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Showing papers by "University of Extremadura published in 2022"


Journal ArticleDOI
Tracy Hussell1, Ramsey Sabit2, Rachel Upthegrove3, Daniel M. Forton4  +524 moreInstitutions (270)
TL;DR: The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) as mentioned in this paper is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study recruiting adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital with COVID19 across the UK.

118 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors used two quasi-natural experiments that encouraged the use of debit cards and facilitated the usage of ATMs in Mexico to estimate the elasticity of crime and informality to the availability of cash as a means of payment.

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A systematic literature review (SLR) consists of a collection of research conducted according to previous criteria with the aim of answering research questions with validity and quality as mentioned in this paper , which also examine the roles of the school curriculum and teachers in the face of computational thinking.
Abstract: Interest in computational thinking (CT) in the scientific community has increased significantly in the last 4 years, as evidenced by the numerous systematic reviews carried out. However, there is a lack of reviews that update the emerging conceptualization of CT and which also examine the roles of the school curriculum and teachers in the face of CT. A systematic literature review (SLR) consists of a collection of research conducted according to previous criteria with the aim of answering research questions with validity and quality. For this reason, the PRISMA-ScR statement was followed. Articles published in scientific journals, from Scopus and WoS, between January 2018 and August 2021 were included, in the English or Spanish language. The initial search resulted in 492 articles, to which the inclusion-exclusion criteria were applied. The final sample of texts for the present systematic review was n = 145. The texts were analyzed from three perspectives: conceptual, documentary and pedagogical. Thus, a renewal of previous literature reviews was carried out, updating the situation with research from recent years and new data, obtained to contribute to the collective intelligence on methodological strategies (80% of the sample was divided into “plugged” and “unplugged”); educational (more than 50% studied CT evaluation); and resources, including a collection of more than 119 educational resources.

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
15 Feb 2022-Fuel
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the effect of tertbutylhydroquinone (TBHQ) addition on the quality of biodiesel during extreme oxidation conditions and found that the most unstable samples (cardoon and waste cooking biodiesel) required higher amounts of TBHQ (750 and 450ppm, respectively) to comply with the standard (induction point = 8.35h).

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors used Debaryomyces hansenii and rosemary derivatives as biocontrol agents (BCAs) against P. nordicum during the industrial manufacturing of dry-cured fermented sausages.

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors used rice husk, vine pruning residues, cork (white cork, virgin cork and expanded cork), and prickly pear to construct acoustic ceiling tiles.

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
27 Jan 2022-Galaxies
TL;DR: Quintessential inflation provides a unified description of inflation and dark energy in terms of a single scalar degree of freedom, the cosmon as mentioned in this paper , which can be embedded in a more general scalar-tensor formulation and its relation to variable gravity scenarios.
Abstract: Quintessential inflation provides a unified description of inflation and dark energy in terms of a single scalar degree of freedom, the cosmon. We present here a comprehensive overview of this appealing paradigm, highlighting its key ingredients and keeping a reasonable and homogeneous level of details. After summarizing the cosmological evolution in a simple canonical case, we discuss how quintessential inflation can be embedded in a more general scalar-tensor formulation and its relation to variable gravity scenarios. Particular emphasis is placed on the role played by symmetries. In particular, we discuss the evolution of the cosmon field in terms of ultraviolet and infrared fixed points potentially appearing in quantum gravity formulations and leading to the emergence of scale invariance in the early and late Universe. The second part of the review is devoted to the exploration of the phenomenological consequences of the paradigm. First, we discuss how direct couplings of the cosmon field to matter may affect neutrinos masses and primordial structure formation. Second, we describe how Ricci-mediated couplings to spectator fields can trigger the spontaneous symmetry breaking of internal symmetries such as, but not limited to, global U(1) or Z2 symmetries, and affect a large variety of physical processes in the early Universe.

11 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of incorporating polymer pre-treated mixed recycled aggregate (MRA) on concrete durability was evaluated. And the results showed similar concrete fresh state density and percentage of entrained air in the mixes studied; as well as no significant effect on compressive strength.

10 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the effect of incorporating polymer pre-treated mixed recycled aggregate (MRA) on concrete durability is assessed. But, no significant effect was found on compressive strength.

10 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a one-stage transmethylation method and a fast gas chromatography run were used for quantification of fatty acids (FA) in different meat products and optimizing a fast GC-FID (flame ionization detector) run.

9 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors follow the symmetry breaking pattern and subsequent non-linear evolution of a spectator field non-minimally coupled to gravity when the post-inflationary dynamics is given in terms of a stiff equation-of-state parameter.
Abstract: Using 3+1 classical lattice simulations, we follow the symmetry breaking pattern and subsequent non-linear evolution of a spectator field non-minimally coupled to gravity when the post-inflationary dynamics is given in terms of a stiff equation-of-state parameter. We find that the gradient energy density immediately after the transition represents a non-negligible fraction of the total energy budget, steadily growing to equal the kinetic counterpart. This behaviour is reflected on the evolution of the associated equation-of-state parameter, which approaches a universal value $1/3$, independently of the shape of non-linear interactions. Combined with kination, this observation allows for the generic onset of radiation domination for arbitrary self-interacting potentials, significantly extending previous results in the literature. The produced spectrum at that time is, however, non-thermal, precluding the naive extraction of thermodynamical quantities like temperature. Potential identifications of the spectator field with the Standard Model Higgs are also discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the anti-Listeria activity of a whey protein hydrolysate (ProH) alone or combined with six lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from cheese was evaluated in a biocontrol strategy using a “Torta del Casar” cheese-based medium.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors analyzed the seasonal variations in the physical demands of Turkish Super League teams considering their status in the final rankings and analysed the seasonal variation in the technical performance of Turkish top-flight teams.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) to analyze the seasonal variations in the physical demands of Turkish Super League teams considering their status in the final rankings and (ii) to analyze the seasonal variations in the technical performance of Turkish Super League teams considering their status in the final rankings. This study followed an observational analytic retrospective design. In the last three seasons of the Turkish Super League (2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018), 918 football matches, 54 teams, 25,029 observations were made. The Sentio Sports optical tracking system was used to quantify the physical demands and technical execution of players in all matches. No significant differences of external load were found between seasons analyzed (p > 0.05). The number of lost balls, ball touches in the central corridor, and goals from set pieces increased from season one to the others (p < 0.05), while the number of successful dribbles reduced over time (p < 0.05). As conclusion, it seems not occurred a progressive change in external load over the seasons, while an evolutionary trends regarding technical variables were observed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present a survey of the existing literature on tourism demand and its determining factors, focusing on structural dimension as opposed to dynamic factors, and provide a useful overview and detailed information that will help future researchers about this field.
Abstract: Tourism demand and its determining factors have been extensively explored over the past decades. Traditionally, the study of tourism demand modeling had focused on the use of time series models and forecasting. Nonetheless, during the last years the literature has revived the approach of gravity models, centered on structural dimension as opposed to dynamic factors. This survey aims to provide a useful overview and detailed information that discipline the existing literature and help future researchers about this field. To do so, this study reviews 143 key published papers that apply a gravity equation framework to tourism demand revealing that it has been used mainly in the context of bilateral tourist movements. Results show how, although the list of determining variables of tourist flows can be very large, GDP, population and distance are the most preponderant ones. Moreover, there are important challenges to be addressed by researchers in terms of empirical application of structural gravity models to tourism.

Journal ArticleDOI
24 Mar 2022-Land
TL;DR: In this paper , a case study of the Gata river catchment in Sierra de Gata, Spain, which is a fire-prone area has been a pilot site for Mosaico-Extremadura, an innovative participatory fire-risk mitigation strategy.
Abstract: Fire prevention and suppression approaches that exclusively rely on silvicultural measures and containment infrastructure have become increasingly ineffective in stopping the spread of wildfires. As agroforestry landscape mosaics consisting of a mix of different land cover and use types are considered less prone to fire than forests, approaches that support the involvement of rural people in agriculture and forestry activities have been proposed. However, it is unknown whether, in the current socio-economic context, these land-use interventions will nudge fire-prone landscapes towards more fire-resistant ones. We report on a case study of the Gata river catchment in Sierra de Gata, Spain, which is a fire-prone area that has been a pilot site for Mosaico-Extremadura, an innovative participatory fire-risk-mitigation strategy. Our purpose is to assess the efficacy of project interventions as “productive fuel breaks” and their potential for protecting high-risk areas. Interventions were effective in reducing the flame length and the rate of spread, and almost 40% of the intervention area was in sub-catchments with high risk. Therefore, they can function as productive fuel breaks and, if located strategically, contribute to mitigating wildfire risk. For these reasons, and in view of other economic and social benefits, collaborative approaches for land management are highly recommended.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the feasibility of fabricating super wear-resistant hard B4C composites by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at ultra-low temperature (i.e., 1400 °C) using very high proportions of MoSi2 aids was investigated.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated the impact of CRCI in breast cancer patients in chemotherapy treatment (CT+) or not (CT−) and analyzed their relationship with detectable objective changes in cerebral activity during the execution of a phonological and semantic verbal fluency task (PVF and SVF).
Abstract: Background: Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI), or “chemobrain,” isdefined as a phenomenon of cognitive deficits in cancer patients after chemotherapy and is characterized by deficits in areas of cognition, including memory, attention, speed of processing, and executive function, which seriously affect quality of life. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CRCI in breast cancer (BC) patients in chemotherapy treatment (CT+) or not (CT−) and to analyze their relationship with detectable objective changes in cerebral activity during the execution of a phonological and semantic verbal fluency task (PVF and SVF). Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was carried out at Badajoz University Hospital (Spain). A total of 180 women with BC were included. We used Cognitive Scale (FACT-Cog) for neuropsychological subjective assessment, obtaining scores of perceived cognitive impairment (PCI), and near-infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS) for neuropsychological objective assessment during a verbal fluency task (PVF and SVF), determining alterations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) assessed as changes in regional saturation index (rSO2). Results: A total of 41.7% percent of the patients in the sample had PCI. CT+ was significantly associated with a worse impact in PCI (X¯ = 50.60 ± 15.64 vs. X¯ = 55.01 ± 12.10; p = 0.005). Average rSO2 decreased significantly in CT+ (X¯ = 63.30 ± 8.02 vs. X¯ = 67.98 ± 7.80; p < 0.001), and BC patients showed a significant decrease in PVF and SVF on average (X¯ = 41.99 ± 9.52 vs. X¯ = 47.03 ± 9.31, and X¯ = 33.43 ± 11.0 vs. X¯ = 36.14 ± 10.68, respectively; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cognitive impairments in the domain of executive functioning exist among patients with BC who received CT. The results corroborate the hypothesis that CT is an important factor in cognitive impairment in patients with BC, which has been demonstrated by both subjective (PCI) and objective (PVF, SVF, and rSO2) neuropsychological measures. The combination of doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel induce cognitive impairment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , a 3D BIM model from the reality capture of a street with LiDAR is used to estimate the potential risk of exposure to urban green infrastructure by calculating and improving of AIROT index, adding meteorological factors as wind direction and updating the index to be more accurate for smaller urban green areas.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the synthesis and characterization of four Pt(II) complexes [PtCl2(L)], where L = 2-(1-pyrazolyl)-2-thiazoline (PzTn), 2-(3,5-diphenyl-1-pyrrithmophilicity)-1,pyrazyl-2-phosphoric acid (DPhPzTs), 2(3, 5-diphynyl)-1-phrastic acid(DPhN), 1,3-thioxine (1,3)-thiazine (DphPzThiazine), and 2-(2.5-dimethylamine)-1.3-anthracine(1.5)-anthraphratic acid (1.6)-anthrace.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a thorough kinetic study of homogeneous catalysts (base catalysts, such as KOH, NaOH or CH3OK, and acid catalysts) applied to the transesterification of soybean oil was carried out to provide extensive kinetic data about this process.
Abstract: The search for alternatives to fossil fuels has been widely covered, especially in the past two decades. Thus, the role of biodiesel has been important, and its implementation in biorefineries seems feasible due to the sustainability of the process. This way, the knowledge of kinetics is vital to design industrial facilities and to compare the efficiency of catalysts (both typical and innovative ones) during transesterification or other similar processes taking place in a biorefinery, such as biolubricant production through transesterification with superior alcohols. In this work, a thorough kinetic study of homogeneous catalysts (base catalysts, such as KOH, NaOH or CH3OK, and acid catalysts (H2SO4, H3PO4 and p-toluenesulfonic acid, CH3C6H4SO3H)) applied to the transesterification of soybean oil was carried out to provide extensive kinetic data about this process. As a conclusion, a pseudo-first-order reaction mechanism was applied in all cases, with activation energies of 65.5–66 and 92.3 kJ·mol−1 for KOH and CH3C6H4SO3H, respectively, proving the higher activation energy for acid catalysis compared to base catalysis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the seminal plasma proteins played a major role in sperm functionality; being vehiculated through extracellular vesicles and participating in sperm physiology, and the differences in protein composition of seminal plasma among stallions may help to explain differences in freezeability seen among them.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, specific proteins present in seminal plasma may be used as discriminant variables with potential to identify stallions producing different quality ejaculates; 10 fertile stallions, with different motility and velocity values (although within normal ranges) were used in this study.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a novel approach based on Mamdani fuzzy inference exploiting a model very close to natural language is presented to achieve results with high degrees of accuracy but at the same time to guarantee the interpretability of the resulting models.
Abstract: Ontology meta-matching techniques have been consolidated as one of the best approaches to face the problem of discovering semantic relationships between knowledge models that belong to the same domain but have been developed independently. After more than a decade of research, the community has reached a stage of maturity characterized by increasingly better results and aspects such as the robustness and scalability of solutions have been solved. However, the resulting models remain practically intelligible to a human operator. In this work, we present a novel approach based on Mamdani fuzzy inference exploiting a model very close to natural language. This fact has a double objective: to achieve results with high degrees of accuracy but at the same time to guarantee the interpretability of the resulting models. After validating our proposal with several ontological models popular in the biomedical field, we can conclude that the results obtained are promising.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2022
TL;DR: In this article , the use of vacuum during biolubricant production from high-oleic safflower oil through double transesterification with methanol and 2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol to obtain mild chemical conditions was evaluated.
Abstract: The use of alternative sources to produce less pollutant biofuels and biomaterials, replacing petroleum-derived products, is becoming an important issue for international organizations, governments, and society. Thus, biodiesel and biolubricant production has been increasingly researched, offering promising results. These products present some advantages such as sustainability or biodegradability, among others. However, some of their quality parameters can be altered during storage, mainly due to their low oxidative stability. Consequently, auto-oxidation processes can take place, increasing viscosity or acid number, which can compromise their marketability. To avoid these inconveniences, some alternatives have been presented, such as the use of antioxidants, vegetable oil selection or the promotion of mild chemical conditions during production. The aim of this work was to assess the use of vacuum during biolubricant production from high-oleic safflower oil through double transesterification with methanol and 2-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol to obtain mild chemical conditions. Under these circumstances (working pressure at 210 mmHg) and compared to previous studies, temperature and catalyst addition could be reduced from 140 to 100 °C and from 0.5 to 0.3%, respectively, increasing the reaction yield from 92.9 to 94.69% and improving the quality of the biolubricant, with 30% increase in viscosity index.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the CDC downdraft suction traps with UV light were employed to assess both the species occurrence and blood meal sources across three different habitats in the Dominican Republic.
Abstract: Haematophagous insects cause major economic losses by both direct damage and the transmission of pathogens. However, the biting Diptera species in the Caribbean region have been poorly documented. During 2021, CDC downdraft suction traps with UV light were employed to assess both the species occurrence and blood meal sources across three different habitats in the Dominican Republic. Eighteen species of mosquitoes (n = 274), six species of Culicoides (n = 803), two black fly species (n = 2), and one species of muscid fly (n = 25) were identified at species-level by morphology and/or molecular phylogenetic approaches based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI). Engorged mosquito (n = 5) and Culicoides (n = 28) females showed host preferences derived exclusively from mammals (cows and pigs), except Culex species containing the blood of chickens. Our study provides new records of the Diptera Dominican catalogue (Culex salinarius for the Greater Antilles, Culicoides jamaicensis for Hispaniola, and Culicoides haitiensis and Culicoides borinqueni for the Dominican Republic), the first available COI DNA sequences of different Diptera in the GenBank, some pictures of diagnostic features of closely related specimens, spatial distribution across the habitats studied, and new insights on their feeding preferences in the Caribbean region.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider population-size-dependent branching processes (PSDBPs) which eventually become extinct with probability one and derive maximum likelihood estimators for the mean number of offspring born to individuals when the current population size is z ≥ 1.
Abstract: We consider population-size-dependent branching processes (PSDBPs) which eventually become extinct with probability one. For these processes, we derive maximum likelihood estimators for the mean number of offspring born to individuals when the current population size is z≥1. As is standard in branching process theory, an asymptotic analysis of the estimators requires us to condition on non-extinction up to a finite generation n and let n→∞; however, because the processes become extinct with probability one, we are able to demonstrate that our estimators do not satisfy the classical consistency property (C-consistency). This leads us to define the concept of Q-consistency, and we prove that our estimators are Q-consistent and asymptotically normal. To investigate the circumstances in which a C-consistent estimator is preferable to a Q-consistent estimator, we then provide two C-consistent estimators for subcritical Galton–Watson branching processes. Our results rely on a combination of linear operator theory, coupling arguments, and martingale methods.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical comparison is made of two engineering methodological approaches to investigate dental enamel/ceramic tribosystems: ball-on-three-disks and pinon-disk, with and without attendant machining of enamel specimens, respectively.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The relationship between the quality attributes and the ultrasound parameters of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) soft-bodied cheeses from Torta del Casar and Queso de la Serena was studied in this paper , where the authors highlighted the on-line capability of ultrasound for non-destructive quality assessment of this traditional and heterogeneous soft cheese based on the predictive potential of several secondary ultrasonic parameters.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors applied Cox proportional hazards model to predict the probability of energy overconsumption in healthcare buildings for different functional variables (construction, facilities, demographics, and climate) to quantify the influence of various functional variables on the excess energy consumption of healthcare buildings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the changes that Staphylococcus aureus undergoes when exposed to hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis conditions and found that the bacterial physical surface changes were more similar to those observed in ketone bodies, suggesting a preferential adsorption of ketone body over glucose because of the more favorable solubility of glucose in water.