the predictive capacity of these equations. The aim of this study was to assess whether a PRS, independently or with clinical risk equations, is associated with the presence, severity and extent of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Methods: 109 subjects with atherosclerosis were selected from the ILERVAS cohort (primary prevention) and matched with 109 participants without atherosclerosis of the same age, sex and SCORE2 risk level.

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This paper presents a comprehensive dataset detailing the precise indoor positioning of players from a female amateur handball team across 10 real matches. Utilizing Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, the dataset captures each player's x and y coordinates every second throughout the games. Additionally, a preliminary game analysis is included, specifying the initiation and termination times of each team's possession.

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Article Synopsis
  • Eccentric exercises can lead to muscle damage and inflammation, but curcumin, especially when stabilized, may help reduce these effects for athletes.
  • This systematic review evaluates existing research on curcumin's effectiveness in minimizing muscle damage from sports activities.
  • A total of 11 studies were analyzed, showing that curcumin supplementation may alleviate symptoms like pain and improve recovery after eccentric exercise.
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Editorial: Chrononutrition and health.

Front Nutr

November 2024

Integrated Sciences and Mathematics, Dhanani School of Science and Engineering, Habib University, Karachi, Pakistan.

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Amid public concern surrounding the proprietary and exploitative use of personal data by corporations and public institutions, and its consequences from a sociotechnical perspective, narratives around digital commons have recently emerged, framing potential alternatives. This paper presents the co-creation of the Digital Democracy and Data Commons Manifesto through a collaborative writing sprint, drawing on principles of openness, diversity, and inclusivity. The manifesto articulates a technopolitical vision for data governance that prioritizes community control over data.

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Leveraging Urban Water Distribution Systems with Smart Sensors for Sustainable Cities.

Sensors (Basel)

November 2024

Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Rambla del Poblenou 156, 08018 Barcelona, Spain.

Optimizing urban water distribution systems is essential for reducing economic losses, minimizing water wastage, and addressing resource access gaps, particularly in drought-prone regions impacted by climate change. We apply advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and the Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize water networks in Spain using simulation. By employing EPANET for hydraulic modeling and a linear regression-based algorithm for optimization, we achieved up to 96.

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