Elite coaches’ approach to quantifying technical actions and relative participation in volleyball players’ performance

This study sought to identify elite coaches’ perception of the importance of technical actions and the consideration of relative participation to measure individual volleyball players’ performance. An instrument was elaborated to gather the opinions of elite coaches on the importance of technical actions reported by the data volley (excluding setting), as well as considering relative participation. Twenty elite coaches with at least three years of experience in national teams or top leagues participated in the study. Variables considered in the study were analysed using descriptive statistics and reliability was measured with Cronbach’s α and McDonald’s Omega coefficients (> .70). The results assessed the importance of scoring actions, which received values of (1 point). All errors (terminal and continuity) were scored with (−1). Non-scoring actions were given values [.00, .80], except for poor attack (−.35), poor serve (−.60), free freeball (−.60) and reception free (−.50). Relative participation was considered according to the percentage of points and/or contacts played by each athlete. We concluded that for the player’s points and/or contacts, priority is given to actions that win points directly or are excellent, followed by those that contribute to building comfortable attacks, while penalising errors

Underwater Sensor Networks: A New Energy Efficient and Robust Architecture

The specific characteristics of underwater environments introduce new challenges for networking protocols. In this paper, a specialized architecture for underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) is proposed and evaluated. Experiments are conducted in order to analyze the suitability of this protocol for the subaquatic transmission medium. Moreover, different scheduling techniques are applied to the architecture in order to study their performance. In addition, given the harsh conditions of the underwater medium, different retransmission methods are combined with the scheduling techniques. Finally, simulation results illustrate the performance achievements of the proposed protocol in end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio and energy consumption, showing that this protocol can be very suitable for the underwater medium.The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN research projects CTM2011-29691-C02-01 and TIN2011-28435-C03-01) and the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 258359 CLAM).Climent, S.; Capella Hernández, JV.; Meratnia, N.; Serrano Martín, JJ. (2012). Underwater Sensor Networks: A New Energy Efficient and Robust Architecture. Sensors. 12(1):704-731. https://doi.org/10.3390/s12010070470473112

Thinning of the Monte Perdido Glacier in the Spanish Pyrenees since 1981

Producción CientíficaThis paper analyzes the evolution of the Monte Perdido Glacier, the third largest glacier in the Pyrenees, from 1981 to the present. We assessed the evolution of the glacier's surface area by analysis of aerial photographs from 1981, 1999, and 2006, and changes in ice volume by geodetic methods with digital elevation models (DEMs) generated from topographic maps (1981 and 1999), airborne lidar (2010) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) data. We interpreted the changes in the glacier based on climate data from nearby meteorological stations. The results indicate that the degradation of this glacier accelerated after 1999. The rate of ice surface loss was almost three times greater during 1999–2006 than during earlier periods. Moreover, the rate of glacier thinning was 1.85 times faster during 1999–2010 (rate of surface elevation change  = −8.98 ± 1.80 m, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.73 ± 0.14 m w.e. yr−1) than during 1981–1999 (rate of surface elevation change  = −8.35 ± 2.12 m, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.42 ± 0.10 m w.e. yr−1). From 2011 to 2014, ice thinning continued at a slower rate (rate of surface elevation change  = −1.93 ± 0.4 m yr−1, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.58 ± 0.36 m w.e. yr−1). This deceleration in ice thinning compared to the previous 17 years can be attributed, at least in part, to two consecutive anomalously wet winters and cool summers (2012–2013 and 2013–2014), counteracted to some degree by the intense thinning that occurred during the dry and warm 2011–2012 period. However, local climatic changes observed during the study period do not seem sufficient to explain the acceleration of ice thinning of this glacier, because precipitation and air temperature did not exhibit statistically significant trends during the study period. Rather, the accelerated degradation of this glacier in recent years can be explained by a strong disequilibrium between the glacier and the current climate, and likely by other factors affecting the energy balance (e.g., increased albedo in spring) and feedback mechanisms (e.g., heat emitted from recently exposed bedrock and debris covered areas).Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - IBERNIEVE (project CGL2014-52599-P)Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (project 844/2013

El glaciarismo de la pequeña Edad de Hielo en las Montañas Ibéricas. Síntesis y estado actual de conocimiento

El avance glaciar histórico de la Pequeña Edad del Hielo ha sido registrado en tres de las principales áreas de montaña peninsulares: Pirineos, Picos de Europa y Sierra Nevada. El glaciarismo histórico de los Pirineos está presente en 15 macizos y más de 100 circos glaciares de su alta montaña, aunque en la actualidad las escasas masas de hielo quedan relegadas a los sectores más elevados. Los glaciares de la Cordillera Cantábrica, hasta 6 pequeños aparatos en el Macizo de Picos de Europa, y Sierra Nevada, cuyo único glaciar constituye el glaciarismo histórico más meridional de Europa, tuvieron durante la PEH un carácter marginal, muy condicionado por los factores de localización geográfica y topoclimáticos. Se diferencian varios episodios glaciares en las montañas peninsulares durante la PEH: máxima expansión histórica (final s. XVII – principios s. XVIII); retroceso glaciar menor; avance glaciar secundario (mediados del s. XIX); y retroceso glaciar continuado (desde finales del s. XIX – principios del s. XX) con transición de dominios glaciares marginales a periglaciares, lo que ha implicado el retroceso e incluso la desaparición de buena parte de los glaciares históricos

A survey of deep learning models in medical therapeutic areas.

pre-print1407 K

DEFS - Data exchange with Free Sample Protocol

Distrust between data providers and data consumers is one of the main obstacles hampering digital-data commerce to take off. Data providers want to get paid for what they offer, while data consumers want to know exactly what are they paying for before actually paying for it. In this article, we present a protocol that overcomes this obstacle by building trust based on two main ideas. First, a probabilistic verification protocol, where some random samples of the real dataset are shown to buyers in order to allow them to make an assessment before committing any payment; and second a guaranteed, protected payment process, enforced with smart contracts on a public blockchain, that guarantees the payment of the data if and only if the data provided meets the agreed terms, and that refunds honest players otherwise.The architecture presented in this paper is supported and developed in the context of the i3-MARKET project [?]. The i3-MARKET project is an active European H2020 project focused on developing solutions for building an European data market economy by enhancing current marketplace platforms with innovative technologies (call H2020-ICT-2019-2 with grant agreement number 871754). This work is also supported by the TCO-RISEBLOCK (PID2019-110224RBI00), MINECO/FEDER funded project ARPASAT TEC2015-70197-R and by the Generalitat de Catalunya grant 2014-SGR-1504.Postprint (author's final draft

Teaching skills and coping styles in elementary teachers.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo analizar las diferencias de la autopercepción de la eficacia del profesorado de Educación Primaria según el nivel autopercibido del desarrollo de habilidades docentes. En una muestra de N=33 maestros en activo tomada de centros educativos de Valladolid pertenecientes a la etapa de Primaria, se aplicó la escala de autovaloración tipo Likert ECAD-EP (Valdivieso, Carbonero y Martín-Antón, 2013) para la medición de la autovaloración de habilidades docentes en tres dimensiones (socioemocional, comunicativo relacional e instruccional) y una escala de autovaloración del nivel de eficacia docente adaptada por Sunjin Oh (2011) del Test Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES, Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk, 2001). Se hicieron cálculos estadísticos descriptivos y de comparación de medias (pruebas U y W), revelando los resultados obtenidos que existen diferencias significativas en todas las dimensiones, especialmente en la instrucional. Se puede concluir la necesidad de desarrollar programas formativos en el profesorado para el desarrollo potencial de habilidades docentes con el fin de incrementar los niveles de autoeficacia y, con ello, el desarrollo de la calidad en los procesos educativos.This research aims to analyze the differences in self-perceived of the efficacy of Primary School teachers according to the self-perceived level of development of teaching skills. In a sample of N = 33 teachers of Primary School teachers in Valladolid was applied to the Likert scale ECAD-EP (Valdivieso, Carbonero & Martín Antón, 2013) to measure the applied self-assessment of teaching skills in three dimensions (a. Social-emotional, b. Communicative and Relationship, c. Instructional) and a self-assessment of the level of teaching effectiveness rating scale adapted by Sunjin Oh (2011) created by Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk (2001): Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES). Descriptive statistical calculations and mean comparison (U and W tests) were made. The results revealed significant differences in all dimensions, especially in the instructional factor. We conclude the need to develop training programs for teachers in the potential development of teaching skills in order to increase levels of self-efficacy and thereby the development of quality in education.peerReviewe

Caracterización geoeléctrica de los depósitos superficiales en la Antártida Occidental (Isla Livingstone, Islas Shetland del Sur, Antártida Occidental)

The geophysical study of superficial deposits (mainly gravels) in ice-free areas near the seashore in the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica) allows establishing the possible existence of permafrost and buried ice bodies. In this work we have investigated the internal structure of Quaternary sediments using the resistivity method (vertical electric sounding, V.E.S.), with the purpose of establishing the resistivity values of the different materials and their geometry. We present here the results obtained from 17 vertical electric soundings carried out in Caleta Española, (north coast of Hurd Peninsula), and in the surroundings of Caleta del Glaciar Rocoso (south coast of Hurd Peninsula), both in Livingston Island. Vertical electric soundings interpretation has allowed us to characterise different units from the resistivity values (active layer, permafrost, buried ice, Quaternary deposits and their basement), and to establish the inter-phase between sea water and continental water. Moreover, with the resistivity method we have deduced the spatial distribution of some of these beds. In this way the permafrost (with resistivity values ranging between 13000 and 35000 Ω*m), and the associated active layer, is restrained to shallow depths( 60000 Ω *m) and has been only found in the studied rock glacier

Tomb Location and Grave Goods: Continuous Use and Destruction in the Rio de Gor Megalithic Necropoleis

Rio de Gor Megalithic necropoleis are one of the most important funerary clusters in Southern Iberian Peninsula. We attempted to study megalith and settlement characteristics in relation to social organization according to the scarce and old available data. Firstly, an evaluation of previous unsystematic surveys and looters destructions of monuments has been made by taking into account location of preserved tombs. Visibility GIS analysis, with the help of ancient cartographic data, have let us to suggest a hypothetical location of graves that have disappeared. GIS techniques have been used to geo-reference old archaeological maps in order to identify their approximate position. Secondly, analysis of topographic location, Total Viewshed and Cumulative Viewshed Analysis using GIS was performed to evaluate the role of visual dominance over the entire terrain. The results have shown that graves were used to mark routes in two ways, from South to North along the river course and from the valley to the plateau. Settlements were located near the valley bottom although there are some chronological and hierarchical differences. Thirdly, we have seen that tombs were not only used for a long period of time but also that they were probably arranged in groups around some of the most monumental examples, those containing rich grave goods and marking the river course in the Chalcolithic period. Probably routes from the valley to the plateau were generated by the addition of tombs from the beginning of the Late Neolithic and the system was completed with the building of great trapezoidal tombs during the third millennium BC. Fourthly, tomb reuse has been proven in the Middle and the Late Bronze Age, when there was not only pursuit for justification by tradition but also redefinition of territorial control linked to elite. This is shown by the fact that the Late Bronze Age use of the megaliths was only in relation to rich burials as can be inferred from the great amount of silver ornaments they contain.Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucí