Analysis of the sporting context of Spanish female competitive cyclists and triathletes

El objetivo del presente estudio fue conocer y comparar las características psicosociales de las ciclistas y triatletas federadas en España estableciendo unas pautas de actuación que mejoren su situación en el deporte de competición. Se analizan dos deportes con aspectos comunes (uso de la bicicleta en competición, participantes que realizan ambos deportes…) y diferenciadores (deporte clásico vs deporte moderno), con el objeto de descubrir las posibles diferencias y/o similitudes entre ambos. En este estudio descriptivo participaron 80 ciclistas y 126 triatletas. Se determinó el perfil sociodemográfico promedio de las ciclistas y triatletas mediante 2 cuestionarios semiestructurados que permitieron definirlas como deportistas a) amateurs con tendencia competidora, b) iniciadas a una edad tardía en su especialidad deportiva, c) con una amplia experiencia deportiva, d) con un nivel alto de estudios completado o en curso, y e) pertenecientes a un estrato social medio. Tras el análisis de los resultados creemos que se hace necesario un cambio en la política deportiva de las federaciones deportivas así como iniciativas tendentes a la mejora de las condiciones de competición de estas deportistasThe aim of this study was to know and compare the psychosocial characteristics from Spanish under-licence female cyclists and triathletes establishing guidelines to improve their situation in competitive sport. We compared two sports with common aspects (use of a bicycle in competition, participants who participate in both sports...) and differentiating ones (classic sport vs. modern), with the aim of uncover potential differences and/or similarities between the two. 80 cyclists and 126 triathletes took part in this descriptive study. We determined the average socio-demographic profile of cyclists and triathletes through 2 semistructured questionnaires. The athletes’ average socio-sporting profile was defined as a) amateur with a competitive tendency; b) who became specialised in the sport at a late age; c) having vast sporting experience; d) having completed, or completing, a high level of education; e) belonging to the middle class. We believe a change in politics in sports federations is needed, as are initiatives to improve competition conditions for these athletesEstudio financiado por el Ministerio de Educación y ciencia (AP2009-0529) y por la Real Federación Española de Ciclism

Eficacia de la suplementación con β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) en el deporte: actualización e implicación práctica

Introduction: although β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) is generally marketed as a supplement for increasing muscle mass and strength, it is still not fully understood how and in which particular sports and conditions HMB can be more effective. Aims: the primary purpose of this review is to update and summarize the current knowledge about the usefulness of HMB and to organize this information by different sports with specific reference to sports with high wear and tear phenomena as soccer, rugby or football. Methods: a search was performed in PubMed database. This review presents the results about HMB use in sport. Results: the articles identified in this review support the notion that HMB could help to attenuate tissue catabolism and initiate muscle anabolism particularly in untrained individuals exposed to strenuous exercise or when trained individual are exposed to periods of high physical stress. HMB could therefore be applied in some specific periods of athlete’s season where there are high-intensity training periods, high density of competitions and little recovery time between them, starting recovery phases from an injury period and/or any other different situation where performance or recovery could be affected by a great catabolic environment. Conclusion: this update contributes to clarify and define possible mechanisms and/or effectiveness of HMB supplementation related to endurance sports (i.e. cycling and athletics), strength-power sports (i.e. resistance training, football, rugby, soccer, judo, waterpolo and rowing) and recreational activities.Introducción: aunque el β-hidroxi-β-metilbutirato (HMB) se ha empleado generalmente como suplemento para aumentar la masa muscular y la fuerza, es necesario un mejor entendimiento de su función y averiguar en qué deportes es más efectivo. Objetivos: el objetivo principal de esta revisión es actualizar y resumir el conocimiento existente en torno a la utilización del HMB para clasificarla en función de cada modalidad deportiva, con especial mención a aquellas actividades con un alto grado de destrucción muscular, como pueden ser el fútbol, el rugby o el fútbol americano. Métodos: se utilizó la base de datos PubMed para la búsqueda de artículos. Esta revisión presenta los resultados sobre la utilización de HMB clasificados por deportes. Resultados: la mayoría de los artículos seleccionados sugieren que cuando una persona entrenada o no entrenada se somete a un ejercicio intenso o diferente al habitual, el HMB puede atenuar el catabolismo muscular producido e iniciar los procesos anabólicos necesarios para recuperar lo antes posible. De esta forma, el HMB podría aplicarse en algunos momentos concretos de la temporada deportiva en los que hubiera períodos con entrenamientos de alta intensidad, o durante un periodo con alta densidad competitiva y con poca recuperación entre competiciones, o bien durante las primeras fases de la readaptación física después de una lesión y/o durante cualquier otra situación en la que el rendimiento o la recuperación se pueden ver afectados por un entorno altamente catabólico. Conclusión: esta revisión pretende aclarar y definir los posibles mecanismos por los que la suplementación con HMB puede ser efectiva en deportes de resistencia (ciclismo y carreras de fondo), en deportes de fuerza-potencia (fútbol, yudo, waterpolo, remo, fútbol americano y musculación) y en actividades deportivas recreacionales.This work was supported by the Andalusian Sports Medicine Centre (C.A.M.D.) through project no. EX-2005/07. FBO is granted by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2011-09011)

TESLA: A Gamification framework to motivate students in Industrial Engineering

Innovative learning techniques aim at promoting the motivation of students while improving the acquisition of the most relevant concepts of a subject. Towards this goal, this paper presents a gamification-based implementation executed in the industrial engineering degree of the University of Málaga (Spain). Specifically, the technique is used in the subject named Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering. The design of the gamification framework takes into account the particularities of the students. In particular, the application is intended for non-integrated groups formed by some students who have coursed the same subject in previous courses. An individual-based competition framework is developed in the context of the construction of a wireless charger for an electric vehicle, which is a topic of interest for the students. The results show that the students considered the application of this kind of technique as positive

Near barrier scattering of 8He on 208Pb

The exotic nucleus 8He is investigated by means of the measurement of the angular distributions of the elastic channel and the 6He and 4He fragment yields produced in the collision with a 208Pb target at two energies around the Coulomb barrier, 16 and 22 MeV. The experiment was performed at the GANIL-SPIRAL facility, with the aim of extracting information about the structure of 8He and the relevant reaction mechanisms. In this contribution, details of the experimental setup and preliminary data on elastic cross sections are reported

Base de datos de abejas ibéricas

Las abejas son un grupo extremadamente diverso con más de 1000 especies descritas en la península ibérica. Además, son excelentes polinizadores y aportan numerosos servicios ecosistémicos fundamentales para la mayoría de ecosistemas terrestres. Debido a los diversos cambios ambientales inducidos por el ser humano, existen evidencias del declive de algunas de sus poblaciones para ciertas especies. Sin embargo, conocemos muy poco del estado de conservación de la mayoría de especies y de muchas de ellas ignoramos cuál es su distribución en la península ibérica. En este trabajo presentamos un esfuerzo colaborativo para crear una base de datos de ocurrencias de abejas que abarca la península ibérica e islas Baleares que permitirá resolver cuestiones como la distribución de las diferentes especies, preferencia de hábitat, fenología o tendencias históricas. En su versión actual, esta base de datos contiene un total de 87 684 registros de 923 especies recolectados entre 1830 y 2022, de los cuales un 87% presentan información georreferenciada. Para cada registro se incluye información relativa a la localidad de muestreo (89%), identificador y colector de la especie (64%), fecha de captura (54%) y planta donde se recolectó (20%). Creemos que esta base de datos es el punto de partida para conocer y conservar mejor la biodiversidad de abejas en la península ibérica e Islas Baleares. Se puede acceder a estos datos a través del siguiente enlace permanente: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502ABSTRACT: Bees are a diverse group with more than 1000 species known from the Iberian Peninsula. They have increasingly received special attention due to their important role as pollinators and providers of ecosystem services. In addition, various rapid human-induced environmental changes are leading to the decline of some of its populations. However, we know very little about the conservation status of most species and for many species, we hardly know their true distributions across the Iberian Peninsula. Here, we present a collaborative effort to collate and curate a database of Iberian bee occurrences to answer questions about their distribution, habitat preference, phenology, or historical trends. In total we have accumulated 87 684 records from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands of 923 different species with 87% of georeferenced records collected between 1830 and 2022. In addition, each record has associated information such as the sampling location (89%), collector and person who identified the species (64%), date of the capture (54%) and plant species where the bees were captured (20%). We believe that this database is the starting point to better understand and conserve bee biodiversity in the Iberian Peninsula. It can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502Esta base de datos se ha realizado con la ayuda de los proyectos EUCLIPO (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-028360/EUCLIPO) y SAFEGUARD (ref. 101003476 H2020 -SFS-2019-2).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An innovative Superconducting Recoil Separator for HIE-ISOLDE

The ISOLDE Scientific Infrastructure at CERN offers a unique range of post-accelerated radioactive beams. The scientific program can be improved with the “Isolde Superconducting Recoil Separator” (ISRS), an innovative spectrometer able to deliver unprecedented (A, Z) resolution. In this paper we present an overview of the physics and ongoing technical developments.Work partially funded by the Grant PID2021-127711NB-I00 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain), the Recovery and Resilience Facility (Spain), and the European Union – Next Generation EU funds.Departamento de Física Aplicad

Actualización en el diagnóstico de las infecciones de transmisión sexual.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most frequent and universal Public Health problems. Health professionals should be aware of the possibility of STIs due to their high morbidity and the presence of sequelae. The delay in the diagnosis is one of the factors that justifies the difficulty to infections control. Diagnostic tests allow the introduction of aetiological treatment and also lead to treating symptomatic and asymptomatic patients more effectively, as well as to interrupt the epidemiological transmission chain without delay. In this review we have made an update of the main existing diagnostic methods for the more important STIs