Variables predictors of the set in the defence complex in volleyball

El objetivo de la investigación fue conocer las variables predictoras de la eficacia de colocación en el complejo de defensa (KII), en ambos géneros, en categorías de formación. La muestra del estudio estuvo compuesta por 2.404 acciones de juego, 1.104 en género masculino y 1.300 en género femenino, desarrolladas por los 34 equipos participantes en el Campeonato de España Under 16. La variable dependiente fue la eficacia de colocación. Las variables independientes se agruparon en: variables de defensa, de colocación en KII y de bloqueo. Los resultados determinaron que, en ambos géneros, la eficacia de defensa, la técnica de colocación y la participación en bloqueo predecían la eficacia de la colocación; en género masculino, zona de defensa y tiempo de colocación; ninguna variable fue predictora únicamente en género femenino. Esta información puede ser relevante para el desarrollo del proceso de entrenamiento en voleibolThe objective of the research was to analyse the variables predictors of the setting efficacy in the defence complex (KII), in youth athlete, in both genders. The study sample was comprised of 2404 game actions, 1104 in the male gender and 1300 in the female gender. The actions were carried out by the 34 teams that participated in the Spanish Under-16 Championship. The dependant variable was the setting efficacy. The results determined that, in both genders, the dig efficacy, setting technique and the participation in block predicted the setting efficacy; in male gender, the defence zone and tempo of set; no predictor variables were exclusive to the female gender. This information may be relevant when developing training processes in volleyballEste estudio se ha realizado gracias a la aportación de la Consejería de Economía e Infraestructuras de la Junta de Extremadura a través del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regiona

Forecasting the global extent of invasion of the cereal pest Spodoptera frugiperda, the fall armyworm

This is the final version. Available on open access from Pensoft Publishers via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: Some distribution data from South America analysed during this study are included in the Supplementary Information files. This does not include data from Plantwise clinics in Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru, due to data sharing restrictions. Some other distribution data are available from CABI’s Plantwise programme but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for the current study and so are not publicly available. Data may be available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of Plantwise. All other data used are publicly available from the referenced data sources.Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a crop pest native to the Americas, which has invaded and spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa within two years. Recent estimates of 20-50% maize yield loss in Africa suggest severe impact on livelihoods. Fall armyworm is still infilling its potential range in Africa and could spread to other continents. In order to understand fall armyworm’s year-round, global, potential distribution, we used evidence of the effects of temperature and precipitation on fall armyworm life-history, combined with data on native and African distributions to construct Species Distribution Models (SDMs). We also investigated the strength of trade and transportation pathways that could carry fall armyworm beyond Africa. Up till now, fall armyworm has only invaded areas that have a climate similar to the native distribution, validating the use of climatic SDMs. The strongest climatic limits on fall armyworm’s year-round distribution are the coldest annual temperature and the amount of rain in the wet season. Much of sub-Saharan Africa can host year-round fall armyworm populations, but the likelihoods of colonising North Africa and seasonal migrations into Europe are hard to predict. South and Southeast Asia and Australia have climate conditions that would permit fall armyworm to invade. Current trade and transportation routes reveal Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand face high threat of fall armyworm invasions originating from Africa.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)UK Department for International Development (DfID

There are simple and robust refinements (almost) as good as Delaunay

A new edge-based partition for triangle meshes is presented, the Seven Triangle Quasi-Delaunay partition (7T-QD). The proposed partition joins together ideas of the Seven Triangle Longest-Edge partition (7T-LE), and the classical criteria for constructing Delaunay meshes. The new partition performs similarly compared to the Delaunay triangulation (7T-D) with the benefit of being more robust and with a cheaper cost in computation. It will be proved that in most of the cases the 7T-QD is equal to the 7T-D. In addition, numerical tests will show that the difference on the minimum angle obtained by the 7T-QD and by the 7T-D is negligible

Local refinement based on the 7-triangle longest-edge partition

The triangle longest-edge bisection constitutes an efficient scheme for refining a mesh by reducing the obtuse triangles, since the largest interior angles are subdivided. In this paper we specifically introduce a new local refinement for triangulations based on the longest-edge trisection, the 7-triangle longest-edge (7T-LE) local refinement algorithm. Each triangle to be refined is subdivided in seven sub-triangles by determining its longest edge. The conformity of the new mesh is assured by an automatic point insertion criterion using the oriented 1-skeleton graph of the triangulation and three partial division patterns

From circular paths to elliptic orbits: A geometric approach to Kepler's motion

The hodograph, i.e. the path traced by a body in velocity space, was introduced by Hamilton in 1846 as an alternative for studying certain dynamical problems. The hodograph of the Kepler problem was then investigated and shown to be a circle, it was next used to investigate some other properties of the motion. We here propose a new method for tracing the hodograph and the corresponding configuration space orbit in Kepler's problem starting from the initial conditions given and trying to use no more than the methods of synthetic geometry in a sort of Newtonian approach. All of our geometric constructions require straight edge and compass only.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Numerical simulation of spheres moving and colliding close to bed streams, with a complete characterization of turbulence

River morphodynamics and sediment transportMechanics of sediment transpor

Effects of impurities on the ice microstructure of Monte Perdido Glacier, Central Pyrenees, NE Spain

Monte Perdido Glacier, located in the central Pyrenees, is one of the southernmost glaciers in Europe. Due to climate change, this glacier is suffering an accelerated mass loss, especially in the last decades. If the current trends persist, this glacier is expected to disappear in the next 50 years. As part of the efforts of the scientific community to increase the knowledge about this glacier, this research presents the first microstructural characterization of the Monte Perdido Glacier, focused on a high-impurity concentration segment that belongs to an ice core drilled in 2017. The results reveal the ice has a layering defined by air bubbles and non-soluble impurities. The bubble-defined layering exhibits features of both a primary (sedimentary) and a secondary (strain-induced) origin. We found a clear inverse correspondence between the particle concentration and the grains' size and roundness index. A preliminary micro-Raman characterization of the particles shows the occurrence of atacamite, anatase (likely related to ancient mining activities in the vicinity of the glacier) and quartz. The latter could be an indicator of mineral dust, probably suggesting the arrival of dust-laden air masses from the north of the African continent.This research was supported by the Spanish Government through the María de Maeztu excellence accreditation 2018–2022 (MDM-2017-0714) and by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI Spain) through the projects PaleoICE EXPLORA (CGL2015-72167-EXP) and iMechPro (RTI2018-100696-B-I00). NGS acknowledges a PhD grant from the Basque Government (PRE-2018-1-0116). We thank the directorate of the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (Spain) for permission to investigate the Monte Perdido glacier. We also thank Ibai Rico ( https://basquemountainguides.com/ , UPV/EHU), Maria Leunda (UPV/EHU), and Juan Ignacio López-Moreno (IPE-CSIC) for their help during the sampling of the MP1 ice core, and Pedro Sanchez Navarrete (IPE-CSIC) for transporting the ice samples. Finally, we would like to extend our appreciation to the anonymous reviewers, the Scientific Editor, Christine Hvidberg, and the Chief Editor, Hester Jiskoot, for their valuable comments on this manuscript

Participation and Influence of the libero in recepcion and defence, in volleyball U-19

El objetivo fue conocer la participación e influencia líbero en fase de ataque y defensa, en etapas de formación. La muestra fueron 6948 acciones de juego, realizadas por los jugadores de los 21 equipos del Campeonato de España Juvenil masculino. Las variables fueron: función del receptor/defensor, zona de recepción/defensa en profundidad y lateralidad, eficacia de recepción/defensa, zona donde se realiza colocación en recepción/defensa, zona hacia donde se realiza la colocación en recepción/defensa, tiempo de ataque/contraataque y eficacia de ataque/contraataque. En recepción, existió asociación significativa entre función del receptor y zona de recepción en profundidad-lateralidad, y zona donde se realiza la colocación. En defensa, existió asociación significativa entre función del defensor y zona de defensa en profundidad-lateralidad, eficacia de defensa, zona donde se realiza la colocación, zona hacia donde se realiza la colocación y tiempo de contraataque. La influencia del líbero, en estas etapas, se manifiesta más en defensa que en recepciónThe aim was to know the participation and influence of the libero in side-out phase and counter-attack, in young athletes. The sample was 6948 game actions, carried out by the players of the 21 teams that participate in the Under-19 Spanish Championship. The variables were: player that intervened in reception/dig, depth and laterality reception/dig zone, reception/dig efficacy, setting zone in reception/dig, set´s area in reception/dig, tempo of attack/counterattack and attack/counterattack efficacy. In reception, showed significant association between player that intervened in reception, depth-laterality reception zone and the setting zone. In defense, showed significant association between the player that intervened in dig and the depth-laterality dig zone, dig efficacy, setting zone, set´s area and tempo of counterattack. The influence of the participation of the libero, in young athletes, appeared more often in defense than in the receptio

Nanoscopic surface inspection by analyzing the linear polarization degree of the scattered light

We present an optical method for the nanoscopic inspection of surfaces. The method is based on the spectral and polarization analysis of the light scattered by a probe nanoparticle close to the inspected surface. We explore the sensitivity to changes either in the probe–surface distance or in the refractive index of the surface