Developing anaerobic power and capacity for combat sports athletes

[EN] This chapter describes the physiological responses associated with anaerobic power and capacity of combat sports athletes from different modalities (judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, Olympic boxing, karate, and Muay Thai) during specific situations. Next, the most used evaluation methods for the control and monitoring of these variables are presented. Finally, based on longitudinal studies that evaluated the effects of anaerobic power and capacity training of combat sports athletes, the main training approaches are presented

Robot orientation with histograms on MSL

One of the most important tasks on robot soccer is localization. The team robots should self-localize on the 18 x 12 meters soccer field. Since a few years ago the soccer field has increased and the corner posts were removed and that increased the localization task complexity. One important aspect to take care for a proper localization is to find out the robot orientation. This paper proposes a new technique to calculate the robot orientation. The proposed method consists of using a histogram of white-green transitions (to detect the lines on the field) to know the robot orientation. This technique does not take much computational time and proves to be very reliable.(undefined

Minho MSL: a new generation of soccer robots

This paper describes the new generation of Minho Team robots since the last RoboCup participation. Robots have been rebuilt from top to bottom, keeping the essence of the previous generation, but lighter, faster, improved sight, new algorithms and new technology. The demands of RoboCup MSL are very high and a new breed of robots was necessary to cope with it. This paper describes a bottom-up view of the robot, the hardware used, the vision head, the high level software and some conclusions

Evaluation of the colour of pears dried using different methods.

Pears of the variety S. Bartolomeu (Pyrus communis L.) have been used over the years in Portugal to produce a traditional dried pear known as “pera passa”. It is a very much appreciated dried fruit, despite the drop in the production that has occurred during the past years. The processing comprehends a solar drying performed at open air, with obvious disadvantages, either concerning the drying efficiency or the sanitary quality of the final product, taking into account that the products are exposed to multiple contamination agents. Obviously, these handicaps do not guarantee the necessary quality and sanitary standards for commercialization. Therefore, in the past years some work has been done in order to encounter alternative reliable drying methods that can replace the traditional drying. These include the use of solar stoves, either with forced air convection or with natural convection, and a drying tunnel with air heated though a solar collector. However, not only the drying efficiency and economic or sanitary aspects matter in the present case, since this particular product is very much appreciated for its unique colour. In fact, these pears in particular, when dried by the traditional method, develop a reddish colour that is not found in other varieties of pears, and this aspect constitutes one of the quality parameters for their acceptability by the consumers. The present work aims at comparing the colour of the pears dried by different methods, in order to evaluate which method allows the obtaining of a final product as much similar as possible to the traditional one

Evaluation of the colour of pears dried using different methods.

Pears of the variety S. Bartolomeu (Pyrus communis L.) have been used over the years in Portugal to produce a traditional dried pear known as “pera passa”. It is a very much appreciated dried fruit, despite the drop in the production that has occurred during the past years. The processing comprehends a solar drying performed at open air, with obvious disadvantages, either concerning the drying efficiency or the sanitary quality of the final product, taking into account that the products are exposed to multiple contamination agents. Obviously, these handicaps do not guarantee the necessary quality and sanitary standards for commercialization. Therefore, in the past years some work has been done in order to encounter alternative reliable drying methods that can replace the traditional drying. These include the use of solar stoves, either with forced air convection or with natural convection, and a drying tunnel with air heated though a solar collector. However, not only the drying efficiency and economic or sanitary aspects matter in the present case, since this particular product is very much appreciated for its unique colour. In fact, these pears in particular, when dried by the traditional method, develop a reddish colour that is not found in other varieties of pears, and this aspect constitutes one of the quality parameters for their acceptability by the consumers. The present work aims at comparing the colour of the pears dried by different methods, in order to evaluate which method allows the obtaining of a final product as much similar as possible to the traditional one

Comparative study of pear drying using solar stove and tunnel drying

Sun-dried pears of Portuguese S. Bartolomeu variety are relatively small fruits with peculiar organolephtic characteristics. The open sun drying has some disadvantages related with drying efficiency and food safety. However the drying with an economic and friendly energy is an important characteristic of the drying methods and therefore several attempts have been made to develop processes using solar drying. The present work studies two types of pears drying, namely solar stove and tunnel drying, using the solar energy and simultaneously reducing the exposure of fruits to contamination agents. Both processes were conducted in two consecutive years to analyse if the behaviour of each drying method shows evidence of a similar pattern. The results enable us to conclude that the variation of normalized moisture of pears with the drying time follows a linear relationship while an exponential decay is observed in the tunnel drying. Despite the different climatic conditions, it is possible still to observe that the behavior of each process is quite similar in both consecutive years. However, in the year of 2008 the drying tends to be faster in both processes. In addition, it is also possible to conclude that the Total Soluble Solids/Acidity ratio has a similar behavior along the drying in the two years for each process. However, the decrease of acidity of pears in solar stove is more pronounced than the TSS and consequently a higher ratio of Total Soluble Solids/Acidity is observed along the solar stove drying when compared with the tunnel drying

Properties of pears dried with different drying processes.

Pears of S. Bartolomeu variety have been used over the years in Portugal to produce a traditional dried pear using the cheapest practice with environmental friendly characteristics: open-sun drying. However, the obvious disadvantages concerning the drying efficiency and safety of the dried product have been an incentive to design or improve solar drying methods as an alternative to the traditional one. The present work has tested three types of drying processes, namely solar stove, solar drying and tunnel drying. In addition, the efficiency of drying and the properties of the dried pears were compared with the traditional dried fruits. The results of the tests have allowed us to conclude that all methods have lead to a considerable reduction in drying time as compared to open-sun drying. Indeed, the drying time for the solar stove and the solar dryer showed a reduction of 40% while in the drying tunnel this reduction increased to 60%. In addition, it was also possible to conclude that the properties of the dried pears obtained by the three processes correspond to a dried fruit similar to the traditional dried pears. Thus, based on these results, it can be inferred that the traditional sun drying at open-air can be replaced by either of the processes tested in the present study, which, allow a higher drying efficiency associated to a higher safety of the dried food, while maintains the properties of the traditional food product

Usefulness of genetic characterization of narcolepsy and hypersomnia on phenotype definition: a study in Portuguese patients

The determination of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II genotype is widely used to confirm the diagnosis of narcolepsy with or without cataplexy. The HLA genotyping is reliable, easy to perform and reassures the clinician. It is also less invasive than other methodologies and is in accordance with the autoimmune hypothesis for the origin of narcolepsy. AIM. To assess the usefulness of genetic markers (HLA) in the differential diagnosis between different sleep disorders and their relevance in the context of our population

Estimation of the diffusivities and mass transfer coefficients for pears dried under different methods.

Traditionally, in Portugal pears of the variety S. Bartolomeu are dried through an open-air sun exposure. However, this method of drying has some disadvantages, among which not being able to fully guarantee the necessary quality and sanitary standards for commercialization. Hence, the development of alternative drying methods to replace the traditional drying is of great importance nowadays, and the knowledge of the transfer phenomena happening during drying helps to understand these processes. The present work aimed at determining the mass transfer properties of pears for air drying performed in three drying systems: solar stove with forced air convection (STFC), solar stove with natural air convection (STNC) and drying tunnel with hot air from a solar collector (DT). The methodology used to determine the mass transfer properties was a diffusion model, which accounted for shrinkage. The values of the diffusion and mass transfer coefficients for the drying in the three systems were estimated, and from them was possible to conclude that the values of D e in the STNC and DT systems are similar to each other, whereas the STFC system gives a lower value of diffusivity, indicating that in this system the internal moisture transfer is less efficient. As to h m , the system that presents the higher values is STNC, demonstrating a higher efficiency of surface mass transfer