Indicadores de rendimiento defensivo en baloncesto en ganadores y perdedores

El objetivo de la presente investigación es analizar las diferencias en la utilización a lo largo del partido de algunos aspectos técnico-tácticos defensivos en baloncesto, entre equipos ganadores y perdedores. Se analizaron todas las fases de ataque (n=2305) llevadas a cabo a lo largo de 12 partidos de la etapa de playoff del campeonato chileno Dimayor jugado el año 2006. En cada fase de ataque se analizaron las siguientes variables en relación con el equipo defensor: (1) Tipo de defensa (individual, zonal, mixta, otras); (2) Presión en la transición ofensiva; (3) Cambios defensivos; (4) Ayudas defensivas; (5) Pases interiores; (6) Grado de oposición al lanzamiento (bajo, medio, alto); (7) Puntos recibidos; (8) Rebotes defensivos; (9) Resultado final del partido. Los resultados más significativos muestran que: a) a lo largo de todo el partido, los equipos ganadores alternan más entre la defensa individual y zonal, mientras que los perdedores alternan entre individual, zonal y mixta; b) las diferencias de puntos en el marcador se producen en el primer y tercer periodo de juego; c) los perdedores presionan más la transición ofensiva en los dos últimos periodos de juego; d) en el cuarto periodo, los equipos perdedores son mejores capturando rebotes defensivos en comparación con los ganadores; e) los cambios defensivos, ayudas sobre el hombre con balón y pases interiores permitidos, no diferencian a ganadores de perdedores en ningún period

Acute labio-scrotal pain in a patient with ovotesticular syndrome. Case report

Q2Reporte de casoe123-e126Ovotesticular syndrome (OTS) belongs to the group of disorders of sex development (DSD). We present a case of a patient with OTS presenting with acute labioscrotal pain. A surgical exploration was indicated, and hemorrhage was identified. A gonadectomy was performed and the final pathology report revealed an ovotestis with a bleeding follicle, normal ovarian parenchyma and atrophic testicular parenchyma. After reviewing the literature there is scarce information on this complex topic, but conservative management could be an option if the risk of a gonadal malignancy is low

Bilateral contract prices estimation using a Q-learning based approach

The electricity markets restructuring process encouraged the use of computational tools in order to allow the study of different market mechanisms and the relationships between the participating entities. Automated negotiation plays a crucial role in the decision support for energy transactions due to the constant need for players to engage in bilateral negotiations. This paper proposes a methodology to estimate bilateral contract prices, which is essential to support market players in their decisions, enabling adequate risk management of the negotiation process. The proposed approach uses an adaptation of the Q-Learning reinforcement learning algorithm to choose the best from a set of possible contract prices forecasts that are determined using several methods, such as artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machines (SVM), among others. The learning process assesses the probability of success of each forecasting method, by comparing the expected negotiation price with the historic data contracts of competitor players. The negotiation scenario identified as the most probable scenario that the player will face during the negotiation process is the one that presents the higher expected utility value. This approach allows the supported player to be prepared for the negotiation scenario that is the most likely to represent a reliable approximation of the actual negotiation environment.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 703689 (project ADAPT) and No 641794 (project DREAM-GO); NetEfficity Project (P2020 − 18015); and UID/EEA/00760/2013 funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE pro-gram and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Stick-slip instabilities in the shear flow of magnetorheological suspensions

International audienceThis work is devoted to the stick-slip instabilities that appear in the shear flow of highly concentrated suspensions of magnetic microparticles. The effect of the applied magnetic field strength was analyzed in details. With this aim, homogeneous suspensions of iron microparticles with concentration near the limit of maximum-packing fraction were prepared, and shear-flow measurements were performed in a controlled-rate mode using a rheometer provided with a rough parallel-plate geometry. For each given value of the shear rate, the time evolution of the shear stress was monitored for at least 20 min. Saw-tooth-like stress oscillations, typical of stick-slip instabilities, were obtained at low enough shear rate values. The measurements were restricted to small enough oscillations, at which the rheometer was still able to maintain the shear rate constant. From the microscopic viewpoint, these stick-slip instabilities principally appear due to the periodic failure and healing of the field-induced particle structures, as inferred from experimental observations. This hypothesis is corroborated by a theoretical model developed on the basis of the balance of the magnetic and hydrodynamic torques over the particle structures, allows us to predict the correct order of magnitude of the main parameters of the stick-slip instabilities, including the amplitude and period of the stress oscillations

Room temperature polymorphism in WO_(3) produced by resistive heating of W wires

Polymorphous WO_(3) micro- and nanostructures have been synthesized by the controlled Joule heating of tungsten wires under ambient conditions in a few seconds. The growth on the wire surface is assisted by the electromigration process and it is further enhanced by the application of an external electric field through a pair of biased parallel copper plates. In this case, a high amount of WO_(3) material is also deposited on the copper electrodes, consisting of a few cm^(2) area. The temperature measurements of the W wire agrees with the values calculated by a finite element model, which has allowed us to establish the threshold density current to trigger the WO_(3) growth. The structural characterization of the produced microstructures accounts for the gamma-WO_(3) (monoclinic I), which is the common stable phase at room temperature, along with low temperature phases, known as delta-WO_(3) (triclinic) on structures formed on the wire surface and e-WO_(3) (monoclinic II) on material deposited on external electrodes. These phases allow for a high oxygen vacancies concentration, which is interesting in photocatalysis and sensing applications. The results could help to design experiments to produce oxide nanomaterials from other metal wires by this resistive heating method with scaling-up potential

Measurement of the cosmic ray flux with the ANITA experiment

The ANITA experiment consists on an aerostatic balloon flying over Antarctica and carrying a payload with antennas. Although ANITA was designed to detect the electric field of netrino-induced showers in the ice cap, it has also detected 16 radio pulses coming from extensive air showers, and the ANITA collaboration has used these data to produce the first cosmic ray flux measurement obtained by employing radio as a stand-alone technique. We review the experimental results and its interpretation. We also focus on the simulations and the method used for obtaining the cosmic ray flux

Elevated circulating metalloproteinase 7 predicts recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with carotid stenosis: a prospective cohort study

Background: Major adverse cardiovascular events are the main cause of morbidity and mortality over the long term in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. There are few reports assessing the prognostic value of markers of inflammation in relation to the risk of cardiovascular disease after carotid endarterectomy. Here, we aimed to determine whether matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9 and MMP-10), tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP-1) and in vivo inflammation studied by 18F-FDG-PET/CT predict recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with carotid stenosis who underwent endarterectomy. Methods: This prospective cohort study was carried out on 31 consecutive patients with symptomatic (23/31) or asymptomatic (8/31) severe (> 70%) carotid stenosis who were scheduled for carotid endarterectomy between July 2013 and March 2016. In addition, 26 healthy controls were included in the study. Plasma and serum samples were collected 2 days prior to surgery and tested for MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, MMP-10, TIMP-1, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. 18F-FDGPET/CT focusing on several territories’ vascular wall metabolism was performed on 29 of the patients because of no presurgical availability in 2 symptomatic patients. Histological and immunohistochemical studies were performed with antibodies targeting MMP-10, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and CD68. Results: The patients with carotid stenosis had significantly more circulating MMP-1, MMP-7 and MMP-10 than the healthy controls. Intraplaque TIMP-1 was correlated with its plasma level (r = 0.42 P = .02) and with 18F-FDG uptake (r = 0.38 P = .05). We did not find any correlation between circulating MMPs and in vivo carotid plaque metabolism assessed by 18F-FDG-PET. After a median follow-up of 1077 days, 4 cerebrovascular, 7 cardiovascular and 11 peripheral vascular events requiring hospitalization were registered. Circulating MMP-7 was capable of predicting events over and above the traditional risk factors (HR = 1.15 P = .006). When the model was associated with the variables of interest, the risk predicted by 18F-FDG-PET was not significant. Conclusions: Circulating MMP-7 may represent a novel marker for recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with moderate to severe carotid stenosis. MMP-7 may reflect the atherosclerotic burden but not plaque inflammation in this specific vascular territory

Personalized whole-brain neural mass models reveal combined Aβ and tau hyperexcitable influences in Alzheimer’s disease

Neuronal dysfunction and cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are likely caused by multiple pathophysiological factors. However, mechanistic evidence in humans remains scarce, requiring improved non-invasive techniques and integrative models. We introduce personalized AD computational models built on whole-brain Wilson-Cowan oscillators and incorporating resting-state functional MRI, amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau-PET from 132 individuals in the AD spectrum to evaluate the direct impact of toxic protein deposition on neuronal activity. This subject-specific approach uncovers key patho-mechanistic interactions, including synergistic Aβ and tau effects on cognitive impairment and neuronal excitability increases with disease progression. The data-derived neuronal excitability values strongly predict clinically relevant AD plasma biomarker concentrations (p-tau217, p-tau231, p-tau181, GFAP) and grey matter atrophy obtained through voxel-based morphometry. Furthermore, reconstructed EEG proxy quantities show the hallmark AD electrophysiological alterations (theta band activity enhancement and alpha reductions) which occur with Aβ-positivity and after limbic tau involvement. Microglial activation influences on neuronal activity are less definitive, potentially due to neuroimaging limitations in mapping neuroprotective vs detrimental activation phenotypes. Mechanistic brain activity models can further clarify intricate neurodegenerative processes and accelerate preventive/treatment interventions

The Castilian Spanish version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR)

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Castilian Spanish language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the three Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach\u2019s alpha, interscale correlations, test\u2013retest reliability and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 526 JIA patients (8.6% systemic, 49.4% oligoarticular, 18.2% RF negative polyarthritis, 23.8% other categories) and 78 healthy children, were enrolled in six centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Castilian Spanish version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practise and clinical research

A mutation in the POT1 gene is responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like families

Cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare malignant tumour whose genetic basis is unknown. Here we show, by whole-exome sequencing of a TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like (LFL) family including CAS cases, that a missense variant (p.R117C) in POT1 (protection of telomeres 1) gene is responsible for CAS. The same gene alteration is found in two other LFL families with CAS, supporting the causal effect of the identified mutation. We extend the analysis to TP53-negative LFL families with no CAS and find the same mutation in a breast AS family. The mutation is recently found once in 121,324 studied alleles in ExAC server but it is not described in any other database or found in 1,520 Spanish controls. In silico structural analysis suggests how the mutation disrupts POT1 structure. Functional and in vitro studies demonstrate that carriers of the mutation show reduced telomere-bound POT1 levels, abnormally long telomeres and increased telomere fragility