Goalkeeper-field player in situations of offensive numerical inferiority in handball: Penalty or advantage?

El objetivo principal fue analizar el resultado final de la acción ofensiva entre los equipos que utilizan, o no, el portero-jugador en situaciones de inferioridad numérica ofensiva en balonmano. Los objetivos secundarios se centran en analizar cómo es la utilización y el comportamiento del portero-jugador y su relación con el resultado final ofensivo y la posterior acción con respecto al contraataque del equipo contrario. Se analizaron las actas oficiales de 86 partidos del 22º Campeonato del Mundo de Balonmano Femenino (Dinamarca 2015) y se realizó el visionado, análisis y registro de las 927 situaciones de inferioridad numérica ofensiva, así como el estudio estadístico pertinente con SPSS v.24. Los resultados demuestran que el uso del recurso táctico o estratégico del portero-jugador favorece la obtención de gol en situaciones de inferioridad numérica ofensiva y no penaliza al equipo que lo utiliza, al no existir diferencia significativa en la probabilidad de recibir gol en contraataqueThe main goal was to analyze the end results in offensive actions between teams that do or do not employ the goalkeeper-field player in situations of offensive numerical inferiority in handball. The secondary objectives focus on analyzing the use and behavior of the goalkeeper-field player, as well as its role in the final offensive result and following actions in terms of the opposing team’s counterattack. 86 official match reports from the 22nd Women's Handball World Championship (Denmark 2015) were analyzed, and the viewing, analysis and registration of the 927 situations of offensive numerical inferiority were carried out, as well as the pertinent statistical study with SPSS v.24. The results show that the tactical or strategic use of the goalkeeper-field player favors goal scoring in situations of offensive numerical inferiority and does not punish the team which employs it, since there’s no significant difference in the probability of conceding a goal in counterattac

Comparative Energy-Landscape Integrated Analysis (ELIA) of past and present agroecosystems in North America and Europe from the 1830s to the 2010s

Along the last century there has been an unprecedented growth in both global food production and related socioecological impacts. The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of long-term metabolic patterns of agrarian systems on land use and cover changes (LUCC) (...

Una revisión sistemática de las intervenciones para empoderar al paciente con insuficiencia cardiaca crónica en el entorno hospitalario

El empoderamiento del paciente con insuficiencia cardiaca crónica (ICC) es clave para mejorar su calidad de vida, autonomía, autoestima, nivel de satisfacción y los costes sanitarios. El objetivo fue identificar las intervenciones de enfermería más efectivas para favorecer el empoderamiento del paciente con ICC en el medio hospitalario. Se seleccionaron ocho artículos para revisión (cuatro experimentales, dos cuasi-experimentales y dos revisiones sistemáticas). De su análisis se identificaron tres tipos de intervenciones: educativas, cognitivo-comportamentales y combinadas, siendo estas últimas las más efectivas. Se recomienda el uso del Empowerment Questionnaire como un instrumento válido y fiable para medir el empoderamiento del paciente con ICC hospitalizado. Dada la escasez de estudios, esta revisión aboga por futuras investigaciones que potencien e incluyan intervenciones combinadas mediante una escala válida, fiable y específica para medir el empoderamiento de los pacientes hospitalizados con ICC.The empowerment of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) is key to improving their quality of life, autonomy, self-esteem, level of satisfaction and healthcare costs. The aim was to identify the most effective nursing interventions to promote the empowerment of patients with CHF in the hospital context. Eight articles were selected for review (four experimental, two quasiexperimental and two systematic reviews). From their analysis, three types of interventions were identified: educational, cognitive-behavioral and combined, the latter being the most effective. The use of the Empowerment Questionnaire is recommended as a valid and reliable instrument to measure the empowerment of chronic hospitalized patients. Given the lack of studies on the phenomenon of interest, this review advocates for future research including combined interventions to empower hospitalized patients with chronic heart failure using a valid, reliable and specific scal

Widening the analysis of Energy Return on Investment (EROI) in agro-ecosystems: Socio-ecological transitions to industrialized farm systems (the Vallès County, Catalonia, c.1860 and 1999)

Energy balances of farm systems have overlooked the role of energy flows that remain within agro-ecosystems. Yet, such internal flows fulfil important socio-ecological functions, including maintenance of farmers themselves and agro-ecosystem structures. Farming can either give rise to complex landscapes that favour associated biodiversity, or the opposite. This variability can be understood by assessing several types of Energy Returns on Investment (EROI). Applying these measures to a farm system in Catalonia, Spain in 1860 and in 1999, reveals the expected decrease in the ratio of final energy output to total and external inputs. The transition from solar-based to a fossil fuel based agro-ecosystem was further accompanied by an increase in the ratio of final energy output to biomass reused, as well as an absolute increase of Unharvested Phytomass grown in derelict forestland. The study reveals an apparent link between reuse of biomass and the decrease of landscape heterogeneity along with its associated biodiversity

Opening the black box of energy throughputs in farm systems: A decomposition analysis between the energy returns to external inputs, internal biomass reuses and total inputs consumed (the Vallès County, Catalonia, c.1860 and 1999)

We present an energy analysis of past and present farm systems aimed to contribute to their sustainability assessment. Looking at agroecosystems as a set of energy loops between nature and society, and adopting a farm-operator standpoint at landscape level to set the system boundaries, enthalpy values of energy carriers are accounted for net Final Produce going outside as well as for Biomass Reused cycling inside, and External Inputs are accounted using embodied values. Human Labour is accounted for the fraction of the energy intake of labouring people devoted to perform farm work, considering the local or external origin of their food basket. In this approach the proportion of internal Biomass Reused becomes a hallmark of organic farm systems that tend to save External Inputs, whereas industrial farming and livestock breeding in feedlots tend to get rid of reuses replacing them with inputs coming from outside. Hence, decomposing the internal or external energy throughputs may bring to light their contrasting sociometabolic profiles. A Catalan case study in 1860 and 1990 is used as a test bench to show how revealing this decomposing analysis may be to plot the energy profiles of farm systems and their possible improvement pathways

Generic competences for the IT knowledge workers: a study from the field.

Proceedings of: Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society (WSKS 2010), Corfu, Greece, September 22-24, 2010This paper aims to identify generic competency levels relevant to a particular kind of knowledge workers: software engineers. Based on previous works, and in particular in the description of a professional career, authors review of the literature related to the characterization of the labor force in the Software Engineering (SE) domain. Subsequently, using a quantitative analysis based on investigative surveys administered to a number of representative professionals, authors provide with a generic competency ladder adapted to the given career description.Publicad

Mitochondrial ultrastructure and markers of dynamics in hepatocytes from aged, calorie restricted mice fed with different dietary fats

PMCID: PMC4104696In this paper we analyzed changes in hepatocyte mitochondrial mass and ultrastructure as well as in mitochondrial markers of fission/fusion and biogenesis in mice subjected to 40% calorie restriction (CR) for 18. months versus ad libitum-fed controls. Animals subjected to CR were separated into three groups with different dietary fats: soybean oil (also in controls), fish oil and lard. Therefore, the effect of the dietary fat under CR was studied as well. Our results show that CR induced changes in hepatocyte and mitochondrial size, in the volume fraction occupied by mitochondria, and in the number of mitochondria per hepatocyte. Also, mean number of mitochondrial cristae and lengths were significantly higher in all CR groups compared with controls. Finally, CR had no remarkable effects on the expression levels of fission and fusion protein markers. However, considerable differences in many of these parameters were found when comparing the CR groups, supporting the idea that dietary fat plays a relevant role in the modulation of CR effects in aged mice.Supported by NIH grant 1R01AG028125-01A1 (to JJR, PN and JMV), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and European FEDERBFU2011-23578 (to JMV), Junta de Andalucía Proyectos de Excelencia grant P09-CVI-4887 (to JMV), Junta de Andalucía Proyectos Internacionales (to JMV), and BIO-276 (Junta de Andalucía and the University of Córdoba, to JMV and EGC). JALD and LFdR were funded by predoctoral fellowships of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación and by BIO-276. HK was funded by a predoctoral fellowship of the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo and by BIO-276.Peer Reviewe

The influence of dietary fat source on liver and skeletal muscle mitochondrial modifications and lifespan changes in calorie-restricted mice

The Membrane Theory of Aging proposes that lifespan is inversely related to the level of unsaturation in membrane phospholipids. Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition extends lifespan in many model organisms, which may be related to alterations in membrane phospholipids fatty acids. During the last few years our research focused on studying how altering the predominant fat source affects the outcome of CR in mice. We have established four dietary groups: one control group fed 95 % of a pre-determined ad libitum intake (in order to prevent obesity), and three CR groups fed 40 % less than ad libitum intake. Lipid source for the control and one of the CR groups was soybean oil (high in n-6 PUFA) whereas the two remaining CR groups were fed diets containing fish oil (high in n-3 PUFA), or lard (high in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids). Dietary intervention periods ranged from 1 to 18 months. We performed a longitudinal lifespan study and a cross-sectional study set up to evaluate several mitochondrial parameters which included fatty acid composition, H+ leak, activities of electron transport chain enzymes, ROS generation, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial ultrastructure, and mitochondrial apoptotic signaling in liver and skeletal muscle. These approaches applied to different cohorts of mice have independently indicated that lard as a fat source often maximizes the effects of 40 % CR on mice. These effects could be due to significant increases of monounsaturated fatty acids levels, in accordance with the Membrane Theory of Aging.Supported by NIH grant 1R01AG028125 (to JJR, PN and JMV), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2011-23578 (to JMV), Junta de Andalucía Proyectos de Excelencia grant P09-CVI-4887 (to JMV), Junta de Andalucía Proyectos Internacionales grant (to JMV), and BIO-276 (Junta de Andalucía and the University of Córdoba, to JMV). RdC is funded by the Intramural Research program of the NIA/NIH. JALD, JA, LFdR and EGC were funded by a predoctoral fellowship of the Spanish Ministerio de Educación and BIO-276. HK was funded by a predoctoral fellowship of the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo and BIO-276. MCR and MdR were supported by BIO-276.Peer Reviewe