Energy,macronutrient and water intake during a mountain ultramarathon event: The influence of distance

Adequate dietary strategies are essential for the successful participation in ultra-endurance races. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the energy and water intakes of participants during three different mountain ultra-endurance runs. The study took place at the “Ultra Mallorca Serra de Tramuntana” (Mallorca, Spain), an ultra-endurance mountain event with runners participating either in a 44-km (Marathon, n = 51), a 67-km (Trail, n = 109) or a 112-km (Ultra, n = 53) run competition. Participants in the study answered a questionnaire focused on the nutritional intake within an hour after finishing the competition. Mean energy intake during the competitions was 183 kcal · h^¯1, with an average carbohydrate intake of 31 g · h^¯1 (52.1% of participants consumed less than 30 g · h^¯1). No significant differences between competitions were found in these parameters. However, a higher percentage of energy from lipids in participants in the Trail and the Ultra was found (P = 0.034). Furthermore, significant differences were observed in water intake per hour of competition (P = 0.039), with the lowest value for the intake during the Ultra competition. In conclusion, the majority of the participants in the study present low carbohydrate intakes. However, fluid intake seems to be adequate. Different distances did not significantly influence the participants’ nutritional strategies.     

Using genetic algorithms to evolve a population of topical queries

Systems for searching the Web based on thematic contexts can be built on top of a conventional search engine and benefit from the huge amount of content as well as from the functionality available through the search engine interface. The quality of the material collected by such systems is highly dependant on the vocabulary used to generate the search queries. In this scenario, selecting good query terms can be seen as an optimization problem where the objective function to be optimized is based on the effectiveness of a query to retrieve relevant material. Some characteristics of this optimization problem are: (1) the high-dimensionality of the search space, where candidate solutions are queries and each term corresponds to a different dimension, (2) the existence of acceptable suboptimal solutions, (3) the possibility of finding multiple solutions, and in many cases (4) the quest for novelty. This article describes optimization techniques based on Genetic Algorithms to evolve “good query terms” in the context of a given topic. The proposed techniques place emphasis on searching for novel material that is related to the search context. We discuss the use of a mutation pool to allow the generation of queries with new terms, study the effect of different mutation rates on the exploration of query-space, and discuss the use of a especially developed fitness function that favors the construction of queries containing novel but related terms.     

Fragmented spaces in the urban landscape: A socio-spatial analysis of educational supply in the city of Madrid

The geography of school choice critically shapes families’ educational opportunities. Residential segregation, social inequalities and the educational marketplace interact in complex ways and produce spatialised educational opportunities for families. This paper analyses the link between these dimensions and how they structure families’ educational opportunities in the city of Madrid. Based on several administrative datasets that capture students’ residential location, their socio-economic position, the schools they attend and the characteristics of school supply, our analysis reveals the uneven spatial distribution of the different school modalities in Madrid, where advantaged families and neighbourhoods have more diversified and socio-economically homogenous nearby schooling options. The results also depict the way the city is spatially divided along a continuum of ‘privileged’ residential and educational assets. The paper reflects on how reforms expanding school choice and diversification of the educational market undertaken by the regional government may have increased the link between residential and school segregation.     

Intelligent analysis of the quality of education through teaching practices on virtual campuses

ICTs have been increasingly involved in teaching–learning processes due to the potential offered by the tools as well as to the set of demands derived from the political and health situations of the social environment. In this sense, the introduction of virtual campuses as complex systems that centralize the entire technological component that complements traditional teaching processes has meant a change of paradigm with repercussions at the teaching and pedagogical level. In this context, the purpose of this study aims to analyze students’ perception of the use of virtual campus and how to enhance the quality of the educational process using intelligent systems. For this purpose, 318 students that use virtual campus have been surveyed. The results show that there are three variables that predominantly influence the quality of teaching–learning processes using virtual campuses: frequent contact with teachers through the platform, the digital competence of the student, and the adaptation of training content to the students’ prior knowledge. This information can be useful, as it allows them to establish guidelines to guide the practices of their teaching teams in technological environments, guaranteeing the suitability of the teaching–learning process and improving the evaluation processes and the assessment of their own educational work.

     

Critical elements for product innovation at Portuguese innovative SMEs: an intellectual capital perspective

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - The general purpose of this research is to study interaction effects between intangible assets and product innovation. More specifically, the authors...     

A brief history of soccer stadiums in Brazil

This essay delineates a brief history of Brazil’s soccer stadia, focusing on some of the most significant in the countries’ soccer history, namely Laranjeiras stadium; São Januário and Pacaembú stadiums; Maracanã stadium; and Arena da Baixada and Olímpico João Havelange stadiums. It aims to draw attention to the relationship between the State and soccer right from the game’s beginnings in Rio de Janeiro and the importance of the Brazilian State in building of the aforementioned soccer arenas, as well as its use of soccer stadiums in state propaganda and politics. The arrival of novel concepts in stadium building from the year 2000 on still points to the heavy hand and loose purse of the state, as can be seen in the construction of João Havelange Stadium and the other arenas constructed for the 2014 World Cup in twelve Brazilian cities.     

Ciencia en Nepantla: the journey of Nepantler@s in science learning and teaching

This paper presents a new approach to science education that takes a path through sociocultural theory and into the ideas of Gloria Anzaldúa. We apply Anzaldúan theory to science education by illustrating it in action through various examples which explore the multidimensionality of teaching science with Latin@ students in various contexts including dual language settings. We present what it is to journey through transformation using examples from educators at various levels of science within the world of teaching science with Latin@ students in the U.S. Our examples illustrate how Latin@ students cross many cultural borders in Spanish, English, Latin@ home culture, school culture, and the world of scientific dialogue and content, and in doing so, go through tensions and transformations between dominant and non-dominant worlds, which should be acknowledged and better understood through Anzaldúan theory. Fundamentally, we present a transformative notion of Latin@ science learning as “living on the bridges” of many dialogic and cultural practices, and having to negotiate these in-between spaces, or “nepantla” (Anzaldu´a and Keating in Interviews, Psychology Press, London, 2000), where Latin@ students must contend with the fragmented and sometimes painful struggle of living in racialized reality amidst the demands of a dominant culture, and where transformation and healing are possible through the path of conocimiento. We advocate for teachers to become science teacher nepantler@s, who guide their students through nepantla, and into a new mestiz@ consciousness of science education.     

Sailing in all winds: Technological search over the business cycle

Business cycles modify firms’ incentives to innovate and the direction of innovation. By introducing a new measure of patent unconventionality this paper explores the impact of the business cycle on firms’ technological search strategies. We find that during upturns firms generate inventions characterized by a higher level of technological unconventionality. We also find that financially resilient and diversified firms produce more unconventional patents. While patent unconventionality is associated with technological impact and market value, firms extract more value by investing in unconventional inventions in downturns.