Sex and weight category differences in the temporal combat structure of judokas with visual impairment

The study of the temporal judo combat structure of athletes with visual impairment (VI) needs further research. The objectives of the study were to determine the temporal structure of combat of judo in men and women with VI and establish differences between sexes, within their respective weight categories and between the different minutes of combat. The sample was formed by all the judokas with VI who participated in the 2018 IBSA Judo World Championship (172 men and 95 women). Through observational methodology, we analysed all the combats (n = 365). In order to obtain the results, we used different analytical techniques: descriptive, one-way ANOVA, t-test to show independents, chi-square, effect size and T-Patterns analysis. The level of significance was ρ ≤ .05. The results define a temporal structure by sex and by weight category that allows the judo professionals to plan precise and adequate trainings for the athletes. We conclude that there are differences in the temporal structure of judo combat within the men and women with VI, within their respective weight categories and within the different minutes of combat. The temporal structure of combat has changed more markedly in women and unevenly in the different weight categories for both sexes

Temporary judo combat structure of women with visual impairment

The study of the temporary judo combat structure presents various problems. The judokas (B1-B2-B3) do not compete with equal fighting conditions. The objectives of the study are to determine the temporary structure of judo combat in women with visual impairment, test if the changes in rules have modified the temporality of combat, and establish if there are differences between the visual categories. Of the judokas with visual impairment that competed in the 2018 IBSA Judo World Championship (94 women), all of them participated. By means of observational methodology, we analysed all of the combats (n = 133). In order to obtain the results, we used different analysis techniques: descriptive, one-way ANOVA, t-test to show independents, effect size and detection of t-patterns. The level of significance established for the study was ρ ≤ 0.05. The results determined a temporary structure for each weight category. With these, the judo professionals will be able to develop precise and suitable trainings for these athletes. We conclude that the combat temporality has changed. There are differences among visual categories, the B1 judokas win only a few combats and their combats are shorter. We consider it necessary to equalise the competition conditions

Execution management in the GRID, for sensitivity studies of global climate simulations

Recent trends in climate modeling find in GRID computing a powerful way to achieve results by sharing geographically distributed computing and storage resources. In particular, ensemble prediction experiments are based on the generation of multiple model simulations to explore, statistically, the existing uncertainties in weather and climate forecast. In this paper, we present a GRID application consisting of a state-of-the-art climate model. The main goal of the application is to provide a tool that can be used by a climate researcher to run ensemble-based predictions on the GRID for sensitivity studies. One of the main duties of this tool is the management of a workflow involving long-term jobs and data management in a user-friendly way. In this paper we show that, due to weaknesses of current GRID middleware, this management is complex task. Those weaknesses made necessary the development of a robust workflow adapted to the requirements of the climate application. As an illustrative scientific challenge, the application is applied to study the El Niño phenomenon, by simulating an El Niño year with different forcing conditions and analyzing the precipitation response over south-American countries subject to flooding risk.This work has been partially funded by the EELA project under the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission (contract no. 026409) and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science through the Juan de la Cierva program

Should blind judokas and partially sighted judokas compete together? a reflection from the study of the temporal structure of combat

The investigation of the temporal structure of Para judo combat according to sport classes or visual categories (B1, B2 and B3) has only been carried out in women. The objectives of the study were to analyze the differences in the temporal structure of combat between the male para-judokas sport classes, and to determine whether the blind judokas and partially sighted judokas should compete together. All para-judokas who competed in the 2018 IBSA Judo World Championships (172 men) participated. Using observational methodology, we analyzed all the combats (n=232). To obtain the results, we used different analysis techniques: descriptive, one-way ANOVA, t-test for independent simples and effect size. The significance level established for the study was ρ ≤ 0.05. The results determine that during the pauses, the time dedicated to the displacement is increased when there is a B1 judoka in the pairing, causing the pauses to be significantly longer. Coaches should take this into account. We conclude that there are differences between the visual categories. B1 judokas have longer pauses, perform more ground fighting sequences and win fewer combats. The competition is not on equal terms. More research is needed in order to know if the new regulations have modified the combat temporality

Generation, annotation and analysis of ESTs from Trichoderma harzianum CECT 2413

BACKGROUND: The filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum is used as biological control agent of several plant-pathogenic fungi. In order to study the genome of this fungus, a functional genomics project called "TrichoEST" was developed to give insights into genes involved in biological control activities using an approach based on the generation of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). RESULTS: Eight different cDNA libraries from T. harzianum strain CECT 2413 were constructed. Different growth conditions involving mainly different nutrient conditions and/or stresses were used. We here present the analysis of the 8,710 ESTs generated. A total of 3,478 unique sequences were identified of which 81.4% had sequence similarity with GenBank entries, using the BLASTX algorithm. Using the Gene Ontology hierarchy, we performed the annotation of 51.1% of the unique sequences and compared its distribution among the gene libraries. Additionally, the InterProScan algorithm was used in order to further characterize the sequences. The identification of the putatively secreted proteins was also carried out. Later, based on the EST abundance, we examined the highly expressed genes and a hydrophobin was identified as the gene expressed at the highest level. We compared our collection of ESTs with the previous collections obtained from Trichoderma species and we also compared our sequence set with different complete eukaryotic genomes from several animals, plants and fungi. Accordingly, the presence of similar sequences in different kingdoms was also studied. CONCLUSION: This EST collection and its annotation provide a significant resource for basic and applied research on T. harzianum, a fungus with a high biotechnological interest

Downscaling multi-model climate projection ensembles with deep learning (DeepESD): contribution to CORDEX EUR-44

Deep learning (DL) has recently emerged as an innovative tool to downscale climate variables from large-scale atmospheric fields under the perfect-prognosis (PP) approach. Different convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been applied under present-day conditions with promising results, but little is known about their suitability for extrapolating future climate change conditions. Here, we analyze this problem from a multi-model perspective, developing and evaluating an ensemble of CNN-based downscaled projections (hereafter DeepESD) for temperature and precipitation over the European EUR-44i (0.5º) domain, based on eight global circulation models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). To our knowledge, this is the first time that CNNs have been used to produce downscaled multi-model ensembles based on the perfect-prognosis approach, allowing us to quantify inter-model uncertainty in climate change signals. The results are compared with those corresponding to an EUR-44 ensemble of regional climate models (RCMs) showing that DeepESD reduces distributional biases in the historical period. Moreover, the resulting climate change signals are broadly comparable to those obtained with the RCMs, with similar spatial structures. As for the uncertainty of the climate change signal (measured on the basis of inter-model spread), DeepESD preserves the uncertainty for temperature and results in a reduced uncertainty for precipitation. To facilitate further studies of this downscaling approach, we follow FAIR principles and make publicly available the code (a Jupyter notebook) and the DeepESD dataset. In particular, DeepESD is published at the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), as the first continental-wide PP dataset contributing to CORDEX (EUR-44).This research has been supported by the Spanish Government (MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033) through project CORDyS (grant no. PID2020-116595RB-I00)

Controlling Robot Motion by Blinking Eyes: an Experience on Users Training

This article aims to describe a system designed to control the movement of mobile robots by blinking eyes. It is based on the use of a Brain Computer Interface and a particular control architecture. The paper addresses the key aspects that allow simplifying usersrobot interaction and proposes a control strategy that facilitates a fast learning of robot handling. In this sense, the main advantage of the approach is the short period of time required for users’ training. The article details a methodology aimed to evaluate this feature, presents experimental results that confirm this fact and also discusses about the influence of interacting with a real or a simulated robot. Particularly, it analyses if a previous training with the virtual robot helps to improve the interaction with the real robot or vice versa

Comparative analysis of the deposits left by the tsunami that followed to the Lisbon Earthquake (1755 AD), on the Castilnovo beach and the Old Tuna Factory of La Chança (Conil de la Frontera, SW Spain)

On coasts of tectonically active areas, where old tsunami deposits are in a fragmentary state, the study of paleo-tsunamis provides data for interpreting facies and processes. In order to recognize facies, a study has been carried out on a sector of the SW coast of Spain, where some historical tsunamis are documented, such as that caused by the Lisbon earthquake (November 1, 1755 AD). This study is focused on a sector between the Salado River Mouth and Castilnovo Beach (Conil de la Frontera), where depositional morphologies attributed to this event can still be observed. It includes a comparative analysis with well-preserved deposits found inside an old tuna salting factory, La Chança which, albeit severely damaged, survived the tsunami. The sediments deposited by the 1755 AD tsunami record a mixture of older coastal deposits, including sands and muddy-sands, pebbles, mollusc shells, foraminifers, terrestrial gastropods, root features, and archaeological remains. After the tsunami, a part of the deposits were remobilized and mixed with normal coastal sediments, becaming unrecognizable as tsunamites. Several stratigraphic units have been distinguished, corresponding to different sedimentary stages. The results suggest that some depositional features were caused not by this event, but rather are a consequence of the interaction of other factors. Shelly beds intercalated within the deposits have provided a 14C age older than 1755 AD, which have been interpreted as records of other older events or erosion of older deposits followed by deposition during the tsunami event.En costas de regiones tectónicamente activas, donde depósitos de antiguos tsunamis se encuentran en estado fragmentario, el estudio de paleo-tsunamis proporciona datos para la interpretación de facies y la reconstrucción de los procesos. Con objeto de reconocer las facies y los procesos involucrados, se ha realizado un estudio sedimentológico en un sector de la costa SO de España, donde están documentados varios tsunamis históricos, como el causado por el terremoto de Lisboa del 1 de Noviembre de 1755. El estudio se centra en un sector comprendido entre la desembocadura del río Salado y la Playa de Castilnovo (Conil de la Frontera), donde aún se pueden observar morfologías y depósitos atribuidos a este evento. El estudio incluye el análisis comparativo con los sedimentos depositados en la antigua factoría de salazón de La Chança que, aunque seriamente dañada, sobrevivió al tsunami. Los sedimentos depositados por el tsunami de 1755 se combinaron con depósitos costeros más antiguos, resultando una mezcla de arenas, fango, clastos, conchas de moluscos, foraminíferos, gasterópodos terrestres, raíces y restos arqueológicos de la época. Tras el evento, estos sedimentos fueron redepositados en medios costeros, resultando unos depósitos irreconocibles, aunque algunos han sido interpretados como tsunamitas. Se han diferenciado varias unidades sedimentarias correspondientes a diferentes etapas, incluyendo la acción de este evento. Los resultados sugieren que algunos rasgos deposicionales presentes en los depósitos no fueron totalmente causados por el tsunami de 1755, sino que son una consecuencia de la interacción de varios factores. Además, algunas capas bioclásticas intercaladas en los depósitos han proporcionado una edad 14C mayor de 1.755 dC, lo que ha sido interpretado como el registro de eventos más antiguos

WRF4G: WRF experiment management made simple

his work presents a framework, WRF4G, to manage the experiment workflow of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modelling system. WRF4G provides a flexible design, execution and monitoring for a general class of scientific experiments. It has been designed with the aim of facilitating the management and reproducibility of complex experiments. Furthermore, the concepts behind the design of this framework can be straightforwardly extended to other modelsThis work has been supported by the Spanish National R&D Plan under projects WRF4G (CGL2011-28864, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund –ERDF–) and CORWES (CGL2010-22158-C02-01) and the IS-ENES2 project from the 7FP of the European Commission (grant agreement no. 312979). C. Blanco acknowledges financial support 5 from programa de Personal Investigador en Formación Predoctoral from Universidad de Cantabria, co-funded by the regional government of Cantabria. The authors are thankful to the developers of third party software (e.g. GridWay, WRFV3, python and NetCDF), which was intensively used in this work