OPTIMAL REACTIVE STRENGTH INDEX: IS IT AN ACCURATE VARIABLE TO OPTIMIZE PLYOMETRIC TRAINING EFFECTS ON MEASURES OF PHYSICAL FITNESS IN YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS?

This study aimed to compare the effects of drop-jump training using a fixed drop-box height (i.e., 30-cm [FIXED]) vs. an optimal (OPT) drop-box height (i.e., 10-cm to 40-cm: generating an OPT reactive strength index [RSI]) in youth soccer players' physical fitness. Athletes were randomly allocated to a control group (n = 24; age = 13.7 years), a fixed drop-box height group (FIXED, n = 25; age = 13.9 years), or an OPT drop-box height group (OPT, n = 24; age = 13.1 years). Before and after 7 weeks of training, tests for the assessment of jumping (countermovement jump [CMJ], 5 multiple bounds), speed (20-m sprint time), change of direction ability (CODA [Illinois test]), strength {RSI and 5 maximal squat repetition test (5 repetition maximum [RM])}, endurance (2.4-km time trial), and kicking ability (maximal kicking distance) were undertaken. Analyses revealed main effects of time for all dependent variables (p < 0.001, d = 0.24-0.72), except for 20-m sprint time. Analyses also revealed group 3 time interactions for CMJ (p, 0.001, d = 0.51), depth jump (DJ) (p < 0.001, d = 0.30), 20-m sprint time (p < 0.001, d = 0.25), CODA (p < 0.001, d = 0.22), and 5RM (p < 0.01, d = 0.16). Post hoc analyses revealed increases for the FIXED group (CMJ: 7.4%, d = 0.36; DJ: 19.2%, d = 0.49; CODA: 23.1%, d = 20.21; 5RM: 10.5%, d = 0.32) and the OPT group (CMJ: 16.7%, d = 0.76; DJ: 36.1%, d = 0.79; CODA: 24.4%, d = 20.34; 5RM: 18.1%, d = 0.47). Post hoc analyses also revealed increases for the OPT group in 20-m sprint time (23.7%, d = 0.27). Therefore, to maximize the effects of plyometric training, an OPT approach is recommended. However, using adequate fixed drop-box heights may provide a rational and practical alternative

Discovery of faint double-peak Halpha emission in the halo of low redshift galaxies

Aiming at the detection of cosmological gas being accreted onto galaxies of the local Universe, we examined the Halpha emission in the halo of 164 galaxies in the field of view of the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer Wide survey (\musew ) with observable Halpha (redshift < 0.42). An exhaustive screening of the corresponding Halpha images led us to select 118 reliable Halpha emitting gas clouds. The signals are faint, with a surface brightness of 10**(-17.3 pm 0.3) erg/s/cm2/arcsec2. Through statistical tests and other arguments, we ruled out that they are created by instrumental artifacts, telluric line residuals, or high redshift interlopers. Around 38% of the time, the Halpha line profile shows a double peak with the drop in intensity at the rest-frame of the central galaxy, and with a typical peak-to-peak separation of the order of pm 200 km/s. Most line emission clumps are spatially unresolved. The mass of emitting gas is estimated to be between one and 10**(-3) times the stellar mass of the central galaxy. The signals are not isotropically distributed; their azimuth tends to be aligned with the major axis of the corresponding galaxy. The distances to the central galaxies are not random either. The counts drop at a distance > 50 galaxy radii, which roughly corresponds to the virial radius of the central galaxy. We explore several physical scenarios to explain this Halpha emission, among which accretion disks around rogue intermediate mass black holes fit the observations best.Comment: pay attention to the last sentence of the abstract! Accepted for publication in Ap

Synthetically induced Arabidopsis thaliana autotetraploids provide insights into the analysis of meiotic mutants with altered crossover frequency

Mutations affecting crossover (CO) frequency and distribution lead to the presence of univalents during meiosis, giving rise to aneuploid gametes and sterility. These mutations may have a different effect after chromosome doubling. The combination of altered ploidy and mutations could be potentially useful to gain new insights into the mechanisms and regulation of meiotic recombination; however, studies using autopolyploid meiotic mutants are scarce. Here, we have analyzed the cytogenetic consequences in colchicine-induced autotetraploids (colchiploids) from different Arabidopsis mutants with an altered CO frequency. We have found that there are three types of mutants: mutants in which chiasma frequency is doubled after chromosome duplication (zip4, mus81), as in the control; mutants in which polyploidy leads to a higher-than-expected increase in chiasma frequency (asy1, mer3, hei10, and mlh3); and mutants in which the rise in chiasma frequency produced by the presence of two extrachromosomal sets is less than doubled (msh5, fancm). In addition, the proportion of class I/class II COs varies after chromosome duplication in the control. The results obtained reveal the potential of colchiploid meiotic mutants for better understanding of the function of key proteins during plant meiosis. This is especially relevant considering that most crops are polyploids.Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu

Turismo rural como alternativa de desarrollo sostenible en el distrito de Montero, Ayabaca-2010

La presente investigación, denominada “El Turismo Rural como alternativa de Desarrollo Sostenible en el distrito de Montero, Ayabaca-2010”; se realizó con el objetivo de determinar la manera cómo el turismo rural contribuye en el desarrollo sostenible en el distrito. Para ello, se identificaron los recursos y servicios turísticos del distrito de Montero que permitirían la práctica del turismo rural. Luego se identificaron las actividades vivenciales que ayudan a su fomento y por último se identificaron los beneficios socio-culturales que obtendría la población con el desarrollo de este tipo de turismo. La metodología de la investigación es la de un estudio descriptivo y trasversal. El estudio de campo enfocó a una población de 265 familias a quienes se les aplicó una encuesta de veintisiete preguntas, todas validadas por un estadista y se demostró su confiabilidad mediante el alfa de Crombach cuyo valor fue 0.765; llegando a las siguientes conclusiones: Los recursos naturales y culturales aprovechables turísticamente en el distrito de Montero son, los bosques de neblina de Cuchaín y de Chonta, las caídas de agua de Sicacate y El Molino. Los recursos turísticos socio-culturales aprovechables son, el templo de "San Antonio de Padua’, el Festival de la Panela y las celebraciones anuales por el aniversario de creación del distrito. Todos ellos permiten la práctica de un turismo rural sostenible, por lo que es importante el mantenimiento y la conservación de los recursos antes mencionados. Las actividades vivenciales existentes son, la recolección de café, la participación en la elaboración de la panela, la cosecha y proceso del cacao y las actividades textiles. Todas ellas generan interés en los turistas fomentando la práctica del turismo rural. Los pobladores obtienen beneficios socio-culturales tomándolo como una alternativa para el desarrollo sostenible. Este no solo contribuirá en el aspecto económico sino también en lo sociocultural y ambiental. Mejorará la condición de vida de los pobladores al encontrar estos una nueva fuente de trabajo; pudiéndose desempeñar en diferentes rubros como hospedaje, alimentación o guiado sin dejar de lado sus actividades cotidianas. Surgirá un intercambio de cultura entre turistas y pobladores, quienes deben conservar sus tradiciones y generarán en ellos una conciencia para el cuidado y conservación de la biodiversidad y el medio ambiente de la zona a fin de que no se deterioren los recursos turísticos

Challenges and Opportunities for RISC-V Architectures towards Genomics-based Workloads

The use of large-scale supercomputing architectures is a hard requirement for scientific computing Big-Data applications. An example is genomics analytics, where millions of data transformations and tests per patient need to be done to find relevant clinical indicators. Therefore, to ensure open and broad access to high-performance technologies, governments, and academia are pushing toward the introduction of novel computing architectures in large-scale scientific environments. This is the case of RISC-V, an open-source and royalty-free instruction-set architecture. To evaluate such technologies, here we present the Variant-Interaction Analytics use case benchmarking suite and datasets. Through this use case, we search for possible genetic interactions using computational and statistical methods, providing a representative case for heavy ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) data processing. Current implementations are implemented in x86-based supercomputers (e.g. MareNostrum-IV at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)), and future steps propose RISC-V as part of the next MareNostrum generations. Here we describe the Variant Interaction Use Case, highlighting the characteristics leveraging high-performance computing, indicating the caveats and challenges towards the next RISC-V developments and designs to come from a first comparison between x86 and RISC-V architectures on real Variant Interaction executions over real hardware implementations