Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona
The Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona is the institutional repository that contains, in digital format, materials resulting from teaching, research and institutional activities of members of the university community.
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ArticleEmpodérate la mente: estudio con metodología mixta de un grupo psicoterapéutico con técnicas corporales y de autodefensa en mujeres con diagnóstico de salud mental y antecedentes de violencia de género(Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría, 2026-04-22) Luque-Tintó, Alba; Ventura Fuentes, Cristina; Viejo García, Rodrigo; Estébanez Elguezabal, María; Rodríguez-Martín, DolorsIntroducción: La violencia de género en mujeres con trastorno mental grave (TMG) es un problema prevalente y poco visibilizado que se asocia a trauma complejo, vulnerabilidad y fragmentación asistencial. Objetivo: Evaluar la eficacia de Empodera tu mente, intervención psicoterapéutica grupal integrativa que combina psicodrama, autodefensa feminista y empoderamiento corporal, en mujeres con TMG que han sufrido violencia de género. Método: Estudio cuasi experimental mixto pre–post sin grupo control (n=39). Intervención de 13 sesiones (90 min) en grupo cerrado semanal. Medidas: AF-5, SCL-90 R y Escala de Asertividad de Rathus; entrevistas semiestructuradas pre y post. Resultados: Mejoró el autoconcepto físico y disminuyeron síntomas depresivos, con mayor conciencia emocional. El análisis cualitativo mostró cambios en autoconcepto corporal, afrontamiento y proyección de futuro. Conclusiones: La intervención integrativa con autodefensa y reconexión corporal mejora empoderamiento y variables clínicas relevantes en mujeres con TMG y violencia.- ArticleSensorimotor Frequency Tagging Is Enhanced by Auditory and Audiovisual but Not Visual, Inputs During a Body-Walking Task(Wiley, 2026-02-01) Matamala Gómez, Marta; Vilà-Balló, Adrià; Cucurell, David; Tajadura-Jimenez, Ana; Rodríguez Fornells, AntoniBody movements like walking can synchronize with auditory and visual inputs presented within a periodic frequency range, peaking around 2 Hz. Some evidence has shown that the spontaneous tempo of human locomotion is around 2 Hz. The EEG frequency-tagging approach allows us to capture the coupling of beat perception with neural brain oscillations at beat frequency. This study used EEG frequency tagging to explore brain dynamics during the perception of walking-related sensory information in the auditory (footstep sounds) and visual (point-light figure) modalities. Sensory inputs were delivered at different rates (1, 2, and 3.6 Hz) in rhythmic or random sequences while recording EEG activity. The experiment included three conditions: (i) auditory, (ii) visual, and (iii) audiovisual, including data from 22 participants. Results showed a main effect of rhythmic sequences compared with random sequences across all frequencies in all three auditory, visual, or audiovisual conditions. Specifically, at 2 Hz, rhythmic sequences enhanced neural entrainment in the sensorimotor cortex for auditory and audiovisual conditions. This effect was absent in the visual condition alone. Notably, 2 Hz rhythmic sequences in the audiovisual condition led to coupling with temporal, sensorimotor, and occipital regions. The study suggests that sensory auditory input related to walking movement presented at 2 Hz can mediate neural entrainment with sensorimotor areas. The findings of this study can have an impact on the spontaneous rhythmic integration of body movements using sensory inputs for walking rehabilitation.
- ArticleHealth-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Sex-Specific Case-Control Analysis of Physical and Mental Health Domains(MDPI, 2026-02-27) Nolla Solé, Joan Miquel; Benavent Nuñez, Diego; Valencia Muntalà, Lídia; Berbel Arcobé, Laura; Vidal Montal, Paola; Palacios Olid, Judith; Roig Kim, Montserrat; Aguilar Coll, Martí; Narváez, Javier; Gómez Vaquero, CarmenBackground: The impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults remains incompletely characterized, particularly regarding sex-specific patterns and the relative contribution of physical and mental health domains in later life. Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional case–control analysis including adults aged ≥65 years. A total of 180 patients with RA (65.6% women) were compared with 195 age- and sex-matched control subjects. HRQoL was assessed using the Short Form-12 (SF-12) questionnaire, generating Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores. Analyses were stratified by sex. Associations between HRQoL domains and clinical variables were examined using correlation analyses and sex-specific multivariable linear regression models. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated to quantify the magnitude of between-group differences. Results: Women with RA showed significantly lower SF-12 physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores than men with RA, indicating a greater impairment in overall HRQoL. Women also exhibited higher functional disability, as assessed by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and higher disease activity, as assessed by DAS28. In sex-stratified case–control comparisons, men with RA showed lower SF-12 PCS scores, while MCS scores were comparable to those of the age-matched male controls. In contrast, women with RA exhibited significantly lower PCS and MCS scores compared to age-matched female controls. In multivariable analyses, distinct sex-specific patterns were observed. In women with RA, HAQ emerged as the only independent determinant of PCS, whereas DAS28 was the sole independent determinant of MCS. In men with RA, PCS was independently associated with DAS28, whereas MCS was independently associated with HAQ. Effect size analyses indicated consistently small impairments in both physical and mental HRQoL domains in women, whereas in men, the impact was small and largely confined to the physical domain. Conclusions: In older adults with RA, HRQoL impairment is sex-dependent and domain-specific, with women experiencing a more pronounced and generalized reduction in both physical and mental health compared with men. Sex-specific differences in the relative contribution of disease activity and functional disability highlight the need for a differentiated interpretation of patient-reported outcomes in this population. A domain-specific and sex-aware assessment of HRQoL may enhance the clinical evaluation of older patients and provide a more comprehensive understanding of disease burden beyond inflammatory activity alone.
- ArticleSynthesis of 2D porous crystalline materials in simulated microgravity(Wiley-VCH, 2021-06-04) Contreras-Pereda, Noemí; Rodríguez-San-Miguel, David; Franco, Carlos; Sevim, Semih; Vale, João Pedro; Solano, Eduardo; Fong, Wye-Khay; Giudice, Alessandra Del; Galantini, Luciano; Pfattner, Raphael; Pané, Salvador; Sotto Mayor, Tiago; Ruiz-Molina, Daniel; Puigmartí-Luis, JosepTo date, crystallization studies conducted in space laboratories, which are prohibitively costly and unsuitable to most research laboratories, have shown the valuable effects of microgravity during crystal growth and morphogenesis. Herein, an easy and highly efficient method is shown to achieve space-like experimentation conditions on Earth employing custom-made microfluidic devices to fabricate 2D porous crystalline molecular frameworks. It is confirmed that experimentation under these simulated microgravity conditions has unprecedented effects on the orientation, compactness and crack-free generation of 2D porous crystalline molecular frameworks as well as in their integration and crystal morphogenesis. It is believed that this work will provide a new 'playground' to chemists, physicists, and materials scientists that desire to process unprecedented 2D functional materials and devices.
- Doctoral thesisRNA-editing: an evolutionary perspective through bioinformatics and machine learning.(Universitat de Barcelona, 2025-11-11) Zawisza Alvarez, Mikel; Garcia Fernández, Jordi; Herrera Úbeda, Carlos; Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística[eng] RNA-editing is a post-transcriptional modification of the sequence of an RNA molecule at the level of particular nucleotides, in contrast to the more widely known and studied process of splicing which acts by removing larger regions of the sequence. Adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) editing by the ADAR (Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) family of proteins is the most prominent type of RNA-editing in metazoans, with a wide range of biological consequences, including notable functions related to the immune and nervous systems. While it is known that the secondary structure of the RNA plays an important role in the decision to edit a particular adenosine, a deep understanding of ADAR’s targeting mechanism is still elusive. Differences in the regulation of RNA-editing between mammals and birds poses questions about the evolutionary relevance of this mechanism. In this thesis I attempt to tackle the technical difficulties of RNA-editing detection with the intention of studying the process from an evolutionary perspective, while also advancing the knowledge of ADAR’s targeting mechanism. To achieve this, I developed various novel bioinformatics methods and tools, including orthology-based and machine-learning based approaches, with the highlight being a method we call cross-testing which we propose to study the functional conservation of ADAR’s targeting mechanism in silico, beyond the sequence conservation of the functional domains of the proteins.