Soft-Assembled Multilevel Dynamics of Tactical Behaviors in Soccer

This study aimed to identify the tactical patterns and the timescales of variables during a soccer match, allowing understanding the multilevel organization of tactical behaviors, and to determine the similarity of patterns performed by different groups of teammates during the first and second halves. Positional data from 20 professional male soccer players from the same team were collected using high frequency global positioning systems (5 Hz). Twenty-nine categories of tactical behaviors were determined from eight positioning-derived variables creating multivariate binary (Boolean) time-series matrices. Hierarchical principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the multilevel structure of tactical behaviors. The sequential reduction of each set level of principal components revealed a sole principal component as the slowest collective variable, forming the global basin of attraction of tactical patterns during each half of the match. In addition, the mean dwell time of each positioning-derived variable helped to understand the multilevel organization of collective tactical behavior during a soccer match. This approach warrants further investigations to analyze the influence of task constraints on the emergence of tactical behavior. Furthermore, PCA can help coaches to design representative training tasks according to those tactical patterns captured during match competitions and to compare them depending on situational variables

Fruit cell culture as a model system to study cell wall changes during strawberry fruit ripening

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa, Duch.) fruit is characterized by its fast ripening and soft texture at the ripen stage, resulting in a short postharvest shelf life and high economic losses. It is generally believed that the disassembly of cell walls, the dissolution of the middle lamella and the reduction of cell turgor are the main factors determining the softening of fleshy fruits. In strawberry, several studies indicate that the solubilisation and depolymerisation of pectins, as well as the depolymerisation of xyloglucans, are the main processes occurring during ripening. Functional analyses of genes encoding pectinases such as polygalacturonase and pectate lyase also point out to the pectin fraction as a key factor involved in textural changes. All these studies have been performed with whole fruits, a complex organ containing different tissues that differ in their cell wall composition and undergo ripening at different rates. Cell cultures derived from fruits have been proposed as model systems for the study of several processes occurring during fruit ripening, such as the production of anthocyanin and its regulation by plant hormones. The main objective of this research was to obtain and characterize strawberry cell cultures to evaluate their potential use as a model for the study of the cell wall disassembly process associate with fruit ripening. Cell cultures were obtained from cortical tissue of strawberry fruits, cv. Chandler, at the stages of unripe-green, white and mature-red. Additionally, a cell culture line derived from strawberry leaves was obtained. All cultures were maintained in solid medium supplemented with 2.5 mg.l-1 2,4-D and incubated in the dark. Cell walls from the different callus lines were extracted and fractionated to obtain CDTA and sodium carbonate soluble pectin fractions, which represent polyuronides located in the middle lamella or the primary cell wall, respectively. The amounts of homogalacturonan in both fractions were estimated by ELISA using LM19 and LM20 antibodies, specific against demethylated and methyl-esterified homogalacturonan, respectively. In the CDTA fraction, the cell line from ripe fruit showed a significant lower amount of demethylated pectins than the rest of lines. By contrast, the content of methylated pectins was similar in green- and red-fruit lines, and lower than in white-fruit and leaf lines. In the sodium carbonate pectin fraction, the line from red fruit also showed the lowest amount of pectins. These preliminary results indicate that cell cultures obtained from fruits at different developmental stages differ in their cell wall composition and these differences resemble to some extent the changes that occur during strawberry softening. Experiments are in progress to further characterize cell wall extracts with monoclonal antibodies against other cell wall epitopes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Illustrating changes in landscapes of passing opportunities along a set of competitive football matches

This study aims to illustrate the landscape of passing opportunities of a football team across a set of competitive matches. To do so positional data of 5 competitive matches was used to create polygons of pass availability. Passes were divided into three types depending on the hypothetical threat they may pose to the opposing defense (penetrative, support, and backwards passes). These categories were used to create three heatmaps per match. Moreover, the mean time of passing opportunities was calculated and compared across matches and for the three categories of passes. Due to the specificity of player’s interactive behavior, results showed heatmaps with a variety of patterns. Specifically the fifth match was very dissimilar to the other four. However, characterizing a football match in terms of passing opportunities with a single heatmap dismisses the variety of dynamics that occur throughout a match. Therefore, three temporal heatmaps over windows of 10 min were presented highlighting on-going dynamical changes in pass availability. Results also display that penetrative passes were available over shorter periods of time than backward passes that were available shorter than support passes. The results highlight the sensibility of the model to different task constrains that emerge within football matches.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rhamnogalacturonase lyase gene downregulation in strawberry and its potential on mechanical fruit properties

Strawberry softening is one of the main factors that reduces fruit quality and leads to economically important losses. Textural changes during fruit ripening are mainly due to the dissolution of middle lamellae, a reduction in cell-to-cell adhesion and the weakening of parenchyma cell walls as a result of the action of cell wall modifying enzymes. Functional studies of genes encoding pectinase enzymes (polygalacturonase, pectate lyase and -galactosidase) support a key role of pectin disassembly in strawberry softening. Evidence that RG-I may play an important role in strawberry texture has been obtained from the transient silencing of a RG-lyase gene. Pectins are major components of fruit cell walls and highly dynamic polysaccharides, but due to their heterogeneity the precise relation between the structures and functions is incomplete. In this work, stable transgenic strawberry lines with a rhamnogalacturonate lyase gene (FaRGLyase1) down-regulated have been analyzed. Several transgenic lines showing more than 95% silencing of FaRGLyase1 displayed fruit firmness values higher than control. Cell walls from these lines were extracted and analyzed by ELISA and Epitope Detection Chromatography (EDC). This last technique is based on the detection of specific cell wall oligosaccharide epitopes and provides information on sub-populations of pectins containing homogalacturonan and RG-I domains, but also reveals potential links with other cell wall polysaccharides such as xyloglucan. The results obtained indicate that the silencing of FaRGLyase1 reduces degradation of RG-I backbones, but also homogalacturonan, in cell walls, especially in pectin fractions covalently bound to the cell wall. These changes contribute to the increased firmness of transgenic fruits.This research was supported by FEDER EU Funds and the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (grant reference AGL2014-55784-C2), a Marie Curie IEF within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (reference: PIEF-2013-625270) for SP and a FPI fellowship (BES-2015-073616) to support PR-V. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Transformación a regadío con máquinas pívot de una superficie de 860 ha en la región costera de Malindi (kenia)

Al redactor se le plantea la posibilidad real de explotar 860 ha de tierra en la región costera de Kenia en el este de África, con lo que, el objetivo de este proyecto es conocer y analizar de primera mano las posibilidades tanto técnicas como económicas de llevar hacia adelante la explotación de dichas tierras, bajo un marco de trabajo el cual sea capaz de aprovechar el conocimiento y el desarrollo tecnológico que se conoce en la agricultura española combinado con las posibilidades y pormenores particulares que nos va a ocasionar el intentar desarrollar un proyecto de estas características en un lugar donde a pesar de que la agricultura juega un papel fundamental en la economía del país, el desarrollo tecnológico actual es mínimo. En este proyecto se plantea el estudio y cálculo de transformación a regadío mediante máquinas pívot de una superficie de 860 has. Por el lado Norte de la finca a 3 km se encuentra el río Galana, un río suficientemente caudaloso durante todas las estaciones del año capaz de suministrar la cantidad de agua suficiente y necesaria para el desarrollo de los cultivos, además la captación del río está en una cota superior suficiente para dotarnos de presión el sistema de riego a la entrada de la finca. Con el fin de optimizar el proyecto lo máximo posible y dado que en esa región no hay problemas de conseguir más superficie para cultivar, aunque la finca tiene 860 has, solamente se valorará las superficies regadas por los 12 pívots (720 has), no teniendo en cuenta las posibilidades sobre la tierra que queda libre entre pívot y pívot y entre estos y los propios lindes. DOCUMENTOS El proyecto mantiene la estructura de un proyecto técnico clásico; es decir, memoria, anejos a la memoria, planos, pliego de condiciones, presupuesto y estudio de seguridad y salud. - MEMORIA: En ella se explica de una manera más concreta el objetivo del proyecto, cuáles son sus soluciones adoptadas, así como la viabilidad del proyecto. - ANEJOS A LA MEMORIA: En los diversos anejos se pormenoriza más en cada campo estudiado, justificando las soluciones adoptadas y desarrollando su ejecución. Anejo 1.- Antecedentes y Objeto: En él se explica la situación actual de la que parte la parcela, se estudia también las condiciones impuestas por el promotor con el fin de optimizar bien el estudio y las posibilidades finales de desarrollo del proyecto, definiendo de esta manera lo más claramente el objeto del proyecto. Anejo 2.- Descripción de la zona: En este proyecto es muy importante contar con un estudio lo más detallado posible de la zona, ya que las infraestructuras y comunicaciones, así como la logística juegan un papel muy importante, más de lo habitual ya que en este caso contamos con el desarrollo de un proyecto en un país donde aunque las distancias no puedan parecer excesivamente grandes, la falta de buenas carreteras o caminos de acceso a la finca pueden proporcionarnos tiempos interminables y carencias de elementos importantes ante imprevistos y en alguna ocasión el abandono total del proyecto. Anejo 3.- Estudio climatológico: En dicho estudio contamos con los datos más relevantes en cuanto a clima se refiere, teniendo en cuenta la zona y el país en el que nos encontramos, con ello obtenemos las necesidades hídricas de los posibles cultivos, lo que condiciona directamente el diseño hidráulico, e indirectamente el estudio de viabilidad. Anejo 4.- Estudio edafológico: Aunque carecemos de un análisis concreto de la parcela, contamos con unos estudios de la zona por parte del KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute), el cual nos da información suficiente para tener unos datos generales de la zona y con ello poder hacer una primera valoración de las posibilidades del suelo de nuestra parcela. Anejo 5.- Rotación de cultivos: El contenido del presente anejo pretende proponer unas pautas para organizar la distribución de los cultivos a implantar, que en este caso son el trigo, maíz y alfalfa. Tanto el trigo como el maíz son cultivos que juegan un papel muy importante en la vida keniata, donde en los períodos de sequía pueden llegar a la escasez de los mismos. Con el alfalfa se busca la introducción de un cultivo nuevo en ese país, donde tiene sus necesidades concretas, pero además se apuesta por su estrecha cercanía a los países árabes, donde el consumo y la demanda están en un alto nivel. La rotación de cultivos tendrá la finalidad de alcanzar la máxima rentabilidad de la actividad agrícola. Anejo 6.- Características y justificación del sistema de riego elegido: En él se explica con detalle las ventajas e inconvenientes del sistema de riego elegido, así como las características y por qué se ha elegido ese sistema de riego, teniendo en cuenta que el objetivo es conseguir el sistema más sencillo posible y con el menos coste posible, pero a su vez con una buena calidad de riego. El sistema finalmente elegido es 12 pívot de 60 has de riego cada uno de ellos, que nos dan una cobertura total de 720 has, de las 860 has que tiene la finca en total. Anejo 7.- Cálculo de las necesidades de agua de riego: En el presente anejo, se calcula las necesidades hídricas para el sistema de riego a diseñar y para todo el periodo vegetativo de los cultivos de la rotación elegida. Anejo 8.- Cálculo hidráulico de la red de riego: En él, se procede al cálculo de las pérdidas de carga que existen en la red de riego, así como al dimensionado de la red. Quedando una tubería principal de abastecimiento desde la captación del río a la finca de 800 mm de PFRV, y luego allí se deriva en distintos ramales a los diferentes pívot, con tuberías de 315 mm a 250 mm de PVC, dependiendo de la longitud y diferencias de cota. Anejo 9.- Elementos singulares: Los elementos singulares que se disponen a lo largo de la red de riego tienen la misión de control y regulación de los caudales circulantes así como el control y mantenimiento de la presión en la red de riego, el filtrado y la evacuación de aire, por todo ello en este anejo se procede al análisis de los mismos. Anejo 10.- Marco legal: El objeto de este anejo es dar más información sobre el país donde se pretende implantar el proyecto de tipo legal. Se considera importante aportar información de Kenia, sobre el panorama general, marco económico, normas de importación, también sobre los aranceles y regímenes económicos aduaneros, así como los incentivos a la inversión, su sistema fiscal, financiación de proyectos e incluso legislación laboral. Anejo 11.- Estudio de Viabilidad económica: En él se analiza de forma minuciosa el coste del proyecto, los posibles beneficios económicos y un plan de inversión que se adapte a las características del inversor. El valor total de la inversión es de 4.240.124,88 €. Desde el punto de vista del VAN (3.627.651,59€) se observa que la inversión es rentable y el TIR (21,12%) es superior al tipo de interés utilizado, por lo tanto la inversión es rentable. - PLANOS: Se incluyen los planos suficientes para que las partes implicadas en el proyecto se hagan una idea concreta de la obra a ejecutar, los cuales constarán de emplazamiento, situación, planta general, cartografía y ejes longitudinales, perfiles longitudinales de la general y los ramales, así como detalles de la zanja y de la captación del río. - PLIEGO DE CONDICIONES: En este documento se establecen las condiciones entre las partes en caso de la ejecución del proyecto por contrata, así como las condiciones de los materiales y métodos de montaje. - PRESUPUESTO: En él se detalla el presupuesto de mediciones, unitarios, descompuesto, general y un resumen del mismo. - ESTUDIO DE SEGURIDAD Y SALUD: Se definen las labores a realizar y la forma de evitar accidentes, además de los planos y presupuesto

The diagonal positioning of the goals modifies the external training load and the tactical behaviour of young football players

This study aimed to identify how positioning the goals in diagonal configurations on the pitch modifies the external training load and the tactical behaviour of young football players during small- sided games. Four teams of five outfield players and a goalkeeper played six small-sided games of five minutes’ duration in three different scenarios: 1) Control: goals placed one in front of the other; 2) Right diagonal goals: goals placed in the right-hand corner of the offensive half-pitch; and 3) Left diagonal goals: goals placed in the left-hand corner of the offensive half-pitch. The positioning-derived data from each player were collected with 10-Hz GPS units and were used to compute external load and tactical variables. Regarding the external load variables, differences were mainly focused on distance covered while walking in defence and game pace (variability), with higher values for the diagonal scenarios. Also, the length/width ratios in offence and defence were most likely lower in diagonal scenarios. In conclusion, the results showed that players’ adaptations to the environmental constraints of positioning the goals diagonally were the enhancement of the width team variable and the variability of the length

High-throughput mapping of cell wall glycans to unveil cell wall disassembly, a key process determining strawberry fruit softening

The short shelf life of strawberry fruit is a major limitation that produces important economic losses related to postharvest spoiling. Fruit texture of fleshy fruits is a complex trait but mainly rely on mechanical properties of parenchyma cell walls. Several studies support the relevance of cell wall modifying enzymes on cell wall deconstruction, decreasing cell wall strength and cell to cell adhesion, and ultimately producing the softening of the fruit at macroscopic level. Previous studies on our group showed that transgenic silencing of ripening-specific genes encoding some of these enzymes reduced softening and increased postharvest shelf life in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, cv. ‘Chandler’) fruits. In this research, to further investigate the cell wall remodelling process associated to strawberry softening a high-throughput analysis of cell wall composition based on monoclonal antibodies against different polysaccharide epitopes has been performed. To this purpose, cell walls were isolated from non-transgenic fruits at different developmental stages as well as from ripe fruits of selected transgenic lines with genes involved in metabolism of pectins (pectate lyase, polygalacturonase, β-galactosidase, pectin acetil esterase), hemicellulose/cellulose (endo-β-glucanase) or lignin (cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) down-regulated. These transgenic lines showed a large variability in fruit firmness at ripening. Cell walls were fractionated and subjected to a carbohydrate microarray. The results obtained unveiled a common pattern of cell wall composition on those transgenic lines with firmer phenotypes, specially defined by the higher content of pectins on those cell wall fractions more imbricated in the matrix, which can be interpreted as a less degraded cell wall structure.This research was supported by FEDER EU Funds and the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (grant reference AGL2017-86531-C2-1-R). Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Cell wall disassembly is delayed by rhamnogalacturonate lyase gene silencing: potential role in fruit firmness

Strawberry fruits greatly reduce their quality due to softening during ripening with economically important losses. Texture changes of fleshy fruits during ripening are mainly due to middle lamellae dissolution, cell-to-cell adhesion losses and wall weakening of parenchyma cells by the coordinated action of several cell wall enzymes. Pectin degradation has been proven a key factor in strawberry softening by functional analysis of several pectinase genes (polygalacturonase, pectate lyase and -galactosidase). The complexity and highly dynamic nature of pectins remains a challenge to fully elucidate structure-function relationships of pectins. In this work, we present the functional analysis of two independent strawberry transgenic lines with more than 95% silencing of a rhamnogalacturonate lyase gene (FaRGLyase1). Firmness of ripe fruit was significantly higher in both transgenic lines than in the control. Cell walls from these fruits were extracted and analyzed by glycan microarray profiling. This high‐throughput technique allows a wide screening of cell-wall glycan occurrence based on the detection of specific cell wall oligosaccharide epitopes by monoclonal antibodies and reveals profiles which can be used as potential fingerprints specific for a singular organ and/or developmental stage. Our microarray results showed that the silencing of FaRGLyase1 reduced degradation of several rhamnogalacturonan-I related epitopes, as expected. Additionally, comparison of transgenic cell walls from ripe fruits with those extracted from control fruits at different developmental stages (green, white and red) by hierarchical clustering, demonstrated a higher similarity of transgenic fruit cell walls with the control cell walls from fruits at the white stage. Glycan microarray profiles revealed less degraded fruit cell walls as result of FaRGLyase1 down-regulation which could contribute to the increased firmness of transgenic fruitsUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech