Paratriathletes' physiological and thermoregulatory response to training load and competition

Paratriathlon is a multi-impairment, endurance sport which made its Paralympic Games debut in 2016. Athletes’ impairments typically include but, are not limited to, spinal cord injury; cerebral palsy, or other neurological disorders; amputations or visual impairments. However, despite athletes displaying impairments that present several considerations for coaches and practitioners, there has been very little research in the sport. Specifically, there is little understanding of how athletes’ impairments may impact their physiological response to acute or chronic changes in training load. Similarly, it is not known how consequences of athletes’ impairments affect thermoregulation and the ability to adapt to the heat. Thus, this thesis aimed to elucidate these unknown areas whilst bridging the knowledge gap to research in able-bodied triathlon. The first two studies of this thesis investigated paratriathletes’ response to changes in training load, longitudinally (Chapter four) and more acutely (Chapter five). [Continues.

"Property Purgatory"

Climate change will place increasing numbers of homeowners in ‘property purgatory’, a state of financial insecurity arising from the foreseeability of eventual damage and uncertainty about means to recover their losses. The impacts of climate change-induced sea level rise and storm events are now certain, and exposed properties will likely incur insurance, mortgage and value loss. These effects could occur prior to physical damage, and existing inequities will be magnified. Current legal and institutional arrangements offer no clear pathway for those affected to recover funds in order to relocate themselves. We position property purgatory as an immediate practical challenge for those affected seeking to recover their losses, and as a legal question regarding undefined responsibilities of central and local government

Effects of Acute Stress on Psychophysiology in Armed Tactical Occupations: A Narrative Review

The ability to perform under extreme pressure is one of the most sought-after qualities in both sports and tactical (military, law enforcement, fire, and rescue, etc.) occupations. While tactical performance relies on both physical and mental capabilities to achieve a desired outcome, it is often hampered by the stressful environments in which these personnel work. The acute stress experienced by tactical personnel can interfere with occupational performance, impacting both physical execution of tasks and decision-making. This narrative review discusses the implications of acute stress on the psychophysiology and physical performance of personnel serving in armed tactical occupations

Vital and Viable Coleshill

At the invitation of North Warwickshire Borough Council, we prepared this report following a workshop the IPM led in July 2023 for local stakeholders in Coleshill. It is worth noting this work follows a programme of activity provided by the IPM which brought together agencies responsible for management, development, and marketing of towns across Warwickshire. This aimed to identify the key factors that will dictate the future of the county’s towns and high streets and assess what stakeholders and partnerships need to focus on to survive and thrive over the next 15 years. Stakeholders in Coleshill can access all the materials from this project on The Warwickshire Future Places Routemap landing page. The guidance underpinning this programme was developed through the IPM’s academic investigation over many years, in consultation with key national stakeholders, policy professionals, practitioners, and importantly through partnership working with several places across the UK. We have translated this body of knowledge into two frameworks, the 4Rs (Reposition, Reinvent, Rebrand, Restructure) and the 25 Priority Interventions. Consequently, this report for Coleshill applies these frameworks to identify specific recommendations

Mixed active and passive, heart rate-controlled heat acclimation is effective for Paralympic and able-bodied triathletes

Purpose To explore the effectiveness of mixed, active and passive heat acclimation (HA), controlling the relative intensity of exercise by heart rate (HR) in paratriathletes (PARA) and determine adaptation differences to able-bodied (AB) triathletes.Methods Seven elite paratriathletes and thirteen AB triathletes undertook an 8-d HA intervention consisting of five HR-controlled sessions and three passive heat exposures (35oC, 63% relative humidity). On the first and last day of HA, heat stress tests were conducted whereby thermoregulatory changes were recorded during at a fixed, submaximal workload. The AB group undertook 20 km cycling time trials pre- and post-HA with performance compared to an AB, non-acclimated control group.Results During the heat stress test, HA lowered core temperature (PARA: 0.27 ± 0.32oC; AB: 0.28 ± 0.34oC), blood lactate concentration (PARA: 0.23 ± 0.15 mmol∙l-1; AB: 0.38 ± 0.31 mmol∙l-1) with concomitant plasma volume expansion (PARA: 12.7 ± 10.6; AB: 6.2 ± 7.7%) (p≤0.047). In the AB group, a lower skin temperature (0.19 ± 0.44oC) and HR (5 ± 6 bpm) with a greater sweat rate (0.17 ± 0.25 l∙h-1) was evident post-HA (p≤0.045) but this was not present for the PARA group (p≥0.177). The AB group improved their performance by an extent greater than the smallest worthwhile change based on the normal variation present with no HA (4.5 vs. 3.7%).Conclusions Paratriathletes are capable of displaying partial HA, albeit not to same extent as AB triathletes. The HA protocol was effective at stimulating thermoregulatory adaptations with performance changes noted in AB triathletes.</div

Sound Diffraction Modeling of Rotorcraft Noise Around Terrain

A new computational technique, Wave Confinement (WC), is extended here to account for sound diffraction around arbitrary terrain. While diffraction around elementary scattering objects, such as a knife edge, single slit, disc, sphere, etc. has been studied for several decades, realistic environments still pose significant problems. This new technique is first validated against Sommerfeld's classical problem of diffraction due to a knife edge. This is followed by comparisons with diffraction over three-dimensional smooth obstacles, such as a disc and Gaussian hill. Finally, comparisons with flight test acoustics data measured behind a hill are also shown. Comparison between experiment and Wave Confinement prediction demonstrates that a Poisson spot occurred behind the isolated hill, resulting in significantly increased sound intensity near the center of the shadowed region

A multi-factorial assessment of elite paratriathletes’ response to two weeks of intensified training

Purpose: In able-bodied athletes, several hormonal, immunological and psychological parameters are commonly assessed in response to intensified training due to their potential relationship to acute fatigue and training/non-training stress. This has yet to be studied in Paralympic athletes. Methods: Ten elite paratriathletes were studied for five weeks around a 14-day overseas training camp whereby training load was 137% of pre-camp levels. Athletes provided: six saliva samples (one pre-camp, four during camp, one post-camp) for cortisol, testosterone and secretory immunoglobulin A; weekly psychological questionnaires (POMS and RESTQ-S); daily resting heart rate and subjective wellness measures including sleep quality and quantity. Results: There was no significant change in salivary cortisol, testosterone, cortisol:testosterone ratio or secretory immunoglobulin A during intensified training (p≥0.090). Likewise, there was no meaningful change in resting heart rate or subjective wellness measures (p≥0.079). Subjective sleep quality and quantity increased during intensified training (p≤0.003). There was no significant effect on any POMS subscale other than lower anger (p=0.049) whilst there was greater general recovery and lower sport and general stress from RESTQ-S (p≤0.015). Conclusions: There was little to no change in parameters commonly associated with the fatigued state which may relate to the training camp setting minimising external life stresses and the careful management of training loads from coaches. This is the first evidence of such responses in Paralympic athletes

High thermoregulatory strain during competitive paratriathlon racing in the heat

Purpose: Paratriathletes may display impairments in autonomic (sudomotor and/or vasomotor function) or behavioural (drinking and/or pacing of effort) thermoregulation. As such, this study aimed to describe the thermoregulatory profile of athletes competing in the heat. Methods: Core temperature (Tc) was recorded at 30 s intervals in 28 mixed-impairment paratriathletes during competition in a hot environment (33oC, 35-41% relative humidity, 25-27oC water temperature), via an ingestible temperature sensor (BodyCap e-Celsius). Furthermore, in a subset of 9 athletes, skin temperature (Tsk) was measured. Athletes’ wetsuit use was noted whilst heat illness symptoms were self-reported post-race. Results: Twenty-two athletes displayed a Tc ≥39.5oC with 8 athletes ≥40.0oC. There were increases across the average Tc for swim, bike and run sections (p≤0.016). There was no change in Tsk during the race (p≥0.086). Visually impaired athletes displayed a significantly greater Tc during the run section than athletes in a wheelchair (p≤0.021). Athletes wearing a wetsuit (57% athletes) had a greater Tc when swimming (p≤0.032) whilst those reporting heat illness symptoms (57% athletes) displayed a greater Tc at various timepoints (p≤0.046). Conclusions: Paratriathletes face significant thermal strain during competition in the heat, as evidenced by high Tc, relative to previous research in able-bodied athletes, and a high incidence of self-reported heat illness symptomatology. Differences in the Tc profile exist depending on athletes’ race category and wetsuit use

Estimating the Technical Potential for Residential Demand Response in New Zealand

This report estimates the maximum technical potential for demand response (DR) for three appliances in New Zealand’s residential sector. On-demand electricity load reduction, particularly at times of peak demand, enhances the system operationality and reduces stress on the utility grid. This is increasingly important as the supply of variable renewables, such as solar and wind, increases. We focus on heat pumps, hot water heaters and refrigerators and find that DR could reduce load during the winter morning peak period by 20% and by 18% in the evening. This equates to an average daily energy reduction of 5,100 MWh in the morning peak and 4,900 MWh in the evening peak. In the summer, less utilisation of heat pumps in the morning peak decreases this proportion to 15% and 14% in the evening. In combination, the appliances modelled could provide a maximum aggregated demand response of 1,600 MW in the winter morning peak, and 1,200 MW in the evening peak. This technical potential amounts to roughly 2.5 times Transpower’s pro- posed DR programme of 635 MW from both industrial and residential sources and so could offer a substantial additional demand response source

Brief Report: Training load, salivary immunoglobulin A and illness incidence in elite paratriathletes

Purpose: To gain an exploratory insight into the relationship between training load (TL), salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and upper respiratory tract illness (URI) in elite paratriathletes. Methods: Seven paratriathletes were recruited. Athletes provided weekly saliva samples for the measurement of sIgA over 23 consecutive weeks (February - July) and a further 11 consecutive weeks (November – January). sIgA was compared to individuals’ weekly training duration, external TL and internal TL, utilising time spent in pre-determined heart rate zones. Correlations were assessed via regression analyses. URI was quantified via weekly self-report symptom questionnaire. Results: There was a significant negative relationship between athletes’ individual weekly training duration and sIgA secretion rate (p = 0.028) with changes in training duration accounting for 12.7% of the variance (quartiles: 0.2%, 19.2%). There was, however, no significant relationship between external or internal TL and sIgA parameters (p ≥ 0.104). There was no significant difference in sIgA when URI was present or not (101% vs 118% healthy median concentration; p ≥ 0.225); likewise, there was no difference in sIgA when URI occurred within two weeks of sampling or not (83% vs 125% healthy median concentration; p ≥ 0.120). Conclusions: Paratriathletes’ weekly training duration significantly affects sIgA secretion rate, yet we did not find a relationship between external or internal TL and sIgA parameters. Further, it was not possible to detect any link between sIgA and URI occurrence which throws into question the potential of using sIgA as a monitoring tool for early detection of illness