Three-dimensional core-shell ferromagnetic nanowires grown by focused electron beam induced deposition

Functional nanostructured materials often rely on the combination of more than one material to confer the desired functionality or an enhanced performance of the device. Here we report the procedure to create nanoscale heterostructured materials in the form of core-shell nanowires by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) technologies. In our case, three-dimensional (3D) nanowires (<100 nm in diameter) with metallic ferromagnetic cores of Co- and Fe-FEBID have been grown and coated with a protective Pt-FEBID shell (ranging 10-20 nm in thickness) aimed to minimize the degradation of magnetic properties caused by the surface oxidation of the core to a non-ferromagnetic material. The structure, chemistry and magnetism of nanowire cores of Co and Fe have been characterized in Pt-coated and uncoated nanostructures to demonstrate that the morphology of the shell is conserved during Pt coating, the surface oxidation is suppressed or confined to the Pt layer, and the average magnetization of the core is strengthened up to 30%. The proposed approach paves the way to the fabrication of 3D FEBID nanostructures based on the smart alternate deposition of two or more materials combining different physical properties or added functionalities

Evolution of the Hurdle-Unit Kinematic Parameters in the 60 m Indoor Hurdle Race.

The aims of this study were to compare the five hurdle-unit split times from the deterministic model with the hurdle-to-hurdle model and with the official time, to compare the step kinematics of each hurdle-unit intervals, and to relate these variables to their respective hurdle-unit split times. The temporal and spatial parameters of the 60 m hurdles race were calculated during the 44th Spanish and 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships (men: n = 59; women: n = 51). The hurdle-unit split times from the deterministic model showed a high correlation (r = 0.99; p < 0.001) with the split times of the hurdle-to-hurdle model and faster split times were related to shorter step and flight times in hurdle steps for both genders. At the first hurdle, male athletes tended to increase their flight and contact times while the tendency of female athletes was to decrease their contact and flight times. In addition, at the first hurdle, both genders presented shorter take-off distance, shorter landing distance, and greater step width than in the remaining hurdles of the race. Therefore, coaches should implement training programs that have an impact on these key variables according to the specific demands of each hurdle-unit phase and gender.post-print2650 K

Evolución de la longitud de zancada en la prueba de 60 metros vallas

La investigación científica acerca de la longitud de las zancadas en la prueba de vallas altas, tanto en pista cubierta como aire libre, se ha llevado a cabo mediante estudios en dos y tres dimensiones o empleando técnicas similares. Dichos estudios se han desarrollado bien sobre una o dos vallas o analizando el intervalo entre ellas. De este modo, existen referencias sobre la longitud de la zancada en el paso de la segunda valla [3], más frecuentemente sobre la tercera, cuarta o quinta valla [4] y, en ocasiones, analizando la octava o novena valla [2]. En cualquier caso, estos trabajos no han sido realizados sobre todos los deportistas que competían en la serie y, frecuentemente, se han llevado a cabo en condiciones de entrenamiento. Es por ello que el objetivo de la presente investigación fuese conocer cuáles eran los valores en competición a lo largo de toda la prueba en una amplia muestra de atletas, analizando la posible existencia de variaciones en la longitud de zancada entre las vallas

Match activities of top-class female soccer assistant referees in relation

The aim of this study was to examine the match activities of top-class female assistant referees (mean age 34.8 years, s=3.5; stature 1.64 m, s=0.05; weight 58.1 kg, s=7.4; body mass index 21.6 kg · m–2, s=2.4) in relation to the offside line. Computerized match analyses were performed on 14 top-class assistant referees during 10 matches (a total of 20 observations) from the 2006 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) under-20 Women's World Championship held in Russia. In addition, the position of the second last defensive player of both teams was calculated throughout the matches to determine the distance from the assistant referee to the offside line. The total distance covered during a game was 5594 m (s=473), of which 27% was sideways movements (1492 m, s=135). High-intensity activities (>13 km · h–1) accounted for 1999 m (s=371). Mean distance from the offside line during the entire match was 1.06 m (s=0.26). Total distance covered, high-intensity activities, and distance from the offside line were not different (P>0.05) between the two halves of the game or consecutive 15-min match periods. Our results show that: (1) the kinematic demands placed on top-class female assistant referees are similar to those of top-class male assistant refereeing except for the amount of high-intensity activities, and (2) assistant referees were able to maintain the distance from the offside line during the match, which suggests an ability to keep up with the pace of the play throughout the matc

Injury incidence in a Spanish sub-elite professional football team: A prospective study during four consecutive seasons

The aim of this study was to investigate the injury incidence and injury characteristics of a Spanish sub-elite professional football team during four consecutive seasons. A team was followed prospectively from the season 2003-2004 to 2006-2007 and individual player exposure and time loss injuries were recorded during all club training sessions and matches. A total of 313 time-loss injuries were recorded. The mean injury incidence was 10.9 injuries/1000 hours (5.2 injuries/1000 training hours and 44.1 injuries/1000 match hours). The injury incidence during competitive matches was higher (p 28 days absence) was 0.4 injuries/1000 hours. The thigh was the most commonly (35%) injured region and caused 29% of all competitive match absence. Muscle injuries in the four main groups of the lower limbs (hamstrings, adductors, quadriceps and calf muscles) caused 43% of competitive match unavailability. The results of this study show that the risk to sustain a major injury in the course of the season was low for sub-elite footballers in comparison to elite players. Thigh strains were the first cause of absence in competition due to injury

Estudio Biomecanico de la Zancada. 7.52 Record de España de 60 MV de Jackson Quiñonez.

Los resultados que a continuación se presentan hacen referencia al Record de España de 60 metros vallas (en adelante, mv) conseguido por el atleta Jackson Quiñonez (JQ) en la final del 44º Campeonato de España de pista cubierta - Valencia 08. Estos datos forman parte de un estudio global de todas las series de 60 mv y 60 metros lisos (ml) durante el 44º Campeonato de España y el 12th IAAF World Indoor Championship Valencia 2008, en las cuales se aplica una nueva metodología para la obtención de variables espaciales y temporales de todas las zancadas durante la competición

Added value of assimilating springtime Arctic sea ice concentration in summer-fall climate predictions

Prediction skill of continental climate in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitudes is generally limited throughout the year in dynamical seasonal forecast systems. Such limitations narrow the range of possible applications by different stakeholders. Improving the predictive capacity in these regions has been a challenging task. Sea ice is a central component of the Arctic climate system and a local source of climate predictability, yet its state is often not fully constrained in dynamical forecast systems. Using the EC-Earth3 climate model, we study the added value of assimilating observed Arctic sea ice concentration on the NH extratropical climate in retrospective forecasts of summer and fall, initialized every spring over 1992–2019. Predictions in the North Atlantic and Eurasia benefit from better initialization of sea ice in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic in a two-step mechanism. Initially, sea ice influences the central North Atlantic Ocean through an atmospheric bridge that develops in the first forecast weeks, subsequently leading to preserved skill in the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) throughout summer and early fall. Secondly, these long-lasting SST improvements provide better surface boundary conditions for the atmosphere and lead to more skillful predictions of circulation and surface climate in the Euro-Atlantic and Asian regions. In addition, our findings suggest that fully coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice models are likely necessary to study linkages between Arctic sea ice and midlatitudes, by better representing the interactions and feedbacks between the different components of the climate system.The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the authors. This work was funded by the European Union projects APPLICATE (Grant 727862), INTAROS (Grant 727890), and ESA/CMUG-CCI3. J C A N received financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades through a Juan de la Cierva personal grant (FJCI-2017-34027). J G-S was supported by the Spanish 'Ramón y Cajal' programme (RYC-2016-21181). All the data were downloaded from their original source, converted to NetCDF in a format designed for efficient analysis and quality checked at several levels. Etienne Tourigny, Pierre-Antoine Bretonnière, Margarida Samsó Cabré, Núria Pérez Zanón and An Chi Ho are acknowledged for their help with technical aspects. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Estudios de confort de vehículos ferroviarios mediante técnicas combinadas de simulación FEM y MBS

La elasticidad de la caja de viajeros de los vehículos ferroviarios tiene una gran influencia sobre el confort. Por esta razón, cuando se desea simular el comportamiento dinámico del vehículo para estudios de confort, resulta conveniente construir un modelo elástico de caja, a fin de obtener resultados más precisos. La construcción de este tipo de modelos pasa por el desarrollo de dos etapas fundamentales, que comprenden la generación de un modelo de caja mediante la técnica de los elementos finitos (FEM) para su caracterización dinámica como cuerpo elástico y la definición de un modelo de sistema multicuerpo (MBS) que englobe los restantes componentes del vehículo. En este artículo se presentan los resultados obtenidos en un estudio comparativo llevado a cabo con modelos de caja rígida y elástica, en los que se ha valorado el nivel de confort obtenido con ambas configuraciones. Para ello, se ha simulado el comportamiento del vehículo a dos velocidades distintas, de 70 y 110km/h, y con dos niveles de irregularidades. Se han analizado las aceleraciones de la caja, que se han procesado de acuerdo a las especificaciones de la norma EN12299, a fin de obtener el índice de comodidad. Este parámetro se ha utilizado para comparar el nivel de confort obtenido con ambos modelos, habiéndose encontrado una gran diferencia en los índices calculados con caja rígida y con caja elástica, lo que confirma la gran influencia de la elasticidad de la caja en los estudios de confort llevados a cabo mediante técnicas de simulación dinámica

Effect of positioning on the accuracy of decision making of association football top-class referees and assistant referees during competitive matches

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of positioning on the correctness of decision making of top-class referees and assistant referees during international games. Match analyses were carried out during the Fe´de´ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Confederations Cup 2009 and 380 foul play incidents and 165 offside situations were examined. The error percentage for the referees when indicating the incidents averaged 14%. The lowest error percentage occurred in the central area of the field, where the collaboration of the assistant referee is limited, and was achieved when indicating the incidents from a distance of 11–15 m, whereas this percentage peaked (23%) in the last 15-min match period. The error rate for the assistant referees was 13%. Distance of the assistant referee to the offside line did not have an impact on the quality of the offside decision. The risk of making incorrect decisions was reduced when the assistant referees viewed the offside situations from an angle between 46 and 608. Incorrect offside decisions occurred twice as often in the second as in the first half of the games. Perceptual-cognitive training sessions specific to the requirements of the game should be implemented in the weekly schedule of football officials to reduce the overall error rate

Acceptability of the HPV vaccine among Spanish university students in the pre-vaccine era: a cross-sectional study

Introducción. El cáncer de cuello de útero (CCU), segunda causa de mortalidad por cáncer en mujeres, está asociado a la infección por virus de papiloma humano (VPH), cuya máxima prevalencia se sitúa entre los 20 y 24 años de edad. Desde 2006 se dispone de una vacuna contra el VPH. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar los conocimientos sobre CCU, la infección por VPH y su vacuna, valorando su aceptabilidad en población universitaria. Métodos. Estudio transversal sobre 1.750 estudiantes de la Universidad de Alicante (2008) seleccionados al azar, proporcional por sexo y estudios, mediante un cuestionario ad-hoc validado. Se calcularon porcentajes, intervalos de confianza, tablas de contingencia según sexo, edad y tipo de estudios, calculando odds ratios ajustadas (OR). Resultados. Muestra con 58,6% mujeres y 6,6% de estudiantes biosanitarios. Un 87,3% dispuestos a vacunarse frente al VPH, el 94,3% vacunaría a sus hijas, un 48,0% había oído hablar de la vacuna. El 90,6% tiene bajos conocimiento sobre la infección por VPH y un 82,2% sobre la vacuna. Un 22,4% manifiesta conocer la asociación entre VPH y CCU. Las mujeres registran OR mayores en conocimientos y predisposición a vacunarse. La aceptabilidad de la vacuna contra VPH se asocia con el sexo y la confianza en las vacunas como método preventivo, la influencia de los conocimientos previos es escasa sobre la predisposición vacunal. Conclusiones. Alta aceptabilidad de la vacuna en el periodo estudiado. Aumentar la confianza hacia las vacunas puede influir en una mejor predisposición a vacunarse.Introduction. Cervical cancer (CC), the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women, is associated with the infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) and is more prevalent in women between the ages of 20 and 24. This research is aimed to determine the background about CC, the human papillomavirus infection and its vaccine, assessing its acceptability in university students. Methods. Cross-sectional study over 1,750 students from the University of Alicante (2008) selected at random, proportional associated to gender and studies, by a validated ad-hoc questionnaire. Percentages were computed, confidence intervals, contingency tables according to sex, age and type of studies, calculating adjusted odd ratios (OR). Results. A sample with 58.6 % of women and 6.6% of biohealth students was obtained. 87.3% were willing to have the vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV), 94.3% would give this vaccine to their daughters, and 48.0% had heard someone talk about the vaccine. 90.6% didn´t have a lot of knowledge about the HPV infection and 82.2% didn´t know much about the vaccine. 22.4% had knowledge of the association between HPV and CC. Women register higher OR in acknowledging the problem and are more receptive to having the vaccine. The HPV vaccine acceptability is associated to the sex, the confidence of vaccines as a preventive method; the influence of the background is low in relation to the vaccine predisposition. Conclusions. A high acceptability of the vaccine was observed in the period of the study. Raising confidence in people about the vaccines can influence for a better predisposition to be vaccinated