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Reliability and validity of different methods of estimating the one-repetition maximum during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise
Full text link[EN] This study examined the reliability and validity of three methods of estimating the one-repetition maximum (1RM) during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise. Twenty-six men (22 rowers and four weightlifters) performed an incremental loading test until reaching their 1RM, followed by a set of repetitions-to-failure. Eighteen participants were re-tested to conduct the reliability analysis. The 1RM was estimated through the lifts-to-failure equations proposed by Lombardi and O’Connor, general load-velocity (L-V) relationships proposed by Sánchez-Medina and Loturco and the individual L-V relationships modelled using four (multiple-point method) or only two loads (two-point method). The direct method provided the highest reliability (coefficient of variation [CV] = 2.45% and intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.97), followed by the Lombardi’s equation (CV = 3.44% and ICC = 0.94), and no meaningful differences were observed between the remaining methods (CV range = 4.95–6.89% and ICC range = 0.81–0.91). The lifts-to-failure equations overestimated the 1RM (3.43–4.08%), the general L-V relationship proposed by Sánchez-Medina underestimated the 1RM (−3.77%), and no significant differences were observed for the remaining prediction methods (−0.40–0.86%). The individual L-V relationship could be recommended as the most accurate method for predicting the 1RM during the free-weight prone bench pull exercise.S
Automatic Card Shufflers and Antitrust Litigation: An Arbitration Perspective
Full text linkOpen access funding provided by FEDER European Funds and the Junta De Castilla y León under the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3) of Castilla y León 2021-2027.[EN] This paper examines an American Arbitration Association (AAA) class action proceeding in which Mohawk Gaming Enterprises
LLC alleges that Light & Wonder Inc. and L&W Gaming Inc. fraudulently obtained and enforced patents, thereby monopolizing
the market for automatic card shufflers and violating Sections 2 and 3 of the Sherman Act. Although centered on the gaming
industry, this dispute typifies how patent-or
monopoly-related
arbitration controversies can arise in various sectors from pharmaceuticals
to technology, highlighting broader questions about collective redress of widespread economic and social harms.
Central to the dispute is whether class-wide
arbitration is permissible under the AAA Supplementary Rules, which require that
putative class members share sufficiently similar arbitration clauses and present common legal and factual issues. The Arbitrator
found that the prerequisites of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of both class representatives and counsel were
satisfied. Moreover, despite variations in some arbitration clauses, the Arbitrator deemed them “substantially similar,” rejecting
Respondents' reliance on Lamps Plus v. Varela to demand explicit consent from each class member. Concluding that class arbitration
is a superior mechanism for resolving widespread claims of inflated pricing, the Arbitrator stayed the Award for potential
judicial review, thereby underscoring the evolving landscape of antitrust enforcement and class arbitrations.S
Penicillium chrysogenum as a fungal factory for feruloyl esterases
Full text link[EN] Abstract: Plant biomass is a promising substrate for biorefinery, as well as a source of bioactive compounds, platform chemicals, and precursors with multiple industrial applications. These applications depend on the hydrolysis of its recalcitrant structure. However, the effective biological degradation of plant cell walls requires several enzymatic groups acting synergistically, and novel enzymes are needed in order to achieve profitable industrial hydrolysis processes. In the present work, a feruloyl esterase (FAE) activity screening of Penicillium spp. strains revealed a promising candidate (Penicillium rubens Wisconsin 54–1255; previously Penicillium chrysogenum), where two FAE-ORFs were identified and subsequently overexpressed. Enzyme extracts were analyzed, confirming the presence of FAE activity in the respective gene products (PrFaeA and PrFaeB). PrFaeB-enriched enzyme extracts were used to determine the FAE activity optima (pH 5.0 and 50–55 °C) and perform proteome analysis by means of MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. The studies were completed with the determination of other lignocellulolytic activities, an untargeted metabolite analysis, and upscaled FAE production in stirred tank reactors. The findings described in this work present P. rubens as a promising lignocellulolytic enzyme producer. Key points: • Two Penicillium rubens ORFs were first confirmed to have feruloyl esterase activity. • Overexpression of the ORFs produced a novel P. rubens strain with improved activity. • The first in-depth proteomic study of a P. rubens lignocellulolytic extract is shownSIThis study was funded by a project (ref. no. CTM2012- 32026) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) and co-funded by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund). Ms. Laura García-Calvo was supported by a PhD grant (ref. no. BES-2013–064578) and an international stay grant (ref. no. EEBB-I-16–11760), awarded by the Spanish Ministry MINEC
Learning analytics in Ecuador: a systematic review supported by statistical implicative analysis
No full text[EN] Five thousand six hundred ten scientific articles related to Learning Analytics (LA) are stored in Scopus and Web of Science from 2014 until 2019, as evidence of the importance and increasing interest in this new line of research. LA is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for the purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs. LA is widely used in universities; Ecuador has three hundred forty-five Higher Educational Institutions. One of the reasons why research in the area of LA does not increase is the lack of a baseline (cutting edge information that provides starting points for researching and publishing). This research discovers and analyses scientific documents in LA and answers the central question: What is the baseline of scientific documents on LA in Ecuador? The methodology used was a Systematic Review (SR) to answer eight research questions about scientific articles and theses in LA by Ecuadorian authors. The study presented in this paper was carried out from 2014 to June 2019; ninety-nine scientific documents about LA were found in Scopus, WOS, IEEE, RRAAE and Senescyt. Sixty-one scientific documents were downloaded, arranged and analyzed using Statistical Implicative Analysis (SIA) after removing duplicates, applying inclusion, exclusion and quality criteria. SIA was proposed by Regis Gras and discovers rules between variables and represents them through dendrograms. SR together with SIA was used for the first time in this paper. The built baseline will allow learning more about LA in Ecuador and increasing research and publications.SIWe would like to thank the University of Salamanca (Spain) PhD Programme on Education in the Knowledge Society scope. Similarly, we are grateful to Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (Ecuador). This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Government Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness throughout the DEFINES project (Ref. TIN2016-80172-
Authoring support for Spanish language writers
No full text[EN] Authoring support consists of (semi)automated aids to be used at different stages during the writing process. Language information, however, tends to be restricted to areas such as spelling and grammar checking or term banks, and text construction difficulties that writers face concerning the structure of particular genres, associated sentence formulations or genre-specific vocabulary have not received proper attention. An additional gap in the research is that this support is generally addressed to English language users. This paper addresses these concerns focusing on a particular genre: the company’s directors’ report, and on Spanish language writers writing in English. A custom-made monolingual corpus has been analyzed using Bhatia (1993, 2004) and Swales (1990, 2004) definitions of genre and move combined with theme characterization. Recurrent strings for each move/step, which are conventionally associated with each rhetorical unit, were identified and formulated as “meta-strings.” The bilingual glossary includes domain-specific items as well as move/step or genre-specific lexical and phraseological options, i.e., elements used irrespective of the business, places or people involved. The results are valuable by themselves, as an analysis of the genre, but also as the empirical basis for the authoring support tool that we present here, and as language training materials.S
Competencias docentes para la inclusión de alumnos con necesidades educativas especiales: una revisión sistemática
Full text link[ES] La formación del profesorado para las competencias inclusivas ha ganado
importancia recientemente ya que los profesores reconocen la necesidad de estar plenamente formados
para ofrecer la mejor respuesta educativa al alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales. El
objetivo de esta investigación es realizar una Revisión Sistemática y analizar las publicaciones en base a
sus características, temas de investigación y competencias docentes, siguiendo las directrices PRISMA.
Método: Se realiza una búsqueda en las bases de datos de Scopus y WoS obteniendo 75 publicaciones
entre 2016 y 2022. Se plantean 10 preguntas de investigación enmarcadas dentro de 3 áreas temáticas.
Resultados: Los resultados dan respuesta a las preguntas planteadas destacando las características de
los artículos, la metodología y método que se ha utilizado en cada estudio, así como las competencias
estudiadas. Discusión: Se concluye que las competencias con mayor análisis de estudio están parcialmente
relacionadas con las propuestas por la Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de Calidad y Acreditación (ANECA)
en los Libros Blancos. A la luz de los resultados, se proponen programas formativos para los docentes que
contemplen contenido vinculado con competencias específicas para favorecer la inclusión educativa del
alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales.[EN] Teacher training for inclusive competencies has gained importance recently as
teachers recognize the need to be fully trained to offer the best educational response to students with special
educational needs. The aim of this research is to conduct a Systematic Review and analyze the publications
based on their characteristics, research topics and teaching competencies, following the PRISMA guidelines.
Method. A search is performed in Scopus and WoS databases obtaining 75 publications between 2016
and 2022. Ten research questions framed within 3 thematic areas are posed. Results: The results provide
answers to the questions posed highlighting the characteristics of the articles, the methodology and method
used in each study, as well as the competencies studied. Discussion and conclusion. It is concluded that the
competencies with the greatest study analysis are partially related to those proposed by the National Agency
for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) in the White Papers. In light of the results, we propose
training programs for teachers that include content related to specific competencies to favor the educational
inclusion of students with special educational needs.S
Overcoming occlusions in the wild: A multi-task age head approach to age estimation
Full text link[EN] Facial age estimation has achieved considerable success under controlled conditions. However, in unconstrained
real-world scenarios, which are often referred to as "in the wild", age estimation remains challenging, especially
when faces are partially occluded, which may obscure their visibility. To address this limitation, we propose a
new approach integrating generative adversarial networks (GANs) and transformer architectures to enable robust
age estimation from occluded faces. We employ an SN-Patch GAN to effectively remove occlusions, while an At-
tentive Residual Convolution Module (ARCM), paired with a Swin Transformer, enhances feature representation.
Additionally, we introduce a Multi-Task Age Head (MTAH) that combines regression and distribution learning,
further improving age estimation under occlusion. Experimental results on the FG-NET, UTKFace, and MORPH
datasets demonstrate that our proposed approach surpasses existing state-of-the-art techniques for occluded facial
age estimation by achieving an MAE of 3.00, 4.54, and 2.53 years, respectively.SIThis work has been funded by the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, financed by the European Union (Next Generation), thanks to the LUCIA project (Fight against Cybercrime by applying Artificial Intelligence) granted by INCIBE to the University of Leó
Rumbo a los ODS ¿llegamos tarde?
No full text[ES] El objetivo general de este proyecto es comprometer y motivar a la comunidad educativa en
la participación activa en torno a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible centrándonos en la
relación que existe entre todos ellos y muchos de los contenidos curriculares de las diferentes
áreas y materia
Activities in the care sector: declared work and invisible care. General overview
Full text link[ES] Los trabajos de cuidados han sido históricamente asignados a las féminas en un intento primitivo por ordenar las tareas necesarias para la supervivencia de la especie. Sin embargo, con el paso de los años esta asignación práctica se convirtió en una forma de control y dominación a través de la imposición de trabajos o tareas a una parte de la población, coadyuvada por la consolidación del sistema económico capitalista que premia los trabajos remunerados y no valora los trabajos no remunerados.
Bajo este contexto, los trabajos domésticos y de cuidados, imprescindibles para la supervivencia de la especie, pero invisibles para la economía, quedan en la sombra hasta mediados del siglo pasado cuando las corrientes femeninas comienzan a reclamar la visibilización y valorización de los mismos a través de las distintas teorías. Por otra parte, otro de los problemas en torno a los trabajos domésticos tiene que ver con la regulación legal dispensada a los mismos a lo largo de la historia, esta ha sido y continúa siendo insuficiente, pues el lugar de desempeño de estos trabajos —en los propios hogares familiares— sirve como justificación para limitar o matizar los derechos de las profesionales que continúan invisibilizados para la legislación, no en pocas ocasiones.[EN] Care work has historically been assigned to women in a primitive attempt to order the tasks necessary for the survival of the species. However, over the years this practical assignment became a form of control and domination through the imposition of jobs or tasks on part of the population, aided by the consolidation of the capitalist economic system that rewards paid work and does not value unpaid work.
In this context, domestic and care work, essential for the survival of the species, but invisible to the economy, remained in the shadows until the middle of the last century, when women's movements began to demand their visibilization and valorization through different theories.
On the other hand, another of the problems surrounding domestic work has to do with the legal regulation of such work throughout history, which has been and continues to be insufficient, since the place where such work is performed - in the family homes themselves - serves as a justification for limiting or qualifying the rights of professionals, which continue to be made invisible by legislation, not infrequently.S
Housing tenure and unemployment. Generational inequalities in health and well-being
Full text link[EN] The 21st century has witnessed important developments in the Spanish property market, from the housing bubble to the current sharp rise in both purchase and rental prices that have well outstripped income. Moreover, high unemployment rates are determinant in material and psychosocial dimensions, with people's health and well-being being affected by both issues. This paper seeks to examine what impact housing tenure has on the relationship between health and well-being and unemployment, extending the analysis across generations to address the problem of economic insecurity and housing instability.S