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Solving arithmetic word problems is a complex task that requires individuals to activate their working memory resources, as well as the correct performance of the underlying executive processes involved in order to inhibit semantic biases or superficial responses caused by the problem’s statement. This paper describes a study carried out with 135 students of Secondary Obligatory Education, each of whom solved 5 verbal arithmetic problems: 2 consistent problems, whose mathematical operation (add/subtract) and the verbal statement of the problem coincide, and 3 inconsistent problems, whose required operation is the inverse of the one suggested by the verbal term(s). Measures of reading comprehension, visual–spatial reasoning and deductive reasoning were also obtained. The results show the relationship between arithmetic problems and cognitive measures, as well as the ability of these problems to predict academic performance. Regression analyses confirmed that arithmetic word problems were the only measure with significant power of association with academic achievement in both History/Geography (β = 0.25) and Mathematics (β = 0.23).

The main objective of this study was to assess semen characteristics of patients with testicular cancer before cryopreservation and after thawing, to evaluate the consequences of this technique on sperm quality in patients with testicular cancer. Five hundred eighty-nine samples from 543 patients with testicular cancer were cryopreserved between 1995 and 2015, one aliquot per patient was used for a thawing test to assess the impact of cryopreservation on sperm motility; semen analysis was performed before cryo preservation and after thawing, the result interpretation was carried out using the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) Laboratory Manual, and consent forms were signed by the patients for freezing and when sperm was used for reproductive purposes. Hypospermia was observed in 28.7% of samples, the median sperm concentration was 18 million/mL with 35% oligozoospermia; twenty-two patients (4.1%) had azoospermia and 12.7% had severe oligozoospermia, the median sperm count was 31.3 million and 261 semen samples (44.3%) were normal in all parameters according to the WHO; total motile sperm count before cryopreservation and after thawing was 12 (0-412.2) and 7 (0-303.9) million sperm, respectively (p < 0.00001, 95% CI 5.48-14.91), which represents a 32% reduction; concerning the utilization of cryopreserved semen samples, only twelve patients (2.2%) used their frozen sperm for reproductive purposes. An impairment in semen quality was found in almost half of the samples from patients with testicular cancer, only few patients had azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia; sperm cryopreservation significantly reduces sperm motility and total motile sperm count and very few patients use their frozen sperm for reproductive purposes.

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the development of premature children, including attachment, child psychological adjustment and parental variables. 130 children < 1,500 g or < 32 weeks at birth from two public hospitals, assessed at two years corrected age, together with their parents. Parental socio-demographic data was collected. Infant development, attachment and child psychological adjustment were evaluated, as was parental stress. The percentage of preterm children with developmental delays ranged from 5% to 21%. Girls tend to show higher levels of development than boys with effect sizes ranging from small, η2p = .02, to medium, η2p = .07. Secure attachment was the most frequent pattern in the sample. No significant differences, p < .05, between preterm children and the normative population were found on children´s behavioral problems and maternal stress levels. Despite the fact prematurity is considered to be a risk factor for a child´s development, a significant proportion of these children do not show problems in terms of developmental levels, attachment pattern and maternal stress. However, socio-emotional and affective domains, as well as psychological support programs for parenthood, should be followed up from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Reading comprehension is a highly demanding task that involves the simultaneous process of extracting and constructing meaning in which working memory's executive processes play a crucial role. In this article, a training program on working memory's executive processes to improve reading comprehension is presented and empirically tested in two experiments with third-grade primary school students. Experiment 1 showed a greater gain after training the experimental group in contrast to the control group in reading comprehension and intelligence. In experiment 2, we focused on the training processes and compared training results of high and low pretest reading comprehension groups. Results confirmed the increase in reading comprehension, intelligence, and executive processes and showed that the low group reached a greater gain in reading comprehension after training than the high group did. The results of these experiments and their limitations are discussed in the context of recent theories on the role of executive processes in reading comprehension and the possibility of training working memory and intelligence.

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) is a measure widely used to assess life satisfaction. This paper aims to test its psychometric properties, factor structure, and distribution scores across age, gender, education, and employment status. For this purpose, a representative sample of the Spanish population (N = 2,964) was used. Although analyses showed no significant differences across age or gender, participants with higher education level and those who held an occupation were more satisfied with their lives. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a unifactorial structure with significant correlations between the SWLS, and subjective happiness and social support. The internal consistency of the scale was .88. Thus, our results indicate that the Spanish version of the SWLS is a valid and reliable measure of life satisfaction within the Spanish context.

The rapid increase of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to significant growth in the development of low-power sensors. However; the biggest challenge in the expansion of the IoT is the energy dependency of the sensors. A promising solution that provides power autonomy to the IoT sensor nodes is energy harvesting (EH) from ambient sources and its conversion into electricity. Through 3D printing, it is possible to create monolithic harvesters. This reduces costs as it eliminates the need for subsequent assembly tools. Thanks to computer-aided design (CAD), the harvester can be specifically adapted to the environmental conditions of the application. In this work, a piezoelectric resonant energy harvester has been designed, fabricated, and electrically characterized. Physical characterization of the piezoelectric material and the final resonator was also performed. In addition, a study and optimization of the device was carried out using finite element modeling. In terms of electrical characterization, it was determined that the device can achieve a maximum output power of 1.46 mW when operated with an optimal load impedance of 4 MΩ and subjected to an acceleration of 1 G. Finally, a proof-of-concept device was designed and fabricated with the goal of measuring the current passing through a wire.

In this article, triboelectric effect has been used to harvest mechanical energy from human motion and convert it into electrical energy. To do so, different ways of optimizing the energy generated have been studied through the correct selection of materials, the design of new spacers to improve the contact surface area, and charge injection by high-voltage corona charging to increase the charge density of dielectric materials. Finally, a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been manufactured, which is capable of collecting the mechanical energy of the force applied by hand tapping and using it to power miniaturized electronic sensors in a self-sufficient and sustainable way. This work shows the theoretical concept and simulations of the proposed TENG device, as well as the experimental work carried out.

Glaucoma is traditionally defined as an ocular disease characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell degeneration, in some cases with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), and optic nerve damage. However, growing evidence indicates that glaucoma shares critical features with neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. This study aimed to explore the systemic nature of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) by integrating visual function, cognitive performance, and transcriptomic profiling. We conducted a multidimensional assessment of POAG patients and age-matched controls, accounting for demographic factors. Structural parameters included retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual field indices mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD). Cognitive function was evaluated across multiple domains, encompassing visual memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency. Additionally, transcriptomic analysis was performed from conjunctival samples to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and enriched pathways. POAG patients exhibited significant RNFL thinning, which correlated with both visual field loss and cognitive impairments, particularly in terms of visual memory and executive function. Transcriptomic profiling revealed a distinct gene expression signature in POAG, including upregulation of TTBK1 and CCN2 (CTGF), genes associated with tau phosphorylation and extracellular matrix remodeling. Functional enrichment analysis indicated the involvement of neurodegenerative pathways, such as glutamate signaling, calcium signaling, and cell adhesion. Our findings support the reclassification of glaucoma as a neurodegenerative disease with both ocular and cognitive manifestations. Furthermore, biomarkers such as TTBK1 and CCN2 may serve as potential targets for early detection and neuroprotective therapy.

Hiking is a sports activity that takes place in the natural environment. From the point of view of well-being, it is an aerobic activity that prevents and improves cardiovascular diseases. According to data provided by the United Nations, within the framework of the International Year of Mountains, mountain tourism represents around 15% to 20% of total world tourism revenue. This approach aims to critically analyze the scientific production on trail tourism (HT) with contributions from authors from around the world from 1991 to 2022, in order to respond to the connection between this research, knowledge management and the sustainable development of the industry. Key knowledge contributions are examined using a scientometric approach as a method (spatial, production, impact, and relational) based on registry data stored in the Web of Science (JCR and ESCI). Regarding the results, there has been an increase in scientific production in the last decade, which is manifested in the quality of the publications.

The increasing interest in the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to the rapid development of low-power sensors and wireless networks. However, there are still several barriers that make a global deployment of the IoT difficult. One of these issues is the energy dependence, normally limited by the capacitance of the batteries. A promising solution to provide energy autonomy to the IoT nodes is to harvest residual energy from ambient sources, such as motion, vibrations, light, or heat. Mechanical energy can be converted into electrical energy by using piezoelectric transducers. The piezoelectric generators provide an alternating electrical signal that must be rectified and, therefore, needs a power management circuit to adapt the output to the operating voltage of the IoT devices. The bonding and packaging of the different components constitute a large part of the cost of the manufacturing process of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and integrated circuits. This could be reduced by using a monolithic integration of the generator together with the circuitry in a single chip. In this work, we report the optimization, fabrication, and characterization of a vibration-driven piezoelectric MEMS energy harvester, and the design and simulation of a charge-pump converter based on a standard complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Finally, we propose combining MEMS and CMOS technologies to obtain a fully integrated system that includes the piezoelectric generator device and the charge-pump converter circuit without the need of external components. This solution opens new doors to the development of low-cost autonomous smart dust devices.