Left preference for sport tasks does not necessarily indicate left-handedness

In the elite domain of interactive sports, athletes who demonstrate a left preference (e.g., holding a weapon with the left hand in fencing or boxing in a ‘southpaw’ stance) seem overrepresented. Such excess indicates a performance advantage and was also interpreted as evidence in favour of frequency-dependent selection mechanisms to explain the maintenance of left-handedness in humans. To test for an overrepresentation, the incidence of athletes’ lateral preferences is typically compared with an expected ratio of left- to right-handedness in the normal population. However, the normal population reference values did not always relate to the sport-specific tasks of interest, which may limit the validity of reports of an excess of ‘left-oriented’ athletes. Here we sought to determine lateral preferences for various sport-specific tasks (e.g., baseball batting, boxing) in the normal population and to examine the relationship between these preferences and handedness. To this end, we asked 903 participants to indicate their lateral preferences for sport-specific and common tasks using a paper-based questionnaire. Lateral preferences varied considerably across the different sport tasks and we found high variation in the relationship between those preferences and handedness. In contrast to unimanual tasks (e.g., fencing or throwing), for bimanually controlled actions such as baseball batting, shooting in ice hockey or boxing the incidence of left preferences was considerably higher than expected from the proportion of left-handedness in the normal population and the relationship with handedness was relatively low. We conclude that (i) task-specific reference values are mandatory for reliably testing for an excess of athletes with a left preference, (ii) the term ‘handedness’ should be more cautiously used within the context of sport-related laterality research and (iii) observation of lateral preferences in sports may be of limited suitability for the verification of evolutionary theories of handedness.

Diversity and nutritional properties of Pakistani dates: implications for sustainable value chain and decent living perspectives of rural households

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) occupies almost three percent of the total worldwide cultivated area, with an annual production of seven million tonnes (t). Pakistan is an ideal place for the cultivation of date palm due to its sandy loam soil and semi-arid climate. In 2012, Pakistan produced 600,000 t of dates, on an area of 95,000 ha. Baluchistan province is the country’s top date producer, followed by Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces. More than 300 date varieties are known to exist in Pakistan and some commercially important cultivars are: Karbalaen, Aseel, Muzawati, Fasli, Begum Jhangi, Hillawi, Dashtiari, Sabzo, Koharaba, Jaan Swore, Rabai and Dhakki. Six districts from the four provinces of Pakistan (Jhang, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur (Punjab), Dera Ismail Khan (KPK), Khairpur (Sindh) and Panjgur (Baluchistan)) with largest area under date palm cultivation were selected to conduct socio-economic surveys including the income sources of date palm growers. A structured questionnaire with open-ended and closed questions was used for face-to-face interviews of 170 date palm growers. At each location after selection of a first farmer through a local guide, the former was requested to provide names and addresses of three other date growers in his area. From these three names, one was randomly selected for the next sampling. Additionally, date palm fronds and fruits of all available cultivars were collected for morphological and nutritional analyses. Soil samples were collected from the groves for subsequent chemical and physical analyses. Almost all farmers used dates as a food item for their families and some were using low quality dates as a feed for their livestock. Apart from dates, other date palm components (trunk, spadix, frond, inflorescence and seed) were used by date palm growers as a raw material for making many by-products for their families. Date palm had a major contribution in the income of households, 24% received 91-100% of their income from date palms. More than half of the surveyed farmers had date palm groves, but scattered plantations, home gardens and intercropping systems with cereal and other fruits were also present. Dhakki, Muzawati, Aseel, and Karbalaen were the most important commercial cultivars grown in the provinces of KPK, Baluchistan, and Sindh. Aseel, Karoch, Haleni, Karbalaen, and Muzawati cultivars had the most firm fruit and good total soluble sugar, calcium and magnesium contents. The amount of magnesium found in dates of studied cultivars ranged from 0.143 to 0.876 mg g-1. A great variation in frond morphology was recorded among the cultivars. Fruit length and fruit weight was highest in Dhakki date, making it visually more attractive for customers in addition to its good nutritional properties. The seed weight of the studied cultivars ranged from 0.7-2.0 g, while Desi dates had largest seed, making them less attractive for marketing. However, in terms of nutritional value and fruit size, most of the investigated varieties can compete with globally important commercial dates.

Thermal control of electronics: Perspectives and prospects

One of the most prominent industrial applications of heat transfer science and engineering has been electronics thermal control. Driven by the relentless increase in spatial density of microelectronic devices, integrated circuit chip powers have risen by a factor of 100 over the past twenty years, with a somewhat smaller increase in heat flux. The traditional approaches using natural convection and forced-air cooling are becoming less viable as power levels increase. This paper provides a high-level overview of the thermal management problem from the perspective of a practitioner, as well as speculation on the prospects for electronics thermal engineering in years to come.

Tecnologia: Reflexions a l'entorn de l'obsolocència tecnològica. Conjunt d'articles amb diferents perspectives a l'entorn del tema de l'obsolocència

S’entén com a obsolescència la depreciació d’un producte com a conseqüència del progrés tècnic; aquesta depreciació pot ser causada per diversos motius: l’aparició de tecnologies millors, un canvi de moda o tendència, un deteriorament del producte o un canvi de situació del mercat. En aquest segon número de la rEPiSta recollim una conjunt d'articles amb diferents perspectives a l'entorn del tema de l'obsolocència

Els Carbons activats del LEQUIA: noves perspectives en l'aprofitament dels fangs de depuradora

Els fangs que produeixen les depuradores estan esdevenint, pel seu volum, un problema que demana solucions. La via del compostatge no exhaureix la producció i en condiciona l'ús com a combustible o com a matèria primera per a l'obtenció de carbons activats. Els carbons activats tenen grans aplicacions en la indústria moderna. El LEQUIA de la UdG ha desenvolupat una nova metodologia per a l'obtenció d'aquest producte a partir dels fangs, que permet uns rendiments que els ha de fer atractius per a la seva industrialització. En el procés, a més, s'obté hidrogen i biodièsel en quantitats interessants

El PEIN cinc anys després, balanç i perspectives

El dia 27 de febrer de 1998 va tenir lloc a la Universitat de Girona la jornada «El PEIN cinc anys després: balanç i perspectives», organitzada per la Càtedra de Geografia i Pensament Territorial (UdG) i la Societat Catalana d’Ordenació del Territori. L’objectiu era reflexionar sobre el Pla d’Espais d’Interès Natural cinc anys després de la seva entrada en vigor i valorar fins a quin punt s’havien acomplert les expectatives que havia despertat i com podia afrontar els nous reptes en la conservació del patrimoni natural

Youth sport dropout from the achievement goal theory. 'El abandono del deporte en j??venes desde la Teor??a de las metas de logro'

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Perspectives of auto-correcting lens distortions in mosaic-based underwater navigation

When unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) perform missions near the ocean floor, optical sensors can be used to improve local navigation. Video mosaics allow to efficiently process the images acquired by the vehicle, and also to obtain position estimates. We discuss in this paper the role of lens distortions in this context, proving that degenerate mosaics have their origin not only in the selected motion model or in registration errors, but also in the cumulative effect of radial distortion residuals. Additionally, we present results on the accuracy of different feature-based approaches for self-correction of lens distortions that may guide the choice of appropriate techniques for correcting distortions

Les Competències professionals dels mestres des de la didàctica de les ciències socials: continuïtats, canvis i perspectives de futur

En els propers cinc anys es configura un nou panorama en la formació inicial que cal aprofitar per millorar l’ensenyament-aprenentatge-avaluació de la DCS i vincular-la amb l’educació per a la ciutadania, a més de donar resposta als reptes emergents d’una societat del segle XXI. Considerem que les decisions que s’han de prendre han de tenir en compte l’experiència acumulada al llarg dels anys. Per aquest motiu, plantegem una reflexió basada en els canvis i les continuïtats que ha anat tenint la DCS en la formació dels mestres, amb la finalitat d’orientar la presa de decisions futures

Anàlisi, reptes i perspectives del sistema educatiu a les Illes Balears. 'Análisis, retos y perspectivas del sistema educativo en las Islas Baleares'.

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Evoluci??, descripci?? i perspectives de l'educaci?? f??sica i l'esport a les Illes Balears

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Dades educatives de l'illa de Menorca 2004-2007 : tendències i perspectives. 'Datos educativos de la isla de Menorca 2004-2007 : tendencias y perspectivas'.

Resumen tomado del autor. Incluye gráficas y tablas de datos

Noves perspectives de l'entrenament del porter de futbol en el desenvolupament evolutiu

Se muestran tablas de ejercicios. Resumen tomado del autor

Dones, treball i formació : problemàtica i perspectives. 'Mujer, trabajo y formación : problemática y perspectivas'.

Este artículo forma parte del segundo taller, titulado Mujer, trabajo y formación, que impartieron Francesca Salvà Mut y Lisa de Sotelo