Effects of team Knowledge and ecological constraints on decisional processes in customized football game scenarios

Several theories assume that successful team coordination is partly based on knowledge that helps anticipating individual contributions necessary in a situational task. It has been argued that a more ecological perspective needs to be considered in contexts evolving dynamically and unpredictably. In football, defensive plays are usually coordinated according to strategic concepts spanning all members and large areas of the playfield. On the other hand, fewer people are involved in offensive plays as these are less projectable and strongly constrained by ecological characteristics. The aim of this study is to test the effects of ecological constraints and player knowledge on decision making in offensive game scenarios. It is hypothesized that both knowledge about team members and situational constraints will influence decisional processes. Effects of situational constraints are expected to be of higher magnitude. Two teams playing in the fourth league of the Swiss Football Federation participate in the study. Forty customized game scenarios were developed based on the coaches’ information about player positions and game strategies. Each player was shown in ball possession four times. Participants were asked to take the perspective of the player on the ball and to choose a passing destination and a recipient. Participants then rated domain specific strengths (e.g., technical skills, game intelligence) of each of their teammates. Multilevel models for categorical dependent variables (team members) will be specified. Player knowledge (rated skills) and ecological constraints (operationalized as each players’ proximity and availability for ball reception) are included as predictor variables. Data are currently being collected. Results will yield effects of parameters that are stable across situations as well as of variable parameters that are bound to situational context. These will enable insight into the degree to which ecological constraints and more enduring team knowledge are involved in decisional processes aimed at coordinating interpersonal action.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Utilization of BRCA Testing Among Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) is an inherited cancer syndrome that is associated with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Carriers of BRCA mutations, both men and women, are at an increased risk for developing certain cancers. Carriers are most notably at an increased risk to develop breast and ovarian cancers; however an increased risk for prostate cancer, melanoma, and pancreatic cancers has also been associated with these mutations. In 2009 the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a practice bulletin stating that evaluating a patient’s risk for HBOC should be a routine part of obstetric and gynecologic practice. A survey was created and completed by 83 obstetricians and gynecologists in the greater Houston, TX area. The survey consisted of four sections designed to capture demographic information, attitudes towards HBOC and BRCA testing, utilization of BRCA testing, and the overall knowledge of respondents with regards to HBOC and BRCA testing. This study found that the majority of participants indicated that they felt that obstetricians and gynecologists should have the primary responsibility of identifying patients who may be at increased risk of carrying a BRCA mutation. Moreover, this study found that the majority of participants indicated that they felt comfortable or very comfortable in identifying patients at an increased risk of carrying a BRCA mutation. However, only about a quarter of participants indicated that they order BRCA genetic testing one to two times per month or more. Lastly, this study demonstrates that the overall knowledge of HBOC and BRCA testing among this population of obstetricians and gynecologists is poor. The results of this study stress the need for more education regarding HBOC, genetic testing, and strategies for identifying patients that may be at risk for having a mutation in a BRCA gene. Furthermore, it reiterates the importance of raising awareness to current practice guidelines and recommendations that can assist obstetricians and gynecologist to better identify and manage patients that may be at an increased risk of having HBOC.

Palynological record of Lake Nero in Russia

This collection prepared to IX Congress of INQUA containes 25 articles concerning general and regional problems of Pleistocene. The chronological scale of the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene, climatical cycles and methods of the absolute dating are considered. Some data obtained by means ef paleomagnetic, thermoluminescence and radiocarbon methods at several point sections (Likhvin, Rostov-Jarosiavsky, Priasovje, Ob-garm, Chagan, Pryobskoje Plateau, Lower Volga) are given.

A robust numerical framework for the analysis of material failure of fibre reinforced soft tissue

In this work, robustness and stability of continuum damage models applied to material failure in soft tissues are addressed. In the implicit damage models equipped with softening, the presence of negative eigenvalues in the tangent elemental matrix degrades the condition number of the global matrix, leading to a reduction of the computational performance of the numerical model. Two strategies have been adapted from literature to improve the aforementioned computational performance degradation: the IMPL-EX integration scheme [Oliver,2006], which renders the elemental matrix contribution definite positive, and arclength-type continuation methods [Carrera,1994], which allow to capture the unstable softening branch in brittle ruptures. The IMPL-EX integration scheme has as a major drawback the need to use small time steps to keep numerical error below an acceptable value. A convergence study, limiting the maximum allowed increment of internal variables in the damage model, is presented. Finally, numerical simulation of failure problems with fibre reinforced materials illustrates the performance of the adopted methodology.

A portable NIR device for the optical supervision of milk coagulation process

The coagulation of milk is the fundamental process in cheese-making, based on a gel formation as consequence of physicochemical changes taking place in the casein micelles, the monitoring the whole process of milk curd formation is a constant preoccupation for dairy researchers and cheese companies (Lagaude et al., 2004). In addition to advances in composition-based applications of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), innovative uses of this technology are pursuing dynamic applications that show promise, especially in regard to tracking a sample in situ during food processing (Bock and Connelly, 2008). In this way the literature describes cheese making process applications of NIRS for curd cutting time determination, which conclude that NIRS would be a suitable method of monitoring milk coagulation, as shown i.e. the works published by Fagan et al. (Fagan et al., 2008; Fagan et al., 2007), based in the use of the commercial CoAguLite probe (with a LED at 880nm and a photodetector for light reflectance detection).

Optical and structural properties of InAlN/GaN Bragg reflectors examined by transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of ten-period lattice-matched InAlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) with peak reflectivity centered around 400nm is reported including optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements [1]. Good periodicity heterostructures with crack-free surfaces were confirmed, but, also a significant residual optical absorption below the bandgap was measured. The TEM characterization ascribes the origin of this problem to polymorfism and planar defects in the GaN layers and to the existence of an In-rich layer at the InAlN/GaN interfaces. In this work, several TEM based techniques have been combined.

Influence of body mass and skinfolds on skin temperature through infrared thermography

Thermal response of skin temperature (Tsk) has been studied during exercise and immediately after (Merla, 2010). However, more studies about the influence of exercise on Tsk through the time are required to understand the impact of physical activity on thermoregulatory system and metabolism

Characterization of an 241AmBe neutron irradiation facility by different spectrometric techniques

An automated panoramic irradiator with a 3 Ci 241Am-Be neutron source is installed in a bunker-type large room at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). It was recently modified and a neutron spectrometry campaign was organized to characterize the neutron fields in different measurement points along the irradiation bench. Four research groups working with different Bonner Sphere Spectrometers (BSS) and using different spectral unfolding codes took part to this exercise. INFN-LNF used a BSS formed by 9 spheres plus bare detector, with cylindrical, almost point like, 6LiI(Eu) scintillator (4 mm x 4 mm, from Ludlum); UAZ-UPM employed a similar system but with only 6 spheres plus bare detector; UAB worked with a 3He filled proportional counter at 8kPa filling pressure, cylindrical 9 mm x 10 mm (05NH1 from Eurisys) with 11 spheres configuration; and CIEMAT used 12 spheres with an spherical 3He SP9 counter (Centronic Ltd., UK) with very high sensitivity due to the large diameter (3.2 cm) and the filling pressure of the order of 228 kPa. Each group applied a different spectral unfolding method: INFN and UAB worked with FRUIT ver. 3.0 with their own response matrixes; UAZ-UPM used the BUNKIUT unfolding code with the response matrix UTA4 and CIEMAT employed the GRAVEL-MAXED-IQU package with their own response matrix. The paper shows the main results obtained in terms of neutron spectra at fixed distances from the source as well as total neutron fluence rate and ambient dose equivalent rate H*(10) determined from the spectra. The latter are compared with the readings of a common active survey-meter (LB 6411). The small differences in the results of the various groups are discussed.

MOIRA-PLUS use in decision making on the long-term management of contaminated freshwater bodies and catchments

In the mid-long-term after a nuclear accident, the contamination of drinking water sources, fish and other aquatic foodstuffs, irrigation supplies and people?s exposure during recreational activities may create considerable public concern, even though dose assessment may in certain situations indicate lesser importance than for other sources, as clearly experienced in the aftermath of past accidents. In such circumstances there are a number of available countermeasure options, ranging from specific chemical treatment of lakes to bans on fish ingestion or on the use of water for crop irrigation. The potential actions can be broadly grouped into four main categories, chemical, biological, physical and social. In some cases a combination of actions may be the optimal strategy and a decision support system (DSS) like MOIRA-PLUS can be of great help to optimise a decision. A further option is of course not to take any remedial actions, although this may also have significant socio-economic repercussions which should be adequately evaluated. MOIRA-PLUS is designed to allow for a reliable assessment of the long-term evolution of the radiological situation and of feasible alternative rehabilitation strategies, including an objective evaluation of their social, economic and ecological impacts in a rational and comprehensive manner. MOIRA-PLUS also features a decision analysis methodology, making use of multi-attribute analysis, which can take into account the preferences and needs of different types of stakeholders. The main functions and elements of the system are described summarily. Also the conclusions from end-user?s experiences with the system are discussed, including exercises involving the organizations responsible for emergency management and the affected services, as well as different local and regional stakeholders. MOIRAPLUS has proven to be a mature system, user friendly and relatively easy to set up. It can help to better decisionmaking by enabling a realistic evaluation of the complete impacts of possible recovery strategies. Also, the interaction with stakeholders has allowed identifying improvements of the system that have been recently implemented.

Involutivity of the Hamilton-Cartan equations of a second-order Lagrangian admitting a first-order Hamiltonian formalism

Involutivity of the Hamilton-Cartan equations of a second-order Lagrangian admitting a first-order Hamiltonian formalism

Mechanical properties of peanut varieties

On the efforts for rationalizing the production of peanuts in Spain, one of the objectives was to obtain a well adapted variety, suitable for mechanization. We tried to get information on the characteristics that would condition the suitability of a variety to mechanized production, principally mechanical harvesting. All the characters studied would then be taken into account in a breeding program.

Optical Detection of Surface Defects in Oranges

An optical-based sorting device for oranges is presented. Its design has been based on homogeneity of illumination and detection of the light reflected and scattered by the fruit. Several configurations are studied and compared under semiempirical formulations .A general purpose microprocessor based hardware is proposed. A sorting rate over 10 fruits per second on each channel is achieved.