Perceived exertion and the increase in risk of injury in ROTC cadets

Context: Musculoskeletal injury in military personnel creates problems due to economic losses, and decreased training. The repetitive motions associated with military training and the daily physical training sessions can lead to the development of fatigue. Fatigue has been shown to contribute to 18% - 26% of musculoskeletal injuries. [7] Several studies have explored fatigue as a risk of injury during occupation. Fatigue has been shown to increase the perceived effort during physical exercise. The purpose of this study was to characterize the perception of effort during physical training sessions and injury rates in ROTC cadets throughout an academic year. Methods: The design of this study is a retrospective records review. The participants in the study are ROTC cadets from a collegiate institution. ROTC cadets participated in physical training five days a week for 65 to 90 minutes. A modified Borg perceived exertion scale was used to determine the Cadet’s perception of their effort (RPE) during regular physical training sessions. The Borg scale is a 1 point scale (0 = no effort, ten = very, very strong), 64 ROTC provided ratings of perceived exertion. Cadets completed the survey following all physical training sessions. Cadets excluded from results reported RPE ratings at six or below. Twelve (12) cadets reported an injury to the Athletic Training staff. The mean RPE, acute and chronic workloads, mean RPE during the week the cadet reports an injury and mean RPE during the four weeks before the reported injury respectfully followed the acute to chronic workload ratio. The University IRB approved this investigation. Results: A total of 1,426 RPEs during the 23 weeks completed data collection. With RPE ratings at six or below, seventeen cadets did not contribute to the study. The average RPE rating was a six (6) on the Borg Scale. Twelve (12) injuries reported by 11 cadets (6 males and five females); of these injuries, six were acute, and six were chronic. An injured cadet having an RPE score at six or below did not contribute to data collection. The ten injured cadets reported 419 RPEs with their mean RPE 5.2 ± .5 on the Borg scale. The cadets not reporting injuries mean RPE was 5.8 ± 1.8. The injured acute workload was 5.3 ± 1.9 for the injured cadets and 5.2 ± .8 for the non-injured cadets. The injured cadets’ chronic workload was 5.0 ± 1.0 for the injured cadets and 5.3 ± .3 for the non-injured cadets. The injured cadets’ workload ratio was 1.06 ± .4 for the injured cadets and .96 ± .1 for the non-injured cadets. None of these differences reached statistical significance. Conclusion: Ratings of perceived exertion and workload ratios did not differ between ROTC cadets that reported or did not report a musculoskeletal injury

The new Italian electoral system and its effects on strategic coordination and disproportionality

On 26 October 2017, the Italian Parliament approved a new electoral system nicknamed Rosatellum after Ettore Rosato, head of the Partito Democratico’s (PD, Democratic Party) parliamentary group in the Chamber, who was the first proponent of the law. The new electoral system is the fourth since 1993. It is a mixed system, like the others, and it applies to both the Chamber and the Senate. Roughly two thirds of the seats are assigned with a proportional formula in multi-member districts. The remaining seats are assigned in single-member districts with plurality rule. The impact of the new electoral system in terms of party representation has been more proportional than majoritarian. No party or coalition won an absolute majority of seats. However, if we look at its overall per- formance the picture is mixed. After all, the SMDs are a potent tool and they have made the difference in terms of voting behaviour and pattern of competition. Two pre-electoral coalitions have been formed, the centre-left and the centre-right, which presented themselves, along with M5S, as potential government alternatives. The agreements made among their members acted as a constraint on possible post-electoral alliances making diffi- cult to form a government. This is one of the main reasons of the long stalemate

Endpoint thermodynamics of an atomic Fermi gas subject to a Feshbach resonance

The entropy and kinetic, potential, and interaction energies of an atomic Fermi gas in a trap are studied under the assumption of thermal equilibrium for finite temperature. A Feshbach resonance can cause the fermions to pair into diatomic molecules. The entropy and energies of mixtures of such molecules with unpaired atoms are calculated, in relation to recent experiments on molecular Bose-Einstein condensates produced in this manner. It is shown that, starting with a Fermi gas of temperature $T= 0.1 T_F^0$, where $T_F^0$ is the non-interacting Fermi temperature, an extremely cold degenerate Fermi gas of temperature $T \lesssim 0.01 T_F^0$ may be produced without further evaporative cooling. This requires adiabatic passage of the resonance, subsequent sudden removal of unpaired atoms, and adiabatic return. We also calculate the ratio of the interaction energy to the kinetic energy, a straightforward experimental signal which may be used to determine the temperature of the atoms and indicate condensation of the molecules.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Enhanced Eshelby twist on thin wurtzite InP nanowires and measurement of local crystal rotation

We have performed a detailed study of the lattice distortions of InP wurtzite nanowires containing an axial screw dislocation. Eshelby predicted that this kind of system should show a crystal rotation due to the dislocation induced torque. We have measured the twisting rate and the dislocation Burgers vector on individual wires, revealing that nanowires with a 10-nm radius have a twist up to 100% larger than estimated from elasticity theory. The strain induced by the deformation has a Mexican-hat-like geometry, which may create a tube-like potential well for carriers

Yoga for treating urinary incontinence in women

Background Urinary incontinence in women is associated with poor quality of life and difficulties in social, psychological and sexual functioning. The condition may affect up to 15% of middle-aged or older women in the general population. Conservative treatments such as lifestyle interventions, bladder training and pelvic floor muscle training (used either alone or in combination with other interventions) are the initial approaches to the management of urinary incontinence. Many women are interested in additional treatments such as yoga, a system of philosophy, lifestyle and physical practice that originated in ancient India. Objectives To assess the effects of yoga for treating urinary incontinence in women. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Incontinence and Cochrane Complementary Medicine Specialised Registers. We searched the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify any ongoing or unpublished studies. We handsearched Proceedings of the International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research and the European Congress for Integrative Medicine. We searched the NHS Economic Evaluation Database for economic studies, and supplemented this search with searches for economics studies in MEDLINE and Embase from 2015 onwards. Database searches are up-to-date as of 21 June 2018. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials in women diagnosed with urinary incontinence in which one group was allocated to treatment with yoga. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of all retrieved articles, selected studies for inclusion, extracted data, assessed risk of bias and evaluated the certainty of the evidence for each reported outcome. Any disagreements were resolved by consensus. We planned to combine clinically comparable studies in Review Manager 5 using random-effects meta-analysis and to carry out sensitivity and subgroup analyses. We planned to create a table listing economic studies on yoga for incontinence but not carry out any analyses on these studies. Main results We included two studies (involving a total of 49 women). Each study compared yoga to a different comparator, therefore we were unable to combine the data in a meta-analysis. A third study that has been completed but not yet fully reported is awaiting assessment. One included study was a six-week study comparing yoga to a waiting list in 19 women with either urgency urinary incontinence or stress urinary incontinence. We judged the certainty of the evidence for all reported outcomes as very low due to performance bias, detection bias, and imprecision. The number of women reporting cure was not reported. We are uncertain whether yoga results in satisfaction with cure or improvement of incontinence (risk ratio (RR) 6.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.44 to 27.88; an increase of 592 from 111 per 1000, 95% CI 160 to 1000). We are uncertain whether there is a difference between yoga and waiting list in condition-specific quality of life as measured on the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire Short Form (mean difference (MD) 1.74, 95% CI -33.02 to 36.50); the number of micturitions (MD -0.77, 95% CI -2.13 to 0.59); the number of incontinence episodes (MD -1.57, 95% CI -2.83 to -0.31); or the bothersomeness of incontinence as measured on the Urogenital Distress Inventory 6 (MD -0.90, 95% CI -1.46 to -0.34). There was no evidence of a difference in the number of women who experienced at least one adverse event (risk difference 0%, 95% CI -38% to 38%; no difference from 222 per 1000, 95% CI 380 fewer to 380 more). The second included study was an eight-week study in 30 women with urgency urinary incontinence that compared mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to an active control intervention of yoga classes. The study was unblinded, and there was high attrition from both study arms for all outcome assessments. We judged the certainty of the evidence for all reported outcomes as very low due to performance bias, attrition bias, imprecision and indirectness. The number of women reporting cure was not reported. We are uncertain whether women in the yoga group were less likely to report improvement in incontinence at eight weeks compared to women in the MBSR group (RR 0.09, 95% CI 0.01 to 1.43; a decrease of 419 from 461 per 1000, 95% CI 5 to 660). We are uncertain about the effect of MBSR compared to yoga on reports of cure or improvement in incontinence, improvement in condition-specific quality of life measured on the Overactive Bladder Health-Related Quality of Life Scale, reduction in incontinence episodes or reduction in bothersomeness of incontinence as measured on the Overactive Bladder Symptom and Quality of Life-Short Form at eight weeks. The study did not report on adverse effects. Authors' conclusions We identified few trials on yoga for incontinence, and the existing trials were small and at high risk of bias. In addition, we did not find any studies of economic outcomes related to yoga for urinary incontinence. Due to the lack of evidence to answer the review question, we are uncertain whether yoga is useful for women with urinary incontinence. Additional, well-conducted trials with larger sample sizes are needed

Galeorhinus galeus, Tope

Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) is a medium-sized (to 200 cm total length) bentho-pelagic shark, widespread in temperate waters in most oceans. It is present across the Northeast, Eastern Central, Southwest, and Southeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, the Eastern Indian, and across all of the Pacific, except in the Northwest Pacific. It occurs on continental shelves and upper to mid slopes from shallow inshore to well offshore to depths of 826 m, though most frequently to depths of 200 m. Genetic and tagging data support up to six separate subpopulations of Tope and while the species makes extensive movements within each of the subpopulations, there is no evidence of mixing between them. Tope has a particularly low biological productivity with a late age-at-maturity and triennial reproductive cycle. It is caught globally as target and bycatch in industrial and small-scale demersal and pelagic gillnet and longline fisheries, and to a lesser extent in trawl and hook-and-line fisheries. Tope is often retained for the meat and fins but is discarded or released in some areas, in line with regional management measures. Steep subpopulation and stock reductions of >80% over the past three generation lengths (79 years) have occurred in the Southwest Atlantic, southern Africa, and Australia. In the Northeast Atlantic, the subpopulation is estimated to have undergone a reduction of 76% over the past three generation lengths (79 years). The New Zealand stock is estimated to have undergone a reduction of 30?49% over the past three generation lengths (79 years). In the Northeast Pacific, a dramatic decline in the subpopulation occurred in the early 1940s, with no recovery until 1997?2004 when localized management led to a localized increase in abundance. The consistent steep subpopulation reductions across most of the analyzed subpopulations and stocks together with the lack of movement between the subpopulations are cause for serious concern. Management in Australia, probably aided by the immigration of large mature animals from New Zealand, appears to have stabilized that stock since 2000. The subpopulation in the Northeast Atlantic has been stable in recent years, possibly due to management measures, and there is some recovery in part of the Northeast Pacific. Release of this species is mandatory since 2011 off Canada. Release is mandatory in European Union waters for line-caught Tope. The global population is estimated to have undergone a reduction of 88% with the highest probability of >80% reduction over the last three generations (79 years) due to levels of exploitation, and Tope is assessed as Critically Endangered A2bd.Fil: Walker, T. I.. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: Rigby, C. L.. James Cook University; AustraliaFil: Pacoureau, N.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Ellis, J.. No especifíca;Fil: Kulka, D. W.. No especifíca;Fil: Chiaramonte, Gustavo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Herman, K.. Georgia Aquarium; Estados Unido

Reduction of Movement in Neurological Diseases: Effects on Neural Stem Cells Characteristics.

Both astronauts and patients affected by chronic movement-limiting pathologies face impairment in muscle and/or brain performance. Increased patient survival expectations and the expected longer stays in space by astronauts may result in prolonged motor deprivation and consequent pathological effects. Severe movement limitation can influence not only the motor and metabolic systems but also the nervous system, altering neurogenesis and the interaction between motoneurons and muscle cells. Little information is yet available about the effect of prolonged muscle disuse on neural stem cells characteristics. Our in vitro study aims to fill this gap by focusing on the biological and molecular properties of neural stem cells (NSCs). Our analysis shows that NSCs derived from the SVZ of HU mice had shown a reduced proliferation capability and an altered cell cycle. Furthermore, NSCs obtained from HU animals present an incomplete differentiation/maturation. The overall results support the existence of a link between reduction of exercise and muscle disuse and metabolism in the brain and thus represent valuable new information that could clarify how circumstances such as the absence of load and the lack of movement that occurs in people with some neurological diseases, may affect the properties of NSCs and contribute to the negative manifestations of these conditions

Spatial modulation of above-the-gap cathodoluminescence in InP nanowires

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Extracellular vesicles enhance multiple myeloma metastatic dissemination

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent a heterogeneous group of membranous structures shed by all kinds of cell types, which are released into the surrounding microenvironment or spread to distant sites through the circulation. Therefore, EVs are key mediators of the communication between tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment or the distant premetastatic niche due to their ability to transport lipids, transcription factors, mRNAs, non-coding regulatory RNAs, and proteins. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological neoplasm that mostly relies on the bone marrow (BM). The BM represents a highly supportive niche for myeloma establishment and diffusion during the formation of distant bone lesions typical of this disease. This review represents a survey of the most recent evidence published on the role played by EVs in supporting MM cells during the multiple steps of metastasis, including travel and uptake at distant premetastatic niches, MM cell engraftment as micrometastasis, and expansion to macrometastasis thanks to EV-induced angiogenesis, release of angiocrine factors, activation of osteolytic activity, and mesenchymal cell support. Finally, we illustrate the first evidence concerning the dual effect of MM-EVs in promoting both anti-tumor immunity and MM immune escape, and the possible modulation operated by pharmacological treatments

Optical phonon modes of wurtzite InP

Optical vibration modes of InP nanowires in the wurtzite phase were investigated by Raman scattering spectroscopy. The wires were grown along the [0001] axis by the vapor-liquid-solid method. The A1(TO), E2h, and E1(TO) phonon modes of the wurtzite symmetry were identified by using light linearly polarized along different directions in backscattering configuration. Additionally, forbidden longitudinal optical modes have also been observed. Furthermore, by applying an extended 11-parameter rigid-ion model, the complete dispersion relations of InP in the wurtzite phase have been calculated, showing a good agreement with the Raman experimental data