Effects of a Triphasic Block Method on Power in Collegiate Basketball Players

Implementing a non-traditional method for a training cycle may serve as an alternative means of developing maximal strength and power. Seven male Division I intercollegiate basketball players (age=21.0±0.63 yrs, ht=191.86±7.24cm, wt=94.8±14.9kg, training experience = 2.2 ± 1.3 yrs) who recently completed a 5-month competitive season were recruited for this study. The testing took place during the off-season, when the players were not involved in NCAA competition. Subjects underwent a three-week preparation phase, followed by a pre-test vertical jump (CMJ), standing broad jump (SBJ), and back squat 1-repetition max (1RM). Prior to all testing sessions, the participants participated in a dynamic warm-up, and were allowed to familiarize themselves with each test. The training methods were developed as three, two-week phases, with the triphasic and plyometric methods included “French contrast training” along with the barbell back squat (BBS). The first phase had an eccentric emphasis, the second phase an isometric emphasis, and the third phase had a concentric emphasis. With the respective phase, the contraction emphasis was applied to the BBS, either completing 6-second eccentric portions, 3-second isometric portions, or dynamic concentric portions of the exercise. Each set was followed by a series of both reactive plyometrics, followed by resisted plyometrics. The triphasic emphasis was rotated throughout a 6-week period. At the end of six weeks, the participants had a recovery week, then underwent post-testing. Data was analyzed between the pre-test and post-test CMJ, SBJ and 1RM. There was a significant difference between CMJ improvement following a Triphasic Block Method (TBM) vs. a traditional method of training (

Policy responses to invasive native species: issues of social and private benefits and costs

Farm and catchment managers in Australia face decisions about controlling invasive native species (or scrub) which may infest agricultural land. The treatment of this land to remove the infestation and re-establish native pastures is likely to be expensive for landholders. Yet there are potential social benefits from such remediation and so a policy question arises of what to do to about facilitating such change. New South Wales state government legislation addresses this issue through regulations, and the Catchment Management Authorities are responsible for administering public funds to achieve associated natural resource improvements. However, the extent of the private costs and social benefits associated with such changes are not known, which precludes benefit-cost analyses using the traditional welfare economics framework. This paper reports results of a social and private economic analysis of the impacts of a typical infestation remediation decision. We show that for the landholder the private costs exceed the benefits achieved from increased livestock productivity. However, there are social benefits expressed by the willingness to pay by members of the local catchment community for improvements in native vegetation and biodiversity. When these social benefits are included, the economic analysis shows a positive social net benefit. This raises questions of how to reconcile the public and private accounting, and whether any changes to policies, regulations or procedures for natural resource management in New South Wales are warranted.Invasive native scrub, environmental values, choice modelling, financial, economic, Namoi catchment,

Consensus on acute behavioural disturbance in the UK: a multidisciplinary modified Delphi study to determine what it is and how it should be managed.

BackgroundAcute behavioural disturbance (ABD) is a term used in law enforcement and healthcare, but there is a lack of clarity regarding its meaning. Common language should be used across staff groups to support the identification, prioritisation and delivery of care to this group of patients. The terminology currently used is inconsistent and confusing. This study aimed to reach a consensus on the criteria for identification and management of ABD, and to agree when other care pathways or guidelines might be more appropriately used.MethodsA modified Delphi study with participation from stakeholder organisation representatives was conducted in January-April 2023 online. In round 1, statements were generated by participants in response to broad questions. Participants then rated their level of agreement with statements in subsequent rounds, with statements achieving a consensus removed for inclusion in the final derived consensus statement. Non-consensus statement responses were assessed for stability.ResultsOf 430 unique statements presented for rating, 266 achieved a consensus among 30 participants representing eight stakeholder organisations. A derived consensus statement was generated from these statements. The median group response to statements which failed to achieve a consensus was reliable (Krippendorff's alpha=0·67).ConclusionsThere is a consensus across stakeholder organisations that ABD is not a separate entity to agitation, and guidance should instead be altered to address the full range of presentations of agitation. While the features of concern in this severely agitated group of patients can be described, the advice for recognition may vary depending on staff group. Criteria for recognition are provided and potential new terminology is described

The Impact on the Ohio River Watershed by the United States Federal Government

poster abstractThis interactive timeline, which currently covers 1775 through the first quarter of 2014, takes accounts of water-related actions of the federal government and places them alongside water-related environmental events. Research drew together water use information within Acts of Congress, legal cases argued before the Supreme Court, actions undertaken by agencies within the Executive Department, and reports of pollution or flood incidents. This data was then charted using Tiki-Toki software into separate bands along the timeline with descriptions, images, and links to add depth of explanation. This juxtaposition reveals a story tracing human interaction along the Ohio River watershed since the American Revolution. In addition, the Tiki-Toki software makes the information available in multiple views through which different patterns emerge allowing future researchers to manipulate the timeline to more easily see connections with their own projects. Because of the data’s inclusiveness and ease of use, this timeline can provide a platform for comparison with the companion site of the Rivers of the Anthropocene study, the River Tyne. However, since the primary region of study in the United States is the Ohio River and its tributaries, only data applicable to this region specifically or all water in the United States generally was utilized. Because of the exclusiveness of the data, frequent gaps in events may risk being misinterpreted as a period of inactivity on the part of the federal government, though this is likely not the case; even apparent inactivity along the Ohio reveals much about human impact on the waterway systems

Rivers of the Anthropocene, Phase 1: A Comparative Study of the Ohio and Tyne River Systems

poster abstractRivers of the Anthropocene” addresses a fundamental problem facing scholars and policy makers alike: despite important advances in our understanding of the earth as a system — one in which humans and human systems have become recognized as prime agents in effecting changes to the earth — we have yet to create an approach that brings together scholars of earth systems with scholars of human systems. This is to the detriment of our overall understanding of global ecological change and limits our ability to respond to escalating crises. Without integrating methods from the earth sciences, social sciences, and humanities, scholars of the environment lose important tools in tackling some of the biggest issues facing humanity in the 21st century. As humans continue to play an increasingly significant role in altering their planet, it is incumbent upon environmental scholars to understand the human-environment interface in all its complexities. It is not enough that scientists measure what humans have done or what they can do to shift environmental systems; it is necessary that they work hand-in-hand with specialists in human systems to understand the limits and feedback mechanisms that beliefs, practices, ideologies, social structures, and cultural norms impose on human action. A comparative study of international river systems is a good place to begin building more meaningful bridges across the science-humanities divide, and it addresses the pressing issue of global water insecurity, which 80% of the earth’s population faces. The first stage of “Rivers of the Anthropocene” will create a flexible, interdisciplinary methodological and conceptual framework for examining the human-environment interface, one in which specialists in the earth sciences can learn from the approaches of the humanities and human sciences and vice versa

FOXA1 mutations in hormone-dependent cancers.

The forkhead protein, FOXA1, is a critical interacting partner of the nuclear hormone receptors, oestrogen receptor-α (ER) and androgen receptor (AR), which are major drivers of the two most common cancers, namely breast and prostate cancer. Over the past few years, progress has been made in our understanding of how FOXA1 influences nuclear receptor function, with both common and distinct roles in the regulation of ER or AR. Recently, another level of regulation has been described, with the discovery that FOXA1 is mutated in 1.8% of breast and 3-5% prostate cancers. In addition, a subset of both cancer types exhibit amplification of the genomic region encompassing the FOXA1 gene. Furthermore, there is evidence of somatic changes that influence the DNA sequence under FOXA1 binding regions, which may indirectly influence FOXA1-mediated regulation of ER and AR activity. These recent observations provide insight into the heterogeneity observed in ER and AR driven cancers

Experiments with regulations & markets linking upstream tree plantations with downstream water users

Land-use change in upper catchments impact downstream water flows. As trees use large amounts of water the expansion of upstream plantations can substantially reduce water availability to downstream users. There can also be impacts on downstream salinity due to reduced dilution flows. In some jurisdictions afforestation requires the purchase of water rights from downstream holders, while in others it does not, effectively handing the water rights to the upstream landholders. We consider the economic efficiency and equity (profitability and distributional) consequences of upstream land use change in the presence of a water market under alternate property rights regimes and different salinity scenarios.experimental-economics, tree-plantations, environmental-services, urban, irrigation, stock & domestic, water use, land use,

Downstream benefits vs upstream costs of land use change for water-yield and salt-load targets in the Macquarie Catchment, NSW

The net present value (NPV) of downstream economic benefits of changes in water-yield (W) and salt-load (S) of mean annual river flow received by a lower catchment from an upper catchment are described as a 3-dimensional (NPV,W, S) surface, where dNPV/dW > 0 and dNPV/d(S/W) < 0. Upstream changes in land use (i.e. forest clearing or forest establishment, which result in higher or lower water-yields, respectively) are driven by economic consequences for land owners. This paper defines conditions under which costs of strategic upstream land use changes could be exceeded by compensations afforded by downstream benefits from altered water-yields and/or lower salt loads. The paper presents methods, and preliminary calculations for an example river, quantifying the scope for such combinations, and raising the question of institutional designs to achieve mutually beneficial upstream and downstream outcomes. Examples refer to the Macquarie River downstream of Dubbo, NSW, and Little River, an upstream tributary.policy, markets, upstream, downstream, water, salinity, Land Economics/Use,

Persistent neuronal Ube3a expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of Angelman syndrome model mice

Mutations or deletions of the maternal allele of the UBE3A gene cause Angelman syndrome (AS), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. The paternal UBE3A/Ube3a allele becomes epigenetically silenced in most neurons during postnatal development in humans and mice; hence, loss of the maternal allele largely eliminates neuronal expression of UBE3A protein. However, recent studies suggest that paternal Ube3a may escape silencing in certain neuron populations, allowing for persistent expression of paternal UBE3A protein. Here we extend evidence in AS model mice (Ube3am–/p+) of paternal UBE3A expression within the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master circadian pacemaker. Paternal UBE3A-positive cells in the SCN show partial colocalization with the neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP) and clock proteins (PER2 and BMAL1), supporting that paternal UBE3A expression in the SCN is often of neuronal origin. Paternal UBE3A also partially colocalizes with a marker of neural progenitors, SOX2, implying that relaxed or incomplete imprinting of paternal Ube3a reflects an overall immature molecular phenotype. Our findings highlight the complexity of Ube3a imprinting in the brain and illuminate a subpopulation of SCN neurons as a focal point for future studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms of Ube3a imprinting

High-Throughput and Cost-Effective Characterization of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offers the possibility of studying the molecular mechanisms underlying human diseases in cell types difficult to extract from living patients, such as neurons and cardiomyocytes. To date, studies have been published that use small panels of iPSC-derived cell lines to study monogenic diseases. However, to study complex diseases, where the genetic variation underlying the disorder is unknown, a sizable number of patient-specific iPSC lines and controls need to be generated. Currently the methods for deriving and characterizing iPSCs are time consuming, expensive, and, in some cases, descriptive but not&nbsp;quantitative. Here we set out to develop a set of simple methods that reduce cost and increase throughput in the characterization of iPSC lines. Specifically, we outline methods for high-throughput quantification of surface markers, gene expression analysis of in&nbsp;vitro differentiation potential, and evaluation of karyotype with markedly reduced cost