170 research outputs found
Physical fitness characteristics of an active firefighter population serving an urban area
Firefighters require a high level of physical fitness in order to meet the demands of their profession. While physical fitness testing is required to join the department, firefighters are not subject to further formal exercise testing throughout the duration of their careers. Active, career firefighters were tested on a variety of physical fitness measures related to body composition, strength, power, and endurance over three testing sessions. 49 firefighters (40.5 ± 8.3 yr, 89.5 ± 13.0 kg, 27.8 ± 3.6 kg/m2) were found to have a resting heart rate of 57.7 ± 8.2 bpm, blood pressure of 121.5 ± 11.9/71.5 ± 9.9 mmHg, and 24.2 ± 5.4 % body fat, culminating in 7.6 ± 6.8 points in the CPAFLA Healthy Body Composition Score. They performed 31.4 ± 11.6 pushups and scored 15.6 ± 1.6 on the 21-point Functional Movement Screen. A subset of participants also completed the Wingate Anaerobic Test, producing 10.6 ± 1.1 W/kg at peak revolutions and averaging 7.4 ± 1.0 W/kg of power with a fatigue index of 49.7 ± 8.7% over the test duration. Maximum strength, as measured by torque produced in a 60°/s isotonic, concentric contraction was 3.0 ± 0.7 Nm/kg for the quadriceps and 1.0 ± 0.1 Nm/kg for the bicep. Measures of core torso strength included the 60° abdominal endurance test (153.8 ± 94.2 s) and Biering-Sorensen test (113.4 ± 48.6 s) for back extensor endurance. Vertical jump was found to be 50.0 ± 9.6 cm. VO2 max was 42.2 ± 6.5 ml O2/kg/min while VO2 at the anaerobic threshold was 33.3 ± 8.2 ml O2/kg/min. Many of the measurements taken displayed large ranges and though many firefighters performed above-average, there were a number who did not. The contrast between the highest and lowest performers for many measures suggests that there may be a small, but significant, portion of the population that do not possess the requisite fitness to optimally perform their job responsibilities. This is cause for concern and may be mitigated by implementation of mandatory training and testing programs. Previous studies examining firefighter fitness have often used a young sample with little experience and fragmented testing while this report assessed greater numbers of senior firefighters and performed a more comprehensive range of testing. This is the first report of firefighter performance on Wingate tests, upper- and lower-body peak torque characteristics, and other performance and body composition characteristics. This data along with the other fitness measures assessed in this study will provide comprehensive baseline data to inform development of fitness training and maintenance protocols for active firefighters
Physical fitness characteristics of a front-line firefighter population
Firefighters require a high level of physical fitness in order to meet the demands of their profession. While physical performance testing is required to join the department, firefighters are not subject to further formal exercise or performance testing throughout the duration of their careers. The purpose of the present study was to gather information regarding the physical fitness of front-line Canadian firefighters, to determine whether a testing battery predictive of both performance and future injury risk is viable, and to make recommendations regarding the format of fitness testing and training programs for front-line firefighters. Front-line, career firefighters were tested on a variety of physical fitness measures related to body composition, strength, power, and endurance over three testing sessions. Large ranges of data were found for many of the measures taken and tests performed. Body fat percentage had the most significant correlations with other performance tests while performance in the pushup test and vertical jump correlated strongly with many of the more sophisticated fitness tests. Some firefighters may not possess adequate fitness levels to optimally perform their job responsibilities. Simple field tests may form the basis of predictive testing batteries for both fitness and future injury risk, though further research is needed
Search for Slowly Moving Magnetic Monopoles with the MACRO Detector
A search for slowly moving magnetic monopoles in the cosmic radiation was conducted from October 1989 to November 1991 using the large liquid scintillator detector subsystem of the first supermodule of the MACRO detector at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. The absence of candidates established an upper limit on the monopole flux of 5.6 × 10^(−15) cm^(−2) sr^(−1) s^(−1) at 90% confidence level in the velocity range of 10^(−4)≲β<4×10^(−3). This result places a new constraint on the abundance of monopoles trapped in our solar system
Search for Nucleon Decays induced by GUT Magnetic Monopoles with the MACRO Experiment
The interaction of a Grand Unification Magnetic Monopole with a nucleon can
lead to a barion-number violating process in which the nucleon decays into a
lepton and one or more mesons (catalysis of nucleon decay). In this paper we
report an experimental study of the effects of a catalysis process in the MACRO
detector. Using a dedicated analysis we obtain new magnetic monopole (MM) flux
upper limits at the level of for
, based on the search for
catalysis events in the MACRO data. We also analyze the dependence of the MM
flux limit on the catalysis cross section.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 10 figures and 2 Table
A combined analysis technique for the search for fast magnetic monopoles with the MACRO detector
We describe a search method for fast moving ()
magnetic monopoles using simultaneously the scintillator, streamer tube and
track-etch subdetectors of the MACRO apparatus. The first two subdetectors are
used primarily for the identification of candidates while the track-etch one is
used as the final tool for their rejection or confirmation. Using this
technique, a first sample of more than two years of data has been analyzed
without any evidence of a magnetic monopole. We set a 90% CL upper limit to the
local monopole flux of in the
velocity range and for nucleon decay
catalysis cross section smaller than .Comment: 29 pages (12 figures). Accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Final results of magnetic monopole searches with the MACRO experiment
We present the final results obtained by the MACRO experiment in the search
for GUT magnetic monopoles in the penetrating cosmic radiation, for the range
. Several searches with all the MACRO sub-detectors
(i.e. scintillation counters, limited streamer tubes and nuclear track
detectors) were performed, both in stand alone and combined ways. No candidates
were detected and a 90% Confidence Level (C.L.) upper limit to the local
magnetic monopole flux was set at the level of cm
s sr. This result is the first experimental limit obtained in
direct searches which is well below the Parker bound in the whole range
in which GUT magnetic monopoles are expected.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 9 figures and 2 Table
Measurement of the residual energy of muons in the Gran Sasso underground Laboratories
The MACRO detector was located in the Hall B of the Gran Sasso underground
Laboratories under an average rock overburden of 3700 hg/cm^2. A transition
radiation detector composed of three identical modules, covering a total
horizontal area of 36 m^2, was installed inside the empty upper part of the
detector in order to measure the residual energy of muons. This paper presents
the measurement of the residual energy of single and double muons crossing the
apparatus. Our data show that double muons are more energetic than single ones.
This measurement is performed over a standard rock depth range from 3000 to
6500 hg/cm^2.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figure
Muon Energy Estimate Through Multiple Scattering with the Macro Detector
Muon energy measurement represents an important issue for any experiment
addressing neutrino induced upgoing muon studies. Since the neutrino
oscillation probability depends on the neutrino energy, a measurement of the
muon energy adds an important piece of information concerning the neutrino
system. We show in this paper how the MACRO limited streamer tube system can be
operated in drift mode by using the TDC's included in the QTPs, an electronics
designed for magnetic monopole search. An improvement of the space resolution
is obtained, through an analysis of the multiple scattering of muon tracks as
they pass through our detector. This information can be used further to obtain
an estimate of the energy of muons crossing the detector. Here we present the
results of two dedicated tests, performed at CERN PS-T9 and SPS-X7 beam lines,
to provide a full check of the electronics and to exploit the feasibility of
such a multiple scattering analysis. We show that by using a neural network
approach, we are able to reconstruct the muon energy for 40 GeV. The
test beam data provide an absolute energy calibration, which allows us to apply
this method to MACRO data.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, Submitted to Nucl. Instr. & Meth.
Search for massive rare particles with MACRO
Massive rare particles have been searched for in the penetrating cosmic
radiation using the MACRO apparatus at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories.
Liquid scintillators, streamer tubes and nuclear track detectors have been used
to search for magnetic monopoles (MMs).
Based on no observation of such signals, stringent flux limits are
established for MMs as slow as a few 10^(-5)c. The methods based on the
scintillator and on the nuclear track subdetectors were also applied to search
for nuclearites. Preliminary results of the searches for charged Q-balls are
also presented.Comment: 20 pages, 9 EPS figures included with epsfi
The Observation of Up-going Charged Particles Produced by High Energy Muons in Underground Detectors
An experimental study of the production of up-going charged particles in
inelastic interactions of down-going underground muons is reported, using data
obtained from the MACRO detector at the Gran Sasso Laboratory. In a sample of
12.2 10^6 single muons, corresponding to a detector livetime of 1.55 y, 243
events are observed having an up-going particle associated with a down-going
muon. These events are analysed to determine the range and emission angle
distributions of the up-going particle, corrected for detection and
reconstruction efficiency. Measurements of the muon neutrino flux by
underground detectors are often based on the observation of through-going and
stopping muons produced in interactions in the rock below the
detector. Up-going particles produced by an undetected down-going muon are a
potential background source in these measurements. The implications of this
background for neutrino studies using MACRO are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by Astrop. Physic
- …