Proceedings from the Ice Hockey Summit III: Action on Concussion

The Ice Hockey Summit III provided updated scientific evidence on concussions in hockey to inform these five objectives: 1) describe sport-related concussion (SRC) epidemiology, 2) classify prevention strategies, 3) define objective, diagnostic tests, 4) identify treatment, and 5) integrate science and clinical care into prioritized action plans and policy. Our action plan evolved from 40 scientific presentations. The 155 attendees (physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, nurses, neuropsychologists, scientists, engineers, coaches, and officials) voted to prioritize these action items in the final Summit session. 1) Establish a national and international hockey data base for SRC at all levels, 2) eliminate body checking in Bantam youth hockey games, 3) expand a behavior modification program (Fair Play) to all youth hockey levels, 4) enforce game ejection penalties for fighting in Junior A and professional hockey leagues, 5) establish objective tests to diagnose concussion at point of care (POC), and 6) mandate baseline testing to improve concussion diagnosis for all age groups. Expedient implementation of the Summit III prioritized action items is necessary to reduce the risk, severity, and consequences of concussion in the sport of ice hockey

Development of an integrated economic and ecological framework for ecosystem-based fisheries management in New England

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Progress in Oceanography 102 (2012): 93-101, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2012.03.007.We present an integrated economic-ecological framework designed to help assess the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in New England. We develop the framework by linking a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of a coastal economy to an end-to-end (E2E) model of a marine food web for Georges Bank. We focus on the New England region using coastal county economic data for a restricted set of industry sectors and marine ecological data for three top level trophic feeding guilds: planktivores, benthivores, and piscivores. We undertake numerical simulations to model the welfare effects of changes in alternative combinations of yields from feeding guilds and alternative manifestations of biological productivity. We estimate the economic and distributional effects of these alternative simulations across a range of consumer income levels. This framework could be used to extend existing methodologies for assessing the impacts on human communities of groundfish stock rebuilding strategies, such as those expected through the implementation of the sector management program in the US northeast fishery. We discuss other possible applications of and modifications and limitations to the framework.This work was supported by the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program (Award No. NA09NMF4270097), the MIT Sea Grant College Program (NOAA Award No. NA10OAR4170086, Subaward No. 5710002974), and the Johnson Endowment of the WHOI Marine Policy Center

Managing the climate commons at the nexus of ecology, behaviour and economics

Sustainably managing coupled ecological–economic systems requires not only an understanding of the environmental factors that affect them, but also knowledge of the interactions and feedback cycles that operate between resource dynamics and activities attributable to human intervention. The socioeconomic dynamics, in turn, call for an investigation of the behavioural drivers behind human action. We argue that a multidisciplinary approach is needed in order to tackle the increasingly pressing and intertwined environmental challenges faced by modern societies. Academic contributions to climate change policy have been constrained by methodological and terminological differences, so we discuss how programmes aimed at cross-disciplinary education and involvement in governance may help to unlock scholars' potential to propose new solutions

Incidence and prevalence of patellofemoral pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Patellofemoral pain is considered one of the most common forms of knee pain, affecting adults, adolescents, and physically active populations. Inconsistencies in reported incidence and prevalence exist and in relation to the allocation of healthcare and research funding, there is a clear need to accurately understand the epidemiology of patellofemoral pain. Methods: An electronic database search was conducted, as well as grey literature databases, from inception to June 2017. Two authors independently selected studies, extracted data and appraised methodological quality. If heterogeneous, data were analysed descriptively. Where studies were homogeneous, data were pooled through a meta-analysis. Results: 23 studies were included. Annual prevalence for patellofemoral pain in the general population was reported as 22.7%, and adolescents as 28.9%. Incidence rates in military recruits ranged from 9.7 – 571.4/1,000 person-years, amateur runners in the general population at 1080.5/1,000 person-years and adolescents amateur athletes 5.1% - 14.9% over 1 season. One study reported point prevalence within military populations as 13.5%. The pooled estimate for point prevalence in adolescents was 7.2% (95% Confidence Interval: 6.3% - 8.3%), and in female only adolescent athletes was 22.7% (95% Confidence Interval 17.4% - 28.0%). Conclusion: This review demonstrates high incidence and prevalence levels for patellofemoral pain. Within the context of this, and poor long term prognosis and high disability levels, PFP should be an urgent research priority

Proceedings from the Ice Hockey Summit III: Action on Concussion

Objectives The Ice Hockey Summit III provided updated scientific evidence on concussions in hockey to inform these five objectives: (1) describe sport related concussion (SRC) epidemiology, (2) classify prevention strategies, (3) define objective, diagnostic tests, (4) identify treatment and (5) integrate science and clinical care into prioritized action plans and policy. Methods Our action plan evolved from 40 scientific presentations. The 155 attendees (physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, nurses, neuropsychologists, scientists, engineers, coaches and officials) voted to prioritize these action items in the final Summit session. Results (1) establish a national and international hockey data base for SRCs at all levels; (2) eliminate body checking in Bantam youth hockey games; (3) expand a behavior modification program (Fair Play) to all youth hockey levels; (4) enforce game ejection penalties for fighting in Junior A and professional hockey leagues; (5) establish objective tests to diagnose concussion at point of care (POC); and (6) mandate baseline testing to improve concussion diagnosis for all age groups. Conclusions Expedient implementation of the Summit III prioritized action items is necessary to reduce the risk, severity and consequences of concussion in the sport of ice hockey

Optimal Control of a Bounded Invasive Species Diffusion Process: An Application to the Emerald Ash Borer

Although public sentiment to reduce traffic congestion in Cades Cove has been great, transportation management has been a key point of contention, especially the proposed mandatory shuttle alternative. Some have argued that the cost of the proposed shuttle system is too great and that access to the area by private vehicles should not be limited. Others counter that the value they receive from their visit is being compromised due to increased traffic congestion. This study attempts to model the acceptance of a proposed shuttle system by Tennessee residents to determine how many/who supports a mandatory shuttle system in Cades Cove and the value residents place on reduced traffic congestion by way of a shuttle system. A random digit dial telephone survey was conducted to garner opinions on the use of a mandatory shuttle system to alleviate traffic congestion in Cades Cove. In addition, a dichotomous choice contingent valuation question was also posed to survey respondents to determine the value of reduced traffic congestion in Cades Cove. Results indicate that support for a mandatory shuttle system may be higher than first thought and that the value of reduced traffic congestion is significant