READ AND REACT: EFFECTS OF TASK COMPLEXITY ON MOTOR SKILL EXECUTION

Performance in team sports requires players to both observe their game environment and proceed with technical skill. This case study evaluated if changing the complexity of a perceptual-motor task caused technical performance changes. Kinematic data were collected and analysed for 34 handballs across four levels of complexity using visual and auditory stimuli (simple-response, choice response, choice response with distractor, choice response with cross modality distractor). Kinematic differences were found between the simple response and choice response task for six out of 10 parameters. Although differences occurred, the effect of distractor stimuli on handball kinematics was unclear. The cognitive complexity of a task may affect technical performance and therefore has implications for biomechanical testing environments

THE EFFECT OF A GAME-SPECIFIC SHORT TERM FATIGUE PROTOCOL ONKICKING IN AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL

The purpose of this study was to three dimentionally evaluate the effects of a short term game specific fatigue protocol on the kinetics of elite and sub-elite Australian Footballers (AF) during a drop punt kick. Five AF players performed kicks pre and post fatigue protocol. Three dimensional data of the pelvis and kick leg was obtained using a three tower optotrak Certus system (200Hz) and joint torques and moments were calculated in Visual 3D from kick foot toe off until ball contact. Sprint time indicated the protocol induced fatigue. Hip flexion torque significantly increased following fatigue indicating a change in movement strategy similar to that found for jump landing. This greater hip reliant post-fatigue kicking strategy has implications for both skill enhancement and injury prevention

The Provision Of Data From The COSMOS-UK Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

This paper describes the data available from COSMOS-UK, a new soil moisture monitoring network for the UK based on passive cosmic-ray moisture probes which are capable of measuring average soil water content over a circular footprint of around 350m in radius and depths of up to 0.5 m. Around 35 probes, with an associated array of meteorological and point soil moisture sensors, will be deployed across the UK in a network designed to best represent a range of soil and land cover types, complement existing scientific monitoring over a wide range of subject areas, and capture the variability in soil moisture over the country. Data will be automatically quality controlled and data streams will be openly and freely accessible via services and formats that conform to existing international standards, enabling integration with forecasting and data assimilation systems

UK-SCAPE at the British Ecological Society meeting 12-15 Dec 2021, Liverpool

The team of five, who staffed the stand and conducted the rapid roving survey, spoke to over 370 people attending the event in person (~50% of in-person attendees). Attendance at the event fulfilled the intended aims. Over the course of three days, the UK-SCAPE Team enhanced recognition of i) UKCEH and our role in delivering NERC funded national capability; ii) the quantity and quality of freely available UK-SCAPE data; iii) the range of monitoring and survey taking place across terrestrial environments (land, water, air, soils); and iv) reinforced the principle of co-designing delivery and use of the data

UK climate and socio-economic scenario data products. Workshop report

The workshop took place to discuss some of the outputs of the UK-SCAPE (UK Status Change and Projections of the Environment) programme being undertaken by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology as part of its NERC-funded National Capability portfolio. SPEED (Spatially-explicit Projections of EnvironmEntal Drivers) is a work package within UK-SCAPE, which is producing projections of key environmental variables for the UK over the 21st century, including climate, socio-economics, land use and pollution. The aim is to produce linked and consistent sets of variables that can be used by the wider community in researching future environmental change. This will ensure consistency among different projects (see https://ukscape.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/SPEED for further information)

Alterations in PTEN and PIK3CA in colorectal cancers in the EPIC Norfolk study: associations with clinicopathological and dietary factors.

BACKGROUND: The PTEN tumour suppressor gene and PIK3CA proto-oncogene encode proteins which contribute to regulation and propagation of signal transduction through the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. This study investigates the prevalence of loss of PTEN expression and mutations in both PTEN and PIK3CA in colorectal cancers (CRC) and their associations with tumour clinicopathological features, lifestyle factors and dietary consumptions. METHODS: 186 adenocarcinomas and 16 adenomas from the EPIC Norfolk study were tested for PTEN and PIK3CA mutations by DNA sequencing and PTEN expression changes by immunohistochemistry. Dietary and lifestyle data were collected prospectively using seven day food diaries and lifestyle questionnaires. RESULTS: Mutations in exons 7 and 8 of PTEN were observed in 2.2% of CRC and PTEN loss of expression was identified in 34.9% CRC. Negative PTEN expression was associated with lower blood low-density lipoprotein concentrations (p = 0.05). PIK3CA mutations were observed in 7% of cancers and were more frequent in CRCs in females (p = 0.04). Analysis of dietary intakes demonstrated no link between PTEN expression status and any specific dietary factor. PTEN expression negative, proximal CRC were of more advanced Dukes' stage (p = 0.02) and poor differentiation (p < 0.01). Testing of the prevalence of PIK3CA mutations and loss of PTEN expression demonstrated that these two events were independent (p = 0.55). CONCLUSION: These data demonstrated the frequent occurrence (34.9%) of PTEN loss of expression in colorectal cancers, for which gene mutations do not appear to be the main cause. Furthermore, dietary factors are not associated with loss of PTEN expression. PTEN expression negative CRC were not homogenous, as proximal cancers were associated with a more advanced Dukes' stage and poor differentiation, whereas distal cancers were associated with earlier Dukes' stage.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Genitourinary quality-of-life comparison between urethral sparing prostate stereotactic body radiation therapy monotherapy and virtual high-dose-rate brachytherapy boost

Purpose: Although radiation dose escalation improves prostate cancer disease control, it can cause increased toxicity. Genitourinary (GU) symptoms after prostate radiation therapy affect patient health-related quality of life (QoL). We compared patient-reported GU QoL outcomes following 2 alternative urethral sparing stereotactic body radiation therapy regimens. Methods and Materials: Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC)–26 GU scores were compared between 2 urethral sparing stereotactic body radiation therapy trials. The SPARK trial prescribed a “Monotherapy” dose of 36.25 Gy in 5 fractions to the prostate. The PROMETHEUS trial prescribed 2 phases: a 19- to 21-Gy in 2 fractions “Boost” to the prostate, followed by 46 Gy in 23 fractions or 36 Gy in 12 fractions. The biological effective dose (BED) for urethral toxicity was 123.9 Gy for Monotherapy and 155.8 to 171.2 Gy for Boost. Mixed effects logistic regression models were utilized to estimate the difference in the odds of a minimal clinically important change from baseline EPIC-26 GU score between regimens at each follow-up. Results: 46 Monotherapy and 149 Boost patients completed baseline EPIC-26 scoring. Mean EPIC-26 GU scores revealed statistically superior urinary incontinence outcomes for Monotherapy at 12 months (mean difference, 6.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-12.1; P = .01) and 36 months (mean difference, 9.6; 95% CI, 4.1-15.1; P < .01). Monotherapy also revealed superior mean urinary irritative/obstructive outcomes at 12 months (mean difference, 6.9; 95% CI, 2.0-12.9; P < .01) and 36 months (mean difference, 6.3; 95% CI, 1.9-10.8; P < .01). For both domains and at all time points, the absolute differences were <10%. There were no significant differences in the odds of reporting a minimal clinically important change between regimens at any time point. Conclusions: Even in the presence of urethral sparing, the higher BED delivered in the Boost schedule may have a small adverse effect on GU QoL compared with Monotherapy. However, this did not translate to statistically significant differences in minimal clinically important changes. Whether the higher BED of the boost arm offers an efficacy advantage is being investigated in the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 18.01 NINJA randomized trial

Shaping the development of the UKCEH UK-SCAPE Data Science Framework. Workshop report

UKCEH held an event to share progress on the development of the UK-SCAPE Data Science Framework (DSF), explore community expectations for the DSF and get feedback from the participants on whether the DSF will meet their needs. Participants were able to offer feedback through interactive voting sessions, breakout groups and a feedback form