Validation of Vertical Force Measures During Hop Tasks Using Pressure Insoles

Assessment of vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF) during jumping and landing tasks is commonly used as a tool to quantify limb loading following injury. While embedded force plates are the current gold standard, cost and poor ecological validity limit their feasibility for assessment of loading during sport agility tasks. Wearable pressure insoles can measure plantar pressure wirelessly and may provide an alternative for on-field assessments. Previous studies have assessed the validity of insoles with varying results. Few studies have considered tasks that require both vertical and horizontal forces similar to those required for agility tasks. This may have important implications for clinical use outside the laboratory setting. PURPOSE: Determine concurrent validity of pressure insole and forceplates for measuring vertical loading force during hop tasks. METHODS: Fifteen healthy individuals (females=9, age 26.6 ± 3.1 yrs.; 1.7 ± 0.1 m; 72 ± 15.8 kg) participated. Force data was collected concurrently from triaxial force plates (AMTI, 1500 Hz) and pressure insoles (Moticon OpenGo, 25Hz) during single limb stance (SLS), forward hop (FH) and lateral hop (LH) tasks. Impulse (N·s) was calculated as the area under the vertical force time curve for each limb during the stance phase. Impulse was normalized to body weight (force averaged across 3 seconds during SLS) for FH and LH. Three trials per task were used to examine the relationship (Pearson correlation) and agreement (ICC 2,2) between methods. RESULTS: Impulse from insoles was positively related to force plates during SLS (r= .71, p\u3c.05), FH (r=.85, p\u3c.05), and LH (r=.89, p\u3c.05). ICC were SLS (.32 p\u3c.05), FH (.83 p\u3c.05) and LH (.89 p\u3c.05). Average relative differences were SLS -290.92 (200.94) N·s, FH .004 (.13) N·s/N-BW, and LH .006 (.08) N·s/N-BW. CONCLUSION: Fair ICC during SLS suggest that force measures from insoles and force plates have poor agreement. However, after normalizing by body weight, vertical force from insoles and force plates were highly correlated and showed excellent agreement. These data suggest that insoles provide similar information to force plates during forward and lateral hops. The magnitude of relative difference between instruments should be considered when interpreting data for each use case

Collagen Based Multicomponent Interpenetrating Networks as Promising Scaffolds for 3D Culture of Human Neural Stem Cells, Human Astrocytes, and Human Microglia

This work describes for the first time the fabrication and characterization of multicomponent interpenetrating networks composed of collagen I, hyaluronic acid, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate for the 3D culture of human neural stem cells, astrocytes, and microglia. The chemical composition of the scaffolds can be modulated while maintaining values of complex moduli within the range of the mechanical performance of brain tissue (∼6.9 kPa) and having cell viability exceeding 84%. The developed scaffolds are a promising new family of biomaterials that can potentially serve as 3D in vitro models for studying the physiology and physiopathology of the central nervous system

Continent-wide analysis of how urbanization affects bird-window collision mortality in North America

Characteristics of buildings and land cover surrounding buildings influence the number of bird-window collisions, yet little is known about whether bird-window collisions are associated with urbanization at large spatial scales. We initiated a continent-wide study in North America to assess how bird-window collision mortality is influenced by building characteristics, landscaping around buildings, and regional urbanization. In autumn 2014, researchers at 40 sites (N = 281 buildings) used standardized protocols to document collision mortality of birds, evaluate building characteristics, and measure local land cover and regional urbanization. Overall, 324 bird carcasses were observed (range = 0–34 per site) representing 71 species. Consistent with previous studies, we found that building size had a strong positive effect on bird-window collision mortality, but the strength of the effect on mortality depended on regional urbanization. The positive relationship between collision mortality and building size was greatest at large buildings in regions of low urbanization, locally extensive lawns, and low-density structures. Collision mortality was consistently low for small buildings, regardless of large-scale urbanization. The mechanisms shaping broad-scale variation in collision mortality during seasonal migration may be related to habitat selection at a hierarchy of scales and behavioral divergence between urban and rural bird populations. These results suggest that collision prevention measures should be prioritized at large buildings in regions of low urbanization throughout North America

Continent-wide analysis of how urbanization affects bird-window collision mortality in North America

Characteristics of buildings and land cover surrounding buildings influence the number of bird-window collisions, yet little is known about whether bird-window collisions are associated with urbanization at large spatial scales. We initiated a continent-wide study in North America to assess how bird-window collision mortality is influenced by building characteristics, landscaping around buildings, and regional urbanization. In autumn 2014, researchers at 40 sites (N = 281 buildings) used standardized protocols to document collision mortality of birds, evaluate building characteristics, and measure local land cover and regional urbanization. Overall, 324 bird carcasses were observed (range = 0–34 per site) representing 71 species. Consistent with previous studies, we found that building size had a strong positive effect on bird-window collision mortality, but the strength of the effect on mortality depended on regional urbanization. The positive relationship between collision mortality and building size was greatest at large buildings in regions of low urbanization, locally extensive lawns, and low-density structures. Collision mortality was consistently low for small buildings, regardless of large-scale urbanization. The mechanisms shaping broad-scale variation in collision mortality during seasonal migration may be related to habitat selection at a hierarchy of scales and behavioral divergence between urban and rural bird populations. These results suggest that collision prevention measures should be prioritized at large buildings in regions of low urbanization throughout North America

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity