Analyses and comparison of counter-movement jump performance and self-rated recovery in state under-18s Australian Rules Football players during a national championship

Recovery of team sport athletes during multiple competitive games is an important area for strength and conditioning coaches to monitor as it facilitates for athletes to be ready to perform (11,13). Utilising athletic performance data in conjunction with self-rated reporting measures can help determine if in fact a player or team has recovered sufficiently or shown a trend towards recovery prior to a competitive match (11). Positive improvement in recovery variables can provide confidence in the effectiveness of recovery methods used and assist in determining the training schedule in order to positively manipulate the fitness-fatigue relationship (3). Various methods of analysing the recovery of athletes have been reported in the literature and are available to the strength and conditioning coach. These include subjective, self-rated scales and perceived level of recovery questionnaires (11,12,13). Athletic performance measures during exercises such as the counter movement jump (CMJ) have also been analysed, predominantly utilising force plates to obtain kinetic data. (5,13,14). However, such equipment can be difficult to transport, requires continual calibration and is costly to purchase. A linear transducer can provide important information on CMJ variables in the assessment of athletic movements and due to its size and portability could serve as a valuable tool to assist strength and conditioning coaches, (8,10), and potentially enable the monitoring of recovery. Previous studies have investigated the fatigue effects of competitive games in various sports (11,13,14) including Australian Rules Football (AFL) at the senior elite league level (5, 6). To the authors&rsquo; knowledge, however, there is yet to be a study investigating the recovery response in AFL players, specifically in players 18 years and under competing in the National Under 18s Championships. Australian Rules football is an extremely physically demanding and fatiguing sport where players participate in games time exceeding 120 minutes duration, covering large distances (~12-18km, position dependent) with many high intensity efforts performed at random times throughout the game (2,6,16). Hence, it would seem pertinent to analyse the fatigue effects of competitive matches in an Australian Rules Under-18&rsquo;s National Championship and the subsequent recovery from these games. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare two self-rated subjective measures of recovery; they being muscle soreness (MS) of the lower body, overall perceived total recovery (TR), and the performance measure of peak velocity (PV) obtained from a CMJ analysed with a linear transducer. Data collection occurred between rounds four and five of the Australian Football League Under-18&rsquo;s National Championship, representing a four-day recovery analysis period between matches.<br /

Noncommutative Lattices and Their Continuum Limits

We consider finite approximations of a topological space $M$ by noncommutative lattices of points. These lattices are structure spaces of noncommutative $C^*$-algebras which in turn approximate the algebra \cc(M) of continuous functions on $M$. We show how to recover the space $M$ and the algebra \cc(M) from a projective system of noncommutative lattices and an inductive system of noncommutative $C^*$-algebras, respectively.Comment: 22 pages, 8 Figures included in the LaTeX Source New version, minor modifications (typos corrected) and a correction in the list of author

Comparative Analysis of Bridge Abutment Types

This project was developed to serve as a brief overview of design practices and considerations in the selection of highway bridge abutment types. This involved a review of literature in the form of reviewing national design guides and department of transportation (DOT) requirements from both US DOTs and international DOTs. The abutment types covered in this research included conventional reinforced concrete abutments with bearings, integral abutments, and semi-integral abutments. This research focused solely on highway bridge abutments, particularly on Ohio Department of Transportation design requirements due to their extensive use of semi-integral abutments. Superstructure elements and geometric requirements are primary drivers for abutment selection and those relationships are explored

A Discrete and Distributed Steady Blowing Application on a High Reynolds Number Semispan Supercritical Wing Configuration

The FAST-MAC circulation control model was modified to test an array of steady and unsteady actuators at realistic flight Reynolds numbers in the National Transonic Facility at the NASA Langley Research Center. Previous experiments in the FAST-MAC test series used a fullspan tapered slot, and that configuration is used as a baseline for performance and weight flow requirements. The goal of the latest experiment was to reduce the weight flow required to achieve comparable performance established by the baseline FAST-MAC data. Thirty-nine interchangeable actuator cartridges of various designs were mounted into the FAST-MAC model where the exiting jet was directed over a 15% chord simple hinged-flap. These two types of actuators were fabricated using rapid prototype techniques and their design performance was optimized for a transonic cruise configuration having a 0 flap deflection. The steady actuators were found to provide an off-design drag reduction of 5.5%, nearly equaling the drag reduction of the fullspan tapered slot configuration, but with a 69% weight flow reduction. This weight flow savings is similar to the sweeping jet actuators, but with better drag performance

Monitoring Repair of UV-Induced 6-4-Photoproducts with a Purified DDB2 Protein Complex

Because cells are constantly subjected to DNA damaging insults, DNA repair pathways are critical for genome integrity [1]. DNA damage recognition protein complexes (DRCs) recognize DNA damage and initiate DNA repair. The DNA-Damage Binding protein 2 (DDB2) complex is a DRC that initiates nucleotide excision repair (NER) of DNA damage caused by ultraviolet light (UV) [2]-[4]. Using a purified DDB2 DRC, we created a probe ("DDB2 proteo-probe") that hybridizes to nuclei of cells irradiated with UV and not to cells exposed to other genotoxins. The DDB2 proteo-probe recognized UV-irradiated DNA in classical laboratory assays, including cyto- and histo-chemistry, flow cytometry, and slot-blotting. When immobilized, the proteo-probe also bound soluble UV-irradiated DNA in ELISA-like and DNA pull-down assays. In vitro, the DDB2 proteo-probe preferentially bound 6-4-photoproducts [(6-4)PPs] rather than cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). We followed UV-damage repair by cyto-chemistry in cells fixed at different time after UV irradiation, using either the DDB2 proteo-probe or antibodies against CPDs, or (6-4)PPs. The signals obtained with the DDB2 proteo-probe and with the antibody against (6-4)PPs decreased in a nearly identical manner. Since (6-4)PPs are repaired only by nucleotide excision repair (NER), our results strongly suggest the DDB2 proteo-probe hybridizes to DNA containing (6-4)PPs and allows monitoring of their removal during NER. We discuss the general use of purified DRCs as probes, in lieu of antibodies, to recognize and monitor DNA damage and repair

Celestial Beacons: How Black Holes Illuminate the Path to Vector Dark Matter

The inception of gravitational wave astronomy has plunged astrophysical sciences into a new era. Gravitational wave signals sourced by strong gravity regimes provide enormous information about the surrounding environments from which they came. This allows remarkably powerful studies to be performed regarding the fundamental nature of gravity, dark energy, and dark matter. These current and future studies require very high accuracy and precision in the physical models they develop in order to extract all potential information from observed data. In particular, due to the feeble coupling between matter and gravity, very strong gravitational environments provide the highest quality of information regarding surrounding fundamental fields. To that end, the primary objective of this thesis is to generate models of dark matter interacting with highly dynamical black hole systems and forecast potential observability using upcoming gravitational wave observatories. Several studies and tools were developed to further this goal, culminating in new numerical relativ- ity toolkits, parameter constraints, and theoretical results. While much more work still needs to be done to fully leverage the prowess of upcoming gravitational wave observatories, the work in this thesis provides great advancements and powerful tools in the pursuit of understanding the funda- mental building blocks of the universe

Building Web Sites that Attract Visitors

The article discusses the use of web sites for health care service marketing. The potential benefits of Internet services for users and care providers are mentioned, but challenges in implementation are also listed. A three generation model of web site design is offered, distinguishing various levels of interactivity, customization, and perceived value. Suggestions are offered applying this model to health care service web sites and their marketing potential