Constrained optimization using a conjugate gradient technique, with control applications

Imperial Users onl

Har kroppsøvingsundervisningen noen langtidseffekt på helsen?: et kommenterende sammendrag av en forskningsartikkel fra Canada

Artikkelen er et sammendrag av en oversiktsartikkel i Sports Medicine 2008; 38 (4): 266-270, "Is there a Long-Term Health Legacy of Required Physical Education?" av François Trudeau og Roy J. Shephard. Det er lite forskning på området, lærere med utdannelse i kroppsøving ser ut til å lage timer som gir bedre treningseffekt enn det vanlige lærere gjør. En økning av timetallet i kroppsøving ser ikke ut til å påvirke prestasjonen i teorifag negativt

La universidad como espacio de incidencia para la Soberanía Alimentaria

La Universidad es una institución que tiene el poder social de producir verdad y conocimiento. En este contexto, por el que pasan miles de personas cada año y trabajan otras tantas, las posibilidades de generar incidencia social y política son enormes. Sin embargo, tanto la Universidad como institución como la Ciencia oficial, están profundamente imbuidas del espíritu neoliberal, en el que la modernización y el progreso, sinónimos de industrialización, desagrarización, globalización y mercantilización, son el objetivo indudable a alcanzar y reproducir. Analizamos esta Institución, y tratamos de aportar algunas reflexiones sobre la capacidad real que percibimos de generar incidencia política coherente con la Soberanía alimentaria a través de la misma

La certificación ecológica como instrumento de revalorización de lo local: los Sistemas Participativos de Garantía en Andalucía

The procedures established to build confidence in the organic sector significantly condition its trends, promoting some types of visions while marginalizing or rendering invisible others. Participatory Guarantee Systems are credible mechanisms that break with the established formal logic of certification by a third party. Constructed from networks of production and consumption, they seek to turn the need for credibility into a collective processes of mutual education, group identity and, ultimately, local rural development. The pillars of these processes are established by working on a small scale, by the convergence between production and consumption revitalizing the local economy, and by traditional and endogenous knowledge associated with managing natural resources in an ecological manner. Moreover, and this is an important political proposal, the Participatory Guarantee System also reinvigorates the role of protagonists from rural areas, who have often been disregarded and marginalized in the process of urbanization

Guía Didáctica. La construcción de la Soberanía Alimentaria

9 páginas. 2 ficheros (PDF y ODT)La construcción de la Soberanía Alimentaria requiere una contextualización histórica de la realidad agraria y un análisis crítico de los escenarios desde los cuales parte la necesidad de generar vías alternativas a las existentes para garantizar el derecho a la alimentación y a una producción sostenible de alimentos. Estos contextos y análisis así como las herramientas y metodologías para abordar la Soberanía Alimentaría han ido siendo desarrollados, desde una perspectiva agroecológica, a lo largo de las diferentes asignaturas del curso. Partiendo de estos análisis queda el trabajo de identificar y abordar los diferentes elementos para dar una respuesta social y tecnológica a las maneras de construir las diferentes propuestas en torno a la Soberanía Alimentaria. La mayoría de las propuestas están emergiendo de multitud de experiencias y redes sociales (de productores/as y consumidores/as) que están impulsando sistemas agroalimentarios y políticas públicas que trabajan la cuestión de la alimentación desde la soberanía alimentaria. Destacan la integralidad y complejidad de algunas de estas propuestas. Los elementos principales de cimentación de sistemas agroalimentarios sostenibles se enmarcan dentro de premisas de desarrollo endógeno, sostenibilidad ecológica y participación social y se dirigen hacia la autonomía y la reproducción de los sistemas agrarios y de las comunidades. El abanico de elementos abordables para la construcción de la Soberanía Alimentaria puede ser muy amplio. Algunos de estos elementos nos llegan de una tradición reinvidicativa campesina, como la reforma agraria y el acceso a los recursos; otros son propuestas novedosas en respuesta a unos marcos restrictivos de acción, como son los Sistemas Participativos de Garantía; otros recuperan consciencia del funcionamiento del sistema agroalimentario imperante, como el Consumo Responsable, y los Canales Cortos de Comercialización; algunos se plantean la autonomía productiva, como la Agricultura Urbana y los sistemas de reconstrucción de la biodiversidad cultivada; y otros se adentran en la articulación de redes participativas, la innovación social y extensión agroecológica (Movimientos sociales, redes alimentarias y políticas públicas). Con la intención de profundizar en estos y otros elementos constructivos y en generar aportes reflexivos teórico-prácticos sobre la Soberanía Alimentaria y sus diversas propuestas concretas, desarrollamos esta asignatura

Between food ethics, solidarity and the social construction of alternative markets. Exploring the dimensions of grassroots food movements in Spain

In recent years there has been growing attention for the emergence of alternative food networks, first as a possible strategy for farm households to counter deteriorating market conditions and respond to changing societal demands, and more recently as expression of a growing consumer involvement in the shaping of food systems. In debates on AFNs contributions from Spain have been relatively scarce, not because these tendencies do not occur but rather because applied analytical frameworks somehow did not seem to capture the specific nature of experiences in the peninsula. Against this background, this paper aims to analyze emerging grassroots food movements in Spain, explore to what extent different initiatives constitute a coherent alternative paradigm for sustainable local food systems, and identify relevant dimensions that shape their development and potential contribution to the sustainable development of rural areas and society at large. The paper is mainly based on case studies from Andalucia and the Basque country, and stresses that food initiatives have been largely driven by social movements, incl. peasant‐based farmers and consumer groups but also agroecology movements. As a result, Spanish food movements often have a wider focus and combine ethical values like fairness, solidarity and participative democracy with economic and environmental concerns

Increase in peak oxygen uptake and Andersen test performance in children from age six to ten: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)

The increased prevalence of non-communicable disease risk factors among children because of lack of physical activity is concerning. The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project was set up to combine learning activities and physical activity, thus reducing sedentariness during school time. The current study aimed to measure and describe the longitudinal and cross-sectional development of oxygen uptake and running performance in children at ages six and ten. The validity of the Andersen Test in predicting V̇O2peak in these age groups was also evaluated. Eighty-six children (53 boys, 33 girls) with complete datasets at ages 6 and 10 years were included in the longitudinal study, while 192 children (106 boys, 86 girls) were included in the cross-sectional analysis because they missed data from 1 year. Oxygen uptake was measured using a metabolic analyser and maximal treadmill running, while the distance covered during the AT determined running performance. Body mass, height, and waist-to-height ratios were recorded. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association between oxygen uptake and running performance. The cross-sectional results did not differ from the longitudinal data for anthropometrical data, oxygen uptake and running performance. Height, body mass and waist-to-height ratio did not differ between the sexes at ages six or ten. Boys had significantly higher peak oxygen uptake than girls at 6 years of age, irrespective of how oxygen uptake was expressed. Allometric scaling of oxygen uptake revealed differences between sexes at both ages. Longitudinal running performance increased in both sexes from 6 to 10 years. Boys ran significantly longer only at age ten. The association between oxygen uptake and running performance varied according to how the oxygen uptake was expressed and with sex and age. Ten-year-old girls had the highest correlations in the longitudinal investigation, from r 2 = 0.48 (fV̇O2peak) to 0.65 (rV̇O2peak) between AT and V̇O2peak. The AT was found to be as valid as the 20-m shuttle run test in estimating peak oxygen uptake, with a random measurement error of approximately 11% of mean values.publishedVersio

Gimkana por la ciudad

A menudo los profesores de idiomas nos devanamos los sesos para realizar en nuestras clases actividades que reproduzcan la realidad comunicativa de la manera más fiel posible. Dicho de otro modo, intentamos construir situaciones más o menos auténticas dentro del contexto artificial que es la clase. Sin embargo, los que tenemos la suerte de enseñar español en un país hispanohablante olvidamos muchas veces todas las posibilidades que nos ofrece el mundo, más allá de las puertas de la escuela, como escenario ideal para que nuestros alumnos practiquen estructuras, vocabulario y todas las destrezas integradas. Aunque es de esperar que los alumnos de niveles medios y altos se relacionen con nativos, los principiantes lo tienen un poco más difícil, tanto por la dificultad para expresarse y entender, como por la lógica inseguridad que provoca la situación. Por todo ello presentamos la siguiente actividad, que hemos puesto en práctica varias veces con bastante éxito

Reliability and Structural Validity of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 in Croatian Preschool Children

publishedVersio

Increase in peak oxygen uptake and Andersen test performance in children from age six to ten: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)

The increased prevalence of non-communicable disease risk factors among children because of lack of physical activity is concerning. The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project was set up to combine learning activities and physical activity, thus reducing sedentariness during school time. The current study aimed to measure and describe the longitudinal and cross-sectional development of oxygen uptake and running performance in children at ages six and ten. The validity of the Andersen Test in predicting V̇O2peak in these age groups was also evaluated. Eighty-six children (53 boys, 33 girls) with complete datasets at ages 6 and 10 years were included in the longitudinal study, while 192 children (106 boys, 86 girls) were included in the cross-sectional analysis because they missed data from 1 year. Oxygen uptake was measured using a metabolic analyser and maximal treadmill running, while the distance covered during the AT determined running performance. Body mass, height, and waist-to-height ratios were recorded. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association between oxygen uptake and running performance. The cross-sectional results did not differ from the longitudinal data for anthropometrical data, oxygen uptake and running performance. Height, body mass and waist-to-height ratio did not differ between the sexes at ages six or ten. Boys had significantly higher peak oxygen uptake than girls at 6 years of age, irrespective of how oxygen uptake was expressed. Allometric scaling of oxygen uptake revealed differences between sexes at both ages. Longitudinal running performance increased in both sexes from 6 to 10 years. Boys ran significantly longer only at age ten. The association between oxygen uptake and running performance varied according to how the oxygen uptake was expressed and with sex and age. Ten-year-old girls had the highest correlations in the longitudinal investigation, from r 2 = 0.48 (fV̇O2peak) to 0.65 (rV̇O2peak) between AT and V̇O2peak. The AT was found to be as valid as the 20-m shuttle run test in estimating peak oxygen uptake, with a random measurement error of approximately 11% of mean values.publishedVersio