BACK STRESS AND ASSISTANCE EXERCISES IN WEIGHTLIFTING

The purpose of this study was to test the suitability of selected assistance exercises to strengthen the low back for the Olympic lifts in high level weightlifters. Four subjects were filmed by a five-camera Motion Analysis system operating at 120Hz completing both of the Olympic lifts (Snatch and Clean) and four assistance exercises (Romanian Oeadlift (ROL), Bent-over Row (BOR), Clean Pull Oeadlift (CPO), and Good Morning (GM)). Peak Erector Spinae Force (ESF) and L5/S1 compressive and shear force (L5/S1 CF and L5/S1 SF respectively) were calculated via a top-down inverse dynamics model. Comparisons between the lifts were made using a one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. It was found that the CPO produced higher ESF than the Snatch but this exercise also produced very high L5/S 1 CF and L5/S1 SF. The Clean also displayed a higher ESF than the Snatch. When normalising the data to bar weight, the BOR and GM was shown to potentially produce high ESF but coaches should consider the possibility for these exercises to produce low back injury

A comparison of methods to calculate the optimal load for maximal power output in the power clean

The aim of this study was to compare three calculation methods to determine the load that maximises power output in the power clean. Five male athletes (height=179.8 10.5cms, weight 91 .8 8.8kg, power dean 1RM = 117.0 20.5kg) performed two per cleans at 10% increments from 50% to 100% of 1RM. Bar displacement data was collected using a Ballistic Measurement System (BMS) and vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) data was measured by a Kistler 9287B Force Plate. Power output was calculated for BMS (system mass), BMS (bar mass) and VGRF/BMS system mass. Optimal load was determined to be 70% for the BMS (system mass) and VGRF BMS (system mass) methods and 90% for the BMS (bar mass) method. Sports scientists should be aware of the technical issues underlying these findings due to the practical ramifications for athlete testing and training.<br /

A COMPARISON OF METHODS TO CALCULATE THE OPTIMAL LOAD FOR MAXIMAL POWER OUTPUT IN THE POWER CLEAN

The aim of this study was to compare three calculation methods to determine the load that maximises power output in the power clean. Five male athletes (height=179.8 10.5cms, weight 91.8 8.8kg. power clean 1RM = 117.0 20.5kg) performed two power cleans at 10% increments from 50% to 100% of 1RM. Bar displacement data was collected using a Ballistic Measurement System (BMS) and vertical ground reaction lorce (VGRF) data was measured by a Kistler 9287B Force Plate. Power output was calculated for BMS (system mass), BMS (bar mass) and VGRF/BMS system mass. Optimal load was determined to be 70% for the BMS (system mass) and VGRF 8MS (system mass) methods and 90% for the BM3 (bar mass) method. Sports scientists should be aware of the technical issues underlying these findings due to the practical ramifications for athlete testing and training

RECENT PROGRESS TOWARD A MUON RECIRCULATING LINEAR ACCELERATOR

Both Neutrino Factories (NF) and Muon Colliders (MC) require very rapid acceleration due to the short lifetime of muons. After a capture and bunching section, a linac raises the energy to about 900 MeV, and is followed by one or more Recirculating Linear Accelerators (RLA), possibly followed by a Rapid Cycling Synchnotron (RCS) or Fixed-Field Alternating Gradient (FFAG) ring. A RLA reuses the expensive RF linac section for a number of passes at the price of having to deal with different energies within the same linac. Various techniques including pulsed focusing quadruopoles, beta frequency beating, and multipass arcs have been investigated via simulations to improve the performance and reduce the cost of such RLAs

Beam Dynamics Studies for Transverse Electromagnetic Mode Type rf Deflectors

We have performed three-dimensional simulations of beam dynamics for transverse electromagnetic mode (TEM) type rf deflectors: normal and superconducting. The compact size of these cavities as compared to the conventional TM110 type structures is more attractive particularly at low frequency. Highly concentrated electromagnetic fields between the parallel bars provide strong electrical stability to the beam for any mechanical disturbance. An array of six 2-cell normal conducting cavities or a single cell superconducting structure is enough to produce the required vertical displacement at the target point. Both the normal and superconducting structures show very small emittance dilution due to the vertical kick of the beam

A novel catalytically inactive construct of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) directly inhibits visceral sensory signaling

Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) is a potent neurotoxin that silences cholinergic neurotransmission through the cleavage of the synaptic protein SNAP-25. Previous studies have shown that, in addition to its paralytic effects, BoNT/A can inhibit sensory nerve activity. The aim of this study was to identify how BoNT/A inhibits afferent signalling from the bladder. To investigate the role of SNAP-25 cleavage in the previously reported BoNT/A-dependent inhibition of sensory signalling, we developed a recombinant form of BoNT/A with an inactive light chain, rBoNT/A (0), unable to paralyse muscle. We also developed recombinant light chain (LC)-domain-only proteins to better understand the entry mechanisms, as the heavy chain (HC) of the protein is responsible for the internalisation of the light chain. We found that, despite a lack of catalytic activity, rBoNT/A (0) potently inhibited the afferent responses to bladder distension to a greater degree than catalytically active rBoNT/A. This was also clear from the testing of the LC-only proteins, as the inactive rLC/A (0) protein inhibited afferent responses significantly more than the active rLC/A protein. Immunohistochemistry for cleaved SNAP-25 was negative, and purinergic and nitrergic antagonists partially and totally reversed the sensory inhibition, respectively. These data suggest that the BoNT/A inhibition of sensory nerve activity in this assay is not due to the classical well-characterised ‘double-receptor’ mechanism of BoNT/A, is independent of SNAP25 cleavage and involves nitrergic and purinergic signalling mechanisms

Enriched biodiversity data as a resource and service

Background: Recent years have seen a surge in projects that produce large volumes of structured, machine-readable biodiversity data. To make these data amenable to processing by generic, open source “data enrichment” workflows, they are increasingly being represented in a variety of standards-compliant interchange formats. Here, we report on an initiative in which software developers and taxonomists came together to address the challenges and highlight the opportunities in the enrichment of such biodiversity data by engaging in intensive, collaborative software development: The Biodiversity Data Enrichment Hackathon. Results: The hackathon brought together 37 participants (including developers and taxonomists, i.e. scientific professionals that gather, identify, name and classify species) from 10 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. The participants brought expertise in processing structured data, text mining, development of ontologies, digital identification keys, geographic information systems, niche modeling, natural language processing, provenance annotation, semantic integration, taxonomic name resolution, web service interfaces, workflow tools and visualisation. Most use cases and exemplar data were provided by taxonomists. One goal of the meeting was to facilitate re-use and enhancement of biodiversity knowledge by a broad range of stakeholders, such as taxonomists, systematists, ecologists, niche modelers, informaticians and ontologists. The suggested use cases resulted in nine breakout groups addressing three main themes: i) mobilising heritage biodiversity knowledge; ii) formalising and linking concepts; and iii) addressing interoperability between service platforms. Another goal was to further foster a community of experts in biodiversity informatics and to build human links between research projects and institutions, in response to recent calls to further such integration in this research domain. Conclusions: Beyond deriving prototype solutions for each use case, areas of inadequacy were discussed and are being pursued further. It was striking how many possible applications for biodiversity data there were and how quickly solutions could be put together when the normal constraints to collaboration were broken down for a week. Conversely, mobilising biodiversity knowledge from their silos in heritage literature and natural history collections will continue to require formalisation of the concepts (and the links between them) that define the research domain, as well as increased interoperability between the software platforms that operate on these concepts

Persistence of Yersinia pestis in Soil Under Natural Conditions

As part of a fatal human plague case investigation, we showed that the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, can survive for at least 24 days in contaminated soil under natural conditions. These results have implications for defining plague foci, persistence, transmission, and bioremediation after a natural or intentional exposure to Y. pestis