Water quality monitor (EMPAX instrument)

The impetus of the Viking Mission to Mars led to the first miniaturization of a X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRFS). Two units were flown on the Viking Mission and successfully operated for two years analyzing the elemental composition of the Martian soil. Under a Bureau of Mines/NASA Technology Utilization project, this XRFS design was utilized to produce a battery powered, portable unit for elemental analysis of geological samples. This paper will detail design improvements and additional sampling capabilities that were incorporated into a second generation portable XRFS that was funded by the EPA/NASA Technology Utilization project. The unit, Environment Monitoring with Portable Analysis by X-ray (EMPAX), was developed specifically for quantitative determination of the need of EPA and and any industry affected by environmental concerns, the EMPAX fulfills a critical need to provide on-site, real-time analysis of toxic metal contamination. A patent was issued on EMPAX, but a commercial manufacturer is still being sought

From Scratch to Launch; Leveraging University of Miami Libraries’ Research Information Management System to Cultivate University-wide Partnerships and Support Faculty Research Dissemination and Impact

Since 2017, the University of Miami Libraries (UML) has engaged with key stakeholders and institutional leaders to adapt and build a centralized, sustainable Research Information Management System (RIMS) helping to curate, manage, and promote institutional research output. This paper details the development and rollout of Esploro by Ex Libris (locally branded Scholarship@Miami), the Institutional Repository (IR), and the RIM system for the University of Miami (UM). The UML Esploro Implementation team leveraged Esploro’s Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning features to train the system to automatically capture and fetch relevant scholarly outputs produced by researchers affiliated with UM. Further, we consider the challenges we faced while developing and planning to go live with Scholarship@Miami (Esploro), particularly the difficulty of keeping the institutional leaders engaged and supportive when development took longer than anticipated. Also, we share how we pivoted to support related university initiatives by facilitating integration into the corpus of curated research data while keep proceeding with collecting scholarly outputs and expanding the researcher profiles in Scholarship@Miami. Earlier this year, the public-facing researcher profiles in Scholarship@Miami went live, and over 160,000 research assets and creative works have been added to more than 4,000 Scholarship@Miami profiles to date. Although Scholarship@Miami is still a work in progress, many faculty have expressed an interest in the system and recognized its potential value to their work. Internally, librarians have utilized and analyzed Scholarship@Miami’s data to support decision-making related to transformative and open-access agreements offered by publishers. Lastly, Scholarship@Miami’s data enables UML to contribute more directly to UM research efforts, allowing librarians to expand their support in tracking and evaluating researchers\u27 output and its impact

Sex-specific effects of small-sided games in basketball on psychometric and physiological markers during Ramadan intermittent fasting:a pilot study

International audienceBackground We assessed the effects of gender, in association with a four-week small-sided games (SSGs) training program, during Ramadan intermitting fasting (RIF) on changes in psychometric and physiological markers in professional male and female basketball players. Methods Twenty-four professional basketball players from the first Tunisian (Tunisia) division participated in this study. The players were dichotomized by sex (males [G(M) = 12]; females [G(F) = 12]). Both groups completed a 4 weeks SSGs training program with 3 sessions per week. Psychometric (e.g., quality of sleep, fatigue, stress, and delayed onset of muscle soreness [DOMS]) and physiological parameters (e.g., heart rate frequency, blood lactate) were measured during the first week (baseline) and at the end of RIF (post-test). Results Post hoc tests showed a significant increase in stress levels in both groups (G(M) [- 81.11%; p < 0.001, d = 0.33, small]; G(F) [- 36,53%; p = 0.001, d = 0.25, small]). Concerning physiological parameters, ANCOVA revealed significantly lower heart rates in favor of G(M) at post-test (1.70%, d = 0.38, small, p = 0.002). Conclusions Our results showed that SSGs training at the end of the RIF negatively impacted psychometric parameters of male and female basketball players. It can be concluded that there are sex-mediated effects of training during RIF in basketball players, and this should be considered by researchers and practitioners when programing training during RIF

The Effects of Eccentric and Plyometric Training Programs and Their Combination on Stability and the Functional Performance in the Post-ACL-Surgical Rehabilitation Period of Elite Female Athletes

BackgroundThe standard method to treat physically active patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is ligament reconstruction surgery. The rehabilitation training program is very important to improve functional performance in recreational athletes following ACL reconstruction.ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to compare the effects of three different training programs, eccentric training (ECC), plyometric training (PLYO), or combined eccentric and plyometric training (COMB), on dynamic balance (Y-BAL), the Lysholm Knee Scale (LKS), the return to sport index (RSI), and the leg symmetry index (LSI) for the single leg hop test for distance in elite female athletes after ACL surgery.Materials and MethodsFourteen weeks after rehabilitation from surgery, 40 elite female athletes (20.3 ± 3.2 years), who had undergone an ACL reconstruction, participated in a short-term (6 weeks; two times a week) training study. All participants received the same rehabilitation protocol prior to the training study. Athletes were randomly assigned to three experimental groups, ECC (n = 10), PLYO (n = 10), and COMB (n = 10), and to a control group (CON: n = 10). Testing was conducted before and after the 6-week training programs and included the Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI. LSI was assessed after the 6-week training programs only.ResultsAdherence rate was 100% across all groups and no training or test-related injuries were reported. No significant between-group baseline differences (pre-6-week training) were observed for any of the parameters. Significant group-by-time interactions were found for Y-BAL (p < 0.001, ES = 1.73), LKS (p < 0.001, ES = 0.76), and RSI (p < 0.001, ES = 1.39). Contrast analysis demonstrated that COMB yielded significantly greater improvements in Y-BAL, LKS, and RSI (all p < 0.001), in addition to significantly better performances in LSI (all p < 0.001), than CON, PLYO, and ECC, respectively.ConclusionIn conclusion, combined (eccentric/plyometric) training seems to represent the most effective training method as it exerts positive effects on both stability and functional performance in the post-ACL-surgical rehabilitation period of elite female athletes

Effects of different training intensities in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on maximal aerobic velocity, hematological and muscle-damage markers in healthy young adults

International audienceThis study aimed to examine the effects of two high-intensity interval training programs (HIIT) on maximal aerobic velocity (MAV), hematological variations and muscle damage markers in young healthy adults. Twenty-nine male physical education students, aged 20.3 +/- 3.3 years, volunteered to participate in this study, and were randomly assigned to a control group (CG, n = 9) or two intervention groups (group 1 or 2). Intervention group 1 (n = 10) exercised at 100% of their MAV (EG(100)) while group 2 (n = 10) exercised at 110% MAV (EG(110)). Before and after the eight week training program, blood samples were drawn at rest, before, and after an intermittent exercise. Aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), C reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase (CK) concentrations and hematological parameters (white blood cells [WBC], monocytes [MO], lymphocytes [LY], neutrophil [NE]) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured. Post-hoc tests showed that MAV was significantly higher in EG(110) compared to EG(100) after HIIT (p < 0.01, eta(2)(p) = 0.05), whilst ALAT, ASAT, and CPR were significantly lower (p < 0.01; 0.02 < eta(2)(p) < 0.11) in EG(110) compared to EG(100). Moreover, post-hoc tests indicated that LY decreased significantly (p < 0.001, eta(2)(p) = 0.21) only for EG(110). Furthermore, there were significant positive correlations for both EG(100) and EG(110) between MAV and ALAT (r = 0.66, p = 0.044 and r = 0.64, p = 0.041 respectively), CK (r = 0.67, p = 0.031 and r = 0.86, p = 0.030, respectively), LDH (r = 0.74, p = 0.014, and r = 0.071, p = 0.021, respectively). In addition, there was a significant positive correlation for both, EG(100) and EG(110) between MAV and LY (r = 0.79, p < 0.01; r = 0.72, p < 0.05, respectively). Concerning the relationship between MAV and NE, there was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.66; p < 0.05) only for EG(110). Findings from this study revealed that HIIT at 110% MAV was more efficient to improve MAV and reduce muscle damage. In addition, we observed significant associations between performance improvements (MAV) and markers of muscle damage

Dust Flux Monitor Instrument measurements during Stardust-NExT Flyby of Comet 9P/Tempel 1

The Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) on the Stardust and Stardust-NExT missions measured impacts from coma dust particles with masses from ∼10−15 to >10−6 kg using two kinds of sensors – one based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) thin films and the other on acoustic detectors (ACs) mounted on the front and second layers of the Whipple Bumper Shield. At the higher encounter speed of 10.9 km s−1 at Comet 9P/Tempel 1 compared with 6.12 km s−1 at 81P/Wild 2 encounter, the mass sensitivity of DFMI sensors increased by between a factor of 2 and 12 (depending on the sensor subsystem), but the spatial resolution (⩾1.09 km) decreased to approximately a half. The coma of Comet Tempel 1 exhibits highly non-uniform spatial distribution of dust, as found at comet Wild 2, with bursts of impacts of up to 1000 particles over km scales near closest approach surrounded by void regions of many kilometers with no impacts. These data are consistent with passage through clouds of particles resulting from fragmentation of larger aggregates emitted from the nucleus. These fragmentation products dominate the total dust production of small particles, with only a small contribution likely from direct emission from the nucleus. The derived overall mass distribution is similar to that found at comet Wild 2 with the total mass dominated by large particles. The average cumulative mass index α = 0.65 ± 0.08 (where the particle flux is defined by ϕ (>m) = km−α) but a better fit is obtained with α = 0.85 ± 0.08 for particle masses below 10−10 kg and a significantly lower value for higher masses

Reliability and Validity of a New Taekwondo-Specific Change-of-Direction Speed Test With Striking Techniques in Elite Taekwondo Athletes:A Pilot Study

International audienceThe purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminative validity of a new taekwondo-specific change-of-direction (COD) speed test with striking techniques (TST) in elite taekwondo athletes. Twenty (10 males and 10 females) elite (athletes who compete at national level) and top-elite (athletes who compete at national and international level) taekwondo athletes with an average training background of 8.9 +/- 1.3 years of systematic taekwondo training participated in this study. During the two-week test-retest period, various generic performance tests measuring COD speed, balance, speed, and jump performance were carried out during the first week and as a retest during the second week. Three TST trials were conducted with each athlete and the best trial was used for further analyses. The relevant performance measure derived from the TST was the time with striking penalty (TST-TSP). TST-TSP performances amounted to 10.57 +/- 1.08 s for males and 11.74 +/- 1.34 s for females. The reliability analysis of the TST performance was conducted after logarithmic transformation, in order to address the problem of heteroscedasticity. In both groups, the TST demonstrated a high relative test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients and 90% compatibility limits were 0.80 and 0.47 to 0.93, respectively). For absolute reliability, the TST's typical error of measurement (TEM), 90% compatibility limits, and magnitudes were 4.6%, 3.4 to 7.7, for males, and 5.4%, 3.9 to 9.0, for females. The homogeneous sample of taekwondo athletes meant that the TST's TEM exceeded the usual smallest important change (SIC) with 0.2 effect size in the two groups. The new test showed mostly very large correlations with linear sprint speed (r = 0.71 to 0.85) and dynamic balance (r = -0.71 and -0.74), large correlations with COD speed (r = 0.57 to 0.60) and vertical jump performance (r = -0.50 to -0.65), and moderate correlations with horizontal jump performance (r = -0.34 to -0.45) and static balance (r = -0.39 to -0.44). Top-elite athletes showed better TST performances than elite counterparts. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that the TST effectively discriminated between top-elite and elite taekwondo athletes. In conclusion, the TST is a valid, and sensitive test to evaluate the COD speed with taekwondo specific skills, and reliable when considering ICC and TEM. Although the usefulness of the TST is questioned to detect small performance changes in the present population, the TST can detect moderate changes in taekwondo-specific COD speed

Association Between Mental Imagery and Change of Direction Performance in Young Elite Soccer Players of Different Maturity Status

Previous studies have not considered the potential influence of maturity status on the relationship between mental imagery and change of direction (CoD) speed in youth soccer. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study examined the association between mental imagery and CoD performance in young elite soccer players of different maturity status. Forty young male soccer players, aged 10-17 years, were assigned into two groups according to their predicted age at peak height velocity (PHV) (Pre-PHV; n = 20 and Post-PHV; n = 20). Participants were evaluated on soccer-specific tests of CoD with (CoDBall-15m) and without (CoD-15m) the ball. Participants completed the movement imagery questionnaire (MIQ) with the three- dimensional structure, internal visual imagery (IVI), external visual imagery (EVI), as well as kinesthetic imagery (KI). The Post-PHV players achieved significantly better results than Pre-PHV in EVI (ES = 1.58, large; p < 0.001), CoD-15m (ES = 2.09, very large; p < 0.001) and CoDBall-15m (ES = 1.60, large; p < 0.001). Correlations were significantly different between maturity groups, where, for the pre-PHV group, a negative very large correlation was observed between CoDBall-15m and KI (r = –0.73, p = 0.001). For the post-PHV group, large negative correlations were observed between CoD-15m and IVI (r = –0.55, p = 0.011), EVI (r = –062, p = 0.003), and KI (r = –0.52, p = 0.020). A large negative correlation of CoDBall-15m with EVI (r = –0.55, p = 0.012) and very large correlation with KI (r = –0.79, p = 0.001) were also observed. This study provides evidence of the theoretical and practical use for the CoD tasks stimulus with imagery. We recommend that sport psychology specialists, coaches, and athletes integrated imagery for CoD tasks in pre-pubertal soccer players to further improve CoD related performance