Strategical thinking of elite soccer coaches in Palestine: impact of competitive divisions, qualification, and experience

263 p.The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the rationale of elite soccer coaches in Palestine when designing and selecting practice in the pre-season period of season 2019/2020. Coaching is a decision-making process of continuous modification of the internal logic of the institutionalized game. By looking into the internal logic of the activities proposed in their diaries coaching sessions, it has been possible describe the overall pre-season coaching strategy and try and find de diversions from this general strategy due to the competitive division (professional, first and second), the coaches characteristics: qualification (such as specialization in physical education and the level of their coaching certificate), and experience (as a former player and as a coach).The participants in this study were 36 Palestinian coaches belonging to the 36 clubs in the top three divisions. We analyzed the internal logic of practice from, the perspective of the motor praxeology by describing the relationships between the players, relationships to space, relationships to time, and relationships to objects, of a total 2,342 motor tasks with a time of 31, 980 minutes distributed over 360 sessions.The general strategy was only and slightly affected by the competition level, in a non-progressive way. Personal characteristics do not impact on the practice proposed to players and teams. Besides the traits used to characterize Palestinian coaches do not match the competitive structures: no profile associated could be found

Listening to Unheard Voices: Exploring Salespeople’s Perspective on The Value of Corporate Heritage

Purpose This study aims to examine salespeople’s perspectives on the value of corporate heritage to relationship selling and the issue of trust in personal selling situations in the context of emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach An interpretive approach was adopted, and 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior salespeople in heritage institutions operating in Jordan. Findings This study reveals that corporate heritage is a valuable organizational resource for relationship selling. Reflecting the values of “trust” and “affinity,” corporate heritage confers trust to salespeople and their products in personal selling situations. Sales managers are advised to use corporate heritage to strengthen sales activities and empower salespeople. Originality/value While previous research has explained the significance of corporate heritage to relationship marketing, the significance of corporate heritage to relationship selling and the issue of trust in personal selling situations remain unexplored. Jordan represents a context that has been largely neglected despite being typical of the corporate heritage phenomenon

Dental Evidence as a Sole Human Identifier in World Disasters: A Literature Review with Emphasis on the 2004 Tsunami Disaster

Comparative dental analysis is a quick and relatively simple human identification method. In many disaster incidents, dental characteristics have played an important role in establishing the identity of victims when they were visually unidentifiable. A PubMed search was conducted for publications that specifically discussed the role of dental characteristics in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). Between 1974 and 2012, 14 papers described 17 disasters in which dental characteristics were used to identify the victims. The percentage of victims identified using only dental characteristics ranged from 0% to 89%. This wide range largely depends on the availability and quality of ante mortem dental records provided by dentists. The DVI in Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 was unique in involving deceased tourists from more than 30 countries, mostly from Europe. The dental method of identification showed superiority over other identification methods in terms of speed and accuracy of establishing the victims’ identity. This paper discusses the role of forensic odontology in establishing the identity of disaster victims, with specific emphasis on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as an example of good practice, during which the author had first-hand experience

Optimization of the electromagnetic scattering problem based on the topological derivative method

A new optimization method based on the topological derivative concept is developed for the electromagnetic design problem. Essentially, the purpose of the topological derivative method is to measure the sensitivity of a given shape functional with respect to a singular domain perturbation, so that it has applications in many relevant fields such as shape and topology optimization for imaging processing, inverse problems, and design of metamaterials. The topological derivative is rigorously derived for the electromagnetic scattering problem and used as gradient descent direction to find local optima for the design of electromagnetic devices. We demonstrate that the resulting topology design algorithm is remarkably simple and efficient and naturally leads to binary designs, while depending only on the solution of the conventional finite element formulation fir electrodynamics. Finally, several numerical experiments in two and three spatial dimensions are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed formulation27233358633605CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP302036/2018-0; 310512/2017-4; 408274/2018-2; 438272/2018-888881.311020/2018E-26/203.041/20172015/24517-8; 2016/19270-6; 2018/25339-

Iraq War mortality estimates: A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In March 2003, the United States invaded Iraq. The subsequent number, rates, and causes of mortality in Iraq resulting from the war remain unclear, despite intense international attention. Understanding mortality estimates from modern warfare, where the majority of casualties are civilian, is of critical importance for public health and protection afforded under international humanitarian law. We aimed to review the studies, reports and counts on Iraqi deaths since the start of the war and assessed their methodological quality and results.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a systematic search of 15 electronic databases from inception to January 2008. In addition, we conducted a non-structured search of 3 other databases, reviewed study reference lists and contacted subject matter experts. We included studies that provided estimates of Iraqi deaths based on primary research over a reported period of time since the invasion. We excluded studies that summarized mortality estimates and combined non-fatal injuries and also studies of specific sub-populations, e.g. under-5 mortality. We calculated crude and cause-specific mortality rates attributable to violence and average deaths per day for each study, where not already provided.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirteen studies met the eligibility criteria. The studies used a wide range of methodologies, varying from sentinel-data collection to population-based surveys. Studies assessed as the highest quality, those using population-based methods, yielded the highest estimates. Average deaths per day ranged from 48 to 759. The cause-specific mortality rates attributable to violence ranged from 0.64 to 10.25 per 1,000 per year.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our review indicates that, despite varying estimates, the mortality burden of the war and its sequelae on Iraq is large. The use of established epidemiological methods is rare. This review illustrates the pressing need to promote sound epidemiologic approaches to determining mortality estimates and to establish guidelines for policy-makers, the media and the public on how to interpret these estimates.</p

Visual hallucinations in the psychosis spectrum and comparative information from neurodegenerative disorders and eye disease

Much of the research on visual hallucinations (VHs) has been conducted in the context of eye disease and neurodegenerative conditions, but little is known about these phenomena in psychiatric and nonclinical populations. The purpose of this article is to bring together current knowledge regarding VHs in the psychosis phenotype and contrast this data with the literature drawn from neurodegenerative disorders and eye disease. The evidence challenges the traditional views that VHs are atypical or uncommon in psychosis. The weighted mean for VHs is 27% in schizophrenia, 15% in affective psychosis, and 7.3% in the general community. VHs are linked to a more severe psychopathological profile and less favorable outcome in psychosis and neurodegenerative conditions. VHs typically co-occur with auditory hallucinations, suggesting a common etiological cause. VHs in psychosis are also remarkably complex, negative in content, and are interpreted to have personal relevance. The cognitive mechanisms of VHs in psychosis have rarely been investigated, but existing studies point to source-monitoring deficits and distortions in top-down mechanisms, although evidence for visual processing deficits, which feature strongly in the organic literature, is lacking. Brain imaging studies point to the activation of visual cortex during hallucinations on a background of structural and connectivity changes within wider brain networks. The relationship between VHs in psychosis, eye disease, and neurodegeneration remains unclear, although the pattern of similarities and differences described in this review suggests that comparative studies may have potentially important clinical and theoretical implications. © 2014 The Author

Complex Product Architecture Analysis using an Integrated Approach

yesProduct design decomposition and synthesis is a constant challenge with its continuously increasing complexity at each level of abstraction. Currently, design decomposition and synthesis analytical tasks are mostly accomplished via functional and structural methods. These methods are useful in different phases of design process for product definition and architecture but limited in a way that they tend to focus more on ‘what’ and less on ‘how’ and vice versa. This paper combines a functional representation tool known as System State Flow Diagram (a solution independent approach), a solution search tool referred as Morphology Table, and Design Structure Matrix (mainly a solution dependent tool). The proposed approach incorporates Multiple Domain Matrix (MDM) to integrate the knowledge of both solution independent and dependent analyses. The approach is illustrated with a case study of solar robot toy, followed by its limitations, future work and discussion

Complex Product Architecture Analysis using an Integrated Approach

yesProduct design decomposition and synthesis is a constant challenge with its continuously increasing complexity at each level of abstraction. Currently, design decomposition and synthesis analytical tasks are mostly accomplished via functional and structural methods. These methods are useful in different phases of design process for product definition and architecture but limited in a way that they tend to focus more on ‘what’ and less on ‘how’ and vice versa. This paper combines a functional representation tool known as System State Flow Diagram (a solution independent approach), a solution search tool referred as Morphology Table, and Design Structure Matrix (mainly a solution dependent tool). The proposed approach incorporates Multiple Domain Matrix (MDM) to integrate the knowledge of both solution independent and dependent analyses. The approach is illustrated with a case study of solar robot toy, followed by its limitations, future work and discussion

Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

Correction: Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Article Number: 44 DOI: 10.1186/s13601-020-00351-w Published: OCT 26 2020Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely used in these countries may reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme activity or are anti-oxidants. Among the many possible areas of research, it might be important to understand diet and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) levels in populations with different COVID-19 death rates since dietary interventions may be of great benefit.Peer reviewe